‘Myth-busting’ Obama tries to debunk GOP on the economy ADVERTISING ‘Myth-busting’ Obama tries to debunk GOP on the economy ELKHART, Ind. (AP) — President Barack Obama went on a “myth-busting” mission Wednesday aimed at undermining Republican arguments about the economy,
‘Myth-busting’ Obama tries to debunk GOP on the economy
ELKHART, Ind. (AP) — President Barack Obama went on a “myth-busting” mission Wednesday aimed at undermining Republican arguments about the economy, working to give cover to Democrats to embrace his policies ahead of the presidential election.
Officially, Obama came to this hardscrabble town in northern Indiana to illustrate how steps he took in the first days of his presidency had ultimately paid off and pulled the economy back from the brink. Yet his rally at a high school in Elkhart blurred the lines between governing and campaigning, marking the president’s most aggressive and direct foray to date into the roaring campaign to replace him.
“The primary story that Republicans have been telling about the economy is not supported by the facts. It’s just not,” Obama said. “They repeat it a lot, but it’s not supported by the facts. But they say it anyway. Now what is that? It’s because it has worked to get them votes.”
When Obama came to Elkhart seven years ago on his first major presidential trip, the unemployment rate was soaring and the White House struggling to secure support for injecting hundreds of billions of federal dollars into the economy. Though the economy has improved measurably, Republicans have been reluctant to give Obama credit.
As Obama returned to Indiana, GOP Gov. Mike Pence said the state had recovered “in spite of Obama’s policies” — not because of them. And the Republican National Committee dismissed his visit as a “campaign trip” designed to help Hillary Clinton sell a weak Obama record as if it were “really a success story.”
Somalia: Hotel attack kills 2 parliament members, 4 others
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia’s Islamic extremist rebels, al-Shabab, stormed a hotel in the capital Wednesday evening, killing at least six people and taking a number of hostages, police said. The scene at the Ambassador Hotel, frequented by government officials and business executives, appeared to be at a standoff overnight.
“At least two gunmen are still holed up inside the building now,” police Capt. Mohamed Hussein said earlier.
Two members of parliament were among the dead, he said. At least part of the hotel burned.
The attack began when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the hotel’s gates. Fighters on foot then forced their way into the hotel.
The attack comes on the eve of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, during which extremists often step up attacks in this volatile East African country.
Trump University: Sales strategy foreshadowed campaign
WASHINGTON (AP) — Grand promises. Boundless boasts. Absolute faith in the man behind it all.
The strategies that Donald Trump’s now-defunct educational company used to woo customers have plenty of echoes of the presumptive Republican nominee’s current pitch to voters, based on newly disclosed court documents about Trump University. Hillary Clinton leapt on the parallels Wednesday, using them to cast Trump as a “fraud” who peddles false promises to Americans but cares only about his personal gain.
“He is trying to scam America the way he scammed all those people at Trump U,” Clinton said during a campaign stop in Newark, New Jersey. “It’s important that we recognize what he has done because that’s usually a pretty good indicator of what he will do.”
The new details about Trump University were revealed in documents released Tuesday as part of a trio of lawsuits accusing the businessman of fleecing students with unfulfilled promises to provide secrets of real estate success. Plaintiffs contend the organization gave seminars and classes across the country that constantly pressured customers to buy more and more but failed to deliver on promises of financial success.
Trump vigorously maintains that customers were overwhelmingly pleased with the offerings, and the documents do include testimony from several satisfied customers. His campaign released a video Wednesday featuring several people speaking positively about their experiences.
Second probe: No charges in shooting of Minneapolis black man
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — For the second time this year, authorities say there is not enough evidence to charge two white Minneapolis police officers in the November shooting death of a black man after a confrontation.
Wednesday’s announcement in the just-completed federal investigation angered activists who protested 24-year-old Jamar Clark’s death for weeks and remain outraged that both probes, the other released in March by a state prosecutor, came to the same conclusion.
“We are tired of what is happening, and what feels like Jim Crow North,” Minneapolis NAACP President Nekima Levy-Pounds told reporters after U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger said there was insufficient evidence to support criminal civil rights charges against the two officers.
The officers, Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze, were trying to arrest Clark when he was shot once in the head Nov. 15. He died a day later.
A key issue in both investigations was whether Clark was handcuffed when he was shot. The federal and state probes came to the same conclusion: Clark was not.
