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To address various concerns about the amendment, the Legislature passed laws that would ensure racial and ethnic diversity on the commission and would require the State Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority, to appoint a special master to draw the maps using the same criteria as the commission. Another new law eliminates prison gerrymandering, the practice of counting prisoners where they are incarcerated rather than where they are from.

These are good fixes. Still, the commission itself has significant flaws, chief among them that it includes lawmakers, who have demonstrated time and again that they shouldnt be allowed anywhere near the redistricting process. Foxes guarding henhouses are still foxes, even if theyre being watched closely by the farmer. But the amendment is an important step in the right direction, and in the end it succeeded because nine Democrats joined all Republicans to get the measure over the hump for a second time.

And what of those Republicans? Arent they to be commended for voting in favor of fairer maps? Sure, but it was an easy call once they were out of power, or knew they were about to be. The better question is, Where was their public spirit when they held an unthreatened majority?

Republicans continue to find countless ways to block efforts to make voting fairer and more democratic. In Missouri, Utah and Michigan, Republican lawmakers are working to undo citizen-led ballot initiatives that were passed, in some cases overwhelmingly, by voters tired of being chosen by their politicians.

And when Republicans do lose at the ballot box, they respond not by trying to appeal to more voters, but by stripping power from duly-elected Democrats essentially looting the shelves on their way out the door. This is the behavior of a party that neither trusts its own popularity nor accepts its opponents legitimacy, a fatal combination for a constitutional republic.

In light of this, many Democrats have little patience for calls to level the playing field. After all, why play fair when the other side doesnt? The answer is that the alternative is a race to the bottom, where voters of both parties give up because they know whatever box they check at the polls, the politicians have already made their choices for them.

In far too many parts of the country, thats the reality today. Partisan gerrymandering is a key reason millions of Americans feel the government is rigged against them. The good news is that this behavior used to happen behind closed doors, and now its being dragged out into the open. The more the public learns about it, the more they oppose it. Virginia voters support the new redistricting amendment, 70 percent to 15 percent; according to a January 2019 poll commissioned by Campaign Legal Center, which pushes for electoral reform, 65 percent said they favored districts with no partisan bias, even if it meant their own party would win fewer seats.

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A World Without Partisan Gerrymanders? Virginia Democrats Show the Way - The New York Times

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 27: (L-R) Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch ... [+] McConnell (R-KY), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Vice President Mike Pence and Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) applaud U.S. President Donald Trump during a bill signing ceremony for H.R. 748, the CARES Act in the Oval Office of the White House on March 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. Earlier on Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the $2 trillion stimulus bill that lawmakers hope will battle the the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images)

A recent Ipsos/Reuters poll found that 14% of Democrats said they were infected with COVID-19 or knew someone who was infected. For Republicans, this number was only 10%.

While not a huge difference, its enough to raise an eyebrow. Why might this number be higher for Democrats? And what political implications might follow? Answers to these questions are explored below.

#1: The difference in infection rate by party affiliation is very explainable.

It shouldnt come as a surprise that more Democrats are infected than Republicans. Looking at the areas that have been hardest hit by Coronavirus, it is the coastal regions of the country (New York, California, Washington, New Jersey, etc.) areas where Democrats outnumber Republicans. If the disease were centered in the South or the Midwest, it would be a different story.

But theres another factor at play, and that has to do with the demography of income. Wealthy people, who tend to vote Republican, maintain smaller social networks than lower income people. A 2016 study published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science found that wealthy Americans spend 6.4 fewer evenings per year in social situations. Rich people also live in less populated areas. Social distancing thus comes more naturally to them which may lower their risk of contracting the disease.

#2: It is likely that differences in infection rates are driving threat perceptions.

Not only are Democrats more likely to say they are infected or know someone who is infected, they are more concerned about the threat posed by the disease. According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, 41% of Democrats view COVID-19 as a major threat to their personal health compared to only 30% of Republicans. Furthermore, Democrats are more worried than Republicans about the threat Coronavirus poses to the economy, to the health of the nation as a whole, and to their personal financial situation.

Hispanic Americans and other minority groups (who are traditionally Democratic voting blocs) are especially concerned about the threat of Coronavirus, and it just so happens that they report higher than average infection rates. A recent article pointed out that minorities disproportionately work jobs that cant be shut down (think hospital custodial workers, delivery drivers, and warehouse workers). Nearly half of black people (49%) and Hispanics (48%) say the coronavirus is a major threat to their own health, states the team at Pew Research. Among white people, 30% say this.

#4: What political implications might we expect to see?

For one, it is Democrats who believe, more than Republicans, that people around the country arent taking the threat seriously enough and they are more likely to agree with governmental efforts to reduce the spread of the virus. For example, 81% of Democrats believe that closing businesses is a necessary step to reduce the spread of COVID-19 compared to only 61% of Republicans. Democrats are also more likely to agree with the cancelling of sporting events, entertainment events, schools, and limiting restaurants to carry-out only.

While everyone is pushing for action to contain the spread of the disease, it is likely that the Democrats will continue to be the most vocal advocates for containment in the weeks ahead. This may change as the virus penetrates the interior of the country.

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More Democrats Are Infected With Coronavirus Than Republicans, According To New Survey Research - Forbes

The Trump family business interests have not been immune from the economic devastation that has blanketed the country. Hotels and tourism have been among the hardest-hit industries, and the president's properties have suffered. Across the country, his hotels and resorts have either partially or completely shut their doors, likely costing his family millions of dollars even as they lay off thousands of employees.

Mar-a-Lago, Trump's South Florida home away from the White House, has closed. The restaurant at Trumps Washington hotel, a popular gathering spot for candidates, lobbyists and congressional aides, isn't serving food or drinks. And the spa at the Trump International Hotel & Tower New York is not accepting customers.

Various facilities are temporarily closed given local, state and federal mandates, a Trump Organization spokesman said. We anxiously await the day when this pandemic is over and our world-class facilities can reopen.

Trump, who has met with various industries looking for bailouts, including hospitality executives, has said he would like to re-open businesses by mid-April, despite public health officials warning that much more time is needed.

Some of Trump's properties were initially slow to respond to government calls to limit business activities that involved large gatherings of people. Some kept advertising banquets and spa services, for instance. Other properties remain open in a limited capacity and are still promoting some activities, such as rounds of golf.

The Trump International Hotel in Washington remains open even though only about 5 percent of its rooms are occupied, according to John Boardman, executive secretary-treasurer of the D.C. affiliate of Unite Here, which represents 172 employees at the hotel. About 160 employees, including bartenders, housekeepers, doormen, were laid off, he said.

Earlier this week, Trump didn't rule out accepting the taxpayer money from the expected stimulus package.

Lets just see what happens because we have to save some of these great companies that can be great companies literally in a matter of weeks," he said. "We have to save them."

The White House and Trump Organization did not respond to questions on Thursday.

Schumer pushed the original provision about the president's businesses during negotiations with Republicans and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Both sides later agreed to change the language to address the collective ownership issue.

Yet the tweak was somehow missing from the final bill. A Republican source familiar with the situation said it was an oversight and that both sides were fine with the updated language.

To suggest it is anything other than a clerical error is wrong, the person said.

The clause doesnt just address the president. It also pertains to the vice president, the heads of executive departments and members of Congress.

The new language was designed to prevent Trump, his adult children, Ivanka, Don Jr. and Eric, or even his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who is also personally wealthy, from selling their stake in a company to a family member to escape the bill's restrictions.

The bill also was missing a second provision that Schumer and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) had pushed, indicating that the Treasury Department had to publish the companies receiving the loans every seven days.

We told Republicans it was unacceptable to omit strict prohibitions on Trump businesses having access to the Treasury lending, as well as critical transparency measures, and that we would hold up the bill until they included them in the final text, Schumer told POLITICO. They relented and these important accountability provisions were successfully added to the final bill.

Some House Democrats and numerous watchdog groups have been arguing for three years that Trump is violating the Constitution's little-used emoluments clauses, which forbids presidents from receiving gifts from foreign governments or money from U.S. taxpayers beyond their salaries.

Before he was sworn into office, Trump ignored calls to fully separate from his namesake company, which is comprised of more than 500 businesses. Instead, he placed his holdings in a trust designed to hold assets for his benefit. He can withdraw money from it at any time without the publics knowledge.

Shortly after Democrats took control of the House, they launched investigations into whether the arrangement violated the emoluments clause. But lawmakers eventually cut the allegations out of their articles of impeachment, choosing to narrowly focus on Trump pushing Ukraine to open an inquiry into Democratic political rival Joe Biden.

The fact that President Trump accepts payments from foreign governments and corporate lobbyists who are willing to spend money at his hotels is a massive scandal hiding in plain sight," said Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.), chairwoman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee with jurisdiction over Trump's Washington hotel. "Taxpayers should not be forced to partake in it. This provision is one way to stop that.

The Trump Organization has responded to the scrutiny by donating $350,000 to the U.S. Treasury that it said came from foreign governments. But watchdog groups say there is little accountability and that the amount should be higher.

Trump denies he is using the presidency to promote his resorts and claims he receives unfair scrutiny because of the "phony emoluments clause. It's a defense that his critics dismiss, noting how often Trump discusses and stays at his own properties.

Every decision made by this president has been tainted by his rampant conflicts of interest. His unwillingness to divest from his properties and his abuse of taxpayer dollars at Trump properties necessitated this action," said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a House Oversight Committee member.

The Senate provision wont completely prevent Trump businesses from getting money. They could still be eligible for small-business loans or benefit through a $15 billion change to the tax code. And the provision also doesnt cover the many businesses branded or managed by Trump, but not owned by the family.

This provision helps ensure President Trump and his family cant benefit from the coronavirus pandemic, but there are some loopholes, said Aaron Scherb, director of legislative affairs at Common Cause, an advocacy group that works closely with House committee staffers. They could benefit in indirect ways.

The Senate unanimously approved the $2 trillion emergency package after more than five days of negotiations. The House is expected to pass it soon. The legislation will authorize direct checks to many Americans, a massive fund for beleaguered industries, immediate aid for hospitals and back-up cash for state and local governments.

Meridith McGraw contributed to this report.

Originally posted here:
Democrats delayed stimulus bill to tighten ban on Trump family profiting - POLITICO

Never mind that it is the right thing to do. Or that thelast thing politicians should be doingis coming up with ways to erode public confidence. Congress members for their own good should pass a proposed law that would end their ability to trade individual stocks while in office.

Senators and members of the House of Representatives, and often their top aides, know stuff the rest of us dont, or at least know it sooner. They get private briefings on national security threats, on economic data that can signal trouble ahead, and about foreign hot spots.

They need this to do their jobs, guide their policy decisions andact in the best interests of the people who elected them. But these reports can also indicate that they can make some big money by buying particular stocks or avoid big losses by dumping others.

Until 2012 there was nothing illegal about that. But there were calls for reform after the last market collapse in 2008 and 2009, and reports that many congresspeople weathered the subsequent Great Recession a whole lot better than the rest of us, based on investment decisions guided by the briefings they were receiving. President Barack Obama and the Democrats, then in control of both chambers, and with strong bipartisan support from the Republican minority, passed in 2012 the STOCK Act Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge.

It prohibits lawmakers from using nonpublic information derived from their official positions for personal benefit. It also requires every member of Congress to publicly file and disclose any financial transaction of stocks, bonds, commodities futures, and other securities within 45 days. Unfortunately, in 2013 Congress passed an amendment that eliminated a requirement for the creation of a searchable, sortable database.

Disclosures must be filed, but only on paper, making access to and interpretation of the data significantly more difficult. Congress wanted to claim transparency, while making it difficult.

Back in the news

The STOCK Act is back in the news as the country confronts another market drop and an economic downturn, this time tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. And, again, some congresspeople may be benefitting from insider information.

As noted in our editorial earlier last week, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, dumped stocks valued at up to $1.7 million after attending multiple briefings in which he learned how serious a health and economic threat the virus posed, even though at the time both he and President Trump were offering assurances that threat could be managed.

Burr was not alone. Disclosure records show three other senators sold major holdings before the market collapse: James M. Inhofe, Republican of Oklahoma; Kelly Loeffler, a Georgia Republican; and Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, also a member of Intelligence. Yet none of their financial moves have the same direct connection to the crisis as Burrs wholesale stock dump.

Inhofe, for example, sold off Paypal and Apple stock, which didnt seem to be in the crosshairs of the shutdown tied to the pandemic, nor did the $1.5 million to $6 million in stock Feinstein and her husband sold in the cancer-focused California biotech company Allogene Therapeutics. Feinstein said the decision was made by her husband and had nothing to do with the crisis. In fact, the stock subsequently rose.

Loeffler is the wife of Jeffrey C. Sprecher, chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. Her filings, according to the New York Times, show 27 stock sales worth millions of dollars starting Jan. 24, beating the market downturn.

Loeffler, denying contentions of insider trading, said investment decisions are made by third-party advisers without her or her husbands knowledge or involvement.

That sounds a lot like the explanation I got from Sen. Richard Blumenthals office when I asked how he avoids appearances of conflict of interest or insider trading.

Our elected leaders

Senator Blumenthals investments are made by an outside professional, independently of him, and without any input or involvement by Senator Blumenthal in those decisions, read the statement from his office.

Blumenthal is one of the richest senators. He and his wifes personal fortune is around $70 million. His wife, Cynthia Malkin, is a real estate investor and heiress to the New York City-based Malkin property empire.

If Blumenthals outside professional had decided to unload some stock circa late January, and it showed up in his STOCK Act filing, his name might be tossed around in news reports as well.

On the other end of the Senate wealth spectrum is Sen. Chris Murphy, the states junior senator, also a Democrat. The watch-dog group Roll Call estimates Murphy has negative net worth, his liabilities outstripping his assets.

Murphys office told me he has college funds for his two children and a broad-index mutual fund. He does not trade in individual stocks.

Rep. Joe Courtney, the Democrat who has represented eastern Connecticuts Second District since 2007, told me in a phone interview he invests in a 401(k)mutual fund and does not control individual stocks. His net worth has been placed at $200,000.

Courtney voted for the STOCK Act.He says he supports further reforms.

The disclosure is good, but I dont think it is enough, Courtney said.

Courtney backslegislation that would prohibit any trading in individual stocks by members of Congress. It is being pushed by Democrats, but Republicans have shown no appetite for these tighter controls. The legislation is unlikely to move forward with Republicans holding the Senate.

Under the legislation, members of the Senate and House would either have to have their holdings in a blind trust, with strict controls so that the investor cannot benefit from any insider information the lawmaker may have, or could put holdings in broad-based investments, such as diversified mutual funds.

This would not be foolproof Sen. Loeffler says she effectively uses a blind trust but is still under suspicion but it would be a big improvement. And the rules of what constituted a truly blind trust would be clear, rather than interpreted by the individual lawmaker.

Craig Holman, a government affairs specialistwith the clean government advocacy group Public Citizen, said only about one-third of the members of Congress still trade in individual stocks in the wake of the STOCK Act.

Those who still do risk suspicions of benefitting from insider trading, as much as they may insist as Sen. Burr does that they were acting on public information. Tighter measures, with strict blind trusts, would both keep everybody honest and significantly reduce appearances of conflict of interest. If Republicans resist, it is another issue Democrats can run on in trying to win the Senate in 2020.

Paul Choiniere is the editorial page editor.

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Democrats can make reform a winning issue - News from southeastern Connecticut - theday.com

Top Democrats in Congress are urging the Trump administration to ease sanctions on Iran, Venezuela, and other countries badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic, citing the need to provide medical supplies and humanitarian support.

In a stream of several letters aimed at Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other top U.S. officials, Democratic members of Congress including presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are pushing for the administration to grant clearly outlined waivers from American sanctions.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy also spearheaded a call by several Democrats to the Trump administration to ease U.S. sanctions against countries, including Iran and Venezuela, hit hard by coronavirus, saying the measures are hampering the free flow of medicines and other humanitarian supplies to the neediest as the pandemic worsens.

Helping these nations save lives during this crisis is the right thing to do from a moral perspective, but it is also the right thing to do from a national security perspective, Murphy wrote in the letter sent Thursday to Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. By allowing our sanctions to contribute to the exceptional pain and suffering brought about by the coronavirus outbreaks in both nations, we play into the anti-Americanism that is at the heart of both regimes hold on power. The letter was co-signed by several Senate Democrats, including Chris Van Hollen, Tim Kaine, and Patrick Leahy.

[Mapping the Coronavirus Outbreak: Get daily updates on the pandemic and learn how its affecting countries around the world.]

An early draft of the letter sent by Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez that was seen by Foreign Policy also calls for a temporary suspension of sanctions, including on the banking and oil sectors that have been heavily targeted since President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018. The letter is expected to be sent to Pompeo and Mnuchin early next week.

The Trump administration has said that it would only lift sanctionswhich are aimed at pressuring Iran into a fresh nuclear deal without sunset provisionsonce Iran stops its activity of supporting terrorist groups and proxies in the Middle East and halts its ballistic missile program. In February, the United States asked Iran to identify medical or other needs for coronavirus relief through Swiss interlocutors. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus told the U.S.-funded Radio Farda on Thursday that the offer came without preconditions.

Murphy is asking the administration to hold off on the enforcement of sanctions for 90 days that could halt a rapid humanitarian response to the spread of the coronavirus in Iran. He also wants the Treasury Department to ease penalties against information technology companies that could provide information on treating or preventing the disease.

A new podcast from Foreign Policy covering all aspects of the coronavirus pandemic

Over 30,000 cases of the novel coronavirus have spread across Iran, including to elite military and clerical leaders. Earlier this month, Iranian state radio said that Mohammad Mirmohammadi, a member of the advisory body to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, had died of COVID-19. Amid the crisis, Iran has asked the International Monetary Fund for $5 billion in critical funds and for supplies of masks, respirators, and other medical equipment.

The debate over whether to modify U.S. sanctions on Iran spilled out onto the editorial pages of major American papers this week, with the New York Times editorial board calling for the Trump administration to allow an IMF loan to move forward and for technical assistance. The Wall Street Journals editorial board ran a rejoinder on Wednesday.

Some experts say even with sanctions relief or waivers for humanitarian and medical supplies, its unclear if countries like Iran have enough foreign currency reserves to buy up medical suppliesor if foreign companies and international banks would be willing to broker the transactions in the first place. Even if they say theyre not targeting Irans humanitarian imports, theyre still chilling the markets overall, Brian OToole, a former CIA and Treasury Department official, told Foreign Policy.

Administration officials also believe Irans military and its proxies could immediately take advantage of any broader sanctions relief, even if sanctions were only eased temporarily. If Iran could suddenly repatriate a bunch of money, or Irans [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] funds were unfrozen, it could start to move those into places where its hidden, people couldnt find them as easily, and then youre stuck back in a place where youve aided U.S. adversaries, OToole said.

The call for the suspension of sanctions coincides with a Democratic effort led by Rep. Eliot Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Adam Smith, head of the armed services panel, to keep the U.S. Agency for International Development from halting aid to areas controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, a suspension thats set to go into effect on Friday.

USAID is totally stonewalling efforts to push this suspension back, or to create meaningful carve outs for lifesaving programs, a former U.S. official familiar with the matter told Foreign Policy.

USAIDs assistant administrator for its Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, John Barsa, who is set to take over the agencys top spot in an acting role next month, strongly supports the suspension of U.S. assistance to Houthi-controlled areas, the former official said, though the Trump administration has been warned that the freeze could lack sufficient carve-outs for bystanders living under the Iran-backed group.

But its not clear the legislative effort to urge a course change will have an impact on the Trump administrations efforts to exact what it calls maximum pressure on Iran to force it to rein in proxy groups and efforts at ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

Last month, the Trump administration and Switzerland, which has served as the U.S. consular go-between in Iran since Washington severed relations with the Islamic Republic more than 40 years ago, launched a humanitarian channel that would allow companies to avoid American sanctions to provide needed agricultural goods and medical supplies.

But in spite of the gesture, U.S. sanctions on Iran appear to have continued apace as the Pentagon has engaged Iran in a low-level tit-for-tat following rocket attacks on Iraqi bases that killed two American service members.

Earlier Thursday, the Trump administration sanctioned 20 people and businesses linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corpss elite Quds Force. The State Department said they exploit Iraqs dependence on Iranian electricity imports, as the Trump administration extended a natural gas waiver from U.S. sanctions to Iraq.

Speaking to the Senates powerful armed services panel in mid-March, the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East said the spread of the novel coronavirus to Iranian military and political leadership had caused Irans decision-making to become more unpredictable.

I think it probably makes them in terms of decision-making more dangerous rather than less dangerous, U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said.

Foreign Policys Colum Lynch and Robbie Gramer contributed to this report.

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Democratic Lawmakers Criticize Trump Administration Sanctions Policy, Saying It Undermines Health Systems as Iran and Others Fight Coronavirus -...