Monthly Archives: September 2020

Most Americans think winner of election should pick next Supreme Court justice: poll

Most Americans said they think the winner of November’s presidential election should pick the successor to the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader GinsburgRuth Bader GinsburgRegina King accepts Emmy wearing Breonna Taylor shirt, urges viewers to vote Ocasio-Cortez to voters: Tell McConnell ‘he is playing with fire’ with Ginsburg’s seat Mural of Ruth Bader Ginsburg pops up blocks away from White House MORE, according to a new poll.  

Sixty-two percent of Americans said the vacancy left by Ginsburg, who died Friday, should be filled by whichever candidate wins the upcoming election, according to a Reuters-Ipsos poll released Sunday. 

The poll found that 23 percent of Americans said they disagreed that the vacancy should be filled by the winner of the election, and the rest said they were not sure, according to Reuters. 

Click Here: Fjallraven Kanken Art Spring Landscape Backpacks

ADVERTISEMENT

The national poll was conducted Sept. 19 and Sept. 20, after Ginsburg’s death was announced by the court, according to the newswire.  

The poll found that 8 out of 10 Democrats agreed the appointment should wait until after the election, as did 5 in 10 Republicans, according to Reuters. 

President TrumpDonald John TrumpBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Trump dismisses climate change role in fires, says Newsom needs to manage forest better Jimmy Kimmel hits Trump for rallies while hosting Emmy Awards MORE has said he will nominate a successor, and Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellOcasio-Cortez to voters: Tell McConnell ‘he is playing with fire’ with Ginsburg’s seat McConnell locks down key GOP votes in Supreme Court fight Video shows NYC subway station renamed after Ruth Bader Ginsburg MORE (R-Ky.) has vowed to hold a vote on Trump’s nominee. 

Democratic lawmakers slammed McConnell and Republicans for voicing support for a quick vote on Trump’s nominee just weeks ahead of the election, calling it hypocritical since many of the same lawmakers, including McConnell, blocked former President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee in 2016 after conservative Justice Antonin Scalia died nine months before that year’s election. 

Republicans, however, have dismissed accusations of hypocrisy and argued there is a historic precedent for a president to nominate a successor and for the Senate majority of the same party to confirm the nominee. 

ADVERTISEMENT

Republicans could not afford more than three defections to confirm Trump’s nominee if all 47 members of the Senate Democratic caucus oppose Trump’s pick. 

Sen. Lisa MurkowskiLisa Ann MurkowskiMcConnell locks down key GOP votes in Supreme Court fight Most Americans think winner of election should pick next Supreme Court justice: poll Murkowski: Supreme Court nominee should not be taken up before election MORE (R-Alaska) said Sunday that the Senate should not take up a Supreme Court nomination before Election Day. She is the second GOP senator to voice opposition on a vote before Nov. 3, after Sen. Susan CollinsSusan Margaret CollinsMcConnell locks down key GOP votes in Supreme Court fight Most Americans think winner of election should pick next Supreme Court justice: poll Murkowski: Supreme Court nominee should not be taken up before election MORE (R-Maine.) said so on Saturday. 

Neither senator directly addressed in their statements how they would view an attempt to confirm a Supreme Court nominee during the end-of-year lame-duck session. 

The Reuters-Ipsos poll was conducted online. It surveyed 1,006 American adults, including 463 Democrats and 374 Republicans. It has a credibility interval of plus or minute 4 percentage points, according to Reuters.

Trump pledges 'no politics' in Pebble Mine review

President TrumpDonald John TrumpBarr criticizes DOJ in speech declaring all agency power ‘is invested in the attorney general’ Military leaders asked about using heat ray on protesters outside White House: report Powell warns failure to reach COVID-19 deal could ‘scar and damage’ economy MORE is pledging to keep politics out of decisionmaking involving the controversial Pebble Mine that has been proposed at the site of a prominent salmon fishery. 

“Don’t worry, wonderful & beautiful Alaska, there will be NO POLITICS in the Pebble Mine Review Process. I will do what is right for Alaska and our great Country!!!” he tweeted late Wednesday. 

The language of his tweet was similar to that used in advertising by Pebble Limited Partnership, the company behind the proposed mine, in favor of the project. 

ADVERTISEMENT

“President Trump, continue to stand tall and don’t let politics enter the Pebble Mine review process,” said an ad from the company. 

The proposed gold and copper mine has become a lightning rod among conservatives in recent weeks after prominent figures such as Donald Trump Jr. and Tucker CarlsonTucker CarlsonTrump tweets his people have all left Drudge Trump: Drudge no longer ‘hot’ Tucker Carlson: Climate change is ‘systemic racism in the sky’ MORE spoke out against it. 

Following this, Trump said he would look at “both sides” of the issue. Weeks later, the federal government notified Pebble that it would have to take extra steps to mitigate “unavoidable adverse impacts to aquatic resources.”

The notification, from the Army Corps of Engineers, came after the agency had already issued an environmental impacts assessment saying that the proposed project would not impact salmon harvests in the area, reversing an Obama-era determination that it would. 

Joel Reynolds, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, told The Hill at the time that he believed it was unusual for the government to require new mitigation measures this late in the process, saying that “these sorts of issues typically have been resolved by this stage.”

Environmentalists have argued that the initial assessment was flawed and part of an attempt to rush the mine through. 

ADVERTISEMENT

Asked about the president’s latest tweet, Pebble spokesperson Mike Heatwole said in an email: “We thank President Trump for keeping his word. All Pebble has asked for is a fair shake and we look forward to getting our Record of Decision this Fall.”

The Bristol Bay area where the mine would be located is the world’s largest commercial sockeye salmon-producing region, and opponents of the mine fear its discharges could contaminate local waters. 

Though it said it would not impact salmon harvests, the initial Army Corps assessment did say that wetlands and streams will see impacts from the mine. It’s expected to permanently affect between 2,226 and 2,261 acres of wetlands and other waters, including between 104.1 and 105.8 miles of streams.

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed under the Obama administration to preemptively veto a permit for the mine. The Trump administration reversed this action last year.

Click Here: Fjallraven Kanken Art Spring Landscape Backpacks

Authorities arrest woman suspected of sending Trump letter containing poison

U.S. officials have reportedly arrested a woman suspected of sending a letter containing the poisonous substance ricin to the White House, addressed to President TrumpDonald John TrumpBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Trump dismisses climate change role in fires, says Newsom needs to manage forest better Jimmy Kimmel hits Trump for rallies while hosting Emmy Awards MORE, according to a U.S. law enforcement official.

The official told CNN that the unnamed woman, who was carrying a firearm at the time of her arrest, was detained by authorities at the U.S.-Canada border while attempting to enter the U.S.

FBI officials did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill. The agency said a day earlier that it did not believe a threat to public safety was ongoing. Secret Service officials also did not immediately confirm the woman’s arrest.

ADVERTISEMENT

“The FBI and our U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service partners are investigating a suspicious letter received at a U.S. government mail facility. At this time, there is no known threat to public safety,” said the FBI.

Canadian officials added Saturday that they were assisting with the U.S.’s investigation, though no other information about a suspect was available.

“We are aware of the concerning reports of packages containing ricin directed toward U.S. federal government sites,” a spokeswoman for Canada’s minister of public safety, Bill Blair, told CNN. “Canadian law enforcement is working closely with their US counterparts. As this is an active investigation we cannot comment further.”

Click Here: Fjallraven Kanken Art Spring Landscape Backpacks

'Outrageous' Gold Rush-Style Grab of Public Lands To Begin in Less Than 48 Hours

Despite protests from conservationists, local tribe leaders, Democratic lawmakers, and even the United Nations’ expert on indigenous rights, at 6am on Friday the Trump administration will allow citizens and companies to start staking claims on sections of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah so the new stakeholders can conduct hard rock mining on the formerly protected lands.

“It is outrageous to witness the dismantling of the Bears Ears national monument, in what constitutes a serious attack on indigenous peoples’ rights in the United States.”
—Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur

“It is outrageous to witness the dismantling of the Bears Ears national monument, in what constitutes a serious attack on indigenous peoples’ rights in the United States,” said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples.

Tauli-Corpuz noted that the previous administration’s decision to create the monument “protected thousands of sacred sites which are central to the preservation of regional Native culture,” and warned President Donald Trump’s December decision to reduce Bears Ears’ area by about 85 percent “exposes thousands of acres of sacred lands and archaeological sites to the threats of desecration, contamination, and permanent destruction.”

Critics have turned to social media to denounce the “modern land run.”

In response to the attacks on public lands and a proposal from Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah) that purports to give management control of the remaining land to indigenous leaders—who say the measure “is tribal in name only”—a group of Democratic senators has introduced a bill to fight back against Trump and Republicans in Congress:

In spite of widespread opposition, the Trump administration’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plans to move forward with allowing stakeholders to claim plots of land on Friday, and has determined the process will be governed by the General Mining Law of 1872, which covers mining for metals such as copper, gold, silver, and uranium (but not coal and petroleum).

“The process for staking a claim remains much as it did during the Gold Rush,” Reuters reports:

Lauren Pagel, the policy director of the nonprofit Earthworks, criticized the law as outdated, telling Reuters, “It’s really the last law still on the books from that Manifest Destiny era encouraging a resources free-for-all.”