Haley, Nikki Gov

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merri ok

see ingraham attaCKS

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she eventually endorsed trump? still getting low 20 %?

10 24

aha:

PUTIN ACTIVE MEASURES DISINFO FOREVER TO DEGRADE FAITH IN INSTITUTIONS ESP CENTRAL ONE ELECTIONS

// TRUMP BIG LIE if dems cheAT violence is our only option

RELATES TO PSEUDO-POPULISM? THEY are all corrupt so no matter if trump and putin aRE? watters sez all pols have an enemies list eg bannon navarro...

nihilism started in alt rt machosphere? --> MsqG trump final argument?

nikki H tries to save from brotastic fail, on standby

===

an 6 24

Trump supporters at the Missouri Republican Caucus on Saturday attacked fellow attendees who supported the former president's opponent, a prior member of the "grand old party" reported.

Former Lincoln Project veterans affairs adviser Fred Wellman, an ex-Republican and current Democratic campaign consultant, reportedthe aggressive development on social media. Wellman also recently hit retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a Trump adviser who played a prominent role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election, with a sanctions bid in a defamation lawsuit.

IFrame Content

On Saturday, Wellman conveyed information he said he received via text about the caucus in Missouri.

"I have a friend who attended the Missouri Republican Presidential Caucus today," he wrote Saturday. "They asked Nikki Haley supporters to line up in the middle of the auditorium and were booed and screamed at by the Trump supporters."

He continued: "They attacked fellow Republicans. Feel like democracy to you?"

...

Quoting a reported follow-up text from the source, Wellman then said, "The woman who spoke for Haley couldn’t stop shaking and crying. It was so scary.”

Someone in the comments wrote to Wellman, "Those Dale Carnegie courses didn't take..." He responded, "Nope. Do you think those folks will vote for Trump in November?"

===

bash biden and trump for old, but odd whattaboutism to cushion?

WENT ON POP BLK POD TO BLAME bo FOR POLARIZATION VS TRUMP SUPERCUT MSNBC MEX RAPISTS, MUZ BAN...

Nikki Haley: Under Obama 'you just felt, people felt like they were being put in camps' - Alternet.org

Laura Ingraham suggests Nikki Haley is fabricating memories of experiencing racism during childhood | Media Matters for America

// Matt Walsh: "Nikki Haley is not really brown" | Media Matters for America

===}:

https://www.alternet.org/alternet-exclusives/a-handy-guide-for-translating-republican-speak-into-plain-english/

alternet no lnx

A handy guide for translating Republican-speak into plain English

Thom Hartmann

January 15, 2024

Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley had a spitting match Wednesday night on CNN as they fought for, well, something. Vice president? Unlikely. Beating Trump? Probably not. Book deal? Who knows?

Anyhow, during the “debate,” they both threw out numerous Reagan-era GOP talking points that most people probably poorly understand, so here’s a handy guide to translate Republican-speak into plain English.

Haley: “I think we have to acknowledge that Republicans and Democrats have both done this. I mean, the fact that they’ve done all of this wasteful spending, they did a $2.2 trillion COVID stimulus bill that expanded welfare that’s now left us with 80 million Americans on Medicaid, 42 million Americans on food stamps. That’s a third of our country.”}:

Reality: The economy crashed in 2020 (due to Covid) in a way that hadn’t been seen since Republican President Herbert Hoover oversaw Black Tuesday, 1929, which kicked off the start of the Republican Great Depression. Covid initially cost our economy an estimated $14 trillion, throwing 3 million Americans out of work. Donald Trump was the first president since Hoover to see significant job losses during his presidency. Unemployment hit 15% (Hoover’s was 23.6%).

While a loose money policy by the Fed helped, the main thing that prevented America from sliding into a second Republican Great Depression was Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s success in shepherding through Congress legislation that softened the impact of Trump’s 15% unemployment; without it, if those unemployed people had lost all their demand-creating spending power (which is what drives economies), the nation would almost certainly have slid into a long-lasting depression.

That was apparently what many in the GOP wanted: in May 2020, for example, when Pelosi shepherded through the House a nearly-$3 trillion coronavirus relief bill, only 44 Republicans voted for it, while 130 voted against it. Although it saved America, Republicans like Haley and DeSantis are still complaining about it.

Currently there are around 84 million low-income Americans on Medicaid, our country’s largest and most successful single-payer healthcare program. It’s far more efficient than any for-profit health insurance programs (no executive salaries, dividends paid to stockholders, or commissions to salespeople) and, with tweaks, could be the foundation of a Medicare-for-All national system like Canada, Costa Rica, and most of Europe have.

Republicans see this as a bad thing, though, because they want all our healthcare to be paid for by private, for-profit health insurance companies that will then kick back part of their profits to GOP political campaigns and other now-legal (Citizens United) bribes.

Food stamps (SNAP), on the other hand, reflect a failure of the rules that govern the American economy. Every family should have enough money to buy food, but, with 20 mostly Red states (including all 13 former Confederate states) keeping their minimum wage at or below the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour, in virtually all of those states full-time minimum-wage workers can’t afford to provide their families with shelter, transportation, and food.

Nonetheless, Republicans would like to eliminate that food support. After all, they believe, when poor people are down they will only get up if you kick them hard enough.

Haley: “We’ll go and instead of 87,000 IRS agents going after middle America…”}:

Reality: This wild exaggeration of the number of IRS agents funded by the Inflation Reduction Act is a simple lie, promoted by think-tanks funded by America’s rightwing billionaires. Because nearly every time Republicans control the House, Senate, and White House they cut funding to the IRS, it’s been decades since that agency could effectively audit the nation’s largest tax cheats: those very same billionaires.

While the IRS has 79,000 employees, the largest block (13,000) are customer service representatives, and another 10,000 are seasonal employees who file mail or record data. There are lawyers, office staffers, administrators, etc. Only about 10,000 are agents, and that number would expand with the new money available in the Inflation Reduction Act, but not by more than a few thousand, virtually all of whom would direct their efforts to catching billionaire tax cheats.

This is why the “compromise” legislation being worked out right now between the House and Senate, at Republican insistence, contains a $10 billion cut to the IRS budget: they want to again kneecap the agency so their billionaire patrons can continue to steal our tax dollars.

It’s also worth noting that every $1 spent by the IRS investigating tax cheating by billionaires typically returns between $6 and $12 to the federal treasury. The fastest and easiest way to lower the national debt without raising taxes is to audit billionaires, but Republicans will lay down on railroad tracks to try to prevent that.

DeSantis (arguing for a flat tax): “We have a spending problem in this country. It’s not a tax problem in this country. And if you had something that was simple and transparent, not only would that [be] better for economic growth, it’s also better to end the weaponization of government.}:

“The IRS has been weaponized against conservatives going back to the Obama administration. I was there for that. No one’s been held accountable for doing that. … [T]he weaponization of federal power ends the day I become the president of the United States.”}:

Reality: Last year, the US government spent 22% of GDP, covering everything from the military (the largest single expenditure) to Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, all social safety net programs, education, and administration. But by comparison with other OECD countries, we’re misers: France spends 58.34%, Japan 44.09%, the United Kingdom 44.3%, Sweden 47.32%, Spain 47.11%, and Italy 56.74%

These countries spend more because they cover all or nearly all of the healthcare and educational costs of their citizens, as well as providing quality housing support, unemployment, paid sick and maternity leave, and other benefits.

The rightwing billionaires who own the GOP don’t want our government to do this because they fear their income taxes may be raised — like in those other countries — to fund quality-of-life programs for average and poor people.

A “flat tax” — where billionaires pay the same rate as average working people — has long been a dream of Republicans, with rightwingers like Ted Cruz and Rand Paul pushing it for years. They cite Hungary’s 15% flat tax, although Hungary’s billionaires routinely avoid paying anything close to that by living off money borrowed against assets instead of paying themselves wages (a trick emulated by most American billionaires, which is why they only pay 3%). They’ll also live off capital gains, which are taxed at a lower rate and almost entirely benefit the morbidly rich at a scale capable of supporting a wealthy lifestyle.

The net effect of instituting a flat tax in America would be that low-income people, who currently don’t pay income taxes or pay a very low rate, would have to start paying far more, while billionaires could still run their shell game with regard to their own living expenses. Squeezing the lowest income Americans hard to pay America’s bills is a very attractive prospect to Republican politicians and their billionaire owners.

DeSantis: “We’re looking forward to be able to open up energy production… We’re going to be able to open up production. We’re going to choose Midland over Moscow. We’re going to choose the Marcellus Shale over the mullahs. And we’re going to choose the Bakken over Beijing.}:

“Energy independence isn’t even -- it’s not -- it’s good for consumers. It’s good to reduce inflation. And it’s one of the best things we can do for our national security. So we’ll do that on day one, and we are going to reverse Biden’s green new deal and the electric vehicle mandates. We’ll save the American automobile.”}:

Reality: DeSantis and Haley, afraid to offend the fossil fuel billionaires who’ve funded a massive national support network of think-tanks and get-out-the-vote efforts for the GOP, argue that we should largely abandon any effort to cut oil, coal, or methane production and instead increase our dependence on the rightwing fossil fuel billionaires’ products.

Somehow, they manage to ignore the fact that producing electricity by wind or solar is now cheaper than any fossil fuel, and water power has been for centuries. They claim to love the “free market” but will go to the mat to defend hundreds of billions of dollars a year in federal and state subsidies (including military subsidies) to the fossil fuel industry.

Additionally, electric cars are becoming much cheaper to produce than internal combustion engines (they only have a handful of moving parts, never require oil changes or fluids, and don’t even have a transmission), save thousands a year for the average driver on the cost of gasoline, and are fun to drive (they take off like rockets because they have such great torque).

There are now multiple electric cars available at the very bottom end of the new car market, so affordability is no longer an issue, either. All we need is a national network of charging stations, which is what Biden’s “Green New Deal” (actually, it’s the Inflation Reduction Act) is funding over the next few years.

This GOP fealty to fossil fuels and the billionaires the industry produces could all be described as, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”

DeSantis: “I supported Trump’s policy vis-a-vis Russia, Ukraine, and it was successful. You know, the Biden policy has not been. But, Nikki Haley is basically a carbon copy of what Biden is. It’s an open-ended commitment. They want another $108 billion. They will not tell you when the -- they have achieved their goal. And this is going to go on maybe hundreds of billions more into the future. I think a lot of people have died. We need to find a way to end this, because our priorities for national security, of course, the border, which we talked about, and people like Nikki Haley care more about Ukraine’s border than she does about our own southern border, which is wrong.”}:

Reality: Trump is owned by and terrified of Putin, a vicious fascist dictator who routinely murders his political opponents and imprisons journalists. Putin has ordered Trump to stop the US from further funding Ukraine, so he can add that nation — the largest country in Europe, about the size of Texas, with some of the most productive farmland and largest oil and natural gas reserves on the continent — to his empire.

DeSantis, trying to do whatever Trump wants so he doesn’t offend Trump’s fascist base, is willing to sacrifice a fellow democracy (Ukraine) just to curry favor. It’s frankly pathetic. And Ukrainians, trying to defend their own country, are dying every single day under Russia’s brutal attacks. As Republicans continue to withhold aid to Ukraine, blood is on their hands.

On this one issue, Haley is right and deserves credit for telling the truth.

Jake Tapper: “Governor [DeSantis], just a point of clarification, do you want to implement Florida’s education policies nationwide?”}:

DeSantis: “It depends on the policy. School choice universal, yes. I don’t want a nationalized curriculum. I think that that’s a bottom up thing. I want to get rid of the federal Department of Education, get that weight off the backs of the state and local governments. …”}:

Haley: “I have fought for school choice in my entire career because I think parents know their children best, and I think we should always do that. That's why we passed charter school legislation in our state. That’s why we empowered homeschoolers in our state. …”}:

Reality: The entire “school choice” movement emerged in America following the 1954 Brown v Board of Education Supreme Court decision ordering the desegregation of America’s schools. DeSantis and Haley — both governors of former Confederate states that exploded in response to that decision — know this well.

Prior to that time, Republican presidents from Teddy Roosevelt to Dwight Eisenhower were promoting public schools and helping build them as fast as possible.

The second major change in Republican attitudes around public education came in 1980, when David Koch ran for vice president on the Libertarian ticket and part of the billionaire’s platform explicitly demanded public schools in America be shut down:

“We advocate the complete separation of education and State. Government schools lead to the indoctrination of children and interfere with the free choice of individuals. Government ownership, operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools and colleges should be ended. … We condemn compulsory education laws, which spawn prison-like schools with many of the problems associated with prisons, and we call for the immediate repeal of such laws.”}:

Reagan, enchanted by Koch’s suggestion, put Bill Bennett in charge of his Education Department — the guy who said we could reduce crime in America by “aborting every Black baby” — and called for massive cuts to federal aid for education. The result was that many American students today are largely ignorant about civics and college debt has gone from negligible in 1980 to a nearly $2 trillion drag on American families and our economy today. But it’s very profitable for the banks that donate to the GOP.

jake Tapper (about raising the Social Security retirement age): “Just a clarification, Governor Haley, in 15 seconds, should voters in their 20s plan on having to work until they’re 70?”}:

Haley: “They should plan on their retirement age being increased, yes. We’re going to change it to reflect more of what life expectancy should be.”}:

Reality: Reagan, using the same rationalization of “rising life expectancy” lifted the Social Security retirement age from 65 to 67, made Social Security benefits taxable, and refused to index them to the inflation gauge that reflects the needs of the elderly. Republicans have hated Social Security — calling the program “socialism” or “communism” — ever since it was passed in 1935 as part of FDR’s New Deal.

Now they want to raise the qualification age to 70. As Haley pointed out about DeSantis’ years in Congress: “Three years in a row, he voted to raise [the Social Security retirement age] to 70 years old, three years in a row. Go to desantislies.com and you'll see it. So, now suddenly he's going to tell you because he's running for president and he's not going to do it, you can't trust him.” Well said.

DeSantis: “So, number one, we need term limits for members of Congress.”

Reality: This has been another Republican wet dream ever since the Reagan Revolution for a very simple reason: it increases the power of lobbyists.

Historically, when a new lawmaker comes into office, he or she will hook up with an old-timer who can show them the ropes, how to get around the building, where the metaphorical bodies are buried, and teach them how to make legislation.

With term limits, this institutional knowledge is largely stripped out of a legislative body, forcing new legislators to look elsewhere for help.

Because no Republican has ever, anywhere, suggested that lobbyists’ ability to work be term-limited, in those states with term limits the lobbyists end up filling the role of permanent infrastructure to mentor and guide new lawmakers.

Of course, lobbyists — and the billionaires and corporations that pay them — love this. It dramatically increases lobbyists’ power and influence, giving them an early and easy entrée into the personal and political lives of the individual legislators who lean on them for guidance.

Haley: “And I think we have to always be strong on the fact that, look, we want fair elections and we saw some discrepancies in those elections in 2020 that should be concerning. That’s why I passed voter I.D. in South Carolina. That’s why I think when absentee ballots go out, you should be able to verify signatures.”

Reality: Republicans want to make it harder to vote. As Paul Weyrich, co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, told a group of Reagan campaign workers in a Dallas church in 1980:

“How many of our Christians have what I call the goo-goo syndrome: good government? They want everybody to vote. I don’t want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people. They never have been from the beginning of our country, and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.”

For over a century, most states used biometrics to verify voter identity. Signatures done in front of a witness are nearly impossible to fake (unlike IDs, which can be easily faked). Polling place workers would compare the original registration signature with the signature of the person signing in to vote, and if they didn’t match, the worker would disqualify the voter.

When the Motor Voter Act was passed in 1993, not a single state required proof of citizenship to vote, and there was no national problem of voter fraud. The threat of a few years in jail was more than enough to discourage even the most ardent partisan from trying to double-vote or fraudulently vote.

But when Republicans realized that many Democratic voters — low-income people living in cities with mass transit — didn’t have drivers’ licenses, they began a campaign to require “voter ID” not just to register but to vote. It was a solution for a problem of “voter fraud” that didn’t exist: the first Red state to put mandatory ID laws into place as a way of suppressing the urban vote was Republican-controlled Indiana in 2005.

Now they’ve taken it a step further. Because mail-in and absentee ballots — heavily favored by Democratic voters — are authenticated by a signature on the outside of the ballot envelope, the GOP is sending people into ballot-counting venues in Blue cities to challenge signatures.

Once your signature is challenged, your ballot is removed from being counted until you can show up in person at a state or county elections office to produce ID and confirm your identity. Because most people never do this — most don’t even know their ballot has been challenged (it varies from state to state) — this has become one of the GOP’s favorite way of discarding Democratic votes. (See: The Hidden History of the War on Voting.)

— Haley argued that the solution to healthcare unaffordability was to publish prices, so people could comparison shop hospitals and doctors as the ambulance is carrying them from the scene of their car crash. She also argued for expanding the Medicare Advantage scam, because “seniors love it.”

Haley added: “We’re going to pass Tort Reform around this country” because why should you be able to sue a doctor or hospital who harms you? They need to make a buck, too, plus they’re big donors to the GOP.

— Both Haley and DeSantis feigned lack of concern about climate change by claiming that Obama has a big house and John Kerry has a private jet. This is a common diversion from the topic promoted by climate change denial groups funded by fossil fuel billionaires.

— Both also trash-talked trans kids and adults, arguing, as Haley said, “Boys need to go into boys’ bathrooms, girls need to go into girls’ bathrooms.” The medically sound reality of gender dysphoria, known for literally centuries under a variety of names across virtually every culture throughout history, has become a simple punching bag for Republicans. And it’s driving suicides across the country.

===

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Trump ally Laura Loomer: Nikki Haley and the deep state might be using “weather manipulation” to “rig the Iowa Caucus” | Media Matters for America

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mma 1 24

re-birtherism

On January 8, former President Donald Trump shared a Gateway Pundit post on X falsely claiming that Trump’s former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is constitutionally disqualified from a “presidential or vice presidential candidacy.”

The false argument, which made its way to Trump through a far-right blog and a notoriously Islamophobic conspiracy theorist, follows a separate, simmering conservative media trend of calling Haley by her first name, Nimarata, rather than the middle name she goes by. Taken together, the two lines of commentary expose the racism behind some of pro-Trump media’s Haley coverage. This attack comes as Haley's polling numbers approach Trump's in New Hampshire.

The Gateway Pundit article the post is based on builds on a post from another pro-Trump blog, American Greatness, which itself pressed the same points as a blog from Rumble host and failed congressional candidate Laura Loomer: Since Haley’s parents weren’t U.S. citizens at the time of her birth, these conservative outlets argue, she is merely a birthright citizen, and not a “natural born citizen” as the Constitution requires for presidents and vice presidents.

This is simply not true: Haley is constitutionally eligible for either office, with her South Carolina birth qualifying her as a “natural born citizen.” The immigration status of her parents is legally irrelevant, despite right-wing media’s long-standing hatred for birthright citizenship and repeated attempts to use these arguments against enemy politicians.

On X (formerly Twitter), the author of the American Greatness piece credited Loomer’s “great investigative work” for having “uncovered” the fact of Haley’s parents’ citizenship -- a secret which Haley wrote about in her 2012 autobiography, and shared with a newspaper in 2015. Longtime Trump ally Roger Stone also promoted Loomer’s so-called investigative work before it ultimately reached the former president.

The racist claim notably echoes some falsehoods levied against former President Barack Obama who, among the many conspiracy theories about his birth, also faced incorrect allegations that he was ineligible for office because of his Kenyan father. (Right-wing influencers also made similar claims about Vice President Kamala Harris.)

But this is not the only commonality between right-wing media coverage of Obama, Harris, and Haley. During the Obama years, conservative media frequently referred to him by his full name, Barack Hussein Obama, in a racist attempt to otherize him for what he called his “funny-sounding name.” Again, similar things happened with Harris. And now, some pro-Trump voices are beginning to deploy a similar playbook against Haley and her birth name, Nimarata Nikki Randhawa.

Perhaps the most frequent example is Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk, who seems to find a certain thrill in using Haley’s first name. “Yeah, that’s right. Her real name is Nimarata,” he once quipped. (Nikki, her middle name, is also her real name.)

Kirk does not exclusively or even mostly use her first name. But for months he has peppered in references to Haley as “Nimarata” while attacking her campaign, warning against her for vice president, or once as an aside while pushing restrictive immigration policy. During an interview with businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, he even corrected himself after calling her “Nikki” instead.

American Greatness also had a hand in this trend, with a November debate recap mentioning her squabble with Ramaswamy. The article, which refers to her as Nikki Haley elsewhere, reserves her full name for one brief paragraph that reveals the racist attitudes at the heart of this type of coverage:

Ramaswamy then said something, to which Nimarata Nikki Randhawa Haley replied, “You’re just scum.” She must be right: after all, Ramaswamy’s the child of people who immigrated from India. Scum indeed!

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Ex-RNC chair rips Nikki Haley as she blames 'Democratic plant' for Civil War question - Alternet.org

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see story 1 tom cotton backs her

an 12 23 no lnx

What Nikki Haley’s gaffe reveals about the GOP

John Stoehr

December 28, 2023

The new Nikki Haley news is that she refused to say that slavery was the cause of the Civil War. During an event in New Hampshire, she said that the bloodiest conflict on US soil was about, well, anything but slavery: “how government was going to run, the freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do,” she said, among other ridiculous things.

Magdi Jacobs, an Editorial Board contributor, said that “the fascinating thing about Haley's response was her discomfort. You could feel her flailing as she reached for the perfect combo of a pre-Donald Trump conservative ‘states’ rights’ answer to appeal to centrist voters, all while knowing that the insurrectionists want more racist red meat.”

“This is a balance no one can strike,” Magdi concluded. “It shows how fundamentally weak the current GOP is, even if our political media doesn't want to admit it. You can't win without Trump. I firmly believe – and I think Haley does, too – that you can't win with him either.”

More precisely (and I think Magdi would agree) is that this balance is impossible to strike because there’s nowhere to put it. There’s no such thing as a moderate position inside today’s Republican Party. There’s no foundation on which to build the broad coalition of voters that’s necessary to winning (ie, candidates need more than a base.) If such a position existed, Haley would have found it. It doesn’t, so all she can do is reach for a reason, any reason, as the true cause of the Civil War.

To her credit, Haley quickly walked back her remarks. Perhaps she sensed something was at risk in sounding so unreasonable. “Of course, the Civil War was about slavery,” she said. “We know that. That’s the easy part of it.” Then she went on to say that it was about “more than that,” citing, among other ridiculous things, “the role of government.”

That she walked back her initial remarks may seem “reasonable,” but it won’t matter. Remember, even if she wanted to strike a balance between “conservative states’ rights” and “racist red meat” – and that’s apparently what she wanted to do – there is no foundation inside the Republican Party on which to put it. There is no moderate position.

To be a moderate, you have to sound reasonable, but according to David Atkins, a frequent contributor to the Washington Monthly, the GOP base “doesn’t want even the perception of a more reasonable candidate. They want a dictator to punish their enemies.”

“Haley has zero chance of winning” the presidential election, David told me. “Even if she did win New Hampshire, it wouldn’t help her any more than it did Bernie Sanders in 2016 and Pete Buttigieg in 2020.”

There’s always makebelieve, though. Fortunately, Haley has a lot of help in that regard. The billionaire Koch brothers gave her their blessing. So did the popular governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu. They portray Haley as the champion of “conservative values,” as if “conservative values” was still shorthand for “moderate,” and as if Donald Trump’s gravity has not pulled the entire party to the far right.

While makebelieve is a powerful force in politics, it’s probably not going to be enough for Haley or any of the other GOP candidates. Oh, sure, they did OK while the neutral press was casting them as “legitimate alternatives” to Trump. But once the neutral press gets bored – and the neutral press always gets bored – whatever promise these “legitimate alternatives” once had melts into the air. It happened to Ron DeSantis. It happened to Vivek Ramaswamy. It will probably happen to Haley. Everything begins and ends with Trump. As Magdi said, the GOP can’t win with him and it can’t win without him.

In the following interview with me, David Atkins explains not only why he thinks Haley is doomed, but why, in 2024, the Republicans are, too.

JS: New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu endorsed Republican candidate Nikki Haley after the Koch network did. Could that be enough for her to win New Hampshire? And will that matter in the long run?

DA: GOP megadonors need to come to terms with the reality that their base cannot be controlled. They let the MAGA flames burn out of control and now they get to reap the whirlwind. Haley has zero chance of winning absent some issue impacting Trump’s health, because the GOP base doesn’t want even the perception of a more reasonable candidate. They want a dictator to punish their enemies.

And let’s be clear: Haley is also a radical rightwing extremist, as her embrace of a six-week abortion ban makes clear. She just doesn’t seem like she wants to destroy the entire federal bureaucracy, send Democrats to gulags, weaponize the Justice Department and the IRS against all their domestic opponents, and institute mass deportation camps of immigrants. So she’s not the candidate of the GOP base, which does want those things and wants Trump to deliver them.

The Republican Party’s base isn’t in the thrall of Trumpism; Trump is the avatar of their desires, which is why he will be the nominee. Also, even if Haley did win New Hampshire, it wouldn’t help her any more than it did Bernie Sanders in 2016 and Pete Buttigieg in 2020.

JS: You said the culture war is over. Taylor Swift won, Elon Musk lost. I have written that obituary, too, only to see myself proven wrong.

DA: The culture war is over in the sense that people under the age of 50 in the areas of the country that make up more than 80 percent of the national GDP despise the theocratic conservatism that animates Republican activists. That isn’t going to change.

This doesn’t mean that Republicans can’t win elections, and institute rearguard policy actions, like restricting abortion and LGBT rights. They can. The threat of hard-right fascist dictatorship is very real.

But most of the culture wars can be explained by the fact that the marketplace responds primarily to 18- to 45-year-old consumers in cities, while the electoral system responds primarily to 65-plus-year-olds in exurbia. The electoral system can produce a fascist takeover, but it will do so by oppressing a majority that wants nothing to do with it. Such tyrannies rarely last for long.

In the meantime, the weight of popular culture is increasingly shifting to treat cultural progressivism as normative, if for no other reason than that’s the population advertisers want to appeal to. The engines of capitalism are working against social conservatives now, which is why you see such a growing rift between the evangelical base and the urbanite business Republican crowd.

JS: You said the GOP will lose 2024. You cited the fact that they have lost every special election. Special elections attract partisans. Presidential election attracts everyone. Am I wrong in noting the difference?

DA: It’s no secret that Trump and Biden at the top of the ticket will make for an interesting dynamic in 2024, since neither are popular, at least at the moment. But in this environment, a generic Democrat is consistently beating a generic Republican. If the public’s concerns about both Trump and Biden as individuals were sidelined, and the voters were to choose a party and its policies, Democrats would be marching into a confident victory in 2024.

The key will be to remind voters of the tremendous legislative accomplishments of the Biden administration, emphasize Trump’s rampant criminality and danger to democracy, and remind people that no matter what they think of the candidates, the policy choices are very real. Republican rule would be a cruel disaster.

JS: I think the GOP is going to impeach Biden. How does that factor into your thinking, if it does, that the Republicans are going to lose 2024?

DA: Republicans want to play tit-for-tat by impeaching Biden to take some of the sting out of Trump’s double impeachments. More generally, if they can make impeachment into a routine partisan clown show, then it minimizes and defangs the one tool in the Constitution that’s designed to stop an authoritarian, criminal unitary executive.

The flip side of doing this is that any impeachment of Biden by Republicans on flimsy pretexts is likely to have as minimal an impact on voters as Trump’s impeachments apparently have.

JS: What if there's a major polling error and Trump isn't really a mile ahead of every other Republican candidate? Most of us just assume he's going to be the nominee. Iowa and New Hampshire might be stunners?

DA: What’s particularly interesting about Trump seizing the GOP nomination is the low-key panic among many Republican activists. While Trump’s indictments have so far not impacted his popularity, we are in uncharted territory. It’s impossible to predict what impact multiple public trials and possible felony convictions of the sitting GOP nominee might have on public polling and electoral outcomes.

One could speculate that the polling might be wrong, and GOP voters in Iowa and New Hampshire might choose a different nominee out of self-preservation. But Trump has developed a cult-like following, and one thing that we know about cults is that they are largely impervious to even their leaders going to jail. If anything, it makes them feel like martyrs. So I find it extremely unlikely that Iowa and New Hampshire will surprise us by selecting a Haley or Ron DeSantis.

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Haley schemed with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump to replace Pence as VP: Pompeo book

https://www.alternet.org/mike-pompeo-2659279340/

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an badash 11 22

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is calling for U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock to be “deported.” Warnock, the Democratic Senator from Georgia who was born in Savannah, is an American citizen, a pastor, and the first African American to represent the Peach State.

At a rally on Sunday campaigning for embattled Republican nominee Herschel Walker, who is running to unseat Senator Warnock, Haley told the crowd, “the only person we need to make sure we deport is Warnock,” Fox News reported.

Haley, who served at the UN under Donald Trump, and was the Republican governor of South Carolina, increasingly has morphed her well-crafted brand of appearing as a center-right politician into a right-winger promoting far-right GOP talking points. She is believed to have 2024 presidential aspirations.

“I am the daughter of Indian immigrants,” Haley said, appearing to justify her remarks. “They came here legally, they put in the time, they put in the price, they are offended by what’s happening on that border. Legal immigrants are more patriotic than the leftists these days. They knew they worked to come into America, and they love America. They want the laws followed in America, so the only person we need to make sure we deport is Warnock.”

[twt]

walker has been exposed as a candidate who will change his positions on the fly, and has been embroiled in numerous scandals, including hiding that he fathered four children with four different women. He denies, despite evidence, that he urged two women to abort their pregnancies and that he paid for those abortions. Walker has said he is against all abortions, even exceptions to abortion, while during a debate claiming that was false.

Haley on Sunday called Walker “a good person who has been put through the wringer and has had everything and the kitchen sink thrown at him, and he’s still fighting for you.” Walker has been enmeshed in scandal after scandal after scandal.

On her Twitter page Haley has posted photos of Republicans she has been campaigning for and promoting recently, including right-wing extremists and election deniers Sen. Ron Johnson and Don Bolduc.

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/nikki-haley-panics-following-leak/

yikes name and shame just turns into fundraisers?! b/c they have no shame? they are trying to silence me/you

an 8 22

Former Republican South Carolina Governor and United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has responded to Politico's report from last Friday that the names of dark money donors to her nonprofit had been leaked to the publication.

"The organization Documented, which describes itself as a nonpartisan government watchdog that investigates money in politics, obtained an unredacted copy of Stand For America’s 2019 filings,which it then shared with POLITICO," the outlet explained. "The group did not share the original source of the filing, but it bears a stamp from the charity office of the New York state attorney general."

Politico noted that "the disclosures provide the clearest picture yet of how a prospective 2024 presidential candidate is cultivating a secret network of high-dollar contributors as she builds a political apparatus. And the names of her donors demonstrate the deep connections Haley has formed at the top levels of the Republican Party, with some of the GOP’s biggest super PAC donors among those who gave money to fund the launch of her organization after she left the Trump administration."

On Tuesday morning, Haley decried the revelations during an appearance on Fox News.

“We’re not gonna cry about this, we’re not gonna whine about this, we're gonna fight this and we are filing a lawsuit against the New York State Attorney General's office. We are going to [Attorney General] Merrick Garland and saying this is a federal tax crime and we want him to investigate that office. Now I'm not thinking he's gonna do that but we're certainly gonna make him answer for it," she complained to host Dana Perino.

Haley declared that an unspecified "they" are "trying to intimidate conservatives. And what I will say is, every conservative out there: if you are tired of seeing how they're weaponizing government,if you're tired of seeing what they did to President [Donald] Trump, if you're tired of seeing what they did to the N[ational] R[ifle] A[ssociation], and to our pro-life groups,join us and unite in this fight."

Watch below or at this link.

Nikki Haley is 'whitewashing' her record on Putin while hypocritically attacking Democrats: conservative

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https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/26/donors-secretly-funded-nikki-haleys-nonprofit-00053963

ref

no lnx

EXCLUSIVE

Document reveals identity of donors who secretly funded Nikki Haley’s political nonprofit

An unredacted tax return filed by Nikki Haley’s nonprofit shows that the group’s funders include a wealthy New Jersey family and some of the GOP’s biggest donors.

[Nikki Haley speaks during a campaign rally on December 20, 2020 in Cumming, Georgia. | Jessica McGowan/Getty Images

By ALEX ISENSTADT

08/26/2022

Many of the GOP’s biggest donors are among those who funneled anonymous contributions to former U.N ambassador Nikki Haley’s nonprofit as she lays the groundwork for a prospective 2024 presidential bid, according to previously unreported tax documents obtained by POLITICO.

Haley’s nonprofit policy advocacy group, Stand For America, Inc., has received major donations from people including New York hedge fund manager Paul Singer, investor Stanley Druckenmiller, and Miriam Adelson and her late husband, casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, the Internal Revenue Service filings reveal.

The roster of supporters who gave undisclosed donations in 2019 also includes Suzanne Youngkin, the wife of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, himself a possible presidential contender; former Pennsylvania Senate candidate and hedge fund executive David McCormick; and Vivek and Lakshmi Garipalli, members of a New Jersey family that has donated large sums to Democrats — but which gave Haley’s organization $1 million.

The donor list also includes dozens of people who gave anonymously to Haley’s nonprofit but have not given disclosed contributions to her PAC, which was formed two years later and is required to regularly disclose the names of donors who give at least $200. Those contributors include the Garipallis andGOP megadonor Joe Ricketts.

(See the full list of donors here.)

Like other nonprofits, Stand For America files an annual tax return with the IRS. While the agency and the nonprofit must make those filings available to the public, including the amounts of contributions to the group, such nonprofits do not have to disclose the identities of their donors.

However, the organization Documented, which describes itself as a nonpartisan government watchdog that investigates money in politics, obtained an unredacted copy of Stand For America’s 2019 filings, which it then shared with POLITICO. The group did not share the original source of the filing, but it bears a stamp from the charity office of the New York state attorney general.

The disclosures provide the clearest picture yet of how a prospective 2024 presidential candidate is cultivating a secret network of high-dollar contributors as she builds a political apparatus. And the names of her donors demonstrate the deep connections Haley has formed at the top levels of the Republican Party, with some of the GOP’s biggest super PAC donors among those who gave money to fund the launch of her organization after she left the Trump administration.

Haley is among at least a dozen other would-be White House hopefuls— including former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence — who also have allied nonprofits bankrolled by donors whose identities have remained under wraps.

THE FRIDAY COVER

Nikki Haley’s Choice

BY TIM ALBERTA]

“It’s very rare that the public has the opportunity to see the identities of the donors who are providing five- or even six-figure contributions to a dark money group. It’s called dark money for a reason. Typically, the public does not know who is financing these groups, and this is a rare exception,” said Brendan Fischer, deputy executive director of Documented.

“This previously unpublished donor list provides a valuable clue as to the network of wealthy donors that Haley might rely upon if she does ultimately run for office,” Fischer said.

Such tax filings are typically closely held, as donors contribute to nonprofit groups with the understanding that their names will be kept secret. The Haley team moved to stop publication of this story, with attorney Michael Adams writing in a cease-and-desist letter that POLITICO “was not authorized to receive the confidential tax return information, nor is Politico entitled to print, publish, or even retain it.”

Lynn Oberlander, an attorney for Ballard Spahr representing POLITICO, responded in a letter that the reporting on the funding of U.S. political activity “is in the public interest and fully protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”

POLITICO reached out to each donor named in this article prior to publication. They either did not respond or declined to offer comment.

“This disclosure of a confidential tax return was clearly a corrupt violation of state and federal law to try to intimidate conservative donors,” Haley said in a statement. “Liberals have always weaponized government against conservatives, and Republicans have been too nice for too long. We will make sure the buck stops here.”

The nonprofit is a political asset for the 50-year-old Haley, a former South Carolina governor long known as a favorite in the GOP donor world. When she launched the group in 2019, it was five years since her most recent run for office, and she could use the group to build a fresh new email list of supporters, pay staff and fund travel, polling and policy research.

Just because a donor gives to her nonprofit does not necessarily indicate they will back a future presidential bid. Many of the contributors are also known to support other potential candidates, including Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The contributions from 2019 also represent a snapshot in time: The donors gave before Trump lost his 2020 reelection race and immediately pivoted to make himself a frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

Documented says it has not obtained the unredacted version of Stand For America’s most recent IRS filings, which cover the 2020 calendar year. The redacted 2020 filings show that the organization raised $9.3 million that year, with the largest single contribution totaling $750,000.

Haley stepped down from her post in the Trump administration at the end of 2018 and launched Stand For America shortly after. The 501(c)(4) “social welfare” organization’s mission, according to its website, is to support “policy that will ensure a stronger, safer, and more prosperous country for all Americans.”

[Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley waits to be announced at a campaign rally for U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace ahead of South Carolina's GOP primary elections on June 12, 2022, in Summerville, S.C. | Meg Kinnard/AP Photo

Over the course of 2019, the filing shows, Haley received the support of 71 donors who gave at least $5,000, for an overall fundraising total of $7 million.

The biggest givers were New Jersey health executive Vivek Garipalli and his mother, Lakshmi Garipalli, who contributed $500,000 apiece. Vivek Garipalli has been a regular Democratic donor, giving to the likes of President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats — but he has a “longstanding personal friendship” with Haley and her husband, according to a federal financial disclosure document Haley filed in 2018, when she was serving as U.N. ambassador.

Garipalli gifted Haley New York Knicks tickets valued at nearly $20,000 that year, and he gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to a pair of pro-Haley political action committees when she was governor of South Carolina, according to campaign finance filings.

Haley’s next-biggest nonprofit donors in 2019 were the Adelsons,who each donated $250,000. (Sheldon Adelson died in early 2021.) Miriam Adelson — who has since become the most sought-after megadonor in the GOP — also donated the maximum-allowed $5,000 to Haley’s PAC in 2021, her first federal donation since her husband’s death. Haley was one of a handful of would-be candidates who landed a private meeting with Miriam Adelson while attending a Republican Jewish Coalition conference in the fall of 2021.

Sheldon Adelson sits with his wife Miriam ahead of the presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.. on Sept. 26, 2016.

ELECTIONS

The $30 billion woman: Megadonor Miriam Adelson leaps back into politics

BY ALEX ISENSTADT]

The third-biggest donors were Stanley Druckenmiller and his wife, Fiona, who gave a combined $350,000. Next was Scott Bessent, an investor with a long history of giving to Republicans, who contributed $325,000. Singer, another prominent GOP megadonor, gave $270,000.

Haley’s donors span the party’s ideological spectrum, from those supportive of Trump to those less so. She attracted six-figure nonprofit donations from Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus, who extensively funded Trump’s 2020 reelection effort, but also Druckenmiller, who backed former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a moderate Republican, over Trump in the 2016 primary.

Haley has separately launched Stand For America PAC, which unlike the non-profit vehicle must disclose its contributors and has a donation limit of $5,000. The PAC can spend unlimited amounts on politics, though the size of donations are capped. And while the nonprofit can raise and spend in unlimited amounts, it has restrictions on how much it can spend on expressly political activity.

Some of Haley’s donors have only given through the dark money vehicle. While the Garipallis and Bessent are among Stand For America’s biggest donors, they have yet to give to Stand For America PAC, according to the most recent federal filings. The same goes for Republican megadonor Ricketts, who gave $50,000 to the nonprofit Stand For America but nothing to the PAC, which was registered in 2021.

Haley’s nonprofit vehicle — like those aligned with other prospective 2024 candidates — is using its funding to pay political consulting firms doing work for the group. Stand For America’s highest-paid vendors, according to the filing, include prominent Republican consulting firms: direct mail firm Image Direct and a pair of digital firms, Coldspark and Fifth Influence.

The nonprofit has also promoted Haley’s policy platform, and it has developed an extensive email list of prospective supporters. Stand For America sends out a five-day-a-week policy newsletter to more than 200,000 subscribers, has aired issue advocacy commercials in states like Georgia and Virginia, and hosted virtual town halls for supporters.

In addition, the organization has conducted congressional outreach on certain issues, published a 160-page policy book and produced a series of policy videos in which Haley has participated.

All of the activity helps to promote Haley as she ramps up for 2024. A future Haley campaign could rent or buy the email list to build out its fundraising apparatus, for example.

“The reality is that some potential candidates are relying on a small handful of very wealthy donors as they map out their political future,” Fischer said. “And if those candidates win office, they’re going to owe an immense debt of gratitude to those secret donors.”

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/03/putin-trump-2656911672/

cya putin 3 22

https://www.alternet.org/2022/03/putin-trump-2656911672

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interesting she frames it not personal loyalty to dictator, but party loyalty

hedging bets in gop war, vp pick? sorta invoke RR 11th commandment?

An attempt by former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) to defend Donald Trump from vice president Mike Pence's criticism landed with a thud on Monday after she complained Republicans should not attack Republicans.

With Pence saying the former president was "wrong" in his attempt to have the former VP overturn the election in a highly-publicized speech on Friday, Haley was quick to run to Trump's defense during an appearance on Fox News.

“Mike Pence is a good man. He’s an honest man. I think he did what he thought was right on that day. But I will always say, I’m not a fan of Republicans going against Republicans,” she told host Bret Baier.

That, in turn, led to a deluge of criticism of Haley who is often mentioned as a possible running mate with Trump should he run for president again in 2024.

According to one Twitter commentator, Haley is "pathetic."

You can see some more responses below:

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no shot?

https://www.alternet.org/2021/10/nikki-haley-pence-gop/

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an 421

no twt eg nikki h "disgusting"

A Fox News host is displeased with his network's publishing of false reports over the last several days.

According to The Huff Post, Juan Williams admitted that he is skeptical of the allegations being leveled against former Secretary of State John Kerry due to the number of inaccurate reports his network has released.

During the Fox News broadcast of "The Five" on Tuesday, April 27, Williams weighed in on the details surrounding Kerry's alleged discussion Iran's foreign minister regarding Israeli intelligence. However, Williams made it clear he was not sure if he could believe allegations due to the onslaught of falsehoods reported by his network over the last several days.

He also expressed concern about right-wing news outlets that echo scathing stories simply because the report attacks a member of the opposing party.

"It just worries me, like last week we had the hamburger story, 'Oh, Biden is going to take your hamburger.' Kamala Harris' book is being given to immigrants," said Williams. "These stories are false, but the right-wing echo chamber starts going crazy because you can go after a Democrat."

As reports about the allegations began circulating on right-wing news outlets, Kerry who now serves as the first United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, tweeted to set the record straight.

According to the former lawmaker, the allegations are "unequivocally false." With John Hudson's tweet detailing the truth about the allegations, Kerry tweeted, "I can tell you that this story and these allegations are unequivocally false. This never happened - either when I was Secretary of State or since."

Williams' remarks come just days after Fox News addressed the criticism of its inaccurate report about President Joe Biden's so-called push to limit Americans' beef consumption. On Monday, Fox News' John Roberts addressed the issue as he corrected the story.

FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES

Inside the Collapsing Media Empire of Deceased GOP Sleaze ... ›

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'Unbelievable!': Fox News show bursts into chaos when Juan ... ›

Haley gets widely mocked for bizarre defense of the Confederate Flag

David Badash / The New Civil Rights Movement

Former South Carolina governor and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley stepped in it on Friday afternoon after making the bizarre claim that the Confederate flag was a symbol of “service, and sacrifice, and heritage”…

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/leading-republicans-praise-god-for-bringing-us-trump-918203/

perry and nikki

1119 new book set up 2024 run? nice to djt, sez did not coop w. adults rex and cos kelly?

book tv interview softball joni e; told trump not to use rocket man lil at UN = chruch, he did, caught on, thus he's right?!

new sherriff take names = revenge for disloyalty, tho she named none in interview?

name checked ben s on his accusal of aLT RT CRIT as antisemitic?!

nikki h booktv poor israel gets beaten up unfairly all the time, beacon of democ in ME

https://www.alternet.org/2019/08/nikki-haley-battled-with-mike-pence-for-attention-at-gop-donor-retreat-report

no lnx

Nikki Haley battled with Mike Pence for attention at GOP donor retreat: report

Nikki Haley Nikki Haley

Written by Matthew Chapman / Raw Story August 24, 2019

Who will be President Donald Trump’s successor as leader of the Republican Party?

It’s a question that GOP officials are already asking themselves, and it is already producing subtle divides within their ranks. Two of the biggest names that get floated are Vice President Mike Pence and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. Both politicians are comfortable appealing to multiple wings of the GOP, and both have managed to stay in Trump’s good graces for far longer than most of the people who have worked in his administration.

They have pushed back aggressively on claims that they are challenging one another for control, with Haley aggressively denying rumors that Trump was interested in swapping her in to replace Pence on the 2020 ticket.

But behind closed doors, a rivalry is beginning to bloom. According to Politico, the two politicians competed with one another for attention at a GOP retreat for wealthy donors in Aspen, Colorado.

According to the report, “The assembled group of governors, high-dollar donors, and operatives were well aware that the two have big ambitions; to some it seemed as if Pence and Haley, who spoke on back-to-back days, were vying for their attention. Some in the audience found themselves parsing and comparing the two speeches and buzzed they were getting a sneak preview of a 2024 Republican primary. Others recalled something peculiar: Neither Pence nor Haley acknowledged each other in their presentations, even though they gave shout-outs to others attending the retreat.”

It is hard to say who will become the GOP’s standard bearer when Trump is gone. But already, it is clear that battle lines are being drawn for that day.

nauert and some fox woman as replacement?

https://www.alternet.org/2019/03/nikki-haley-is-not-very-smart/

https://www.alternet.org/2019/02/critics-respond-to-nikki-haley-joining-boeings-board-incessant-warmongering-pays-off/

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is expected to join the board of directors for weapons systems and aircraft maker Boeing on April 29 – a continuation of the Washington revolving door system between government and private corporations.

“It’s an honor to have the opportunity to contribute to Boeing’s continued success as a cutting edge industry leader and a great American company,” Haley said in a statement.

News of the Boeing appointment came less than 24 hours after Haley announced she was forming a new policy group, “Stand America Now.”

View image on Twitter

Nikki Haley

@NikkiHaley

Excited about starting a new policy group, @StandAmericaNow. We will focus on how to keep our country safe, strong, and prosperous. Join me as we stand up for America’s freedoms and values. http://www.standforamericanow.com

2,010

2:06 PM - Feb 25, 2019

542 people are talking about this

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Haley, who was Governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017 before accepting the ambassador’s position in the Trump administration, left her U.N. post at the end of 2018 after almost two years at the position. She’s been mentioned as a possible future presidential contender and is frequently referred to as a possible foil for the president she served under.

For now, though, Haley seems intent on cashing in. She’ll join Boeing’s board as the company deals with difficult decisions about its future growth.

Per Reuters:

Haley’s nomination comes as Boeing grapples with a major decision: whether to launch an all-new jetliner known as NMA, a midsize plane that would serve a niche market falling between narrow- and wide-body aircraft.

The company’s work on airliners was not, however, the main source of concern for critics of Haley’s appointment. Rather, commenters on social media wryly noted the appropriateness of the former ambassador making a lateral move to a company that deals in war. Boeing is one of the largest defense contractors in the U.S., pulling in $20.5 billion in Pentagon for 2018.

District Sentinel

@TheDCSentinel

The “adult in the room” who could “talk tough” at the UN just became a war profiteer. Love this country! https://twitter.com/nbcpolitics/status/1100384757408501761?s=21 …

NBC Politics

@NBCPolitics

Boeing says its board of directors has nominated Nikki Haley to be elected to the board at the company's annual meeting of shareholders April 29.

6:53 AM - Feb 26, 2019

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Glenn Greenwald

@ggreenwald

Congrats to @NikkiHaley on having her incessant warmongering pay off so quickly & lucratively. And congrats to @Boeing for obtaining her influence. It is at all a problem that politicians convert their access into massive personal wealth upon leaving? https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/26/boeing-nominates-former-trump-un-ambassador-nikki-haley-to-board.html …

1,415

9:06 AM - Feb 26, 2019

salon

President-elect Donald Trump has selected Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina as his new ambassador to the United Nations— even though, less than a month ago, Haley was distinctly unenthusiastic about the prospect of a Trump presidency.

During a news conference in October about Hurricane Matthew, Gov. Haley characterized her decision to vote for Trump in practical rather than enthusiastic terms.

“This is no longer a choice for me on personalities because I’m not a fan of either one. What it is about is policy,” Haley explained. “I think I’ve been really clear. This election has really turned my stomach upside down. It has been embarrassing for both parties. It’s not something the country deserves, but it’s what we’ve got.”

Haley also supported not one but two of Trump’s rivals during the Republican primaries. In March after the withdrawal of her first choice, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Haley went on to endorse the man who at that point was Trump’s chief rival for the nomination, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

https://democracynow.org/2016/11/23/headlines/trump_picks_gov_nikki_haley_to_be_us_ambassador_to_the_un

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has reportedly accepted President-elect Donald Trump’s offer to be ambassador to the United Nations, making her the first woman to be picked for his Cabinet. The first five appointments were white men. Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, has almost no foreign policy experience, except for making eight trips overseas to discuss economic development opportunities. During the presidential race, she supported Florida Senator Marco Rubio, but later said she voted for Trump. If confirmed by the Senate, she would be replaced by South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Henry McMaster, a major ally of Trump.

===

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Nikki_Haley

Nikki Haley has been the Republican governor of South Carolina since November 2010. She previously served in the General Assembly for the 87th District of South Carolina from 2004 to 2010. ^[1] Haley is also an ALEC alumna. ^[2]Haley maintains a conservative record by voting in favor of voter ID laws, abortion restrictions, lowering taxes, and was even ranked the 21st most conservative governor in 2013 by Nate Silve

[hide]

3 Political Controversies

4 Awards and Affliations
- 4.1 Membership
- 4.2 Awards

Ties to ALEC, Koch Brothers

During her years in the South Carolina legislature, Haley was a member of ALEC, a secretive organization that pairs legislators with big corporations to fulfill the needs of big-business, at the expense of consumers. ^[4] For her possible 2014 re-election bid, a $1,000-per couple fundraiser in South Carolina was held on August 26, 2013, by fellow ALEC governors, Texas Governor Rick Perry, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. ^[5]^Haley also released a statement commending fellow ALEC member, Gov. Scott Walker, after winning his recall election after his attempt to end public sector collective bargaining rights in 2011: ^[6]

"Congratulations to my friend, Gov. Scott Walker. Tonight, he proved that standing strong for the principles of fiscal responsibility is not only the right policy, but is rewarded by voters. It's a great example for the rest of the country."

During her campaigning from 2010 onward, Haley has accepted funds from 37 ALEC Corporations, with funding amounting to at least $170,000. These corporations include but aren't limited to: ^[7]

AT&T
Bank of America
Boeing Co.
Comcast
Geo Group
Hewlett Packard
Philip Morris
Liberty Mutual Insurance
Anheuser-Busch
BP
GEICO

Although, Coca-Cola, General Motors, General Electric, Kraft Foods, Wal-Mart, Wells Fargo, Intuit, and Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance are not current ALEC Corporations, all eight of these corporations made donations to Haley while they were members of ALEC in 2010.

As a advocate for big-business and a "GOP rising star," Haley also joined a Koch brothers meeting in the winter of 2013, to discuss the GOP's failure in the 2012 election. ^[8]

Political Ideologies

Big-Business Advocate, "War on Rural South Carolina"

With her previous involvement in ALEC, support of the private sector, and commitment to lowering taxes, Haley has strived to bring manufacturing and business back to South Carolina. However, Haley supported the shut down of unemployment claims clinics in 17 of South Carolina's poorest counties because of the lack of funding in 2013, but added, "It's a good thing when you downsize government." ^[9]

On the recent news portion of the website, Haley continues her surge to bring new and more businesses to South Carolina by commending the expansions and openings of plants and facilities for Monteferro USA, Tognum America Inc., ZFT Transmission, Standard Textile, and more. Each news release also includes the amount of money included in the investment, and how many jobs each expansion will add to the area. ^[10] Haley has focused much of her efforts on lowering the unemployment rate in the state. As of July 2013, the United States unemployment rate stood at 7.4% ^[11] while South Carolina has an unemployment rate at 8.1% ^[12]

Union Busting and "Union Thugs"

Haley believes a highly-unionized state will counter her efforts to attract big businesses to South Carolina, similar to Scott Walker's efforts to eliminate unions in Wisconsin. In a FOX News interview with Gretchen van Susteren, Haley stated her support for Walker's actions and her hope for South Carolina to conform more to Wisconsin's anti-union legislation. ^[13] During the same interview, Haley spoke of her hatred of union "thugs," and her plans to bust unions in South Carolina, after viewing a video of an opponent hitting a pinata with her image: ^[13]

"This is typical of union thugs. And I will tell you in, the past week, the Dems have come after me with a racial slur and the union thugs have hit me with a pinata."
"I'm not going to stop beating up on the unions. I'm not going to stop beating up on the Democrats for wasteful spending."
"There's a reason South Carolina's the new "it" state and it's because we're a union buster and it's because we continue to be fiscally responsible and business-friendly. And there's nothing the Democrats or the unions can do to make me change that."
"It just shows the stark difference between businesses and unions and how they handle -- unions tend to bully and they boss and they try and get their way."

Promoting ALEC-Sponsored Voter ID Laws

Haley promoted a bill in 2011 to require a photo ID to vote in the state, based on claims of much voter fraud occurring during elections. The bill was struck down by a federal court in 2012 for the bills' discrimination toward minority voters. Haley also faced much backlash from House Democratic Leader, Tom Rutherford, after reports surfaced claiming voter fraud was not an issue in South Carolina. Rutherford demanded an apology from Haley from deceiving the public to believe voter fraud was a pressing issue, and wasting taxpayer money for "their incompetence." ^[14] The bill also did not recognize student IDs as a valid form of identification, greatly lowering the largely-Democratic youth vote. ^[15]

Education Reform: School Choice, Vouchers, and Businesses

Even though she herself and her children attended public schools, Haley sees ALEC supported school-choice programs, also known as voucher programs, as a necessary fix to South Carolina's struggling school system: ^[16]

“Parents should be able to decide where they send their kids to school,” Haley said. “So, I have said the second they can get that bill to my desk, I absolutely will sign it.”

In May 2012, Haley signed H. 3241, the Charter Schools bill, another ALEC piece of model legislation, and said of the new law: ""It is a great day in South Carolina. We will no longer settle for what we think education has to be, we will lead in this country on what education should be -- and that means options, innovation and creativity." ^[17]

Haley also met with corporations like AT&T, an ALEC corporation member and state co-chair of six states, to talk education reform on July 31, 2013. Pamela Lackey, president of AT&T of South Carolina said South Carolina needed education reform to "meet the needs of today's businesses." ^[18]

"War on Women", Coverage of Contraception, Pro-Life Stance

Haley says her pro-life stance does not come from her Republican ideology, but of her difficulty to have children, and her husband's adoption as an infant. She also says the mandating of organization to include contraception in their coverage in the Affordable Care Act should not be under government jurisdiction. ^[19]

In July 2012, Haley also vetoed $500,000 to be used for rape crisis centers, calling them "special add-on lines [that] distrct from the [Department of Health]'s broad mission of protecting South Carolina's public health," ^[20] despite much opposition because the state's rate of sexual violence is higher than the national average, and has been for the last 30 years. ^[21]

In terms of the "war on women" by GOP legislators during the 2012 election, Haley says the idea is simply a "distraction" used by the Barack Obama campaign to avoid discussing his first term record.

"Well, I mean how many times can we say the word "distraction"? That's what President Obama is doing. He doesn't want us talking about his record. He doesn't want us talking about how he has raised more debt in three years than President Bush has in eight. He doesn't want us talking about the fact that he said if we would take the stimulus money we would never get above eight percent unemployment. So this is a President that is trying to create distractions. There is no war on women. Women are doing well." ^[22]

Anti-Immigration, Copies Arizona Law

In 2011, Haley signed a law similar to SB 1070 ^[23] from Arizona that allows authorities to check the immigration status of any person who is arrested or stopped. ^[24] The law was blocked in December 2011 by a federal judge. ^[25] Haley said through her spokesperson, Rob Godfrey, that the state has to address illegal immigration because immigration laws are not being enforced on the national level. ^[25]

Support of Pro-Gun Legislation

In August 2010, Haley was endorsed by the Gun Owners of America during her run during the gubernatorial election. Haley said of the endorsement:

“Few things are as clearly defined as the right of individual Americans to own and use firearms. The right to bear arms was deemed so critical by our Founders that they spelled it out in absolute terms, and it is my belief that any governmental action that undermines that right is in turn undermining the very freedoms that built our great nation. I hold a Concealed Weapons Permit myself, and as governor, I will continue to fight against any government infringement on the 2nd Amendment.” ^[26]

She also has an "A" rating by the National Rifle Association. ^[27]

The "Nightmare" Affordable Care Act

With the federal expansion of Medicaid underway, Haley commended South Carolina House right-wing legislators for their work opposing Medicaid expansion, which she called a "looming public policy nightmare and fiscal disaster."

"If history has proven anything, it's that there is no such thing as a temporary entitlement program, and as House Republicans recognize, ObamaCare will be as bad a policy three years from now as it is today. ^[28]

Due to her opposition and the state's House rejection of expansion, South Carolina will not participate in the federal expansion of Medicaid. Instead, the House voted to allocate $88.5 to hospitals and medical providers for support when uninsured residents come under their care. ^[29] Many supporters of the expansion, including South Carolina Hospital Association, the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, and the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce, said it would add 40,000 jobs to the state, and the money will go to other states if South Carolina didn't take it. ^[29]

Political Controversies

Outside Constitutional Authority

In early June 2011, Haley issued an executive order requiring the state legislature to reconvene, however she was challenged by a 13-page lawsuit from the former Senate leader and current lieutenant governor, Glenn McConnell (R-Charleston). The lawsuit claimed her order was outside her power as an executive, and breached the separation of branches. Despite McConnell's claim about its unconstitutionality, Haley claimed she held that right because "exercising this constitutional power rests in the Governor's sound discretion." ^[30] The court ruled in a 3-2 vote in favor of McConnell.

Ethical Charges

After her time as a state representative, claims against Haley surfaced that she had illegally lobbied, in addition to breaking other ethics laws, during her term. Lexington Medical Center and Wilbur Smith Associates were the alleged recipients of her lobbying efforts. During this time, Lexington Medical Center was trying to gain state approval for an open-heart surgery center. Haley was also accused of accepting funds and gifts from lobbyists and corporations for the hospital. ^[31] The six-member House Ethics Committee began meeting behind closed doors for over a month. Committee members did say the South Carolina law regarding lobbying and ethics were vague, and open to interpretation. Haley's attorney, Swati Patel, added similar investigations might ensue if action was taken against Haley. ^[31] Senate Democratic Caucus director, Phil Bailey, pointed to an August 2008 email to Lexington Medical chief executive Mike Biediger:^[31]

“We have some work to do not only to switch votes (on the heart center) but to hold the ones we have. We are as close as we are going to get and can’t afford to leave one stone unturned. … Fingers crossed!”

The committee ultimately voted 5-1 in favor of not investigating Haley further.

Hate-Group Affiliated Staffer

In May 2013, the Southern Poverty Law Center accused a Haley grassroots steering committee member of belonging to the Council of Conservative Citizens, designated by SPLC as a "white nationalist hate group." ^[32] Committee member Roan Garcia-Quintana was asked to step down by Haley's administration a week after calls for her resignation were made, through a statement: ^[33]

"While we appreciate the support Roan has provided, we were previously unaware of some of the statements he had made, statements which do not well represent the views of the Governor. There is no place for racially divisive rhetoric in the politics or governance of South Carolina, and Governor Haley has no tolerance for it."

Awards and Affliations

Membership

Haley has a focus on membership in business, women's, and medical foundations. These affiliations include: ^[27]

Director at the Orangebury County Chamber of Commerce (1998)
Director at the Lexington Chamber of Commerce (2003)
Treasurer then President of the National Association of Women Business Owners (2003-2004)
Lexington Medical Foundation
Lexington County Sheriff's Foundation
West Metro Republican Women
Friends of Scouting Leadership Division
Rotary Club

Awards

Her political awards include: ^[27]

"Friend of the Taxpayer" award by the South Carolina Association of Taxpayers (2011)
"A" rating from the South Carolina Club for Growth
"A" rating from the Palmetto Family Council
"A" rating from the National Rifle Association

Biography

Haley was born in Bamburg, South Carolina, and is the daughter of Indian immigrants. She graduated from Clemson University with a degree in accounting, and worked as an accountant for a private company, after keeping the books for her family's clothing store.

She has a husband Michael, who serves for the South Carolina National Guard and Army National Guard, and has two children, Rena and Nalin. ^[1]

===9. Nikki Haley, South Carolina

Fresh from campaigning in Wisconsin for her fellow union-buster Scott Walker, Nikki Haley is headed home, triumphant—to an ethics investigation.

Corey Hutchins at the Columbia Free Times writes:

Subpoenas could be fluttering all over Columbia this week as an ethics panel investigating whether Gov. Nikki Haley illegally lobbied as a lawmaker decides who to call as witnesses in the case.

On May 30, the House Ethics Committee voted unanimously to reopen an investigation into the governor. The six-member panel had previously voted that there was probable cause to investigate, but then immediately dismissed the charges. After further consideration, and new information from GOP activist John Rainey, who filed the complaint, they’re giving it a deeper look.

She's also been rebuked by her state's Supreme Court chief justice over a plan, approved by her appointees at the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, to dredge the Savannah River to make it bigger for bigger ships. “You disobeyed the law when you did not involve the Savannah River Maritime Commission in the settlement of this matter,” Chief Justice Jean Toal told Haley's appointees. (The decision to approve the dredging came shortly after Haley attended a fundraiser at an Atlanta law firm with ties to the project; she denies the connection.)