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When the Progressives passed their Immigration Law in fall 2013, they handed the Cayman Islands a ticking time bomb of uncertainty and legal liability.

It is unclear whether the Progressives Cabinets belated tweaks to permanent residence regulations will be enough to defuse this dangerous piece of ordinance, or whether it will detonate and deconstruct Caymans entire immigration system. In the process the countrys Freedom of Information Law may suffer mortal collateral damage.

At the center of this scenario are a pair of rulings by Chief Justice Anthony Smellie.

In August 2015, the chief justice issued a landmark decision regarding two permanent residency applicants. In his ruling, the chief justice included two crucial criticisms that the PR points system (particularly the different weights given to different occupations) was problematic and arbitrary, and that the nearly 10 years the two PR applicants spent waiting for decisions amounted to unconscionably long delays.

Following the ruling, the government commissioned a consultants report from Ritch & Conolly law firm, which was completed in mid-2016, and presumably contains an analysis of weaknesses (and perhaps solutions to those weaknesses) in Caymans immigration system.

On the last day of February this year, the Progressives Cabinet made long-overdue changes to immigration regulations, with the promise that the backlog of 900-plus permanent residence applications would finally be cleared.

More than a month later, the Immigration Department has signaled it is about to begin considering PR applications, albeit with no apparent substantive action, no specific timeline and, most importantly, no actual decisions.

In the meantime, the deleterious effects of the Progressives PR freeze are rippling through the broader legal system and individuals personal lives.

In a Feb. 7 judgment in a family court case, Justice Richard Williams described the PR situation as a regrettable current state of affairs and a deficient part of the immigration process. In that case, the delays in processing PR applications from a couple who had since filed for separation introduced complexities in the division of assets and custody of their children.

Law firm HSM Chambers has described Cabinets changes as largely cosmetic tweaks that would give nearly all applicants more points on their applications but do not address more fundamental issues. HSM is leading two high-profile court challenges concerning the governments PR delays, which are still pending before the courts and are likely not be decided before the May 24 elections, but which represent real financial threats to Caymans public treasury.

The changes Cabinet made to the Immigration Law in February were probably informed by the 2016 report from Ritch & Conolly. In regard to statements about the Ritch Report, we employ qualifiers such as presumably and probably out of necessity because neither we, nor anyone else outside of Premier Alden McLaughlin and a small circle of officials, knows what the report actually says.

In late January, Chief Justice Smellie issued a ruling that accepted as an assumption the premiers argument that the Ritch Report constituted legally privileged advice, and then determined that, as such, it would not be appropriate to compel the government to turn the report over to Information Commissioner Jan Liebaers who had sought the document precisely in order to determine if it contained legal advice.

Mr. Liebaers is now seeking to challenge that ruling in the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal.

If the chief justices decision stands, in our view it opens up a gaping loophole in Caymans FOI Law. Any time a government minister wishes to keep a public record from going public, he could simply label it legal advice and refuse to allow anyone, even the information commissioner, from verifying if that assertion is correct.

Further, as we reported Friday, Mr. Liebaers said since the chief justices ruling was made public, a number of government entities have been attempting to deny the information commissioners office access to records, even without a ministerial certificate of exemption similar to the one issued by Premier McLaughlin.

Its too early to tell, but depending on various outcomes in court, Cayman could soon be welcoming many hundreds of new permanent residents, parting ways with millions of tax dollars in legal fees, and waving goodbye to FOI.

See the original post here:
EDITORIAL Permanent residence: The Progressives' explosive legacy - Cayman Compass

AMHERST Two Democratic congressmen urged a crowd of more than 1,000 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst on the evening of March 25 to organize in their communities to fight the Republican agenda on local, state and national levels and to do it now.

This isnt checkers its chess, said Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee. We cant wait until 2018 to start organizing these streets. Weve got to organize right here, right now.

Ellison was joined by Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, to speak on Progressive Politics in the Era of Trump at Bowker Auditorium. Ellison is co-chairman of the Progressive Caucus in Congress, of which McGovern is a member.

The congressmen called for people to invest time and money in things like education, infrastructure, healthcare, food and shelter for all, and reducing the defense budget.

In response to a question from the audience about an overwhelming number of action alerts for protests and rallies, Ellison suggested that community organizers make priority lists for the policies they need to represent the most, and to work with other community groups to be active for the rest.

Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something, Ellison said.

He stressed the importance of local and state elections for winning back the more than 900 seats Democrats have lost in state legislatures nationwide since 2008.

On another note, Ellison also underlined the importance of Democrats and progressives meeting somewhere in the middle to move forward against those policies of President Trumps administration that most Americans can disagree with, such as cutting care for the elderly.

Disunity can kill us, Ellison said. Look at the circular firing squad (Republicans) have created, shooting each other dead.

Referring to voters who are leaving the Democratic Party for third parties, Ellison suggested the DNC adjust itself to bring in the support of progressives.

I fear the energy wont dissipate, it will migrate, Ellison said.

McGovern talked about winning back the Obama-to-Trump voters, who voted for Trump because they wanted something different. Some of those voters regret their ballot choice, he said, and are even working to reverse Trumps policy decisions.

Even though there are 320 million people in America, they still feel alone sometimes, and thats what makes a good person vote for Trump, he said.

Ellison encouraged progressives who feel disenfranchised from the Democratic Party to get involved to make the change they want to see, and for Democrats inside the party to meet on things like higher minimum wages, environmental protection, and Medicaid and Medicare.

McGovern and Ellison also stressed the importance of quality education for all, and affordable higher education.

If you want to know why millennials are pissed, it may be all the student debt theyre humping, Ellison said.

The Trump administration is not likely to help, he said.

Trumps position on higher education is Trump University, Ellison said to a chuckling crowd.

Hes trying to tell you to be more worried about Muslims and Mexicans than higher education, he continued. If Sweden, Germany and France can have free higher education, the richest country in the history of the world can do it, too.

In regards to Trumps frequent attacks on the media and threats to the freedom of press, Ellison said these attacks go beyond journalists.

They are attacking (the peoples) right to know, he said.

McGovern, for his part, said Trump worries him.

I lose sleep at night thinking about these wacky and erratic behaviors, he said. This is not normal behavior.

He also questioned the White Houses ties to Russia.

I want to know if our president is a Manchurian candidate, he said. The only way were going to find that out is through an independent, non-partisan investigation.

The event was organized by Progressive Democrats of America, and moderated by UMass Democrats Casey Pease and UMass Progressives Julia Pelletier.

Morgan Hughes can be reached at mahughes@umass.edu.

See the rest here:
McGovern, Ellison urge progressives to organize now - Amherst Bulletin

Many progressives are suffering Trump exhaustion. The new administration has set the country back on so many fronts that it may not even be possible to follow all the breaking, and very bad, news. Every time you take some comfort in a successful lawsuit against the dark side, a whole new set of evils are rolled out.

Trump wants the Environmental Protection Agency to declare that carbon dioxide is not a dangerous greenhouse gas, and to stop threatening coal plants. And you might despair about that until your realize that what hed really like is to abolish the EPA entirely.

Trump is authorizing oil pipelines like crazy and you might despair about that until you realize that he wants to use hydraulic fracturing to fill them with oil, visiting enormous environmental degradation on a wide swathe of America.

Trump wants to cut virtually all federally supported research, scientific or in the humanities, including on diseases like cancer and on climate change, and you might be distressed about that until you realize that he and his cronies would probably like to substitute state propaganda for science entirely.

Trump wants to try to enlist the federal government in a fight against local attempts to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. And you might be depressed about that until you realize that he probably doesnt want a minimum wage at all.

Trump wants to abolish internet privacy and allow private corporations to sell your browser history without your knowledge to other corporations. And you might despair about that until you realize that his ultimate goal to to get rid of net neutrality and make sure we can only visit the web sites of a handful of huge media conglomerates if we want the site to load in less than half an hour.

Trump wants a ban on entrants from six Muslim countries and you might despair about that until you realize his real goal is a complete Muslim ban, followed by a complete Mexican ban.

Trump wants to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, which international law does not recognize as Israels capital (it is a matter for final status negotiations with the Palestinians) an action that will deeply anger and set against the U.S. 1.6 billion Muslims. And you might despair about that until you realize that Trump likely will throw the weight of the U.S. government behind the determined and concerted Israeli government project of putting hundreds of thousands more Israeli squatters on land in the West Bank stolen from Palestinian owners with the likely ultimate outcome of their being made completely homeless in their millions.

I havent even covered all the bases! There is hardly any progressive achievement of the past 40 years which is not on the chopping block. There is hardly any hard-won right of citizens or consumers which is not in danger of being taken away.

The one thing of which I am sure is that we must not allow ourselves to be enervated and exhausted by Trump Fatigue. We have all been working toward certain societal goals, and well just have to keep at it. Were being made to take a step back on many fronts. But lets quote a right-winger right back at the administration: Bad! Bad! What? Does he notgo back? Yes! But you misunderstand him when you complain about it. He goes back like every one who is about to make a great jump forward. Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil.

We will make our great jump forward, and will set records precisely because we have been backed up so far and have room to build up speed when we turn it around.

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Are Progressives Suffering From 'Trump Fatigue'? - Truthdig

posted at 1:21 pm on March 31, 2017 by John Sexton

It has been something of a mystery why Democrats are driving so hard toward a filibuster that seems destined to result in the GOP going nuclear but a report today at the Hill suggests an answer. Progressives think Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is bluffing.

Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee,called the premise of not filibustering Gorsuch to preserve the filibuster in the future absurd.

Going along with a right-wing justice so later on you have the right to block a right-wing justice is ridiculous, he said. Thats why were urging Democrats to filibuster.

Green added that said its not clear Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) actually has the votes to go nuclear.

It will be a challenge for McConnell to get the votes and we cant let him win something as important as a Supreme Court seat on a bluff, he said. Thats crazy.

Lets just review the facts here.On Tuesday, McConnell said flatly that Judge Neil Gorsuch would be confirmed to a seat on the Supreme Court next Friday. McConnell said this despite the fact that Democrats have organized a serious filibuster effort which, as of this morning, has 37 Senators saying they will oppose Gorsuch. Theres really only one way to interpret McConnells certitude that Gorsuch will be confirmed: Hes prepared to go nuclear. And the fact that Senators Orrin Hatch and Lindsay Grahamhave both indicated they are ready to push the button suggests McConnell already has some Senators eager to go along.

Ed touched on this yesterday but even Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill realizes this filibuster is likely to drive the GOP to go nuclear. Theyre not going to let us do that too long before they move it to 51 votes, McCaskill told a group of Democratic donors. She added, God forbid, Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies, or (Anthony) Kennedy retires or (Stephen) Breyer has a stroke or is no longer able to serve. Then were not talking about Scalia for Scalia, which is what Gorsuch is, were talking about Scalia for somebody on the court who shares our values.

Thats a pretty good summary of what could very well happen here before Trump leaves office. And yet, from the excerpt above, its clear progressives dont really believe it. As Adam Green says, they dont want to lose to McConnell on a bluff.

What I dont think Green and others realize is that efforts to paint Gorsuch as a right-wing extremist havealready failed. A plurality of Americans believes he should be confirmed despite the low approval ratings for the President who nominated him. This is a losing battle.

In addition, Democrats really would have an easier time making the case against a conservative judge who was replacing a progressive on the court. Most Americans cant even name a single sitting Justice. So this battle is not about Americans detailed knowledge of the Court and its decisions. Its much simpler than that. Most people are basing their judgment about these nominees on something like what sounds fair. It sounds fair to most Americans to replace Justice Scalia with a similarly conservativejudge. But it will sound less fair to replace, say, Justice Ginsburg with a very conservative judge.

But none of that will matter if the nuclear option has already blown away the filibuster. Democrats are taking a huge gamble here that McConnell is bluffing. Theres a very good chance it could backfire on them in a spectacular way.

Read more here:
Progressives think McConnell is bluffing on the nuclear option - Hot Air

Progressives to DSCC: Don't Fund Senate Dems Who Help Confirm Gorsuch Common Dreams WASHINGTON - Progressive leaders will deliver a petition Monday urging the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to publicly announce that it will not allocate campaign funds to any Democratic senator who votes for or strikes a deal to advance the ...

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Progressives to DSCC: Don't Fund Senate Dems Who Help Confirm Gorsuch - Common Dreams