"Americans, in large numbers, still do not want atheists teaching their children, or performing marriages. They would, according to surveys, prefer a female, gay, Mormon, or Muslim President to having an atheist in the White House."
"Lack of belief in God is still too often taken to mean the absence of any other meaningful moral beliefs, and that has made atheists an easy minority to revile." "True religious liberty was rare in the colonies: dissenters were fined, flogged, jailed, and sometimes hanged. Yet surprisingly, no atheist was ever executed." "The Godless Constitution, as Moore and Krammick called it in a previous book, was mostly the product of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, who fought to keep God out of the document." "Such is the slippery label of atheist in the American context: slapped on those who explicitly reject it, eschewed by unbelievers who wish to avoid the stigma." "Laws against blasphemy, though rarely enforced, still exist in Massachusetts, Michigan, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wyoming." "Indeed, the charge of atheism became a convenient means of discrediting nontheological beliefs, including anarchism, radicalism, socialism, and feminism."
"The reason that atheists were not allowed to testify in court was the certainty that witnesses who were unwilling to swear an oath to God had no reason to be truthful, since they did not fear divine judgment." [1]
Footnote:
[1] Casey Cap, "Without a Prayer," The New Yorker, October 29, 2018.
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Clean Economy Optimism and Environmental Topics
I. Clean Economy Optimism
The Paris accord and the Kigali agreement, the global divestment movement the spread of carbon-pricing mechanism, legal cases trying to hold fossil fuel companies liable for the harm they've caused -- climate policy is at its most fundamental core the question of how much we'll leave in the ground." "When the carbon bubble pops, the ability of fossil fuel industries to set political agendas will be deeply compromised." "The clean economy is getting exponentially more competitive. Clean energy and batteries, in particular, are on steep learning curves. As we build more, the price drops; as the price drops, the number of situations in which wind and solar outcompete coal and gas grows." [1]
II. Clean Energy Pessimism
The other side of the coin on clean energy optimism are cautionary notes about the difficulty of holding global warming below two degrees, as called for in the Paris agreement. Elizabeth Kolbert of the New Yorker magazine throws some cold water on the nations in the Paris agreement "pursing efforts" to limit temperature increase to 1.5 degrees. She cautions that at the current rate of emissions, "the world will have run through the so-called carbon budget for 1.5 degrees within the next decade or so." She worries that "the Supreme Court for its part, appears unlikely to challenge the Administration's baleful reasoning. Last week [in early October], it declined to hear an appeal to a lower court ruling on hydrofluoro- carbons, chemicals that are among the most potent greenhouse gases known. The lower court had struck down an Obama-era rule phasing out HFCs, which are used mostly as refrigerants. The author of the lower-court decision was, by the dystopian logic of our times, Brett Kavanaugh." [2]
"To have a reasonable chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees, the I.P.C.C. said, global CO(2) emissions, now running about forty billion tons a year, would need to be halved by 2030 and reduced more or less to zero by 2050." According to the I.P.C.C., between 1.5 and two degrees of warming, the rate of crop loss doubles. So does the decline in marine fisheries, while exposure to extreme heat waves almost triples.
III. The Wilderness and Civilization Debate
[The] divisions over Isle Royale's wolves are emblematic of more-high-stakes debates about how, when, and whether human desires should override the need to keep some places free from civilization." "For some, the wolf is a totem of wildness; for others, it's a menace. Since wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park in 1995, these divisions have typically fallen along ideological lines." "Can we resist the temptation to turn every last terrain into a vehicle for human wants?" [3] (Isle Royale is an island in Lake Superior, just off Michigan's Upper Peninsula.)
IV. Protecting Arctic Wildlife
In 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower protected nearly 9 million acres as the Arctic National Wildlife Range, later to be expanded and reamed a national Refuge. "Sure, the idea of keeping one last one was nice, but that was never how America had treated the frontiers of the past; frontiers, by American definition, were for developing." "And then last December, in the midst of a chaotic administration, a historically unpopular president signed a major tax bill with a largely overlooked rider. Just like that, after almost 50 years of passionate debate, U.S. law would require oil leasing on the Arctic prairies." [4]
ADDEDUMS:
*"Across both wind and solar, women make up just under 30 percent of the workforce. The percentage of women in administrative and paralegal roles is around 90 percent, but it's rare to see more than one female wind technician on any given site." [5]
*"The borderlands [between the U.S. and Mexico] are home to more than 1,500 native plants, ocelots, antelope, bisons, and wolves." [6]
Footnotes:
[1] Alex Steffen, "The Last Dinosaur," Mother Jones, November/December 2018.
[2] Elizabeth Kolbert, "Global Warming," The New Yorker, October 22, 2018.
[3] Jason Mark, "Let It Be," Sierra, November/December 2018.
[4] Brooke Jarnie, "The Last Stand," Sierra, November/December 2018.
[5] Wendy Becktold, "Wind Beneath Her Wings," Sierra, November/December 2018.
[6] Michael Brune, "Mr. Trump, Tear Down This Wall," Sierra, November/December 2018.
The Paris accord and the Kigali agreement, the global divestment movement the spread of carbon-pricing mechanism, legal cases trying to hold fossil fuel companies liable for the harm they've caused -- climate policy is at its most fundamental core the question of how much we'll leave in the ground." "When the carbon bubble pops, the ability of fossil fuel industries to set political agendas will be deeply compromised." "The clean economy is getting exponentially more competitive. Clean energy and batteries, in particular, are on steep learning curves. As we build more, the price drops; as the price drops, the number of situations in which wind and solar outcompete coal and gas grows." [1]
II. Clean Energy Pessimism
The other side of the coin on clean energy optimism are cautionary notes about the difficulty of holding global warming below two degrees, as called for in the Paris agreement. Elizabeth Kolbert of the New Yorker magazine throws some cold water on the nations in the Paris agreement "pursing efforts" to limit temperature increase to 1.5 degrees. She cautions that at the current rate of emissions, "the world will have run through the so-called carbon budget for 1.5 degrees within the next decade or so." She worries that "the Supreme Court for its part, appears unlikely to challenge the Administration's baleful reasoning. Last week [in early October], it declined to hear an appeal to a lower court ruling on hydrofluoro- carbons, chemicals that are among the most potent greenhouse gases known. The lower court had struck down an Obama-era rule phasing out HFCs, which are used mostly as refrigerants. The author of the lower-court decision was, by the dystopian logic of our times, Brett Kavanaugh." [2]
"To have a reasonable chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees, the I.P.C.C. said, global CO(2) emissions, now running about forty billion tons a year, would need to be halved by 2030 and reduced more or less to zero by 2050." According to the I.P.C.C., between 1.5 and two degrees of warming, the rate of crop loss doubles. So does the decline in marine fisheries, while exposure to extreme heat waves almost triples.
III. The Wilderness and Civilization Debate
[The] divisions over Isle Royale's wolves are emblematic of more-high-stakes debates about how, when, and whether human desires should override the need to keep some places free from civilization." "For some, the wolf is a totem of wildness; for others, it's a menace. Since wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park in 1995, these divisions have typically fallen along ideological lines." "Can we resist the temptation to turn every last terrain into a vehicle for human wants?" [3] (Isle Royale is an island in Lake Superior, just off Michigan's Upper Peninsula.)
IV. Protecting Arctic Wildlife
In 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower protected nearly 9 million acres as the Arctic National Wildlife Range, later to be expanded and reamed a national Refuge. "Sure, the idea of keeping one last one was nice, but that was never how America had treated the frontiers of the past; frontiers, by American definition, were for developing." "And then last December, in the midst of a chaotic administration, a historically unpopular president signed a major tax bill with a largely overlooked rider. Just like that, after almost 50 years of passionate debate, U.S. law would require oil leasing on the Arctic prairies." [4]
ADDEDUMS:
*"Across both wind and solar, women make up just under 30 percent of the workforce. The percentage of women in administrative and paralegal roles is around 90 percent, but it's rare to see more than one female wind technician on any given site." [5]
*"The borderlands [between the U.S. and Mexico] are home to more than 1,500 native plants, ocelots, antelope, bisons, and wolves." [6]
Footnotes:
[1] Alex Steffen, "The Last Dinosaur," Mother Jones, November/December 2018.
[2] Elizabeth Kolbert, "Global Warming," The New Yorker, October 22, 2018.
[3] Jason Mark, "Let It Be," Sierra, November/December 2018.
[4] Brooke Jarnie, "The Last Stand," Sierra, November/December 2018.
[5] Wendy Becktold, "Wind Beneath Her Wings," Sierra, November/December 2018.
[6] Michael Brune, "Mr. Trump, Tear Down This Wall," Sierra, November/December 2018.
Monday, November 26, 2018
Trump Watch: Spanked in Court
#President Trump attempts to rollback the Obama-era Clean Power Plan. The EPA admits that the move will increase air pollution and kill 1,400 people each year.
#The EPA proposes weakening federal standards for cars and trucks, and taking away California's ability to enforce its own, stricter rules.
#The Sierra Club's Environmental Law Program and allied groups achieve a raft of legal victories. These include beating back approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, ending the EPA's delay of safety regulations at dangerous chemical plants, stopping the delay of the Clean Power Rule, and requiring safeguards for coal-ash dumps.
#A federal judge orders the EPA to ban the heavily used farm chemical chlorpyrifos and reprimands the agency for not doing so sooner.
#The EPA will allow the use of asbestos in U.S. manufacturing. The Russian company Uralasbest puts Trump's face on bags of its product: "Donald is on our side!" says a company Facebook post.
#Despite earlier assurances from acting EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler that he didn't "think it was appropriate" to meet with clients on whose behalf he had lobbied, he has done so on at least three occasions.
#The Bureau of Land Management will no longer require oil and gas companies, and other industries to pay compensation for the damage their activities do to public lands.
A Carbon Tax at Last?
With Initiative 1631, a loose coalition of some 200 groups known as the Alliance for Jobs and Clean Energy in the state of Washington, spent years crafting a compromise among labor, social justice, and environmental advocates. The tax level would start at $15 per metric ton in 2020, with $2 increases every year until the state met its 2035 goal: reducing carbon emissions to 25 percent below 1990 levels. Most of the $1 billion raised would go to carbon reduction programs and clean air investment, rather than tax breaks, while a portion would be directed to low-income communities. Electric vehicle fleets and public transit have been floated as options.
Sixty-eight percent of Americans (and 69 percent of people in the state of Washington) believe fossil fuel companies should pay a carbon tax. (Source: Mother Jones, November/December 2018.)
ADDENDUMS:
*"Our journalism comes from somewhere. It comes from a passion for justice, fairness, and a democracy where facts matter and all can participate." "The truth is, the press is the enemy -- of secrecy, corruption, and manipulation." (Source: Monika Bauerlein, "Stand for Something," Mother Jones, November/December 2018.)
*"It wasn't until 1924 that all Native Americans gained citizenship, 1948 that they could vote in Arizona, and 1972 that the state abolished literacy tests. In 1975, the Voting Rights Act was amended to mandate that translators be made available to assist indigenous voters." "But in the half-decade since the Supreme Court's ruling in Shelby County v. Holder struck down portions of the Voting Rights Act, 212 polling locations have closed in Arizona." (Source: Tim Murphy, "Nation Building," Mother Jones, November/December 2018.)
#The EPA proposes weakening federal standards for cars and trucks, and taking away California's ability to enforce its own, stricter rules.
#The Sierra Club's Environmental Law Program and allied groups achieve a raft of legal victories. These include beating back approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, ending the EPA's delay of safety regulations at dangerous chemical plants, stopping the delay of the Clean Power Rule, and requiring safeguards for coal-ash dumps.
#A federal judge orders the EPA to ban the heavily used farm chemical chlorpyrifos and reprimands the agency for not doing so sooner.
#The EPA will allow the use of asbestos in U.S. manufacturing. The Russian company Uralasbest puts Trump's face on bags of its product: "Donald is on our side!" says a company Facebook post.
#Despite earlier assurances from acting EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler that he didn't "think it was appropriate" to meet with clients on whose behalf he had lobbied, he has done so on at least three occasions.
#The Bureau of Land Management will no longer require oil and gas companies, and other industries to pay compensation for the damage their activities do to public lands.
A Carbon Tax at Last?
With Initiative 1631, a loose coalition of some 200 groups known as the Alliance for Jobs and Clean Energy in the state of Washington, spent years crafting a compromise among labor, social justice, and environmental advocates. The tax level would start at $15 per metric ton in 2020, with $2 increases every year until the state met its 2035 goal: reducing carbon emissions to 25 percent below 1990 levels. Most of the $1 billion raised would go to carbon reduction programs and clean air investment, rather than tax breaks, while a portion would be directed to low-income communities. Electric vehicle fleets and public transit have been floated as options.
Sixty-eight percent of Americans (and 69 percent of people in the state of Washington) believe fossil fuel companies should pay a carbon tax. (Source: Mother Jones, November/December 2018.)
ADDENDUMS:
*"Our journalism comes from somewhere. It comes from a passion for justice, fairness, and a democracy where facts matter and all can participate." "The truth is, the press is the enemy -- of secrecy, corruption, and manipulation." (Source: Monika Bauerlein, "Stand for Something," Mother Jones, November/December 2018.)
*"It wasn't until 1924 that all Native Americans gained citizenship, 1948 that they could vote in Arizona, and 1972 that the state abolished literacy tests. In 1975, the Voting Rights Act was amended to mandate that translators be made available to assist indigenous voters." "But in the half-decade since the Supreme Court's ruling in Shelby County v. Holder struck down portions of the Voting Rights Act, 212 polling locations have closed in Arizona." (Source: Tim Murphy, "Nation Building," Mother Jones, November/December 2018.)
Sunday, November 25, 2018
Numbers on the Financial Industry and More
I. The Revolving Financial Industry Door
60% - Percentage of retired senators from the 2008 Senate Banking Committee who went to work for the financial industry.
40% - Percentage of congressional senior staff involved in the response to the 2008 crash who have gone to work for the financial industry.
1,447 - Number of former federal employees hired to lobby for financial firms from 2009 to June 2010, including 73 members of Congress.
88% - Percentage of Goldman Sachs lobbyists in 2016 who at one point worked for the federal government.
$1M - Amount made by former congressman Barney Frank, co-sponsor of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, on the board of directors of Signature Bank since 2015. (Source: The Nation, October 8/15, 2018.)
II. World Bank Misadventures
1.3M - Estimated number of people displaced by World Bank-funded projects in Vietnam.
$10M - Minimum amount of World Bank funding used in 2015 for the violent eviction of a minority farming community in Ethiopia.
25M - Metric tons of CO(2) released per year by a World Bank-funded power plant in South Africa -- more than the total emissions of many nations.
1,000 - Number of people who reported symptoms of mercury poisoning following an accident at a goldmine in Peru funded by the World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation.
133 - Number of deaths in a land dispute between peasant collectives and a World Bank-funded palm-oil corporation in Honduras. Source: The Nation, October 22, 2018.)
III. Unionizing Bank Workers
A. The financial industry has a massive number of workers: 8.6 million, or 5.7% of all U.S. employment.
B. The vast majority are low-level bank workers who need higher pay: $13.52 an hour is the median wage for the 502,700 bank tellers in the U.S.
C. They could be a fraud solution: Organized, empowered workers could help regulate the industry from below. $12 billion is the amount the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau returned to 29 million defrauded customers between 2010 and 2017. Wells Fargo workers were pressured into opening 3.5 million fake accounts. Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics; author's calculations; Financial Services Committee. The author is Mike Konczal of The Nation.)
IV. All Work and No Play
A. You're Probably Working Too Much - One-third of Americans work 45 hours or more a week, and 9.7 million work more than 60. Americans work 7.8% more hours a year than they did in 1979. The average workday in Europe is about one hour less than in the U.S.
B. Long Hours Are Making Us Sick - Americans sleep just 6.5 hours a night, a drop from the 1940s. In one recent experiment in Goteborg, Sweden, workers who put in just six hours a day were more productive than those working regular eight-hour shifts. Germans clock the fewest hours each year among developed countries. In a 2013 poll about sleep, the United States came in fifth of six developed countries.
C. The so-called Save American Workers Act considered in the House of Representatives would have put at risk nearly 66 million people who work 40 hours a week, because losing a single hour deducted from their schedules could have brought about legally denied employer-paid health insurance. 20 million people who work 30-39 hours a week could lose benefits under the GOP plan if they don't work more. (Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Economic Policy Institute; IZA National Sleep Institute; Gallup.)
60% - Percentage of retired senators from the 2008 Senate Banking Committee who went to work for the financial industry.
40% - Percentage of congressional senior staff involved in the response to the 2008 crash who have gone to work for the financial industry.
1,447 - Number of former federal employees hired to lobby for financial firms from 2009 to June 2010, including 73 members of Congress.
88% - Percentage of Goldman Sachs lobbyists in 2016 who at one point worked for the federal government.
$1M - Amount made by former congressman Barney Frank, co-sponsor of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, on the board of directors of Signature Bank since 2015. (Source: The Nation, October 8/15, 2018.)
II. World Bank Misadventures
1.3M - Estimated number of people displaced by World Bank-funded projects in Vietnam.
$10M - Minimum amount of World Bank funding used in 2015 for the violent eviction of a minority farming community in Ethiopia.
25M - Metric tons of CO(2) released per year by a World Bank-funded power plant in South Africa -- more than the total emissions of many nations.
1,000 - Number of people who reported symptoms of mercury poisoning following an accident at a goldmine in Peru funded by the World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation.
133 - Number of deaths in a land dispute between peasant collectives and a World Bank-funded palm-oil corporation in Honduras. Source: The Nation, October 22, 2018.)
III. Unionizing Bank Workers
A. The financial industry has a massive number of workers: 8.6 million, or 5.7% of all U.S. employment.
B. The vast majority are low-level bank workers who need higher pay: $13.52 an hour is the median wage for the 502,700 bank tellers in the U.S.
C. They could be a fraud solution: Organized, empowered workers could help regulate the industry from below. $12 billion is the amount the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau returned to 29 million defrauded customers between 2010 and 2017. Wells Fargo workers were pressured into opening 3.5 million fake accounts. Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics; author's calculations; Financial Services Committee. The author is Mike Konczal of The Nation.)
IV. All Work and No Play
A. You're Probably Working Too Much - One-third of Americans work 45 hours or more a week, and 9.7 million work more than 60. Americans work 7.8% more hours a year than they did in 1979. The average workday in Europe is about one hour less than in the U.S.
B. Long Hours Are Making Us Sick - Americans sleep just 6.5 hours a night, a drop from the 1940s. In one recent experiment in Goteborg, Sweden, workers who put in just six hours a day were more productive than those working regular eight-hour shifts. Germans clock the fewest hours each year among developed countries. In a 2013 poll about sleep, the United States came in fifth of six developed countries.
C. The so-called Save American Workers Act considered in the House of Representatives would have put at risk nearly 66 million people who work 40 hours a week, because losing a single hour deducted from their schedules could have brought about legally denied employer-paid health insurance. 20 million people who work 30-39 hours a week could lose benefits under the GOP plan if they don't work more. (Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Economic Policy Institute; IZA National Sleep Institute; Gallup.)
Friday, November 23, 2018
President Trump's Exaggerated Election Role
A closer look at President Trump's impact on the 2018 election reveals that his claims are exaggerated. He may have been instrumental in pushing Ron Desantis to a narrow victory in the Florida governor's race, and perhaps he made the difference in defeating Joe Donnally in Indiana. Aside from that, he experienced mostly defeat, or did not play a decisive role. Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota had long been considered to be the most endangered Democratic U.S. Senator; also, Claire McCaskill had been put in much the same category as Heitkamp. They may have both lost if Trump had taken no role in their campaigns. Rick Scott in Florida distanced himself from Trump, and his victory by some 10,000+ votes out of a total of about 8 million cast may have been reversed if he had more closely embraced Trump.
President Trump put a lot of effort into defeating Jon Tester in Montana: Trump's anger was stoked because he blamed Tester for the defeat of Trump's personal physician in becoming the head of the Veteran's Administration. Joe Manchin won a comfortable victory in his re-election bid in West Virginia, despite the rallies that Trump held to support his opponent. Trump-supported Republican candidates for the U.S.Senate from Arizona and Nevada both lost to Democratic candidates, who both entered the campaign without having a high political profile.
Looking at the state races for legislative and executive seats, the Democrats gained seven governorships, and a total of about 370 legislative seats. Some legislative chambers switched from Republican to Democratic control, and the Democrats increased their numbers in other legislative chambers. Although those who have tried to diminish the scope of the Democratic gains have pointed out that the Democrats lost over 900 state legislative seats during the two terms of Barack Obama, to reduce that advantage by well over one third in one election is a significant victory.
In my home state of New Mexico, all five of our representatives in Congress are now Democrats; Democratic majorities in the New Mexico House and Senate were strengthened; and New Mexico now has a Democratic governor.
To cap everything off, President Trump endorsed 75 Republican candidates, and only 28 percent won. Barack Obama had a significantly higher percentage of his endorsed candidates winning.
Although Democratic candidates received 8.68 million more votes than their Republican counterparts to this point -- close to the record 8.7 million partisan advantage in the past -- this advantage was not reflected in commensurate seats gained in Congress, largely due to Republican gerrymandering. The advantage due to gerrymandering was more clearly seen in the contests for state legislative seats. In Wisconsin, although Democratic candidates received 200,000 more votes than Republican candidates, the Democrats gained only one House seat. In Pennsylvania, Democratic candidates received 52 percent of the total votes, but less than 50 percent of the seats.
President Trump put a lot of effort into defeating Jon Tester in Montana: Trump's anger was stoked because he blamed Tester for the defeat of Trump's personal physician in becoming the head of the Veteran's Administration. Joe Manchin won a comfortable victory in his re-election bid in West Virginia, despite the rallies that Trump held to support his opponent. Trump-supported Republican candidates for the U.S.Senate from Arizona and Nevada both lost to Democratic candidates, who both entered the campaign without having a high political profile.
Looking at the state races for legislative and executive seats, the Democrats gained seven governorships, and a total of about 370 legislative seats. Some legislative chambers switched from Republican to Democratic control, and the Democrats increased their numbers in other legislative chambers. Although those who have tried to diminish the scope of the Democratic gains have pointed out that the Democrats lost over 900 state legislative seats during the two terms of Barack Obama, to reduce that advantage by well over one third in one election is a significant victory.
In my home state of New Mexico, all five of our representatives in Congress are now Democrats; Democratic majorities in the New Mexico House and Senate were strengthened; and New Mexico now has a Democratic governor.
To cap everything off, President Trump endorsed 75 Republican candidates, and only 28 percent won. Barack Obama had a significantly higher percentage of his endorsed candidates winning.
Although Democratic candidates received 8.68 million more votes than their Republican counterparts to this point -- close to the record 8.7 million partisan advantage in the past -- this advantage was not reflected in commensurate seats gained in Congress, largely due to Republican gerrymandering. The advantage due to gerrymandering was more clearly seen in the contests for state legislative seats. In Wisconsin, although Democratic candidates received 200,000 more votes than Republican candidates, the Democrats gained only one House seat. In Pennsylvania, Democratic candidates received 52 percent of the total votes, but less than 50 percent of the seats.
Thursday, November 1, 2018
President Trump: Toxic to the Nation and the World
Rick Wilson, Never-Trumpster and once a Republican pollster, has written a book in which he identifies Trump as the focal point where good ideas go to die. Recent developments show how toxic Trump is proving to be to the nation and the world.
I. Deficit Creator
The U.S. Treasury Department found that the budgetary deficit widened in FY 2018 to $779 billion, from $666 billion in FY 2017, or a 17 percent increase from year-to-year. The budgetary deficit is on pace to top $1 trillion a year before the next presidential election. The deficit for FY 2018 is the largest since 2012, when the economy and federal revenues were still recovering from the depths of the recession. Falling revenues were a far larger contributor to the rising deficit than higher spending. Corporate tax revenues fell more than a third from a comparable period a year before -- from $297 billion to $205 billion.
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytic, has said: "There is noting to suggest the tax law is lifting investment in any substantive way, at least so far." Zandi says that a big chunk of the tax windfall has gone to shareholders in the form of fatter dividends and bigger share buybacks. According to Marketwatch, stock buybacks are up 22 percent this year. Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group, says business debt as a percentage of GDP is at the highest level ever in an expansion.
The bottom line is that businesses only expand when there is demand. Since wage growth has been stagnant for many years, and since wage growth in the past year has been equaled by the percentage increase in inflation, there is insufficient demand to spur business growth.
II. Birthright Under Attack
The 14th Amendment reads on citizenship, as follows: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside." Donald Trump has wanted to strike birth in the United States as a condition for citizenship. He now contends that he can strike it through an executive order. His argument hinges on the phrase: "subject to the jurisdiction thereof," which he apparently believes illegal aliens are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. If an illegal alien commits a crime, he/she is subject to being prosecuted for that crime. The word "born" is not followed by any qualifier, such as "unless" and then given a condition in which being born would not be sufficient.
President Trump believes that he can do almost anything by executive order, citing a national security rational when pressed on his authority. Thus, he cites national security as the authority for imposing tariffs on imported automobiles. There is a high bar for amending the Constitution. Other presidents have not tried to challenge that high bar through specious reasoning.
III. Reneging on the INF Treaty
President Trump is proposing to pull the U.S. out of the INF Treaty, which prohibits the development and deployment of nuclear missiles in the intermediate range. Trump is a ferocious foe of international treaties, and he has pulled the nation out of the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris agreement on global warming.
Ratification of a treaty requires a 2/3's vote in the U.S. Senate. The ratified treaty becomes part of the "supreme law of the land," and can only be done by the Congress and the president, or at least by a vote of the Senate -- at least based on pre-Trump thinking. Thomas Jefferson said: "Treaties being declared, equally with the laws of the United States, to be the supreme law of the land, it is understood that an act of the legislature alone can declare them infringed and rescinded." If Trump can unilaterally withdraw from the INF, could he also withdraw from NATO, the NEW START Treaty, and the United Nations?
There are reasons other than legal ones not to kill the INF Treaty. U.S. withdrawal opens the door for Russia to deploy more missiles of concern. The U.S.does not need new and costly INF Treaty-noncompliant missiles. NATO does not support a new INF Treaty-range missile in Europe. U.S. withdrawal does not bring Russia back into compliance. Withdrawal would not counter China, which is not a party to the Treaty. The NEW START Treaty will expire in 2021 if not extended, and killing INF would make it harder to extend it.
The U.S. does not have clean hands in this matter, as its nuclear defense missiles could be used offensively.
I. Deficit Creator
The U.S. Treasury Department found that the budgetary deficit widened in FY 2018 to $779 billion, from $666 billion in FY 2017, or a 17 percent increase from year-to-year. The budgetary deficit is on pace to top $1 trillion a year before the next presidential election. The deficit for FY 2018 is the largest since 2012, when the economy and federal revenues were still recovering from the depths of the recession. Falling revenues were a far larger contributor to the rising deficit than higher spending. Corporate tax revenues fell more than a third from a comparable period a year before -- from $297 billion to $205 billion.
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytic, has said: "There is noting to suggest the tax law is lifting investment in any substantive way, at least so far." Zandi says that a big chunk of the tax windfall has gone to shareholders in the form of fatter dividends and bigger share buybacks. According to Marketwatch, stock buybacks are up 22 percent this year. Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group, says business debt as a percentage of GDP is at the highest level ever in an expansion.
The bottom line is that businesses only expand when there is demand. Since wage growth has been stagnant for many years, and since wage growth in the past year has been equaled by the percentage increase in inflation, there is insufficient demand to spur business growth.
II. Birthright Under Attack
The 14th Amendment reads on citizenship, as follows: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside." Donald Trump has wanted to strike birth in the United States as a condition for citizenship. He now contends that he can strike it through an executive order. His argument hinges on the phrase: "subject to the jurisdiction thereof," which he apparently believes illegal aliens are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. If an illegal alien commits a crime, he/she is subject to being prosecuted for that crime. The word "born" is not followed by any qualifier, such as "unless" and then given a condition in which being born would not be sufficient.
President Trump believes that he can do almost anything by executive order, citing a national security rational when pressed on his authority. Thus, he cites national security as the authority for imposing tariffs on imported automobiles. There is a high bar for amending the Constitution. Other presidents have not tried to challenge that high bar through specious reasoning.
III. Reneging on the INF Treaty
President Trump is proposing to pull the U.S. out of the INF Treaty, which prohibits the development and deployment of nuclear missiles in the intermediate range. Trump is a ferocious foe of international treaties, and he has pulled the nation out of the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris agreement on global warming.
Ratification of a treaty requires a 2/3's vote in the U.S. Senate. The ratified treaty becomes part of the "supreme law of the land," and can only be done by the Congress and the president, or at least by a vote of the Senate -- at least based on pre-Trump thinking. Thomas Jefferson said: "Treaties being declared, equally with the laws of the United States, to be the supreme law of the land, it is understood that an act of the legislature alone can declare them infringed and rescinded." If Trump can unilaterally withdraw from the INF, could he also withdraw from NATO, the NEW START Treaty, and the United Nations?
There are reasons other than legal ones not to kill the INF Treaty. U.S. withdrawal opens the door for Russia to deploy more missiles of concern. The U.S.does not need new and costly INF Treaty-noncompliant missiles. NATO does not support a new INF Treaty-range missile in Europe. U.S. withdrawal does not bring Russia back into compliance. Withdrawal would not counter China, which is not a party to the Treaty. The NEW START Treaty will expire in 2021 if not extended, and killing INF would make it harder to extend it.
The U.S. does not have clean hands in this matter, as its nuclear defense missiles could be used offensively.
Monday, October 29, 2018
Trump and His Supporters Acting Badly
Assaulting Journalists Is A.O.K. for Trump and Supporters
At a recent rally in Montana, President Trump was pumped up in recounting the physical beating of a "Guardian" journalist by Rep. Greg Gianforte. "By the way, never wrestle him. You understand that? Never. Any guy that can do a bodyslam, he's my kind of...he's my guy." "I shouldn't say this. But they're nothing to be embarrassed about." Trump then turned to his left, raised his right arm over his head, cradled his left arm over an imaginary body, and slammed down his right arm."
The people arrayed behind Trump broke out in expressions of unrestrained joy. The irony of this display is that the GOP has been labeling the Democratic Party as a "violent mob."
Those who voted for Donald Trump for the presidency had ample evidence of the violence is Trump's being. At his campaign rallies, Trump repeatedly urged violence toward protesters. Three of his outbursts stand out: 1. He expressed his desire to slam his fist into the face of a protester; 2. He said he would pay the expenses of anyone who ran into trouble for physically assaulting a protester; and 3. He expressed a yearning for the olden days when protesters required medical attention.
During the presidential campaign, Trump called for acts of violence that violated international treaties and/or U.S statues, or went to the extreme end of a violence spectrum. At least twice in the campaign, he vowed to kill the families of suspected terrorists. He has never disavowed that promise. He said he would authorize the use of torture that went well beyond waterboarding. He reversed that position during the transition period when General James Mattis told him that he could accomplish more with a few cigarettes and a sixpack. That was not the end of it, however, as, after talking to a few intelligence officials, Trump became convinced that torture "works" -- that is apparently his current position. He said he would order his military commanders to permit their troops to commit war crimes. When asked if his commanders would follow his orders, Trump answered: "They will. Believe me!" The Trump campaign team issued a statement in early March 2016, stating that existing law would be followed. That statement was then muddied later that month, when in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, Donald Trump said that the laws on dealing with terrorism were too strict, and he would try to loosen them up.
Abortion is a special case: In his adult life, Donald Trump has held a variety of positions on it. He was once pro-choice, but in early March 2016, he said that women who have an abortion must pay a penalty. Before that day was over, Trump said that women who have abortions are "victims." In June 2016, during an interview with John Dickerson of CBS News, Trump said that abortion is murder. Given that most, or all, U.S. legal jurisdictions do not have a statue of limitations on murder, any person who has performed an abortion could be charged with murder; also, any woman who has taken a fetus to an abortionist could be charged as an accessory to murder. Trump's position, if adopted, would mean prison time, or even Death Row for many people. This would be violence by proxy.
At a recent rally in Montana, President Trump was pumped up in recounting the physical beating of a "Guardian" journalist by Rep. Greg Gianforte. "By the way, never wrestle him. You understand that? Never. Any guy that can do a bodyslam, he's my kind of...he's my guy." "I shouldn't say this. But they're nothing to be embarrassed about." Trump then turned to his left, raised his right arm over his head, cradled his left arm over an imaginary body, and slammed down his right arm."
The people arrayed behind Trump broke out in expressions of unrestrained joy. The irony of this display is that the GOP has been labeling the Democratic Party as a "violent mob."
Those who voted for Donald Trump for the presidency had ample evidence of the violence is Trump's being. At his campaign rallies, Trump repeatedly urged violence toward protesters. Three of his outbursts stand out: 1. He expressed his desire to slam his fist into the face of a protester; 2. He said he would pay the expenses of anyone who ran into trouble for physically assaulting a protester; and 3. He expressed a yearning for the olden days when protesters required medical attention.
During the presidential campaign, Trump called for acts of violence that violated international treaties and/or U.S statues, or went to the extreme end of a violence spectrum. At least twice in the campaign, he vowed to kill the families of suspected terrorists. He has never disavowed that promise. He said he would authorize the use of torture that went well beyond waterboarding. He reversed that position during the transition period when General James Mattis told him that he could accomplish more with a few cigarettes and a sixpack. That was not the end of it, however, as, after talking to a few intelligence officials, Trump became convinced that torture "works" -- that is apparently his current position. He said he would order his military commanders to permit their troops to commit war crimes. When asked if his commanders would follow his orders, Trump answered: "They will. Believe me!" The Trump campaign team issued a statement in early March 2016, stating that existing law would be followed. That statement was then muddied later that month, when in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, Donald Trump said that the laws on dealing with terrorism were too strict, and he would try to loosen them up.
Abortion is a special case: In his adult life, Donald Trump has held a variety of positions on it. He was once pro-choice, but in early March 2016, he said that women who have an abortion must pay a penalty. Before that day was over, Trump said that women who have abortions are "victims." In June 2016, during an interview with John Dickerson of CBS News, Trump said that abortion is murder. Given that most, or all, U.S. legal jurisdictions do not have a statue of limitations on murder, any person who has performed an abortion could be charged with murder; also, any woman who has taken a fetus to an abortionist could be charged as an accessory to murder. Trump's position, if adopted, would mean prison time, or even Death Row for many people. This would be violence by proxy.
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Guiliani's Chaotic Mixture and More
I. Guiliani's Chaotic Mixture
"[Guiliani] has, in effect, become the legal auxiliary to Trump's Twitter feed, peddling the same chaotic mixture of non sequiturs, exaggerations, half-truths, and falsehoods. Guiliani, like the president, is not seeking converts but comforting the converted." "And the juxtaposition of his seedy theatrics on behalf of Trump with his performance on that grand stage is jarring." [1]
Among the threats levied by Rudy Guilani is that Mueller "doesn't get it done in the next two weeks we will unload on him like a ton of bricks." (Richard Nixon was subpoenaed for the White House tapes; and Bill Clinton was subpoenaed for testimony in the Whitewater investigation, although he ultimately testified voluntarily." "In 1997, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that President Clinton was legally obligated to submit to a deposition in Paula Jones's sexual harassment case against him."
II. Suspicious Money Transfers
Federal investigators are looking at a pair of suspicious money transfers from some of the planners and participants in the 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump campaign officials and a Kremlin- connected lawyer. The transfers involve money from Russia and Switzerland being moved to places such as the British Virgin Islands, Bangkok and New Jersey. One transfer involved an offshore company controlled by Aras Agalarov, wiring almost $20 million to his own account at a New York bank. He also transferred $1.2 million from the family bank in Russia to a New Jersey account controlled by his son, Emin.
III. Flame-Retardant Chemicals
Lead, a deadly neurotoxin that never biodegrades, assaulted the public health throughout the 20th century, largely through its role as an additive to gasoline. According to the Chicago Tribune, flame retardants are now taking over as a major problem, as it has found that certain flame retardants doubled in the blood of adults every two to five years between 1970 and 2004. This anti-public-health offensive designed to magnify the threat of fire, helps explain why flame retardants are now embedded in an astonishing array of consumer products, including furniture, bedding, electrical equipment, and -- most despicable of all -- children's clothing and car seats. [2]
The E.P.A. maintains a database of some 85,000 chemicals that have been manufactured or processed in the United States, but it has subjected less than 300 of these to rigorous testing under the Toxic Substance Control Act and has banned only five (including PCBs.)
IV. Rescinding TPS Suspended
Edward Chen, a U.S. district judge in San Francisco, suspended the Trump administration's decision to rescind temporary protected status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of immigrants. The decision will relieve immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan. He said that "TPS beneficiaries and their children will suffer irreparable harm and great hardship." They face the choice of bringing their children with them or "splitting their families apart." The United States and their communities are the only things the TPS recipients have known.
V. ICE Processing Center
In May of this year, a surprise inspection of the privately run Adelanto ICE Processing Center found nooses made from bed sheets in 15 of 20 cells. Detainees waited "weeks and months" to see a doctor. Detainees were commonly subjected to disciplinary segregation before being found guilty of violating rules. From November 2017 to April 2018, detainees filed 80 medical grievances.
VI. Remirez Eyewitness Not Interviewed
Kathy Charlton, a mutual friend of Brett Kavanaugh, who, NBC has confirmed, was identified to the FBI as an eyewitness to the incident of Kavanaugh exposing himself to Deborah Remirez. Charlton told NBC News that, in a phone conversation on September 21, a former classmate of hers, told her that Kavanaugh had called him and advised him not to say anything "bad" if the press were to call. Then on September 21, according to the texts, that same person sent Charlton a text accusing her of disclosing their conversation to a reporter. "Hellllllooooo. Don't Fxxxxxx TELL PEOPLE BRETT GOT IN TOUCH WITH ME!!! I TOLD YOU AT THE TIME THAT WAS IN CONFIDENCE!!!"
Footnotes:
[1] Jeffrey Toobin, "Beating the Drum," The New Yorker, September 10, 2018.
[2] Jamie Kitman, "Worse Than Lead?" The Nation, September 10/17, 2018.
"[Guiliani] has, in effect, become the legal auxiliary to Trump's Twitter feed, peddling the same chaotic mixture of non sequiturs, exaggerations, half-truths, and falsehoods. Guiliani, like the president, is not seeking converts but comforting the converted." "And the juxtaposition of his seedy theatrics on behalf of Trump with his performance on that grand stage is jarring." [1]
Among the threats levied by Rudy Guilani is that Mueller "doesn't get it done in the next two weeks we will unload on him like a ton of bricks." (Richard Nixon was subpoenaed for the White House tapes; and Bill Clinton was subpoenaed for testimony in the Whitewater investigation, although he ultimately testified voluntarily." "In 1997, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that President Clinton was legally obligated to submit to a deposition in Paula Jones's sexual harassment case against him."
II. Suspicious Money Transfers
Federal investigators are looking at a pair of suspicious money transfers from some of the planners and participants in the 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump campaign officials and a Kremlin- connected lawyer. The transfers involve money from Russia and Switzerland being moved to places such as the British Virgin Islands, Bangkok and New Jersey. One transfer involved an offshore company controlled by Aras Agalarov, wiring almost $20 million to his own account at a New York bank. He also transferred $1.2 million from the family bank in Russia to a New Jersey account controlled by his son, Emin.
III. Flame-Retardant Chemicals
Lead, a deadly neurotoxin that never biodegrades, assaulted the public health throughout the 20th century, largely through its role as an additive to gasoline. According to the Chicago Tribune, flame retardants are now taking over as a major problem, as it has found that certain flame retardants doubled in the blood of adults every two to five years between 1970 and 2004. This anti-public-health offensive designed to magnify the threat of fire, helps explain why flame retardants are now embedded in an astonishing array of consumer products, including furniture, bedding, electrical equipment, and -- most despicable of all -- children's clothing and car seats. [2]
The E.P.A. maintains a database of some 85,000 chemicals that have been manufactured or processed in the United States, but it has subjected less than 300 of these to rigorous testing under the Toxic Substance Control Act and has banned only five (including PCBs.)
IV. Rescinding TPS Suspended
Edward Chen, a U.S. district judge in San Francisco, suspended the Trump administration's decision to rescind temporary protected status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of immigrants. The decision will relieve immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan. He said that "TPS beneficiaries and their children will suffer irreparable harm and great hardship." They face the choice of bringing their children with them or "splitting their families apart." The United States and their communities are the only things the TPS recipients have known.
V. ICE Processing Center
In May of this year, a surprise inspection of the privately run Adelanto ICE Processing Center found nooses made from bed sheets in 15 of 20 cells. Detainees waited "weeks and months" to see a doctor. Detainees were commonly subjected to disciplinary segregation before being found guilty of violating rules. From November 2017 to April 2018, detainees filed 80 medical grievances.
VI. Remirez Eyewitness Not Interviewed
Kathy Charlton, a mutual friend of Brett Kavanaugh, who, NBC has confirmed, was identified to the FBI as an eyewitness to the incident of Kavanaugh exposing himself to Deborah Remirez. Charlton told NBC News that, in a phone conversation on September 21, a former classmate of hers, told her that Kavanaugh had called him and advised him not to say anything "bad" if the press were to call. Then on September 21, according to the texts, that same person sent Charlton a text accusing her of disclosing their conversation to a reporter. "Hellllllooooo. Don't Fxxxxxx TELL PEOPLE BRETT GOT IN TOUCH WITH ME!!! I TOLD YOU AT THE TIME THAT WAS IN CONFIDENCE!!!"
Footnotes:
[1] Jeffrey Toobin, "Beating the Drum," The New Yorker, September 10, 2018.
[2] Jamie Kitman, "Worse Than Lead?" The Nation, September 10/17, 2018.
Monday, October 8, 2018
The Amazon as a Tipping Point and Other Environmental Concerns
I. The Amazon as Tipping Point
Tropical forests in the Amazon and around the world have been so degraded by logging, burning, and agriculture that they have started to release more carbon than they store, according to scientists from the Woods Hole Research Center and Boston University. Carlos Nobre, Brazil's leading climatologist, cautions that humans have deforested roughly 16 percent of the entire Amazon basin -- just 4 to 9 percent from his projected tipping point. This means that the deforestation must be halted -- and soon-- if humankind is to have much chance of avoiding a climate catastrophe.
Brazil is the deadliest country in the world for land defending, with more than 140 killings since 2015, according to the NGO Global Witness.
II. Climate Wrecking Industries
Global warming activists' new target is what you might call the climate-wrecking industry: The coal, gas, and oil companies that have amassed colossal fortunes through the extraction, marketing, and sale of fossil fuels, and along the way, deceived the public about the inherent dangers of their business model. According to peer-reviewed studies by Richard Hade and the Climate Accountability Institute, the business practices of just 90 fossil-fuel companies are responsible for two-thirds of the observed increases in global surface temperatures between 1751 and 2010.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has said: "I think what petrifies the fossil-fuel industry is not so much the possibility of ultimate judgments and liability, but the day of discovery, when plaintiffs start to get access to their internal files. Once the documents become public, and a hard look can be taken at those documents, then the reputational damage for their knowing behavior will begin to pile up." One weakness of campaigning directly against the climate wreckers is that it's simply unrealistic to expect a corporation to abandon the very reason for its existence.
III. "Homies" Getting Solar Jobs
Since 2010, Homeboy Industries has been offering tuition, tutoring and financial support for "homies" wishing to learn about solar-panel design, construction, and installation in the photovoltic-training program at the East Los Angeles Skills Center. There are now 3.4 million renewable-energy workers around the world. According to the 2017 National Solar Jobs Census, employment in the U.S. solar sector has grown 168 percent since 2010 to more than 250,000 jobs.
IV. ACE Means More Deaths
Late in August 2018, the E.P.A. published what it calls the Affordable Clean Energy rules, or ACE. The new rules, which would replace the Clean Power Plan, are rules in name only. They'd allow states to set their own standards; these, in many cases, would amount to a carte blanche for utility companies. Meanwhile, by the E.P.A.'s own admission, the new "rules" could result in as many as fourteen hundred premature deaths annually, owing to the increased pollution from coal plants. [2]
Footnotes:
[1] Audrea Lim, "Green Workers Rising," The Nation, September 24/October 1, 2018.
[2] Elizabeth Kolbert, "Fire Alarm," The New Yorker, September 10, 2018.
Tropical forests in the Amazon and around the world have been so degraded by logging, burning, and agriculture that they have started to release more carbon than they store, according to scientists from the Woods Hole Research Center and Boston University. Carlos Nobre, Brazil's leading climatologist, cautions that humans have deforested roughly 16 percent of the entire Amazon basin -- just 4 to 9 percent from his projected tipping point. This means that the deforestation must be halted -- and soon-- if humankind is to have much chance of avoiding a climate catastrophe.
Brazil is the deadliest country in the world for land defending, with more than 140 killings since 2015, according to the NGO Global Witness.
II. Climate Wrecking Industries
Global warming activists' new target is what you might call the climate-wrecking industry: The coal, gas, and oil companies that have amassed colossal fortunes through the extraction, marketing, and sale of fossil fuels, and along the way, deceived the public about the inherent dangers of their business model. According to peer-reviewed studies by Richard Hade and the Climate Accountability Institute, the business practices of just 90 fossil-fuel companies are responsible for two-thirds of the observed increases in global surface temperatures between 1751 and 2010.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has said: "I think what petrifies the fossil-fuel industry is not so much the possibility of ultimate judgments and liability, but the day of discovery, when plaintiffs start to get access to their internal files. Once the documents become public, and a hard look can be taken at those documents, then the reputational damage for their knowing behavior will begin to pile up." One weakness of campaigning directly against the climate wreckers is that it's simply unrealistic to expect a corporation to abandon the very reason for its existence.
III. "Homies" Getting Solar Jobs
Since 2010, Homeboy Industries has been offering tuition, tutoring and financial support for "homies" wishing to learn about solar-panel design, construction, and installation in the photovoltic-training program at the East Los Angeles Skills Center. There are now 3.4 million renewable-energy workers around the world. According to the 2017 National Solar Jobs Census, employment in the U.S. solar sector has grown 168 percent since 2010 to more than 250,000 jobs.
IV. ACE Means More Deaths
Late in August 2018, the E.P.A. published what it calls the Affordable Clean Energy rules, or ACE. The new rules, which would replace the Clean Power Plan, are rules in name only. They'd allow states to set their own standards; these, in many cases, would amount to a carte blanche for utility companies. Meanwhile, by the E.P.A.'s own admission, the new "rules" could result in as many as fourteen hundred premature deaths annually, owing to the increased pollution from coal plants. [2]
Footnotes:
[1] Audrea Lim, "Green Workers Rising," The Nation, September 24/October 1, 2018.
[2] Elizabeth Kolbert, "Fire Alarm," The New Yorker, September 10, 2018.
Sunday, October 7, 2018
Bite-Sized Bits on Which to Chew
*The EPA banned chlorpurifos for indoor pest control in 2011, but 6 million pounds of it are applied annually to approximately 50 crops, including oranges, alfalfa, and almonds. (Source: Wendy Becktold, "Toxic Neighbors," Sierra, September/October 2018.)
*Trump created 1,700,000 jobs in 2017. Obama's figures are: 1,839,000 in 2011; 2,044,000 in 2013; 2,553,000 in 2014; 2,240,000 in 2015; and 1,959,000 in 2016.
*The AFT investigated 12,700 cases of people submitting false information to illegally buy guns, and only 12 were prosecuted. Pennsylvania alone prosecuted 472 people.
*Shareholders took about a third of corporate profits from the 1950s to the 1970s. "Since the year 2000, they've been taking more than twice that." "During the 1960s, shareholders took about 1.7 percent of GDP in the cash paid in dividends and in the net number of stocks that were brought; now it is around 4.7 percent of GDP." "The top 4 percent of households hold half of all stocks; the bottom half own just 9 percent." (Source: Mike Konczal, "Economy in the Stocks," The Nation, September 10/17, 2018.)
*President Trump is dismantling the Refugee Admissions Program by announcing an all-time record low admissions cap of 30,000 for FY 2019.
*In April, the Department of Homeland Security admitted that the government has lost track of an additional 1,495 immigrant children it had moved out of shelters last year. Senate investigators could not determine with certainty the whereabouts of 1,488 out of 11,254 children the agency had placed with sponsors in 2018, based on follow-up calls from April 1 to June 30.
*The Interior Department has significantly reduced restrictions on methane emissions from oil and gas firms operating on federal and tribal lands.
*Peace Action supports legislation to prohibit research, development, production and deployment of a "low-yield" nuclear warhead for the Trident D-5 missile.
*Current estimates for the war in Yemen are that 10,000 have been killed, and 15 million of Yemen's population of 23 million are "food insecure."
*The Department of Homeland Security is making a broad expansion of the government's ability to deny vises or residency to immigrants if they or members of their households benefit from programs such as Medicaid Part D, SNAP, or Section 8 housing vouchers. U.S. immigration laws have long contained provisions limiting foreigners who are likely to become a "public charge."
*Bloomberg has obtained a private, internal poll from the Republican National Committee showing respondents, by a margin of 61 percent to 30 percent, say the new tax law benefits "large corporations and rich Americans" over "middle-class families." Compared to the June before the tax bill was passed, wages (adjusted for inflation) dropped 0.2 percent in June 2018.
*Democratic AGs successfully sued Betsy DeVos in federal court to stop her from rolling back protections for student loan borrowers from predatory for-profit colleges.
*In a recent Mississippi rally, right after Trump said that people should be presumed innocent until proven guilty, the crowd chanted "Lock her up!" in reference to Hillary Clinton. Early this month, Trump said: "It's a very scary time for young men in America when you can be guilty of something you may not be guilty of."
*Trump created 1,700,000 jobs in 2017. Obama's figures are: 1,839,000 in 2011; 2,044,000 in 2013; 2,553,000 in 2014; 2,240,000 in 2015; and 1,959,000 in 2016.
*The AFT investigated 12,700 cases of people submitting false information to illegally buy guns, and only 12 were prosecuted. Pennsylvania alone prosecuted 472 people.
*Shareholders took about a third of corporate profits from the 1950s to the 1970s. "Since the year 2000, they've been taking more than twice that." "During the 1960s, shareholders took about 1.7 percent of GDP in the cash paid in dividends and in the net number of stocks that were brought; now it is around 4.7 percent of GDP." "The top 4 percent of households hold half of all stocks; the bottom half own just 9 percent." (Source: Mike Konczal, "Economy in the Stocks," The Nation, September 10/17, 2018.)
*President Trump is dismantling the Refugee Admissions Program by announcing an all-time record low admissions cap of 30,000 for FY 2019.
*In April, the Department of Homeland Security admitted that the government has lost track of an additional 1,495 immigrant children it had moved out of shelters last year. Senate investigators could not determine with certainty the whereabouts of 1,488 out of 11,254 children the agency had placed with sponsors in 2018, based on follow-up calls from April 1 to June 30.
*The Interior Department has significantly reduced restrictions on methane emissions from oil and gas firms operating on federal and tribal lands.
*Peace Action supports legislation to prohibit research, development, production and deployment of a "low-yield" nuclear warhead for the Trident D-5 missile.
*Current estimates for the war in Yemen are that 10,000 have been killed, and 15 million of Yemen's population of 23 million are "food insecure."
*The Department of Homeland Security is making a broad expansion of the government's ability to deny vises or residency to immigrants if they or members of their households benefit from programs such as Medicaid Part D, SNAP, or Section 8 housing vouchers. U.S. immigration laws have long contained provisions limiting foreigners who are likely to become a "public charge."
*Bloomberg has obtained a private, internal poll from the Republican National Committee showing respondents, by a margin of 61 percent to 30 percent, say the new tax law benefits "large corporations and rich Americans" over "middle-class families." Compared to the June before the tax bill was passed, wages (adjusted for inflation) dropped 0.2 percent in June 2018.
*Democratic AGs successfully sued Betsy DeVos in federal court to stop her from rolling back protections for student loan borrowers from predatory for-profit colleges.
*In a recent Mississippi rally, right after Trump said that people should be presumed innocent until proven guilty, the crowd chanted "Lock her up!" in reference to Hillary Clinton. Early this month, Trump said: "It's a very scary time for young men in America when you can be guilty of something you may not be guilty of."
Friday, August 31, 2018
The Space Force Is a Very Bad Idea
President Trump has said that the U.S. needs a Space Force as a sixth component of its military force structure to ensure "American dominance in space." Among the problems associated with Trump's proposal is that the U.S. Air Force already has a Space Command (AFSPC), and there is an Outer Space Treaty that prohibits introducing war fighting into outer space.
The Space Command has its headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado. The command supports U.S.military operation worldwide, through the use of many different types of satellites, launch and cyber operations. It has over 30,000 military and civilian employees. The main mission is to keep the global world of GPS satellites peaceful.
The Outer Space Treaty was signed on January 27, 1967, and ratified by the United States on October 10, 1967. The Treaty was designed to bar the use of outer space for military purposes. Although it has 17 articles, the core substance is found in Article IV. First, it forbids placing in orbit around the earth, installing on the moon or any other celestial body, or otherwise stationing in outer space, a nuclear or any other weapons of mass destruction. Second, it limits the use of the moon and other celestial bodies exclusively to peaceful purposes, and expressly forbids their use for establishing military bases, installing, fortifying, or testing weapons of any kind, or conducting military maneuvers.
Currently, there is no guidance for how a war or armed conflict might happen in space, or what a "war fighting domain" might look like. A Space Force would create a new bureaucracy, further swell an already bloated Pentagon budget, possibly cause other nations to place weapons in space, and lead to the abrogation of an international treaty designed to keep outer space peaceful.
A poll that came out shortly after President Trump had announced his intention to create a Space Force showed that 57 percent favored its creation. It has long been the case that any candidate for national office who calls for a significant cut in the Pentagon's budget finds it difficult to be elected. Nations and even civilizations -- consider the Roman Empire -- that devote a considerable amount of their resources to build their armed forces, end up in the dustbin of history.
The Space Command has its headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado. The command supports U.S.military operation worldwide, through the use of many different types of satellites, launch and cyber operations. It has over 30,000 military and civilian employees. The main mission is to keep the global world of GPS satellites peaceful.
The Outer Space Treaty was signed on January 27, 1967, and ratified by the United States on October 10, 1967. The Treaty was designed to bar the use of outer space for military purposes. Although it has 17 articles, the core substance is found in Article IV. First, it forbids placing in orbit around the earth, installing on the moon or any other celestial body, or otherwise stationing in outer space, a nuclear or any other weapons of mass destruction. Second, it limits the use of the moon and other celestial bodies exclusively to peaceful purposes, and expressly forbids their use for establishing military bases, installing, fortifying, or testing weapons of any kind, or conducting military maneuvers.
Currently, there is no guidance for how a war or armed conflict might happen in space, or what a "war fighting domain" might look like. A Space Force would create a new bureaucracy, further swell an already bloated Pentagon budget, possibly cause other nations to place weapons in space, and lead to the abrogation of an international treaty designed to keep outer space peaceful.
A poll that came out shortly after President Trump had announced his intention to create a Space Force showed that 57 percent favored its creation. It has long been the case that any candidate for national office who calls for a significant cut in the Pentagon's budget finds it difficult to be elected. Nations and even civilizations -- consider the Roman Empire -- that devote a considerable amount of their resources to build their armed forces, end up in the dustbin of history.
Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Anti-Abortion Zealots, NRA Legal Protection, and New Mexico Environmental Matters
#"For years, anti-abortion zealots have done their best to make normal life hell for red-state abortion providers and their patients: picketing their homes, sending -- and sometimes fulfilling -- death threats, leafleting neighbors, following their children about." "No matter how vulgar, gross, threatening, cruel, illegal, or insane, the right becomes, it's always the left that is warned against piping up too loudly." [1]
#Thanks to lobbying by the National Rifle Association, federal law prohibits the National Tracing Center from using a searchable database to identify the owners of guns seized at crime scenes. Whose privacy is being protected there?" [2]
#"Right now, if families in Eastern New Mexico want to go solar, they have to pay their electric utility, Southwestern Public Service SPS), an average of $28 monthly in fees that other customers don't have to pay." "Earlier this year, SPS filed with the Public Regulation Commission (PRC) to raise Rate 59 once again as part of its newest rate case." In late June, a PRC hearing examiner recommended that Rate 59 be cancelled, along with another charge that discourages residential and business solar. [3]
#"Holtec has a controversial plan to store up to 100,000 tons of the nation's most dangerous nuclear-reactor waste for as long as 120 years in the ground between Hobbs and Carlsbad." "Holtec plans to transport canisters of irradiated reactor fuel rods from around the country and store them slightly underground and partly above the surface in New Mexico." [4]
#" Initial estimates are that industry has requested for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to lease more than 55,000 acres of additional Greater Chaco public land, which is already 91 percent leased out to oil and gas." [5] Chaco is a cliff into which Indians long ago cut livable openings.
#The Trump administration has said that the emissions standards set to take effect for cars built from 2021 to 2026 are unreasonable for both economic and safety reasons. The EPA and the Department of Transportation are proposing to freeze standards at their proposed 2020 level. The proposal would produce an average of 37 miles per gallon, versus the Obama standard of 54.5 miles per gallon.
Monday, August 20, 2018
Omarosa's Damaging Audio Recordings
Whatever one might think about the ethical and legal implications of Omarosa Manigault Newman recording members of the White House staff, campaign workers for Trump and President Trump himself, she has inflicted real damage on the Trump presidency. It started with Omarosa releasing the tape of chief of staff John Kelly telling her she was fired, and then Trump expressing his total ignorance of how the firing came about. Trump said he would "love" to have her stay in her job.
What these two recordings reveal is that Trump either doesn't have control over his own staff on matters that are important to him, or he ordered the firing and is lying to Omarosa to placate her, and avoid nasty recriminations from her. Then there is the matter of how Omarosa was able to do recordings in areas that were subject to high levels of security.
The audio of Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump negotiating payment to Omorosa upon leaving her senior adviser position with the Trump administration is curious, to say the least. Lara has no official position in the administration, so the only reason she is arranging employment terms with Omarosa is apparently because she is part of the extended Trump family.
Lara asks Omarosa if $15,000 a month would be satisfactory to her, as it would equal her salary as a senior adviser. For that generous payment, she wouldn't need to do hardly anything, except that if she is called on to help Trump at any point, she will be expected to be positive in her response. I note here that $180,000 a year is more than three times what half of U.S. households have in income. Also, the public has learned through this published audio that the former personal bodyguard to Trump is also being paid $15,000 a month. Since he is not doing any duties for Trump, the thin cover story is that he may be on hold for a future position in President Trump's possible campaign for reelection.
It is unclear as to who is funding what seem to be "hush" payments. Is it the taxpayer? Is it the Trump Organization? Is it the campaign contributors? Is it from the Michael Cohen slush fund?
The tape made by Omarosa of herself and three others discussing whether or not Donald Trump used the "N" word in a take-out tape from "The Apprentice" reality show is burdened by story changes by two of the other three participants.
#Katrina Pierson originally said that the phone conversation never took place, but later changed her story to say that she was just humoring Omarosa, and trying to placate her, because Omarosa was obsessed by the taping.
#Pierson and Lynne Patton later put out a joint statement claiming that there were "multiple" conversations about the tape in question.
#Pierson says: "He said. No. He said it." --"it" meaning using the "N' word -- but "He is embarrassed by it."
# Pierson is heard at another point saying they should "maybe try to find a way to spin it."
#Patton says she discussed the tape with Donald Trump and he asked her: "How do you think I should handle it?"
#The story of the call gets muddied up by the claim that the call was actually about whether of not the Republican pollster, Frank Luntz, ever heard Trump use the "N" word.
Omarosa Manigault Newman has succeeded in unhinging President Trump. He has gone from praising her to the skies, to calling her a "crazed, crying low-life," and even "a dog." He has framed the hiring of Omarosa as a magnanimous act on his part in giving a chance to this "crazed, crying low-life," and she blew it. Besides his harsh denigration of a person he once held in high esteem, Trump has opened a window into his bad judgment.
What these two recordings reveal is that Trump either doesn't have control over his own staff on matters that are important to him, or he ordered the firing and is lying to Omarosa to placate her, and avoid nasty recriminations from her. Then there is the matter of how Omarosa was able to do recordings in areas that were subject to high levels of security.
The audio of Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump negotiating payment to Omorosa upon leaving her senior adviser position with the Trump administration is curious, to say the least. Lara has no official position in the administration, so the only reason she is arranging employment terms with Omarosa is apparently because she is part of the extended Trump family.
Lara asks Omarosa if $15,000 a month would be satisfactory to her, as it would equal her salary as a senior adviser. For that generous payment, she wouldn't need to do hardly anything, except that if she is called on to help Trump at any point, she will be expected to be positive in her response. I note here that $180,000 a year is more than three times what half of U.S. households have in income. Also, the public has learned through this published audio that the former personal bodyguard to Trump is also being paid $15,000 a month. Since he is not doing any duties for Trump, the thin cover story is that he may be on hold for a future position in President Trump's possible campaign for reelection.
It is unclear as to who is funding what seem to be "hush" payments. Is it the taxpayer? Is it the Trump Organization? Is it the campaign contributors? Is it from the Michael Cohen slush fund?
The tape made by Omarosa of herself and three others discussing whether or not Donald Trump used the "N" word in a take-out tape from "The Apprentice" reality show is burdened by story changes by two of the other three participants.
#Katrina Pierson originally said that the phone conversation never took place, but later changed her story to say that she was just humoring Omarosa, and trying to placate her, because Omarosa was obsessed by the taping.
#Pierson and Lynne Patton later put out a joint statement claiming that there were "multiple" conversations about the tape in question.
#Pierson says: "He said. No. He said it." --"it" meaning using the "N' word -- but "He is embarrassed by it."
# Pierson is heard at another point saying they should "maybe try to find a way to spin it."
#Patton says she discussed the tape with Donald Trump and he asked her: "How do you think I should handle it?"
#The story of the call gets muddied up by the claim that the call was actually about whether of not the Republican pollster, Frank Luntz, ever heard Trump use the "N" word.
Omarosa Manigault Newman has succeeded in unhinging President Trump. He has gone from praising her to the skies, to calling her a "crazed, crying low-life," and even "a dog." He has framed the hiring of Omarosa as a magnanimous act on his part in giving a chance to this "crazed, crying low-life," and she blew it. Besides his harsh denigration of a person he once held in high esteem, Trump has opened a window into his bad judgment.
Friday, August 17, 2018
Trump Watch on the Environment and Excessive Housing Costs
Trump Watch on Environment
The EPA is poised to roll back the Obama-era efficiency standards. The agency threatens to revoke California's waiver under the Clean Air Act, which allow it to require cleaner cars.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke denies that his department censors science. A National Park Service report on how it will deal with climate change omits all references to human causation.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service doesn't want to give threatened species as much protection as endangered ones.
The Sierra Club's Environmental Law Program wins multiple court rulings: Now the BLM must disclose the climate impacts of fossil fuel development in the Powder River Basin; the Trump administration can't overturn the ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling in the Arctic without judicial review; and the administration can't delay increased penalties for automakers who violate fuel-economy standards.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry calls moving away from fossil fuels "immoral."
The Bureau of Land Management blames a "breakdown of technology" for its failure to note 42,000 public comments in support of protections for the greater sage-grouse.
"I really don't know" if humans cause climate change, says the head of the EPA's scientific advisory board.
Down for the Count
"Twenty percent of Californians live in hard-to-count areas like Fresno, where more than a quarter of all households failed to mail back their 2010 census forms, including a third of Latinos and African Americans."
"After the 2010 census failed to count 1.5 million US residents of color, the government might have been expected to devote more resources to ensure an accurate count. Instead, in 2012 Congress told the Census Bureau,over the Obama White House's objections, to spend less money on the 2020 census than it had in 2010, despite inflation and the fact that the population was projected to grow by 25 million, After Trump took office, Congress cut the bureau's budget by another 10 percent and gave it no additional funding for 2018, even though the census typically receives a major cash infusion at this juncture to prepare for the decennial count." [1]
Excessive Housing Costs
"In Rochester ]New York] a midsize postindustrial city on Lake Ontario's southern shore, evidence of the [housing] crisis is everywhere. During the 2016-17 school year, the city school district reported that 8.8 percent of its students -- roughly 2,500 children -- were homeless at some point. Last year, some 3,510 eviction warrants were issued. More than 50 percent of tenants in the city are rent-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs. And while Rochester stands out as the fifth-poorest city in the country, it is no anomaly." [2]
"On any given night, more than half a million homeless men, women, and children sleep on the streets or in shelters. In 2016 alone, according to research by the scholar Matthew Desmond, roughly 900,000 households were subject to eviction judgments. The same year, more than 11 million households spent at least 50 percent of their income, and another 9.8 million spent more than 30 percent, on rent. Nearly half of the nation's 43 million renting households, then, live with the crushing weight of excessive housing costs." [3]
ADDENDUM:
*The Pentagon is the only agency that cannot be audited or predict realistically when it will do so. The Pentagon admits the problem and agrees it has a duty to pass an audit. The Pentagon's Office of the Comptroller wrote in 2008: "Our financial problems are pervasive and well documented."
Footnotes:
[1] "Down for the Count," Mother Jones, May/June 2018.
[2] Jimmy Tobias, "The Way Home," The Nation, June 18/25, 2018.
[3] Ibid.
The EPA is poised to roll back the Obama-era efficiency standards. The agency threatens to revoke California's waiver under the Clean Air Act, which allow it to require cleaner cars.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke denies that his department censors science. A National Park Service report on how it will deal with climate change omits all references to human causation.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service doesn't want to give threatened species as much protection as endangered ones.
The Sierra Club's Environmental Law Program wins multiple court rulings: Now the BLM must disclose the climate impacts of fossil fuel development in the Powder River Basin; the Trump administration can't overturn the ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling in the Arctic without judicial review; and the administration can't delay increased penalties for automakers who violate fuel-economy standards.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry calls moving away from fossil fuels "immoral."
The Bureau of Land Management blames a "breakdown of technology" for its failure to note 42,000 public comments in support of protections for the greater sage-grouse.
"I really don't know" if humans cause climate change, says the head of the EPA's scientific advisory board.
Down for the Count
"Twenty percent of Californians live in hard-to-count areas like Fresno, where more than a quarter of all households failed to mail back their 2010 census forms, including a third of Latinos and African Americans."
"After the 2010 census failed to count 1.5 million US residents of color, the government might have been expected to devote more resources to ensure an accurate count. Instead, in 2012 Congress told the Census Bureau,over the Obama White House's objections, to spend less money on the 2020 census than it had in 2010, despite inflation and the fact that the population was projected to grow by 25 million, After Trump took office, Congress cut the bureau's budget by another 10 percent and gave it no additional funding for 2018, even though the census typically receives a major cash infusion at this juncture to prepare for the decennial count." [1]
Excessive Housing Costs
"In Rochester ]New York] a midsize postindustrial city on Lake Ontario's southern shore, evidence of the [housing] crisis is everywhere. During the 2016-17 school year, the city school district reported that 8.8 percent of its students -- roughly 2,500 children -- were homeless at some point. Last year, some 3,510 eviction warrants were issued. More than 50 percent of tenants in the city are rent-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs. And while Rochester stands out as the fifth-poorest city in the country, it is no anomaly." [2]
"On any given night, more than half a million homeless men, women, and children sleep on the streets or in shelters. In 2016 alone, according to research by the scholar Matthew Desmond, roughly 900,000 households were subject to eviction judgments. The same year, more than 11 million households spent at least 50 percent of their income, and another 9.8 million spent more than 30 percent, on rent. Nearly half of the nation's 43 million renting households, then, live with the crushing weight of excessive housing costs." [3]
ADDENDUM:
*The Pentagon is the only agency that cannot be audited or predict realistically when it will do so. The Pentagon admits the problem and agrees it has a duty to pass an audit. The Pentagon's Office of the Comptroller wrote in 2008: "Our financial problems are pervasive and well documented."
Footnotes:
[1] "Down for the Count," Mother Jones, May/June 2018.
[2] Jimmy Tobias, "The Way Home," The Nation, June 18/25, 2018.
[3] Ibid.
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Snapshots of Police Planting Drugs, Public Housing, Civil Commitment, and Immigrant Crime
Chicago Policeman Planting Drugs
The Chicago Police Department has been known for consistently failing to address officers' misconduct. Even after receiving at least 25 complaints about Sergeant Ronald Watts, including allegations that Watts and his team had planted drugs on people, the department allowed them to continue working in the Ida B. Wells public housing complex. "Watts' officers at times planted such large quantities of drugs on Wells' residents that they were charged with a Class X felony, the highest-level felony after first-degree murder." [1]
As of early June, Chicago prosecutors had thrown out 32 convictions of people who were arrested by Watts and his team. Given that the Watts team was involved in about 500 felony convictions between 2004 and 2012, critics are contending that all of these convictions should be overturned.
Cairo, Il. Public Housing
Cairo, Illinois had a higher percentage of residents living in public housing than any other city in Illinois, and some of these projects were nearly as racially segregated as they were 40 years ago. "Nationally, more than 10,000 public housing units are lost each year to decay," and the "capital project backlog for existing buildings is growing by more than $3 billion a year." [2]
The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that housing discrimination could exist even when it wasn't explicitly intentional. In January 2018, the Department of Urban Housing and Development (HUD) suspended, until 2020, implementation of the order requiring communities to devise plans to proactively remedy segregation. In April, HUD proposed new work requirements, and suggested raising the minimum rate of payment for residents of public housing and recipients of Section 8 vouchers -- in some cases tripling it. (I believe this payment increase may have recently been withdrawn.) If Ben Carson's vision of HUD were enacted, it is estimated that the budget cuts would move 200,000 families off Section 8 assistance, which helps tenants cover rent at privately-owned buildings.
Civil Commitment
Civil commitment allows states to confine people who have not been convicted -- or even accused -- of a crime -- if a judge decides they pose an imminent danger to themselves or others. For an opiate addiction, specialists say that tapering down the dose over five to seven days in the shortest period that's humane. The fly in the ointment is that patients whose tolerance as been lowered by a few days of detox are at a heightened risk of overdose if they return to using. Detox symptoms, including nausea, dehydration, and intense stomach pain can be dangerous and even life-threatening if untreated. [3]
Section 35 of Massachusetts' law -- enacted in 1970 -- allows a family member, law enforcement officer, or a medical professional to petition a judge to have someone committed for up to 90 days.
Undocumented Immigrant Crime
Supporters of the Trump theory of crime rely on data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which covers violent crimes handled by the federal court system, few of which involve murder. Almost all of the murder cases are handled at the local or state level.
The American Immigration Council points out that from 1990 to 2013, when the number of undocumented immigrants tripled from 3.5 million to 11.2 million, violent crime rates dropped 48 percent nationwide. Although the report acknowledges that one can't draw broad conclusions, since undocumented immigrants make up a small percentage of the population, the study looked at incarceration rates for males between 18 and 39 years old -- most crimes of violence are committed by males in that age group. Only 1.6 percent of foreign-born males were incarcerated, compared to 3.3 percent of the native-born. Even the anti-immigrant Center for Immigrant Studies says: "There's no evidence that immigrants are either more or less likely to commit crimes than anyone else in the population."
The Chicago Police Department has been known for consistently failing to address officers' misconduct. Even after receiving at least 25 complaints about Sergeant Ronald Watts, including allegations that Watts and his team had planted drugs on people, the department allowed them to continue working in the Ida B. Wells public housing complex. "Watts' officers at times planted such large quantities of drugs on Wells' residents that they were charged with a Class X felony, the highest-level felony after first-degree murder." [1]
As of early June, Chicago prosecutors had thrown out 32 convictions of people who were arrested by Watts and his team. Given that the Watts team was involved in about 500 felony convictions between 2004 and 2012, critics are contending that all of these convictions should be overturned.
Cairo, Il. Public Housing
Cairo, Illinois had a higher percentage of residents living in public housing than any other city in Illinois, and some of these projects were nearly as racially segregated as they were 40 years ago. "Nationally, more than 10,000 public housing units are lost each year to decay," and the "capital project backlog for existing buildings is growing by more than $3 billion a year." [2]
The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that housing discrimination could exist even when it wasn't explicitly intentional. In January 2018, the Department of Urban Housing and Development (HUD) suspended, until 2020, implementation of the order requiring communities to devise plans to proactively remedy segregation. In April, HUD proposed new work requirements, and suggested raising the minimum rate of payment for residents of public housing and recipients of Section 8 vouchers -- in some cases tripling it. (I believe this payment increase may have recently been withdrawn.) If Ben Carson's vision of HUD were enacted, it is estimated that the budget cuts would move 200,000 families off Section 8 assistance, which helps tenants cover rent at privately-owned buildings.
Civil Commitment
Civil commitment allows states to confine people who have not been convicted -- or even accused -- of a crime -- if a judge decides they pose an imminent danger to themselves or others. For an opiate addiction, specialists say that tapering down the dose over five to seven days in the shortest period that's humane. The fly in the ointment is that patients whose tolerance as been lowered by a few days of detox are at a heightened risk of overdose if they return to using. Detox symptoms, including nausea, dehydration, and intense stomach pain can be dangerous and even life-threatening if untreated. [3]
Section 35 of Massachusetts' law -- enacted in 1970 -- allows a family member, law enforcement officer, or a medical professional to petition a judge to have someone committed for up to 90 days.
Undocumented Immigrant Crime
Supporters of the Trump theory of crime rely on data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which covers violent crimes handled by the federal court system, few of which involve murder. Almost all of the murder cases are handled at the local or state level.
The American Immigration Council points out that from 1990 to 2013, when the number of undocumented immigrants tripled from 3.5 million to 11.2 million, violent crime rates dropped 48 percent nationwide. Although the report acknowledges that one can't draw broad conclusions, since undocumented immigrants make up a small percentage of the population, the study looked at incarceration rates for males between 18 and 39 years old -- most crimes of violence are committed by males in that age group. Only 1.6 percent of foreign-born males were incarcerated, compared to 3.3 percent of the native-born. Even the anti-immigrant Center for Immigrant Studies says: "There's no evidence that immigrants are either more or less likely to commit crimes than anyone else in the population."
Monday, August 13, 2018
Clinton/Obama Welfare and Financial Regulation Policy
"When in the mid-1970s, the United States suffered the twin problems of high inflation and high unemployment -- or stagflation -- these anti-New Dealers pounced. Blaming the problem on New Deal structure, they insisted that only deregulation, union-busting, and tight money would restore growth and stabilize prices." Aid to Families With dependent Children was changed from a "federal entitlement program to a state block grant, built in several new eligibility requirements, and capped spending." Michael Tomasky said that while benefits "were slashed dramatically in some states, in others, the results were tolerable and sometimes were good." "In reality, the overall result was an increase in extreme poverty of roughly 150 percent." [1]
"Today, the replacement welfare program helps few poor families." "Clinton was no exception -- in some cases, his policy amounted to top-down class war. In particular, he cemented the idea that antitrust law should mostly be abandoned as a bipartisan consensus." "He [Clinton] signed broad financial deregulation in 1994 and again in 1999, both times resulting in a wave of consolidation across the industry. Wall Street got huge -- and hugely profitable -- soaring to a peak of around 40 percent of corporate profits after the second round of deregulation." "But unlike the Clinton presidency, Obama's strain of New Democracy politics implemented in the wake of the 2008 crash, did not deliver the economic goods as advertised. Both output and job growth were pathetically weak after the immediate crisis and remained so throughout."
"The Justice Department leveled wrist-slap fines for things like market rigging and even money laundering for the drug cartels. Worst of all, it did almost nothing to halt the systematic mortgage fraud that swept the nation after the financial crisis, as banks foreclosed on millions of people with blatantly forged documents." "Obama's top priority was to protect the gigantic, top-heavy financial system at all costs. Banks weren't compelled to absorb the losses from the burst housing bubble, which was pushed onto homeowners instead."
"The president's [Obama's] signature health-care reforms shared a similar defect. In order to make it attractive to the economic elite, Obama negotiated by preemptively buying off well-heeled interest groups, from medical providers to insurance companies."
"Instead of being politically advantageous to triangulate between the interests of upper-class-friendly neoliberalism and the Democrats' traditional working-class base, it became a huge liability." "In similar circumstances, the Obama Democrats -- following the basic formula of Clintonism -- rescued the banks with gobs of public money. They did not return to vigorous antitrust enforcement. They largely stood outside while financial criminals plowed a ragged hole through the rule of law. The Dodd-Frank financial-reform bill, though it did very laudable things, did not meaningfully restrain Wall Street's power. (And many of its key regulations were effectively slow-walked by Obama's regulatory czar.)"
Growth "since the 1970s has largely been middling to poor, with the brief exception of the late '90s tech boom -- and even that didn't hold a candle to the explosive boom of the 1960s. Then too, regulation by state agencies was merely replaced by even worse and less accountable regulation by monopolist corporations."
Footnote:
[1] Ryan Cooper, "Somewhere in Between," The Nation, March 12, 2018.
"Today, the replacement welfare program helps few poor families." "Clinton was no exception -- in some cases, his policy amounted to top-down class war. In particular, he cemented the idea that antitrust law should mostly be abandoned as a bipartisan consensus." "He [Clinton] signed broad financial deregulation in 1994 and again in 1999, both times resulting in a wave of consolidation across the industry. Wall Street got huge -- and hugely profitable -- soaring to a peak of around 40 percent of corporate profits after the second round of deregulation." "But unlike the Clinton presidency, Obama's strain of New Democracy politics implemented in the wake of the 2008 crash, did not deliver the economic goods as advertised. Both output and job growth were pathetically weak after the immediate crisis and remained so throughout."
"The Justice Department leveled wrist-slap fines for things like market rigging and even money laundering for the drug cartels. Worst of all, it did almost nothing to halt the systematic mortgage fraud that swept the nation after the financial crisis, as banks foreclosed on millions of people with blatantly forged documents." "Obama's top priority was to protect the gigantic, top-heavy financial system at all costs. Banks weren't compelled to absorb the losses from the burst housing bubble, which was pushed onto homeowners instead."
"The president's [Obama's] signature health-care reforms shared a similar defect. In order to make it attractive to the economic elite, Obama negotiated by preemptively buying off well-heeled interest groups, from medical providers to insurance companies."
"Instead of being politically advantageous to triangulate between the interests of upper-class-friendly neoliberalism and the Democrats' traditional working-class base, it became a huge liability." "In similar circumstances, the Obama Democrats -- following the basic formula of Clintonism -- rescued the banks with gobs of public money. They did not return to vigorous antitrust enforcement. They largely stood outside while financial criminals plowed a ragged hole through the rule of law. The Dodd-Frank financial-reform bill, though it did very laudable things, did not meaningfully restrain Wall Street's power. (And many of its key regulations were effectively slow-walked by Obama's regulatory czar.)"
Growth "since the 1970s has largely been middling to poor, with the brief exception of the late '90s tech boom -- and even that didn't hold a candle to the explosive boom of the 1960s. Then too, regulation by state agencies was merely replaced by even worse and less accountable regulation by monopolist corporations."
Footnote:
[1] Ryan Cooper, "Somewhere in Between," The Nation, March 12, 2018.
Friday, August 10, 2018
Tax Bill Flaws; Immigration a Good Thing; and Rural Hospital Closings
Tax Bill Flaws
Average hourly wages have actually gone down, after adjusting for inflation, since the GOP tax bill went into effect. The tax bill subsidizes corporations in their outsourcing of operations and jobs offshore. Harley-Davidson announced the layoff of 800 workers at a plant in Kansas City, the opening of a new factory in Thailand, and a plan to buy back 15 million shares currently valued at $700 million. (Source: Damen Silvers, policy director and special counsel at the AFL-CEO.)
The Congressional Budget Office has recalculated the ten-year budgetary deficit increase at $1.9 to $2.3 trillion. The tax law will also raise health insurance premiums for working families and cause 3 million people to lose health coverage in the next year. There is a general consensus among tax-monitoring organizations that by 2027, 83 percent of the tax savings will go to the top 1 percent of taxpayers.
Immigration: a Good Thing
A Gallup poll published on June 21 shows 75 percent think immigration is a good thing for the U.S., up from 71 percent last year. Just 19 percent think immigration is a bad thing. A total of 84 percent said "legal" immigration is a good thing. Only 29 percent say immigration should be decreased.
A Pew Research Center poll released on June 20 found Democrats to have a 14-point advantage over Republicans when registered voters were asked which party would better handle immigration.
A senior Customs and Border Protection official told the Washington Post that the agency would freeze criminal referrals for migrant parents with children, while Department of Justice officials were saying the the "zero tolerance" policy remained in effect. Under an order from a federal district judge in California in 1997, children must generally be moved to an approved facility for minors within 20 days.
Rural Hospital Closings
Since 2010, more than 80 rural hospitals have shuttered across the country, according to the Rural Health Program at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Nationally, more than a third of rural hospitals are at risk of closure, and 41 percent are operating in the red.
According to U.S. census data from 2016, 46 percent of the country's rural population uses a form of government insurance, compared with 36 percent of the urban population. But the situation is significantly worse in the 18 states that have not joined the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion, most of them largely rural. According to a recent study from the Colorado School of Public Health, hospitals in states that did not expand Medicaid are six times more likely to close than hospitals in states that did.
Average hourly wages have actually gone down, after adjusting for inflation, since the GOP tax bill went into effect. The tax bill subsidizes corporations in their outsourcing of operations and jobs offshore. Harley-Davidson announced the layoff of 800 workers at a plant in Kansas City, the opening of a new factory in Thailand, and a plan to buy back 15 million shares currently valued at $700 million. (Source: Damen Silvers, policy director and special counsel at the AFL-CEO.)
The Congressional Budget Office has recalculated the ten-year budgetary deficit increase at $1.9 to $2.3 trillion. The tax law will also raise health insurance premiums for working families and cause 3 million people to lose health coverage in the next year. There is a general consensus among tax-monitoring organizations that by 2027, 83 percent of the tax savings will go to the top 1 percent of taxpayers.
Immigration: a Good Thing
A Gallup poll published on June 21 shows 75 percent think immigration is a good thing for the U.S., up from 71 percent last year. Just 19 percent think immigration is a bad thing. A total of 84 percent said "legal" immigration is a good thing. Only 29 percent say immigration should be decreased.
A Pew Research Center poll released on June 20 found Democrats to have a 14-point advantage over Republicans when registered voters were asked which party would better handle immigration.
A senior Customs and Border Protection official told the Washington Post that the agency would freeze criminal referrals for migrant parents with children, while Department of Justice officials were saying the the "zero tolerance" policy remained in effect. Under an order from a federal district judge in California in 1997, children must generally be moved to an approved facility for minors within 20 days.
Rural Hospital Closings
Since 2010, more than 80 rural hospitals have shuttered across the country, according to the Rural Health Program at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Nationally, more than a third of rural hospitals are at risk of closure, and 41 percent are operating in the red.
According to U.S. census data from 2016, 46 percent of the country's rural population uses a form of government insurance, compared with 36 percent of the urban population. But the situation is significantly worse in the 18 states that have not joined the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion, most of them largely rural. According to a recent study from the Colorado School of Public Health, hospitals in states that did not expand Medicaid are six times more likely to close than hospitals in states that did.
Thursday, August 9, 2018
President Trump Claims June 9, 2016 Meeting Was Legal
The June 9, 2016 meeting in Trump Tower didn't become "breaking news" until July 2017, when The New York Times found a reference to it in one the several amendments that Jared Kushner made to his national security form. The Times gave Donald Trump Jr. a heads up so that he could publicly acknowledge the meeting before the Times broke the story. Jr. then proceeded to give one of what proved to be several versions of what happened at the meeting. Subsequently, when Fox show host Shawn Hannity asked Jr. if he told his father about the meeting, Jr. said he did not, because "nothing happened."
In spite of the claim that "nothing happened," President Trump felt the matter important enough to call a meeting abroad Air Force One to put out a statement, creating a cover story that the June 9 meeting was about adoption. Trump's lead lawyer at the time, Jay Sekulow, publicly declared that Donald Trump Jr. was the author of the statement. Jr. was actually not at the meeting, but he was on the phone to Hope Hicks, President Trump's long-time spokesperson. After it had became accepted fact that President Trump dictated the statement, Sekulow had to sheepishly admit that he had "bad information." Note here that when Rudy Guiliani initially said that Michael Cohen was an "honorable man," who had done nothing wrong, and later called him a pathological liar after Cohen became a serious threat to the president, Guiliani used the Sekulow claim of having "bad information."
After the claim that the June 9 meeting was solely about abortion became increasingly difficult to sustain, President Trump shifted to claiming that the meeting was about getting opposition research about a political opponent, and "everybody" would have "taken the meeting." Within the past two weeks, President Trump has, in effect, thrown his "wonderful" son under the bus by claiming that the meeting was a legal effort to get political opposition research. Jr. had taken the meeting, even though it had been presented as providing "dirt" on Hillary Clinton, with official government backing. There is a law that makes it illegal to conspire with a foreign government in a political campaign. President Trump has put his son in serious legal jeopardy.
ADDENDUMS:
*Hope Hicks was photographed getting into Air Force One on President Trump's flight to hold a campaign event for an endangered candidate for the U.S. House from Ohio's 12th District. One interpretation of this is that Trump and Hicks will be trying to get their stories straight in regard to any future legal action against Trump.
*Both Rudy Guilani and Sarah Huckabee Sanders made much of President Trump using "shall" not "must" when he tweeted that A.G. Sessions fire Mueller.
*In an unusual move, the Department of Justice admitted that Trump lied to Congress when he said in a February 28, 2017 speech the "the vast majority of individuals convicted of terrorism and terrorism-related offenses since 9/11 came from outside the country."
*Trump proposes short-term health insurance policies good for 12 months at a time, subject to renewal. They won't need to cover pre-existing conditions and certain of the coverage provisions found in the Affordable Care Act.
In spite of the claim that "nothing happened," President Trump felt the matter important enough to call a meeting abroad Air Force One to put out a statement, creating a cover story that the June 9 meeting was about adoption. Trump's lead lawyer at the time, Jay Sekulow, publicly declared that Donald Trump Jr. was the author of the statement. Jr. was actually not at the meeting, but he was on the phone to Hope Hicks, President Trump's long-time spokesperson. After it had became accepted fact that President Trump dictated the statement, Sekulow had to sheepishly admit that he had "bad information." Note here that when Rudy Guiliani initially said that Michael Cohen was an "honorable man," who had done nothing wrong, and later called him a pathological liar after Cohen became a serious threat to the president, Guiliani used the Sekulow claim of having "bad information."
After the claim that the June 9 meeting was solely about abortion became increasingly difficult to sustain, President Trump shifted to claiming that the meeting was about getting opposition research about a political opponent, and "everybody" would have "taken the meeting." Within the past two weeks, President Trump has, in effect, thrown his "wonderful" son under the bus by claiming that the meeting was a legal effort to get political opposition research. Jr. had taken the meeting, even though it had been presented as providing "dirt" on Hillary Clinton, with official government backing. There is a law that makes it illegal to conspire with a foreign government in a political campaign. President Trump has put his son in serious legal jeopardy.
ADDENDUMS:
*Hope Hicks was photographed getting into Air Force One on President Trump's flight to hold a campaign event for an endangered candidate for the U.S. House from Ohio's 12th District. One interpretation of this is that Trump and Hicks will be trying to get their stories straight in regard to any future legal action against Trump.
*Both Rudy Guilani and Sarah Huckabee Sanders made much of President Trump using "shall" not "must" when he tweeted that A.G. Sessions fire Mueller.
*In an unusual move, the Department of Justice admitted that Trump lied to Congress when he said in a February 28, 2017 speech the "the vast majority of individuals convicted of terrorism and terrorism-related offenses since 9/11 came from outside the country."
*Trump proposes short-term health insurance policies good for 12 months at a time, subject to renewal. They won't need to cover pre-existing conditions and certain of the coverage provisions found in the Affordable Care Act.
Tuesday, August 7, 2018
Donald Trump Jr's Calls to a Blocked Number
The principals in a series of emails and phone calls made in early June 2016 are as follows: Rob Goldstone, music publicist for Emin Agalarov, the pop star son of the Russian oligarch, Aras Agalarov, and Donald Trump Jr.
After getting an email from Goldstone, saying that Russia had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton, Don Trump Jr emailed back that if what Goldstone said was true, he, Don Jr, said he would "love it." Goldstone told Don Jr that he should talk to Emin to arrange a meeting. Minutes after talking to Emin on June 6, Don Jr placed a 4-minute call to a blocked number. Later, Don Jr called Emin again scheduling a meeting for June 9, and then placed a 11-minute call to a blocked number. After the June 9 meeting ended, Don Jr placed a 3-minute call to a blocked number.
After the first two calls to a blocked number, Donald Trump, made a televised statement, saying he was going to make a "major speech" in the following week about "all of the things that have taken place with the Clintons...and I think you're going to find it very, very interesting." Trump did not make that speech in the following week. what seems likely here is that Trump had expected dirt on Hillary Clinton, but when dirt did not materialize, he had to scrap the speech.
We know that Donald Trump had a blocked phone number. Even if Don Jr had blocked numbers from more than one person, who was he most likely to call? His father had described himself as "the decider;" also, Don Jr would raise his esteem with his father if he could supply him with very useful campaign material.
Besides the timing and sequence of Don Jr's calls, there are other reasons to believe that Donald Trump knew about the June 9, 2016 meeting, either in advance, or shortly after it happened. Aras Agalarov had secured the venue for the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow in 2013. Aras's son, Emin, and Rob Goldstone had both known Donald Trump since 2013. Donald Trump was in his office one floor above where the meeting between high officials of the Trump campaign and five Russians was taking place. Wouldn't Emin and/or Rob want to say hello to Donald?
There was also a chance encounter between Ivanka Trump and two of the Russians who had been in the meeting. As Natalia Velesnitskaya, the Russian lawyer linked to the Russian government, and Rivat Akhmetshin, a Russian-American lobbyist, left the Trump Tower, they exchanged "pleasantries" with Ivanka outside the elevator on the Fifth Ave skyscraper. If Ivanka had known about Velesnitskaya before the encounter, or if either of the two had identified themselves as Russians, is that the sort of thing that Ivanka might want to have a talk with her father?
After getting an email from Goldstone, saying that Russia had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton, Don Trump Jr emailed back that if what Goldstone said was true, he, Don Jr, said he would "love it." Goldstone told Don Jr that he should talk to Emin to arrange a meeting. Minutes after talking to Emin on June 6, Don Jr placed a 4-minute call to a blocked number. Later, Don Jr called Emin again scheduling a meeting for June 9, and then placed a 11-minute call to a blocked number. After the June 9 meeting ended, Don Jr placed a 3-minute call to a blocked number.
After the first two calls to a blocked number, Donald Trump, made a televised statement, saying he was going to make a "major speech" in the following week about "all of the things that have taken place with the Clintons...and I think you're going to find it very, very interesting." Trump did not make that speech in the following week. what seems likely here is that Trump had expected dirt on Hillary Clinton, but when dirt did not materialize, he had to scrap the speech.
We know that Donald Trump had a blocked phone number. Even if Don Jr had blocked numbers from more than one person, who was he most likely to call? His father had described himself as "the decider;" also, Don Jr would raise his esteem with his father if he could supply him with very useful campaign material.
Besides the timing and sequence of Don Jr's calls, there are other reasons to believe that Donald Trump knew about the June 9, 2016 meeting, either in advance, or shortly after it happened. Aras Agalarov had secured the venue for the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow in 2013. Aras's son, Emin, and Rob Goldstone had both known Donald Trump since 2013. Donald Trump was in his office one floor above where the meeting between high officials of the Trump campaign and five Russians was taking place. Wouldn't Emin and/or Rob want to say hello to Donald?
There was also a chance encounter between Ivanka Trump and two of the Russians who had been in the meeting. As Natalia Velesnitskaya, the Russian lawyer linked to the Russian government, and Rivat Akhmetshin, a Russian-American lobbyist, left the Trump Tower, they exchanged "pleasantries" with Ivanka outside the elevator on the Fifth Ave skyscraper. If Ivanka had known about Velesnitskaya before the encounter, or if either of the two had identified themselves as Russians, is that the sort of thing that Ivanka might want to have a talk with her father?
Monday, August 6, 2018
Selections From My Writer's Notebook
#In late June, the Iowa Supreme Court blocked a recent law that requires women to submit to a 72-hour waiting period before they can get an abortion, saying "its restrictions are not narrowly tailored to serve a compelling interest of the state."
#The U.S. Supreme Court in upholding President Trump's Muslim ban means shutting out refugees, babies, families and students from the U.S. for their religious beliefs. The ruling on "Crisis Pregnancy Centers" means that fake, anti-abortion centers can withhold medical information and cut off access to care for women seeking safe, legal abortions. The ruling that unions can be forced to represent people who refuse to pay dues makes unions weaker and corporate interests stronger. The myopia on the Muslim ban is astonishing, as Trump made it very clear that it was a Muslim ban, and it applies almost exclusively to Muslim-majority nations.
#U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood has said that only 161 documents out of 300,000 reviewed so far in the Michael Cohen case are not protected by attorney-client privilege.
#The comedian known as "Stuttering John" managed to get through to Trump on Air Force One and impersonate himself as Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), raising an issue of security, as Air force One is considered to have special security measures. Menendez, who had recently had a hung jury on corruption charges, was congratulated by Trump for fighting his investigation.
#Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has posted a series of tweets supporting the protesters in Iran and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has posted four different videos on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter encouraging Iranians to protest against the regime. Israel and the U.S. have formed a joint working group focused on internal efforts to encourage protests in Iran.
#The Senate Intelligence Committee has concluded that the "intelligence community assessment" is a "sound intelligence production." Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) has seen "no reason to dispute the conclusions of the intelligence community" that Russia colluded in the 2016 election to help Trump and denigrate Hillary Clinton.
#Under the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918, more than 1,500 people were prosecuted. Historians remember the World War I crackdown on dissent as "one of the greater restrictions on civil liberties in American history." That crackdown and the internment of 120,000 Japanese-Americans in World War II, help to refute the contention of many that fighting in a war increases the freedom of U.S. citizens.
#The Stoneman Douglas High School students touring the country to press for gun control were followed by members of the Utah Gun Exchange, riding in an armored vehicle that had a giant replica machine gun, a replication that is designed with a propane-powered mechanism to create realistic-sounding machine gun fire. During the March for Our Lives protest in Salt Lake City, many adult men showed up with guns.
#The "Star" newspaper did a statistical analysis showing that in 2017, Trump said about 26 words for every false word. In 2018, the count has been 14 words for every false word. Daily lies are now 5.1, up from 2.9 in 2017.
# Israel is in the process of amending its nation-state law; however, it has prompted large demonstrations by the Druze community, because it believes it doesn't give adequate protection to minority communities. It would permit judges to give priority to Israel's Jewish character in their rulings.
#Federal Judge Peter Messitte decided on July 27 that the case against Trump based on the Constitution's Emoluments Clause can proceed, finding that it is likely that Trump is taking payment from foreign governments in violation of the clause. Trump has said that the payments have been "gifts," but the judge refers to receipt "of any kind whatever." The judge said that: "Plaintiffs have plausibly alleged that the President has been receiving or is potentially able to receive 'emoluments' " in violation of the Constitution.
#Donald Trump signed the Trump Foundation tax returns in four different years when they contained demonstrably false information.
#The U.S. Supreme Court in upholding President Trump's Muslim ban means shutting out refugees, babies, families and students from the U.S. for their religious beliefs. The ruling on "Crisis Pregnancy Centers" means that fake, anti-abortion centers can withhold medical information and cut off access to care for women seeking safe, legal abortions. The ruling that unions can be forced to represent people who refuse to pay dues makes unions weaker and corporate interests stronger. The myopia on the Muslim ban is astonishing, as Trump made it very clear that it was a Muslim ban, and it applies almost exclusively to Muslim-majority nations.
#U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood has said that only 161 documents out of 300,000 reviewed so far in the Michael Cohen case are not protected by attorney-client privilege.
#The comedian known as "Stuttering John" managed to get through to Trump on Air Force One and impersonate himself as Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), raising an issue of security, as Air force One is considered to have special security measures. Menendez, who had recently had a hung jury on corruption charges, was congratulated by Trump for fighting his investigation.
#Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has posted a series of tweets supporting the protesters in Iran and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has posted four different videos on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter encouraging Iranians to protest against the regime. Israel and the U.S. have formed a joint working group focused on internal efforts to encourage protests in Iran.
#The Senate Intelligence Committee has concluded that the "intelligence community assessment" is a "sound intelligence production." Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) has seen "no reason to dispute the conclusions of the intelligence community" that Russia colluded in the 2016 election to help Trump and denigrate Hillary Clinton.
#Under the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918, more than 1,500 people were prosecuted. Historians remember the World War I crackdown on dissent as "one of the greater restrictions on civil liberties in American history." That crackdown and the internment of 120,000 Japanese-Americans in World War II, help to refute the contention of many that fighting in a war increases the freedom of U.S. citizens.
#The Stoneman Douglas High School students touring the country to press for gun control were followed by members of the Utah Gun Exchange, riding in an armored vehicle that had a giant replica machine gun, a replication that is designed with a propane-powered mechanism to create realistic-sounding machine gun fire. During the March for Our Lives protest in Salt Lake City, many adult men showed up with guns.
#The "Star" newspaper did a statistical analysis showing that in 2017, Trump said about 26 words for every false word. In 2018, the count has been 14 words for every false word. Daily lies are now 5.1, up from 2.9 in 2017.
# Israel is in the process of amending its nation-state law; however, it has prompted large demonstrations by the Druze community, because it believes it doesn't give adequate protection to minority communities. It would permit judges to give priority to Israel's Jewish character in their rulings.
#Federal Judge Peter Messitte decided on July 27 that the case against Trump based on the Constitution's Emoluments Clause can proceed, finding that it is likely that Trump is taking payment from foreign governments in violation of the clause. Trump has said that the payments have been "gifts," but the judge refers to receipt "of any kind whatever." The judge said that: "Plaintiffs have plausibly alleged that the President has been receiving or is potentially able to receive 'emoluments' " in violation of the Constitution.
#Donald Trump signed the Trump Foundation tax returns in four different years when they contained demonstrably false information.
Sunday, August 5, 2018
Victims Impact Statements and Still More
Victims Impact Statements
"Generally, defendants were not allowed counsel before the eighteenth century; most trials, in any case, lasted only about twenty minutes." [1] In the wake of the Gregg desi by the U.S. Supreme Court, the courts have required what is sometimes called the "super due process" in death-penalty cases, given the gravity of the punishment. Justice William Rehnquist insisted that: "A victim should not be a 'faceless stranger.' " Rehnquist said that "To right the balance in the sentencing phase of a capital criminal trial, courts should admit a 'quick glimpse' of the life the defendant chose to extinguish, and let prosecutors convey the loss to the victim's family and to society, which has resulted from the defendant's homicide." ( NOTE: "desi" should be "decision."
Victim-impact statements "appear to amplify the commonly held prejudice that people with darker skin are more 'death-worthy.' " These statements would "appear to advance the fundamental anti-democratic notion that the lives of the eloquent, the intelligent, the beautiful, the cherished are more worthy of the full protection of the law than others." Thirty-two states have passed victim-rights amendments; five more ballot initiatives may pass in November 2018. [2]
Sheriffs' Associations
There are roughly three thousand sheriffs in the United States in forty-seven states. The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association believes that the sheriff has the final say on a law's constitutionality in his county." "To the most dogmatic there's only one way to interpret the country's founding documents: pro-gun, anti-immigrant. anti-regulation, anti-Washington." [3]
In Wolman's and Ferris's survey of sheriffs, ninety-five percent said that defending gun rights was more important than restricting access to firearms. Yet another finding of the survey was that, according to ideology, a sheriff could, for example, reject the Fourteenth Amendment, which granted citizenship and rights to former slaves.
Artificial Persons
The 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission has generated intense public opposition, as reflected in a poll that found 85 percent of Democrats, 81 percent of Independents, and 76 percent of Republicans in agreement that the case was wrongly decided. This strong majority belief is not in agreement with the reality that corporations have received constitutional protection almost since the founding of the United States. "Indeed, from 1868 to 1912, the Supreme Court heard more than 10 times as many 14th Amendment cases involving corporations as it did cases concerning African Americans." "Corporations have long since been granted constitutional rights." [4]
The legal expert, David Cole, believes that the real problem does not lie in the "Court's recognition that limiting corporate spending on political speech raises First Amendment concerns, but rather in its overly narrow conception of the permissible justifications for such limits. The problem with Citizens United is more nuanced: Its failure is not in its protection of corporate rights or its view on money as speech, but in its inability to recognize a broader set of justifications for limiting the distorting effects of concentrated wealth." [5]
I find it troublesome with David Cole not having a problem with "money as speech," as based on the one person, one vote concept, a billionaire, or a very profitable corporation -- viewed as a person -- can obviously garner much more political influence than can I, with my one vote and my much more limited dollars.
ADDENDUM:
*Canada's rollout of its new marijuana law will create a nationwide system in which weed is treated less like a narcotic and more like booze, taxed and sold mostly in state-run stores where any adult can buy. The new pot market will be grafted onto Canada's liquor distribution systems." (Alcohol sales have dropped 15 percent in U.S. counties that legalized medical marijuana.) [6]
Footnotes:
[1] Jill Lepore, "Sirens in the Night" The New Yorker, May 21, 2018.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ashley Powers, "Lone Star," The New Yorker, April 30, 2018.
[4] David Cole, "Artificial Persons," The Nation. July 2/9, 2018.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Brett Popplewell, "Canadian Bakin," Mother Jones, July/August 2018.
"Generally, defendants were not allowed counsel before the eighteenth century; most trials, in any case, lasted only about twenty minutes." [1] In the wake of the Gregg desi by the U.S. Supreme Court, the courts have required what is sometimes called the "super due process" in death-penalty cases, given the gravity of the punishment. Justice William Rehnquist insisted that: "A victim should not be a 'faceless stranger.' " Rehnquist said that "To right the balance in the sentencing phase of a capital criminal trial, courts should admit a 'quick glimpse' of the life the defendant chose to extinguish, and let prosecutors convey the loss to the victim's family and to society, which has resulted from the defendant's homicide." ( NOTE: "desi" should be "decision."
Victim-impact statements "appear to amplify the commonly held prejudice that people with darker skin are more 'death-worthy.' " These statements would "appear to advance the fundamental anti-democratic notion that the lives of the eloquent, the intelligent, the beautiful, the cherished are more worthy of the full protection of the law than others." Thirty-two states have passed victim-rights amendments; five more ballot initiatives may pass in November 2018. [2]
Sheriffs' Associations
There are roughly three thousand sheriffs in the United States in forty-seven states. The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association believes that the sheriff has the final say on a law's constitutionality in his county." "To the most dogmatic there's only one way to interpret the country's founding documents: pro-gun, anti-immigrant. anti-regulation, anti-Washington." [3]
In Wolman's and Ferris's survey of sheriffs, ninety-five percent said that defending gun rights was more important than restricting access to firearms. Yet another finding of the survey was that, according to ideology, a sheriff could, for example, reject the Fourteenth Amendment, which granted citizenship and rights to former slaves.
Artificial Persons
The 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission has generated intense public opposition, as reflected in a poll that found 85 percent of Democrats, 81 percent of Independents, and 76 percent of Republicans in agreement that the case was wrongly decided. This strong majority belief is not in agreement with the reality that corporations have received constitutional protection almost since the founding of the United States. "Indeed, from 1868 to 1912, the Supreme Court heard more than 10 times as many 14th Amendment cases involving corporations as it did cases concerning African Americans." "Corporations have long since been granted constitutional rights." [4]
The legal expert, David Cole, believes that the real problem does not lie in the "Court's recognition that limiting corporate spending on political speech raises First Amendment concerns, but rather in its overly narrow conception of the permissible justifications for such limits. The problem with Citizens United is more nuanced: Its failure is not in its protection of corporate rights or its view on money as speech, but in its inability to recognize a broader set of justifications for limiting the distorting effects of concentrated wealth." [5]
I find it troublesome with David Cole not having a problem with "money as speech," as based on the one person, one vote concept, a billionaire, or a very profitable corporation -- viewed as a person -- can obviously garner much more political influence than can I, with my one vote and my much more limited dollars.
ADDENDUM:
*Canada's rollout of its new marijuana law will create a nationwide system in which weed is treated less like a narcotic and more like booze, taxed and sold mostly in state-run stores where any adult can buy. The new pot market will be grafted onto Canada's liquor distribution systems." (Alcohol sales have dropped 15 percent in U.S. counties that legalized medical marijuana.) [6]
Footnotes:
[1] Jill Lepore, "Sirens in the Night" The New Yorker, May 21, 2018.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ashley Powers, "Lone Star," The New Yorker, April 30, 2018.
[4] David Cole, "Artificial Persons," The Nation. July 2/9, 2018.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Brett Popplewell, "Canadian Bakin," Mother Jones, July/August 2018.
Sunday, July 29, 2018
The Imprecision on Donald Trump''s Sexual Molestations
There has been a lot of imprecision on how many unwelcome sexual advances Donald Trump has made on women. Some commentators say more than a half-dozen, or others say more than a dozen. I can give a more precise number, subject, of course, to future additions.
A publication put together the names, the pictures, and a brief account of how Trump sexually molested them. A few of the women said Trump forcibly kissed them, and the rest described more forcible assaults. One woman said he also forcibly kissed her friend. This listing does not include Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal, or the woman who filed a lawsuit charging that Trump raped her when she was 13 years old. She withdrew the lawsuit after getting death threats. Also not included in the list is the woman who appeared on "The Apprentice" and filed a lawsuit claiming an unwelcome sexual advance. That case is moving through the court system. She is not claiming monetary compensation; she is only asking for an apology. Both Daniels and McDougal are not claiming unwanted sexual aggression, as both claim a consensual relationship. This makes 22 women claiming sexual aggression.
Michael Avanetti, Stormy Daniels's attorney, announced publicly this past week that he now has three more clients who have given him credible information that they were paid "hush" money to conceal a sexual relationship. We don't know if these involved consensual relationships. Avanetti revealed that one of these clients had an AMI arrangement, similar to that of Karen McDougal. AMI is the media conglomerate that has the "National Inquirer" in its stable. The "Inquirer" paid McDougal $150,000 to "bury" her story so that it would not appear in another publication. Notable in this matter is that the reporter who played a key role in breaking the Karen McDougal story, has said in a television interview that there is another woman who had received the McDougal treatment from the "Inquirer." There is also a suggestion in the audio released of a phone call between Trump and Cohen, that hush money may have been paid to more women than the two that are known about.
Trump lied to Melania about Karen McDougal; he lied to McDougal about his intentions; he lied to the public; he lied about his knowledge about the "National Inquirer" story; he had his staff lie about all of the above; and he conspired with Michael Cohen and David Pecker to convince McDougal that her story was being valued.
The conventional wisdom is that more revelations of payment of hush money will not affect Trump's political standing, as these payments are "baked in" as repeats of what he has done before. I would suggest that the sheer volume of these types of actions will prompt some people to say, in effect, "enough is enough."
President Trump seems to have a special penchant to denigrate African American women. He demanded the firing of Jemele Hill, a black ESPN reporter who called Trump a white supremist. He singled out AURN White House correspondent April Ryan as an "enemy" in a campaign ad, and bullied her at a press conference. He waged an all-out campaign against Rep. Fredericka Wilson (D-FL) and disrespected the mother and wife of Sgt. LaDavid Johnson, in a condolence call for his combat death in Africa. Trump claimed that these three women listening in on the call had lied about the tone and substance of the call. Moreover, Trump's chief of staff, John Kelly, had claimed that Wilson had used undue influence to get an FBI building located in her district. Even after learning that Wilson was not even in Congress when the funding for the building was appropriated, Kelly refused to apologize to Wilson, and Trump didn't require Kelly to do so. Trump's latest African American woman target is Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Cal), who has called a person of "low IQ" in tweeters and at campaign rallies. Waters has been highly critical of Trump.
A publication put together the names, the pictures, and a brief account of how Trump sexually molested them. A few of the women said Trump forcibly kissed them, and the rest described more forcible assaults. One woman said he also forcibly kissed her friend. This listing does not include Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal, or the woman who filed a lawsuit charging that Trump raped her when she was 13 years old. She withdrew the lawsuit after getting death threats. Also not included in the list is the woman who appeared on "The Apprentice" and filed a lawsuit claiming an unwelcome sexual advance. That case is moving through the court system. She is not claiming monetary compensation; she is only asking for an apology. Both Daniels and McDougal are not claiming unwanted sexual aggression, as both claim a consensual relationship. This makes 22 women claiming sexual aggression.
Michael Avanetti, Stormy Daniels's attorney, announced publicly this past week that he now has three more clients who have given him credible information that they were paid "hush" money to conceal a sexual relationship. We don't know if these involved consensual relationships. Avanetti revealed that one of these clients had an AMI arrangement, similar to that of Karen McDougal. AMI is the media conglomerate that has the "National Inquirer" in its stable. The "Inquirer" paid McDougal $150,000 to "bury" her story so that it would not appear in another publication. Notable in this matter is that the reporter who played a key role in breaking the Karen McDougal story, has said in a television interview that there is another woman who had received the McDougal treatment from the "Inquirer." There is also a suggestion in the audio released of a phone call between Trump and Cohen, that hush money may have been paid to more women than the two that are known about.
Trump lied to Melania about Karen McDougal; he lied to McDougal about his intentions; he lied to the public; he lied about his knowledge about the "National Inquirer" story; he had his staff lie about all of the above; and he conspired with Michael Cohen and David Pecker to convince McDougal that her story was being valued.
The conventional wisdom is that more revelations of payment of hush money will not affect Trump's political standing, as these payments are "baked in" as repeats of what he has done before. I would suggest that the sheer volume of these types of actions will prompt some people to say, in effect, "enough is enough."
President Trump seems to have a special penchant to denigrate African American women. He demanded the firing of Jemele Hill, a black ESPN reporter who called Trump a white supremist. He singled out AURN White House correspondent April Ryan as an "enemy" in a campaign ad, and bullied her at a press conference. He waged an all-out campaign against Rep. Fredericka Wilson (D-FL) and disrespected the mother and wife of Sgt. LaDavid Johnson, in a condolence call for his combat death in Africa. Trump claimed that these three women listening in on the call had lied about the tone and substance of the call. Moreover, Trump's chief of staff, John Kelly, had claimed that Wilson had used undue influence to get an FBI building located in her district. Even after learning that Wilson was not even in Congress when the funding for the building was appropriated, Kelly refused to apologize to Wilson, and Trump didn't require Kelly to do so. Trump's latest African American woman target is Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Cal), who has called a person of "low IQ" in tweeters and at campaign rallies. Waters has been highly critical of Trump.
Thursday, June 28, 2018
United We Stand and Other Factual Comparisons
United We Stand
Statistics taken from "America Is Less Polarized Than You Think," by Frances Moore Lappe at TheNation.com.
85% - Americans who want to overhaul campaign-finance laws.
67% - Americans who favor stricter gun-control laws.
69% - Americans who support capping green-house gas emissions.
62% -Americans who believe that upper-income individuals don't pay enough in taxes.
82% - Americans who are bothered -- either "some" or a "lot" -- that corporations aren't paying their fair share in taxes.
18% - Americans who trust the US government.
Immigration by the Numbers
700+ - Children separated from their parents at the US border since October (as of the middle of May).
550 - Children who, fearing deportation, skipped school in Morristown, Tennessee, after a raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
70% - Income that a family loses, on average, within six months of a parent being detained or deported by ICE.
42% - Increase in ICE arrests in the first eight months of 2017, compared with the same period a year earlier. (Source: "The Nation," May 21, 2014).
Temperatures and Air Conditioning
122.4F - Temperature in southern Pakistan on April 30 -- the highest ever reliably recorded April temperature.
8% - Percentage of the 2.8 billion people living in the hottest parts of the world who own an air conditioner.
5.6B - Estimated number of air-conditioning units that will be in use by 2050, up from 1.6 billion today; these AC units wold use as much electricity as China does now.
2F - Approximate rise in overnight temperatures in may cities as AC units vent hot air outside of homes.
21% - Percentage of the global growth in electricity demand accounted for by fans and air conditioning. (Source: "The Nation," June 18/25, 2018).
Solar Jobs vs. Coal Jobs in the US (Includes part time and full time)
Solar - 349,725 --- Coal - 167,023.
Solar Jobs by country (Full-time equivalent)
China - 2.8 million --- US - 250,300 --- India - 181,200 --- Japan - 272,700 --- Other - 604,800.
Solar Installations, 2017 (In gigawatts)
China - 53.1 --- US - 10.6 --- India - 8.0 --- Japan - 7.1 --- Other - 19.0 (Sources: "2018 US Energy and Employment Report," International Renewable Energy Agency, GTM Research).
Unions Keep Inequality in Check
Fewer workers are unionized today - 30% in 1955 versus 11% in 2017. That's a problem because:
1 - Unions win higher wages for their workers - 10-20% more pay than nonunion workers over the past 80 years.
2 - People of color benefit most - In 1962, the income boost from union membership was nearly 5X larger for workers of color than white workers.
3 - So, more unions mean less inequality - If union membership had stayed at 1950s levels, the growth in income share of the top 10% would have been reduced 50%. (Source: Henry Farber, Dan Herbst, Ilyana Kiziemko, and Suresh Naidu, "Unions and Inequality Over the Twentieth Century," May 2018).
A Matter of Birth and Death
In 1850, the infant mortality rate for black babies in the US was 57% higher than the rate for white babies. In 2015, it was 131% higher.
Preterm Birth Rate
White - 8.9% --- Black - 13.4% --- Hispanic - 9.1% --- All - 9.6%.
Maternal Mortality (Deaths per 100,000 live births)
White - 12.7 --- Black - 43.5 --- Other - 14.4.
The infant mortality rate among black mthers with advanced degrees is higher that that of white mothers with an eighth grade education or less. (Sources: Economic History Association, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Brookings Institution).
We're Not Safer Carrying Guns Around
Concealed-carry laws increase violent crime. 16.3 million have a permit for a concealed gun, a 256% increase since 2007.
Only 8 states give law enforcement discretion to deny applicants a concealed-carry permit.
In a state that passes a concealed-carry law, violent crime will be 13-15% higher after 10 years than it would be otherwise. (Sources: National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 23510, January 2018, GunsToCarry data, April 2018).
Race to the Bottom
The census has never been a perfect enumeration of the US population, but it has disproportionately undercounted minority groups, including African Americans and Hispanics (a category that was not included as an option on the census before 1980).
Whites were undercouted by between 3 and 4% in 1950; between 2 and 3% in 1960; and a little over 2% in 1970. Blacks were undercounted by between 7 and 8% for 1950, and between 6 and 7% for both 1960 and 1970.
Whites were undercounted by less than 1% for both 1980 and 1990, and overcounted by 1% or less for 2000 and 2010. Blacks were undercounted between 4 and 5% for both 1980 and 1990, and close to 2% in both 2000 and 2010. Hispanics were undercounted by between 5 and 6% in 1980, 5% in 1990, less than 1% in 2000, and between 1 and 2% in 2010.
Statistics taken from "America Is Less Polarized Than You Think," by Frances Moore Lappe at TheNation.com.
85% - Americans who want to overhaul campaign-finance laws.
67% - Americans who favor stricter gun-control laws.
69% - Americans who support capping green-house gas emissions.
62% -Americans who believe that upper-income individuals don't pay enough in taxes.
82% - Americans who are bothered -- either "some" or a "lot" -- that corporations aren't paying their fair share in taxes.
18% - Americans who trust the US government.
Immigration by the Numbers
700+ - Children separated from their parents at the US border since October (as of the middle of May).
550 - Children who, fearing deportation, skipped school in Morristown, Tennessee, after a raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
70% - Income that a family loses, on average, within six months of a parent being detained or deported by ICE.
42% - Increase in ICE arrests in the first eight months of 2017, compared with the same period a year earlier. (Source: "The Nation," May 21, 2014).
Temperatures and Air Conditioning
122.4F - Temperature in southern Pakistan on April 30 -- the highest ever reliably recorded April temperature.
8% - Percentage of the 2.8 billion people living in the hottest parts of the world who own an air conditioner.
5.6B - Estimated number of air-conditioning units that will be in use by 2050, up from 1.6 billion today; these AC units wold use as much electricity as China does now.
2F - Approximate rise in overnight temperatures in may cities as AC units vent hot air outside of homes.
21% - Percentage of the global growth in electricity demand accounted for by fans and air conditioning. (Source: "The Nation," June 18/25, 2018).
Solar Jobs vs. Coal Jobs in the US (Includes part time and full time)
Solar - 349,725 --- Coal - 167,023.
Solar Jobs by country (Full-time equivalent)
China - 2.8 million --- US - 250,300 --- India - 181,200 --- Japan - 272,700 --- Other - 604,800.
Solar Installations, 2017 (In gigawatts)
China - 53.1 --- US - 10.6 --- India - 8.0 --- Japan - 7.1 --- Other - 19.0 (Sources: "2018 US Energy and Employment Report," International Renewable Energy Agency, GTM Research).
Unions Keep Inequality in Check
Fewer workers are unionized today - 30% in 1955 versus 11% in 2017. That's a problem because:
1 - Unions win higher wages for their workers - 10-20% more pay than nonunion workers over the past 80 years.
2 - People of color benefit most - In 1962, the income boost from union membership was nearly 5X larger for workers of color than white workers.
3 - So, more unions mean less inequality - If union membership had stayed at 1950s levels, the growth in income share of the top 10% would have been reduced 50%. (Source: Henry Farber, Dan Herbst, Ilyana Kiziemko, and Suresh Naidu, "Unions and Inequality Over the Twentieth Century," May 2018).
A Matter of Birth and Death
In 1850, the infant mortality rate for black babies in the US was 57% higher than the rate for white babies. In 2015, it was 131% higher.
Preterm Birth Rate
White - 8.9% --- Black - 13.4% --- Hispanic - 9.1% --- All - 9.6%.
Maternal Mortality (Deaths per 100,000 live births)
White - 12.7 --- Black - 43.5 --- Other - 14.4.
The infant mortality rate among black mthers with advanced degrees is higher that that of white mothers with an eighth grade education or less. (Sources: Economic History Association, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Brookings Institution).
We're Not Safer Carrying Guns Around
Concealed-carry laws increase violent crime. 16.3 million have a permit for a concealed gun, a 256% increase since 2007.
Only 8 states give law enforcement discretion to deny applicants a concealed-carry permit.
In a state that passes a concealed-carry law, violent crime will be 13-15% higher after 10 years than it would be otherwise. (Sources: National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 23510, January 2018, GunsToCarry data, April 2018).
Race to the Bottom
The census has never been a perfect enumeration of the US population, but it has disproportionately undercounted minority groups, including African Americans and Hispanics (a category that was not included as an option on the census before 1980).
Whites were undercouted by between 3 and 4% in 1950; between 2 and 3% in 1960; and a little over 2% in 1970. Blacks were undercounted by between 7 and 8% for 1950, and between 6 and 7% for both 1960 and 1970.
Whites were undercounted by less than 1% for both 1980 and 1990, and overcounted by 1% or less for 2000 and 2010. Blacks were undercounted between 4 and 5% for both 1980 and 1990, and close to 2% in both 2000 and 2010. Hispanics were undercounted by between 5 and 6% in 1980, 5% in 1990, less than 1% in 2000, and between 1 and 2% in 2010.
Friday, June 1, 2018
A Look at GOP Gains Through Gerrymandering
In its April 16, 2018 issue, "The Nation" magazine presented some very troubling statistics on how democracy has been distorted by GOP gerrymandering. The redrawing of districts has been augmented by restrictions on voting that make voting more difficult for Democratic Party supporters. North Carolina, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan are particularly bad examples of subversion of democracy; however, this virus is found in other states in which Republicans control the legislative and executive branches of government.
In North Carolina, a wealthy businessman named Art Pope helped bankroll an assault on Democrats, which targeted 22 legislative seats and took 18, winning control of both houses of the General Assembly for the first time since 1870. This Republican-controlled legislature drew up a state electoral map with the express purpose of electing Republicans, culminated in 2016, with the GOP taking 10 of 13, or 77 percent of the House seats on the ballot, even though Republican candidates won just 53 percent of the vote statewide. The Republicans realized that they didn't need to win over a majority of Americans; they just needed to rig the game so that an ever smaller, older, and whiter pool of voters could consistently prevail.
Overall, in the 2010 election cycle, 22 state legislative chambers changed control -- all from Democratic to Republican. Nationwide, the GOP won 720 seats that year, counting special elections, to control 54 percent of the chambers -- more than they had since 1928.
In Wisconsin, Democrats went from a 50-45 edge in the State House of Representatives to a 38-60 deficit in 2010, and lost both the State Senate and the governorship. The GOP-gerrymandered maps drawn the following year meant that, while Republicans got less than half of Wisconsin's U.S. House votes in 2012, and while Barack Obama defeated Mitt Romney in the state by seven points, Democrats wound up with only three of Wisconsin's eight U.S. House seats.
Looking next at Pennsylvania in the 2012 election cycle, a GOP-drawn electoral map resulted in Democratic candidates winning more than half of the state's votes in U.S. House elections and Obama winning reelection easily, Republicans took 13 of the 18 House seats being contested. Michigan saw much the same result in 2012, as although Obama carried the state by almost 10 points, and Senator Debbie Stabenow won reelection by more than 20, Republicans took 9 of the 14 U.S. House seats up for grabs.
Switching now to restrictions on voting, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, 23 states passed new restrictions on voting after the GOP's state-house takeover in 2010: 13 have more restrictive voter-ID laws in place, including six with strict new photo-ID requirements; 11 have laws making it harder for citizens to register; six have cut back on early voting; and three have made it harder to restore voting rights for people with criminal convictions in their past. Of the 11 states with the highest black turnout in 2008, seven put new voting restrictions in place (although North Carolina's law was blocked by a federal court).
ADDENDUMS:
*The anti-labor laws in GOP-run states have diminished Democratic voter participation -- by design. Since 2012, six states -- Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, West Virginia, and Wisconsin -- have passed new "right-to-work" laws that allow workers to benefit from union representation without having to pay union dues. Some of these same states, like Wisconsin, have also limited public-sector unions' bargaining power; in 2017, Iowa made that move when the GOP returned to power.
James Feigenbaum, Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, and Vanessa Williamson of the Scholars Strategy Network, estimate that right-to-work laws decreased the seats held by Democrats in state legislatures by 5 to 11 percent.
*Perhaps the most reactionary new policies have come in the realm of abortion rights. In the years from 2011 and 2016, states passed as many abortion restrictions -- 288 -- as they had in the 15 years prior. In fact, the limits enacted in those six years amount to a full quarter of the abortion restrictions passed in the 43 years since "Roe v. Wade." According to the Guttmacher Institute, of the 10 states that adopted at least 10 new abortion restrictions in those years, which accounted for 60 percent of all new restrictive laws, all 10 were run by Republican governors with GOP statehouse majorities.
In North Carolina, a wealthy businessman named Art Pope helped bankroll an assault on Democrats, which targeted 22 legislative seats and took 18, winning control of both houses of the General Assembly for the first time since 1870. This Republican-controlled legislature drew up a state electoral map with the express purpose of electing Republicans, culminated in 2016, with the GOP taking 10 of 13, or 77 percent of the House seats on the ballot, even though Republican candidates won just 53 percent of the vote statewide. The Republicans realized that they didn't need to win over a majority of Americans; they just needed to rig the game so that an ever smaller, older, and whiter pool of voters could consistently prevail.
Overall, in the 2010 election cycle, 22 state legislative chambers changed control -- all from Democratic to Republican. Nationwide, the GOP won 720 seats that year, counting special elections, to control 54 percent of the chambers -- more than they had since 1928.
In Wisconsin, Democrats went from a 50-45 edge in the State House of Representatives to a 38-60 deficit in 2010, and lost both the State Senate and the governorship. The GOP-gerrymandered maps drawn the following year meant that, while Republicans got less than half of Wisconsin's U.S. House votes in 2012, and while Barack Obama defeated Mitt Romney in the state by seven points, Democrats wound up with only three of Wisconsin's eight U.S. House seats.
Looking next at Pennsylvania in the 2012 election cycle, a GOP-drawn electoral map resulted in Democratic candidates winning more than half of the state's votes in U.S. House elections and Obama winning reelection easily, Republicans took 13 of the 18 House seats being contested. Michigan saw much the same result in 2012, as although Obama carried the state by almost 10 points, and Senator Debbie Stabenow won reelection by more than 20, Republicans took 9 of the 14 U.S. House seats up for grabs.
Switching now to restrictions on voting, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, 23 states passed new restrictions on voting after the GOP's state-house takeover in 2010: 13 have more restrictive voter-ID laws in place, including six with strict new photo-ID requirements; 11 have laws making it harder for citizens to register; six have cut back on early voting; and three have made it harder to restore voting rights for people with criminal convictions in their past. Of the 11 states with the highest black turnout in 2008, seven put new voting restrictions in place (although North Carolina's law was blocked by a federal court).
ADDENDUMS:
*The anti-labor laws in GOP-run states have diminished Democratic voter participation -- by design. Since 2012, six states -- Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, West Virginia, and Wisconsin -- have passed new "right-to-work" laws that allow workers to benefit from union representation without having to pay union dues. Some of these same states, like Wisconsin, have also limited public-sector unions' bargaining power; in 2017, Iowa made that move when the GOP returned to power.
James Feigenbaum, Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, and Vanessa Williamson of the Scholars Strategy Network, estimate that right-to-work laws decreased the seats held by Democrats in state legislatures by 5 to 11 percent.
*Perhaps the most reactionary new policies have come in the realm of abortion rights. In the years from 2011 and 2016, states passed as many abortion restrictions -- 288 -- as they had in the 15 years prior. In fact, the limits enacted in those six years amount to a full quarter of the abortion restrictions passed in the 43 years since "Roe v. Wade." According to the Guttmacher Institute, of the 10 states that adopted at least 10 new abortion restrictions in those years, which accounted for 60 percent of all new restrictive laws, all 10 were run by Republican governors with GOP statehouse majorities.
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Trump's Changing Positions on Work Visas
The H-1B work visas (temporary work visas for non-immigrants) represent how risky it is for anyone to laud Donald Trump for a position he has taken on an issue, as Trump may be on the other side of the issue as soon as the next day. President Trump changed his position on abortion in the course of an eight-hour day, and he asked the treasury secretary and the U.S. trade representative to explore rejoining the Trans Pacific Partnership, yet the next day he called off the effort and said he was in favor of bilateral trade agreements. He soon reiterated that position in a meeting with Japanese President Abe.
In a debate hosted by CNBC on October 28, 2015, Donald Trump was asked for his position on H-1B work visas. He responded: "The influx of foreign workers holds down salaries, keeps unemployment high, and makes it difficult for poor and working class Americans -- including immigrants themselves and their children -- to earn a middle class wage. ... We need companies to hire from the domestic pool of unemployed." He proposed increasing the prevailing wage for H-1B visas and adding a recruitment requirement to find American workers before hiring foreign ones. Trump had been very critical of Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, who wanted to increase the number of these H-1Bs, but when asked about it, he said: "They come from another country and they're sent out. I am in favor of keeping these talented people here so they go to work in Silicon Valley." When asked again by moderator Betsy Quick if he was in favor of or opposed to H-1Bs, Trump replied: "I'm in favor of people coming into this country legally. And you know what? They can have it any way they want. You can call it visas, you can call it work permits, you can call it anything you want."
At the March 3, 2016 debate hosted by Fox News, Donald Trump was asked by Megyn Kelly about the conflict between his campaign website and at the CNBC debate, he answered: "I'm changing! I'm changing!" and he referred to the need for highly skilled people. The next day, Trump reversed his position by saying he would "end forever" the practice of using H-1B workers for cheaper labor.
It was during the March 10, 2016 debate hosted by CNN that Donald Trump admitted that he had taken advantage of the H-1B program. He described it as a lawful program that he shouldn't have been allowed to use; however, he wanted to deny its future use.
On April 18, 2017, President Trump signed the "Buy American and Hire Americans" executive order, which tasked the attorney general and the secretaries of State, Labor and Homeland Security to suggest reforms to help ensure that H-1B visas are awarded to the most-skilled or highest-paid position beneficiaries. In a speech at Kenosha, Wisconsin the same day he signed the order, Trump said H-1B visas should be awarded to "the most-skilled or highest-paid applicants, and they should never, ever be used to replace Americans." So, Trump, himself, used the H-1B program and supports bringing in talented, educated workers from abroad, but he also wants to end the program because it's full of abuse. He proposes restricting the program so that the industry that most relies on it -- the tech industry -- can't use it to shut Americans out from jobs in the Silicon Valley. U.S. companies must use a recruitment program to find qualified U.S. citizens before they can use the H-1B program. If there are sufficient U.S. workers to fill the needed positions, then the H-1B program becomes moot.
Trump properties sought 1,100 foreign worker visas in the five years beginning in 2000. Since he mostly used H-2B visas, most of Trump's foreign workers probably came from Mexico.
ADDENDUM:
*When three members of President Trump's team --including a lawyer and Trump's personal body guard -- seized Trump's medical records from his personal doctor at the time, they violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which required the use of the HIPAA Medical Records Transfer Form.
In a debate hosted by CNBC on October 28, 2015, Donald Trump was asked for his position on H-1B work visas. He responded: "The influx of foreign workers holds down salaries, keeps unemployment high, and makes it difficult for poor and working class Americans -- including immigrants themselves and their children -- to earn a middle class wage. ... We need companies to hire from the domestic pool of unemployed." He proposed increasing the prevailing wage for H-1B visas and adding a recruitment requirement to find American workers before hiring foreign ones. Trump had been very critical of Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, who wanted to increase the number of these H-1Bs, but when asked about it, he said: "They come from another country and they're sent out. I am in favor of keeping these talented people here so they go to work in Silicon Valley." When asked again by moderator Betsy Quick if he was in favor of or opposed to H-1Bs, Trump replied: "I'm in favor of people coming into this country legally. And you know what? They can have it any way they want. You can call it visas, you can call it work permits, you can call it anything you want."
At the March 3, 2016 debate hosted by Fox News, Donald Trump was asked by Megyn Kelly about the conflict between his campaign website and at the CNBC debate, he answered: "I'm changing! I'm changing!" and he referred to the need for highly skilled people. The next day, Trump reversed his position by saying he would "end forever" the practice of using H-1B workers for cheaper labor.
It was during the March 10, 2016 debate hosted by CNN that Donald Trump admitted that he had taken advantage of the H-1B program. He described it as a lawful program that he shouldn't have been allowed to use; however, he wanted to deny its future use.
On April 18, 2017, President Trump signed the "Buy American and Hire Americans" executive order, which tasked the attorney general and the secretaries of State, Labor and Homeland Security to suggest reforms to help ensure that H-1B visas are awarded to the most-skilled or highest-paid position beneficiaries. In a speech at Kenosha, Wisconsin the same day he signed the order, Trump said H-1B visas should be awarded to "the most-skilled or highest-paid applicants, and they should never, ever be used to replace Americans." So, Trump, himself, used the H-1B program and supports bringing in talented, educated workers from abroad, but he also wants to end the program because it's full of abuse. He proposes restricting the program so that the industry that most relies on it -- the tech industry -- can't use it to shut Americans out from jobs in the Silicon Valley. U.S. companies must use a recruitment program to find qualified U.S. citizens before they can use the H-1B program. If there are sufficient U.S. workers to fill the needed positions, then the H-1B program becomes moot.
Trump properties sought 1,100 foreign worker visas in the five years beginning in 2000. Since he mostly used H-2B visas, most of Trump's foreign workers probably came from Mexico.
ADDENDUM:
*When three members of President Trump's team --including a lawyer and Trump's personal body guard -- seized Trump's medical records from his personal doctor at the time, they violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which required the use of the HIPAA Medical Records Transfer Form.
Monday, May 28, 2018
Cell Phone Safety and Alcohol/Cancer Linkage
Cell Phone Safety
Ninety-five out of every 100 U.S. adults now owns a cell phone; globally, three out of four adults have cell phone access with sales increasing every year. The widespread use of cell phones merits close attention due to a recent study on the safety of cell phones.
Wireless radiation has been shown to damage the blood-brain barrier, a vital defense mechanism that shields the brain from carcinogenic chemicals elsewhere in the body (resulting, for example, from secondhand cigarette smoke). The study found that the heaviest cell phone users were 80 percent more likely to develop glioma. Even phones meeting government standards, which in Europe were a SAR of 2.0 watts per kilogram, could deliver exponentially higher peak radiation levels to certain skin and blood cells (SAR levels reached a staggering 40 watts per kilogram -- 20 times higher than officially permitted).
The results reported by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) in 2016 seem to strengthen the case for increasing the assessment of cell phone radiation to a "probable" or even a "known" carcinogen. Besides the NTP finding, 90 percent of the 200 existing studies included in the National Institutes of Health's PubMed database on the oxidative effects of wireless radiation -- its tendency to cause cells to shed electrons, which can lead to cancer and other diseases -- have found a significant impact. [1]
Alcohol and Cancer
Alcohol causes at least seven types of cancer, but it kills more women from breast cancer than from any other cause. The National Cancer Institute says alcohol raises breast cancer risk even at low levels. The median diagnosis in the United States is at age 62, and the highest breast cancer rates are found in women older than 70. In Utah, Mormon women's breast cancer rates are more than 24 percent lower than rates of colon cancer, which alcohol can also cause.
Alcohol is suspected of inflicting a double whammy on breast tissue because it also increases the level of estrogen in a woman's body. High levels of estrogen prompt faster cell division in the breast, which can lead to mutations and ultimately tumors. Researchers estimate that alcohol accounts for 15 percent of U.S. breast cancer cases and deaths -- about 35,000 and 6,600 a year, respectively. The breast cancer risk from alcohol isn't nearly as high as the lung cancer risk from smoking. But alcohol-related breast cancer kills more than twice as many American women as drunk drivers do. Alcohol is responsible for the deaths of nearly 90,000 Americans every year, more than double the estimated 40,000 U.S. opioid deaths in 2015.
Ninety percent of alcohol consumption by underage Americans is binge drinking, defined as four or more drinks on one occasion, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For more than a decade, the alcohol industry has bulldozed long-standing public health regulations designed to reduce harmful consumption. While other countries are considering World Health Organization recommendations to impose steeper alcohol taxes, the tax law President Trump signed in December 2017, further slashed U.S. alcohol excise taxes, which, thanks to inflation, were already down as much as 80 percent since the 1950s. [2]
ADDENDUMS:
*President Trump supports the National Football League's decision to fine teams whose players kneel in protest during the national anthem. "You have to stand proudly, for the national anthem. Otherwise, you shouldn't be playing, you shouldn't be there. Maybe you shouldn't be in the country. "
*Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that the Trump administration will impose severe economic sanctions on Iran unless it meets a dozen U.S. requirements.
Footnotes
[1] Mark Hertsgaard and Mark Dowie, "How Big Wireless Made Us Think That Cell Phones Are Safe," "The Nation," April 23, 2018.
[2] Stephanie Mencimer, "Bottled Up," "Mother Jones," May + June 2018.
Ninety-five out of every 100 U.S. adults now owns a cell phone; globally, three out of four adults have cell phone access with sales increasing every year. The widespread use of cell phones merits close attention due to a recent study on the safety of cell phones.
Wireless radiation has been shown to damage the blood-brain barrier, a vital defense mechanism that shields the brain from carcinogenic chemicals elsewhere in the body (resulting, for example, from secondhand cigarette smoke). The study found that the heaviest cell phone users were 80 percent more likely to develop glioma. Even phones meeting government standards, which in Europe were a SAR of 2.0 watts per kilogram, could deliver exponentially higher peak radiation levels to certain skin and blood cells (SAR levels reached a staggering 40 watts per kilogram -- 20 times higher than officially permitted).
The results reported by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) in 2016 seem to strengthen the case for increasing the assessment of cell phone radiation to a "probable" or even a "known" carcinogen. Besides the NTP finding, 90 percent of the 200 existing studies included in the National Institutes of Health's PubMed database on the oxidative effects of wireless radiation -- its tendency to cause cells to shed electrons, which can lead to cancer and other diseases -- have found a significant impact. [1]
Alcohol and Cancer
Alcohol causes at least seven types of cancer, but it kills more women from breast cancer than from any other cause. The National Cancer Institute says alcohol raises breast cancer risk even at low levels. The median diagnosis in the United States is at age 62, and the highest breast cancer rates are found in women older than 70. In Utah, Mormon women's breast cancer rates are more than 24 percent lower than rates of colon cancer, which alcohol can also cause.
Alcohol is suspected of inflicting a double whammy on breast tissue because it also increases the level of estrogen in a woman's body. High levels of estrogen prompt faster cell division in the breast, which can lead to mutations and ultimately tumors. Researchers estimate that alcohol accounts for 15 percent of U.S. breast cancer cases and deaths -- about 35,000 and 6,600 a year, respectively. The breast cancer risk from alcohol isn't nearly as high as the lung cancer risk from smoking. But alcohol-related breast cancer kills more than twice as many American women as drunk drivers do. Alcohol is responsible for the deaths of nearly 90,000 Americans every year, more than double the estimated 40,000 U.S. opioid deaths in 2015.
Ninety percent of alcohol consumption by underage Americans is binge drinking, defined as four or more drinks on one occasion, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For more than a decade, the alcohol industry has bulldozed long-standing public health regulations designed to reduce harmful consumption. While other countries are considering World Health Organization recommendations to impose steeper alcohol taxes, the tax law President Trump signed in December 2017, further slashed U.S. alcohol excise taxes, which, thanks to inflation, were already down as much as 80 percent since the 1950s. [2]
ADDENDUMS:
*President Trump supports the National Football League's decision to fine teams whose players kneel in protest during the national anthem. "You have to stand proudly, for the national anthem. Otherwise, you shouldn't be playing, you shouldn't be there. Maybe you shouldn't be in the country. "
*Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that the Trump administration will impose severe economic sanctions on Iran unless it meets a dozen U.S. requirements.
Footnotes
[1] Mark Hertsgaard and Mark Dowie, "How Big Wireless Made Us Think That Cell Phones Are Safe," "The Nation," April 23, 2018.
[2] Stephanie Mencimer, "Bottled Up," "Mother Jones," May + June 2018.
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Some Short Subjects for Varied Interests
Future Relations With Russia
The next president will face immediate pressure from the national security establishment to implement a tougher approach in Trump's wake. This could include new and rigorously enforced sanctions, increased arms sales to Ukraine, a renewed push for NATO expansion, more pressure on Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, a new cyber offensive against Russia in retaliation for 2016, and covert support for opposition movements in Russia and its former satellites. But the next president must also make clear that the United States does not intend to expand its own sphere of military influence.
Elected-Office Seeking White Nationalists
In Trump's America there appears to be a rash of white nationalists running for elective office. Depending on definition, anywhere from 9 to 17 white supremacists and far-right militia leaders are currently running for House and Senate seats, governerships, and state legislators. Heidi Benich, director of the Southern Poverty Center's Intelligence Project, pointed to an August 2017 Washington Post/ABC News poll, indicating that 9 percent of Americans now find it acceptable to hold neo-Nazi views. (Among strong Trump supporters, 17 percent say they accept neo-Nazi views, and 13 percent say they have no opinion one way or the other.) (Source: Donna Minkowitz. "Off to the Racists," "The Nation," May 14, 2018.)
Reduced Education Spending
In all, 29 states are now spending less per student on K-12 education than they were a decade ago, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. A number of those states have also cut income taxes. Notably, the 10 states that have experienced the largest decline in spending per student since 2008 all currently have Republican governors and Republican-controlled legislatures. (Source: "Red-State Rebellion," "The Nation," May 14, 2018.)
U.S-China Trade Talks
The U.S. has been insisting that China shrink the U.S. trade deficit with China by $200 billion by the end of 2020. The U.S. document included demands that China immediately stop providing subsidies to industries listed in a key industrial plan. The U.S. says China should agree not to target U.S. agricultural products and "not oppose, challenge or otherwise retaliate" when the U.S.moves to restrict Chinese investments in the U.S. in sensitive sectors. (Source: Gillian Wong and Dake Kang, "U.S.-China Trade Talks Produce Little," "The Nation," May 14, 2018.)
The Shell Company: Essential Consultants
Michael Cohen's shell company, Essential Consultants LLC (EC), received $500,000 from an investment firm whose biggest client was a company controlled by a Russian oligarch and ally of Putin. About $4.4 million passed through EC, including money from Novartis, AT&T, and Korea Aerospace Industries. Stormy Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, said the allegations "appear to reflect a pattern and practice by Michael Cohen of accepting money in return for access to the president."
AT&T confirmed it paid into EC to provide insights into the Trump administration. Novartis said it paid Cohen to provide his expertise into health-care polices. Novartis was paying $100,000 a month , but decided to not pursue the relationship after first meeting with Cohen, but continued to pay him. The Koran aerospace company thought Cohen could supply valuable information about international aviation accounting practices.
Selective Judgment on Foreign Elections
Although Sarah Huckabee Sanders told the White House press corps that "We don't get to dictate how other countries operate. What we know is Putin has been elected in their country." Yet, President Trump has strongly condemned the reelection of Venezuela president Nicolas Maduro to another six-year term. Trump signed an executive order to block the government of Venezuela from selling or collateralizing certain financial assets. Trump also congratulated China's President Xi Zinping for being established as president for life.
ADDENDUMS:
*Last week, the Supreme Court upheld the legality of clauses in employment contracts forcing employees to settle disputes with their employers individually with a third-party arbitrator. But workers' ability to band together is crucial to making legal protections real.
*Goldman Sachs believes that an expanding deficit and debt level is likely to put upward pressure on interest rates, further expanding the deficit.
*A Trump tweet of May 20: "I hereby demand , and will do so officially tomorrow, that the Department of Justice look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes -- and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration."
The next president will face immediate pressure from the national security establishment to implement a tougher approach in Trump's wake. This could include new and rigorously enforced sanctions, increased arms sales to Ukraine, a renewed push for NATO expansion, more pressure on Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, a new cyber offensive against Russia in retaliation for 2016, and covert support for opposition movements in Russia and its former satellites. But the next president must also make clear that the United States does not intend to expand its own sphere of military influence.
Elected-Office Seeking White Nationalists
In Trump's America there appears to be a rash of white nationalists running for elective office. Depending on definition, anywhere from 9 to 17 white supremacists and far-right militia leaders are currently running for House and Senate seats, governerships, and state legislators. Heidi Benich, director of the Southern Poverty Center's Intelligence Project, pointed to an August 2017 Washington Post/ABC News poll, indicating that 9 percent of Americans now find it acceptable to hold neo-Nazi views. (Among strong Trump supporters, 17 percent say they accept neo-Nazi views, and 13 percent say they have no opinion one way or the other.) (Source: Donna Minkowitz. "Off to the Racists," "The Nation," May 14, 2018.)
Reduced Education Spending
In all, 29 states are now spending less per student on K-12 education than they were a decade ago, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. A number of those states have also cut income taxes. Notably, the 10 states that have experienced the largest decline in spending per student since 2008 all currently have Republican governors and Republican-controlled legislatures. (Source: "Red-State Rebellion," "The Nation," May 14, 2018.)
U.S-China Trade Talks
The U.S. has been insisting that China shrink the U.S. trade deficit with China by $200 billion by the end of 2020. The U.S. document included demands that China immediately stop providing subsidies to industries listed in a key industrial plan. The U.S. says China should agree not to target U.S. agricultural products and "not oppose, challenge or otherwise retaliate" when the U.S.moves to restrict Chinese investments in the U.S. in sensitive sectors. (Source: Gillian Wong and Dake Kang, "U.S.-China Trade Talks Produce Little," "The Nation," May 14, 2018.)
The Shell Company: Essential Consultants
Michael Cohen's shell company, Essential Consultants LLC (EC), received $500,000 from an investment firm whose biggest client was a company controlled by a Russian oligarch and ally of Putin. About $4.4 million passed through EC, including money from Novartis, AT&T, and Korea Aerospace Industries. Stormy Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, said the allegations "appear to reflect a pattern and practice by Michael Cohen of accepting money in return for access to the president."
AT&T confirmed it paid into EC to provide insights into the Trump administration. Novartis said it paid Cohen to provide his expertise into health-care polices. Novartis was paying $100,000 a month , but decided to not pursue the relationship after first meeting with Cohen, but continued to pay him. The Koran aerospace company thought Cohen could supply valuable information about international aviation accounting practices.
Selective Judgment on Foreign Elections
Although Sarah Huckabee Sanders told the White House press corps that "We don't get to dictate how other countries operate. What we know is Putin has been elected in their country." Yet, President Trump has strongly condemned the reelection of Venezuela president Nicolas Maduro to another six-year term. Trump signed an executive order to block the government of Venezuela from selling or collateralizing certain financial assets. Trump also congratulated China's President Xi Zinping for being established as president for life.
ADDENDUMS:
*Last week, the Supreme Court upheld the legality of clauses in employment contracts forcing employees to settle disputes with their employers individually with a third-party arbitrator. But workers' ability to band together is crucial to making legal protections real.
*Goldman Sachs believes that an expanding deficit and debt level is likely to put upward pressure on interest rates, further expanding the deficit.
*A Trump tweet of May 20: "I hereby demand , and will do so officially tomorrow, that the Department of Justice look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes -- and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration."
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