Tag: group

Now, Edelen is running in a hotly contested Democratic primary for governor. Jones said Wednesday he was sorry to see the political organization dissolve, but said its legacy will be having brought together a network of people working on common goals and ideas. Unlimited Digital Access: Only $0.99 For Your First Month Get full access to The Idaho Statesman content across all your devices. Edelen didn't immediately respond to an email Wednesday seeking comment, but he told the Lexington Herald-Leader the decision to dissolve was "one largely made by economics." He told the Lexington newspaper, the first to report the organization's disbandment, that the project ultimately didn't make enough money to sustain itself. "One side wins, the other side loses. From the outset, Edelen and Jones said the organization would not try to elect anyone to office, but acknowledged it would "lean Democratic" with a core set of values promoting education, affordable health care and pro-labor policies. The group made no political donations. The group's events also gave Edelen and Jones a platform to interact with progressives at a time when Republicans dominate Kentucky's political landscape. "But it was very difficult for them because when your party's in charge, there's very little incentive to kind of reach out to the other side."

The Independent Group of MPs has been challenged by the petitions site Change.org about their plans to register as a political party called Change UK. The breakaway group of former Labour and Tory MPs is to formally register as a political party in time for potential European elections, and has said the former Conservative MP Heidi Allen will be interim leader. It is understood Change.org is seeking legal advice and contacting the Electoral commission. “This new party is using the language of Change.org. In a statement on Twitter, Change.org said it was “totally independent of party politics” and said it was seeking advice on how to challenge the branding. “It’s said that imitation is a form of flattery. The group will register as Change UK – The Independent Group. “A new party will shake up the two-party system and provide people with an alternative that can change our country for the better,” Umunna said. “This is what Change UK will be aiming to do at any European elections if our application for registration is accepted in time.” Allen said she wanted to attract support from across political backgrounds. Three Tory MPs joined the group two days after the Labour MPs defected, saying they believed their party was being held hostage by hard Brexiters.

The Independent Group (TIG) of MPs has applied to become a political party to take part in European elections in May if they go ahead. The government has warned that unless the EU withdrawal agreement is approved later, the UK risks having to take part in May's European Parliament polls. The Independent Group, currently made up of eight former Labour and three ex-Tory MPs, has said it had applied to register as a political party in time for it to take part in those polls under the name "Change UK - The Independent Group". AdChoices If the elections watchdog approves its application and the polls go ahead, it said it would field a substantial number of candidates from backgrounds outside of politics to try and "shake up the two-party system". Ms Allen, a former Conservative MP, told the BBC that the European elections would be a "weathervane moment for the country" and a "proxy for another referendum". "It is real opportunity," she said. "The country is crying out for someone to lead and say we can just stay." She claimed there was enormous support for a new political movement but she did not underestimate the challenges involved. "This is David and Goliath stuff. She said there had no squabbling over her appointment as interim leader and it felt a "nice fit" for her to take the role alongside Chuka Umunna, who is acting as the group's principal spokesman.

The Independent Group (TIG) of MPs has applied to become a political party to take part in European elections in May if they go ahead. The government has warned that unless the EU withdrawal agreement is approved later, the UK risks having to take part in May's European Parliament polls. The Independent Group, currently made up of eight former Labour and three ex-Tory MPs, has said it had applied to register as a political party in time for it to take part in those polls under the name "Change UK - The Independent Group". AdChoices If the elections watchdog approves its application and the polls go ahead, it said it would field a substantial number of candidates from backgrounds outside of politics to try and "shake up the two-party system". Ms Allen, a former Conservative MP, told the BBC that the European elections would be a "weathervane moment for the country" and a "proxy for another referendum". "It is real opportunity," she said. "The country is crying out for someone to lead and say we can just stay." She claimed there was enormous support for a new political movement but she did not underestimate the challenges involved. "This is David and Goliath stuff. She said there had no squabbling over her appointment as interim leader and it felt a "nice fit" for her to take the role alongside Chuka Umunna, who is acting as the group's principal spokesman.

Iran’s financial crisis, exacerbated by American sanctions, appears to be undermining its support for militant groups and political allies who bolster Iranian influence in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere. But Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, acknowledged the difficulties created by the American sanctions, criticizing them this month as “a form of war” and calling on the movement’s fund-raising arm “to provide the opportunity for jihad with money and also to help with this ongoing battle.” The Trump administration says the strains show that the sanctions are effective. Last year, President Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions, hoping to undermine Iran’s ability to fund its network of alliances. In an interview in Beirut, a Hezbollah official denied that the group had not paid salaries and that the American sanctions had undermined its core mission. But he acknowledged that the group was reorganizing its finances to cut costs. During Mr. Pompeo’s visit to Beirut, his anti-Hezbollah stance faced staunch pushback from top Lebanese officials, including the president, the speaker of Parliament and the foreign minister. The United States is not, nor are its local partners. Iran’s deepest involvement is in Iraq, where financial pressures at home have pushed it to pursue stronger economic ties. Iran also maintains allies across Iraq’s political spectrum who promote Iranian interests, recently by challenging the United States’ military presence in the country. “When you try to push Iran out of the region by sanctioning it,” said Mr. Shabani of Al Monitor, “you are forcing it to get involved in the region even more.”

The one-minute spot is the handiwork of the Alliance for Patient Access, a nonprofit group that gives off a consumer-friendly vibe yet is bankrolled by the powerful pharmaceutical industry. As Congress and the Trump administration aim to lower prescription drug costs, outside groups like the Alliance for Patient Access are seeking to sway the outcome. Susan Hepworth, a spokeswoman for the Alliance and Woodberry, described the nonprofit as “a national network of physicians that advocates for patient access to the medicines they prescribe.” Through the Alliance, she said, doctors “can share their perspectives about the benefits of respecting the physician-patient relationship, clinical decision making and personalized, patient-centered health care.” It’s no surprise, Hepworth said, that the group’s backers include companies that manufacture medicines. Under the Trump proposal, the ad says, “cancer treatment would be paid based on rates from countries with European-style health care, where access to new medicine is rationed and patients often wait months for care.” Tax filings for 2015 through 2017, the most recent available, show the Alliance has paid Woodberry’s consultants more than $1 million. “A nonprofit could run afoul of tax law if it is substantially benefiting a nonprofit officer’s for-profit consulting firm.” Hepworth said Woodberry is a consultancy with a division that specializes in nonprofit coalition management and that the money paid to the firm’s people represents a small amount of the Alliance’s expenditures for those years. The Alliance “files all of the appropriate paperwork with the IRS and takes the extra step of making available on its website a current list of its supporters,” according to Hepworth. The Alliance’s money comes from more than three dozen associate members and financial supporters, which include several of the largest pharmaceutical companies. For example, Dr. Jack Schim, a neurologist in California and an Alliance director, was paid nearly $329,000 between 2015 and 2017, with the bulk of the money coming from Allergan, maker of wrinkle treatment Botox, according to a database maintained by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. While the Alliance names its supporters, it doesn’t disclose how much each has contributed. Kennedy is the Alliance’s executive director and Woodberry’s president.

(Photo: Deborah Barfield Berry, USA TODAY) Turning to the national stage To take advantage of the national attention, She the People will host a presidential forum in Houston in April – the first by a group led by women of color. “For men and women (candidates) of various races, they all need to win women of color,'' Allison said. Virginia is a crucial state for Democratic presidential candidates. “It’s very important for women of color to be heard given the political environment that’s going on there," Allison said. One early indicator of that power will be who shows up for the presidential forum, Walsh said. The group plans listening sessions with black female leaders to discuss get-out-the-vote campaigns and demands from candidates. Campbell said her organization hasn’t heard from presidential candidates. Black female voters helped Doug Jones pull off an upset in Alabama in 2017, making him the state’s first Democratic senator in 25 years. Campbell criticized Republicans and Democrats for not talking with black women enough. "When it comes to engaging and being respectful of the black vote and black women’s vote, they have a lot of room (where) they can go up," she said of Republicans.

(Photo: Deborah Barfield Berry, USA TODAY) Turning to the national stage To take advantage of the national attention, She the People will host a presidential forum in Houston in April – the first by a group led by women of color. “For men and women (candidates) of various races, they all need to win women of color,'' Allison said. Virginia is a crucial state for Democratic presidential candidates. “It’s very important for women of color to be heard given the political environment that’s going on there," Allison said. One early indicator of that power will be who shows up for the presidential forum, Walsh said. The group plans listening sessions with black female leaders to discuss get-out-the-vote campaigns and demands from candidates. Campbell said her organization hasn’t heard from presidential candidates. Black female voters helped Doug Jones pull off an upset in Alabama in 2017, making him the state’s first Democratic senator in 25 years. Campbell criticized Republicans and Democrats for not talking with black women enough. "When it comes to engaging and being respectful of the black vote and black women’s vote, they have a lot of room (where) they can go up," she said of Republicans.