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With tough races over, Bernie Sanders renews call for changes at DNC

Sen. Bernie Sanders, who declined to engage in the fracas over former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile’s new tell-all book, is pushing for the DNC to adopt at least four changes to its primary process or risk losing credibility with progressive voters.

“Do you believe in open primaries, or do you not?” Sanders (I-Vt.) said in an interview in his Senate office. “Do you believe in transparency or not? Do you believe in keeping 700-plus superdelegates or not? Do you believe in letting people vote in caucuses who currently cannot? Those are the issues. There are some people thinking politically, giving all kinds of reasons [why not] — but those are the issues.”

The focus of Sanders’s mini-campaign is on the DNC’s Unity Reform Commission, created after the 2016 primaries — but before Hillary Clinton’s surprise defeat in the general election — to ease tensions among supporters of the two candidates.

On Dec. 8 and 9, the commission will meet for the last time and present recommendations to the full DNC. Sanders’s goal is twofold: To highlight the changes he wants most and to prevent the issue from fading when the full DNC meets again.

“This will invigorate the party,” Sanders said. “How are you a serious national party when in half the states, there’s no serious Democratic presence?”

Democrats should not silence Brazile

It didn’t take long for white liberals to start attacking Donna Brazile.

From its portals in media and politics, the vindictive left is in battle mode now that Brazile — a longtime Democratic strategist who became the first African-American to run a presidential campaign when she managed Al Gore’s bid for the White House in 2000 — has spilled the beans about how broken our political system really is.

Having served as interim chair of the Democratic National Committee during the final innings of the 2016 election, Brazile ought to know.

In her explosive new book, “Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns that Put Donald Trump in the White House,” she reveals a secret agreement that turned the DNC into a wholly owned subsidiary of Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The Democratic frontrunner handed over about $20 million to help get the DNC out of debt. In return, she got control of the inner workings of the organization, which is supposed to be neutral in the primaries. This included decisions about when to schedule debates, who should fill key posts and how messages should be shaped.

Clinton’s challengers for the nomination — Bernie Sanders, Jim Webb, Martin O’Malley, Lincoln Chafee, etc. — never had a chance. The fix was in.

When Brazile was recently pressed by ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos — himself a Democratic loyalist who helped elect Bill Clinton president, worked in the Clinton White House, contributed to the Clinton Foundation and joined in regular strategizing calls with top Democrats well into his conversion into a newsman — to say whether she thought the Democratic primaries were rigged, she responded that she found “no evidence” of that.

But Brazile strikes a different tone in her book, insisting that the agreement ensured that Democratic primary battle wasn’t a fair fight and that it “compromised the party’s integrity.”

Meanwhile, there is little integrity to be found in the graceless attacks on Brazile by liberals. In recent days, the Democratic Party insider has been called a “liar,” a “kook,” a “traitor” and worse.

Keith Ellison, Bernie Sanders urge activists to stay politically involved

America’s Democratic party must revitalize itself by paying attention to the people it represents all the time, not just during elections, the deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee said Thursday.

U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, of Minnesota, and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, hammered home that message during a fundraiser before hundreds of the party faithful in Burlington.

Ellison said the Democratic party has to change the way it has been doing business by focusing on relationships between people who are united by shared values.

Over the last several years, he said, the party has not been doing that.

“We have got to change our culture,” Ellison said. “We have got to go from being a battleground state party to a every state, every county Democratic Party.”

To accomplish that, the party needs to “de-emphasize the money and re-emphasize the people,” he said.

US Sen. Elizabeth Warren Walking Back DNC ‘Rigged’ Comment in New Interview

Elizabeth Warren is reportedly walking back some of her comments that the 2016 Democratic presidential primary was “rigged.”

In an interview with MassLive, Massachusetts’ senior senator said that while the Democratic National Committee may have shown “bias,” the overall primary fight between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders was “fair.”

Clinton fires back at Brazile ‘rigged’ claims: ‘That just wasn’t the case’

Hillary Clinton on Wednesday dismissed claims made by former Democratic National Committee interim Chairwoman Donna Brazile about the party’s presidential primary, saying the way she described the contest “just wasn’t the case.”

“I didn’t know what she was referring to because, as has now come out, that just wasn’t the case,” Clinton said during an appearance on NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”

“But the current DNC leadership really invested heavily in Virginia and New Jersey and other places.”

Jeff Merkley Warns Democrats Not To “Get Distracted” By DNC Fight

Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat who has been mentioned as a possible 2020 presidential contender, warned members of his party Thursday not to “get distracted” by arguing over whether the Democratic National Committee stacked the deck in favor of Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders in 2016 — a fight that was reopened by former DNC chair Donna Brazile’s new book last week.

“If we get distracted by fighting the battle of the last election, we’re going to lose the next election,” Merkley said on BuzzFeed’s Twitter morning show AM to DM Thursday. “And the issues are too important.”

Merkley added, however, that Democrats must ensure that their primary process is fair to all candidates, amid speculation that he may become one himself. “We have to make sure the DNC is an absolutely level playing field for the future. That’s the fight we need to make sure we have going forward so that everyone has a chance to weigh in and make sure that the Democratic primaries aren’t again biased in any kind of way.”

Asked directly if he plans to join the Democratic primary campaign in 2020, Merkley chuckled, but didn’t deny his interest. “You know, right now I think every Democrat in America knows that they could do a much better job than the incumbent,” he said.

Merkley, a progressive, was the only senator to endorse Sanders’ 2016 campaign and has been rumored to be mulling a presidential bid of his own, should the 76-year-old decide not to run again in 2020.

‘Great Things Come Out of Discomfort’: Our Revolution’s Nina Turner

Q: You were quoted recently saying it’s not Our Revolution’s job to fit into the Democratic establishment. What is that job as you see it?

Turner: The progressive left is pushing the Democrats back to where they should be. Back to that 1944 economic bill of rights, when FDR said what the American people should expect, what they deserve. He didn’t say wish for, hope for, kinda. He said what they deserve, what they should expect. And in that list, it was jobs, it was housing, it was having a safety net if you’re older or you lose your job or have been incapacitated in some way. It was health care. What the American people should expect! And that is what we have to get back to. And so our job on the progressive left is to remind Democrats of where we fought to be, and push us there. And it’s uncomfortable, but that’s okay. Great things come out of discomfort. And that’s what we’re doing on the progressive left.

Q: Your predictions for 2018 and 2020?

Turner: It’s going to be hard. I hope that no one is taking President Trump for granted. Even though he has pretty much proven himself unworthy of that seat at this point. What he did show with 2016 is that he has nine lives. So resistance is not the only thing we need to do as conscious-minded folks, as Democrats. It has to be more than resistance; we have to make sure that we plan. Democrats can be successful if they are willing to shift their focus to what everyday Americans want, need, and are asking for. But that requires some humility and a willingness to listen to what people are saying.

Q: Is Bernie going to run again in 2020?

Turner: I hope so! I hope so!

Dems push clearer GMO labeling

Senate Democrats are pushing the Agriculture Department to create a labeling standard for products made with genetically modified organisms (GMO) that is consumer-friendly.

Congress passed a law in July ordering the agency to create a national labeling standard within two years.

The law allows food producers to use QR codes that can be scanned with smartphone. In a letter Tuesday led by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), nine Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) asked Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to consider the obstacles Americans could face in gaining that information electronically.

The senators noted that a recent study required by the law found around 74 million Americans did not own a smartphone in 2016.

“Smartphone ownership is even lower among older and rural Americans, and many rural communities lack the broadband infrastructure that is necessary for QR codes to work,” they wrote.

Despite ‘Misinformation’ Campaign by Telecom Industry, Municipal Broadband Wins in Colorado

Defying a well-financed “misinformation” campaign by major cable and telecom companies to quash competition, the city of Fort Collins, Colorado has approved a ballot measure to invest $150 million in a city-owned broadband utility, while more than a dozen municipalities across the state voted this week in favor of locally-controlled internet.

Although the Fort Collins measure—known as Question 2B before the vote—”does not require the council to create the utility,” according to The Coloradoan, it gives the city council “flexibility in setting up a business model for providing high-speed internet, including entering into a partnership with a private company.”

City Manager Darin Atteberry told the newspaper that the council will meet later this month to discuss the next steps. Atteberry, along with other local leaders and advocates, celebrated the results, though Mayor Wade Troxell criticized the cable companies’ campaign “to misinform the electorate,” and said he was disappointed in the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce for “playing an active role in misinformation.”

Led by Comcast, “cable providers campaigned heavily against the Fort Collins move,” the Denver Post reports, “spending more than $256,000 in television and radio ads.” The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), however, says that by the time of the election, “that figure had jumped to more than $450,000.” In an effort to promote the ballot measure, local residents formed the Fort Collins Citizens Broadband Committee, which raised less than $10,000, but was ultimately victorious.

“This is another David vs. Goliath battle,” Glen Akins, who helped lead the committee, told Ars Technica.

“We overcame the opponents’ massive, record-setting negative advertising campaign because we had a group of dedicated and passionate volunteers who believed in our cause,” Atkins added after the vote. “Our volunteers’ passion inspired our community and our community once again affirmed their desire for better broadband and denounced the influence of outsized spending campaigns in our local politics. Big money can buy ad spots and air time but it can’t buy votes in Fort Collins.”

Zogby: Sanders Would Defeat Trump by 11 Points in 2020

Sen. Bernie Sanders would defeat President Donald Trump by 11 points in a head-to-head match-up in 2020, the best among would-be Democratic challengers, according to the latest Zogby Analytics poll.

Former Vice President Joe Biden would defeat the president by nine points, according to Zogby’s hypothetical poll.

Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, performed the best out of the four Democrats Zogby included in its survey, all of whom would nevertheless defeat Trump, according to Zogby.

Trump Nominee Kathleen Hartnett White Ignores Climate Change In Her Own Backyard

Kathleen Hartnett White, President Trump’s pick to chair the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), testified at her Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday and, like many Trump nominees to date, showed herself to be an unqualified, polluter-friendly ideologue who rejects mainstream climate science.

“Your positions are so far out of the mainstream, they are not just outliers, they are outrageous,” Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey exclaimed at one point in clear exasperation. “You have a fringe voice that denies science, economics and reality.”

What Markey failed to note, however, is that White has personally experienced climate change-related extreme weather events in her home state of Texas, and scientists say they are only going to get worse.

Unqualified from the Start

White, who Trump previously considered for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, is a cattle rancher and dog breeder who chaired the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)—the Lone Star State’s version of the EPA—from 2001 to 2007 and was a member of the Environmental Flows Study Commission, the Texas Water Development Board and the Texas Wildlife Association board.

Her qualifications for those positions? None.

White earned her bachelor’s and master’s degree in Humanities and Religion at Stanford, attended Princeton’s comparative religion doctoral program, and completed a year of law school at Texas Tech. It’s not quite the background one would expect for someone serving on environmentally related boards, let alone running the TCEQ. But in Texas, as in Florida and Wisconsin, ideology trumps science credentials, and White holds a politically correct pro-fossil fuels viewpoint.

Alaska Senator Denounced for ‘Deplorable’ Attempt to Force Drilling in Arctic Wildlife Refuge

Environmentalists denounced as “deplorable,” “immoral,” and “toxic” a move by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Ala.) to force drilling for oil and natural gas on federally protected public lands in Alaska.

After Senate Republicans—and one Democrat—last month thwarted efforts by a group of Democratic senators and conservationists to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) from the fossil fuel industry, Murkowski proposed legislation on Wednesday that would require the Interior Department to approve at least two sales for drilling rights leases within a decade. And because the measure is part of the budget resolution process, it could pass by a simple majority.

While Murkowski—with support from Alaska’s governor and other members of Congress—touted her legislation as “a tremendous opportunity” that would “put Alaska and the entire nation on a path toward greater prosperity,” local and national environmentalists warned of the consequences of her proposal to open up 1.5 million acres of ANWR’s coastal plain to drilling.

“What this bill would do is turn America’s last great wilderness into a lost wilderness,” said Adam Kolton, executive director of Alaska Wilderness League. “It would allow roads, pipelines, gravel mines, and well pads to be erected across the entire birthing grounds of the Coastal Plain, where caribou calve and where polar bear mothers den.”

“It’s deplorable that a backdoor budget maneuver is being used to ram Arctic drilling through without a full, fair and open debate,” Kolton continued. “It’s immoral that this bill would risk the subsistence culture of the Gwich’in for a fool’s gold of exaggerated money and jobs. And it’s wrong to pretend to offer a tax cut with one hand and rob our children and grandchildren of their rightful heritage with the other.”