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A Republican-led, Democrat-supported bill to safeguard US elections from foreign interference is stuck in the bowels of Congress. There's a simple reason why: The White House doesn't want it to pass.
The Secure Elections Act, which Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) introduced, would have made significant changes to the way states protect their voting systems in three significant ways. It proposes to:

• Give security clearances to the top election official in all 50 states so they can follow real-time threats to their voting systems.
• Establish a formal channel among the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), other government agencies, and states to share information on the security of each state's election.
• Ensure a state conducts an audit after any federal election, including incentivizing efforts to purchase electronic voting machines that retain a paper record of each ballot.

That last part is crucial, as it would help states keep an accurate vote count if cyberattackers tried to manipulate or interfere with a final, electronic-only report.

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golden sloth said:

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Well, congress finally gets bipartisan support on a bill to help protect the 2018 election:

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A Republican-led, Democrat-supported bill to safeguard US elections from foreign interference is stuck in the bowels of Congress. There's a simple reason why: The White House doesn't want it to pass.
The Secure Elections Act, which Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) introduced, would have made significant changes to the way states protect their voting systems in three significant ways. It proposes to:

• Give security clearances to the top election official in all 50 states so they can follow real-time threats to their voting systems.
• Establish a formal channel among the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), other government agencies, and states to share information on the security of each state's election.
• Ensure a state conducts an audit after any federal election, including incentivizing efforts to purchase electronic voting machines that retain a paper record of each ballot.

That last part is crucial, as it would help states keep an accurate vote count if cyberattackers tried to manipulate or interfere with a final, electronic-only report.

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https://www.vox.com/2018/8/23/17774296/2018-election-security-cyberattacks-white-house-russia-iran

Trump doesn't want fair elections because he knows he can't win them, so he does what he can to allow foreign interference. Its interesting he is citing federal government overreach as a reason, as the majority of state representatives wanted this. I would really love for Trump to be convicted of treason and put to death at the end of all of this.

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The Trump Organization's finance boss, Allen Weisselberg, has reportedly been granted legal immunity in the probe into Michael Cohen.
He was summoned to testify earlier this year in the investigation into Cohen, Donald Trump's longtime former lawyer, US media report.
Cohen pleaded guilty on Tuesday to handling hush money for Mr Trump in violation of campaign finance laws.
Mr Weisselberg, Chief Financial Officer, is the latest to get immunity.

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Another Bear said:

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Good read from NYT about Bob Mueller:

What Will Mueller Do? The Answer Might Lie in a By-the-Book Past

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It was Paul Manafort who chose Mike Pence as Donald Trump's vice president.

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It is possible that, when Mueller concludes his investigation, that both Trump and Pence, amongst others, would be unable to fulfill the office of the Presidency.

It is worth noting that the last Republican president to face impeachment, Richard Nixon, also lost his vice president as the administration became mired in controversy. Vice President Spiro Agnew pled no contest to a charge of tax evasion and resigned on the 10th of October 1973, several months prior to Nixon's own resignation.

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Another Bear said:

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The way to placate and FLIP the 40,000,000,000 Trumpkins is providing government services like ACA, better integration into the new workplace with job training, real education, etc. A massive anti-proverty program that lets everyone in, is how you get the hearts and minds of the 40mil and everyone. Call it the Big Deal, based on an updated New Deal.

re: Pence, he is NOT clean. Manafort picked him for VP and Manafort is in YUUGE trouble. Methinks Trump is simply Act I, with ACT II being Pence, Manafort, the Russians and whatever else is buried. Besides the obvious problems with this, I also don't believe Pence has the teflon shield and will get pummeled for not being elected POTUS. He'll get the Gerald R. Ford treatment or worse. He might not make it.

Vice President Pence Faces Heightened Scrutiny Over His Relationship with Paul Manafort

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It was Paul Manafort who chose Mike Pence as Donald Trump's vice president.

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It is possible that, when Mueller concludes his investigation, that both Trump and Pence, amongst others, would be unable to fulfill the office of the Presidency.

It is worth noting that the last Republican president to face impeachment, Richard Nixon, also lost his vice president as the administration became mired in controversy. Vice President Spiro Agnew pled no contest to a charge of tax evasion and resigned on the 10th of October 1973, several months prior to Nixon's own resignation.

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I heartily agree with your first paragraph; but I say to it: Easier said than done, since the necessity and virtue of those programs for every aspect of American life, INCLUDING The Economy, have been well known and documented for decades but getting any of it passed has been like trying to slide a human body between meshing gears.

In a previous iteration of dialog on this subject, I wound up gleefully fantasizing that, should the Democrats win the House in November and both Trump and Pence get impeached before 2020, then Nancy Pelosi would become President.

But I think that this posssibility is probably uppermost in the minds of the odd coalition of everybody-except-no-matter-what-Trumpers, which coalition is in process of bringing Trump down, but which coalition includes a lot of Republicans and one-percenters who will be fighting to keep in place the right-of-center bent of the federal government that they have created and nurtured for some 50 years now (including a strong rightward gravitational pull against Bill Clinton and Barack Obama); and so, not only do I not see it happening, but I see a lot of laissez faire after Trump goes down, which makes me worry about the continued ripeness of those 40,000,000 No-Matter-What-Trumpers for fascist political activity going forward.

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Another Bear said:

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From the Guardian:

Donald Trump's approval rating sinks to lowest of his presidency

New survey shows first time the national displeasure rating has exceeded 50%, and a majority of support for Mueller's Russia investigation

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Anarchistbear said:

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538 which agglomerates has him at 40.7%, down some but no way near his lows of 38%. Considering his week, Golden Sloth is right-those who support him, do so avidly.

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Cal88 said:

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It's going to come down to FL, MI, OH, WI and PA once again ,it will be more about their local outlook than the overall economy.

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Cal88 said:

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It's going to come down to FL, MI, OH, WI and PA once again ,it will be more about their local outlook than the overall economy.

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joe amos yaks said:

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I summered in a dacha in Oni (Georgia) near the Black Sea in 2007.
It was very nice there on the banks of the Rioni River.
My neighbor was a wine grower from Portland, OR.

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