FACT CHECK

RSN: Norman Solomon | Why the Buttigieg Campaign Tried to Have Me Arrested for Handing Out Information About Medicare for All

10 February 19

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RSN: Norman Solomon | Why the Buttigieg Campaign Tried to Have Me Arrested for Handing Out Information About Medicare for All

Norman Solomon, Reader Supported News
Solomon writes: "You'd think that a presidential campaign backed by 40 billionaires and untold numbers of bundled rich people wouldn't worry about just one leaflet on Medicare for All."

But minutes after Pete Buttigieg finished speaking in an auditorium at Keene State College in New Hampshire on Saturday, a Pete for America official confronted me outside the building while I was handing out a flier with the headline “Medicare for All. Not Healthcare Profiteering for the Few.”

“You can’t pass that out,” the man told me. I did a double take, glancing at the small “Pete” metal badge on his lapel while being told that he spoke on behalf of the Buttigieg campaign.

We were standing on the campus of a public college. I said that I understood the First Amendment. When I continued to pass out the flier, the Buttigieg campaign official (who repeatedly refused to give his name) disappeared and then quickly returned with a campus policeman, who told me to stop distributing the leaflet. Two Keene city police soon arrived.

The Buttigieg official stood a few feet behind them as the police officers threatened me with arrest for trespassing. Ordered to get off the campus within minutes or be arrested, I was handed an official written order (“Criminal Trespass Notice”) not to set foot on “Keene State College entire campus” for a year.

So much for freedom of speech and open election discourse in public places.

Why would a representative of the mighty Buttigieg campaign resort to such a move? A big clue can be found in a deception that Buttigieg engaged in during the debate on Friday night.

Buttigieg’s dishonesty arose when Amy Klobuchar, a vehement foe of Medicare for All, attacked Bernie Sanders for allegedly seeking to “kick 149 million Americans off their current health insurance in four years.” Klobuchar was reciting a key insurance-industry distortion that neglects to mention how a single-payer system would provide more complete health coverage, at less cost — by eliminating wasteful bureaucracy and corporate profiteering.

But Klobuchar then pivoted to attack Buttigieg: “And Pete, while you have a different plan now, you sent out a tweet just a few years ago that said henceforth, forthwith, indubitably, affirmatively, you are for Medicare for All for the ages, and so I would like to point out that what leadership is about is taking a position, looking at things, and sticking with them.”

Buttigieg was far from candid in his response: “Just to be clear, the truth is that I have been consistent throughout in my position on delivering healthcare for every American.”

That answer directly contradicted an early 2018 tweet from Buttigieg: “Gosh! Okay… I, Pete Buttigieg, politician, do henceforth and forthwith declare, most affirmatively and indubitably, unto the ages, that I do favor Medicare for All, as I do favor any measure that would help get all Americans covered.”

No doubt if the flier I was handing out at Keene State College had praised Buttigieg, his campaign would not have called the police to have me ejected. But the Buttigieg for President staffer recognized that Buttigieg’s spin on healthcare was undermined by facts in the flier (produced and financed by RootsAction.org, which is completely independent of the official Sanders campaign).

“Buttigieg is claiming that Medicare for All would dump people off of health coverage and deprive them of ‘choice,’” our flier pointed out. “Those are insurance-industry talking points. He is deliberately confusing the current ‘choice’ of predatory for-profit insurance plans with the genuine full choice of healthcare providers that enhanced Medicare for everyone would offer.”

Apparently, for the Buttigieg campaign, such truthful words are dangerous.

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Norman Solomon is co-founder and national coordinator of RootsAction.org. He was a Bernie Sanders delegate from California to the 2016 Democratic National Convention and is currently a coordinator of the relaunched independent Bernie Delegates Network. Solomon is the author of a dozen books including War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.

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Kushner is a security risk

Explosive reports broke that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) reportedly hacked Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos via WhatsApp.

This news stacks on last year’s reports that Jared Kushner uses WhatsApp, despite senior officials directing him not to, to secretly speak with foreign contacts like MbS — just one of Kushner’s many corrupt government leader courtships.

Jared Kushner has been a consistent security risk since day one — when he was reportedly DENIED his security clearance by top security officials. 

Yet despite his dodgy track record, Kushner is STILL at the White House putting out his peace sham that would permanently dispossess Palestinians of their land.

Jared Kushner is not just a risk to U.S. security, he is an unacceptable risk to global safety and security. He doesn’t have to follow the rules because it is exactly this kind of nepotism that allows for impunity. And that’s why he must be fired NOW.




The list of Jared Kushner’s ENORMOUS security concerns is never-ending:

1. Jared Kushner has an unofficial, private and encrypted WhatsApp relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
2. Trump personally overrode security experts to give Kushner a security clearance despite major red flags and recommendations to deny his clearance.
3. The Kushner family received a billion-dollar bailout from a Qatari-government-funded investment company… not long after Jared had backed a Saudi-UAE blockade against Qatar.
4. Kushner failed to disclose meetings with foreign officials on his security clearance forms, a potentially criminal offense (and then took four months to rectify the situation). 

And it wouldn’t be SO alarming, if Kushner wasn’t advising Trump on issues of enormous global security, like the sovereignty of Palestinians. But he is. And his impact is deeply destructive, like offering a sham of a peace plan that will only lead to permanent occupation and apartheid in Israel and Palestine.

Kushner at the highest level of the U.S. government is not just a risk to U.S. security, but global security as a whole. 

And that’s why we have to get LOUD and demand Congress call for revoking Kushner’s security clearance (as over 50,000 Win Without War activists called for last year), AND call for him to be FIRED immediately — just like activists managed to do with Bannon, Sessions AND Gorka!

Add your name: Congress must do everything they can to get Jared Kushner fired!

Thank you for working for peace,

Kate, Amy, Tara, and the Win Without War team





 

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Reverse Robin Hood

Donald Trump is robbing the working and middle class to give huge tax breaks to the wealthiest among us.

In order to fund his corporate tax breaks and giveaways to the ultra-rich, he’s targeting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and more. His budget is a classic right-wing plan that would gut our most critical social programs.

Alexandria is voting ‘no.’

We’re doing everything in our power to block Trump’s new budget. Can you sign your name to join AOC in opposing it?

Trump’s sabotage of the working and middle classes is brazen. Here’s what his proposed budget would do:

• Cut $850 billion from Medicare
• Take $270 billion out of Medicaid
• Reduce Social Security spending by $30 billion
• Slash funding for student loan relief programs, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Education, eliminate some HUD affordable housing programs, and more

Meanwhile, defense spending stays the same. ICE’s budget is going up by almost 25%. He’s giving his quixotic border wall another $2 billion. And Amazon will still pay $0 in federal taxes.

Helping the wealthy and powerful afford another private jet while cutting life-saving social programs isn’t just unjust — it’s morally repugnant. Sign your name to join AOC in opposition to this budget:

Trump won’t get away with it if we lift our collective voices loud and clear. Together, we’ll stop him today, and in November too.

In solidarity,

Team AOC

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there's no coming back from that

We can bounce back from many of the Trump administration's policies after we vote him out in November. But the environment isn't working on our timeline. Month after month, corporate polluters receive policy gift after policy gift from Trump. The latest? Trump is working to roll back environmental protections to fast-track new construction projects – regardless of whether or not the project would hurt the environment. He's proposed: Reducing regulations and reporting – including critical environmental impact studies on long-term public health and safety. Imposing rushed deadlines on federal agencies. Creating exemptions for certain construction projections from adhering to the National Environmental Policy Act. We can't let this happen. This has got to stop now.

Paid for and authorized by the Re-Elect McGovern Committee.     This email was sent by Jim McGovern PO Box 60405, Worcester, MA 01606.

Corporate polluters have received gift after gift from President Trump. The latest? Trump is working to roll back environmental protections to fasttrack new construction – regardless of the outcome it has on communities. He's proposed:

• Reducing regulations and reporting – including critical environmental impact studies on long-term public health and safety.
• Imposing rushed deadlines on federal agencies.
• Creating exemptions for certain construction projections from adhering to the National Environmental Policy Act.
Enough is enough.
The government cannot continue prioritizing profit over the health and safety of American families!

A FIGHTER

I’ve been a fighter my entire life. Early in my career, I took on a corrupt mayor and his thuggish grip on City Hall and won. Now, I’m taking on wannabe crime boss Donald Trump from Congress, and I plan to win again.  I’m Congressman David Cicilline from Rhode Island and I’m a fighter. Before joining Congress in 2010, I was Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island. To get there, I had to take on a corrupt mayor and his thuggish grip on the city. It wasn’t easy, but as a public defender, I learned to never back down. Now in Congress, I’ve continued to take on the tough fights. I’m the only member of Democratic House leadership to take the No Corporate PAC pledge. I’ve taken on the NRA and gun manufacturers by authoring the Assault Weapons Ban of 2019. And I’ve lead the fight to protect LGBTQ+ Americans by authoring the Equality Act, which passed the House in 2019. As Chairman of the House Antitrust Subcommittee, I’m taking on Big Tech and forcing these companies to do more to protect our privacy and democracy. As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, I am fighting to hold President Trump accountable for his illegal and corrupt actions as President of the United States. Noticing a trend? I’ve never been afraid to stand up for what’s right, no matter how tough of a fight it may be. So whether I’m up against giant corporations, the NRA, or wannabe crime bosses like Donald Trump, I'm going to continue fighting until we’ve created a country that works for everyday people. You can join the fight on Facebook and Twitter, and we’ll be in touch soon with updates and ways you can get involved, too! Talk soon, -- David Cicilline Congressman, Rhode Island’s First District

Democrat David Cicilline proudly represents Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District. An advocate for LGBTQ rights, a leader on gun violence prevention, and a fighter for Rhode Island families — David is one of our fiercest legislators in the Trump Era. Our campaign is powered by supporters like you. Your grassroots support is critical to helping David's campaign for Rhode Island's 1st District.  Paid for by The Cicilline Committee The Cicilline Committee P.O. Box 9107 Providence RI, 02940