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Home Front: Politix

Hillary Clinton expected to grow her role backing Joe Biden's reelection efforts after hosting $1 million fundraiser at her Georgetown home

2023-12-10

Halloween is over.
The witch is back.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Hillary Clinton held a fundraiser for Joe Biden at her Georgetown estate as the failed 2016 Democratic candidate plans to step-up her role in getting the president reelected in 2024.

Members of the Women's Leadership Forum gathered at Clinton's stately home in Washington, D.C. on November 27, according to a new NBC News report, and raised nearly $1 million for Biden's reelection campaign.

Over the next year, Clinton's role is expected to grow and former President Barack Obama is expected to jump in later in the campaign.

Clinton and Biden haven't always had the most close relationship.

In 2016, Clinton pushed the outgoing vice president of running for president. After she failed to beat Donald Trump and Biden was successful in 2020, it took her until September this year to visit him at the White House.

But Biden needs allies in the Democratic party as his age and fitness for office continues to raise concerns – and some voters are looking for alternatives in 2024.

'At the end of the day, Biden needs all the help that he can get,' a Democratic strategist told NBC. 'What he needs is both the spirit and the actual reality of unity.'

Former President Bill and former first lady Hillary Clinton purchased the Georgetown estate, named Whitehaven, in 2000.

The last Monday of November, Clinton hosted the fundraiser to help boost Biden's campaign.

Her reemergence as a Biden ally shows a larger effort to deploy high-profile allies to Biden's reelection fight, two people familiar with the campaign said.

Obama has appeared in some fundraising videos for Biden, but Democrats want a more visible role from the former president to give Biden a much-needed boost.

Over the next year, Clinton's role will only grow in order to help fill the void left by Obama before he finally jumps head-first into the 2024 election.

While Hillary Clinton was raising money for Biden in November, her husband was serving as Biden's surrogate during a lunch with Argentina's President-elect, Javier Milei, and former Sen. Chris Dodd, the president's special adviser for the Americas.

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Home Front: Politix

Karen Bass’s Long March from Communist Fringe to Biden’s VP Shortlist

2020-08-01

[BREITBART] The Democrat’s presumptive nominee Joe Foreign Policy Whiz Kid Biden
...I had the great honor of being arrested with our UN Ambassador on the streets of Soweto, trying to get to see him on Robbens Island...
will name his running mate as early as next week, and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) is reportedly a top contender for job.The Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, Democrat has emerged as the favorite pick of former Sen. Chris Dodd, who serves on Biden’s vice presidential search committee. According a source who spoke with Politico, Dodd has urged Biden to choose Bass because "she’s a loyal No. 2. And that’s what Biden really wants."

On the surface, Bass’s background as a former medical professional and South Los Angeles community organizer make her an attractive candidate to serve at a time when public health and racial inequality are on the top of voters’ minds.

Her resume bears the hallmarks of a rising political star, starting with her first foray into elected office 16 years ago, when she won a seat in the California State Assembly and later became the first Black woman in the country to serve as the speaker of a state legislature when she assumed the Speakership in 2008. Prior to this, Bass worked as a physician assistant and a left-wing community activist who founded a non-profit in the 1990s called the Community Coalition. She made headlines after the 1992 L.A. riots for her fight to prevent liquor stores from being rebuilt in the neighborhoods destroyed by the uprising.

In 2010, Bass won her U.S. House seat, where her voting record has been typical of a progressive member of a Democratic Party

...every time you hear the phrase white people you're listening to a Democrat...
increasingly embracing socialism.

However,
Switzerland makes more than cheese...
a deep dive into Bass’s background reveals that her influences were not just socialist, but hardcore communist.

The VP vetting process brought renewed scrutiny to comments Bass made about Cuba’s communist dictator Fidel Castro. In a statement following Castro’s death in 2016, Bass referred to him as "Comandante en Jefe" and described his death as "a great loss to the people of Cuba."

The honorific "Commandante en Jefe"—which translates to "commander in chief"—was criticized by Florida Democrats for being excessively deferential to a dictator with a long history of human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
abuses.

In an interview with MSNBC on Sunday, Bass attempted to walk back her use of the term. "I have talked to my colleagues in the House about that, and it’s certainly something that I would not say again," Bass said. "I have always supported the Cuban people, and the relationship that Barack Obama
I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody...
and Biden had in their administration in terms of opening up relations.”

Gotcha point or a serious connection? Related: Top potential Biden VP pick Karen Bass praised Scientology in 2010

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Home Front: Politix

Sexual assault accuser shocked Joe Biden put Chris Dodd on VP committee

2020-05-07

[NYPOST] A Massachusetts woman who accused former Sen. Chris Dodd of sexually assaulting her after a booze-fueled dinner in 1985 is speaking out, saying she can’t understand why the Biden campaign tapped him to lead their vice presidential search.

Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Foreign Policy Whiz Kid Biden
Joe <q>Foreign Policy Whiz Kid</q> Biden

Joe <q>Foreign Policy Whiz Kid</q> Biden

...When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the princes of greed. He said, 'Look, here's what happened.'...
, 77, was already embroiled in his own sexual assault controversy when the campaign last week announced Dodd, a Democratic former Connecticut senator with a past of misconduct charges, would co-chair his vice presidential selection committee.

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Home Front: Politix

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Masshole) Won't Run For Re-Election

2011-11-28

ht AOSHQ
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) will announced Monday that he is not seeking re-election, CNN reported Monday morning.

Frank, the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee was the architect with Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) of the sweeping financial reform bill that bears their names.
And will always be remembered for ruining this country to the best of his abilities. FOAD

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Home Front: Politix

Richard Blabenthal's words are haunting him again.

2010-08-23

Already forced to apologize for saying he had served "in" Vietnam in the Marine Reserve rather than stateside, the state attorney general's campaign for U.S. Senate is now being challenged to explain his assertion that he had "never taken PAC money" and has "rejected all special interest money."
Did he get Combat Pay for running the Toys for Tots.
Seared, seared into his memory, it was, going up-river to deliver purple dinosaurs to the tykes ...
Federal records show that he has accepted $480,000 in ~~pathetic a$$hole cash~~ political action committee money since he made that claim in January. Moreover, his Republican opponent, former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon, points to nearly $17,000 Blumenthal received as a state legislative candidate in the 1980s -- a figure Blumenthal's campaign does not dispute.
It is rather hard to wave away cold, hard numbers ...
Blumenthal's campaign insists he did not lie -- as McMahon says -- when he said in an interview on MSNBC the day after he announced he was running for the seat of retiring Sen. Chris Dodd that he had never taken PAC money. His campaign says he was referring only to his 20 years as attorney general.
Never in 20 years. Except for Tuesdays and Saturdays ...

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Home Front: Politix

CT - And in the Red Corner, Linda McMahon - Let's Get Ready to Rumble!

2010-05-25

Former congressman Rob Simmons is expected to drop out of the Connecticut Senate race at a scheduled 9 a.m. press conference in New London, the Hartford Courant reports.

Simmons lost the party's endorsement at the state convention Friday to former professional wrestling CEO Linda McMahon. He had said he would still challenge her in the primary, but apparently has had a change of heart.

The move clears the field for McMahon to focus on Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, whom Democrats hope will keep the seat on its side of the aisle following the retirement of longtime Sen. Chris Dodd.

Blumenthal has been dealing with the fallout from a New York Times article a week ago that detailed his repeated exaggeration of his military experience, though his campaign believes it's now moved beyond that.

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Home Front: Politix

Last Binge Of A Condemned Congress

2010-04-28

Unchecked Power: Having nothing to lose as they tumble toward November's electoral cliff, Democrats have gone into legislative overdrive. With the hangman ready, the condemned are ordering the whole menu.

The way things look right now, 2010 could go down in history as one of the biggest reversals of political power ever -- with even "safe" seats in big trouble.

Take Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., chairman of the powerful pork-wielding House Appropriations Committee, who has held his seat since before man walked on the moon. He looks like a dead duck against a Republican challenge from a current county district attorney and MTV "Real World" alumnus named Sean Duffy -- who wasn't even born when Obey took office. "It's not a lifetime appointment," Duffy told the New York Times for a story on the numerous vulnerable Democrats who were once unbeatable.

But like Thelma and Louise when they knew the jig was up, the Democratic Congress has decided it might as well put the pedal to the metal and go over the precipice with a crash and a bang. Unfortunately, they've got an already pummeled economy in the back seat with them.

No one should misinterpret the rearranging of the cap-and-trade and immigration deck chairs on the Democrats' Titanic. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid want both -- bullying industry in the name of saving the planet and buying Hispanic votes with amnesty for illegal aliens.

As Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said over the weekend in reaction to moderate Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., angrily withdrawing his support on cap-and-trade, "We all believe that this year is our best and perhaps last chance for Congress to pass a comprehensive approach."

In talking up an immigration bill, Democrats are scrambling for more votes from their base, but all it will do is fan the flames of anti-Washington sentiment. We've been assured before that this problem is fixed -- that we'll have one last, big amnesty -- only to find still more millions of people here in violation of the law.

The big question is whether Republicans are smart enough to exploit the issue for what it is: an illustration of the divide between Americans who believe in the rule of law and politicians looking to import millions of new votes for their big-government agenda.

Then there's the massive financial industry bill being pushed by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn. It further institutionalizes the too-big-to-fail policy and claims to "end bailouts" by making financial firms give $50 billion to the Treasury. As on health reform, you won't see any outstretched hands across the aisle as Democrats try to steamroll GOP opposition into yet another monster spending and regulatory law.

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-Short Attention Span Theater-

Senator Dikembe Mutombo Blocks Record Amount Of Legislation

2010-02-26

From The Onion...
Sen. Dikembe Mutombo (R-CO) showed that he is still one of the most dominant big men in Congress Thursday, blocking a record 16 bills in one legislative session.

The 7-foot-2 senator, who broke the record previously held by Sen. Shawn Bradley (D-NJ), Rep. Arvydas Sabonis (D-OR), and current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), batted away legislation left and right, sometimes swatting bills so hard that they were sent flying all the way back to committee.

Mutombo punctuated his final block, a clean rejection of the Criminal Justice Reinvestment Act, with his signature finger wag.

"He stuffed the new jobs bill right back in Harry Reid's face," Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told reporters. "And then when Reid tried to put the bill back up for consideration, Sen. Mutombo blocked it a second and then a third time. That's when I knew he had a chance at the record."

"He just completely dominates the Senate floor," McCain added.

His biggest rejection came 20 minutes into the first half of the session when 5-foot-10 Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) had his Peace Corps Improvement and Expansion Act emphatically slapped away by a leaping Mutombo. Following the rejection, Mutombo glared at Dodd from the Senate podium and said, "Get that weak-ass legislation out of my house," in a yell that was reportedly heard in the top rows of the Senate Chamber.

"You don't mind giving up the blocks record to a talent like Mutombo," said Sen. McConnell, who is still considered the Republican floor leader. "Some say he's too centrist, and he may take that position at times, but the fact is he can get stuff struck down like nobody's business."

Mutombo, who has been called a "force" by his Republican colleagues and is a key player in their legislative game plan, had a career-best nine blocks during the first half of Thursday's session. He easily rejected several appropriations bills, barely even getting off the Senate floor on two of them. For his 10th block of the day, he also got a piece of the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act.

"He's like a brick wall out there," a visibly tired and sweaty Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) told reporters. "Sen. Mutombo's arms are so long that if legislation is introduced anywhere in his vicinity, he's probably going to knock it away. There's no way we are going to get health care through with Mutombo out there."

"You can try and alter your legislation or fake him out by attaching a rider to a bill, but in the end he's just too big," Kerry continued. "And fast. He's got surprisingly quick footwork."

Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo started his political career as a city councilman in Denver, quickly gaining a reputation as an elected official focused on getting that stuff out of here. Campaigning on a platform of defense, defense, defense, the popular Mutombo was elected to the State Legislature in 2002 and then to the U.S. Senate in 2006. According to Senate sources, the rookie lawmaker came out of nowhere to stuff Ted Kennedy's Vaccine Access and Supply Act "so far down the late senator's throat" that he easily won the respect of his Republican colleagues.

"He reminds me of myself out there, just rejecting stuff left and right," said former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), who retired in 2007. "Even when he gets called an obstructionist, or for goaltending, he's established psychological dominance and made his point: You don't come through his part of the floor."

Though many Democratic senators have called Mutombo's legislative style extremely partisan, one-dimensional, and completely unfair, some of his colleagues across the aisle have praised Mutombo's willingness to assist them in getting their legislation through Congress.

"The thing about Mutombo is that, for a big man, he can actually pass bills really well," Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) said in reference to their bipartisan work on the Trade Act of 2007 and the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008. "Because he's so tall, he sees the perimeter of the entire Senate floor and knows when a senator from the left or right might offer some weak-side help."

"Reminds me of a young Bill Bradley," Baucus added.

Such praise from Democratic lawmakers is rare, however, with many saying that Sen. Mutombo is directly responsible for the gridlock currently facing Washington.

"Sometimes I get the impression that he'll block something just because it's introduced by a Democrat or, quite frankly, just because he's taller than the rest of us," Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) told reporters. "Why else would he reject a resolution supporting stability in Sudan?"

Specter went on to express concern for the future of his party, saying that the only hope for getting meaningful legislation passed through Congress is to make sure Rep. Greg Ostertag (D-UT) is elected to the Senate during November's midterm election.

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Home Front: Politix

Dodd introduces constitutional amendment to reverse SCOTUS on campaign spending

2010-02-25

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) introduced a constitutional amendment today to overrule a recent Supreme Court decision on campaign spending.

The court ruled 5-4 last month in Citizens United v. FEC that Congress cannot regulate independent expenditures by corporations and possibly labor unions. The ruling could dramatically increase third party spending on elections.

Dodd's amendment, co-sponsored by Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) would explicitly grant Congress the authority to regulate campaign fundraising and expenditures for federal elections.

The amendment would also let states regular such activity in their own elections.

"I strongly disagree with the Supreme Court's conclusion that money is speech, and that corporations should be treated the same as individual Americans when it comes to protected, fundamental speech rights," Dodd said in a statement.

Dodd and Udall said they will also support "interim legislative efforts" to damper the impact of the ruling, including requirements that corporations disclose their campaign spending.

To pass, Dodd's amendment must pass both Houses with a two-thirds majority and be ratified by three-quarters of the states.

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Caribbean-Latin America

Punching above their weight: Colombia Ready to Send Troops to Afghanistan

2010-02-14

Colombia is ready to contribute troops to the NATO-led security force in Afghanistan, the Andean nation's defense minister said.

We have negotiations underway with the Afghanistan government to guarantee the immunity of our soldiers, an immunity equivalent to that enjoyed by soldiers from other countries participating in the anti-terrorist effort in Afghanistan,' Gabriel Silva told reporters in the U.S. capital.

That is the only obstacle still pending,' Silva said as he was leaving a meeting with Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) during his week-long state visit to Washington.

The minister offered no details about how many Colombian soldiers would be sent to Afghanistan or when they would go, though he did say they would take part in tasks related clearing minefields, humanitarian aid, training special forces and fighting drug trafficking in Afghanistan.'

Silva said that Colombia has in force more than 150 collaboration pacts in the fields of security and defense, and is also taking part in a number of international forums to do with humanitarian aid and development, as is the case with earthquake-stricken Haiti.

He said that the responsibility of collaborating with other countries is inherent to being part of the international community,' and if Colombia wants to receive support, solidarity and cooperation, it has to give them as well.'

The deployment of Colombian troops, he said, will be done at the first window of opportunity that comes up' after the international judicial and logistical matters are settled.

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Home Front: Politix

Democrats: We Will Push Ahead with Healthcare

2010-01-24

President Barack Obama and top congressional Democrats insist they will push ahead with efforts to overhaul healthcare, though they aren't explaining how they will proceed in that uphill fight.

The president acknowledged Friday that the effort ran into a "bit of a buzz saw" of opposition. And a leading member of his party suggested Congress slow it down on healthcare, a sign of eroding political will in the wake of Tuesday's Republican election upset in Massachusetts.

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who ushered the overhaul legislation through the Senate's health committee last year after the death of his friend, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, said Obama and lawmakers could "maybe take a breather for a month, six weeks."

Just a week ago, the health legislation had appeared on the cusp of passage after Obama threw himself into marathon negotiations with congressional leaders to work out differences between the House and Senate bills.

"There are things that have to get done. This is our best chance to do it. We can't keep on putting this off," Obama said Friday at a town hall meeting in Elyria, Ohio, warning listeners that spiraling medical costs threaten to bankrupt them and the country unless Congress acts.

"I am not going to walk away just because it's hard," the president said.

In his remarks, Obama seemed to pull back from a suggestion he made Wednesday that lawmakers unite behind the elements of the legislation everyone can agree on. Obama said that approach presented problems because some of the popular ideas, like new requirements on insurance companies, couldn't be done without getting many more people insured.

"A lot of these insurance reforms are connected to some other things we have to do to make sure that everybody has some access to coverage," he said. For example, insurers wouldn't be able to end a practice like denying coverage to people with pre-existing health conditions unless more people were covered. Otherwise people could wait until they got sick to buy insurance and premiums could skyrocket.

Obama has used immense political capital to advance the healthcare overhaul and remake a system that has frustrated past administrations, most recently Democrat Bill Clinton in 1994. Whether he can succeed where others have failed is now anything but clear, and Obama seemed to acknowledge as much.

"Here's the good news. We've gotten pretty far down the road, but I have to admit, we had a little bit of a buzz saw this week," the president said.

"I understand that, why after the Massachusetts election people in Washington were all in a tizzy, trying to figure out what this means for health reform, Republicans and Democrats: What does it mean for Obama? Is he weakened? Is he, oh, how's he going to survive this?" Obama said. "But I want you to understand, this is not about me. This is about you."

It was Kennedy's longtime Senate seat that changed party hands on Tuesday with the victory of Republican Scott Brown, a bitter irony for Democrats since universal health coverage had been Kennedy's lifelong goal, and Brown has pledged to be the GOP's decisive 41st vote against overhaul legislation.

Notwithstanding the comments from Dodd, who is not seeking re-election this year, Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., have both insisted the health care legislation will go forward though they haven't said how. Reid spokesman Jim Manley said that plans to push ahead haven't changed.

Lawmakers ended the week with no clear path, though aides promised to work through the weekend to look for a compromise, possibly one that could allow the Senate to act with a simple majority instead of the 60-vote supermajority Democrats now lack.

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Home Front: Politix

Dodd: Thought of Scott Brown blocking health reform 'sickens'

2010-01-16

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said Friday that it "sickens" him that Massachusetts GOP Senate candidate Scott Brown could block healthcare reform if elected.

Dodd, a longtime friend and ally of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), blasted the Republican candidate to permanently fill Kennedy's seat over Brown's stance against the health bill before Congress.

"Health care was the cause of my friend Ted Kennedy's life," Dodd said in a fundraising letter for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC).

"So it sickens me that the Republican running to take Ted's place is vowing to be the 41st vote to kill health care reform," Dodd added.

Brown has made health reform a centerpiece of his underdog Senate campaign. If elected and sworn in quickly enough, Brown could give Republicans 41 seats in the Senate, conceivably enough to sustain a filibuster against the health bill if the GOP sticks together.

"This seat represents more than Ted's progressive legacy. This seat is the tipping point between a Senate that can pass President Obama's agenda, and one frozen into inaction by Republican obstruction," Dodd said. "Scott Brown is the face of that obstruction, and that's why we must help Martha."
Sure. C'mon up and put another nail in Martha's coffin, Chris. All the boys are gonna be here...

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