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Sam Sacks - page 36

Sam Sacks has 859 articles published.

Sanders Wins N.H. in Historic Landslide

Hillary Clinton was crushed in New Hampshire’s Democratic Primary Tuesday night, losing by more than 20 points to a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, in an outcome that months ago seemed practically impossible. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) collected roughly 60 percent of the vote with nearly all precincts in the Granite State reporting at the time of publication on Wednesday morning. The former Secretary of State gained less than 39 percent of the vote. In June 2015, Clinton was ahead of Sanders by 40 points in public polling, as FiveThirtyEight… Keep Reading

The Bernie Budget? Obama Takes Aim at Wall St. in FY 2017 Plans

Maybe it’s the freedom that comes with the final year in office or maybe it’s the leftward pressure coming from a socialist on the campaign trail, but President Obama just unveiled his most progressive annual budget proposal to date. The White House dropped the $4.1 trillion framework Tuesday, which included hefty new investments in green energy, universal preschool, and policing Wall Street. In perhaps a nod to the populist anger toward bankers–articulated to resounding success on the campaign trail by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)–the budget… Keep Reading

McCain, Clapper Hit Out at Trump’s Call to Bring Back Torture

In yet another case of the Donald Trump campaign’s rhetoric bleeding into the affairs of Congress, the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday addressed the businessman’s latest policy proposal: bringing back waterboarding. “Just in the last few days, the issue of torture has arisen again,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the chairman of the committee, during a hearing on global threats that featuring testimony from Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. “Isn’t it the fact that American values are such just that no mater what the… Keep Reading

District Sentinel Radio Episode 19: Straight Outta Iowa

Criminal justice reform in Congress has been hijacked by Republicans and turned into a “vehicle for corporate giveaway.” The Feds aren’t doing their homework on legal marijuana. And dismal new projections for the TPP. Also, a report from our man in Iowa, Joe Krueger, on the chaos that was the 2016 Democratic Caucus. Keep Reading

Pentagon Opens Door to Another Afghanistan Withdrawal Delay

President Obama’s timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan was tested on Thursday, when the commander of American troops there questioned its viability before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Gen. John Campbell said that administration plans to reduce the number of US fighters in Afghanistan to 5,500 by the start of next year is “based on certain assumptions” that may or may not hold. “If the Afghans cannot improve,” Campbell cautioned, “we’re going to have to make some adjustments and that means that number will most likely go up.”… Keep Reading

Push To Protect 180 Day-Old Emails From Government Prying Reignited

There is renewed hope on Capitol Hill that lawmakers may get around to updating a 30-year-old privacy law that allows the government to read citizens’ old emails without a warrant. On Wednesday, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), announced that the panel would mark up the Email Privacy Act with an eye on advancing the bill in March to a full House vote. “It’s clear that the law needs to be modernized and updated to ensure it keeps pace with ever-changing technologies so… Keep Reading

Sen. Warren Shames GOP’s Criminal Justice “Reform” Proposals

Another high profile progressive in the Senate is concerned by how Republicans have seized hold of the criminal justice reform debate, accusing opponents across the aisle of holding up a bipartisan agreement to shield white-collar criminals from prosecution. In a speech on the floor of the Senate Wednesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said the majority leaders would not advance changes to federal mandatory minimum sentences passed last year by the Senate Judiciary Committee unless Congress also approves of a mens rea bill—a measure that could allow corporate… Keep Reading

Secret Surveillance Hearings Complicate E.U./U.S. Data Privacy Treaty

European Union officials unveiled a new US-EU legal framework that would grant American companies permission to continue sending their European customers’ private data to servers on this side of the Atlantic. Although it must still go through a lengthy finalization and approval process–and could be impacted by ongoing negotiations in Congress that are, for now, being conducted in secret–the latest agreement is meant to replace a previous treaty. Known as Safe Harbor, that deal was struck down last October by a European court. According to EU officials, as part of… Keep Reading

Despite Prior Guidance, D.O.J. Unable To Show How It’s Monitoring Legal Weed

A government watchdog played the role of high school math teacher on Monday, knocking the Department of Justice for not showing its work while keeping watch over states that have legalized marijuana. DOJ officials admitted to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that they “did not see a benefit in DOJ documenting how it would monitor the effect of state marijuana legalization,” despite a prior department guidance recommending they do so, and internal regulations calling for the creation of such a paper trail. The admission came in… Keep Reading

Bernie Pushes Clinton Machine To “Virtual Tie” in Iowa

Once down by more than 50 points in the state, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) came up a hair shy of shocking the world on Monday night in what’s being described as the closest Iowa Democratic Presidential Caucus in history. With 99 percent of precincts reporting early Tuesday morning, the Iowa Democratic Party declared former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the winner. She secured 49.9 percent of the state delegate vote, compared to Sanders’ 49.6 percent. Not counting the state’s super delegates that had already pledged… Keep Reading

Study: TPP Will Cost U.S. A Half Million Jobs, Drag Down GDP

A group of economists studying the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) have concluded that the sweeping trade agreement will have a net negative impact on the US economy. Economic researchers with Tufts University’s Global Development and Environment Institute said Monday that widely cited projections claiming the TPP will boost economic activity in the US are “based on unrealistic assumptions.” Instead, the economists noted, the 12-nation Pacific Rim trade deal will likely lead to the loss of 448,000 jobs from the US workforce, while lowering GDP by more… Keep Reading

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