The killing of forty-nine people and the wounding of over fifty more in the Impulse night club in Orlando, Florida has been called the most destructive mass shooting in U.S. history. The shooter, twenty-nine-year-old Omar Mateen, was killed by police gunfire. Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have weighed in on the shooting.
Donald Trump took the I-told-you-so approach, referring to his proposal to ban Muslims, at least temporarily, from entering the country. He had previously called Hillary Clinton a "secret" Muslim, who was facilitating the entry of Muslims into the United States. He used the shooting to portray himself as the real champion of women, because Clinton was supporting Muslims, who treat women very badly; also, he said that Muslim countries kill gay, lesbian and trans-gender persons. Donald Trump conflated the efforts of one grossly misguided, predominantly Muslim country to legitimize the killing of LBGTQ people, to apply as a general practice in all predominantly Muslim countries.
Hillary Clinton took the position that the United States would be buying enormous trouble in the world by demonizing all adherents of one of the major religions in the world. Clinton also referred to the absurdity of someone who was under close FBI scrutiny and had been interviewed twice by the agency, could walk into a gun shop and, after passing a background check, get the firearms he needed to conduct his massacre.
When Donald Trump linked the Impulse night club shooting to his ban on immigrating Muslims, he was creating an impression that mass shootings were primarily caused by immigrating Muslims. The shooter, Omar Mateen, was born and raised in New York. As of early December 2015, the number of mass shootings -- defined as four or more dead persons -- had surpassed the number of days in the year. All, or virtually all, of the shooters were U.S. citizens who had not immigrated to the country.
Considering that the judge that Trump was assailing him for having a hatred for him, Trump, and the young man taken into custody for having firearms and explosives that he may have been planning to use to disrupt a gay parade, were both born in Indiana, perhaps Trump should be planning to build a wall around Indiana.
ADDENDUMS:
*Pocahontus Surfaces Again - Donald Trump supporters are being forced to address a recent Trump tweet: "Pocahontas is at it again!" "Goofy Elizabeth Warren, one of the least productive U.S. Senators, has a nasty mouth." Trump as a tendency to refer to anyone who strongly criticizes him, as being among the worst of the worst.
Stephanie Fryberg, an associate professor of psychology and American Studies at the University of Washington, said: "Mr. Trump's comments reinforce broad stereotypes of Native Americans as Indian chiefs, mascots and princesses, rather than contemporary people ;who are contributing to society." "He's not using the term to be honorific. He's using it to mock her."
*Trump's Missing Board Game Donation - Donald Trump has made claims of donating $1 million to charity from sales of "Trump: the Game," a Monopoly-style board game sold in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Milton Bradley officials have no knowledge of the donation.
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Monday, June 13, 2016
Homophobe Supreme
"Justice Antonin Scalia, who spearheaded the Supreme Court's hard-line right turn, didn't always follow his own best advice. In his dissent to Romer v. Evans, a 1996 case concerning discrimination against LGBTQ people, he wrote: 'It is our moral heritage that one should not hate any human being or class of human beings.' But in the same dissent, he attacked same-sex attraction as 'reprehensible' and compared it to 'murder,' 'polygamy,' and 'cruelty to animals.'
Scalia's bile toward LGBTQ people spilled into his 2003 dissent in Lawrence v. Texas, in which he sided with the 'many Americans [who] do not want persons who openly engage in homosexual conduct as partners in their business, as scoutmasters for their children, as teachers in their children's schools,or as boarders in their home.' He also posited that these Americans were guarding themselves from 'a lifestyle that they believe to be immoral and destructive,' and equated homosexuality with the 'recreational use of heroin.'
Scalia's judicial legacy -- or, in his grandiose phrase, his 'moral heritage' -- demonstrated a belligerent contempt for LGBTQ people that looks more archaic (and repulsive) with each passing year. We can only look forward to the day -- coming sooner rather than later -- that it will be consigned, with supreme justice, to the annals of dead-letter law." [1]
ADDENDUMS:
*Tom Tomorrow's Thoughts on Military Might - "Among the matters deserving critical scrutiny is Washington's persistent bipartisan belief in military might as an all-purpose problem solver." "Making a show of supporting the troops takes precedence over serious consideration of what they are continuously being asked to do." "Nuclear policy has long since moved into the realm of theology. Much as the Christian faith derives from a Trinity consisting of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, so nuclear theology has its own Triad, comprised of manned bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and submarine-launched missiles."
*Nuclear Armageddon - More than 2,000 nuclear warheads are on trigger alert. On at least five occasions since 1979 either Moscow or Washington prepared to launch nuclear war in the mistaken belief it was under attack. If even 300 Russian warheads got through, a 2007 study showed that 75 to 100 million people would be killed and the entire U.S. economic structure destroyed. If all of the warheads on alert were fired, it would put 150 million tons of soot into the upper atmosphere, creating a new Ice Age in a matter of days. [2]
*U.S. Adopts Unique Israeli Tactic - The U.S. has adopted the Israeli battlefield tactic in its fight against ISIS: exploding a missile above a building to warn civilians inside. This has been called "knock-on-the-roof" operations. Air force Major General Peter E. Gersten, deputy commander for operations and intelligence for the anti-ISIS Operation Inherent Resolve, described an operation to get an ISIS finance operative ("finance emir"): "We went as far as actually to put a Hellfire on the top of the building and air-burst it so it wouldn't destroy the building, simply knock on the roof to ensure that she (an observed female) and the children were out of the building. "
Footnotes
[1] Natalie Pattillo, "Homophobe Supreme," The Nation, March 7, 2016.
[2] Ira Helfand (Syndicated by PeaceVoice), "Put the Threat of Nuclear War Back on Your Radar," peaceworker.com, February 17, 2016.
Scalia's bile toward LGBTQ people spilled into his 2003 dissent in Lawrence v. Texas, in which he sided with the 'many Americans [who] do not want persons who openly engage in homosexual conduct as partners in their business, as scoutmasters for their children, as teachers in their children's schools,or as boarders in their home.' He also posited that these Americans were guarding themselves from 'a lifestyle that they believe to be immoral and destructive,' and equated homosexuality with the 'recreational use of heroin.'
Scalia's judicial legacy -- or, in his grandiose phrase, his 'moral heritage' -- demonstrated a belligerent contempt for LGBTQ people that looks more archaic (and repulsive) with each passing year. We can only look forward to the day -- coming sooner rather than later -- that it will be consigned, with supreme justice, to the annals of dead-letter law." [1]
ADDENDUMS:
*Tom Tomorrow's Thoughts on Military Might - "Among the matters deserving critical scrutiny is Washington's persistent bipartisan belief in military might as an all-purpose problem solver." "Making a show of supporting the troops takes precedence over serious consideration of what they are continuously being asked to do." "Nuclear policy has long since moved into the realm of theology. Much as the Christian faith derives from a Trinity consisting of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, so nuclear theology has its own Triad, comprised of manned bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and submarine-launched missiles."
*Nuclear Armageddon - More than 2,000 nuclear warheads are on trigger alert. On at least five occasions since 1979 either Moscow or Washington prepared to launch nuclear war in the mistaken belief it was under attack. If even 300 Russian warheads got through, a 2007 study showed that 75 to 100 million people would be killed and the entire U.S. economic structure destroyed. If all of the warheads on alert were fired, it would put 150 million tons of soot into the upper atmosphere, creating a new Ice Age in a matter of days. [2]
*U.S. Adopts Unique Israeli Tactic - The U.S. has adopted the Israeli battlefield tactic in its fight against ISIS: exploding a missile above a building to warn civilians inside. This has been called "knock-on-the-roof" operations. Air force Major General Peter E. Gersten, deputy commander for operations and intelligence for the anti-ISIS Operation Inherent Resolve, described an operation to get an ISIS finance operative ("finance emir"): "We went as far as actually to put a Hellfire on the top of the building and air-burst it so it wouldn't destroy the building, simply knock on the roof to ensure that she (an observed female) and the children were out of the building. "
Footnotes
[1] Natalie Pattillo, "Homophobe Supreme," The Nation, March 7, 2016.
[2] Ira Helfand (Syndicated by PeaceVoice), "Put the Threat of Nuclear War Back on Your Radar," peaceworker.com, February 17, 2016.
Sunday, June 12, 2016
Gender Equality and Work/Family Balance
"The United States lags behind the rest of the world in providing paid family leave. In a study of 185 countries, only two besides the United States failed to ensure that new mothers get paid time off from work; the United States was also one of very few countries that doesn't extend paid leave to fathers.) [1]
In California, women are twice as likely to take leave as men; also, Californians who take time off don't receive full pay. The typical benefit is 55 percent of their usual weekly salary, capped at about $1,000 a week. [2]
The present situation on family leave: The Family and Medical Leave Act allows 12 weeks without pay. Some states give partial pay. Thus, the lowest-paid spouse takes the leave --usually mom.
The situation in Sweden: parental leave offers 480 days off, with 390 at 80% salary. Only about 6% of men took advantage of the policy in its first 17 years. Sweden redesigned the policy a few years ago; now a father is required to take at least two months off before his child turns 8 or he will forfeit his benefits altogether. After the change, 85% of fathers took leave. Moms average income was 7% higher for every month of leave that dads took. [3]
In the United States, balancing work and family is still a chore:
*In 1970, both parents in 31% of two -parent households worked full-time.
*Today, it's 46%.
*Only 25% of two-parent households have a dad who works full-time and a mom who doesn't work outside the home.
Average hours per week spent on... paid work --- housework --- child care. In 1965, taking these three categories in order, moms spent 8, 32, and 10 hours, while dads spent 42, 4 and 3 hours. In 2011, moms spent 21, 18 and 14 hours, while dads spent 37, 10 and 7
hours..
Current polling on doing housework shows the following: 43% of married moms say they handle more of the household tasks --- 49% of married moms who work full time do housework daily --- 64% of married dads say they split housework equally --- 18% of married dads who work full time do housework daily.
Employed people who think men should be breadwinners and women should be caregivers: Millennials - 34%; Generation X - 39%; Baby Boomers - 40%; and the Silent Generation - 51%.
41% of working moms report that being a parent has made it harder for them to advance in their careers, versus 20% of working dads who say the same.
California dads are 50% more likely to take paid family leave to send time with a newborn son than with a newborn daughter.
Men see a more than 6% increase in earnings when they have children. In contrast, women experience a 4% decrease in pay for each child they have. [4]
ADDENDUMS:
*Cotton on Torture - In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on March 23, 2016, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-ARK) claimed that the U.S. has never tortured; also, he said that waterboarding is not torture. Blitzer did not challenge Cotton on either claim. Cotton added that if an interrogator said he/she needed to waterboard to get needed information, that would be O.K. with him. Given that U.S. service personnel are waterboarded as training for if they should become captured, Cotton contends that they would not consent to it if it was torture. This latter claim is highly dubious, given the high priority for following orders.
*Nuking ISIS - In March 2016, Donald Trump advocated the use of nuclear weapons to destroy ISIS. The proposal did not draw much reaction; however, a proposal by Sen. Ted Cruz for police to conduct special patrols of Muslim communities in the U.S. has generated a lot of return fire.
Cluster Bombs - A total of 118 nations have banned cluster bombs. Textron Industries is a major manufacturer of cluster bombs.
Footnotes
[1] Bryce Covert and Mike Konczal, "Equality is in the Details," The Nation, May 9/16, 2016.
[2] and [3] Ibid.
[4] The factual information under balancing work and family is found in: Becca Andrews, "The Home Front," Mother Jones, May/June 2016. Also consult: motherjones.com/family.
In California, women are twice as likely to take leave as men; also, Californians who take time off don't receive full pay. The typical benefit is 55 percent of their usual weekly salary, capped at about $1,000 a week. [2]
The present situation on family leave: The Family and Medical Leave Act allows 12 weeks without pay. Some states give partial pay. Thus, the lowest-paid spouse takes the leave --usually mom.
The situation in Sweden: parental leave offers 480 days off, with 390 at 80% salary. Only about 6% of men took advantage of the policy in its first 17 years. Sweden redesigned the policy a few years ago; now a father is required to take at least two months off before his child turns 8 or he will forfeit his benefits altogether. After the change, 85% of fathers took leave. Moms average income was 7% higher for every month of leave that dads took. [3]
In the United States, balancing work and family is still a chore:
*In 1970, both parents in 31% of two -parent households worked full-time.
*Today, it's 46%.
*Only 25% of two-parent households have a dad who works full-time and a mom who doesn't work outside the home.
Average hours per week spent on... paid work --- housework --- child care. In 1965, taking these three categories in order, moms spent 8, 32, and 10 hours, while dads spent 42, 4 and 3 hours. In 2011, moms spent 21, 18 and 14 hours, while dads spent 37, 10 and 7
hours..
Current polling on doing housework shows the following: 43% of married moms say they handle more of the household tasks --- 49% of married moms who work full time do housework daily --- 64% of married dads say they split housework equally --- 18% of married dads who work full time do housework daily.
Employed people who think men should be breadwinners and women should be caregivers: Millennials - 34%; Generation X - 39%; Baby Boomers - 40%; and the Silent Generation - 51%.
41% of working moms report that being a parent has made it harder for them to advance in their careers, versus 20% of working dads who say the same.
California dads are 50% more likely to take paid family leave to send time with a newborn son than with a newborn daughter.
Men see a more than 6% increase in earnings when they have children. In contrast, women experience a 4% decrease in pay for each child they have. [4]
ADDENDUMS:
*Cotton on Torture - In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on March 23, 2016, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-ARK) claimed that the U.S. has never tortured; also, he said that waterboarding is not torture. Blitzer did not challenge Cotton on either claim. Cotton added that if an interrogator said he/she needed to waterboard to get needed information, that would be O.K. with him. Given that U.S. service personnel are waterboarded as training for if they should become captured, Cotton contends that they would not consent to it if it was torture. This latter claim is highly dubious, given the high priority for following orders.
*Nuking ISIS - In March 2016, Donald Trump advocated the use of nuclear weapons to destroy ISIS. The proposal did not draw much reaction; however, a proposal by Sen. Ted Cruz for police to conduct special patrols of Muslim communities in the U.S. has generated a lot of return fire.
Cluster Bombs - A total of 118 nations have banned cluster bombs. Textron Industries is a major manufacturer of cluster bombs.
Footnotes
[1] Bryce Covert and Mike Konczal, "Equality is in the Details," The Nation, May 9/16, 2016.
[2] and [3] Ibid.
[4] The factual information under balancing work and family is found in: Becca Andrews, "The Home Front," Mother Jones, May/June 2016. Also consult: motherjones.com/family.
Friday, June 10, 2016
Responding to Critics on the Iranian Nuclear Deal
A Peace Action affiliate leader asked for input on how to respond to critics of the Iranian nuclear deal. Below, I present the suggestions I made to the leader and conclude with some broader judgments.
Critics' Claims Followed by Suggested Responses
1) Lifting sanctions will free up money -- mostly from frozen assets -- for additional support by Iran for terrorism.
Response: The cost of bringing oil production to full-speed may use up most or all of the freed-up money, to say nothing about repairing the other economic damage caused by the sanctions. The fact that about 60% of Iranians are 35 years or younger will generate pressure to ramp up educational and job-training spending.
2) The approximately 24-day period before undeclared sites can be inspected will allow Iran to clean up such sites.
Response: In addition to putting an undeclared site out out of business for a time, Energy Secretary Ernest Muniz has said there are ways to determine if nuclear development activity had been taking place, such as nuclear particles being present. Furthermore, any three UN Security Council members can put re-inspection in place to prevent re-activation.
3) Since those testifying have agreed that the sanctions were the main reason Iran came to the negotiating table, ever harsher sanctions should induce further concessions from Iran.
Response: As Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has pointed out, the sanctions worked because the negotiating partners and the world's nations, in general, have honored them. In the absence of a agreement, other nations would feel free to trade with Iran today. In other words, unilateral U.S. sanctions would have significantly less effect than sanctions honored worldwide.
4) Since the agreement specifies that only a violation of nuclear activity triggers a "snapback" of sanctions, Iran could be linked to a major act of terrorism and not trigger sanctions.
Response: Secretary of State John Kerry read a list of laws and policies that are designed to deter and/or penalize acts of terrorism. Violations of nuclear agreements and acts of terrorism can be sanctioned/penalized separately.
5) After the embargoes on conventional arms and ballistic missile components expire, Iran will be free to acquire them.
Response: It is difficult to maintain any restriction in perpetuity. Absent the embargo provisions, Iran could start trading for these arms today. Note also that continued provision of arms to other Middle Eastern nations would give hard-line Iranian generals a strong talking point to resist any prohibition on Iran acquiring arms.
What are the alternatives? The alternatives are: renegotiation; making the Middle East a Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone; letting Iran build nuclear weapons; and military action. Renegotiation is a nonstarter, as both our negotiating partners and Iran itself are highly unlikely to agree to it. Through renegotiation, Iran would show itself as a weak nation and thus draw the scorn of other nations.
The nuclear weapons nations have been strong opponents of a Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone in the Middle East.
The United States and Israel, in particular, are adamantly opposed to Iran ever getting a nuclear weapon. Even proposing such a proposition would bring a firestorm of opposition.
Military action would bring furious Iranian retaliation; embroil the U.S. in yet another war in the Middle East; and potentially cause millions of deaths if nuclear weapons are used to destroy Iran's deeply-buried nuclear facilities.
Rather than continuing the bitter conflict that abrogation of the nuclear agreement would bring, maintenance of it could bring about the diplomatic space that could make Iran a player in trying to resolve other Middle Eastern points of conflict.
Critics' Claims Followed by Suggested Responses
1) Lifting sanctions will free up money -- mostly from frozen assets -- for additional support by Iran for terrorism.
Response: The cost of bringing oil production to full-speed may use up most or all of the freed-up money, to say nothing about repairing the other economic damage caused by the sanctions. The fact that about 60% of Iranians are 35 years or younger will generate pressure to ramp up educational and job-training spending.
2) The approximately 24-day period before undeclared sites can be inspected will allow Iran to clean up such sites.
Response: In addition to putting an undeclared site out out of business for a time, Energy Secretary Ernest Muniz has said there are ways to determine if nuclear development activity had been taking place, such as nuclear particles being present. Furthermore, any three UN Security Council members can put re-inspection in place to prevent re-activation.
3) Since those testifying have agreed that the sanctions were the main reason Iran came to the negotiating table, ever harsher sanctions should induce further concessions from Iran.
Response: As Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has pointed out, the sanctions worked because the negotiating partners and the world's nations, in general, have honored them. In the absence of a agreement, other nations would feel free to trade with Iran today. In other words, unilateral U.S. sanctions would have significantly less effect than sanctions honored worldwide.
4) Since the agreement specifies that only a violation of nuclear activity triggers a "snapback" of sanctions, Iran could be linked to a major act of terrorism and not trigger sanctions.
Response: Secretary of State John Kerry read a list of laws and policies that are designed to deter and/or penalize acts of terrorism. Violations of nuclear agreements and acts of terrorism can be sanctioned/penalized separately.
5) After the embargoes on conventional arms and ballistic missile components expire, Iran will be free to acquire them.
Response: It is difficult to maintain any restriction in perpetuity. Absent the embargo provisions, Iran could start trading for these arms today. Note also that continued provision of arms to other Middle Eastern nations would give hard-line Iranian generals a strong talking point to resist any prohibition on Iran acquiring arms.
What are the alternatives? The alternatives are: renegotiation; making the Middle East a Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone; letting Iran build nuclear weapons; and military action. Renegotiation is a nonstarter, as both our negotiating partners and Iran itself are highly unlikely to agree to it. Through renegotiation, Iran would show itself as a weak nation and thus draw the scorn of other nations.
The nuclear weapons nations have been strong opponents of a Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone in the Middle East.
The United States and Israel, in particular, are adamantly opposed to Iran ever getting a nuclear weapon. Even proposing such a proposition would bring a firestorm of opposition.
Military action would bring furious Iranian retaliation; embroil the U.S. in yet another war in the Middle East; and potentially cause millions of deaths if nuclear weapons are used to destroy Iran's deeply-buried nuclear facilities.
Rather than continuing the bitter conflict that abrogation of the nuclear agreement would bring, maintenance of it could bring about the diplomatic space that could make Iran a player in trying to resolve other Middle Eastern points of conflict.
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Understanding Paul Ryan
In 2012, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the chair of the House Budget Committee, proposed a budget featuring big tax cuts for the wealthy and draconian cuts for middle- and low-income people. The Urban Institute determined that Ryan's budget would cause as many as 27 million people to be dropped from Medicaid, while cutting reimbursement to hospitals and doctors by 31%.
While he has been in office, Ryan has produced several budgets, all of which have featured severe cuts to the nation's entitlement programs and the transfer of national government obligations for the welfare of the nation's citizens to the states. Ryan's latest unveiling of the House Republicans' agenda for the nation continues that trend line.
The question arises: What was Ryan's formative source for his aversion to the national government having a major role in securing the welfare of the nation's people? Paul Ryan is a devotee of Ayn Rand, who after suffering a traumatic upbringing in Russia, then the major component of the Soviet Union, rose to become the founder and proponent of an extreme individualistic creed, which she called "Objectavism." The creed specifies that people should not be bound by moral concerns and should embrace their rapacious self-interest. Greed is good, and altruism -- which she taught to be the motivating impulse of the Bolsheviks -- was the stuff of evil.
It is acknowledged that an unrestrained state can become a tyrannical force but so can extreme individualism.
Rep. Ryan has put himself in an unsustainable position with his recent characterization that Donald Trump's assault on Judge Gonzalo Curiel is "a textbook case of racism." Trump has more recently said that even Muslim judges might not be able to render impartial justice. How can Ryan continue to support and pledge to vote for Donald Trump, who has made so many racist statements and has a long history of extreme disparagement of women?
While he has been in office, Ryan has produced several budgets, all of which have featured severe cuts to the nation's entitlement programs and the transfer of national government obligations for the welfare of the nation's citizens to the states. Ryan's latest unveiling of the House Republicans' agenda for the nation continues that trend line.
The question arises: What was Ryan's formative source for his aversion to the national government having a major role in securing the welfare of the nation's people? Paul Ryan is a devotee of Ayn Rand, who after suffering a traumatic upbringing in Russia, then the major component of the Soviet Union, rose to become the founder and proponent of an extreme individualistic creed, which she called "Objectavism." The creed specifies that people should not be bound by moral concerns and should embrace their rapacious self-interest. Greed is good, and altruism -- which she taught to be the motivating impulse of the Bolsheviks -- was the stuff of evil.
It is acknowledged that an unrestrained state can become a tyrannical force but so can extreme individualism.
Rep. Ryan has put himself in an unsustainable position with his recent characterization that Donald Trump's assault on Judge Gonzalo Curiel is "a textbook case of racism." Trump has more recently said that even Muslim judges might not be able to render impartial justice. How can Ryan continue to support and pledge to vote for Donald Trump, who has made so many racist statements and has a long history of extreme disparagement of women?
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
The Trump University Swindle
The saga of Trump University is not something that has recently burst upon the national scene, much as the veterans' charity story involving Donald Trump grabbed the nation's and maybe the world's attention late in May 2016. Trump University has been in the news for years because of those attending the real estate seminars bringing to public attention claims that they had been fleeced out of their money and their bringing lawsuits to recover their tuition fees. In 2011, the designation of "university" was stripped away, due to the enterprise not having the attributes of a university. Subsequently, the name was changed to the "Trump Entrepreneurial Enterprise."
Trump University emerged as an issue in a February Republican presidential debate, when Marco Rubio used it as a means of characterizing Trump as a con artist; however, the issue exploded into the public arena when the judge presiding over a class action lawsuit ordered the release of documents that had been sealed. A "playbook" became a particular focus of attention, as it gave detailed instructions as to how instructors should react if a journalist should appear at a seminar, or designating the person to contact if a prosecutor showed up.
More importantly, there were designated levels of course payments, culminating in the gold standard of nearly $35,000, which would get a person face time with Donald Trump. Instructors were strongly urged to tell seminar attendees to max out their credit cards, or even get more cards to max out. Retirement savings should be tapped if need be. Although the Trump organization produced three individuals who were very satisfied with what they had learned from the courses they took, reporters later discovered that the three were employees of Trump enterprises.
Although the released documents state that Donald Trump personally hired the instructors and was closely involved in how the university was run, in a court disposition that Trump signed, he said he was not involved in hiring instructors and was not involved in how the university was run.
Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that he will triumph in the class action lawsuit scheduled to take place after the November election, and he has recently said he will restart the university after he wins the lawsuit.
What seems to have bothered GOP political heavy hitters more than the fleecing of attendees at the Trump instructional seminars is Trump's verbal assaults on the presiding judge in the class action lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel. Trump made his first reported comments about Judge Curiel in February 2016, linking Curiel's Mexican heritage with what Trump described as the judge's "tremendous hostility" toward him, over Trump's plan to build a wall along the Mexican border. Trump has variously referred to Curiel as Spanish, Mexican and Hispanic, and has called the judge "a hater of Donald Trump." Trump also told the Wall Street Journal that Curiel has "an absolute conflict of interest," because of his heritage, as well as having "an inherent conflict of interest" because Trump wants to build the border wall.
For the record, Curiel was born in Indiana of emigrant parents from Mexico. He has served as a federal prosecutor, a state judge in California and on the federal bench since 2011.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said of Trump's statements about the judge: "It's reasoning I don't relate to. I completely disagree with the thinking behind that." Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has said that Trump's statements about Curiel are the "worst mistakes" Trump has yet made. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has condemned Trump's statements but resisted a reporter's repeated attempts to get him to label the statements racist.
In an interview this past week with CBS's chief political adviser John Dickerson, Trump was asked if he might say much the same things that he has said about Judge Curiel, about a judge with a Muslim heritage. Trump said he might, but it would not be racist, but just "common sense."
On June 4th the Associated Press broke a Texas-based story on Trump University. Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a cease and desist order to former Deputy Chief of Consumer Protection, John Owens, after Owens made copies public of a 14-page internal summary of the state's case against Trump for scamming millions of students at his real estate seminars. Owens said he was told to drop the case in 2010, after Trump's company agreed to cease operations in Texas.. Owens told the Associated Press that the decision left bilked students on their own to recover their tuition money.
John Owens' boss at the time was then-Attorney General Greg Abbott, now the state's governor. Three years after the decision was made to drop the case, Abbott received a $35,000 donation from Donald Trump for his, Abbott's, political campaign. Abbott has disavowed any connection between the decision to drop the case against Trump University and the $35,000 donation, citing the three-year interval between the two events and his contention that the decision was made at a lower level than him.
Donald Trump has recently released a written statement that he will no longer be making statements about Judge Curiel; however, he did not apologize for his prior statements and he argued that his several very specific derogatory statements about Judge Curiel had been "misconstrued." Also, in an interview with Fox personality Bill O'Reilly after the release of Trump's written statement, Trump did, in fact, discuss his characterizations of Judge Curiel.
Trump University emerged as an issue in a February Republican presidential debate, when Marco Rubio used it as a means of characterizing Trump as a con artist; however, the issue exploded into the public arena when the judge presiding over a class action lawsuit ordered the release of documents that had been sealed. A "playbook" became a particular focus of attention, as it gave detailed instructions as to how instructors should react if a journalist should appear at a seminar, or designating the person to contact if a prosecutor showed up.
More importantly, there were designated levels of course payments, culminating in the gold standard of nearly $35,000, which would get a person face time with Donald Trump. Instructors were strongly urged to tell seminar attendees to max out their credit cards, or even get more cards to max out. Retirement savings should be tapped if need be. Although the Trump organization produced three individuals who were very satisfied with what they had learned from the courses they took, reporters later discovered that the three were employees of Trump enterprises.
Although the released documents state that Donald Trump personally hired the instructors and was closely involved in how the university was run, in a court disposition that Trump signed, he said he was not involved in hiring instructors and was not involved in how the university was run.
Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that he will triumph in the class action lawsuit scheduled to take place after the November election, and he has recently said he will restart the university after he wins the lawsuit.
What seems to have bothered GOP political heavy hitters more than the fleecing of attendees at the Trump instructional seminars is Trump's verbal assaults on the presiding judge in the class action lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel. Trump made his first reported comments about Judge Curiel in February 2016, linking Curiel's Mexican heritage with what Trump described as the judge's "tremendous hostility" toward him, over Trump's plan to build a wall along the Mexican border. Trump has variously referred to Curiel as Spanish, Mexican and Hispanic, and has called the judge "a hater of Donald Trump." Trump also told the Wall Street Journal that Curiel has "an absolute conflict of interest," because of his heritage, as well as having "an inherent conflict of interest" because Trump wants to build the border wall.
For the record, Curiel was born in Indiana of emigrant parents from Mexico. He has served as a federal prosecutor, a state judge in California and on the federal bench since 2011.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said of Trump's statements about the judge: "It's reasoning I don't relate to. I completely disagree with the thinking behind that." Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has said that Trump's statements about Curiel are the "worst mistakes" Trump has yet made. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has condemned Trump's statements but resisted a reporter's repeated attempts to get him to label the statements racist.
In an interview this past week with CBS's chief political adviser John Dickerson, Trump was asked if he might say much the same things that he has said about Judge Curiel, about a judge with a Muslim heritage. Trump said he might, but it would not be racist, but just "common sense."
On June 4th the Associated Press broke a Texas-based story on Trump University. Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a cease and desist order to former Deputy Chief of Consumer Protection, John Owens, after Owens made copies public of a 14-page internal summary of the state's case against Trump for scamming millions of students at his real estate seminars. Owens said he was told to drop the case in 2010, after Trump's company agreed to cease operations in Texas.. Owens told the Associated Press that the decision left bilked students on their own to recover their tuition money.
John Owens' boss at the time was then-Attorney General Greg Abbott, now the state's governor. Three years after the decision was made to drop the case, Abbott received a $35,000 donation from Donald Trump for his, Abbott's, political campaign. Abbott has disavowed any connection between the decision to drop the case against Trump University and the $35,000 donation, citing the three-year interval between the two events and his contention that the decision was made at a lower level than him.
Donald Trump has recently released a written statement that he will no longer be making statements about Judge Curiel; however, he did not apologize for his prior statements and he argued that his several very specific derogatory statements about Judge Curiel had been "misconstrued." Also, in an interview with Fox personality Bill O'Reilly after the release of Trump's written statement, Trump did, in fact, discuss his characterizations of Judge Curiel.
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