January 11, 2017

Trump Loves Putin; We Need a Secretary of State Who Doesn’t

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There are several possible explanations for Donald Trump’s frequently professed deep admiration for Russian president Vladimir Putin: his esteem for authoritarian dictators as men who get things done; his desire to embarrass President Obama by claiming Putin is a better leader; his pandering to alt-right voters who admire Putin as they pine for global white
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December 12, 2016

With Exxon CEO in Trump Spotlight, A Primer on The Company’s Climate Court Fight

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Donald Trump’s public contemplation of picking ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be U.S. Secretary of State raises a range of controversies, including Tillerson’s dealmaking with Russia and close ties to Vladimir Putin. It also intensifies attention on ExxonMobil’s escalating court battle with the attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts over the question of whether the company improperly
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November 26, 2016

8 New Reasons The Electoral College Shouldn’t Vote for Trump

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Soon after the election, I was one of those arguing that Republican electors should vote for someone other than Donald Trump when the electoral college convenes on December 19. My contention was simply that Trump is fundamentally unfit to be president. Many Republicans declared Trump unfit during the 2016 campaign, and Trump has a disturbing record of bigotry, misogyny and
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November 17, 2016

Rumored Trump Education Pick Michelle Rhee Praised Predatory College Group

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Former District of Columbia public schools chancellor Michelle Rhee is on the rumor list for Donald Trump’s Secretary of Education. (Fellow insistent public school “reformer” Eva Moscowitz apparently doesn’t want the job.) Rhee’s record as chancellor, pushing public charter schools and private school vouchers, and aggressively fighting against the D.C. teachers’ union, brought her to national
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November 15, 2016

Trump Testimony in the Trump University Case: Live or Tape?

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Federal trial judge Gonzalo Curiel has set November 28 as the trial date for a lawsuit in which former students allege they were defrauded by Trump University. But over the weekend, lawyers for Trump filed papers asking Curiel to delay the trial, to be held in San Diego, until after January 20, when Donald Trump,
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November 14, 2016

No Mr. Trump, You Don’t Have To Fill Your White House with Lobbyists

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Candidate Donald Trump pledged to “drain the swamp” in corrupt Washington DC.  But immediately after the election, he moved to pick out his transition team and Cabinet short-list from some Binders Full of Lobbyists — a collection of paid advocates for banks, oil companies, junk food, and cable TV providers. Pressed on this contradiction by Lesley Stahl
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November 13, 2016

Want Fake News? Trump Statement on the Wave of Attacks in his Name

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Since Tuesday’s election, there have been reports across the country of Donald Trump supporters carrying out vicious attacks against people of color, women, immigrants, and others in “celebration” of Trump’s apparent victory. But at this point, Trump, while complaining about anti-Trump protests as “very unfair,” has said nothing at all about the violence and abuse
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November 11, 2016

The Trump Swamp: Government By The Lobbyists

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As we walked down my Washington DC block on election eve, before the returns starting coming in, a stranger in a darkened doorway suddenly addressed me and my friends. “Are you ready,” he asked tauntingly, “to drain the swamp?” A few hours later, the remark seemed ominous. But of course, just days after, it has proved to be
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