Sen., Lindsey Graham has said that if the Republican senators can't get agreement on the Senate health care bill withing two days, they should start working in a bipartisan basis with Democrats. Those who have publicly come out in favor of working with Democrats include Collins of Maine, Murkowski of Alaska, McCain of Arizona, and Johnson of Wisconsin, at least. MSNBC has come out with a scorecard of how Republican senators stand on the health care bill: eight "no," five "yes" and thirty-nine "undecided." Sen Ron Johnson has morphed from a "no" to "undecided," meaning that he has changed from a Profile in Courage to a Profile in Indecision.
At a meeting over lunch yesterday, divisions between moderates and conservatives were reported to have widened, not narrowed. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) came out of the meeting comparing getting fifty votes for passage to pigs flying. Although it may be presumptive to call anyone a "moderate" in a political party that exerts such iron discipline, the divisions in the Republican Party are not strictly between ideological opposites, as some GOP senators are opposed to one or more provisions in the bill on their merits or workability, and some are very concerned to support a bill that is so enormously unpopular. Three recent polls have shown favorable ratings of twelve, sixteen and seventeen percent.
The Affordable Care Act has been unpopular as a whole since its enactment; the individual provisions have been very popular. When the Kaiser Family Foundation polled seven provisions of the bill separately, the only one that didn't get strong majority support was the individual mandate. Doing away with the individual mandate means that people who are healthy, no matter if they are young or not, have no incentive to buy insurance if they can't be denied insurance due to a preexisting condition. They can just wait until they are diagnosed with cancer, Type 1 diabetes, early-onset Parkinson's, or any of the myriad illnesses of the body or mind that require high-cost care, to buy health insurance.
If Senate Republicans were to make tax credits more generous to make insurance costs more affordable, they would deepen the ire of those who see tax credits as a new entitlement. If they were to abandon the steep cuts in future Medicaid funding, they would lose the support of those many Republican lawmakers -- especially in the House of Representatives -- who see steep Medicaid cuts as crucial to reducing future budget deficits. Putting more money into the bill as advocated by President Trump, increases the future budgetary deficit. The point here is that the Senate Republicans are boxed in by needing to avoid including ACA provisions and diverse priorities of their own members and Republican governors.
The Affordable Care Act is now being lambasted chiefly because of rising premium costs and insurers leaving the market; however, the positive good it has done is being completely ignored. It has greatly reduced the number of people without health insurance; it has reduced the number of people who are under-insured; and its preventive medicine features reduce high-cost medical treatment that would otherwise occur by catching problems in the bud.
Although premium costs have risen and continue to rise under the ACA, the Kaiser Family Foundation has found that premium costs were rising at a faster rate in time periods before the ACA was enacted. There was a time when those uninsured roughly equaled the number who were under-insured, a fact that the under-insured often learned only after they developed a serious medical problem. By requiring insurance policies to meet certain standards, the ACA has reduced the number of those under-insured.
Finally, the problem of insurers leaving the market has been caused in part by the instability President Trump has created by issuing contradictory statements about whether he will withhold subsidies for medical care providers.
Thursday, June 29, 2017
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
25 Questions for Trump Enablers
A number of progressives rejected Hillary Clinton on the grounds that she wasn't good enough for them. Their most common claim was that she was just as bad as Donald Trump. Here are 25 questions for Trump enablers:
1. Would Hillary Clinton have pulled out of the Paris Climate Accords?
2. Would Hillary Clinton have greatly accelerated deportations of undocumented immigrants?
3. Would Hillary Clinton have attempted to ban Muslims from entering this country?
4. Would Hillary Clinton have invited Rodrigo Duterte, the thuggish President of the Philippines, to the White House?
5. Would Hillary Clinton have fired the FBI Director?
6. Would Hillary Clinton have worked to repeal the Affordable Care Act?
7. Would Hillary Clinton have attacked NAFTA?
8. Would Hillary Clinton have lied about how many people voted for her?
9. Would Hillary Clinton have lied about being bugged by the previous Administration?
10. Would Hillary Clinton have refused to endorse Article 5 of the NATO treaty when at the NATO Summit?
11. Would Hillary Clinton have called climate change a hoax?
12. Would Hillary Clinton have appointed climate change deniers to be Secretary of Energy and to head the EPA?
13. Would Hillary Clinton have gutted the Dodd-Frank Act?
14. Would Hillary Clinton have removed the climate change pages from the EPA website?
15. Would Hillary Clinton have cut funding for abortion advice in foreign aid?
16. Would Hillary Clinton have required all EPA scientific research to be approved by political appointees?
17. Would Hillary Clinton have set in motion plans to build a wall with Mexico?
18. Would Hillary Clinton have planned to reinstate the "black sites" used by the CIA under Bush II.
19. Would Hillary Clinton have endorsed the use of torture in interrogating suspected terrorists?
20. Would Hillary Clinton have encouraged intelligence chiefs to undermine an official investigation?
21. Would Hillary Clinton have required her Cabinet members to refuse to give information to Congress?
22. Would Hillary Clinton have praised Rodrigo Duterte for killing thousands of suspected drug dealers?
23. Would Hillary Clinton have disputed the Office of Government Ethics' legal authority to oversee government ethics?
24. Would Hillary Clinton have threatened to sabotage America's insurance markets to coerce Republican votes?
25. Would Hillary Clinton have violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution?
1. Would Hillary Clinton have pulled out of the Paris Climate Accords?
2. Would Hillary Clinton have greatly accelerated deportations of undocumented immigrants?
3. Would Hillary Clinton have attempted to ban Muslims from entering this country?
4. Would Hillary Clinton have invited Rodrigo Duterte, the thuggish President of the Philippines, to the White House?
5. Would Hillary Clinton have fired the FBI Director?
6. Would Hillary Clinton have worked to repeal the Affordable Care Act?
7. Would Hillary Clinton have attacked NAFTA?
8. Would Hillary Clinton have lied about how many people voted for her?
9. Would Hillary Clinton have lied about being bugged by the previous Administration?
10. Would Hillary Clinton have refused to endorse Article 5 of the NATO treaty when at the NATO Summit?
11. Would Hillary Clinton have called climate change a hoax?
12. Would Hillary Clinton have appointed climate change deniers to be Secretary of Energy and to head the EPA?
13. Would Hillary Clinton have gutted the Dodd-Frank Act?
14. Would Hillary Clinton have removed the climate change pages from the EPA website?
15. Would Hillary Clinton have cut funding for abortion advice in foreign aid?
16. Would Hillary Clinton have required all EPA scientific research to be approved by political appointees?
17. Would Hillary Clinton have set in motion plans to build a wall with Mexico?
18. Would Hillary Clinton have planned to reinstate the "black sites" used by the CIA under Bush II.
19. Would Hillary Clinton have endorsed the use of torture in interrogating suspected terrorists?
20. Would Hillary Clinton have encouraged intelligence chiefs to undermine an official investigation?
21. Would Hillary Clinton have required her Cabinet members to refuse to give information to Congress?
22. Would Hillary Clinton have praised Rodrigo Duterte for killing thousands of suspected drug dealers?
23. Would Hillary Clinton have disputed the Office of Government Ethics' legal authority to oversee government ethics?
24. Would Hillary Clinton have threatened to sabotage America's insurance markets to coerce Republican votes?
25. Would Hillary Clinton have violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution?
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
No News Is Bad News
President Trump has rubbed shoulders with several leaders from the Middle East with worse records on press freedom than his own. For example, he described Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as "fantastic." This month, Sisi blocked 21 news websites in Egypt.
8 - Minimum number of news websites blocked by Saudi Arabia last week (all of which are based in Qatar)
21 - News websites that the Egyptian government blocked earlier this month, including the same outlets blocked by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
25 - Journalists imprisoned in Egypt as of December 1, 2016.
6 - Journalists imprisoned in Saudi Arabia as of December 1, 2016.
57 - Journalists killed in Russia since 1993. (Source: All numbers are from the Committee to Protect Journalists).
Free Press Under Assault
In the 24 hours after Greg Gianforte -- the Republican candidate for Montana's seat in the House of Representatives -- assaulted the "Guardian" reporter, Ben Jacobs, his campaign raised almost $100,000. And he was elected the next day. For that crime, Gianforte was assigned 40 hours of community service and 20 hours of anger management training; also, he was fined less than $400.
The sign where I park on Wednesdays to volunteer at the Sierra Club office, reads that for parking in that dirt lot without frequenting a local business or loitering, the penalty could be 90 days in jail and a fine of $300. Gianforte got no days in jail for assaulting a journalist.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said that Gianforte should just apologize for the assault. One GOP House representative praised Gianforte for attacking a liberal journalist. Grover Norquist tweeted: "Congratulations to tax pledge signing Greg Gianforte who just body slammed tax hiking Democrat pol." Putting the Norquist tweet into plain English, it means that violence against the press is fine, as long as it results in tax cuts.
ADDENDUMS:
*Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly has revoked DAPA, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents. The program is designed to offer a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants whose children are either residents or citizens of the U.S. DACA remains in effect.
*Trump has appointed family wedding planner Lynne Patton, with zero housing experience, to oversee housing in New York (Region II).
*There has been only a 40 percent success rate in shooting down a missile since 2004. Each test is highly scripted and doesn't include the kinds of evasive defensive tactics an enemy would use.
8 - Minimum number of news websites blocked by Saudi Arabia last week (all of which are based in Qatar)
21 - News websites that the Egyptian government blocked earlier this month, including the same outlets blocked by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
25 - Journalists imprisoned in Egypt as of December 1, 2016.
6 - Journalists imprisoned in Saudi Arabia as of December 1, 2016.
57 - Journalists killed in Russia since 1993. (Source: All numbers are from the Committee to Protect Journalists).
Free Press Under Assault
In the 24 hours after Greg Gianforte -- the Republican candidate for Montana's seat in the House of Representatives -- assaulted the "Guardian" reporter, Ben Jacobs, his campaign raised almost $100,000. And he was elected the next day. For that crime, Gianforte was assigned 40 hours of community service and 20 hours of anger management training; also, he was fined less than $400.
The sign where I park on Wednesdays to volunteer at the Sierra Club office, reads that for parking in that dirt lot without frequenting a local business or loitering, the penalty could be 90 days in jail and a fine of $300. Gianforte got no days in jail for assaulting a journalist.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said that Gianforte should just apologize for the assault. One GOP House representative praised Gianforte for attacking a liberal journalist. Grover Norquist tweeted: "Congratulations to tax pledge signing Greg Gianforte who just body slammed tax hiking Democrat pol." Putting the Norquist tweet into plain English, it means that violence against the press is fine, as long as it results in tax cuts.
ADDENDUMS:
*Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly has revoked DAPA, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents. The program is designed to offer a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants whose children are either residents or citizens of the U.S. DACA remains in effect.
*Trump has appointed family wedding planner Lynne Patton, with zero housing experience, to oversee housing in New York (Region II).
*There has been only a 40 percent success rate in shooting down a missile since 2004. Each test is highly scripted and doesn't include the kinds of evasive defensive tactics an enemy would use.
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
GDP and Health Entitlement
The economist and columnist Robert J. Samuelson warns that health entitlements are consuming more GDP. He says of Social Security, Medicare and other health programs that their share of spending have grown over time. "In 2000, these programs represented roughly 7 percent of GDP (4 percent for Social Security, 3.1 percent for health care). That was nearly half of all government spending, excluding interest on the federal debt. By 2017, their share was more that half of non-interest spending at more than 10 percent of GDP (4.9 percent Social Security, 5.5 percent health care).
Looking ahead and considering the floodtide of baby-boom retirees and the high cost of health care, the CBO sees more of the same. By 2037, Social Security and federal health programs would absorb nearly 14 percent of GDP, or about one-seventh of national income." [1]
From 2000 to 2037, the CBO projects, Social Security and health spending will absorb all the increase in federal spending (as a share of GDP).
The budget outlook is worse than these figures suggest, as we're already running annual deficits of about $500 billion, roughly 3 percent of GDP.
ADDENDUMS:
*"I do not believe health care is a basic human right," Rep. Raul Labrador (R- Idaho), told a town hall meeting earlier this year.
*Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala) likes the idea of requiring those "who have higher health care costs to contribute more to the insurance pool, "which would have the effect of "reducing the cost to those people who lead good lives, they're healthy."
*Damien Schiff, nominated to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, has likened EPA regulations to slavery; said that due process has been "sullied by the Left," because of pro-LGBTQ decisions; and has written that pro-affirmative action rulings are similar to cases that upheld slavery and school segregation. He has also called Justice Anthony Kennedy a "judicial prostitute" and criticized a school's efforts to prevent bullying of LGBTQ students as "teaching gayness.' Schiff supports overruling what he calls the "unconstitutional excrescences of the New Deal and Great Society."
*John K. Bush,nominated to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, has compared Roe v. Wade to the Dred Scott decision, which upheld slavery. He has also contended that there should be "more money, not less" spent in elections. Bush's blog posts cite right wing sources like World Net Daily and disparagingly refer to President Obama as "Barry."
Footnote
[1] Robert J. Samuelson, "Health entitlements consuming more GDP," Albuquerque Journal, May 6, 2017.
Looking ahead and considering the floodtide of baby-boom retirees and the high cost of health care, the CBO sees more of the same. By 2037, Social Security and federal health programs would absorb nearly 14 percent of GDP, or about one-seventh of national income." [1]
From 2000 to 2037, the CBO projects, Social Security and health spending will absorb all the increase in federal spending (as a share of GDP).
The budget outlook is worse than these figures suggest, as we're already running annual deficits of about $500 billion, roughly 3 percent of GDP.
ADDENDUMS:
*"I do not believe health care is a basic human right," Rep. Raul Labrador (R- Idaho), told a town hall meeting earlier this year.
*Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala) likes the idea of requiring those "who have higher health care costs to contribute more to the insurance pool, "which would have the effect of "reducing the cost to those people who lead good lives, they're healthy."
*Damien Schiff, nominated to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, has likened EPA regulations to slavery; said that due process has been "sullied by the Left," because of pro-LGBTQ decisions; and has written that pro-affirmative action rulings are similar to cases that upheld slavery and school segregation. He has also called Justice Anthony Kennedy a "judicial prostitute" and criticized a school's efforts to prevent bullying of LGBTQ students as "teaching gayness.' Schiff supports overruling what he calls the "unconstitutional excrescences of the New Deal and Great Society."
*John K. Bush,nominated to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, has compared Roe v. Wade to the Dred Scott decision, which upheld slavery. He has also contended that there should be "more money, not less" spent in elections. Bush's blog posts cite right wing sources like World Net Daily and disparagingly refer to President Obama as "Barry."
Footnote
[1] Robert J. Samuelson, "Health entitlements consuming more GDP," Albuquerque Journal, May 6, 2017.
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
"NONE OF US IS ENTIRELY INNOCENT" (Continued)
July 2015: BLM activists seize the mic at a Democratic candidate forum to grill Martin O'Malley and Bernie Sanders on police violence.
Oct. 2015: Rapper Vic Mensa's video for "16 Shots," a song about Laquan McDonald, goes viral.
Nov. 2015: A judge orders the release of dash-cam footage that appears to show McDonald walking away from police when he was shot. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel fires his police chief the next month.
Feb. 7, 2016: Beyonce's dancers adopt a Black Panther look for the Super Bowl halftime show. Police unions call for a boycott of the star.
Feb 24, 2016: BLM activists disrupt a Hillary Clinton fundraiser, demanding she apologize for her racially charged comments about 'super predators' during the 1990s. Clinton appears irritated, but the next day she does just that.
May 2016: The first state "Blue Lives Matter" bill passes in Louisiana. Attacking a cop is now a hate crime.
June 2016: The police-van driver in the Freddie Gray case is acquitted.
July 5, 2016: Alton Sterling is fatally shot by police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, while officers have him pinned to the ground.
July 6, 2016: During a traffic stop, a Minnesota cop shoots Philando Castile as he reaches for his wallet --that's according to Castile's girlfriend, who live-streamed his demise on Facebook: "You told him to get his ID, sir!"
July 7, 216: A black gunman kills five cops at a Dallas protest against police violence. He holes up in a parking garage, where police kill him with an explosives-bearing robot.
July 12, 2016: President Barack Obama defends Black Lives Matter as a memorial for the slain officers. "We have all seen this bigotry in our lives at some point," and "none of us is entirely innocent," he says. "That includes our police departments."
July 17, 2016: A black military vet who ranted online about the treatment of black people by police assassinates three officers (one of them black) in Baton Rouge.
July 18, 2016: At the Republican National Convention, Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke, who is black, proclaims that "blue lives matter." In an op-ed the same day, he calls Black Lives Matter the "enemy."
July 18, 2016: A police officer in Florida shoots a black caregiver who was lying in the street with his hands up. A union rep explains that the officer had been aiming at the man's autistic patient, whose toy truck he mistook for a fireman.
July 27, 2016: After further acquittals in the Freddie Gray case, charges are dropped against the remaining officers.
Aug. 2016: 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick starts sitting out the national anthem to protest police violence. A few pros and countless high school and college athletes follow suit.
Sept. 2016: Clinton debates Donald Trump: "I think implicit bias is a problem for everyone, not just police," she says. Critics pounce. "Yes, Hillary Clinton called the nation racist," writes a Washington Post columnist.
Oct. 2016: Attorney General Loretta Lynch says the DOJ will (finally) start collecting national data on police use of force.
Oct. 2015: Rapper Vic Mensa's video for "16 Shots," a song about Laquan McDonald, goes viral.
Nov. 2015: A judge orders the release of dash-cam footage that appears to show McDonald walking away from police when he was shot. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel fires his police chief the next month.
Feb. 7, 2016: Beyonce's dancers adopt a Black Panther look for the Super Bowl halftime show. Police unions call for a boycott of the star.
Feb 24, 2016: BLM activists disrupt a Hillary Clinton fundraiser, demanding she apologize for her racially charged comments about 'super predators' during the 1990s. Clinton appears irritated, but the next day she does just that.
May 2016: The first state "Blue Lives Matter" bill passes in Louisiana. Attacking a cop is now a hate crime.
June 2016: The police-van driver in the Freddie Gray case is acquitted.
July 5, 2016: Alton Sterling is fatally shot by police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, while officers have him pinned to the ground.
July 6, 2016: During a traffic stop, a Minnesota cop shoots Philando Castile as he reaches for his wallet --that's according to Castile's girlfriend, who live-streamed his demise on Facebook: "You told him to get his ID, sir!"
July 7, 216: A black gunman kills five cops at a Dallas protest against police violence. He holes up in a parking garage, where police kill him with an explosives-bearing robot.
July 12, 2016: President Barack Obama defends Black Lives Matter as a memorial for the slain officers. "We have all seen this bigotry in our lives at some point," and "none of us is entirely innocent," he says. "That includes our police departments."
July 17, 2016: A black military vet who ranted online about the treatment of black people by police assassinates three officers (one of them black) in Baton Rouge.
July 18, 2016: At the Republican National Convention, Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke, who is black, proclaims that "blue lives matter." In an op-ed the same day, he calls Black Lives Matter the "enemy."
July 18, 2016: A police officer in Florida shoots a black caregiver who was lying in the street with his hands up. A union rep explains that the officer had been aiming at the man's autistic patient, whose toy truck he mistook for a fireman.
July 27, 2016: After further acquittals in the Freddie Gray case, charges are dropped against the remaining officers.
Aug. 2016: 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick starts sitting out the national anthem to protest police violence. A few pros and countless high school and college athletes follow suit.
Sept. 2016: Clinton debates Donald Trump: "I think implicit bias is a problem for everyone, not just police," she says. Critics pounce. "Yes, Hillary Clinton called the nation racist," writes a Washington Post columnist.
Oct. 2016: Attorney General Loretta Lynch says the DOJ will (finally) start collecting national data on police use of force.
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
"NONE OF US IS ENTIRELY INNOCENT"
A brief history of police violence and backlash
July 2013: Sickened by the acquittal of Trayvon Martin's killer, labor organizer writes on Facebook, "I continue to be surprised at how little Black lives matter." Her friend Patrisse Cullors turns the last bit into a hashtag.
March 2014: In a Pew poll, 46 percent of Americans agree that "our country needs to continue making changes to give blacks equal rights with whites."
July 2014: Eric Garner is choked to death by an officer on Staten Island, New York. His last words, "I can't breathe," become a civil rights slogan.
Aug. 2014: A white cop in Ferguson, Missouri, kills black teen Michael Brown, sparking weeks of protest. Police deploy riot gear, armored vehicles, and sniper rifles, while demonstrators adopt a "hands up, don't shoot" posture based on claims that Brown had his hands up when he was shot. On Twitter, #BlackLivesMatter takes off.
Oct. 2014: A Chicago cop shoots Laquan McDonald 16 times. Police officials claim the teen was approaching officers with a knife -- a union rep says he "lunged" -- but the city won't release dash-cam footage.
Nov. 22, 2014: Tamir Rice, 12, is killed by a Cleveland officer as he plays with a toy gun in a park.
Nov. 24, 2014: A Ferguson grand jury declines to indict Officer Darren Wilson, Michael Brown's killer. More protests. Critics of #BlackLivesMatter respond with #All Lives Matter.
Nov. 30, 2014: Five St. Louis Rams players walk onto the field for a game in the "hands up" position.
Dec. 3, 2014: The NYPD officer who choked Eric Garner escapes indictment. Days later, LeBron James and other NBA players don "I Can't Breathe" shirts at pregame warmups.
Dec. 18, 2014: The White House announces a new task force to "strengthen trust among law enforcement officers and the communities they serve."
Dec. 20, 2014: Two NYPD officers are ambushed. Their killer, a black man, had posted a photo of his gun on Instagram: "I'm Putting Wings On Pigs Today."
Jan. 2015: #BlackLivesMatter tweets average 10,000 a day.
March 2015: A Department of Justice report says Ferguson police employees sent racist emails and targeted black residents with nuisance citations to generate revenue.
April 2, 2015: A white sheriff's deputy in Tulsa, Oklahoma shoots black suspect Eric Harris after a foot chase. "I'm losing my breath," Harris leads in a video. "Fuck your breath," another officer responds.
April 4, 2015: Walter Scott is fatally shot as he tries to flee from Officer Michael Slager in North Charleston, South Carolina.
April 19, 2015: Freddie Gray dies of his injuries after a "rough ride" in a Baltimore police van.
May 2015: "I have heard your calls for 'no justice, no peace,' " prosecutor Marilyn Mosby says as she announces charges against six officers in the Gray case. The White House task force releases its report: Police must "embrace a guardian -- rather than a warrior -- mindset."
June 2015: Rapper Kendrick Lamar's "Alright" video depicts him being shot by police. It garners about 70 million YouTube views and wins two Grammys.
(This brief history to be continued in a future blog)
July 2013: Sickened by the acquittal of Trayvon Martin's killer, labor organizer writes on Facebook, "I continue to be surprised at how little Black lives matter." Her friend Patrisse Cullors turns the last bit into a hashtag.
March 2014: In a Pew poll, 46 percent of Americans agree that "our country needs to continue making changes to give blacks equal rights with whites."
July 2014: Eric Garner is choked to death by an officer on Staten Island, New York. His last words, "I can't breathe," become a civil rights slogan.
Aug. 2014: A white cop in Ferguson, Missouri, kills black teen Michael Brown, sparking weeks of protest. Police deploy riot gear, armored vehicles, and sniper rifles, while demonstrators adopt a "hands up, don't shoot" posture based on claims that Brown had his hands up when he was shot. On Twitter, #BlackLivesMatter takes off.
Oct. 2014: A Chicago cop shoots Laquan McDonald 16 times. Police officials claim the teen was approaching officers with a knife -- a union rep says he "lunged" -- but the city won't release dash-cam footage.
Nov. 22, 2014: Tamir Rice, 12, is killed by a Cleveland officer as he plays with a toy gun in a park.
Nov. 24, 2014: A Ferguson grand jury declines to indict Officer Darren Wilson, Michael Brown's killer. More protests. Critics of #BlackLivesMatter respond with #All Lives Matter.
Nov. 30, 2014: Five St. Louis Rams players walk onto the field for a game in the "hands up" position.
Dec. 3, 2014: The NYPD officer who choked Eric Garner escapes indictment. Days later, LeBron James and other NBA players don "I Can't Breathe" shirts at pregame warmups.
Dec. 18, 2014: The White House announces a new task force to "strengthen trust among law enforcement officers and the communities they serve."
Dec. 20, 2014: Two NYPD officers are ambushed. Their killer, a black man, had posted a photo of his gun on Instagram: "I'm Putting Wings On Pigs Today."
Jan. 2015: #BlackLivesMatter tweets average 10,000 a day.
March 2015: A Department of Justice report says Ferguson police employees sent racist emails and targeted black residents with nuisance citations to generate revenue.
April 2, 2015: A white sheriff's deputy in Tulsa, Oklahoma shoots black suspect Eric Harris after a foot chase. "I'm losing my breath," Harris leads in a video. "Fuck your breath," another officer responds.
April 4, 2015: Walter Scott is fatally shot as he tries to flee from Officer Michael Slager in North Charleston, South Carolina.
April 19, 2015: Freddie Gray dies of his injuries after a "rough ride" in a Baltimore police van.
May 2015: "I have heard your calls for 'no justice, no peace,' " prosecutor Marilyn Mosby says as she announces charges against six officers in the Gray case. The White House task force releases its report: Police must "embrace a guardian -- rather than a warrior -- mindset."
June 2015: Rapper Kendrick Lamar's "Alright" video depicts him being shot by police. It garners about 70 million YouTube views and wins two Grammys.
(This brief history to be continued in a future blog)
Monday, June 12, 2017
Trump's Circular World; DeVos Family Foundation; and Rising Drug Prices
And the Wheel Goes Round and Round
Wall Street --- President Donald Trump and his businesses --- owe debt to 150 Wall Street banks, mutual funds and other financial institutions --- signed an executive order to dismantle Dodd-Frank ---- to avoid protective regulations issued by --- President Donald Trump.
National Labor Relations Board --- President Donald Trump and his children own and run Trump Hotels --- which have disputes before the --- National Labor Relations Board --- whose members will be appointed by --- President Donald Trump.
Foreign Interests --- President Donald Trump and his children own and run Trump Organization --- which has business interests in countries around the world --- that will be negotiating policy with the Trump administration --- that could affect the bottom line of and can easily confer favors from --- Mr. Trump's children and --- President Donald Trump.
Internal Revenue Service --- President Donald Trump --- has said his income tax returns are under audit by the --- Internal Revenue Service --- an executive agency overseen by --- President Donald Trump.
Trump International Hotel, Washington, DC --- President Donald Trump and his children own and run Trump Organization --- which leases the Old Post Office Building from the --- General Services Administration --- the head of which will be appointed by --- President Donald Trump. (Source: PUBLICCITIZEN).
The Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation Gave: $8.6 million to private Christian schools; $5.2 million to charter schools - ($4.8 million of which was to a school they founded) ; $750,000+ to Christian camps; $59,750 to traditional public schools. Note: Giving from 1999 to 2014. (See March/April 2017 Mother Jones).
Drug Costs at a Glance
$457 billion - The amount Americans spent on prescription drugs in 2015, up by about 8 percent over the previous year.
208% - The rise in prices for the most popular brand-name drugs from 2008 to 2016.
$14.5 million - Median salary of a pharmaceutical firm CEO in 2015, more than in any other industry.
$6.4 billion - Amount drug companies spend advertising directly to consumers in the U.S. annually.
$24 billion - Amount drug companies spend per year marketing to doctors.
Some Skyrocketing Drug Prices
The cost of Bavencio, a new cancer drug approved in March, is about $156,000 a year per patient.
A new muscular dystrophy drug came on the market late last year for an eye-popping price of $300,000 annually.
In 2016, the FDA approved Tecentriq, a new bladder cancer treatment that costs $12,500 a month, or $150,000 a year.
Even older rugs that have long been on the market are not immune: The cost of insulin tripled between 2002 and 2013, despite no notable changes in the formulation or manufacturing process. (Source: May 2017 AARP.ORG/BULLETIN).
Wall Street --- President Donald Trump and his businesses --- owe debt to 150 Wall Street banks, mutual funds and other financial institutions --- signed an executive order to dismantle Dodd-Frank ---- to avoid protective regulations issued by --- President Donald Trump.
National Labor Relations Board --- President Donald Trump and his children own and run Trump Hotels --- which have disputes before the --- National Labor Relations Board --- whose members will be appointed by --- President Donald Trump.
Foreign Interests --- President Donald Trump and his children own and run Trump Organization --- which has business interests in countries around the world --- that will be negotiating policy with the Trump administration --- that could affect the bottom line of and can easily confer favors from --- Mr. Trump's children and --- President Donald Trump.
Internal Revenue Service --- President Donald Trump --- has said his income tax returns are under audit by the --- Internal Revenue Service --- an executive agency overseen by --- President Donald Trump.
Trump International Hotel, Washington, DC --- President Donald Trump and his children own and run Trump Organization --- which leases the Old Post Office Building from the --- General Services Administration --- the head of which will be appointed by --- President Donald Trump. (Source: PUBLICCITIZEN).
The Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation Gave: $8.6 million to private Christian schools; $5.2 million to charter schools - ($4.8 million of which was to a school they founded) ; $750,000+ to Christian camps; $59,750 to traditional public schools. Note: Giving from 1999 to 2014. (See March/April 2017 Mother Jones).
Drug Costs at a Glance
$457 billion - The amount Americans spent on prescription drugs in 2015, up by about 8 percent over the previous year.
208% - The rise in prices for the most popular brand-name drugs from 2008 to 2016.
$14.5 million - Median salary of a pharmaceutical firm CEO in 2015, more than in any other industry.
$6.4 billion - Amount drug companies spend advertising directly to consumers in the U.S. annually.
$24 billion - Amount drug companies spend per year marketing to doctors.
Some Skyrocketing Drug Prices
The cost of Bavencio, a new cancer drug approved in March, is about $156,000 a year per patient.
A new muscular dystrophy drug came on the market late last year for an eye-popping price of $300,000 annually.
In 2016, the FDA approved Tecentriq, a new bladder cancer treatment that costs $12,500 a month, or $150,000 a year.
Even older rugs that have long been on the market are not immune: The cost of insulin tripled between 2002 and 2013, despite no notable changes in the formulation or manufacturing process. (Source: May 2017 AARP.ORG/BULLETIN).
Friday, June 9, 2017
Betsy DeVoses' Low Marks at Senate Hearing
Betsy DeVoses' Low Marks at Senate Confirmation Hearing
#Suggested that enforcing a federal civil rights law for students with disabilities was "a matter best left to the states -- only to then backtrack and say that she "may have confused the law with something else."
#Refused to say she supported "equal accountability" for all taxpayer-funded schools -- be they public, public charter, or private.
#Told Sen Bernie Sanders in a tense exchange that while free college tuition was "really great to consider... there's nothing in life that's truly free."
#Struggled to understand the distinction between proficiency and growth, a basic concept among educators. Said Sen Al Franken, "It surprises me that you don't know this issue."
#Denied she'd ever had any influence on whether her parents' foundation funded Focus on the Family -- and argued she was only listed as the vice president on the group's tax forms for 12 years because of "a clerical error."
#Declined to oppose putting guns in schools -- and joked that a school mentioned by Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi probably had a firearm "to protect from potential grizzlies."
ADDENDUM
*Rep. Roger Marshall (R-KS) argued: "Just like Jesus said, 'The poor will always be with us'...There is a group of people that just don't want health care and aren't going to take care of themselves." He added that "morally, spiritually, socially." some poor and homeless people "just don't want health care."
*Eric Trump tweeted that Democrats who support the probe into his father's campaign are "not even people" and he has "never seen hatred like this."
*The U.S. House of Representatives has voted 233-186 to undo much of Dodd-Frank.
#Suggested that enforcing a federal civil rights law for students with disabilities was "a matter best left to the states -- only to then backtrack and say that she "may have confused the law with something else."
#Refused to say she supported "equal accountability" for all taxpayer-funded schools -- be they public, public charter, or private.
#Told Sen Bernie Sanders in a tense exchange that while free college tuition was "really great to consider... there's nothing in life that's truly free."
#Struggled to understand the distinction between proficiency and growth, a basic concept among educators. Said Sen Al Franken, "It surprises me that you don't know this issue."
#Denied she'd ever had any influence on whether her parents' foundation funded Focus on the Family -- and argued she was only listed as the vice president on the group's tax forms for 12 years because of "a clerical error."
#Declined to oppose putting guns in schools -- and joked that a school mentioned by Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi probably had a firearm "to protect from potential grizzlies."
ADDENDUM
*Rep. Roger Marshall (R-KS) argued: "Just like Jesus said, 'The poor will always be with us'...There is a group of people that just don't want health care and aren't going to take care of themselves." He added that "morally, spiritually, socially." some poor and homeless people "just don't want health care."
*Eric Trump tweeted that Democrats who support the probe into his father's campaign are "not even people" and he has "never seen hatred like this."
*The U.S. House of Representatives has voted 233-186 to undo much of Dodd-Frank.
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
Some Things to RememberTrump By
Letter Writer in The New Yorker Undresses Trump Administration
Letter writer Pat M. Gelb describes state of emergency in the June 5 & 12 The New Yorker:
"While the public has been distracted by the F.B.I. and congressional investigators, Trump has decimated the State Department, and he refuses to fill dozens of positions, undermining our government's ability to respond to ordinary needs, let alone crisis-level exigencies. He is dismantling the E.P.A. and eviscerating environmental regulations. The Justice Department is rolling back the hard-won victories of decades of civil-rights struggle, and the Department of Education is abetting initiatives to destroy public schools. There is another reason, besides cowardice, that explains the Republicans' continued support for Trump: he is doing their dirty work, deconstructing a government they deem too costly and egalitarian."
Ten Items From Rep. Patrick Murphy's (D-FL) List of Things to Remember Trump By
1. Failing to govern as though he represents the entire country.
2. Making a false wiretap claim.
3. Approving a deeply flawed ACA replacement bill that breaks his campaign promises.
4. Instituting an unconstitutional immigrant ban that makes the nation less safe.
5. Leaving dozens of vital national security positions empty at the State Department.
6. Ordering a Navy SEAL raid that gathered no actionable intelligence.
7. Supporting tainted election results in Turkey that gave more power to its autocratic leader.
8. Picking fights with longtime allies like Germany, Canada, and England.
9. Introducing a tax plan heavily skewed toward the benefit of wealthy tax filers.
10. Failing to divest himself of business interests that present clear conflicts of interest.
ADDENDUMS:
*The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the AHCA will cut taxes by $992 billion over ten years.
*Several Republicans, including Tom Price of HHS, have attacked the latest CBO AHCA score.
*Newt Gingrich has called for the abolition of the CBO.
Letter writer Pat M. Gelb describes state of emergency in the June 5 & 12 The New Yorker:
"While the public has been distracted by the F.B.I. and congressional investigators, Trump has decimated the State Department, and he refuses to fill dozens of positions, undermining our government's ability to respond to ordinary needs, let alone crisis-level exigencies. He is dismantling the E.P.A. and eviscerating environmental regulations. The Justice Department is rolling back the hard-won victories of decades of civil-rights struggle, and the Department of Education is abetting initiatives to destroy public schools. There is another reason, besides cowardice, that explains the Republicans' continued support for Trump: he is doing their dirty work, deconstructing a government they deem too costly and egalitarian."
Ten Items From Rep. Patrick Murphy's (D-FL) List of Things to Remember Trump By
1. Failing to govern as though he represents the entire country.
2. Making a false wiretap claim.
3. Approving a deeply flawed ACA replacement bill that breaks his campaign promises.
4. Instituting an unconstitutional immigrant ban that makes the nation less safe.
5. Leaving dozens of vital national security positions empty at the State Department.
6. Ordering a Navy SEAL raid that gathered no actionable intelligence.
7. Supporting tainted election results in Turkey that gave more power to its autocratic leader.
8. Picking fights with longtime allies like Germany, Canada, and England.
9. Introducing a tax plan heavily skewed toward the benefit of wealthy tax filers.
10. Failing to divest himself of business interests that present clear conflicts of interest.
ADDENDUMS:
*The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the AHCA will cut taxes by $992 billion over ten years.
*Several Republicans, including Tom Price of HHS, have attacked the latest CBO AHCA score.
*Newt Gingrich has called for the abolition of the CBO.
Monday, June 5, 2017
Recent Trump Tweeting and Assessments of Him
#May 7th Trump Tweet - "Republican Senators will not let the American people down! Obamacare premiums and deductibles are way up -- it was a lie and it is dead!" Senate Republicans are split several ways on how to replace the ACA. What is becoming more likely is that the GOP-controlled Senate will set a future date for the repeal of the ACA and agree to work on a replacement in the interim.
Calling the ACA a lie more properly fits the GOP American Health Care Act, as it is being promoted in ways that the bill's provisions contradict.
#June 3rd Trump Tweet - "We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!" Several federal judges have already ruled that his immigration ban is discriminatory and/or doesn't identify a proven threat.
#June 4th Trump Tweet - "We must stop being politically correct and get down to the business of security for our people. If we don't get smart it will only get worse." The term "politically correct" is used to try to prevent liberals from identifying real problems and proposing solutions for them.
#June 4th Trump Tweet - "At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is 'no reason to be alarmed!' " Trump left out the part in which the mayor said to not to let the sight of more armed police alarm you.
#June 4th Trump Tweet - "Do you notice we are not having a gun debate right now? That's because they used knives and a truck!" The fact that violence is committed by various types of instruments and in various ways, doesn't wash away the great number of injuries and deaths inflicted by guns. Notably, within hours of Trump's tweet, three policemen were wounded in a shootout at a Texas gas station.
# A recent poll by the non-partisan Public Religion Research Institute found that 57 percent of white evangelical Protestants believe that God had a direct hand in elevating Trump to the presidency. How could anyone believe in a God who displays the incredibly bad judgment to give the nation and the world such a woebegone leader?
#Rhonda Whiteman, board chair of Montana Native Vote, says that Gianforte [Greg, elected to the U.S. House] is for repealing the Affordable Care Act, which includes the Indian Health Care Improvement Act -- a huge factor in a community where lack of health care takes 20 years off the average lifespan compared with white Montanans.
#Ari Berman, voting rights analyst, says that the 2016 election was the first in more than 50 years conducted without the full protection of the Voting Rights Act, and 14 states had new voting restrictions in effect for the first time.
#David Cole, advocating "Making Trump Pay" in the June 5/12 issue of The Nation, writes: "Our democracy is defined at least as much by the informal constitutional norms that have evolved over the past two centuries as by the formal principles reflected in the written document. These include notions that presidents should respect the other branches of government, that lying is unacceptable, and that the president, who technically oversees all federal law enforcement, should not interfere in criminal or counterintelligence investigations --especially those that concern the president himself or his close friends and advisers. But if we are to finally rein this man in, we must insist that he pay for his continuing violations of our constitutional norms -- by calling our representatives and demanding an independent investigation, by hounding them at town halls and public appearances if they do not respond, and by the choices we make at the ballot box in the 2018 midterms."
#Reports are that President Trump is preparing broad exemptions to employers that object on religious or moral grounds to a reproductive mandate, a move that would impact thousands of women who currently get compensation from employer-provided insurance plans with no out-of-pocket costs. Trump signed an executive order last month instructing HHS and other departments "to address conscience-based objections to the mandate" -- that is to a reproductive services mandate.
Calling the ACA a lie more properly fits the GOP American Health Care Act, as it is being promoted in ways that the bill's provisions contradict.
#June 3rd Trump Tweet - "We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!" Several federal judges have already ruled that his immigration ban is discriminatory and/or doesn't identify a proven threat.
#June 4th Trump Tweet - "We must stop being politically correct and get down to the business of security for our people. If we don't get smart it will only get worse." The term "politically correct" is used to try to prevent liberals from identifying real problems and proposing solutions for them.
#June 4th Trump Tweet - "At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is 'no reason to be alarmed!' " Trump left out the part in which the mayor said to not to let the sight of more armed police alarm you.
#June 4th Trump Tweet - "Do you notice we are not having a gun debate right now? That's because they used knives and a truck!" The fact that violence is committed by various types of instruments and in various ways, doesn't wash away the great number of injuries and deaths inflicted by guns. Notably, within hours of Trump's tweet, three policemen were wounded in a shootout at a Texas gas station.
# A recent poll by the non-partisan Public Religion Research Institute found that 57 percent of white evangelical Protestants believe that God had a direct hand in elevating Trump to the presidency. How could anyone believe in a God who displays the incredibly bad judgment to give the nation and the world such a woebegone leader?
#Rhonda Whiteman, board chair of Montana Native Vote, says that Gianforte [Greg, elected to the U.S. House] is for repealing the Affordable Care Act, which includes the Indian Health Care Improvement Act -- a huge factor in a community where lack of health care takes 20 years off the average lifespan compared with white Montanans.
#Ari Berman, voting rights analyst, says that the 2016 election was the first in more than 50 years conducted without the full protection of the Voting Rights Act, and 14 states had new voting restrictions in effect for the first time.
#David Cole, advocating "Making Trump Pay" in the June 5/12 issue of The Nation, writes: "Our democracy is defined at least as much by the informal constitutional norms that have evolved over the past two centuries as by the formal principles reflected in the written document. These include notions that presidents should respect the other branches of government, that lying is unacceptable, and that the president, who technically oversees all federal law enforcement, should not interfere in criminal or counterintelligence investigations --especially those that concern the president himself or his close friends and advisers. But if we are to finally rein this man in, we must insist that he pay for his continuing violations of our constitutional norms -- by calling our representatives and demanding an independent investigation, by hounding them at town halls and public appearances if they do not respond, and by the choices we make at the ballot box in the 2018 midterms."
#Reports are that President Trump is preparing broad exemptions to employers that object on religious or moral grounds to a reproductive mandate, a move that would impact thousands of women who currently get compensation from employer-provided insurance plans with no out-of-pocket costs. Trump signed an executive order last month instructing HHS and other departments "to address conscience-based objections to the mandate" -- that is to a reproductive services mandate.
Sunday, June 4, 2017
Sakes Alive! Trump Believes in Global Warming!
The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, has startling news for everybody: "President Trump believes the climate is changing" and that man-made pollutants are partly responsible. Haley added: "Just because the US got out of a club doesn't mean we aren't going to care about the environment."
Long ago, Donald Trump tweeted that global warming -- or climate change -- was a hoax invented by the Chinese to cause U.S. manufacturers to spend more money on pollution-control equipment. During the presidential campaign he told a Miami, Florida newspaper that climate change was a naturally occurring phenomenon and there was no human cause involved. When interviewed after she became Trump's press spokesperson, Kellyanne Conway made it very clear that Trump didn't think there was a human element to the warming of the planet, even if it was taking place.
Why didn't Trump himself announce his change of mind. It may have been because he was surprised by the intensity of the negative reaction to his pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement that he wanted to try to get on the other side of the issue. Also it may be the case that Trump didn't want his die-hard supporters to hear that he had mislead them in the campaign. Thus, it was better for a surrogate to proclaim the position reversal and Nikki Haley may be one of the few Trump surrogates who retains enough credibility to convey the news without being laughed out of town.
President Trump's claim that he will try to renegotiate to get a better deal is just a ploy to create an impression that the U.S. has not really left the deal but will work to get a better one. It is safe to say that there is zero chance that 195 nations will get together to fundamentally change a deal that was very difficult to get in the first place. In addition, how many world leaders trust Trump on deal-making?
Turning now to the evolving reaction to President Trump's nine-day foreign trip starting in Saudi Arabia and including meetings with the G7 and leaders of the NATO nations. It has received generally favorable media coverage and Sen. Corker (R-TN) lavishly praised the trip. Even George Will said the bar for success was very low, he declared that Trump had cleared the bar. Now may be a good time to reflect back on how large swaths of the media went ga-ga over Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress
One promise that Trump made in that speech was that his administration would enhance the quality of the nation's air and water. Trump is dismantling the nation's environmental protections and sharply cutting the EPA budget.
Trump promised comprehensive immigration reform, worked out with Democrats. It now seems evident that Trump dangled the prospect of immigration reform to increase the size of the audience and to cast himself as a moderate. Since Democratic lawmakers will not vote for immigration reform that doesn't include a pathway to citizenship, and Trump will not embrace a legal pathway because it will be a "bridge too far" for many of his supporters, immigration reform is a dead issue.
In his joint session speech, Trump called for everyone to respect one another. This is a cruel jibe from a person who has made disrespect for others a major art of his persona and continues to disrespect those who oppose what he wants to do as president.
President Trump gave five principles for an Affordable Care Act replacement and has largely dispensed with them in his backing of a plan that greatly increases the number of the uninsured, would raise premium costs for many seniors and allow the states to waive two important provisions in the new plan.
Trump promised a giant middle-class tax cut, whereas his plan written in December 2015 would be heavily skewed toward tax savings for the top few percent of tax filers and would actually raise the taxes for millions of middle-class and low-income tax filers.
Trump's tribute to the Navy Seal's wife in the speech to the joint session seems to be the one thing that most persuaded the media and others enraptured by Trump's speech to declare him to be "presidential." Yet, saying that the Seal is very happy in eternity due to the applause generated is akin to contending that the sacrifice of his life was worth it for the applause received at a Trump-controlled event.
Much as I think that the praise for the joint session speech would be seen today as greatly overblown, the overseas trip will receive the same fate with some further reflection. Note the dichotomy between telling the Saudis that he did not come to lecture them and tell them what to do and do just that in speaking to the NATO leaders; failing to pledge U.S. support for the NATO Charter's Article 5, even though his staff was sure he would pledge just that; shoving aside the president of Montenegro to get a better position in a photo op; and riding in a golf cart while the others walked. And perhaps the biggest misstep of the whole trip was in arousing the ire of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is probably the most influential leader in the world today.
Long ago, Donald Trump tweeted that global warming -- or climate change -- was a hoax invented by the Chinese to cause U.S. manufacturers to spend more money on pollution-control equipment. During the presidential campaign he told a Miami, Florida newspaper that climate change was a naturally occurring phenomenon and there was no human cause involved. When interviewed after she became Trump's press spokesperson, Kellyanne Conway made it very clear that Trump didn't think there was a human element to the warming of the planet, even if it was taking place.
Why didn't Trump himself announce his change of mind. It may have been because he was surprised by the intensity of the negative reaction to his pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement that he wanted to try to get on the other side of the issue. Also it may be the case that Trump didn't want his die-hard supporters to hear that he had mislead them in the campaign. Thus, it was better for a surrogate to proclaim the position reversal and Nikki Haley may be one of the few Trump surrogates who retains enough credibility to convey the news without being laughed out of town.
President Trump's claim that he will try to renegotiate to get a better deal is just a ploy to create an impression that the U.S. has not really left the deal but will work to get a better one. It is safe to say that there is zero chance that 195 nations will get together to fundamentally change a deal that was very difficult to get in the first place. In addition, how many world leaders trust Trump on deal-making?
Turning now to the evolving reaction to President Trump's nine-day foreign trip starting in Saudi Arabia and including meetings with the G7 and leaders of the NATO nations. It has received generally favorable media coverage and Sen. Corker (R-TN) lavishly praised the trip. Even George Will said the bar for success was very low, he declared that Trump had cleared the bar. Now may be a good time to reflect back on how large swaths of the media went ga-ga over Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress
One promise that Trump made in that speech was that his administration would enhance the quality of the nation's air and water. Trump is dismantling the nation's environmental protections and sharply cutting the EPA budget.
Trump promised comprehensive immigration reform, worked out with Democrats. It now seems evident that Trump dangled the prospect of immigration reform to increase the size of the audience and to cast himself as a moderate. Since Democratic lawmakers will not vote for immigration reform that doesn't include a pathway to citizenship, and Trump will not embrace a legal pathway because it will be a "bridge too far" for many of his supporters, immigration reform is a dead issue.
In his joint session speech, Trump called for everyone to respect one another. This is a cruel jibe from a person who has made disrespect for others a major art of his persona and continues to disrespect those who oppose what he wants to do as president.
President Trump gave five principles for an Affordable Care Act replacement and has largely dispensed with them in his backing of a plan that greatly increases the number of the uninsured, would raise premium costs for many seniors and allow the states to waive two important provisions in the new plan.
Trump promised a giant middle-class tax cut, whereas his plan written in December 2015 would be heavily skewed toward tax savings for the top few percent of tax filers and would actually raise the taxes for millions of middle-class and low-income tax filers.
Trump's tribute to the Navy Seal's wife in the speech to the joint session seems to be the one thing that most persuaded the media and others enraptured by Trump's speech to declare him to be "presidential." Yet, saying that the Seal is very happy in eternity due to the applause generated is akin to contending that the sacrifice of his life was worth it for the applause received at a Trump-controlled event.
Much as I think that the praise for the joint session speech would be seen today as greatly overblown, the overseas trip will receive the same fate with some further reflection. Note the dichotomy between telling the Saudis that he did not come to lecture them and tell them what to do and do just that in speaking to the NATO leaders; failing to pledge U.S. support for the NATO Charter's Article 5, even though his staff was sure he would pledge just that; shoving aside the president of Montenegro to get a better position in a photo op; and riding in a golf cart while the others walked. And perhaps the biggest misstep of the whole trip was in arousing the ire of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is probably the most influential leader in the world today.
Friday, June 2, 2017
Platforms for Trump Trolls
MSNBC's Greta van Sustran brought in the old relic, Donald Rumsfeld, to pontificate. Greta must have known that Rumsfeld was going to be totally uncritical of President Trump's leadership. Thus, she was trolling for Trump.
Rumsfeld praised the Trump Cabinet but spent his time on it by talking exclusively about the National Security team. He doesn't seem to have been bothered by the fact of McMasters, the National Security head, has allowed himself to be used to bail out his boss from his Russian investigation problems and try to preserve the skin of Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, by arguing that setting up back channel communications is a legitimate diplomatic activity. Kushner, however, tried to set up the channel while he was a private citizen, with no government portfolio. We don't know what the purpose would be for setting up a communications channel that would bypass the existing communications channels.
Rumsfeld does not have any scholarly diplomatic credentials, nor any diplomatic experience. He is best known for insisting on too lean a military force to invade Iraq and then participating in decisions that dismantled the Iraqi armed forces, and may have played a role in getting the Baath Party banned, stripping the government of much of its administrative personnel. Yet given Rumsfeld's scant diplomatic expertise and his massive failures in Iraq, Greta asked him to comment on President Trump's performance with his NATO allies on his recent European trip. Rumsfeld said that Trump handled it the same way he, Rumsfeld, would have handled it; however, when Trump went to Saudi Arabia he said he would not lecture, nor tell the Saudis what to do, while in his NATO speech, Trump lectured the NATO nations on their financial obligations. Also, Trump's staff was reportedly convinced that their boss would pledge U.S. adherence to Article 5 in the NATO Charter, which pledges all member nations to come to the aid of a member that has been militarily attacked. Trump made no mention of it.
Not mentioned in the exchange between van Sustran and Rumsfeld was the reiteration among six of the G7 nations of their support for the Paris Agreement with Trump lone person out.
Jim Bohannon has used his commentary space on "America in the Morning" to troll for Trump. On at least two occasions during the few months I have listened to the program, Bohannon has had top advisers to Trump and he has not challenged them in any way. When one of them went on a rant about Hillary Clinton, Bohannon let him rattle on without bringing him back to that subject at hand. Bohannon has tried to explain why Jeff Sessions lying under oath was not perjury, he has said of Russian/Trump collusion that "there is no there there"; he has dismissed any claim that any of Trump's actions have risen to the level of obstruction of justice; and yesterday he had Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) on, an ardent opponent of the Paris Agreement. Bohannon and Lee spent about equal air time trashing the Agreement.
It may be nit-picking on my part, but when the media says Trump was carrying out a campaign promise in withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, his specific promise was that he would tear up the Agreement as one of his first acts as president. He tried to have it two ways yesterday, as he said he would renegotiate the pact among some 195 nations. There is zero chance that this will happen.
Vladimir Putin may not be a Trump troll, and, instead, Trump may be his puppet; however, in an interview with a U.S. media reporter, Putin acknowledged that "patriotic" Russian hackers may have intervened in the U.S. presidential campaign. The fact that Putin called them "patriotic" strongly suggests that they did it in furtherance of Russian interests.
ADDENDUM:
*President Trump called Greg Gianforte to congratulate him on his election to Montana's single seat in the U.S. House. When a reporter asked press secretary Sean Spicer if Trump has made any reference to Gianforte's assault on a reporter, Spicer did not know of any. Shortly after the assault took place, reporters were asking if there was a direct connection between Trump's calling the media an enemy of the people and the physical assault. Such a connection would be difficult to prove, but a more plausible connection might be that Trump's condemnation of a "fake news" media, coupled with his encouragement of campaign rally attendees to beat up on protesters, may have create the climate for "normalizing" violence against reporters.
Rumsfeld praised the Trump Cabinet but spent his time on it by talking exclusively about the National Security team. He doesn't seem to have been bothered by the fact of McMasters, the National Security head, has allowed himself to be used to bail out his boss from his Russian investigation problems and try to preserve the skin of Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, by arguing that setting up back channel communications is a legitimate diplomatic activity. Kushner, however, tried to set up the channel while he was a private citizen, with no government portfolio. We don't know what the purpose would be for setting up a communications channel that would bypass the existing communications channels.
Rumsfeld does not have any scholarly diplomatic credentials, nor any diplomatic experience. He is best known for insisting on too lean a military force to invade Iraq and then participating in decisions that dismantled the Iraqi armed forces, and may have played a role in getting the Baath Party banned, stripping the government of much of its administrative personnel. Yet given Rumsfeld's scant diplomatic expertise and his massive failures in Iraq, Greta asked him to comment on President Trump's performance with his NATO allies on his recent European trip. Rumsfeld said that Trump handled it the same way he, Rumsfeld, would have handled it; however, when Trump went to Saudi Arabia he said he would not lecture, nor tell the Saudis what to do, while in his NATO speech, Trump lectured the NATO nations on their financial obligations. Also, Trump's staff was reportedly convinced that their boss would pledge U.S. adherence to Article 5 in the NATO Charter, which pledges all member nations to come to the aid of a member that has been militarily attacked. Trump made no mention of it.
Not mentioned in the exchange between van Sustran and Rumsfeld was the reiteration among six of the G7 nations of their support for the Paris Agreement with Trump lone person out.
Jim Bohannon has used his commentary space on "America in the Morning" to troll for Trump. On at least two occasions during the few months I have listened to the program, Bohannon has had top advisers to Trump and he has not challenged them in any way. When one of them went on a rant about Hillary Clinton, Bohannon let him rattle on without bringing him back to that subject at hand. Bohannon has tried to explain why Jeff Sessions lying under oath was not perjury, he has said of Russian/Trump collusion that "there is no there there"; he has dismissed any claim that any of Trump's actions have risen to the level of obstruction of justice; and yesterday he had Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) on, an ardent opponent of the Paris Agreement. Bohannon and Lee spent about equal air time trashing the Agreement.
It may be nit-picking on my part, but when the media says Trump was carrying out a campaign promise in withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, his specific promise was that he would tear up the Agreement as one of his first acts as president. He tried to have it two ways yesterday, as he said he would renegotiate the pact among some 195 nations. There is zero chance that this will happen.
Vladimir Putin may not be a Trump troll, and, instead, Trump may be his puppet; however, in an interview with a U.S. media reporter, Putin acknowledged that "patriotic" Russian hackers may have intervened in the U.S. presidential campaign. The fact that Putin called them "patriotic" strongly suggests that they did it in furtherance of Russian interests.
ADDENDUM:
*President Trump called Greg Gianforte to congratulate him on his election to Montana's single seat in the U.S. House. When a reporter asked press secretary Sean Spicer if Trump has made any reference to Gianforte's assault on a reporter, Spicer did not know of any. Shortly after the assault took place, reporters were asking if there was a direct connection between Trump's calling the media an enemy of the people and the physical assault. Such a connection would be difficult to prove, but a more plausible connection might be that Trump's condemnation of a "fake news" media, coupled with his encouragement of campaign rally attendees to beat up on protesters, may have create the climate for "normalizing" violence against reporters.
Thursday, June 1, 2017
The Perilous Life of Case Farms Poultry Workers
Case Farms four poultry plants are among the most dangerous workplaces in the United States. In 2015 alone, federal workplace safety inspectors fined the company nearly two million dollars. "Last September, OSHA determined that the company's line speeds and work flow were so hazardous to workers' hands and arms that it should 'investigate and change immediately' nearly all the positions on the line." [1]
Case Farms is not alone, however, as in 2015, meat, poultry, and fish cutters, "repeating similar motions more than fifteen thousand times a day, experienced carpal-tunnel syndrome at nearly twenty times the rate of workers in other industries. The combination of speed, sharp blades, and close quarters is dangerous: since 2010, more than seven hundred and fifty processing workers have suffered amputations." [2]
Catching chickens to be slaughtered for the market is one of the major jobs at Case Farms. Workers told the reporter, Michael Grabell, that they are paid around $2.25 for every thousand chickens. Two crews of nine workers each can bring in about seventy-five thousand chickens a night.
In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled, in a 5-4 decision, that undocumented workers had the right to complain about labor violations, but that companies had no obligation to rehire them or to pay back wages. The year that Case Farms was founded, Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act, which made it illegal to 'knowingly' hire undocumented immigrants. Current and former workers at Case Farms' plants said the company has an unspoken policy of allowing them to come back with a new I.D.
The Sharing Work Era May Be on Life Support
Law professor Charles A. Reich believes that what he calls Consciousness II is giving way to Consciousness III, the outlook of a rising generation whose virtues include direct action, community power and self-definition. Reich has written that Consciousness III people "simply do not imagine a career along the old vertical lines." This is not necessarily a healthy development, as a study shows that those who have relied on gigging -- work sharing -- to make a living, are less satisfied than those who had other jobs and benefits, and gigged for pocket money: another sign that the system was not helping those who most needed the work. "Instead of simply driving wealth down, it seemed, the gigging model was helping divert traditional service-worker earnings into more privileged pockets" -- excluding those most dependent on the work. [3]
The fear about the shared work economy is that the lack of the benefits and protections found in what we might call the traditional occupations create vulnerabilities to the misfortunes of life and leave such workers bereft of pensions or other types of retirement income.
ADDENDUM:
*"Over one hundred thousand American miners have died in the pursuit of coal, a death toll higher than the combined losses in the Korean and Vietnam Wars." "In 1940, there were 130,457 miners in the state, producing 126,619,825 tons of coal in West Virginia. By 1997, there were only 20,542 miners left." [4]
Footnotes
[1] Michael Grabell, "Cut to the Bone," The New Yorker, May 8, 2017.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Nathan Heller, "The Gig is Up," The New Yorker, May 15, 2017.
[4] Laurence Learner, The Price of Justice (New York: Times Books - Henry Holt and Co., 2013, p. 35).
Case Farms is not alone, however, as in 2015, meat, poultry, and fish cutters, "repeating similar motions more than fifteen thousand times a day, experienced carpal-tunnel syndrome at nearly twenty times the rate of workers in other industries. The combination of speed, sharp blades, and close quarters is dangerous: since 2010, more than seven hundred and fifty processing workers have suffered amputations." [2]
Catching chickens to be slaughtered for the market is one of the major jobs at Case Farms. Workers told the reporter, Michael Grabell, that they are paid around $2.25 for every thousand chickens. Two crews of nine workers each can bring in about seventy-five thousand chickens a night.
In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled, in a 5-4 decision, that undocumented workers had the right to complain about labor violations, but that companies had no obligation to rehire them or to pay back wages. The year that Case Farms was founded, Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act, which made it illegal to 'knowingly' hire undocumented immigrants. Current and former workers at Case Farms' plants said the company has an unspoken policy of allowing them to come back with a new I.D.
The Sharing Work Era May Be on Life Support
Law professor Charles A. Reich believes that what he calls Consciousness II is giving way to Consciousness III, the outlook of a rising generation whose virtues include direct action, community power and self-definition. Reich has written that Consciousness III people "simply do not imagine a career along the old vertical lines." This is not necessarily a healthy development, as a study shows that those who have relied on gigging -- work sharing -- to make a living, are less satisfied than those who had other jobs and benefits, and gigged for pocket money: another sign that the system was not helping those who most needed the work. "Instead of simply driving wealth down, it seemed, the gigging model was helping divert traditional service-worker earnings into more privileged pockets" -- excluding those most dependent on the work. [3]
The fear about the shared work economy is that the lack of the benefits and protections found in what we might call the traditional occupations create vulnerabilities to the misfortunes of life and leave such workers bereft of pensions or other types of retirement income.
ADDENDUM:
*"Over one hundred thousand American miners have died in the pursuit of coal, a death toll higher than the combined losses in the Korean and Vietnam Wars." "In 1940, there were 130,457 miners in the state, producing 126,619,825 tons of coal in West Virginia. By 1997, there were only 20,542 miners left." [4]
Footnotes
[1] Michael Grabell, "Cut to the Bone," The New Yorker, May 8, 2017.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Nathan Heller, "The Gig is Up," The New Yorker, May 15, 2017.
[4] Laurence Learner, The Price of Justice (New York: Times Books - Henry Holt and Co., 2013, p. 35).
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)