New York rapper 50 Cent is all the way here for Tom Ford. The hip-hop star has co-signed the iconic fashion designer for throwing serious shade at First Lady Melania Trump.
Fif went to Instagram Tuesday to show his support for Ford and remind fans he’s still not down with controversial brand Gucci.
A few years ago, Tom Ford explained why he didn’t want Melania Trump wearing his clothes as the First Lady.
In January 2017, Melania’s husband President Donald Trumpresponded to Ford’s remarks.
President-elect Donald Trump has responded to Tom Ford’s comments on a Fox & Friends interview today. During a talk about the upcoming inauguration, Trump said Melania Trump never asked the designer to dress her. “[She] never asked Tom Ford, doesn’t like Tom Ford, doesn’t like his designs,” he said. “I’m not a fan of Tom Ford, never have been.” He then claimed Steve Wynn, the CEO of Wynn Resorts, felt so terrible about Ford’s comments, “that he threw his clothing out of his Las Vegas hotel.” (Allure)
This week, New York rapper Mysonne fueled an anti-Gucci campaign by calling out the controversial brand’s promise to help black designers crack into the fashion biz weeks after a blackface sweater nightmare.
Rakim placed foresight and business-minded logic into the minds of Hip-Hop Heads the moment he rapped “Thinking of a master plan” on Paid in Full in 1987. More than thirty years later, a presidential candidate in the 2020 election is stepping forward with a vision that could legitimately solve America’s deepening economic crisis.
His name is Andrew Yang, a Democrat, Asian American, entrepreneur, author and founder of Venture for America. He had a role in President Barack Obama’s administration, serving as a “Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship.” Though his name is largely unknown, Yang actually launched his bid for the presidency in 2017 and is running on the slogan “Humanity First.” Since then, he’s campaigned on the concept of Universal Basic Income (UBI), the idea that the federal government should provide every single American adult with a tax free, no-questions-asked sum of money. The UBI would be a a partial salve for a lot of the diseases plaguing America’s economy: racial inequality, job loss to automation, class disparity, gender inequality and more.
Yang recently visited The Breakfast Club, where he delivered a 45-minute interview outlining the specifics of what sounds like, to many of us, a completely radical idea. But he breaks down complex ideas in a way that may change the way Americans think about the structure of government, much like The God MC’s approach to lyricism did to the art of Rap.
Yang studied economics in college, which is already enough to separate him greatly from the so-called entrepreneurial expertise of Donald Trump. “I’m running for president to help us evolve and advance to the next stage of our economy,” he says early in the interview. His background in economics makes him particularly interested in the effects of automation and the role machines play in overhauling the way our jobs market functions.
At the 2:30 mark, he says “Half of the people who lost their jobs to automation never worked again. Of that group, half filed for disability. Then, you saw a massive surge in alcohol use and drug overdoses. Suicides and depression. There’s a lot of despair, a lot of suffering. And it’s going unaddressed around the country and, unfortunately, it’s just going to ramp up…One of the things I’m trying to tell people is, ‘Look. This is no longer speculative.’ This has been ripping a hole in our communities and our society for years…It is not immigrants…immigrants have nothing to do with the economic distress. It’s the fact that technology is advancing to a point where our labor is less and less central to the economy.”
It’s near the 10:00 mark that Yang begins to focus on the UBI, which he has re-branded as the “Freedom Dividend.”
“I’m proposing we declare a dividend of $1,000 a month for every American adult, starting at age 18,” he says. “It would be a game-changer for tens of millions of American families, because we know 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Fifty-percent can’t afford an unexpected $500 bill. We have the money. We’re the richest, most advanced economy in the history of the world. We can easily afford a $1,000 a month dividend.”
Yang takes the opportunity to remind or inform listeners that this is not at all a radical idea. Martin Luther King, Jr. supported a similar plan in 1967. “He called it the Guaranteed Minimum Income,” says Yang before adding, “It’s a very American idea…it seems far out to us now, but we’ve been talking about this for decades. It came this close to being launched in 1971. It actually passed the House of Representatives twice under Richard Nixon.”
He brings up the state of Alaska, which for decades has been supplementing its residents’ income with a dividend from the oil industry, known as the Petroleum Dividend. Yang’s argument is we can do the same, with technology money. Corporations like Amazon and Netflix recently made headlines for paying zero taxes, despite record profits. “Who wins from artificial intelligence? Who wins from innovation?,” he asks near the 5:50 mark. “It’s gonna be Amazon. It’s gonna be Google, Uber, Facebook…the biggest tech companies that will have the AI [artificial intelligence] that will start displacing workers. The American people will not see much money from that, at all.”
Improving how the American tax system treats megacorporations and the ultra-wealthy is one of the central tenets to sourcing money for the Freedom Dividend. So is implementing a tax on goods and services. As Yang explains near the 18:00 mark, “We’ve realized that this economy has gotten entirely unbalanced, where you have the top one percent Hoover-ing up all the gains, like a winner-take-all economy. The question is, how do you balance that out? To me, a [ten percent] value-added tax [a consumption tax placed on a product] is an efficient way to do it. It’s what every other country’s [with an advanced economy] already done, because it will get us a slice of every Amazon transaction, every Facebook ad, every Google search, every robot truck mile and bring it to the American people. And then, what are we gonna do? We’re gonna spend that money in the economy. It’s gonna create two-plus million jobs. And Amazon and the gang are still gonna get that money back, but at least it comes through our hands. We are the owners and the shareholders of this country, and this is a dividend for us.”
At the 23:35 mark, Yang illustrates just how serious he is about the implementation of his so-called Freedom Dividend. “I’m personally giving 1,000 bucks a month to a family in New Hampshire and a family in Iowa. And, shocker: they like it…it’s embarrassing that a lot of the money for these trials is coming from private individuals. ‘Cause in the ’60s and ’70s, the United States government was giving money to thousands of American families to test out whether this sort of program works.
It should be the public sector leading the charge on this, because we’re entering the age of AI. We’re going to have self-driving cars and trucks in five to ten years. Thirty percent of malls are going to close in the next four years thanks to Amazon. Two-and-a-half million call-center workers in the U.S. are going to get replaced by AI.”
When he’s asked by Charlamagne near the 21:03 mark whether Andrew Yang has a “Black Agenda,” Yang says his plans for the Freedom Dividend and the additional implementation of single-payer, universal healthcare will contribute to the improvement of the African-American sector. But he also adds some of his other campaign policies. “A lot of it overlaps with my overall agenda, because I think that the Freedom Dividend and universal healthcare go a long way. But I’m for getting rid of private prisons. It makes no sense to have prisons that have a profit motivation,” he says.
He also supports a drastic overhaul of how the federal government and state governments handle drug laws. As he explains, “I’m for the legalization of marijuana in part because of our administration of the criminal laws are deeply racist. It’s very obvious to everyone. So on April 20th, 2021, I’m going to pardon everyone who’s in prison for a low level, non-violent drug offense. It makes no sense to have people in jail for stuff that’s legal in some parts of the country,” he says before moving on to how his approach to legalization of marijuana and its sales economy could benefit communities of color. “I know there are bills that want to channel that money to African-American businesses and communities, which is a great idea.” (20:12)
Yang shifts his response towards education shortly thereafter. “I’m for dramatically increasing the federal allotment to HBCUs [Historically Black Colleges and Universities]. The problem with education right now is that it’s become a business. What happens is, schools end up benefiting by catering to the affluent. So, you have these HBCUs that have an incredible historical mission that’s shown to elevate hundreds of thousands of African Americans. But, because they don’t have these crazy endowments that some of the rich schools do, they’re struggling.”
Yang continues to focus on the African-American sector later in the interview, returning to the topic at the 26:39 mark. “There was a report in the Guardian that said the median African-American household net worth is going to be zero by 2053. Like, in 34 years. Why are they forecasting that? It’s because of this economic tidal wave that is coming. This economic tidal wave’s gonna wipe out many working-class jobs. It’s going to be the equivalent of a natural disaster. We know what happens in a natural disaster. Who suffers? Poor people. People of color. And the same thing’s gonna happen in this. That’s why I’m running for president. I can see the tidal wave coming very, very clearly.”
Women would also benefit directly from the Freedom Dividend, Yang argues at the 30:20 mark. “Right now, there are millions of American women in exploiting or abusive jobs and relationships because they lack the economic freedom to actually make a change in their situation. So, the democratic party is going to talk about the empowerment of women. You know what’s going to empower women? A thousand bucks a month.”
Earlier in the interview, Yang offers up a summation of his campaign platform, saying near the 28:40 mark, “Trump is a symptom. What is the disease? The disease is the fact that we’re getting pushed into economic distress. The disease is the mindset of scarcity that has overtaken our people, because if you can’t pay your bills, then it’s very, very hard to be clear-thinking and optimistic of the future. The disease is, increasingly, that we’re going to be competing against machines that are going to be able to outdo us when it comes to the capital efficiency.
So how do you cure the actual disease? Most politicians do not want to touch this with a ten-foot pole, because they don’t have real solutions. The solution I’m going to suggest is that we share the bounty from all this economic progress as fast as possible. And that’s why I’m running for president.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Yang discusses entrepreneurs as president (7:00), student-loan debt (11:40), universal healthcare (14:17), getting rid of tax incentives for companies who move away (19:00), raising the presidential income to $4 million (24:09), role of welfare and government assistance in Universal Basic Income (27:22), getting Trump supporters to vote for him (30:07), trucking jobs (34:00), building an economy based on human value (36:00), gun laws (37:45), making tax day a holiday and choosing where to send tax money (40:00) and much more.
To learn more about Andrew Yang’s policy proposals, click here to visit the official website for his presidential campaign.
Rakim placed foresight and business-minded logic into the minds of Hip-Hop Heads the moment he rapped “Thinking of a master plan” on Paid in Full in 1987. More than thirty years later, a presidential candidate in the 2020 election is stepping forward with a vision that could legitimately solve America’s deepening economic crisis.
His name is Andrew Yang, a Democrat, Asian American, entrepreneur, author and founder of Venture for America. He had a role in President Barack Obama’s administration, serving as a “Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship.” Though his name is largely unknown, Yang actually launched his bid for the presidency in 2017 and is running on the slogan “Humanity First.” Since then, he’s campaigned on the concept of Universal Basic Income (UBI), the idea that the federal government should provide every single American adult with a tax free, no-questions-asked sum of money. The UBI would be a a partial salve for a lot of the diseases plaguing America’s economy: racial inequality, job loss to automation, class disparity, gender inequality and more.
Yang recently visited The Breakfast Club, where he delivered a 45-minute interview outlining the specifics of what sounds like, to many of us, a completely radical idea. But he breaks down complex ideas in a way that may change the way Americans think about the structure of government, much like The God MC’s approach to lyricism did to the art of Rap.
Yang studied economics in college, which is already enough to separate him greatly from the so-called entrepreneurial expertise of Donald Trump. “I’m running for president to help us evolve and advance to the next stage of our economy,” he says early in the interview. His background in economics makes him particularly interested in the effects of automation and the role machines play in overhauling the way our jobs market functions.
At the 2:30 mark, he says “Half of the people who lost their jobs to automation never worked again. Of that group, half filed for disability. Then, you saw a massive surge in alcohol use and drug overdoses. Suicides and depression. There’s a lot of despair, a lot of suffering. And it’s going unaddressed around the country and, unfortunately, it’s just going to ramp up…One of the things I’m trying to tell people is, ‘Look. This is no longer speculative.’ This has been ripping a hole in our communities and our society for years…It is not immigrants…immigrants have nothing to do with the economic distress. It’s the fact that technology is advancing to a point where our labor is less and less central to the economy.”
It’s near the 10:00 mark that Yang begins to focus on the UBI, which he has re-branded as the “Freedom Dividend.”
“I’m proposing we declare a dividend of $1,000 a month for every American adult, starting at age 18,” he says. “It would be a game-changer for tens of millions of American families, because we know 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Fifty-percent can’t afford an unexpected $500 bill. We have the money. We’re the richest, most advanced economy in the history of the world. We can easily afford a $1,000 a month dividend.”
Yang takes the opportunity to remind or inform listeners that this is not at all a radical idea. Martin Luther King, Jr. supported a similar plan in 1967. “He called it the Guaranteed Minimum Income,” says Yang before adding, “It’s a very American idea…it seems far out to us now, but we’ve been talking about this for decades. It came this close to being launched in 1971. It actually passed the House of Representatives twice under Richard Nixon.”
He brings up the state of Alaska, which for decades has been supplementing its residents’ income with a dividend from the oil industry, known as the Petroleum Dividend. Yang’s argument is we can do the same, with technology money. Corporations like Amazon and Netflix recently made headlines for paying zero taxes, despite record profits. “Who wins from artificial intelligence? Who wins from innovation?,” he asks near the 5:50 mark. “It’s gonna be Amazon. It’s gonna be Google, Uber, Facebook…the biggest tech companies that will have the AI [artificial intelligence] that will start displacing workers. The American people will not see much money from that, at all.”
Improving how the American tax system treats megacorporations and the ultra-wealthy is one of the central tenets to sourcing money for the Freedom Dividend. So is implementing a tax on goods and services. As Yang explains near the 18:00 mark, “We’ve realized that this economy has gotten entirely unbalanced, where you have the top one percent Hoover-ing up all the gains, like a winner-take-all economy. The question is, how do you balance that out? To me, a [ten percent] value-added tax [a consumption tax placed on a product] is an efficient way to do it. It’s what every other country’s [with an advanced economy] already done, because it will get us a slice of every Amazon transaction, every Facebook ad, every Google search, every robot truck mile and bring it to the American people. And then, what are we gonna do? We’re gonna spend that money in the economy. It’s gonna create two-plus million jobs. And Amazon and the gang are still gonna get that money back, but at least it comes through our hands. We are the owners and the shareholders of this country, and this is a dividend for us.”
At the 23:35 mark, Yang illustrates just how serious he is about the implementation of his so-called Freedom Dividend. “I’m personally giving 1,000 bucks a month to a family in New Hampshire and a family in Iowa. And, shocker: they like it…it’s embarrassing that a lot of the money for these trials is coming from private individuals. ‘Cause in the ’60s and ’70s, the United States government was giving money to thousands of American families to test out whether this sort of program works.
It should be the public sector leading the charge on this, because we’re entering the age of AI. We’re going to have self-driving cars and trucks in five to ten years. Thirty percent of malls are going to close in the next four years thanks to Amazon. Two-and-a-half million call-center workers in the U.S. are going to get replaced by AI.”
When he’s asked by Charlamagne near the 21:03 mark whether Andrew Yang has a “Black Agenda,” Yang says his plans for the Freedom Dividend and the additional implementation of single-payer, universal healthcare will contribute to the improvement of the African-American sector. But he also adds some of his other campaign policies. “A lot of it overlaps with my overall agenda, because I think that the Freedom Dividend and universal healthcare go a long way. But I’m for getting rid of private prisons. It makes no sense to have prisons that have a profit motivation,” he says.
He also supports a drastic overhaul of how the federal government and state governments handle drug laws. As he explains, “I’m for the legalization of marijuana in part because of our administration of the criminal laws are deeply racist. It’s very obvious to everyone. So on April 20th, 2021, I’m going to pardon everyone who’s in prison for a low level, non-violent drug offense. It makes no sense to have people in jail for stuff that’s legal in some parts of the country,” he says before moving on to how his approach to legalization of marijuana and its sales economy could benefit communities of color. “I know there are bills that want to channel that money to African-American businesses and communities, which is a great idea.” (20:12)
Yang shifts his response towards education shortly thereafter. “I’m for dramatically increasing the federal allotment to HBCUs [Historically Black Colleges and Universities]. The problem with education right now is that it’s become a business. What happens is, schools end up benefiting by catering to the affluent. So, you have these HBCUs that have an incredible historical mission that’s shown to elevate hundreds of thousands of African Americans. But, because they don’t have these crazy endowments that some of the rich schools do, they’re struggling.”
Yang continues to focus on the African-American sector later in the interview, returning to the topic at the 26:39 mark. “There was a report in the Guardian that said the median African-American household net worth is going to be zero by 2053. Like, in 34 years. Why are they forecasting that? It’s because of this economic tidal wave that is coming. This economic tidal wave’s gonna wipe out many working-class jobs. It’s going to be the equivalent of a natural disaster. We know what happens in a natural disaster. Who suffers? Poor people. People of color. And the same thing’s gonna happen in this. That’s why I’m running for president. I can see the tidal wave coming very, very clearly.”
Women would also benefit directly from the Freedom Dividend, Yang argues at the 30:20 mark. “Right now, there are millions of American women in exploiting or abusive jobs and relationships because they lack the economic freedom to actually make a change in their situation. So, the democratic party is going to talk about the empowerment of women. You know what’s going to empower women? A thousand bucks a month.”
Earlier in the interview, Yang offers up a summation of his campaign platform, saying near the 28:40 mark, “Trump is a symptom. What is the disease? The disease is the fact that we’re getting pushed into economic distress. The disease is the mindset of scarcity that has overtaken our people, because if you can’t pay your bills, then it’s very, very hard to be clear-thinking and optimistic of the future. The disease is, increasingly, that we’re going to be competing against machines that are going to be able to outdo us when it comes to the capital efficiency.
So how do you cure the actual disease? Most politicians do not want to touch this with a ten-foot pole, because they don’t have real solutions. The solution I’m going to suggest is that we share the bounty from all this economic progress as fast as possible. And that’s why I’m running for president.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Yang discusses entrepreneurs as president (7:00), student-loan debt (11:40), universal healthcare (14:17), getting rid of tax incentives for companies who move away (19:00), raising the presidential income to $4 million (24:09), role of welfare and government assistance in Universal Basic Income (27:22), getting Trump supporters to vote for him (30:07), trucking jobs (34:00), building an economy based on human value (36:00), gun laws (37:45), making tax day a holiday and choosing where to send tax money (40:00) and much more.
To learn more about Andrew Yang’s policy proposals, click here to visit the official website for his presidential campaign.
Kim Kardashian’s recent efforts in criminal reform includes her providing a roof for five year for a man released from jail.
TMZ reports that Matthew Charles served 20 years out of his 35 year sentence for a non-violent drug crime and weapon offense. Charles was one of the inmates released under new prison reform laws, however he was denied housing due to his background.
Once the beauty mogul caught wind of his situation, she swooped in with her cape and ‘S’ on her chest. She generously offered to help him find a place to stay and cover the rent for five years.
Charles shared Kim Kardashian’s good deed on Instagram over the weekend. “I just received the most wonderful news tonight that I just had to share with everyone. Kim Kardashian-West heard about my situation. Was moved and has decided to help me.”
US Weekly reports that Charles plans to save up to purchase his own home while the reality star covers the bills.
Joey BadA$$ found himself facing a $1.5 million lawsuit after a 2017 MTV event went left. A man impersonating President Donald Trump brought the suit after he was allegedly shoved by the Brooklyn rapper but the pair settled their issues.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Bada$$ and the man who sued him have resolved all claims and the case will be closed. The docs note that case is officially settled and closed per their agreement.
Back in 2017, the impersonator, Phillip Wilburn, sued the rapper (real name Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott) accusing him of pushing him off a stage during an MTV event in Los Angeles.
The lawsuit claimed Wilburn had to spend $1,000 on medical expenses and believed at the time he might have to spend $25,000 on a possible surgery. He also claimed to lose $50,000 in profits and sued seeking $1,500,000 in damages.
The Pro Era honcho has claimed no wrongdoing in the matter.
President Donald Trump‘s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen isn’t holding back. The attorney testified before the House Oversight Committee Wednesday on all things bad about the head of state.
President Donald Trump is staying busy with his Twitter fingers. The head of state has responded to shade thrown his way from Academy Award winner Spike Lee following his Oscars acceptance speech.
Trump went to Twitter Monday and didn’t hold back on checking Spike for his “racist” jabs.
Source: GREENBELT, MARYLAND – FEBRUARY 21: FBI Special Agent Gordon Johnson (C), speaks while flanked by U.S. Attorney Robert Hur (R) speaks while flanked by Art Walker (L) of the Coast Guard Investigative Service, after a hearing at the United States District Court Greenbelt Division is shown on February 21, 2019 in Greenbelt, Maryland. A member of the U.S. Coast Guard, 49-year-old Christopher Paul Hasson has been denied bail during a hearing in court today after being arrested on weapons violations and is accused of plotting a major attack against high profile Americans. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
While the Trump administration continues to ban Muslims and make it harder for immigrants to enter the country in an effort to “keep America safe,” domestic terrorism at the hands of homegrown white nationalists continues to plague our society and needless to say it’s becoming more evident that the man in The White House is encouraging such actions.
CNN is reporting that authorities were able to spoil another domestic terrorist attack when Coast Guard lieutenant Christopher Paul Hasso was arrested last Friday on gun and drug charges and had plans on conducting a mass shooting with democratic politicians and liberal media personalities as targets. According to the report the 49-year-old of Silver Spring, Maryland had a weapons cache and ammo as well as a stockpile of steroids and human growth hormones to help him get extra buck wild while carrying his attacks.
Hasson’s hit list includes Democratic politicians — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of New York, Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Kamala Harris of California, as well as former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas — as well as CNN journalists Don Lemon, Chris Cuomo and Van Jones and MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, Ari Melber and Joe Scarborough.
But of course while the Divider-In-Chief calls out Jussie Smollett’s for slandering his MAGA base in his alleged pre-planned hoax of an hate crime, he remains mum on what would’ve been a historic national tragedy carried out in his favor. Keep in mind that Donald Trump constantly calls the liberal media “the enemy of the people” for exposing his shady backroom deals and behind the scenes attempts to obstruct justice. Since railing against what he calls is the “unfair media,” liberal reporters and even cameramen have found themselves being targeted by Cult 45 members and MAGA supporters. Christopher Paul Hasson seems to be a part of said crowd.
Luckily for the American people an investigation into Hasso’s activities was launched before he could complete his insane mission.
Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Barry Lane, spokesman for US Coast Guard Headquarters, said in a statement that the arrest was part of an investigation led by the Coast Guard.
“An active duty Coast Guard member, stationed at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, DC, was arrested last week on illegal weapons and drug charges as a result of an ongoing investigation led by the Coast Guard Investigative Service, in cooperation with the FBI and Department of Justice. Because this is an open investigation, the Coast Guard has no further details at this time,” Lane said.
Musing in a draft email acquired by prosecutors, Hasson allegedly wrote, “I am dreaming of a way to kill almost every last person on the earth.”
In another draft email, apparently written to a known American neo-Nazi leader, Hasson allegedly wrote, “We need a white homeland as Europe seems lost.”
This man was a lieutenant in the Coast Guard for God’s sake. Then again the puppet currently occupating the White House isn’t exactly the poster boy for good mental health either. Either way the FBI was able to put the kibosh on the plan and we’re all better for it.
In a statement, Blumenthal spokeswoman Maria McElwain said he was thankful for the FBI’s intervention.
“Senator Blumenthal is grateful to the FBI and federal prosecutors for their work on this case and their ongoing efforts to combat violent and hateful extremism,” McElwain said.
This is the same FBI that Donald Trump constantly rails against by the way.
President Donald Trump is now getting in on the Jussie Smollett drama. The head of state hit up social media this week to go in-in on the “Empire” actor over his alleged staged attack.
Trump went to Twitter Thursday (February 21) to rip Smollett over using a Make America Great Again story to sell his assault.
.@JussieSmollett – what about MAGA and the tens of millions of people you insulted with your racist and dangerous comments!? #MAGA
Some reports claim Jussie’s main motivation behind the attack stemmed from his “Empire” salary.
7:10 AM PT — The Police Superintendent just expressed his outrage at Jussie Smollett for allegedly betraying the African American and LGBT communities to further his career in a “publicity stunt.” The superintendent said Smollett created the ruse because “he was dissatisfied with his salary” on “Empire.” (TMZ)
According to Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, Smollett is currently under arrest following buzz about him possibly staging last month’s horrific assault.
Press Briefing: Jussie Smollet is under arrest and in custody of detectives. At 9am at #ChicagoPolice Headquarters, Supt Eddie Johnson, Commander of Area Central Detectives Edward Wodnicki will brief reporters on the investigation prior to the defendants appearance in court. pic.twitter.com/9PSv8Ojec2
On Tuesday, Bernie hit up social media to make the headline-generating announcement.
I'm running for president. I am asking you to join me today as part of an unprecedented and historic grassroots campaign that will begin with at least 1 million people from across the country. Say you're in: https://t.co/KOTx0WZqRfpic.twitter.com/T1TLH0rm26
Powerful special interests may have the money, but we have the people. Supporters from all 50 states have donated to our unprecedented grassroots campaign. Say you're in: https://t.co/4YhCuNlKEkpic.twitter.com/d32UxxRi9q
Back in 2016, Sanders made a strong attempt at running for president before eventually getting edged by Hillary Clinton.
The Brooklyn-born left-wing politician became a protest organiser in the Civil Rights Movement in the latest 1960s after moving to Vermont. He was elected to the US Senate in 2006 and has been re-elected twice since, in 2012 and 2018. Mr Sanders exploded onto the global stage in 2015 when he announced he would be running for the 2016 Democratic nomination for US President. (Express)
Bernie now joins a crowded group of politicians running for president including New Jersey’s Cory Booker and California’s Kamala Harris.
And though he has joined the race now earlier than he did at this point in 2015, Sanders’ entry comes in the wake of about a dozen others, like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, another progressive populist, who announced the formation of an exploratory committee on New Year’s Eve and formally declared her candidacy 10 days ago. She quickly scooped up Sanders’ 2016 Iowa caucus director and has already traveled to six key states and Puerto Rico. (CNN)
On Friday, Trumps signed a bill to avoid another government shutdown and as a result declared a national emergency.
President Trump signed a sweeping spending bill Friday afternoon, averting another partial government shutdown. The action came after Trump had declared a national emergency in a move designed to circumvent Congress and build additional barriers at the southern border, where he said the United States faces “an invasion of our country.” Trump is seeking to secure about $6.5 billion more in funding through executive action than Congress approved in a bill passed Thursday. (Washington Post)
Trump is ultimately aiming to secure nearly $10 billion in total to fund his wall.
The President declared the national emergency even as he agreed to sign a spending bill from Congress that allocated $1.375 billion for the President to build 55 miles of new fencing. The additional executive actions he is undertaking aim to redirect more than $6 billion in federal funds toward the construction of hundreds more miles of border barriers — bringing total funding for the wall to nearly $8 billion. (CNN)
Despite the national emergency declaration, Trump is expected to face stiff opposition to receive the billions.
Already, some Democrats have threatened legislation to block it. In a joint written statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said they “will defend our constitutional authorities in the Congress, in the Courts and in the public, using every remedy available.” (CNBC)
Reports claim both major political parties aren’t in favor of Trump’s executive flexing.
Many Republicans, particularly establishment conservatives, have said in recent weeks that it’s a bad idea for Trump to use executive powers to circumvent Congress. They envision a Democratic president tapping emergency powers and federal accounts to address liberal wish lists in the future. Democrats said there was no crisis, other than the political box Trump built for himself by promising his base that he would build the wall in the first place. (NBC News)
