The Tap: Monday, August 1, 2016

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The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.

Review of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #28 of The Tap, which was published on August 6, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

• The public feud between Donald Trump and Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of a soldier killed in Iraq in 2004, continued with Trump criticizing the number of interviews the Khans were participating in. He tweeted, “Mr. Khan, who does not know me, viciously attacked me from the stage of the DNC and is now all over T.V. doing the same - Nice!” Khan responded, "I spoke what was appropriate, and if he is watching, just imagine, there was no need to comment the way he commented. That initiated this conversation. I again say, we want to maintain our dignity. We want to maintain my family's dignity, my son's dignity and sacrifice. And he should listen to America, what America and the world is telling about the remarks, about the lack of empathy, and that's all I wish to convey to him."
  • The Veterans of Foreign Wars denounced Trump. The organization’s leader, Brian Duffy, said in a statement, “There are certain sacrosanct subjects that no amount of wordsmithing can repair once crossed. Giving one’s life to nation is the greatest sacrifice, followed closely by all Gold Star families, who have a right to make their voices heard.” The families of 17 military members who died in service also wrote an open letter to Donald Trump requesting that he apologize to the Khan family and all Gold Star families. They wrote, “You are not just attacking us, you are cheapening the sacrifice made by those we lost. You are minimizing the risk our service members make for all of us. This goes beyond politics. It is about a sense of decency. That kind decency you mock as ‘political correctness.’”
  • U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) released a statement condemning Trump’s response to the Khan family. “I cannot emphasize enough how deeply I disagree with Mr. Trump's statement. I hope Americans understand that the remarks do not represent the views of our Republican Party, its officers, or candidates. … While our Party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us,” he wrote.

• Both The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times released articles focused on the Clinton campaign’s efforts to appeal to white men, a demographic Clinton is losing to Trump almost two-to-one. “The campaign is generally underperforming relative to Mr. Obama’s 2012 numbers with white men, leading aides to believe there are still minds to be changed. But she is outperforming Mr. Obama with white women. In particular, the campaign is targeting college-educated whites, a group that Mitt Romney won handily four years ago,” The New York Times noted.

• Sally Bradshaw, a senior adviser to Jeb Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign, said in an interview that she had switched her party affiliation from Republican to unaffiliated. "I've been considering the switch for months. Ultimately, I could not abide the hateful rhetoric of Donald Trump and his complete lack of principles and conservative philosophy. I didn't make this decision lightly – I have worked hard to make our party a place where all would feel welcome. But Trump has taken the GOP in another direction, and too many Republicans are standing by and looking the other way,” she said. Bradshaw added that if the election is close in Florida, she will vote for Hillary Clinton to oppose Trump’s candidacy.

• Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein announced that she had selected human rights advocate Ajamu Baraka to be her running mate. She described him as an "activist, writer, intellectual and organizer with a powerful voice, vision, and lifelong commitment to building true political revolution." Stein and Baraka are expected to formally receive their party’s nomination at the Green Party National Convention on Saturday.

• During a rally in Ohio, Donald Trump said the Democratic primary was rigged. “And I’m afraid the election is going to be rigged, I have to be honest,” he continued. Trump also suggested that he might revoke the press credentials for The New York Times because it was “very dishonest” in its coverage of him.

• The New York Times reported that Donald Trump received five deferments exempting him from military service during the Vietnam War. Four of them were for education, and one was for bone spurs in his heels. According to the Times, “The diagnosis resulted in a coveted 1-Y medical deferment that fall, exempting him from military service as the United States was undertaking huge troop deployments to Southeast Asia, inducting about 300,000 men into the military that year.” Trump’s military record has come under scrutiny since he began feuding with Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of a soldier killed in Iraq in 2004.

• The U.S. military conducted precision airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Sirte, Libya, Monday through Wednesday, hitting a T-72 tank, two military support vehicles, an enemy fighting position, a T-55 tank, two pieces of heavy engineering equipment, a rocket launcher, an excavator, and two pickup trucks with mounted recoilless rifles, according to a press release from the Department of Defense. The airstrikes on ISIL targets were requested by the Libyan Government of National Accord to protect civilians from the terrorist group and to continue to regain territory from ISIL in Sirte. Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said, “The ability to strike [these targets] precisely without exposing civilians to risk was the reason that strike was conducted. The United States stands with the international community in supporting the GNA as it strives to restore stability and security to Libya. These actions and those we have taken previously will help deny ISIL a safe haven in Libya from which it could attack the United States and our allies.” The airstrikes are expected to continue for a few weeks.

• Richard Wesley, a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, assumed senior status on the bench. Judge Wesley’s promotion created a vacancy on the court. As an Article III judicial position, Judge Wesley’s successor must be nominated by the president, and that nomination is subject to confirmation on the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.

• Ed Brookover, a senior strategist for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, was fired from the campaign. He was initially hired as a delegate selection advisor and helped to organize the Republican National Convention. Prior to joining Trump’s campaign, Brookover was a senior strategist and then campaign manager for Ben Carson. According to Politico, Brookover's firing was part of a "campaign shakeup," and two other Trump aides, William McGinley and Mike McSherry, were set to take on expanded roles in the campaign.

State

• Washington Initiative 1501 was certified for the November 8 ballot. The measure was designed to increase criminal identity-theft penalties and expand civil liability for consumer fraud targeting seniors and vulnerable individuals. Supporters were required to submit 246,372 valid signatures by July 8, 2016. In addition to this measure, five others already qualified for the November ballot: Initiative 732, Initiative 735, Initiative 1433, Initiative 1464, and Initiative 1491. Supporters of the final remaining potential measure, Initiative 1520, are awaiting signature verification from the secretary of state’s office.

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it would investigate whether EPA employees committed any crimes during the Colorado Gold King Mine spill in August 2015. The investigation will be conducted by the EPA’s Office of Inspector General at the request of members of Congress. EPA personnel and a company under EPA contract triggered the release of toxic wastewater at the Gold King Mine in Colorado in an attempt to remove wastewater from the mine. More than 3 million gallons of mine wastewater, which contained heavy metals and other toxic materials, emptied into the Animas River. The spill affected waterways in Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, as well as the Navajo Nation. An October 2015 investigation by the U.S. Interior Department found that the spill could have been avoided if the EPA had monitored water levels inside the mine before it began digging.

• A federal judge enjoined North Dakota's voter identification law, prohibiting state officials from enforcing the requirement in upcoming elections. In his ruling, Judge Daniel Hovland said, "Although a majority of voters in North Dakota either possess a qualifying voter ID or can easily obtain one, it is clear that a safety net is needed for those voters who simply cannot obtain a qualifying voter ID with reasonable effort." Hovland went on to note the law's negative impact on the state's Native American population. "The undisputed evidence before the court reveals that Native Americans face substantial and disproportionate burdens in obtaining each form of ID deemed acceptable under the new law." North Dakota's voter identification law, which was adopted in 2013, permitted four forms of identification to be used at the polls: a state driver's license, a state identification card, a tribal-government identification card, or an "alternative form of ID prescribed by the secretary of state." In 2015, the state removed college and military IDs from the list of acceptable forms of identification. For more information about voter identification laws, see this article.

• Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker called for an extension of the tuition freeze for the University of Wisconsin System (UW) for another two years. Along with this request, Walker warned UW and other state agencies not to expect new funding in the next budget, despite calls from UW officials for new funding in the wake of budget cuts. UW officials claim the budget cuts threaten the quality of education in the state.

• The New York Public Service Commission announced a Clean Energy Standard (CES) that will require half of the electricity consumed in the state to come from renewable sources by 2030. The CES creates both renewable energy credits and zero-carbon credits that can be earned when electricity is generated from renewable energy and nuclear power, respectively. Electricity providers in the state will be required to procure a certain number of credits each year. The renewable energy credits are intended to increase the amount of wind and solar energy produced in the state. The zero-carbon credits are intended to be a subsidy for the state's nuclear power industry. The plan also provides almost $956 million in tax credits over the next two years to three nuclear power plants in the state that were at risk for shutting down due in part to economic conditions. The Public Service Commission expects the CES to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in New York by 40 percent by 2030. In December 2014, natural gas accounted for almost 39 percent of the electricity generated in the state, nuclear power accounted for about 35 percent, and renewable sources accounted for almost 25 percent.

• Justice William Connolly of the Nebraska Supreme Court retired effective August 1, 2016. His last term would have expired in January 2017. Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) appointed District 2 Judge Jeffrey Funke to succeed Connolly on the supreme court bench. Justice Funke will serve for three years and then must stand for retention by voters in 2020 in order to remain on the bench. Nebraska judges are selected by government appointment from a list prepared by a judicial nominating commission. A newly appointed judge serves for three years following appointment and then must stand for retention during the next election to win a full six-year term. The state supreme court currently stands at a 5-2 majority of justices appointed by Republican governors; the majority was 4-3 prior to Connolly’s retirement.

• Newly appointed Justice Daniel Kelly of the Wisconsin Supreme Court took the bench, succeeding Justice David Prosser, who retired July 31. Kelly was appointed by Gov. Scott Walker (R) and will serve until 2020, when he must stand for election. Wisconsin Supreme Court elections are nonpartisan; Kelly’s appointment will maintain the 5-2 majority of Republican-affiliated justices on the court.

Local

• Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) announced a plan to raise the city’s utility tax in order to provide funding to the city’s largest public pension fund. Emanuel had raised property taxes twice in the last year in order to fund pensions for police, firefighters, and teachers. With the Municipal Employees Pension fund requiring between $250 and $300 million in funding, Emanuel chose to raise the utility tax instead of property taxes. Chicago is the third-largest city in the United States by population and the largest in Illinois.
• San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee (D) signed the city’s most recent budget. The $19.3 billion budget for 2016-2018 allocated $9.6 billion to be spent during the 2016 fiscal year. The budget calls for the creation of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing intended to create housing for at least 8,000 homeless people by 2020. Police body cameras, training on unconscious bias in policing, and five new police classes are included in the budget to improve public safety. San Francisco is the 14th-largest city in the United States by population and the fourth-largest in California.
• FILING DEADLINE: Deadline passed to file in retention elections for local judicial offices in Alaska. The election will be held on November 8, 2016. In these elections, judges do not compete against another candidate, but voters are given a "yes" or "no" choice whether to keep the judge in office for another term. The judge must receive a majority of "yes" votes to remain in office. Judges must face their first retention at the next general election occurring at least three years after their appointment. The exception to this is the district court judges, who face retention two years after their appointment.
• FILING DEADLINE: Deadline passed to file in retention elections for local judicial offices in Nebraska. The election will be held on November 8, 2016. In Nebraska's retention elections, voters are asked whether they think a judge should be retained, and they indicate this with either a "yes" or "no" vote. If the judge has more "yes" than "no" votes, the judge is retained for a new term. Judges do not face opponents in retention elections. Judges face retention elections every six years, except for newly appointed judges, who must face retention in the first general election occurring more than three years after their appointment.

Preview of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #27 of The Tap, which was published on July 30, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

• Richard Wesley, a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, will assume senior status on the bench. Judge Wesley’s elevation creates a vacancy on the court. As an Article III judicial position, Judge Wesley’s successor must be nominated by the president, and that nomination is subject to confirmation on the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.

Local

• FILING DEADLINE: Deadline to file in retention elections for local judicial offices in Alaska. The election will be held on November 8, 2016. In these elections, judges do not compete against another candidate, but voters are given a "yes" or "no" choice whether to keep the judge in office for another term. The judge must receive a majority of "yes" votes to remain in office. Judges must face their first retention at the next general election occurring at least three years after their appointment. The exception to this are the district court judges, who face retention two years after their appointment.
• FILING DEADLINE: Deadline to file in retention elections for local judicial offices in Nebraska. The election will be held on November 8, 2016. In Nebraska's retention elections, voters are asked whether they think a judge should be retained, and they indicate this with either a "yes" or "no" vote. If the judge has more "yes" than "no" votes, the judge is retained for a new term. Judges do not face opponents in retention elections. Judges face retention elections every six years, except for newly appointed judges, who must face retention in the first general election occurring more than three years after their appointment.