As the White House prepares for its final “all-out push” to pass the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) during the upcoming lame-duck session of Congress, lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle are being made vulnerable due to growing opposition to the controversial, corporate-friendly trade deal.
“[I]n 2016,” the Guardian reported on Saturday, “America’s faltering faith in free trade has become the most sensitive controversy in D.C.”
Yet President Barack Obama “has refused to give up,” wrote Guardian journalists Dan Roberts and Ryan Felton, despite the fact that the 12-nation TPP “suddenly faces a wall of political opposition among lawmakers who had, not long ago, nearly set the giant deal in stone.”
Not only are “[v]ulnerable Senate Republicans are starting to side with Donald Trump (and Democrats) by opposing President Obama’s signature trade deal,” as the Washington Post reported Thursday, but once-supportive Dems are also poised to jump ship.
To that end, in a column this week, Campaign for America’s Future blogger Dave Johnson listed for readers “28 House Democrat targets…who—in spite of opposition from most Democrats and hundreds of labor, consumer, LGBT, health, human rights, faith, democracy and other civil organizations—voted for the ‘fast-track’ trade promotion authority (TPA) bill that ‘greased the skids’ for the TPP by setting up rigged rules that will help TPP pass.”
Of the list that includes Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.), Jared Polis (Colo.), and Ron Kind (Wis.), Johnson wrote: “Let’s get them on the record before the election about whether they will vote for TPP after the election.”
Also on the list is Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), from whom the Communication Workers of America is reportedly withholding its endorsement due to his support for the TPP.
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In an op-ed published Saturday at The Hill, Center for Economic and Policy Research co-director Mark Weisbrot identifies another “special group of Representatives who can swing this vote”—”the actual lame-ducks, i.e., those who will be in office only until Jan. 3. It depends partly on how many lose their election on Nov. 8, but the average number of representatives who left after the last three elections was about 80.”
Weisbrot explains:
In turn, some progressives are urging Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to publicly call on Obama and Democratic leadership not to hold a lame-duck vote on the trade deal. Especially in the wake of this week’s appointment of TPP backer Ken Salazar to head her transition team, to do so would be “the perfect way for Clinton to restore liberal confidence in her on the issue of trade,” reporter Daniel Marans wrote at the Huffington Post.
“If she were to do that, it would put to rest once and for all any uncertainty about her position ― and more importantly ensure that this agreement that she says is bad for the country does not become law,” Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, told Marans.
Meanwhile, the Rock Against the TPP tour continues to make stops in U.S. cities, with acclaimed hip-hop artist Talib Kweli, actress Evangeline Lilly, and Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune all making appearances at Friday’s event in Seattle.
The tour stops Saturday in Portland, Oregon.
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The ongoing Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) protests were hit with violence on Saturday, as private security forces reportedly hired by the pipeline builders descended on the Native American activists with pepper spray and dogs that bit and threatened the protesters.
Democracy Now!, which was on the ground at the time, posted several photographs and video of the attack:
In the video, security forces can be seen pushing the dogs to charge at protesters, while others raise cans of pepper spray at the crowds. One man shows a deep bite mark on his arm to the camera, stating, “I was walking, he threw the dog at me, straight, without any warning.” A security guard on the scene shakes his head at the man, smiling.
Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman also separately confronts a woman on the security force, stating, “Ma’am, your dog just bit that protester. Are you telling the dogs to bite the protesters?” The woman refuses to answer.
The tense standoff ends as the security team eventually pulls their dogs away from the crowds and drives away.
#NoDAPL Tweets
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According to Indigenous activist Martie Simmons, the ordeal saw six protectors, including one pregnant woman, attacked. The dogs also reportedly bit the guards that brought them in. Standing Rock Sioux tribe spokesperson Steve Sitting Bear also told the Associated Press that a young child had been bitten, and 30 people were pepper sprayed.
Tribal officials also said Saturday that construction crews destroyed Indigenous burial and cultural sites on private land in North Dakota.
“This demolition is devastating,” Standing Rock Sioux chairman David Archambault II said in a statement. “These grounds are the resting places of our ancestors. The ancient cairns and stone prayer rings there cannot be replaced. In one day, our sacred land has been turned into hollow ground.”
For months, the Standing Rock Sioux and dozens of other tribes from the U.S. and Canada have resisted the construction of the proposed four-state pipeline that, if completed, would transport about 500,000 barrels of crude per day from North Dakota to Illinois.
A federal judge is expected to rule by September 9 whether construction on the pipeline must be stopped.
In response to the attack, Red Warrior Camp released a statement which read, “Red Warrior Camp remains nonviolent and unarmed….we ask that supporters keep focus on the fact that this corporation feels justified in using this level of force against unarmed and nonviolent water protectors and the state is allowing it!”
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A group of five Democratic U.S. senators has demanded to know whether Wells Fargo—recently slapped by regulators with a $185 million fine for creating millions of unauthorized bank and credit card accounts, racking up fees for consumers and bonuses for employees—intends on rescinding compensation to executives behind the “staggering fraud.”
In their letter (pdf) sent Thursday to Wells Fargo chairman and CEO John G. Stumpf, Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Jack Reed (R.I.), Robert Menendez (N.J.), and Jeff Merkley (Ore.), all members of the Republican-led Senate Banking Committee, ask whether the bank will invoke its clawback provision, “designed to prevent exactly what happened with Ms. Toldstedt: shareholders and consumers bearing the burden of bank misconduct while senior executives walk away with multi-million dollar awards based on what the company later finds out are fraudulent practices.”
That’s Carrie Tolstedt, the former senior executive vice president of community banking, the division that led the fraudulent incentive-compensation program.
The senators write that Tolstedt
Following her retirement announcement, Stumpf praised Tolstedt as “a standard-bearer of our culture” and “a champion for our customers.” CFPB head Richard Cordray, meanwhile, denounced the unit she led, saying it committed “unfair and abusive practices under federal law.”
The senators demand an answer about the clawback by Sept. 19, the day before Stumpf is scheduled to testify before the committee.
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As the Huffington Post‘s Zach Carter writes Friday of the letter to Stumpf: “When Warren asks him to re-evaluate prior executive payouts, she’s asking him to consider ponying up part of his own fortune.”
Carter notes:
The senators “weren’t shy about its implications for his own bank account,” Carter writes.
Speaking last week about Wells Fargo to CNN, Sen. Warren said its behavior was “flatly wrong,” and said either the bank knew what was going on or it didn’t.
“It’s a bank, right? They’re supposed to keep track of people’s money, safety, security, and not know what more than 5,000 of your employees are doing? If they really didn’t know, then that tells me that this is a bank that is simply too big to manage.”
The senators’ letter comes as the House this week passed legislation described as “a gift to the Big Banks, that would extend their ‘license to steal’ and tear down hard-fought banking regulations, some of which have not yet been implemented.”
In his column Thursday entitled “Thanks, Wells Fargo, for Being Such a Bunch of Weasels,” the Los Angeles Times‘ David Lazarus wrote that the bank “has made a powerful case for why regulatory oversight is crucial and why the banking industry remains unworthy of the public’s trust.”
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Donald Trump’s treatment of women and workers continues to receive media scrutiny this week as one union calls for a national boycott of all the real estate mogul’s businesses.
Unite Here launched the boycott earlier this week, saying Trump Hotel Las Vegas has failed to honor its obligation to bargain with its unionized workforce, which is represented by Culinary Union, Unite Here’s largest affiliate.
“After a disgraceful anti-union campaign against their own workers, the hotel still refuses to negotiate with their employees,” said Geoconda Arguello-Kline, secretary-treasurer for the Culinary Union. “We call on allies and workers to stand in solidarity in a national boycott until Donald Trump, the ‘Great Negotiator,’ comes to the table.”
In addition, allegations have surfaced this week related to a 2012 class action lawsuit brought by employees of Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.
As local news Fox 11 reported, the suit was over “working conditions, such as not being paid for missed meals and breaks.” Among the allegations in the suit, as the Los Angeles Times noted, were that Trump only wanted “good-looking” women working there, and ones that didn’t meet that standard should be fired.
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In a declaration reported by SFGate.com, “Donald Trump always wanted good-looking women working at the club,” said Sue Kwiatkowski, a restaurant manager at the club until 2009. “I know this because one time he took me aside and said, ‘I want you to get some good looking hostesses here. People like to see good looking people when they come in.’ “
Perhaps gaining more corporate media attention this week was the fact that Trump, “heedless of the possible fallout with women and Latino voters,” as NPR put it, has continued attacks on former Miss Universe Alicia Machado.
Machado wrote on her Instagram account that it “is not the first time the candidate insists on discrediting someone or insists on demoralizing women, minorities, and people of certain religions through his hateful campaign. This is definitely one of his most frightful characteristics. Through his attacks, he’s attempting to distract from his campaign’s real problems and his inability to be the leader of this great country.”
Meanwhile, a Suffolk University poll released Friday shows rival Hillary Clinton with a 6-point edge over Trump—44 percent to 38 percent—among voters in the battleground state of Nevada. That’s an increase from the 2-point lead she had over Trump in the August poll.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday urged the U.S. Department of Justice to block the proposed AT&T-Time Warner merger, citing the widespread warnings against creating such media empires.
In a letter to the department’s antitrust division, Sanders wrote, “This proposed merger is just the latest effort to shrink our media landscape, stifle competition and diversity of content, and provide consumers with less while charging them more.”
“This merger represents a gross concentration of power that runs counter to the public good and should be blocked,” he said.
News of the potential $85.4 billion acquisition emerged over the weekend, and media watchdogs and democracy groups like Free Press and Common Cause immediately issued warnings against it and urged federal regulators to reject it.
Opponents noted that previous mega-mergers have offset costs of the deals at their customers’ expense, notably by charging more for services and implementing data caps, among other measures. And by consolidating a significant amount of media power—Time Warner owns CNN, HBO, and Warner Brothers, among other properties—the merger could discriminate against competitors and harm media diversity.
“Further entrenching monopoly harms innovation and drives up prices for consumers,” Common Cause special adviser Michael Copps said on Monday.
Free Press policy director Matt Wood also cautioned, “Big mergers like this inevitably mean higher prices for real people, to pay down the money borrowed to finance these deals and their golden parachutes.”
Sanders’ letter continued, “The diversity of programing would be further diminished by truncating the relationship of content and distribution. When one giant company owns both the content and the means of distribution, there is a clear disincentive to provide additional choices to consumers.”
“The media and telecommunications landscape is changing. It is important that public policy concerns guide these changes, so that we may preserve our democratic discourse and open competitive markets for speech and commerce,” he said.
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Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will be serving as a key cyber security adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, the transition team announced on Thursday, which could pose yet more conflicts of interest for the incoming administration.
The Trump loyalist, who had been on the shortlist for secretary of state, “will be sharing his expertise and insight as a trusted friend concerning private sector cyber security problems and emerging solutions developing in the private sector,” the Trump team said, which could include arranging meetings with corporate executives to discuss cyber issues in the private sector.
Despite the appointment—which comes with no title—Giuliani has said he will not resign from his role as chair of the global cyber security practice at Greenberg Traurig, nor from his post of CEO of Giuliani Partners, an international security consulting firm, where he works directly for cyber-related clients.
“The idea here,” Giuliani explained on “Fox & Friends” Thursday morning, “is to bring together corporate leaders and their technological people. The president will meet with them on an ongoing basis, as well as anyone else in the administration… I’ll coordinate the whole thing.”
This forum, Giuliani noted, will include foreign firms, including some from Israel, which he said has “tremendous cyberdefense research.”
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However, in an interview with Politico published Thursday, Giuliani “acknowledged that he might have business ties with some of the people he connects to Trump, and that he might be discussing government and private issues with some people,” the outlet reported.
This arrangement, Politico notes, creates “a potential conflict of interest that won’t be subject to federal ethics laws,” because as cyber security adviser, “Giuliani is a volunteer, not a government employee.”
Such a conflict is nothing new for the Trump administration. Outside of the incoming president’s egregious business conflicts, many potential members of his cabinet—and “shadow cabinet”—also bring significant corporate ties.
Specifically, Politico points out that Giuliani’s “arrangement resembles that of activist investor Carl Icahn, who will advise Trump on deregulation, which could directly affect stocks he owns. But since he won’t be a government employee, Icahn will bypass the usual ethical disclosures, divestitures and other safeguards.”
The announcement that Trump will be tapping the private sector for help with matters such as hacking and information security comes amid an increasingly bitter stand-off between the president-elect and the intelligence community, which he has accused of leaking false information akin to “Nazi Germany.”
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Global specialty materials company Eastman has collaborated with
materials innovator DuPont Biomaterials to launch a new sustainable fabric
collection. It brings together Eastman Naia cellulosic fibers and DuPont
Sorona fibers to offer sustainable, biobased performance fabrics for
comfortable everyday wear.
“With Naia, we are committed to building a more sustainable fashion
industry in collaboration with industry partners. We are very excited to be
working with the Sorona team to launch a collection of wonderful fabrics
that are a great choice for womenswear fashion. More and more, designers
are looking for sustainable fabric choices. And this sustainable fabric
collection with biobased, renewable materials showcases that fashion can
come without any compromise on beauty, quality or comfort,” commented Ruth
Farrell, global marketing director of textiles for Eastman, in a press
release.
Eastman’s Naia cellulosic fibres are made with responsibly sourced wood
from sustainably managed pine and eucalyptus forests and plantations. They
are produced in a safe, closed-loop process where solvents are recycled
back into the system for reuse. Naia fibres have a low tree-to-fiber
environmental footprint and a third-party-reviewed life-cycle assessment
compliant with ISO 14044. Naia is also certified as biodegradable in
freshwater and soil environments and is compostable in industrial settings,
having received TÜV Austria’s “OK biodegradable” and “OK compost”
conformity marks.
Fiber inventor DuPont, known for groundbreaking fibers such as nylon,
Lycra, Kevlar and rayon, made its Sorona brand from 37 percent renewable
plant-based ingredients. It is a USDA certified biobased product and
received Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certification. According to the company, the
high-performing fibers made with Sorona polymer are currently used in
various apparel applications, including athleisure and athletic wear,
insulation, swimwear, outerwear, suiting, faux fur and more.
”We believe collaboration is the only way we will deliver on our
promises to the textile industry. Our collaboration with Eastman’s Naia
branded fibers will allow more apparel brands the opportunity to address
tomorrow’s challenges through renewably sourced fiber materials without
compromising performance and value. Sustainable fashion is the future, and
this new collection is a great example of how you can create stunning
designs while caring for our planet,” said Renee Henze, global marketing
director at DuPont Biomaterials.
While Eastman’s Naia cellulosic staple fiber debuted at Première Vision
Paris in February, the new sustainable fabric collection by Eastman and
DuPont was available for visitors at Intertextile Shanghai in September and
for brands at the Première Vision marketplace site.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) has reportedly raised more than $100 million for the first nine months of 2017, marking its largest fundraising haul over the first three quarters of a nonelection year.
An RNC official said in a statement to McClatchy that the total shows that “Americans of all backgrounds” approve of the job being done by President Trump in his first year in the White House.
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“This month’s numbers show once again that Americans of all backgrounds approve of the direction our country is headed under Republican leadership,” RNC Finance Chairman Steve Wynn said. “We are grateful to our generous donors who allow us to continue to expand our Republican majorities.”
The party raised $10.4 million in September, bringing its total to $104.4 million for the first three quarters of 2017. Those numbers are in sharp contrast to numbers released by Democrats, who had raised just $46.3 million by the end of August. The DNC has yet to release its September fundraising numbers.
Trump himself took credit for the surge in small-dollar donations, which made up 98 percent of the RNC’s donations, in a tweet last week.
“The RNC is taking in far more $’s than the Dems, and much of it by my wonderful small donors,” Trump tweeted.
…contributions. The RNC is taking in far more $’s than the Dems, and much of it by my wonderful small donors. I am working hard for them!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2017
In another statement to the news service, RNC Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel said the donations would allow Republicans an “uninterrupted” presence in key battleground states such as Virginia.
“Our record-breaking fundraising has been fueled by grassroots enthusiasm for President Trump and the Republican Party,” McDaniel said. “The overwhelming support has enabled the RNC to have a virtually uninterrupted presence in key states like Virginia since 2013.”
The private research firm behind a dossier that included incendiary allegations about President Trump revealed in a statement Wednesday that it paid $168,000 for a former British spy’s work assembling the documents.
According to a report by Reuters, opposition research firm Fusion GPS told Congress that it paid former MI6 officer Christopher Steele’s company, Orbis Business Intelligence, $168,000 in 2016.
The money from Fusion GPS came from $1.02 million it had received from the Perkins Coie law firm, which represented the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonWhite House accuses Biden of pushing ‘conspiracy theories’ with Trump election claim Biden courts younger voters — who have been a weakness Trayvon Martin’s mother Sybrina Fulton qualifies to run for county commissioner in Florida MORE’s presidential campaign.
The Washington Post first reported last week that Clinton’s campaign and the DNC funded the dossier.
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The transaction passed through Democratic lawyer Marc Elias of Perkins Coie. Elias contracted the work out to Fusion GPS, which had the connection to Steele.
While none of the principals have denied that the Clinton campaign and DNC funded the dossier through payments to Perkins Coie, everyone involved is claiming they did not know about the project.
Five U.S. lawmakers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), on Thursday published an open letter (pdf) urging President Barack Obama to order an environmental and cultural review of the Dakota Access Pipeline before construction can continue, calling it an imperative measure for Indigenous rights and the climate.
“We are writing to respectfully request that you direct the Army Corps of Engineers to require a full environmental impact statement for the Lake Oahe crossing of the Dakota Access Pipeline that includes meaningful tribal consultation,” the letter reads. In addition to Sanders, it was signed by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Edward Markey (D-Mass.).
“Over the past several weeks, hundreds of Native American tribes have mobilized in unprecedented solidarity to draw attention to the pipeline’s encroachment on sacred lands. Nationally, there has been a groundswell of opposition to the project,” the letter continues. “The pipeline’s construction is not only a violation of tribal treaty rights, but has the potential to cause more damage to sacred land. Until there has been full and meaningful tribal consultation, all pipeline permits and easements should be revoked or denied.”
The lawmakers sent the missive after a federal appeals court on Sunday denied a request to halt construction, and the pipeline company Energy Transfer Partners vowed to continue building despite a request for a temporary moratorium from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Water protectors and tribal leaders have continually promised to keep protesting the pipeline; on Wednesday, activists from oil-impacted communities rallied outside the company’s offices in Houston, Texas to “demand a clean world for future generations in our struggle to survive.”
In addition to the risks the pipeline poses to Native American communities, Thursday’s letter continues, it also threatens the stability of the climate.
“All fossil fuels infrastructure projects of this significance must be subjected to a test to consider the long term climate impacts. As such, there must be a serious consideration of the full potential climate impacts of this pipeline prior to the Army Corps of Engineers approving any permits or easements for the Dakota Access pipeline,” the senators wrote, citing research by Oil Change International that found the pipeline would lock in 101.4 million metric tons of carbon per year—the equivalent of roughly 30 new coal plants.
“If there is one profound lesson that Indigenous people have taught us, it is that all of us as human beings are part of nature,” the letter concludes. “We will not survive if we continue to destroy nature.”
The letter is published in full below.
—
Dear President Obama:
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We are writing to respectfully request that you direct the Army Corps of Engineers to require a full environmental impact statement for the Lake Oahe crossing of the Dakota Access Pipeline that includes meaningful tribal consultation. In light of the decision of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to reject the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s request for a temporary halt to construction, the project’s current permits should be suspended and all construction stopped until a complete environmental and cultural review has been completed for the entire project.
We applaud your administration taking action to deny the authorization of construction on Army Corps-owned land and under Lake Oahe pending a review of prior decisions under the National Environmental Policy Act and government-to-government consultation with the tribes. In addition, we appreciate the administration’s decision to reassess the way the federal government incorporates tribal concerns regarding permitting decisions more broadly. This is a longstanding problem, and these efforts must bring about long overdue, meaningful change.
Unfortunately, the pipeline company, Energy Transfer Partners, is committed to completing construction, despite a request from the U.S. Department of Justice for a temporary halt to construction around Lake Oahe.
Over the past several weeks, hundreds of Native American tribes have mobilized in unprecedented solidarity to draw attention to the pipeline’s encroachment on sacred lands. Nationally, there has been a groundswell of opposition to the project. The pipeline’s construction is not only a violation of tribal treaty rights, but has the potential to cause more damage to sacred land. Until there has been full and meaningful tribal consultation, all pipeline permits and easements should be revoked or denied.
In addition, not unlike the Keystone XL pipeline, the Dakota Access will have a significant impact on our climate. All fossil fuels infrastructure projects of this significance must be subjected to a test to consider the long term climate impacts. As such, there must be a serious consideration of the full potential climate impacts of this pipeline prior to the Army Corps of Engineers approving any permits or easements for the Dakota Access pipeline. According to Oil Change International, the Dakota Access pipeline would have the same impact on the planet as adding 21.4 million more cars to our roads, or 30 new coal plants.
We support the tribes along the pipeline route in their fight against the Dakota Access pipeline project. It is imperative that the Corps’ permitting process be transparent and include public notice and participation, formal and meaningful tribal consultation, and adequate environmental review. Until that occurs, construction of this project must be halted.
If there is one profound lesson that indigenous people have taught us, it is that all of us as human beings are part of nature. We will not survive if we continue to destroy nature.
Thank you for your consideration of this important matter.