Trumps Latest Attack on the US Military

I get that a lot of Republicans are racist, but just how far are you willing t go?
The latest effort by Trump in saying children board to US service members will no longer count as US citizens is absurd.  So we send a soldier overseas to fight and possibly die for the country and they and their spouses lose a natural American right?
Why are ok with this?  Is it because you think it will only affect colored people? Those of a different religion? Will you make an exception for white people?

The modern Republican party is despicable and keep attacking Americans, our rights as citizens (things like voter suppression and declaring corporations are people, and money is Free Speech), our livelihood (rolling back regulations that protect citizens to give corporations more money, for example), imposing taxes on American citizens to give to corporations such as Tariffs and allowing big companies to pay no federal income tax through loopholes, to stoking hatred and fear using tools such as racism to divide and control the middle and working class so they are easier to take advantage of.

• Illegal Immigrants take jobs Americans dont want and pay billions in taxes for services they are not able to use. If you really think its an issue go after the companies that hire them, but since that almost never happens the real purpose is clear.
• Trump put thousands of veterans on the street in 2017 because he delayed renewing housing benefits for them in efforts to force the Democratic party to fund his wall.
• Trump made tens of thousands of poor children suffer and undoubtedly some died when he pulled the same tactic with CHIP.
• Trump has stolen money from the military and the US Coast Guard to fund his wall.
• Trump and Mitch McConnel block efforts to secure our elections from foreign meddling.

The list goes on and on and its clear, if you vote Republican in 2020 your voting against America.

Abortion Bills

With the recent slew of conservative judges being put on the bench states are pushing strictor abortion bills in hopes of getting Roe vs. Wade overturned.

Alabama

Said to be the strictest bill yet HB314 is effective once a fetus is in utero.

Georgia

Currently restricts abortion after 20 weeks, just signed a law that bans it so soon most women wont even know their pregnant before its illegal. it blocks abortions after about 6 weeks.
It includes provisions for up to life imprisonment and penalties if she has a miscarriage.

Iowa

Passed a law in 2018 that requires the governor personally approve an abortion (If its covered by medicare) even if the womens life is in immediate danger.

Ohio

Trying to ban birth control coverage by medical insurance.

Several other states have passed or are pushing more laws along these lines, including punishments.

You know whats missing in these so called pro life arguments?

• Contraception for women, even while male contraception is covered by most insurance.
• Healthcare for women and children.
• Severe penalties for the fathers who refuse to take care of the child once born.
• Economic support for single mothers, especially those who have children with birth defects or were raped and forced into single motherhood by the state.
• Effective adoption, foster care and other support for children.

It makes one wonder what the real priorities are here.

The Trump and Fox shutdown on Day 21

So we just hit day twenty one in the latest shutdown of the Trump administration. As of midnight it will be the longest one in US history and Congress has adjourned for the weekend so its likely to go into next week. Congress and Trump are showing its simply not an important issue, especially Mitch McConnell who is refusing to even allow a vote to resolve the issue. Apparently giving money to Israel was more important to him.

The Players

• Trump says its a National Emergency despite illegal immigration from the southern border continuing its lowered trend. In other words less illegal immigration than before, starting under President Obama. He cites fake statistics and just lies (surprise) to make it seem like an emergency yet offers no specifics when asked about what hes going to do with the funding if he gets it. 
• The Democratic House voted to open the government by passing previously approved Senate bills that Trump killed after Fox News told him to do so.
• The Republican Senate has decided to bow out and cedeits authority to the President and says they will not vote on anything or try to do a veto overide to open the government. They, through Senator McConnell have declared no votes on the issue until Trump decides he has gotten what he wants.

The Issue

• The Wall is the key sticking point between Trump, Democrats and many Republicans (mostly old fashioned conservatives who dont like spending money and border state Republicans who say there is no emergency or real problem) and Democrats.
• The Secure Fences Act, passed in 2006 was a major effort at securing the border but DHS later leaned away from that for more modern methods. There is still alot of fencing but DHS determined there were cheaper and more effective methods, depending on location.

The Problems

• Trump considers this a campaign issue and needs a fight on this, not a win but an ongoing fight. He keeps changing his requests and when prior funds were approved (most still unspent) he kept ramping up the demands and refusing to negotiate and compromise with the Democrats in return. One of the more talked about incidents was his refusing 25 billion for the wall in return for DACA, The last was him canceling the deal he had with Senator McConnell after Fox News laid into him.
• Related to the above, Trump needs attention and a distraction from the investigations into him. Whenever someone seems to be getting more attention he manufactures a crisis of somekind to get the media focus back on him.
• No one can trust Trumps word since he goes back on it and changes his mind so often. A deal requires trust or a means of enforcing compliance to it.
• If Trump gets what he wants he can be expected to shut down the government again or refuse to sign any bill anytime he wants something. Its a policy of extortion he has shown a tendency for so its like negotiating with a terrorist. So if the Democrats give in, they can expect to see this happen again and again. He did it with CHIP (withholding money for childrens health care), the VA (holding off signing a VA benefits package to get wall funding), and others that dont stick in my mind as much.
• The Republican party shows no willingness to stand up to Trump.

The Solutions

• National Emergency: This was floated so Trump could do what he wants and avoid dealing with Congress. However some people have appeared to talk him down from that ledge for fear of setting the precedent. I dont count this option as complete; out however, as we have seen he frequently changes his mind.
• Trump feels the heat enough to give in but somehow can call it a win.
• Democrats cave into political or moral pressure as more people get desperate at losing pay and the consequences such as losing their homes or apartments. Also, remember its not just government employees but stores, restaurants and other businesses that take a hit.
• Republicans feel enough political heat to be willing to stand up to Trump.
• Someone comes up with a compromise everyone can live with.

Is Compromise Possible?

The trouble here is giving everyone what they really want (not always the same as what they say)

Trump wants something he can declare a win but the Democrats have to be careful to give him a win without looking too weak (or they will be voted out again) or encouraging him to just repeat the tactic every few months (also gets them voted out again).

So as I always say, you have no right to complain if your not offering solutions or at least trying to fix a problem, here are my ideas 

(I keep telling my Congressman, but Rep Lucas staff says its not a focus, Senator Inhofe less said the better, Senator Lankford seems to care but sides with Trump.)

• Democrats offer to rebuild broken fencing and barriers, probably citing specific areas recommended by DHS. Gives Trump a win he can spin.
• More judges (Senator Lankford supports this, Trump opposes it) so we process those seeking asylum faster. This is actually a true conservative ideal since it actually saves us money. Did you know that under Trump were now paying $680 per person per day?! Thats because Trump and Sessions encouraged private prisons and they have seen massive stock rises in return. At taxpayer expense of course.
• Improve inspection stations with upgraded equipment and more personal to more effectively catch imported drugs.
• Improve border patrol with more people and equipment, including drones and fast response stations. Trump has actually taken money from border security (and other organizations, including FEMA, Coast Guard, and the US military) to fund those internment camps which are growing quickly under his new policies (again at taxpayer expense).
• Offer the Democrats a high profile win such as DACA so they can say thats why they voted for it instead of bowing to extortion and the extortion of America. That hopefully keeps Trump from seeing this as a precdent so he keeps doing it, and the Dems feel they wont be voted out for being cowards and encouraging GOP terrorism.

The GOP lost 41 House seats (might end up as 40, depending on what happens with NC but its 41 right now) because they have left Trump unchecked. The Democrats know that (along with Health Care) it was a key issue that won them their seats and failing to hold him accountable will cost them in 2020 just as it cost so many Republicans in 2018.

Remember there is no real Immigration emergency or border invasion. Thats just made up by Trump and alt-right members who promote racism. We know this because the numbers are in decline so its less urgent an issue now than previous years. We actually have more illegal immigrants coming from Canada! But no talk of a border wall there, hmm wonder why...

As for drug importation, most of that is from ports of entry not fence hopping (makes sense its cheaper and get more bulk driving, flying or shipping it in than walking) also most drug deaths are from BigPharma and the opiod crisis, but Republicans want to protect the doctors and pharmaceutical companies so they can keep pushing addictive pain killers.

If there was a real crisis we would hear different numbers from DHS, FBI and others.

If there really a need for urgency why did the Republicans do nothing on the issue when they were in control of both houses of Congress? Why wait till now?

The answer is obvious, there is no actual emergency just the same old issue Congress has failed to address for decades. People need to get back to work, make it happen!

Trump helps Russia, Again

Trump said he is considering pulling out of the nuclear arms deal President Ronald Reagan made.
Some of the media will over the coursew of the next few days talk about it, some will in trying to "analyze" it will say its a distraction to change the topic from the Khashoggi murder by the Saudis.
I'm sure that is partly true.
Fox will undoubtedly play it as a bold move to strike a better deal and say it proves Trump is not under Putins thumb. Putin will of course bluster about how dishonorable America is and that we cant be trusted to keep our agreements and honor treaties.
Under Trump that seems obvious.

Congress could block it, but as we have seen the GOP controlled Congress is unlikely too.
However regardless of what happens countries will lose trust in America, knowing any President can come in and throw out or otherwise sabatoge previous agreements or treaties. That hurts our national security going forward.
Maybe the deal wont be canceled, in which case we gain nothing but lose credibility and power. Maybe the deal will break down and Russia will improve their nuclear capability. Maybe they wont bother since they are still hurting financially. They never really recovered from the Cold War and all that military spending. Maybe they will even use that to get new concessions from the USA to avoid nuclear escalation they cant afford anyhow.
Maybe even Trump will manage to get a better deal than President Reagan was able to, though seriously who really believes that last option?

In the meantime we continue to see a passive GOP weakening our country, increasing the national debt, killing business and weakening alliances while China and Russia gt more powerful and take advantage of the weakness were showing under failed leadership.
Meantime they distract the American people with scandals and divide our country up. While they weaken it so they can retain and grab more power and further line their pockets, they weaken us against our enemies without.

We must stop this nonsense and replace Congress with people who put the country first!

Dr. Ford vs. The GOP

So I watched the whole thing today and here are my thoughts.
First, my respect to Prosecutor Mitchell. I figured she was brought in to do a hatchet job but look like it wasn't one while providing cover for the GOP members of the Judiciary committee.
She was very professional, probably why they gave her the boot early into Kavanoughs portion. She did go after Dr. Ford in a few areas, like the fear of flying and who is paying her legal fees. I think the fear of flying was a bad move, most people have fears of something that they can overcome. So why attack her on her preference not to fly to D.C. even though she does fly sometimes?
The money bit was probably put in her list by the GOP to see if they could label Dr. Ford as a political operative, a fair attack that failed.

The Committee

Pretty much a bunch of political grandstanding by both parties as expected. Special mentions...

• Senator Harris Solid questioning, one of the more professional members today.
• Senator Klobachar: Wow!!! Kavanough got personal there. One of his worst moments, challenging her if she got drunk.
• Senator Durbin Probably the best questioning on why Kavanough didn't want an investigation.
• Senator Graham Rich with hypocrisy and hyperbole.
• Senator Grassley: Really needs to go, embarrassed everyone today.
• Overall Members: Pretty much a lot of partisanship on both sides, little effort to reach the truth. Most of their energy was focused on attacking or defending political turf.

Kavanaugh

Came across as smug, rude and ill tempered. Most people who spoke that way to a committee would be hit with contempt of congress. Like his earlier interviews he was evasive way too much for me to believe his overall honesty. Basically he talks like a politician, I felt even his crying was faked.

Republicans obviously want a conservative judge who is going to overturn Roe vs. Wade and restrict workers rights in favor of corporations. I dont like it but elections have consequences so fair is fair. Even though the GOP has proven they dont extend the same courtesy.

However the GOP can and should do better. Find someone with more maturity, self control, and who will be honest.

Dr. Blasey Ford

She came across as very credible, even FOX was saying so.

She was mature, respectful and so obviously not a prepared political operative. Her memory falures were reasonable, if unhelpful. I had wondered why she did not remember the party address and other exact details but she made it make sense.

I mean really do you recall the address of every party you ever attended? Maybe a regular place but this was a last minute, hey want to come to a party tonight?  Also trauma can explain a lot.

I am betting some on the Right will attack her memory lapses and not knowing dates, but perhaps because I can relate to a poor memory for such things myself it helped her case for me.  Much better than one who can recite chapter and verse and rattle off a bunch of names and dates, except when its not convenient.

Who was More Credible?

In my view, she was and significantly so.

• She asked for an FBI investigation, he doesnt want one. An innocent man would ask for one and maybe force the Senate and Presidents Trumps hand by saying he wants a clear name so would withdraw if they did not give him one.
• Her lawyers stopped her from speaking several times, that struck me as her being both confused by some questioning and wanting to be painfully open and honest. However, he did a lot of filibustering and bragging or otherwise proclaiming how great a guy he is.  Came off like a used car salesman or seedy politician.
• She came across as honest and trying to help, he came across as evasive.
• I find the Renate Alumnus thing as being very un-credible, A bunch of jocks all declare that statement as a recognition they respected her? Seriously who believes that?
• The never drunk to blackout, but fell asleep line, Devils Triangle was just a drinking game like quarters, and the conspiracy rants all tell me he is a liar.
• He blamed his roommates comments about his drinking habits on a dispute between that one another roommate. Wierd

Summary

I believe her but she did not prove her case. Had the Senate allowed her to provide her evidence and subpoena Mark Judge the outcome might have been different. But this was not an attempt to find the truth, it was a political maneuver so the GOP can say they let her speak, now lets get on with the confirmation.

I think he should not be confirmed based on his behavior. What we saw today was no proof of illegality but it reflects very poorly as a job interview for one of the most important careers in the United States of America. I would not hire him to work for me at a call center, I would be worried about his behavior on the job.

In my opinion no reasonable person, regardless of their political views would vote for him except as a vote for party over country.

Anyone who does vote for him should be recorded in your notes and voted out of office at the next opportunity. And he should be investigated and likely impeached.

Those opposed to him should make that clear to their Senators, the GOP wants a long lasting conservative on the court. Tell them to find someone likely to be their longer and without a cloud over their heads.

The Fall of the GOP

So the GOP can add Rep Duncan Hunter and Paul Manafort (Not just Trumps campaign manager but also the RNC Treasurer) to the growing list of  Republican leadership indicted, convicted, or just having to resign due to scandals.
With the dual hit of Manafort and Cohen further implicating Trump in criminal matters the GOP needs to decide their fate, if its not already too late.
The last two years have seen a record number of disgraced politicians, most of them Republicans and a rise in white nationalists running for office under the GOP banner.

The GOP was discgraced under President Nixon but they did step up.  The modern GOP has yet to do so, choosing to hitch thier wagon to Trump and as each new scandal occurs they keep doubling down.
President Trump is..

• Guilty of violating the emoluments clause of the US Constitution.
• Lining his pockets at taxpayer expense by funneling money into his properties
• Guilty of having the highest turnover and corruption in any Administration.
• Dividing the country and promoting hatred and fear, rising hate crimes and mass shootings.
• Alienating our allies and sucking up to our enemies.
• Encouraging jobs being sent overseas and setting up a trade war that costs more jobs and may send us into a recession.
• Attacking US intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
• Trampling on the Constitution, including vital rights such as Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press.
• Campaign finance violations and probably working with a hostile foreign power to ensure his victory.

That's just the highlights!

Some people do not believe or see all those things, but the number that do is growing as more and more examples and evidence emerges. At some point it will be obvious to even his most devoted supporters and then they will be angry at being lied to for so long. The GOP needs to decide do they ride the Trump train over the cliff or do they step up and put party over country and show some loyalty to the United States of America.

The longer they take the worse they look and the more of them like Jordan, Nunes, and Gowdy will go down in history as traitors to the country.

We are beyond appealing to their patriotism, now we need to hope they will start looking after their own survival and legacies.

And the ones that claim they do it for thier conservative agenda? They lie to you.  Pence would be far more effective at pushing it. The only reason they hold back is cowardice and greed.

As Shutdown looms, the blame game continues

Its amazing listening to the news and the excuses and blaming going on.
Republicans are saying its all on the Democrats, Democrats are saying its the Republicans so whose fault is it?
The answer of course is both, but we have to review the details to decide where and with whom we want to blame.
The issues at the heart of it.

• CRs or Continuing Resolutions: Republicans cant come up with a budget that satisfies moderate and far right members within their own party.  So they keep using stopgap measures and the Pentagon and other agencies are demanding a real budget.
• DACA or the Dreamers: President Trump canceled the program and told Congress they have until March to come up with something. At least 3 bipartisan plans have been floated but extremists such as the Freedom Caucus and Rep Jim Jordan wont have it. Democrats want it and realize that they cant trust Republicans to keep their word on any deal.  So they want to see something passed now rather than rely on a 'promise' to deal later.
• CHIP: The Children Health Insurance Program was defunded by Republicans in prior CRs so they could use it as a bargaining chip in future negotiations.

Republicans refuse to compromise and feel that since they were elected everyone in America wants what they want.

Democrats feel that the people who elected them want some different things.

Both sides want something different and say they represent the people who elected them. The difference is Democrats have shown they are willing to compromise, not just now when they are out of power but when they had power as well. In fact many of their constituents feel they compromise too much and have voted for replacements. On the other hand the Republicans since taking over in 2017 have shown an unwillingness to compromise and try to force everything through along party lines. 

The Republicans have shown they will not compromise and that they feel that EVERY American wants what they want since they were elected. The problem is not everyone voted for any individual politician and Americans are a diverse people and this is not a dictatorship.

They are pushing hard for everything they want, rather than compromise, and claiming they have a blank check.  Trouble is we voted them in to get things done and for certain issues but they seem unable to govern and think everyone is 100% in lockstep with them on everything.

So who is responsible?

I blame the Republicans.  They are in charge, they set this up in advance by de-funding CHIP canceling DACA, those were 100% Republican calls.

Perhaps just as importantly they have proven they cant be trusted and will not deal honestly and in good faith. That means Democrats have to either fight now or surrender completely until the next election. Republicans backed Democrats into a corner thinking they would fold because they view previous compromises Democrats were willing to make as weakness.

17 prior shutdowns and why they happened

Tax Scam

1000+ pages?!  That is simplifying the tax system?
Included in the latest version...

• Excise tax added to certain people working for a non profit.  So not only are they taxed on income they get a penalty for going to a non profit.  Why?
• Individual cuts still temporary.  All expire in 2025.  Yes they may get renewed but that they have to put that in there to keep the deficit down means its going to be a problem.
• State and Local tax deduction capped at 10K
• Repeal the AHCA mandate means young healthy people drop out everyone else pays higher premiums
• .Corporate rate 21% but most loopholes left in, and Doctors and a lot of small businesses will get hit harder.  Another reason premiums and health care will go up.
• Special kickback to real estate people.
• Carried Interest (Wall Street loophole) still left in despite Trump and everyone in the GOP asked saying they would get rid of it.

Think about this.

• If the GOP thinks this bill will be great for wage growth, why are none of them able to offer specifics?
• If its really good for America why do most economists disagree?  Why rush this through in a nonpartisan manner and avoid any public hearings?  Only Lobbyists were invited to the party, the public was left out.
• Why does tax reform need to be over ONE THOUSAND pages long?  If they were really closing loopholes it should be short.

If they have to rush it through before people get a good luck that indicates they are afraid of what people will see.

GOP one step closer to putting America into another recession

So the Senate approved the budget which is built around cutting taxes.  Most of the taxes cut will be for the richest people with many middle income people actually paying more in taxes according to the CBO.  Further, cuts to Medicare and Medicaid and an increase in the deficit will cause problems down the road.
However the real lie here is that the corporations getting tax breaks will boost productivity and boost the economy.  We have seen this before and they will use the money to buy back stocks and consolidate by buying competitors which will cost jobs.  When companies put more money into automation and buy other companies they need fewer workers so lay people off.
Ask your representative how this helps America and do not let them give you spin or pie in the sky promises.  See if they can offer any provable history that this actually works.  They will have none to offer.  I have been challenging my reps for two months now and get nothing but crickets on the issue.

Watch my video on Trickle Down Economics ( what this tax plan is based on) and next weeks video on Demand Side Economics.

1 week to go for the GOP to try and repeal the AHCA

The GOP has decided to make another attempt to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act using a procedure to bypass the normal repeal process.
If Congress was operating in good faith they would change the law for the better.  That they feel they have to resort to trickery and legal loopholes rather than persuade the citizens that the changes to be made are good for us. That the GOP feels they cannot win a debate or persuade a majority of the country to support it indicates a failure of leadership and the lack of desire to serve the people.

Republicans say they must do this as they promised to repeal and replace an unpopular law.
However they seem to have missed the point.  They promised they had a better plan that would lower costs for all Americans, yet all evidence points to this doing the opposite for most.
The elderly and sick will suffer first but eventually everyone gets sick and if they are lucky enough old.  Further business will suffer as more people get sick and cannot afford health care and lose time at work or fail to pay their bills and as so many before file bankruptcy because they got sick.
Also it seems likely more people will be removed from employee based insurance plans.
Ask your Senator to vote no or justify their actions to you.

What the GOP really wants when they say smaller government is better

Big Government vs. Small Government?

Conservatives and Republicans exclaim that big government is bad and smaller government is good.  Look at some of the examples below and see if you agree...

• Equifax has had 3 major breaches in the last 2 years.  They engaged in Insider Trading before telling the public and are trying to force people to waive the right to sue them before they will tell you if your info was hacked.  Oh and if this damages your credit rating they will help to fix it for n additional fee.  Remember as a credit bureau they have your information even if you never agreed to it or signed up with them.
• Houston chemical plants are now being sued by first res-ponders because they stored toxic chemicals and lied bout it when asked, endangering their lives.
• Exxon has been revealed to hold onto climate change data from forty years ago that warned of problems.
• Financial Advisers are allowed to lie to their customers when recommending choices.  This is so they can recommend options with higher commissions or fees even if those are bad for their customer.
• Companies are allowed to dump things into our water and air without regard for the public safety.
• Banks can use account money in high risk investments so that they can get a higher rate of return at the risk of defrauding those with savings and checking accounts or taxpayers bailing them out again.
• Big corporations are allowed to buy or undercut smaller companies to drive them out of business.  Even though some of these companies use tax incentives to offset their costs.  We lose many small business each year this way and that overall depresses wages and consumer choice.
• Wages and Employee insurance. GOP stance is there should be no minimum wage or employee based insurance.

All those are results of trying to weaken or remove regulations and oversight.

Big government vs. small government is a red herring or false flag.  Inefficient government is bad because it wastes resources. However efficient government that is accountable to the citizens of the United Sates is good.  Further we need to be able to vote and choose our issues so that government gets back to being OF AND FOR THE PEOPLE.

And the GOP stood by and let America slowly die

You might have heard this poem by German pastor Martin Niemoller or one of the variations of it.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Sound familiar? The following are not posted in any special order....

• The GOP attacked the Socialists than the Trade Unions, then the Left and then minorities and the poor and middle class.
• With President Trump it has gotten more transparent and blatant.
• Trump attacked and objectified women, the GOP stood by.
• Trump called Mexicans rapists and murders, the GOP stood by.
• Trump called for a Muslim ban and the GOP supported or simply stood by.
• Trump ran on Universal Health Care, the GOP heard "Repeal and Replace" and cheered him on.  Not caring about the promise made to Americans but hearing what they wanted which was to get rid of the Democrats Health Care (even if it was largely Mit Romminy's a GOP plan).
• Trump feels insulted he could not get the job done and says will let the AHCA implode because he will stop funding, the GOP cheered.  After all they have already been pulling this tactic by making a month to month decision during President Obamas term to keep the insurance companies nervous and the market unstable.
• Trump violated his oath of office starting on Day one, the GOP stood by.
• Trump compared a confederate general who fought against the USA with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and the GOP stood by.
• Trump is using the White House to line his pockets and promote his properties, the GOP stands aside.
• Trump lies to the public on a daily basis, the GOP stands aside and lets it happen.
• Trump refuses to meet with veterans and sends out Ammorsa to meet them because he cant be bothered, the GOP is quiet.
• Trump wont pay the Veterans charity he did a fund raiser for until they take it to the media. theGOP stands by.
• Trump insults a disabled reporter, a war veteran and more and the GOP stands aside.
• Trump attacks the media and tries to censor the press, the GOP stands by.
• Trump pulls climate change data from government websites and issues gag orders, the GOP stands by.
• Trump attempts to intimidate federal prosecutors and the FBI, the GOP stands by.
• Trump kicks the Secret Service to the street because they ran out of money paying his hotel for office space to protect Trump and his people, the GOP stands by.
• Trump violates the property of an Indian reservation to boost the stock he has in an oil company, the GOP stands by.

And finally...

Trump blames both sides for the death of a young woman, instead of the typical presidential call he claims the mother complimented him and otherwise uses that press conference to brag about himself.

He started off the last conference stating how great a job he has done with the economy (News flash the first year is still based on the previous years policies as it takes time for new company fiscal years) and ended it by bragging he has one of the biggest wineries in the USA. He never once mentioned Heather Heyer by name.  I doubt he even bothered to think about her or remember her name.
The Neo Nazis actually THANKED Trump for his remarks

And though we are hearing a lot of noise only TWO GOP members have called him out on it by name,  The rest continue to aid and abet this enemy of our country and try to provide him cover so they can push their agenda.  Because Party over Country, profit and self interest over patriotism

#GOPKillsUSA.

So far Senators McCain and Graham are the only ones to call Trump out on this by name.

Trump credited with standing by and FOR the Nazis in Charlottsville

So Trump condemned the violence in Charolltsville by saying there was violence on "many sides" even though the only person who killed anyone was a neo-nazi and they assaulted the police and priests with bottles, brass knuckles and baseball bats.
The Daily Stormer a neo-nazi rag actually thanked Trump (I rarely bother qualifying him with the title of president which he won but does not deserve) for supporting them and not condemning them.
A REAL president would have made a statement that was so crystal clear no one could interpret it differently on this.  Yet he knows part of his base are racists so he wont call them out.
The man has known racists and at least one publicly admitted nazi in his inner circle.
The GOP put this man forward as the best of their party and still mostly support him so in my mind they are culpable and have effectively declared themselves the party of hatred and anti-american values.
Had this been an American Muslim Trump would have jumped all over it and used it to fuel more of his facist agenda.  However because it was Right Wing terrorists he barely says and actually does nothing about it. Remember he ordered the FBI to specifically avoid looking into Right Wing violent groups and the GOP stood quietly by.

Funny clip showing the hypocrisy of the Republican party

Bill Maher clip on the hypocrisy of the GOP.

Senator Graham remembers that the government was set up to be a check and balance against abuse of Power.

Senator Graham came out against the firing of Jeff Sessions today
Senator Sasse and Senator Grassley reportedly also came out against the idea.
I wish my Senator James Lankford (forget the useless snowball Senator Inhoffe he cant get his head out of the sand) would do the same.
Additionally Graham says he will introduce legislation (I'm sure Trump will veto it) to protect special prosecutors in the future.  Good news for America, at least a few GOP members are stepping up to their responsibility.

Democrat vs. Republican: A study in Ethics and Morality

Readers of this blog may think I hate the Republicans and like the Democrats.
That is only half true as I hate both parties.  Not all individuals in both, but overall both stink.

However the latest GOP attempt to pass something, ANYTHING along the lines of repeal for Obamacare (The Affordable Health Care Act) shows the hypocrisy in a dramatic (though not the only) way.
Republicans screamed that not enough time was taken to discuss the AHCA and that it was passed without bi-partisan support.
The AHCA was debated in the senate for a month and numerous GOP amendments added to it.  This after taking about a year to pass through various committees, being scored by the CBO, and public exposure and discussion.
And now?
Republicans have been screaming for repeal and Replace for over 7 years yet never bothered to actually work on a plan.  If they had we would have seen it by now.
Instead they keep coming up with rushed plans behind closed doors where not even all party members get to carefully examine it before voting on it.  They deliberately exclude and dont even try to get Democratic support. Granted getting support to repeal a bill that you passed and so many of your party sacrificed for would be a tough sell but to not even try?
Further after failure after repeated failure the GOP Senate decided to just call for a procedural vote on a bill none had seen just so they could check a box.
Understand that this is not actually passing anything but it is a step towards it. The idea i to vote quickly on whatever Mitch McConnel wrote and try to hash it out in reconciliation between House and Senate leadership. Democrats are expected to try and push amendments in order to slow things down enough that people will have a chance to read it.

Do you understand the difference here?
Democrats worked on trying to make health care better for over a year and let the public and Republicans look it over and put in amendments and comments. Their President asked them to take a stand for making Health Care better (not perfect but it did slow down premium rate growth and saved lives) and they fell on their swords and many lost their seat as people did not really understand what was really going on. Democrats suck at messaging compared to Republicans, witness how much more popular the AHCA is now after Republican attacks and people have a chance to see the real benefits to them compared to GOP plans.
However now that they have the power the Republicans refused to do the homework on crafting a bill (7 years and nothing to show for it?) and keep trying to sneak something past not only the Democrats and the American People but others in their own party as well.  They violate everything they complained about before.
Republicans have demonstrated they are short on ethics, morality, and commitment.

Right now many want to pass something, anything so they can go home and aid they kept their promise to Repeal and replace.  They forget they also promised to make it better and transparent.
What they did not forget is to cut taxes to their wealthy donors.

I hope people remember what happens here and hold them accountable.  Though they are trying to procrastinate and pull one over us by pushing out most of the damage for two years.
So they hope to get reelected because people wont realize the costs in time.

In summary both parties are full of problems but at least the Democrats are less bankrupt than the Republicans.  Lets replace them all by voting in fresh faces at Brand New Congress!

Jeff Sessions under fire for doing the right thing

I don't think Jeff Sessions is a good guy.  I think he is a misogynist and a racist.
However recusing himself in the Russia  investigation was the right thing.
The Dictator in Chief however has been pretty mad about it.  In his mind its all Sessions fault that he is under investigation for the Russia mess.

The bit about he would never have hired him if  he knew he was going to do that tells us a lot about Trump.  It makes it clear that he thinks of the Attorney general as the Presidents lawyer not the countries lawyer.
I think Sessions should stay and rough it out.

I would hope, but of course don't expect the GOP to stand up and protest in mass if he is forced to resign.

Rep Steve King, another traitor to the USA

Listening to yet another GOP member try to deflect and provide cover for Trump.
He made it clar he would rather go back and re-investigate Hillary again over her emails than deal with Trumps Russia issues.
These people need to be removed from office!
I get partisan politics and why they want to blame the other guy for everything but at a certain point you have to step up and put the country ahead of your party and political agenda.
Now I don't defend Hillary, shes corrupt and has lots of problems.  However she had her day in court and its over. The Great Obstructionist Party went after her for years and came up with nothing to convict her on.
STOP rehashing history over a politician who has made herself irrelevant.

And his crack at Obama makes him deserve to be shot for treason.
Could Obama have done more? Yes, Should he? Probably but he did try and the Great Obstructionist Party stopped him. They REFUSED to team up for a bi-partisan complaint over Russian meddling and call for tighter security.  They REFUSED to take the issue seriously and to this day thier dear leader still says nothing to see here and it was some guy in a bed somewhere, or maybe Chinese, or maybe whomever. Republicans did not want to help and now they are culpable.  Had President Obama gone out on his own it would have been the brave thing but it would have backfired and they would have roasted him over it on air.
We ALL know this.


Where is the red line? At what point will the Greed  Over Patriotism group finally step up?

Just look at the public record, the things the average American can see for themselves.
President Trump is guilty of violating the Emoluments Clause of the US Constitution.
He is gettign pay for access and DOUBLED his membership fees for his resort Mara Lago and meets with foreign officials there and shows them off to members.
He golfs almost every weekend and uses the weekends and even the White House website (till he was forced to take it down) to showcase his properties and add value to his brand at taxpayer expense.
He is guilty of money laundering for the Russian mob.
He is guilty of obstruction of Justice and witness tampering and intimidation.  Ok he is incompetent at it and has not succeeded so far but failing does not absolve you of guilt.
His defense of his sons meeting with Russians was that its ok because nothing came of it is not a true defense, nor is it true that anyone would have done the same. Al Gore turned his into the FBI and the gal who tried it with him is in jail.

At what point will these people finally step up and act?
At this point they are supporting and aiding and abetting criminal actions against the United States of America  When will they stop?
When will Trumps loyal base of 35% of America finally have had enough of this?
They waiting for him to get on with his promises? Willing to sell out the country as long as they get what they want?
If I cant appeal to their integrity and patriotism how about their sense of entitlement? He WONT do anything for you!
He has proven and does so every day that he cares about no one but himself.  His inability to stop bragging about himself and stop blaming everyone else but himself for things that go wrong and his inability to stop tweeting stupid shit has erased any chance he had of getting anything done.
A REPUBLICAN controlled congress is still unable to pass any major legislation, 6 months  in.  they are incompetent and so used to obstructing they have no clue how to work together to get anything done.

The Trump supporters and the GOP leadership must step up and start working for the country instead of themselves. The rest of us must vote or otherwise remove them from office at the earliest possible opportunity before they destroy the country.

You stood by while he accused a former president of a felony.
You stood by while he lied to everyone about his connections, even as evidence continues to mount.
You stood by while he wastes taxpayer money and lines his pockets.
You stood by while he takes money from Turkey in return for holding up on supporting the Kurds against ISIS.
You stood idly by and provided cover while he fired investigator after investigator, First Yates, then Bahria, then Comey.
You stood by while he tried to intimidate and threaten witnesses against him.
You stood by while he tried ot intimidate the director of the NSA and CIA into talking Comey down.
Your standing by while he lays the ground work to destroy the credibility of the entire DOJ.
Will you continue to stand by when Jeff Sessions and Rob Rosinsiten are forced to resign?
Will you stand by when he gets rid of Meuller?
Will you stand by when he gets us into a war to get his poll numbers up and provide another distraction?
Will that finally be enough? Though of course by then it may well be too late.

At this point the GOP is guilty of aiding and abetting after the fact, those who did not know about this ahead of time.  Right now I feel your morally and ethically guilty.  At what point will you be legally guilty?
I know your all rich white men so wont ever get charged or go to jail.  That does not make it right, it just means you will get away with your crimes against the country.
Hopefully God will take care of you on the other side.

Trumps Money Laundering Connection

An article in The New Republic called "Trumps Russian Laundromat" makes good reading.  It is well sourced and revealing in just how far back Trumps Russian connections go.
Included sources include not only public statements from his sons but from Trumps own book "The Art of The Deal".
So tell me again why the GOP offered this man as the best the party had to offer?
Why do they continue to support him, no matter how many things keep coming out the GOP just keeps sticking to their support of Trump.

At waht point do we call the GOP to account for this?  In the beginning they could claim they made a mistake and were ignorant.  However every day that gets harder to believe and by continuing to provide excuses and aid in covering up his crimes, refusing to call him to account for the crimes already proven, or impeach him to protect the selling out of the country the Republican party is more and more culpable.
At what point are they criminally liable for conspiracy to defraud the United States, aid and abetting and accessory after the fact in his violations of the Emoluments clause?

Al Gore had someone approach him with info but instead of taking the meeting he called the FBI and the lady is now in jail.  But Trumps lawyers and members of the GOP say this time it was ok, and in fact if there was anything wrong it was up to the Secret Service to stop it.

Republicans were up in arms over China Gate and now complain about the Ukraine, however because this time its a Republican its all ok. Why are ANY of these things ok?
The GOP simply cares more about their party than they do the United States of America.


Plain and simple we must get rid of the people now in charge and replace them with new and honest people. Check out Brand New Congress.

Raising the Minimum wage

Seattle recently raised its minimum wage  to $15 an hour, though it wont fully get to that level for some time.
One study said how this went the opposite of usual in these cases and actually lost jobs.
Here is an article citing specific issues with that study and how it was done.
The Journal of Labor Economics cites that increased minim wage does not increase unemployment in most cases.

The trick here is something economists call the elasticity of Labor and Demand.
Many states have a higher minimum wage than the federal level.
Another article here

A state by state review of what states have a higher minimum wage  here is interesting.
Notice something in that list?  Those states are the among there wealthiest around and have the strongest economies.
If you raise the minimum wage you have a lot more people able to spend money, especially younger and poorer people who are more likely to spend it.  This has the opposite effect of Laffer Economics aka Trickle Down Economic where you give taxcuts to the wealthiest in the hopes they will invest it and create more jobs.  We have seen several attempts at this since the Reagan era and it fails every time.
        So why do Republicans favor it?
Why does a party based on conservative values that is against welfare for poor people want it for rich people?  Why does the GOP "Grand Old Party" give loophole after loophole for the rich and tell the poor to pull themselves up by the bootstraps. That they should buy Health Insurance rather than an iPhone.
That These religious leaders..

• 8 Richest pastors in America
• Top 10 richest pastors in the world 2017 updated list.
• Making Money off Miracles
• 15 Christian Leaders that make more money getting out of bed than you'll make all year.
• 6 Wealthy preachers under Investigation.
• Top 50 Ludicrously Wealthy Pastors

are some better than these ones...

• 10 of the Greatest Religious Leaders in History.
• Methodist Salaries
• Martin Luther King Jr.
• Mother Teresa
• Mahatma Gandhi
• and yes even Jesus Christ whose teachings they often claim to follow yet their deeds show otherwise.

Think about it for a bit.  This whole thing is why I left the Republican party.  It use to be they were the party of the wealthy and defense while the democrats where for labor and civil rights.

However after Jerry Fallwell sucked them in they have sold out and lost their way.  Now truth be told both parties cater to the wealthy donor class and largely ignore the regular voter.

But the hypocrisy of using God to promote yourself while not following his Word ticks me off more than anything else.  Read your bible and you will see that what is going on is not what it teaches.