Below are 3 articles offered today by RSN regarding Donald Trump's performance, opinions and consequences.
Please consider them carefully as your vote in November is crucial to the problems confronting our nation and our planet.
Ronnie Dugger | Trump on Nuclear Weapons: "By Whatever Means Necessary"
Ronnie Dugger, Reader Supported News
Dugger writes: "Starting 32 years ago Donald Trump has spoken publicly about nuclear weapons much more and much more alarmingly than Hillary Clinton."
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Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, where the Republican National Convention will be held.
(photo: Angelo Merendino/Getty)
Trump Has Hurt GOP Fundraising So Badly That the Republican Convention Is $6 Million in the Hole
15 July 16
The GOP admits two dozen companies have pulled out because of Trump.
illions of dollars short and running out of time, organizers of the Republican National Convention have written an urgent request for $6 million to Las Vegas billionaire couple Sheldon and Miriam Adelson to cover the bills for next week’s festivities.
In a letter to the Adelsons, obtained by POLITICO, the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee revealed the names of more than two dozen prominent corporations and individuals who have reneged on a collective $8.1 million in pledged donations.
The letter represents the most public acknowledgment to date that Donald Trump has directly cost convention organizers millions of fundraising dollars.
“Over the past couple months, negative publicity around our potential nominee resulted in a considerable number of pledges backing out from their commitments,” the letter says.
It goes on to list the companies and wealthy individuals who have withdrawn their financial commitments. Among those who have canceled their donations, according to the letter, are David Koch ($1 million), FedEx ($500,000), Visa ($100,000), Pepsi ($500,000) and Coca-Cola ($1 million).
The letter says the RNC has raised $58 million — putting the party $6 million below the $64 million that was promised to bring the convention to Cleveland.
They ask the Adelsons to singlehandedly close the RNC’s shortfall.
“We would greatly appreciate if you would consider a $6,000,000 contribution to the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee to help us cross the finish line,” states the letter, which was dated July 12. The convention begins July 18.
“Your support will allow our community to meet its obligation to the RNC, and will ensure our Republican nominee has the best possible platform to lay out his conservative case for our nation,” the letter concludes. “Thank you for your consideration and please let us know if you need any additional information.”
The letter is co-signed by David Gilbert, CEO of the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee, Christopher Connor, executive chairman of The Sherwin-Williams Co., Alexander Cutler, chairman and CEO, of the Eaton, Christopher Kelly, a partner at Jones Day, and Beth Mooney, chairman and CEO of KeyCorp.
Sheldon Adelson, who has an estimated net worth of $25 billion, is one of the few Republican mega-donors to come out strongly in support of Trump. It has been reported that Adelson could spend more than $100 million to back the presumptive GOP nominee — matching his financial investment in Mitt Romney’s campaign four years ago.
Dating back to January, convention organizers, the Republican National Committee and its chief strategist, Sean Spicer, have denied that Trump would cost convention organizers money.
There have been previous reports of individual companies that have chosen not to participate in this year’s convention, but this is the most comprehensive listing of corporations that have pulled back on previous commitments.
Other corporations listed in the letter as having withdrawn earlier commitments include Apple ($250,000), as previously reported by POLITICO, as well as BP ($50,000) and United Health ($500,000).
Spokespersons for the convention host committee and Adelson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Senator Elizabeth Warren. (photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
Elizabeth Warren and Senate Democrats Press Regulators to Prevent Another Trump U
15 July 16
en. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and other Senate Democrats are calling on federal regulators to step up efforts to protect consumers from educational programs that engage in fraud and deceptive marketing, in light of the ongoing case against Trump University.
In a letter sent Thursday to the heads of the Federal Trade Commission, Department of Veterans Affairs, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Education Department, the lawmakers urge the agencies to create an online tool that alerts and warns potential students of companies posing as universities without a state license, charter or accreditation. They also asked the agencies to “enhance and prioritize” enforcement of federal consumer-protection laws that prohibit deceptive practices by businesses or “individuals who lend their names to sham outfits.” The senators are seeking a response by the end of August.
VA calls attention to lawsuits against colleges on its GI Bill Comparison Tool, a website where members of the military can research colleges and universities. Education officials, meanwhile, have updated the College Scorecard to include warnings about schools that are poorly managing their finances. Still, there is no one-stop government website where prospective students can learn whether institutions are operating without a license or accreditation.
“It is more important than ever that we do everything possible to maintain the public’s trust in our institutions of higher learning and the quality of the education they provide,” the senators wrote. They have asked the agencies to “take proper and necessary steps to prevent the creation of additional Trump University-like entities that prey on the hopes, dreams and aspirations of students and their families.”
The request comes as former students of Donald Trump’s university are suing the enterprise for bilking them out of thousands of dollars with advertisements they say were misleading, promising a path to riches using the mogul’s real estate investing techniques. They claim that in some cases they paid upward of $34,000 for seminars assuring success in real estate that never materialized. Trump University was never licensed to operate as a school despite the name, which landed it in hot water with the state of New York. Though the company agreed to move its operations out of the state, it continued to market itself as a university in New York, leading New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to file a lawsuit against the outfit for deceptive marketing. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has vehemently denied all of the allegations.
Warren and Trump have been trading barbs for months, with the senator calling out Trump for his incendiary remarks and for being unqualified to lead the country. The use of Trump’s defunct university to press regulators for tougher enforcement of consumer-protection laws could be seen as another political attack on the presidential candidate. Warren, though, has a long track record of fighting for tougher consumer protections in higher education, especially regarding for-profit colleges and universities engaging in abusive business practices.
The senator was one of the first lawmakers to demand that the Education Department forgive the debt of thousands of students who attended the failing for-profit giant Corinthian Colleges after the chain collapsed two years ago. And she mounted a campaign to strip the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools of the power to act as the gatekeeper between colleges and billions of dollars in federal financial aid for lax oversight of for-profit colleges.
Democratic lawmakers, state attorneys general and student advocacy groups have railed against for-profit colleges for misleading consumers about their programs, aggressive marketing, steering people into high-cost loans and providing dubious degrees. Some of the largest schools in the sector, including DeVry University, ITT Tech and the University of Phoenix, have been at the center of state and federal investigations into their marketing practices.
Industry advocates have decried the heightened scrutiny as a witch hunt that will ultimately hurt students who are underserved by traditional colleges and universities. They have said that any rules or restrictions imposed on for-profit schools should be universally applied to all institutions of higher learning.
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