Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Senate Debates GOP Tax Bill: What To Watch For
NPR | Arnie Seipel | 11/30/17

Senate Republicans have begun debate on their bill to overhaul the nation's tax code. Many GOP members sound hopeful about passing their tax bill, possibly in a matter of hours. But they aren't there yet. To pass, 50 of the 52 GOP senators need to support the legislation. As the bill is debated on the Senate floor Thursday, several amendments are expected to try and get their support.

1. ANWR Drilling
2. Fact that the tax bill would add to the deficit -- possibly beyond the $1.4 trillion price tag
3. Another Run At Obamacare
4. Child Tax Credit

Senate Debates GOP Tax Bill: What To Watch For | CSpan | 11/30/17 |

Catastrophe in Yemen, Voyagers, Rebuilding from the Wreckage | 60Minutes | 11/19/17 | 43:43

Trump Reportedly Once Bragged About 'First-Rate P***y'
HP | Dominique Mosbergen | 11/29/17

As Donald Trump gleefully skewers men like Matt Lauer and Sen. Al Franken on Twitter over allegations of sexual harassment, the president himself is facing accusations of being a "creeper."

On Wednesday night, the Daily Beast reported that Trump once bragged there's "nothing in the world like first-rate pussy" while leering at a young woman at his golf club at Mar-a-Lago. Michael Corcoran, a reporter for the now-defunct Maximum Golf magazine, said he heard the remark while he shadowed Trump in 2000 for a feature story. ... Read more

White House Plan: Replace Tillerson With C.I.A. Chief
NYT | Peter Baker | 11/30/17

The White House has developed a plan to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with Mike Pompeo, the C.I.A. director, within the next several weeks. Mr. Pompeo would be replaced by Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas. ... Read more

White House readies plan to oust Rex Tillerson at State
WashingtonPost | Philip Rucker | 11/30/17

The embattled secretary of state would be replaced by CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who has become one of President Trump's most loyal and politically savvy members of the national security team, administration officials confirmed. The plan is expected to be set in motion over the next few weeks.

The Fix: The Trump administration's inevitable drift toward yes-men ... Read more

Diplomats Sound the Alarm as They Are Pushed Out in Droves
NYT | Gardiner Harris | 11/24/17

Of all the State Department employees who might have been vulnerable in the staff reductions that Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson has initiated as he reshapes the department, the one person who seemed least likely to be a target was the chief of security, Bill A. Miller.

Republicans pilloried Hillary Clinton for what they claimed was her inadequate attention to security as secretary of state in the months before the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya. Congress even passed legislation mandating that the department's top security official have unrestricted access to the secretary of state.

But in his first nine months in office, Mr. Tillerson turned down repeated and sometimes urgent requests from the department's security staff to brief him, according to several former top officials in the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Finally, Mr. Miller, the acting assistant secretary for diplomatic security, was forced to cite the law's requirement that he be allowed to speak to Mr. Tillerson. ... Read more

Inside the tweet that broke Trump's day, again
Politico | Annie Karni | 11/28/17

Nearly three months after Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi left a Chinese food dinner at the White House gloating about an immigration deal, the Democratic leaders on Tuesday abruptly canceled a follow-up sit-down in response to a tweet warning that President Donald Trump was more interested in playing to his base than playing ball.

"Meeting with 'Chuck and Nancy' today about keeping government open and working," Trump tweeted Tuesday morning. "Problem is they want illegal immigrants flooding into our Country unchecked, are weak on Crime and want to substantially RAISE Taxes. I don't see a deal!" ... Read more

Matt Lauer Fired By NBC Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegations
HP | Alana Horowitz Satlin | 11/29/17

NBC has fired longtime "Today" host Matt Lauer following allegations of workplace misconduct, the network announced on Wednesday. "We are devastated," "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie said in an emotional statement. "All we can say is we are heartbroken."

Guthrie said that NBC News chairman Andy Lack informed employees early Wednesday about the decision after having received a complaint about Lauer's behavior on Monday night. She read Lack's note on-air, noting that while the network says it had never received a complaint about Lauer before, it has "reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident." ... Read more

Dan Rather On Lies In The President Donald Trump Era | The Last Word | MSNBC | 11/28/17 | 7:26

In 2012, FRONTLINE spent months following four young children as their families struggled with financial ruin. This documentary revisits the families to see what their lives are like now, offering a powerful, firsthand look at what poverty means to children. | PBS | 11/21/17 : 54:38

Dangerous Climate Change is Here and Worse to Come, Major Report Warns | TRNN | 11/27/17 | 16:37

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle engagement interview | CNN | 11/27/17 | 20:21

Fall of Raqqa, Syria: The secret deal | BBC News | 11/14/17 | 7:08

Senators Race to Pass Tax Bill by Sweetening Gains for Rich
Senators Scramble to Advance Tax Bill That Increasingly Rewards Wealthy | NYT | 11/28/17 | 2:37 NYTimes | Jim Tankersley | 11/28/17

As lawmakers scrambled to shore up votes from wavering colleagues, the deal-making centered on changes that would widen the bill's divide between the rich and the middle class.

Republicans, who are pressing for a Senate vote this week, can afford to lose only two of their members if they hope to pass the bill on party lines. ... Read more

Rex Tillerson’s State Department Reorganizer Resigns After Just 3 Months
HP | Nick Visser | 11/27/17

The senior official charged with remaking the State Department in Secretary Rex Tillerson's image has resigned after three months on the job, an agency spokesman confirmed to NBC on Monday.

Maliz Beams, who was touted on the State Department website as having led "highly successful organizational transformations" at various financial firms, stepped down as a counselor to the department and said she would return to Boston, according to the spokesman's statement. Tillerson's deputy chief of staff, Christine Ciccone, will "step in to lead the Redesign effort." ... Read more

FCC chairman Ajit Pai says his children are being harassed over net neutrality
WashingtonPost | Hamza Shaban | 11/27/17

After proposing to dismantle net neutrality rules, and setting off a firestorm of criticism, Ajit Pai, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, said his family has become the target of harassment.

During an interview Monday on "Fox & Friends," viewers were shown cardboard signs that host Steve Doocy said were put up at Pai's home in suburban Virginia. One sign, appearing to refer to Pai's children, read: "They will come to know the truth. Dad murdered Democracy in cold blood."

Pai said those signs crossed a line, even as he noted the charged debate over net neutrality. "I understand that people are passionate about policy, but the one thing in America that should remain sacred is that families, wives and kids, should remain out of it. And stop harassing us at our homes." ... Read more

Trump Appointee Asserts Control Over CFPB for Now
WSJ | Yuka Hayashi | 11/28/17

The Trump administration and an Obama-era official dueled for control of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday, with Donald Trump's appointee taking the reins for now, pending a court challenge. ... Read more

Highlights from this week's Sunday shows
Politico | PoliticoPlaybook | 11/26/17

-- NANCY PELOSI speaks with CHUCK TODD on NBC'S "MEET THE PRESS": TODD: "Conyers -- in or out?" PELOSI: "We are strengthened by due process. Just because someone is accused -- and was it one accusation? Is it two? John Conyers is an icon in our country. He has done a great deal to protect women." ... TODD: "Do you believe John Conyers' accusers?" PELOSI: "I don't know who they are. Do you? They have not really come forward." TODD: "So you don't know if you believe the accusations?" PELOSI: "That's for the Ethics Committee to review. I believe he understands what's at stake here, and he will do the right thing."

-- MARTHA RADDATZ talks with SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-S.C.) on ABC'S "THIS WEEK": RADDATZ: "So, is President Trump on the side of wrong?" SCOTT: "Well, the president will have to make his own decisions on where he thinks he is and why he's there. Partisan politics is very important in Washington. It's how you get your job done on either side of the aisle. From my perspective, I'm not taking it from a Republican perspective or a Democrat perspective, I'm thinking about those folks who have been negatively impacted by these allegations. I'm thinking about the long-term health of the country from a personal perspective that leads me to one conclusion." ... Read more

Mr. Donahue says he believed he was blessed, living in the greatest country on earth - but through hosting his show, speaking to people like Chomsky and the Black Panthers, he came to question what he had thought was true, Part 1 | TRNN | older 09/30/14 | 21:37

Corporate Media is Destroying Democracy, Part 2 | TRNN | older 09/30/14 | 23:43

Whistle Blowers, Dissenters, and Progressives are the Patriots, Part 3 | TRNN | older 09/30/14 | 23:43

Mulvaney Shows Up For Work At Consumer Watchdog Group, As Leadership Feud Deepens
NPR | Scott Neuman/Camila Domonoske | 11/27/17

The new head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau started work Monday -- whoever that is. President Trump's pick to lead the consumer watchdog, Mick Mulvaney, arrived at the office early Monday morning with a bag of Dunkin' Donuts in hand. Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, is the acting director of the group until Trump can get a permanent leader through the Senate confirmation process -- at least, according to the Trump administration.

But the former head of the CFPB, Richard Cordray, appointed Leandra English to lead the group in his wake. He named her as deputy director on Friday, his last day at the head of the group, hours before Trump named Mulvaney. English has since filed a complaint in U.S. district court in Washington, D.C., to block the Trump administration's rival appointment. ... Read more

How Trump and congress are erasing the last 20 years
Salon | Jillian S. Ambroz | 11/26/17

The Republicans of the 115th Congress and Trump have not accomplished much in the way of landmark legislation this year, unless you count overturning President Barack Obama's achievements. And on that front, they've been prolific.

In Trump's first four months of office, he and Congress have completely eliminated 14 rules issued by Obama -- rules ranging from things like protecting Americans from coal waste in drinking water to blocking individuals with severe mental illness from buying firearms -- using the Congressional Review Act. ... Read more

Tillerson and Trump wreak havoc at State: It's a right-wing tradition
Salon | Heather Digby Parton | 11/27/17

A number of stories bubbled up over the long holiday weekend, the juiciest being the news that Michael Flynn's lawyers have informed the president's lawyers that they can no longer participate in joint communications, which is taken to mean that Flynn is likely now cooperating with the special counsel in the Russia investigation. This is big news, if true. It could even be a watershed moment if, as suspected, Flynn will be required to offer up a bigger Trump-operation fish than himself. The names "Kushner" and "Trump Jr." are the only ones that come to mind. Stay tuned for more excited speculation through the end of the year.

But the other big story that had social media humming over the four days was this alarming New York Times piece about the apparent dismantling of the Department of State under Rex Tillerson. This has been a recurring theme in the political press for a while, but it seems to have reached critical mass as more and more career diplomats are leaving or being squeezed out while the leadership is largely absent.

First there's the 30 percent proposed cut in the State Department budget which has even some Republican fiscal hawks nervous. Top diplomats, many of whom were initially favorable toward Tillerson on the belief that his business expertise would bring experienced management skills, are in shock at the lack of professionalism and respect for expertise. Both Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., along with Democratic members of the House Foreign Relations Committee recently sent letters to Tillerson about "the exodus of more than 100 senior Foreign Service officers from the State Department since January" and what they described as "the intentional hollowing-out of our senior diplomatic ranks." ... Read more

No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes by Anand Gopal

In a breathtaking chronicle, acclaimed journalist Anand Gopal traces in vivid detail the lives of three Afghans caught in America's war on terror. He follows a Taliban commander, who rises from scrawny teenager to leading insurgent; a US-backed warlord, who uses the American military to gain personal wealth and power; and a village housewife trapped between the two sides, who discovers the devastating cost of neutrality.

Through their dramatic stories, Gopal shows that the Afghan war, so often regarded as a hopeless quagmire, could in fact have gone very differently. Top Taliban leaders actually tried to surrender within months of the US invasion, renouncing all political activity and submitting to the new government. Effectively, the Taliban ceased to exist -- yet the Americans were unwilling to accept such a turnaround. Instead, driven by false intelligence from their allies and an unyielding mandate to fight terrorism, American forces continued to press the conflict, resurrecting the insurgency that persists to this day.

With its intimate accounts of life in war-torn Afghanistan, Gopal's thoroughly original reporting lays bare the workings of America's longest war and the truth behind its prolonged agony. A heartbreaking story of mistakes and misdeeds, No Good Men Among the Living challenges our usual perceptions of the Afghan conflict, its victims, and its supposed winners.

How Russia Helped Trump Win The White House | Fresh Air | 11/21/17 | 1hr

Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money, and How Russia Helped Donald Trump Win by Luke Harding

December 2016. Luke Harding, the Guardian reporter and former Moscow bureau chief, quietly meets former MI6 officer Christopher Steele in a London pub to discuss President-elect Donald Trump's Russia connections. A month later, Steele's now-famous dossier sparks what may be the biggest scandal of the modern era. The names of the Americans involved are well-known -- Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Jared Kushner, George Papadopoulos, Carter Page -- but here Harding also shines a light on powerful Russian figures like Aras Agalarov, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and Sergey Kislyak, whose motivations and instructions may have been coming from the highest echelons of the Kremlin.

Drawing on new material and his expert understanding of Moscow and its players, Harding takes the reader through every bizarre and disquieting detail of the "Trump-Russia" story--an event so huge it involves international espionage, off-shore banks, sketchy real estate deals, the Miss Universe pageant, mobsters, money laundering, poisoned dissidents, computer hacking, and the most shocking election in American history.

60 Minutes Australia: No winners (2017) Part 1 | 60 Minutes | 11/19/17 | 13:29

This Is What It's Like to Be the Only Trump Fan at Thanksgiving Dinner
Politico | Mark Bauerlein | 11/22/17

In my household, when the holidays come, the usual family members plus a friend or two gather. We have three generations at the table: two female 80-year-olds, some 50-year-olds and the millennials. Only one of us is a Trump supporter. This is, after all, a family of professionals in a northeastern coastal city.

But it only takes one Trumper to turn a genial dinner into an emotional contest of wills. It doesn't matter that the holidays call for love and gratitude. We may try to talk about other things--our lives, our jobs, the weather--but Trump won't go unmentioned. The feelings he arouses are too stormy. This week, we should expect lots of politics along with our turkey and stuffing. ... Read more

New Tax Plan Contains Even More Bad News for Student Borrowers
RollingStone | Matt Taibbi | 11/22/17

The headline in the New York Times seemed sympathetic: "The House Just Voted To Bankrupt Graduate Students".

The piece by Erin Rousseau, a graduate student at M.I.T., detailed an insidious little virus buried in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, just passed by Republicans in the House. The law would repeal section 117(d)(5) of the tax code, which exempts graduate students' tuition waiver from taxation.

In the case of M.I.T. grad students like Rousseau -- who work as teachers or lab assistants -- the new law would tax over $50,000 of tuition they don't actually pay. It would increase such students' taxable income from the area of $33,000 to over $80,000. In most cases, that would add about $10,000 to their annual tax burden. ... Read more

Journalist Explains How Panama Papers Opened Up The World's Illicit Money Networks | Fresh Air | 11/20/17 | 1hr

Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Elite Kindle Edition by Jake Bernstein

A hidden circulatory system flows beneath the surface of global finance, carrying trillions of dollars from drug trafficking, tax evasion, bribery, and other illegal enterprises. This network masks the identities of the individuals who benefit from these activities, aided by bankers, lawyers, and auditors who get paid to look the other way.

In Secrecy World, the Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter Jake Bernstein explores this shadow economy and how it evolved, drawing on millions of leaked documents from the files of the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca--a trove now known as the Panama Papers--as well as other journalistic and government investigations. Bernstein shows how shell companies operate, how they allow the superwealthy and celebrities to escape taxes, and how they provide cover for illicit activities on a massive scale by crime bosses and corrupt politicians across the globe.

Bernstein traveled to the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, and within the United States to uncover how these strands fit together--who is involved, how they operate, and the real-world impact. He recounts how Mossack Fonseca was exposed and what lies ahead for the corporations, banks, law firms, individuals, and governments that are implicated.

Secrecy World offers a disturbing and sobering view of how the world really works and raises critical questions about financial and legal institutions we may once have trusted.

Rep. John Conyers Reportedly Settled Complaint Involving Unwanted Advances
HP | Nick Visser | 11/21/17

Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) allegedly settled a wrongful dismissal complaint in 2015 after being accused of firing a female staffer who rejected his sexual advances, BuzzFeed News reported Monday night.

Conyers, 88, is the longest-serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives and among the most powerful members of Congress. In documents affiliated with the case filed by an unnamed woman in 2014, several former staff members also alleged the lawmaker repeatedly asked female employees for sexual favors, inappropriately touched them in public and asked staffers to contact and transport women they believed Conyers was having affairs with. ... Read more

It's time to investigate the sexual assault charges against Donald Trump
Salon | Amanda Marcotte | 11/21/17

Donald Trump got a pass during the campaign on numerous accusations of assault. We need a new special prosecutor

It's now been more than six weeks since a New York Times exposé about Harvey Weinstein triggered a flood of people stepping forward with stories about being sexually harassed by powerful men. Last week, the news cycle was swamped with accusations against Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore and Minnesota Sen. Al Franken. This week, there is another accusation against Franken and an explosive Vox story reporting that numerous women say New York Times star reporter Glenn Thrush kissed and manhandled them against their will, and then talked smack about them at work afterwards.

In the midst of all this, it's absolutely stunning to realize that the sitting president of the United States, Donald Trump, continues to evade any consequences for the numerous accusations of sexual assault and sexual harassment made against him by women who had nothing to gain by going public. His press secretary continues cheerfully deflecting questions by suggesting that Trump's accusers, all 16 of them, are liars. Read more

Want A Simpler Tax Code? Sure, But It Will Cost You.
HP | S.V. Date | 11/19/17

House Speaker Paul Ryan clears his desk with the sweep of his arm, illustrating all the clutter that would disappear from the tax code. President Donald Trump shows off a postcard-sized tax return. "It's going to make life very simple," Trump pledges, kissing the postcard for emphasis.

Such is the promise: Filing taxes will become much simpler -- a pitch that finds a ready audience among Americans who view IRS Form 1040 with fear and loathing. An unadvertised side effect of this simplicity: The proposed tax plan moving through Congress disproportionately benefits the wealthy, shifting the tax burden down the income scale toward middle- and working-class taxpayers. ... Read more

*PBS Frontline: Poverty, Politics & Profits | PBS | | 52:01

FCC Clears Way for Right-Wing Sinclair to Broadcast in 70% of American Homes
TRNN | Baynard Woods | 11/20/17

The Republican-led FCC voted 3-2 Thursday to eliminate the 42-year-old ban prohibiting the same entity from owning multiple broadcast companies or combining broadcast and print businesses within the same market.

... "Today you've turned over our collective resource of the public broadcast airwaves to a company whose business model is built on tearing apart the fabric of communities by pushing racist fearmongering in the guise of news," the media advocacy group Free Press wrote in an open letter to FCC commissioner Ajit Pai. "You granted Sinclair the ability to not simply broadcast this hate, but to maximize its already inflated profits by targeting its seeds of hate." ... Read more

Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Elite Kindle Edition by Jake Bernstein

A hidden circulatory system flows beneath the surface of global finance, carrying trillions of dollars from drug trafficking, tax evasion, bribery, and other illegal enterprises. This network masks the identities of the individuals who benefit from these activities, aided by bankers, lawyers, and auditors who get paid to look the other way.

In Secrecy World, the Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter Jake Bernstein explores this shadow economy and how it evolved, drawing on millions of leaked documents from the files of the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca--a trove now known as the Panama Papers--as well as other journalistic and government investigations. Bernstein shows how shell companies operate, how they allow the superwealthy and celebrities to escape taxes, and how they provide cover for illicit activities on a massive scale by crime bosses and corrupt politicians across the globe.

Bernstein traveled to the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, and within the United States to uncover how these strands fit together--who is involved, how they operate, and the real-world impact. He recounts how Mossack Fonseca was exposed and what lies ahead for the corporations, banks, law firms, individuals, and governments that are implicated.

Secrecy World offers a disturbing and sobering view of how the world really works and raises critical questions about financial and legal institutions we may once have trusted.

Digital Superpowers Poised To Increase Global Inequities Under the Label of E-Commerce | TRNN | 11/20/17 | 20:02

Lawyers call White House sexual harassment policy 'useless'
Politico | Matthew Nussbaum | 11/17/17

The executive office of the president, which is shielded under a 2002 law from reporting harassment allegations, offers employees bare-bones instructions on dealing with problems.

At the Department of Justice, there have been 31 sexual harassment complaints through the third quarter of 2017, a number in line with recent years. At the CIA, there were six sexual harassment complaints from 2012 to 2016, according to its federal reports. But there are no comparable records for the White House, thanks to a 2002 law -- the No FEAR Act -- that exempts the executive office of the president from filing requirements that apply to other executive branch agencies.

As Congress and the private sector move to improve reporting procedures and increase transparency amid multiplying revelations of widespread harassment, the White House remains uniquely opaque -- and reliant on guidance lawyers say falls short of common standards for shielding employees from abuse. ... Read more

Trump's Tweet Condemning Al Franken Assault Allegations Backfires Spectacularly
HP | Rebecca Shapiro | 11/17/17

President Donald Trump, infamously caught on tape bragging about groping women, was attacked on Twitter Thursday night for criticizing Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who now faces allegations of sexual assault.

Anchorwoman Leann Tweeden said on Thursday that Franken groped and kissed her without her consent during a USO tour in 2006. ... Read more

Kellyanne Conway explains why Trump tweeted about Franken but not Moore
Politico | Louis Nelson | 11/17/17

President Donald Trump felt compelled to tweet out his thoughts on allegations of sexual misconduct against Sen. Al Franken because they represented a "brand new news story," counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway said Friday, explaining away the difference between the president's Franken tweets and his relatively couched comments on allegations against Republican Roy Moore.

"Al Franken was a brand new news story yesterday and the president weighed in as he does on the news of the day often enough," Conway told Fox News Friday morning. "The Roy Moore story is eight days old and the president put out a statement during his Asia trip on that. and since then, our press secretary has spoken on behalf of the president saying that he believes the people of Alabama will sort out what to do with Roy Moore and with that election." ... Read more

Trump Chases U.S. Arms Deals in Asia to Help Him Win Re-Election
Bloomberg | Justin Sink | 11/14/17

President Donald Trump had one question for Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc: Why wasn't his country buying more American military equipment?

For Trump, a self-styled traveling salesman, crisscrossing the region to reverse decades of trade deficits, Vietnam's decision to buy arms from Russia was incomprehensible, almost insulting. Never mind that U.S. law prevented such sales until last year.

Trump reminded Phuc that he's been president for 10 months, according to two people who requested anonymity to discuss a private meeting. What was he waiting for? ... Read more
Trump Begging Countries To Buy Weapons | TYT | 11/15/17 | 9:34

*WeWork Community Refugee Hiring Initiative | | 11/15/17 | 1:53

*Why Millennials Are Paying To Live In Shares Spaces Like WeLive | Vice | 10/26/16 | 3:44

Hope Hicks may hold the keys to Mueller's Russia puzzle
Politico | Darren Samuelsohn | 11/16/17

Prosecutors will interview the White House communications director in the coming weeks as they continue questioning those in the president's inner circle.

Special counsel Robert Mueller's team is preparing to interview the woman who's seen it all: Hope Hicks. She's been part of Donald Trump's inner circle for years, first at Trump Tower and then as an omnipresent gatekeeper and fixer who could get emails or other communications directly to the boss during the 2016 campaign.

As a senior White House adviser and now as communications director, she's been in the room for moments critical to Mueller's probe, which has grown to include the president's response to the Russia investigation itself.

Hicks' history with Trump makes her one of the more useful witnesses for Mueller as he looks for insights into the president's habits and moods. She also is one of the few people well positioned to recount the president's reactions at various moments as the Russia scandal has sidetracked his presidency -- including the Mueller appointment itself. ... Read more

The GOP Tax Cut Plan Opens A New Front In The War On Obamacare
HP | Jonathan Cohn | 11/15/17

Here we are again, talking about a Republican proposal that would rattle health insurance markets, increase overall premiums and leave millions without coverage -- all while freeing up money for tax cuts that would disproportionately benefit corporations and wealthy Americans.

The new twist this time is the context. Full repeal of the Affordable Care Act is off the agenda, at least for the moment. Instead, Senate Republicans are talking about a bill, the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act," whose primary purpose is to reduce taxes. Until recently, health care wasn't really part of the conversation.

Then math intervened. The GOP's tax cut will end up costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.5 trillion, according to official government projections, and finding offsets that will get 50 votes has been difficult. Desperate to find a source of money that can work politically -- and, perhaps, to take a shot at Obamacare while they can -- Republicans have set their eyes on the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate. ... Read more

Jimmy Kimmel Asks People If Hillary Clinton Should Be Impeached | 11/15/17 | 3:12

House Democrats Help Republicans Pass $700B in Military Spending
TRNN | author | 11/15/17

A record spending bill overwhelmingly approved by the House on Tuesday authorizes $700 billion for the U.S. military. The annual National Defense Authorization Act earmarks over $634 billion for the Pentagon and an additional $66 billion for overseas military conflicts including Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. The package includes $12.3 billion for the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency, a moved aimed at North Korea.

*Abby Martin Exposes Untold History of U.S. Empire | Jimmy Dore/TYT | 11/14/17 | 30:34

*Jordan meets with Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz and the citizens of Puerto Rico to find out the truth about the Trump administration's hurricane recovery efforts. | SNL | 11/14/17 | 8:30

Trump touts '$300 billion' in trade deals with Asia
Politico | Louis Nelson | 11/14/17

President Donald Trump touted the economic successes of his trip to Asia Tuesday, telling reporters that the five-nation tour had netted the U.S. "at least $300 billion" in trade deals.

"We've had a tremendously successful trip. Tremendous amounts of work was done on trade, not only on the deals -- and we have at least $300 billion worth of deals, but that will be, I think, way triple that number in a fairly short period of time," Trump said in remarks to the press as he left the East Asia Summit in the Philippines.

... One deal that earned specific mention from Trump is Vietnam's $12 billion order from Boeing, one that the president said came even though "they were going a different route." It was unclear if Trump was referring to an $11.3 billion deal between Boeing and Vietnam's VietJet airline signed in 2016 during a visit by former President Barack Obama or if Vietnam had placed an additional order with Boeing. ... Read more

**The Madness of Donald Trump
RollingStone | Matt Taibbi | 09/19/17

Evening, August 22nd, 2017, a convention center in Phoenix. It's Donald Trump's true coming-out party as an insane person. It looks like the same old Trump up there on the stage: same boxy blue suit, same obligatory flag pin and tangerine combover, same too-long reddish power tie swinging below his belt line like a locker-room abomination. Earlier this year there were efforts to make Trump stop wearing his suit jackets open -- designer Joseph Abboud said buttoning up was a "very visible way of showing he knows how serious the job is" -- but Donald Trump doesn't take advice, not even the gently benign kind.

That makeover was undone just as quickly as it was done, leaving the Donald with the same old tie-on-bulging-duodenum look from the campaign. He even sounds the same now, kicking off the event with a go-to favorite: "What a crowd!" he shouts. (A week from now, he will shout, "What a crowd, what a turnout!" from atop a truck in Corpus Christi, Texas, on the occasion of a deadly hurricane.) But the embattled president who takes the stage tonight is a different man from the barnstorming revolutionary who ripped through the American political process a year ago. That Donald Trump enjoyed himself, to an obscene degree. Watching Trump lean over a podium on the road to the presidency was like watching a stud boar hump a hole in the wall. ... Read more

The Trump Presidency | John Oliver | 11/13/17 | 23:50

**One Nation, Overdosed: Documentary On The Deadliest Drug Crisis In American History (Full) | MSNBC | 11/09/17 | 44:40

Trump's weaselly notion of patriotism looks more like groveling
Salon | Bob Cesca | 11/13/17

President Donald Trump and his supporters have a screwy definition of patriotism. Apparently, it's a career-ending infraction to kneel during the national anthem during an ultimately meaningless football game, but it's acceptable for our chief executive to endorse the assurances and actions of foreign despots while summarily rejecting the decisions of American leaders, publicly and with awkward pride. It's difficult to see how these contradictory ideas make a lick of sense coming from the same faction, and the same president, roughly at the same time.

Most of us are old enough to remember when Trump, during his inaugural rage-gasm, declared that his presidency would be all about putting "America First." It was a "new decree," he said, that would be "heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power." He continued, "From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, it's going to be only America first! America first!" This was his central inaugural theme, and an ongoing refrain of his presidency. Part isolationism, part patriotism, all meaningless when shouted from his orange yapper. ... Read more

The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade by Andrew Feinstein $7.99

The Shadow World is the harrowing behind-the-scenes tale of the global arms trade, revealing the deadly collusion that all too often exists among senior politicians, weapons manufacturers, felonious arms dealers, and the military -- a situation that compromises our security and undermines our democracy.

Pulling back the curtain on this secretive world, Andrew Feinstein reveals the corruption and the cover-ups behind a range of weapons deals, from the largest in history -- between the British and Saudi governments -- to the guns-for-diamonds deals in Africa and the imminent $60 billion U.S. weapons contract with Saudi Arabia. He exposes in forensic detail both the formal government-to-government trade in arms and the shadow world of illicit weapons dealing, and lays bare the shockingly frequent links between the two. Drawing on his experience as a member of the African National Congress who resigned when the ANC refused to launch a corruption investigation into a major South African arms deal, Feinstein illuminates the impact this network has not only on conflicts around the world but also on the democratic institutions of the United States and the United Kingdom.

Based on pathbreaking reporting and unprecedented access to top-secret information and major players in this clandestine realm, The Shadow World places us in the midst of the arms trade's dramatic wheeling and dealing -- from corporate boardrooms to seedy out-of-the-way hotels -- and reveals the profound danger and enormous financial cost this network represents to all of us.

The Trump Presidency | John Oliver | 11/13/17 | 23:50

Steve Bannon's Interview with the Times: President Trump, Mitch McConnell and White Nationalism | NYT | 11/10/17 | 10:18

What's at Stake in the Bonn Climate Talks?
NYT | Brad Plumer | 11/10/17

The Paris climate agreement of 2015 was a key moment in the battle against climate change: 195 countries vowed to help limit the rise in global temperatures since the industrial revolution to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

But the Paris deal was just the start of a long, arduous process. The world's nations are still struggling to translate their lofty promises into meaningful cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Which explains why diplomats are now meeting for yet another round of climate talks in Bonn, Germany, from Nov. 6 to 17.

Much of the attention at these talks will be on the Trump administration, which has vowed to withdraw the United States from the Paris deal by 2020. In response, a gaggle of world leaders, American governors, major corporations and advocacy groups will make a big show of insisting that global action on climate change is still trundling forward, with or without President Trump. ... Read more

Senate GOP's tax bill points to nasty fight ahead
Politico | Bernie Becker | 11/09/17

There are dramatic differences between the House and Senate versions of the tax overhaul, imperiling Trump's desire to sign legislation by year end.

Yawning divisions have emerged between the House, Senate and White House over tax reform, raising doubts about whether Republicans will be able to achieve their most important political and policy priority before the end of the year.

The Senate and House are split on some key issues, including the top tax rate and the timing of the corporate tax cut, and also at odds with President Donald Trump in many areas. Hard bargaining, battles between GOP factions and an onslaught of lobbying are the gauntlets Republicans will have to run to get legislation to Trump's desk by the end of the year -- and into their mailers and ads for the 2018 elections.

If one thing unifies Republicans and makes the job easier than it might appear, it's the fear that they will have nothing to take into those contests after the failure of another marquee effort, repealing and replacing Obamacare. House Speaker Paul Ryan and other GOP leaders used the drubbing the party took in Tuesday's election in Virginia as a warning to the rank and file: Pass tax reform or face the wrath of Republican voters. ... Read more

Steven Mnuchin, foreclosure king of America
Salon | Nomi Prins/TomDispatch | 11/10/17

Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs partner, arrived in Washington with a distinct reputation. Back in 2009, he had corralled a bundle of rich financiers to take over California's IndyMac bank, shut down amid the 2008 foreclosure crisis by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Bought for $13.9 billion (but only $1.3 billion in actual cash), Mnuchin turned it into a genuine foreclosure machine, in the process sealing his own fate when it came to his future reputation. At the time, he didn't appear concerned about public approval. Something far more valuable was at stake: the $200 million that, according to Bloomberg News, he raked in personally, thanks to the deal. ... Read more

How Trump Learned to Love the Swamp
Politico | Michael Grunwald | 11/09/17

A year after the election he's still campaigning as a populist, but he's governing for the big interests he ran against.

Richard Cordray, the crusading Democrat who runs the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, had never met or even spoken to President Donald Trump. But on October 30, he sent an unusually emotional letter to the White House, begging the president to preserve a new rule ensuring that consumers could sue financial firms in court. "This letter is not about charts or graphs or studies," he wrote. "Instead, it is simply a personal appeal to you."

Cordray said he had been warned that his letter would be a waste of time, since the president's Republican allies in Congress had already passed a bill killing the rule, but he tried a last-ditch appeal to the drain-the-swamp, elite-bashing populism that Trump so powerfully expressed in the 2016 campaign. Cordray explained that the bill would prevent ordinary Americans from filing class-action suits against corporate wrongdoers like Wells Fargo and Equifax, and that a veto would help the people who put Trump in office fight the special interests Trump had vowed to crush. ... Read more

Bannon: Mitch McConnell should resign
Politico | Louis Nelson | 11/09/17

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon on Wednesday called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to resign, telling Fox News that "there needs to be a sense of urgency in the Senate."

"I'm to the point that I think Mitch McConnell, to really bring unity to the Republican Party and get things done, I think Mitch McConnell ought to tender his resignation," Bannon, who returned to his job heading the conservative media outlet Breitbart News upon leaving the White House, told Fox News' Sean Hannity. "What he ought to do is offer to resign as soon as taxes are done. We can't do it in the middle of taxes. ... Because, I've got to tell you, there needs to be a sense of urgency in the Senate." ... Read more

America's diplomacy power is being completely destroyed, ambassador warns
Salon | Matthew Rozsa | 11/08/17/span>

Fleeing foreign officers have a "serious, immediate, and tangible effect" on America's ability to shape the world

Former ambassador Barbara Stephenson is warning that President Donald Trump is mishandling the State Department. While I do my best, as principal advocate for our institution and as a seasoned American diplomat, to model responsible, civil discourse, there is simply no denying the warning signs that point to mounting threats to our institution -- and to the global leadership that depends on us," Stephenson wrote in an editorial for the American Foreign Service Association, of which she is president.

She added, "There is no denying that our leadership ranks are being depleted at a dizzying speed, due in part to the decision to slash promotion numbers by more than half. The Foreign Service officer corps at State has lost 60 percent of its Career Ambassadors since January. Ranks of Career Ministers, our three-star equivalents, are down from 33 to 19. The ranks of our two-star Minister Counselors have fallen from 431 right after Labor Day to 369 today -- and are still falling." ... Read more

Did Ronald Reagan's 1981 tax cut supercharge the economy?
WashingtonPost | Nicole Lewis | 11/08/17

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, during a press briefing, Oct. 31:

... Many of the gains Sanders cites can be attributed to economic recovery following the recession from 1981-1982 and Volcker's monetary policy. Additionally, over the course of his presidency, Reagan increased taxes several times.

It would be more reasonable to consider the tax cuts in conjunction with a series of monetary policy interventions enacted during and before Reagan's administration. Yet Sanders gives Reagan all the credit. We wavered between Two and Three Pinocchios for Sanders, as the data points are mostly correct, but they are used in a misleading way. ... Read more

Watch Out, Donald Trump. Here Come The Democrats.
HP | Nick Baumann | 11/07/17

The Democratic Party romped to victories across the country Tuesday, gaining key state legislative seats, two governorships and full control of the state governments of New Jersey and Washington, where they'll have wide power to enact their agenda.

In one sense, the wins should have been expected: President Donald Trump is extremely unpopular, and the party that holds the White House usually does worse in congressional, state and local elections in years when the president isn't on the ballot.

And the victories were expected in some cases. In New Jersey, Democrat Phil Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs banker, consistently led in the polls and will now be the next governor. But elsewhere, outcomes were more uncertain. ... Read more

Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House by Donna Brazile

In the fallout of the Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee--and as chaos threatened to consume the party's convention--Democrats turned to a familiar figure to right the ship: Donna Brazile. Known to millions from her frequent TV appearances, she was no stranger to high stakes and dirty opponents, and the longtime Democratic strategist had a reputation in Washington as a one-stop shop for fixing sticky problems.

What Brazile found at the DNC was unlike anything she had experienced before--and much worse than is commonly known. The party was beset by infighting, scandal, and hubris, while reeling from a brazen and wholly unprecedented attempt by a foreign power to influence the presidential election. Plus, its candidate, Hillary Clinton, faced an opponent who broke every rule in the political playbook.

Packed with never-before-reported revelations about what went down in 2016, Hacks is equal parts campaign thriller, memoir, and roadmap for the future. With Democrats now in the wilderness after this historic defeat, Hacks argues that staying silent about what went wrong helps no one. Only by laying bare the missteps, miscalculations, and crimes of 2016, Brazile contends, will Americans be able to salvage their democracy.

Trump Bucks Usual Aggression, Opens The Door To Negotiations With North Korea
HP | Nick Visser | 11/08/17

President Donald Trump took a far more measured tone during his address to South Korea's National Assembly on Wednesday, touting the option of diplomacy with North Korea while delivering a strong message to the country's leader that it must end its nuclear weapons program.

Trump, speaking in Seoul as part of his 12-day tour of Asia, delivered a direct and at times heavy-handed message to Kim Jong Un, telling the North Korean leader: "Do not underestimate us. Do not try us."

However the president echoed calls from a day earlier when, speaking at a news conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, he urged Pyongyang to "come to the table and make a deal."

"I also come here to deliver a message directly to the leader: The weapons you are acquiring are not making you safer. They are putting your regime in grave danger," Trump told the National Assembly. "Every step you take down this dark path increases the peril you face. North Korea is not the paradise your grandfather envisioned. It is a hell that no person deserves. ... Read more

Trump: 'Hundreds more' would have died in Texas if gun laws were stricter
Politico | Louis Nelson | 11/07/17

Tougher vetting for individuals who purchase firearms would not have stopped the gunman in last weekend's mass shooting in Texas, President Donald Trump said Tuesday, tamping down renewed calls for gun control.

At a press conference Tuesday in South Korea, Trump was asked if he would consider seeking "extreme vetting" for gun purchasers similar to what he has advocated for individuals entering the U.S. from other countries. Trump said such screenings would not have stopped Sunday's gunman, who killed 26 people inside a Texas church, and could potentially have stopped another gun owner from confronting the shooter. ... Read more

Trump commerce secretary's business links with Putin family laid out in leaked files
TheGuardian | Jon Swaine and Luke Harding | 11/05/17

Donald Trump's commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, is doing business with Vladimir Putin's son-in-law through a shipping venture in Russia.

Leaked documents and public filings show Ross holds a stake in a shipping company, Navigator, through a chain of offshore investments. Navigator operates a lucrative partnership with Sibur, a Russian gas company part-owned by Kirill Shamalov, the husband of Putin's daughter Katerina Tikhonova.

Ross, a billionaire and close friend of Trump, retained holdings in Navigator after taking office this year. The relationship means he stands to benefit from the operations of a Russian company run by Putin's family and close allies, some of whom are under US sanctions. ... Read more
The Paradise Papers, a leak of 13.4million files

Texas church shooting and domestic violence: A large and disturbing pattern
Salon | Amanda Marcotte | 11/07/17

The Sutherland Springs shooting looks like another example of men acting out violent rage against women

As more information leaks out about the mass shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas -- where 26 people were murdered and 20 more injured during Sunday church services -- it's becoming clear that this almost certainly started off as a domestic violence incident. The alleged shooter, Devin Patrick Kelley, had a history of such incidents. In 2012, he was court-martialed by the Air Force for an assault on his wife and child. After his divorce from that wife, police were summoned to his home in 2014 another report of abuse, this one involving a girlfriend he would marry two months later. ... Read more

Syria Vows To Sign Paris Agreement, Leaving U.S. Alone In Climate Denial
HP | Alexander C. Kaufman | 11/07/17

Syria took a break on Tuesday from its gruesome six-year civil war to announce plans to sign the Paris climate agreement, leaving the United States as the only country to reject the emissions-cutting deal.

The deal was considered historic because it was the first climate agreement to include the U.S. ? the world's biggest historic emitter, with by far the largest per-capita carbon footprint ? and China, which currently produces the most carbon pollution on a national level. The U.S. took a lead role in shaping the deal.

Only war-torn Syria and Nicaragua, which protested the agreement's failure to impose strict demands on major polluters, refused to sign. ... Read more

Leak Exposes Ross Stake In Putin-Tied Company | MSNBC | 11/06/17 | 14:12

Sec. Ross Responds To Paradise Papers Allegations | CNBC | 11/06/17 | 16:08

Trump Says Deadly Texas Shooting Isn't A Guns Issue, It's A Mental Health Problem
HP | Rebecca Shapiro | 11/06/17

President Donald Trump responded to the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history by saying the attack was a result of "a mental health problem" and not due to lax gun control laws.

During a news conference Monday in Tokyo, Trump said it was "a little bit soon" to get into a discussion about gun control. ... Read more

Vanity Fair: Trump blaming Kushner for Mueller investigation
The Hill | Rebecca Savransky | 11/01/17

President Trump is reportedly blaming White House adviser Jared Kushner for his role in decisions that led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, according to a new report by Vanity Fair.

In a call Tuesday to former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon, Trump put blame on Kushner for the part he took in choices to fire former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former FBI director James Comey, Vanity Fair reported. ... Read more
Trump Turning On Jared Kushner? | TYT | 11/02/17 | 6:55

Trump continues to degrade the presidency -- and there's no quick fix coming
Salon | Chauncey DeVega | 11/06/17

In normal circumstances, Trump's contempt for democracy would be grounds for removal. But nothing is normal now/p>

With great power comes great responsibility. Those words are a warning. They are also a proclamation. Donald Trump has learned neither of the two lessons.

Last Monday, Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller issued his first indictments of Trump's inner circle for financial and other crimes related to the Russia scandal. The next day Sayfullo Saipov, an alleged ISIS-inspired terrorist, killed eight people and injured at least a dozen on the streets of lower Manhattan.

In response, Donald Trump concocted a series of lies and conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton, uranium, and the Democratic Party. On Twitter as well as in interviews throughout the week, he said that the American legal system was "a joke" and "a laughingstock." Trump may also have made it much more difficult to convict or sentence Saipov by publicly threatening him with execution. ... Read more

Sex, Booze And Bribes Corruption Probe Targets 60 U.S. Navy Admirals: Report
HP | Mary Papenfuss | 11/06/17

A massive investigation of U.S. Navy corruption in Asia that featured wild parties, bribes and prostitutes has expanded to include more than than 60 admirals and hundreds of other Navy officers, The Washington Post reports.

The probe centers on Malaysian contractor Leonard "Fat Leonard" Glenn Francis, who provided money and wild times in exchange for classified information to win lucrative contracts with the 7th Fleet for his Singapore-based company and defraud the U.S. government, according to the newspaper.

The Justice Department has already filed charges against 28 people, including two admirals, since Francis was arrested in a sting operation four years ago. But that could just be the beginning. Eighteen people have pleaded guilty to charges that include violations of military law and federal ethics rules.

The Navy told the Post that investigators have been examining the conduct of 440 personnel, current and retired, including at least 60 admirals. ... Read more

Trump Is Racking Up an Appalling Civilian Death Count
AlterNet | Marjorie Cohn / Truthout | 11/03/17

In March alone, 1,000 died as a result of needless American wars.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump advocated killing innocent families of suspected terrorists. "When you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families," he declared. Besides the immorality of killing innocents, the targeting of civilians violates the Geneva Conventions.

The George W. Bush administration unlawfully detained and tortured suspected terrorists. Determined not to send more suspects to Guantánamo, Barack Obama's administration illegally assassinated them with drones and other methods, killing many civilians in the process.

Now the Trump administration is killing record numbers of civilians and weakening the already-flimsy targeted killing rules Obama put in place. ... Read more

Rogue Twitter Employee Deletes Donald Trump's Account On Last Day
HP | Doha Madani | 11/02/17

President Donald Trump's personal Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump, briefly vanished from the internet on Thursday.

Social media users noticed that for a short period of time around 7 p.m. EDT Thursday, the page was inaccessible. Given the president's frequent use of the platform, confusion began to circulate as to why the account might be deleted. But it was all an employee error, Twitter said about an hour later. It seems that an employee who was leaving the company deleted the account. ... Read more

Trump Twiter Archive

Trump: 'We'll see' if Tillerson lasts duration of term
Politico | Cristiano Lima | 11/02/17

President Donald Trump on Thursday declined to give a full-throated endorsement of his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, saying that "we'll see" if he will serve out his term with the president.

... "We'll see. I don't know who's going to be [here for the] duration," the president replied. He also noted that Tillerson was "working hard" and "doing his best." With the remark, Tillerson again had his future with the Trump administration thrown into uncertainty. ... Read more

How America's Bloated Defense Budget Leaves Us Defenseless...and Broke
AlterNet | Guy Saperstein | 11/01/17

We're spending billions on the military at the expense of health care and schools.

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children."

It has been over six decades since Dwight D. Eisenhower uttered these words in a broadcast announcement from the Statler Hotel in Washington D.C. And while circumstances in America have undoubtedly changed, his words remain accurate. ... Read more

Donna Brazile Confesses that DNC Rigged Primaries
TRNN| Michael Sainato | 11/02/17

Former DNC Interim Chair Donna Brazile confirms money laundering scheme between the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign

On November 2, Donna Brazile published an excerpt from her upcoming book, "Hacks," in Politico. In the passage, Brazile outlines how she first discovered the joint fundraising agreement between Hillary Clinton's campaign and the DNC that created the Hillary Victory Fund. The agreement is the most overt evidence that the DNC rigged the 2016 Democratic Primaries for Hillary Clinton. Essentially, Brazile claims that the fund was used to launder money to the Clinton Campaign, and in exchange the DNC received help in clearing out its debt. The catch was that former DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the entire apparatus of the DNC was at the control of the Clinton Campaign, serving as an extension of it under the false pretense of neutrality.

"Individuals who had maxed out their $2,700 contribution limit to the campaign could write an additional check for $353,400 to the Hillary Victory Fund--that figure represented $10,000 to each of the thirty-two states' parties who were part of the Victory Fund agreement--$320,000--and $33,400 to the DNC," Brazile writes. "The money would be deposited in the states first, and transferred to the DNC shortly after that. Money in the battleground states usually stayed in that state, but all the other states funneled that money directly to the DNC, which quickly transferred the money to Brooklyn." ... Read more
BOMBSHELL: Donna Brazile Admits DNC Rigged Primary Against Bernie | TYT | 11/02/17 | 18:05

GOP Sticks With Big, Permanent Corporate Tax Cuts in House Bill
WSJ | | 11/02/17

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, set to be released Thursday morning, would permanently chop the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%, compress the number of individual income tax brackets, and repeal the taxes paid by large estates starting in 2024, according to a detailed summary of the plan reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The plan would seeking the biggest transformation of the U.S. tax code in more than 30 years. Read more

Trump Blamed The Visa Lottery For A Terrorist Attack. But Ending It Wouldn't End Terrorism.
HP | Elise Foley | 11/01/17

Experts say the focus shouldn't be on shutting down the visa lottery but on preventing radicalization.

President Donald Trump and his White House are using the Tuesday terrorist attack in New York City to push their goal of cutting legal immigration by misleading the public about the diversity visa lottery system. But immigration experts argue that early available evidence indicates the focus should be on preventing radicalization ? and that eliminating the diversity lottery or blocking people from certain nations won't prevent such attacks.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders falsely said on Wednesday that there is no vetting for the diversity visa lottery, a program that allows 50,000 people to move to the country each year from countries with low immigration rates. ... Read more

Is Trump trapped? He's hemmed in by bad advice, with no way out
Salon | Heather Digby Parton | 11/02/17

According to The New York Times, the president is cool, calm and collected in the wake of special counsel Robert Mueller's indictments of three of his close associates this week. He called up a reporter to say "I'm actually not angry at anybody. I'm not under investigation, as you know. . . . Even if you look at that, there's not even a mention of Trump in there. . . . It has nothing to do with us." He also said, "I just got fantastic poll numbers" and that he's "really enjoying" the job. Sure he is.

He didn't tell the Times reporter what poll numbers he was looking at, but whatever they were, they weren't anyone else's definition of fantastic. His best job approval numbers at the moment are in the low 40s, and most have him languishing in the 30s. Gallup's daily tracking poll hit a new low this week: 33 percent. Trump's longtime friend and adviser, Sam Nunberg, told Vanity Fair's Gabriel Sherman, "You can't go any lower. He's fucked." ... Read more

Google and Facebook's Congressional Testimonies Reveal a Deep Hypocrisy at the Heart of the Missions of These Tech Titans
AlterNet | Liz Posner | 11/01/17

The companies don't care about their consumers anymore.

The House and Senate intelligence committees probed legal representatives from Google, Facebook, and Twitter this week over their role in Russia's hacking of the 2016 election. While the three corporate reps played along, claiming ignorance of the extent of the Russian involvement and outrage over it happening at all, their behavior at the testimonies revealed a deep and underlying rot within their companies -- one that we all could have seen coming since we first discovered these companies were spying on us. The Google, Facebook, and Twitter congressional hearings this week confirmed that the Russian infiltration of the American election wasn't just a problem of oversight on behalf of those companies. They also revealed that these companies have, to some extent, abandoned their fundamental missions. ... Read more

Trump attacks Schumer over NYC attacker and visa program
Politico | Louis Nelson | 11/01/17

President Donald Trump on Wednesday laid the blame for the deadly attack at the feet of the Senate minority leader, saying a State Department visa program that he claims allowed the driver in Tuesday's New York terrorist attack to enter the U.S. is a "Chuck Schumer beauty."

"The terrorist came into our country through what is called the 'Diversity Visa Lottery Program,' a Chuck Schumer beauty. I want merit based," Trump wrote online in a pair of posts. "We are fighting hard for Merit Based immigration, no more Democrat Lottery Systems. We must get MUCH tougher (and smarter)."

"'Senator Chuck Schumer helping to import Europe's problems' said Col. Tony Shaffer. We will stop this craziness!" Trump added in a third post, referencing Shaffer's appearance on Fox News's "Fox & Friends." ... Read more

Bryan Cranston: 'F**k You' To Anyone Who Wants Trump To Fail | TYT | 11/01/17 | 7:29

6 Loose Ends in Mueller's Investigation That Could End Up Shaking Trump's Presidency
AlterNet | Steven Rosenfeld | 10/31/17

... "The first big takeaway from Monday morning's flurry of charging and plea documents with respect to Paul Manafort Jr., Richard Gates III and George Papadopoulos is this: The president of the United States had as his campaign chairman a man who had allegedly served for years as an unregistered foreign agent for a puppet government of Vladimir Putin, a man who was allegedly laundering remarkable sums of money even while running the now-president's campaign, a man who allegedly lied about all of this to the FBI and the Justice Department," wrote Susan Hennessey and Benjamin Wittes for LawfareBlog.com. ... Read more

How a Federal Inquiry Says Paul Manafort Laundered $18 Million | NYTimes | | 10/31/17 | article

CO2 makes largest Jump in recorded history, hits record high | Climate State | 10/31/17 | 7:38

Scott Pruitt Declares War on Wind and Solar Energy, While Fossil Fuels Get Billions in Subsidies | AlterNet | Elliot Negin | 10/30/17 | article

The Education of Betsy DeVos
Politico | Tim Alberta | Nov/Dec 2017

President Donald Trump's most controversial, ideological Cabinet pick is discovering the limits of her power.

KANSAS CITY, Missouri -- It is strange, if a bit unsettling, to see U.S. Marshals constantly hovering near the U.S. secretary of education, a 59-year-old evangelical Christian grandmother whose hobbies are bike riding, yoga and visiting grade schools. But as Betsy DeVos approached Kansas City Academy on a sunny Friday morning in mid-September, it was clear why she wants them there.

It was the final day of her "Rethink School" tour, the familiar fly-around trip taken by a Cabinet secretary to capture some local news coverage and emphasize priorities--in DeVos' case, to highlight unique and innovative learning environments across the country. But at this particular stop, tension filled the air. Several hundred protesters gathered outside -- vastly outnumbering the 76 students, grades 6 through 12, who attend the school -- while a procession of speakers denounced DeVos as a destroyer of public education and an enabler of campus rape. ... Read more