David Unwin/Stuff

New Zealand Transport Agency project manager Anna Sanson talks through the new clip-on for the Ashhurst Bridge.

Cyclists and walkers will soon be able to make a safe passage across the Ashhurst Bridge on State Highway 3.

The New Zealand Transport Agency has revealed its plans for a new clip-on to the side of the bridge, designed to give walkers and cyclists a safe route across the busy road and connect to other shared pathways.

Access to the Manawat Gorge has traditionally been across the two-lane bridge, which has a 100kmh speed limit, but no room for cyclists or pedestrians.

The transport agency held a drop-in session at Ashhursts Village Valley Centre on Thursday to inform people about the new clip-on and to ask for feedback.

READ MORE:* Manawat Gorge replacement highway hearing begins with airing of benefits of new road* New Manawat River Bridge close to completion, but without clip-on cycleway* Adding cycleway to Manawat Gorge replacement highway would 'over complicate' plans, officials say

Agency project manager Anna Sanson said the move would cost $6-8 million, but that included a lot of earthworks and a path from the bridge into Ashhurst.

Sanson said the project had been long planned and the agency wanted to let people know it was happening.

David Unwin/Stuff

The new clip-on shared pathway will make it safe for cyclists and pedestrians to cross the bridge.

People have been talking about a clip-on bridge for a long time. Weve done the assessment to determine we can do it.

The agency has done structural and hydraulic work to make sure the existing bridge could handle the weight of the clip-on, which would be level with the road, Sanson said.

Once the clip-on is finished, people will be able to access the shared pathway alongside the new Manawat Gorge replacement road.

The path at the Ashhurst end of the bridge will connect to the Manawat River pathway so people can travel from Ashhurst to Palmerston North.

Its a great facility for the community, especially for Ashhurst.

There will also be a pathway from the bridge towards Ashhurst, so people can park at Ashhurst Domain and walk or cycle across the bridge.

We know theres a lot of people who walk from Ashhurst out to the Manawat Gorge. We want to make it safe for people.

There will be a viewing platform in the middle of the clip-on.

The transport agency will now collate feedback and then start design work in the next couple of months.

Sanson said construction would likely start in September next year.

She said most of the feedback had been people wanting the bridge built quickly.

The agency was yet to determine whether work on the bridge would be done from the bridge or from the river.

Read more:
New clip-on to give Ashhurst Bridge walkers and cyclists safe passage - Stuff.co.nz

Heres what you need to know:

Republicans have intensified their unrest-focused message, with Kenosha as a backdrop.

Richard Grenell, a former diplomat and intelligence official, revives an unsubstantiated wiretap claim.

We fact-checked the Republican National Convention.

Clarence Henderson, a civil rights pioneer, makes a case for peaceful protests.

Lara Trump says her preconceived notion about the Trumps disappeared when she became one.

Joni Ernst praises Trump for paying attention to Iowas farmers and coming to visit after a storm.

Lee Zeldin rewrites Trumps aid to New York during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.

Chen Guangcheng, a Chinese dissident, praises Trumps approach to Beijing.

Elise Stefanik pushes Trumps reopening approach and hits Biden on the economy.

Kellyanne Conway is leaving the White House, but not the spotlight.

Dan Crenshaw, a Texas congressman, draws on his military experience to talk about heroism.

Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee senator, gives a dark and misleading speech focusing on law enforcement.

Kristi Noem, once rumored to be a Pence replacement, attacks Democrats on law and order.

Republicans used the third night of their convention on Wednesday to amplify warnings of violence and lawlessness under Democratic leadership, trying to capitalize on the worsening unrest in Wisconsin to reclaim moderate voters who might be reluctant to hand President Trump a second term.

The party also made appeals to social conservatives with attacks on abortion and accusations that the Democrats and their nominee, Joseph R. Biden Jr., were Catholics in name only. And they intensified their effort to lift Mr. Trumps standing among women with testimonials vouching for him as empathetic and as a champion of women in the workplace from women who work for him, a number of female lawmakers and his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.

Speaking hours after Gov. Tony Evers of Wisconsin called in the National Guard to restore order to Kenosha, Wis., where a police officer shot a Black man this week, numerous Republicans led by Vice President Mike Pence assailed Mr. Biden for what they claimed was his tolerance of the vandalism that had grown out of racial justice protests, asserting that the country would not be safe with him as president.

Last week, Joe Biden didnt say one word about the violence and chaos engulfing cities across this country, said Mr. Pence, standing before an array of American flags at Fort McHenry in Baltimore and vowing: We will have law and order on the streets of this country for every American of every race and creed and color.

Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota, a strong supporter of the president, said that places like Seattle, Portland, Ore., and other cities run by Democrats were being overrun by violent mobs. She likened the violence to the lead-up of the Civil War and asserted that people are left to fend for themselves.

Ms. Noem invoked a young Abraham Lincoln, claiming he had been alarmed by the disregard for the rule of law throughout the country.

He was concerned for the people that had seen their property destroyed, their families attacked and their lives threatened or even taken away, she said, adding Sound familiar?

The intense focus on the rioting amounted to an acknowledgment by Republicans that they must reframe the election to make urban unrest the central theme and shift attention away from the deaths and illnesses of millions of people from the coronavirus.

transcript

transcript

So with gratitude for the confidence President Donald Trump has placed in me, the support of our Republican Party and the grace of God, I humbly accept your nomination to run and serve as vice president of the United States. Over the past four years, Ive had the privilege to work closely with our president. Ive seen him when the cameras are off. Americans see President Trump in lots of different ways. But theres no doubt how President Trump sees America. He sees America for what it is: a nation that has done more good in this world than any other, a nation that deserves far more gratitude than grievance. And if you want a president who falls silent when our heritage is demeaned or insulted, hes not your man. Last week, Joe Biden didnt say one word about the violence and chaos engulfing cities across this country. So let me be clear: The violence must stop whether in Minneapolis, Portland or Kenosha. Too many heroes have died defending our freedom to see Americans strike each other down.

For four years, Vice President Mike Pence has stood as an unfailingly loyal deputy to President Trump even and especially when he gets overruled.

In public and private, Mr. Pence lauds Mr. Trump. And on Wednesday night, he used his convention speech to paint the president as a great builder of the American economy and defender of American law enforcement.

The vice president said that Mr. Trump was upholding the very nature of the country, and if Joseph R. Biden Jr. was elected president, the United States would lose its essential character and become unrecognizable at least to a Trump-friendly social conservative like Mr. Pence.

Last week, Joe Biden said democracy is on the ballot, but the truth is, our economic recovery is on the ballot, law and order are on the ballot. But so are things far more fundamental and foundational to our country, Mr. Pence said. Its not so much whether America will be more conservative or more liberal, more Republican or more Democrat. The choice in this election is whether America remains America.

So with gratitude for the confidence President Donald Trump has placed in me, the support of our Republican Party, and the grace of God, I humbly accept your nomination to run and serve as vice president of the United States, Mr. Pence said.

Speaking to a crowd at Fort McHenry in Baltimore that did not appear to be socially distanced or wearing masks, Mr. Pence described a president who acts differently in private than he does in public a picture sharply at odds with nearly all of the reporting that depicts Mr. Trump in private as even more prone to pique and outbursts than he is before television cameras.

Ive seen him when the cameras are off, Mr. Pence said. Americans see President Trump in lots of different ways, but theres no doubt how President Trump sees America. He sees America for what it is, a nation that has done more good in this world than any other, a nation that deserves far more gratitude than grievance.

Mr. Pence made the nights first significant reference to Hurricane Laura, a major storm bearing down on Texas and Louisiana, a notion that would have not raised eyebrows during any other political convention but seemed off-key during a week devoted to singing the praises of Mr. Trump.

This is a serious storm, and we urge all of those in the affected areas to heed state and local authorities, Mr. Pence said. Stay safe, and know that we will be with you every step of the way to support, rescue, respond, and recover in the days and weeks ahead.

In a seeming reference to Mr. Trumps defense of Confederate monuments and the Confederate flag, Mr. Pence, who is from Indiana, added: If you want a president who falls silent when our heritage is demeaned or insulted, then hes not your man.

Mr. Pence was the only Republican convention speaker to mention Kenosha, Wis., where the Sunday police shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, has inflamed racial tensions. He condemned people there who caused property damage though he made no mention of the shooting that prompted the unrest.

President Trump and I will always support the right of Americans to peacefully protest, said Mr. Pence, who in 2017 flew to Indianapolis for an N.F.L. game and then walked out after several players knelt during the national anthem. But rioting and looting is not peaceful protest. Tearing down statues is not free speech, and those who do so will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Mr. Pence, like many speakers during the Republican convention, also sought to rewrite the recent history of how Mr. Trump has handled the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed nearly 180,000 Americans and counting.

Before the first case of the coronavirus spread within the United States, the president took unprecedented action and suspended all travel from China, the second largest economy in the world, Mr. Pence said.

Yet by April 40,000 people had traveled to the United States from China since Mr. Trump imposed his travel ban on Jan. 31, and more than 430,000 since the coronavirus was first disclosed in China a month earlier.

Mr. Pence also said Mr. Trump had marshaled the full resources of our federal government from the outset, adding, He directed us to forge a seamless partnership with governors across America in both political parties.

This would come as a surprise to Democratic governors in Illinois, New York and Washington State, among others, who found themselves on the receiving end of Mr. Trumps attacks for publicly criticizing the federal governments inability to produce personal protective equipment or sufficient testing to determine how far the virus had spread in their states.

transcript

transcript

Donald Trump he called Americas endless wars what they were: a disaster. The media was shocked, because Donald Trump was running as a Republican. And yet he said out loud what we all knew: that American foreign policy was failing to make Americans safer. Our great cities and industries were hollowed out. Entire communities were devastated, and our manufacturing plants were shipped off to China. Thats what happened when Washington stopped being the capital of the United States and started being the capital of the world. Today the Democrats blame a global pandemic that started in China on President Trump. And they still blame Russia for Hillary Clintons loss in 2016. As acting director of national intelligence, I saw the Democrats entire case for Russian collusion, and what I saw made me sick to my stomach. The Obama-Biden administration secretly launched a surveillance operation on the Trump campaign, and silenced the many brave intelligence officials who spoke up against it.

The undiplomatic diplomat Richard A. Grenell, who briefly held a top intelligence post in the Trump administration, revived the baseless theory that President Barack Obama personally ordered federal law enforcement officials to spy on Donald J. Trumps 2016 campaign.

The Obama-Biden administration secretly launched a surveillance operation on the Trump campaign, and silenced the many brave intelligence officials who spoke up against it, said Mr. Grenell, who served as United States ambassador to Germany from 2018 to 2020, and alienated many German officials by weighing in on the countrys internal politics.

Mr. Grenell launched a far-ranging attack on Democratic foreign policy initiatives, slamming the Iran nuclear deal and globalist goals he said Mr. Biden would pursue.

Washington stopped being the capital of the United States, and started being the capital of the world, he said of the Obama administrations approach.

In his remarks at the Republican convention on Wednesday, Mr. Grenell, one of the few gay people to hold a high administration post under Mr. Trump, claimed to have watched President Trump charm the chancellor of Germany, while insisting that Germany pay its NATO obligations.

No one appears to have told that to the chancellor, Angela Merkel, who has privately expressed doubts about Mr. Trumps leadership and publicly criticized his response to the coronavirus, albeit indirectly. As we are experiencing firsthand, you cannot fight the pandemic with lies and disinformation, Ms. Merkel said in June. The limits of populism and denial of basic truths are being laid bare.

This year, Mr. Grenell served briefly as acting director of national intelligence. In that capacity, he was the first openly gay cabinet-level official in United States history.

He claimed on Wednesday that this post gave him access to information about Democratic investigations into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia four years ago that made me sick to my stomach.

Mr. Grenell, known for dunking on reporters and critics on Twitter, had no chance of being permanently confirmed for that position after Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said he was unqualified.

Since then, he has served as the Republican National Committees liaison on L.G.B.T. outreach, a tall order at a time when Mr. Trump has made a point of rolling back protections for transgender people enacted during the Obama administration.

Our team of reporters who cover the Pentagon, Congress, health care and more fact-checked tonights speeches. See the claims and how they stack up against the truth.

Clarence Henderson, who helped desegregate the Woolworths lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., in 1960, joined a chorus of Black Trump supporters making the case that Mr. Trump is not racist even though as many as eight in 10 Black people think he is.

Mr. Henderson did not directly refer to the chaotic protests in Portland, Ore., and Kenosha, Wis. But he contrasted his actions 60 years ago joining his friends at the counter on the second day of the protests with the current demonstrations.

Our actions inspired similar protests throughout the South against racial injustice. And in the end, segregation was abolished and our country moved a step closer to true equality for all, he said. Thats what actual peaceful protest can accomplish.

The Greensboro demonstrations, while not the first sit-ins, were a watershed moment in the civil rights movement especially after the media broadcast images of an unruly white mob dumping food and drinks on the polite, neatly dressed and nonviolent protesters.

transcript

transcript

My seventh-grade English teacher, Mrs. B., used to tell us, Believe none of what you hear, half of what you read and only what youre there to witness firsthand. The meaning of those words never fully weighed on me until I met my husband and the Trump family. Any preconceived notion I had of this family disappeared immediately. They were warm and caring. They were hard workers, and they were down to earth. They reminded me of my own family. They made me feel like I was home. Walking the halls of the Trump Organization, I saw the same family environment. I also saw the countless women executives who thrived there year after year. Gender didnt matter. What mattered was the ability to get the job done. I learned this directly when, in 2016, my father-in-law asked me to help him win my cherished home state and my daughters namesake, North Carolina. Though I had no political experience, he believed in me. He knew I was capable even if I didnt. I wasnt born a Trump. Im from the South. I was raised a Carolina girl. I went to public schools and worked my way through a state university. Mrs. B. from my seventh-grade English class was right. What I learned about our president is different than what you might have heard. I learned that hes a good man.

Lara Trump, President Trumps daughter-in-law and a senior adviser to his re-election campaign, offered a glowing portrait of the family she had married into on Wednesday night, painting the Trumps as warm and caring.

Speaking at the Republican National Convention, Ms. Trump, who is married to Eric Trump, conceded that she had certainly never thought that Id end up with the last name Trump. But as soon as she met her husband and joined his family, she said, Any preconceived notion I had of this family disappeared immediately.

I wasnt born a Trump. Im from the South, she said. I was raised a Carolina girl. I went to public schools and worked my way through a state university.

What I learned about our president is different than what you might have heard, she added. I learned that hes is a good man. That he loves his family. That he didnt need this job.

With her remarks, Lara Trump joined the growing list of Trump family members and close associates who have been tapped to praise the president based on their relationship with him. They have sought to soften the presidents image, suggesting that he treats the people he cares about exceedingly well.

Ms. Trump also tried to use her firsthand experience to try to improve her father-in-laws standing with women, remarking that she had seen women thrive in the Trump Organization, which granted them big responsibilities.

I know the promise of America because Ive lived it, not just as a member of the Trump family, but as a woman who knows what its like to work in blue-collar jobs, to serve customers for tips and to aspire to rise, she said.

No one on earth works harder for the American people, she added later, speaking about the president. Hes willing to fight for his beliefs, and for the people and the country that he loves.

Burgess Owens, the Republican nominee in a Utah congressional district that Democrats flipped in 2018, took the stage at the Republican convention on Wednesday and recalled his great-great-grandfather, Silas Burgess, who escaped slavery through the Underground Railroad and ultimately became a landowner.

He also recalled his own experience: After playing in the N.F.L., he started a business that failed, and ended up working as a chimney sweep before achieving a rewarding career in the corporate world.

Career politicians, elitists and even a former bartender want us to believe thats impossible, Mr. Owens said, referring to Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez by her former job. They want us to believe that what I did, what my great-great-grandfather did, is impossible for ordinary Americans. As patriots, we know better.

Mr. Owens, who is also a Fox News contributor, is running against Representative Ben McAdams in Utahs Fourth Congressional District. Mr. McAdams narrowly upset a Republican incumbent, Mia Love, in 2018.

On Tuesday, Mr. Owens was accused of plagiarizing parts of his book Why I Stand: From Freedom to the Killing Fields of Socialism, which he denied. Also this week, The Salt Lake Tribune reported that a former Utah legislator was urging the Republican National Committee to revoke his speaking slot because he appeared earlier this year on a YouTube program associated with the false QAnon conspiracy theory.

Mr. Owens has said that he didnt know about the link and that he does not support QAnon.

Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, the only endangered Senate Republican to speak at this weeks Republican National Convention, on Wednesday night highlighted President Trumps help for farmers and claimed that a Biden administration would harm them.

I cant recall an administration more hostile to farmers than Obama-Biden, unless you count the Biden-Harris ticket, Ms. Ernst said. The Democratic Party of Joe Biden is pushing this so-called Green New Deal. If given power, they would essentially ban animal agriculture and eliminate gas-powered cars. It would destroy the agriculture industry, not just here in Iowa, but throughout the country.

Mr. Biden has promised no such thing. He never endorsed the Green New Deal, much to the frustration of his partys more progressive elements. He has endorsed reinstating higher fuel efficiency standards put in place by President Barack Obama and rescinded by Mr. Trump.

Ms. Ernst, who won in the 2014 Republican wave and faces a tight challenge this year, is betting her best chance to secure re-election is by tethering herself tightly to President Trump. On Wednesday she kept her remarks narrowly focused on Iowa, praising Mr. Trump for visiting the state after a storm damaged much of the state this month.

Like many speakers during the convention, Ms. Ernst laced her remarks with heavy criticism of the national news media and praise for the president, who she said had bent media coverage to his will.

After the storm, Ms. Ernst said, most of the national media looked the other way. To them, Iowa is still just flyover country. She added, When President Trump came to Cedar Rapids, the national media finally did, too.

There is scarce public polling in Iowa, but a poll from The Des Moines Register in June showed Ms. Ernsts Democratic opponent, Theresa Greenfield, ahead by three percentage points. This month, a Monmouth poll showed Ms. Ernst ahead by one point; each candidates polling lead was within the margin of error.

The race has already set fund-raising records for an Iowa Senate contest, and is expected to result in more money spent on TV advertising than ever before in the state.

Ms. Ernsts convention appearance could only be better for her than her 2016 speech in Cleveland, which was largely overshadowed by the debut, directly before she took the stage, of the lock her up chant led by Michael T. Flynn, a Trump campaign adviser at the time. Mr. Flynn spoke for far longer than his allotted time, and Ms. Ernst was given less time to speak than she had planned for.

On Wednesday night, Ms. Ernsts remarks, which were recorded from Des Moines, followed a prerecorded veterans round-table discussion.

In her 2014 campaign, Ms. Ernst pledged to repeal the Affordable Care Act, balance the federal budget and cut spending. Lets make em squeal, she said in a viral ad, highlighting her history castrating hogs on her familys farm.

But after Mr. Trumps election in 2016 Ms. Ernst had an interview with him when he was in search of a running mate she backed away from her campaign promises to become one of the presidents stalwart defenders.

Her first 2020 TV ad echoes Mr. Trumps tone on China.

We rely on Communist China for far too much, from technology to medicine, she said. So Im fighting to bring it home.

For at least a decade, Representative Lee Zeldin of New York has been promoted as a Republican rising star.

Mr. Zeldin, 40, is a lawyer and Iraq war veteran from Long Island who first won election to the New York State Senate in 2010 by campaigning against a payroll tax that funded the New York subway and commuter railways.

Since he was elected to Congress in the 2014 Republican wave, Mr. Zeldin has become a staunch supporter of President Trump, who carried Mr. Zeldins eastern Long Island congressional district by 12 percentage points after Barack Obama had won it in the 2008 and 2012 elections.

Mr. Zeldins defense of Mr. Trump during the initial House impeachment proceedings was so thorough that no Republican spoke more than he did, according to a review of early deposition transcripts last year by NBC News.

On Wednesday night he used his four-minute Republican convention speaking slot to praise Mr. Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner for providing his district in Suffolk County and New York City with personal protective equipment for medical workers caring for coronavirus patients.

Jared Kushner and I were on the phone late one Saturday night, Mr. Zeldin said. The very next day, President Trump announced he was sending us 200,000 N95 masks. He actually delivered more than 400,000.

Mr. Zeldins praise for the Trump administration neglects to mention what was a nationwide shortage in medical-grade masks and other protective equipment for doctors and nurses. The Trump administrations response was a scattershot effort that led to various governors begging the White House for help and offering public praise of Mr. Trump, some of which has been used in footage that has been aired during this weeks Republican National Convention.

Mr. Zeldin also stated that New Yorks hospitals were able to handle all of the patients suffering from the pandemic a claim that does not comport with how the pandemic played out in New York this spring.

Mr. Zeldin, one of just two Jewish Republicans in Congress, won re-election relatively easily in 2016 and 2018, but faces a significant challenge this year from Nancy Goroff, a chemistry professor at Stony Brook University. The Cook Political Report rates the contest as Lean Republican, and the House Democrats campaign arm on Wednesday added Ms. Goroff to its Red to Blue list of most competitive races.

See more here:
Mike Pence Closes Out Night 3 of the G.O.P. Convention, Making the Case for Trump - The New York Times

And they say the new homes for tenants will be some of Milton Keynes most "accessible and environmentally friendly" dwellings.

The plans are addition to 1,402 replacement and additional homes planned for the city regeneration estates, where proposals for the Lakes Estate and Fullers Slade are already well advanced.

MK Council is also investing 50m in its current homes to improve their energy efficiency and reduce energy costs for tenants.

This is all part of the councils ambition to become carbon neutral by 2030, as well as a recently-announced investment to ensure MKs recovery from the impact of COVID-19 is a green and fair one.

All these proposals will create almost 400 local jobs and 150 apprenticeships - and a further business plan for affordable homes in Mk will be reviewed by the council's Cabinet next month,

If plans are approved, the council will consult with council tenants and leaseholders before action starts. Council tenants can expect more energy efficient heating systems, improved insulation and better windows among other measures.

Cllr Emily Darlington, Cabinet Member for Public Realm and Council Housing said: Building homes for MK families is a priority for the council. After years of losing homes through right to buy, this ambitious plan to build more than 1,200 homes will rectify years of under-investment. Every building site will also support the creation of local jobs and apprenticeships delivering for local communities in this time of recession.

Alongside the recession we also face the challenge of climate change so making sure our current and new build council homes are the greenest they can be is part of the Councils commitment to be carbon neutral by 2030 and carbon negative by 2050. It will also help tackle fuel poverty and lower energy bills for our tenants.

Continue reading here:
500 new council homes to be built in Milton Keynes over the next two years - Milton Keynes Citizen

Published: Wednesday, 26th August 2020

Oxford City Council is installing 90 new bike parking spaces in Oxford city centre.

The council will install 72 of the bike parking spaces by the end of August. This will see:

The New Road installation will also involve the replacement and upgrading of 24 existing bike parking spaces.

The remaining 18 spaces will be installed in Ship Street at the end of September when scaffolding work in the street has finished.

Installation work will be carried out by ODS, the councils direct services company that operates like a social enterprise.

The 90 spaces are in addition to the extra bike parking spaces that the city and county councils are installing as part of measures to help Oxford reopen following the coronavirus lockdown.

The council installed 130 additional bike parking spaces at its Park and Ride sites in June. These were installed with the aim of providing additional capacity once shops reopened. At the time, the government was encouraging people not to use buses due to the risk of infection.

Separately, Oxfordshire County Council is installing bike parking spaces at Oxford Parkway and Thornhill Park and Ride sites and across the city.

City, county and ODS officers are scoping a further tranche of locations. Oxfordshire County Council is due to make an announcement about new location sites in the coming weeks.

Our clear objective to improve health, reduce air pollution and cut congestion is to encourage more people to choose cycling to get to Oxford city centre, and we know that a lack of bike parking spaces is one of the obstacles to achieving that.

The support of our colleagues at Oxfordshire County Council and the University of Oxford, and the guidance of members of our disability forum on locations has been really valuable. We are continuing to look for new locations for additional cycle parking as the numbers of cyclists picks up again, and we are keen for businesses and organisations to consider installing secure bike parking for their workers and customers on their own land. ODS will be happy to quote for installing even small numbers of secure stands.

Councillor Louise Upton, cabinet member for a safer, healthy Oxford

Excerpt from:
Oxford City Council installs 90 new bike parking spaces in the city centre - Oxford City Council News

Bidens White House and his Cabinet would likely lean on his connections from the Obama administration, including institutionalists who are palatable to centrist Democrats. But in the same way Biden shifted left on policy in recent months in response to the pandemic, he is also taking advice from the progressive wing of the party.

Interviews with more than a dozen Democrats familiar with his transition process describe an effort by his campaign to assemble a center-left amalgamation of personnel designed to prioritize speed over ideology in responding to the coronavirus and the resulting economic ruin. Think Susan Rice, but also Elizabeth Warren. Pete Buttigieg, but also Karen Bass.

I think those [ideological] distinctions are going to be a little hard to draw in this administration, said Matt Bennett, whose center-left group Third Way, like others, is developing lists of candidates to propose to Bidens advisers for sub-Cabinet and other roles.

One Democratic strategist familiar with Bidens work to form a government said, Does it mean that the chief of staff wont be [longtime Biden advisers] Ron Klain or Steve Ricchetti or something? No, but it does mean youre going to see some unusual suspects in the government, I think.

Among those advising Biden on the transition are centrist-minded establishment figures such as Tony Blinken, the former deputy national security adviser in the Obama-Biden White House, and Lawrence Summers, the ex-Treasury secretary and bane of progressives who said last week that he will not go into the administration. Ricchetti, Bidens former chief of staff, is a former lobbyist.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is widely viewed as a potential Treasury secretary in a Biden administration. | Samuel Corum/Getty Images

But Biden is also taking economic advice from Warren, Democrats familiar with the campaign say. She is widely viewed as a potential Treasury secretary in a Biden administration. It did not go unnoticed when Biden in April called corporate America greedy as hell. He has also proposed raising the corporate tax rate.

And progressives have been heartened by the composition of his transition team. Headed by former Sen. Ted Kaufman, a longtime Biden adviser and Bidens successor in the Senate, it includes Julie Siegel, who has been a top Warren adviser, and Gautam Raghavan, chief of staff to Rep. Pramila Jayapal, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

"I think this is about getting seasoned people that are really qualified to do the job. People with experience, people that are smart as hell and people that reflect America," Kaufman said in an interview. A lot of this isnt about ideology or anything else. Its totally about what do you do with the incredible hollowing out that Trump has done ... so many of the agencies just are empty, the career people have left.

"Youre going to be walking into a very difficult situation, and a lot of its going to be blocking and tackling.

One name often mentioned as a potential secretary of State is Rice, who was Obamas national security adviser and made Biden's short list for vice president. Blinken is often mentioned as a potential national security adviser.

Tony Blinken is often mentioned as a potential pick for national security adviser. | Getty Images

Warrens potential selection for Treasury could depend in part on the balance of the Senate after the November election. If she steps down, her states Republican governor, Charlie Baker, would appoint her replacement a Republican, presumably until a special election. But there are workarounds.

A veteran Democratic strategist close to Bidens transition team said that if Warren wants a post, she is definitely in the Cabinet. And even if she isnt, she's likely to influence Bidens thinking.

Elsewhere in the Cabinet, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who endorsed Biden in early January and served on his vice presidential selection committee, is a likely candidate for transportation or Housing and Urban Development, among other possible positions. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), another finalist for vice president, could be secretary of HUD or Health and Human Services.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham comes up a lot in Cabinet talks, according to one former Biden adviser who remains in contact with Biden campaign officials. Buttigieg, the former South Bend, Ind., mayor and presidential contender, is seen as a likely choice for ambassador to the United Nations or secretary of Veterans Affairs. And Jared Bernstein, a longtime economic adviser to Biden, is frequently mentioned as a potential chair of Bidens Council of Economic Advisors. Bernstein was among the administration veterans and academics who gave Biden and Harris an economic briefing last week.

Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg is seen as a likely choice for ambassador to the United Nations or secretary of Veterans Affairs. | Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Discussing the kind of leaders he wants to surround himself with at an event in April, Biden said his job is to bring the Mayor Petes of the world into this administration and even if they don't come in, their ideas come into this administration.

He has left open the possibility of including a Republican in the Cabinet and is considering adding a climate-focused position.

I think he will govern like [Bill] Clinton in terms of consensus-building, but he will be surrounded by a lot of Obama people, said former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who served in the Clinton administration as energy secretary and ambassador to the U.N. I believe he will have a free reign for six months, and then if there isnt major, positive change, you know, the fractures in the party will start showing.

The health and economic wreckage from the pandemic has changed Bidens outlook on the presidency and his preparations for a potential administration. Seeing the immediate, post-Trump era in more transformational terms than he did before, he has adopted a more expansive legislative agenda, including more robust college affordability, bankruptcy and Social Security plans. He has significantly expanded his proposal to address climate change, proposing to spend $2 trillion over four years on a suite of programs.

Bidens advisers are preparing for the opening months of his administration almost as a rescue mission, with contingencies to address the coronavirus based on how severe it remains and on whether a vaccine is available.

Rep. Karen Bass could be secretary of HUD or Health and Human Services. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Between Covid-19, what Trumps done and the economy, this is going to be a totally different transition because of that. Its just going to be very, very difficult," Kaufman said.

However, he added, When [Biden] shows up on the first day, hes not going to need to be told where the Situation Room is. Hes been in the Situation Room for hundreds of hours. So hes going to come in as the most experienced and qualified person in terms of federal experience of anybody in the history of the country.

The prospects of Bidens legislative agenda would rest heavily on whether Democrats win the Senate. Just as Biden is preparing to populate the executive branch, he is laying groundwork to move legislation. Biden speaks with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and their staffs are in regular contact.

Last month, Biden signaled an openness to ending the 60-vote filibuster rule, a practice President Barack Obama recently called a Jim Crow relic.

The filibuster is gone, said Harry Reid, the influential former Senate majority leader and a friend of Biden. Its not a question of if, its a question of when its going to go Next year at this time, it will be gone.

The filibuster is gone."

Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

When asked what changed Bidens thinking about the filibuster, Reid said, I dont know. I talked to him and Ricchetti about it. Maybe that helped a little bit. I think, just basically, pragmatism if hes going to get anything done as president, [the filibuster] has got to go.

Biden campaign advisers say he considers his Build Back Better agenda a package that can get broad buy-in, not a legislative starting point. Jake Sullivan, a former top State Department official and a senior adviser to Biden, said that as he formulates his legislative agenda, Biden is being attentive to how you construct a bold, integrated agenda that can also attract a big tent coalition of support.

And Stef Feldman, the Biden campaigns policy director, said that in addition to Biden's legislative experience, he "also knows how to move the levers of government in the executive branch.

Brown, who would likely become chairman of the Senate banking committee if Democrats win the Senate, said it is not Biden "moving to the left," but "Biden, and all of us around him, recognizing this is going to be a very consequential presidency."

The fear among some progressives is that Bidens relationships and penchant for compromise may serve to water down the Democratic agenda. Larry Cohen, the former Communications Workers of America president who now chairs the Bernie Sanders-aligned group Our Revolution, said the inclusion of progressives on Bidens transition team is the reason Im hopeful about a Biden administration.

Invoking Bidens frequent references to FDR, Robert Reich, the Clinton-era Labor secretary, recalled that Roosevelt initially was certainly not thought of as somebody on the left. At first, he placed trust in the nations financial institutions, pursuing a working relationship with both populists and business interests early in his administration.

It was only after businesses balked and the relationship deteriorated that Roosevelt changed course.

Then and now, Reich sad, America was ready and willing and eager to try almost anything.

The country will get behind Joe Biden, I think, in very powerful and important ways, Reich said, adding that Biden has the opportunity to be a transformative president Its almost entirely a function of the times.

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Biden is already forming a government. Here's what his Cabinet could look like. - POLITICO

NOTICE OF INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB) IFB #20-006 NVMHI Fire Alarm Replacement DBHDS PC No.: 720-10880-28-08 DEB Permit Code: 720-A9720-003 Sealed bids are invited for the construction of NVMHI Fire Alarm Replacement at 3302 Gallows Road in Falls Church, VA. The project is generally described as a 100% complete fire alarm system replacement throughout the building including but not limited to associated uninterruptible power supply and surge protection systems, equipment racks, enclosures, wiring, cables, devices, and programming. All conduits and components of the fire alarm system to be recessed unless otherwise noted. All locations where existing devices are removed and not replaced shall be patched and painted to match existing. The facility is a 24/7/365 mental health facility. All access shall be approved by the Owner beforehand. Contractor to follow the facility's procedures for health, fire evacuation, COVID-19 testing, storage areas, and Contractor parking. All work areas shall be approved by the Owner each day. The Contractor is responsible for protecting equipment and materials at all times. Any work area shall be cleaned prior to leaving the area at any time. The Contractor shall take direction from the security officers and staff during events. Sealed bids will be received at the Office of Architectural and Engineering Services, Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS), Commonwealth of Virginia, 1220 Bank Street, 7th Floor, Jefferson Building, Richmond, VA 23219. The deadline for submitting bids is 2:00 P.M. sharp, as determined by the Bid Officer, on September 8th, 2020. The bids will be opened publicly and read aloud beginning at 2:00 P.M., on September 9th, 2020, at the same location. A Bid Bond is required. eVA Vendor Registration: The bidder or offeror shall be a registered vendor in eVA. Procedures for submitting a bid, claiming an error, withdrawal of bids and other pertinent information are contained in the Instructions to Bidders, which is part of the Invitation for Bids. Withdrawal due to error in bid shall be permitted in accord with Section 9 of the Instructions to Bidders and 2.2-4330, Code of Virginia. The Owner reserves the right to reject any or all bids. A pre-bid conference will be held at the NVMHI at 2:00 P.M., on August 27th, 2020. Attendance is mandatory for those submitting a bid. Bidders are asked to meet outside at the main visitor's entrance. To maintain social distancing, the meeting will either be held outside or in the NVMHI gym. All participants are asked to show up wearing adequate Personal Protection Equipment (masks). The contract shall be awarded on a lump sum basis as follows: The Total Base Bid Amount including any properly submitted and received bid modifications plus such successive Additive Bid Items as the Owner in its discretion decides to award in the manner set forth in Paragraph 12 of the Instructions to Bidders. 'Notice of Award' or 'Notice of Intent to Award' will be posted on eVA, Virginia Department of General Services' central electronic procurement website, at https://eva.virginia.gov. Contractor registration is required in accordance with Section 54.1-1103 of the Code of Virginia. See the Invitation for Bids for additional qualification requirements. Under Executive Order 20, July 22, 2014, Cabinet Secretaries and all executive branch agencies are directed to continue and advance the following on a race and gender neutral basis: Exceed a target goal of 42% of discretionary spending with small businesses certified by DSBSD Drawings, Specifications and Invitation for Bid documents are available in electronic format and will be obtained by contacting Cole & Denny Architects. Louis Barbieri (lbarbieri@coleanddenny.com) or Brett Weiglein (bweiglein@coleanddenny.com) will be the contacts for the electronic files and will coordinate the distribution to all requesting contractors.

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VIRGINA DEPARTMENT OF BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES NOTICE OF INVITATION FOR BIDS: TEXTURIZING KITCHEN MODIFICATIONS, PIEDMONT...

N.W.T. MLAs sat Monday in an emergency session of the legislature after a cabinet minister was stripped of her portfolios in a surprise shuffle last week.

Katrina Nokleby, formerly minister of infrastructure and of industry, tourism, and investment, will face a vote Wednesday on whether she should remain in cabinet.

Premier Caroline Cochrane sought the unanimous consent of the assembly to fast-track discussion of a motion to remove Nokleby from cabinet, but was stymied by Nokleby's single vote against.

MLAs will sit again on Tuesday, beginning at 1:30 p.m. But because two-days notice must be given for motions, a vote on Nokleby's future will not be held until Wednesday afternoon.

In the consensus system of government, all 19 MLAs select the members of cabinet, who are then assigned their portfolios by the premier.

Nokleby currently sits with cabinet as a minister without a portfolio, after Cochrane issued a surprise statement Wednesday saying she no longer had "confidence in the minister and her ability to fulfil her responsibilities."

Cochrane last publicly expressed "complete confidence" in Nokleby on May 29.

Few regular MLAs have offered any public statements about the shuffle, and none have granted interviews with media.

The premier has also repeatedly denied CBC's requests for interviews.

Instead, on Friday, Cochrane posted a five-minute video to a Facebook page with600 followers in which she said she was "reluctant" to offer her reasoningout of "respect for conversations held in confidence."

Nokleby's departments have been the subject of intense criticism from Indigenous governments who say the territory's procurement process is broken, and from tourism operators who accuse her department of unreasonable delays.

She has also been accused of taking a combative tone in discussions with fellow MLAs, according to NNSL.

But in the wake of Wednesday's statement, industry leaders have lined up to voice their surprise at the premier's move, telling Cabin Radio they had few issues with Nokleby's performance.

Late Saturday, Frame Lake MLA Kevin O'Reillyjoined the list of MLAs breaking silence over Facebook about the decision.

In a lengthy post, O'Reillycalled the revocation of a minister's appointment an "awkward and uncomfortable process," and said MLAs "collectively have not done a very good job in explaining how the Legislative Assembly actually works."

His post struck a different tone from Yellowknife North MLA Rylund Johnson and Kam Lake MLA Caitlin Cleveland, who criticized the premier for providing little notice of her decision.

The decision "was conveyed in a timely manner ... and there was a meeting to discuss this move," O'Reilly's post reads. "The Premier explained the decision ... and there was an opportunity to ask questions."

"I thank the premier for taking my concerns seriously and taking decisive action," it concludes.

O'Reilly could not be reached for comment.

O'Reilly is one of four Yellowknife MLAs well-positioned to replace Nokleby in cabinet.

Historical convention holds that two cabinet members are drawn from northern ridings, two from southern ridings, and two from Yellowknife.

If convention held, O'Reilly, Cleveland, and Johnson would all be eligible, as well asYellowknife Centre's Julie Green.

Of those four, only Johnson has ruled out a bid for a cabinet seat.

Selecting Nokleby's replacement, should she be voted out, will require more sittings, during which candidates for her seat in cabinet will present their case to MLAs and a winner will be decided in a secret ballot.

According to a release from the assembly, the emergency session is expected to conclude bySept. 1.

Continued here:
Move to fast-track N.W.T. minister's exit stymied by her single 'nay' vote - CBC.ca

With Gavin Williamson facing no repercussions over the exams algorithm shambles, Alex Andreou argues that the more incompetent a minister is, the more likely they are to do well under this administration

It is supremely ironic for this Government to be so preoccupied with the spectre of unmerited qualifications. For never has a group of such ill-qualified individuals held such high office. Anyone dismissing the dangers of grade inflation needs to look at the current Cabinet as its consequence.

A clear pattern is beginning to form. Whenever there is a major fiasco necessitating a U-turn, three things happen: Boris Johnson disappears, the minister involved stays put, a proxy is blamed. In time, Downing Street will announce that it considers the matter closed.

And so it is with Education Secretary Gavin Williamson and the exams scandal.

The convention of individual ministerial responsibility the notion that if things go horribly wrong in your department, on your watch, you walk collapsed long ago. Lord Carrington was the last to do the honourable thing in 1982 (with the possible exception of Estelle Morris in 2002, paradoxically over an A Level marking snafu, much more anodyne than Williamsons). But at least ministers usually have the decency to make a case for why this was an administrative, rather than a policy, mistake.

These ministers are sandbags of incompetence, keeping at bay a rising tide of moral outrage. Why would those at the top kick them over?

Weve had no such explanation from Williamson. Asked again and again by interviewers whether he had offered his resignation or even considered his position, he did a Blackadder-trying-to-avoid-the-order-to-advance impersonation. Sorry, Sir? Bad line. Schnell, schnell, kartoffeln!

What has been more surprising is how poorly the affair was judged politically. It was instantly obvious, from the moment Scotlands First Minister Nicola Sturgeon walked into a press conference and told assembled journalists that using an algorithm had been the wrong thing to do, that Downing Streets position was untenable and a U-turn inevitable. This has, after all, been a Government of U-turns three of them within Williamsons brief.

Yet he opted to carry on blithely for days, allowing the wrong grades to be issued, resulting in a university admissions nightmare, before he appeared on our television sets saying how sorry he was, but blaming everyone except himself. The decision to dig his heels in wasnt Ofquals judgement and it wasnt a civil servants advice it was him.

Then there was Williamsons claim that the first he knew of the problems with the algorithm was last weekend. Indisputable evidence emerged that he was warned of precisely the risks which materialised six weeks ago by a top civil servant and had a meeting to discuss them.

So the question becomes: what will it take for Boris Johnson to sack someone?

Part of the problem is a complete lack of moral authority at the top. How can an administration installed in part by nefarious donations sack Robert Jenrick for doing favours to a donor? How can Johnson fired twice for lying sack anyone for being less than truthful? How can Dominic Cummings who drove up and down the country during lockdown force anyone to resign for breaking the rules?

These ministers are sandbags of incompetence, keeping at bay a rising tide of moral outrage. Why would those at the top kick them over? The tide will only start lapping at their incompetent ankles. They are a serpentine series of dominoes, each frantically supporting the tile ahead, because they know what happens if it falls.

The other part of the problem is that Johnson cannot sack someone for reasons they werent hired. Integrity and competence were never part of the brief when it comes to Williamson, who was fired by Theresa May for leaking information from the National Security Council. Liz Truss, one of the most perplexingly over-promoted choices, has taken to deleting trade meetings from the register, as personal.

Rishi Sunak is much more likely to be squeezed out for being too good than Gavin Williamson, for being unremittingly awful.

Priti Patel was elevated to one of the great offices of state, after being sacked by May, for having a series of unofficial business meetings with Israeli officials and misleading the then Prime Minister about them. When her most senior civil servant left the department over her alleged bullying, nobody batted an eyelid. Even Liam Fox, who quit David Camerons Cabinet in disgrace, is making a comeback as the UKs preferred candidate to take over as head of the World Trade Organisation.

The only incentive to sack a Cabinet member is a genuine belief that a replacement will improve the overall quality of the decision-making group. In a Cabinet of nincompoops, headed by a shyster, sacking one less-than-ideal minister, simply advances the next less-than-ideal minister into the crosshairs. A minister knows full well that they need only wait a couple of days before another minister does something outrageous and they are off the hook.

Three criteria appear relevant for Cabinet eligibility: blind loyalty to the Brexit cause, complete obedience to Cummings, and not being seen as a potential rival to Johnson.

The only prominent Cabinet member forced to resign was the Chancellor Sajid Javid because he had a high profile and wanted to retain a level of independence. On this calculation, Rishi Sunak is much more likely to be squeezed out for being too good than Gavin Williamson, for being unremittingly awful.

Anger and resistance has been built into the calculation. I must have heard surely, Williamson has to go a hundred times over the past week. There is no more surely with this Government. It is Government by trolling. The angrier we get at it, the more convinced it becomes of its success.

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Boris Johnson's Cabinet of No Talents is Doing the Job it was Hired To Do - Byline Times

The Republicans were supposed to be rallying at the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, about now, and Gov. Ron DeSantis was going to ensure that schools across the state reopened in response to President Donald Trumps all-caps tweets.

Instead, Trump is expected to give his acceptance speech for the semi-virtual Republican National Convention from the Oval Office. Some official convention proceedings will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina. And DeSantis is battling in court with the Florida teachers union over his reopening mandate.

One thing thats not changing, however, is Trumps steady drumbeat for private school choice a platform that includes his administrations freedom scholarships proposal and a Republican relief bill, the School Choice Now Act, that would provide emergency funding for state-level scholarship organizations. Such policies have proved irresistible to his base, but they havent garnered much support in Congress.

I think they are going to try to really key in on private school scholarships and vouchers and their vision of the choice agenda, said Danny Carlson, the director of policy and advocacy for the National Association of Elementary School Principals. Elections are about a lot of things, but theyre really about getting out your base.

School choice is half of the education section in a proposed second-term agenda Trump unveiled Sunday, along with teach American exceptionalism. Carlson predicted that Trump will likely remind people of the win in the Espinoza case, referring to the U.S. Supreme Courts June decision overturning a Montana rule that excluded religious schools from a tax-credit scholarship program.

The inclusion of Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., on the RNC agenda could suggest the campaign wants to hammer on Trumps push for tax-credit-funded scholarships. Scott is co-sponsoring the school choice bill with Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander. The organizations would provide scholarships for private schools as well as to families that want to homeschool a segment of voters that could be growing because of frustrations over school reopening.

Trump will make daily appearances. To the extent he addresses education, observers dont expect him to stray from his recent positions on reopening schools and increasing private school choice.

Id like to see the money follow the student, Trump said Aug. 12 at his second White House event urging schools to reopen. Were having a hard time with the Democrats. They want the money to follow the union.

The U.S. Department of Education also followed up last week with a webinar titled School Choice During COVID-19 and the Impact on Families as Schools Reopen, which featured a school choice advocate in Ohio, a family participating in the federally funded D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, and the leader of a Christian school in Richmond, Virginia.

Kellyanne Conway, Vice President Mike Pence and President Donald Trump at the Kids First: Getting Americas Children Safely Back to School event. (Official White House Photo by Delano Scott)

State of polarization

There are some signs that pandemic desperation has made some of the administrations core education priorities more palatable to many who would not have embraced them prior to the coronavirus. Families who probably never viewed themselves as potential homeschoolers are among those breaking away from their school districts or teaming up with other families to form homeschool pods.

Recent polling from organizations albeit those that support school choice show increasing interest in homeschooling among Black and Hispanic families. A RealClear Opinion Research survey of more than 600 parents in May showed that almost 41 percent said they would be more likely to homeschool after the lockdowns, with half of Black parents and more than a third of Hispanic parents giving that response. In addition, a June survey from EdChoice and Morning Consult showed that more than 60 percent of 557 parents said they feel somewhat or much more favorable toward homeschooling since the outbreak of the virus.

For families suddenly embracing school choice or homeschooling, his message about funding following students probably resonates, said Rick Hess, an education policy expert at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. In addition, for those parents eager to get their children back in school, Trumps big megaphone on school reopening has offered a counterargument to the unions position that its not safe to return to in-person classes, he said.

If Trump gains some points among minority voters over school choice issues, he might lose their support over the reopening issue. Only a fifth of Black voters support a return to in-person learning for students and teachers before a vaccine is available, according to new polling data from Education Reform Now Advocacy, a project of Democrats for Education Reform.

Trump is out of step with the desires of Black voters and, more importantly, is jeopardizing the health of students and teachers, said Shavar Jeffries, president of the reform group.

Hess added that Trump might have swayed more voters if he had handled the COVID-19 crisis with some veneer of statesmanship, but that hasnt been the publics general perception.

Ultimately, with the nation in a state of polarization, Hess said, Trump supporters are unlikely to change their vote to Democratic nominee Joe Biden even if they agree with keeping learning remote. Likewise, Biden supporters likely wont turn to Trump just because they want their children back in school.

Small, but passionate

For past Republican presidents, education has been more of a bridge issue. That was initially the case with No Child Left Behind under President George W. Bush and continued during the Obama administration with the Every Student Succeeds Act.

But thats clearly not Trumps style, said David Campbell, a political science professor at the University of Notre Dame. The president uses education to appeal to a small, but very passionate group, he said. He added that although the general population might not be as familiar with tax-credit scholarship programs as they are other types of school choice, like vouchers and charter schools, such policies are well-known to the constituents that care.

One problem for Trump, however, is that some of those voters arent particularly happy with his record on school choice either. DeVos and the administration have been unsuccessful in getting significant congressional support for their $5 billion tax-credit proposal. Its also unclear whether the Senate Republicans plan for emergency tax-credit programs in the states will make it into the next pandemic relief package.

We would like them to actually deliver on their early promises for the tax-credit proposals that they have talked about since the last campaign, said Dale McDonald, the director of public policy for the National Catholic Education Association. NCEA will certainly continue to push for assistance to parents to choose schools, but not seeing any major breakthrough just yet.

A battle-hardened DeVos

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos isnt scheduled to make a convention appearance this week, but whether she would join Trump for another four years if he wins is still up for grabs.

Presidential advisor and Catholic school supporter Kellyanne Conway, who is scheduled to speak Wednesday, frequently communicates the administrations priorities regarding education and led much of the discussion at the April 12 school reopening event.

We, as a nation, can philosophically and politically differ on many issues, Conway said, addressing Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. But Ive never, ever heard a very compelling and persuasive, memorable reason why people oppose the kind of school choice that the two of you are fighting for.

Conway announced Sunday that she is leaving the White House at the end of the month.

Some, such as Fordham Institute President Michael Petrilli, dont expect DeVos to hang around for a second term. Jason Botel, who served in the department until 2018 as an assistant secretary, said she might prefer to return to the philanthropic sector and focus on expanding school choice for children in low-income families that way.

But having outlasted so many other members of Trumps cabinet, DeVos is much more battle-hardened now and plays well with the base, Hess said. The people who give to Republican campaigns feel like she has been unfairly slandered and smeared.

Whether she would remain for a second term might be her call, he added.

If Trump wins a second term and DeVos moves on, Botel suggests the administrations efforts to appeal to the religious right will continue. Trump could also choose someone from the higher education sector who is a champion of the faith community.

A DeVos replacement at the department could also take on other initiatives, Botel said, as long as they dont overshadow Trumps primary goal pushing education-related policies that have the support of faith communities.

Originally posted here:
Trump Expected to Stick to Twin Themes of Reopening and Private School Choice at This Week's Republican National Convention - The 74

A year into office, BS Yediyurappa, the Bharatiya Janata Party's only chief minister who is above the 75-year threshold, finds himself at a crossroads.

In the past two months, the party high command has given scant regard to his choice of legislative council and Rajya Sabha candidates, when elections were notified for these.

And now, he has not been able to keep his promise of ministerial berths to leaders who defected from the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) to help him come to power last year. A cabinet reshuffle and expansion has been on the cards for a long time: defectors like MTB Nagaraj and R Shankar who have been made members of legislative council (MLCs) after nearly six months are waiting in the wings to be crowned ministers.

Yet, there have been inordinate delays, amid a buzz that refuses to go away that the 'high command' may not only go for a cabinet reshuffle but may also look at a new CM face who can front the party for the next elections.

Nobody knows whether this buzz is serious or just wishful thinking on the part of other aspirants. But the one thing everyone knows is that, in Karnataka politics, BSY is quite, quite irreplaceable.

"Actually, they have already started looking at it (a potential replacement) for almost six months," says political analyst Harish Ramaswamy. "They also realise they can't replace Yediyurappa unless they have a clear strategy on the ground, for the simple reason that he is a grassroots leader, and he has his roots clearly spread in the Lingayat region."

After all, who can forget the drubbing that the BJP suffered when BSY parted ways with it seven years ago and floated his own splinter party?

So the strategy is threefold right now, Ramaswamy says.

"They want an RSS person in the picture. They are also trying to find an alternate Lingayat candidate. Although you have Lingayats in the BJP, you don't have candidates who can replace Yediyurappa in the public space. The third thing they are working on is, if they have a new leader, will he be deep-rooted enough to garner votes for the BJP? There is one set of votes that will go to the BJP anyway. But there is political mobilisation capacity needed to garner more votes to defeat another party that is regionally strong like the JD(S) or has a national stature like the Congress with its formidable leaders like Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar," Ramaswamy says to News18.

There is still another two and a half years to go before Karnataka faces an assembly election, but the BJP has always been known to start and prepare early. So one set of voices within the party feels that it is better to face the next election under a different CM one who can take charge perhaps by the end of 2020, and go on to demonstrate his or her leadership and governance skills in the remaining two years.

There is another set that believes it is better to face the next election under BSY at the helm. But if they win the next election, then it would be better to get in a new 'surprise' face installed as the CM, with Yediyurappa being given a graceful exit as, perhaps, a governor.

"They can continue with him till the next election, so that the party comes back (or stands a good chance of coming back) to power. Everything else is secondary. The party must come back," says a senior minister in the BSY cabinet, adding, "They can then decide the next CM after winning the election based on BSY's popularity." He is a CM aspirant himself.

The problem would, of course, be that BSY would be at the ripe age of 80 by then. The party has, hitherto, prided itself on asking its 75+ leaders to move to the so-called 'margdarshak mandal', which is supposed to be an apex advisory body.

But if they make an exception for a 77-year-old now, would it matter if the age were 78, 79 or 80?

"They are likely to let him complete his term (till 2023), extracting a promise perhaps that he will be at the forefront of the next election campaign and help win it. If they win the election, the possibility of another Lingayat leader close to BSY like Bommai becoming the CM is not ruled out. An alternative option might be to make a Dalit leader like the present deputy CM, Govind Karjol, the CM for half the term and then accommodate a powerful upper caste leader for the remainder of the term (assuming the party comes to power)," says Chandan Gowda, political observer and professor at the Azim Premji University.

These leaders, however, may not be close to the party's national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh. Over the past year, Santhosh has been calling the shots over many issues, be it choice of candidates in various elections or taking on the Opposition on issues like the Bengaluru riots. He has kept a close watch over politics in Karnataka, and is said to be not averse to chief ministerial dreams himself.

But the camp that feels BSY could be replaced earlier, believes that the time may come as early as six months from now.

A Lingayat MLA from north Karnataka has been puzzled over why the cabinet expansion has been put off for over a month now.

The CM had given his word to defectors like MTB Nagaraj and R Shankar to reward them with cabinet berths. Not only this, there has also been considerable lobbying from the 'original' BJP MLAs to be accommodated in a cabinet expansion. Perhaps the expansion plans have been held up because of the high command's calculations on who should be included and who shouldn't and whether they need to have a new leader in, in six months, he feels.

"Maybe it will take another six months. What I feel is, naturally the party will look for a Lingayat face. There is a feeling in Karnataka that the votes are based on caste the Gowda votes are with the JD(S), most of the Lingayat votes are with the BJP, so changing that to a non-Lingayat face will make us lose out our core vote bank. So the party won't take a chance on that," he says, on condition of anonymity.

He adds wryly, "Our high command can take any decision, they are known for it. Only they know what calculations run in their mind."

The party has, in the past, tried to taunt BSY in various ways it installed three deputy CMs without consulting him, it went against his choice in MLC and Rajya Sabha elections, against his choice of state party president. But all this has not deterred Yediyurappa.

"If it had deterred him, he may have done other things (like going against the high command.) But it has not. However, they are pushing him into a situation where he may want out of the race by the next election," points out Ramaswamy. He says the party will probably take this up seriously only about six months before the election.

"Probably one idea that Yediyurappa had earlier was to find a place for his son and he could move away. But they did not agree. With many strategies combined, they have to carefully choose the successor, and give him a graceful exit," he says.

Another political analyst, Prof Sandeep Shastri, says the party has given BSY enough hints even some not-so-subtle ones about the need to change the CM.

The chief minister also realises where the shots are being called whether in appointment of deputy CMs or MPs, the ground is being prepared for a handover.

But the party is also eager that the handover be smooth, Shastri says.

"Who is the ideal replacement, is the million-dollar question. There are a lot of people in the BJP who say, 'Don't put me in the list of contenders.' Because the minute a name is floated, that person would be out of the reckoning. Look at the choice of the President, of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana CMs, at the choice of Tejasvi Surya for Bangalore South Lok Sabha seat. Whenever there is a decision left to the Centre, they believe in an element of surprise," Shastri says.

While surprise is one element that is part of the style of this leadership, the other is that whoever the choice is, must be their choice. Not the media's choice, nor anyone who fancies himself as the next CM or anyone who tries to promote himself.

Again, the man to watch out for is BL Santhosh, Shastri believes.

"I don't think Lingayats have a mass leader of that stature. If you look at how Ramakrishna Hegde emerged as the leader who could bring the Gowdas and Lingayats together, here too, the party may find a Brahmin is the uniting factor whether Santhosh or Pralhad Joshi. Since Yediyurappa is dead against Santhosh, Joshi may emerge as the compromise candidate," he says.

Caste is not the only calculation. The loyalty test is the only test loyalty to the party's core principles and to the Delhi bosses similar to Indira Gandhi's way of functioning, he feels.

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BJP's Karnataka Conundrum: Finding a Successor to BSY, and the Long, Tumultuous Road It Opens - News18