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The King County prosecutor chose a novel way to show his unease about the Trump presidency. A longtime Republican, he joined the combative ACLU.

Folks are dealing with the roiling political times in different ways. The approach of King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg raised a few eyebrows recently.

After the election, my wife and I went and joined the ACLU! Satterberg told a crowd at a forum on police issues last month.

Satterberg is a Republican. His office was just made nonpartisan by voters in the last election. But he has run as a Republican throughout his career and has donated to GOP candidates, such as Dino Rossi in a run for governor.

Its not completely unheard of to have a Republican join the American Civil Liberties Union. But many in the party have longed viewed it as a progressive front group. Its informal nickname on the right has long been the anti-Christian Liberals Union.

These are not ordinary times, though.

Former Republican state party chairman Chris Vance also says he just signed up for the ACLU. Last weekend, while reading the text of the refugee and Muslim country travel executive order, he said he just couldnt take it anymore.

I went online and joined the ACLU right then, over my morning coffee, Vance says. I did it because they are like the tea party they know how to fight. It looks like they are going to be the main group filing lawsuits against Donald Trump, so Im in.

Prime example: It was the national ACLU that filed the first challenges to Trumps travel restrictions last weekend. The local chapter assisted with the case that resulted Friday in a Seattle judge temporarily halting the order nationwide.

Satterberg and Vance are part of the largest surge in ACLU membership in the local chapters 85-year history. The group had only 18,000 members statewide before the election. As of Friday, that had soared past 50,000.

Fifteen years ago the Washington state chapter had fewer than 10,000 members.

Two Republicans signing up hardly qualifies as a trend (journalism rules say you need three for that!). But it could be a glimmer of a notion that some of the needed checks and balances on the Trump administration might, eventually, come from within the GOP.

Satterberg said at the forum, held in January, that he joined out of concern the new administration might seek to roll back a number of local justice efforts. Included were reform of police use-of-force practices in Seattle, and alternative approaches to drug enforcement both initiatives pushed hard by the ACLU.

My hope is that on those issues of local concern, that the White House just leaves us alone, Satterberg said.

The ACLU was thrilled to learn of Satterberg joining, though it could be an uneasy relationship. The group periodically sues King County in First Amendment cases. The ACLU also has aided defendants in misconduct cases against King County prosecutors.

An ACLU spokesman said the group has no figures on the party affiliations of its new members. He said its a myth the group is solely liberal anyway.

Our client is the Bill of Rights, said Doug Honig. Many of our stances are neither right nor left per se, so that helps in Republicans becoming members.

Vance, who is one of the few Never Trump Republicans who have remained vocal since the election, said Satterberg is a classic moderate Republican the very type who might be troubled by Trumps norms-smashing overreach.

Satterberg just cares about the law and the Constitution and making it work in the criminal justice system, said Vance, who used to be on the Metropolitan King County Council. He should be worried about Trump.

It will be interesting to see if any broader Trump concern spreads in the GOP. Despite Fridays court victory in the travel-ban case, Trump skeptics have very little political clout in the national government. It will be difficult to check or mitigate his more extreme actions without some healthy skepticism also coming from within his own party.

Republicans dont have to go so far as to join the anti-Christian Liberals Union. Though if they want to, its never been more open for business.

The rest is here:
Trump drives two prominent state Republicans to the ACLU - The Seattle Times

Rep. Peter Roskam, of Wheaton, a six-term incumbent with a high profile and fundraising muscle in a reliably Republican district, would not be the target of the House Democrats' campaign arm in normal times.

But Roskam is alone among the state's seven Republican congressmen in that he won another term in November in a district that favored Hillary Clinton for the White House.

And the day after Roskam's staff canceled a meeting last week with 16 constituents concerned about the possible repeal of Obamacare under President Donald Trump, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee was ready to pounce.

"If he and his Republican colleagues continue to run scared from their constituents who want to have their voices heard, and share their stories about how the Affordable Care Act has improved their lives, the backlash is only going to grow stronger," said Tyler Law, the DCCC's national press secretary.

Roskam's situation illustrates the fine line some Republican lawmakers find themselves walking with a divisive party flag bearer in the White House. Roskam in the 2016 campaign mostly steered clear of Trump, whom he's never met but for whom he voted.

He said he agrees with Trump on replacing the ACA and overhauling the tax code, but disagrees with the bid to impose a 20 percent tariff on Mexican imports. On Trump's ban on immigrants and refugees from seven mostly Muslim nations, Roskam said the "implementation was bumpy" but he supports "the underlying theme."

Back home, he will clearly have to deal with Trump's actions. On Saturday, hundreds of protesters crowded the parking lot of the Palatine Township Republican Organization's headquarters, where Roskam appeared for the group's monthly meeting. The session had been open to the public but was closed because of high demand, said Aaron Del Mar, the group's chairman.

By Friday, 80 to 90 people had expressed interest in attending, so "preferential treatment" was given to the organization's members, whom Del Mar said were "excited" to hear Roskam discuss priorities of the new Congress.

"If it was at a public library or if it was a town hall, that would be one thing," Del Mar said. "This is a private office where we host Republican-only events. So if they're not Republicans, they're not getting in."

Protesters outside the headquarters Saturday said they were outraged that Roskam would not hold a public town hall meeting to hear from constituents concerned about his support of some of Trump's policies. The protesters stood in the bitter cold, their breath visible in the frosty air as they chanted "You work for us! You work for us!" and "Hey hey, ho ho, Peter Roskam's got to go." Their signs read "Town Hall for all!" and "Listen to your constituents, it's your job." Others signs showed images of Roskam's face transposed onto cartoons of Waldo, the character from the popular children's book series, "Where's Waldo?" The signs were a reference to Roskam's "elusive" behavior, protesters said.

"I had to see it for myself," said Gail Krahenvul, 52, of West Chicago. "That an elected official refuses to meet with his constituents."

She said she thought she'd be the only protester to show up, and was pleasantly surprised by the size of the crowd. "People care about the same issues I care about, even in this Republican district," she said.

Police officers stationed outside the headquarters monitored the crowd as it grew larger. About an hour into the protest, tow trucks arrived at the strip mall parking lot nearby to tow cars belonging to people who weren't business customers, which led to some protesters scrambling to move their cars.

When the meeting ended, Roskam did not exit the headquarters' front doors, which faced the crowd. He instead left from the back door, and as his car pulled away from behind the strip mall, the crowd raced across the parking lot to catch the car before it drove away.

"Coward!" one woman shrieked as she ran after the car, and a group of protesters followed her, echoing her cries.

Roskam is one of 20 Republicans in the U.S. House targeted to harness backlash against Republicans, the DCCC said last week. The DCCC said it was hiring a full-time organizer in Roskam's district in an effort called "March into '18."

The group envisions house parties, phone banks and social media disrupting Roskam's prospects. It plans Twitter ads aimed at people who took part in the Jan. 21 women's marches or rallies to back the Affordable Care Act, Law said.

Roskam's 6th Congressional District is mostly in DuPage County and spills into Cook, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties. He coasted to re-election in the fall with 59 percent of the vote, as did his GOP colleague, Rep. Randy Hultgren, of Plano.

Hultgren, swept into Congress in 2010's tea party wave and is now in his fourth term. He also has been hearing from constituents who favor the ACA. More than 60 people lined up Tuesday at his Campton Hills office but only two were admitted, according to a published report.

Hultgren, like Roskam a former state representative and senator, represents a district that favored Trump in November. Hultgren turned down a Tribune request to address what happened in his Campton Hills office and did not respond to written questions.

He issued a statement Friday evening saying: "We unfortunately are living in a time when emotions are high and reactions can be unpredictable."

It will likely take more than a Democratic staffer in the district to unseat Roskam. Since defeating future U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth by less than 3 percentage points in 2006, Roskam has won re-election by a landslide five times, including under redrawn boundaries that pushed his territory to the west and northwest.

Roskam said his call volume this year was not "particularly high, but it's high," and callers have expressed views for and against Trump.

Constituents were turned away from Wednesday's planned meeting with district staffers because the group wanted to bring a reporter into the session, he said, though the constituent who scheduled the meeting also said they were willing to meet without the journalist. The residents ended up with a meeting of their own and a reporter captured their pro-ACA testimonials.

"Shame on Peter Roskam," said Sandra Alexander, of Glen Ellyn, who set up the meeting.

Roskam said Thursday the constituent meeting would be rescheduled without the press. He also disputed complaints that he has been inaccessible, and blamed the DCCC for "moving stories" to suggest otherwise.

In 2016, he said, he had 74 meetings in his district office; had 30 roundtable table discussions; made 21 visits to schools and 107 visits to local hospitals, businesses and nonprofits; had 113 speaking engagements; and was at 147 other meetings, events and award presentations, he said.

"The DCCC is not new to me," he said. "They were very active in my 2006 and 2008 race, so it comes with the territory."

kskiba@tribpub.com

meltagouri@tribpub.com

Twitter @KatherineSkiba

Twitter @marwaeltagouri

The rest is here:
Roskam among Republicans on tightrope with constituents over Trump - Chicago Tribune

Related Coverage

BERKELEY (KRON)UC Berkeley Republicans say theyve been targeted since last Wednesdays riot on campus that shut down their event with guest speaker Milo Yiannopolous.

They say someone stole their email list and since then students have received ominous messages.

Berkeley College Republicans tell KRON4 a man on a bike rode by their table set up Thursday at Sproul Plaza, snatched their mailing list of students who have since been worried for their safety.

UC Berkeley students who are signed up to the Berkeley College Republican emailing list have received what they call ominous messages following Wednesday nights riots that cancelled an event with guest speaker Milo Yiannopolous.

They could be assaulted, said Bradley Devlin of the Berkeley College Republicans. They are in danger through this email list. If we dont stop it, we could see a drastic impact on campus safety.

Devlin says it started when Thursday a man on a bike road by Sproul Plaza and snatched their email list.

Since then a Twitter user with the handle Olaasm posted a letter that was sent to the list of students saying they plan to write an article to be published Monday with the students names.

Its completely disappointing that targeted harassment is still occurring even after they reached their goal of shutting down Milo and that they attack people who arent members of Berkeley College Republicans, said Berkeley College Republican member Naweed Tahmas.

About 1,000 Cal students are subscribed to the list but only about 50 are active members.

BCR members say campus police are investigating the matter. Police were unavailable for comment.

KRON4 reached out to the person behind the handle Olaasm with questions regarding their intent and have yet to hear back.

Read more here:
VIDEO: UC Berkeley Republicans targeted following riot on campus - KRON4.com

After a scheduled meeting in Wisconsin was cancelled, President Trump met with executives from Harley-Davidson in Washington, D.C on Feb. 2. (The Washington Post)

DETROIT President Trump welcomed executives of Harley-Davidson to the White House this week, alongside union representatives, and spent much of a camera spray reminiscing about how union members spurned their leaders to vote for him.

Sometimes your top people didnt support me, but the steelworkers supported me, right? Trump said. The workers supported us big league.

Twenty-four hours earlier,at a thinly attended news conference at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, Reps. Steve King (R-Iowa) and Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) reintroduced their right to work legislation to prevent private-sector unions from compelling members to pay dues. They were joined by Mark Mix of the National Right to Work Committee, which is working toward turning New Hampshire into aright to work state.

During the primary, Mix said, President Trump indicated that he would sign a right to work bill if it got to his desk.

In his first, hectic weeks in power, Trump has tried to capitalize on the support he won from union members with high-profile meetings and some direct actions, like the official end of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the go-ahead for new natural gas pipelines. Fissures between labor and the Democratic Party, which were papered over as long as they held the White House, have allowed Trump to deliver on promises that set unions against environmental groups and regulators.

But the presidents ambitions are running against the priorities of his party in Congress, and the advisers who have his ear. They may also be undercut by his nomination of Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court, an appointment that conservatives say would provide a 5-to-4 winning margin for a lawsuit that would use the First Amendment to end public sector unions ability to compel the payment of dues.

Im hopeful he does stand in the way, because the Republican are going to come after labor hot and heavy, said Greg Junemann, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. His chances of getting reelected are stronger if he does that. Even if it maybe alienates somebody he golfs with.

As Democrats rebuild their party, the collapse of the labor vote has stood out as 2016s hardest lesson. Trump won the presidency, in part, because of a surge among voters who belonged to unions especially white, male union members. In Michigan, where Barack Obama had defeated Mitt Romney in union households by 33 points, Clinton won that group by just 13 points.

Organizers in Michigan, and across the Rust Belt, saw several crises colliding at just the right moment for Trump. The 2016 election was the first since Republicans in Wisconsin and Michigan pushed through right-to-work laws. That not only began to weaken the political power of unions; save right-to-work was an argument that fell out of the unions persuasion playbook.

And Clinton was a uniquely hard sell for union members. In a speech here, at one of the Democratic National Committees future forums,United Steelworkers 1999 President Chuck Jones said that he watched members burn with enthusiasm for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), then drop out after the primary.

Trump was close to getting the majority of our 3,000 members, said Jones, whose Indianapolis-based union is best known for representing workers at a Carrier plant Trump cut a deal to partially save from outsourcing. What the hell was Hillary going to argue on? She couldnt argue anything. Her husband was the one who gave us NAFTA. We had a candidate that we couldnt get people excited about.

In conversations this week, labor organizers said Trump could do a few things to build on that support. He could persuade the Republican Congress to pass a free-spending infrastructure bill; he could end the Cadillac tax on labor health insurance plans; he could renegotiate or simply abandon the North American Free Trade Agreement; he could continue jawboning companies into keeping business in the United States; and he could continue allowing energy production to increase against the demands of green groups.

Weve been talking about changing NAFTA forever, and no one would ever do it, Teamsters President James Hoffa Jr. said on Fox News last month. It can be done, and, you know, I applaud the president by having, being so bold to say well just rip it up and negotiate a new one. Thats unheard of. But it really is what needs to be done.

Trump could, they say, wind all of that with the high-profile personal meetings hes been holding with union leaders. Two weeks ago, Laborers International Union of North America General President TerryOSullivan said that the Trump presidency felt like a new day for the working class, and the pipeline orders might be just a start to a new Era of Good Feelings.

President Trump has shown that it is not difficult to put country above politics and create an energy-independent America, OSullivan said. He has shown that he respects laborers who build our great nation, and that they will be abandoned no more.

But the rest of the Republican agenda cuts against what the Teamsters, LIUNA and every other union is asking for. OSullivan quickly condemned the national right to work bill, and other leading unions have warned against Sen. Jeff Flakes (R-Ariz.) legislation to suspend the Davis-Bacon Act requirements for higher wages on infrastructure projects.

Labor is also girding for a fight that the Trump transition team appears to have manhandled the nomination of Andy Puzder for labor secretary. The AFL-CIOs Richard Trumka has teamed up with Senate Democrats to pummel Puzders record, portraying him as an icon of worker wage theft, referring to him in a December call with voters as the classic example of a millionaire CEO who nickels and dimes workers while raking in profits for himself.

He has spoken out against increasing the minimum wage, Trumka said. He opposes President Obamas updated overtime rule. He is dismissive of workplace discrimination issues. He appears comfortable reinforcing harmful stereotypes about women, and I could go on.

Puzders nomination hearing has been delayed several times, amid concerns that he might pull out entirely. Thats saved Trump from a fight with organized labor during what is typically a presidential honeymoon period but it may have also pushed the fight to a time when Democrats are even readier to oppose.

While Congress and the administration present risks for Trumps outreach strategy, he hassucceeded beyond even Democrats fears in cleaving law enforcement unions from the broader labor movement. He secured campaign endorsements from the national Fraternal Order of Police, the unions representing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as well as Border Patrol agents, a number of local police unions across the country including those in Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver and Cleveland.

Union leaders say their members were impressed by Trumps law and order rhetoric, his promise to undo Obama cutbacks on their access to military surplus equipment and to pursue legislation to make it a federal crime to kill a police officer, and how accessible and engaging they found his staff many noting that they still communicate with former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and White House policy adviser Stephen Miller.

Unlike some other unions, we dont just endorse someone just because they have D listed after the end of their name, said Jerry Flynn, the executive director of the New England Police Benevolent Association, which was the first labor union to endorse Trump, throwing their support behind him in December 2015. The 5,000-member law enforcement union representing officers across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont sent letters detailing its endorsement process to every candidate in both the Democratic and Republican primaries.

Flynn says they only heard back from two Jeb Bush, who said he could not make it to their endorsement meetings, and Trump, who said he would be there and who invited the unions leaders to meet with him in Trump Tower. A half- dozen union leaders traveled to New York City for a two-hour meeting with Trump.

He didnt come riding in on a white horse and get the endorsement, Flynn said. There was some heated discussion. But the union leadership was swayed, in part, by Trumps affinity for law enforcement and his promises to oversee a law and order administration. A week after their meeting, Trump traveled to New Hampshire to accept the unions endorsement.

For eightlong years weve been treated as less than desirable by a president who has nothing but hatred for us, said Flynn, who after the Trump Tower meeting posted on Facebook a picture of him and Trump, both smiling with thumbs up, in front of a wall of Trumps framed magazine covers and newspaper clippings. Trump has been a breath of fresh air for us.

Police union officials in Cleveland describe a similarly involved courtship. First, the union got an email from Robert Paduchik, then Trumps Ohio campaign manager, asking about the unions endorsement process. Next, Cleveland Police Patrolmens Association President Steve Loomis said several friends invited him to attend an August 2016 Trump rally in nearby Akron, and that when Trump staffers spotted him in uniform, they invited him out to dinner.

It kind of blossomed from there, Loomis said. In September, Loomis was among Ohio labor officials who met with Trump and his running mate, then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, during a two-hour Labor Day meeting, after which he recommended to his fellow union members that they endorse Trump. After votes of both the unions board of directors and full 1,300-person membership, the decision was final: They would back Trump.

Mr. Trump said he was going to be a law and order guy, Loomis said, describing candidates Trumps three-prong plan. He said: Were going to give you the resources that you need. Were going to give the neighborhoods and the schools the things they need, and Im going to bring the jobs back.

While he doesnt call the White House on every issue, Loomis has made several calls to Trump associates since they took over the White House. Loomis says that one such call happened after a protester spit in the eye of a Cleveland police officer during demonstrations in that city during the inauguration. The union wanted the young man charged, but local prosecutors balked.

We were getting nowhere up here, Loomis said. I made a call and sent video of the incident to my contact up there and got a very positive response. In addition to the Trump White House, Loomis said he contact local Justice Departmentofficials. Days later, results. The local prosecutor ended up issuing a felony summons, Loomis said. I cant guarantee to you how it happened, but I know that we reached out and then things started moving.

Trumps outreach to building trades has started with the same friendliness but as the policy challenges have built up, Democrats have fought back. While the much-rumored infrastructure plan has not materialized, Democrats have proposed and unveiled their own $1 trillion plan, promising to create 15 million jobs in a decade. It mirrors what Sanders campaigned on in 2016, which appealed to rank-and-file union members whose leaders could not sell them on Clinton.

We do it in a way that protects workers rights, protects Davis-Bacon, makes sure that the products are American-made, and makes sure that were not privatizing our infrastructure, Sanders said in an interview this week. Any American, certainly any trade union member will see that what were see what were doing is far superior.

Original post:
As unions remain cozy with Trump, they remain wary of Republicans in Congress - Washington Post

Perhaps the greatest tragedy of the presidential campaign is that so many down-and-out people voted for Donald Trump with the idea he would help them. No. Now, he is going to help rich people rob you.

Today we have two widely expected pieces of financial lawmaking news from the Trump administration: Gary Cohnwho went directly from the presidents office at Goldman Sachs to take a job as Trumps top financial advisorsays that the White House will begin plans for scaling back the Dodd-Frank law, which was Congresss best attempt to make our financial system safer in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. On top of that, the Trump administration will also halt the implementation of the fiduciary rule, the purpose of which was to prevent financial advisers from ripping you off.

I am not exaggerating. The point of the fiduciary rule was that when you, the average person, go in to some financial adviser to learn what you should invest in for your retirement, you should be able to know that that advisor is recommending investments because they are good for you, and not because they are earning some kickback on the investment. In other words it protected consumers from predatory behavior from their hired financial experts. The one and only reason to roll back this rule is to allow people to once again be exploited by financial professionalsto allow them to make more money for themselves by costing you money. (Here is a good explanation of why the objections to the fiduciary rule are dishonest bullshit). It is extremely straightforward. The Trump administration has gained power and will now use that power to allow a small class of money people to exploit everyone else. The Dodd-Frank rules are a bit more arcane, but the general reason for dismantling them is the same: to allow Wall Street to make more money. Our financial system is about to get both more dangerous and more exploitative. This is the outcome of the blue collar billionaire who fed people slogans about Draining the Swamp and then immediately turned over our government regulatory system to Wall Street insiders.

Regular people do not win from these actions. The rich win and you lose. I know that fiduciary rule is not a very poetic or attractive term, but all you need to know is that these people areI am not exaggeratingdoing this for the express purpose of ripping you off. They will get more money out of you and you will get nothing of value. That is whats happening. Remember that every time you see these people smile for the next four years. Every time that you hear Republicans speak of themselves as the guardians of fiscal responsibility and protector of the common man, remember that their policy is explicitly to allow a con man in a suit to steer grandma into a too-expensive mutual fund that will leave her with less money to live on so that he can put more money in his own pocket. This is what it comes down to: money. More for them, and less for you. Forever and ever amen.

Read the original post:
Now The Republicans Will Rob You - Deadspin