Van Hollen, C Sen
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chris hayes says road paved with ppl saying do not be alarmed
an 4 25
Senator warns America on a 'very short road to tyranny'
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AN 8 26
Sen. Chris Van Hollen on Monday called on Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, to resign after repeatedly failing to condemn mistreatment of American citizens by the Israeli government.
In a video posted on social media, Van Hollen (D-Md.) recounted instances of US citizens being detained or abused by Israeli security forces, along with Huckabee’s lack of response.
“On his watch, we continue to see American citizens being mistreated, wrongfully detained,” Van Hollen explained, referencing the recent detentions of 20-year-old American citizen Sama Safi and 16-year-old Adam Karakrah.
Van Hollen added that he and more than two dozen fellow US senators have urged Huckabee to hold Israel accountable for “the killings of nine Americans over just the last four years” by either Israeli settlers in the West Bank or members of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
“And yet, no accountability,” said Van Hollen. “No justice.”
The Maryland Democrat further called out Huckabee for failing to abide by his professed compassion for the Palestinian Christian community.
“We’ve seen an increase in violent settler attacks on Christian villages in the West Bank, and we’ve seen those attacks conducted with impunity,” he said. “And when asked about this, Ambassador Huckabee said, ‘Well, look at me. I’m a Christian and I think I’m doing OK here in the Holy Land.’”
“And that exposes the entire problem,” Van Hollen continued. “Because what Ambassador Huckabee is talking about is visitors to the Holy Land, Christian visitors, including evangelicals who come on the kind of tours that Ambassador Huckabee used to lead. Well, what about the Christians who have lived in the Holy Land for thousands and thousands of years?”
The senator then speculated that Huckabee simply “doesn’t care” because “he’s become a complete apologist for the most extreme Israeli government in history.”
“He should be defending Americans and defending American interests,” Van Hollen concluded. “He’s failed to do so. He should resign today.
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an 4 25
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) has requested a meeting with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele during his current visit to the United States to discuss the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was wrongly deported to an infamous Salvador prison due to an "administrative error" by the Trump administration.
In a letter to the Salvadoran ambassador to the U.S. Milena Mayorga written Monday, Hollen said U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Abrego Garcia was wrongly deported to a prison in El Salvador.
"I have met with Mr. Abrego Garcia’s wife, mother and brother and, as you can imagine, they are extremely worried about his health, safety, and continued illegal confinement, as am I," he wrote in the letter.
ALSO READ:'Dystopian': Miller makes 'outrageous' claim as El Salvador refuses to return US resident
"I look forward to your response," the Maryland Democrat told the envoy.
During a press conference alongside Bukele in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump claimed that the Supreme Court had ruled 9–0 in his favor and that the ruling in the case meant that the U.S. government would have to provide a plane only if the Salvadoran president chose to return Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man wrongfully deported to an infamous Salvadoran prison.
“Of course I’m not going to do it,” Bukele said when asked by reporters if he would help return the man, adding that returning him would be akin to smuggling “a terrorist into the United States.”
In a statement sharing the letter, the Senator said, “If Kilmar is not home by midweek — I plan to travel to El Salvador this week to check on his condition and discuss his release."
ALSO READ:'Clear choice': Experts say Trump 'openly defying' Supreme Court may
Democratic strategists and commentators are calling on other Democratic lawmakers to follow in Sen. Van Hollen's footsteps and call for Abrego Garcia's return.
"What’s happening to him is wrong, and we need Dems to draw attention to it," Democratic strategist Mike Nellis wrote on the social platform X.
Academic Keith Orejel, while sharing the letter on X, said, "Make Chris Van Hollen minority leader. Oust Schumer and all the other spineless collaborationists who have said next to nothing about this issue."
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Sen. Chris Van Hollen‘s (D-Md.) star has been on the rise in the Democratic party: After seven terms in the House, he won a Senate seat last November, and now occupies a much-coveted spot on the Appropriations committee while also chairing the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the party’s fundraising arm for its Senate candidates.
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champion for finance reform:
mojo
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/01/republican-public-financing-cantor-corporation
Mon Jan. 24, 2011 4:00 AM PST
On Wednesday, House Republicans plan to rush to the floor a bill that would eliminate the federal government's presidential financing systemâ”in the process, violating recent pledges by the GOP's leadership of increased transparency and debate in Congress. Not one hearing has been held on the legislation, nor has a single commitee debated its merits. If it passes, it will roll back more than 30 years of law born out of the Watergate scandal, eviscerating one of the few remaining protections stopping corporations from heavily influencing, if not outright buying, American elections, reform experts say.
Democratic lawmakers and campaign finance reformers blasted the bill, not only for seeking to kill public financing but for breaking the GOP's campaign promises on transparency and accountability. "This is a sneak attack on the system," says Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). "It's a total break from their public pledge for transparency and openness." Fred Wertheimer, a longtime campaign finance reform advocate at Democracy 21, called the bill "a gross abuse of the legislative process."
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How can the U.S. help repair shrinking ice caps while also aiding the shrinking middle class?
A straightforward approach to tackling climate change while helping the middle class with a “cap and dividend” approach was introduced today by Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md). The “Healthy Climate and Family Security Act” has received the support of a coalition of national, state and local groups representing environmental, justice and consumer organizations.
“Two of the most pressing challenges we face as a country are the need to address the economic costs and public health risks associated with climate change, and to strengthen the middle class. We do both in this bill,” said Congressman Van Hollen, lead sponsor of the bill. “By capping carbon emissions, selling permits, and returning 100 percent of the revenue to everyone equally, this ‘Cap and Dividend’ approach achieves necessary greenhouse gas reductions while boosting the purchasing power of families across the country. Tackling our problems and moving everyone forward is America at its best. That’s what this bill does, and that’s exactly where we need to be.”
The following graphic summarizes the act: cap, auction, pay cits]
Under the policy, the median American household of four would be expected to receive a net benefit of about $260 in the first year. The dividend would grow steadily each year, offering all lower- and middle-income Americans a net increase in their annual income.
In a statement of support for the act, environmental and consumer groups stated: “This Van Hollen legislation will help solve the climate crisis while growing our economy and helping working families prosper. It is simple, fair and built to last.”
Original bill co-sponsors include Congressmen Matt Cartwright (PA-17), Alan Lowenthal (CA-47), Gerry Connolly (VA-11), Earl Blumenauer (OR-03) and Rush Holt (NJ-12).
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http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/06/20/9145/us-chamber-gop-block-election-ad-transparency-bill
DISCLOSE ACT beat by US CoC/gop:
In 2010, legislation introduced by Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., would require nonprofits that buy political ads to disclose their donors. The bill — fought by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation's most powerful business lobby — failed. A stripped-down version introduced this year has been blocked by Republicans in both the House and Senate.
The Chamber claims disclosure would “silence free speech.” Critics say its opposition is more about shielding the business association’s corporate donors from a potential public backlash.
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paulblumenthal@huffingtonpost.com
'Dark Money' Group In Arizona Discloses Donors As Other 'Dark Money' Groups
:{:{Posted: :{11/05/2012}:
WASHINGTON -- A "dark money" non-profit that funneled $11 million into two ballot initiative fights in California revealed to the state's campaign finance oversight board that it had received the money after the funds passed through the hands of two other "dark money" groups.
California's Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) revealed that the Arizona-based Americans for Responsible Leadership received the $11 million from the Center to Protect Patients' Rights, which originally received the money from the non-profit Americans for Job Security.
A press release from the FPPC called the scheme, "the largest contribution ever disclosed as campaign money laundering in California history."
"In California, money laundering is a crime," FPPC chair Ann Ravel told The Huffington Post. "It's a misdemeanor and so it can be charged this way."
"Dark money" groups are organized as either social welfare nonprofits under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code. Since these groups qualify for tax-exempt status, they are also exempt from disclosing their donors, which political committees are required to do.
Ravel explained that the attorney general's office would be responsible for bringing criminal charges, or that civil charges could be brought, resulting in a fine of equal value or in excess of the amount laundered, in this case $11 million.
"We're definitely going to pierce through [these non-profits] and find out what we can and take appropriate actions," Ravel said.
California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who would be responsible for starting any criminal inquiry, said previously, "This case is simply about protecting the transparency and integrity of elections in California."
The Center to Protect Patients' Rights is a well-known pass-through for "dark money" in elections with connections to the billionaire Koch brothers. Areport by the Center for Responsive Politics found that the group, "gave more than $44 million in 2010 to other tax-exempt groups, many of which spent millions on TV ads attacking Democrats running for the House and Senate and have begun spending for the same purpose this year."
Americans for Job Security is a corporate-backed "issues advocacy" group that has been running political advertisements since it was founded in 1997. The group reportedly was founded by a $1 million contribution from the American Insurance Association. In 2007, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) found that AJS had violated campaign finance laws by not registering as a political committee, which would require it to disclose its donors, but Republican commissioners forced a deadlock vote on enforcement of the violation.
AJS has ties to Karl Rove and was founded by Republican power players Mike Dubke and Dave Carney. The pair now run Crossroads Media, which handles the advertising operations for Rove’s American Crossroads, the biggest gun in the massive campaign arsenal that Rove assembled in 2010. Americans for Job Security, meanwhile, is currently led by a young operative named Stephen DeMaura, who physically works out of Crossroads Media's Alexandria office.
In a lawsuit against the FEC, Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland names AJS as a major recipient of undisclosed corporate cash.
But that’s about as much as anyone knows about AJS. “We don’t have clients. We have members,” said AJS head DeMaura. “Like all organizations of our type, we’re not required to disclose or discuss our members.”
The contributions into California were intended to influence two top priorities of conservative activists both inside and outside the state. Americans for Responsible Leadership passed the contributions it received to a campaign to defeat Proposition 30, which would raise taxes, and to support Proposition 32, which would ban unions from making payroll deductions for political contributions.
California's Supreme Court took the unprecedented step of forcing Americans for Responsible Leadership to disclose its donor list in a 7-0 vote on Sunday.
Aside from sending $11 million to California for the ballot initiatives campaigns, Americans for Responsible Leadership has also spent $2.5 million on federal election races. Almost all of that was spent on phone calls targeting President Barack Obama.
Another "dark money" group, Western Tradition Partnership, was forced to disclose its donors by a court in Montana. That disclosure was forced after a joint ProPublica/Frontline report showed that the group may have lied to both Montana courts and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in its application for tax-exempt status.