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Republicans kick off the state GOP convention in Kaneohe
GOP candidates for state and national office fired up hundreds of enthusiastic supporters in preparation for upcoming elections.
By: KITV
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Republicans kick off the state GOP convention in Kaneohe - Video
WASHINGTON - Republicans who hope to wrest control of the U.S. Senate from Democrats see medical care delays for veterans as a potent line of attack and are devising ways to keep the issue in the news in the months leading up to the November congressional elections.
They are planning a long summer of investigations and hearings on problems at the Veterans Affairs agency to highlight what they say is a pattern of mismanagement in President Barack Obama's administration.
Republicans have tread lightly so far to avoid appearing callous in exploiting an issue involving allegations that veterans died while waiting for VA care. But lawmakers, aides and campaign strategists in the party say they are now ready to go on the offensive, attacking Obama for his slow response to the scandal.
They say the VA care delays and alleged cover-ups are another blunder for Obama, equal to the botched roll out of his healthcare reform law last year, the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya and the targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service.
"This is part of a larger theme that we've been saying for a year now, that voters don't trust the government," said Brook Hougesen, spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "Just as Obamacare called into question Democrats' accountability, this does the same."
The scandal is national in scope and focuses on a group that is revered by lawmakers and voters regardless of party. The 21 million U.S. veterans make up a sizeable political constituency on their own and nearly 9 million use VA health care.
The VA Inspector General now is investigating 26 locations across the United States, which aides and strategists say will provide a drum beat of news from local media that will fuel voter outrage in battleground states.
Paul Sracic, who heads the political science department at Youngstown State University in Ohio, said the scandal is dangerous for Democrats because it allows Republicans to link outrage over the VA health care problems to voter discontent over the "Obamacare" reforms.
"If Republicans were writing a script for the summer they couldn't have made up a better story," said Sracic. "The last thing Democrats want is to be still talking about this after Labor Day."
Democrats say they are focused on a strong response to fixing the VA problems. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday said Congress should consider a broad restructuring of the way Veterans Affairs provides medical care.
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US Republicans map campaign attack plan on veterans scandal
Progressives vs. The Democratic Party (w/ William Greider)
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By: The Zero Hour with RJ Eskow
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Progressives vs. The Democratic Party (w/ William Greider) - Video
If Hillary Clinton remains the uncontested voice of her party, what next for progressives who say they know too well where Wall Street-friendly economics and a hawkish foreign policy will take the nation? (Photo: Shutterstock)Bernie is "seriously considering" it.
Warren says, "I'm not running."
A few Democratic governors are reportedly dabbling.
But with progressives nationwide yearning for a bold populist movement, is there any chance their hopes will be met in the upcoming midterm elections or on the 2016 presidential battlefield?
At the 'New Populism Conference' hosted by the Campaign for America's Future on Thursday, a number of progressive thinkers and activistsnot to mention Senators Warren and Sanders themselvesspoke to the idea of the "new populism" they say is desperately needed to release the nation from the stranglehold of corporate interests and a politics dominated by big money.
"So we must to have an independent movement which says, 'It doesn't matter who's in power! There are some things that are just right and we demand that they be done!'" Rev. William Barber
Striking a resolute and outside message at the conference was Rev. William Barberhead of the North Carolina NAACP and leader of the Moral Monday protests in his statewho rejected the idea that hope should come from Washington, DC or the establishment of either major party.
During his remarks at the conference poduim, Barber pointed to the lessons of the Civil Rights movement more than a generation ago and thundered: "They built a movement in spite of the odds," and cited Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who said: "There comes a time when you have to stop being a thermometer and instead change the temperature of the situation in which you exist!"
Barber said a truly populist and progressive movement must face off against both parties. "I'm sorry to tell you, if no one did," said Barber, "but sometimes Democrats don't do what they should even when they have the power. And Republicans do what they shouldn't do when they have the power."
The real solution, Barber declared, is "to have an independent movement which says, 'It doesn't matter who's in power! There are some things that are just right and we demand that they be done!'"
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Can a New Populist Movement Fight Off American Oligarchy?
The All Progressives Congress has raised the alarm over alleged systematic arrest, harassment and intimidation of its members and supporters in Gombe State by the Peoples Democratic Party-led government in the state and the police.
In a statement in Lagos on Friday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the clampdown on the APC in Gombe was similar to what obtained in Bayelsa State, over which the party had cause to raise the alarm on May 14, and was sure to extend to other states as the 2015 general elections approach.
The party said this trend was because of the desperation and anti-democratic credentials of the PDP.
It said the situation in Gombe State was marked by the continuous destruction of APC property, including offices, flags, posters, banners and billboards in most of the local government areas and party headquarters.
APC added, Sadly, the police, who are maintained by taxpayers funds and are expected to be non-partisan, have been providing cover for the PDP agents who engage in this destructive spree, while being quick to arrest our members and supporters who try to resist the destruction of our partys property.
In addition, the police engage in frequent arrest and detention of our youths and supporters, who are then charged to court in an action that is clearly aimed at weakening their resolve to exercise their constitutional rights of free association, and ultimately to destabilize our party.
Such arrests and intimidation of our youth and other supporters have occurred in Dukku, Balanga, Kaltungo, Akko, Nafada and Gombe, and the latest occurred a few days ago involving the mass arrest of our members, especially youths.
The party expressed concern that the arrests and other acts of intimidation might increase, as the police in Gombe Division had allegedly been tacitly empowered with a fleet of Hilux vans to destabilize the APC in the state.
It reminded the police that the destabilisation of opposition political parties, arrest and intimidation of opposition members and supporters and the provision of cover for thugs to destroy the property of opposition political parties were not part of the constitutional duties of the police.
On our part, we will continue to monitor and document these acts of brigandage and the role of the police, with a view to ensuring that they are lawfully challenged in due course. We also call on the police hierarchy to caution their officers and men in Gombe, it said.
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APC condemns arrest, harassment of members in Gombe