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Adult dies in Glen Carbon fire but 6 kids escape; baby rescued from SUV in lake, body found Belleville News-Democrat A neighbor's surveillance camera on Dogwood Lane captured the Nissan Armada SUV leaving the house at 15 Dogwood Lane in Glen Carbon, IL, and the flames reflecting on surfaces. Then the Campbell children are seen fleeing down the street. and more »

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Adult dies in Glen Carbon fire but 6 kids escape; baby rescued from SUV in lake, body found - Belleville News-Democrat

A top House Democrat argued Thursday that "even a fraction" of President Trump's proposed spending cuts would be "an absolute disaster" for the State Department.

"[T]he White House wants to cut nearly one-third of the international affairs budget next year," New York Rep. Eliot Engel, the top Foreign Affairs Committee Democrat, said Thursday morning. "That obviously would be a disaster. In fact, slashing our international engagement by even a fraction of that, at a time when we're facing serious challenges around the world, would be an absolute disaster."

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson disagrees, and has said recent State Department budgets have run at "historically high" and unsustainable levels. But Engel countered that rising threats around the world make this year a uniquely bad time to cut diplomatic spending, and urged lawmakers to assert their congressional power under the Constitution.

"Congress, as we all say many times, is a co-equal branch of government, and, according to the Constitution, we appropriate funds or you appropriate funds," he told a House Appropriations subcommittee panel. "We don't just have to roll over because any White House says so. This year, we're going to have to put that idea to the test."

Trump asked Congress to cut diplomatic funding by nearly one-third, a $10 billion reduction that would lower spending to levels below George W. Bush's budget requests at the end of his administration.

"What the President is asking the State Department to do is, I think, reflective of a couple of expectations," Tillerson said while traveling in Japan. "One is that as time goes by, there will be fewer military conflicts that the U.S. will be directly engaged in; and second, that as we become more effective in our aid programs, that we will also be attracting resources from other countries, allies, and other sources as well to contribute in our development aid and our disaster assistance."

Engel accused the Trump team of indulging an "isolationist" outlook.

"History has shown us what we can get by retreating into a defensive, isolationist crouch," he said. "If we aren't carrying the mantle of global leadership, make no mistake, someone else will pick it up, and we may not like what we see. Don't want Russia picking it up, don't want China picking it up, don't want any of these countries that don't share our values picking it up, and they will if we retreat."

Also from the Washington Examiner

Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., said Friday he supports the Trump administration's tougher new policy against North Korea, and said using pre-emptive military force could end up alleviating some of the threat posed by the hostile country.

Duffy said on CNN that North Korea's continued development of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles might not be a threat to the United States at the moment, but given a longer leash the regime might end up trying to kill Americans on American soil.

"There's a real threat from North Korea," Duffy said. "Not only do they have nuclear weapons, but they're advancing their ballistic missiles technology and if they advance it further, they can be a real threat to Europe and, if we take

03/17/17 8:08 AM

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Top House Democrat: Any State Department cuts 'an absolute disaster' - Washington Examiner

CHICAGO -- Another Democrat could be jumping in to the race for governor.

J.B. Pritzker is the billionaire businessman and philanthropist known for pushing tech growth and digital startups in Chicago.

According to the bio on his site, he also led the campaign to build the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. He's also the heir to Hyatt Hotels and related to other high-powered politicians in Washington.

Now, he's taking the next step in his potential run for governor, officially creating an exploratory committee. It means he filed the paperwork for the beginning stages of an official campaign.

In a statement, Pritzker said, As Ive traveled across Illinois, Ive listened to people express their deep concerns about the direction of our state. It is clear that having a governor whos unwilling to address our states challenges is having a real impact on peoples lives. I look forward to continuing my conversations with people across Illinois who are currently being forced to pay the price of failed leadership from Governor Rauner.

Pritzker said last month he was seriously considering a run, shortly after Chris Kennedy officially announced his candidacy. The Democratic businessman is also the son of the late senator Robert Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy.

Another Chicagoan, Ameya Pawar, announced early this year he's officially running. He's a city alderman running on the idea of a "new deal" for Illinois.

All three men adamantly oppose current Governor Bruce Rauner and his "turnaround agenda." But on his end, Rauner tweeted:

"Pritzker announced his gov exploratory committee - #IL deserves better. Show you're with us on #teamrauner instead."

The tweet then included a link to his fundraising page. That fundraising call could be because some consider Pritzker a symbol of big money: Forbes estimates his worth at $3.2 billion.

But Rauner is hardly strapped for cash. He's contributed millions to his own re-election campaign and has been valued at up to $1 billion.

Pritzker last ran for office in 1998, losing in the primary to Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. If he officially decides to run, he'll first have to win this Democratic primary over at least those two challengers.

The primary election is March 20, 2018.

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Another Democrat considering run for governor - IllinoisHomePage.net

The debate over Russias influence on American politics could be coming to a congressional race near you.

Harley Rouda, a Democrat challenging Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R) in Californias 48th district, is using Rohrabachers out-of-the-mainstream views on Russia as an early cudgel in the race.

A new Web ad set to run on Facebook promises Rouda will be tough on Russia and shows a clip of Rohrabacher saying Russia is not our enemy. The ad also describes Rohrabacher as one of the most entrenched members of Washingtons establishment.

Lets send a message that its time for career politicians to hit the road, Rouda tells the camera.

Rohrabacher, now in his 13th congressional term representing parts of Orange County, has won attention since the election for his desire to relax Washingtons posture toward Russia. Described in some news accounts as the Kremlins favorite congressman, he has defended President Trumps most controversial statements about Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a December interview with The Post, Rohrabacher predicted a softer attitude toward Russia would sweep Washington under Trump.

This is what a number of people are all about, he said. Now that we have a president who is going to try his best to bring a better, more cooperative relationship with Russia, I think youll find more people stepping up to the plate and trying to put out an open hand.

Its too early to say whether Rouda, a businessman with a real estate background who raised $100,000 in donations in 12 days, can gain much momentum in Orange County by hammering Rohrabacher on foreign policy.

Still, its telling to see Russia pop up in the early stages of a 2018 House race.

On his website, Rouda says he supports investigating any and all countries and individuals, including Russia that might have influenced the election and calls for an independent prosecutor to lead the probe.

Another Democrat challenging Rohrabacher, Boyd Roberts, has also vowed to make Russia an issue in his campaign.

Rohrabacher won his district by 16.6 percent in November, while Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton edged out Trump by 1.7 percent.

A request for comment from Rohrabachers campaign was not returned.

Watch the ad below:

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Democrat hits Republican congressman over ties to Russia - Washington Post

Im a registered Democrat. Ive always voted for the Democratic presidential candidate, well, except the two elections earlier in my life when I voted for a third-party candidate. As some say, the fruit doesnt fall far from the tree. My parents, Mack and Sue Mulkey, were progressive southern Democrats who fervently supported Tennessees liberal senators Al Gore, Sr. and Estes Kefauver in the 1950s and 60s. And throughout their lives they voted for every Democratic presidential candidate who ranfrom FDR to Barack Obama.

After the debacle of 2016, however, I was seriously considering changing my voter registration from Democrat to Unaffiliated. The reason? I believe that, over the past several decades, the Democratic establishment has tilted to the right of center and that theyve become more interested in serving their big donors than the working people of this nation. As I wrote in an earlier essay:

A 2014 Princeton study that reviewed more than twenty years of data (that includes measures of the key variables for 1,779 policy issues) indicates that political leaders of both major political parties listen to the economic elites, business interests, and people who can afford lobbyists (all entities that fund their re-election campaigns) rather than the citizens who elected them. According to the study:

The preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.

Given that theres no real path for a third party, we must work within the Democratic Party to reshape it from the bottom up and make it more representative of the working people of this nation.

We live in an oligarchy, a country run by the economic elite. No matter how popular a measure might be with the bottom ninety-percent of income earners in America, no matter which party holds the presidency or a majority in Congress, issues that are popular with the publicsuch as federally-funded healthcare insurance for all Americans, regulating the prices of life-saving drugs, job creation, and effectively dealing with global warming, among othersnever see the light of day. Our government apparently doesnt care what you think. Not unless you are willing to contribute excessive amounts of money to a politicians campaign, an action that is tantamount to legalized bribery.

Just as I was making plans to change from Democrat to Unaffiliated, I got wind of a group called Our Revolution, an offshoot of Bernie Sanders campaign for president that claimed they wanted to shift the Democratic Party toward more influence from the grassroots and less from the party professionals. The groups upcoming meeting was at Odyssey Community School, only a half-mile from my home, so I walked over to check it out. I anticipated twenty or thirty of the usual suspects, and a disorganized gathering that would come to little or nothing. To my surprise, there were more than 150 enthusiastic participants there, some of whom I knew, many I did not. The founder of the group, Matt Coffay, led a lively, well-organized session. Coffay, youthful, spirited, and well-informed, presented an inspiring and clear message: Given that theres no real path for a third party, we must work within the Democratic Party to reshape it from the bottom up and make it more representative of the working people of this nation. And we would begin at the precinct level of the Buncombe County Democratic Party.

As a result of press releases to local media, e-newsletters, texts, Facebook posts, and word of mouth, at the next meeting on February 18, it was standing room only for the meeting at Rainbow Community Center in west Asheville. Four hundred motivated people received practical information about how the state Democratic Party worked, the importance of attending the upcoming county precinct meetings, and logistical info regarding when and where the precinct meetings would take place. Then, the participants broke into their individual precincts to strategize for the February 25 precinct meetings.

Its exciting to realize that this grassroots activity is taking place in counties across North Carolina and in states across the nationCalifornia, Washington, Hawaii, Nebraska, Florida, and Michigan.

On February 25, many Democratic precincts across Buncombe County reported record turnouts, in some cases ten times the usual attendance. Rather than the predictable handful of graying activists, in some cases approximately eighty percent of attendees said it was their first time at a precinct meeting, and fifty percent of those said that they were there because of the efforts of Our Revolution Asheville. Many of the newcomers were elected precinct officers and chosen as delegates to the county convention on April 8. While deep concern about the fate of our nation during the Trump presidency drove the majority of the new participants into action, they would likely not have known their way into the process without Our Revolution.

Needless to say, I am re-energized and re-engaged in Democratic Party, despite the recent selection of an establishment favorite as DNC chair. Its exciting to realize that this grassroots activity is taking place in counties across North Carolina and in states across the nationCalifornia, Washington, Hawaii, Nebraska, Florida, and Michigan. I believe a new day is coming for the Democratic Party, a day in which we will eliminate corporate money, disavow the influence of the wealthy elite, retire the moribund party establishment, and again become the party of the people.

Photo: Getty Images

In an earlier incarnation, I was a hyper-masculine, self-indulgent, beer-swilling, hell-raising, pickup-truck-driving rebel (without much of a cause) who built log homes for a living. Having miraculously survived that era, I am now a self-aware, open-minded, curious, cat-loving writer living with my wife Shonnie Lavender, and daughter Gracelyn largely outside the dominant cultural paradigm in the eclectic little city of Asheville, North Carolina. Learn more about my writing at http://brucemulkey.com.

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A New Beginning for the Democratic Party? - The Good Men Project (blog)