Showing posts with label CNBC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CNBC. Show all posts
Thursday, March 4, 2021
Examples of How and Why Jeff Bezos Is Now Worth About 200 Billion?
Check these out as just two examples.
Dan Price @DanPriceSeattle
Dec 22, 2020
1. A small business began selling camera tripods on Amazon
2. It reached $3.5 million in sales, 0.001% of Amazon's revenue
3. Amazon copied the tripods exactly and sold them as AmazonBasics tripods
4. Amazon banned the tripod company from Amazon
And number two--
Dan Price @DanPriceSeattle
·
Dec 22, 2020
1. A small business began selling camera tripods on Amazon
2. It reached $3.5 million in sales, 0.001% of Amazon's revenue
3. Amazon copied the tripods exactly and sold them as AmazonBasics tripods
4. Amazon banned the tripod company from Amazon
These two examples came from articles in the Wall Street Journal and then CNBC, too, to be clear.
Friday, February 19, 2021
The Real President Joe Biden Is Starting to Come Out, It Seems
He, President Biden, insists he can't pardon $50,000 of student higher education debt. He says he can, constitutionally, pardon $10,000 in debt but not $50,000.
What??
I'm pretty sure if the Constitution says you can forgive 10, you can forgive 50.
Number two. First he does and says this.
Then he backtracks yesterday.
Mr. President, sir, I have to tell you, that first statement weakens you and weakens your position on this issue as far as the Republicans are concerned. You get that, right?
And finally, third today.
A new brief takes an aggressive stance against outspoken Trump critic Omarosa Manigault Newman in a financial disclosure flap.
Check this story out.
The Biden Justice Department is showing no sign of letting up in a two-year-old legal fight against a former White House aide who became an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump.
While the Justice Department has sought to pause or drop a number of high-profile court battles due to the change in administration, government lawyers are pressing on aggressively with a lawsuit claiming that Omarosa Manigault Newman failed to file a required financial disclosure following her attention-grabbing firing in December 2017.
Manigault Newman has described the suit as a vendetta aimed at her for turning on Trump, calling him a racist and making revealing disclosures about the former president and his top aides. She also wrote a tell-all book, “Unhinged,” which chronicles her dealings with Trump as a contestant on “The Apprentice” and later as his most prominent African American White House aide.
In a new brief filed in federal court in Washington just before midnight Thursday, the Justice Department forcefully defended its position in the case, even tangling with Manigault Newman over the contentious circumstances of her dismissal by then-White House chief of staff John Kelly.
“She…made no attempt to file any Termination Report before September 2019, more than a year and a half after it was due and after this litigation was commenced,” DOJ lawyers wrote. “Then, following that submission—in which only half the required fields were even filled out—Defendant made no effort for over a year to correct her submission, despite being promptly advised of its deficiencies…She remains out of compliance with [the Ethics in Government Act] to this day.”
The suit asks U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon to impose a civil penalty of $61,585 on Manigault Newman for willfully refusing to file the financial disclosure. Such suits are rare. Disputes over financial disclosures are typically resolved by an employee updating the forms and, in some instances, incurring a small penalty.
Manigault Newman’s main defense in the case has been that — after her acrimonious departure from the White House — Trump aides refused to return her personal effects, including financial records she needed to complete the required exit report. She also asserts that she is a whistleblower on government wrongdoing and that the lawsuit amounts to illegal retaliation for that.
After her dismissal, Manigault Newman released audio recordings she secretly made of a tense conversation with Kelly held in the highly-secure White House Situation Room — as well as a recording of another conversation where Trump implausibly asserted he was unaware Kelly planned to fire her.
While the new Justice Department brief argues that statement by Kelly was not a threat and maintains that she was fired for “misuse of government resources,” government lawyers also contend those disputes are irrelevant to the ongoing suit.
“Notwithstanding Defendant’s unfounded references to ‘threats’ at the time of her termination, the merits of Defendant’s termination from the White House are not at issue in this case,” the attorneys wrote...
So here's the deal. It looks as though, certainly seems as though, this lawsuit should be thrown out, on its own merits, for starters. It seems clear this is vengeance from the previous President and his administration.
You'd think it would be a no-brainer, right?
But here's the thing. From what I've read, now-President Biden wants to make sure no one in his administration does anything remotely similar to him once he's out of office so he and his administration want the lawsuit to go forward.
Don't get me wrong. We knew what we were getting with Joe Biden, to be sure. And I/we don't think he is or ever was or was going to be perfect in this role as President---and he's a HUGE, huge improvement over the previous occupant of the White House, to state the necessary and obvious but... Geez Let's be a bit tougher, Joe and a bit more consistent.
Could you? Would you work on that?
Please?
More. Another, too, sadly.
Wednesday, February 3, 2021
What a Fine Company, That Amazon!
Yessirree, Bob! That Amazon! What a fantastic, upstanding company, eh? Just doing great work out there for us all. So what if it's owner, Jeff Bezos is worth somewhere closely around 200 billion dollars! So what if, one day last year, his net worth went UP 13 billion dollars in one day! Forget all that! They're doing great work for us and for their employees both. Why, just look at the latest news!
For starters, this broke today:
Amazon Inc. agreed to pay more than $61.7 million to settle allegations it cheated Amazon Flex drivers out of nearly one-third of tips from customers for more than two years. The money paid to the Federal Trade Commission will be used to compensate drivers. The FTC said Amazon in 2015 advertised that a program called Flex would pay drivers $18 to $25 an hour to make deliveries and that they would receive 100% of any tips. But in late 2016 Amazon “secretly reduced its own contribution to drivers’ pay,” according to the FTC complaint.
And Unions? Why, of course with all the money the company and Mr. Bezos are making, they have no problem whatever that Amazon employees have great employment representation! Right??
And with all that money Mr. Bezos makes, why, of course he gives his employees the best, fullest benefits!
Amazon warehouse workers say they struggle to get paid
And working conditions for the employees?? Why, don't even ask! They're the best! The best!
SO WHAT if they also pay ZERO TAXES!
I'm just SO VERY GLAD we've gotten FAR BEYOND the sweat shops and robber barons of 100 years ago, aren't you? Further proof, of course, that, as the Republicans and Right Wingers and Libertarians say, we no way need government regulations over business and industry! Why, everything's working just as it ought! To EVERYONE'S BENEFIT!
So, sure! That Amazon! What a great, great company! So who cares if Mr. Bezos is a multi- multi-billionaire 200 times over! Everything is great at that company!
Other Amazon news breaking this week:
I guess maybe 200 billion dollars is "enough"??
With all the money they're making and the taxes they're not paying, they had to do SOMETHING with all that money! Right??
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Quote of the Day -- On This Election and President
"We are watching a coup against our government - by our own government.
During a pandemic."
--Ann Kriebel-gasparro
Proof:
Wednesday, October 28, 2020
Little to Nothing Is Going the Trumpster's Way
I tell you, I'm loving this. This hit the New York Times and CNN yesterday.
Tax records show Trump had over $270 million in debt forgiven after failing to repay lenders
A bit from the article:
President Donald Trump has had more than $270 million in debt forgiven since 2010 after he failed to repay his lenders for a Chicago skyscraper development, The New York Times reported Tuesday.An analysis of his tax records by the Times shows that after the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago encountered financial problems, big banks and hedge funds cut Trump considerable slack, granting him years of additional time to repay his debts, much of which was ultimately forgiven.
And while the previously unreported forgiven debts would usually fuel a large tax bill, Trump appears to have managed to pay almost no federal income tax on them, the Times reported, partially because of the significant financial losses his other businesses were enduring.
Trump Organization chief legal officer Alan Garten told the Times that the organization and Trump had paid all necessary taxes on the forgiven debts.
Can you imagine someone, anyone, but especially the now President of the United States having a debt of more than a quarter of a million dollars dismissed? And he wouldn't be beholden to anyone, any bank or organization or person after having such debt dismissed? Really?
Not done there, oh, no, there's this.
This President couldn't be dirtier if he bathed in mud outdoors. Can you imagine the Right Wing, Republican Party uproar if it were found then-President Obama did even ONE of the things this guy has been shown to do?
Going on from there, this happened yesterday, last night.
Is that not the perfect metaphor for this President and his administration? With all his great planning, just as with the pandemic response, this President Donald J "Jenius" Trump left his supporters at the airport in freezing temperatures while he flew off, all cozy and warm and comfortable in Air Force One.
Meanwhile, this President has made it clear he's bored with COVID and discussing the pandemic and repeatedly.
We've got record numbers of cases of this pandemic, all across the nation, but this President and his White House lists it as a success.
Right. Sure. Makes perfect sense.
Here's the reality presently.
Trump's Chief of Staff called out the pandemic's situation just the other day, as a matter of fact.
Then, this week, after shoving a deeply Right Wing Supreme Court Justice nomination down the nation's collective throats, Senator McConnell dismissed the Senate--thanks, Senator McConnell--for a recess I'm sure he thought was deserved. Forget that the nation and people are hurting from this pandemic, what with being, a lot of us, out of work with no paychecks so forget about any COVID assistance or relief. The consequences of that?
So thanks for that, Senator McConnell!
This came out yesterday.
Right, Mr. President. We'll get an aid package for this pandemic in your 2nd term, next year, right along with your "healthcare plan." Right. Sure. We got it. You love us, you'll respect us in the morning and the check is in the mail. We know.
He actually said this Monday.
"Mr. President---You're familiar with our US Constitution, right, sir? And the First Amendment? And Freedom of the Press? Right, sir? Sir?"
Wow.
- Georgia: Registered voters Joe Biden 50% Donald Trump 45%
- Biden is up by 4 in a high likely turnout scenario 50-46;
- Biden is up by 2 is a low likely turnout scenario 50-48.
And more outstanding good news here.
So yay, us.
Finally today, at one of this President's "superspreader" rallies in Michgan yesterday, he said this, trying to feed on fear---which, of course, is all he has.
While sharply criticizing Harris, Trump told his supporters that she “makes Bernie Sanders look like a serious conservative” and reminded voters that Harris would be next in line for the presidency should a President Biden somehow become incapacitated.
“Three weeks in — Joe’s shot, let’s go, Kamala, you ready? Most liberal person in the Senate,” Trump said.
“This will not be – we can’t let it happen – this will not be the first woman president. You’re going to have a woman president – this will not be the first woman president,” he ranted.
The crowd then erupted into cheers of “Ivanka!”
“This will not be – we can’t let it happen – this will not be the first woman president. You’re going to have a woman president – this will not be the first woman president,” he ranted.
The crowd then erupted into cheers of “Ivanka!”
Trump paused and laughed.
“They’re all screaming Ivanka,” he chuckled.
“They’re all screaming Ivanka,” he chuckled.
And this is the really dangerous part:
Mother Jones’ D.C. bureau chief David Corn blasted Trump’s remarks, tweeting: “Damn. Trump is talking about Biden being assassinated weeks into his presidency. What nut is going to interpret this as an encouragement?”
So once again, thanks, Mr. President!
Thanks, Republicans!
Thanks, Republicans!
Let's do this, folks. Vote! And VOTE BLUE!!
86 45!
Tuesday, October 13, 2020
Fantastic Presidential Election Headlines Today
Did you see these today, this morning?
Christian group launching ads charging Trump 'used Christianity for his own purposes'
A bit from the article:
A bipartisan coalition of Christians is forming a political action committee that aims to weaken President Trump’s standing with evangelical voters.The super PAC, Not Our Faith, plans a six-figure ad buy targeting evangelical and Catholic voters in Pennsylvania and Michigan, The Associated Press reported.
The ad accuses the president of exploiting Christian rhetoric and iconography for self-serving purposes, specifically citing his photo opportunity outside of St. John’s Episcopal Church earlier this year after police cleared Lafayette Square with tear gas and pepper spray.
“[Christians] don’t need Trump to save them. The truth is that Trump needs Christians to save his flailing campaign,” the ad states, according to the AP.
That is fantastic and incredible and, of course, so true. Between this, with Christians forming organizations to defeat this sitting President and then all of the Republicans and groups they've formed to also defeat him, things are looking good. Things are looking very good for us to do just that, defeat him in this election.
And then there's this.
Trump campaign ad features military chiefs, violating Pentagon policy
While this last one is disgusting and goes against the Pentagon and good rules and decency and so much more, the good side is that it show this President, this Republican Party President Donald J Trump for the conman and liar and cheat he is and always has been. It's just like this one this week.
Fauci says comments in Trump ad used 'without my permission'
It's clear there is no "low" to which Donald Trump won't go for his own goal.
Let's do this, folks. It's 3 weeks from today. Vote. And vote blue. #BlueWave2020
86 45
BYEDON
Still more great stuff breaking today:
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Lots of Excellent News Today on this Presidential Election
Yes, lots of great things today hitting this President. First up...
New poll shows Trump's tough path to reelection
The survey, conducted by veteran pollster Ann Selzer for Grinnell College, finds Biden leading 49 percent to 41 percent, on the strength of a huge advantage among female voters, suburbanites and Americans with a college degree...
This incredibly good news hit minutes ago.
And this big hunk of wonderfulness hit minutes ago this morning, too. The Trumpster is upset with and going after the Republicans' and Right Wing's own Drudge Report!
Next up...
Biden campaign, DNC raise record $364.5 million in August
Fantastic. Loving it. Loving that, for sure.And then there's this that hit 2 days ago.
That's huge. And very welcome, naturally. Shouldn't be terribly surprising since he not only didn't support the troops when it was found he, Trump, didn't and wouldn't try to punish Russia for putting a cash bounty on them in field in Afghanistan and still hasn't, to this day. Insane.
Then there's this wonderfulness.
Leading overall, yes, which is, again, fantastic and important but also leading in 9 battleground states. Yahoo, ladies and gentlemen.
Next up. Yet more goodness. Yes, it's bad news for America and I'd certainly rather not have that but the silver lining to this big, ugly, dark cloud is that most Presidents aren't reelected with bad economies.
Then it was announced Joe Biden also got this support.
Finally, today, this came out about 10 days ago, from the Republican held Senate.
Unfortunately, there is a high likelihood this will get lost in myriad news cycles but hey, it was out there and will remain.
So all in all, campers, great news for those of us interested in Democracy and what is good for the United States, for the nation and the people. Let's do this.
Vote.
Vote blue
#BlueWave2020
86 45
BYEDON
Monday, August 31, 2020
Understanding This President---What He's Done and Is Doing
Important writer, important read.
Lots of folks are finally paying attention to the rise of authoritarianism here in the U.S. They are right to be concerned.
Scholars have seen worrisome signs all along. Trump has dismissed nonpartisan career officials and replaced them with loyalists. He has fired the independent inspectors general. He denies Congress’s right and duty to investigate members of the Executive Branch. He has used the Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement officers of the Executive Branch as a private army. He has packed the courts. He has used the government to advance the interests of himself and his family, which he has installed into government positions. He has solicited help from foreign governments to get reelected. And he and his cronies are trying to undermine our election by preemptively saying the Democrats are committing fraud and by slowing down mail service when voters need to be able to mail in their ballots.
Now, Trump is clearly trying to change the national narrative from his disastrous response to the coronavirus and the economic crash to the idea that he alone can protect white Americans from their dangerous Black neighbors.
Stoking violence is a key tool in the authoritarian’s toolkit. The idea is to increase civil disorder. As violence increases, people will turn to a leader who promises “LAW & ORDER,” as Trump keeps tweeting. Once firmly in power, an authoritarian can then put down his opponents with the argument that they are dangerous criminals.
Trump is advancing just such a strategy. He and members of his administration refuse to condemn violence, and insist that legitimate protesters are all “Antifa.” They are blaming Democrats and “liberal politicians and their incompetent policies” for violent protests, although most of the injuries at the protests have been caused by police or by rightwing thugs. They are stoking white people’s fear of their Black neighbors, with Trump going so far as to talk of how he will keep low-income housing from the suburbs to protect the “Suburban Lifestyle Dream.”
And they are going on the offensive, demanding that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden condemn the violence that they insist comes from protesters, while Trump is actually inciting it from rioters on the right. It is gaslighting at its finest.
America has seen this pattern before. Secessionist leaders before the Civil War needed badly to distract southern white farmers, who were falling behind in an economic system that concentrated wealth at the top, and they howled that northerners were assaulting white southerners and wanted to stamp out their way of life, based in human enslavement. They refused to permit any alternative information to reach their voters. And in the end, they succeeded in rallying their supporters to war.
But that does not have to happen here, now. We can see exactly what Trump is doing, and refuse to embrace it. Democratic leadership is calling out Trump for “willfully fanning the flames of this violence,” as Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) put it today.
Today Biden released a statement saying “the deadly violence we saw overnight in Portland is unacceptable. Shooting in the streets of a great American city is unacceptable. I condemn this violence unequivocally. I condemn violence of every kind by anyone, whether on the left or the right. And I challenge Donald Trump to do the same…. We must not become a country at war with ourselves. A country that accepts the killing of fellow Americans who do not agree with you. A country that vows vengeance toward one another….”
“As a country,” he continued, “we must condemn the incitement of hate and resentment that led to this deadly clash…. What does President Trump think will happen when he continues to insist on fanning the flames of hate and division in our society and using the politics of fear to whip up his supporters? He is recklessly encouraging violence…. The job of a President is to lower the temperature. To bring people who disagree with one another together. To make life better for all Americans, not just those who agree with us, support us, or vote for us.”
In Wisconsin, still reeling from the shooting of Jacob Blake in the back by law enforcement officers, the Lt. Governor cited Trump’s “incendiary remarks” and attempts to create division and said that Trump should not come to Kenosha on Tuesday as he currently plans. Governor Tony Evers (D) agreed, as did Kenosha’s mayor. Evers wrote: "I, along with other community leaders who have reached out, are concerned about what your presence will mean for Kenosha and our state. I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing. I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together."
It is important to remember that Trump’s apparent power play is a desperate move.
More than 180,000 Americans have died of Covid-19 on his watch. We have far more deaths per capita than other advanced countries, and we still have no national testing program. The White House is now apparently taking the position that we will all just have to live with the disease and that schools and businesses should simply reopen, but Americans are not happy about Trump’s handling of the coronavirus. Today he tried to help his numbers by retweeting a thread from a far-right website saying that, in fact, only around 9000 people have died in the U.S. of Covid-19, because the rest had co-morbidities and were going to die anyway. The argument is so far off the mark that Twitter flagged it for violating rules.
Polls show Trump continuing to lag behind Biden by significant numbers. Fifty-nine percent of Americans disapproved of the programming at the Republican National Convention, and he saw no bounce from it. Trump’s overall approval rating is a dismal 31%.
And Trump remains dogged by tell-all books and lawsuits that threaten to reveal criminality. Today, the New York Times ran a story by Michael S. Schmidt, a reporter covering national security and federal elections for the paper. Schmidt has a book coming out on Tuesday. It reveals that in 2017 former deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein limited Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Rosenstein kept Mueller from exploring Trump’s own relationship with Russia while he was investigating Russia’s efforts to get Trump elected and Trump’s efforts to stop the inquiry. Rosenstein limited Mueller to conducting a criminal investigation and did not permit him to expand his inquiries.
Rosenstein did not tell the acting Director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe, that he had taken an investigation of Trump himself off the table, and McCabe did not realize it had happened. McCabe said that he was “surprised and disappointed” to hear this news, and had he known, he would have had the FBI do such an investigation “because we had information that indicated a national security threat might exist, specifically a counterintelligence threat involving the president and Russia. I expected that issue and issues related to it would be fully examined by the special counsel team.” McCabe noted that the issue at hand “was first and foremost a counterintelligence case…. Could the president actually be the point of coordination between the campaign and the Russian government? Could the president actually be maintaining some sort of inappropriate relationship with our most significant adversary in the world?”
Meanwhile, Senator Tammy Duckworth is keeping a tally of how many days it’s been since we learned that Russia offered bounties to Taliban-linked fighters for killing U.S. or allied soldiers in Afghanistan. Trump has refused to respond to that intelligence.
Russian troops appear to be trying to pick a fight with U.S. soldiers in northeastern Syria, the region from which the U.S. abruptly withdrew last fall. After smaller incidents, on Tuesday, in a Russian convoy sideswiped a U.S. vehicle and a Russian helicopter buzzed the convoy. Seven U.S. soldiers were injured, none seriously. The Pentagon blamed Russian forces for “deliberately provocative and aggressive behavior.” A bipartisan group of lawmakers called on the White House to “clearly communicate to the highest levels of the Russian government and military that actions like this will not be tolerated,” but so far, Trump has said nothing.
—-
Notes:
Schmidt: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/30/us/politics/trump-russia-justice-department.html
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/27/us-russia-syria-troops-403721
https://mitchell.house.gov/media/press-releases/bipartisan-member-statement-condemning-russian-aggression-toward-us-troops
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/world/middleeast/pentagon-russia-syria.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/29/trump-suburban-voters-will-no-longer-be-bothered-by-low-income-housing.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/08/30/its-time-challenge-cockeyed-reaction-violence/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/27/us/politics/biden-kamala-harris-speech-trump.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/30/biden-condemns-portland-violence-goes-after-trump.html
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/30/politics/mandela-barnes-trump-kenosha-wisconsin-visit/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-house-convention-covid-testing/2020/08/27/44b53cda-e8c4-11ea-bc79-834454439a44_story.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/30/us/politics/trump-protests-violence-coronavirus.html
Scholars have seen worrisome signs all along. Trump has dismissed nonpartisan career officials and replaced them with loyalists. He has fired the independent inspectors general. He denies Congress’s right and duty to investigate members of the Executive Branch. He has used the Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement officers of the Executive Branch as a private army. He has packed the courts. He has used the government to advance the interests of himself and his family, which he has installed into government positions. He has solicited help from foreign governments to get reelected. And he and his cronies are trying to undermine our election by preemptively saying the Democrats are committing fraud and by slowing down mail service when voters need to be able to mail in their ballots.
Now, Trump is clearly trying to change the national narrative from his disastrous response to the coronavirus and the economic crash to the idea that he alone can protect white Americans from their dangerous Black neighbors.
Stoking violence is a key tool in the authoritarian’s toolkit. The idea is to increase civil disorder. As violence increases, people will turn to a leader who promises “LAW & ORDER,” as Trump keeps tweeting. Once firmly in power, an authoritarian can then put down his opponents with the argument that they are dangerous criminals.
Trump is advancing just such a strategy. He and members of his administration refuse to condemn violence, and insist that legitimate protesters are all “Antifa.” They are blaming Democrats and “liberal politicians and their incompetent policies” for violent protests, although most of the injuries at the protests have been caused by police or by rightwing thugs. They are stoking white people’s fear of their Black neighbors, with Trump going so far as to talk of how he will keep low-income housing from the suburbs to protect the “Suburban Lifestyle Dream.”
And they are going on the offensive, demanding that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden condemn the violence that they insist comes from protesters, while Trump is actually inciting it from rioters on the right. It is gaslighting at its finest.
America has seen this pattern before. Secessionist leaders before the Civil War needed badly to distract southern white farmers, who were falling behind in an economic system that concentrated wealth at the top, and they howled that northerners were assaulting white southerners and wanted to stamp out their way of life, based in human enslavement. They refused to permit any alternative information to reach their voters. And in the end, they succeeded in rallying their supporters to war.
But that does not have to happen here, now. We can see exactly what Trump is doing, and refuse to embrace it. Democratic leadership is calling out Trump for “willfully fanning the flames of this violence,” as Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) put it today.
Today Biden released a statement saying “the deadly violence we saw overnight in Portland is unacceptable. Shooting in the streets of a great American city is unacceptable. I condemn this violence unequivocally. I condemn violence of every kind by anyone, whether on the left or the right. And I challenge Donald Trump to do the same…. We must not become a country at war with ourselves. A country that accepts the killing of fellow Americans who do not agree with you. A country that vows vengeance toward one another….”
“As a country,” he continued, “we must condemn the incitement of hate and resentment that led to this deadly clash…. What does President Trump think will happen when he continues to insist on fanning the flames of hate and division in our society and using the politics of fear to whip up his supporters? He is recklessly encouraging violence…. The job of a President is to lower the temperature. To bring people who disagree with one another together. To make life better for all Americans, not just those who agree with us, support us, or vote for us.”
In Wisconsin, still reeling from the shooting of Jacob Blake in the back by law enforcement officers, the Lt. Governor cited Trump’s “incendiary remarks” and attempts to create division and said that Trump should not come to Kenosha on Tuesday as he currently plans. Governor Tony Evers (D) agreed, as did Kenosha’s mayor. Evers wrote: "I, along with other community leaders who have reached out, are concerned about what your presence will mean for Kenosha and our state. I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing. I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together."
It is important to remember that Trump’s apparent power play is a desperate move.
More than 180,000 Americans have died of Covid-19 on his watch. We have far more deaths per capita than other advanced countries, and we still have no national testing program. The White House is now apparently taking the position that we will all just have to live with the disease and that schools and businesses should simply reopen, but Americans are not happy about Trump’s handling of the coronavirus. Today he tried to help his numbers by retweeting a thread from a far-right website saying that, in fact, only around 9000 people have died in the U.S. of Covid-19, because the rest had co-morbidities and were going to die anyway. The argument is so far off the mark that Twitter flagged it for violating rules.
Polls show Trump continuing to lag behind Biden by significant numbers. Fifty-nine percent of Americans disapproved of the programming at the Republican National Convention, and he saw no bounce from it. Trump’s overall approval rating is a dismal 31%.
And Trump remains dogged by tell-all books and lawsuits that threaten to reveal criminality. Today, the New York Times ran a story by Michael S. Schmidt, a reporter covering national security and federal elections for the paper. Schmidt has a book coming out on Tuesday. It reveals that in 2017 former deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein limited Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Rosenstein kept Mueller from exploring Trump’s own relationship with Russia while he was investigating Russia’s efforts to get Trump elected and Trump’s efforts to stop the inquiry. Rosenstein limited Mueller to conducting a criminal investigation and did not permit him to expand his inquiries.
Rosenstein did not tell the acting Director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe, that he had taken an investigation of Trump himself off the table, and McCabe did not realize it had happened. McCabe said that he was “surprised and disappointed” to hear this news, and had he known, he would have had the FBI do such an investigation “because we had information that indicated a national security threat might exist, specifically a counterintelligence threat involving the president and Russia. I expected that issue and issues related to it would be fully examined by the special counsel team.” McCabe noted that the issue at hand “was first and foremost a counterintelligence case…. Could the president actually be the point of coordination between the campaign and the Russian government? Could the president actually be maintaining some sort of inappropriate relationship with our most significant adversary in the world?”
Meanwhile, Senator Tammy Duckworth is keeping a tally of how many days it’s been since we learned that Russia offered bounties to Taliban-linked fighters for killing U.S. or allied soldiers in Afghanistan. Trump has refused to respond to that intelligence.
Russian troops appear to be trying to pick a fight with U.S. soldiers in northeastern Syria, the region from which the U.S. abruptly withdrew last fall. After smaller incidents, on Tuesday, in a Russian convoy sideswiped a U.S. vehicle and a Russian helicopter buzzed the convoy. Seven U.S. soldiers were injured, none seriously. The Pentagon blamed Russian forces for “deliberately provocative and aggressive behavior.” A bipartisan group of lawmakers called on the White House to “clearly communicate to the highest levels of the Russian government and military that actions like this will not be tolerated,” but so far, Trump has said nothing.
—-
Notes:
Schmidt: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/30/us/politics/trump-russia-justice-department.html
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/27/us-russia-syria-troops-403721
https://mitchell.house.gov/media/press-releases/bipartisan-member-statement-condemning-russian-aggression-toward-us-troops
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/world/middleeast/pentagon-russia-syria.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/29/trump-suburban-voters-will-no-longer-be-bothered-by-low-income-housing.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/08/30/its-time-challenge-cockeyed-reaction-violence/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/27/us/politics/biden-kamala-harris-speech-trump.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/30/biden-condemns-portland-violence-goes-after-trump.html
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/30/politics/mandela-barnes-trump-kenosha-wisconsin-visit/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-house-convention-covid-testing/2020/08/27/44b53cda-e8c4-11ea-bc79-834454439a44_story.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/30/us/politics/trump-protests-violence-coronavirus.html
Thursday, August 20, 2020
Huge, Fantastic Presidential News Breaking This Morning!!
It's yet another tough, tough day for the Trumpster today, campers. Check out this incredible, breaking news from just this morning
Federal prosecutors say Bannon and three associates illegally funneled money from the “We Build The Wall” fund
Not done there, yet more good---no, great news.
NEW YORK — President Trump’s latest attempt to block the Manhattan district attorney from obtaining his tax records was rejected by a federal judge Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero threw out the latest lawsuit brought by Trump’s lawyers which had argued that a subpoena to Mazars USA, Trump’s accounting firm, was “overbroad” in its request for documents and that it amounted to “harassment.” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. argued repeatedly that the subpoena, issued by a grand jury, was legally valid and tied to a legitimate criminal investigation.
And then one last breaking story today.
The case was initially dismissed due to its similarity to the federal charges
Manafort had been charged in New York for allegedly conducting a yearlong residential mortgage fraud scheme before the case was dismissed in December due to its similarity to earlier federal charges.
The Manhattan DA's office argued, according to court filings, that the state's double jeopardy law contains an exception that would allow the case to proceed.
Isn't it a beautiful day, ladies and gentlemen?
- Rick Gates: Convicted
- Paul Manafort: Convicted
- George Papadopoulos: Convicted
- Mike Flynn: Convicted
- Michael Cohen: Convicted
- Roger Stone: Convicted
- Steve Bannon: Arrested, charged with fraud
- Donald Trump: Impeached
"So much winning..."
Thanks, Mr. President!
Thanks, Republicans!
86 45
BYEDON
86 45
BYEDON
VOTE!!
And VOTE BLUE!!
Saturday, July 4, 2020
Either Instead of or Along With Defunding Police, Let's Do These
Either instead of or along with defunding police, for a much better, stronger society, let's do the following, instead. I've been saying this for years.
We pay more out, year after year, than any other country, far and away, for what we call "defense." We buy bombs and weapons and have bases all over the world.
You'd think we were still fighting World War II.
And we just keep increasing how much we shell out for this "defense."
It's insane. It's not rational. It's certainly not moral nor necessary. It's not making us stronger, either, as a nation. This businessman said this correctly and it was 3 years ago.
And keep this in perspective, too, before anyone says it would weaken us as a nation.
If we cut our defense budget in half---cut it IN HALF---we'd still, still outspend and overspend EVERY OTHER NATION IN THE WORLD. Still.
Then, after that, how about we STOP INCARCERATING SO MANY AMERICANS.
Check this out.
We incarcerate more people THAN ANY OTHER NATION.
Put that into perspective.
China has approximately 1.43 billion citizens.
India, 1.353 billion people.
We, the US?
We have a paltry 329 million people.
But we jail more fellow Americans than ANY OTHER NATION, to repeat.
How is this not insane? It's completely, totally unnecessary. Again, obscene and immoral.
Here's a thought.
Instead of jailing so many people, how about we take that money and, oh, I don't know. INVEST IN THEIR SCHOOLS, instead?? Invest in health care? Invest in social programs? Take care of our people instead of throwing them away?
Check out this one statistic:
America Spends Much More on Prisoners
Than Students
The U.S. spends more on prisons and jails than it does on educating children – and 15 states spend at least $27,000 more per prisoner than they do per student, according to a new report. (link below)
And along with this incarceration is the fact that, since the end of the Civil War, we, the United States, have also disproportionately incarcerated FAR more African-Americans as a percentage of our population.
Black Americans incarcerated five times more
than white
Let's stop this insanity. Let's stop this ugliness. Let's stop this waste and stupidity.
Let's do this, America.
Let's invest in our people.
We'll be far stronger, all of us, because of it.
Thursday, June 25, 2020
Going Forward---Something to Think About
More and more, I keep seeing first this person and then another hinting at, suggesting about if a crash, an economic crash, should occur, what with this rather relentless killing, international pandemic and the effects it's having on us and our economies and institutions. Some examples. This first I got from my brother.
Pandemic Upends World's 2 Largest Economies
The medical community seems convinced we're still on the "first round" of this coronavirus pandemic, not the 2nd wave and it just keeps hitting bigger and bigger numbers of Americans who contract it and then the numbers that die, too. We have more cases of coronavirus and more deaths in the nation, both, THAN ANY OTHER NATION ON THE PLANET. And those numbers keep growing.
Put that into perspective, too, folks. We have a little over 4% of the nation's population--a fraction of China's or India's, for a best comparison--yet we have, by far, the most cases of the coronavirus and the most deaths in this pandemic.
Seriously, God and heavens help us all.
Link:
There is some hope out there. It's not all bleak. Not completely.
Be safe out there, y'all. Be and stay safe.
And keep up that hope.
Meanwhile, this broke this morning, minutes ago.
Thursday, May 28, 2020
What Nation With the Most Cornoavirus Deaths?
No voting adult in the nation should miss this current article.
The U.S. has surpassed the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths as a result of the coronavirus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, significantly more than any other country in the world.
More coronavirus deaths here in the US than China, India or any other nation.
Let that sink in.
#somuchwinning
Thanks, Mr. President?
Thanks, Republicans?
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