America Rising

America Rising: A New Generation Of Republican Research And Rapid Response.

[americarising]

Clinton Lies To Reporter About Trans-Pacific Partnership

Today at a press conference in Maryland, Hillary Clinton told a reporter she felt comfortable commenting on the Trans-Pacific Partnership while not commenting on Keystone because she never worked on TPP:

This is a flat out lie! Not only did Clinton call TPP “the gold standard in trade agreements,” before avoiding taking a position during her presidential campaign, but she pushed for the agreement at least 45 times, as CNN reported in June.

Clinton’s decision to re-write history on her work on trade, as well as her excuse to take no position on the Keystone pipeline, provide more evidence that she will say or do anything to get elected.

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VIDEO: Clinton Again Refuses To Say What She Thinks The Minimum Wage Should Be

Today at a press conference following her meeting at the AFL-CIO, Hillary Clinton once again dodged on what she believes the national minimum wage should be.

Asked directly if she would give a dollar amount for what the minimum wage should be, Clinton refused to do so. She did mention a proposal put forth in Congress to raise the minimum wage to $12 per hour, but when pressed again by a reporter if she endorsed that dollar amount, Clinton would not give an answer.

As has been well documented, Clinton has taken all of the positions on the federal minimum wage.

Clinton has refused to endorse the $15 minimum wage, waffled by saying different cities and states should have different minimum wages, and endorsed a $15 minimum wage for fast food workers only in New York state—including rural areas and smaller cities in the state.

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Senator Feingold (D-United States Senate) Doesn’t Want To Be Called ‘Senator’

Senator Russ Feingold, member of the United States Senate for the 103rd, 104th, 105th, 106th, 107th, 108th, 109th, 110th, and 111th United States Congresses, would prefer voters not refer to him as “Senator” for fear that his association with the Senate and Washington, DC could give the impression he’s too much of a DC insider and derail his plans to return… to Washington, DC.

The Washington Free Beacon and Milwaukee Journal Sentinelreported on the video clip, which depicted Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairwoman Martha Laning instructing a group of individuals to call Senator Feingold “Russ.”

“Never call him ‘Senator Feingold.’ We are to call him ‘Russ,'” she said. “They want us to say ‘Russ’ because the last campaign — it was all about ’16 years, 16 years, 16 years, he’s there too long.’ And so they want to say, ‘He’s just one of us.’ We want to go back to Russ being Russ.”

It’s a minor point, but Feingold served three full terms in the Senate, meaning he was in D.C. for 18 years, not 16.

Laning continued, “Second one is we never want to say ‘go back’ to the Senate. We just want to say ‘electing’ him to the Senate. They want to totally get away from all that.”

And according to the Journal Sentinel, Senator Feingold’s campaign isn’t happy about the leaked video:

An insider close to Feingold made it clear that the ex-senator’s team is none too pleased with the video or Laning, who was elected to the top Dem post in June.

“This is no time for on-the-job training,” said the source, who asked not to be named because he’s not authorized to speak for the campaign. “I’m pretty certain they don’t want Martha Laning to use the words ‘Russ Feingold’ ever again.”

Perhaps the Senator should submit a formal resolution to the Wisconsin Democrats to cease and desist this behavior, unbecoming of a United States Senate campaign?

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Terry McAuliffe Forced To Return Potentially Illegal PAC Donation

Virginia Democrat Terry McAuliffe is returning $25,000 in potentially illegal donations to a political action committee (PAC) he runs, according to the AP.

McAuliffe, Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign chairman and longtime Clinton associate, accepted a donation from Glinn USA, a company with ties to Sonangol, the state-owned oil company of Angola.

“In our normal course of legal vetting, it became clear that Glinn USA was not able to certify the contribution complied with state and federal law,” said McAuliffe’s PAC director, Brian Zuzenak. “Out of an abundance of caution we have decided to refund the contribution. The PAC will continue to operate in accordance with Gov. McAuliffe’s commitment to transparency.”

However, an attorney for Glinn USA said the money was being returned only after his clients asked for it back. That request came after the company received a letter asking that the donation’s legality be certified.

“I talked to my client, and they said, ‘to hell with it,’” said Gary Dugger, the company’s registered agent. “They’re business people and they’re not interested in getting involved in political controversies.”

The connection between McAuliffe and Glinn USA was made by Laurence Humphries, a Clinton fundraiser:

According to a database maintained by the watchdog group Public Citizen, Humphries was a sizable fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2008. McAuliffe, a former national Democratic fundraiser, was chairman of that campaign.

But is anyone really surprised the Clintons are involved in a scandal involving money and politics?

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FACT CHECK: Clinton’s Claims About “Accomplishments” Don’t Stand Up To Scrutiny

Yesterday, Hillary Clinton spoke with the New Hampshire Union Leader on a wide range of topics. When asked what her top two accomplishments were as Secretary of State, Clinton said, “putting together the coalition that imposed sanctions on Iran” and “continuing with a persistent effort to actually enforce those sanctions.”

Unfortunately for Clinton, these “accomplishments” are hollow. Let’s take a look at the facts:

CLAIM: Clinton said she put “together the coalition that imposed sanctions on Iran”

FACTS: Clinton made concessions, including lifting othersanctions against Russian companies, and altering U.S. missile defense plans in Eastern Europe, to build an international coalition on Iran sanctions. Clinton’s State Department tried to water down and “vigorously opposedalmost all” of Congress’ sanctions on Iran.

Further, once sanctions were in place, Clinton repeatedly exempted major countries, such as Russia and China, from punishments for violating those sanctions.

CLAIM: Clinton said she developed better communication with China, reached out to European allies who “felt neglected,” won and kept American jobs, and made progress on internet freedom.

FACTS: The Chinese used Clinton’s Strategic and Economic Dialogue to attack the U.S.’s China policy while the talks themselves produced “few, if any, tangible results.”

Despite Clinton’s claims about reaching out to European allies, the opinion of the U.S. in key European countriesactually went down while Clinton was Secretary of State.

Additionally, jobs continued to flow out of the U.S. between 2008 and 2010, while in 2010, large American companies invested more in jobs abroad than at home.

Finally, Clinton’s few successes on Internet freedom were undermined by the Snowden revelations, which made her push for Internet freedom seem “hypocritical.”

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Hillary Clinton’s Hypocrisy On Arctic Drilling

In an interview yesterday with NH1, Clinton expressed her doubts about the Obama administration’s plan to allow drilling in the Arctic:

These comments come after Clinton came under fire from climate activists for failing to take a position on the Keystone pipeline.

These new claims also contradict Clinton’s position as Secretary of State, when she said the U.S. will “claim what is ours” with regards to Arctic oil and gas fields and said that we would pursue new Arctic oil and gas reserves “in a smart, sustainable way.”

Clinton’s flip-flop on drilling in the Arctic is just another example that she will say or do anything to get elected president.

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“Carbon neutral” Clinton campaign flies private jet out of New Hampshire

After a day of bruising headlines about her dodging questions about the Keystone XL pipeline, Hillary Clinton literally got the red carpet treatment as she boarded her private jet departing New Hampshire this afternoon.

Today the Clinton campaign, in response to yesterday’s private jet video, pledged to go “carbon neutral” (but don’t ask them how—they don’t know). More importantly, how many carbon credits will this flight be costing Hillary For America?

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The Democrat Party’s Recruitment Woes

As Democrats attempt to make a dent in the GOP’s historic House majority, they are finding themselves in quite the pickle.

On the heels of Ross Miller’s decision not to run in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional district, Democratic leaders are trying to cope with the lack of challengers to Republicans across the country, the weak bench of Democrats running in must-win districts, and crowded primaries spanning districts from east to west.

What’s stopping these Democratic recruits from running? Maybe it’s what Democratic leaders, reporters, and pundits are saying:

Israel, July 2015: “It’s going to be hard for us to win the majority.”

Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, January 2015: Hoyer said he wouldn’t bet “a whole lot of money” on Democrats winning the majority in 2016.

National Journal: “The party needs to pick up 30 seats in 2016 to wrest the majority from the Republicans. But just months into the cycle, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee appears to be writing off races that it would need to win to get there.”

Political commentator Stuart Rothenberg: “No, I’m not suggesting Democrats will win the House in 2016. Far from it. Right now, you’d need a magnifying glass, probably even a microscope, to find the party’s chances of taking control.”

With such pessimistic predictions about reclaiming a House majority, it’s no wonder Democrats nationwide are opting to do something better and more productive with their lives.

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After dodging a press question in Iowa yesterday about whether she supported approval of the Keystone pipeline, today in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton again refused to answer a simple question of “yes or no” as to whether she would approve Keystone.

[americarising]

Hillary “Dead Broke” Clinton Hops In Private Jet After Iowa Climate Change Speech

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Clinton’s Energy Plan Flops, Particularly On The Left

Hillary Clinton unveiled her energy “plan” today in Iowa, and the reviews are in: nobody likes it. Critics, particularly those on the left, were left wanting:

“Clinton’s climate plan is remarkable for what it doesn’t say, yet,” California-based environmental activist R.L. Miller, who founded the Climate Hawks Vote PAC, said in a statement. Specifically, she added, Clinton offered “no effort to keep fossil fuels in the ground, no price on carbon; no word on Keystone XL, Arctic oil or other carbon bombs; no word on fracking.”

Take a look at the headlines from Clinton’s energy speech, which both the left and center uniformly panned:

The New Republic: “Hillary Clinton’s Climate-Change Plan Is Anything But Comprehensive”

MSNBC: “Clinton’s ‘comprehensive’ climate change policy is anything but”

Politico: “The holes in Clinton’s climate plan”

The Hill: “Clinton dodges Keystone question”

Bloomberg: “Hillary Clinton Declines to Say Where She Stands on Keystone XL”

National Journal: “Hillary Clinton Still Won’t Talk About Keystone”

NBC News: “While Revealing Climate Plan, Clinton Mum on Keystone”

MSNBC host Ed Schultz piled on with his critique:

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Clinton Spends Press Conference Dodging Reporters Questions, Again

Today, Hillary Clinton once again dodged when she was asked for specifics on two important topics: the Keystone Pipeline and how she’s pay for her costly new climate change scheme.

Clinton, who has spent the last two years avoiding Keystone pipeline question, dodged when she was asked whether she supports or opposes construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. However, Clinton, who said the pipeline’s environmental impact would be important tout the process she put in place to review the pipeline, which found that Keystone would not have “significant impacts” on the environment. Does this mean we assume that Clinton supports Keystone? Supporting the pipeline would align Clinton with her donors and consultants.

Later in the press conference, Clinton failed to explain to reporters how she would pay for her energy plan:

Clinton says the “public deserves to know” what her plan will cost and that she is a fan of “arithmetic,” but she won’t provide a single cost number. Looks like Clinton will continue to dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge any question that may call for specificity on her policies.

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MSNBC Fact Checks Hillary Clinton’s False Statements About Classified Emails

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Clinton Releases Climate Plan Emitting Zero Details

On Sunday evening, Clinton rolled out her new energy policy. Her newly released proposal is, as we have come to expect, lacking:

1. Despite saying she would release details of her climate plan, this plan continues to leave Americans hanging, three times saying the details will be outlined in “over the coming months” or “in the coming weeks.” This might be why climate activists don’t trust Clinton to speak for them.

2. Clinton’s plan contains exactly zero mentions of cost, and Clinton once again fails to detail how she plans to pay for these proposals.

3. There is no mention of cap-and-trade, the first point in Clinton’s 2008 energy policy plan. Has she abandoned this proposal, or does she just have a secret plan to cap carbon emissions?

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Hillary Clinton Has Taken All Of The Positions On “Fight For $15”

This morning, the New York Times reported that Hillary Clinton is endorsing the “Fight For $15” movement in New York state for fast food workers.

This marks the third position Clinton has taken on the $15 minimum wage in recent weeks. To recap:

In June, Clinton stopped short of endorsing the $15 minimum wage that the “Fight For $15” movement is pushing.

Last week, when asked about the topic, Clinton waffled, saying “because there are different economic environments” across the country, there is debate over whether the $15 minimum wage would work.

And now this morning, the Times is reporting Clinton will come out in support of New York state—including smaller cities like Buffalo, Syracuse, and Rochester—raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour for fast food workers only.

Not only is Clinton utterly unable to posit a clear-cut position on the $15 minimum wage, she’s late to her own Party. Bernie Sanders has announced his support for a national $15 minimum wage, as has Martin O’Malley.

Stay tuned, Clinton watchers. Who knows what position Clinton will take next week…

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Flashback: Clinton: “I Did Not Email Any Classified Material To Anyone On My Email”

The New York Times reported yesterday that two government inspector generals looked at Clinton’s claim and found an investigation is warranted. 

There was no permanent inspector general at the State Department during Clinton’s four-year tenure.

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Clinton Could Now Face A Criminal Investigation Into Her Use Of A Private Email Account

Last night, The New York Times reported that two inspectors general have asked the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into whether classified government information was mishandled because of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. The request comes after an assessment sent last month to the State Department and intelligence agencies that Clinton’s private email account contained “hundreds of potentially classified emails.” More from the Times:

“It is not clear if any of the information in the emails was marked as classified by the State Department when Mrs. Clinton sent or received them. But since her use of a private email account for official State Department business was revealed in March, she has repeatedly said that she had no classified information on the account. The initial revelation has been an issue in the early stages of her presidential campaign. …

At issue are thousands of pages of State Department emails from Mrs. Clinton’s private account. Mrs. Clinton has said she used the account because it was more convenient, but it also shielded her correspondence from congressional and Freedom of Information Act requests. She faced sharp criticism after her use of the account became public, and subsequently said she would ask the State Department to release her emails.”

It’s now crystal clear that Clinton’s claims from months ago about emailing classified materials – claims which she and her campaign maintain to this day – were simply false.