A Squad Summary of today
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Holding a vote allowed by President Trump’s recent executive order, a northern Minnesota county on Tuesday night made the decision to ban the resettlement of refugees within its boundaries, becoming the first in the state and the second in the nation to do so.
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archived 10 Jan 2020 23:21:46 UTC
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After an executive order by President Trump made it possible, a northern Minnesota county on Tuesday night opted to ban the resettlement of refugees within its boundaries, becoming the first in the state and the second in the nation to do so.
The vote at a crowded public meeting in Beltrami County, a sparsely inhabited area surrounding Red Lake, drew condemnation from many Minnesota Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar.
The move was viewed by many as a reaction to spiking crime in the state since large numbers of Somali refugees began arriving, according to reports. But supporters say it was simply an exercise of their rights, as facilitated by the president.
"President Trump empowered counties to have a voice in the decision-making process for the federal refugee resettlement program," state Rep. Matt Grossell, a Republican, told the Duluth News Tribune. "Tonight, Beltrami County exercised that option."
"President Trump empowered counties to have a voice in the decision-making process for the federal refugee resettlement program. Tonight, Beltrami County exercised that option." — Minnesota state Rep. Matt Grossell, Republican
In a Twitter message Wednesday, Omar – who immigrated to Minnesota from Somalia as a teenager – saw the vote differently.
“Over 20 years ago, the state of Minnesota welcomed my family with open arms. I never would’ve had the opportunities that led me to Congress had I been rejected,” Omar wrote. “What Beltrami County is doing is denying refugees a chance at a better life.”
Omar fled Somalia with her family near the beginning of the country's civil war in 1991 and lived in a Kenyan refugee camp for four years until immigrating to the U.S. in 1995.
The Trump administration announced in November that resettlement agencies must get written consent from state and local officials in any jurisdiction where they want to help resettle refugees beyond June 2020. The order says the agencies were not working closely enough with local officials on resettling refugees and his administration acted to respect communities that believe they do not have the jobs or other resources to be able to take in refugees. Refugees have the right to move anywhere in the United States after their initial resettlement, but at their own expense.
The vote drew applause from many of the crowd of more than 150 people present at the board chambers in Bemidji, Minn., which is about 140 miles northwest of Duluth. Native Minnesotans blame the influx of Somalis for spikes in crime.
Minnesota statistics released in July 2018 showed that incidents of violent crime including murder decreased compared to 2017, but rape and involuntary sex trafficking rose to the highest rate seen in almost a quarter-century, The Duluth News Tribune reported, citing the state Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. The report did not give a definitive reason for the spike.
In February, the FBI said Somalis in Minnesota remained vulnerable to recruitment by terrorists.
FBI numbers showed 45 Somalis in the Minneapolis area left to join the ranks of either the Somalia-based Islamic insurgency al-Shabab or the Iraq- and Syria-based ISIS combined. And as of 2018, a dozen more had been arrested with the intention of leaving to support ISIS. Both numbers are far higher than those who allegedly left or attempted to leave the country to join terrorist groups abroad from other areas in the U.S. where Muslim refugees have been resettled.
Meanwhile, others argue Trump’s executive order only empowers Islamophobes who put Somalis and other Muslim refugees at risk of violent attacks.
Three men from Illinois were arrested and charged last March in connection with the August 2017 bombing of a mosque in a Minneapolis suburb. The Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minn., was bombed before morning prayers, causing extensive damage although no one was injured or killed.
The nation's first county to ban refugee resettlement was Appomattox County, Va., where commissioners voted 4-1 on Dec. 17 to deny consent to resettlement. The Beltrami County vote came a night after commissioners in Burleigh County in neighboring North Dakota voted 3-2 to limit refugee resettlement to 25 people in 2020.
At least 41 states have publicly agreed to accept refugees, but a governor’s decision doesn’t preclude local officials from refusing to give their consent. For instance, the Democratic mayor of Springfield, Mass., has refused to give written consent for refugees to be resettled in the city.
The Trump administration capped the number of refugee admissions at 18,000 for the current fiscal year.
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has already topped the fundraising charts in her short time in Congress, but the liberal darling won’t donate a cent of her millions to Democrats' House campaign organization -- a position that has rankled some of her colleagues, Fox News has learned.
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archived 10 Jan 2020 19:46:53 UTC
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, was slammed by the animal rights organization PETA on Thursday for not being a good role model.
The New York Democrat could have influenced her millions of social media followers by adopting a rescue mutt from a shelter, PETA argued, but instead the congresswoman took home a purebred French bulldog.
“AOC had a chance to set a compassionate, responsible example in the face of the homeless-animal crisis, but instead, she apparently inadvertently contributed to the problem,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a letter. “PETA is urging her supporters not to follow her lead in this case and to stick up for the underdog by choosing to give a lovable mutt a new lease on life.”
The freshman “Squad” member had introduced her yet-to-be named Frenchie in an Instagram story earlier in the week. She never confirmed the breed or if she purchased her pet from a breeder.
“He doesn’t have a name yet!” Ocasio-Cortez said in one Instagram story post, asking for suggestions. “We are thinking something Star Trek related or Bronx/Queens/NYC/social good related.”
But compared to followers who fawned over the animal’s cuteness and tweeted Ocasio-Cortez images of their own dog, Newkirk was less than amused.
“French bulldogs are inbred in order to produce “breed-specific traits,” which cause health problems that many people who will be influenced by your purchase won’t be able to afford to address,” her letter continued.
“With the millions of homeless dogs out there, you apparently chose to buy a purebred puppy instead of adopting one from an animal shelter. Right this minute, on Petfinder alone, there are more than 110,000 dogs – including French bulldogs – who need homes. Animal shelters are bursting at the seams with hundreds of thousands more, many of whom will be “put to sleep” for lack of a home.
The letter urges the freshman congresswoman to visit any NYC Animal Care & Control center and adopt a shelter dog to give her new French Bull Dog a companion while she’s away traveling the country or busy working on Capitol Hill. PETA said it was also sending Ocasio-Cortez a copy of the book “Dogs Hate Crates” to explain “why crate training is not humane or effective.”
“We’re asking that you please be a part of the solution to ending the cat- and dog-overpopulation crisis and consider setting the right example for your millions of followers by adopting a mutt and encouraging them to do the same,” Newkirk concludes.
Ocasio-Cortez has documented on her Instagram story how she was crate-training her dog.
“He’s good about his crate when we are right next to it, but he’s such a velcro pup that at night he whimpers if he’s not right next to us. We’re working on it!” she wrote.
“We are working really hard to socialize the pup to new environments, different people, travel, etc.,” she said, adding, “He’s doing great so far!”
She also responded to one Twitter user who asked if she would be bringing the puppy to work on Capitol Hill with her.
“The goal is to train him to be a community pup,” Ocasio-Cortez said, sharing a photo of the dog asleep in her lap. “Ideally we want to work to the point where he can enjoy town halls, be an Amtrak pup, come to the office, etc. But first, naps.”
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has already topped the fundraising charts in her short time in Congress, but the liberal darling won’t donate a cent of her millions to Democrats' House campaign organization -- a position that has rankled some of her colleagues, Fox News has learned.
www.foxnews.com
archived 10 Jan 2020 19:46:53 UTC
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EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has already topped the fundraising charts in her short time in Congress, but the liberal darling won’t donate a cent of her millions to Democrats' House campaign organization -- a position that has rankled some of her colleagues, Fox News has learned.
Instead, Ocasio-Cortez is building her own fundraising operation for fellow progressive candidates to bypass the official Democratic Party infrastructure. Already, she's actively funding primary challengers to oust certain Democratic colleagues.
“Sometimes the question comes: 'Do you want to be in a majority or do you want to be in the minority?'” Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., told Fox News, when asked about AOC's stance. “And do you want to be part of a team?"
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chairwoman Cheri Bustos downplayed Ocasio-Cortez’s decision to shun dues and pointed to the record-breaking fundraising numbers the committee has notched without her.
“That's always up to individual members so I guess I don't think about it one way or another,” Bustos said when asked about Ocasio-Cortez's stance. “We’re raising record amounts of money from our members.”
The DCCC declined to comment further on the matter of Ocasio-Cortez and her dues.
Another Democrat was less diplomatic: “Deadbeat Cortez should pay her bills,” complained the Democratic source. “She’s always whining about people paying their fair share and here she is leaving her friends with the bill.”
Their gripe is that Ocasio-Cortez hasn’t given any money to the DCCC, the party arm with the sole job of electing Democrats to the House. Records obtained by Fox News show the New York Democrat has failed to pay any of her $250,000 in “dues” to the DCCC.
Her goose egg of a contribution is no accident. Ocasio-Cortez says she has beef with the DCCC and she'll withhold her money in protest of how the Democratic Party won't back insurgent progressive primary candidates, like herself, in the name of protecting incumbents.
“For me personally, I’m not paying D-trip dues,” said Ocasio-Cortez, using slang for the DCCC and citing a “myriad of reasons.”
“One, I don’t agree with the policy around blacklisting groups that help progressive candidates,” she said, referring to a DCCC effort to sideline vendors who assist challengers to members of Congress. “I think we need to evolve as a party and make room for that.”
'For me personally, I’m not paying D-trip dues.' — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Instead, Ocasio-Cortez is ramping up her donor base with the help of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., whom she endorsed for president in October, to funnel money directly to progressive candidates.
Through social media posts and email solicitations, she's activated her donor network to support her hand-picked candidates. In 2019 alone, she funneled more than $300,000 to candidates she’s endorsed by hosting online fundraising campaigns for them, according to records obtained by Fox News.
“I want to help frontline members by putting that money straight into their pocket,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Bucking the Democratic Party line, Ocasio-Cortez led online fundraisers for at least two progressives who are trying to defeat sitting Democratic members of Congress.
She solicited nearly $18,000 in donations for Marie Newman, who is taking on current Illinois Rep. Dan Lipinski, a conservative Democrat who opposes abortion. She also gave Newman an additional $5,000 directly from her campaign account. Ocasio-Cortez also raised nearly $35,000 in online donations for progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros, who is trying to defeat Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas.
“Certainly, these are new times,” Cuellar said of his colleague's effort to oust him, “which is something that we certainly don't agree with.”
Cuellar said Democrats should be focused on the larger goal of beating Republicans and retaining the House majority. “To have people try to purify the caucus because they don't agree with them – 100 percent, I certainly don't agree with that.”
“Hopefully, we will start to get away from this circular firing squad," said Cuellar, who paid all his dues to the DCCC, records show.
Ocasio-Cortez views herself as a vehicle to help candidates who wouldn’t ordinarily have access to DCCC resources and “to really bring in people from outside the traditional political process,” she said.
But she does support some colleagues: “I’m happy to support some incumbents, but it’s not just a blanket rule."
In one online appeal, Ocasio-Cortez urged her supporters to back “bold swing district Democrats” by donating to Rep. Mike Levin from California, Rep. Jahana Hayes of Connecticut, and Rep. Katie Hill (before she resigned from Congress amid a throuple sex scandal with a staffer).
AOC's supporters pitched in $38,000 for Levin and $35,500 Hayes -- both frontline DCCC members in competitive districts.
'Deadbeat Cortez should pay her bills.' — Democratic source
Other beneficiaries of her online campaigns include Sanders (nearly $36,000) and fellow liberal squad members Reps. Rashida Tlaib (about $10,000), Ilhan Omar ($29,000) and Ayanna Pressley ($3,800).
Ocasio-Cortez gained nationwide fame when the former bartender from the Bronx upset powerful 10-term incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., in the 2018 primary. Now at just 30 years old, the Democratic socialist has turned into a fundraising juggernaut.
In the third quarter of 2019, she raised $1.42 million -- more than any other House Democrat. She beat out top Democrats like Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam Schiff by rejecting corporate PAC dollars and traditional high-dollar fundraisers and instead relying on grassroots small-dollar fans who are rooting for the young pol and her unapologetic fight for progressive ideals, like the Green New Deal.
Her fourth-quarter fundraising is even bigger. Her campaign nearly hit its goal of raising $2 million in the final three months of 2019 from online donors from every state. That amount puts her 2019 fundraising at more than $5 million, a groundbreaking amount for the youngest female ever elected to Congress.
She’s benefited from joint online fundraising campaigns with Sanders that’s expanded her fundraising base and her commitments for reoccurring monthly contributions. His online appeals have raised more than $140,000 for Ocasio-Cortez, while she’s raised about $36,000 for Sanders by appealing to her supporters, according to her campaign.
But with all that money comes certain expectations. Her decision not to spread the wealth around has some colleagues griping that she benefits from being in the House majority without giving back to the whole team.
Rep. Meeks suggested that not paying DCCC dues and actively trying to oust certain Democratic colleagues shows a lack of respect for the party and fellow reps who have to answer to constituents more conservative than her Bronx and Queens base.
"DCCC dues are about supporting others because you want to be part of the team," he said. "The goal is to be in the majority. And the goal is, when you are on a team I would think, to respect individuals whose districts are different than yours."
Meeks said he can't recall another time when sitting Democrats were actively trying to defeat other Democrats in Congress. Ocasio-Cortez is funding Cisneros in Texas and Newman in Illinois, who also has gotten financial backing from Rep. Ro Khanna of California.
“I would hope in the spirit of teamwork that we don't see any further incursions with other members," Meeks said. "I would hope at least it stops there."
Meeks also raised concerns about the Ocasio-Cortez alliance with Sanders: "His revolution is to not just to stop the Republicans, it’s to blow up the Democratic Party."
Meeks said there's room in the party for AOC and her cohorts but appealed to them to invest in the movement. "Even if you want to change it, you’ve got to invest in it. That concerns me," he said.
Ocasio-Cortez isn’t the only member who has yet to pay dues, but she’s unique in that she’s openly thumbing her nose at the DCCC out of principle. Last March, Ocasio-Cortez urged supporters to stop donating directly to the DCCC over its rule to "blacklist" vendors, calling it “extremely divisive and harmful to the party.”
Justice Democrats and other allied progressive groups have created an alternative vendor network to help out their liberal firebrand challengers – through the website dcccblacklist.com.
The DCCC assigned the 237 House Democrats (including four delegates) a certain amount of dues they must pay to help the party win elections in November. It's a routine practice for both Democrats and Republican House members. Amounts vary based on the level of leadership and committee assignments.
More high-profile members have to pony up more money to the DCCC, with Pelosi having the highest dues at $1 million. Newer members or less prolific fundraisers have the smallest goals of $150,000 for the two-year cycle.
The October final dues report shows that Pelosi already contributed $900,000 of her $1 million goal. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer paid $600,000 of his $900,000 dues and Rep. James Clyburn paid $350,000 of his $800,000. DCCC Chair Bustos already paid all of her $575,000 in dues.
Of the 237 members with dues, 97 of them -- or more than 40 percent -- hadn’t paid anything as of October, records obtained by Fox News show. Party insiders say more members likely ponied up in the months since and they caution there’s still plenty of time for other members to pay their 2020 dues. They expect nearly all the membership to contribute in the coming months, especially after some had to stockpile money for competitive primaries.
Former DCCC chairwoman Rep. Nita Lowey said, in her experience, most members pay their dues – “some more than others.”
She said the DCCC is most effective when members work as a team.
"If you are a Democrat and you’re here, you should be part of the effort,” Lowey said from the Capitol. “But [Ocasio-Cortez] may not feel that way. Each to their own.”
Asked if Ocasio-Cortez’s refusal to pay up is a threat to the party, Lowey said, “if more people say they don’t want to pay, of course.”
But the DCCC touted raising an off-year record of $110 million through November of 2019, more than all of 2017.
And House Democrats outraised their GOP counterpart, the NRCC, every month through November by $33 million, according to the DCCC.
The purpose of the dues is to retain the House majority by helping support candidates in competitive races Democrats will need to win in November. The dues helped the DCCC back a diverse crop of 92 swing district candidates in 2018.
“The DCCC’s primary purpose is to protect and expand this Democratic caucus which has made history for its diversity across racial, demographic, and socio-economic lines,” said DCCC spokesperson Robyn Patterson.
While backing primary challengers while in Congress was once considered taboo, Ocasio-Cortez says the competition is good for the party.
“We have to earn our keep every time," Ocasio-Cortez said. "I think we have to make our case every single time.”
Why are you, a member of Congress, unironically citing a Buzzfeed article? Did you forget the fake dossier they published?
