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Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) told Rachel Maddow on her MSNBC show Thursday night that no Democrat will vote to confirm Betsy DeVos, the Michigan billionaire tapped by President Trump to be his education secretary. He also said Democrats were actively looking for Republicans to vote against her.

Her supporters praise her for being a longtime advocate of school choice, but her critics say her education advocacy is aimed at privatizing the countrys public education system.

DeVos appeared before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions last week and fumbled badly, displaying a lack of understanding of key education issues under tough questioning from Democrats.

[Six astonishing things Betsy DeVos said and refused to say at her confirmation hearing]

Since then, opposition to her nomination has been growing. Tens of thousands of people have called or written to senators urging them to vote against her, more than 1 million people have signed petitions, and hundreds of alumni and students from her alma mater, Calvin College, wrote a letter to the legislators saying she was unqualified to be education secretary.

Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump's nominee for education secretary, appeared before senators at her confirmation hearing on Jan. 17, but some of her responses created more questions than they answered. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

DeVos has received expressions of support, too, notably from former Florida governor Jeb Bush. Her supporters are also pointing to public backing from Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS) Superintendent Teresa Weatherall Neal.WOOD-TV reported on emails and correspondence it had obtained on the endorsement. It said in part:

The correspondence shows plans for a trip to DeVos confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., paid for by DeVos nonprofit, American Federation for Children. It also included talking points provided by the organization.

The leader of the GRPS teachers union said the emails and correspondence raise questions about whether the superintendent is too closely tied to DeVos.

[Hundreds of students, alumni from DeVoss Christian college oppose her nomination as education secretary]

The committee is scheduled to vote on her nomination on Tuesday, Jan. 31, a week later than originally scheduled. Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) moved the date after Democrats demanded more time to ask her questions after her confirmation hearing performance. He declined a Democratic request for a second hearing.

Franken told Maddow that Senate Democrats held a recent retreat to talk about strategy for dealing with Trumps Cabinet nominees, though he declined to say what it was. He did say that DeVos was one of the nominations that would receive strong Democratic opposition. He did not specifically say whether he meant on the education committee or the Senate floor, but it seemed as if he was talking about a confirmation vote in the entire Senate.

You talk about DeVos, he said. She is someone that theres not going to be one Democratic vote for her, and were trying to find Republicans who will vote against her because shes an ideologue who knows next to nothing about education policy as we demonstrated, or she demonstrated really, in her confirmation hearing.

He also said: Theres going to be a lot of these nominees who were going to do everything we can to defeat. As you know, these nominees need 51 votes and we have 48, so we need some Republicans. You will see a number of these nominees who virtually all of us [Democrats] will oppose. Im sure thats true of DeVos.

Will any Republicans oppose her? That remains to be seen. No Republican senator has come out publicly against her, and some have promised to vote for her.

During the confirmation hearing, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told DeVos that she had some issues with her strong vision of expanding school choice because it is difficult in rural areas to provide choices other than traditional public schools. Murkowski is one of five Republican senators on the committee to whom DeVos and family members have given donations; the other four are Sens. Richard Burr, Tim Scott, Bill Cassidy and Todd Young.

[Trumps education nominee and her family members are major donors to the senators who will vote on her confirmation]

It is not clear where Maines senior senator, Republican Susan Collins, who is a member of the committee, stands on the DeVos nomination. The Portland Press Herald reported that her office has said she would vote in support of Elaine Chao for transportation secretary, as well as Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama for attorney general and former senator Dan Coats of Indiana as director of national intelligence. But it did not say how she would vote on DeVos.

Maines other senator, Angus King (I), has said he will vote against DeVos.

So did Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). The Senate minority leader released a blistering statement saying he would proudly vote against DeVos:

The Presidents decision to ask Betsy DeVos to run the Department of Education should offend every single American man, woman, and child who has benefitted from the public education system in this country. Public education has lifted millions out of poverty, has put millions in good paying jobs, and has been the launching pad for people who went on to cure disease and to create inventions that have changed our society for the better.

Betsy DeVos would single-handedly decimate our public education system if she were confirmed. Her plan to privatize education would deprive students from a good public education, while helping students from wealthy families get another leg up. It would deprive teachers of a decent salary, and it would make it harder for parents to get a good education for their kids.

Betsy DeVos would be just another member of the swamp cabinet that is full of billionaires and bankers. The fact that she refuses to divest from companies that would line her familys pocket as education secretary, while crushing students with additional debt is all the proof one needs to know that she is in this for herself, and not for students.

Schumers comment that she would single-handedly decimate was hyperbolic, as no education secretary can do that all by themselves. That would require help from Congress, the president and state legislatures.

Here are the members of the committee who will vote on her nomination. Chairman Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) Ranking Member Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.)

Majority: Sen. Michael B. Enzi (R-Wyo.) Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.)

Minority Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D-Colo.) Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) Sen. Christopher S. Murphy (D-Conn.) Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.)

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Sen. Franken: No Democrat will vote for Betsy DeVos as education secretary and we're seeking Republicans to ... - Washington Post

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A member of the White Plains city council threw her name in the political ring for mayor.

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Milagros Lecuona will be the first woman to run for mayor.(Photo: White Plains)

WHITE PLAINS - A member of the White Plains Common Council says she plans to challenge the incumbent for the office of White Plainsmayor.

Milagros Lecuona, a Democrat, said she's going to run for the top-elected city position. Her official announcement will be 2 p.m. Sunday outside the Westchester County Democrats headquarters at 170 E.Post Road.

Lecuona has served on the Common Council since 2008.

She has more than 30 years of professional architecture and urban planning experience and has spent the last 15 years working primarily on education and cultural facilities. She's a former assistant adjunct professor at the Columbia UniversityGraduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation masters program and a current assistant adjunct professor at SUNY Empire State College.

Lecuona's spokesperson say she will wait until Sunday to talk about why she's running for mayor.

The current mayor, Tom Roach, also a Democrat, didn't return a call to see if he's running for re-election.

Twitter:@ChrisEberhart2

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White Plains Democrat to challenge incumbent mayor - The Journal News | LoHud.com

A top Democratic lawmaker in Maryland wants to ban counties and cities from increasing minimum wage in their individual jurisdictions, a proposal that is likely to pit progressive Democrats who have embraced a national push for a $15 hourly wage against the partys center- and right-leaning members.

Del. Derek E. Davis (D-Prince Georges), the chairman of the House Economic Matters Committee, has introduced a bill that would put the General Assembly in charge of setting minimum wage even for cities and counties.

Under the measure which is similar to laws in place in Oklahoma, Alabama, South Carolina, Texas and Missouri local governments could only set base pay for their own employees.

Davis said the bill would help improve the business climate in Maryland by making wage and benefit rules more predictable and consistent, noting that Montgomery and Prince Georges counties current have their own minimum-wage laws in place, and Baltimore considered a $15 base wage last summer.

Were not a collection of 24 individual fiefdoms, Davis said We have to work together as a state so we can attract and retain businesses, keep a healthy, strong economy, and not put our jobs at risk.

The legislation was met with fierce opposition from local lawmakers in Montgomery County, the states largest jurisdiction. They said the cost of living and job market is vastly different in the Washington suburbs than on the Eastern Shore or in Western Maryland, and each area should be able to set wages and benefits accordingly.

Last week, the Montgomery County Council approved a bill that would have made it the first jurisdiction in Maryland and the second in the region after Washington, D.C., to mandate a $15-per-hour base pay by 2020.

County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) vetoed that bill, saying he wanted a study of how it would impact the county economy. He also said he would want to implement a wage hike more slowly than the bill was proposing, and exempt small businesses and youth workers.

But Leggett said Thursday that the county should still control its own destiny on the issue. I have some differences with what the council approved but I still believe it should be a local matter, he said.

Montgomery County Council member Tom Hucker (D), a former member of the House of Delegates who voted for the county wage hike, called Daviss bill a power grab that he said was cooked up by business lobbyists in Annapolis.

Davis said his aim is to make Maryland more appealing to employers. Corporate leaders, he said, are consistently telling me one of Marylands problems is that theyre inconsistent, constantly changing rules, and it makes it hard to do business. What Im trying to do is have it more centralized.

The proposal drew immediate opposition from unions. Jaime Contreras, vice president of the 32BJ SEIU, which represents 18,000 local employees, said Thursday that the bill could cause working families to lose the little remaining faith they have in the Democratic lawmakers.

Also Thursday, the state Senate postponed a vote on whether to overturn Gov. Larry Hogans veto of a 2016 bill that would increase the amount of energy that Marylanders receive from solar and wind power.

Minority Whip Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Kent) asked Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) for a one-week delay, and Miller agreed. Hershey later told reporters that he and other members of the Republican caucus will use the time to try to sway some Democrats to vote against the override.

The bill requires the state to obtain 25 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. It passed the Senate last year with 31 votes, two more than the chamber needs to overturn a veto.

Hogan vetoed the measure, arguing that it would increase energy costs in a way that is equivalent to a tax hike. In the last several weeks, he has waged a battle with the Democratic-controlled legislature over the issue, calling the law a sunshine tax and encouraging residents to contact their legislators to oppose it.

We are talking with our colleagues, letting them know that we believe, and the governor believes, this is a tax, Hershey said. Were going to put up a fight on this tax We want to make sure they recognize what they are voting on.

The override vote is scheduled to be considered in the House on Tuesday.

Read more:
Md. Democrat wants to ban local governments from boosting minimum wage - Washington Post

Fort Worth Star Telegram (blog)

Tarrant Democrats should set example, work with the GOP Fort Worth Star Telegram (blog) Marc Veasey, the county's lone Democrat in Congress, confirmed my confidence with his reaction quoted in the recent Star-Telegram story discussing the reddest of the country's urban counties. I'm not saying we're going to win Tarrant County yet, he said. and more »

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Tarrant Democrats should set example, work with the GOP - Fort Worth Star Telegram (blog)

While growing up in Detroit as one of 12 children, I learned quite a few lessons. The most important of which was that no matter our differences, we were stronger when we stuck together. My siblings and I were and are a diverse group, all over the map politically, spiritually and culturally. And yet, despite our manifest differences, we have always been there for one another, in celebration as well as in sadness and tragedy.

I have tried to apply that very important lesson personally, professionally and politically. And, as a Democrat who is committed to looking out for the weakest among us, for preserving and protecting life from conception to natural death, I was saddened when I heard the news that organizers of the Womens March in Washington had chosen to sideline Democratic women like me who take a different approach to the life issue.

Those of us who are committed to preserving the dignity of every human life face our greatest challenge yet in the person of Donald Trump. His assault on that very dignity that we as Democrats claim to hold so dear, as well as his reliance on alternative facts, is deeply concerning. Now more than ever, we need each other. We need to stick together. Like my family, we may not all agree on everything, but we do agree on most things.

I and the other 23 million pro-life leaning Democrats nationwide are asking to not be kicked out of the tent. We have significant battles ahead of us, and we need each other in order to succeed. I implore you, please do not become the type of single-issue person that you criticize many Republicans of being. As Democrats, we preach tolerance and co-existence. Should that not extend to Democrats such as myself who believe the unborn to be the most vulnerable among us? If not, arent we as guilty of the same hypocrisy of which we accuse those on the other side of the aisle who claim for themselves the mantle of pro-life but who embrace a political ideology which is indifferent to the poor, minorities and immigrants?

My late father, a proud World War II veteran, school board president and lifelong Democrat, told me that he was a Democrat because that was the party which fought for the weakest and most vulnerable in society. I do not expect everyone in my party to share my exact views. But please allow me the freedom to have them. In return, I pledge to respect those who have their own particular views on any number of issues. This is how it should be. If we are to be successful in effectively resisting the current assault on our values, if we are to be successful at winning back those Democratic voters who abandoned us this past November, we have to challenge ourselves on what it means to be part of the Democratic family. We need to realize that we need each other despite our differences.

Lori K. Hamann lives in South Bend.

The rest is here:
Viewpoint: Make room for pro-life Democrats - South Bend Tribune