Guests on the Sunday talk shows will try to shed some light on a bizarre week in Congress, as several Republican House members make the rounds to discuss the chaotic race for Speaker.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who announced a bid for the Speaker’s gavel last Sunday, joins ABC’s “This Week” to discuss House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) sudden departure from the race and the conference’s shaky leadership situation.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the conservative Freedom Caucus, who has beenfloated as a potential Speaker despite repeated assurances that he will not run, joins “Fox News Sunday” to weigh in on the race.
Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), who said he is open to a return to the House’s top job if he can get the votes, will also make an appearance on the Fox News program.
Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), a founding member of the Freedom Caucus and a prominent critic of outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), joins CBS’s “Face the Nation” to give his take on who should take up the gavel.
GOP Reps. Charlie Dent (Pa.), a centrist, and Dave Brat (Va.), the Freedom Caucus member who bested previous Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a GOP primary, will headline NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Also discussing the pandemonium over the Speaker race are Republican Reps. Raul Labrador (Idaho) and Tom Cole (Okla.), who will each appear on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Several candidates from the Republican and Democratic primaries will also make appearances, as the latter group prepares for their first debate on Tuesday.
By Jonathan D. Salant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
WASHINGTON — The House Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative lawmakers co-founded by U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett, is seen as the political force that helped bring down House Speaker John Boehner,convinced House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to give up his quest to be Speaker and brought the federal government close to its second shutdown in three years.
Speaking publicly for the first time since Boehner’s resignation, the New Jersey lawmaker said the 60-vote threshold for legislation in the other chamber is preventing Congress from doing its job.
“Why can’t Congress get things done?” Garrett (R-5th Dist.) told reporters outside the House chambers on Friday. “Even though Republicans are in charge of the Senate, we still need a half-dozen votes to move legislation,” referring to the six Democratic votes needed to reach 60.
The conservative House Freedom Caucus is endorsing Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.) for Speaker, potentially preventing any candidate from securing enough votes to win the gavel on the House floor.
The endorsement of Webster, who won just 12 votes for Speaker against now-retiring John Boehner (R-Ohio) in January, is a blow to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the leading candidate for the position.
The conservative House Freedom Caucus is endorsing Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.) for Speaker, potentially preventing any candidate from securing enough votes to win the gavel on the House floor.
The endorsement of Webster, who won just 12 votes for Speaker against now-retiring John Boehner (R-Ohio) in January, is a blow to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the leading candidate for the position.
Former secretary of state hired Datto Inc. to provide a private cloud backup of her emails
FBI asked the Connecticut company to turn over data. It agreed.
State Department also asking again whether she turned over all of her business emails
BY GREG GORDON AND ANITA KUMAR
McClatchy Washington Bureau
Hillary Clinton hired a Connecticut company to back up her emails on a “cloud” storage system, and her lawyers have agreed to turn whatever it contains over to the FBI, a person familiar with the situation said Tuesday.
The disclosure came as a Republican Senate committee chairman, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, also asked the firm to turn over to the committee copies of any Clinton emails still in its possession.
There were conflicting accounts as to whether the development could lead to recovery of any of Clinton’s more than 31,000 personal emails, which she said she deleted from her private server upon turning over her work-related emails to the State Department, at its request, in December 2014.
Congressional Republicans have voiced skepticism as to whether the 30,940 business emails that the Democratic presidential candidate handed over represented all of those related to her position as secretary of state. The FBI is separately investigating whether Clinton’s arrangement put classified information at risk but has yet to characterize it as a criminal inquiry.
Datto Inc., based in Norwalk, Conn., became the second data storage firm to become entangled in the inquiry into Clinton’s unusual email arrangement, which has sparked a furor that has dogged her campaign. In August, Clinton and the firm that had managed her server since June 2013, Colorado-based Platte River Networks, agreed to surrender it for examination by the FBI.
The first Sussex County resident elected to Congress in 90 years could be getting a seat at the head table as Republicans choose the next Speaker of the House.
That is compelling from a local perspective, whether or not one is a fan of U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett of Wantage.
Garrett, true to form, has been circumspect on the maneuvering to replace Speaker John Boehner.
The election to succeed Boehner is scheduled for Thursday. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the frontrunner, met Oct. 1 with some members of the House Freedom Caucus, CNN reported.
Garrett is one of the nine founding members of the caucus. It was launched by hardline conservatives in January soon after a failed effort, backed by Garrett, to oust Boehner.
Garrett is the only caucus founder from the Northeast, which generally elects Republicans less conservative than elsewhere. The caucus does not disclose a roster, but several published reports place its membership at about 40.
The CNN report did not say whether Garrett attended the meeting with McCarthy. His office did not respond Friday to a request for comment.
Assuming members vote as a block, the caucus will have considerable influence on Thursday’s votes for speaker and majority leader.
The next speaker — still likely to be McCarthy, despite his monumental gaffe last week in implying that damaging Hillary Clinton’s presidential prospects was a motive of the Benghazi investigation — will need a majority of the House members showing up to vote.
With the 435-member House consisting of 247 Republicans, “no” votes on McCarthy from more than 29 could force a second round of voting, sort of the House equivalent of a brokered presidential convention.
A deep enough divide among Republicans could give Democrats the ability to determine which Republican gets to be the next speaker — an unacceptable scenario for the majority party.
The only other announced candidate is Florida Rep. Daniel Webster, who got Garrett’s vote when he challenged Boehner in January.
Garrett, as of Saturday morning, had not endorsed a candidate.
RIDGEWOOD PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Office of the Superintendent September 21, 2015
Board Meeting Report to Board: Opening of School
Opening of School
Cheryl Best, Alfredo Aguilar and I visited all the schools during the first day. In addition, K-12 administrators, Kim Turner, Robert Bell and Chris McCullough also visited each building. From all reports the opening of school went very smoothly. Buses actually ran pretty smoothly.
NOTE: This is subject to change as we determine new students and withdrawals.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican Party’s conservative wing, pumped up by House Speaker John Boehner’s stepping down, is warning the 2016 presidential candidates that defying its wishes will come at their peril.
Religious activists forcefully conveyed this message Saturday: embrace our uncompromising stance against abortion rights and gay marriage, among other priorities, even if doing so risks a federal government shutdown.
An emboldened conservative movement signals fresh trouble for White House candidates viewed by the party’s frustrated base as insufficiently committed to their cause. Chief among them is former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
“Conservatives are on fire at the moment,” said Gary Bauer, a former president of the Family Research Council. He was among the featured speakers at the Values Voter annual conference that brought an estimated 2,000 evangelical activists to Washington this weekend.
Boehner’s announcement that he would resign from Congress by the end of October came without warning Friday, nearly four months before voting begins in the presidential primary. His decision revealed a deep divide within the GOP that raises questions about the party’s ability to unite behind one candidate next spring.
Hard-line conservatives were deeply disappointed with the last two Republican presidential nominees – former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Arizona Sen. John McCain. Boehner was unpopular among conservative activists, and his resignation will give them new hope that the party may choose a candidate who energizes the most passionate voters, even if that nominee is seen as less attractive to a general election crowd.
A co-founder of the tea party movement said Boehner was just another of the establishment figures taken down by frustrated conservatives. “Today, the insurgency is more emboldened than ever and looks to even further dominate the presidential elections in 2016,” said Mark Meckler. “Our influence is growing.”
A national survey finds that 72 percent of Americans say their country isn’t as great as it once was —a central theme of front-runner Donald Trump’s campaign.
Americans are “fed up” with politics, suspect the wealthy are getting an unfair edge, and think the country is going in the wrong direction, according to a new Bloomberg Politics poll that lays bare the depth and breadth of the discontents propelling outsider candidates in the Republican presidential field.
The survey shows that 72 percent of Americans think their country isn’t as great as it once was—a central theme of front-runner Donald Trump’s campaign. More than a third prefer a presidential candidate without experience in public office.
Read the questions and methodology here.
Three of the four candidates leading the Republican field fit that description: Trump, the first choice of 21 percent of registered Republicans and voters who say they lean that way, followed by neurosurgeon Ben Carson with 16 percent, former Florida GovernorJeb Bush with 13 percent, and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina with 11 percent.
Fiorina and Carson have seen the strongest gains among Republicans since the survey was taken a month ago. In the interim, voters have had their first extended looks at the candidates in two nationally televised debates. Fiorina’s numbers, at 1 percent in the August poll, leaped by 10 percentage points while Carson jumped 11 percentage points, up from 5 percent. Trump’s numbers have remained unchanged. Together, the three candidates who have never held political office account for 48 percent of the Republican vote.
SEPTEMBER 4, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY JIM MCCONVILLE
CORRESPONDENT |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
RIDGEWOOD — The opening of the 2015 football season is a week away for Ridgewood High School, and there is still plenty of jockeying for positions as the team prepares to break a five-game losing streak that put a major damper on the 2014 campaign.
Before they get going for real, the Maroons will play a game scrimmage tonight against a Ramapo team that should be a strong test for the defense. The 7 o’clock tilt should facilitate the finalization of starting units over the first three quarters.
A couple of spots opened up due to preseason circumstances. Senior fullback/linebacker Cooper Telesco will be sidelined for the entire season after undergoing surgery for a torn labrum in July. Two-way lineman Terrel Stephen moved to Indiana over the summer, leaving Ridgewood with some gaping holes.
“Any time you lose arguably your two best players it is a big blow,” RHS head coach Chuck Johnson said. “What I’m most pleased about is that this group is not letting that define them. They’ve stepped up to the challenge of carrying on, and they’ve worked very hard to prepare for this season.”
It’s apparent from my vantage point behind the microphone that if you’re even remotely glossy-eyed by presidential coverage in the media, you’d better buy some eye drops. The panorama of candidate content, communications and messaging is barely on the horizon, and soon to be in full view as the Iowa caucus and primaries in New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and Nevada come into focus.
Maneuvering through the gauntlet of opinions, I’m finding a consistency remains in deep-rooted support for presidential candidate Donald Trump.
People love Trump. They deem him a saving grace. He’s the proverbial Hercules and America’s problems are the labors to pursue and slay. He is riding a wave of popularity so profound even the sharks are curbing their taste.
In light of the Trump sensation, it may be appropriate, or at least instructive, to delineate what my radio listeners embrace from Trump’s message.
Here are five reasons why Trump appears to be the candidate to beat:
1. He doesn’t need to bluff. Trump has such confidence that he’s the kind of player who doesn’t bluff in a poker game. While this feels counterintuitive to a winning strategy, particularly in an age of baby-kissing politicians who thrive on placation over results, it’s actually refreshing. His candor builds respect. Radio listeners are extolling day after day the fact Trump is transparent to a fault, from his stances on immigration to foreign relations. Even his faults are steadily accepted and adopted. Poll Americans on who they like better: Trump vs. Univision reporter Jorge Ramos, actress Rosie O’Donnell, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), blogger Erick Erickson, pollster Frank Luntz or even columnist George Will, and the New York businessman will be on top every time by double digits.
2. He can’t be intimidated. Forget his multibillion dollar net worth. Push aside his armada of contacts and networking forged over decades. One of the strongest resonating dimensions to Trump is grit and tenacity. Super-PAC coffers of more than $100 million, compliments of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United case, don’t dissuade or cower Trump. He has access to the same level of resources. Political titles and legislative chevrons glimmering with laws passed in Congress don’t make Trump blink, because he’s been the donor sought after by many of these same politicians now running against him. From connections to chits, deep roots in business to opponents with far less resources, competitors simply can’t match Trump’s popularity. As one caller to the show recently bemused, compare Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) student loans or Gov. Scott Walker’s (R-Wis.) personal debt to Trump’s acumen and portfolio, and it’s almost like petulant children are competing against their successful, prominent father.
3. Out with political correctness. Build a wall to block illegal immigration from Mexico and Central America while deporting what he calls “anchor babies” and their families; impugn Russian, Chinese and South American leaders despite inextricably linked economies with the U.S.; hobble castigators who choose insults and fodder over substance in debates and interviews. It’s almost like describing a Roman general or martyr of a revolution, yet it’s a precise portrayal of Trump. His wherewithal is opening the eyes of Americans to the incompetence of our government. Callers remind me nearly every show that they want solutions, not sensationalism. They seek commonsense policies, not sound bites. My callers think Megyn Kelly was rude in her Fox News debate questions. They resoundingly believe Ramos deserved his fast-and-furious escort out of the recent Iowa press conference. They concur that chest-pounders like Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) do, in fact, need to be taken down a notch on the hubris ladder. From race to gender to economic principles, Trump’s stark opinions are catching the attention of the public, and they can’t stop staring — in a good way. This isn’t a painted breast in Manhattan, but the cold, hard truth about America being broken, and a journeyman blessed with the right tools to “get ‘er done” and make repairs.
4. He’s reinvigorating America across the political spectrum. Like a Lee Greenwood or Johnny Cash song, Trump is traveling from the lakes to the fields to the cities of America, and he’s definitely been everywhere — and isn’t stopping. The media follow his path; opponents emulate his narrative; the electorate revels in the freshness of a candidate diagnosing what ails us and offering painful but necessary remedies. As for radio talk show listeners, be it the libertarian free marketer, Tea Party stalwart, open-minded Republican or smidgeon of moderate Democrats, Trump’s ascension in public support isn’t just vertical, but also lateral from right to middle to left in partisan affiliation. As one listener messaged last month, President Obama’s initial campaign maxims of “hope” and “yes we can” were just that: maxims, that never came to fruition. It appears Trump’s legacy may be following through with his promises, and that expectation appears to have awakened the American ethos.
5. Finally, a business-centric leader who is comfortable making decisions. A fan of the show recently commented that Trump can win the race for the presidency by naming his vice president and Cabinet members in the next few months, rather than after a Republican nomination. The logic is that building a team of experts who will manage the operations of the nation, as part of a campaign platform, is superior to generalities and wishful thinking. Trump’s business acumen is proven. Callers are alluding to the fact that he isn’t afraid of the media, nor does he use the crutch of notes and prepared speeches. He’s a negotiator, not a political puppet. He’s a dealmaker who thrives in the hot seat of a boardroom. Logic suggests he’ll be the same in foreign negotiations or hunkered down in a military command center. Trump doesn’t “blink,” in the Malcolm Gladwell context
AUGUST 23, 2015 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015, 1:20 AM
BY JIM MCCONVILLE
SPECIAL TO THE RECORD |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD – There is a very different feel to the Ridgewood football team as it embarks on the 2015 campaign. The first thing that pops out is the filled-out bodies, especially among the linemen.
There is also a different intensity, one likely borne out of the disappointing way the Maroons ended the 2014 season. After starting 5-0 and outscoring opponents 220-24, they fell prey to their success.
A 35-0 loss to Paramus, a defeat that head coach Chuck Johnson called, “one of the most embarrassing moments in my 30 years here,” started a five-game losing streak.
Senior Mike Kendrick probably said it best when he recalled, “we basically got smacked in the mouth and didn’t react.”
That memory is what drives Kendrick and the rest of the seniors. You can see it in practice, as there is an extra spark to every drill.
“We’re learning from the mistakes of last year,” said Kendrick, the left tackle and only returning starter on the offensive line. “We know we have to be better than last year. We’re watching every film to see where it went wrong and focusing on being better and working on getting stronger to be able to go up against the better linemen.”
Johnson was proud that six of his players bench pressed more than 300 pounds this spring, a sign that the Maroons have bought into the work ethic.
The linemen, offensively and defensively, average an extra 20 pounds per man. How strength translates to blocking schemes is still a big question.
In speeches and writings, Chinese President Xi Jinping often delivers the rhetoric of a Communist Party hardliner. And yet more than ever, capitalists worldwide are depending upon this Leninist – one who is in the midst of a power struggle – to prop up the global economy.
Concerns about China contributed to Wall Street’s biggest one-day sell-off last week since 2011, and the slide could continue when markets reopen on Monday.
Friday’s rout was triggered by a report that China’s manufacturing output had dipped to its lowest point since the 2009 global economic crisis. Investors increasingly fear China’s slowdown could be a tipping point for many emerging economies, many of whom grew dependent on selling commodities to China during its go-go days.
The 531-point drop in the Dow on Friday wasn’t all about China, of course. Investors also are worried about inflated equity prices, dropping oil prices, and the possibility the U.S. Federal Reserve could soon approve an interest rate hike. But China’s economic troubles loom large.
“The market may have overreacted,” said Charles Morrison, an Asia-Pacific expert who heads the East West Center in Honolulu. “But the Chinese manufacturing slowdown is a data point that creates concerns worldwide, because China’s manufacturing sucks up so much of the world’s resources.”
By some measures, China’s economy has grown to be equal in size with that of the United States, and it is still growing at a rate of roughly 7 percent yearly. But that’s a slowdown from previous years, and the impact is huge on China’s trade partners.
Despite a hack two years ago that publicly exposed Hillary Clinton’s emails, the State Department took no action to shore up the security of the former secretary of state’s private computer server.
A State Department official said the department could not do anything in response to the March 2013 hack of longtime Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal because it occurred on a non-governmental computer system. The hacked emails, which included Blumenthal’s frequent correspondence with Clinton while she was in office in 2012, were sent by the Romanian hacker to media organizations, which later posted them online.
The disclosure renews questions of when State Department officials first learned that Clinton was doing department business on a private server and what steps they took to safeguard her sensitive diplomatic communications, some of which have been deemed classified.
As pressure builds on Hillary Clinton to explain her official use of personal email while serving as secretary of state, she faced new complications Tuesday. It was disclosed her top aides are being drawn into a burgeoning federal inquiry and that two emails on her private account have been classified as “Top Secret.”
The inspector general for the Intelligence Community notified senior members of Congress that two of four classified emails discovered on the server Clinton maintained at her New York home contained material deemed to be in one of the highest security classifications – more sensitive than previously known.
The notice came as the State Department inspector general’s office acknowledged that it is reviewing the use of “personal communications hardware and software” by Clinton’s former top aides after requests from Congress.
“We will follow the facts wherever they lead, to include former aides and associates, as appropriate,” said Douglas Welty, a spokesman for the State Department’s inspector general.
Despite the acknowledgment, the State Department inspector general’s office has left numerous unanswered questions, including exactly who and what is being investigated. The office initially declined to comment and referred questions to the Intelligence Community inspector general’s office, which said it is not currently involved in any inquiry into aides and is being denied full access to aides’ emails by the State Department. Clinton, herself, is not a target.
The expanding inquiry threatens to further erode Clinton’s standing as the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. Since her reliance on private email was revealed in March, polls in crucial swing states show that increasing numbers of voters say Clinton is not honest and trustworthy, in part, because of her use of private emails.
GOP leaders say erratic attacks hurt Trump, but he vows to fight and win
By Philip Rucker and Robert Costa August 8 at 9:42 PM
Republican leaders who have watched Donald Trump’s summer surge with alarm now believe that his presidential candidacy has been contained and may begin to collapse because of his repeated attacks on a Fox News Channel star and his refusal to pledge his loyalty to the eventual GOP nominee.
Fearful that the billionaire’s inflammatory rhetoric has inflicted serious damage to the GOP brand, party leaders hope to pivot away from the Trump sideshow and toward a more serious discussion among a deep field of governors, senators and other candidates.
They acknowledge that Trump’s unique megaphone and the passion of his supporters make any calculation about his candidacy risky. After all, he has been presumed dead before: Three weeks ago, he prompted establishment outrage by belittling the Vietnam war service of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), only to prove, by climbing higher in the polls, that the laws of political gravity did not apply to him.
Still, Trump’s erratic performance during and after the first Republican presidential debate last week sparked a backlash throughout the party Saturday and a reassessment of his front-running bid. The final straw for many was Trump’s comment on CNN late Friday that Fox moderator Megyn Kelly had “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”
