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Senate Readies Contempt Charges For Marketing CEO Amid Sex Trafficking Investigation

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In a unanimous vote on Wednesday, a Senate committee advanced a resolution holding the online advertiser Backpage.com in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a Senate investigation into sex trafficking. Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) introduced the measure. The two have been leading a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee probe into human trafficking that ensnared Backpage—an online competitor to Craigslist.com The senators claim to have turned up hundreds of cases of illegal sex trafficking that could be linked…

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Sanders Wins N.H. in Historic Landslide

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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…

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IRS Allows Post-Citizens United Karl Rove Group to Continue Concealing Source of Donors

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The Internal Revenue Service decided to grant “social welfare” tax-exempt status to Crossroads GPS, an influential conservative political action group co-founded by Karl Rove in 2010, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. The confirmation of the 501(c)(4) status by the IRS came last November after five years of deliberation. It was first reported on Tuesday by the Center for Responsive Politics (CRS). The determination means that Crossroads will be able to continue raising unlimited sums of money from individuals and corporations…

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

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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…

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Amid Corporate College Lawsuits, Obama Admin Looks to Establish “Student Aid Enforcement Union”

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The Department of Education announced Monday that it is creating a new organization to “respond more quickly and efficiently to allegations of illegal actions” by American colleges. Department officials said that President Obama has included $13.6 million for the new office in his fiscal year 2017 budget proposal. Called the Student Aid Enforcement Union, it is slated to be led by one of the Federal Trade Commission’s top lawyers, Jeffrey Kaye; the current lead attorney for the commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “When Americans invest…

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Greyhound Settles with U.S. for Illegally Discriminating Against Disabled Passengers

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The biggest intercity bus operator in the United States agreed to settle claims that it routinely violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. Greyhound Lines Inc. agreed to pay at least $375,000 in fines and said it “will implement a series of systemic reforms” to become ADA compliant, according to the Justice Department. “The alleged violations include failing to maintain accessibility features on its bus fleet such as lifts and securement devices, failing to provide passengers with disabilities assistance boarding and exiting buses at rest stops,”…

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Pentagon Opens Door to Another Afghanistan Withdrawal Delay

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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.”…

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

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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…

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

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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…

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

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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…

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Bernie Pushes Clinton Machine To “Virtual Tie” in Iowa

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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…

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