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COLUMBUS, Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown Friday will call on Democrats to refocus their efforts to woo back working- and middle-class voters by using an inclusive form of economic populism to appeal to those economically squeezed by modernization and the increasing reliance on independent contractors by employers.

In a speech Friday morning at Ohio State University, Brown will outline his plan, saying work is something that unites us all. All work has dignity and denouncing President Donald Trumps form of populism, according to excerpts provided to BuzzFeed News.

In his speech Brown will look to blur traditional racial and class distinctions, insisting the same sort of issues that impact traditional Democratic working-class constituencies also impact white or white-collar voters. The value of work isnt a black issue or a white issue. Its not a blue-collar issue or a white-collar issue. Its not a liberal or conservative issue, Brown will insist, according to the transcript.

Significantly, the Ohio Democrat will take direct aim at Trumps divisive form of populist nationalism, arguing populism is for the people not these people or those people, but all people. True populism is not about who it excludes, but who it embraces.

The speech will also include a host of specific legislative proposals, ranging from traditional Democratic mainstays like increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour to new rules forcing companies that rely heavily on independent contractors to pay their payroll taxes. Independent contractors are at the heart of the so-called gig economy, and large corporations like Uber rely heavily on them much to the chagrin of labor unions and many workers who believe that allows companies to skirt overtime and benefit rules.

Brown is already facing one challenger for his seat in next years election State Treasurer Josh Mandel and his speech and legislative agenda sets a clear, populist tone for his upcoming re-election campaign.

But Brown could have his sights set on even loftier goals: Hillary Clinton considered tapping Brown as her running mate a decision which, in retrospect, could have helped her defend states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

More importantly for Brown, however, is the fact that numerous Democratic and Republican operatives including several close to Trumps world see Browns labor street cred and populist underpinnings as a potentially strong weapon against the president come 2020.

The rest is here:
A Democrat Is Calling On His Party To Win Back Voters With A Populist Agenda - BuzzFeed News

A top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee warned Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, against marking up any Obamacare-related legislation without giving committee members and the public ample time to read it first.

"Any attempt to force a vote on a bill that strips healthcare from millions of Americans without transparent discussion or even a cost estimate represents a total miscarriage of justice," Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett wrote Brady in a letter made public Friday. "Do not jam this bill down Americans' throats. Robust and transparent deliberation is crucial, especially when the lives and well-being of so many American families are at stakewithout it, democracy will crumble."

Doggett was responding to rumors that the panel which has partial jurisdiction over reconfiguring how Americans receive health insurancewill begin marking up a bill next week. However, Brady has neither introduced a bill nor scheduled a session for considering it.

Democrats are fuming that Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee discussed draft legislation with Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., in the Capitol Thursday while they were not permitted to join.

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Republicans and their aides point out that there is nothing unusual about one side getting input from its own members before finalizing and introducing a bill.

House Republican leaders have been saying for months that they want to pass the first stage of repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act before Congress recesses for Easter in April.

Link:
Democrat Lloyd Doggett warns Brady against scheduling Obamacare repeal markup next week - Washington Examiner

Sen. Chuck Schumer today joined several Democratic lawmakers in calling for Attorney General Jeff Sessions' resignation amid reports that he met with the Russian ambassador to the United States on two occasions, despite denying during his confirmation hearing that he had made contact with Russian officials.

"The information reported last night makes it clear beyond the shadow of a doubt that Attorney General Sessions cannot possibly lead an investigation into Russian interference in our elections or come anywhere near it," the New York senator and minority leader said of revelations that Sessions had contact with the Russians last year.

He added: "There cannot be even the scintilla of doubt about the impartiality and fairness of the attorney general, the top law enforcement official of the land. After this, it's clear Attorney General Sessions does not meet that test. Because the Department of Justice should be above reproach, for the good of the country, Attorney General Sessions should resign.

Schumers comments echoed those of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi Wednesday evening who said, "Jeff Sessions lied under oath during his confirmation hearing before the Senate. Under penalty of perjury, he told the Senate Judiciary Committee, 'I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians. We now know that statement is false."

For his part, Sessions said in a statement Wednesday night that, "I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."

Other Democratic lawmakers have called for Sessions to resign, while some say he should at least recuse himself from overseeing any investigation into the question of alleged ties between Trump officials and Russians during and after the 2016 election.

Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, and Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., have called for his resignation, as has Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.

"It is inconceivable that even after Michael Flynn was fired for concealing his conversations with the Russians that Attorney General Sessions would keep his own conversations secret for several more weeks," said Cummings, who is the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "Attorney General Sessions should resign immediately."

According to a Justice Department official, Sessions' meetings with ambassadors were in his capacity as a senator on the Armed Services Committee and about relations between the two countries.

But one of the Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. McCaskill, said that she has never held a call or a meeting with the Russian ambassador.

"Ive been on the Senate Armed Services Committee for 10 years, and in that time, have had no call from, or meeting with, the Russian ambassador," McCaskill said in a statement released this morning. "Ever. Thats because ambassadors call members of Foreign Relations Committee. Attorney General Sessions should resign.

But in light of tweets that surfaced today showing McCaskill had, in fact, met with the ambassador in a group setting, the senator clarified that she has never had a one-on-one meeting with Kislyak, as Sessions did.

She responded on Twitter about her old tweets, arguing that 4 years ago went to meeting of many Senators about international adoptions. Russian Amb also attended, and, Again, As senior member of Armed Serv, never received call or request from Russian Amb for meeting. Never met one on one w/him.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said on Twitter that the attorney general should resign "if it turns out Sessions lied under oath."

Many other lawmakers have stopped short of calling for resignation, but argued that the attorney general should recuse himself from leading Justice Department investigations over the alleged links between Russian officials and Trump officials, as well as Russia's purported involvement in influencing the 2016 election.

Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., said in a statement that "the attorney general cannot, in good faith, oversee an investigation at the Department of Justice and the FBI of the Trump-Russia connection, and he must recuse himself immediately.

Likewise, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., tweeted that Sessions "should recuse himself from investigations into Russia."

Top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., also called for Sessions to recuse himself and said that President Trump should appoint a special prosecutor to investigate alleged Russian interference into the election.

Republican reactions have been mixed. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Oversight Committee chair Jason Chaffetz both said that Sessions should recuse himself, while other Republicans are defending Sessions.

With the notion that there was something somehow wrong with a senior senator on the armed services committee meeting with a foreign ambassador -- I think its a nothing burger," Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said this morning on MSNBC.

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Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer wants Sessions to resign for the 'good of the country' - ABC News

Common Dreams

225000 Demand Schumer Drop 'Phony Democrat' Manchin from Party Leadership Common Dreams But progressive leaders like CREDO senior campaign manager Heidi Hess say the West Virginia senator is "a phony Democrat who often votes or acts in conflict with the core values of the Democratic party." "Manchin has failed time and time again to fight ... Manchin moving closer to Trump instead of following Democrats' road to resistanceWashington Times Just one Senate Democrat applauded Trump's call to make America greatVox Left threatens Trump-friendly senators with primary challengesThe Hill all 18 news articles »

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225000 Demand Schumer Drop 'Phony Democrat' Manchin from Party Leadership - Common Dreams

WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives intelligence committee will investigate allegations of collusion between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia, the top Democrat on the panel said on Wednesday.

"We have reached a written agreement, the minority and the majority in the House intelligence committee, that we will investigate allegations of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign," Democratic Representative Adam Schiff said on MSNBC.

U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded that Russia tried to help Trump win the White House by discrediting Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her party through cyber attacks. President Barack Obama, a Democrat, expelled Russian diplomats in retaliation in December.

Trump has denied any of his associates had contacts with Moscow before last year's election and dismissed the controversy as a "scam" perpetrated by a hostile news media.

Moscow has denied the accusations.

Representative Devin Nunes, the Republican chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said on Monday U.S. intelligence officials had not yet presented the panel with evidence of contacts between Trump campaign staff and Russian intelligence.

Nunes was a member of Trump's presidential transition team.

The committee, which has been probing contacts between Trump's campaign and Russia, said in a statement that Nunes and Schiff had agreed on a classified six-page document laying out the scope of their investigation.

It said one question they would seek to answer was whether the Russian actions included "links between Russia and individuals associated with political campaigns or any other U.S. Persons." The statement did not refer specifically to the Trump campaign.

Earlier on Wednesday, Nunes told Fox News that the committee would receive a briefing from intelligence officials on Thursday.

Trump fired his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, last month for misleading Vice President Mike Pence over his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the United States.

(Reporting by Washington Newsroom; Editing by Eric Beech and Leslie Adler)

WASHINGTON The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday to confirm retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in President Donald Trump's Cabinet.

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump's nominee to run the department overseeing the U.S. government's health programs for the elderly and disabled won the backing of a Senate committee on Thursday, paving the way for a full vote in the Senate.

WASHINGTON A bipartisan pair of lawmakers on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee are planning to introduce a bill that aims to entice private corporations to give their employees larger equity stakes in their companies and promote longer-term investing.

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House panel to probe possible Russia-Trump campaign collusion: Democrat - Reuters