All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!(Part II)

[PaulBullion]

Yikes.

Looks like we have another Democrat for WBE's April 1 edition:

A photograph on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D)’s medical school yearbook page shows a man wearing blackface next to another person in Ku Klux Klan robe.

[worstblogever]

Yikes.

Looks like we have another Democrat for WBE's April 1 edition:

A photograph on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D)’s medical school yearbook page shows a man wearing blackface next to another person in Ku Klux Klan robe.

Is either person Gov. Northam, though?

I read the article, but I can't seem to get the context of how that photo is even there, let alone who's in it.

[Tami]

Is either person Gov. Northam, though?

I read the article, but I can't seem to get the context of how that photo is even there, let alone who's in it.

I think it's best to see how the Governor responds to it first. I think the picture was posted first by Breitbart, so the source is not reliable.

[worstblogever]

I think it's best to see how the Governor responds to it first. I think the picture was posted first by Breitbart, so the source is not reliable.

That's... notoriously unreliable. I want to know James O'Keefe isn't snickering in the corner because he used Photoshop before I pass any judgment.

[Tazirai]

Everything you need to know about where Cory Booker gets his money

An issue that may arise in the 2020 Democratic primary is the close relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and Booker. New Jersey hosts the headquarters of many major pharmaceutical companies and they have long had good relations with the New Jersey delegations. Booker said in 2017 that he would put “a pause” on accepting money from the industry. This was after he received heavy progressive criticism for helping kill a bill sponsored by Sanders to lower drug prices. In 2016, pharmaceutical PACs gave $57,500 to Booker. Becton, Dickinson & Co, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi PACs all contributed $5,000 each in 2016. Before that, in 2014, a cycle he was actually running in, Booker’s campaign took in $161,000 in pharmaceutical PAC money. Pfizer contributed $17,500, Merck & Co gave $12,500 and several more gave $10,000 each.

Throughout his Senate career, PAC contributions have played a major part in his fundraising. Since 2013, Booker’s campaign has been given more than $2 million in PAC funds, particularly from business PACs which make up almost 76 percent of PAC contributions in his career. In the 2018 cycle, PACs from the communications and electronics sector led the way with $49,500 in contributions. One communication industry PAC donor was T-Mobile USA which gave Booker’s campaign $6,000 in 2018. T-Mobile has been pursuing a merger with Sprint, which Booker expressed concerns over.

Who is Cory Booker? What you need to know (beyond the social media highlights)

Ties to Big Pharma
New Jersey is the cradle of the pharmaceutical industry and as one of the state's top employers, it has long turned to its political figures to represent their interest in Trenton and Congress while bolstering their campaigns with cash.


Booker is no exception, raking in $431,937 since entering the Senate in 2013, according to OpenSecrets.org, which tracks campaign contributions for federal candidates

Booker took heat from progressives in 2017 when he voted against against a symbolic budget amendment that called for the importing of lower-priced prescription drugs for foreign countries. But that vote reinforced criticism Booker had sustained in the past as someone too comfortable with Wall Street and other moneyed interests.

Booker insisted that he supported importing the cheaper drugs but felt the measure did not include adequate safeguards. In a move widely seen as attempt to patch relations with the left, Booker teamed up last month with Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, to introduce a three-bill package to lower prescription drug prices. One bill pegs the price of prescription drugs in the U.S. to the median price in five countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom.

Cory Booker gets on board with Bernie Sanders

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) faced withering criticism from the left this January after opposing a proposal aimed at lowering prescription drug prices. The backlash was led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who slammed Booker and the 12 other Democrats who joined Republicans to defeat the plan.

But less than a month after the rift, Booker and Sanders are now on the same page. On Tuesday, the senators joined three other congressional Democrats for a press conference announcing a new bill to legalize drug importation from Canada.

It’s still a long way from passing. But Booker signed on to the bill after he successfully lobbied to add dozens of safety provisions to it intended to ensure the drugs were safe. (Booker said he opposed the initial bill out of concern for the safety of Canadian drugs.)

“We have to bring down the prices of prescription drugs in our country,” Booker said at the press conference. “I’m very grateful at the work that has been done over the last few weeks by [Pennsylvania] Sen. [Bob] Casey’s team and Sen. Sanders’s team in putting together this bill.”

The political will behind the bill may be materializing. The first Sanders effort only failed by a 46-52 margin. And in addition to Booker, three other Democrats who opposed the measure in January have now signed on to the new bill. If Republican support for it holds, it should now have 50 votes — just short of what’s needed to pass.

[Mister Mets]

That's... notoriously unreliable. I want to know James O'Keefe isn't snickering in the corner because he used Photoshop before I pass any judgment.

The Times has the story.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/01/u...blackface.html

The Eastern VA Medical School has confirmed the photo is in the yearbook. The Virginian Pilot newspaper has taken a look at it as well.

https://pilotonline.com/news/governm...d70e09b50.html

https://twitter.com/ABC7Annalysa/sta...55179050942464

[Raiders]

Love to see a Harris-Castro ticket

[Mister Mets]

Northam has apologized for the photo.

https://www.mediaite.com/online/brea...to-apologizes/

[GindyPosts]

Yeah, Northam is not going to be able to live this up, and honestly, he shouldn't

[worstblogever]

Yeah, Northam is not going to be able to live this up, and honestly, he shouldn't

If he resigns, Virginia's Lt. Governor Fairfax becomes the state's 2nd African American Governor, and he's more to the left than Northam is.

If Northam chooses to stay on and tries to run for a second term, he'd be very vulnerable in a primary in November of 2021.

[Mister Mets]

I do have to say I respect the ideological consistency of any liberals calling for his resignation even though it would be a stupid and unprecedented move for demanding resignation for something anyone did in medical school, twenty years before they were in public office, that wasn't a crime.

If he resigns, Virginia's Lt. Governor Fairfax becomes the state's 2nd African American Governor, and he's more to the left than Northam is.

If Northam chooses to stay on and tries to run for a second term, he'd be very vulnerable in a primary in November of 2021.

Virginia is the one state in the country that doesn't allow Governors to run for a second term.

[jetengine]

I do have to say I respect the ideological consistency of any liberals calling for his resignation even though it would be a stupid and unprecedented move for demanding resignation for something anyone did in medical school, twenty years before they were in public office, that wasn't a crime.



Virginia is the one state in the country that doesn't allow Governors to run for a second term.

Racisms not cool

[Mister Mets]

Julian Castro has called on Northam to resign.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-w...r-racist-photo

So has moveon.

https://twitter.com/MoveOn/status/10...rc=twsrc%5Etfw

So has the head of NARAL.

https://twitter.com/ilyseh/status/10...rc=twsrc%5Etfw

So has the head of the NAACP.

https://twitter.com/ColumbiaBugle/st...rc=twsrc%5Etfw

So has the Richmond Times.

https://www.richmond.com/opinion/our...6ab689e9c.html

So has Kamala Harris.

https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/sta...rc=twsrc%5Etfw

[Ship]

Most Visa over-stayers come from Canada.

All but one of the 9/11 bombers came through Canada.

Sounds like Canada is a bigger problem when it comes to border issues.

Drugs? Come in via our ports.

But yeah, lets build a wall in the south and continue to ignore the real immigration problems like our ports and our northern border.

Not a single one of the 9/11 hijackers entered the US from Canada. They all entered (legally) from Europe or the Middle East.

[numberthirty]

Huh.

Northam apparently does not plan on resigning.