Quit Picking On the Democrats

Tecumsehsbones

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For people with dangerous allergies, the EpiPen is a literal lifesaver. Now the company that makes them is gouging the people who need them.

CEO at center of EpiPen price hike controversy is Sen. Joe Manchin’s daughter






By Catherine Ho

The growing congressional scrutiny of pharmaceutical giant Mylan over the high cost of EpiPens could prove awkward for Sen. Joe Manchin.


The West Virginia Democrat’s daughter, Heather Bresch, is chief executive of the company, which appears to have hiked the price of the epinephrine auto-injector by 400 percent since 2007. The device, which is used to treat severe allergic reactions, now costs more than $600 per dose.



This price increase has become a public relations disaster for Mylan and at least four of Manchin’s Senate colleagues are either pressing the company to reduce the cost of EpiPens, asking it to explain the price increase or requesting federal regulators to investigate the matter. Manchin is not a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has shown the most interest in probing Mylan’s pricing practices, and so far the senator is not discussing the issue.


“Right now we don’t have any comment,” Manchin spokesman Jon Kott said in an email Tuesday.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/08/24/ceo-at-center-of-epipen-price-hike-controversy-is-sen-joe-manchins-daughter/?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_manchin-810a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

Good to see a Democrat who believes in free enterprise, but seriously?
 

tay

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Democratic Senator to Face Trial for Corruption


In 2015, New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez was indicted on bribery charges. Prosecutors alleged that he accepted nearly $1 million in bribes through campaign donations, vacations, and private jet flights in return for doing political favors for a Florida optometrist, Salomon Melgen, a co-defendant in the case. In April 2017, Melgen was found guilty of Medicare fraud. Menendez pressed Obama’s Health and Human Services secretary for leniency in the case. In addition, Menendez also tried to use his political influence to coerce U.S. officials to pressure the Dominican Republic to benefit one of Melgen’s companies. He also intervened in acquiring visas for Melgen’s foreign girlfriends. Since 2014, Menendez has raised $4.6 million for legal expenses and has continued to raise campaign funds for his re-election bid in 2018.

Menendez first won election to the Senate in 2006. He was a Hillary Clinton superdelegate in 2016 and served as her national campaign co-chair during her failed 2008 presidential campaign.

On August 9, a federal judge denied Menendez’s last chance to avoid a trial this September. His attorneys tried to argue that his indictment should be overturned due to the Supreme Court decision that essentially normalized corruption by overturning former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s corruption conviction in June 2016. In the ruling against Menendez, U.S. District Court Judge William H. Walls wrote, “Whether the acts alleged in the Superseding Indictment satisfy the definition of an ‘official act’ under McDonnell is a factual determination that cannot be resolved before the Government has the opportunity to present evidence at trial.”

more

Sen. Bob Menendez Forced to Face Trial for Corruption, Judge Says | Observer
 

tay

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The upcoming bribery trial for New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez could have damaging consequences for his party whether or not he's convicted, by sidelining him from Congress just as Democrats gear up to fight the Trump agenda

The senator is now pleading with a federal judge to alter the trial schedule on certain days so he can return to Washington to vote.

So far, however, the court has rejected these requests, which the Trump Justice Department has decried as a bid for "special treatment."

The timing of the trial, set to begin Sept. 6, is critical. It would fall as Congress returns from the August recess and Republicans prepare to vote on President Trump’s legislative agenda -- potentially covering everything from tax reform to health care to the budget and debt ceiling.

Neither party can afford to lose a single member from the Senate floor. Republicans hold a slim 52-48 majority, and it’s possible the absence of a single reliable Democratic vote could tip the balance on key votes this fall, including possibly another attempt at repealing President Obama’s health care law.

Mindful of this, Menendez earlier this week asked for a trial delay, along with other possible alternative concessions, only to be denied by U.S. District Judge William Walls. While Menendez would be free to skip his trial to attend Senate session, doing so could hurt his standing at the trial -- a scenario he's trying to avoid.

As jury selection began this week in New Jersey, the senator's lawyers came back with a more refined request, asking the judge to alter the trial schedule on select days so he can be present for key Senate votes.

Menendez mess: Trial threatens to sideline senator just as Dems plot Trump resistance | Fox News
 

EagleSmack

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Al Franken accused of kissing, groping LA TV host without consent | Fox News



Resign.
 

Avro52

Time Out
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Miami Democratic Rep. Donna Shalala violated federal law when she failed to disclose stock sales while serving in Congress.

Sneaky Dem.
 

Avro52

Time Out
Mar 19, 2020
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De Blasio's proposed parade feels like a sick joke, given his leadership failures.

This guy is wanted to be president. What a noob.

Daily news.
 

spaminator

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Democratic officials' homes, offices shot up in New Mexico
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Susan Montoya Bryan And Morgan Lee
Published Jan 06, 2023 • 4 minute read

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The homes or offices of five elected Democratic officials in New Mexico, including the new attorney general, have been buffeted by gunfire over the past month, and authorities are working to determine if the attacks are connected.


Nobody was injured in the shootings, which are being investigated by local and federal authorities, said Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina. He called the investigation a top priority.


The attacks come amid a sharp rise in threats to members of Congress and two years after supporters of then-President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol and sent lawmakers running for their lives. Local school board members and election workers across the country have also endured harassment, intimidation and threats of violence.

In New Mexico, the assaults began on Dec. 4, when someone shot eight rounds at the Albuquerque home of Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa, police said. Seven days later, someone fired more than a dozen times at the Albuquerque house of then-Bernalillo Commissioner Debbie O’Malley.


On Dec. 10, ShotSpotter technology detected several gunshots in the area of New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez’s former campaign office, police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said. The attorney general had already moved out of the office following his November election.

Just this week, multiple shots were fired at the home of state Sen. Linda Lopez and the office of state Sen. Moe Maestas.

“It is traumatizing to have several bullets shot directly through my front door when my family and I were getting ready to celebrate Christmas,” Barboa, who has been a county commissioner since January 2021, told Albuquerque TV station KRQE. “No one deserves threatening and dangerous attacks like this.”


O’Malley, who left her position as commissioner after serving a maximum of two terms, said in an email that she and her husband were asleep before the gunfire struck the adobe wall surrounding their home.

“To say I am angry about this attack on my home– on my family, is the least of it,” O’Malley said in an email. “I remember thinking how grateful I was that my grandchildren were not spending the night, and that those bullets did not go through my house.”

Lopez, who has been a state senator since 1997, said three of the bullets shot at her home passed through her 10-year-old daughter’s bedroom.

“I am asking the public to provide any information they may have that will assist the police in bringing about the arrest of the perpetrators,” Lopez said in a statement.


Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller called the shootings disturbing. He said they are serious crimes regardless of whether anyone was hurt.

Republican leaders in the New Mexico Senate said in a statement that they are “incredibly grateful” their colleagues were unharmed and they called for the arrest and prosecution of those responsible.

Federal officials have warned about the potential for violence and attacks on government officials and buildings, and the Department of Homeland Security has said domestic extremism remains a top terrorism threat in the U.S.

In October, an assailant looking for then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi broke into her San Francisco home and used a hammer to attack her husband, Paul, who suffered blunt-force injuries and was hospitalized. Rioters who swarmed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and halted the certification of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory roamed the halls and shouted menacingly, demanding “Where’s Nancy?”


Members of a paramilitary group were convicted of plotting to kidnap Michigan’s governor. And in August, a gunman opened fire on an FBI office in Ohio after posting online that federal agents should be killed “on sight” after the FBI searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.

Across the U.S., election workers have been harassed and hounded, sending some into hiding. There have also been threats to judges, school board officials and armed protests at state capitols around the nation.

In June, a man who was arrested outside Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home in Maryland said he was there to kill the justice after a leaked court opinion suggested the court was likely to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling establishing a nationwide right to abortion.


New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, a Democrat, went into hiding for several weeks in December 2020 and January 2021 in response to online threats. Last year, she notified the FBI of new threats to her safety via an email and telephone calls to her offices.

In 2020, Democratic New Mexico state Sen. Jacob Candelaria fled home after receiving anonymous threatening telephone messages following his criticism of a protest outside the state Capitol against COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

The Democratic Party has consolidated control over every statewide elected office, the state Supreme Court and congressional delegation, and holds commanding majorities in the state House and Senate. Republicans still dominate local politics across vast rural swaths of the state and some urban areas.


Lopez, whose home was hit by bullets, was a lead sponsor of 2021 legislation that reversed New Mexico’s ban on most abortion procedures after Roe v. Wade was overturned last year.

Maestas, an attorney and former public prosecutor, has been active on a wide range of legislation: He co-sponsored an unsuccessful initiative last year that would set new criminal penalties for those who threaten state and local judges and for those who publicly share officials’ personal information, such as home addresses.

The bill came in response to 15 documented threats against judges and courthouses in 2021 alone, as well as a barrage of threats that shut down the Taos County courthouse in 2018 amid judicial proceedings involving the mysterious death of a child at a remote family compound. A judge retired following those threats.
 

harrylee

Man of Memes
Mar 22, 2019
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Is it safe to live in Albuquerque?


In Albuquerque, crime rates are high across the board. According to the Albuquerque Police's annual report on crime, there were 46,391 property crimes and 15,765 violent crimes recorded in 2021. These numbers place Albuquerque among America's most dangerous cities.Nov 22, 2022
 

Tecumsehsbones

Hall of Fame Member
Mar 18, 2013
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Is it safe to live in Albuquerque?


In Albuquerque, crime rates are high across the board. According to the Albuquerque Police's annual report on crime, there were 46,391 property crimes and 15,765 violent crimes recorded in 2021. These numbers place Albuquerque among America's most dangerous cities.Nov 22, 2022
Probably not as safe as Smallville, Ontario and safer than Kandahar.
 

spaminator

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Albuquerque authorities have suspect in shooting at official's home
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Susan Montoya Bryan
Published Jan 09, 2023 • 3 minute read

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Authorities in New Mexico’s largest city said a suspect believed to be linked to at least one of the shootings at or near the homes or offices of several elected officials was in custody Monday, but they declined to release his name.


Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said the man was being held on unrelated charges and that detectives were still awaiting results of several outstanding search warrants filed in the investigation.


“We’re just waiting to get a return on some of the information to ensure that everything we have, that the case we’re building is as strong as possible and to see what other aspects are involved,” Medina said.

Authorities declined to say what charges the man was being held on.

They did confirm, however, that officers had seized a firearm used in the shooting that was linked to the suspect, but have yet to determine whether it was connected to any of the others, which occurred between early December and early January.


No one has been injured in the shootings, which come amid a rise in threats to members of Congress, school board members, election officials and other government workers around the nation. In Albuquerque, law enforcement has been struggling to address back-to-back years of record homicides and persistent gun violence.

In the latest case to come to light, Albuquerque Democrat Javier Martinez, the incoming speaker of the state House, inspected his home following reports last week of gunshots fired toward the homes of other officials or in the vicinity of their offices.

Police went to Martinez’s home after he discovered what he thought was damage from gunfire heard in early December. Detectives said they located evidence of a shooting.


Martinez said in a statement he was grateful he and his family were safe.

“We have been working closely with the Albuquerque Police Department as they investigate this act of gun violence at our home,” he said. “I share the anger of my fellow elected officials and all those who have been targeted by such senseless acts of violence.”

Martinez, the former majority floor leader, will be in a new leadership role when the Democratic-led Legislature meets for a 60-day session beginning next week.

Public safety and gun control are expected to be among the top issues as the chorus of residents who don’t feel safe in Albuquerque and elsewhere has reached a fever pitch.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said during a news conference there’s a difference when elected officials are involved.


“These are individuals who participate in democracy, whether we agree with them or not, and that’s why this act of violence I think has been so rattling for so many people,” Keller said. “Again, regardless of their background or regardless of their belief … those elected officials deserve to be able to do their job as part of American democracy without fear.”

The shootings began in early December when eight rounds were fired at the home of Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa, police said. Days later, someone shot at former Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley’s home.

Technology that can detect the sound of gunfire also indicated shots in the vicinity of New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez’s former campaign office. Police found no damage.


Multiple shots also were fired at the home of state Sen. Linda Lopez — a lead sponsor of a 2021 bill that reversed New Mexico’s ban on most abortion procedures — and in a downtown area where state Sen. Moe Maestas’ office is located. Maestas, an attorney, co-sponsored a bill last year to set new criminal penalties for threatening state and local judges. It didn’t pass.

Both Democrat and Republican state lawmakers have called on the public to provide information that might help law enforcement.

The eruption of gunfire in Albuquerque on any given day is not unusual. The police department began using the ShotSpotter detection system in 2020 in areas where data showed violence was prevalent.

As of last October, police reported having nearly 9,000 ShotSpotter alerts since the beginning of 2022. Of those, the department said more than 1,200 helped lead to the identification of dozens suspects and victims.

Some have criticized reliance on the technology. A 2021 Associated Press investigation, based on a review of thousands of internal documents, confidential contracts and interviews with dozens of public defenders in communities where ShotSpotter has been deployed, identified a number of serious flaws in using the technology as evidentiary support for prosecutors.

Albuquerque police did not respond to a request Monday for updated information on the number of detections for the past year or the number of reports in which gunfire struck homes or businesses in the city.
 

spaminator

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Republicans oust Ilhan Omar from high-profile U.S. House committee
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Patricia Zengerle and Richard Cowan
Published Feb 02, 2023 • 2 minute read

WASHINGTON — U.S. House of Representatives Republicans on Thursday ousted Democrat Ilhan Omar from a high-profile committee over remarks widely condemned as antisemitic, two years after Democrats removed two Republicans from committee assignments.


The deeply divided House voted 218-211 along party lines to remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee with Republicans citing the 2019 remarks for which she later apologized. One Republican voted “present.”


Omar, who arrived in the United States as a refugee from Somalia, is the only African-born member of Congress and one of the only Muslim women in the House. She was in line to be the top Democrat on the foreign affairs panel’s Africa subcommittee.

Republicans, who won a narrow House majority in November’s election after years in the minority, said they wanted Omar, a third-term House member, off Foreign Affairs for statements that included a 2019 tweet which read, “It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” suggesting that Israel’s supporters in U.S. politics were motivated by money rather than principle.


Benjamin Franklin, whose signature on the 1776 Declaration of Independence and 1787 U.S. Constitution earned him the reputation as a founding father, is portrayed on the $100 bill.

During debate, Republican Mike Lawler said, “Words matter, rhetoric matters. It leads to harm. The congresswoman is being held accountable for her words and her actions.”

Omar and other Democrats said that any such remarks were made years ago and that Omar had deleted the posts and apologized at the time.

Moments before the House expelled her from the committee, a defiant Omar said, “My leadership and voice will not be diminished if I am not on this committee … my voice will get louder and stronger.”

Omar has said in the past that U.S. forces and that those of other nations should be held to the same standards of accountability when their actions hurt or kill civilians.


The ouster, led by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, was viewed by Democrats as revenge for their voting in 2021 to remove Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar from their committee assignments after incendiary remarks.

Gosar had posted a video on social media showing him appearing to kill another House member, Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

McCarthy has given committee assignments to both Greene and Gosar as well as George Santos, a newly elected representative who has admitted to fabricating much of his resume, although Santos has temporarily stepped away from those assignments while working to clear up questions about his ethics.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat, told reporters before the vote that Democrats had condemned Omar’s “Benjamins” remark.

“There has been accountability. Ilhan Omar has apologized. She has indicated she’ll learn from her mistakes” and was “building bridges” with the Jewish community. “This isn’t about accountability. It’s about political revenge.”

McCarthy previously rejected assignments of Democrats Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Both played major roles in the impeachments of Republican former President Donald Trump.
 

Serryah

Executive Branch Member
Dec 3, 2008
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Republicans oust Ilhan Omar from high-profile U.S. House committee
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Patricia Zengerle and Richard Cowan
Published Feb 02, 2023 • 2 minute read

WASHINGTON — U.S. House of Representatives Republicans on Thursday ousted Democrat Ilhan Omar from a high-profile committee over remarks widely condemned as antisemitic, two years after Democrats removed two Republicans from committee assignments.


The deeply divided House voted 218-211 along party lines to remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee with Republicans citing the 2019 remarks for which she later apologized. One Republican voted “present.”


Omar, who arrived in the United States as a refugee from Somalia, is the only African-born member of Congress and one of the only Muslim women in the House. She was in line to be the top Democrat on the foreign affairs panel’s Africa subcommittee.

Republicans, who won a narrow House majority in November’s election after years in the minority, said they wanted Omar, a third-term House member, off Foreign Affairs for statements that included a 2019 tweet which read, “It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” suggesting that Israel’s supporters in U.S. politics were motivated by money rather than principle.


Benjamin Franklin, whose signature on the 1776 Declaration of Independence and 1787 U.S. Constitution earned him the reputation as a founding father, is portrayed on the $100 bill.

During debate, Republican Mike Lawler said, “Words matter, rhetoric matters. It leads to harm. The congresswoman is being held accountable for her words and her actions.”

Omar and other Democrats said that any such remarks were made years ago and that Omar had deleted the posts and apologized at the time.

Moments before the House expelled her from the committee, a defiant Omar said, “My leadership and voice will not be diminished if I am not on this committee … my voice will get louder and stronger.”

Omar has said in the past that U.S. forces and that those of other nations should be held to the same standards of accountability when their actions hurt or kill civilians.


The ouster, led by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, was viewed by Democrats as revenge for their voting in 2021 to remove Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar from their committee assignments after incendiary remarks.

Gosar had posted a video on social media showing him appearing to kill another House member, Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

McCarthy has given committee assignments to both Greene and Gosar as well as George Santos, a newly elected representative who has admitted to fabricating much of his resume, although Santos has temporarily stepped away from those assignments while working to clear up questions about his ethics.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat, told reporters before the vote that Democrats had condemned Omar’s “Benjamins” remark.

“There has been accountability. Ilhan Omar has apologized. She has indicated she’ll learn from her mistakes” and was “building bridges” with the Jewish community. “This isn’t about accountability. It’s about political revenge.”

McCarthy previously rejected assignments of Democrats Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Both played major roles in the impeachments of Republican former President Donald Trump.

If this was about Omar's anti-semitism, then MTG and others should be out of their committee assignments too.

Wait, they're not?

Then this isn't about the woman's anti-Semitic remarks.