This post first appeared on Think Progress.

As ThinkProgress has documented, the “U.S.” Chamber Of Commerce has for years received at least hundreds of thousands of dollars from foreign-owned corporations. While the Chamber claims that the foreign funds it receives do not fund its $75 million in partisan attack ads, it would be highly unusual for these foreign corporations to be donating to the organization without expecting some sort of political activity on their behalf. Now, a new Chamber paper advocating for a change in a U.S. law intended to crack down on American-based multinational corporations bribing foreign governments may provide an answer as to why these foreign firms are doling out cash to the right-wing lobbying group.

READ FULL POST

This post first appeared on Think Progress.

Author, radio host, and TV personality Lou Dobbs — who ended his long career at CNN this past November with an $8 million severance pay package — made his name in public life by railing against undocumented immigrants. Dobbs has always reserved special derision for illegal employers, who he says are “acting against the national interests, acting against the law in every respect.”

READ FULL POST

This post first appeared on Think Progress.

Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that “more people signed up for Medicaid last year than at any time since the program’s inception,” and that 48 million Americans are now enrolled in the federal-state health insurance program designed to serve low-income Americans who otherwise would not be able to afford to get health care.

In an interview posted on YouTube last week, Tom Tancredo — the American Constitution Party candidate for governor who has overtaken GOP candidate Dan Maes in the latest polls — explained one way to reduce enrollment or eliminate participation in the insurance program would be to starve the government of the funds to operate it.

While explaining that he is interested in Colorado’s Proposition 60, which would limit how taxes can be raised in the state and would automatically reduce some taxes, Tancredo says that it’s been his “experience anyway that the only way you actually get government under control is by reducing the flow of dollars.” He argued that the only way to “eliminate” Medicaid and similar programs is when the government is “pressed to the wall financially,” concluding, “I like the idea of doing something that absolutely presses you to the wall”:

TANCREDO: It’s been my experience anyway that the only way you actually get government under control is by reducing the flow of dollars. I’m not an anarchist. There are some things that have to be done by the state, but it is so hard to get the state to look at things that don’t have to be done. I’ll give you an example, there are at least a dozen increases in medical services came about as a result of what the legislature and the people did by passing the cigarette tax [...] I don’t think you can attribute all of the increase in Medicaid recipients to this but a substantial number came about as a result of it. We went from 260,000 people eligible for Medicaid to almost double, 480,000. Now as I say, recession plays a role to that, less jobs [...] but also there are a whole bunch of things we don’t have to do. Now have you ever heard anybody suggest that we can eliminate those? Even though you could, it is not mandated by the federal government. The only way you get to that point is when you are pressed to the wall financially. Will we ever really deal with PERA unless we are pressed to the wall [...] So I like the idea of doing something that absolutely presses you to the wall.

Watch it:

Although Tancredo’s explanation for exactly how he plans to stop the government from helping sick Americans is new, his opposition to any government role in health care is not. During a GOP Iowa Straw Poll debate in 2007, Tancredo admitted that his views are “unique, different and scary to some people,” but he doesn’t believe that the federal government has any role in helping people get health care. He opted instead for boosting “individual responsibility.” When the questioner asked Tancredo about voting against an expansion of children’s health insurance, the former GOP congressman proudly boasted, “You bet I did.”

This post first appeared on Think Progress.

Wisconsin GOP U.S. Senate candidate Ron Johnson often touts the fact that he comes from outside the political system and has spent his life building busineses in the private sector.

Yet before running for Senate, Johnson did have one prominent act of political participation. In January 2010, Johnson testified before the Wisconsin state legislature in opposition to the bipartisan Wisconsin Child Victims Act. The legislation, if passed, would alter Wisconsin law to eliminate the statute of limitations on civil suits for child abuse and allow a three-year window to bring suit for victims who were victimized before the bill. The legislation also specifies that the entities that can be sued would include not just individuals, but also a “corporation, business trust, limited liability company,” and other formal organizations that could be held accountable for the illegal behavior of their employees. As the bill’s authors write, “We believe that there should be no deadline on justice for child sexual abuse victims.”

But Johnson did not place protecting victims as his highest priority. In his testimony before the Wisconsin legislature, he said it was “extremely important to consider the economic havoc…and the other victims” that the new law would “likely create” — ridiculously comparing child abuse victims to the economic damages faced by employers being sued. Johnson warned that the Child Victims Act would lead to businesses or other organizations that work with children to be “damaged or destroyed” by civil suits and that it would “send a chilling signal” to civic-minded organizations like the Boy Scouts to not work with children in the future. He then opined that if the bill were passed, “I have no doubt trial lawyers would benefit, I’m not so sure that the actual victims would“:

JOHNSON: I think it is extremely important to consider the economic havor and the other victims [the Wisconsin Child Victims Act] would likely create. [...] I believe it is a valid question to ask whether the employer of a perpetrator should also be severely damaged, or possibly destroyed, in our legitimate desire for justice. [...] It would also send a chilling signal to avoid this civic minded activity in the future. [...] I have no doubt trial lawyers would benefit, I’m not so sure the actual victims would.

Watch it:

In an interview with a Wisconsin radio host, Alsion Arngim — child advocate, Little House on the Prairie actress, and a former victim of child abuse herself — said that Johnson’s statements “blew her mind.” Reflecting on Johnson’s positions, she asked, “Do you have to flunk a course in logic to run for office?” (HT: FDL).

This post first appeared on Think Progress.

For months, extremist pastor Terry Jones’s Dove World Outreach Center planned to hold “International Burn a Qur’an Day,” where Jones’s congregation would publicly burn copies of the Islamic holy text. While Jones back down in the face of public rebuke from officials like Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his hate campaign spawned a number of copycat extremists across the country who enacted their own plans to burn the Islamic holy book, held anti-Muslim rallies, and vandalized Muslim places of worship:

– A burned Qur’an, its “pages covered in feces,” was found outside a mosque in East Lansing, Michigan. The FBI is currently investigating the incident. [9/11/10]

– “Stop Islamization of America” held a 1,500 person-strong rally against the Park 51 Islamic community center in New York City, with the headline speaker being Dutch MP Geert Wilders, who has called Islam “the ideology of a retarded culture.” [9/11/10]

– In Springfield, Tennessee, two pastors burned copies of the Qur’an, “answering what they say was a message from God.” The burning “took place in front of just a handful of people, most of them from the media.” [9/12/10]

– A burned and shot Qur’an was left outside the Annoor Mosque in Knoxville, Tennessee. [9/12/10]

Yet as extremists continued their anti-Islam crusade, a broad majority of mainstream Americans pushed back against hate over the weekend. They held rallies, hosted interfaith events, and even utilized skateboards to fight back against the rising tide of Islamophobia among the far right:

– Leaders of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths in Atlanta, including the “dean of the Civil Rights Movement,” Rev. Joseph Lowery, held a press conference and rally “on the eve of the 9/11 anniversary” to denounce religious bigotry. [9/10/10]

– More than a thousand people attended an interfaith event in Gainesville, Florida, where Jones originally planned to burn the Qur’an. Members of the Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Hindu faiths attended the event. [9/10/10]

– 75 people, including “Christians, Jews, Quakers, members of the Baha’i” faith, gathered in Santa Cruz, California, for an interfaith rally at the Town Clock. [9/11/10]

– As ThinkProgress previously reported, a 23 year-old skateboarder named Jacob Isom stopped the burning of a Qur’an by a radical right-wing pastor. Isom grabbed the book before the pastor was able to light it on fire, telling him, “Dude, you have no Qur’an,” before taking off. [9/11/10]

In Rochester, New York, scores of people attended a rally and heard speeches from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim leaders about the need to be tolerant of other faiths. Former Rochester mayor Bill Johnson keynoted the event. Watch local news station WAHM 13’s report about the rally: More »« Less

This post originally appeared on Think Progress.

As news that Rev. Terry Jones of the Dove Outreach Center planned to publicly burn a Qur’an — an operation which appears to have been called off, for now — raced around the world, many in the Muslim world reacted with angry protests, feeling that Jones’ actions were indicative of an America that was indifferent to the sensitivities of the Islamic faith.

READ FULL POST

This post originally appeared on Think Progress.

A recently-released Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll surveyed Americans on a variety of issues, including their views on the country’s direction, their approval of the president’s handling of the economy, and what they think of Congress’ performance.

READ FULL POST

This post first appeared on Think Progress.

Former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), the chairman of the Atlantic Council, recently sat down for an interview with the Washington Diplomat. In the interview, the former senator touched on a variety of topics, including what he feels is the need for the United States to “unwind” from the war in Afghanistan. Towards the end of the interview, Hagel says that while he has “no plans to renounce his membership in the party,” he finds that the Republican Party of which he is a part is not “presenting any new alternatives, any new options, or any new thinking“:

READ FULL POST

This blog first appeared on Think Progress.

For months, conservatives have led a hateful campaign against the proposed Park 51 Islamic community center that is going to be built two blocks away from Ground Zero in New York City. High-ranking Republicans have spearheaded this campaign, with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich even going as far as to claim that Park 51 will act as a launching pad for the introduction of “Sharia law” to America.

Now, Newsweek reveals the most concrete evidence yet that this campaign is serving to bolster support for Islamic radicalism abroad. In an interview with the magazine, a Taliban operative going by the name Zabihullah said that, by “preventing this mosque from being built, America is doing us a big favor.” He goes on to explain that the anti-mosque campaign is providing the Taliban with “with more recruits, donations, and popular support.” Another Taliban official expects that the anti-mosque campaign will provoke a “new wave of terrorist trainees from the West,” similar to suspected Times Square car bomber Faisal Shahzad. Zabihullah concludes, the “more mosques you stop, the more jihadis we will get”:

Taliban officials know it’s sacrilegious to hope a mosque will not be built, but that’s exactly what they’re wishing for: the success of the fiery campaign to block the proposed Islamic cultural center and prayer room near the site of the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan. “By preventing this mosque from being built, America is doing us a big favor,” Taliban operative Zabihullah tells NEWSWEEK. (Like many Afghans, he uses a single name.) “It’s providing us with more recruits, donations, and popular support.” [...]

Taliban officials say they’re looking forward to a new wave of terrorist trainees from the West like this year’s Times Square car bomber. “I expect we will soon be receiving more American Muslims like Faisal Shahzad who are looking for help in how to express their rage,” says a Taliban official who was a senior minister when the group ruled Afghanistan and who remains active in the insurgency. As an indication of the anger that is growing among some Muslims in the West, this official, who requested anonymity for security reasons, mentions the arrest of three Canadian Muslims in Ontario last week on charges of plotting to build and detonate improvised explosive devices. (A fourth individual was arrested in Ottawa last Friday in connection with the case.) The Ground Zero furor will likely add to that anger. “The more mosques you stop, the more jihadis we will get,” Zabihullah predicts.

As ThinkProgress previously noted, researchers at Duke University and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill concluded in a study earlier this year that contemporary mosques in the United States serve as a deterrent to Islamic radicalism. It now appears that the relationship works both ways. As the majority of tolerant and progressive Muslim Americans — like those heading Park 51 and other mosques — are prevented from peacefully practicing their own faith, the more likely it is that Muslims across the world will be radicalized and turned violent.

Cross-posted from Think Progress.

Last Thursday, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) held a town hall with his constituents in Shelby, Ohio, and fielded questions on a variety of topics ranging from health care to the economy. At one point, a constituent asked him about Republicans’ plans to throw “a monkey wrench in the gears of everything Obama does” if they re-take the House of Representatives. Jordan replied by saying that “most of what [the GOP] can get done” if they happen to capture the House is “have the big fight, have the big debate, and have the framework for the 2012 election”:

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Assuming it’s accurate that Republicans will get the House, how effective will that be in throwing a monkey wrench in the gears of everything Obama does?JORDAN: If we win, what will we get done? Mostly, I’ll be honest, most of what we can get done is have the big fight, have the big debate, and have the framework for the 2012 election.

Watch it:

Jordan’s comments are the latest piece of evidence that suggests that the GOP does not have a substantive policy agenda it plans to implement if it makes gains in the 2010 congressional elections. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) said that if the GOP wins, “all we should do is issue subpoenas.” And Rep. Peter King (R-NY) argued the GOP shouldn’t lay out an agenda because it might become “a campaign issue.”