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.
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
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."
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Miscellaneous Items From My Writer's Notebook
#CFT, which represents roughly 120,000 educators, is lobbying for $2.7 million in state funds for a three-year pilot program that would incorporate labor history in civics, economics, and history classes, along with simulations like those run by the DePaul Center. A 2011 study of four popular textbooks found that coverage of the labor movement was "narrow and sometimes seriously misleading." (Source: Caroline Creston, "Teaching Class Solidarity," "The Nation," April 2, 2018.)
#President Trump has said that "Some countries have a very, very tough penalty -- the ultimate penalty. And by the way, they have much less of a drug problem than we do." Trump has a well-established pattern of emphasizing harsh and punitive law enforcement, rather than treatment, in response to the opioid crisis.
#"On the face of it, the idea that Google is discriminating against white men is laugh-out-loud funny," said Joe Nocera in "Bloomberg.com." The company's 2016 diversity report revealed just two percent of staff were black, and three percent Hispanic, and that the leadership team was 76 percent male and 68 percent white.
#More Mike Pompeo sayings: As a Kansas congressman, Pompeo said: "Americans had worshiped other Gods and called it multi-culturism." "We'd endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle." He said a "threat to America" was caused by people who deeply believe that Islam is the way. He also said that Muslims "abhor Christians." All Muslims were "potentially complicit" in acts of terror collectively, and he wanted to declare the Muslim Brotherhood to be a "foreign terrorist organization."
#Last month, U.S. District Judge John Bates labeled as "unlawful" Trump's decision to rescind the Obama-era rule protecting young illegal immigrants, and said the government should accept new applicants. Bates stayed the ruling for 90 days to allow the government to provide a better legal argument. He ruled that "DACA's recission was arbitrary and capricious" because the Department filed adequately to explain its conclusion that the program was unlawful.
#Last summer, a federal judge in the District of Columbia ruled that cuts in the DHS budget to the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program were unlawful. The Trump administration had notified 81 organizations that their funding for the sex-education program would end in 2018, not in 2020, as originally planned.
#The Associated Press has identified 30 publicly reported gun-related incidents involving adults at schools since 2014. Incidents included guns going off by mistake, guns being shot by curious students, and guns being left in various locations.
#President Trump has said that "Some countries have a very, very tough penalty -- the ultimate penalty. And by the way, they have much less of a drug problem than we do." Trump has a well-established pattern of emphasizing harsh and punitive law enforcement, rather than treatment, in response to the opioid crisis.
#"On the face of it, the idea that Google is discriminating against white men is laugh-out-loud funny," said Joe Nocera in "Bloomberg.com." The company's 2016 diversity report revealed just two percent of staff were black, and three percent Hispanic, and that the leadership team was 76 percent male and 68 percent white.
#More Mike Pompeo sayings: As a Kansas congressman, Pompeo said: "Americans had worshiped other Gods and called it multi-culturism." "We'd endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle." He said a "threat to America" was caused by people who deeply believe that Islam is the way. He also said that Muslims "abhor Christians." All Muslims were "potentially complicit" in acts of terror collectively, and he wanted to declare the Muslim Brotherhood to be a "foreign terrorist organization."
#Last month, U.S. District Judge John Bates labeled as "unlawful" Trump's decision to rescind the Obama-era rule protecting young illegal immigrants, and said the government should accept new applicants. Bates stayed the ruling for 90 days to allow the government to provide a better legal argument. He ruled that "DACA's recission was arbitrary and capricious" because the Department filed adequately to explain its conclusion that the program was unlawful.
#Last summer, a federal judge in the District of Columbia ruled that cuts in the DHS budget to the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program were unlawful. The Trump administration had notified 81 organizations that their funding for the sex-education program would end in 2018, not in 2020, as originally planned.
#The Associated Press has identified 30 publicly reported gun-related incidents involving adults at schools since 2014. Incidents included guns going off by mistake, guns being shot by curious students, and guns being left in various locations.
Monday, May 14, 2018
Racial Justice, Patriotic Farmers, Kudlow's Faulty Predictions, and Shift in TPP
Selma as a Gauge of Racial Justice
"Just over a year into Trump's presidency, the fragile state of racial justice in America can only produce a deep sense of despair." [1] According to the Census Bureau's 2016 estimate, the median household income in Selma, Alabama is $23,000; 41 percent of its population lives below the poverty line; and only 17 percent hold bachelor's degrees. As a result, Karlyn Forner's book entitled "Why the Vote Wasn't Enough for Selma" shows that the gains made by the civil-rights movement are almost always outflanked by white supremists. "Tenant farming, like the voting laws, was a form of white power as much as an economic system." "Selma's white-led Economic Opportunity Board distributed $6.5 million in federal funds on the basis of race. Black women were trained in domestic work; black men were trained to load the garbage trucks that white men drove and so on. In so doing, the Board ensured that black people continued to receive much lower wages than poor whites.
Forner's book reminds us that anything less than a total and complete commitment from the federal government to end institutionized racism simply leaves in place and enables new and different forms of dispossession to take root.
Farmers Can Take a Hit
Early in July, President Trump acknowledged that U.S. farmers could take a hit from trade disputes with China. Trump said: "If, during the course of a negotiation they want to hit the farmers because they think that hits me. I wouldn't say that's nice. But I tell you, our farmers are great patriots. These are great patriots. They understand that they're (sic) this for the country. And we'll make it up to them. And in the end, they're going to be much stronger than they are right now."
Trump said that farmers have been "trending downward for an eight-year period" but because of his actions on NAFTA and China, farmers will be better off than they were." Trump told Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to tell farmers will be taken care of. [When Trump refers to "his actions," he is talking about Barack Obama.]
Kudlow Consistently Wrong
Larry Kudlow, formerly of Fox News, was recently appointed to be President Trump's top economic adviser. Jonathan Chait contends that Kudlow has been consistently wrong on the economy. "When President Bill Clinton raised the top income tax rate in 1993, Kudlow predicted it would halt the recovery and depress growth. An unprecedented boom followed. Kudlow prophesied the Bush tax cuts would generate such growth that budget surpluses 'would blossom'; instead, they produced giant deficits. In 2007, he dismissed housing bubble fears as a 'hallucination' created by Bush-hating pessimists. 'There's no recession coming," he warned. After stocks crashed and the Great Recession set in, he warned that President Obama's stimulus program would 'strangle the recovery.' " [2]
Shift in TPP
President Trump ordered National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to look into joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade pact he had pulled the U.S. out of last year while calling it a "disaster." Trump had said that the TPP was backed by "special interests who want to rape our country." Spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said he would join only if the deal was made "substantially better."
Within a day after ordering the two to investigate, Trump removed the order and said he preferred bilateral trade agreements over multi-national ones. He reiterated that stance when he met with President Abe of Japan.
Footnotes
[1] Elias Rodriques, "Still a Long Time Coming," "The Nation." April 16, 2018.
[2] Jonathan Chait, "Consistently wrong on the economy," "The Week," March 30, 2018.
"Just over a year into Trump's presidency, the fragile state of racial justice in America can only produce a deep sense of despair." [1] According to the Census Bureau's 2016 estimate, the median household income in Selma, Alabama is $23,000; 41 percent of its population lives below the poverty line; and only 17 percent hold bachelor's degrees. As a result, Karlyn Forner's book entitled "Why the Vote Wasn't Enough for Selma" shows that the gains made by the civil-rights movement are almost always outflanked by white supremists. "Tenant farming, like the voting laws, was a form of white power as much as an economic system." "Selma's white-led Economic Opportunity Board distributed $6.5 million in federal funds on the basis of race. Black women were trained in domestic work; black men were trained to load the garbage trucks that white men drove and so on. In so doing, the Board ensured that black people continued to receive much lower wages than poor whites.
Forner's book reminds us that anything less than a total and complete commitment from the federal government to end institutionized racism simply leaves in place and enables new and different forms of dispossession to take root.
Farmers Can Take a Hit
Early in July, President Trump acknowledged that U.S. farmers could take a hit from trade disputes with China. Trump said: "If, during the course of a negotiation they want to hit the farmers because they think that hits me. I wouldn't say that's nice. But I tell you, our farmers are great patriots. These are great patriots. They understand that they're (sic) this for the country. And we'll make it up to them. And in the end, they're going to be much stronger than they are right now."
Trump said that farmers have been "trending downward for an eight-year period" but because of his actions on NAFTA and China, farmers will be better off than they were." Trump told Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to tell farmers will be taken care of. [When Trump refers to "his actions," he is talking about Barack Obama.]
Kudlow Consistently Wrong
Larry Kudlow, formerly of Fox News, was recently appointed to be President Trump's top economic adviser. Jonathan Chait contends that Kudlow has been consistently wrong on the economy. "When President Bill Clinton raised the top income tax rate in 1993, Kudlow predicted it would halt the recovery and depress growth. An unprecedented boom followed. Kudlow prophesied the Bush tax cuts would generate such growth that budget surpluses 'would blossom'; instead, they produced giant deficits. In 2007, he dismissed housing bubble fears as a 'hallucination' created by Bush-hating pessimists. 'There's no recession coming," he warned. After stocks crashed and the Great Recession set in, he warned that President Obama's stimulus program would 'strangle the recovery.' " [2]
Shift in TPP
President Trump ordered National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to look into joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade pact he had pulled the U.S. out of last year while calling it a "disaster." Trump had said that the TPP was backed by "special interests who want to rape our country." Spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said he would join only if the deal was made "substantially better."
Within a day after ordering the two to investigate, Trump removed the order and said he preferred bilateral trade agreements over multi-national ones. He reiterated that stance when he met with President Abe of Japan.
Footnotes
[1] Elias Rodriques, "Still a Long Time Coming," "The Nation." April 16, 2018.
[2] Jonathan Chait, "Consistently wrong on the economy," "The Week," March 30, 2018.
Sunday, May 13, 2018
Icing ICE
Icing ICE
A contributor to "The Nation" magazine believes that ICE has become "a genuine threat to democracy, destroying thousands of lives. Moreover, abolishing it would only take us back to 2003, when the agency was first formed." By placing ICE under the purview of DHS, the federal government framed immigration as a national security issue rather than an issue of community development, diversity, or human rights."
The writer of the article "It's Time to Abolish ICE" (April 9, 2018), Sean McElvee, looks back to the last two democratic administrations, those of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, to point out they both were supporters of substantial deportation of immigrants., especially those with criminal records. Rahm Emanuel, the current Mayor of Chicago, recommended to President Clinton -- when he was a senior adviser, that Clinton achieve record deportations of criminal aliens. McElvee notes that even Barack Obama, though he took pains to distinguish between "good" and "bad" immigrants, presided over aggressive deportation tactics in his first term to try to build support for a path to citizenship that never came.
ICE acting director, Thomas Horman, has threatened to jail and prosecute local officials in so-called sanctuary cities that do not fully comply with ICE mandates. The agency has clearly been targeting immigration activists for deportation and has worked to deport individuals for speaking to the media about ICE.
Prior threats to separate parents from their children if there is information about criminal activity have come to fruition, as Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recently announced that parents can be separated from their children at the border if criminal activity has been found to be involved.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a candidate for the U.S. House, has done a study of ICE's detention facilities, in which she found a long and protracted history of sexual assault and uninvestigated deaths. She also spoke of the corrosive impact ICE has had on schools, courts, and communities.
The thrust of the article is that ICE should be abolished and immigration no longer be treated as an issue of national security but rather as an issue described in the first paragraph above.
ADDENDUMS:
*In August 2017, President Trump repealed an Obama-era executive order requiring more stringent building standards for government-funded infrastructure projects, like bridges and levees, in at-risk areas.
*President Trump's infrastructure plan, released in February 2018, does not include the words "climate," "warming," or "disaster."
*The director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced that the agency will no longer use a phrase in its mission statement that describes it as securing "America's promise as a nation of immigrants."
*Stacy Mitchell's prime breakdown of Amazon ["The Empire of Everything," in the March 12, 2018 issue of "The Nation"] described the Jeff Bezos' behemoth as "the giant black hole that it actually is, gobbling up what's left of American free enterprise, extorting and steamrolling the competition and smaller players and establishing a labor paradigm straight out of Dickens.".0
A contributor to "The Nation" magazine believes that ICE has become "a genuine threat to democracy, destroying thousands of lives. Moreover, abolishing it would only take us back to 2003, when the agency was first formed." By placing ICE under the purview of DHS, the federal government framed immigration as a national security issue rather than an issue of community development, diversity, or human rights."
The writer of the article "It's Time to Abolish ICE" (April 9, 2018), Sean McElvee, looks back to the last two democratic administrations, those of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, to point out they both were supporters of substantial deportation of immigrants., especially those with criminal records. Rahm Emanuel, the current Mayor of Chicago, recommended to President Clinton -- when he was a senior adviser, that Clinton achieve record deportations of criminal aliens. McElvee notes that even Barack Obama, though he took pains to distinguish between "good" and "bad" immigrants, presided over aggressive deportation tactics in his first term to try to build support for a path to citizenship that never came.
ICE acting director, Thomas Horman, has threatened to jail and prosecute local officials in so-called sanctuary cities that do not fully comply with ICE mandates. The agency has clearly been targeting immigration activists for deportation and has worked to deport individuals for speaking to the media about ICE.
Prior threats to separate parents from their children if there is information about criminal activity have come to fruition, as Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recently announced that parents can be separated from their children at the border if criminal activity has been found to be involved.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a candidate for the U.S. House, has done a study of ICE's detention facilities, in which she found a long and protracted history of sexual assault and uninvestigated deaths. She also spoke of the corrosive impact ICE has had on schools, courts, and communities.
The thrust of the article is that ICE should be abolished and immigration no longer be treated as an issue of national security but rather as an issue described in the first paragraph above.
ADDENDUMS:
*In August 2017, President Trump repealed an Obama-era executive order requiring more stringent building standards for government-funded infrastructure projects, like bridges and levees, in at-risk areas.
*President Trump's infrastructure plan, released in February 2018, does not include the words "climate," "warming," or "disaster."
*The director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced that the agency will no longer use a phrase in its mission statement that describes it as securing "America's promise as a nation of immigrants."
*Stacy Mitchell's prime breakdown of Amazon ["The Empire of Everything," in the March 12, 2018 issue of "The Nation"] described the Jeff Bezos' behemoth as "the giant black hole that it actually is, gobbling up what's left of American free enterprise, extorting and steamrolling the competition and smaller players and establishing a labor paradigm straight out of Dickens.".0
Thursday, May 10, 2018
Pompeo Is the Wrong Choice
Days before his nomination for Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo said, "there will be no concessions made during ongoing negotiations with North Korea." Refusing to make any concessions in the normal process of negotiations is a sure way to doom the diplomatic process before it begins. Supporting withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal will dramatically undermine efforts to negotiate an agreement with North Korea.
Pompeo advocated for military strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities at the height of delicate (and ultimately successful) nuclear negotiations with Iran, arguing that it would take "under 2,000 sorties to destroy the Iranian nuclear capacity," which he characterized as "not an insurmountable task for the coalition forces." Pompeo also called for congressional action to foment regime change in Iran.
Last July, Pompeo implied that he supports regime change in North Korea, saying that Kim Jong-Un has to be separated from his nuclear weapons and that the people of North Korea "would love to see him go."
Mike Pompeo has a history of Islamophobia. He once said that Muslim leaders across America are "potentially complicit in acts of terrorism that they do not specifically condemn." He supported legislation that would have labeled the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. Presumably in response to reports that the Trump administration was considering making such a designation, CIA analysts released an internal memo in January 2017 warning that labeling the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization "may fuel extremism," and noting that the Muslim Brotherhood has "rejected violence as a matter of official policy and opposed al-Qa'ida and ISIS."
Pompeo has strong connections to some of the most well-known anti-Muslim voices in the country such as Frank Gaffney, who has promulgated conspiracy theories about President Obama being a Muslim, and Brigette Gabriel, who believes that Muslim-Americans should not be allowed to hold public office, and has said that "a practicing Muslim... cannot be a loyal citizen to the United States of America." This record of Islamophobia makes Pompeo ill-suited for the task of working with leaders of Muslim-majority nations around the world, a critical responsibility for the Secretary of State.
While he was director of the CIA, Pompeo said that he couldn't remember if President Trump asked him to speak against the Russian investigation. He couldn't remember the conversation but he would surely remember if Trump had asked him to do something that was improper. Anyway, Pompeo would not reveal what Trump had told him in a private conservation. Pompeo joined several other high officials in the Trump administration who have refused to reveal conversations with Trump, even when Trump has not invoked executive privilege.
Pompeo advocated for military strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities at the height of delicate (and ultimately successful) nuclear negotiations with Iran, arguing that it would take "under 2,000 sorties to destroy the Iranian nuclear capacity," which he characterized as "not an insurmountable task for the coalition forces." Pompeo also called for congressional action to foment regime change in Iran.
Last July, Pompeo implied that he supports regime change in North Korea, saying that Kim Jong-Un has to be separated from his nuclear weapons and that the people of North Korea "would love to see him go."
Mike Pompeo has a history of Islamophobia. He once said that Muslim leaders across America are "potentially complicit in acts of terrorism that they do not specifically condemn." He supported legislation that would have labeled the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. Presumably in response to reports that the Trump administration was considering making such a designation, CIA analysts released an internal memo in January 2017 warning that labeling the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization "may fuel extremism," and noting that the Muslim Brotherhood has "rejected violence as a matter of official policy and opposed al-Qa'ida and ISIS."
Pompeo has strong connections to some of the most well-known anti-Muslim voices in the country such as Frank Gaffney, who has promulgated conspiracy theories about President Obama being a Muslim, and Brigette Gabriel, who believes that Muslim-Americans should not be allowed to hold public office, and has said that "a practicing Muslim... cannot be a loyal citizen to the United States of America." This record of Islamophobia makes Pompeo ill-suited for the task of working with leaders of Muslim-majority nations around the world, a critical responsibility for the Secretary of State.
While he was director of the CIA, Pompeo said that he couldn't remember if President Trump asked him to speak against the Russian investigation. He couldn't remember the conversation but he would surely remember if Trump had asked him to do something that was improper. Anyway, Pompeo would not reveal what Trump had told him in a private conservation. Pompeo joined several other high officials in the Trump administration who have refused to reveal conversations with Trump, even when Trump has not invoked executive privilege.
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Deaths in Gaza Protest Call for Investigation
Peace Action has called for an independent investigation into the deaths in the Gaza protests and asks U.S. politicians to stand up for human rights. A Human Rights Watch statement reported:
"[T]he Israeli government presented no evidence that rock-throwing and other violence of demonstrators seriously threatened Israeli soldiers across the border fence. The high number of deaths and injuries was the foreseeable consequence of granting soldiers leeway to use lethal force outside of life-threatening situations in violation of international norms, coupled with the longstanding culture of impunity within the Israeli army for serious abuses."
"We here in the U.S. have to recognize that this protest was directly related to recent moves by the Trump administration. In fact, these protests, which are planned for six weeks, are designed to culminate around the same time when the U.S. embassy in Israel relocates to Jerusalem in mid-May. The embassy move has angered not only Palestinians, it has generated protests in many Muslim nations. At the march last week that turned violent, protesters carried signs critical of Donald Trump, who has slashed $65 million in aid funding for the Palestinians in addition to deciding to move the embassy. All of that, on top of the desperate humanitarian situation in Gaza, added up to a combustible situation.
The violence in Gaza was not only indiscriminate and disproportionate, it was predictable and avoidable. Senior Israeli officials gave an unlawful green light to use lethal force against the protesters. When the Israeli Defense Forces announced ahead of time that they were deploying 100 sharpshooters along the border, human rights advocates warned about what should have been obvious -- stationing sharpshooters at the site of a political protest and march was a recipe for human rights violations. In fact, a headline Newsweek article said succinctly" 'TRUMP'S JERUSALEM EMBASSY COULD CAUSE A BLOODBATH IN GAZA AS ISRAELI MILITARY DEPLOYS SHARPSHOOTERS.' Tragically, these predictions were right.
Peace Action joins the calls of many, including U.N. General Secretary Antonio Guterres, for an independent and effective investigation into the shootings. Accountability for the decisions that went into this tragedy is critical. We also call for an end to the blockade pf Gaza, which is contributing to one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world right now.
It's critical that members of Congress speak up and stand for human rights. Members of Congress should condemn the use of live fire against protesters, should oppose the U.S. efforts to block an investigation of the protesters' deaths at the U.N., and should call for an end to the tragic blockade of Gaza. The handful of members of Congress who have spoken out against the Israeli military's disproportionate use of force already, including Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Betty McCollum, deserve thanks and they will hopefully be joined by others. People who are concerned abut the violence should call their member of Congress and ask them to speak out against the violations of human rights.
The protests in Gaza are scheduled to continue over the next few weeks so there is a danger of continued violence. In fact, the Israeli response seems calculated to take the wind out of this period of protest. It is critical that U.S. leaders engage to hold the Israeli government for its violations of human rights. These violations are not unique to the Israeli reaction to this particular protest but are part of a long history of the Israeli military using disproportionate violence against the Palestinians.
Beyond holding the Israeli government accountable for disproportionate acts of violence, the U.S. has both the capacity and the responsibility to demand an end to the host of oppressive policies employed by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people, and to facilitate a peace process that upholds the rights to dignity, sovereignty, and security for all people. The Palestinians deserve to be free and to enjoy their own sovereignty, and until then their right of self-expression and protest without violent repression deserves strong support."
"[T]he Israeli government presented no evidence that rock-throwing and other violence of demonstrators seriously threatened Israeli soldiers across the border fence. The high number of deaths and injuries was the foreseeable consequence of granting soldiers leeway to use lethal force outside of life-threatening situations in violation of international norms, coupled with the longstanding culture of impunity within the Israeli army for serious abuses."
"We here in the U.S. have to recognize that this protest was directly related to recent moves by the Trump administration. In fact, these protests, which are planned for six weeks, are designed to culminate around the same time when the U.S. embassy in Israel relocates to Jerusalem in mid-May. The embassy move has angered not only Palestinians, it has generated protests in many Muslim nations. At the march last week that turned violent, protesters carried signs critical of Donald Trump, who has slashed $65 million in aid funding for the Palestinians in addition to deciding to move the embassy. All of that, on top of the desperate humanitarian situation in Gaza, added up to a combustible situation.
The violence in Gaza was not only indiscriminate and disproportionate, it was predictable and avoidable. Senior Israeli officials gave an unlawful green light to use lethal force against the protesters. When the Israeli Defense Forces announced ahead of time that they were deploying 100 sharpshooters along the border, human rights advocates warned about what should have been obvious -- stationing sharpshooters at the site of a political protest and march was a recipe for human rights violations. In fact, a headline Newsweek article said succinctly" 'TRUMP'S JERUSALEM EMBASSY COULD CAUSE A BLOODBATH IN GAZA AS ISRAELI MILITARY DEPLOYS SHARPSHOOTERS.' Tragically, these predictions were right.
Peace Action joins the calls of many, including U.N. General Secretary Antonio Guterres, for an independent and effective investigation into the shootings. Accountability for the decisions that went into this tragedy is critical. We also call for an end to the blockade pf Gaza, which is contributing to one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world right now.
It's critical that members of Congress speak up and stand for human rights. Members of Congress should condemn the use of live fire against protesters, should oppose the U.S. efforts to block an investigation of the protesters' deaths at the U.N., and should call for an end to the tragic blockade of Gaza. The handful of members of Congress who have spoken out against the Israeli military's disproportionate use of force already, including Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Betty McCollum, deserve thanks and they will hopefully be joined by others. People who are concerned abut the violence should call their member of Congress and ask them to speak out against the violations of human rights.
The protests in Gaza are scheduled to continue over the next few weeks so there is a danger of continued violence. In fact, the Israeli response seems calculated to take the wind out of this period of protest. It is critical that U.S. leaders engage to hold the Israeli government for its violations of human rights. These violations are not unique to the Israeli reaction to this particular protest but are part of a long history of the Israeli military using disproportionate violence against the Palestinians.
Beyond holding the Israeli government accountable for disproportionate acts of violence, the U.S. has both the capacity and the responsibility to demand an end to the host of oppressive policies employed by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people, and to facilitate a peace process that upholds the rights to dignity, sovereignty, and security for all people. The Palestinians deserve to be free and to enjoy their own sovereignty, and until then their right of self-expression and protest without violent repression deserves strong support."
Tuesday, May 8, 2018
The Trump Watch on the Environment
President Donald Trump proposes cutting EPA funding by 23 percent and funding for Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay restoration programs by 90 percent. He wants to bankrupt maintenance in national parks by expanding oil and gas drilling on public lands and waters.
Trump imposes 30 percent tariffs on solar panels from Asia.
Trump says he "didn't really care" about opening up Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling until a friend in the oil industry asked him to.
For the third time, Trump waives environmental regulations for construction of his proposed border wall, drawing a lawsuit from the Sierra Club's Environmental Law Program. Judge Gonzalo Curiel, whom Trump once derided for his Mexican heritage, sides with the government.
Ten of 12 members of the National Park System Advisory Board resign.
The Sierra Club and others sue the Department of Energy for ignoring five Obama-era energy efficiency rules for air conditioners and other appliances. A federal court orders the agency to publish the rules.
The Trump administration ignores so many Freedom of Information Act requests from the Sierra Club that Club attorneys file a FOIA request asking for details on FOIA procedures. The administration refuses, and the Environmental Law Program sues it again.
EPA administrator Scott Pruitt deletes from his Twitter feed a picture of himself with the proprietors of a Florida nursery (whom he called "#TrueEnvironmentalists") after it is revealed that they grow medicinal cannabis.
ADDENDUMS:
*Matthew Hoh says that the Veterans Administration has known since 1990 that guilt over killing human beings is the best predictor of suicide. Hoh has struggled with guilt, PTSD, brain injury and substance abuse.
*The U.S. is using more than 5,500 contractors to defeat the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, the Pentagon revealed in the quarterly report issued last month. Most of the contractors are focused on supporting the 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria.
*Trump tweet: "Soooo many Sanctuary areas want OUT of this ridiculous, crime infested & breeding concept."
*Dozens of Wyoming's grizzly bears are on the verge of being baited, hunted, and killed as trophies. Even female bears are being targeted. Estimates are that only 700 remain.
*In 2017 alone, 19 states passed 63 anti-adoption restrictions.
*The Kentucky legislature passed an 11-week abortion ban last month. The ban affects a specific procedure called dilation and evacuation used in about 16 percent of cases. Mississippi now bans all abortions after 15 weeks.
*An Associated Press analysis found that six big Wall Street banks made an additional $3.59 billion so far this year thanks to the new tax law.
*The Congressional Budget Office has projected that the new tax law will increase the deficit by $1.3 trillion from 2018 to 2028, and adding the cost of paying interest on this new government debt created by the tax law, increases the deficit by $1.9 trillion.
*Trump on Stephen Cohen: "From what I see he did absolutely nothing wrong. There were no campaign funds going into this which would have been a problem."
*Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) said: "For the resident to describe a leader who stands incredibly accused of starving his own people, violently executing his political opponents, and murdering members of his own family as very open and very honorable is beyond comprehension."
*A Quinnipiac University survey taken April 20-24, found 55 percent saying Trump has made the world less safe and 37 percent saying the opposite.
*18 U.S.House representatives are mounting a campaign to get the Nobel Peace prize for Trump.
*President Trump has created a White House Faith and Opportunity and Initiatives office but without any details being provided.
Trump imposes 30 percent tariffs on solar panels from Asia.
Trump says he "didn't really care" about opening up Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling until a friend in the oil industry asked him to.
For the third time, Trump waives environmental regulations for construction of his proposed border wall, drawing a lawsuit from the Sierra Club's Environmental Law Program. Judge Gonzalo Curiel, whom Trump once derided for his Mexican heritage, sides with the government.
Ten of 12 members of the National Park System Advisory Board resign.
The Sierra Club and others sue the Department of Energy for ignoring five Obama-era energy efficiency rules for air conditioners and other appliances. A federal court orders the agency to publish the rules.
The Trump administration ignores so many Freedom of Information Act requests from the Sierra Club that Club attorneys file a FOIA request asking for details on FOIA procedures. The administration refuses, and the Environmental Law Program sues it again.
EPA administrator Scott Pruitt deletes from his Twitter feed a picture of himself with the proprietors of a Florida nursery (whom he called "#TrueEnvironmentalists") after it is revealed that they grow medicinal cannabis.
ADDENDUMS:
*Matthew Hoh says that the Veterans Administration has known since 1990 that guilt over killing human beings is the best predictor of suicide. Hoh has struggled with guilt, PTSD, brain injury and substance abuse.
*The U.S. is using more than 5,500 contractors to defeat the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, the Pentagon revealed in the quarterly report issued last month. Most of the contractors are focused on supporting the 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria.
*Trump tweet: "Soooo many Sanctuary areas want OUT of this ridiculous, crime infested & breeding concept."
*Dozens of Wyoming's grizzly bears are on the verge of being baited, hunted, and killed as trophies. Even female bears are being targeted. Estimates are that only 700 remain.
*In 2017 alone, 19 states passed 63 anti-adoption restrictions.
*The Kentucky legislature passed an 11-week abortion ban last month. The ban affects a specific procedure called dilation and evacuation used in about 16 percent of cases. Mississippi now bans all abortions after 15 weeks.
*An Associated Press analysis found that six big Wall Street banks made an additional $3.59 billion so far this year thanks to the new tax law.
*The Congressional Budget Office has projected that the new tax law will increase the deficit by $1.3 trillion from 2018 to 2028, and adding the cost of paying interest on this new government debt created by the tax law, increases the deficit by $1.9 trillion.
*Trump on Stephen Cohen: "From what I see he did absolutely nothing wrong. There were no campaign funds going into this which would have been a problem."
*Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) said: "For the resident to describe a leader who stands incredibly accused of starving his own people, violently executing his political opponents, and murdering members of his own family as very open and very honorable is beyond comprehension."
*A Quinnipiac University survey taken April 20-24, found 55 percent saying Trump has made the world less safe and 37 percent saying the opposite.
*18 U.S.House representatives are mounting a campaign to get the Nobel Peace prize for Trump.
*President Trump has created a White House Faith and Opportunity and Initiatives office but without any details being provided.
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