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Latino, African American and Asian American Democratic members of Congress said on Wednesday they plan to "fight together" against Trump administration policies that impact their communities.

The chairs of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) collectively known as the Tri-Caucus met Wednesday on Capitol Hill with the five Democratic senators of color as part of a strategy to bring Democratic minority legislators together as a bloc. They said this was an effective way to push back against any Trump administration policies or GOP proposals they consider detrimental to the Asian American, Black, and Hispanic communities.

"We want to show our constituents that there is real power in our voting bloc," said CHC chair Michelle Lujn Grisham. "They can't get anything passed nor govern effectively without us. This is also way to ensure that we continue to do our jobs and are more proactive."

CBC Chair Rep. Cedric Richmond D-LA) told reporters these bicameral coalitions send a very important message not only to the Washington, D.C. crowd but to the country.

"I hope that they see these communities have come together in lock step, to fight for issues that are going to better these communities because we're all tied together," said Rep. Raymond.

All together there are 127 voting members in the Tri-Caucus.

First on their radar screen are the current budget negotiations and the looming possibility of a government shutdown, should no agreement be reached by Friday. The legislators said they intend to make their voices heard on that issue and beyond.

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"We're doing this to come together and make sure that we have a strong voice especially considering what is coming down with the Trump administration, said CAPAC chair Judy Chu (D-CA).

"This president's budget is unacceptable. It's reverse Robin Hood, robbing the poor to help the rich, and we're going to use our unity as a force against it," said Rep. Chu.

Sen. Robert Menndez (D-NJ) said that while collectively the Tri-Caucus and the Democratic senators are in the minority, it is still a significant voting bloc to contend with, not only for Republicans but also the Democratic leadership in both the House and Senate.

"In the house, the Tri-Caucus membership is a significant bloc, so any time the Republican leadership needs votes they will have to respond to the Tri-Caucus. That's a powerful opportunity," said Menndez.

He also said it's an opportunity "to send a message to our own leadership about the positions that we have that we are solid on and therefore if you need our votes to move forward, you're going to have to with the policy issues that are important to our community."

Rep. Richmond said the members won't allow themselves to be "pitted one against the other" and quoted Booker T. Washington, who said "we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand."

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See the original post:
Democrat Latino, Black, Asian American Legislators Vow to Fight 'Together' Against Trump - NBCNews.com

House Speaker Paul Ryan arrives to speak with the media following a conference meeting on Capitol Hill on Wednesday

House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday rejected a push from Democrats to include funding for a set of Affordable Care Act payments in a must-pass spending bill as negotiations on the measure continued.

Without passage of a spending bill, the government will partially shut down Saturday morning. It would be the first shutdown since 2013.

Asked about the Democratic demand during a press conference, Ryan replied: Were not doing that.

He said the administration would have to do that separately in a later appropriations bill.

Despite this stance, Ryan said that a bill to fund the government was really close.

The administration, OMB, along with our appropriators are down to the last final things. I think were making really good progress, Ryan said.

The Wall Street Journal reported that some Hill Democrats dont view the cost-sharing payments which pay back insurers for the increased cost of certain plans on the ACAs marketplaces as something that has to be in the spending bill in order for them to support it.

While it might not cause a government shutdown, not including the ACA payments in the bill puts more uncertainty on the future of Obamacare.

If health insurers are denied the payments, they would face revenue shortfalls, according to the respected non-profit Kaiser Family Foundation, and would need to raise the cost of health plans.

Big premium increases 19% on average or higher, the Kaiser Family Foundation estimated could, in turn, cause ACA enrollment to decline, threatening a key measure of the health care laws success.

Read the rest here:
Ryan rejects Democrat demand to put Obamacare funding in must-pass bill to keep government running - MarketWatch

The top Democrat on the House banking panelon Wednesday saida Republican banking bill could lead to greater concentration in the U.S. financial industry, already dominated by behemoths like JPMorgan Chase (JPM) , Bank of America (BAC) , Citigroup (C) , Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) .

"Does this open up the door to more acquisitions?" asked Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee at a hearing on a package of Republican banking bills. "Instead of five or six big banks maybe we'll have three in this country."

At issue is a provision in the bills, known as the Financial Choice Act of 2017, thatwould exempt banks from any limits on "mergers, consolidations, or acquisitions of assets or control" if they increase their capital buffers to meet a 10% leverage ratio requirement.

The provision is part of a much broader package of bills thatwould give banks relief from a substantial majority of the Dodd-Frank Act -- legislation written in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

Waters suggested the bill provides big banks with relief without the oversight and regulation included in the Dodd-Frank Act.

Testifying at the hearing, Michael Barr, a former assistant secretary for financial institutions at the U.S. Treasury between 2009 and 2010 in the Obama administration, said that the measure eases restrictions on the largest firms to engage in M&A "irrespective" of concerns about financial stability.

Republicans countered by pointing outthat the legislative package, sponsored by House Financial Services Committee chiefJeb Hensarling, R-Texas, is opposed by some executives at the biggest banks, who argue that they have already set up a system to handle the new rules, while changes would breed uncertainty.

"The little guys are getting crushed by Dodd-Frank," said Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wisc. "The big titans, the big boys, they like it."

Continue reading here:
Top Democrat: GOP Bill Would Make Big Banks Bigger - TheStreet.com

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KAWEEWIT KAEWJINDA

ASSOCIATED PRESS | April 26, 2017, 7:15AM

| Updated 3 hours ago.

BANGKOK A man in Thailand upset with his wife hanged their 11-month-old daughter on Facebook Live and then killed himself, police said.

Police Col. Jirasak Siemsak said officers found the bodies of 20-year-old Wuttisan Wongtalay and the baby in an abandoned hotel in Phuket province after receiving reports of the video.

"He felt neglected by his wife because they had been fighting so he took his 11-month-old daughter to the site of the crime which is the abandoned hotel," Jirasak said Tuesday. "Then we found the bodies hanging off the hotel."

The man made the broadcast Monday evening, and the video was made inaccessible by Facebook late Tuesday afternoon.

"The mother of the child was crying and was very sad," Jirasak said. "I am also very sad. It is a personal dispute and they were still very young."

The incident came less than two weeks after a man in Cleveland, Ohio, posted on Facebook footage of himself shooting a man to death. A series of other offensive broadcasts, including sexual assaults, has caused Facebook to seek ways to block such videos as quickly as possible.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said last week that his company has "a lot of work" to do on the problem.

The chief investigator in the Phuket case, Lt. Jula-at Suwannin, said police have yet to question Wuttisan's 20-year-old widow because they are giving her time to grieve.

In Thailand, the potential for problems with Facebook Live became an issue last May when local media used the platform to broadcast live video of a university lecturer who was locked in a six-hour standoff with police who were seeking him in the shooting deaths of two colleagues. After negotiations for his surrender failed, he fatally shot himself with a handgun, a moment that was shown live.

___

This story has been corrected to show that Cleveland shooting wasn't on Facebook Live.

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Original post:
Thai father kills baby, self on Facebook Live - Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., on Wednesday displayed the controversial painting that was removed from the Capitol complex after complaints that it depicted police officers as pigs.

The painting was displayed for weeks before Republicans complained and asked that it be taken down by the Architect of the Capitol. He blamed Republicans for "acts of theft" after GOP lawmakers took it down a few times in protest.

Clay complained on the floor that the painting was removed in an act of "politically motivated, unconstitutional retroactive censorship."

He was joined on the floor by other Democrats, including Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., who called the painting a "pretty amazing" piece of art.

The painting was removed in February after a three-member panel decided the painting violated the rules of the Capitol. Among those rules is one saying the paintings cannot generate political controversy.

The panel was comprised of House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

The painting was the winner of a congressional art competition in Clay's district, and was displayed for a time along with other student works of art.

Clay filed a lawsuit against the decision.

Excerpt from:
Democrat displays 'cops as pigs' painting on the House floor - Washington Examiner