- Mark
Monday, September 30, 2019
ILLEGALITY OF TRUMP SEEKING FOREIGN ASSISTANCE FOR CAMPAIGN LOST ON MINORITY LEADER KEVIN McCARTHY
If you didn't watch last night's 60 Minutes segment, where Rep. Kevin McCarthy basically shows the world he doesn't do his homework, know one thing: Kevin not only doesn't do his homework, but rather than admit he's wrong, or adjust his views when confronted with new information, he just changes topics. Check this out.
When asked about President Trump effectively using the power of his office to extort campaign help from Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, GOP Minority Leader McCarthy muffed the question. The conversation with CBS's Scott Pelley went like this:
PELLEY: What do you make of this exchange? President Zelensky says, “We are almost ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for defense purposes.” And President Trump replies, “I would like you to do us a favor though.”
MCCARTHY: You just added another word.
PELLEY: No, it’s in the transcript.
MCCARTHY: He said- “I’d like you to do a favor 'though'”?
PELLEY: Yes, it’s in the White House transcript.There was a brief exchange where Scott Pelley tried to get Kevin to acknowledge that Trump was trying to secure political help from a foreign government in exchange for promised military aid (a quid pro quo), but Kevin quickly tried to change the topic.
______________________
 |
______________________
From the released transcript; Ukraine's President Zelensky asks about securing promised - and paid for -
military weapons. President Trump responds with his not so cleverly couched "favor" (request for help)
on an invented conspiracy involving "Crowdstrike" and the Bidens.
|
______________________
Seeing what was going on, Scott Pelley interrupted the GOP leader by lightly scolding Kevin for using the White House's talking points on the topic (which were accidentally sent to Democrats in Congress).
Kevin immediately denied seeing any White House talking points, but then ignored Pelley's suggestion that Trump was (again) trying to secure the help of a foreign government for his presidential campaign (as this timeline strongly suggests), which the Mueller Report indicates he did in the 2016 election. More specifically, the Mueller Report leads one to believe - in part because of obstruction efforts - that "while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."
As we know, many people were indicted or went to prison for Trump's "non-exoneration".
It was clear Kevin didn't like being exposed by Scott Pelley for not knowing what was in the released - and very public - transcript. Nor did he like being reminded that he is simply doing the bidding of the Trump White House by sticking to the inadvertently released White House talking points.
(But being unprepared is old hat for Kevin. He wasn't prepared for our surprise "debate" on The Ralph Bailey Show two years ago here in Bakersfield, which you can access by clicking here and here.)
Here's the larger point. Donald Trump learned nothing from the Mueller Report, which did not exonerate him. Proof of this is that Trump is now soliciting, and is prepared to accept, help from foreign governments in his re-election bid. And he is prepared to turn America's foreign policy commitments into a mob-like racket in order to get it.
Worse, he now has the full support of the GOP's Minority Leader and his party colleagues. They don't care that Trump wasn't exonerated by the Mueller Report, and could care less if he continues doing business as usual.
And, yes, this is going to get worse before it gets better.
Sigh ...
- Mark
UPDATE (10-2-19): The reviews are in on Kevin's 60 Minutes performance. Peter Wehner, who served in the Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II administrations, referred to Kevin McCarthy as "weak and pathetic" while Raw Story makes it clear that Republicans are afraid of looking "like Kevin McCarthy on 60 Minutes."
AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY ... THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE WHEN IT'S MANAGED BY A CLUELESS CLOWN
Here's the scary part. The clip doesn't even mention Trump's "strategic" blunders, his slavish buffoonery whenever Putin steps in the room, or his disastrous trade wars.
- Mark
Friday, September 27, 2019
OK, LET'S TALK ABOUT CORRUPTION
So Donald Trump wants to talk about corruption? OK, let's do that ...
- Mark
- Mark
FROM THE "YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS SHIT UP" DEPARTMENT ...
After being called out for a ‘breach of his Constitutional responsibilities’ the GOP/Trump are now threatening to shut down the legislative process during the impeachment inquiry ... which is a breach of their Constitutional responsibilities.
You want to know what the real sad thing is about this buffoon's threat coming from the Republicans? When it comes to big ticket items, like guns, the GOP was never going to do anything to begin with, ever.
- Mark
You want to know what the real sad thing is about this buffoon's threat coming from the Republicans? When it comes to big ticket items, like guns, the GOP was never going to do anything to begin with, ever.
- Mark
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
FINALLY, IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS ...
- Mark
For those of you who are just catching up on the details, this Washington Examiner op-ed makes it all very simple.
Monday, September 23, 2019
DEAR REPUBLICANS, AND OTHER TRUMP SUPPORTERS ...
The following is making its way around the internet, and is worth posting.
****************
Dear Republicans:
You didn’t object when you heard Donald Trump say he likes to grab women “by the pussy.”
You didn’t object when he kicked the American media out of the Oval Office and handed two Russian spies classified data entrusted to him by one of our allies.
You didn’t object when he likened our intelligence community to “Nazis.”
You didn’t object when he stood before the Memorial Wall of Stars at Langley and told lie after lie about himself and the election.
You didn’t object while at the Helsinki Summit, he met behind closed doors with the Russian President.
You didn’t object to him banning the American Press from covering that meeting.
You didn’t object when he emerged from that meeting and sided with the Russian President over the findings of our own intelligence community.
You didn’t object when the Trump campaign admitted to accepting Russian offers to help him defeat SecState Clinton.
You didn’t object when he stood before the cameras and said; “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find 30k e-mails that are missing.”
You didn’t object when the Russians responded that VERY DAY with stolen emails.
You didn’t object when it was confirmed that the basis for the Trump Tower meeting was a total fabrication. That it had nothing to do with adopting Russian children, and everything to do with swinging the election.
You didn’t object when it was revealed that Trump himself floated the cover story of adoptions from Russia.
You didn’t object when it was confirmed that his campaign staff had met with Russian agents over 150 times, after claiming they had never met with them at all.
You didn’t object when the Trump campaign declined to inform the FBI about the Russian advances.
You didn’t object when Trump’s campaign manager gave internal data on four key battleground states to agents working for Putin.
You sure as hell didn’t object when those very same four battleground states miraculously shifted towards Trump on Election Day.
You didn’t object when Trump kicked his Attorney General out of the room and asked the FBI Director to let his National Security Advisor off the hook for lying about his contacts with Russian agents.
You didn’t object when Trump fired that FBI Director for declining to let Flynn off the hook.
You didn’t object when Special Counsel Robert Mueller said he couldn’t establish a conspiracy, largely because so many of Trump’s staffers lied during their interviews, and because Trump himself refused to submit to a live interview.
You didn’t object when Special Counsel Mueller cited no fewer than ten instances of the president himself obstructing justice in his report: an impeachable offense.
You didn’t object when it was revealed he cheated on his wife with a porn star.
You didn’t object when it was revealed that he paid off that porn star to the tune of $130,000.00 to buy her silence just prior to the election, an illegal attempt to hide relevant facts from the electorate.
You didn’t object when he withdrew the U.S. from the JCPOA, which was the first and ONLY treaty that’s successfully kept Iranian nuclear ambitions in check.
You didn’t object when he pulled us out of the Paris Climate Accords.
You didn’t object when he scuttled the Obama administration’s clean air and water standards.
You didn’t object when he opened up vast tracts of protected wilderness to his friends in the oil and mining industries.
You didn’t object to the myriad cases of violations of the emoluments clause.
You didn’t object when he mocked a disabled man at one of his rallies.
You didn’t object to the recently-discovered military stopovers at Trump properties in Scotland.
You didn’t object when you heard Donald Trump say he likes to grab women “by the pussy.”
You didn’t object when he kicked the American media out of the Oval Office and handed two Russian spies classified data entrusted to him by one of our allies.
You didn’t object when he likened our intelligence community to “Nazis.”
You didn’t object when he stood before the Memorial Wall of Stars at Langley and told lie after lie about himself and the election.
You didn’t object while at the Helsinki Summit, he met behind closed doors with the Russian President.
You didn’t object to him banning the American Press from covering that meeting.
You didn’t object when he emerged from that meeting and sided with the Russian President over the findings of our own intelligence community.
You didn’t object when the Trump campaign admitted to accepting Russian offers to help him defeat SecState Clinton.
You didn’t object when he stood before the cameras and said; “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find 30k e-mails that are missing.”
You didn’t object when the Russians responded that VERY DAY with stolen emails.
You didn’t object when it was confirmed that the basis for the Trump Tower meeting was a total fabrication. That it had nothing to do with adopting Russian children, and everything to do with swinging the election.
You didn’t object when it was revealed that Trump himself floated the cover story of adoptions from Russia.
You didn’t object when it was confirmed that his campaign staff had met with Russian agents over 150 times, after claiming they had never met with them at all.
You didn’t object when the Trump campaign declined to inform the FBI about the Russian advances.
You didn’t object when Trump’s campaign manager gave internal data on four key battleground states to agents working for Putin.
You sure as hell didn’t object when those very same four battleground states miraculously shifted towards Trump on Election Day.
You didn’t object when Trump kicked his Attorney General out of the room and asked the FBI Director to let his National Security Advisor off the hook for lying about his contacts with Russian agents.
You didn’t object when Trump fired that FBI Director for declining to let Flynn off the hook.
You didn’t object when Special Counsel Robert Mueller said he couldn’t establish a conspiracy, largely because so many of Trump’s staffers lied during their interviews, and because Trump himself refused to submit to a live interview.
You didn’t object when Special Counsel Mueller cited no fewer than ten instances of the president himself obstructing justice in his report: an impeachable offense.
You didn’t object when it was revealed he cheated on his wife with a porn star.
You didn’t object when it was revealed that he paid off that porn star to the tune of $130,000.00 to buy her silence just prior to the election, an illegal attempt to hide relevant facts from the electorate.
You didn’t object when he withdrew the U.S. from the JCPOA, which was the first and ONLY treaty that’s successfully kept Iranian nuclear ambitions in check.
You didn’t object when he pulled us out of the Paris Climate Accords.
You didn’t object when he scuttled the Obama administration’s clean air and water standards.
You didn’t object when he opened up vast tracts of protected wilderness to his friends in the oil and mining industries.
You didn’t object to the myriad cases of violations of the emoluments clause.
You didn’t object when he mocked a disabled man at one of his rallies.
You didn’t object to the recently-discovered military stopovers at Trump properties in Scotland.
You didn’t
object when after mass shooting after mass shooting, he wouldn’t lift a finger
to protect even little school children from gun violence.
You didn’t object when he started putting tariffs on everyone from China to Turkey, which have undeniably hurt millions of people around the world and shaken the stock markets.
You didn’t object when he gave the corporate farming industry $26B in compensation for their losses due to his tariffs.
You didn’t object when he channeled $3.6B in Pentagon appropriations to his wall on the Mexican border.
You didn’t object when Trump called out against “Islamic terrorism” on multiple occasions, but never once for terrorism by white nationalists.
You didn’t object when he forcibly separated little children from their parents.
You didn’t object when he confined those children to chain-link paddocks.
You didn’t object when a whistleblower revealed the president had on multiple occasions said things that potentially undermined our nation’s safety and security.
You didn’t object when his personal lawyer, his personal consultant, and his army of sycophants at Fox News have repeatedly and consistently lied about ALL of the above for three excruciatingly long years.
So here’s my question for you: What about any of the above do you believe entitles you to the right to call yourselves “patriots?” In anything other than today’s bizarro-world, you wouldn’t even make the rank of American. When this nightmare ends, we’ll remind you of just how patriotic you were during these days. Your karma is gonna sting.
You didn’t object when he started putting tariffs on everyone from China to Turkey, which have undeniably hurt millions of people around the world and shaken the stock markets.
You didn’t object when he gave the corporate farming industry $26B in compensation for their losses due to his tariffs.
You didn’t object when he channeled $3.6B in Pentagon appropriations to his wall on the Mexican border.
You didn’t object when Trump called out against “Islamic terrorism” on multiple occasions, but never once for terrorism by white nationalists.
You didn’t object when he forcibly separated little children from their parents.
You didn’t object when he confined those children to chain-link paddocks.
You didn’t object when a whistleblower revealed the president had on multiple occasions said things that potentially undermined our nation’s safety and security.
You didn’t object when his personal lawyer, his personal consultant, and his army of sycophants at Fox News have repeatedly and consistently lied about ALL of the above for three excruciatingly long years.
So here’s my question for you: What about any of the above do you believe entitles you to the right to call yourselves “patriots?” In anything other than today’s bizarro-world, you wouldn’t even make the rank of American. When this nightmare ends, we’ll remind you of just how patriotic you were during these days. Your karma is gonna sting.
*************
- Mark
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Thursday, September 19, 2019
THIS IS PRECISELY WHAT'S WRONG WITH AMERICA'S "MARKET" ECONOMY
General Motors announced that it will pay stockholders $543.4 million, which works out to about $11,000 per autoworker. Just days ago GM also announced that they're cutting healthcare benefits for striking autoworkers ... who GM says they can't afford to pay.
Here's the real kick in the pants. The U.S. government - i.e. the American taxpayer - lost about $11.2 billion on the bailout of General Motors. How did this happen? After investing about $51 billion to bailout GM (which had to declare bankruptcy in 2009) the feds owned a 61% stake in the company. The American government (i.e. the American taxpayer) sold its shares in the company, and suffered an $11.2 billion loss.
But wait, it gets better.
To help GM recover, and make it attractive to "investors", after bailing out GM the federal government (i.e. American Taxpayer): (1) backed all new GM warranties, (2) allowed new car buyers to deduct all car sales and excise taxes under the economic stimulus bill, and (3) Congress approved TARP-funded subsidies of zero percent financing for some Chrysler vehicles.
Breathe. Do the subsidy math.
GM owes the American taxpayer. It should start by rewarding its autoworkers with a new contract. But it won't do that. It would rather reward its new share holders, who don't create any automobiles and didn't have to suffer through the 2008 market crash like autoworkers and ordinary taxpayers (who bailed out GM).
This is precisely what's wrong with America's "market" economy.
- Mark
_____________________________
Here's the real kick in the pants. The U.S. government - i.e. the American taxpayer - lost about $11.2 billion on the bailout of General Motors. How did this happen? After investing about $51 billion to bailout GM (which had to declare bankruptcy in 2009) the feds owned a 61% stake in the company. The American government (i.e. the American taxpayer) sold its shares in the company, and suffered an $11.2 billion loss.
But wait, it gets better.
To help GM recover, and make it attractive to "investors", after bailing out GM the federal government (i.e. American Taxpayer): (1) backed all new GM warranties, (2) allowed new car buyers to deduct all car sales and excise taxes under the economic stimulus bill, and (3) Congress approved TARP-funded subsidies of zero percent financing for some Chrysler vehicles.
Breathe. Do the subsidy math.
GM owes the American taxpayer. It should start by rewarding its autoworkers with a new contract. But it won't do that. It would rather reward its new share holders, who don't create any automobiles and didn't have to suffer through the 2008 market crash like autoworkers and ordinary taxpayers (who bailed out GM).
This is precisely what's wrong with America's "market" economy.
- Mark
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Monday, September 16, 2019
TRUMP'S PRISON CAMPS ... IT'S THE CRUELTY THAT'S THE POINT
An interesting interpretation of what's happening in Trump's immigration prison camps for Mexicans and Central Americans ...
For those of you unfamiliar with the Stanford Prison Experiment, you can order it from Netflix (it's worth the watch), or you can watch the clip below.
- Mark
________________________
For those of you unfamiliar with the Stanford Prison Experiment, you can order it from Netflix (it's worth the watch), or you can watch the clip below.
- Mark
AMERICAN HEGEMONY, AT ITS END?
Via Reuters ... It looks like the world's largest western economies, and our allies, are done putting up with Donald Trump's antics.
- Mark
____________________
- Mark
THE 22 CITIES AND TOWNS WITH MORE SPANISH SPEAKERS THAN ENGLISH SPEAKERS
It's Hispanic Heritage month. The map below from Business Insider lists the 22 cities and towns in the U.S. where Spanish is primarily spoken ...
And for those who may be inclined to grumble about the number of Spanish speaking cities and towns in the United States, you might want to read this and my write up on the piece here.
- Mark
Hat tip to Robert for the link.
_________________________________
_________________________________
And for those who may be inclined to grumble about the number of Spanish speaking cities and towns in the United States, you might want to read this and my write up on the piece here.
- Mark
Hat tip to Robert for the link.
Friday, September 13, 2019
Thursday, September 12, 2019
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Monday, September 9, 2019
TRUMP WANTS TO PRIVATIZE PROFITS, AFTER 2008 BAILOUT SOCIALIZED THE LOSSES ... THE STUPID, IT BURNS
What a surprise. Now that Fannie Mae is making money - after the federal government came in and bailed them out in 2008 - the Trump administration is now proposing to "privatize" the housing market agency.
Specifically, with a net income of $16 billion in 2018 the Trump administration wants to turn Fannie Mae over to private investors, again.
______________________________
For those of you who may not be familiar with Fannie Mae, know that it's a federal agency that was formed after the Great Depression. The thinking then was "there's only so much money in the housing market, so let's create a government agency - Fannie Mae - to purchase privately originated loans, which will put more money back into the housing market."
If your a little confused think of "It's a Wonderful Life", which starred Jimmy Stewart. Imagine how many more loans the Bailey Brothers' Building & Loan would have been able to move if they had a Fannie Mae to purchase the home loans they originated. In simpler terms, Fannie Mae purchases, holds and manages housing loans made by private lending institutions. Lending institutions end up with more money to lend because of the purchases, and we all have a wonderful life because home ownership goes up (and it did) which is instrumental to a strong middle-class.
It's a little more complex than that, but concept remains. Not only did housing markets stabilize after the depression, but home loans soared in America, as did the nation's middle-class.
Fannie Mae and other Government Secured Entities (GSEs) ran into problems when they were privatized (1968) and then deregulated in the 1980s. Fannie Mae and other GSEs (like Freddie Mac) started purchasing not just home loans, but toxic collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) tied to the housing market. These privately sourced bad bets, which were originated largely by shadow banking institutions and Wall Street, helped collapse Fannie Mae's income and helped bring down the housing market in 2008.
Once the market collapsed in 2008 the federal government stepped in and bailed out "private" financial institutions - like Fannie Mae - who were drowning in their own free market greed and stupidity.
So, here we are, more than 10 years after the 2008 market collapse, and Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other GSEs are doing so well they're actually making money for the federal government. With billions of dollars now rolling in they are now considered "cash cows" for the federal government. With a nation facing a wave of red ink because of the Trump administration's reckless budget management, Fannie and Freddie are a breath of fresh air.
So what does the Trump administration want to do? They are proposing to turn over two stable and profitable agencies - which were designed to be government managed institutions all along - to the same free market fools who ran these agencies (and other GSEs) into the ground, which helped precipitate the 2008 market collapse.
This is yet another lesson in American Capitalism, where we socialize the losses when things go bad, and then privatize the profits when things are going well.
The stupid, it burns.
- Mark
Friday, September 6, 2019
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
MARIACHI OPERA at CSU BAKERSFIELD'S DORE THEATRE ... FRIDAY, SEPT. 13
Following
last year’s smash performance of "El Bracero", CSU Bakersfield's Dore Theatre will host another mariachi
opera this September 13, at 8 pm. It’s called “Mariachi Girl” and, in my view,
is more powerful than the show we had last year.
- Mark
In
the FYI category, the Bakersfield Californian will be running a story on
“Mariachi Girl” – with a Center for Social Justice sidebar – either this
Sunday, or this Thursday.
In all cases, you can find information for the mariachi opera on
the attached poster. VIP tickets cost $25 (general admission, $15). I’m
encouraging you to purchase your tickets early, and to tell your
friends. Special group rates for 5 or more can be arranged, and are available at animotheatre.org, at Carniceria La
Carreta, 5792 Stine Road, or by calling: (800) 838-3006
If
you want to send information for Mariachi Girl out to your friends (which I
encourage you to do), you can send them this
WebWire press release, forward this blog post, or simply cut and paste what follows below …
‘Mariachi
Girl’
When: 8 p.m. Sept. 13 (an
earlier performance is for local schoolchildren)
Where: Dore Theatre at CSUB,
9001 Stockdale Highway
Tickets: $25, special group rates
for 5 or more; available animotheatre.org,
at Carniceria La Carreta, 5792 Stine Road, or by calling: (800) 838-3006
Parking: Free
Information: Ánimo Theatre Company at miguel@animotheatre.org.
I look forward to seeing you all at the play next Friday evening, on September 13.
- Mark
SO WHEN DOES THE BEER HALL PUTSCH BEGIN?
More good news from Trump's political goon squads ...
Know that this is part of the steady drip of fascism. We know the broader steps.
So, when does the beer hall putsch begin?
- Mark
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
TRUMP'S RIPPING OFF AMERICA IN PLAIN SITE
So, how does this happen?
_____________________
One thing's clear, congressional Republicans really don't care about the grifting, which makes them complicit minions, at best.
And, yes, Mike Pence staying three hours outside of Dublin just to stay at a Trump golf course at taxpayer expense is the equivalent of staying in Baltimore when you have meetings in New York.
It's literally a cross country trip.
- Mark
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