Politics

Political news from around America.

McCain trashes Trump for congratulating Putin on election win – just like Obama did in 2012

(National Sentinel) Never Trump: Frequent critic Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., lashed out at President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday after he congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin for his latest election victory. “An American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections. And by doing so with Vladimir Putin, President Trump…

The Weinstein Company Owes Money to Former Intern Malia Obama

*The list of creditors that The Weinstein Company owes money to has been released and along with a slew of celebrities, Malia Obama is mentioned in the 300-page document of folks who want the company to pay up. Some names on the list of creditors are not surprising: Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Dame Judi Dench… all…

OCP: Barnegat Mayor Caputo in Hot Water

BARNEGAT – Citing “improper touching,” an alleged assault and “an out of control, profanity-laden tirade and the threat of violence against another Committeeman,” Barnegat’s all-Republican Township committee censured one their own on Tuesday, casting a vote of no confidence against Mayor Frank Caputo, according to a written statement provided by a committee member. John Novak Frank…

Students’ guns are ‘none of your damn business,’ parents say

Angered by word of the disciplining of two Lacey High School students for a gun-related social media post, 200 parents, community members and other supporters of the Second Amendment on Monday let the Board of Education know they don’t want the district trampling on their rights or meddling in their home lives. “You guys are reaching…

More Money Murphy Proposes $242 Million Increase to NJ Transit

Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed $37.4 billion budget plows $242 million more into NJ Transit, but advocates said it was unclear if it would avoid a possible fare increase. Added funding for the agency’s operations would be in addition to $141 million allocated in the fiscal year 2018 budget for a total of $383 million for NJ…

Murphy’s Uber New Tax Increase Plan Includes Tax on Uber

Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled an ambitious progressive agenda Tuesday when he pulled back the curtain on his $37.4 billion state budget proposal. The spending plan is a $2.7 billion jump over the state’s last budget signed by former Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican. Murphy, a Democrat, wants to, among other things, fully fund schools and the…

Murphy Makes Good on Tax Increase Promises by Raising Sales Tax in New Jersey

Gov. Phil Murphy is set Tuesday to unveil his first state budget proposal that will include more than $1.5 billion in new revenue from taxes and closing loopholes, including a small spike in the state’s sale tax, NJ Advance Media has learned. The extra revenue would also come from a proposed millionaires tax, closures of corporate…

Murphy, other N.J. politicians make last pitch against Trump oil drilling proposal

WASHINGTON — Gov. Phil Murphy and the entire 14-member New Jersey congressional delegation stood in unison Friday in opposition to President Donald Trump’s proposal to open the Atlantic Coast to offshore oil drilling. In separate letters to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, the governor and the lawmakers again stated their concerns about the threat offshore drilling poses…

Florida Gov. Rick Scott Signs Measure Outlawing ‘Free Speech Zones’

Florida’s Republican Gov. Rick Scott signed an education bill Sunday with a provision eliminating “free speech zones” and protecting students’ First Amendment rights. Senate Bill 4, also known as “The Florida Excellence in Higher Education Act of 2018, expanded the state’s merit-based and need-based financial aid funding for its students. The bill also includes a clause…

Trump Wants to Make Schools Safe by Arming School Teachers

The White House on Sunday vowed to help provide “rigorous firearms training” to some schoolteachers and formally endorsed a bill to tighten the federal background checks system, but backed off President Trump’s earlier call to raise the minimum age to purchase some guns to 21 years old from 18 years old. Responding directly to last month’s…

7 Points a Virginia Lawmaker Made in a Speech on Guns That Went Viral

https://www.facebook.com/NickFreitasVA/videos/1575471789187997/

Nick Freitas, a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, gave a fiery speech last week defending the Second Amendment and its supporters. Freitas, a Republican elected in 2016 to represent Culpeper, Madison, and Orange counties, is a business consultant and former Green Beret who served two combat tours in Iraq. After asking permission to make…

If You’re Trying to Ban Guns, the Least You Could Do Is Learn the Basics

The Washington Post recently published an op-ed by writer Adam Weinstein in which he argues that Second Amendment advocates “use jargon to bully gun-control supporters.” “While debating the merits of various gun control proposals,” he contends, “Second Amendment enthusiasts often diminish, or outright dismiss their views if they use imprecise firearms terminology.” How dare Second Amendment…

10 Dumb Things Megyn Kelly Actually Said

Megyn Kelly’s current stint with NBC News has . From the moment it debuted last year, “Today with Megyn Kelly” has been met with groans and eyerolls from many viewers and those in the media — and the periodically aired “Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly” . While we can all acknowledge that speaking on a regular…

ICE’s Homan Says Sens. Harris, Feinstein ‘Don’t Want to Know the Facts’

Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Thomas Homan ripped Sens. Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) for canceling three meetings with him in two months, and claimed that “they don’t want to know the facts” because they “want to keep playing this political game.” Homan — speaking on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” –…

Teen Accused in Florida School Shooting Indicted on 17 Murder Counts

The teenager accused in the mass shooting at a U.S. high school three weeks ago was indicted Wednesday on 17 counts of premeditated murder and another 17 counts of attempted murder. Nikolas Cruz, 19, who was expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, last year, could face the death penalty in the case,…

‘California, We Have a Problem,’ Jeff Sessions Declares

Attorney General Jeff Sessions went to the belly of the beast Wednesday to announce his department’s legal action challenging California’s increasingly strident “sanctuary state” opposition to federal immigration law enforcement. Speaking to the California Peace Officers’ Association in Sacramento, Sessions said Congress, President Donald Trump and the American people want Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and…

Entertainment Industry Rape Not Just a Hollywood Problem…

A South Korean actress has accused award-winning film director Kim Ki-duk and a top actor of rape, as the country’s nascent #MeToo movement begins to spiral. The fresh allegations against Kim come after his presence at this year’s Berlin Film Festival caused controversy following a fine for physically assaulting a different actress. In the latest case…

Donald Trump’s Oscars Tweet Rattles Jimmy Kimmel

Jimmy Kimmel aimed so many barbs at President Donald Trump during Sunday night’s Academy Awards ceremony, you would think he’d want a bit of a break from that activity. Instead, Kimmel is continuing to center his comedy around the president. It seems the late-night host was a little shaken by criticizing the atrocious ratings of the…

Linda Sarsour arrested at Paul Ryan’s office

Muslim-American leaders have been arrested at the US Capitol while urging Congress to stand against President Donald Trump’s effort to end a programme that protects certain young immigrants. Omar Suleiman, Dawud Walid, Mujahid Fletcher, Talib Shareef and Nihad Awad of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Zahra Billoo, and Linda Sarsour advocated immigration reform before getting…

Rand Paul: It’s time to pass Audit the Fed

Despite overwhelming support from the American people for action, and a grassroots push that has led to multiple victories in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate has so far failed to follow the lead of our colleagues across the Capitol to Audit the Fed. So the Federal Reserve continues to largely dictate the terms of…

Legislator accuses Murphy of punishing GOP counties as powerless N.J. residents face second storm

By The Staff _ TRENTON, N.J. – As a second March nor’easter inches closer to New Jersey, and the lights are still off for thousands of residents in Hunterdon, Warren and Somerset counties, legislators are beginning to demand action from the Murphy Administration. Assemblyman Erik Peterson (R-Hunterdon) declared that Governor Phil Murphy’s initial failure to declare…

No Consensus on Cannabis Emerges from Marathon Assembly Hearing

A five-hour state Assembly hearing with dozens of experts for and against the legalization of marijuana resulted in little consensus Monday, with advocates pointing to social justice, state revenues for school construction and other projects, and efforts to mitigate drug cartels and black-market sales, while those against say rosy predictions have not panned out elsewhere. The…

Dem operative axed from Jersey City prisoner re-entry program

JERSEY CITY — Eugene McKnight, the Democratic political operative hired four years ago to work for Jim McGreevey’s prisoner re-entry program, has been fired after program officials learned he was taking monthly cash payments from ex-offenders he helped find jobs for, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. McKnight’s termination would be the second time…

N.J. congressman who backed Trump tax bill gets more outside help

WASHINGTON — The American Action Network, a nonprofit that keeps its donors secret, is up with a new television and digital ad campaign supporting Rep. Tom MacArthur for supporting the Republican tax bill signed by President Donald Trump. In all, AAN announced plans to spend $1 million on ads in 24 congressional districts after earlier spending…

Ledger Editorial on New Jersey Gun Control

Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-3rd Dist.) has posted a five-point plan to “make communities safer” on his website, measures that he believes will help solve the epidemic of gun massacres in our country while protecting the Second Amendment rights he holds sacred. Point 1 calls for stronger background checks, one that covers every gun purchase in America…

NRA Boycotters Get Spanked In Public Opinion Polls

Public disapproval ratings plunged for companies that severed their ties with the National Rifle Association (NRA) following the Parkland, Florida, massacre of 17 students and teachers, according to a poll released Wednesday by Morning Consult. Gunman Nikolas Cruz slaughtered his victims February 14 at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, prompting a flood of…

Americans Blame Gov’t More Than Lack of Gun Control for Mass Shootings

It’s the government’s fault, say many Americans. Specifically, more than half of Americans blame the government’s ineptitude and inaction more than they blame guns for recent mass shootings across the country, according to a poll released Tuesday by Rasmussen Reports. After suspected gunman Nikolas Cruz killed 17 victims at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in…