TIG Post

Tag: Democrat

  • Democrat who ran on abortion rights platform now has seat in Alabama – Marilyn Lands

    Democrat who ran on abortion rights platform now has seat in Alabama – Marilyn Lands

    Marilyn Lands, who supported abortion rights in Alabama, won a special election for the Alabama Legislature. Democrats say her win shows that voters are upset with the strict reproductive laws made by Republicans.

    Lands, a Democrat, won the House of Representatives seat in a suburban area that used to be held by the Republican party. He defeated Teddy Powell, the Republican candidate, in a clear and strong way. Democrats were happy about her win because they think it shows how important reproductive rights are for the 2024 elections.

    “Voters want a change, and I think they are fed up with women not getting the freedom to make their own choices about their health care,” Lands said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.

    Alabama says it’s not allowed to have an abortion at any time during a pregnancy, even if the pregnancy happened because of rape. After a few weeks of pausing in vitro fertilization services in the state, Lands finally won the case. This happened because the Alabama Supreme Court said that frozen embryos are the same as children.

    Lands, a counselor for mental health, also talked about education and making the economy better. But she was very passionate about opposing the state’s law against abortion, and sometimes shared very personal stories to explain why. She told people about her experience of getting an abortion 20 years ago. The doctors found out that the baby had a genetic disorder called trisomy 13 and wouldn’t be able to live.

    Lands decided to share her own story after talking to a woman who had to go to a different state to get an abortion because of the same fetal diagnosis.

    I noticed similarities in our story. I told her my story. The story shows that after twenty years, women have less freedom compared to before.

    As she went from house to house in the area, Lands noticed that many women were sharing their own experiences. Some were similar to hers. Some people had miscarriages or had trouble getting pregnant.

    I think a lot of women’s and family health problems can make people feel very alone. And I hope that maybe by talking about this, we can make people see that these things happen a lot. – Lands said.

    The Democrats won in a state in the Deep South, even though most of the statewide offices and the Legislature are held by Republicans.

    Julie Chavez Rodriguez, who is managing President Joe Biden’s campaign for 2024, said that the results in Alabama are a strong warning for Trump. She said that voters do not support his efforts to limit reproductive health care.

    John Wahl, who is the chairperson of the Republican Party in Alabama, disagreed that the race results show what will happen in other areas. He said not many people voted in the election in a place where both Democrats and Republicans could win.

    “Wahl said that pretending this election represents the whole state of Alabama is not honest. It shows a lack of understanding of politics or an attempt to trick voters. ”

    Land won in a district that is more middle-of-the-road in politics compared to other districts held by the GOP. The Madison County district includes some of Madison and Huntsville. Huntsville is where the Army’s Redstone Arsenal and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center are located. In 2020, Donald Trump got 62% of the votes in Alabama, but only got about 53% in Madison County.

    Almost 6,000 people voted in Tuesday’s special election. In 2022, over 14,000 people voted when Lands lost to Republican David Cole. The job in the government became available again because Cole quit and admitted to cheating in an election by renting a small space to say he lived there when he actually didn’t.

    Previous United States Senator Doug Jones, the last Democrat to win a big election in Alabama, said that Land’s win was partially because people were angry about the extreme policies that the Republican party in the state put in place.

    “They are going too far. ” “They are doing too much. ” You say the government should take strong action. “This government in Alabama wants to control every part of people’s lives,” Jones said.


    He said that Lands’ win could be good for Democrats in future Alabama elections, but he warned not to read too much into it. Jones won the special election in 2017, but lost to the current U. SSenator in 2020. Tommy Tuberville is a person’s name.

    “People thought my win in the 2017 election was a big deal, but Alabama didn’t actually become a blue state. ” Jones said that he doesn’t want to completely change the state in one direction or the other. He said that it’s not good for the state to have only one political party in charge, no matter which party it is.

    Jones said we need competition, and Marilyn brought that.

  • Democrat departs hospital to deliver crucial vote against impeachment

    Democrat departs hospital to deliver crucial vote against impeachment

    A lawmaker from Texas who belongs to the Democratic party went out of the hospital for a short time to vote against impeaching the homeland security secretary.

    Al Green surprised everyone in the House by entering the room in a wheelchair and wearing hospital clothes.

    The 76-year-old’s journey from the hospital emergency room after his stomach surgery was very important.

    House Republicans did not succeed in getting enough votes to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas, with the final vote being 216-214.

    They say it’s Mr. Mayorkas’s fault for more people entering the US border illegally than ever before.

    Mr Green talked to his doctors to see if he could go vote. Later, Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries arranged for transportation for him.

    Mr Green’s health was checked by a doctor when he got to the Capitol.

    In an interview with the New York Times from his hospital bed, Mr Green said he really wanted to vote but didn’t expect the House to be so split on the impeachment.

    I didn’t think my vote would matter when I came to vote. I came because it meant a lot to me.

    Mr Green, who has been a House representative for the 9th district of Texas since 2005, said he thinks Mr. Mayorkas is a good person and his reputation should not be ruined.

    Critics of US President Joe Biden say Mr. Mayorkas is responsible for the increase in illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border.

    The US House did not vote to remove Mayorkas from his job because of the problems at the border.

    Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, started the process to remove a government official from their job. After the vote, she said she would do it again.

    She said Democrats were playing a game by not telling anyone sooner that Mr. Green would vote even though he was in the hospital.

    “They kept one of their team members secret until the last moment. They watched to see how we would vote and tried to confuse us,” she told the media after the vote.

    Three Republicans who usually support their party, also voted “no” like the Democrats in the House. Blake Moore from Utah changed his vote from yes to no as a way to follow procedure.

    MrGreen said he wasn’t playing games and that he was happy to be focusing on his health now.

  • Mar-a-Lago: trial of Trump over fraud revolves around billion-dollar question

    Mar-a-Lago: trial of Trump over fraud revolves around billion-dollar question

    Donald Trump says Mar-a-Lago is very valuable, like the famous painting Mona Lisa. But people are trying to figure out exactly how much it’s worth in a trial that could harm his family’s business.

    It’s a number that everyone disagrees on – from $18 million to over $1 billion.

    During the 10-week trial in New York, the lawyers arguing for and against Mr. Trump have debated how much his private club in Florida is worth, and whether the way it was valued is honest or fraud.

    Mr Trump, his two grown-up sons, and the Trump Organization are being accused of making their assets, like Trump Tower and golf resorts, seem more valuable than they really are. They did this so they could borrow money at lower interest rates, to the sum of $2 billion.

    Mr Trump’s businesses saved over $150 million over 10 years because of the low rates, said New York Attorney General Letitia James. She wants to stop him from doing business in the state.

    The trial is almost finished, but Judge Arthur Engoron, who is a Democrat, said before it started that the financial documents in the case clearly have fake values that the defendants used in their business.

    “He said it’s not real, it’s all made up,” he decided, and held them responsible for lying.

    Mr Trump has asked for another judge to look at the decision before the trial starts. The judge (no jury in this trial) has to decide on six more fraud charges. They all need proof that the person meant to commit the fraud.

    The former president was supposed to go back to court on Monday but said on social media on Sunday night that he didn’t have anything else to say about the case because he thinks it’s just for politics.

    Again, he was most upset about the accusation that he made Mar-a-Lago seem more valuable than it actually is. He said they valued it at $18,000,000, when it is really worth 50 to 100 times that amount.

    The white elephant that no one could buy.

    The actual worth of Mar-a-Lago is not easy to understand. The old Palm Beach property has rules that say it can only be used as a club for members only.

    The land cannot be split up and it costs a lot to keep the estate that was built in 1927 for Marjorie Merriweather Post, a rich and famous businesswoman.

    This happened in the 1990s when Mr. Trump said that Mar-a-Lago was too expensive to keep as a private home. He called it a “white elephant” and said it was very hard to sell.

    He wanted to make it a private club so that he could use the expensive fees that members have to pay to help take care of the place and keep it in good condition.

    Rosalind Clarke, a real estate agent from Palm Beach who has been working since the 1980s and was once president of the Palm Beach Board of Realtors, told BBC News that the issue with pricing Mar-a-Lago was due to certain limitations.

    Ms Clarke said that the price is determined by how much money the club makes, not by how much the land is worth. She said that if there were no rules about what can be done with the property, it would be worth a lot more money.

    From 2011 to 2021, people say Trump acted like Mar-a-Lago didn’t have any rules about how it could be used.

    What value did Trump put on financial papers?

    Before the trial, Judge Engoron said that the Palm Beach County Assessor valued Mar-a-Lago at between $18 million and $27. 6 million for taxes.

    On the other hand, Mr Trump said Mar-a-Lago was worth $426. 5 million to $612 million, which is way more than what the assessor thought.

    Real estate experts say that the tax assessor’s value is usually less than what a property could actually sell for, so it’s not a direct comparison.

    The New York attorney general says that the Trump business made the numbers look higher by comparing them to the prices of similar properties, but those properties did not have the same restrictions on them.

    The attorney general says that the Trump Organization committed fraud by ignoring deed restrictions at Mar-a-Lago and pretending it was just a private home.

    A house suitable for a very important person.

    The most important part of the lawsuit is within all of these numbers. Trump spends time with wealthy and powerful people at Mar-a-Lago, even though he owns many other properties.

    That’s where he lives. This is where the old president would hang out when he wasn’t at the White House.

    In one of the fancy bathrooms made of marble, federal special counsel Jack Smith says Mr. Trump hid important papers.

    He is upset about people saying Mar-a-Lago is worth less money, and he talks about it a lot in the news and on social media.

    Trump’s lawyers asked a fancy real estate broker named Lawrence Moens to be a witness. He said in court that Mar-a-Lago is worth more than $1 billion.

    Mr Moens said very rich and important people like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and even rulers would want to buy the property.

    And if there were no rules about what you can do, he might be right.

    Ms Clarke, the real estate agent in Palm Beach, said that Mar-a-Lago is a 17. 5 acre property with an old building, a piece of land by the ocean, and the potential to build seven lots in a very desirable area.

    She said that without the rules on the property, it could sell for around $500 million. But it might sell for even more if a lot of people are interested in it because of where it is and where it came from.

    What’s on the line?

    During the trial, Mr. Trump said in court that he doesn’t have to follow the rules in the Mar-a-Lago deed. He also said the prices would have been higher if they had considered the Trump brand.

    His lawyers said that the values of assets don’t really matter because banks do their research and don’t just rely on financial statements to make loan decisions.

    The last expert witness for the defence, Eli Bartov, who is an accounting expert and professor at New York University, said in court that there were mistakes in the financial documents, but they were not meant to hide fraud or show any wrongful intention.

    He said that these “statements of financial condition” are just a beginning for banks and lenders to figure out how much something is worth, and that value can be different depending on who you ask.

    Mr Trump often says that banks don’t care because they made money. No bank had any problems. “Nobody hurt any banks,” he said when the trial began.

    The prosecutors don’t have to show that people were harmed, they just have to show that someone committed fraud on purpose. When the lawsuit started, the New York lawyer said “even former presidents must follow the same rules as everyone else. ”

    After hearing the last testimony this week, Judge Engoron will take a long break and then decide on the remaining fraud charges and any penalties in January.

    Mr Trump has a problem because the judge found that the most important documents in the case were all false, according to attorney Mitchell Epner.

    Mr Trump and his friends could be banned from doing business in New York and have to pay fines of at least $250 million in the worst situation.

    The Trump Organization might have to give up control to someone chosen by a court, or they might have to sell some of their most famous buildings, like Mar-a-Lago.

  • Nancy Pelosi’s husband ‘violently assaulted’ after break-in

    The husband of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been “violently assaulted” after a break-in at their California home.

    Paul Pelosi, 82, was taken to hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, a spokesperson said.

    The suspect, who has not been named, is in custody but the motive for the attack is unclear.

    Mrs Pelosi was not at the San Francisco residence when the incident took place on Friday morning.

    “The Speaker and her family are grateful to the first responders and medical professionals involved, and request privacy at this time,” a spokesman for the senior Democrat said.

    Two people who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Associated Press that the attacker had specifically targeted the residence.

    The assailant used a hammer to gain entry, two sources told CBS News, but it is unclear if it was used to attack Mr Pelosi.

    Mrs Pelosi is one of the most powerful politicians in the country. She was re-elected to a fourth term as Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2021, making her second in line to the presidency after Vice-President Kamala Harris.

    The Baltimore native has represented the San Francisco area in Congress since 1987, and typically splits her time between California and Washington.

    She is currently fundraising and campaigning with Democrats around the country ahead of the midterm elections on 8 November, and was in Washington with her security detail at the time of the attack.

    Her husband, the multimillionaire founder of a venture capital firm, resides primarily in San Francisco where he was born and raised.

    The couple have been married since 1963 and have five children. Their combined net worth, primarily from Mr Pelosi’s investments, has made the speaker one of the richest members of Congress.

    The exact circumstances of the attack are unclear and it is not known how the intruder entered the couple’s residence.

    The FBI and the US Capitol Police, which has a field office in California, are assisting San Francisco police with the investigation.

    Members of Congress have been on high-alert over security threats since the riot at the US Capitol in January 2021. Mrs Pelosi’s office in the building was ransacked by supporters of then-President Donald Trump during the attack.

    And last year, her San Francisco home was reportedly vandalised with graffiti saying “cancel rent”.

    Senior Republicans, such as Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, have also been targeted by vandalism in recent times and politicians have raised concerns about an increase in threats.

    FBI agents work outside the home of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
    IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS Image caption, FBI agents work outside the couple’s San Francisco home – the agency and US Capitol Police are assisting the investigation

    In a statement, the White House said President Joe Biden was “praying for Paul Pelosi and for Speaker Pelosi’s whole family”.

    Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, said: “What happened to Paul Pelosi was a dastardly act. I wish him a speedy recovery.”

    Both added that they had spoken to Mrs Pelosi since the incident.

    Earlier this year, Mr Pelosi was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol and causing injury after he crashed his car. The financier pleaded guilty in August and was sentenced to five days in jail.

    Source: BBC.com