"Market Facilitation Payments", otherwise known as welfare checks being sent to farmers because of my shitty trade policies. Bet the farmers aren't being asked to take drug tests before they can cash them, or being labeled as leeches on society. Wonder why that is......
What is the point of these copypasta dumps? Do you think the forum would be better if everyone dumped their newsfeed in this thread? If not, why is your feed so amazing everyone needs to see it?
Allegations that Border Patrol agents have beaten children sound important to me. We've had multiple conversations on critical issues raised by @LadyRhian's posts.
That being said, Facebook feeds are not a great source of information--not in the sense that @LadyRhian's links are unreliable, but in the sense that the selection is based on her personal search history, which gives priority to attention-grabbing headlines beyond other factors).
@FinneousPJ: If you feel that certain other issues are more important and are being neglected, feel free to bring them up. @LadyRhian is not stopping you from doing so.
@FinneousPJ You don't have to read my posts if you find them so irritating. I post what the feel is like in my country- topics that are coming up. I have posted stories from both "left-leaning" media (MSNBC) and Right-wing Media (FOX News) If you want me to put them back under spoiler tags, I can do that.
I've started reading the Federalist Papers, which contain the collective thinking of the Founding Fathers that served as the logical grounds for the Constitution, and I'd like to invite that other people join in. You can view the papers here.
It's an extremely important text and held in great reverence, but right now I'm reading the Federalist 3 and John Jay starts the essay with something that sounds completely wrong today.
IT IS not a new observation that the people of any country (if, like the Americans, intelligent and well informed) seldom adopt and steadily persevere for many years in an erroneous opinion respecting their interests.
How many of us can name a terrible idea that Americans have stuck with for many years?
I've started reading the Federalist Papers, which contain the collective thinking of the Founding Fathers that served as the logical grounds for the Constitution, and I'd like to invite that other people join in. You can view the papers here.
It's an extremely important text and held in great reverence, but right now I'm reading the Federalist 3 and John Jay starts the essay with something that sounds completely wrong today.
IT IS not a new observation that the people of any country (if, like the Americans, intelligent and well informed) seldom adopt and steadily persevere for many years in an erroneous opinion respecting their interests.
How many of us can name a terrible idea that Americans have stuck with for many years?
I believe he was talking about slavery there but some other terrible ideas Americans have stuck to for many years:
Death penalty The right to bear arms Anti-Homosexuality The Electoral College Consumerism
Are a couple off the top of my head. The last 4 even recent topics in this thread.
Unpopular opinion: Founding Fathers are overrated, and we need to stop treating them like infallible demi-gods, and also need to quit acting like a document written before the invention of electricity and indoor plumbing speaks in any way to a modern society. This country has been (no pun or offense intended here) a slave to this document and held back by this "that's just the way it's always been" mentality for not decades, but centuries at this point. We still hold elections in the middle of the week on a Tuesday. This was originally the case because farmers had to travel by horse to town. I think we've moved past that, yet we still hold our elections on a day most normal people have to work 8-10 hours. Our gun policy is dictated by an Amendment written when an active militia was actually an important issue. Oh, and a fair number of them OWNED other human beings as property, but we aren't supposed to talk about that. It's an accident of history this country has survived in the prosperous way it has for even this long. We are well on our way to blowing it completely.
As for an idea we have stuck to for too long?? The Senate. I have gone over multiple times before that it was implemented when there were only 13 States with relatively little population disparity. Since then we have added TWO Dakotas that both have a smaller population than most large cities, for reasons beyond all understanding.
Poll: 62 percent say Trump isn't telling the truth in Russia probe
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/poll-62-percent-say-trump-isn-t-telling-truth-russia-n948226?fbclid=IwAR3oodPxliXR4Gw_IFEyDJHp7jY3Ng0dGhReXCyK1qMa8XoCk8_Hjm0ZU88 More Americans want Democrats — not Trump — in charge of setting policy, a new national NBC News/WSJ poll finds. The survey, conducted a month after the results of November’s midterm elections, also finds more Americans want congressional Democrats — rather than Trump or congressional Republicans — to take the lead role in setting policy for the country. And just 10 percent of respondents say that the president has gotten the message for a change in direction from the midterms — when the GOP lost control of the U.S. House of Representatives but kept its majority in the U.S. Senate — and that he’s making the necessary adjustments. “The dam has not burst on Donald Trump,” said Democratic pollster Peter Hart, whose firm conducted this survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff. “But this survey suggests all the structural cracks [that exist] in the dam.” The NBC/WSJ poll — conducted Dec. 9-12 — comes after new developments in the Russia probe and other investigations involving the president, including evidence and allegations that: Trump and his team were offered “synergy” with the Russian government. Trump directed an illegal campaign-finance scheme to make payments covering up two alleged affairs in the last days of the 2016 campaign. Former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort continued to communicate with Trump administration officials well after his indictment. Former Trump lawyer/fixer Michael Cohen was sentenced to prison for three years. In a recent interview with Fox News, Trump denied directing Cohen to make the payments covering up the alleged affairs. "I never directed him to do anything wrong," Trump said. "Whatever he did he did on his own. He's a lawyer. A lawyer who represents a client is supposed to do the right thing that's why you pay them a lot of money." Asked in the poll if Trump has been honest and truthful when it comes to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign and related matters, 62 percent of all adults say they disagree. That includes 94 percent of Democrats, 64 percent of independents and a quarter (24 percent) of Republicans.
I've started reading the Federalist Papers, which contain the collective thinking of the Founding Fathers that served as the logical grounds for the Constitution, and I'd like to invite that other people join in. You can view the papers here.
It's an extremely important text and held in great reverence, but right now I'm reading the Federalist 3 and John Jay starts the essay with something that sounds completely wrong today.
IT IS not a new observation that the people of any country (if, like the Americans, intelligent and well informed) seldom adopt and steadily persevere for many years in an erroneous opinion respecting their interests.
How many of us can name a terrible idea that Americans have stuck with for many years?
I believe he was talking about slavery there but some other terrible ideas Americans have stuck to for many years:
Death penalty The right to bear arms Anti-Homosexuality The Electoral College Consumerism
Are a couple off the top of my head. The last 4 even recent topics in this thread.
I don't think I would characterize any of those as terrible ideas. I may not personally agree with any of them, but different people have different values. I would suggest things like health care and reaction to climate change - where it's clear that current policies are bad in economic terms as well as socio-political ones.
I'm aware that my above statement may seem provocative, but it's not intended to be. If anyone wants to follow up on things, I'm happy to provide fuller explanations of my thinking, along the lines of, e.g. - anti-homosexuality covers a wide range of issues. We've debated before about the rights of wrongs of things like the 'gay wedding cake' and there clearly are people that think that type of discrimination is OK. There's also a reasonable argument to be had about gay marriage - not about the legal protections, but the fact that historically the term marriage has been used to refer to a union between a man and a woman. - there is a huge range of methods used to deliver health care in countries across the world. You don't need to support the sort of 'socialist' system the UK has to see what a terrible model the US model has.
I've started reading the Federalist Papers, which contain the collective thinking of the Founding Fathers that served as the logical grounds for the Constitution, and I'd like to invite that other people join in. You can view the papers here.
It's an extremely important text and held in great reverence, but right now I'm reading the Federalist 3 and John Jay starts the essay with something that sounds completely wrong today.
IT IS not a new observation that the people of any country (if, like the Americans, intelligent and well informed) seldom adopt and steadily persevere for many years in an erroneous opinion respecting their interests.
How many of us can name a terrible idea that Americans have stuck with for many years?
I believe he was talking about slavery there but some other terrible ideas Americans have stuck to for many years:
Death penalty The right to bear arms Anti-Homosexuality The Electoral College Consumerism
Are a couple off the top of my head. The last 4 even recent topics in this thread.
Here's another holding the words of 1700 aristocrats as sacred. Things have changed a bit since 1776.
@FinneousPJ You don't have to read my posts if you find them so irritating. I post what the feel is like in my country- topics that are coming up. I have posted stories from both "left-leaning" media (MSNBC) and Right-wing Media (FOX News) If you want me to put them back under spoiler tags, I can do that.
@LadyRhian Do you think the forum would be better if everyone did what you are doing is the question?
@FinneousPJ why should anyone else post theirs after she's posted hers? it's "amazing" enough so that no one else needs to do it. it helps keep the discussions topical and provides common sources to all the participants, that they can rely on
@deltago: In context, John Jay didn't appear to be talking about slavery. The full quote of that paragraph makes it clear that he's speaking in general terms, using that basic premise to defend the basic concept of democracy.
IT IS not a new observation that the people of any country (if, like the Americans, intelligent and well informed) seldom adopt and steadily persevere for many years in an erroneous opinion respecting their interests. That consideration naturally tends to create great respect for the high opinion which the people of America have so long and uniformly entertained of the importance of their continuing firmly united under one federal government, vested with sufficient powers for all general and national purposes.
In other words, democracy is a good thing because popular opinion is more often right than wrong, assuming people are "intelligent and well informed" like Americans are.
Jay goes on to say that the first priority of the people tends to be security from foreign force and influence.
We should also bear in mind that the Federalist Papers were written to defend the new Constitution, which was intended to create a stronger national government than existed under the Articles of Confederation (note the second half of the last sentence), and needed public support if it was to stand. There were some issues that the existing government couldn't solve due to structural issues.
Essentially, the Constitution was a reform package designed to fix the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, and the Federalist Papers are a series of essays explaining to people why the Constitution was necessary.
Unpopular opinion: Founding Fathers are overrated, and we need to stop treating them like infallible demi-gods, and also need to quit acting like a document written before the invention of electricity and indoor plumbing speaks in any way to a modern society. This country has been (no pun or offense intended here) a slave to this document and held back by this "that's just the way it's always been" mentality for not decades, but centuries at this point. We still hold elections in the middle of the week on a Tuesday. This was originally the case because farmers had to travel by horse to town. I think we've moved past that, yet we still hold our elections on a day most normal people have to work 8-10 hours. Our gun policy is dictated by an Amendment written when an active militia was actually an important issue. Oh, and a fair number of them OWNED other human beings as property, but we aren't supposed to talk about that. It's an accident of history this country has survived in the prosperous way it has for even this long. We are well on our way to blowing it completely.
As for an idea we have stuck to for too long?? The Senate. I have gone over multiple times before that it was implemented when there were only 13 States with relatively little population disparity. Since then we have added TWO Dakotas that both have a smaller population than most large cities, for reasons beyond all understanding.
It's not constitutional that we vote on a Tuesday. That can be changed at a sub-constitutional level. In fact, the Constitution specifically delegates the power to set the "time, manner, and place" of elections.
Or that we could make national election day a national holiday.
What is the point of these copypasta dumps? Do you think the forum would be better if everyone dumped their newsfeed in this thread? If not, why is your feed so amazing everyone needs to see it?
As for an idea we have stuck to for too long?? The Senate.
Would it be better to let a handful of densely-populated cities tell the rest of the country how they are going to live? Mob rule sounds great when you are part of the mob, but if the mob ever turns against you then you might find yourself wishing that things were different.
No one has to *like* the Constitution but they do have to *live* with it because it isn't going to change in any significant way this century, unless some statistically anomalous event occurs.
I think many people's problems with the Constitution is that they think that the States are merely subsections of the Federal Government, and that is *not* how this country was designed. The *States* are the primary source of power, not the Federal Government, whose primary functions are supposed to be limited to post offices, interstate highways, the military, dealing with other national governments, and settling disputes between States. The United States is *not* one country--and it was never supposed to be; rather, it is 50 small countries all trying to live in the same house, which sometimes leads to differences of opinion.
As for an idea we have stuck to for too long?? The Senate.
Would it be better to let a handful of densely-populated cities tell the rest of the country how they are going to live? Mob rule sounds great when you are part of the mob, but if the mob ever turns against you then you might find yourself wishing that things were different.
No one has to *like* the Constitution but they do have to *live* with it because it isn't going to change in any significant way this century, unless some statistically anomalous event occurs.
I think many people's problems with the Constitution is that they think that the States are merely subsections of the Federal Government, and that is *not* how this country was designed. The *States* are the primary source of power, not the Federal Government, whose primary functions are supposed to be limited to post offices, interstate highways, the military, dealing with other national governments, and settling disputes between States. The United States is *not* one country--and it was never supposed to be; rather, it is 50 small countries all trying to live in the same house, which sometimes leads to differences of opinion.
And the counter argument I bring up to this EVERY time this "mob rule" idea is brought up is by asking what is worse?? The idea that the majority of people decide on policy, or the idea that a person who lives in Cheyenne has an over 60x more powerful vote than a resident of Sacremento?? That isn't just prevention of mob rule, it's creating an entire class of super-citizens who based on basic math, enjoy MORE voting rights than others. Even in the supposedly representational House this is still the case, because the lowest population State is not used as a baseline, but instead there is some sort of hard cap.
Regardless, I was asked to provide an example of what I believe is an antiquated system from hundreds of years ago when society and the geography and population of the country bears almost ZERO resemblance to our current situation.
The State of New York has been pursuing the Trump Foundation for a couple of years and has announced a deal to shut it down. Trump said back in June that he had done nothing wrong and wouldn't settle the case, so he was clearly hoping for a settlement even then. However, I don't think the agreed position will please him as the prosecution of Trump and his 3 eldest children will continue.
@FinneousPJ You don't have to read my posts if you find them so irritating. I post what the feel is like in my country- topics that are coming up. I have posted stories from both "left-leaning" media (MSNBC) and Right-wing Media (FOX News) If you want me to put them back under spoiler tags, I can do that.
@LadyRhian Do you think the forum would be better if everyone did what you are doing is the question?
Trump is being forced to shut down his foundation, and seems to be admitting in agreeing to do so it was nothing but a slush-fund for the Trump Crime Family:
They aren't just corrupt, they are habitual white-collar criminals. Note the phrase "shocking pattern of illegality" AND (of course) coordination with the Trump campaign, which at this point can't be viewed as anything but a criminal enterprise in and of itself.
Meanwhile, the judge at the Flynn sentencing is absolutely tearing into the former General, wondering why he wasn't charged with treason. Whatever he provided Mueller must be earth-shattering to have them offer a recommendation of no jail time.
There has never been anything approaching this level of corruption and illegality in modern politcal history. It's a goddamn tsunami day after day.
If the job description of a cop doesn't include trying to save children in an active shooting situation, then what exactly is their function, and what are we paying them for?? To set up speed traps and DUI checkpoints??
The fact is, this is just jumping on a Supreme Court ruling that cops don't actually have a legal obligation to protect ANYONE, which, again, begs the question, what is their purpose beyond retroactively reacting to crimes that have already been committed and raising money for the municipality with draconian fines??
You got that right! Also in today's news: (Spoilered) Warning- Long!
Embattled Trump Foundation agrees to dissolve itself in agreement with New York AG
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/embattled-trump-foundation-agrees-dissolve-agreement-york-ag/story?id=59884847 President Trump’s embattled charitable foundation has agreed to dissolve itself under judicial supervision as part of a lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood. The Trump Foundation had previously sought to dissolve on its own terms but has now signed a stipulation that requires it to do so with monitoring by the court and oversight by the attorney general’s office, which must review and approve disbursements of remaining funds to make sure the recipients are legitimate. “Today’s stipulation accomplishes a key piece of the relief sought in our lawsuit earlier this year,” said New York Attorney General (NYAG) Barbara Underwood in a statement. “Under the terms, the Trump Foundation can only dissolve under judicial supervision – and it can only distribute its remaining charitable assets to reputable organizations approved by my office.”
Italics mine. Wow. they can't even do it themselves! I'm guessing there was a fear that they would just pump the remaining funds into more Trump entities.
Roger Stone admits to spreading lies on InfoWars, agrees to apologize publicly
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/roger-stone-admits-to-spreading-lies-on-infowars-agrees-to-apologize-publicly-2018-12-17?fbclid=IwAR1h9mzYy84NAdh8rRfOgetzl-acnkvQd23GGyzBexvMVncX88NZEqBbEYM As questions swirl about his credibility, former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone settled a defamation suit seeking $100 million in damages on Monday for publishing false and misleading statements on InfoWars.com, a far-right website known for promoting conspiracy theories. The agreement requires Stone to run ads in national newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, apologizing for making defamatory statements about a Chinese businessman who is a vocal critic of Beijing. It also requires Stone to publish a retraction of the false statements on social media. Doing so exempts him from paying any of the damages. In a text message, Stone described his conduct as “irresponsible” and added that “I am solely responsible for fulfilling the terms of the settlement.” Unrelated to the Russia probe, the settlement is the latest indication that Stone’s use of various media platforms to spread unfounded claims isn’t without consequences. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s office is investigating Stone’s role in orchestrating stories about key events being examined in the Russia probe, the Journal has reported.
Another Trump associate goes down with a thump!
The stock market is on pace for its worst December since the Great Depression
I guess Trump won't be taking the credit for this one...
Jared Kushner firm asks judge to return tenant lawsuit to Baltimore court, keeping investors' identities secret
https://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-md-jared-kushner-lawsuit-20180209-story.html?fbclid=IwAR2c7GWPRR6YAPAY9fjfFu-6BB0U8tiG8U3CN7zLyZxiJcgzjz_XGsoZXQ8 ather than reveal its investor’s identities as ordered by a federal judge, the apartment company owned by Jared Kushner has asked the judge to transfer a tenants’ lawsuit against it back to the Baltimore court where it was first filed. Westminster Management “respectfully requests that this Court remand this matter to the Circuit Court for Baltimore City,” the company says in a filing submitted Friday by Baltimore attorney Michael E. Blumenfeld. The company owned by Kushner, son-in-law and senior adviser to President Donald Trump, had moved the case from Baltimore Circuit Court to U.S. District Court in November by asserting in federal filings that all of the firm’s investors, including Kushner and his parents, reside outside of the state. Federal rules require parties to file proof of such out-of-state residency before the case proceeds. The company, Westminster Management, asked the federal judge to shield most of those disclosures from public view because it claimed the case had generated unfair media coverage.
Could it be... Saudia Arabia and Mohammed Bin Salman?
Fox News’ Judge Napolitano: Robert Mueller Might Indict Trump
https://hillreporter.com/fox-news-judge-napolitano-robert-mueller-might-indict-trump-18351?fbclid=IwAR0S_whyCBU-TBzIfNLrclGZs4py_w2cJ-a8ckxVkASJBsu9SxFula0rGE8 Andrew Napolitano, a senior judicial analyst for Fox News, said during a televised conversation with Fox News anchor Shepherd “Shep” Smith that Special Counsel Robert Mueller might indict President Donald Trump on charges related to Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Napolitano says it’s likely a grand jury subpoena is in the embattled president’s future. “I think that Bob Mueller knows that he needs to lock the president into a version of events before he takes the next step, whatever the next step is, whether it’s an indictment or a referral,” he told Smith. “You really think Mueller will indict the president,” Smith said, more of a statement than a question. “Well, last week in Federal District Court in New York City, a federal judge at the end of [former Trump attorney] Michael Cohen’s sentencing said, ‘The president orchestrated and paid for this crime,’ the crime to which—he was referring to one of the nine—to which Michael Cohen had pleaded guilty.” “So you’re saying the president’s an unindicted co-conspirator?” Smith asked. “Yes,” Napolitano replied. “I’m also saying there’s ample evidence—this doesn’t require too much analysis—to indict the president. The question is: Do they want to do it? The DOJ has three opinions on this. Two say you can’t indict a sitting president, one says you can, but all three address the problem of ‘What do you do when the statute of limitations is about to expire?’ All three agree in that circumstance, you indict in secret, keep the indictment sealed, and release it the day he gets out of office.”“You can’t let a person go scot free just because they happen to be in the White House,” he concludes.
When even your cheerleaders at FOX news are against you, you know it's bad.
Trump's DOJ - It's Not an Emolument Because We Say It's Not An Emolument.
Russians attacked Mueller for investigating Trump's collusion and conspiracy
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/17/1819797/-Russians-attacked-Mueller-for-investigating-Trump-s-collusion-and-conspiracy?detail=emaildkre As if their traitorous allies from Fox News and the NRA weren’t enough, we now know the Russian Federation directly targeted the Special Counsel’s investigation into their puppet Donald Trump’s criminality and theft of the 2016 American election. From the Washington Post: Months after President Trump took office, Russia’s disinformation teams trained their sites on a new target: special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Having worked to help get Trump into the White House, they now worked to neutralize the biggest threat to his staying there. Much ink has been spilled raising the basic question: what would the Republicans have done if the election of Barack Obama had been tainted to this degree by Russian interference? Does anyone seriously think he would have been permitted to remain in office? The answer to that is a big FAT NO.
James Comey just looked into the camera and told GOP to 'stand up and speak the truth'
Inauguration planner expressed concern about inflated Trump hotel charges 'when this is audited'
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/14/1819213/-Inauguration-planner-expressed-concern-about-inflated-Trump-hotel-charges-when-this-is-audited?detail=emaildkre During the planning, Ivanka Trump, the president-elect’s eldest daughter and a senior executive with the Trump Organization, was involved in negotiating the price the hotel charged the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee for venue rentals. A top inaugural planner emailed Ivanka and others at the company to “express my concern” that the hotel was overcharging for its event spaces, worrying of what would happen “when this is audited.” The reason this is so believable is because it’s Trump. Of course he used donations solicited for his inauguration to enrich himself. And of course he overcharged the inaugural committee. And of course his daughter was complicit in this scheme. It’s what Trumps do. Turns out Ivanka is just a slightly more polished turd than the rest of them. If the Trump hotel charged more than the going rate for the venues, it could violate tax law. The inaugural committee’s payments to the Trump Organization and Ivanka Trump’s role have not been previously reported or disclosed in public filings. “The fact that the inaugural committee did business with the Trump Organization raises huge ethical questions about the potential for undue enrichment,” said Marcus Owens, the former head of the division of the Internal Revenue Service that oversees nonprofits.
So he's been grifting since even before Day 1.
Even more legal troubles for Trump family as prosecutors launch two NEW corruption investigations
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/14/1819114/-Even-more-legal-troubles-for-Trump-family-as-prosecutors-launch-two-NEW-corruption-investigations?detail=emaildkre In April raids of Mr. Cohen’s home, office and hotel room, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents obtained a recorded conversation between Mr. Cohen and Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former adviser to Melania Trump, who worked on the inaugural events. In the recording, Ms. Wolkoff expressed concern about how the inaugural committee was spending money, according to a person familiar with the Cohen investigation. The Wall Street Journal couldn’t determine when the conversation between Mr. Cohen and Ms. Wolkoff took place, or why it was recorded. The recording is now in the hands of federal prosecutors in Manhattan, a person familiar with the matter said. Why should the Trump world be so worried about a recording between Stephanie Winston Wolkoff and Michael Cohen? Because every single thing about her role in the inauguration is a giant red flag. Wolkoff, who was an unpaid advisor to Melania Trump, created an event company in December 2016. A mere six weeks later, the Trump Inauguration committee paid that company $26 million, the largest payment to any vendor involved in the inauguration. Wolkoff enjoyed special access to the White House until the news broke about the huge amount paid to her start-up company. Melania Trump was quick to publicly distance herself from any of the work her advisor had done around the inauguration. Two people with direct knowledge of Ms. Winston Wolkoff’s role, who asked to remain anonymous, said she often invoked Mrs. Trump’s name with transition officials as she delivered instructions for the inauguration. But Stephanie Grisham, a spokeswoman for Mrs. Trump, said the first lady “had no involvement” with the inaugural committee “and had no knowledge of how funds were spent.” The Wall Street Journal reports investigators are looking into three areas of the inauguration committee’s use of funds and fundraising: If donations were solicited with the promise of political favors—a violation of federal corruption laws If funds were diverted from the inauguration for other purposes—a violation of federal law If the Trump inauguration committee accepted foreign money in exchange for access and influence—a violation of federal law Investigators have already questioned at least one Trump inaugural donor who hired Michael Cohen for “consulting.”
Trump throws a fit after being pwnd by Dems as more #TrumpRussia news emerges.
I’m still marveling at the raw, unadulterated dumb. Someone please break into my home with a SWAT battering ram and crowbar my jaw off the floor, because I’m going to be stuck here for a while. Steve Milloy ✔ @JunkScience DeFazio on climate: "This is the existential threat to the future of the planet."
Insanity.
For comparison, the atmosphere Venus is 96.5% CO2 -- and the planet is still there.
In contrast, Earth's atmosphere is only ~0.04% CO2. https://politi.co/2rC6QA3 via @politico Can we send this guy to Venus... without a spacesuit?
Republicans freak out over Obamacare decision, with Pelosi and Schumer promising to bring the pain
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/17/1819705/-Republicans-freak-out-over-Obamacare-decision-with-Pelosi-and-Schumer-promising-to-bring-the-pain?detail=emaildkre The only Republican applauding the appalling and ridiculous decision by an extremist federal judge in Texas declaring the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional is Individual 1. The rest of them understand how much this screws them politically. They're well aware that they lost the 2018 election largely on the issue of health care, and now the ones still in office know they're on the hook for the promise they made to people that they would preserve all the protections in the ACA, particularly those for people with pre-existing conditions. That's perhaps the most immediate and most frightening aspect of the ruling for the majority of Americans, 130 million of whom have pre-existing conditions, but if the law were really to disappear, that's just a part of what would be lost. As many as 17 million people could lose their coverage in a single year. The 15 million people covered under Medicaid expansion could lose their coverage. The improvements to Medicare that have saved the program billions of dollars—and reduced prescription drug costs for seniors—would be erased. Young people wouldn't be able to stay on their parents' insurance until they're 26. The ban on annual and lifetime caps would be gone, and medical bankruptcies would escalate. Having lady parts would again cost women more than men, and being over age 50 would cost everyone more again. Limits on out-of-pocket costs would be gone. The tax credits that 9 million people are receiving to help them pay premiums would be gone. So it's absolutely no wonder Republicans are freaking out. There are still the rabid Trumpists who will applaud letting it all burn down, and then the rest who recognize how bad this is for them, which will only end up in more GOP civil war. "It's all the downsides," a House Republican aide told Politico. "Politically, I don't think that it helps us at all." It really won't help them when Democrats start fighting back on the floor.
Sears execs to split $25 mil in bonuses after telling workers no severance because of bankruptcy
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/17/1819764/-NC-09-Repubs-reverse-themselves-demand-Harris-be-certified-and-election-fraud-be-hanged?detail=emaildkre For awhile last week, it looked like at least one state Republican Party cared about election integrity after all. Even in the face of virtually uncontestable evidence that Republican Mark Harris’ 905-vote lead over Democrat Dan McCready in NC-09 was tainted by some of the most egregious absentee ballot fraud ever uncovered, North Carolina Repubs were adamant that Harris be certified as the winner unless there was evidence the fraud could have changed the outcome. That appeared to change on Tuesday with news that early voting totals in Bladen County, the epicenter of the massive absentee ballot fraud, were tallied too soon. While early voting details by voter registration are public record, we’re not supposed to know who voted for whom until the polls close on Election Day. Even worse, it looks like the early voting totals were leaked to Republican operatives. As if they had a choice, the state GOP called for a new election if this is proven to be true. That moment of integrity lasted six days. On Monday morning, the state GOP and Republican officials in NC-09 irately demanded that Harris be certified as the winner. North Carolina Republicans rallied behind 9th District congressional candidate Mark Harris on Monday ahead of a trial-like hearing on allegations of voter fraud that could nullify his victory. Republicans asked state elections officials to certify Harris’s disputed election to Congress unless it finds that alleged irregularities would have changed the outcome. The Republicans in this seven-county Charlotte-to-Fayetteville district drafted a resolution demanding Harris be certified as the district’s congressman-elect, which was endorsed by state party chairman Robin Hayes. Read it here. It claims that absent “clear and convincing evidence” that the fraud either changed the outcome of the race or could have changed the outcome, state law demands that Harris be certified as the winner. One problem—that’s not what state election law says. The state board of elections is allowed to order a new election if it finds evidence of irregularities that “taint the results of the entire election and cast doubt upon its fairness”—even if the fraud didn’t exceed the margin of victory. But even without that to consider, there is plenty of evidence that this fraud could have changed the outcome. We know that an absentee ballot operation overseen by McCrae Dowless, an independent contractor for Harris’ main campaign consultant, sent out people to collect ballots before they were signed and sealed and even filled in incomplete ballots. We also know that at least 1,000 absentee ballots never made it to Raleigh. How clearer and more convincing can you get? In a staggering display of logical opera buffa, the resolution calls for a new election if it is indeed true that early voting totals were leaked in Bladen County. But it then irately resolves that “Dr. Mark Harris is Congressman-Elect for the 9th Congressional District.” Well, they surely got whiplash by how fast they spun around on that issue!
To be fair(?) to the criminal charity used as a slush fund by the President he's wanted to close down the charity for months (presumably to hide incriminating evidence) but was prevented by the court from doing so due to the lawsuits against it.
‘You Freak Me Out’: West Virginia Trans Student Says School Official Bullied Him In Bathroom
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/west-virginia-trans-student-bullied_us_5c17d307e4b0856e3a158a86?fbclid=IwAR0VMp3ORlyzZLInzpI3Qdk8ACgyugyfv4H92ylUB7Fn9Say-uFE7MjMHqc What should have been a simple trip to the bathroom for Michael Critchfield, a 15-year-old transgender boy in West Virginia, turned into a humiliating ordeal last month when his high school’s assistant principal allegedly berated and bullied him over his gender identity. It was Friday, Nov. 27, and Michael, a sophomore at Liberty High School in Clarksburg, West Virginia, was preparing to depart for an after-school marching band trip. Their destination was 45 minutes away, so Michael decided to use the restroom one last time before boarding the bus. Michael had gotten into the habit at school of checking to make sure no one was in the boys bathroom before using it. He’s not legally required to do so ― but he said he had wanted to avoid the potential for any confrontation. Once he determined the boys room was empty that day, Michael went into a stall. Moments later, Lee Livengood, one of two assistant principals at the school, allegedly entered the bathroom and began questioning why Michael was using it. “I saw he was blocking the entrance to the bathroom,” Michael told HuffPost in an interview on Monday. “He kept raising his voice and saying, ‘Why are you in this bathroom? You shouldn’t be here.’” Livengood then allegedly challenged Michael to “come out here and use the urinal” if he’s really a boy. Michael explained he was assigned female at birth but identified as a male. “If you can’t use this urinal, then you shouldn’t be in here,” Livengood shouted, according to Michael. “What if a student said you were checking them out in here?” Some of Michael’s classmates could hear Livengood’s tirade down the hall. Feeling something was wrong, they alerted a parent who was chaperoning the band trip that day. Livengood allegedly bullied Michael in the bathroom for three to four minutes before letting him leave. The chaperone was waiting outside the restroom as the teen drummer emerged, crying uncontrollably. Now, the same official watches him at lunch, which I find unbelievably creepy, and he hasn't apologized. (he never watched Michael before this incident). Yeah, intimidating kids? Shouldn't be allowed. This guy needs to be fired, and soon.
Dylann Roof supporter arrested for stockpiling weapons and threatening domestic terrorism
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/17/1819702/-Dylann-Roof-supporter-arrested-for-stockpiling-weapons-and-threatening-domestic-terrorism?detail=emaildkre A new white supremacist bigot has been arrested and is being held in a Washington state jail under the state’s hate crime law. According to the Everett, Washington, Daily Herald, 20-year-old Dakota Reed was arrested on Friday and held through the weekend. According to the report, sheriff’s detectives and the FBI “seized 12 firearms, ammo, gun magazines,” as well as some white supremacist notes. Reed was being tracked by authorities after posting numerous anti-Semitic diatribes from a handful of pseudonym-handled accounts. He also seems to have been amassing a particularly large arsenal of weapons, all while threatening to shoot up schools or synagogues. He wrote in early December about his parents asking why he owned military-style guns. “To kill people,” he answered, according to his post. “Why else would I own them?” In one post, Reed apparently uses the phrase “pulling a Dylan[n] Roof.” This comes only a week or so after an Ohio woman and her boyfriend were arrested and accused of plotting a mass murder hate crime. The woman, Elizabeth Lecron, was one of only four known winners to correspond with Dylann Roof while he sits on death row for murdering nine churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, in June 2015. Reed for his part seems to have been pretty scary. After holding him through the weekend, the Snohomish County sheriff’s office filed paperwork Monday morning asking for an extreme-risk protection order against Reed. The order would prohibit Reed from having access to firearms. According to the Herald, Reed remains in jail pending a bail hearing. Remember how the incoming Republican administration wanted everyone to believe that the Black Lives Matter movement was the burgeoning domestic terrorist scene to watch out for? Remember how anyone with even the smallest capacity for logic wondered how that worked, considering that virtually any and every mass shooting or bombing conceived and carried out on American soil was done by a white guy? So here’s another white guy planning on killing people for not being his perverted version of what he considers “white.”
@FinneousPJ You don't have to read my posts if you find them so irritating. I post what the feel is like in my country- topics that are coming up. I have posted stories from both "left-leaning" media (MSNBC) and Right-wing Media (FOX News) If you want me to put them back under spoiler tags, I can do that.
@LadyRhian Do you think the forum would be better if everyone did what you are doing is the question?
Comments
"Market Facilitation Payments", otherwise known as welfare checks being sent to farmers because of my shitty trade policies. Bet the farmers aren't being asked to take drug tests before they can cash them, or being labeled as leeches on society. Wonder why that is......
That being said, Facebook feeds are not a great source of information--not in the sense that @LadyRhian's links are unreliable, but in the sense that the selection is based on her personal search history, which gives priority to attention-grabbing headlines beyond other factors).
@FinneousPJ: If you feel that certain other issues are more important and are being neglected, feel free to bring them up. @LadyRhian is not stopping you from doing so.
It's an extremely important text and held in great reverence, but right now I'm reading the Federalist 3 and John Jay starts the essay with something that sounds completely wrong today. How many of us can name a terrible idea that Americans have stuck with for many years?
Death penalty
The right to bear arms
Anti-Homosexuality
The Electoral College
Consumerism
Are a couple off the top of my head. The last 4 even recent topics in this thread.
As for an idea we have stuck to for too long?? The Senate. I have gone over multiple times before that it was implemented when there were only 13 States with relatively little population disparity. Since then we have added TWO Dakotas that both have a smaller population than most large cities, for reasons beyond all understanding.
After Enabling Trump's Anti-Immigration Policies, Paul Ryan Makes Exception for Immigrants From His Own Homeland
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/12/16/after-enabling-trumps-anti-immigration-policies-paul-ryan-makes-exception-immigrants?fbclid=IwAR1MfkyCQTEUsBwhdd318U7yCrJ9Mp8mYAhKmAtX6iDVQZPyZ4df6-ac3IQ#Because Ireland isn't one of Trump's supposed "S---hole countries"?
The House Speaker, who has said he hopes to become a U.S. ambassador to Ireland one day, pushed through a bill to give work visas to Irish nationals
Poll: 62 percent say Trump isn't telling the truth in Russia probe
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/poll-62-percent-say-trump-isn-t-telling-truth-russia-n948226?fbclid=IwAR3oodPxliXR4Gw_IFEyDJHp7jY3Ng0dGhReXCyK1qMa8XoCk8_Hjm0ZU88More Americans want Democrats — not Trump — in charge of setting policy, a new national NBC News/WSJ poll finds.
The survey, conducted a month after the results of November’s midterm elections, also finds more Americans want congressional Democrats — rather than Trump or congressional Republicans — to take the lead role in setting policy for the country.
And just 10 percent of respondents say that the president has gotten the message for a change in direction from the midterms — when the GOP lost control of the U.S. House of Representatives but kept its majority in the U.S. Senate — and that he’s making the necessary adjustments.
“The dam has not burst on Donald Trump,” said Democratic pollster Peter Hart, whose firm conducted this survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff. “But this survey suggests all the structural cracks [that exist] in the dam.”
The NBC/WSJ poll — conducted Dec. 9-12 — comes after new developments in the Russia probe and other investigations involving the president, including evidence and allegations that:
Trump and his team were offered “synergy” with the Russian government.
Trump directed an illegal campaign-finance scheme to make payments covering up two alleged affairs in the last days of the 2016 campaign.
Former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort continued to communicate with Trump administration officials well after his indictment.
Former Trump lawyer/fixer Michael Cohen was sentenced to prison for three years.
In a recent interview with Fox News, Trump denied directing Cohen to make the payments covering up the alleged affairs.
"I never directed him to do anything wrong," Trump said. "Whatever he did he did on his own. He's a lawyer. A lawyer who represents a client is supposed to do the right thing that's why you pay them a lot of money."
Asked in the poll if Trump has been honest and truthful when it comes to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign and related matters, 62 percent of all adults say they disagree. That includes 94 percent of Democrats, 64 percent of independents and a quarter (24 percent) of Republicans.
Senate Report: Russia Used Social Media To Help President Trump Campaign | Velshi & Ruhle | MSNBC
I'm aware that my above statement may seem provocative, but it's not intended to be. If anyone wants to follow up on things, I'm happy to provide fuller explanations of my thinking, along the lines of, e.g.
- anti-homosexuality covers a wide range of issues. We've debated before about the rights of wrongs of things like the 'gay wedding cake' and there clearly are people that think that type of discrimination is OK. There's also a reasonable argument to be had about gay marriage - not about the legal protections, but the fact that historically the term marriage has been used to refer to a union between a man and a woman.
- there is a huge range of methods used to deliver health care in countries across the world. You don't need to support the sort of 'socialist' system the UK has to see what a terrible model the US model has.
why should anyone else post theirs after she's posted hers? it's "amazing" enough so that no one else needs to do it. it helps keep the discussions topical and provides common sources to all the participants, that they can rely on
In other words, democracy is a good thing because popular opinion is more often right than wrong, assuming people are "intelligent and well informed" like Americans are.
Jay goes on to say that the first priority of the people tends to be security from foreign force and influence.
We should also bear in mind that the Federalist Papers were written to defend the new Constitution, which was intended to create a stronger national government than existed under the Articles of Confederation (note the second half of the last sentence), and needed public support if it was to stand. There were some issues that the existing government couldn't solve due to structural issues.
Essentially, the Constitution was a reform package designed to fix the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, and the Federalist Papers are a series of essays explaining to people why the Constitution was necessary.
Or that we could make national election day a national holiday.
I do agree with the rest of your post, however.
No one has to *like* the Constitution but they do have to *live* with it because it isn't going to change in any significant way this century, unless some statistically anomalous event occurs.
I think many people's problems with the Constitution is that they think that the States are merely subsections of the Federal Government, and that is *not* how this country was designed. The *States* are the primary source of power, not the Federal Government, whose primary functions are supposed to be limited to post offices, interstate highways, the military, dealing with other national governments, and settling disputes between States. The United States is *not* one country--and it was never supposed to be; rather, it is 50 small countries all trying to live in the same house, which sometimes leads to differences of opinion.
Regardless, I was asked to provide an example of what I believe is an antiquated system from hundreds of years ago when society and the geography and population of the country bears almost ZERO resemblance to our current situation.
They aren't just corrupt, they are habitual white-collar criminals. Note the phrase "shocking pattern of illegality" AND (of course) coordination with the Trump campaign, which at this point can't be viewed as anything but a criminal enterprise in and of itself.
Meanwhile, the judge at the Flynn sentencing is absolutely tearing into the former General, wondering why he wasn't charged with treason. Whatever he provided Mueller must be earth-shattering to have them offer a recommendation of no jail time.
There has never been anything approaching this level of corruption and illegality in modern politcal history. It's a goddamn tsunami day after day.
If the job description of a cop doesn't include trying to save children in an active shooting situation, then what exactly is their function, and what are we paying them for?? To set up speed traps and DUI checkpoints??
The fact is, this is just jumping on a Supreme Court ruling that cops don't actually have a legal obligation to protect ANYONE, which, again, begs the question, what is their purpose beyond retroactively reacting to crimes that have already been committed and raising money for the municipality with draconian fines??
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/justices-rule-police-do-not-have-a-constitutional-duty-to-protect.html
Take a guess as to what party lines this 5-4 decision split on. Naw, you already know.
Embattled Trump Foundation agrees to dissolve itself in agreement with New York AG
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/embattled-trump-foundation-agrees-dissolve-agreement-york-ag/story?id=59884847President Trump’s embattled charitable foundation has agreed to dissolve itself under judicial supervision as part of a lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood.
The Trump Foundation had previously sought to dissolve on its own terms but has now signed a stipulation that requires it to do so with monitoring by the court and oversight by the attorney general’s office, which must review and approve disbursements of remaining funds to make sure the recipients are legitimate.
“Today’s stipulation accomplishes a key piece of the relief sought in our lawsuit earlier this year,” said New York Attorney General (NYAG) Barbara Underwood in a statement. “Under the terms, the Trump Foundation can only dissolve under judicial supervision – and it can only distribute its remaining charitable assets to reputable organizations approved by my office.”
Italics mine. Wow. they can't even do it themselves! I'm guessing there was a fear that they would just pump the remaining funds into more Trump entities.
Roger Stone admits to spreading lies on InfoWars, agrees to apologize publicly
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/roger-stone-admits-to-spreading-lies-on-infowars-agrees-to-apologize-publicly-2018-12-17?fbclid=IwAR1h9mzYy84NAdh8rRfOgetzl-acnkvQd23GGyzBexvMVncX88NZEqBbEYMAs questions swirl about his credibility, former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone settled a defamation suit seeking $100 million in damages on Monday for publishing false and misleading statements on InfoWars.com, a far-right website known for promoting conspiracy theories.
The agreement requires Stone to run ads in national newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, apologizing for making defamatory statements about a Chinese businessman who is a vocal critic of Beijing. It also requires Stone to publish a retraction of the false statements on social media. Doing so exempts him from paying any of the damages.
In a text message, Stone described his conduct as “irresponsible” and added that “I am solely responsible for fulfilling the terms of the settlement.”
Unrelated to the Russia probe, the settlement is the latest indication that Stone’s use of various media platforms to spread unfounded claims isn’t without consequences. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s office is investigating Stone’s role in orchestrating stories about key events being examined in the Russia probe, the Journal has reported.
Another Trump associate goes down with a thump!
The stock market is on pace for its worst December since the Great Depression
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2018/12/17/worst-start-to-december-for-the-stock-market-since-great-depression.html?fbclid=IwAR0HrD9nS9KCDtEUeUTKw3yKn6zB2YoP9064yUMAHuuBgz0hCgr1hds76O4Two benchmark U.S. stock indexes are careening toward a historically bad December.
Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 are on pace for their worst December performance since 1931, when stocks were battered during the Great Depression. The Dow and S&P 500 closed Monday down 7.6 percent and 7.8 percent this month, respectively.
I guess Trump won't be taking the credit for this one...
Jared Kushner firm asks judge to return tenant lawsuit to Baltimore court, keeping investors' identities secret
https://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-md-jared-kushner-lawsuit-20180209-story.html?fbclid=IwAR2c7GWPRR6YAPAY9fjfFu-6BB0U8tiG8U3CN7zLyZxiJcgzjz_XGsoZXQ8ather than reveal its investor’s identities as ordered by a federal judge, the apartment company owned by Jared Kushner has asked the judge to transfer a tenants’ lawsuit against it back to the Baltimore court where it was first filed.
Westminster Management “respectfully requests that this Court remand this matter to the Circuit Court for Baltimore City,” the company says in a filing submitted Friday by Baltimore attorney Michael E. Blumenfeld.
The company owned by Kushner, son-in-law and senior adviser to President Donald Trump, had moved the case from Baltimore Circuit Court to U.S. District Court in November by asserting in federal filings that all of the firm’s investors, including Kushner and his parents, reside outside of the state.
Federal rules require parties to file proof of such out-of-state residency before the case proceeds. The company, Westminster Management, asked the federal judge to shield most of those disclosures from public view because it claimed the case had generated unfair media coverage.
Could it be... Saudia Arabia and Mohammed Bin Salman?
Fox News’ Judge Napolitano: Robert Mueller Might Indict Trump
https://hillreporter.com/fox-news-judge-napolitano-robert-mueller-might-indict-trump-18351?fbclid=IwAR0S_whyCBU-TBzIfNLrclGZs4py_w2cJ-a8ckxVkASJBsu9SxFula0rGE8Andrew Napolitano, a senior judicial analyst for Fox News, said during a televised conversation with Fox News anchor Shepherd “Shep” Smith that Special Counsel Robert Mueller might indict President Donald Trump on charges related to Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Napolitano says it’s likely a grand jury subpoena is in the embattled president’s future.
“I think that Bob Mueller knows that he needs to lock the president into a version of events before he takes the next step, whatever the next step is, whether it’s an indictment or a referral,” he told Smith.
“You really think Mueller will indict the president,” Smith said, more of a statement than a question.
“Well, last week in Federal District Court in New York City, a federal judge at the end of [former Trump attorney] Michael Cohen’s sentencing said, ‘The president orchestrated and paid for this crime,’ the crime to which—he was referring to one of the nine—to which Michael Cohen had pleaded guilty.”
“So you’re saying the president’s an unindicted co-conspirator?” Smith asked.
“Yes,” Napolitano replied. “I’m also saying there’s ample evidence—this doesn’t require too much analysis—to indict the president. The question is: Do they want to do it? The DOJ has three opinions on this. Two say you can’t indict a sitting president, one says you can, but all three address the problem of ‘What do you do when the statute of limitations is about to expire?’ All three agree in that circumstance, you indict in secret, keep the indictment sealed, and release it the day he gets out of office.”“You can’t let a person go scot free just because they happen to be in the White House,” he concludes.
When even your cheerleaders at FOX news are against you, you know it's bad.
Trump's DOJ - It's Not an Emolument Because We Say It's Not An Emolument.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/17/1819773/-Trump-s-DOJ-It-s-Not-an-Emolument-Because-We-Say-it-s-Not-An-Emolument?detail=emaildkreI'm sure this will go over like a lead balloon. Rule of Law? We have no idea what you are talking about!
Russians attacked Mueller for investigating Trump's collusion and conspiracy
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/17/1819797/-Russians-attacked-Mueller-for-investigating-Trump-s-collusion-and-conspiracy?detail=emaildkreAs if their traitorous allies from Fox News and the NRA weren’t enough, we now know the Russian Federation directly targeted the Special Counsel’s investigation into their puppet Donald Trump’s criminality and theft of the 2016 American election. From the Washington Post:
Months after President Trump took office, Russia’s disinformation teams trained their sites on a new target: special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Having worked to help get Trump into the White House, they now worked to neutralize the biggest threat to his staying there.
Much ink has been spilled raising the basic question: what would the Republicans have done if the election of Barack Obama had been tainted to this degree by Russian interference? Does anyone seriously think he would have been permitted to remain in office?
The answer to that is a big FAT NO.
James Comey just looked into the camera and told GOP to 'stand up and speak the truth'
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/17/1819733/-James-Comey-just-looked-into-the-camera-and-told-GOP-to-Stand-up-and-speak-the-truth?detail=emaildkreHeck, someone needed to say it!
Inauguration planner expressed concern about inflated Trump hotel charges 'when this is audited'
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/14/1819213/-Inauguration-planner-expressed-concern-about-inflated-Trump-hotel-charges-when-this-is-audited?detail=emaildkreDuring the planning, Ivanka Trump, the president-elect’s eldest daughter and a senior executive with the Trump Organization, was involved in negotiating the price the hotel charged the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee for venue rentals. A top inaugural planner emailed Ivanka and others at the company to “express my concern” that the hotel was overcharging for its event spaces, worrying of what would happen “when this is audited.”
The reason this is so believable is because it’s Trump. Of course he used donations solicited for his inauguration to enrich himself. And of course he overcharged the inaugural committee. And of course his daughter was complicit in this scheme. It’s what Trumps do.
Turns out Ivanka is just a slightly more polished turd than the rest of them.
If the Trump hotel charged more than the going rate for the venues, it could violate tax law. The inaugural committee’s payments to the Trump Organization and Ivanka Trump’s role have not been previously reported or disclosed in public filings.
“The fact that the inaugural committee did business with the Trump Organization raises huge ethical questions about the potential for undue enrichment,” said Marcus Owens, the former head of the division of the Internal Revenue Service that oversees nonprofits.
So he's been grifting since even before Day 1.
Even more legal troubles for Trump family as prosecutors launch two NEW corruption investigations
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/14/1819114/-Even-more-legal-troubles-for-Trump-family-as-prosecutors-launch-two-NEW-corruption-investigations?detail=emaildkreIn April raids of Mr. Cohen’s home, office and hotel room, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents obtained a recorded conversation between Mr. Cohen and Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former adviser to Melania Trump, who worked on the inaugural events. In the recording, Ms. Wolkoff expressed concern about how the inaugural committee was spending money, according to a person familiar with the Cohen investigation.
The Wall Street Journal couldn’t determine when the conversation between Mr. Cohen and Ms. Wolkoff took place, or why it was recorded. The recording is now in the hands of federal prosecutors in Manhattan, a person familiar with the matter said.
Why should the Trump world be so worried about a recording between Stephanie Winston Wolkoff and Michael Cohen? Because every single thing about her role in the inauguration is a giant red flag. Wolkoff, who was an unpaid advisor to Melania Trump, created an event company in December 2016. A mere six weeks later, the Trump Inauguration committee paid that company $26 million, the largest payment to any vendor involved in the inauguration. Wolkoff enjoyed special access to the White House until the news broke about the huge amount paid to her start-up company. Melania Trump was quick to publicly distance herself from any of the work her advisor had done around the inauguration.
Two people with direct knowledge of Ms. Winston Wolkoff’s role, who asked to remain anonymous, said she often invoked Mrs. Trump’s name with transition officials as she delivered instructions for the inauguration. But Stephanie Grisham, a spokeswoman for Mrs. Trump, said the first lady “had no involvement” with the inaugural committee “and had no knowledge of how funds were spent.”
The Wall Street Journal reports investigators are looking into three areas of the inauguration committee’s use of funds and fundraising:
If donations were solicited with the promise of political favors—a violation of federal corruption laws
If funds were diverted from the inauguration for other purposes—a violation of federal law
If the Trump inauguration committee accepted foreign money in exchange for access and influence—a violation of federal law
Investigators have already questioned at least one Trump inaugural donor who hired Michael Cohen for “consulting.”
Trump throws a fit after being pwnd by Dems as more #TrumpRussia news emerges.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/11/1818586/-Trump-throws-a-fit-after-being-pwnd-by-Dems-as-more-TrumpRussia-news-emerges?detail=emaildkreThey practically did the Snoopy "Happy Dance" when Trump said he would take the blame for any shutdown.
This may be the dumbest tweet in the history of tweets. I'm not even kidding
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/15/1819407/-This-may-be-the-dumbest-tweet-in-the-history-of-tweets-I-m-not-even-kidding?detail=emaildkreStupidest tweet in the history of... ever
This is astonishingly stupid.
I’m still marveling at the raw, unadulterated dumb. Someone please break into my home with a SWAT battering ram and crowbar my jaw off the floor, because I’m going to be stuck here for a while.
Steve Milloy
✔
@JunkScience
DeFazio on climate: "This is the existential threat to the future of the planet."
Insanity.
For comparison, the atmosphere Venus is 96.5% CO2 -- and the planet is still there.
In contrast, Earth's atmosphere is only ~0.04% CO2. https://politi.co/2rC6QA3 via @politico
Can we send this guy to Venus... without a spacesuit?
Republicans freak out over Obamacare decision, with Pelosi and Schumer promising to bring the pain
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/17/1819705/-Republicans-freak-out-over-Obamacare-decision-with-Pelosi-and-Schumer-promising-to-bring-the-pain?detail=emaildkreThe only Republican applauding the appalling and ridiculous decision by an extremist federal judge in Texas declaring the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional is Individual 1. The rest of them understand how much this screws them politically. They're well aware that they lost the 2018 election largely on the issue of health care, and now the ones still in office know they're on the hook for the promise they made to people that they would preserve all the protections in the ACA, particularly those for people with pre-existing conditions.
That's perhaps the most immediate and most frightening aspect of the ruling for the majority of Americans, 130 million of whom have pre-existing conditions, but if the law were really to disappear, that's just a part of what would be lost.
As many as 17 million people could lose their coverage in a single year. The 15 million people covered under Medicaid expansion could lose their coverage. The improvements to Medicare that have saved the program billions of dollars—and reduced prescription drug costs for seniors—would be erased. Young people wouldn't be able to stay on their parents' insurance until they're 26. The ban on annual and lifetime caps would be gone, and medical bankruptcies would escalate. Having lady parts would again cost women more than men, and being over age 50 would cost everyone more again. Limits on out-of-pocket costs would be gone. The tax credits that 9 million people are receiving to help them pay premiums would be gone.
So it's absolutely no wonder Republicans are freaking out. There are still the rabid Trumpists who will applaud letting it all burn down, and then the rest who recognize how bad this is for them, which will only end up in more GOP civil war. "It's all the downsides," a House Republican aide told Politico. "Politically, I don't think that it helps us at all." It really won't help them when Democrats start fighting back on the floor.
Sears execs to split $25 mil in bonuses after telling workers no severance because of bankruptcy
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/17/1819712/-Sears-execs-to-split-25-mil-in-bonuses-after-telling-workers-no-severance-because-of-bankruptcy?detail=emaildkreIt's not just Trump who's corrupt.
Obamacare has been ruled unconstitutional by a terrible judge and people are NOT happy
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/14/1819249/-Obamacare-has-been-ruled-unconstitutional-by-a-terrible-judge-and-people-are-NOT-happy?detail=emaildkreFinally, finally they see the light!
Republicans squash bill to pay for Vietnam vets' health care ... say they're worried about deficit
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/17/1819749/-Republicans-squash-bill-to-pay-for-Vietnam-veterans-healthcare-say-they-re-worried-about-deficit?detail=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1lmsCHN0bjU39PGSVVU-6GdXgSjhKMwadLBN-hv33iyslpqcVWksBU2d4They worry about these things at the exact WRONG time! Maybe they should have worried about it when they passed the Tax Cut!
Hucky Boo Boo Sanders Lashes Out At James Comey From Official Government Twitter Account
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/17/1819821/-Hucky-Boo-Boo-Sanders-Lashes-Out-On-James-Comey-From-Official-Government-Twitter-Account?detail=emaildkreSure, why not take one more swipe at him before you're out the door?
Tennessee Republicans could be in for a crowded primary after veteran senator announces retirement
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/17/1819754/-Tennessee-Republicans-could-be-in-for-a-crowded-primary-after-veteran-senator-announces-retirement?detail=emaildkrehttps://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/17/1819764/-NC-09-Repubs-reverse-themselves-demand-Harris-be-certified-and-election-fraud-be-hanged?detail=emaildkre
For awhile last week, it looked like at least one state Republican Party cared about election integrity after all. Even in the face of virtually uncontestable evidence that Republican Mark Harris’ 905-vote lead over Democrat Dan McCready in NC-09 was tainted by some of the most egregious absentee ballot fraud ever uncovered, North Carolina Repubs were adamant that Harris be certified as the winner unless there was evidence the fraud could have changed the outcome.
That appeared to change on Tuesday with news that early voting totals in Bladen County, the epicenter of the massive absentee ballot fraud, were tallied too soon. While early voting details by voter registration are public record, we’re not supposed to know who voted for whom until the polls close on Election Day. Even worse, it looks like the early voting totals were leaked to Republican operatives. As if they had a choice, the state GOP called for a new election if this is proven to be true.
That moment of integrity lasted six days. On Monday morning, the state GOP and Republican officials in NC-09 irately demanded that Harris be certified as the winner.
North Carolina Republicans rallied behind 9th District congressional candidate Mark Harris on Monday ahead of a trial-like hearing on allegations of voter fraud that could nullify his victory.
Republicans asked state elections officials to certify Harris’s disputed election to Congress unless it finds that alleged irregularities would have changed the outcome.
The Republicans in this seven-county Charlotte-to-Fayetteville district drafted a resolution demanding Harris be certified as the district’s congressman-elect, which was endorsed by state party chairman Robin Hayes. Read it here. It claims that absent “clear and convincing evidence” that the fraud either changed the outcome of the race or could have changed the outcome, state law demands that Harris be certified as the winner.
One problem—that’s not what state election law says. The state board of elections is allowed to order a new election if it finds evidence of irregularities that “taint the results of the entire election and cast doubt upon its fairness”—even if the fraud didn’t exceed the margin of victory.
But even without that to consider, there is plenty of evidence that this fraud could have changed the outcome. We know that an absentee ballot operation overseen by McCrae Dowless, an independent contractor for Harris’ main campaign consultant, sent out people to collect ballots before they were signed and sealed and even filled in incomplete ballots. We also know that at least 1,000 absentee ballots never made it to Raleigh. How clearer and more convincing can you get?
In a staggering display of logical opera buffa, the resolution calls for a new election if it is indeed true that early voting totals were leaked in Bladen County. But it then irately resolves that “Dr. Mark Harris is Congressman-Elect for the 9th Congressional District.”
Well, they surely got whiplash by how fast they spun around on that issue!
Trump tries to shut down scandal-plagued charitable foundation
11/20/2017
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/donald-trump-shutting-down-his-charitable-foundation-n822636
‘You Freak Me Out’: West Virginia Trans Student Says School Official Bullied Him In Bathroom
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/west-virginia-trans-student-bullied_us_5c17d307e4b0856e3a158a86?fbclid=IwAR0VMp3ORlyzZLInzpI3Qdk8ACgyugyfv4H92ylUB7Fn9Say-uFE7MjMHqcWhat should have been a simple trip to the bathroom for Michael Critchfield, a 15-year-old transgender boy in West Virginia, turned into a humiliating ordeal last month when his high school’s assistant principal allegedly berated and bullied him over his gender identity.
It was Friday, Nov. 27, and Michael, a sophomore at Liberty High School in Clarksburg, West Virginia, was preparing to depart for an after-school marching band trip. Their destination was 45 minutes away, so Michael decided to use the restroom one last time before boarding the bus.
Michael had gotten into the habit at school of checking to make sure no one was in the boys bathroom before using it. He’s not legally required to do so ― but he said he had wanted to avoid the potential for any confrontation.
Once he determined the boys room was empty that day, Michael went into a stall. Moments later, Lee Livengood, one of two assistant principals at the school, allegedly entered the bathroom and began questioning why Michael was using it.
“I saw he was blocking the entrance to the bathroom,” Michael told HuffPost in an interview on Monday. “He kept raising his voice and saying, ‘Why are you in this bathroom? You shouldn’t be here.’”
Livengood then allegedly challenged Michael to “come out here and use the urinal” if he’s really a boy. Michael explained he was assigned female at birth but identified as a male.
“If you can’t use this urinal, then you shouldn’t be in here,” Livengood shouted, according to Michael. “What if a student said you were checking them out in here?”
Some of Michael’s classmates could hear Livengood’s tirade down the hall. Feeling something was wrong, they alerted a parent who was chaperoning the band trip that day.
Livengood allegedly bullied Michael in the bathroom for three to four minutes before letting him leave. The chaperone was waiting outside the restroom as the teen drummer emerged, crying uncontrollably.
Now, the same official watches him at lunch, which I find unbelievably creepy, and he hasn't apologized. (he never watched Michael before this incident). Yeah, intimidating kids? Shouldn't be allowed. This guy needs to be fired, and soon.
Dylann Roof supporter arrested for stockpiling weapons and threatening domestic terrorism
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/17/1819702/-Dylann-Roof-supporter-arrested-for-stockpiling-weapons-and-threatening-domestic-terrorism?detail=emaildkreA new white supremacist bigot has been arrested and is being held in a Washington state jail under the state’s hate crime law. According to the Everett, Washington, Daily Herald, 20-year-old Dakota Reed was arrested on Friday and held through the weekend. According to the report, sheriff’s detectives and the FBI “seized 12 firearms, ammo, gun magazines,” as well as some white supremacist notes. Reed was being tracked by authorities after posting numerous anti-Semitic diatribes from a handful of pseudonym-handled accounts. He also seems to have been amassing a particularly large arsenal of weapons, all while threatening to shoot up schools or synagogues.
He wrote in early December about his parents asking why he owned military-style guns.
“To kill people,” he answered, according to his post. “Why else would I own them?”
In one post, Reed apparently uses the phrase “pulling a Dylan[n] Roof.” This comes only a week or so after an Ohio woman and her boyfriend were arrested and accused of plotting a mass murder hate crime. The woman, Elizabeth Lecron, was one of only four known winners to correspond with Dylann Roof while he sits on death row for murdering nine churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, in June 2015. Reed for his part seems to have been pretty scary. After holding him through the weekend, the Snohomish County sheriff’s office filed paperwork Monday morning asking for an extreme-risk protection order against Reed. The order would prohibit Reed from having access to firearms. According to the Herald, Reed remains in jail pending a bail hearing.
Remember how the incoming Republican administration wanted everyone to believe that the Black Lives Matter movement was the burgeoning domestic terrorist scene to watch out for? Remember how anyone with even the smallest capacity for logic wondered how that worked, considering that virtually any and every mass shooting or bombing conceived and carried out on American soil was done by a white guy? So here’s another white guy planning on killing people for not being his perverted version of what he considers “white.”