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Trump supporters wave flags and signs on the Ketcher Road bridge over I-25 on Presidents Day, Monday, February 20, 2017. Wochit

U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner speaks at a press conference at Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch on Wednesday, December 14, 2016. Colorado will receive $252 million in federal funding for Highway 34 repairs.(Photo: Valerie Mosley/The Coloradoan)Buy Photo

A group of Fort Collins progressives plan to answer a question Tuesday night that few would have thought of six months ago: What happens when you throw a town hall for a senator and he doesn't show up?

There's enough interest in what a U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner-less town hall looks likethat IndivisibleNOCO, the organizing group, closed registration for attendance due to space concerns, member Tara Morton said. The Colorado Republican's Fort Collins office has played a front-and-center role in the spate of protests that erupted here since the inauguration of President Donald Trump. His staff here and in Washington, D.C., have also grappledwith an explosion of emails, phone calls and social media messages.

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The groupdoesn't feel Gardner is paying enough attention to their concerns, Morton said. They acknowledgethe event is political theaterbutsay they invited Gardner himself or staff. The event will be structured like a town hall, with pointed questions, and plans to turn to Gardner's record and previous statements to suss out how he might respond, she said.

"If he's not here, we'll let his own words and talking points speak for themselves," Morton said, adding, "If we can't have a conversation, how are we going to move forward?"

IndivisibleNOCO plans to submit the questions to Gardner's office as well and hopes for responses. They'll also stream the town hall and submit video to Gardner's office.

Morton noted how some other town halls or constituent meetings have turned rowdy and joked that she doesn't necessarily blame Gardner for avoiding it. Even so, the groups wants some avenue to make sure its concerns are heardand demonstrate it can hold a town hall that maintains order.

"How do you hold your elected leaders accountable when they still have four years to go?" Morton asked, noting that it applies to both Gardner, elected in 2014, and Trump. "We need Cory Gardner to respond to why he's voting lockstep with Trump."

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Morton said this is the first of four planned town halls for Gardner, with the other three set forDenver, Boulder and Colorado Springs.

Alex Siciliano, a spokesperson for Gardner, said the senator has been using the in-state work period while Congress is in recess to hold meetings and roundtables focused on specific topics, such as small business growth and controlling health care costs. Gardner has also held telephone town halls with constituents in the state. People who call his offices can ask to be included on the tele-town hall lists when they happen in their districts.

His office did not respond to questions about if staff plans to attend the town hall Tuesday night. It is planning to hold a tele-town hall soon, with future plans to stream them online and allow constituents to sign-up online to participate.

Colo. senators still slammed with calls, emails

Morton said her group has also asked for town halls with U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Jared Polis, both Democrats. Laurie Cipriano, a spokesperson for Bennet, said he will have a tele-town hall sometime in March, though the date is still being decided.

Like Gardner, Bennet hasmetwith constituents on specific topics. Bennet spent the recess traveling to Cuba and Colombia to discuss trade, human rights, migration and more, Cipriano said in an email.

She said his office has also met with some of the groups that organized protests to better understand their concerns.

"Michael views the recent surge in protest activity across the country as a sign that people care deeply about America and democracy," she said.

Polis is planning to host a March 12 town hall in the Fort Collins-Loveland area, though the location hasn't been determined yet. Polis also held two tele-town halls in the past week, as well as a digital roundtablevia YouTube Liveon the Affordable Care Act, his spokesperson, Jessica Bralish, said.

Clarification: A previous version stated Gardner's office did not respond to questions about future town halls. Gardner's office is planning a telephone town hall, but hasn't hashed out the details.

IndvisibleNOCO, a Fort Collins progressive group, organized a town hall for U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, in lieu of unmet requests for one in Northern Colorado. The venue will be full, but it can be streamed online.

When: 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

More information: indivisibleNOCO.com

Read or Share this story: http://noconow.co/2loVr2B

Link:
Progressives host town hall for Cory Gardner, without him - The Coloradoan

Local progressives werent expecting Rep. Tom Reed to radically change his views on issues like health care, abortion and President Donald Trump at his town hall sessions throughout the Southern Tier Saturday, and the Republican congressman didnt surprise.

Although some felt Reed sidestepped their questions, they appreciated Reed holding the public meetings at all especially amid turmoil at other similar GOP sessions held across the country recently and were moderately optimistic about pushing their agendas in the future.

While he certainly said a lot of things that were troubling and problematic his regular talking points on a lot of issues he did say some things that led me to believe we might have some room for dialogue and lobbying and maybe coming to some places of agreement, said Chris Stanley, a St. Bonaventure University professor whose organized recent meetings for local progressives.

Reeds four town halls Saturday, which were attended by several hundred people, often turned into wide-ranging discussions with several moments of shouting and even confrontations between attendees with opposing views. Reed told the Times Herald after his Great Valley town hall that he felt the session, while chaotic at times, included real conversation.

While Reeds mostly fit Stanleys expectations, the professor said he was glad to hear Reed say prescription drug costs are a problem, that social security tax receipts should not be used for anything other than paying social security benefits, and that he supports refinancing student loans at lower rates.

Sometimes he simply stated his viewpoint and that was that, but there were a couple points where he tried to engage in more dialogue, particularly over social security and student loan issues, and I respected him for that, Stanley said.

Holly Scordo, an Olean resident who attended Reeds Great Valley town hall, said while she doesnt agree with the congressman, she was impressed he tried to discuss agreeable issues.

He certainly has some ideas hes not going to shift on and compromise on, his core beliefs, and that's OK, but I did feel he was trying to find the things most people could agree on, she said.

However some felt Reed was unwilling to have discussions on other issues, like abortion. Jennifer Greenidge, a town of Olean resident who attended Reeds Great Valley session because she feels womens reproductive rights are being eroded, said Reed dodged a question about what hed do to ensure women can make personal reproductive health care decisions.

He turned it into why hes pro-life, which did not answer the question, Greenidge said.

Still, with some Republican congressmen refusing to hold town halls amid the testy political climate since Trumps inauguration, Greenidge said she gives Reed credit for showing up.

Jil St. Ledger-Roty, of Franklinville, left disappointed there wasnt enough time at the Great Valley town hall for other topics shes concerned about, like race relations, nuclear tensions, and potential threats to public education and the Environmental Protection Agency.

You cant do that kind of thing in an hour. There are just too many questions people had, she said.

Stanley wished for a more orderly discussion, rather than some resorting to yelling. The nature of the crowd led Reed to forgo answering written questions attendees filled out beforehand so he could speak with those who raised their hands or, in some cases, shouted out.

Perhaps some of the people, who are not as vocal and whose thoughts and questions might have had good points, didnt get to be heard or answered, Stanley said.

However progressives were encouraged by the participation this weekend. Many said they and others had never before attended a town hall because, in a heavily conservative county like Cattaraugus, they feared they would be in the minority. They said something has changed locally since Trumps election, with a number of residents speaking out politically for the first time.

I cant tell you how many people I have met and spoke to in the last three months who have never done anything politically (but now) because they're just horrified they cant keep quiet anymore, said St. Ledger-Roty, who resolved after Election Day to do something political, like attending rallies, making phone calls and writing letters, once a day.

Stanley joked Trump was the best thing that ever happened to progressives in our area. Stanley, who organized anti-war meetings during the Iraq War, said the response to Trump tops anything hes seen in his 17 years in the Olean area.

I think it does give a sense of hope and empowerment to those of us who clearly seem to be of a numerical minority in this county and a sense that we can work together for good and not simply have to sit back and feel weak and powerless, he said.

Stanley said he hopes to work with local conservatives by appealing to their needs, admitting he feels the Democratic Party has for years neglected the working class and the poor.

Both progressives and conservatives, he said, need to stop making assumptions about each other and look past their ideological blinders. At Saturdays town hall in Great Valley, Stanley was approached by a Trump supporter who accused him of being a baby killer because hes a progressive.

I said, No, not at all. Im anti-abortion. I really support Catholic social teachings. Im not a Catholic, but I really agree down the board with Catholic social teachings. He said, You do? Stanley recalled. I think one of the problems with our current system is people on both sides speak this kind of way about each other of being mindless people following their leaders. I said, Im a thoughtful person and youre a thoughtful person. We dont need to talk about each other that way.

Although conservatives were in the minority at the town halls, he was glad a few of them spoke up Saturday, he added.

I think it was right and courageous for them to speak up when they were the minority, just like in the past its been some of us whove needed to be courageous to speak up, he said.

Scordo said although shed like a progressive to beat Reed in the 2018 election, she likes that Reed is willing to listen to people and she hopes he becomes a part of a more moderate GOP.

I really hope this empowers people on both sides to become more involved with politics, she said. We need to question the people who are hired to represent us. We hire them, pay their salaries. We need to be making sure they do what they're supposed to do.

Local progressives next public meeting will be at 10 a.m. Saturday in the John Ash Community Center in Olean.

(Contact reporter Tom Dinki at tdinki@oleantimesherald.com. Follow him on Twitter, @tomdinki)

Excerpt from:
Progressives moderately optimistic after Reed town hall - Olean Times Herald

posted at 1:21 pm on February 20, 2017 by John Sexton

Today is Presidents Day so naturally the progressive left is holding rallies to protest President Trump. These Not My Presidents Day rallies are scheduled to take place around the country, including New York, LA, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and a dozen or so other cities. In New York, 15,000 people have said they plan to attend. In LA the figure is just over 4,000 and in Chicago its just under that. Around 1,000 people have said they will attend the Washington, D.C. rally.A description posted on the Facebook page for the New York rallyreads in part:

Donald Trump is literally our President, but figuratively, he has attacked every value New Yorkers embody and does not represent our interests

Donald Trump stands against the progress we have worked hard to enact. He does not represent our interests. He was voted in by a minority of the American public but governs as if theres no resistance. But there is and on February 20th, we will honor previous presidents by exercising our constitutional right to assemble and peacefully protest everything Donald Trump stands for.

The organizers for the New York rally also included 3 hashtags associated with the rally. They are #Impeach, #Resist, and #NotMyPresident. Many of the rallies started a short time ago so pictures are already appearing on Twitter. From NYC:

From LA:

Atlanta:

These rallies are just getting started. Ill update this post with some video as it becomes available.

The rest is here:
Progressives holding #NotMyPresidentsDay rallies around the country - Hot Air

HBD aggregator par excellence M.G., over at her blog Those Who Can See, has a good post on the theme Progressives: The New Race Realists.

The rhetoric and the actions emanating from the left as of late show that they have perhaps taken a U-turn a salutary one. People of Color, they are now saying, in fact have little agency, are near-prisoners of their instincts, and thus cant be held to the same standards as other ethnies.

In other words, todays progressives have become de facto race realists.

On what do we base such a claim?

M.G. breaks it down into headings and subheadings:

1. Education

1a) White Liberal Flight

1b) Lower expectations

1c) Educationcollege

2. Employment

3. Crime

3a) Blacks lack agency

3b) White victims and battered wife syndrome

3c) Europe: Our new Diversity has no agency

4. Governance

5. Historical Accomplishment

6. Athletics

7. White Privilege

7a) Doctrine: Whites are Blessed

7b) More than skin deep?Skating close to the truth

Definitely one to bookmark when you need an HBD graph or fact-source.

View post:
Progressives: The New Race Realists - VDARE.com

The U.S. Department of Homeland Securitys Immigration and Customs Enforcementor ICEhas entered into MOUsMemoranda of Understandwith local police departments that will enable Trump to deputize local police to carry out mass deportations. The ICE MOUs are a rent-a-cop arrangement for ICE to use local police for ICEs immigration-enforcement purposes.

The ICE MOUs give Trump a contractual means to circumvent elected local officials from preventing their police from cooperating with ICE. These MOUs not only require local police departments to provide their officers for immigration investigations and joint operations, but they also shift the costs of enforcement from the federal government to local cities, school districts, and counties. Beneath the radar of public scrutiny, ICE has quietly built a nationwide web of these MOUs with local police departments.

But Pasadenas experience this month shows that progressives can thwart ICEs MOUs when sunlight is shined on them. ICE-PD MOUs have fatal defects if local governments simply decide to disentangle their police departments from cooperation with ICE. When progressives unearthed the ICE-Pasadena PD MOU, exposed it to public scrutiny, and organized opposition to it, within fourdays Pasadenas ICE MOU was dead meat. Progressives can and should do the same thing in other immigrant-friendly cities, counties, and school districts.

MOUs are contracts. ICE enters into MOUs with local police departments for rent-a-cop arrangements to enforce immigration laws. The ICE-Pasadena PD MOU is generically titled Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Local, County, or State Law Enforcement Agency for the Reimbursement of Joint Operations Expenses from the Treasury Forfeiture Fund. Googling the first 11 words of the title will disclose scores of such MOUs across the nation. Some of the MOUs available through Google have generic titles like the ICE-PPD MOU, while some have titles that include the name of the local PD. But all of them have essentially the same language in them except for the substitution of the name of the local PD. The MOUs available on Google are undoubtedly just the tip of the iceberg as they are the ones that happened to be publicly disclosed for a variety of reasons.

Despite their titles which suggest they are just for local policing reimbursement purposes, the ICE MOUs uniformly impose a contractual obligation on local PDs to provide officers to ICE to enforce federal immigration law. That obligation is unequivocally spelled out in the MOUs 5-A: To the maximum extent possible, [the local PD] shall assign dedicated officers to investigations and joint operations.

Thus, if the MOUs are properly authorized, signed, and remain in effect, local PDs would be contractually obligated to provide their police to ICE for ICE immigration-enforcement investigations and joint ICE-local PD operations to the maximum extent possible. Cities with such MOUs would be in breach of contract for failing to do so even if the cities elected officials pass resolutions or ordinances intended to disentangle them from ICE.

The ICE MOUs superficially seem to provide federal dollars to local jurisdictions. But the reality is that ICEs MOUs shift much of the funding for federal immigration enforcement to local jurisdictions by their reimbursement formula. The ICE MOUs reimburse local jurisdiction only for the overtime pay of the local officers that ICE rents from the local government. The ICE MOUs do not provide for reimbursement for the base pay of the officers they require local PDs to dedicate to federal law enforcement. Moreover, the MOUs expressly prohibit any reimbursement for fringe benefits and for the taxes on officer salaries.

Because the benefit load for police officers is usually higher than 50% of their base salary, the limited payment of only the overtime pay means that the federal government is paying less than 40% of the cost of each rent-a-cop while the local agencies are paying more than 60% of the officers costs. The ICE MOU rent-a-cop scheme thus shifts most of the costs for local police involvement in Trumps mass deportation plans to local cities, counties, and school districts with police departments.

During the Obama administration, ICEs MOUs were not heavily used. But Trumps plan for massive deportations will require their extensive use. While the Trump administration says it intends to hire 15,000 more immigration enforcement officers, doing so will take years. The last time there was an attempt to get a sudden influx of federal enforcement officers, backgrounds checks were waived and the result was massive corruption and infiltration by drug cartel agents. Its unlikely that experiment will be tried again.

Saturdays Washington Post reported that directives being vetted now by the Secretary of Homeland Security provide for expanding partnerships with municipal law enforcement agencies that deputize local police to act as immigration officers for the purposes of enforcement. The ICE MOUs will be the primary vehicles to implement these partnerships .

The ICE MOUs have basic flaws that can interfere with their being used to implement the intended partnerships with local police that will deputize them to enforce federal immigration laws and that thereby give progressives the opportunity to demand the end of these MOUs:

At least in Pasadenas case, ICE purported to enter into its MOU with the Pasadena PD simply based on the signature of Pasadenas police chief. California law provides that contracts which are not signed by a local governments authorized representative are void. Pasadenas City Charter requires an officer of the City a status that the Police Chief does not have to sign contracts with it in order for the contracts to be effective.

So Pasadenas MOU has never been valid. We dont know to what extent ICE is relying upon the signatures of local police chiefs for its MOUs without getting the legally-required signatures, but that may be its usual practice. After Pasadenas void MOU was publicized, the local ICE representative told the media that it considered the ICE-Pasadena PD MOU still enforceable. It appears ICE is just blowing smoke to avoid admitting that many or most most of its MOUs cannot be enforced.

Pasadena progressives successfully got its ICE-PPD MOU repudiated in just four days. We obtained the ICE MOU through a California Public Records Act request and released it to the media on February 12. Pasadena progressives quickly mobilized to publicize the MOU and its conflicts with Pasadenas stated policy of not having its police officers enforce federal immigration law.

Intending to advocate the termination of the MOU to the City Councils Public Safety Committee meeting on February 15, Pasadena progressives showed up at the meeting to be pleasantly surprised hearing City Manager Steve Mermell inform the public that the City Charter requires him to sign off on the MOU, that he had not signed off on it, and that he was not going to sign off on it.

The success of Pasadena in getting the ICE MOU repudiated arose from a perfect storm that skewered ICE. The existence of the contract with ICE had never been disclosed outside the police department, leaving the City Manager, the Mayor, the Chair of the Public Safety Committee, and even Councilmembers who almost always support the wishes of Pasadenas police union outraged at the MOU being hidden from them. In that environment, the clear voice of Pasadena progressive community ensuredthat the ICE-PPD MOU was unacceptable.

Progressives in other cities may not have as fortuitous circumstances as occurred in Pasadena, but this is a fight we can win in most communities. The battle begins by making a public records act request for all MOUs and agreements with ICE; such agreements cannot be suppressed under The California Public Records Act.

If the local MOU does not have the required levels of approvals, recognition of their unenforceability as occurred in Pasadena should be demanded. It the local MOU has the requisite levels of authority, a termination letter from the local governments mayor and/or city manager or a resolution requiring termination by the governing board should be demanded.

The ICE MOUs are inconsistent with the commitment of many of Californias cities, counties, and school districts that their police will not enforce federal immigration law. By shining sunlight on the existence of these MOUs, progressives can win this fight.

Skip Hickambottom and Dale Gronemeier

Excerpt from:
Terminating ICE Rent-a-Cop Contracts: A Fight Progressives Can Win - LA Progressive (press release) (subscription) (blog)