The official Thread for Trash/Repug CRAPICATION of America, the planet

[boutons_deux]

Mulvaney doing his oligarchy bit to screw the poor

Trump official quietly drops payday loan case, mulls others

The top cop for U.S. consumer finance has decided not to sue a payday loan collector and is weighing whether to drop cases against three payday lenders,

The four previously unreported cases aimed to return more than $60 million to consumers, the people said.

Three are part of routine CFPB work to police storefront lenders.

The fourth case concerns who has a right to collect payday loans offered from tribal land.

“(Cordray) had a theory that was really out there and I think everything related to it is being pulled back,” Auchterlonie said.

Consumers have complained that NCA threatened to have them jailed and sue family members

A CFPB investigation found NCA wrongly collected roughly $50 million, of which the agency’s lawyers wanted to return about $45 million,

Payday lending often involves low-income borrowers taking out short-term cash loans at high rates.

The industry collects about $9 billion in fees annually,

Mulvaney has said that, in general, the CFPB will go after egregious cases of consumer abuses. :lol

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cfpb-payday-exclusive/exclusive-trump-official-quietly-drops-payday-loan-case-mulls-others-sources-idUSKBN1GZ1A9?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtopNews+%28News+%2F +US+%2F+Top+News%29

[boutons_deux]

Senators Rebuke EPA Plan To Let Kids Handle Pesticides Again

If regulators remove the age restrictions, minors could work with pesticides that aren’t even sold to the general public because of how toxic they are

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/senators-rebuke-epa-plan-to-let-kids-handle-pesticides-again_us_5aa943f5e4b0f7a689ce9b11?the

Pruitt is one scary motherfucker

[boutons_deux]

Dtizy Devos hitting more home runs

As Lawmakers Accuse DeVos of Lack of Regard for Students, Her Own Staffer Admits 'Things Have Gotten Pretty Awful Here'

"What do you mean, there's no data?" a lawmaker asked Secretary of Education during tense hearing. "There is study after study after study."

members of Congress received word from her staff members that DeVos had been withholding from lawmakers information about her spending plans as they've been developed in recent months.

Information about what drove DeVos's budgeting decisions was omitted from documents submitted to Congress ahead of the hearing

"Our concern is about a breakdown in communication,

a culture of secrecy and a fear of retaliatory action that has prevented Budget Service from providing House and Senate appropriators and staff, and for that matter, the public,

with key information about the department’s plans for fiscal year 2019," wrote a career department official

"Given the potential for some of these proposals to radically impact the way the department carries out its mission,

Congress should probably see this."

, DeVos's budget calls for

a five percent spending reduction across the agency,

targeting several regional offices that operate under the Office of Civil Rights and

after-school programs that serve children in low-income communities.

The budget also proposes a $1 billion plan to steer students towards private and charter schools and away from public education.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) concluding, "One thing is for sure: you do not have our students' best interests in mind."

Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) became incensed over DeVos's lack of knowledge about the positive effects of after-school programs in lower-income school districts.

Secretary, Clark noted, eliminated funding for 21st Century Community Centers, programs which serve "80,000 kids in Florida alone,"

"There's no data to show that [after-school programs] are effective in what the stated goal has been," said DeVos.

"What do you mean, there's no data? There is study after study after study," pressed Clark. "We will be glad to supply you with studies on the efficacy of after-school programs."

the Secretary does not "care much about the civil rights of black and brown children. This is horrible."

DeVos defended her plan to delay (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/15/us/politics/devos-obama-special-education-racial-disparities.html?_r=0)an Obama-era rule combating disproportionate numbers of minority students in special education classes and

rescind (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/devos-to-remove-key-discipline-protection-for-children_us_5a4e4173e4b0df0de8b06fd1) guidance to ensure that black and Latino students are no longer disciplined far more often than their white peers.

why there was a deliberate choice to withhold this information for Congress's consideration."

tensions between the Secretary and employees have been inflamed by a contract dispute.

"Things have gotten pretty awful here,"

wrote the official bluntly.

"And at this point, employees are willing to accept whatever fallout comes with exercising a right to make sure Congress gets information it needs.

Employees are tired of seeing their colleagues deputized into misleading Congress."

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/20/lawmakers-accuse-devos-lack-regard-students-her-own-staffer-admits-things-have?utm_term=As%20Lawmakers%20Accuse%20DeVos%20of %20Lack%20of%20Regard%20for%20Students%2C%20Her%20 Own%20Staffer%20Admits%20%27Things%20Have%20Gotten %20Pretty%20Awful%20Here%27&utm_campaign=Marching%20for%20Our%20Lives%20in%20a %20World%20of%20Violence%20%7C%20Your%20Week%20In% 20Review%20&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software-_-email-_-Marching%20for%20Our%20Lives%20in%20a%20World%20of %20Violence%20%7C%20Your%20Week%20In%20Review%20-_-As%20Lawmakers%20Accuse%20DeVos%20of%20Lack%20of%2 0Regard%20for%20Students%2C%20Her%20Own%20Staffer% 20Admits%20%27Things%20Have%20Gotten%20Pretty%20Aw ful%20Here%27

Christian theocrat, white nationalist racist, inherited wealth rich bitch Ditzy is right up with Mulvaney and Pruitt as being the motherfucking best at screwing their depts and America.

[boutons_deux]

Airlines asked the Trump administration to hide fees from travelers

The US Department of Transportation is currently evaluating a series of requests from airlines sent in December that would hide fees from consumers,

Airlines are asking the DOT to

repeal rules that mandate “full-fare advertising,” and they’d also like to

hide on-time flight and cancellation info while customers are buying tickets.

Third-party booking apps like Google, Kayak, and Hipmunk rely on the data that airlines are forced to show to provide price-comparison tools for travelers.

If the DOT were to approve airlines’ requests, it could become harder to price comparison shop for flight deals.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/23/17156340/airlines-trump-administration-hidden-fees

Will be very surprising if the oligarchy's DoT does not implement the airlines' requests.

[boutons_deux]

GOP lawmakers complain about using government funds to prevent pregnancies and screen for cancer

They are using a GAO report to falsely suggest that taxpayer money is going to abortion.

https://i2.wp.com/thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/danebacmicilk.jpg?resize=1280%2C720px&ssl=1

Congressional Republicans who oppose abortion rights are once again taking aim at Planned Parenthood and other non-profit organizations that provide basic family planning and health services in the United States and around the world.

Their latest talking point: a new Government Accountability Office report that they requested that finds that a total about $500 million went to three of these organizations annually in 2013, 2014, and 2015.

Rep. Diane Black (R-TN), a leading anti-choice members of Congress, hailed the GAO report (https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-18-204R), released Thursday, as “breaking” news that “reveals more than $1.5 BILLION in taxpayer $ is going to the big abortion industry.”

An array (https://black.house.gov/media/press-releases/gao-finds-more-15-billion-tax-dollars-go-abortion-providers) of her House (https://twitter.com/RepKristiNoem/status/971819841471463424) and Senate colleagues followed suit.

https://thinkprogress.org/anti-choice-lawmakers-complain-about-funding-family-planning-db081a1f3135/

Repugs have nothing but lies, bullshit, fraudulent claims, and their ignorant base is suckered every time.

Trash will use his discretion to defund PP completely, causing more unwanted pregnancies, abortions, and undetected female cancers due to reduce screening.

[boutons_deux]

TN House passes bill to erect monument on state property—honoring aborted fetuses (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/22/1751267/-TN-House-passes-bill-to-build-erect-Monument-to-Unborn-Children-on-state-property)

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/22/1751267/-TN-House-passes-bill-to-build-erect-Monument-to-Unborn-Children-on-state-property?detail=emaildkre

[boutons_deux]

Repugs/Trash implementing the oligarchy's strategy of a bad-functioning, non-functioning govt

Trump faults Democrats as top jobs remain unfilled, but he bears blame (and Senate Republicans too)

, he has yet to name an ambassador to the Korean peninsula. Nearly every major Mideast capital has no U.S. ambassador.

Amid a national gun debate, he has not chosen a director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

His budget director is doing double duty as chief of a consumer agency.

Empty desks throughout the executive branch have heightened the sense of chaos in Trump's administration and put the president on the defensive.

Yet nonpartisan specialists who track the process give Trump most of the blame, both because he has been slow to submit nominations and because of the high turnover in senior administration positions, which creates new vacancies faster than the president is filling them.

Yet nonpartisan specialists who track the process give Trump most of the blame, both because he has been slow to submit nominations and because of the high turnover in senior administration positions, which creates new vacancies faster than the president is filling them.

"What is clear," Sullivan added, is that each stage of the confirmation process, from picking and vetting nominees to final votes, "has lengthened since the Reagan administration, and that

the executive is responsible for most of the delay in filling positions."

Democrats argue, an uncommon number of Trump nominees pose questions of competence, conflicts of interest or both.

the White House "low marks for its approach to executive appointments."

"A staff that lacks expertise and experience may not be the best-performing." :lol

Turnover in top jobs, which Brookings has found to be a record level, exacerbates Trump's hiring challenges.

"Turnover in and of itself is very disruptive and inefficient," Tenpas said. "Every administration has it, but the amount here is just off the charts. It's not just getting rid of a few bad apples, not just a matter of streamlining."

The executive branch has roughly 1,200 positions for political appointees that require Senate approval, far more than any other democracy — a "vestige of the spoils system,"

Senate Republicans are complicit as well in holding up Trump nominees, literally. Any senator can secretly put a "hold" on a nominee to stop action, and Republicans have done so — to oppose the individual, extract some unrelated concession from the president or retaliate for some perceived wrong.

"It's not strictly a partisan issue," Stier said. "For many of them,

the holds have been placed by Republicans, not by Democrats.

The longer you wait, the more this becomes a bargaining chip for senators of either party to get something they want."

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-nominations-20180322-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter

[boutons_deux]

Exclusive: Trump official quietly drops payday loan case, mulls others - sources

The top cop for U.S. consumer finance has decided not to sue a payday loan collector and is weighing whether to drop cases against three payday lenders,

The four previously unreported cases aimed to return more than $60 million to consumers,

the people said. Three are part of routine CFPB work to police storefront lenders.

The fourth case concerns who has a right to collect payday loans offered from tribal land.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cfpb-payday-exclusive/exclusive-trump-official-quietly-drops-payday-loan-case-mulls-others-sources-idUSKBN1GZ1A9

[boutons_deux]

Public Knowledge Files Reply Comments Opposing FCC Move to Abandon Low-Income Americans

Federal Communications Commission’s recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry entitled,

“Bridging the Digital Divide for Low-Income Consumers (https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/filings?proceedings_name=17-287&sort=date_disseminated,DESC).”

The NPRM & NOI propose to

eliminate affordable broadband choices for millions of low-income and vulnerable families that participate in the Lifeline program.

They also needlessly impose higher costs for essential connectivity for the poorest veterans, seniors, and families with children.

The Commission’s proposals amount to an unprecedented rollback of America’s longstanding commitment to universal service and affordable basic telecommunications services for low-income families.

The NPRM and NOI propose to make non-facilities-based wireless providers

ineligible to provide Lifeline-supported service,

eliminate the streamlined Lifeline Broadband Provider designation and

certification process created by the FCC’s 2016 Lifeline Modernization Order,

create a self-enforcing budget cap that could cut off subscribers, and

create co-pay requirements and lifetime participation limits that would

punish the working poor, the homeless, and America’s most vulnerable families by depriving them of basic access to affordable telecommunications services.

Public Knowledge opposes the FCC’s efforts to abandon the principles of universal service.

https://www.publicknowledge.org/press-release/public-knowledge-files-reply-comments-opposing-fcc-move-to-abandon-low-income-americans

Another tactic is the oligarchy's War on the Poor (all skin colors), relentlessly grinding them down, dollar by dollar.

[koriwhat]

boutons is worse than copy&pasta

[spurraider21]

at least he never said it would have been awesome for children to have actually been raped just so some politician goes down

[boutons_deux]

he blamed his wife, now he's saying Christ would approve of his $31K dining set

Ben Carson offers a Biblical explanation for his $31,000 dining set

Carson testified that he believed Jesus would have approved of his response, citing the Sermon on the Mount

https://media.salon.com/2018/03/ben-carson-jesus.jpg

(https://www.salon.com/2018/03/26/ben-carson-offers-a-biblical-explanation-for-his-31000-dining-set/)https://www.salon.com/2018/03/26/ben-carson-offers-a-biblical-explanation-for-his-31000-dining-set/

[koriwhat]

at least he never said it would have been awesome for children to have actually been raped just so some politician goes down

the beginning of SR lame shtick. est 2018.

[spurraider21]

the beginning of SR lame shtick. est 2018.
nah, the beginning of the shtick was when you said it would have been awesome if pizzagate was true

[koriwhat]

nah, the beginning of the shtick was when you said it would have been awesome if pizzagate was true

this is going to get good... can't wait to see where this is headed. keep on buddy.

[boutons_deux]

Repugs, the party of white male supremacist RACISM


Zinke’s Interior Dept Disproportionately Reassigned Native American Workers

Nearly a third of the senior Interior Department (DOI) career officials reassigned under Secretary Ryan Zinke in a major agency reshuffling are Native American,

even though Native Americans make up less than 10 percent (http://bestplacestowork.org/BPTW/rankings/detail/IN00) of the Department’s workforce, a review by TPM has found.

The finding comes days after Democratic lawmakers demanded an investigation (https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/dems-want-probe-into-whether-interior-department-discriminated)into whether Zinke discriminated when he reassigned 33 career officials last summer, and

follows on reports (https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/26/politics/ryan-zinke-diversity/index.html) that Zinke has repeatedly told DOI officials he doesn’t care about diversity —

which prompted one member of Congress to accuse Zinke (http://fox61.com/2018/03/26/menendez-zinke-is-on-a-path-to-a-lily-white-department/) of working to create a “lily-white department.”



https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/zinkes-interior-dept-disproportionately-purged-native-american-workers?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20tpm-news%20%28TPMNews%29

[boutons_deux]

New rules would make it easier to find oil — and noisier for whales

The search for offshore oil begins with a boom.

Before the oil rigs arrive and the boring begins, operators need to fire intense seismic blasts repeatedly into the ocean to find oil deposits.

For decades, environmental rules that protected whales and other marine life from this cacophony have limited the location and frequency of these blasts — preventing oil companies from exploring, and therefore operating, off much of the nation's coasts.

Now these safeguards are quietly being dismantled.

The push to overhaul seismic survey rules has not attracted the same public attention as the Trump administration's interest in opening coastal waters to dozens of new drilling leases (http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-offshore-drilling-areas-20180104-htmlstory.html) or downsizing protected marine areas (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-oceans-drilling/u-s-marine-sanctuary-oil-drilling-report-sent-to-trump-not-public-idUSKBN1CU2Y2). But it too could have wide implications beyond enabling new oil operations.

Winding their way through Congress are two bills that supporters say would create jobs, reduce permitting delays and clear the way for naval activities and coastal restoration.

But environmentalists call them

a thinly veiled oil industry wish list that would upend established protections and fast-track the permitting process for oil exploration off the Atlantic, much of Alaska and even California.

"So much legislation like this just goes under the radar," said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans.

"It's a scorched earth effort right now across the whole of federal public policy to give things away to the oil and gas industry."

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-marine-mammal-oil-drilling-20180402-story.html?utm_source=Today%27s+Headlines&utm_campaign=2ea5a09c97-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016_12_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b04355194f-2ea5a09c97-80027601

The Sky People are relentless plunderers, thieves.

[boutons_deux]

Of course Repugs "hate poor people" whose only value to Repugs is their votes

(dubya, brilliant speaker, told NAACP meeting "I value the black vote" (not the people)

GOP Group Apologizes, Ousts Staffer For Tweeting Republicans ‘Hate Poor People’

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/gop-group-apologizes-ousts-staffer-post?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20tpm-news%20%28TPMNews%29

[boutons_deux]

Rural gun owner explains how ‘fear of one another’ has turned America into a stew of toxic paranoia

David Joy, an author who lives in rural North Carolina, has written a lengthy essay about American gun culture in the New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/02/magazine/gun-culture-is-my-culture-and-i-fear-for-what-it-has-become.html) in which he finds himself disturbed at the paranoia he sees in many of his fellow gun owners

Even though Joy owns multiple guns himself and has been a gun owner for years,

he finds himself feeling increasingly isolated by the dark overtones of American gun culture, which he says is

now primarily driven by toxic fear.


“Fear is the factor no one wants to address —

fear of criminals, :lol

fear of terrorists, :lol

fear of the government’s turning tyrannical :lol

and, perhaps more than anything else, fear of one another,” he says.

“There’s no simple solution like pulling fear off the shelf.

It’s an intangible thing.

I recognize this, because I recognize my own and

I recognize that despite all I know and believe I can’t seem to overcome it.”

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/04/rural-gun-owner-explains-fear-one-another-turned-america-stew-toxic-paranoia/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

What a great fucking USA is, huh? The Greatest Country, God's favorite country, in the History of the Universe, and 100Ms leave in fear and paranoia and hate

[boutons_deux]

Scott Pruitt Bypassed the White House to Give Big Raises to Favorite Aides

The embattled EPA chief used an obscure provision last month to increase the salaries of a pair of staffers by tens of thousands of dollars.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/04/pruitt-epa/557123/?utm_source=twb&ncid=newsltushpmgnews__TheMorningEmail__040318

[boutons_deux]

Repug white male supremacy includes misogyny

A Republican lawmaker just called for women who have abortions to be executed

The Associated Press reports (https://www.kpvi.com/news/local_news/idaho-candidate-supports-penalizing-women-who-get-abortions/article_5b9bf7d2-377c-11e8-91d3-5b3149c85891.html) that

Nonini not only believes that women shouldn’t be in control of their own reproductive systems,

he thinks they should be criminally prosecuted if they elect to get an abortion,

with possible punishment all the way up to the death penalty.

Nonini said that he supported punishing women for abortions.

When asked if that punishment should include capital punishment, he nodded in the affirmative.

https://washingtonpress.com/2018/04/03/a-republican-lawmaker-just-called-for-women-who-have-abortions-to-be-executed/

[Mikeanaro]

981359079506481154
981366715866058752
981377812576784385

:lmao Diahrremtards

[boutons_deux]

Here's kakistocrat extraoridaire shit bag getting humiliated ... on Fox?

Watch Scott Pruitt Mumble, Stammer, and Get Indignant During a Jawdropping Fox News Interview


embattled EPA administrator Scott Pruitt — in which he threw his staff under the bus over the controversy surrounding efforts to secure pay raises for two EPA employees.

“President [Donald] Trump said he would drain the swamp. Is draining the swamp renting an apartment from the wife of a Washington lobbyist?” Henry said — inquiring about an absurdly discounted condo Pruitt rented from the spouse of a top energy lobbyist (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/02/climate/epa-pruitt-pipeline-apartment.html).
Pruitt got indignant.
“I don’t think that that’s remotely fair to ask that question,” he said, icily.


“Your house in Oklahoma, you pay a mortgage on that,” Henry said. “And when you don’t sleep there, you still pay the mortgage, right?
Pruitt practically did a double-take.
“Not when I’m not using it,” Pruitt said, stammering. Then, catching himself, he said, “I mean, yes. This is a tremendous difference. I wasn’t using the facility, uh, Ed, when I wasn’t there.”
Credit to Henry for masterful interrogation as the interview, in many respects, felt like a career-killer for Scott Pruitt.

https://www.mediaite.com/online/watch-scott-pruitt-mumble-stammer-and-get-indignant-during-a-jawdropping-fox-news-interview/

Did Trash have Fox trash Pruitt so Trash can fire Pruitt?

Pruitt got to stay in a lobbyist's condo for $1000 month when market price is $3000/month. Pruitt approved the lobbyist's project.

[boutons_deux]

At Least 23 Ethical Issues Are Dogging EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt

It’s a lot deeper than his $50-a-night rental from industry lobbyists.

Scott Pruitt (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/scott-pruitt/) is facing mounting pressure to resign from the Environmental Protection Agency amid intensifying scrutiny of his alleged ethical lapses.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that

“the president thinks that he’s done a good job, particularly on the deregulation front,”

but added that

“we take this seriously and we’re looking into it.”

On Thursday, Hogan Gidley, a deputy White House press secretary, said on Fox News that he “can’t speak to the future of Scott Pruitt.”

Pressure escalated Thursday afternoon as two new reports alleged that Pruitt tried to abuse (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/scott-pruitt-asked-to-use-sirens-in-dc-traffic-and-was-told-no-for-non-emergency/) his vehicle’s emergency sirens to cut through traffic, and that

five EPA officials who challenged Pruitt’s “unusually large spending (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/05/business/epa-officials-questioned-scott-pruitt.html)” were either reassigned, demoted or forced out.

If Pruitt exits, ... will be the first forced out since Anne Gorsuch Burford, President Ronald Reagan’s first EPA administrator, resigned in disgrace in 1983.

Burford was EPA’s first female administrator (not to mention the mother of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch),

and stepped down after being cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over Superfund records

Yet his future in the Trump administration now hinges on

an ongoing White House review of his spending,

his use of loopholes to give political appointees unapproved raises, and

links to lobbyists who gave him a great deal on a Capitol Hill rental.

1. His Washington housing arrangement.


2. A shady real estate deal in Oklahoma.


3. Giving unapproved raises.


4. His first-class travel ― and his explanation.


5. His frequent trips back home to Oklahoma.


6. About that Morocco trip...


7. A private jet?


8. Around-the-clock security.


9. Spending $120,000 to hire an opposition researcher for the media.


10. Spending roughly $43,000 on a soundproof phone booth.


11. He tried to use emergency sirens to cut through D.C. traffic.


12. Punishing EPA staffers who challenged his spending.


13. Allowing an aide to moonlight as a media consultant.


14. His naked political ambitions.


15. His past ties to natural gas companies.


16. Meeting more with fossil fuel companies than with health advocates.


17. Withholding his appointment calendars.


18. Refusing to recuse himself.


19. His “red team-blue team” debate on climate science.


20. His embrace of the right-wing Heartland Institute.


21. Booting scientists off EPA advisory boards without telling them.


22. Spending a lot of election money on luxury travel before joining the EPA.


23. Naming a coal lobbyist as his No. 2 ― the man who could replace him.


https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/scott-pruitt-scandals-list_us_5ac66dffe4b09d0a1191647f?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=__TheMorningEmail__040618&utm_content=__TheMorningEmail__040618+CID_5c7c4a88 3b7f9693cf2ce204c4365ef3&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=HuffPost&ncid=newsltushpmgnews__TheMorningEmail__040618

Which SHIT HOLE state produces the worst SHITBAGS? TX? OK? KS? :lol

Rumor has is that Pruitt is Trash's pick to replace racist JeBo at DoJ.

Pruitt would be an excellent choice, like all of Trash's choices. :lol

[boutons_deux]

Ajit Pai is one of the oligarchy's hatchet men, grinding down the poor, to pay for oligarchy's tax cuts

Congress Is Trying to Stop Ajit Pai from Taking Broadband Assistance Away from the Poor

The Lifeline program provides subsidized communications services to low-income Americans, many of whom rely on it as their only way to access the internet.

A group of Senators have called on the Federal Communication Commission (https://www.harris.senate.gov/news/press-releases/harris-senators-push-back-on-fcc-proposal-to-cut-phone-and-broadband-service-from-struggling-americans) to reconsider its proposal to scale down a program (https://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2017/db1201/FCC-17-155A1.pdf) that helps poor Americans get affordable internet.

Following 68 Congress Members from the House who sent a similar plea last month,

11 minority Senators, including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have co-authored a letter (https://www.harris.senate.gov/news/press-releases/harris-senators-push-back-on-fcc-proposal-to-cut-phone-and-broadband-service-from-struggling-americans) to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai

urging him to reconsider the move,

which would strip access to the program from 70 percent of current subscribers (https://www.publicknowledge.org/news-blog/blogs/chairman-pai-plans-to-put-an-end-to-the-us-commitment-to-universal-servic).

“It is your obligation to the American public, as the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission,

to improve the Lifeline program and ensure that more Americans can afford access,

and have means of access, to broadband and phone service,”

their letter reads.

“Your proposal accomplishes the exact opposite –

it takes resources out of the hands of the most vulnerable Americans.”
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/qvx3ep/whats-happening-with-lifeline-fcc-program?utm_source=mbtwitter

(Wealthy) Repug Senators fully support, by their silence, Pai in screwing the poor.

[boutons_deux]

Nature’s Great Bird Migration Under Threat By You-Know-Who

You could call it the Nebraska bird eclipse. At the first dart of morning light, so many sandhill cranes take off from the banks along the Platte River they darken the sky. This primeval spectacle, part of a massive spring migration from South America to the northern reaches, draws viewers from around the world.

For a century — through depression, world war and countless other national crises — American presidents, Republican and Democrat alike, have honored laws ensuring the survival of these migrating species.
Until this one.

Since Inauguration Day, the Trump administration has engaged in a tireless assault on the nation’s environmental protections.

It should thus surprise no one that it is

now going after the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.

Three days before Christmas, it issued

a legal opinion that the law doesn’t prohibit the incidental killing of these birds.

Penalties for doing so vanished.

Gutting the law gives industry a free pass to stop taking steps to minimize the deaths of migrating birds. And

what makes the move especially perverse is that the things companies can do to comply cost, in most cases, mere pocket change.

industrial traps covered by the treaty have similarly simple fixes. And they’re not all related to oil, gas and coal.

U.S. migratory bird populations are already a fraction of their former size, largely because of habitat loss.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is credited with having spared billions of birds

from unnecessary death and saved numerous species — including the wood duck, snowy egret and sandhill crane — from extinction.

The attacks on the

Environmental Protection Agency,

the Clean Air Act,

the Clean Water Act,

President Obama’s Clean Power Plan and

now the Migratory Bird Treaty Act

are designed to demoralize us.

http://www.nationalmemo.com/natures-great-bird-migration-under-threat-by-you-know-who/

Oligarchy/BigOil/BigCorp/Repugs/conservatives make the planet shit-hole-ier every day.

It's what you Trash fellators voted for, right?

[boutons_deux]

More fleecing of taxpayers, by oligarchy (BigFinance) whore Mulvaney

Mulvaney gives massive pay bumps to new hires at bureau, rips off consumers it's supposed to protect (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/6/1754985/-Mulvaney-gives-massive-pay-bumps-to-new-hires-at-bureau-rips-off-consumers-it-s-supposed-to-protect)

Mulvaney has hired at least eight political appointees since he took over the bureau in late November.

Four of them are making $259,500 a year and one is making $239,595.

That is more than the salaries of members of Congress, cabinet secretaries, and nearly all federal judges apart from those who sit on the Supreme Court. […]

Mulvaney, as Trump’s budget director, has long railed against government spending. :lol

One of his first directives as acting CFPB director was to announce he needed zero dollars in funding to run the agency, pledging to spend down the bureau’s surplus fund this quarter before requiring more money from the Fed — the CFPB is funded by the Fed and not through the traditional congressional budget process.

In his Jan. 17 letter to the Fed, Mulvaney said

he was asking for zero dollars because of the need to be “responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.” :lol

But that tight-fisted approach apparently was not used with his staff’s salaries.

Further, it appears that

at least two people that Mulvaney hired for his office are for positions that did not exist under the previous administration, ( govt bloat! :lol )

at an additional taxpayer cost of $259,500 per employee.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/6/1754985/-Mulvaney-gives-massive-pay-bumps-to-new-hires-at-bureau-rips-off-consumers-it-s-supposed-to-protect

[boutons_deux]

Nugent: Democrats Should Be Shot Like Coyotes


http://www.nationalmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Ted-Nugent2-668x501.png

Ted Nugent likened Democrats, members of the media and others to “rabid coyotes” on Friday and suggested people should not wait to “get” their guns and “shoot” them on sight.

applied the same comparison to Hollywood and RINOS - the common acronym standing for Republicans in name only - during an interview on InfoWars’ The Alex Jones Show.

“Don’t ask why. Just know that evil, dishonesty, and scam artists have always been around and that right now they’re liberal, they’re Democrat, they’re RINOs, they’re Hollywood, they’re fake news, they’re media, they’re academia, and they’re half of our government, at least,” Nugent said

He said during a radio interview on March 31 that the students had “no soul

“The lies from these poor, mushy-brained children who have been fed lies and parrot lies,” Nugent said. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2018/03/31/ted-nugent-says-parkland-students-have-no-soul-calls-them-mushy-brained-children/?utm_term=.cfa3e6b1862d)

“I really feel sorry for them. :lol

It’s not only ignorant, dangerous and stupid — it’s soulless.

To attack the good, law-abiding families of America :lol

when well-known, predictable murderers commit these horrors is deep in the category of soulless.”

http://www.nationalmemo.com/nugent-democrats-should-be-shot-like-coyotes/

[boutons_deux]

one of the nastiest, but less well known as nasty, vindictive states, is Indiana, which also had the most KKK of any state.

Of course, Pence is from Indiana, is loved by Christian supremacist theocrats.

Christian Sharia is here and now in many red/slave states

New Abortion Law Requires Doctors to Keep Records that Can Follow Patients through Life

Indiana law makes symptoms following abortion part of a permanent record, burdening women with lifelong stigma

(https://www.alternet.org/right-wing/new-abortion-law-requires-doctors-keep-records-can-follow-patients-through-life)https://www.alternet.org/right-wing/new-abortion-law-requires-doctors-keep-records-can-follow-patients-through-life

[boutons_deux]

Everything you wanted to know about wildland forest fires but were afraid to ask


US Congress passed the Wildfire Suppression Funding and Forest Management Activities Act as part of the federal omnibus appropriations bill (https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1625),

The Act

categorizes wildland fires as ‘disasters’,

increases annual fire suppression funding,

weakens environmental protection laws to increase logging, and

allows logging projects on thousands of acres

without full environmental impact analysis or meaningful public disclosure,

all in the name of reducing the risk or extent of wildfires.

Dr. Dominick DellaSala, Director of Forest Legacies and one of the co-authors of the report, said,

“The Wildfire Suppression Funding and Forest Management Activities Act

ignored the past three decades of science that has found fires,

including large high-severity fires,

are an ecologically essential part of forest ecosystems and

create highly biodiverse wildlife habitat (https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1890/090157).”

https://dereklee.scienceblog.com/128/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-wildland-forest-fires-but-were-afraid-to-ask/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20scienceblogrssfeed%20(Scien ceBlog.com)

[boutons_deux]

Dieselgate Pales in Comparison to What Automakers Just Did in America

It might be time for automakers to close their corporate sustainability responsibility departments after their American lobbying association reversed efficiency and pollution gains and denied climate change

Back in October, I wrote a piece detailing the efforts by automakers to tear apart efficiency standards for cars (https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/automakers-urge-trump-to-undo-one-of-americas-biggest-co2-reductions-to-date/), which would otherwise

save consumers money ($1.7 billion),

lessen oil imports,

save lives through curbed local air pollution,

reduce climate change pollutants, and not to forget,

create jobs and

make the automotive sector competitive for a future with advanced (read: clean, efficient, and high-performing) vehicles.

It is a depressing state of affairs, and until there is significant pressure to act more responsibly, so-called

'pro-business' arguments should be called out for what they truly are:

a cover to lobby for increased short-term profits at the expense of people, the environment, and long-term economic competitiveness of the automotive sector. (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/02/scott-pruitts-dirty-politics)

Not only are automakers now succeeding in rolling back basic efficiency standards (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/29/climate/epa-cafe-auto-pollution-rollback.html), something that should be a no-brainer to push forward and a win-win of a policy, but

they are now actually denying climate change in order to support this roll-back of efficiency standards. (https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/climate/climate-change-sylvia-earle.html)

(https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/dieselgate-pales-in-comparison-to-what-automakers-just-did-in-america/)https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/dieselgate-pales-in-comparison-to-what-automakers-just-did-in-america/

[boutons_deux]

Scott Pruitt's lie about pay raises unravels, emails reveal he was behind scheme all along (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/9/1755690/-Scott-Pruitt-s-lie-about-pay-raises-unravels-emails-reveal-he-was-behind-scheme-all-along)


The Atlantic has found evidence that Pruitt was not just aware of, but responsible for, raises that went to his top aides. (https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/04/pruitt-epa-raises/557561/)

In the last few days, top staffers became aware of an email exchange between one of two aides who received such a raise and the agency’s human resources division.

In mid-March, Sarah Greenwalt, senior counsel to the administrator, wrote to HR in an attempt to confirm that her pay raise of $56,765 was being processed.

Greenwalt “definitively stated that Pruitt approves and was supportive of her getting a raise,” according to an administration official who has seen the email chain.

Those raises were large enough that they required approval from the White House. He was turned down.
Undaunted, Pruitt determined that

he could tap into money that was intended for consultants on the Clean Water Act :lol :lol

and instead funnel it to his friends. He ordered it done. When he was caught, he took the standard Donald Trump method to handle it: bald-faced lies. (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/5/1754584/-Scott-Pruitt-caught-in-lies-about-condo-and-raises-for-aides-that-not-even-Fox-News-can-ignore)


https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/9/1755690/-Scott-Pruitt-s-lie-about-pay-raises-unravels-emails-reveal-he-was-behind-scheme-all-along

[boutons_deux]

Trump's 'twelfth wave' of judicial nominees gets him closer to taking over federal courts (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/10/1755898/-Trump-s-twelfth-wave-of-judicial-nominees-gets-him-closer-to-taking-over-federal-courts)

President Donald Trump may get a chance to “flip” three federal appeals courts that currently have a majority of Democratic-nominated judges.

Filling current vacancies at the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, and Eleventh Circuits would put Trump in striking distance of having a majority of Republican nominees on those courts.

Trump’s already gotten three seats on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over federal appeals in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. Major cases could now be decided by an all-Trump panel;

of course, it only takes two Trump judges to determine the outcome of a case.

Any shift in composition—particularly when

the new additions are ideologues with no interest in moderation or independence

—can change the course of circuit precedent.

why keeping an eye on vacancies (https://www.bna.com/four-circuits-watch-n57982090873/)in other circuits as well is necessary, if depressing.

Trump also has an opportunity to more than double the number of Republican appointees on the Ninth Circuit, which now has seven vacancies after the sudden death of Judge Stephen Reinhardt March 29.


Public pushback against horror-show nominees now and strong turnout in November are the only prospects for saving the judiciary from being

radicalized for a lifetime

—short of judicial impeachments, anyway.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1755898

Of course, Trash knows not one of these judges.

The extreme right wing ideologue judges are being handed to him by extreme rightwing ideologues like Federalist Society, etc.

the VRWC/oligarchy continues its coup d'etat

[boutons_deux]

Trash can't keep his dick in his pants, Stockman can't keep his hands off campaign funds

Former congressman Stockman convicted of fraud in Texas

A federal jury in Houston on Thursday found former Republican U.S. Representative Steve Stockman guilty of fraud and siphoning off hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds for his personal use.

Stockman, 61, who served two terms representing a Houston-area district from 1995 to 1997 and again from 2013 to 2015,

was found guilty on all but one of 24 felony charges including fraud, making false statements, money laundering and violating U.S. election laws, court records showed.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-texas-crime-stockman/former-congressman-stockman-convicted-of-fraud-in-texas-idUSKBN1HJ3BX?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews

[boutons_deux]

Defiant Mulvaney tells Senate he doesn't have to talk to them, Elizabeth Warren gives him an earful (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/12/1756616/-Defiant-Mulvaney-tells-Senate-he-doesn-t-have-to-talk-to-them-Elizabeth-Warren-gives-him-an-earful)

Mulvaney has been on a total power grab, and feels like he's king of the hill now (http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/382842-mulvaney-in-senate-testimony-im-required-to-be-here-but-not-to-answer-your), as his testimony Thursday in an oversight hearing for the CFPB attests.


"While I have to be here by statute, I don't think I have to answer your questions," Mulvaney told

the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

"If you take a look at the actual statute that requires me to be here,

it says that I 'shall appear' before the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs of the Senate.

And I'm here and I'm happy to do it." :lol


He was clearly not happy about doing it and he was a dick throughout.

So it was quite satisfying to watch Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts dish it out (https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/12/warren-mulvaney-senate-banking-477535). (Watch video of the exchange below the fold.)

"Here's what you don't get, Mr. Mulvaney—this isn't about me," she said. "You're hurting real people to score cheap political points."

Warren pointed to a scammed soldier's father sitting in the audience at the hearing.

If Mulvaney had "gotten what [he] wanted" and eliminated the bureau — as he voted repeatedly to do while a member of the House — the man's son would still be getting exploited, she said.

She then ticked through successful CFPB cases one by one, asking Mulvaney each time where the money the bureau had recouped would be today if the agency didn't exist.

She swatted away his attempts to say other regulators with jurisdiction might have brought the same action.

"Oh I see, they could have brought the actions — that's the same agencies that didn't bring those actions before the crash of 2008 and that didn't bring this particular case," Warren said of a CFPB case against Citigroup.

"Let's not kid ourselves — let's not pretend like you hope that some other agency would do that work, Mr. Mulvaney,"

Warren added.

"I have a list of 11 bills that you supported during your time in Congress that would have made it harder for states and other federal agencies to protect consumers and to hold cheaters accountable."

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/12/1756616/-Defiant-Mulvaney-tells-Senate-he-doesn-t-have-to-talk-to-them-Elizabeth-Warren-gives-him-an-earful?detail=emaildkre

[boutons_deux]

Veteran Reporter Gets Death Threats For Bringing Up Possible Trump Resignation At WH Press Briefing (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/12/1756524/-Veteran-Reporter-Gets-Death-Threats-For-Bringing-Up-Possible-Trump-Resignation-At-WH-Press-Briefing)

April Ryan

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/12/1756524/-Veteran-Reporter-Gets-Death-Threats-For-Bringing-Up-Possible-Trump-Resignation-At-WH-Press-Briefing?detail=emaildkre

I'm sure you ST KKK/Nazi/racists would be thrilled if Ryan were assassinated.

A knitter AND a woman, what's not for y'all to hate?

[boutons_deux]

Trash CRAPS on marijuana-obsessed JeBo once again, but accidentally does something PROGRESSIVE, and pisses off his base, law enforcement, BigPharma, BigAlcohol, evangelicals.

Trump to lift legal threat to states that permit marijuana use

President Donald Trump will lift his administration’s plans for a possible crackdown on states that have legalized marijuana after talks with a Colorado senator, the White House said on Friday, an action that undercuts U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Senator Cory Gardner, Trump’s fellow Republican whose state has some of the most permissive marijuana laws in the country, had blocked Senate confirmation of Justice Department nominations to force the change.

Sessions on Jan. 4 rescinded a policy begun under Democratic former President Barack Obama that had eased enforcement of federal marijuana laws in states that legalized it. In doing so, Sessions, who has taken a hard line against marijuana, gave federal prosecutors wide latitude to pursue criminal charges.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-marijuana/trump-to-lift-legal-threat-to-states-that-permit-marijuana-use-idUSKBN1HL001?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FhealthNews+%28Reute rs+Health+News%29

===============

Colorado has harvested half a billion dollars in taxes and fees since it legalized recreational weed.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/07/19/news/colorado-marijuana-tax-revenue/index.html

[boutons_deux]

Having enriched the oligarchy by $100Bs, or $Ts, Trash/Repugs/oligarchy are crushing, grinding down the poor

Trump just dealt a brutal blow to every single welfare program with shameful executive order

President Trump is now finding ways to cut benefits for the poorest, neediest Americans – those who rely on food stamps, rent subsidies, Medicaid or participate in other federally-subsidized safety net programs.

Pushed by his conservative backers, Trump would like to do an overhaul of all government assistance for the poor, elderly, sick and needy.


However, his plan would require Democratic votes (which he can’t get) to fulfill

his campaign pledge to stop what he perceives as the abuse of government programs by people who want to receive benefits but have no intention of working.
As a result,

Trump signed an Executive Order (https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/10/trump-welfare-programs-513814) today which requires no bipartisan support

for a top to bottom review of all government assistance by every agency to find places where he can institute a work requirement for continued support.

Trump justifies his work requirements as a favor to those getting assistance.

“The Federal Government,” says a statement accompanying his new order, “should do everything within its authority to empower individuals by providing opportunities for work.” :lol

Trump said in a statement that this order will restore “independence and dignity to millions of Americans,” an Orwellian sentiment if there ever was one. :lol

Officially, the new requirements only apply to those able bodied enough to work, although

there is no detail about what that means or to which programs it will apply.

That is left up to the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, the Treasury, Agriculture, Commerce, HUD, Education and Transportation, which are to review every public assistance program they manage to see where they can force people to work or face a loss of their subsidy checks.

Each department head is to submit a report within 90 days with their suggested changes to implement Trump’s goal.

While they are at it, the Executive Order also encourages them to

review existing services :lol iow, cut spending :lol

to see how they can be streamlined or eliminated :lol

because apparently there are too many ways for poor people to grab those scraps falling off the table after the one percent have feasted.

Steven Wagner of HHS’s Administration for Children and Families has pledged that

he will take “aggressive action” to strengthen work requirements to get those lazy moms and their kids off the federal dole.

HHS has already started to apply the work requirement to those who receive Medicaid,

for the first time since the program to give medical assistance to the needy was created as part of the Great Society by then-President Lyndon Johnson.

HHS has also unleashed red states

like Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana, Mitch McConnell’s Kentucky and Mike Huckabee’s Arkansas to

apply work requirements for health benefits.

This also follows a December order by the

Agriculture Department that gives states more control over food stamp programs, which could mean not just work requirements but also mandatory drug testing.

former physician Ben Carson has been making it

tougher for people to qualify for federal housing and subsidies under the Orwellian theory that giving them assistance just drives them further into poverty.

he is making sure, at a time that homelessness in America is reaching epic proportions, that

no one gets a roof over their head if he can find a way to keep them out.

as long as someone who has to beg the government for a little help, or a mother who needs food stamps to buy milk for her kids – but who is able bodied – is forced to work for their benefits.

https://washingtonpress.com/2018/04/10/trump-just-dealt-a-brutal-blow-to-every-single-welfare-program-with-shameful-executive-order/ (https://washingtonpress.com/2018/04/10/trump-just-dealt-a-brutal-blow-to-every-single-welfare-program-with-shameful-executive-order/)

America, of the lower 80%, and certainly the bottom 20%, are fucked and unfuckable.

[boutons_deux]

Trash HHS Official Posted -"our forefathers would have hung Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton." (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/15/1757233/-Trump-HHS-Official-Posted-our-forefathers-would-have-hung-Barack-Obama-and-Hillary-Clinton)

https://images.dailykos.com/images/532300/story_image/ximena.jpg?1523815373

Yes, this woman was appointed a position at HHS after she had compiled this despicable mound of fetid horseshit on her social media pages.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/15/1757233/-Trump-HHS-Official-Posted-our-forefathers-would-have-hung-Barack-Obama-and-Hillary-Clinton?detail=emaildkre

THE BEST PEOPLE (who hate knitters, wimmen, non-Repugs)

[boutons_deux]

Like Trash, stinky Zinke is corrupt fraud (and he's keeping BigCorp predators out of HIS state, not others)

Trump’s Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke calls himself a geologist, but he has never held a job as one

In more ways than one, Zinke has quietly become one of the most controversial figures in the Trump administration

https://www.salon.com/2018/04/17/trumps-interior-secretary-ryan-zinke-calls-himself-a-geologist-but-he-has-never-held-a-job-as-one/

[boutons_deux]

Ryan Zinke Is Opening Up Public Lands. Just Not at Home.


https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/04/17/us/17ZINKE-01/merlin_136937721_eb22a660-a3b7-4fec-a950-e703d58bbc3a-superJumbo.jpg

WHITEFISH, Mont. — When Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was a state senator from this idyllic mountain town, he drove a Prius, sported a beard and pushed President Barack Obama to make clean energy a priority.

Today, the beard and Prius are gone, and Mr. Zinke has emerged as

a leading figure, along with Scott Pruitt of the Environmental Protection Agency, in the environmental rollbacks that have endeared President Trump to the fossil fuel industry and outraged conservationists.

In the last year, Mr. Zinke has

torn up Obama-era rules related to oil, gas and mineral extraction and

overseen the largest reduction (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/04/us/trump-bears-ears.html) of federal land protection in the nation’s history,

including an effort to slash the size of Bears Ears National Monument.

But here in Montana, where support for drilling in certain beloved areas can be a career killer, Mr. Zinke has struck a different note.

And as he faces allegations that he has violated travel and ethics rules, an examination of his Interior Department record shows that his pro-development bent has not always applied to his home state,

where he is viewed as a fiercely ambitious candidate for future office.

In the past year, Mr. Zinke has

halted the sale of oil and gas leases near Yellowstone National Park,

opposed gold mining in that area, and

urged the president to protect one national monument,

Montana’s Upper Missouri River Breaks,

while creating another, the Badger-Two Medicine, just miles from his childhood home.

(https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/16/us/ryan-zinke-montana.html#story-continues-3)“It is very clear that Montana is treated very differently,”

said Chris Saeger, a Whitefish resident who leads a conservation group called the Western Values Project.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/16/us/ryan-zinke-montana.html

iow, Zinke is a 100% NIMBY-ist

[boutons_deux]

Repugs/oligarchy continue to staff up their kakistocracy

Asshole to head NASA is non-NASA, non-scientist, non-manager, climate denier

Jeff Flake switches vote to save Trump's NASA nominee

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/jeff-flake-switches-vote-to-save-trumps-nasa-nominee/ar-AAw21Ew

[boutons_deux]

Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife refuge draws closer (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/19/1758389/-Drilling-in-the-Arctic-National-Wildlife-refuge-draws-closer)


The Trump administration is moving toward oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, fulfilling a longtime Republican priority that most Democrats fiercely oppose.

A notice being published Friday in the Federal Register starts a 60-day review to sell oil and gas leases in the remote refuge, one of the most pristine areas in the United States and home to polar bears, caribou, migratory birds and other species.


This region of Alaska’s North Slope has been protected for almost 60 years. It’s one of the few relatively undisturbed regions in a world where even “wilderness” often includes roads, pipelines, power lines, buildings and frequent human presence that disrupt habitats.

Trump views the destruction of America’s greatest wildlife refuge as one of his signature triumphs.

Addressing fellow Republicans at a GOP conference in West Virginia in February, Trump said a friend told him that every Republican president since Ronald Reagan wanted to get oil drilling approved in the refuge.

“I really didn’t care about it, and then when I heard that everybody wanted it — for 40 years, they’ve been trying to get it approved, and I said, ‘Make sure you don’t lose ANWR,’” Trump said.


He didn’t even want it …

but the idea that

he could do something that had evaded others, even something horrible,

was irresistible to Trump.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/19/1758389/-Drilling-in-the-Arctic-National-Wildlife-refuge-draws-closer

Trash still avenging the knitter for ridiculing him, erasing knitter's good, and gratuitously doing something horrible, just because he can, to inflate his sick self.

[boutons_deux]

Trump’s New Ploy to Force Electricity Customers, Taxpayers to Bailout Uneconomic Coal and Nuclear Plants

the Trump Administration is considering using the Defense Production Act - a relic of the Cold War -

to force electricity customers and taxpayers to pay billions of dollars to bailout uneconomic coal and nuclear plants.

Despite fierce objections by grid operators, consumer advocates, and business interests, the

Trump Administration has continually pursued failed attempts over the past year to interfere in electricity markets in order to prop up dirty and dangerous fossil fuels that can’t compete with cheap clean energy resources like solar, wind and energy efficiency.

The Defense Production Act permits the president to control private industry to ensure the United States has the resources needed amid a war or after a national disaster - two situations that are not happening.

Despite the business community, customer advocates, and grid operators repeated insistence that the market is functioning well and that there is no emergency,

Trump and the coal and nuclear industries are cartoonishly intent on forcing electricity customers and taxpayers to pay billions of dollars to prop up dinosaur power plants.
“Using the Defense Production Act to prop up uneconomic plants when there is ample capacity is a clear abuse of Presidential power.

We, along with many, many others, stand ready to protect electricity customers, taxpayers, and America’s clean energy economy by fighting this latest ploy - along with scores of other similar ploys - Trump’s team is considering.”

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/04/19/trumps-new-ploy-force-electricity-customers-taxpayers-bailout-uneconomic-coal (https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/04/19/trumps-new-ploy-force-electricity-customers-taxpayers-bailout-uneconomic-coal)

China picks winners, let's losers die

Trash, whore to BigEnergy, picks losers that are dying.

[boutons_deux]

Repugs are NOT racist, or NOT whores to BigFinance! :lol

With Vote to Kill Guidance Against Racist Auto Lending, Senate GOP Takes War on Regulations to 'Vicious' New Level

"This may end up being the most vicious hardball escalation and norm-breaking of Trump's first two years."

Senate on Wednesday was characterized as uniquely dangerous because it uses the Congressional Review Act (CRA)—a law intended to allow Congress to repeal new rules only "within 60 legislative days of their enactment (https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/17/17248340/congressional-review-act-auto-loan-discrimination-cfpb)"—to roll back a five-year-old guidance.

"The CRA never was intended to be used against older, settled rules,"

"Today's Senate vote sets a dangerous deregulatory precedent that stretches the CRA far beyond its original intent,

allowing Congress to overturn regulatory protections

that have been in place for years or even decades [and] opening up a new front in the right's war on regulations."

According to a Politico report (https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/17/congressional-review-act-fallout-485426) published Tuesday, that is precisely what the GOP-controlled Congress is aiming to do.

Republicans believe that if they can "retroactively (https://twitter.com/rortybomb/status/986366643059208199)" determine a guidance meets the legal definition of a rule, they can start the 60-day clock and proceed to repeal the guidance with a simple majority using the CRA.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/04/18/vote-kill-guidance-against-racist-auto-lending-senate-gop-takes-war-regulations?utm_term=With%20Vote%20to%20Kill%20Gui dance%20Against%20Racist%20Auto%20Lending%2C%20Sen ate%20GOP%20Takes%20War%20on%20Regulations%20to%20 %27Vicious%27%20New%20Level&utm_campaign=The%20CIA%20Wants%20You%20Know%20This %20About%20Its%20Torture%20Program%20%7C%20Your%20 Week%20In%20Review%20&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software-_-email-_-The%20CIA%20Wants%20You%20Know%20This%20About%20It s%20Torture%20Program%20%7C%20Your%20Week%20In%20R eview%20-_-With%20Vote%20to%20Kill%20Guidance%20Against%20Rac ist%20Auto%20Lending%2C%20Senate%20GOP%20Takes%20W ar%20on%20Regulations%20to%20%27Vicious%27%20New%2 0Level (https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/04/18/vote-kill-guidance-against-racist-auto-lending-senate-gop-takes-war-regulations?utm_term=With%20Vote%20to%20Kill%20Gui dance%20Against%20Racist%20Auto%20Lending%2C%20Sen ate%20GOP%20Takes%20War%20on%20Regulations%20to%20 %27Vicious%27%20New%20Level&utm_campaign=The%20CIA%20Wants%20You%20Know%20This %20About%20Its%20Torture%20Program%20%7C%20Your%20 Week%20In%20Review%20&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software-_-email-_-The%20CIA%20Wants%20You%20Know%20This%20About%20It s%20Torture%20Program%20%7C%20Your%20Week%20In%20R eview%20-_-With%20Vote%20to%20Kill%20Guidance%20Against%20Rac ist%20Auto%20Lending%2C%20Senate%20GOP%20Takes%20W ar%20on%20Regulations%20to%20%27Vicious%27%20New%2 0Level)

... with the oligarchy dictating to the Repug whores which old reglations to kill, to increase the oligarchy's wealth and power.

[boutons_deux]

GOP candidates are now mimicking Trump’s authoritarianism. That’s ominous.

by echoing his xenophobia, his veiled racist appeals, his attacks on the news media, and even occasionally his calls for imprisoning his political opponents.

The Times piece (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/22/us/politics/trump-republican-party.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fp olitics&action=click&contentCollection=politics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=6&pgtype=sectionfront), by Jeremy Peters, reports that in West Virginia, GOP Senate primary candidate Don Blankenship is running an ad that says: “We don’t need to investigate our president. We need to arrest Hillary … Lock her up!”

In multiple GOP races across the country, the Times piece reports, candidates are employing phrases such as “drain the swamp,” “build the wall,” “rigged system” and even “fake news.”

The GOP Senate candidate in Tennessee ran an ad that promises to stand with Trump “every step of the way to build that wall,” and

even echoes Trump’s attacks on African American football players protesting systemic racism and police brutality:

“I stand when the president walks in the room. And yes, I stand when I hear ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.'” :lol

Meanwhile, National Journal’s Josh Kraushaar report (https://www.nationaljournal.com/s/666905?unlock=6M0TL59MIK98FDV1)s that in the Indiana Senate GOP primary, Mike Braun, the candidate who is most vocally emphasizing Trump’s messages — on trade, the Washington “swamp” and “amnesty” — appears to be gaining the advantage.

Braun’s ads basically recast true conservatism as Trumpism in its incarnation as populist anti-establishment ethno-nationalism.

, one of the Indiana GOP Senate candidates has

bashed “Crooked Hillary Clinton,” and

all three have cast aspersions on the Mueller probe.

One called it a “fishing expedition,” and another claimed: “Nothing’s been turned up except that Hillary Clinton is the real guilty party here.”

The question all this raises is whether there is a large swath of GOP primary voters who are fully prepared to march behind Trump into full-blown authoritarianism.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/04/23/multiple-gop-candidates-are-now-mimicking-trumps-authoritarianism/?utm_term=.20319cd1932c&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1

[Mikeanaro]

http://uberhumor.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/A3NTm1.jpg

[boutons_deux]

W T F (oh, it's slave-state Texas)

Texas charter school assignment asks 8th graders to list the 'positive aspects' of life as a slave (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/21/1758964/-Texas-charter-school-assignment-asks-8th-graders-to-list-the-positive-aspects-of-life-as-a-slave)

Manu Livar called BULLSHIT, his paper:

https://images.dailykos.com/images/534677/story_image/Manu_Slavery_Homework.jpg?1524342580


https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/21/1758964/-Texas-charter-school-assignment-asks-8th-graders-to-list-the-positive-aspects-of-life-as-a-slave

:lol

[boutons_deux]

Mick Mulvaney’s confession highlights the corrosive influence of money in politics

Mick Mulvaney said the quiet part out loud.

“We had a hierarchy in my office in Congress,” the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Tuesday at the American Bankers Association conference in Washington.

“If you’re a lobbyist who never gave us money, I didn’t talk to you. If you’re a lobbyist who gave us money, I might talk to you.”

told the 1,300 industry executives and lobbyists that they should push lawmakers hard to pursue their shared agenda.

Mulvaney’s comment appears emblematic of a mentality that pervades Trump’s orbit.

Multiple Republicans admitted last fall during the debate over tax cuts that they worried (https://nypost.com/2017/11/06/gops-big-donors-threaten-to-close-wallets-if-tax-reform-isnt-passed/)about losing (https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/29/big-donors-republican-tax-cuts-374842) campaign contributions if they didn’t vote for the legislation. “My donors are basically saying, ‘Get it done or don’t ever call me again,’”

“As a businessman and a very substantial donor to very important people, when you give, they do whatever the hell you want them to do,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal (http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-says-his-past-politics-were-transactional-1438213199) in 2015. “As a businessman, I need that.”

“You better believe it,” Trump replied (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-money-drew-hillary-clinton-wedding/story?id=32936868). “I give to everybody. When they call, I give. And you know what? When I need something from them two years later, three years later, I call them. They are there for me.”

Mulvaney’s comments are especially notable because he’s been viewed for several years, by supporters and critics alike, as one of Wall Street’s best friends in Washington.

“He was tapped by President Trump in November to temporarily run the [CFPB], in part because of his promise to sharply curtail it,”

he has frozen all new investigations and

slowed down existing inquiries by requiring employees to produce detailed justifications.

He also sharply restricted the bureau’s access to bank data … And

he has scaled back efforts to go after payday lenders, auto lenders and other financial services companies accused of preying on the vulnerable.

[Mulvaney received nearly $63,000 from payday lenders for his campaigns.]

But he wants Congress to go further and has urged it to wrest funding of the independent watchdog from the Federal Reserve,

a move that would give lawmakers — and those with access to them — more influence on the bureau’s actions.”

Mulvaney also announced during yesterday’s speech to the bankers he will likely end public access to a database used by consumers to file complaints against financial institutions.

- “Mulvaney didn’t offer this as a sad concession to reality but an actual principle of governance he had personally abided,”

-- Many journalists are characterizing Mulvaney’s statement as scandalous:

“A remarkable admission that would very likely spark an immediate House ethics investigation [if he was still in Congress],”

“I’ve never before seen a former member describe Congress so explicitly as an extortion racket,”

“Mulvaney is my No. 1 draft pick for Guy Who Would Give The Detective Extra Information To Amuse Himself But It Ultimately Leads To His Downfall,”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2018/04/25/daily-202-mick-mulvaney-s-confession-highlights-the-corrosive-influence-of-money-in-politics/5adfea2230fb043711926869/?utm_term=.a21e9ea265fb&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1

[boutons_deux]

Trump officials went on a taxpayer-funded shopping spree. Here’s the bill.

Well over $3 million and counting

https://i0.wp.com/thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/spendthrifts_lede-02.png?resize=1280%2C720px&ssl=1


https://i0.wp.com/thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/spendthrifts-01.jpg?w=1000&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C2179px&ssl=1
the Trump administration has an unusual appetite for first class or privately chartered flights. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/26/us/politics/white-house-travel-mnuchin-flights.html) in privately chartered domestic flights (not including his attempt to book an Air Force jet for his honeymoon (http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-mnuchin-wanted-government-jet-for-his-honeymoon-2017-9)), in sharp contrast to former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geither, who always flew in coach on commercial airlines.

https://thinkprogress.org/how-many-taxpayer-dollars-trump-cabinet-have-wasted-95e4ef80f6cc/

[boutons_deux]

Christian Sharia regulatin' (non-white) vaginas, oppression wimmen, because White Males Are Supreme

Trump’s State Department Erases Reproductive Rights From Human Rights Report

“Reproductive rights are human rights, and omitting the issue signals the Trump Administration’s latest retreat from global leadership on human rights."

https://rewire.news/article/2018/04/23/trumps-state-department-erases-reproductive-rights-human-rights-report/?utm_source=Rewire.News&utm_campaign=fda772a134-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_04_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f311a29bda-fda772a134-112016197

[boutons_deux]

Pompeo LIES

Mike Pompeo insists he has no business ties to China. Newly unearthed documents show he has several.
(http://theweek.com/speedreads/769771/mike-pompeo-insists-no-business-ties-china-newly-unearthed-documents-show-several)
This isn't the first time Pompeo's China relationships have come under scrutiny.

Previously, Pompeo was criticized for leaving out information about his Chinese business dealings on a mandatory Senate confirmation questionnaire,

after a McClatchy (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article208630194.html) report found that his Kansas company imported equipment from China.

And now, newly unearthed documents viewed by HuffPost (https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/mike-pompeo-chinese-ties-disclosure_us_5ae10e97e4b04aa23f1f0103) found that his ties are even deeper.

He apparently has four undisclosed business ties with China.

Pompeo's company reportedly imported oil and gas equipment from two subsidiaries of a Chinese state-owned oil company, China National Petroleum Corporation,

in addition to the previously reported imports from two China Petrochemical Corporation subsidiaries.

http://theweek.com/speedreads/769767/charlie-rose-might-host-new-show-where-interviews-other-men-disgraced-by-metoo-page-six-reports

For Repugs, lying, corruption, coverups are normal.

[boutons_deux]

Rep. Joe Barton calls Scott Pruitt ‘the victim’ and thanks him for stopping Obama’s ‘radical clean air’ agendahttps://www.rawstory.com/2018/04/rep-joe-barton-calls-scott-pruitt-victim-thanks-stopping-obamas-radical-clean-air-agenda/

This is the sexual predator TX asshole (is there any other type of Repug TX politician?) who apologized to BP for US's actions against BP because of the (ongoing) Deepwater Horizon ecological disaster.

[boutons_deux]

this stupid fucking incompetent, freaky knitter slave-ishly obeying what Repug ideologues dictate, punishing the poor, including Ms of his own race.

HUD Secretary Ben Carson to propose raising rent for low-income Americans receiving federal housing subsidies

tripling rent for the poorest households (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/04/27/hud-secretary-ben-carsons-proposal-to-triple-rents-for-poorest-households-would-hurt-single-mothers-the-most/?utm_term=.e224a9839bdc)and making it easier for housing authorities to impose work requirements.

a comprehensive effort by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress to restrict access to the safety net and reduce the levels of assistance for those who do qualify.

The ambitious effort (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/02/12/trumps-budget-hits-poor-americans-the-hardest/?utm_term=.cfc25a596876) to shrink federal assistance has been dubbed “Welfare Reform 2.0’’, after Bill Clinton’s overhaul of the welfare system in 1996. The proposals — affecting housing, food stamps and Medicaid — would require congressional approval.

Trump earlier this month signed an executive order directing federal agencies to expand work requirements for low-income Americans receiving Medicaid, food stamps, public housing benefits and welfare.

The proposal approved by the House Agriculture Committee would expand work initiatives, mandating that most adult recipients under 60 work part-time or enroll in a state-run training program. It would apply to as many as 7 million adults.

The Trump administration has also started allowing states to impose work requirements (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/12/06/house-republicans-welfare-restrictions-are-needed-for-the-economy-to-grow/?utm_term=.73af1f351030) on residents enrolled in Medicaid.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/04/25/hud-secretary-ben-carson-to-propose-raising-rent-for-low-income-americans-receiving-federal-housing-subsidies/?utm_term=.c55821023b92

[boutons_deux]

Republican Congressman Seriously Claims GOP Officials Are Retiring Over Fear of Violent Socialists

They're running for their lives from imaginary murderous leftists? Right.

(https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/mo-brooks-says-republicans-are-resigning-because-of-assassination-fears)Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks (https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/mo-brooks-says-republicans-are-resigning-because-of-assassination-fears) want everyone to know that the real reason Republicans are running away from elections in droves, is not that their time is up.

It’s not that they’ve transparently sold their souls to the devil.

It’s not that they are frightened of being politically humiliated in an election.

It’s because … they are afraid of left-wing assassinations.

There’s a mythology that goes around the conservative and the white supremacist movement on social media.

https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/republican-congressman-seriously-claims-gop-officials-are-retiring-over-fear
:lol goddamn, you Repugs and your Congress assholes are FUCKING DUMB

[boutons_deux]

Where’s Zinke? The interior secretary’s special flag offers clues.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/TScW4q_EJGU6m-TAofrs04tOmPg=/1484x0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/OB3KVYFPSUI6PG4TXFYEHZL2EI.jpg

At the Interior Department's headquarters in downtown Washington, Secretary Ryan Zinke has revived an arcane military ritual that no one can remember ever happening in the federal government.

A security staffer takes the elevator to the seventh floor, climbs the stairs to the roof and hoists a special secretarial flag whenever Zinke enters the building. :lol

When the secretary goes home for the day or travels, the flag — a blue banner emblazoned with the agency's bison seal flanked by seven white stars representing the Interior bureaus — comes down. :lol

In Zinke's absence, the ritual is repeated to raise an equally obscure flag for Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt. :lol

Responding this week to questions from The Washington Post, a spokeswoman for Zinke, a former Navy SEAL commander, defended the Navy

flag-flying tradition as "a major sign of transparency." :lol

"Ryan Zinke is proud and honored to lead the Department of the Interior, :lol

and is restoring honor and tradition to the department, :lol

whether it's flying the flag when he is in garrison :lol

or restoring traditional access to public lands," :lol

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/wheres-zinke-the-interior-secretarys-special-flag-offers-clues/2017/10/12/68672476-aeb2-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html?utm_term=.8688dc6e4330

[boutons_deux]

How HUD Screws the Poor and Helps Hannity


https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/image1-42-700x470.jpg

It’s hard to square the dining room set debacle with Rubio’s praise of the “values” and “character” that Carson was supposed to bring to HUD.
It’s even harder to recognize the former surgeon’s alleged “compassion” in his new plan to triple the rent (http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/384845-carson-to-propose-rent-increases-for-americans-receiving-housing) of hundreds of thousands of the poorest households.

there are still Americans HUD is helping. For example, Sean Hannity.

The Guardian reported (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/apr/22/michael-cohen-sean-hannity-property-real-estate-ben-carson-hud) earlier this week that the Fox News host is linked to the purchase of nearly a thousand homes through shell companies. Some of them, according to the paper, were purchased with support from HUD.

So much for hiring the best people and draining the swamp.

that HUD wants poor families to pay more in rent — while simultaneously helping a conservative multi-millionaire who is a friend of Trump — is consistent with the

GOP’s attempt to turn every negative stereotype associated with Republicans into reality.

https://whowhatwhy.org/2018/04/29/how-hud-screws-the-poor-and-helps-hannity/

[boutons_deux]

Trump trade secretary spent almost $1 million on office furniture—but blames Obama (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/24/1759663/-Trump-trade-secretary-spent-almost-1-million-on-office-furniture-but-blames-Obama)

https://images.dailykos.com/images/535573/story_image/GettyImages-936562016.jpg?1524605974


US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer spent more than $917,000 to furnish the two trade offices near the White House,

according to contracts reviewed by The Post.That’s a significant increase compared to the last two trade reps.

Ron Kirk, President Barack Obama’s first trade ambassador, spent $237,000 on office furniture during the first 15 months of his term.
His successor, Ambassador Michael Froman, spent $151,000 during a comparable time span, records show.

When asked about the spending spree, Lighthizer’s office pointed the finger at the Obama administration.

“The furniture purchases are the culmination of a longtime, planned project that began under the Obama Administration to replace two-decade-old furniture,” Lighthizer’s office said in a statement.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/24/1759663/-Trump-trade-secretary-spent-almost-1-million-on-office-furniture-but-blames-Obama?detail=emaildkre

[boutons_deux]

Pennsylvania judge was supposed to marry couple, but she called ICE on the groom instead (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/24/1759593/-Pennsylvania-judge-was-supposed-to-marry-couple-but-she-called-ICE-on-the-groom-instead)

Though born in Guatemala, Parker, 21, had been adopted by American parents when he was 8 months old. At that moment, he was technically undocumented, with his green-card renewal being processed.

The mother of two said she was contacted by a lawyer who said she was representing

at least one other couple who had immigration enforcement officers called by Beckley on their wedding day. ​

That couple was not as lucky as Krisha and Alex, with the groom and his best man allegedly being led away in handcuffs,

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/24/1759593/-Pennsylvania-judge-was-supposed-to-marry-couple-but-she-called-ICE-on-the-groom-instead?detail=emaildkre

[boutons_deux]

Shutdown of Texas schools probe shows Trump administration pullback on civil rights

With the arrival of Betsy DeVos, the investigation into the suspensions of black students has halted

One Friday afternoon last October, after an incident at nearby Arthur L. Davila Middle School, a police officer

arrested 13-year-old Trah’Vaeziah Jackson and

brought her to the juvenile detention facility. She cried as

employees patted her down,

cut off her hair extensions, and

took her photo and fingerprints.


In the shower room, guards applied thick anti-lice shampoo to Trah’Vaeziah’s hair.

punishments, though, are applied unequally. Across the country, hundreds of thousands of students of color, like Trah’Vaeziah, bear the brunt.

Black students are almost four times as likely (https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/2013-14-first-look.pdf) to receive an out-of-school suspension and twice as likely (https://eji.org/news/latest-data-shows-black-students-disproportionately-suspended-expelled-arrested)to be arrested as their white peers, according to federal data.

The pattern starts early: Even black preschool students are more than three times as likely (https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/2013-14-first-look.pdf) as their white peers to be suspended from school.

“There’s no doubt that as we’ve escalated security and punishment strategies within schools over the past 25 years that this has had a disparate impact on youth of color,”

“They are more likely to be seen as problematic, and to be policed and disciplined in schools even when they show similar behaviors as white students.”

under Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, the Trump administration is taking a more hands-off approach. DeVos has indicated (https://www.wsj.com/articles/lawmakers-focus-on-obama-era-discipline-policies-after-florida-school-shooting-1522069200) that she may soon reverse Obama-era guidelines on disparate impact and school discipline, and her hires have signaled this policy shift.

DeVos is also decentralizing decision-making, giving regional offices more control over investigations.

one of DeVos’ top officials ordered (https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-administration-rolls-back-civil-rights-efforts-federal-government) investigators to limit proactive civil rights probes rather than expanding them to identify systemic patterns,

the Education Department has closed at least 65 school discipline investigations opened under Obama, including the Bryan probe, without any mandated reforms,

federal investigators there had uncovered numerous examples of black students being punished more harshly than whites for the same offenses.

discrimination in Bryan takes a different form. Black students are almost four times as likely to be suspended or referred to a disciplinary school as their white peers, according to district data. And black students were also four times more likely to receive tickets in school for minor offenses, such as disrupting class or profanity, according to an analysis (http://www.naacpldf.org/files/case_issue/Bryan%20ISD%20OCR%20Complaint.pdf)of data from 2011. Between 2011 and 2014, black students, who account for about 20 percent of total enrollment, accounted for more than 60 percent of arrests in school.

“For the kids who are being ticketed, arrested, suspended or expelled — who are predominantly black — it tells them that they don’t belong in our public schools, which is a travesty,”

“For the students that remain in the classroom and see their peers treated this way, they internalize unhealthy and harmful messages about what that means. That’s the way that implicit bias is formed and gets reinforced.”

https://www.salon.com/2018/04/29/shutdown-of-texas-schools-probe-shows-trump-administration-pullback-on-civil-rights_partner/

Constitutionally Slave State Texas :lol

once a slave state, always a slave state

Repugs are the Party of Racists, and they know it. Look at their racist policies

[boutons_deux]

Another increment in the oligarcy's coup d'etat towards Repug authoritarianism and Christian theocracy

Section On ‘Press Freedom’ Removed From DOJ Internal Manual

the Department of Justice recently removed sections on the “need for free press and public trial” among several other edits,

the manual, which traditionally provides policies and guidance on DOJ legal work,

In the manual’s “media contacts policy” section, a subsection titled “Need for Free Press and Public Trial” was deleted.

According to Buzzfeed’s review of the manual, that section, which has been in the manual since 1988, said:

“Likewise, careful weight must be given in each case to the constitutional requirements of a free press and public trials as well as the right of the people in a constitutional democracy to have access to information about the conduct of law enforcement officers, prosecutors and courts, consistent with the individual rights of the accused.

Further, recognition should be given to the needs of public safety, the apprehension of fugitives, and the rights of the public to be informed on matters that can affect enactment or enforcement of public laws or the development or change of public policy.”


Parts of the rest of the media contacts section was edited to include new language about determining whether to release information to the public, including weighing the “right of the public to have access to information” with other factors,

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/section-press-freedom-removed-doj-internal-manual?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20tpm-news%20%28TPMNews%29

========================

The Justice Department Deleted Language About Press Freedom And Racial Gerrymandering From Its Internal Manual

In: Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ tough-on-crime policies.

Out: A section titled “Need for Free Press and Public Trial.”

References to the department’s work on racial gerrymandering are gone.

Language about limits on prosecutorial power has been edited down.

new sections that underscore Sessions’ focus on religious liberty (:lol aka Christian supremacy)

Federal prosecutors in US attorney offices across the country use it, but so do other Justice Department — often referred to as “Main Justice” — lawyers.

The manual features high-level statements about department policies and priorities as well as practical guidance on every facet of legal work that comes through the department.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/zoetillman/the-justice-department-deleted-language-about-press-freedom?utm_term=.knXmY333OB#.ibVQ9aaam2

[boutons_deux]

EPA Grants Waiver to Oil Refinery of Billionaire Former Trump Adviser Carl Icahn

https://img.thedailybeast.com/image/upload/c_crop,d_placeholder_euli9k,h_1440,w_2560,x_0,y_0/dpr_2.0/c_limit,w_740/fl_lossy,q_auto/v1525087845/icahn_buwqzz

The Environmental Protection Agency :lol

has granted a financial hardship waiver :lol

to an oil refinery owned by billionaire and former Donald Trump advisor Carl Icahn,

the move will allow Icahn’s Oklahoma facility to avoid tens of millions of dollars in costs related to the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program.

Icahn stepped down from his position as special regulatory adviser to Trump last August after lawmakers cited potential ethical problems in his dual role as an adviser and an investor.

The billionaire is

under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice :lol :lol :lol

for his role in influencing biofuels policy while serving as Trump’s adviser.

“This one’s going to be hard for [Scott] Pruitt to explain,”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/epa-grants-waiver-to-oil-refinery-of-billionaire-former-trump-advisor-icahn

FOT do very well.

[boutons_deux]

C.D.C. Director’s $375,000 Salary Will Be Cut

The government will lower the $375,000 salary of the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert R. Redfield, after reports that he was being paid considerably more than previous directors,

Title 42 was not used for Dr. Redfield’s predecessor, Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, an obstetrician-gynecologist, who was paid $197,300 a year until she resigned in January,

or for her predecessor, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, an infectious disease specialist and the former health commissioner of New York City, whose salary was $219,700.

was also being paid more than

his boss, Alex M. Azar II, the H.H.S. secretary;

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, head of the Food and Drug Administration; and

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health.

Each of those political appointees is paid less than $200,000 a year,

and Dr. Gottlieb and Mr. Azar took much larger pay cuts in their government jobs than did Dr. Redfield, who reported $757,100 in salary and bonuses from the University of Maryland

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/30/health/cdc-director-salary-redfield.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

[boutons_deux]

Kakistocratic queen dumb bitch gets bitch slapped

"You're the One Creating the 'Bad' Schools": Nation's Top Teachers Denounce Devos During Closed-Door Session

"We had a listening session with Betsy DeVos today, but I don't think she heard us." :lol duh

DeVos said that "school choice" simply offers students a way out of "low-performing public schools."

"I said,

'You're the one creating the 'bad' schools by taking all the kids that can afford to get out and leaving the kids who can't behind,'"

According to Melissa Romano, Montana's Teacher of the Year,

DeVos voiced disapproval of the strike

in the meeting, repeating talking points (https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/04/09/oklahoma-teachers-strike-enters-second-week-education-supporters-pack-state-capitol)she shared last month.

"She basically said that teachers should be teaching and we should be able to solve our problems not at the expense of children," Romano told the Huffington Post.

"For her to say at the 'expense of children' was a very profound moment and one I'll remember forever because that is so far from what is happening."

Several educators took to social media following their meeting with DeVos,

denouncing the Secretary's statements and

pledging to continue fighting for support for public schools.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/05/01/youre-one-creating-bad-schools-nations-top-teachers-denounce-devos-during-closed

[boutons_deux]

Trash's AmeriKKKa

Neo-Nazi thugs hold white man down and ‘pound his face in’ for bringing black girlfriend into their bar
https://www.rawstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/neo-nazis.jpg
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/05/neo-nazi-thugs-hold-white-man-pound-face-bringing-black-girlfriend-bar-report/

[boutons_deux]

Trump's militarized, misogynist AmeriKKKa

"One described an issue raised by others at some Noble campuses, regarding girls not having time to use the bathroom when they get their menstrual periods.
“We have (bathroom) escorts, :lol

and they rarely come so we end up walking out (of class) and that gets us in trouble,” she texted.

“But who wants to walk around knowing there’s blood on them? It can still stain the seats.

They just need to be more understanding.”
At certain campuses, teachers said administrators offer an accommodation: They allow

girls to tie a Noble sweater around their waist, to hide the blood stains.

The administrator then sends an email to staff announcing the name of the girl who has permission to wear her sweater tied around her waist, so that she doesn’t receive demerits for violating dress code."

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/1/1761199/-Charter-school-rules-force-menstruating-students-to-bleed-through-pants?detail=emaildkre

[boutons_deux]

How A Baseball Game of 12 Year-Olds Turned Ugly Thanks To Trump's Racism. (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/1/1761149/-How-A-Baseball-Game-of-12-Year-Olds-Turned-Ugly-Thanks-To-Trump-s-Racism)

On Sunday, a youth baseball game in Chicagoturned ugly thanks to racist taunts and verbal abuse from the home team. The visiting team, the West Lawn Southwest Pride, is made up of Latino players,

since the election of Donald Trump the amplification of hateful, racist rhetoric and race-based bias incidents has grown to epidemic proportions (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/hate-in-america-is-on-the-rise/2017/11/25/33808364-c94d-11e7-8321-481fd63f174d_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.2c99cc1c78f3)in this country. And young kids and their coaches, who obviously they look to for example, are not immune:


It started during warm-ups, before the game even began. Adrian Salazar (https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/players/273133/), a 12-year-old West Lawn player, told the Sun-Times that members of the Kennedy Park team shouted “taco boys”

one of the Cobras told his teammates during a pep talk that they were going to “build a wall around home plate.”


https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/1/1761149/-How-A-Baseball-Game-of-12-Year-Olds-Turned-Ugly-Thanks-To-Trump-s-Racism?detail=emaildkre

[spurraider21]

1068 posts in this thread

booboo with 894 of them

[boutons_deux]

1068 posts in this thread

booboo with 894 of them

:lol Next time, ask The Great Boutons for permission before you post in his thread.

[Chucho]

1068 posts in this thread

booboo with 894 of them

The other 174 posts are people mocking him.

[boutons_deux]

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt 'bold-faced lied' to Congress, forged resignation document (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/1/1761157/-EPA-Administrator-Scott-Pruitt-bold-faced-lied-to-Congress-forged-resignation-document)

ABC News has an exclusive interview (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/exclusive-epa-whistleblower-pruitt-bald-faced-lied-congress/story?id=54827538)with former EPA deputy chief of staff Kevin Chmielewski in which Chmielewski says that

Pruitt lied to Congress concerning firing EPA workers who questioned his lavish spending.


A whistleblower from the Environmental Protection Agency says that

Administrator Scott Pruitt was "bold-faced" lying when he told members of Congress

that no EPA employees were retaliated against for raising concerns about his spending decisions. […]

Chmielewski said chief of staff Ryan Jackson called him into his office and said:

"Hey — Administrator Pruitt either wants me to fire you or put you in an office so that he doesn't have to see you again,”

Chmielewski told ABC News adding that

"And in addition to that, he wants to put Millan (Hupp) in your spot, as your title and your pay grade."

Millian Hupp is one of Pruitt’s pals—the one who got a massive raise after spending her time on very important issues (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/04/03/epas-pruitt-gave-big-raises-to-two-close-aides-after-being-rebuffed-by-the-white-house/?utm_term=.ad2014b688f7).

The pay hike came after the 26-year-old staffer oversaw an extensive housing hunt for the administrator last year.

Hupp at times conducted the search during office hours, according to a former EPA employee and others who interacted with her, activity that ethics experts said

constitutes a violation of federal rules.


https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/1/1761157/-EPA-Administrator-Scott-Pruitt-bold-faced-lied-to-Congress-forged-resignation-document?detail=emaildkre

Repugs gave Trash all of The Best People

[boutons_deux]

KS SoS Kobach prepares to sue for legal welfare after Republicans deny him due to poor life choices (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/1/1761338/-KS-SoS-Kobach-prepares-to-sue-for-legal-welfare-after-Republicans-deny-him-due-to-poor-life-choices)

Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a candidate for Kansas Governor, and best known for excoriating others on personal responsibility and their own fault if they don’t vote using his method, is

now demanding that State House Republicans reverse themselves, and turn the spigot back on, and pay his court fines for him — saying the refusal to do so is “unfair”.
www.kansascity.com/… (http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article210176889.html)

“(The) proviso is illegal and would require the State to expend significant resources in any futile attempt to defend it,” the letter says.

The budget move was offered by Rep. Russ Jennings, R-Lakin.

He said last week the stipulation would

prohibit using any state money for defense or penalties involved in a finding of a contempt of court by statewide elected officials.

That would include the governor and the secretary of state.


The resolution, which passed 103-16, crossed all party lines in the state house,

with Republicans citing the need for personal responsibility :lol

and Democratic members citing the ridiculous nature of allowing people to get fined by the courts and have no consequences.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/1/1761338/-KS-SoS-Kobach-prepares-to-sue-for-legal-welfare-after-Republicans-deny-him-due-to-poor-life-choices?detail=emaildkre

Cohen ain't the only corrupt asshole losing friends :lol

[boutons_deux]

Like Kanye, here's another knitter with his head up his black ass, pandering to y'all racist Repugs

E.W. Jackson Says America Has Never Been A Racist Country Because African Slavery Was Started By Muslims

Religious Right activist E.W. Jackson, who is seeking (http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/religious-right-activist-e-w-jackson-is-running-for-the-u-s-senate/) the Republican nomination to challenge Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine in November, delivered what he billed (https://youtu.be/c3F3B320qyg) as “a ground breaking speech on race in America.”

the address didn’t contain anything groundbreaking and

generally consisted of the standard misinformation and

psuedo-history that has been peddled by the Religious Right for years,

with Jackson at one point

absurdly asserting that America has never been a racist country because the practice of slavery was originated by Muslims.

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/e-w-jackson-says-america-has-never-been-a-racist-country-because-african-slavery-was-started-by-muslims/

[boutons_deux]

FCC’s O’Rielly broke federal law at CPAC

Republican FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly violated federal law by advocating for the reelection of President Donald Trump during CPAC in February, according to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.

Asked about a future FCC potentially reversing the agency's rollback of net neutrality rules, O'Rielly said, “What we can do is make sure

as conservatives that we elect good people to both the House, the Senate and make sure that President Trump gets reelected."
With those words, O'Rielly violated the Hatch Act,

which forbids most federal officials from engaging in partisan advocacy, OSC’s Erica Hamrick wrote in a letter (https://subscriber.politicopro.com/f/?id=00000163-1da8-d977-a7e7-9da811540000) today to the Project on Government Oversight.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/01/fcc-orielly-special-counsel-ethics-563696

The Repug kakistocracy doesn't know the laws and regs, and don't fucking care, as part of oligarchy's ethic that they are above the law and hate govt For The People

[boutons_deux]

'On Fire For God's Work': How Scott Pruitt's Faith Drives His Politics

https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2018/04/30/ap_17018545242141_wide-eecb9f0c8adae94e22ffdbf39c32080d2d7288f4-s1500-c85.jpg

Pruitt stood on the stage of his hometown church, bowed his head, and prayed (http://www.bpnews.net/48209/trump-cabinet-picks-draw-baptist-prayer-support).

"I stand on a platform today with a man of God who's been tapped to serve our nation," Pruitt stood on the stage of his hometown church, bowed his head, and prayed (http://www.bpnews.net/48209/trump-cabinet-picks-draw-baptist-prayer-support).

"I stand on a platform today with a man of God who's been tapped to serve our nation," said Nick Garland (https://player.fm/series/fbcba-sermons/11517-special-prayer-service-pastor-nick-garland), the senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Broken Arrow, Okla.

"It's an honor for the kingdom of God to have a man of God who's going to fill that role," said Garland. "We wanted to pray for you today, and ask God to bless you."

much of his career has been driven by faith-based issues like abortion and religious freedom.

Pruitt is originally from Kentucky,

r transferred to Georgetown College, a Baptist school in Georgetown, Ky., before moving to Oklahoma to attend the University Of Tulsa College Of Law.

"A Christian worldview means that God has answers to our problems," said Pruitt, :lol

he recently told the Christian Broadcasting Network (http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2018/february/unraveling-the-weaponization-of-the-epa-is-top-priority-for-scott-pruitt) that he believes God blessed humanity with natural resources like coal and oil so that people may use them. :lol

"The biblical world view with respect to these issues," he said, "is that we have a responsibility to manage and cultivate,

harvest the natural resources :lol

that we've been blessed with to truly bless our fellow mankind." :lol

https://www.npr.org/2018/05/01/607181437/on-fire-for-gods-work-how-scott-pruitts-faith-drives-his-politics

Christian Supremacists killing 1000s of Americans "for Christ", it's the biblical world view that trumps all man-made laws and knowledges.

[boutons_deux]

Pruitt wanted an EPA office in Tulsa so he could work from home

Sen. Inhofe staffer contacted EPA about establishing office in Tulsa.

If successful, Pruitt could have stayed in Tulsa to conduct much of his work.

As it turned out, Pruitt was unable to get the office set up in 2017 and has since

ended up traveling back to Tulsa on most weekends.

the records showed that Pruitt traveled (https://thinkprogress.org/epa-inquiry-scott-pruitt-travel-fc573254269f/') to Oklahoma dozens of times, at taxpayer’s expense, during his first six months as administrator.

https://thinkprogress.org/scott-pruitt-tried-to-create-tulsa-office-before-getting-sworn-in-cb9d163b3dfd/

[boutons_deux]

"Eighteen House Republicans on Wednesday sent a letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee formally

nominating President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his effort to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

"Since taking office, President Trump has worked tirelessly :lol

to apply maximum pressure on North Korea to end its illicit weapons program and bring peace to the region,"

http://theweek.com/10things/770672/10-things-need-know-today-may-3-2018

:lol

Will the Swedes shit stain themselves?

[boutons_deux]

Poll finds 4M lost health insurance in last two years

The uninsured rate was up significantly compared with 2016 among adults with an individual income of about $30,000 and a family income of about $61,000.

Additionally, people who identified as Republican also had significantly higher uninsured rates.

The uninsured rate among Republicans rose from 7.9 percent in 2016 to 13.9 percent in the current survey period,

which was conducted between February and March of 2018. The uninsured rate among those who identify as Democrats stood at 9.1 percent, statistically unchanged from 2016.

The survey was conducted among 2,403 adults, ages 19 to 64.

The results indicate that the coverage losses are likely to continue.

About 60 percent of all adults surveyed said they were aware that the GOP tax bill included a repeal of the individual mandate penalty, and

9 percent of people who get their insurance through the individual market said they were planning to drop coverage as a result.

http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/health-insurance/385680-poll-uninsured-rate-is-climbing

So Repugs like flying with no insurance, and expect other taxpayers to pay their medical bills at community, county facilities.

Fuck Repugs and Fuck Repug voters.

[boutons_deux]

Yes, Donald Trump Is Making White People More Hateful

A new study finds empirical evidence of the “Trump Effect.”

This post-election surge in hatred has been referred to as “the Trump Effect.” But several studies have suggested the spike in racial animosity pre-dates Trump.

new, as yet unpublished study (https://umass.app.box.com/s/x5zz210nor2z0v93m8frdlzxyobggrlm) presented to the Midwest Political Science Association last month suggests that

there’s a causal relationship between Trump’s demagoguery and those reports of racialized abuses.

Brian Schaffner, a scholar at UMass Amherst, found empirical evidence that

Trump’s rhetoric did indeed lead non-Hispanic whites to express more bigoted views of “the other.”

The results were surprising. Respondents who were exposed to Trump’s comments about “thugs” in Baltimore weren’t affected by that inflammatory statement to a significant degree, but those who read his tirade about Mexicans were.

They made significantly more negative comments about the groups in question than those who only saw more conventional campaign rhetoric.

Eight hundred people were recruited to rate the comments on a scale from “very negative” to “very positive,” and Schaffner averaged out the results.

Trump’s language [about Mexicans] doesn’t just embolden people to say more negative and more offensive things about the group he’s talking about, but

it actually leads them to say more offensive things about all groups.”

Schaffner thinks

“this pattern is likely due to the fact that the quote about Mexicans is particularly offensive.”

this “Trump Effect” was about equal for whites who backed Trump and those who supported Clinton.

Trump is giving respondents tacit permission to be bigots.

“People aren’t always sure what the norms are :lol stupid fucks!

in terms of what’s OK and what’s not OK to say,” he says.

“There have been several psychological studies showing that people tend to take cues from their peers when they’re asked to talk about other groups.

When they hear somebody saying something offensive about some group, then they basically say to themselves,

‘oh, I can say that because this other person said it so it must be OK.’

And I think something similar is going on here. People hear a politician who is running for president using this inflammatory terminology, and

they think, ‘well, if a major party’s presidential candidate is using this language than it must be acceptable for me.’

So I think people are changing their understanding about what the norms allow for, or preclude, based on what they’re hearing from Trump.”

https://www.thenation.com/article/yes-donald-trump-is-making-white-people-more-hateful/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Weekly%2005042018&utm_term=weekly

iow, Trash's racism brings out, increases the racism in sheeple who are stupidly, ignorantly influenceable.

Watching TV makes sheeple thoughless, stupid, malleable.

[boutons_deux]

total ignorant dicklessness


Confused gun nuts are harassing a 31-year-old New York woman because her name is Emma Gonzalez

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/05/confused-gun-nuts-harassing-31-year-old-new-york-woman-name-emma-gonzalez/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

goddamn, you gun fellators are fucking stupid, even more stupid than you are dickless

[boutons_deux]

Notorious misogynist and accused child molester Ted Nugent spoke at the NRA Women's Leadership Forum


https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/static/uploader/image/2018/05/07/nugent-womens-forum.jpg

despite his history of misogyny and reports that he engaged in sexual misconduct involving minors.

Nugent has a long record (https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2014/02/14/10-misogynist-attacks-from-ted-nugent-greg-abbo/198061) of making profane attacks against women,

including telling a CBS News producer that he would “fuck” her in a lewd off-camera remark,

claiming “fat chicks” will kill you,

defining the term feminist as “some fat pig who doesn’t get it often enough,”

calling former Attorney General Janet Reno a “dirty whore,” and

referring to Hillary Clinton as both a “worthless bitch” and a “toxic ****.”

Back in the 1970s, a 30-year-old Nugent became (https://www.mediaite.com/online/can-we-talk-about-ted-nugents-predilection-for-teenaged-girls-yet/) the legal guardian of a 17-year-old girl with whom he had a romantic relationship.

The woman later (https://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/ted-nugent-texas-103763) said, “It just really wasn’t a terribly appropriate situation in most people’s eyes. And now, it would be criminal.”

In 2004, singer Courtney Love said (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oumlsfMCEpw) that she performed oral sex on Nugent when she was 12 years old. According to Mediaite, “Nugent apparently declined to comment” about Love’s statement when she made it.

billed as an event (https://www.nraam.org/events/2018-events/friday-may-4/womens-leadership-forum-luncheon-auction/) for “philanthropic women united with the mission of infusing new enthusiasm, new excitement, new leaders and new opportunities into the fight for Second Amendment freedoms.”

This year’s forum featured (http://www.nrawlf.com/benefits-events/dallas.aspx) professional sexist (https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/05/04/nra-hosted-professional-sexist-tucker-carlson-featured-speaker-its-women-s-leadership-forum-luncheon/220118)Tucker Carlson as its keynote speaker.

https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/05/07/notorious-misogynist-and-accused-child-molester-ted-nugent-spoke-nra-womens-leadership-forum/220129?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MediaMattersForAmerica-CountyFair+%28Media+Matters+for+America+-+Blog%29

:lol stupid gun fellatin wimmens

[boutons_deux]

Another bureaucrat blocking govt privatization brutally fired, just like the head of the VA for the same reason, anti-privatization

THE WOMAN STANDING IN THE WAY OF THE PRIVATIZATION OF THOUSANDS OF JOBS IN TENNESSEE WAS JUST FIRED (https://theintercept.com/2018/05/07/tennessee-governor-bill-haslam-privatization-university-jobs/)

A UNIVERSITY CHANCELLOR who took a controversial stand to protect the jobs of thousands of public workers has now lost her own.

University of Tennessee-Knoxville Chancellor Beverly Davenport was abruptly fired (http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/breakingnews/story/2018/may/02/beverly-davenportfired/469829/) from her post last week, in a move representatives for unionized campus workers are calling

another step toward the privatization of thousands of facilities management jobs.
The battle in Tennessee pits the state’s GOP governor, Bill Haslam, against its public workers,

and UT-Knoxville is where the workers, backed by a student movement, have made their stand.

The workers see

Davenport’s firing as an effort to remove a key obstacle to privatization.

“This is an attempt

to install new leadership more consolidated to the corporate and extremist political agenda of Haslam and the legislature in Nashville,”

said Thomas Walker of United Campus Workers (http://ucw-cwa.org/), the lead union for facilities employees at Tennessee colleges.

“Davenport was an advocate for students, staff, and faculty.”

https://theintercept.com/2018/05/07/tennessee-governor-bill-haslam-privatization-university-jobs/

The Repug/oligarchy War on Employees continues ruthlessly

[boutons_deux]

Republicans can't do away with Social Security, so they're cutting its offices (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/7/1762644/-Republicans-can-t-do-away-with-Social-Security-so-they-re-cutting-its-offices)

Since Republicans have been unable to cut the benefits themselves, they've gone after the SSA.


In addition, all 533 Social Security Administration "contact sites"—locations that serve remote, rural populations on a weekly or monthly basis—have closed, said leaders of the union that represents Social Security employees.

The most recent closures, which have not been publicly announced, come on the heels of the shutdown of offices in Milwaukee and Chicago in the past year, which elected officials also protested to no avail.

An SSA spokeswoman attributed the Arlington closure to an expiring lease and an inability to find space nearby—an explanation that elected officials in Virginia dispute. […]

In a letter they sent last week to Nancy A. Berryhill, the SSA's deputy commissioner of operations, six Democratic state lawmakers who represent Arlington said the Edsall Road office "is much less accessible to Arlington residents, and already serves large constituencies in Alexandria and Fairfax."

"Those with the most complicated cases and greatest need often benefit from in-person services,"

said the letter, signed by Dels. Alfonso Lopez, Mark Levine and Patrick Hope and Sens. Adam Ebbin, Barbara Favola and Janet Howell.

"Many of these individuals are also among the least mobile and the most dependent on public transportation."



Since 2010 (Repugs obtain control of spending),

the SSA has also lost 3,500 staff, and the

Trump administration wants to cut another 1,000.

This isn't a population that's well-connected to the internet, the supposed solution to these cutbacks.

Seniors still lag well behind (http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/internet-broadband/) other age groups in internet use and access.
This is no accident.

Destroying popular, effective government agencies is the GOP’s thing.

Destroying this one,

making people unhappy and distrustful of Social Security, is how they are slow but surely chipping away at it.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/7/1762644/-Republicans-can-t-do-away-with-Social-Security-so-they-re-cutting-its-offices?detail=emaildkre

[boutons_deux]

Trump transportation head Chao using her office to boost her wealthy father's business prospects (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/7/1762609/-Trump-transportation-head-Chao-using-her-office-to-boost-her-wealthy-father-s-business-prospects)


In at least a dozen interviews with Chinese and Chinese-American media outlets since her nomination,

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has appeared beside her shipping magnate father,

whose company carries goods between the United States and Asia, and who

has given Chao and her husband at least $5 million in the past 10 years. [...]

One interview with New China Press published on April 12, 2017, features

the pair sitting in what appears to be the Department of Transportation, with DOT flags in view behind the interviewer.


To be clear,

the heads of government agencies are not supposed to be stumping for the family business while in office—

especially not with the trappings of their government position hanging behind them as they do it, just in case anyone was unclear that this was being done under the auspices of that office.

Not only do the DOT flags appear prominently in the New China Press interview and several other interviews,

the state flag of Kentucky appears in at least one, which points up her connection to her powerful husband, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

[S]pecialists in Chinese and Asian business practices say that having the owner of a family shipping business seated next to a daughter who is U.S. secretary of transportation

sends a message that Foremost Group has high-level government connections — an important credential in China.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/7/1762609/-Trump-transportation-head-Chao-using-her-office-to-boost-her-wealthy-father-s-business-prospects?detail=emaildkre

Conflicts of interest are CORRUPTON, HORRIBLE, WORTHY OF FIRING, but only if Repug/oligarchy interests aren't included

[boutons_deux]

Billo trying to elbow his way into the spotlight to defend a woman (one he won't be assaulting)

Bill O’Reilly Offers To Stand Next To Sarah Sanders To Handle ‘Out Of Line’ Reporters

“I will tell them exactly what I think of their behavior.”

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bill-oreilly-sarah-huckabee-sanders_us_5af11da2e4b0ab5c3d690b95

[boutons_deux]

House votes to repeal auto-loan guidance, setting new precedent

The House voted Tuesday to repeal a controversial edict on auto lending from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), capping off an unprecedented use of congressional powers that could give Republicans a new way to reverse regulations.

Republicans and a group of Democrats passed a resolution to repeal the CFPB’s 2013 guidance on “dealer markups,” which is the additional interest an auto dealer adds to a third-party loan as extra compensation. The measure to repeal the 2013 policy, which is not a formal federal rule, passed the Senate last month.

President Trump (http://thehill.com/people/donald-trump) is expected to sign the resolution. If he does, it would be the first time Congress used its powers under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to repeal an informal federal policy.

Advocates for auto dealers and their congressional allies said lenders were committed to fairness :lol

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/386779-house-votes-to-repeal-auto-loan-guidance-setting-new-precedent

[boutons_deux]

Trump calls on Congress to pull back $15 billion in spending, including on Children’s Health Insurance Program

President Trump is sending a plan to Congress that calls for stripping more than $15 billion in previously approved spending, with the hope that it will temper conservative angst over ballooning budget deficits.

Almost half of the proposed cuts would come from two accounts within the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

that White House officials said expired last year or are not expected to be drawn upon.

An additional $800 million in cuts would come from money created by the Affordable Care Act in 2010 to test innovative payment and service delivery models.
Those are just a handful of the more than 30 programs the White House is proposing to Congress for “rescission,” a process of culling back money that was previously authorized.

Once the White House sends the request to Congress, lawmakers have 45 days to vote on the plan or a scaled-back version of it through a simple majority vote.

If approved by Congress,

the reductions would represent less than 0.4 percent of total government spending this year.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/trump-calls-on-congress-to-pull-back-15-billion-in-spending-including-on-childrens-health-insurance-program/2018/05/07/9427de18-5216-11e8-a551-5b648abe29ef_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.fa61a3b17b0d

yep, oligarchy's tax scam cuts paid for by poor people

[boutons_deux]

Repugs defund NASA from atmospheric studies, and now the non-scientist political hack NASA director is trashing his own agency

NASA boss insists US returning to the Moon after Peanuts to show for past four decades

NASA chief Jim Bridenstine has strangely compared previous attempts to return to the Moon to an old Peanuts cartoon.

The new Administrator yesterday told companies keen to cash in provide lunar payload services that while

attempts to return to the Moon over the last 40 years or so may have ended in failure,

President Donald Trump's Space Policy Directive 1 (https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/new-space-policy-directive-calls-for-human-expansion-across-solar-system) won't be "Lucy and the football again".
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/424382265/nasawatch.twitter_bigger.jpg (https://twitter.com/NASAWatch)NASA Watch@NASAWatch
(https://twitter.com/NASAWatch)
(https://twitter.com/NASAWatch)Bridenstine says "this will not be Lucy and the football again we are going to the Moon"

1:40 PM - May 8, 2018 (https://twitter.com/NASAWatch/status/993923699639283713)

(https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/05/09/nasa_boss_aims_for_the_moon_while_putin_fires_russ ias_space_head_honcho/)https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/05/09/nasa_boss_aims_for_the_moon_while_putin_fires_russ ias_space_head_honcho/ (https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/05/09/nasa_boss_aims_for_the_moon_while_putin_fires_russ ias_space_head_honcho/)


So Trash's Space "directive 1" is a boondoggle to transfer taxpayer wealth to investors.

==================

Trump's Space Directive #1:
"Lead an innovative and sustainable program of exploration

with commercial and international partners

to enable human expansion across the solar system and

to bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities.

Beginning with missions beyond low-Earth orbit,

the United States will lead the return of humans to the Moon

for long-term exploration and utilization,

followed by human missions to Mars and other destinations;".




Where is the funding?

take more $10Bs from the social security net, cancel kids health insurance and breakfasts, lunches?

[boutons_deux]

Republicans go after (poor) children's health funding, again (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/10/1763344/-Republicans-go-after-children-s-health-funding-again)

Speaker Paul Ryan is embracing (https://twitter.com/SpeakerRyan/status/994004763258826752) the spending clawback his majority leader Kevin McCarthy has cooked up with the Trump administration, the one that cuts $7 billion from children's health (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/8/1762842/-White-House-releases-claw-back-proposal-taking-7-billion-away-from-children-s-health).

After the massive fight last year, in which funding for the program ran out, and Republicans refused to renew it for months and months,

now they're outright cutting it. They say that this isn't really a cut, and in some ways

it is more window dressing than actual cuts, :lol fuckine LIE :lol

This rescission would cut the funding in that reserve pool to about $500 million, and

it is a dangerous precedent and an escalation in last year's precedent for the program—

a willingness by every single Republican to take it hostage.

To turn millions of children and families into pawns.

For years taking care of children's health has been non-controversial, with strong bipartisan support.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1763344

"For years taking care of children's health has been non-controversial, ... "

now Repugs knows the tax-cut-same beneficiaryieary oligarchy will re-elect them, so they fuck non-oligarchy America into forever unfuckability.

[boutons_deux]

Mulvaney to scrap student loan office that's returned $750 million in relief (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/10/1763337/-Mulvaney-to-scrap-student-loan-office-that-s-returned-750-million-in-relief)

Getting ripped off by your student loan company or for-profit college?

Squatter Mick Mulvaney, in charge of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for just long enough to destroy it, doesn't care.

The office in the bureau that is intended to fight for student borrowers is being shuttered (http://money.cnn.com/2018/05/09/news/economy/cfpb-mulvaney-student-lending/index.html), Mulvaney has informed staff.

The division has helped return $750 million to student loan borrowers to compensate for abusive practices by lenders.

It has helped more than 60,000 borrowers get answers from lenders about student loan repayment.And it has sued Navient, the nation's biggest student loan company, claiming it gave borrowers bad information. […]

"Shuttering the CFPB's student lending office is an appalling step in a longer march toward the elimination of meaningful American consumer protection law," said Christopher Peterson, financial services director at the Consumer Federation of America.

CFPB spokesman John Czwartacki said that "contrary to malicious rumors and misinformation being spread elsewhere,

the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection is not shutting down its efforts to protect and inform students." :lol

Czwartacki described it as a "modest org chart change" to keep the bureau in line with its statute. :lol


The division is being moved into the broader financial education unit, which makes it sound an awful like

there won't be any more investigating or enforcement being done.

It's a $1.5 trillion industry rife with fraud,

which is why

since 2011, the CFPB has returned so much to borrowers—$750 million.

The student loan market has also not recovered from the 2008, and according to the Department of Education

about 4.6 million borrowers (https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/cfpb-shutters-student-lending-office) were in default on their student loans as of December 31, 2017.

That's about 10 percent of the total student loan borrowers.

Which isn't going to do much to improve Trump's standing with the 18-34 demographic, where he's current 33 points underwater.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/10/1763337/-Mulvaney-to-scrap-student-loan-office-that-s-returned-750-million-in-relief?detail=emaildkre (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/10/1763337/-Mulvaney-to-scrap-student-loan-office-that-s-returned-750-million-in-relief?detail=emaildkre)


============================


Betsy DeVos Is Telling States to Stop Cracking Down on Student Loan Companies


Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has stepped into a fight between student loan companies and state regulators — and

she’s siding with the loan companies.

State attorneys general have led the charge to hold loan servicers accountable for practices that hurt consumers.

The loan companies, by contrast, have argued that because they are hired directly by the U.S. government to manage loan repayment for roughly 40 million borrowers, they shouldn’t be subject to additional state laws aimed at protecting those borrowers.

Now, in an announcement (https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2018-04924.pdf) posted online Friday, the U.S. Department of Education has taken a side —


maintaining that state rules aimed at greater consumer protection

undermine the federal government’s goal to have a single, streamlined federal loan program.

The memo doesn’t have any legal effect on current state laws, according to consumer advocates at the Center for Responsible Lending.

But it is the latest move in an ongoing struggle between student loan servicers and state lawmakers.

http://time.com/money/5193456/devos-student-loan-servicers-state-regulations/ (http://time.com/money/5193456/devos-student-loan-servicers-state-regulations/)

Repugs are screwing EVERYBODY except the oligarchy.

[boutons_deux]

Paul Ryan, his lips firmly around Trash's flaccid penis, dismisses bipartisan attempt to vote on DACA
legislation (http://theweek.com/speedreads/772586/paul-ryan-dismisses-bipartisan-attempt-vote-daca-legislation)

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday

shut down attempts by members of his party to force a vote on bipartisan immigration legislation.

"Going down a path having some spectacle on the floor that just results in a veto doesn't solve the problem,"

Ryan said, as reported by Politico (https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/10/paul-ryan-reject-daca-vote-579917). He explained that

"the White House will need to be a part of this and we'll need a bill the president will sign."

http://theweek.com/speedreads/772586/paul-ryan-dismisses-bipartisan-attempt-vote-daca-legislation

Trash killed DACA and blamed the Dems, and handled DACA to Congress, so Ryan now does nothing in deference to Trash

"spectacle"? :lol

Repugs don't want DACA fixed, they want ALL the brownies rounded up like animals and dumped elsewhere.

[boutons_deux]

Trump administration to reconsider housing bias protections

President Donald Trump’s administration signaled on Thursday it may reverse housing anti-discrimination protections established under Democratic former President Barack Obama that exposed companies to a broad range of legal claims under federal law.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) said it will reconsider the 2013 rule issued during the Obama administration that laid out when so-called disparate impact claims can be brought against lenders, insurers and other major players in housing under federal fair housing law.

In a 2015 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that such claims can be brought under the landmark Fair Housing Act, but insurance companies in particular have fought against its application to their industry. HUD said its review will examine whether the Obama-era regulation is consistent with the Supreme Court ruling.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-housing-discrimination/trump-administration-to-reconsider-housing-bias-protections-idUSKBN1IB2Q6?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FPoliticsNews+%28Reu ters+Politics+News%29

Trash/mafiya unleashing the racial discrimination monster

the hated smart knitter Obama did it, it must be undone by hateful dumb white Trash.

[boutons_deux]

Trump just rolled back more Obama regulations – now he’s making transgender inmates less safe

The Trump administration has just rolled back regulations, mostly from the Obama era, designed to make transgender prisoners more safe.

Going forward the Bureau of Prisons will not use an inmate’s gender identity,

but their biological sex in determining which cell blocks they will be housed in, and

which bathrooms transgender inmates can use.

the new Trump “policy apparently gives federal officials, for example, more leeway to place transgender women in cells alongside men —

a circumstance that transgender advocates argue leaves transgender inmates vulnerable to violence and rape.”

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/05/trump-just-rolled-back-obama-regulations-now-hes-making-transgender-inmates-less-safe/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29 (https://www.rawstory.com/2018/05/trump-just-rolled-back-obama-regulations-now-hes-making-transgender-inmates-less-safe/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29)

So Trash's SS will put transgender men (born women) into men's prisons and transgender women (born men) into women's prisons?

[boutons_deux]

DeVos Has a Plan To Force Taxpayers to Fund Religious Schools (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/12/1763766/-DeVos-Has-a-Plan-To-Force-Taxpayers-to-Fund-Religious-Schools)

DeVos represents a clear and present danger to the nation as it has existed since its inception.
It is no secret that DeVos hates the public school system for a variety of reasons,

but chief among them is

that they are not taxpayer funded evangelical madrassas and

they do not yet exist to enrich her wealthy cohorts in the corporate private and religious school movement.

DeVos clearly stated that her goal in running Trump’s Education Department is shaping the culture “to advance god’s kingdom.”

theocrats have been systematically setting the stage to reach their 2020 target date and DeVos’ actions are a crucial part of the plan.


DeVos represents a clear and present danger to the nation as it has existed since its inception.

It is no secret that DeVos hates the public school system for a variety of reasons, but chief among them is that

they are not taxpayer funded evangelical madrassas and

they do not yet exist to enrich her wealthy cohorts in the corporate private and religious school movement.

DeVos clearly stated that her goal in running Trump’s Education Department is shaping the culture “to advance god’s kingdom.”

theocrats have been systematically setting the stage to reach their 2020 target date and DeVos’ actions are a crucial part of the plan.

DeVos’ effort entails redefining corporate charter and private religious schools as “public”

to legally funnel taxpayer dollars away from “non-religious” and “non-profit” public schools directly to her friends in the religious and charter school movement.

DeVos’ immediate response was shocking. She told the gathered public school teachers that

her intent was to redefine “what education is and declare all of it ‘public’ education.”

The reason is clearly to legally fund religious, private and corporate charter schools, all for profit, with money stolen from public schools.

“One of the things that was so stark and memorable in that exchange was . . .

Secretary DeVos trying to redefine what the word ‘public’ is. It was almost like Orwellian double-speak to me.”

she is also a raving evangelical theocrat desperate to eviscerate the public school system to fund private, for-profit, religious schools.

The only reasonable assessment of DeVos is that she is a

“radical Christian extremist intent on using America’s public school system to ‘advance god’s kingdom;” and

she is on a mission to force American taxpayers to fund her theocratic crusade.

DeVos is so enamored with private religious and charter schools is

she relishes using taxpayer dollars to discriminate against gays, the disabled and women according to “the sensibilities” of the conservative Christian movement.

“There are not enough philanthropic dollars in America to fund what is currently the [theocratic] need in education…

[versus] what is currently being spent every year on education in this country…

Our desire is to confront the culture in ways that will continue to advance God’s Kingdom.”

DeVos is more than willing to “destroy public education and use public school funds to advance her dreams of a Christian theocracy.”

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/12/1763766/-DeVos-Has-a-Plan-To-Force-Taxpayers-to-Fund-Religious-Schools

Will Devos be stopped? Can she be stopped?

I think only the courts, not Repug Congress, will act, which is the great danger of the Repugs polluting the Fed appeals courts with extreme/Christian dominionist ideologues

[boutons_deux]

Oklahoma Governor Signs Law Allowing Adoption Agencies to Discriminate Against Same-Sex Couples

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/05/oklahoma-governor-signs-law-allowing-adoption-agencies-to-discriminate-against-same-sex-couples.html

[boutons_deux]

Mike Pence Says More Americans Believe in God Now That Trump is President

"Facts are facts," Pence also insisted.

Vice President Mike Pence (https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/?s=%22Mike+Pence%22) delivered the commencement address to graduating students at a small, private, ultra-conservative Christian college in Michigan Saturday afternoon.

The Vice President told the Hillsdale College (https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/?s=%22Hillsdale+College%22) graduating class that because Donald Trump is now president, more Americans believe in God.

"Faith in America is rising again because President Trump and our entire administration have been advancing the very principles that you learned here in the halls of Hillsdale College," :lol

Pence said.

"The principles that have always been the source of America's greatness and strength." :lol



"Facts are facts," Pence also insisted. "Faith is rising across America." :lol

https://www.alternet.org/watch-mike-pence-says-more-americans-believe-god-now-trump-president

No evidence, of course, for Pence's "facts", just dishonest wishful thinking and Christian theocratic propaganda.
"The (Trash administration) principles that have always been the source of America's greatness and strength." :lol

white male so-called-Christian supremacy

destruction of the environment

screwing the poor while enriching the wealthy

[boutons_deux]

Jeff Sessions Revealed This Week That He Would Begin Inflicting Terror Across America — But Nobody Paid Attention

There is a reason why Jeff Sessions continues to endure the indignities heaped upon him by President Trump and Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., chair of the House Intelligence Committee.

On Monday, Sessions made official the Trump administration policy of ripping children from their families, if they crossed the U.S.-Mexico border.

On Tuesday, he traveled to Tennessee to taunt the 97 workers who were arrested during a recent immigration raid at a local meat processing plant. "I'm not shedding tears about them,” Sessions said of the detained workers, and the 160 children left without parents overnight.

Out of the spotlight, Sessions has succeeded in centering immigration as the nation’s top law enforcement priority and at prioritizing criminal proceedings over their impact on crime.

He’s quietly instructed prosecutors to go after low-level offenders and removed Department of Justice grants to study criminal justice reform.

"If you are smuggling a child then we will prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you as required by law," Sessions said

"If you don't like that, then don't smuggle children over our border."

It's an explicit message meant to prevent parents from seeking asylum in the United States.

Sessions traveled to Scottsdale, Arizona, and San Diego on Monday to boast that

parents apprehended at the border will be placed into criminal custody and their children will be sent to federally funded shelters.

In fact, this seemingly cruel policy has long been a goal of the Trump administration.

Sessions is working with the Department of Homeland Security to

expand the average stay in a detention facility from 14 days to 45 days, and claiming the authority to delay snacks and other provisions for children.

Roughly 700 children have been separated from their parents at the border since last October,

“Last month, senators at a subcommittee testimony said

almost 1,500 migrant children went missing after federal officials put them in the homes of adult sponsors around the country,”

“If you cross this border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you. It’s that simple,” Sessions added, describing his new policy. “We are dealing with a massive influx of illegal aliens across our southwest border. But we’re not going to stand for this.”

There’s no sudden crisis in "illegal" immigration. Apprehensions at the southwestern border remain near historic lows (https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2017-Dec/BP%20Total%20Monthly%20Apps%20by%20Sector%20and%20 Area%2C%20FY2000-FY2017.pdf).

Sessions laughed at the “fuzzy-headed left” who have raised concerns about civil liberties.

You don’t get to benefit from being in this country and looking around the world for the cheapest worker you can find,” he said of a recent workplace raid in the area.

But a month after the raid, no charges have been filed against the owners of the plant who apparently hired and then abused their immigrant labor force.

https://www.alternet.org/jeff-sessions-revealed-week-he-would-begin-inflicting-terror-across-america-nobody-paid-attention

Sessions lie: a huge influx of illegal immigrants, fact: historic low, with net migration negative (more leave than arrive)

Sessions lie: illegal immigrants are a huge source of crime

[boutons_deux]

Congress Weighs Indefinite Detention of Americans

A Senate bill under consideration could allow Donald Trump to indefinitely jail American citizens without charge if they oppose U.S. military action,

Under the guise of exercising supervisory power over the president’s ability to use military force,

Congress is considering writing Donald Trump a blank check to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens with no criminal charges.

Alarmingly, this legislation could permit the president to lock up Americans who dissent against U.S. military policy.

the 2018 AUMF would codify presidential power to make war whenever and wherever he chooses.

S.J.Res.59 allows the president “to use all necessary and appropriate force” against Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Libya and Somalia, al-Qaeda, ISIS (also known as Daesh), the Taliban and their “associated forces” anywhere in the world, without limitation.

However, the bill contains no definition of “co-belligerent.”

A president may conceivably claim that a U.S. citizen who writes, speaks out or demonstrates against U.S. military action is a “co-belligerent” and lock him or her up indefinitely without charge.

“Associated forces” is defined as “any organization, person, or force,

other than a sovereign nation,

that the President determines has entered the fight alongside and is a co-belligerent

with al Qaeda, the Taliban, or ISIS, in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners.”

https://consortiumnews.com/2018/05/13/congress-weighs-indefinite-detention-of-americans/

scary shit. AmeriKKKa is fucked and unfuckable

Even nominal, mythical "democracy" being bullied to death by authoritarians.

[boutons_deux]

With New Ebola Outbreak, Trump Cripples Global Health Security Team

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced (http://www.who.int/news-room/detail/08-05-2018-new-ebola-outbreak-declared-in-democratic-republic-of-the-congo) on Tuesday that a new Ebola outbreak has emerged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo — and thanks to the Trump administration, we are woefully under-equipped to deal with it.

Just as news broke about the resurgence of the deadly disease, the Trump administration made a series of moves that could severely hamper America’s capacity to respond to disease outbreaks (https://shareblue.com/37-children-have-died-this-flu-season-and-trump-is-gutting-the-national-response/).

Hours before the announcement from WHO, Trump called on Congress (http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/05/09/ebola-is-back-and-trump-is-trying-to-kill-funding-for-it/) to rescind $252 million that had been set aside specifically for the purpose of dealing with Ebola outbreaks.

The money, which Trump referred to (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-protecting-american-taxpayer-dollars/) as “irresponsible federal spending,” was actually set aside intentionally in anticipation of the next outbreak.

Having funds available immediately allows the U.S. to quickly deploy health officials to the site of the outbreak so it can be stopped before it spreads further and becomes a deadly — and extremely costly — international crisis.

But Trump thinks outbreak preparedness is “excessive spending (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-protecting-american-taxpayer-dollars/)” and wants Congress to rescind all of the funding.

Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer, the top White House official in charge of coordinating the national response to deadly pandemics, abruptly left the administration.

He was reportedly “pushed out (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/05/10/top-white-house-official-in-charge-of-pandemic-response-exits-abruptly/?utm_term=.1855a3d3964e)” by Trump’s new national security adviser, John Bolton, and will not be replaced with someone else.

the global health security team that Ziemer oversaw was disbanded upon his exit. This means that “no senior administration official is now focused solely on global health security,”

http://www.nationalmemo.com/with-new-ebola-outbreak-trump-cripples-global-health-security-team/ (http://www.nationalmemo.com/with-new-ebola-outbreak-trump-cripples-global-health-security-team/)

More dead knitters in shithole Africa?

Wealthy, racist Repugs don't GAF

[boutons_deux]

Repugs joking about McCain dying soon (and WH not apologizing),

and also ...

Trump supporters heckled mother with disabled daughter at rally, Secret Service escorted them out (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/5/1578231/-Trump-supporters-heckled-mother-with-disabled-daughter-at-rally-Secret-Service-escorted-them-out)

About 20 minutes into the rally she decided she’d seen enough and turned to leave with her daughter.

That’s when Trump supporters began heckling Mau and her daughter: (http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/7-year-old-girl-with-disabilities-removed-from-trump-rally)


When we were leaving, somebody said, 'Why are you leaving?' and basically struck a nerve," Mau said.

"I said, 'Why are you here? He makes fun of people like you.'"

Several people yelled at her - one followed her,

telling her if she loved her daughter she should vote for Trump :lol

-- until she said Secret Service escorted her out of the rally.

Mau said she was saddened to be harassed for standing up for her daughter with disabilities,

but she said she was happy to see some people walk out with her, saying her daughter is beautiful.


Taunting a mother and her disabled daughter? I’d say that qualifies as deplorable.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/5/1578231/-Trump-supporters-heckled-mother-with-disabled-daughter-at-rally-Secret-Service-escorted-them-out?detail=emailclassic (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/5/1578231/-Trump-supporters-heckled-mother-with-disabled-daughter-at-rally-Secret-Service-escorted-them-out?detail=emailclassic)

You deplorable rightwingnutjobs are ugly, stinkin assholes.

Trash exposes the 10Ms of deplorable Repugs poisoning AmeriKKKa

[boutons_deux]

South Dakota Congressional Candidate Said Terrorist Attack Would Help Him Win PrimaryState Sen. Neal Tapio was the state director for Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/south-dakota-congressional-candidate-terrorist-attack-win-primary_us_5af4acf8e4b00d7e4c18c57d?96&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=__TheMorningEmail__051418&utm_content=__TheMorningEmail__051418+CID_042fe620 e9079d1ec47f83e05fc64b20&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=terrorist%20attack&ncid=newsltushpmgnews__TheMorningEmail__051418

... that's a great policy, pro-terrorism

[boutons_deux]

Trash's AmeriKKKa

4 Men Charged With Hate Crimes In Beating Of Gay Couple

A bystander was also beaten bloody in the attack, which was caught on camera.

https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5af757f71a00004300cde817.png?ops=scalefit_720_noup scale
The four suspects in the alleged hate crime are, from left, Pablo Reinaldo Romo-Figueroa, Juan Carlos Lopez, Adonis David Diaz and Luis M. Alonso Piovet.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hate-crimes-beating-gay-couple_us_5af753b2e4b032b10bfb44f3?utm_medium=emai l&utm_campaign=__TheMorningEmail__051418&utm_content=__TheMorningEmail__051418+CID_042fe620 e9079d1ec47f83e05fc64b20&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=HuffPost&ncid=newsltushpmgnews__TheMorningEmail__051418

[boutons_deux]

Devos signalling to for-profit scammers, frauds, cheats, thieves that they can carry on, with vigor, because Devos says it's ok

Education Department Unwinds Unit Investigating Fraud at For-Profits

Members of a special team at the Education Department that had been investigating widespread abuses by for-profit colleges have been marginalized, reassigned or instructed to focus on other matters, according to current and former employees.

The unwinding of the team has effectively

killed investigations into possibly fraudulent activities at several large for-profit colleges where top hires of Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, had previously worked.

Former employees of those institutions now work for Ms. DeVos as well,

The investigative team had been created in 2016 after the collapse of the for-profit Corinthian Colleges, which set off a wave of complaints from students about predatory activities at for-profit schools.

The institutions had been accused of

widespread fraud that involved misrepresenting enrollment benefits,

job placement rates and program offerings, which could

leave students with huge debts and no degrees.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/13/business/education-department-for-profit-colleges.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

[spurraider21]

:lmao cosmored

[boutons_deux]

Pruitt trolling America

The EPA’s new Office of Continuous Improvement ignores some important details

During an announcement about making the agency "lean," EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt conveniently missed some details.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt announced the creation of a new “Office of Continuous Improvement,” meant to boost productivity inside the agency and cut operational waste.The office will expand the agency’s

“lean management system,” :lol

which encourages employees (https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-01/documents/lean-implementation-guide.pdf) to focus staff time on “mission-critical work.” :lol (aka, increase pollution and BigCarbon profits)

improve “the quality, transparency, and speed” of EPA services, :lol

resulting in “superior customer service” for stakeholders. :lol

Environmental groups criticized (https://twitter.com/foe_us/status/996112415518482432) the announcement, arguing that it shifts focus away from the EPA’s core mission of environmental protection.

“Scott Pruitt is advocating for a government that abandons its responsibilities to protect our clean air and water all while using taxpayer money to pay for lavish perks for himself,”

Melinda Pierce, federal policy director for the Sierra Club, said in a press statement.

“It’s clear that the only ‘customers’ Scott Pruitt intends to help are the corporate polluters directing his every move.”

https://thinkprogress.org/epa-office-of-continual-improvement-2978b5ff35ec/

Pruitt's Lean probably means "fire 20 EPA scientists to be replaced with 5 BigCarbon lobbyists"

[boutons_deux]

Pennsylvania Congressman says it is un-American to talk about racism

Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) said, "We don't talk about those things."

https://thinkprogress.org/pennsylvania-congressman-mike-kelly-un-american-to-talk-about-racism-fb297d0719c6/

[boutons_deux]

WHITE HOUSE THOUGHT BURYING A REPORT ABOUT POISON DRINKING WATER WAS A GREAT IDEA

It was an apparent attempt to—wait for it—stave off a “public relations nightmare.”

a report from the Department of Health and Human Services comes across your desk revealing that chemicals used by big business and the military, which have seeped into water supplies from New York to Michigan to West Virginia, endanger human health at much lower levels than the E.P.A had previously deemed safe.

You’d probably want to make sure that Americans currently coming in contact with said water were notified about the study immediately, and

that cleanup of the contaminated sites began right away—

first because it is very obviously the right thing to do, and

second because the Flint, Michigan, water crisis, and

its associated public health issues, is still fresh in people’s minds.

To most people, the proper course of action would be pretty self-evident!

And then you have the Trump administration,

whose first impulse is typically to respond in the least responsible, most corrupt, and flat-out dumbest way possible.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/05/white-house-buries-contaminated-drinking-water-study?mbid=synd_digg

Trash and his kakistocracy will prioritize remediating Americans' MIC/oligarchy-poisoned water with the same urgency and relentless efficiency as its responses to Puerto Rico, Flint, opioid epidemic, etc

[boutons_deux]

Trump Administration Shuts Down NASA's Carbon Monitoring Program
Since Trump took office, his administration has proposed several budget cuts to NASA's earth science programs dealing with global climate change.

United States President Donald Trump has cut the budget for National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Carbon Monitoring System.

The system is charged with compiling data from various satellite and aircraft measurements of CO2 and methane emissions around the planet.

Researchers and scientists were provided with reliable information about carbon circulation due to the program. Now, it will be much more difficult for countries to verify that carbon quotas are being met under commitments they gave as part of the Paris climate accords.

The United States is the only country on earth not to ratify the treaty.
If emissions are not being measured, countries will have no idea if they are keeping their end of the bargain,

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Trump-Administration-Shuts-Down-NASAs-Carbon-Monitoring-Program-20180515-0021.html

Repugs destroying Federal govt.

It's easier, quicker to destroy than it is to build

As with the Iraq War for Big Oil, the Repug damage will last for decades.

[boutons_deux]

Trash pandering to the Christian Taliban minority

Trump plans to impose abortion 'gag rule' on all taxpayer-funded women's health clinics (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/12/1763720/-Trump-Plans-To-Impose-Abortion-Gag-Rule-On-All-Taxpayer-Funded-Women-s-Health-Clinics-In-U-S)

https://images.dailykos.com/images/414016/story_image/kellyanne_conway.jpg?1497634762





If you don’t think this administration has quietly declared war on women, you aren’t paying attention. (https://www.vox.com/2018/5/11/17319614/trump-abortion-planned-parenthood-domestic-gag-rule-title-x)

The Trump administration last year reinstated — and expanded — a rule banning family planning clinics that get aid money from the United States (https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/26/14384260/global-gag-rule-trump-abortion-womens-health-global-health-world) from performing abortions or even discussing abortion with their patients.


Often called the “global gag rule,” (https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/1/23/14356582/trump-global-gag-rule-abortion)


it’s led to clinic closures and reductions in crucial services around the world.


And now it might be coming to the United States.

The White House is reportedly considering a domestic gag rule that would essentially apply the restrictions of the global rule to providers that receive federal Title X funds,

which help low-income patients get services like contraceptive counseling and testing for sexually transmitted infections.

Such a rule would force Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health providers to either stop discussing abortions with their patients or stop receiving Title X money.


https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/12/1763720/-Trump-Plans-To-Impose-Abortion-Gag-Rule-On-All-Taxpayer-Funded-Women-s-Health-Clinics-In-U-S?detail=emaildkre (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/12/1763720/-Trump-Plans-To-Impose-Abortion-Gag-Rule-On-All-Taxpayer-Funded-Women-s-Health-Clinics-In-U-S?detail=emaildkre)

But Repugs fund, support, encourage the lying, cheating, fraudulent CPCs, Crisis Pregnancy Centers (eg, "abortion causes cancer", "abortion is riskier than birth") with asshole employees in scrubs and doctor-ish stethoscopes as if a CPC were a legitimate health provider instead of a bullshit Christian Sharia scam.

[boutons_deux]

Pruitt Says He Doesn’t Recall Using Sirens To Go To Dinner. EPA Emails Say Otherwise.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt told senators at a hearing Wednesday morning that he does not remember ordering his motorcade to

use lights and sirens (https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/report-pruitt-targeted-career-staff-who-stood-up-to-him-over-sirens-spending) to cut through Washington, D.C.’s notorious traffic in non-emergency situations — such as a visit to the tony French restaurant Le Diplomate.

In response, the committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) submitted for the public record an email from Pruitt’s former security chief Pasquale “Nino” Perrotta in February that states clearly that

Pruitt “encourages the use” of lights and sirens.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/pruitt-does-not-recall-sirens-dinner?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20tpm-news%20%28TPMNews%29

[boutons_deux]

Pompeo: ‘Swagger’ Of State Department Is ‘America’s Essential Rightness’


Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday extolled the “essential rightness” of the United States in global affairs as he urged demoralized U.S. diplomats to act firmly and aggressively as they promote and carry out the Trump administration’s foreign policies.


In a town hall pep talk to State Department employees, Pompeo explained that his repeated calls for the agency to regain its “swagger” meant that diplomats should act with confidence, knowing that the U.S. cause is just. The event was closed to journalists as Pompeo told staff he wanted his conversations with them to be private but the State Department released excerpts of his prepared remarks.


https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/pompeo-state-department-swagger-america-essential-rightness?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

Maybe the dumb ones sticking around the destroyed State Dep believe Pompeo's bullshit. You'd have to be pretty fucking dumb, tho.

The Repugs/oligarchy/Trash have degraded America before the rest of the planet.

[boutons_deux]

Viral video of anti-Muslim coffee shop rant shines a light on a dark truth about America


https://www.rawstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/coffee_racist-800x430.jpg

When a Muslim customer at a California coffee shop was verbally harassed by an Islamophobic man recently, an employee and several patrons quickly jumped to her defense.

“Is this Halloween or something?” a man at a Riverside Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf said to a young woman dressed in a niqab, a full body cover worn by some Muslim women.

“I don’t like that because I don’t like your religion. It says to kill me, and I don’t want to be killed by you, how’s that?”

“Are you scared of me? Have you read the Koran?” the woman asked.

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/05/viral-video-anti-muslim-coffee-shop-rant-shines-light-dark-truth-america/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

Trash's AmeriKKKa, 10Ms of racist, dickless assholes

[boutons_deux]

AFR Statement on Appointment of Andrew Smith as Head of FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection


“The least likely candidate to run the FTC’s consumer protection unit ought to be the former lawyer for a notorious payday lender that the FTC itself pursued for a billion-dollar settlement and who is now in prison on a racketeering conviction,”

said José Alcoff, Payday Campaign Manager at Americans for Financial Reform.

“Another unlikely candidate would be an attorney for Equifax, the credit bureau that let hackers get away with the personal financial data of millions of Americans.

Yet

the FTC has found a lawyer, Andrew Smith, who worked for both payday lenders and Equifax.

The FTC needs a someone with a record of consumer protection, not yet another industry lawyer.”

http://ourfinancialsecurity.org/2018/05/afr-statement-appointment-andrew-smith-ftc-general-counsel/

Americans gonna get fucked out of $Bs more by BigFinance and Trash/Repug govt gonna do nothing.

[boutons_deux]

Rocks falling into oceans, not climate, causing seas to rise, congressman suggests

A rolling stone may gather no moss, but if it tumbles into the ocean, you can expect the seas to rise.

At least that's the theory embraced by Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., during a hearing (https://science.house.gov/legislation/hearings/full-committee-hearing-using-technology-address-climate-change) held Wednesday by the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology (https://science.house.gov/legislation/hearings/full-committee-hearing-using-technology-address-climate-change) on how technology can be used to address climate change.

While questioning Philip Duffy, president of Woods Hole Research Center, about what, in addition to climate change (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/05/17/global-warming-april-400th-consecutive-warm-month/618484002/), might be driving rising sea levels, Brooks suggested erosion might be a factor.

"Every single year that we’re on Earth,

you have huge tons of silt deposited by the Mississippi River, by the Amazon River, by the Nile, by every major river system — and for that matter, creek, all the way down to the smallest systems," Brooks said.

"And every time you have that soil or rock whatever it is that is deposited into the seas, that forces the sea levels to rise.

Because now you’ve got less space in those oceans because the bottom is moving up."

Brooks pointed to the White Cliffs of Dover and to California "where you have the waves crashing against the shorelines" and "you have the cliffs crash into the sea."

"All of that displaces the water which forces it to rise, does it not?" Brooks asked.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/05/17/mo-brooks-rocks-causing-sea-levels-rise/621389002/

Fucking Alabama! :lol

I bet Mo doesn't even know WHY he is supposed to be a (robotic) AGW denier, it's just what the Repug tribe does, and he tags along in magnificent slave state ignorance.

[boutons_deux]

Trash/JeBo trying to move USA to authoritarian fascism with Trash as Imperial, unchallengeable autocrat

DOJ Still Wants To Lock People Up For Protesting The Government, Or Even Just Talking About It

The government is still trying to land a conviction from its mass arrest of participants in last year's Inauguration Day protests in Washington, DC. So far,

it has nothing to show for its efforts but a far-too-casual disregard for civil liberties.

The prosecutions began with the government's breathtaking demand for the personal info of all 1 million+ visitors (https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170823/01023838066/doj-walks-back-demands-info-everyone-who-visited-trump-protest-site-as-some-those-visitors-protest-subpoena.shtml) to the Disrupt J20 website.

The government's prosecutors accused protest participants (https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20171214/16280538813/doj-wants-protesters-reporter-convicted-hiding-behind-first-amendment.shtml) of "hiding behind the First Amendment" while attempting to strip away First Amendment protections.

One of those charged by the government with rioting was journalist Alexi Wood, who had filmed the protests and had the footage to show he wasn't a participant in violent or destructive acts.

its lawyer (Jennifer Kerkhoff) tried to downplay the significance (https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20171221/11095238863/good-news-trump-protestors-accused-hiding-behind-first-amendment-acquitted.shtml) of a foundational part of our justice system -- that the accusers must prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" the accused committed a crime.

After a DC Superior Court jury acquitted the first group (https://www.buzzfeed.com/zoetillman/inauguration-protesters-found-not-guilty-on-all-charges-in?utm_term=.rrmwRaxE58#.tpmw3XA5Wx),

prosecutors ... saying they would focus on defendants who allegedly engaged in "identifiable acts of destruction, violence, or other assaultive conduct,"

who planned violence, or

who participated in "black bloc" tactics to aid the property destruction that day.

58 defendants remain charged and will face a judge and jury in at least nine more trials; jury selection for the next of these is scheduled to begin Monday.
The government is still giving itself plenty of leeway, though. It's not simply interested in jailing those who actually committed property destruction during the J20 protests, but anyone it thinks it can pin a conspiracy to riot charge on.

The "conspiracy" angle is only going to do more damage to First Amendment rights.

Simply having contact with someone charged with property damage/rioting could net defendants jail time.

This is an effective way to deter future dissent,

as it casts a chill on participating in protests against the government

simply because the possibility of some participants engaging in criminal activity will always exist.

the prosecution means to send an even more pernicious message, which is that protest of the sort that the defendants engaged in is prohibited full stop.

"The important aspect here is that they're going after fundamental associative rights.

They implant the idea in the minds of the citizenry that

even to discuss dissent or even 'like' a dissenting comment on Facebook can lead to prosecution.

When that happens, democracy dies.”

simply discussing participation in a protest that ultimately resulted in destructive acts from a small subset of participants is a criminal act in and of itself,

the First Amendment is going to suffer.

Given the history of these prosecutions,

it's clear the government either isn't aware of the damage it's doing or, more likely, does not care.

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180516/18304639848/doj-still-wants-to-lock-people-up-protesting-government-even-just-talking-about-it.shtml

[boutons_deux]

here's the thought/policy leader for all you ST racists

Richard Spencer: U.S. Military Should Have Enslaved Haitians After Hurricane Instead Of Providing Relief

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/richard-spencer-u-s-military-should-have-enslaved-haitians-after-hurricane-instead-of-providing-relief/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=rww&utm_campaign=bestof

[boutons_deux]

Trump Team Moves To Lift Ban On ‘Extreme’ Hunting Tactics In Alaska

The proposal would allow hunters to kill bear cubs and wolf pups in their dens and shoot swimming caribou from motorboats.

The Trump administration (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/topic/trump-administration/) on Monday proposed rolling back a 2015 rule that bans aggressive predator control tactics in national preserves in Alaska, including shooting bear cubs and wolf pups in their dens ― a move immediately blasted by environmental groups.

The proposal (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/05/22/2018-10735/hunting-and-trapping-in-national-preserves-alaska), slated to be published Tuesday in the Federal Register, would amend the National Park Service’s current regulations to again allow for controversial sport hunting and trapping techniques

on roughly 20 million acres of federal lands in Alaska.

The park service, part of the Department of the Interior, said

lifting the prohibitions would increase hunting opportunities on national preserve land,

as Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke called for in a pair (https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/signed_so_3356.pdf) of secretarial orders (https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/revised_so_3447.pdf) last year.

The proposed rule would allow hunters

to lure brown and black bears with bait,

hunt black bears and their cubs using artificial lights,

shoot bear cubs and wolf and coyote pups in their dens, and

use dogs to hunt black bears.

It would also allow hunters to shoot swimming caribou from motorboats.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/alaska-preserve-predator-hunting-interior-proposed-rule_us_5b032131e4b0a046186ecabe (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/alaska-preserve-predator-hunting-interior-proposed-rule_us_5b032131e4b0a046186ecabe)

Repugs demonstrate yet again their faux macho dicklessness

[boutons_deux]

Gorusch must be a tall hero to all you ST misogynists and Bible-humpers, white male supremacists

The Supreme Court Is Helping Companies Get Away With Sexual Harassment

The Me Too movement takes a massive hit from a new decision written by Justice Neil Gorsuch.

For many women, the ruling means they will no longer be able to band together to fight systemic sexual discrimination or harassment in court

“It is a real blow to women in the workplace. We have seen from the Me Too movement the power that comes from women’s voices coming together,”

“This decision makes it so much harder for employees to challenge harassment or other forms of discrimination, which means those workplace abuses are more likely to continue.”

Class-action lawsuits have been effective in forcing companies to change policies or practices that reinforce various forms of discrimination, including sex discrimination and gender pay disparities,

She pointed to a case that Home Depot (https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1997/09/20/home-depot-settles-gender-bias-lawsuit/a6d60444-9382-440b-ae10-5fbb6c521eff/?utm_term=.3ceab316af56) settled in 1997, agreeing not only to pay the women suing the company millions of dollars but also to change its policies.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/supreme-court-helping-companies-sexual-harassment_us_5b02f3c1e4b0463cdba4c638?utm_medium= email&utm_campaign=__TheMorningEmail__052218&utm_content=__TheMorningEmail__052218+CID_08e8d8d0 1df73f3d1303e5966819d67d&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=helps%20companies%20get%20away%20with&ncid=newsltushpmgnews__TheMorningEmail__052218

Repugs have been and are continuing to install Gorsuch-type assholes throughout the Federal appellate system. Most law is made at the appellate level, so Americans will be legally fucked for decades.

[boutons_deux]

Media push back against EPA limiting reporters at chemical summit

A number of media outlets are pushing back at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for limiting the reporters allowed to cover part of its chemical summit on Tuesday — including one reporter who says she was forcibly removed from the event.

Reporters from

CNN, The Associated Press and E&E News were among a group of journalists barred

from attending a two-day-long event kicked off at EPA headquarters Tuesday morning.

While a handful of reporters from publications including The Hill were personally invited to attend EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt (http://thehill.com/people/edward-scott-pruitt)'s opening remarks and the first section of the panel,

other outlets not invited were not allowed to attend the National Leadership Summit on Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), hazardous chemicals linked to cancer.

Media representatives in attendance included those from Politico, The Wall Street Journal and CBS.

Corbin Hiar, a reporter for E&E News, tweeted (https://twitter.com/CorbinHiar/status/998902260825579520) that he was not told why the reporters were "selectively" shut out of the meeting.

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/388770-outlets-pushback-against-epa-limiting-reporters-at-chemical-summit

the oligarchy governs AmeriKKKa in secret, and punishes anybody who tries to expose them

On the oligarchy's agenda: more sickened, diseased, dead Americans and environment, for BigChem's profits.

[boutons_deux]

Arizona Department of Education removes 'evolution' from science texts because god (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/23/1766533/-Arizona-Department-of-Education-removes-evolution-from-science-texts-because-god)

https://images.dailykos.com/images/351913/story_image/Darwin.jpg?1484776836

when they submitted their plan to the Arizona Department of Education, Superintendent Diane Douglas and her creationist goobers at the agency crossed out or qualified “evolution” whenever it appeared and replaced it with language (https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2018/05/22/arizona-draft-school-science-standards-removes-evolution-diane-douglas-intelligent-design/628941002/) a little more flexible—language that gives cover to teachers who want to teach evolution as just another story, alongside creationism.


In one area of the draft focusing on life science essential standards for high school students, "evolution" is replaced with the words "biological diversity."

This section reads:

"Obtain, evaluate, and communicate evidence that describes how inherited traits in a population can lead to evolution biological diversity."


It’s bad enough Arizona has led the nation (https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona-education/2017/11/30/study-arizona-students-get-less-state-money-now-than-2008/903541001/) in defunding education over the last decade;

now the Department of Education, led by dominionist nutball Diane Douglas, wants to give students third-rate instruction.

Arizona Republic editorialist Laurie Roberts points to (https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2018/05/21/evolution-under-attack-diane-douglas/629412002/) the way ahead for Arizona:

Next up:

wherein our children learn that the moon really is made of cheese,

the seas are rising because of rocks (http://www.cnn.com/2018/05/20/opinions/erosion-sea-level-rise-scientific-analysis-lincoln/index.html)falling into the ocean, and yes,

you really can fall off the end of the earth if you walk far enough.
On the way down,

maybe you can ponder whether the theory of gravity is real.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/23/1766533/-Arizona-Department-of-Education-removes-evolution-from-science-texts-because-god?detail=emaildkre

[boutons_deux]

EPA used disavowed research to justify putting dirtier trucks on the road

At a time when acts of defiance against the Trump administration are ​​​​routine in Sacramento, the rebuke that breezed through the California Assembly this month still came as a jolt. Even Trump loyalists in the chamber joined in.

The message to the administration was clear:

Forget about your plan to unleash on freeways a class of rebuilt trucks

that spew as much as 400 times the choking soot that conventional new big rigs do.

Getting caught behind the wheel of one of these mega-polluters in California

would carry a punishing $25,000 minimum fine under the measure that

lawmakers passed 73 to 0. It had the support of 25 Republicans.

"This was a reaction," said Chris Shimoda, vice president of government affairs for the California Trucking Assn., which sponsored the legislation.

"A lot of people have made the investments to clean up their trucks. They don't want to see an obvious loophole that allows others to be gross polluters and undercut them."

The trucks look new from the outside, but are equipped with repurposed motors that, according to the EPA's own experts, threaten to

produce enough soot each year to cause up to 1,600 premature deaths.
Trump's EPA has tried to justify the move by citing a privately funded study :lol that claimed the trucks did not cause more pollution, but even

the university that conducted the research :lol whores!

has now cast doubt on the findings.

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-pruitt-polluting-trucks-20180528-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter

[boutons_deux]

Preacher asks followers to help him buy $78m private jet

https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AAxX1o3.img?h=416&w=728&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f

A gospel preacher in the United States is asking his followers to help him to buy a $78 million Falcon 7X private jet.

Jesse Duplantis has owned three private jets throughout his life and :lol

says he is "burning them up for the lord" and needs a new one. :lol

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/world/preacher-asks-followers-to-help-him-buy-dollar78m-private-jet/ar-AAxWU42

[boutons_deux]

Trump’s new Secretary of State just announced his next meeting, and officials are “f*cking disgusted”

President Trump’s embrace of dangerous authoritarian regimes is nothing new.

he’s preparing to open his arms to the illiberal right wing authoritarian leader of Hungary, President Viktor Orban.

Orban rose to power in 2010 on a

blatantly Islamaphobic,

homophobic and

anti-Semitic platform, and

that’s exactly how he’s governed ever since.

Human rights groups have been openly critical of his government’s treatment of immigrants and religious minorities especially, and

he’s attacked his political opponents incessantly on those issues.

Peter Szijjarto, the Hungarian foreign minister, is set to meet with new Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Wednesday,

something thATwould give Orban’s regime a degree of credibility

that much of the rest of the civilized world has denied them.
“I’m fucking disgusted,” a State Department official told The Daily Beast (https://www.thedailybeast.com/mike-pompeo-to-huddle-with-anti-semites-envoy) on condition of anonymity,

adding that Pompeo “cozying up to individuals like Orban” was just the latest example of the

Trump administration embracing an authoritarian human rights abusing regime that has subverted democracy and the rule of law.

https://washingtonpress.com/2018/05/30/trumps-new-secretary-of-state-just-announced-his-next-meeting-and-officials-are-fcking-disgusted/

[boutons_deux]

The courts are the only block against Repug kakistocracy/oligarchy, is why the Repugs are polluting Fed appellate courts with "right wing politicians in robes"

Judge gives a big F-U to Betsy DeVos and Donald Trump's plan to screw defrauded students (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/30/1768223/-Judge-gives-a-big-F-U-to-Betsy-DeVos-and-Donald-Trump-s-plan-to-screw-defrauded-students)

Trump’s Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is terrible (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/1/1761258/-Teachers-of-the-year-don-t-let-Education-Secretary-Betsy-DeVos-off-the-hook-in-private-meeting).

She’s proof that being a billionaire doesn’t mean you are intelligent.

In fact, being a billionaire might mean that you are something of a sociopathic idiot.

But, she is surrounded and

supports the privatization of education and

the predatory loan practices of real dirtbags.

a federal judge stopped DeVos’s plan to use earnings data to grant “only partial student loan forgiveness.”

Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco said that the Trump administration was

violating privacy laws in the data they were trying to use.

The decision is rooted in Education Secretary Betsy

DeVos’s decision in December to provide debt relief to former Corinthian students by comparing the average earnings of students in similar vocational programs.

That earnings information is collected under gainful employment, a regulation that penalizes career-training programs for producing too many graduates with more debt than they can repay.

The Project on Predatory Student Lending at Harvard University, a legal services clinic, filed an injunction in March to stop the practice.

The group has argued that the Education Department has no right to use the data, which is supplied by the Social Security Administration, for any purpose other than to evaluate vocational programs. What’s more,

the attorneys say denying full relief to Corinthian students is illegal.

this same court will be considering whether or not to force the Education Department to give out full student loan forgiveness to Corinthian students at a hearing scheduled for June 4.

Corinthian colleges have had a lot of support from Republicans because defrauding young people is a good way to make a lot of money with which to line Republicans’ pockets (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/7/21/1404328/-Marco-Rubio-was-a-fan-of-Corinthian-Colleges-and-they-returned-the-favor).

DeVos, like the rest of the conservative movement, has spent a considerable amount of time trying to build up swampy towers that keep out the voices of dissent. (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/2/9/1740081/-DeVos-whines-about-hurtful-criticism-on-same-day-Education-Department-locks-out-protesters)

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/30/1768223/-Judge-gives-a-big-F-U-to-Betsy-DeVos-and-Donald-Trump-s-plan-to-screw-defrauded-students?detail=emaildkre

[boutons_deux]

More Devos, racist white she devil, Queen of the Oligarchy Kakistocracy

As Advocates See Hundreds of Civil Rights Cases Dismissed by Trump's Education Dept, National Groups Take on DeVos

"These were all complaints that were legitimate. I guess we have selective civil rights in the United States now."

Weeks after civil rights advocates began receiving notifications from the Department of Education that their cases regarding discrimination in schools were being dismissed, three national groups filed a lawsuit Thursday arguing that the department's new complaint guidelines are undermining its own obligation to investigate civil rights violations.

"You don't have be an attorney to know these revisions are unlawful,"

Marcie Lipsitt, a disability rights advocate, told (http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/speced/2018/05/education_department_sued_over.html)Education Week.

"They go against the [Office for Civil Rights'] mission statement. "

These provisions strip every American of their civil rights and their ability to file civil rights complaints.

And the beauty of civil rights complaints has been that everyone has been able to file one."

Claiming that

civil rights complaints can place an "unreasonable burden"

on its Office for Civil Rights (OCR), Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as revised the department's procedures.

The new guidelines

allow officials to dismiss hundreds of complaints regarding unfair treatment of

students of color,

inadequate resources for students with disabilities, and

other forms of systemic discrimination.

The appeals process for resolutions has also being eliminated.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/06/01/advocates-see-hundreds-civil-rights-cases-dismissed-trumps-education-dept-national

Devos carrying out Bannon's "destruction of the administrative state"

Devos won't enforce the law because enforcement is too burdensome, so violators are free to keep violating

[boutons_deux]

John Bolton's new chief of staff has pushed for American Muslims who follow Islamic law to be deported (http://theweek.com/speedreads/776521/john-boltons-new-chief-staff-pushed-american-muslims-who-follow-islamic-law-deported)

Fred Fleitz would be his chief of staff at the National Security Council,

a decision that the Southern Poverty Law Center (https://www.splcenter.org/news/2018/05/30/splc-statement-tapping-fred-fleitz-nsc-position) called deeply alarming

given Fleitz's past work "propagating wild conspiracy theories" that

"stoke a climate of fear and violence against American Muslims."

Fleitz co-authored a 2015 report titled "The Secure Freedom Strategy: A Plan for Victory Over the Global Jihad Movement (https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Secure_Freedom_Strategy_01-23-15.pdf)."

It argued that

following Islamic law should be considered "legal premises for deportation and stripping of American citizenship."

The Atlantic (https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/06/the-report-on-global-jihad-co-authored-by-a-senior-nsc-official/561680/) says the report was part of a longstanding pattern from Fleitz, who was vice president of the Center for Security Policy, an organization that says

American Muslims who observe shariah are embracing a "totalitarian political program" as dangerous as Nazism.

The report Fleitz worked on additionally

claimed that "over 80 percent" of mosques in the U.S. are "shariah-adherent,"

which the report deemed to mean subversive of U.S. law and possibly violent.

Mosques that appear to pose a threat "should be treated accordingly,"

http://theweek.com/speedreads/776521/john-boltons-new-chief-staff-pushed-american-muslims-who-follow-islamic-law-deported

(http://theweek.com/speedreads/776521/john-boltons-new-chief-staff-pushed-american-muslims-who-follow-islamic-law-deportedhttp://theweek.com/speedreads/776521/john-boltons-new-chief-staff-pushed-american-muslims-who-follow-islamic-law-deported)"treated"?

all you ST KKK/Nazis/evangelical warriors for Christ hear that dog whistle?

[boutons_deux]

Making German Nazis Great Again

U.S. Envoy To Germany Richard Grenell Wants To ‘Empower’ Europe’s Conservatives

Diplomats traditionally maintain political neutrality and steer clear of interfering in other nations’ internal affairs.

Richard Grenell, appointed by President Donald Trump (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/topic/donald-trump) as the U.S. ambassador to Germany, says he wants

to “empower” anti-establishment conservative movements and leaders across the European continent

― a highly unusual statement for a diplomat.

“There are a lot of conservatives throughout Europe who have contacted me to say they are feeling there is a resurgence going on,” Grenell told the right-wing outlet Breitbart News in an interview (http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/06/03/trumps-right-hand-man-in-europe-wants-to-empower-european-anti-establishment-conservatives/) published Sunday.

“I absolutely want to empower other conservatives throughout Europe, other leaders. I think there is a groundswell of conservative policies that are taking hold because of the failed policies of the left,”

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/richard-grenell-conservatives-europe_us_5b144fb4e4b010565aace78f?utm_medium=emai l&utm_campaign=__TheMorningEmail__050418&utm_content=__TheMorningEmail__050418+CID_2008f740 8e45b53cc3f504201744adc7&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=HuffPost&ncid=newsltushpmgnews__TheMorningEmail__050418

"failed policies of the left” :lol He Lies! :lol

The social democracies of northwestern Europe are all more successful for more of their people, with higher economic/social upward mobility, universal healthcare, (mostly) free university, etc, compared to the unstoppably deteriorating AmeriKKKa of predatory Capitalists.

[boutons_deux]

Scott Pruitt spent $1,560 on 12 pens (http://theweek.com/speedreads/776672/scott-pruitt-spent-1560-12-pens)

Pruitt's office also dropped $1,560 on pens, specifically 12 custom, silver fountain pens from a Washington jeweler, The Washington Post reports (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/06/01/epas-pruitt-spent-1560-on-12-customized-fountain-pens-from-washington-jewelry-store/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f8a14e910d35).

"The cost of the Qty. 12 Fountain Pens will be around $1,560.00. ... Please advise," a Pruitt staffer wrote in an email obtained (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/06/01/epas-pruitt-spent-1560-on-12-customized-fountain-pens-from-washington-jewelry-store/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f8a14e910d35) by the Post to Millan Hupp, a longtime Pruitt adviser who is now his head of scheduling. "Yes, please order. Thank you," Hupp replied.

The other items in the order totaling $3,230 included "personalized journals."

An EPA representative told the Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/06/01/epas-pruitt-spent-1560-on-12-customized-fountain-pens-from-washington-jewelry-store/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f8a14e910d35) the pens were bought "for the purpose of serving as gifts to the administrator's foreign counterparts and dignitaries upon his meeting with them.

This adheres to the same protocol of former EPA administrators and were purchased using funds budgeted for such a purpose."

Pruitt has not accepted personal blame for the extravagances on his watch, but he conceded (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/06/01/epas-pruitt-spent-1560-on-12-customized-fountain-pens-from-washington-jewelry-store/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f8a14e910d35) in congressional testimony in May that there "have been decisions over the past 16 months that, as I look back, I would not make the same decisions again."

http://theweek.com/speedreads/776672/scott-pruitt-spent-1560-12-pens (http://theweek.com/speedreads/776672/scott-pruitt-spent-1560-12-pens)

I doubt these pens will be given to "foreign counterparts"

and I doubt will continue making the same corrupt "decisions over the past 16 months".

[boutons_deux]

Pruitt had aide do numerous personal tasks, including a hunt for a used Trump hotel mattress

In mid-September, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator’s director of scheduling and advance, Millan Hupp, contacted the Trump International Hotel in Washington with an unusual request.

Hupp wanted to know how much the hotel would charge EPA chief Scott Pruitt for purchasing one of its used mattresses.

Hupp’s search for a discount “Trump Home Luxury Plush Euro Pillow Top” mattress, which she detailed in a recent interview with congressional investigators, was one of several unusual tasks she performed for the administrator.

The senior EPA official also

scouted apartments for her boss in some of the District’s hippest neighborhoods and

helped arrange his family vacation to California over the New Year’s holiday

so that the Pruitts could watch the Oklahoma Sooners play in the Rose Bowl.

Pruitt’s push to enlist a subordinate in his quest for cheap bedding —

outlined in a letter (http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/national/democrats-demand-subpoenas-to-get-documents-on-personal-tasks-pruitts-aides-performed/3003/) Monday from two of the top Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Elijah E. Cummings (Md.) and Gerald E. Connolly (Va.), to the panel’s chairman, Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) —

was one of several efforts he has made to minimize his personal expenses since moving to Washington.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/pruitt-had-aide-do-numerous-personal-tasks-including-a-hunt-for-a-used-trump-hotel-mattress/2018/06/04/a1f72c84-6043-11e8-b2b8-08a538d9dbd6_story.html?utm_term=.301df7ae8df2&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1

aka, Repug "governmental values" aka "abuse and corruption"

[boutons_deux]

Koch Sucker KK from KS

Terrified of small children, SoS Kris Kobach joins parade with vehicle mounted machine gun (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/2/1768934/-Terrified-of-small-children-SoS-Kris-Kobach-joins-parade-with-vehicle-mounted-machine-gun)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DeskaCyV4AEd8qJ.jpg

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/2/1768934/-Terrified-of-small-children-SoS-Kris-Kobach-joins-parade-with-vehicle-mounted-machine-gun

https://twitter.com/cassawcreative/status/1002938302285123584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailykos.com%2Fstory%2F2 018%2F6%2F2%2F1768934%2F-Terrified-of-small-children-SoS-Kris-Kobach-joins-parade-with-vehicle-mounted-machine-gun

[boutons_deux]

DeVos: Safety commission won’t look at role of guns in school violence

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said that the White House's school safety commission will not look at the role of guns in school violence.

DeVos was questioned Tuesday by lawmakers on the Senate Appropriations Committee about the commission, which was established in the wake of the February school shooting in Parkland, Fla.

"Will your commission look at the role of firearms as it relates to gun violence in our schools?"

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) asked DeVos.

"That is not part of the commission's charge, per se," DeVos responded.

"I see," Leahy responded. "So, you're studying gun violence but not considering the role of guns." :lol

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/devos-safety-commission-won%E2%80%99t-look-at-role-of-guns-in-school-violence/ar-AAyg8uA (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/devos-safety-commission-won%E2%80%99t-look-at-role-of-guns-in-school-violence/ar-AAyg8uA)

I'm surprised the Bitch McC didn't reprimand Leahy for such vicious questioning of a dumb bimbo.

[boutons_deux]

Mick Mulvaney strikes again at the CFPB

The CFPB just told consumer advisers their services are no longer needed.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/10/17218774/mick-mulvaney-cfpb-consumer-wells-fargo-equifax), the US government’s top consumer watchdog and top regulatory nemesis of the Trump administration, is disbanding all of its advisory board and councils, an official confirmed Wednesday.

In an email, all of the members of the key groups that advise the agency — like the Consumer Advisory Board, the Academic Research Council, Community Bank Advisory Council, and Credit Union Advisory Council — were told their services are no longer needed.

New groups will be formed to “ensure streamlined discussions around the Bureau’s policy priorities and needs in a productive manner,” :lol

according to the email.

Current members aren’t invited to reapply. :lol

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/6/6/17435148/cfpb-mick-mulvaney-consumer-advisory-board

The oligarchy's little hatchet-man whore executing the destruction the oligarchy, esp BigFinance, sent him to do.

[boutons_deux]

Too many free lunches: White House asked EPA chief Pruitt to stop eating there all the time? (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/7/1769889/-Too-many-free-lunches-White-House-asked-EPA-chief-Pruitt-to-stop-eating-there-all-the-time)


In response to Pruitt's recurring use of the restaurant next to the Situation Room in the basement of the West Wing,

a member of the White House’s Cabinet affairs team told agency chiefs of staff in a meeting last year that

Cabinet members shouldn't treat the mess as their personal dining hall, according to three people with knowledge of the issue.


Pruitt especially loves to show off the White House mess hall to his wealthy Oklahoma pals when they visit D.C.

Five friends from Tulsa — Charlie Polston, Carlyn Mattox, David Mattox, Bob Wagoner and Jerry Dillon — were invited for a September lunch there with him, though it didn't appear in Pruitt’s detailed calendar obtained through FOIA.

That lunch came just two weeks after Pruitt made a lunch date there with Bob Funk, a wealthy Oklahoma Republican with whom he bought a major stake in the minor league Oklahoma City RedHawks baseball team back in 2003.


https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1769889

Pruitt is apparently untouchable because the evangelicals consider him (and his grifting, fraud, theft) to one of them. Maybe Pruitt will ask the evangelicals to buy him a $60M jet.

[boutons_deux]

Republicans Want To Make Toys — Yes, Toys — More Dangerous

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is giving toy manufacturers more time (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/06/05/2018-11994/draft-guidelines-for-determining-age-appropriateness-of-toys-notice-of-extension-of-comment-period) to comment on guidelines to help protect our nation’s children from dangerous toys.

This comes just two weeks after the Senate

confirmed a commissioner who represented a toy company that violated a federal lead paint ban.
The Senate voted 50-45 in May to confirm (https://www.congress.gov/nomination/115th-congress/1358) Ohio attorney

Dana Baiocco (https://cpsc.gov/content/dana-baiocco-confirmed-as-commissioner-of-us-consumer-product-safety-commission) despite her refusal to fully recuse herself from matters involving Mattel Inc. and two other companies she represented.\

The Toy Industry Association (https://www.toyassociation.org/) spent $399,269 on federal lobbying (https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000057722&year=2017) last year.

Baiocco was one of the attorneys who represented Mattel (http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/presidential/ethics-experts-trumps-pick-for-safety-commission-has-conflict-20171019.html) in lawsuits and regulatory actions about toys that contained lead paint.

Mattel and its Fisher-Price subsidiary were

fined $2.3 million (http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jun/06/business/fi-mattel6) in 2009 for knowingly (https://www.cpsc.gov/content/mattel-fisher-price-to-pay-23-million-civil-penalty-for-violating-federal-lead-paint-ban) importing and selling toys (https://www.cpsc.gov/content/mattel-fisher-price-to-pay-23-million-civil-penalty-for-violating-federal-lead-paint-ban) with lead paint.

http://www.nationalmemo.com/republicans-want-to-make-toys-yes-toys-more-dangerous/

[boutons_deux]

Block and resist racist Ronald Mortensen's nomination to oversee refugees

Ronald Mortensen has spread racist smears about immigrants,

declared that undocumented immigrants routinely commit felonies, claimed foreign nationals carry serious disease into the United States, and

railed against Dreamers –

implying most are criminals and demanding all pay restitution for their supposed crimes.1
And he put it all in writing as a fellow for an anti-immigrant think tank that the Southern Poverty Law Center has declared a hate group.

Now, xenophobe-in-chief Donald Trump has nominated Mortensen to lead the U.S. government's efforts to aid refugees –

Mortensen has smeared all immigrants as "murderers, identity thieves, gang bangers, and other assorted thugs."

He is a fellow for the Center for Immigration Studies,

a favorite organization of racist Trump adviser Stephen Miller that has already funneled other hate-mongers into the administration

and which the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled a hate group for its efforts to demonize immigrants and people of color.

Mortensen's work has even been shared approvingly by outright white nationalist figures.

Only an unabashed racist like Donald Trump

would even think of picking Mortensen to be Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration,

a role that involves overseeing refugee resettlement programs

and building strong relationships with people around the world.

The Trump administration has sought to impose a bigoted refugee ban and

is now sabotaging refugee resettlement through layers of bureaucracy – and appointments like Mortensen – in an attempt to destroy America's legacy of welcoming those fleeing danger and violence.

https://act.credoaction.com/sign/block_Mortensen?t=2&akid=28843%2E9819584%2E_99umW

refugees from the Central American "Triangle" seeking asylum in USA are fleeing from failed states that St Ronnie The Diseased and his goons helped to fail.

iow, these asylum seekers are blowback from Repugs meddling in other countries

[boutons_deux]

The Republican House and @SpeakerRyan just voted to kill funding for #CHIP for kids (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/8/1770289/-The-Republican-House-and-SpeakerRyan-Armageddon-can-t-come-fast-enough-for-them)

Paul Ryan cannot find time in the US House’s busy schedule to hold a Floor vote on DACA (deferred action for childhood arrivals).
But you know what he DID find time for on the House Floor tonight?

A vote to strip the funding from the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Yeah, killing kids by ending their access to doctors is what the House Republicans want to do now to American citizen children.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/8/1770289/-The-Republican-House-and-SpeakerRyan-Armageddon-can-t-come-fast-enough-for-them

The oligarchy/Repug/Trash AmeriKKKa FUCKING SUCKS

[boutons_deux]

slimebag Watters

Fox News host Jesse Watters runs reel of violent right-wingers — and falsely identifies them as Antifa

“They’re the Brownshirts,” Watters said. “They’re the new street thugs that come in and start cracking people over the skulls.”



The problem? Most of the footage Watters aired was of violent committed by the right-wingers

who had gathered, and who then assaulted counter-protesters.

Four people were arrested for violence at last weekend’s rally (https://www.rawstory.com/2018/06/watch-violence-erupts-rally-held-washingtons-republican-us-senate-candidate/), two from each side.

Specifically the footage Watters aired from the Portland rally showed rightwing violence.

At one point Watters yelped “Oh! he took a shot right there!” after one of the rightwing protestors sucker-punched a counter-protestor in the side of the face.

Watters interviewed a “journalist” named Tim Pool who covers Antifa, and who goes out to the bar with white nationalistsafter their rallies (https://www.wweek.com/news/2017/06/11/after-alarming-portland-with-a-free-speech-protest-the-alt-right-partied-at-the-buffalo-gap/), but who maintains that he is an impartial observer.

The protest was organized by Washington State U.S. Senate candidate Joey Gibson, who runs an extremist group called Patriot Prayer.

It was intended as a sendoff for pro-Trump brawler Tusitala ‘Tiny’ Toese who has been arrested for violent acts at several rallies (https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2017/12/10/right-wing-slugger-tiny-toese-arrested-again-while-trolling-portland/).

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/06/fox-news-host-jesse-watters-runs-reel-violent-right-wingers-falsely-identifies-antifa/

http://www.wweek.com/resizer/WYeSMO-sXDWvc8orE-OHr-wznkU=/1200x0/filters:quality(100)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-wordpress-client-uploads/wweek/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/06192233/DSCF2926.jpg

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR6ZZ5I0l1xb3nuup--fByr0u0c1wXnIJMRRVbqzJssRBMhD6HT

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Y5XT8nUaRk8/WThSOxwd-VI/AAAAAAAAD2U/byXxH42P4lYli9J0sM-JTsRQtHN4dP4wwCLcB/s1600/Tiny.jpg

Very Fine People

[boutons_deux]

Trump Is Closing Doors to World’s Smartest People

The right response to China’s theft of U.S. ideas is to admit more of its top students, not fewer.

the administration of President Donald Trump has announced

plans (https://apnews.com/82a98fecee074bfb83731760bfbce515)to restrict Chinese students’ ability to study in the U.S.

The visas of Chinese graduate students working in robotics, aviation and high-tech manufacturing will be limited to just one year, and visa clearances will become more difficult to obtain.

The ostensible purpose of these restrictions is to prevent Chinese industrial espionage. China steals vast amounts of intellectual property from American companies, depriving those companies of their competitive edge and resulting in fewer jobs and lower wages in the U.S. It’s a serious problem, and represents one weakness that open societies face when competing with closed, centrally managed nations.

But keeping out Chinese students is the wrong way to deal with the problem.

As my Bloomberg Opinion colleague Adam Minter writes (https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-05-31/u-s-should-embrace-chinese-students-not-restrict-them), high-skilled Chinese immigrants are an important driver of American prosperity. In the past decade, the number of Chinese students in the U.S. has increased:


An Asset, Not a Liability

Number of Chinese students at U.S. colleges and universities

These students pay high rates of tuition that help subsidize the educations of native-born Americans.

They are also amazingly productive researchers (http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.364.5876&rep=rep1&type=pdf), generating scientific output as much as 30 percent higher than other students.

And the vast majority of these brilliant individuals tend to stay in the U. S. after graduation,

working to boost American prosperity and contributing to the talent of the domestic workforce.

Trump’s crackdown on Chinese students should be seen as part of a broader -- and highly counterproductive -- attempt to restrict (https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-11-01/trump-rolls-out-a-misguided-attack-on-skilled-immigration) high-skilled immigration to the U. S.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-06-04/trump-is-closing-doors-to-world-s-smartest-people (https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-06-04/trump-is-closing-doors-to-world-s-smartest-people)

Which of you bubbas, rednecks, Trash fellators gonna take the place of the banned Chinese in research and science?

[boutons_deux]

dignity-free JeBo comes through this time

DOJ argues Trump should be allowed to profit from his hotels because he has no 'corrupt intent'
(http://theweek.com/speedreads/778351/doj-argues-trump-should-allowed-profit-from-hotels-because-no-corrupt-intent)
Justice Department attorneys believe President Trump should be legally allowed to profit from foreign government officials during his presidency.

DOJ lawyers were arguing Monday to fight a lawsuit that accused Trump of using his businesses to violate constitutional laws that prevent elected officials from accepting gifts from foreign governments, BuzzFeed News (https://www.buzzfeed.com/zoetillman/justice-department-emolument-clause-argument?utm_term=.rgl9OZJEY#.ik5rxwP9a) reports.

Foreign officials have said (https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/2016/11/18/9da9c572-ad18-11e6-977a-1030f822fc35_story.html?utm_term=.2afeede170f7) that they would visit Trump's hotels and various businesses to curry favor with the president,

but Justice Department lawyers said that their intent wasn't important in determining whether the act was a bribe,

so long as Trump didn't explicitly agree to give those foreign officials something in return. :lol

http://theweek.com/speedreads/778351/doj-argues-trump-should-allowed-profit-from-hotels-because-no-corrupt-intent (http://theweek.com/speedreads/778351/doj-argues-trump-should-allowed-profit-from-hotels-because-no-corrupt-intent)

Who is going to police any supposed quid pro quo? JeBo? :lol

The Best People, evah, DoJ working as Trash's personal law firm.

[boutons_deux]

ATT + Time Warner merger approved

now expect 100s more mergers, and 100Ks or Ms of jobs killed

[boutons_deux]

...

[boutons_deux]

More evidence that the Repugs are the party of racists

Corey Stewart, Confederate symbols defender, wins GOP nomination in Virginia Senate race

the bombastic conservative who built his public image on championing Confederate symbols,

" former Virginia Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling tweeted (https://twitter.com/lgbillbolling/status/1006707773084749824). "This is clearly not the Republican Party I once knew, loved and proudly served. Every time I think things can't get worse they do, and there is no end in sight."

"Can we just skip past the part where the media focuses on all the idiotic, racist & embarrassing things Corey Stewart will say & do the next five months and just acknowledge Tim Kaine won his re-election tonight. And he has Stewart voters to thank for it."

Republicans down the ballot now have to worry that that they've been saddled with one of the nation's most controversial nominees in November. Republican Reps. Barbara Comstock, Scott Taylor and Dave Brat all face competitive races for re-election.

"A cruder imitation of Donald Trump who stokes white supremacy and brags about being 'ruthless and vicious,' Corey Stewart would be an embarrassment for Virginia in the US Senate,"

He attended a news conference with the leader of the white supremacist protest that later resulted in the death of a counter-protester in Charlottesville. And after that counter-protester, Heather Heyer, was killed in a hit-and-run, Stewart blamed the violence on "both sides."

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/12/politics/virginia-senate-race-corey-stewart/index.html

"This is clearly not the Republican Party I once knew," :lol

Repugs have been the party of racists for 40+ years, just lest blatant, wake the fuck up. :lol

[boutons_deux]

An ex-wine blogger is reviewing State Department staffers for their loyalty to Trump (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/13/1771735/-An-ex-wine-blogger-is-reviewing-State-Department-staffers-for-their-loyalty-to-Trump)


here's a story about State Department staffers being rigorously vetted to measure their personal loyalty to Donald Trump.

And they’re being vetted by a Trump-appointed ex-wine blogger, because everything is stupid now (http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/06/13/trumps-vino-vixen-compiles-loyalty-list-of-u-s-employees-at-u-n-state-mari-stull-political-appointee-state-department-international-organization-united-nations-political-retribution-chaos-dysfunction/).

Mari Stull, a former food and beverage lobbyist-turned-

wine blogger under the name “Vino Vixen,” :lol trash!

has reviewed the social media pages of State Department staffers for

signs of ideological deviation.

She has researched the names of government officials to determine whether they signed off on Obama-era policies

— though signing off does not mean officials personally endorsed them but merely cleared them through the bureaucratic chain.

And she has inquired about Americans employed by international agencies,

including the World Health Organization and the United Nations,

asking their colleagues when they were hired and by whom,

according the officials.


We've got a lobbyist turned wine blogger turned Delores Umbridge wannabe assembling lists of

which State Department and international U.S. government employees are sufficiently loyal to the Russian-backed traitor in the White House,

and which might need to be purged.

It's the sort of thing that would, all by itself, have rated as a mega-scandal in any administration before this one.

In this one, though, it's just another episode of wanton crookedness.


This hunt for those personally disloyal to Hair Furor, like those in other departments, is already having significant effects within the government agencies conservatives are trying to wreck.

Foreign Policy reports that three deputy assistant secretaries of state are "said to be on the way out";

it's implied that that's because they're fed up with the Trump appointees, not because they're being forced out.

And their source suggests "everyone" in the department is similarly "looking to bail."

Because that's the thing with incompetent, ideological, and dim-witted management: it makes the competent people quit in disgust.




https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/13/1771735/-An-ex-wine-blogger-is-reviewing-State-Department-staffers-for-their-loyalty-to-Trump

[boutons_deux]

EPA Moves To Replace Obama-Era Rule Protecting Drinking Water For 117 MillionScott Pruitt revoked the Clean Water Rule, which clarified what bodies of water could be federally protected, last year.

The Environmental Protection Agency onFriday inched closer to proposing a regulation to replace an Obama-era rule that clarified which bodies of water qualified for federal protection.

a federal judge stayed the Clean Water Rule in 2015;

the rule has since bounced around the courts.

In January, the Supreme Court volleyed the case (https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060071583) back to the district court level.

In the meantime, Pruitt began the process of repealing the rule outright.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/scott-pruitt-drinking-water_us_5b217090e4b0bbb7a0e44148

Repugs may be abandoning Pruitt for his corruptions, but they haven't objected to his destruction of EPA and to his enabling 100Ks of deaths and diseases from a degraded America.

[boutons_deux]

Trump’s Consumer Safety Commission gives baby chair makers a pass

Companies Get Another Year to Make and Sell Dangerous High Chairs

Manufacturers of

high chairs that killed two children and injured an estimated 49,900 infants and toddlers (https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/Final%20Rule%20-%20Safety%20Standard%20for%20High%20Chairs%20-%20May%2030%202018.pdf?mBuoGQbhxpGcMFyO6it0gNeBOOF ZrTA9)

from 2011 to 2016 will have another year to sell the baby-killing product to unsuspecting parents,

thanks to our nation’s agency that is supposed to protect consumers.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is being stacked by Trump appointees, (https://www.dcreport.org/2018/06/06/attention-parents-republicans-take-control-of-the-consumer-product-safety-commission/) voted unanimously (https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/RCA%20-%20Final%20Rule%20-%20Safety%20Standard%20for%20High%20Chairs%2006081 8.pdf?s0s73kvVAOa9rVzp1g7Ovd_dKYicBWQ5) to give companies a year to comply with the new standards.

About 3.1% of children in the study were injured seriously enough to be hospitalized.

Since 2015, 48,500 high chairs from three companies have been recalled because of the risk of falls,

the most recent in January when Skip Hop Inc. recalled high chairs because the front legs could detach from the seat. (https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2018/Skip-Hop-Recalls-Convertible-High-Chairs-Due-to-Fall-Hazard)

Fifty-nine firms supply high chairs to the U.S. market. About 7 million high chairs are being used.

https://www.salon.com/2018/06/17/trumps-consumer-safety-commission-gives-baby-chair-makers-a-pass_partner/

Pro-life Repugs! :lol

are actually Pro-Profit for Capitalists, duh

[boutons_deux]

Seth MacFarlane ‘Embarrassed’ To Work For Fox After Tucker Carlson Comment


MacFarlane’s shows “Family Guy,” “American Dad!” and “The Orville” have all been on the Fox network.

"Carlson told his viewers Thursday night that they should assume every network but Fox News is lying to them."

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/seth-macfarlane-fox-tucker-carlson_us_5b26b86ce4b0783ae12a3bcc?utm_medium=ema il&utm_campaign=__TheMorningEmail__061818&utm_content=__TheMorningEmail__061818+CID_d589996d 362a7ec636834449a22f577b&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=says%20hes%20embarrassed&ncid=newsltushpmgnews__TheMorningEmail__061818

Carlson perfectly understand the ignorant, old white fucks he's addressing, and they believe him, and Trash

Fox News and the evangelical grifters have the same type of message: "There Is No Truth But Our Truth"

[boutons_deux]

Well of course, she's an ignorant, incompetent oligarchy HACK, padding out the Repug kakistocracy

Critics say CFPB nominee Kathy Kraninger lacks the experience to be the nation's top consumer financial watchdog

Nominees for top federal financial regulators usually have worked in high-level government or private-sector jobs, and President Trump had been following that traditional playbook. Until his latest pick.

But now for director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — arguably the single-most-powerful financial regulator in Washington — Trump has tapped (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cfpb-nominee-kathy-kraninger-20180616-story.html)

a little-known White House aide with no apparent relevant experience in finance, banking regulation or consumer protection.

And the more people have examined her resume, the greater the surprise. Kraninger’s background largely has been in budget and homeland security in Congress and the executive branch.

The nomination has “led nearly every lobbying and research office in Washington to search frantically for information on Kraninger’s background, which despite her good credentials as a budget and national security expert is pretty sparse,”

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cfpb-kraninger-experience-20180618-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter

Fucking up govt is what the Repugs do

[boutons_deux]

All you need to know about the Republicans is in this Kim Jong Un approval poll (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/18/1772921/-All-you-need-to-know-about-the-Republicans-is-in-this-Kim-Jong-un-approval-poll)

According to an Ipsos survey (https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/american-public-does-not-see-celebrity-candidates)conducted by The Daily Beast,

19 percent of Republicans asked had something of a “favorable opinion” of Kim Jong Un.

“Liberal” billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer received 17 percent approval from Republicans.

Nancy Pelosi received 17 percent approval and

racial justice advocate Colin Kaepernick received 18 percent approval from Republicans asked.

Just think about that:



Colin Kaepernick has been critical of the United States’s law enforcement apparatus’s treatment of black people in this country. He has made his views known by first sitting, and then kneeling, during the playing of the National Anthem at football games. He has been effectively whitelisted from his chosen profession for voicing these opinions because the president of the United States—a racist himself, with a long history of being a racist asshole—has applied pressure to the NFL. (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/7/1770157/-Kaepernick-expected-to-subpoena-both-Trump-and-Pence-in-his-case-against-NFL)
Nancy Pelosi is a U.S. congresswoman happens to be a Democrat (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/21/1750318/-If-Nancy-Pelosi-is-a-problem-for-Democrats-it-s-because-Republicans-are-good-at-sexism). She is, a) not a particularly “leftist” Democrat, and b) not the dictator of a hostile foreign regime.
Kim Jong Un, for his part, is the son of a brutal dictator; and it has been reported that Jong Un had numerous people executed as part of his take over of the North Korean state after his father’s death in 2011. Up until a couple of months ago, any Republican you asked would have told you Jong Un was a blood-thirsty madman with dreams of wiping the United States away in a nuclear holocaust.


The good news—if you can call it such—is that

the majority of people asked didn’t seem to think having celebrities as world leaders was the best idea.

Large majorities of Americans believe that high-level elected officials should have prior government (66%) or management (73%) experience before assuming office.

Republicans (75%) and Democrats (74%) alike value prior management experience,

but Republicans (49%) are much less likely than Democrats (78%) to value prior government experience.

All Americans (18%), including both Democrats (21%) and Republicans (19%), are unlikely to agree that celebrity candidates are good for democracy.


That’s something.

Of course, Republicans may just consider dictators to be one of those groups of people with “prior government or management experience.”

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/18/1772921/-All-you-need-to-know-about-the-Republicans-is-in-this-Kim-Jong-un-approval-poll?detail=emaildkre

[boutons_deux]

DHS Did Not Investigate Hundreds of Civil Rights Abuse Complaints, Documents Reveal

DHS’s Office of the Inspector General says it has 'limited resources' to investigate hundreds of civil liberties and detainee abuse complaints, but one expert said the figures “demand a closer look.”

In 2017, the US Department of Homeland Security did not investigate hundreds of civil rights complaints about alleged detainee, prisoner, or suspect abuse filed to the agency’s oversight body,

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/43589q/dhs-civil-rights-complaints-uninvestigated?utm_campaign=Motherboard+Premium+Ne wsletter+-+620&utm_content=Motherboard+Premium+Newsletter+-+620+CID_88e6b563f21c2c0074e5e620234be4fb&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Campaign+Monitor&utm_term=Read+more

again, nobody's rights are non inalienable, and God doesn't give fuck about anybody's rights.

The only rights anybody has are those defined, granted, and enforced, by govt, and of course, those rights purchased by the oligarchy for themselves.

[boutons_deux]

Betsy DeVos just took a hammer to Obama’s most important school policy

The report cites DeSoto County, Mississippi, south of Memphis, Tennessee, where corporal punishment is legal for things like acting out in class, skipping classes, tardiness, dress code violations or other forms of what is seen as insubordination.

Under school district policy up to three “licks” per incident can be administered on the student’s buttocks, according to ProPublica, with “an appropriate instrument approved by the principal.”

Black students in that district are two and a half times more likely than whites to be punished.

That isn’t where it stops either.

While blacks make up 35 percent of students, they account for 55 percent of suspensions and expulsions, and more than 60 percent of referrals to law enforcement.

As a result, some families there filed a federal complaint in 2015 with help from the Advancement Project, a national advocacy group, which led to a three-year investigation by the Department of Education.

This April, under DeVos, the investigation was shut down without a finding of any violations or need for corrective action due, according to the OCR to insufficient evidence.”

“This is indicative of how they are now evaluating and handling complaints,” said Kaitlin Banner, a senior attorney with the Advancement Project.

It isn’t just a matter of racial discrimination either, the report says.

For instance, under Obama, 70 percent of complaints about discrimination against students with limited English proficiency were upheld, compared to 52 percent under Trump.

When it comes to students with disabilities, 45 percent of complaints were upheld under Obama while only 34 percent require corrective action or result in a violation under Trump.

In regards to sexual harassment, under Obama, 45 percent of the claims were found to result in actions, while under Trump that is down to 31 percent.

“These differences reflect the contrasting approaches of the Obama and Trump administrations to civil rights enforcement, according to people familiar with both,” reports ProPublica.

“Under Obama,” continues the report, “the Office for Civil Rights looked into instances of discrimination against individuals,

but also made it a priority to carry out more time-consuming and systemic investigations into disparate treatment of students based on race, disability, or other factors.”


Under Trump, the investigation is limited to just the specific complaint from the person who filed a claim without looking to see if itis part of a broader pattern.

https://washingtonpress.com/2018/06/21/betsy-devos-just-took-a-hammer-to-obamas-most-important-school-policy/

Repug Exec kakistocrats competing to be who can be the shittiest possible to the great number of Americans.

[boutons_deux]

“Ah, America!

We’ve gone from separating Indian babies from their parents (and then exterminating them),

to stealing babies from their slave parents (and then re-selling them into slavery),

to building a country on child labor (working in factories as young as 8-yrs. old),

to incarcerating Japanese-American toddlers in internment camps,

to allowing priests to sexually abuse children for decades,

to forcing buckets of high-fructose corn syrup down kids’ throats until half of them are part of a childhood obesity epidemic,

to turning our schools into killing fields

because we love our guns more than we love our kids — who the hell are we kidding?”,

https://washingtonpress.com/2018/06/19/michael-moore-just-broke-the-internet-with-megaviral-response-to-trumps-caged-kids-atrocity/

[boutons_deux]

Trump administration tightens rules for federal scientists talking to reporters

A new directive from the Trump administration instructs federal scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey to get approval from its parent agency before agreeing to most interview requests from reporters,

the new protocol represents a dramatic change in decades of past media practices at the scientific agency

and will interfere with scientists’ ability to quickly respond to reporters’ questions.

They expected that taxpayers would see less of the USGS’ scientific expertise as reporters seek scientific comment elsewhere.

The new protocol also permits the Department of the Interior’s communications office to reject interview requests on scientific matters.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-trump-policy-usgs-scientists-20180621-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter

[boutons_deux]

The Trump team just spat on the graves of Hurricane Maria victims with a disgusting move

the EPA contracted The Lapel Pins Plus Network to design and manufacture nearly

two thousand “challenge coins” featuring the EPA’s logo and slogans praising the agency’s role in assisting the response to hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and the California wildfires.

The cost? Over $8,500.

The contract, obtained through public records,

mandates the inclusion of the phrase “response excellence” on the coin, and says that the coin should “convey the sentiment that

EPA staff from all across the country worked together to respond to the incidents from Puerto Rico to California (and regions in between).”

these challenge coins are created when the operations they celebrate are actually successful.

Given that so much of Puerto Rico is still without power due to the government’s inadequate response, and that

the EPA prematurely cleared still-contaminated toxic waste sites in the Houston area as safe before it was revealed that they were actually still quite dangerous,

the EPA and its staff hardly deserve a token of special recognition for their criminal mishandling a disaster that led to the deaths of 4,600 people. (https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/05/29/615120123/study-puts-puerto-rico-death-toll-at-5-000-from-hurricane-maria-in-2017)

Environmental groups were horrified by the contract for the coins, telling CNN that the

EPA’s response to the disasters was “lacking,” particularly in its addressing issues of contaminated drinking water and toxic flooding.

https://washingtonpress.com/2018/06/22/the-trump-team-just-spat-on-the-graves-of-hurricane-maria-victims-with-a-disgusting-move/

No matter how SHITTY Trash's Exec is, it always tells everybody that it's doing great.

Sicko, lying self-aggrandizement

[boutons_deux]

SHS's POS so-called pastor father

Mike Huckabee Sends Bigoted Tweet Calling Gang Members Pelosi’s “Campaign Committee”

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/mike-huckabee-sends-bigoted-tweet-calling-ms-13-gang-members-pelosis-campaign-committee.html

[boutons_deux]

Here's Trash and JeBo violating the press

DOJ seizure of Timesreporter’s data raises press freedom concerns

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT has made its first move to go after a journalist’s data. The action comes as part of a case against former Senate Intelligence Committee senior staffer James A. Wolfe, who has been charged (https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/former-us-senate-employee-indicted-false-statements-charges) with lying to the FBI about his contacts with reporters.

Minutes before the indictment (https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/press-release/file/1069836/download) against Wolfe was unsealed last night, The New York Times reported (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/07/us/politics/times-reporter-phone-records-seized.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur) that prosecutors had secretly seized years’ worth of the phone and email records of one of its reporters, Ali Watkins.

“Mr. Wolfe’s case led to the first known instance of the Justice Department going after a reporter’s data under President Trump,”

wrote the paper’s Adam Goldman, Nicholas Fandos, and Katie Benner.

The communications between a journalist and a source aren’t protected by a federal shield law,

but rules! :lol require authorities to take “all reasonable steps” to obtain information through alternative sources before targeting reporters’ information.

It’s not clear whether those guidelines were followed in this case.

“Freedom of the press is a cornerstone of democracy, and communications between journalists and their sources demand protection,”

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/nytimes-reporter-data-leak.php

Trash and JeBo going after the "failing NY Times". They don't need no steenkin' "rules"

[boutons_deux]

Private prison stocks up 100% since Trump's win

Thanks to President Donald Trump, America's private prisons appear to be entering a gold age.

The stocks of the two biggest private prison operators --

CoreCivic (formerly know as Corrections Corp. of America) and Geo Group

-- have doubled since election day. CoreCivic (CXW (http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=CXW&source=story_quote_link)) is up 140% since Trump won in November; Geo Group (GEO (http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=GEO&source=story_quote_link)) has risen 98%.

For all the talk about how good Trump has been for big banks like Goldman Sachs (http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/14/investing/goldman-sachs-stock-record-high-dodd-frank/?iid=EL),

he's been even better for private prison investors.

The reason private prisons are back in vogue is simple:

Trump has made sweeping promises to crack down on crime and illegal immigration.

Wall Street calculated quickly that Trump's rhetoric is likely to translate into more people behind bars.

And that means more profits for private prisons.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/24/investing/private-prison-stocks-soar-trump/index.html

===============

JeBo helps

Jeff Sessions Reinvigorates the Drug War

The U.S. attorney general is bringing back the harshest sentences for low-level drug offenses, rejecting Obama-era reforms.

Sessions instructed federal prosecutors nationwide to seek the strongest possible charges and sentences against defendants they target.

“It is a core principle that prosecutors should charge and pursue the most serious, readily provable offense,” he wrote.

“This policy fully utilizes the tools Congress has given us.

By definition, the most serious offenses are those that carry the most substantial guidelines sentence, including mandatory-minimum sentences.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/sessions-sentencing-memo/526029/

[boutons_deux]

“Women for Trump” just held a fashion show for his birthday and pulled the creepiest stunt

https://twitter.com/2020fight/status/1011330635124731904

https://twitter.com/2020fight/status/1011330635124731904
https://washingtonpress.com/2018/06/25/women-for-trump-just-held-a-fashion-show-for-his-birthday-and-pulled-the-creepiest-stunt/

[boutons_deux]

Trump’s head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration floats removing ‘climate’ from mission statement

https://www.rawstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Screen-Shot-2017-09-11-at-6.18.59-AM-768x413.png



https://www.rawstory.com/2018/06/trumps-head-national-oceanic-atmospheric-administration-floats-removing-climate-mission-statement/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

[boutons_deux]

Trump’s nominee to lead the IRS was just busted in major corruption scandal

Ethical questions have been raised about Chuck Rettig, President Trump’s nominee to head the IRS, after it was revealed he failed to disclose that two rental properties he owns are in Trump-branded properties.

Rettig, who is scheduled to testify today before a Senate committee considering his long-pending confirmation, had disclosed he owned a 50 percent stake in two rental properties in Hawaii, but failed to disclose that they are in the Trump International Hotel Waikiki and Tower.

That missing piece was discovered by Congressional staff who examined his financial disclosure and other statements and was discussed in a due diligence staff meeting on June 21, according to Politico (https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/27/irs-nominee-chuck-rettig-trump-hotel-659313).

The staff also raised questions about loans made to a family member which were repaid with interest, but not properly declared on Rettig’s tax returns over several years.

Rettig is a Beverly Hills, California, lawyer who has specialized in dealing with tax controversies for clients and is known to have been aggressive about seeking deductions for his wealthy clientele.

The family loans involved three $200,000 loans made in 2014, which were repaid.

Rettig, according to the staff memo, failed to record interest income on the loans on his tax returns in 2014, 2015 and 2016. However, he did deduct $17,856 in interest expense in 2015.

https://washingtonpress.com/2018/06/28/trumps-nominee-to-lead-the-irs-was-just-busted-in-major-corruption-scandal/

:lol

[boutons_deux]

ORDER CODE RED


Scott Pruitt Personally Involved in ‘Ratf*cking’ Ex-Aides Who He Feels Betrayed Him

she had been tasked with procuring her boss a used mattress from the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Just days after news of that testimony broke, the aide, Pruitt’s now former director of scheduling

Millan Hupp, submitted her resignation.

But even though Hupp was gone from the agency, Pruitt wasn’t done with her.

he personally reached out to allies in the conservative movement, including some at the influential legal group the Federalist Society, to insist that she had lied about, or at least misunderstood, the request for a used Trump mattress.

He also stressed that Hupp could not be trusted—the implication being that she should not be hired at their institutions.

against a young staffer—

one who worked on Pruitt’s attorney general campaign in Oklahoma,

followed him to Washington, and

by all accounts had been one of his most loyal aides (https://www.axios.com/scott-pruitt-environmental-protection-agency-trump-unhappy-8507d121-946a-410d-922c-60d7de92355f.html) at the EPA.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/scott-pruitt-personally-involved-in-ratfcking-ex-aides-who-he-feels-betrayed-him?via=twitter_page&__twitter_impression=true

A FINE Christ-loving evangelical Christian man

[boutons_deux]

Study: Most people who will lose Medicaid because of work requirements

ARE ALREADY WORKING (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/29/1776702/-Study-Most-people-who-will-lose-Medicaid-because-of-work-requirements-ARE-ALREADY-WORKING)

it’s all about punishing poor people—and nothing else.

The new Trump-certified approach is to impose work requirements on non-elderly, non-disabled people enrolled in Medicaid.

What it ignores is that a large percentage of those people are already working,

A new analysis (https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/implications-of-a-medicaid-work-requirement-national-estimates-of-potential-coverage-losses/) from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that

up to 4 million people nationally could lose their Medicaid coverage if the requirement was adopted by Congress,

which the Republican House is proposing in their new budget.

"Specifically, under all scenarios,

most disenrollment would be among individuals who would remain eligible but lose coverage

due to new administrative burdens or red tape versus

those who would lose eligibility due to not meeting new work requirements."

Nearly two-thirds—62 percent—of non-elderly and non-disabled adults on Medicaid already work at least part-time;

43 percent work full time.

But they have to prove it to the state to keep their coverage,

a requirement that is likely to be so burdensome that people won't be able to comply.

On top of kicking already-working people out of coverage in the name of putting people to work (which is insane),

states are going to have to spend a lot of new money in creating the reporting systems and

hiring the people required to run them.

Savings that these states see from dropping people out of the program will be eaten up by creating the system to do it.

It's not about creating dignity for poor people,

getting them back to work,

helping them lead meaningful lives—

all that aspirational kind of bullshit people like Paul Ryan hide behind.

This is about punishing poor people.

It's about destroying the social safety net

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1776702

[boutons_deux]

White supremacist propaganda on college campuses is soaring

There have been nearly 300 incidents in the last academic year alone.

https://i1.wp.com/thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/GettyImages-831135778-1.jpg?w=1280&ssl=1

The amount of white supremacist propaganda posted on college campuses has nearly doubled in the last year, according to a new report released Thursday by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

there have been 292 reported incidents of white supremacist propaganda — including stickers, banners, and flyers containing racist and anti-Semitic messages — left on campuses that range from Ivy League to local community colleges.

The incidents represent a 77 percent increase from the previous year. “They’re trying to engage with what they hope are future members of their organizations,” Oren Segal, director of ADL’s Center on Extremism, told the New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/28/us/white-supremacist-groups-adl.html). “They have put a premium on winning hearts and mind.”

Far-right figures have repeatedly targeted college campuses for speaking engagements designed to provoke and enrage the student body.

the ADL’s report shows how smaller, more hardline groups are still infiltrating colleges to deliver their white supremacist message.

One of these groups is Patriot Front, a white supremacist organization (https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/patriot-front) that describes its members as “American Fascists.”

Patriot Front members discussing

an ideal society filled with “ethnostate rape gangs”

and how members regularly engage in “violence training.”

the group

“speaks openly of violent ethnic cleansing.”

While the group is based primarily in Texas, there are also documented members in New England (https://thinkprogress.org/resist-marxism-front-for-far-right-organizing-9bd959325ae1/).

covering of college campuses with racist propaganda is a crucial part of their broader campaign to recruit new members.

Another white supremacist group heavily pushing propaganda onto college campuses is

Identity Evropa (IE), a neo-Nazi group founded by Iraq war veteran Nathan Damigo (https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/nathan-benjamin-damigo), who cites former Klansmen David Duke as one of inspirations.

https://thinkprogress.org/white-supremacist-propaganda-on-college-campuses-is-soaring-6cdcfe79a092/

[boutons_deux]

Krapifying Kudlow

Kudlow Falsely Claims Deficit Is ‘Coming Down Rapidly’

Three sources of government data contradict Friday’s claim by the White House economic adviser, showing instead that the federal budget deficit is actually increasing.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/29/us/politics/fact-check-kudlow-deficit-.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

[boutons_deux]

Trash's racist kakistocracy in action, Sleepy Bear so-called Dr. Carson as Uncle Thomas as Clarence Thomas

Trump administration now has fair housing in its sights

HUD’s Carson wants to make it easier for banks, insurers and landlords to redline minorities

Anna Maria Farías, (https://www.hud.gov/about/principal_staff/Anna_Maria_Farias) an assistant secretary at HUD, is asking (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/06/20/2018-13340/reconsideration-of-huds-implementation-of-the-fair-housing-acts-disparate-impact-standard) for comments on possible revisions that could

“add clarity” :lol and “reduce uncertainty” :lol

on a HUD rule based on a legal theory the Obama administration and its predecessors used to prove discrimination cases.

The theory, “disparate impact analysis,” (https://www.salon.com/2017/11/20/how-an-obscure-rule-change-could-make-discrimination-great-again/) measures discrimination, such as African-Americans paying higher interest rates on loans, without having to prove an intent to discriminate.

Republican lawmakers have urged HUD Secretary Ben Carson to review (https://www.aba.com/Advocacy/Grassroots/WINNDocs/congress-carson-disparate-impact-rule-111517.pdf#_ga=2.51446889.1585327184.1510842233-1667964914.1510842233) the rule.

Seventeen of the 18 House members who signed the letter have received $55,333 in campaign contributions (https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgot.php?cycle=2018&cmte=C00066472)

so far for the 2018 election from the political action committee of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (http://www.pciaa.net/) which has sued (https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/illinois/ilndce/1:2013cv08564/290431/129/)HUD over the rule.

Their letter regurgitated some of the points made in court filings by insurance industry attorney Paul Hancock, (http://www.klgates.com/paul-f-hancock/) who was representing the American Insurance Association (http://www.aiadc.org/) in another lawsuit against HUD.

Four of the letter signers have received a total of $13,000 so far for the 2018 election (https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgot.php?cycle=2018&cmte=C00103143)

from the political action committee of the America Insurance Association. (http://www.aiadc.org/)

https://www.salon.com/2018/07/02/trump-administration-now-has-fair-housing-in-its-sights_partner/

[boutons_deux]

New Authoritarian GOP Removed "Democracy" from Textbooks As Too "Partisan" (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/1/1777042/-New-Authoritarian-GOP-Removed-Democracy-from-Textbooks-As-Too-Partisan)

Right-wing conservatives in Michigan, led by Trump nut state Sen. Patrick Colbeck (R), (@pjcolbeck (https://twitter.com/pjcolbeck)), are forcing Michigan schools to adopt “new standards” that do some sick stuff to social studies.

The term “core democratic values” has been stricken---replaced with “core values”.
The reason? It’s too “partisan”: (https://www.bridgemi.com/talent-education/history-gets-conservative-twist-michigan-social-studies-standards)

”Some believed that even using the word ‘democratic’ implied partisan leanings,”

the GOP without adding bigotry, Colbeck’s got you covered:

The [old] standard about the expansion of civil rights for minorities in the 20th century included specific references to Native Americans, Latinos, people with disabilities, and gays and lesbians.

They were removed in the proposed new standards,

while language was added saying that

the expansion of civil rights for some groups

can be seen as “an infringement of rights and freedoms” of others.


https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/1/1777042/-New-Authoritarian-GOP-Removed-Democracy-from-Textbooks-As-Too-Partisan?detail=emaildkre

[boutons_deux]

Kentucky’s Republican governor just retaliated against a judge by punishing half a million of his own citizens

In a stunning show of vicious retaliation, the Republican Governor of Kentucky, Matt Bevin, just canceled the vision and dental benefits for nearly half a million Medicaid recipients in his own state.

Furious that his cruel plan to force Medicaid recipients to work was slapped down by a federal judge, Bevin has decided to punish his state’s most vulnerable people out of spite and is shamelessly attempting to blame the judge’s ruling for it.

The Governor’s office

announced that since he couldn’t force the poor to work for their benefits,

he would impose a different kind of means-testing in order

to squeeze every last drop of blood from his own voters: (http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/395155-kentucky-governor-cancels-medicaid-dental-vision-benefits-after-losing)

https://washingtonpress.com/2018/07/02/kentuckys-republican-governor-just-retaliated-against-a-judge-by-punishing-half-a-million-of-his-own-citizens/

You Repugs are really some very fucked up assholes

[boutons_deux]

https://media.newyorker.com/cartoons/5b3255598ffba43192e83680/master/w_1298,c_limit/DC070318.jpg


“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, even though nobody has any idea what that is anymore?”

[boutons_deux]

Trump’s plan to collect unpaid taxes costs the government more money than it brings in

Trump administration’s debt-collection plan is a bust — and targets low-income taxpayers with terrible advice

A year after several members of Congress blasted the Trump administration’s plan to revive the use of outside contractors to go after delinquent taxpayers,

the outsourcing is costing more money than it is bringing in,

according to Nina Olson, the IRS’ national taxpayer advocate.

“According to the IRS, the [private debt collection] program generated net revenue in Fiscal Year 2018 but

has yet to break even,”

Lost $10 million in 11 months

“How much more proof do we need that replacing the professional civil servants of the IRS with for-profit collection agents working on commissions is

a bad financial decision for the U.S. Treasury?”

the private contractors have not only cost more money than they have brought in, but

they targeted lower-income taxpayers who are getting locked into repayment plans they won’t be able to maintain.

Almost half of the households the contractors went after had incomes below 250 percent of the federal poverty level.

“The [private debt collection] initiative as implemented does not involve any financial analysis and thus does not take into account any of these taxpayers’ specific facts and circumstances,” the NTA report stated.

“For lower-income taxpayers, the consequence is that they are not paying for things they need. They are not meeting their basic living expenses.”

https://www.salon.com/2018/07/03/trumps-plan-to-collect-unpaid-taxes-costs-the-government-more-money-than-it-brings-in/

As usual, privatizing govt functions is a money loser, but Repugs don't care.

Increasing the deficit will ALWAYS be "pay for" by cutting the social safety net.

[boutons_deux]

5 Horrifying Things About Scott Pruitt's EPA Replacement

He's even scarier than the corrupt administrator he's replacing.

https://www.alternet.org/sites/default/files/styles/story_image/public/story_images/screen_shot_2018-07-05_at_5.15.28_pm.png?itok=GmHJJYRw

Wheeler Will Be Better at Destroying the Environment

Wheeler is described by the New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/05/climate/wheeler-epa-pruitt.html) as a “consummate Washington insider who avoids the limelight and has spent years effectively navigating the rules.”

Analysts believe Wheeler could be more effective than Pruitt at implementing Trump’s deregulatory agenda at the EPA.

Wheeler Was an Energy Industry Lobbyist

“Like Pruitt, this veteran coal lobby lobbyist has shown only disdain for the E.P.A.’s vital mission to protect Americans’ health and our environment,”

Wheeler Worked for a Climate Change Denier

worked for Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), a climate change denier who called the science “the greatest hoax” ever perpetrated on Americans.

Many remember Inhofe for his attempt to debunk global warming “hysteria” by bringing a snowball into the Senate.


Wheeler Really Loves Coal

He served (https://qz.com/1322131/andrew-wheeler-coal-lobbyist-replaces-scott-pruitt-as-head-of-epa/) as the vice president of the Washington Coal Club.

This organization is a quiet federation of more than 300 coal producers, corporate leaders, policy professionals and lawmakers.

Wheeler Lobbied to Open Public Land to Uranium Mining

https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/5-horrifying-things-about-scott-pruitts-epa-replacement

[rmt]

Study: Most people who will lose Medicaid because of work requirements

ARE ALREADY WORKING (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/29/1776702/-Study-Most-people-who-will-lose-Medicaid-because-of-work-requirements-ARE-ALREADY-WORKING)

it’s all about punishing poor people—and nothing else.

The new Trump-certified approach is to impose work requirements on non-elderly, non-disabled people enrolled in Medicaid.

What it ignores is that a large percentage of those people are already working,

A new analysis (https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/implications-of-a-medicaid-work-requirement-national-estimates-of-potential-coverage-losses/) from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that

up to 4 million people nationally could lose their Medicaid coverage if the requirement was adopted by Congress,

which the Republican House is proposing in their new budget.

"Specifically, under all scenarios,

most disenrollment would be among individuals who would remain eligible but lose coverage

due to new administrative burdens or red tape versus

those who would lose eligibility due to not meeting new work requirements."

Nearly two-thirds—62 percent—of non-elderly and non-disabled adults on Medicaid already work at least part-time;

43 percent work full time.

But they have to prove it to the state to keep their coverage,

a requirement that is likely to be so burdensome that people won't be able to comply.

On top of kicking already-working people out of coverage in the name of putting people to work (which is insane),

states are going to have to spend a lot of new money in creating the reporting systems and

hiring the people required to run them.

Savings that these states see from dropping people out of the program will be eaten up by creating the system to do it.

It's not about creating dignity for poor people,

getting them back to work,

helping them lead meaningful lives—

all that aspirational kind of bullshit people like Paul Ryan hide behind.

This is about punishing poor people.

It's about destroying the social safety net

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1776702




Why is it burdensome to prove that they are working?

[Chucho]

Why is it burdensome to prove that they are working?

Papercuts from check stubs are a bitch.

[boutons_deux]

With his insider information, Ross bets stocks would drop

Wilbur Ross shorted more stocks than previously reported

The Commerce secretary is under fire for five sales, three of which involved a shipping company with alleged ties to the Kremlin.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross revealed to CNBC (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/02/wilbur-ross-shorted-two-additional-shares-as-commerce-secretary.html)Monday that he shorted two more stocks while in office, in addition to the short sale of three other stocks Forbes previously reported (https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2018/06/18/lies-china-and-putin-solving-the-mystery-of-wilbur-ross-missing-fortune-trump-commerce-secretary-cabinet-conflicts-of-interest/#a71421b7e879) in June.

Ross defended the newly disclosed May 2017 sales — which involved stock belonging to Air Lease and Ocwen Financial Corporation — by echoing his earlier comments about the three other shorts.

He excused those sales as part of an effort to divest himself from any financial holdings that could pose a potential conflict of interest. :lol
Monday, Ross told CNBC that in all five sales, his stake in the companies was zeroed out and he received no profit or loss on the trades. “These transactions are not profit-seeking short sales,” Ross said. “These shorts are technical ways of disposing the stocks.”

While Ross claims he was simply doing the right thing by divesting his assets, the action still raises a few red flags.

Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, said Monday (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/02/wilbur-ross-shorted-two-additional-shares-as-commerce-secretary.html) that he had “

never heard of someone using short positions to divest.”
“I helped in hundreds of transactions for employees entering government, this is not an acceptable situation,” he said.

https://thinkprogress.org/wilbur-ross-shorted-five-stocks-d15e0c6f5a38/

[boutons_deux]

Pruitt won’t be needing those tactical pants anymore. But Trump might.

Pruitt spent the past 16 months turning the Environmental Protection Agency into a paramilitary operation, with the sole purpose of protecting him.

Pruitt had spent some $4.6 million (https://theintercept.com/2018/06/20/scott-pruitt-epa-security-total-expenses-foia/) on security,

enlisting a round-the-clock detail that followed him everywhere, even to Disneyland and Italy (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/03/20/on-italy-trip-travel-costs-for-epa-chiefs-security-detail-topped-30000/?utm_term=.6e13b4a5e9b1),

whisking him from his office —

where a $43,000 soundproof phone booth (https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-epa-head-steps-down-after-wave-of-ethics-management-scandals/2018/07/05/39f4251a-6813-11e8-bea7-c8eb28bc52b1_story.html?utm_term=.2e113b2a4606) cocooned him and

a panic alarm (https://theintercept.com/2018/06/20/scott-pruitt-epa-security-total-expenses-foia/)connected him directly to the security office —

to the $50-a-night (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2018/04/07/thats-bizarre-realtors-weigh-in-on-scott-pruitts-50-a-night-condo-room-deal-in-d-c/?utm_term=.54a732b9adb6) room in a condominium that he had rented from a lobbyist.

He clothed his security agents in $2,750 worth of “tactical pants” and “tactical polos,”

the Intercept (https://theintercept.com/2018/06/20/scott-pruitt-epa-security-total-expenses-foia/) reported.

He got them $88,000 worth of security radios,

holsters and

travel charges.

He let it be known that

he liked to travel around with police lights flashing and the siren blaring (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/at-the-epa-lights-sirens-and-lots-of-smoke/2018/05/16/9d4e885e-594e-11e8-858f-12becb4d6067_story.html?utm_term=.5ca30c49220e)— the better to avoid traffic — and

this undoubtedly improved the experience in the Chevy Suburban with bullet-resistant seats that he leased for $10,200 a year.

He made sure

his guards were equipped, on the ground, with a $931 breaching kit of the type they used to break down the door to his lobbyist-owned condo

when he was napping and staff grew panicky that they could not reach him.

In the air, he flew first class to minimize his contact with passengers who might “endanger his life (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/05/07/heres-the-epa-memo-that-justified-scott-pruitts-first-class-travel/?utm_term=.0b31dad4f575).”

Even the administrator’s skin was well protected;

he dispatched his security detail to the Ritz-Carlton (https://www.vox.com/2018/6/7/17439044/scott-pruitt-ritz-carlton-moisturizing-lotion) to find him the scented lotion he required.

dining so often at the White House mess (https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/06/pruitt-white-house-lunch-603350) that he was urged to eat elsewhere, and

letting it be known (http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/07/trump-scott-pruitt-scandals-attorney-general-can-fire-mueller.html) that

he would be willing to fire special counsel Robert S. Mueller III

if Trump fired Jeff Sessions as attorney general and gave Pruitt the job on an acting basis.

of much greater value:

Ivanka Trump’s trademarks and

Jared Kushner’s investors and foreign governments pumping millions into Trump properties.

Now Pruitt is gone, and Trump is about to be caught with his tactical pants down.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/pruitt-wont-be-needing-those-tactical-pants-anymore-but-trump-might/2018/07/05/13930b86-80a8-11e8-b0ef-fffcabeff946_story.html?utm_term=.2db2dca3fae7&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1 (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/pruitt-wont-be-needing-those-tactical-pants-anymore-but-trump-might/2018/07/05/13930b86-80a8-11e8-b0ef-fffcabeff946_story.html?utm_term=.2db2dca3fae7&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1)

[boutons_deux]

EPA blocks warnings on cancer-causing chemical



Burying the formaldehyde study is part of an effort by Pruitt and aides to undermine EPA's research program

The Trump administration is suppressing an Environmental Protection Agency report that warns that most Americans inhale enough formaldehyde vapor in the course of daily life to put them at risk of developing leukemia and other ailments,

top advisers to departing Administrator Scott Pruitt are delaying its release as part of

a campaign to undermine the agency’s independent research into the health risks of toxic chemicals.
“They’re stonewalling every step of the way,”

the current official said, accusing political appointees of interfering with the formaldehyde assessment and other reports on toxic chemicals produced by EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/06/epa-formaldehyde-warnings-blocked-696628

God wants Americans to have cancer. It's God's Way.

[boutons_deux]

Bill Shine's wife had a shockingly racist Twitter feed until her husband joined the Trump administration
(http://theweek.com/speedreads/783582/bill-shines-wife-shockingly-racist-twitter-feed-until-husband-joined-trump-administration)


https://www.mediaite.com/online/bill-shines-wife-complained-she-couldnt-use-n-word-and-spread-conspiracy-theories-about-blacks/

http://theweek.com/speedreads/783582/bill-shines-wife-shockingly-racist-twitter-feed-until-husband-joined-trump-administration

Shine ignored repeated reports of sexual harassment when he was a mucky much at Fox News

Trash surrounds himself with trash

[boutons_deux]

On His Way Out the Door, Scott Pruitt Says a Final ‘Fuck You’ to the Environment (https://splinternews.com/on-his-way-out-the-door-scott-pruitt-says-a-final-fuc-1827417240)

According to The New York Times:


In the final hours of Scott Pruitt’s tenure as administrator,

the Environmental Protection Agency moved on Friday to effectively

grant a loophole that will allow a major increase in the manufacturing of a diesel freight truck

that produces as much as 55 times the air pollution (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4378485-Combatting-Pollution-in-Diesel-Trucks-and-the.html#document/p54/a404372)

as trucks that have modern emissions controls.


The decision to benefit the makers of super polluting freight trucks followed what the newspaper described as

“intense lobbying” by manufacturers, and the

two people to blame are Pruitt and new acting EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler.

https://splinternews.com/on-his-way-out-the-door-scott-pruitt-says-a-final-fuc-1827417240

Fuck Pruitt, fuck Wheeler, fuck Repugs and fuck all you Repug voters

[boutons_deux]

"To make a glider, companies typically combine a new truck body and cab with a salvaged powertrain.

The vintage of the reused engine is important:

Many of them date to before 2010,

when the EPA tightened emissions standards for pollutants

such as nitrogen oxide and particulate matter emitted by heavy duty diesel engines."

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/11/16/564655569/epa-moves-to-shield-older-semi-truck-engines-from-emissions-rules

Repugs and Repug voters are some sicko motherfuckers

[boutons_deux]

Trump’s Border Patrol was just busted committing acts of unprecedented aggression against Canada

Border Patrol agents have been boarding and searching Canadian fishing vessels in search of illegal migrants. At least ten boats from New Brunswick have been boarded by the president’s jack-booted thugs in the past two weeks.

the boardings took place in international waters, outside of the Border Patrol’s jurisdiction and potentially in violation of international law.

Observers from both nations were mystified and infuriated by the boardings, especially the obviously contrived excuse that they were searching for “illegal immigrants.”

the Gulf of Maine is not a major route for illegal immigrants sneaking into the United States. If anything, people are sneaking the other way. They’re trying to get out of the U.S. and into Canada to claim asylum”


“I guess the comment on the street would be:

‘Typical American bullies,’ ” he said.

“They’re not happy about it, and they don’t think (the Americans) have any business doing this.”

Cook said he’s never before seen border patrol agents in the area,

where the U.S. Coast Guard typically patrols.

He said he had

no idea why American authorities are suddenly flexing their muscles.

https://washingtonpress.com/2018/07/07/trumps-border-patrol-was-just-busted-committing-acts-of-unprecedented-aggression-against-canada/

[boutons_deux]

U.S. Opposition to Breast-Feeding Resolution Stuns World Health Officials

The $70 billion infant formula industry,

dominated by a handful of American and European companies,

has seen sales flatten in wealthy countries in recent years.

Based on decades of research,

the resolution says that mother’s milk is healthiest for children and countries should strive to limit the inaccurate or misleading marketing of breast milk substitutes.

Then the United States delegation, embracing the interests of infant formula manufacturers, upended the deliberations.

American officials sought to water down the resolution by

removing language that called on governments to “protect, promote and support breast-feeding” and

another passage that called on policymakers

to restrict the promotion of food products that many experts say can have deleterious effects on young children.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/08/health/world-health-breastfeeding-ecuador-trump.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

The oligarchy and its profits from $70B of their synthetic SHIT is more important than mother's milk.

[boutons_deux]

hamburgers more important than wolves, oligarchy $Bs profits more important than ANYTHING, EVERYTHING

Interior Department is OK with killing off endangered red wolves

Wildlife Service wants to drastically shrink their tiny habitat, let hunters and farmers shoot if they stray

Red wolves, once found across the eastern United States, (https://www.fws.gov/southeast/wildlife/mammal/red-wolf/) are now perhaps the most endangered mammal on the planet, (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2018/04/25/the-effort-to-save-red-wolves-in-the-wild-is-failing-a-five-year-review-says/?utm_term=.0645df2ed110) rarer than world’s 2,000 Bengal tigers in the wild and more than 1,500 giant pandas.
“The Trump administration’s Fish and Wildlife Service is declaring open season (https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2018/red-wolf-06-27-2018.php) to kill the last of America’s red wolves, which are on the verge of extinction,”

North Carolina’s junior senator, Thom Tillis, (https://www.tillis.senate.gov/public/) a Republican, has tried to have the animals, declared extinct in the wild in 1980, pronounced extinct (https://www.dcreport.org/2017/12/01/senator-targets-struggling-red-wolf-population/) for the second time. :lol The FUCKING Confederacy.

“I think it makes the most sense to shut the program down (https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article186695573.html) to figure out how to do it right and build some credibility with the landowners,” Tillis said in 2016. :lol

The wolves have killed just five livestock since 1997: (https://www.fws.gov/southeast/pdf/environmental-assessment/proposed-replacement-of-the-regulations-for-the-non-essential-experimental-population-of-red-wolves-in-northeastern-north-carolina.pdf) goats, chickens and a hog.

But their existence is resented :lol by many North Carolina landowners.

https://www.salon.com/2018/07/08/interior-department-is-ok-with-killing-off-endangered-red-wolves_partner/

[boutons_deux]

Trump State Department official defends racism, nationalism, and xenophobia (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/30/1776928/-Trump-State-Department-official-defends-racism-nationalism-and-xenophobia)

deputy assistant secretary for refugees and migration Andrew Veprek not only defended nationalism,

he claimed that title for Donald Trump while “softening language” on racism.

Donald Trump has withdrawn the US (https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/19/politics/haley-pompeo-human-rights-bias/index.html) from the UN Council on Human Rights Council after the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called Trump’s family separation policy "unconscionable."

Veprek also pushed to soften language about fighting racism and about racism in politics in his proposed amendments

to a UN Human Rights Council resolution titled "The Incompatibility between Democracy and Racism" that is

adopted without a vote, with much of the same language, every few years.

Veprek argued that it’s not the responsibility of national leaders to speak out against hate speech.

And he defended the term

xenophobia as being “malleable.”

Presumably meaning that what used to be considered irrational hatred and fear of foreigners … is the new normal.

it was clear that Veprek thought the complaints about racism, nationalism, and xenophobia were “aimed at the Trump administration,”

but the documents have actually been in use for several years.

It’s just that Trump’s policies so easily fit those terms.

Veprek was moved to his current position in April despite a lack of experience.

Senate Democrats wrote Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on May 1 to say the appointment was

"the equivalent of placing a lieutenant colonel into a one-star general position."

But it’s clear that Veprek has all the qualities to represent Trump around the world.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/30/1776928/-Trump-State-Department-official-defends-racism-nationalism-and-xenophobia

[boutons_deux]

Fighting Resolution to Restrict Baby Formula Sales and Promote Breastfeeding, Trump Officials Threatened Funding Cuts

"What happened was tantamount to blackmail, with the U.S. holding the world hostage and trying to overturn nearly 40 years of consensus on best way to protect infant and young child health."

U.S. representatives appeared to put the interests of the $70 billion baby food industry ahead of those of parents and children—and pressured other countries to do the same.

American officials, led by (http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/388666-hhs-secretary-to-head-us-delegation-at-world-health-assembly) Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar,

attempted to strongarm Ecuadorean delegates out of introducing a resolution to encourage and

support breastfeeding and urge governments to restrict misleading marketing claims about baby formula.

While not all women are able to or choose to breastfeed, decades of research (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)00210-5/fulltext) have shown that breastfeeding carries health benefits for babies and mothers, as well as saving money for families.

American delegates threatened the smaller nation with cuts to military aid and reduced trade deals if they went forward with the proposal.

The U.S. also threatened the Assembly with cuts to funding for the World Health Organization.
"We were astonished, appalled, and also saddened,"

After several other Latin American and African countries declined to introduce the measure, fearing retaliation,

Russia successfully proposed the measure without facing threats from the U.S. :lol

the latest evidence of the Trump administration's top priority—serving corporate interests, even at the expense of public health.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/07/08/fighting-resolution-restrict-baby-formula-sales-and-promote-breastfeeding-trump

[boutons_deux]

"In the end, the Americans’ efforts were mostly unsuccessful.

It was the Russians who ultimately stepped in to introduce the measure — and the Americans did not threaten them.


And this:

A Russian delegate said the decision to introduce the breast-feeding resolution was a matter of principle.

“We’re not trying to be a hero here,

but we feel that it is wrong when a big country tries to push around some very small countries,

especially on an issue that is really important for the rest of the world,” said the delegate,

who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.


How did this administration take something as basic, as natural, as healthy, as plain ol’ normal as breastfeeding and

turn it into an issue where sources request anonymity because they fear retaliation …

and also make the election-interfering, dissident-murdering Russian government the heroes of the tale?"

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/8/1778903/-A-key-line-in-the-head-spinning-breastfeeding-story?detail=emaildkre (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/8/1778903/-A-key-line-in-the-head-spinning-breastfeeding-story?detail=emaildkre)

[boutons_deux]

:lol the Trash Kaos of Krap World continues, of course

Trash denies US opposition to WHO breastfeeding resolution

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/485/socialembed/https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1016367395294908421~/news/world-us-canada-44772686

According to the Times report on Sunday (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/08/health/world-health-breastfeeding-ecuador-trump.html) based on interviews with dozens of meeting participants, US negotiators in Geneva objected to the resolution encouraging breastfeeding around the world and allegedly resorted to intimidation tactics to bully other countries into dropping it.

American officials allegedly sought to remove the language pushing for global government support of breastfeeding practices and attacked countries that were in favour of it.

Ecuador had planned to introduce the bill, but according to the newspaper, backed out after they were threatened with punishing trade measures and the withdrawal of US military aid.

Officials also reportedly threatened to cut US aid to the WHO - over $118m (£89m) this year, which amounts to roughly 15% of the organisation's annual budget.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44772686 (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44772686)

If Pootin is pro-breast, Trash is pro-breast, which complements his pro-pussy-grabbing.

[boutons_deux]

Repug witch-hunts as Repug MISgovernance

Green-baiting lawmakers are accusing environmentalists of doubling as ‘foreign agents’

Two congressional committees led by prominent Republicans are looking into whether some U.S. environmental groups are acting on behalf of foreign countries (http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/394303-republicans-target-green-groups-over-foreign-ties).

these efforts may mark the start of an attack on free speech that discourages efforts to improve American environmental policies.

The probe

News of this investigation broke when

Rep. Rob Bishop, who chairs the House Committee on Natural Resources, and

Rep. Bruce Westerman, who leads the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations,

formally notified the Natural Resources Defense Council of their concerns in early June.

Their letter (https://naturalresources.house.gov/uploadedfiles/bishop-westerman_to_nrdc_06.05.18.pdf)

accused the NRDC, one of the nation’s biggest environmental groups,

of criticizing U.S. environmental policies

while engaging in “self-censorship” regarding China and the “ruling Chinese Communist Party.” :lol

If it is acting as an agent for Chinese interests, :lol

the lawmakers said, the group should register as such as required by law (https://www.justice.gov/usam/criminal-resource-manual-2062-foreign-agents-registration-act-enforcement).

Their letter also requested information related to the group’s disclosure policies.

Bishop and Westerman sent the

Center for Biological Diversity (https://thinkprogress.org/house-republican-targets-second-environmental-group-for-its-work-overseas-15a37e505261/) a similar query pertaining to that environmentalist group’s advocacy regarding the U.S. military base in Okinawa, Japan.

And the two Republicans have asked the Pentagon for

details and documents regarding the nonprofits suing the military (https://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL1N1TF2EQ) on environmental grounds.

The lawmakers acknowledged that these lawsuits may “represent sincere and justified concerns about the effect of federal actions on the environment.”

But they also speculated that

“foreign adversaries” can perhaps leverage these legal actions to “reduce U.S. defense capabilities.” :lol

https://theconversation.com/green-baiting-lawmakers-are-accusing-environmentalists-of-doubling-as-foreign-agents-98924 (https://theconversation.com/green-baiting-lawmakers-are-accusing-environmentalists-of-doubling-as-foreign-agents-98924)

Repugs figuring out ways to dump more shit on their shithole of unfuckable America

[boutons_deux]

Bill Shine’s wife attacked ‘stupid’ women in the military for being sexually assaulted: ‘What did you expect?’


https://www.rawstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/BIll-Shine--800x430.png

President Donald Trump hired former Fox News executive, Bill Shine, (https://www.rawstory.com/2018/07/trump-chicken-fire-john-kelly-instead-hes-humiliating-general-quits-report/) as his assistant to the deputy chief of staff for communications.

Bill Shine’s wife, Darla Shine, has made headlines after tweeting racist remarks.

Her bigotry doesn’t end on Twitter, CNN (https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/11/politics/kfile-darla-shine-radio-show/index.html) dug up comments she made about vaccinations, sexual assault, and women in the military. She made these comments in the early 2000s during a radio show she hosted.

“There was just a story with these girls, these women who are upset that they are sexually harassed in the military.

What do you think is going to happen when you go on a submarine for 12 months with 4,000 horny soldiers?

I hate to say it, but it’s true. They should not even be allowed.”

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/07/bill-shines-wife-attacks-stupid-women-military-sexually-assaulted-expect/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

Trash attracts the maggot people

[boutons_deux]

I bet this was no accident, but Repug racist kakistocracy wanting antiquity sites vandalized into worthlessness so the lands could be opened to exploitation

Federal officials divulge secret info about Native American artifacts

The report exposed ruins spanning 13,000 years of Native American history to vandalism and looting

Federal officials mistakenly published confidential information on locations and descriptions of about 900 ancient cliff dwellings, spiritual structures, rock art panels and other Native American antiquities in Utah.

the BLM violated federal regulations (http://www.achp.gov/304guidance.html) that prohibit publicly sharing information about antiquities.

“If you were a pot hunter wanting to work in southeastern Utah and knew about the lease process, that would have been a gold mine for you.”

Archaeologists in Utah have relied on BLM secrecy to protect dance circles sprinkled with shards of ancient black-on-white pottery, circular Navajo structures known as hogans and points for tools used by Paleoindians to hunt mammoths.

“They went to a level with this report that was very unusual in terms of listing site numbers and descriptions by parcel that I haven’t seen before.”

keeping the information they provide secret is paramount to protecting these sites.

Looters download such information and sell it.

“Archaeological resources are in danger of intentional and unintentional impacts from people who take from archaeological sites, loot archaeological sites, graffiti archaeological sites, or inadvertently trample, break, or touch archaeological sites and materials.”

https://www.salon.com/2018/07/15/oops-federal-officials-divulge-secret-info-about-native-american-artifacts_partner/

Repugs fuckup everything they touch

[boutons_deux]

HHS Plans to Delete 20 Years of Critical Medical Guidelines Next Week

Experts say the database of carefully curated medical guidelines is one of a kind, used constantly by medical professionals, and on July 16 will ‘go dark’ due to budget cuts.

The Trump Administration is planning to eliminate a vast trove of medical guidelines that for nearly 20 years has been a critical resource for doctors, researchers and others in the medical community.

the NGC is perhaps the most important repository of evidence-based research available.

“Guideline.gov was our go-to source, and there is nothing else like it in the world,”

“AHRQ agrees that guidelines play an important role in clinical decision making,

but hard decisions :lol

had to be made about how to use the resources at our disposal,”

The operating budget for the NGC last year was $1.2 million, :lol

https://www.thedailybeast.com/hhs-plans-to-delete-20-years-of-critical-medical-guidelines-next-week

[boutons_deux]

Who loves DARK MONEY more than the Repugs?

Repugs working hard to solidify the oligarchy's coup d'etat

Treasury Dept. Eases Donor Disclosure Rules For Some Tax-Exempt Groups

The change benefits groups that spend millions of dollars on political ads, such as the

U.S. Chamber of Commerce and

an organization tied to the billionaire Koch brothers.

Treasury Department officials portrayed the changes as important free-speech :lol

and privacy protections for donors, :lol DARKNESS descends upon the land

while also preserving government transparency. :lol

But critics see the easing of disclosure requirements as

opening the door to more dark money in political campaigns.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/treasury-department-lifts-donor-disclosure-requirements-tax-exempt-groups?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

[boutons_deux]

Now that the NRA has been shown to have been compromised by Pootin, as a conduit for Russian $Ms, Mnuchin rushes to NRA's rescue.

NRA and some other nonprofits will no longer need to identify their donors to the IRS

Some nonprofit groups will no longer have to give the IRS the names of donors who give them $5,000 or more.

Among the groups that will no longer have to report donors are the National Rifle Association, various chambers of commerce, and groups focused on particular issues, such as Americans for Prosperity, which has been closely associated with the Koch brothers.

But the ruling also applies to groups like the NAACP, labor unions and volunteer fire departments.

It was a long-sought goal of some of those groups -- particularly on the right.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/17/politics/treasury-irs-donor-lists/index.html (https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/17/politics/treasury-irs-donor-lists/index.html)

the oligarchy's autocracy continues corrupting America to the bone

[boutons_deux]

Pruitt’s EPA Cedes Pesticide Oversight to Agriculture Department

Internal Environmental Protection Agency documents show that Administrator

Scott Pruitt has effectively relinquished the EPA’s oversight of pesticide safety to the Department of Agriculture,

said Scott Faber, EWG’s senior vice president of government affairs.
More than 700 pages of emails and other records show that

Pruitt and other EPA officials consulted closely with agribusiness interests and top officials at the USDA on the decision not to ban chlorpyrifos,

a neurotoxic pesticide that has been shown to harm children’s brains (https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/common-pesticide-disturbs-the-brains-of-children/) at even very low levels,

according to The New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/us/politics/epa-agriculture-industry.html?_r=0).
In response to the Times report, the EPA issued a statement (https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/news-us-epa-new-york-times-chlorpyrifos-0) Monday maintaining that

Pruitt relied on the “USDA’s scientific concerns with methodology used by the previous administration” :lol Fucking that knitter!

to go against the agency’s own scientists who had pushed for a full ban of the pesticide.
The emails, on page 301, (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3935290-EPA-HQ-2017-005731-Redacted.html#document/p301/a369109) show that

top political appointees made edits to the chlorpyrifos petition as it awaited Pruitt’s signature, in order to reverse the ban of the pesticide recommended by career EPA scientists.

The EPA’s authority to restrict or ban the use of a pesticide falls under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-federal-food-drug-and-cosmetic-act).

Under the law, the EPA is not required to get approval from the USDA or any other agency before it takes action on a particular pesticide.

https://www.ewg.org/release/pruitt-s-epa-cedes-pesticide-oversight-agriculture-department#.W09vaNJKiUk

[boutons_deux]

Coal lobbyist-turned-EPA chief Andrew Wheeler's first act as administrator is to roll back standards on coal ash disposal (http://theweek.com/speedreads/785538/coal-lobbyistturnedepa-chief-andrew-wheelers-first-act-administrator-roll-back-standards-coal-ash-disposal)

Acting EPA chief Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist (http://theweek.com/speedreads/783222/scott-pruitts-successor-reportedly-mike-pence-epa), just signed his first major regulatory amendment —

making it easier for corporations to discard coal ash however they see fit.
The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday finalized a rule that rolls back standards for disposing of the toxic ash produced by burning coal, The Hill (http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/397619-trump-admin-eases-standards-for-coal-ash-disposal) reports.

The amendment backpedals on regulations put in place by the Obama administration, which mandated strict federal standards for coal ash disposal in 2015.

In a statement, the EPA said relaxing the standards would save $31.4 million a year in regulatory costs, as states are given authority to loosen or waive requirements for companies.

http://theweek.com/speedreads/785538/coal-lobbyistturnedepa-chief-andrew-wheelers-first-act-administrator-roll-back-standards-coal-ash-disposal (http://theweek.com/speedreads/785538/coal-lobbyistturnedepa-chief-andrew-wheelers-first-act-administrator-roll-back-standards-coal-ash-disposal)

Oligarchy is gonna infect us, pollute us, kill us all, for profit

[boutons_deux]

Interior watchdog investigating Zinke's role in land deal
(http://theweek.com/speedreads/785646/interior-watchdog-investigating-zinkes-role-land-deal)internal watchdog has launched an investigation into

a real estate deal involving a foundation started by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in Montana and

several developers, including

Halliburton Chairman David Lesar.

The probe will look into whether Zinke violated conflict of interest laws.

The real estate deal involved his wife, Lola Zinke,

signing an agreement allowing developers, including Lesar,

to build a parking lot for a redevelopment project

that could raise the value of land Zinke owned nearby, Politico reports. (https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/18/ryan-zinke-interior-probe-732005)

Critics say Zinke and his family

shouldn't be involved in any business deals

with anyone connected to oil and gas,

as Zinke is one of the chief regulators overseeing those industries.

http://theweek.com/speedreads/785646/interior-watchdog-investigating-zinkes-role-land-deal (http://theweek.com/speedreads/785646/interior-watchdog-investigating-zinkes-role-land-deal)

The Corruption Will Be UnPresidented

[boutons_deux]

Repug kakistocracy letting BigFinance rape consumers

U.S. consumer watchdog :lol slashes fine in payday lender settlement

The U.S. consumer finance

watchdog :lol

ordered an Alabama-based payday lender on Thursday to return $500,000 to borrowers who were overcharged, a fine that people familiar with the matter said

was only a third of what the prior Obama-era head of the agency had sought.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-consumer-payday/u-s-consumer-watchdog-slashes-fine-in-payday-lender-settlement-idUSKBN1K92WZ?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews

[boutons_deux]

White House Targets Home Healthcare Workers

The Trump administration is continuing its war against unions by trying to

make it harder for lowly paid home healthcare workers to pay union dues.

The workers, whose hourly pay is about $10.50 to about $12, (https://homehealthcarenews.com/2018/04/median-home-care-turnover-hit-66-7-in-2017/) can have their union dues (https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-employment-unions/us-proposal-could-threaten-home-care-workers-automatic-union-dues-payments-idUSL1N1U82AL) taken out of their paychecks from Medicaid.

Third-party payments, which sometimes include union dues, are currently allowed in 11 states, including California, Illinois, Missouri and New Jersey, but a proposed federal rule (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/07/12/2018-14786/medicaid-program-reassignment-of-medicaid-provider-claims) would end that.

“This proposed rule is intended to ensure that providers receive their complete payment, :lol

and any circumstances in which a state does divert part of a provider’s payment must clearly be allowed (https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Press-releases/2018-Press-releases-items/2018-07-10.html) under the law,”

An estimated 90% of home health aides make less than $31,000 a year with a median annual pay of about $23,100. (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes399021.htm)

http://www.nationalmemo.com/white-house-targets-home-healthcare-workers/

[boutons_deux]

Trump's Department of Energy Neuters Nuclear Oversight Safety Board

Under a new order from the Energy Department,

a nuclear safety board will have to fight for information about and access to nuclear laboratories.

The Trump administration has quietly taken steps that may

inhibit independent oversight of its most high-risk nuclear facilities,

including some buildings at Los Alamos National Laboratory, a Department of Energy document shows.

An order published (https://www.directives.doe.gov/directives-documents/100-series/0140.1-BOrder/@@images/file) on the department’s website in mid-May outlines new limits on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board — including

preventing the board from accessing sensitive information,

imposing additional legal hurdles on board staff, and

mandating that Energy Department officials speak “with one voice” when communicating with the board.

https://www.alternet.org/trumps-department-energy-neuters-nuclear-oversight-safety-board

[boutons_deux]

The propaganda is working: Trump voters call MS-13 a 'serious' threat to U.S., but it ain't so (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/21/1781723/-The-propaganda-is-working-Trump-voters-call-MS-13-a-serious-threat-to-U-S-but-it-ain-t-so)

Donald Trump's support is based on racism. And the racism is based on Republican conspiracy theories. And those conspiracy theories are now, thanks to White House propaganda, taking root within his racist, gullible base (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/most-trump-voters-say-ms-13-is-a-threat-to-the-entire-us_us_5b490310e4b022fdcc594c5d?fnm).

A majority of people who voted for President Donald Trump consider criminal gang MS-13 a threat to the United States, :lol

a new poll finds, indicating the Trump administration may be succeeding in inflating the perception of the gang’s national risk.

Specifically,

85 percent of Trump voters call MS-13 a "very" or "somewhat" serious threat to the United States, and

roughly half of them are worried MS-13 is going to target them or their families personally, :lol

Everything else is a hoax.

The vision of a paramilitary entity known as "MS-13" capturing and losing American towns,

the notion that this violent but scattered group is a meaningful presence on the border in any capacity, and

all the rest of it

is a hoax crafted by white nationalists in the White House and racist online circles

to justify an explicitly racist crackdown on innocent refugees (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/10/11/dont-believe-the-trump-administration-ms-13-is-not-ravaging-the-united-states/?utm_term=.e804e474b345).


For all the hype in the governor’s race,

MS-13 has been associated with three murders in Virginia this year, and

two of the victims were MS-13 members themselves.

To put that into perspective,

there were 480 homicides in Virginia in 2016, and

nine Virginians died in traffic accidents over Fourth of July weekend alone.


that is a testament to the power of the white nationalist propaganda machine whirring away within the White House walls.



Peddling such obvious propaganda should itself render someone unfit for office, but

we have fallen a very long way from any imaginary time when we demanded our top national leaders be, at the very least, truthful.



Perhaps branding the Republican Party a hate group would jostle some of the beltway’s conscience, however.



https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/21/1781723/-The-propaganda-is-working-Trump-voters-call-MS-13-a-serious-threat-to-U-S-but-it-ain-t-so

[boutons_deux]

Law That Saved the Bald Eagle Could Be Vastly Reworked

The Interior Department on Thursday proposed the most sweeping set of changes in decades to the Endangered Species Act,

the law that brought the bald eagle and the Yellowstone grizzly bear back from the edge of extinction but which Republicans say is cumbersome and

restricts economic development. :lol Capital wants to rape America more! :lol far-reaching implications, potentially making it easier for roads, pipelines and other construction projects to gain approvals than under current rules.

One change, for instance, would eliminate longstanding language that prohibits considering economic factors when deciding whether or not a species should be protected.

make it more difficult to shield species like the Atlantic sturgeon that are considered “threatened,” which is the category one level beneath the most serious one, “endangered.”

could set the stage for new clashes over offshore drilling and

also could help smooth the path for projects like oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

the 1973 law had not seen major changes in 30 years and

described the proposals as streamlining and improving the regulatory process. :lol

“Together these rules will be very protective and enhance the conservation of the species,” :lol Orwell laughs! :lol

“These proposals would slam a wrecking ball into the most crucial protections for our most endangered wildlife,”

a broader pattern of regulatory moves in the Trump administration aimed at reducing cost and other burdens for businesses, particularly the energy business.

Environmentalists expressed concern the changes will gut protections for the country’s most threatened species and weaken the agency’s ability to address climate change. The changes, they contended, are

part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to dismantle ecosystem protections and

disregard science when making decisions (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/09/climate/trump-administration-science.html) about the environment.

In its 40-year existence, the act “has successfully kept 99 percent of listed species from going extinct,”

this administration is working to further imperil the more than 1,600 threatened and endangered species.”

give the government greater leeway to play down climate change in judging whether a plant or animal is at risk of extinction.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/climate/endangered-species-act-changes.html

[boutons_deux]

Jeff Sessions repeats 'lock her up' chant by students

The US Attorney General was speaking to a conservative student group when a "lock her up" chant broke out.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-44944442/jeff-sessions-repeats-lock-her-up-chant-by-students (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-44944442/jeff-sessions-repeats-lock-her-up-chant-by-students)

tiny people, tiny brains, perfectly tone-deaf, classless Confederate racist, misogynist trash

[boutons_deux]

Exclusive: White House stops announcing calls with foreign leaders

The White House has suspended the practice of publishing public summaries of President Donald Trump's phone calls with world leaders, two sources with knowledge of the situation tell CNN,

bringing an end to a common exercise from Republican and Democratic administrations.

It's unclear if the suspension is temporary or permanent.

A White House spokesman declined to comment.

Official descriptions of the President's calls with foreign leaders -- termed "readouts" in Washington parlance -- offer administrations the chance to characterize in their own terms the diplomacy conducted at the highest levels between countries.

While news is rarely contained in the rote, often dry descriptions,

they do offer the only official account that a phone call took place. Readouts are still released internally.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The White House confirmed that the calls took place after they were reported by foreign media,

:lol Trash adores fellow fascist autocrats :lol

by halting the practice of issuing readouts, the White House loses "the action forcing event of an announced phone call."

"I think they lose the public diplomacy aspect of a presidential phone call,"

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/24/politics/foreign-leaders-call-white-house/index.html

So USA finds about Trash's WH from foreign news sources. :lol

Given the corruption and criminality of the WH/Trash kakistocracy, I assume the secrecy is nefarious, until proven otherwise.

iow, NO fucking benefit of the doubt

[boutons_deux]

Betsy DeVos proposes rules that would cut student loan relief by an estimated $13 billion

Students who are defrauded by their schools would have a harder time getting their federal loans erased under new rules proposed by the Trump administration Wednesday.

The proposal, which aims to

replace a set of Obama-era rules :lol

that were never implemented,

drew applause from the for-profit industry :lol

but sharp criticism from advocacy groups that represent student borrowers.

students would be eligible for loan relief if they can prove their schools knowingly misled them with statements or actions that directly led them to take out loans or enroll at the school.

That would be a higher bar than the borrower defense rules finalized under Obama in 2016 after the collapse of two for-profit schools, Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institute. Those rules allowed relief in a wider range of cases dealing with breach of contract.

DeVos' proposal argue that while students should be protected from fraud,

they also have an obligation to do research before picking schools. :lol

to save nearly $13 billion over the next decade compared with spending estimates under the Obama rules, primarily by reducing the amount of loan relief awarded to students.

allow schools to force students into arbitration agreements :lol

barring them from suing the school. Some for-profit colleges use that practice, which would have been banned under Obama's rules.

Opponents blasted the proposal, saying it places schools ahead of students and discourages victims from pursuing financial relief.

“It encourages abusive and predatory institutions to continue to rip off students with impunity,

while slamming the door on the debt relief that Congress has instructed the department to provide to cheated students,”

the most damaging action Betsy DeVos has taken since assuming office.”

“These changes would effectively strip students of their right to recourse

if they believe that a college or university has misled them,

making it next to impossible for defrauded students to get the relief they are entitled to,”

hailed as an improvement by the for-profit college industry and some Republicans. :lol

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-devos-student-loans-20180725-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

[boutons_deux]

A coal lobbyist is running the Environmental Pollution Agency

The EPA just made toxic coal ash more dangerous

a six-foot-high wave of sludge spilled into the Tennessee countryside.

As it rolled, it buried porches, broke down trees, snapped power lines and shot fish out of the river. It pushed one house completely off its foundation.
The sludge, of course, didn't really come from a giant. It came from a coal-powered power plant down the road.

the EPA created some new regulations to close down problematic ash dumps.

Now, the Trump Administration is taking away those regulations.

In an effort that the administration says will help the coal industry,

state regulators can now opt to ignore water quality standards. :lol

“It’s not like EPA has granted us free pass here," said (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-s-epa-rolls-back-obama-era-coal-ash-regulations-n892586) James Roewer, the executive director of a utility company that has been lobbying for this deregulation. :lol

Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist and (naturally) the EPA's current acting administrator says that

this change will save utilities $30 million a year.

Incidentally,

cleaning up the Tennessee goop has cost over $1 billion (https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/2017/07/21/kingston-coal-ash-spill-workers-treated-expendables-lawsuit-sick-and-dying-contends/451537001/) so far.

And hundreds of coal ash cleanup workers are claiming (https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/2017/07/21/kingston-coal-ash-spill-workers-treated-expendables-lawsuit-sick-and-dying-contends/451537001/) that the pollution has made them sick (and in some cases, taken lives).

https://www.treehugger.com/environmental-policy/trump-just-made-toxic-coal-ash-more-dangerous.html

[boutons_deux]

I’m a Small Farmer From Iowa, Why Does Trump What to Take Away My Health Care? (https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/07/27/im-a-small-farmer-from-iowa-why-does-trump-what-to-take-away-my-health-care/)

For my family, “pre-existing conditions” are more than a technicality. They’re a matter of life or death, of sickness or health.

My wife and I are Iowa family farmers. I have diabetes, and Kristi has a heart murmur.

Without the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its guarantees for people with pre-existing conditions, there’d be nothing standing between us and the insurance corporations.

My wife and I disclosed our health conditions and were approved.

Each month we religiously paid the $700 premium.

After months of back-and-forth, my insurer denied the claim, citing a pre-existing condition. They dropped me.

Then my wife had pre-approved tests for her heart, and the insurer dropped her, too.

It took us 14 years to pay those medical bills with no help from the insurer.

After years of us sending them monthly premium payments, they’d left us holding the bag.

Then came the ACA. Kristi and I finally got quality, affordable health care, like many other small-business owners.

The law isn’t perfect, but it provided a measure of stability we needed to keep our business going strong.

Trump is using that as an excuse to ask a judge

to throw out the ACA’s pre-existing condition protections, too.

A new Trump-appointed Supreme Court justice like Brett Kavanaugh just might help him do it.

Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress are advancing

a budget that cuts health care and raises prices for all of us enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid, and the ACA (https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/house-gop-budget-retains-tax-cuts-for-the-wealthy-proposes-deep-program-cuts).

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/07/27/im-a-small-farmer-from-iowa-why-does-trump-what-to-take-away-my-health-care/

[boutons_deux]

This century's Repugs are corrupt, rotten to the core, in total whored obeisance to the oligarchy.

OSHA to reduce Obama-era injury report requirements for large companies

The Trump administration has proposed rolling back an Obama-era Labor Department rule requiring companies with 250 or more workers to submit detailed forms to the agency on workplace injuries, a move labor advocates say will allow companies to cover up the extent of injuries.

The department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a notice (https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/trade/07272018) on Friday stating that it is seeking to

roll back the rule passed under the Obama administration :lol

that greatly increased the amount of detail supervisors are supposed to provide to the federal government on workplace injuries.

Some of that information was then posted publicly by the Labor Department under the rule, and included summaries of incidents that occurred in larger-scale companies.

A spokesperson for the Labor Department told NBC News (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/advocates-warn-coverup-trump-moves-scrap-worker-safety-rule-n895416) that the

rule change would not alter the agency's ability to collect information from companies :lol

on workplace injuries and safety violations.

"This proposal maintains safety and health protections for workers while protecting sensitive worker information from public disclosure," communications director Megan Sweeney told NBC. "

The data OSHA continues to collect is robust and enables the agency to most effectively protect workers on the job."

The Labor Department argued that the original rule violated workers' privacy by exposing incidents that they were involved in to Freedom of Information Act requests.

Public safety advocates argued that the rule's rollback would only hurt workers.

"The existing rule is in place to protect workers,"

said Sean Sherman, an attorney at the Public Citizen Litigation Group which is involved in a lawsuit over the rule.

"The idea that you can protect workers by rolling back a strong worker protection is absurd."

http://thehill.com/regulation/labor/399323-osha-reduces-obama-era-injury-report-requirements-for-large-companies

[koriwhat]

if trump is trash then does that make obama the landfill? i mean he fucking blew balls as a president but you all bought into it because he hung out with jay-z and played rec ball at the local DC YMCA.

[boutons_deux]

Here's a perfect example of a Repug politician/judge implementing Christian Sharia with no legislative complications or laws

Federal Judge Sides With New York Anti-Choice Protesters, Dismissing Clinic Workers’ Testimony as ‘Unreliable’

Federal Judge Carol Bagley Amon "diminished, she negated, she threw under the bus every lived experience of the staff, myself, and the escorts," said clinic founder Merle Hoffman.

A federal district court judge last week denied (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/22/nyregion/anti-abortion-protesters-queens-clinic.html) a preliminary injunction to prevent anti-choice protesters from demonstrating outside a clinic in Queens, New York,

saying they did not “harass, annoy, or alarm” people during Saturday protests :lol

that have become routine since 2012.

Protesters outside the Choices Women’s Medical Center have for years

blocked the sidewalk with large posters of dismembered fetuses,

preaching loudly,

forcibly handing out fliers, and

issuing veiled death threats (https://rewire.news/article/2018/03/20/die-bullet-new-york-anti-choice-protestor-hurled-threats-colorado-planned-parenthood-massacre/),

Judge Carol Bagley Amon of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn

denied the request for preliminary injunction, saying

she did not find the center’s security camera videos and testimony to be “credible.” :lol

Amon has freed (http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/08/21/abortion.doctor/index.html) a married couple who conspired to help a man who gunned down an abortion care provider in 1998.

One of them, Dennis Malvasi, was a long-time anti-choice activist with a long arrest record. He had served time for trying to bomb New York-area clinics,

Judge Amon’s use of loaded language like “pro-abortion movement” in the decision betrays an inherently anti-choice viewpoint.

“The message is that it is free speech

to call a woman a baby killer,

to tell a mother and her child that her mother is coming in to kill her baby brother or sister,

to tell somebody they are desecrating the legacy of Martin Luther King,

to shame, to stigmatize, to bully, and to harass.”

https://rewire.news/article/2018/07/25/federal-judge-sides-with-new-york-anti-choice-protesters-dismissing-clinic-workers-testimony-as-unreliable/

This one of those "district less important than appeals" Federal judges. :lol

[boutons_deux]

Americans can legally download 3-D printed guns starting next month

Gun-rights activists have reached a settlement with the government that will allow them to post 3-D printable gun plans online starting August 1.

The settlement ends a multi-year legal battle that started when Cody Wilson, who describes himself as a post-left anarchist, posted plans for a 3-D printed handgun he called "The Liberator" in 2013.

The single-shot pistol was made almost entirely out of of ABS plastic -- the same stuff they make Lego bricks out of -- that could be made on a 3-D printer. The only metal parts were the firing pin and a piece of metal included to comply with the Undetectable Firearms Act.

The US State Department told Wilson and his non-profit group Defense Distributed to take down the plans. It said the plans could violate International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which regulate the export of defense materials, services and technical data.
https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/130916130719-3d-printed-gun-in-its-case-story-body.jpg
Almost all of the pieces of this pistol can be made with a 3D printer.


In essence, officials said someone in another country -- a country the US doesn't sell weapons to -- could download the material and make their own gun.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/19/us/3d-printed-gun-settlement-trnd/index.html

Make America Murder Again

[dabom]

Americans can legally download 3-D printed guns starting next month

Gun-rights activists have reached a settlement with the government that will allow them to post 3-D printable gun plans online starting August 1.

The settlement ends a multi-year legal battle that started when Cody Wilson, who describes himself as a post-left anarchist, posted plans for a 3-D printed handgun he called "The Liberator" in 2013.

The single-shot pistol was made almost entirely out of of ABS plastic -- the same stuff they make Lego bricks out of -- that could be made on a 3-D printer. The only metal parts were the firing pin and a piece of metal included to comply with the Undetectable Firearms Act.

The US State Department told Wilson and his non-profit group Defense Distributed to take down the plans. It said the plans could violate International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which regulate the export of defense materials, services and technical data.
https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/130916130719-3d-printed-gun-in-its-case-story-body.jpg
Almost all of the pieces of this pistol can be made with a 3D printer.


In essence, officials said someone in another country -- a country the US doesn't sell weapons to -- could download the material and make their own gun.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/19/us/3d-printed-gun-settlement-trnd/index.html

Make America Murder Again




Possible to have plastic parts pass and then have metal small parts in something dumb like belt or keys or part of phone.

[boutons_deux]

Possible to have plastic parts pass and then have metal small parts in something dumb like belt or keys or part of phone.

there is supposed to be a piece of steel included for detection, but once the person printing has the file, he can edit it, and/or just not include the detectable steel

[dabom]

there is supposed to be a piece of steel included for detection, but once the person printing has the file, he can edit it, and/or just not include the detectable steel

That's what I was saying. And hide that metal part in inconceivable places to pass detection.

[boutons_deux]

That's what I was saying. And hide that metal part in inconceivable places to pass detection.

I don't think the metal part is required to shoot. It's embedded as a superfluous part

Thousands download 3D-printed gun designs

Blueprints for 3D-printed guns, published online four days early amid last-minute attempts to ban them, have been downloaded thousands of times.

The designs were not due to be made public until Wednesday, following a ruling from the US Justice Department.

But blueprints for nine types of gun were uploaded to the Defense Distributed website on Friday.
And, on Monday, multi-state legal action was filed seeking to block the ruling that Americans could see them.

Joining forces

The controversy began in 2013 when self-styled crypto-anarchist Cody Wilson showed off the world's first 3D-printed gun.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-45018513

[dabom]

I don't think the metal part is required to shoot. It's embedded as a superfluous part

Thousands download 3D-printed gun designs

Blueprints for 3D-printed guns, published online four days early amid last-minute attempts to ban them, have been downloaded thousands of times.

The designs were not due to be made public until Wednesday, following a ruling from the US Justice Department.

But blueprints for nine types of gun were uploaded to the Defense Distributed website on Friday.
And, on Monday, multi-state legal action was filed seeking to block the ruling that Americans could see them.

Joining forces

The controversy began in 2013 when self-styled crypto-anarchist Cody Wilson showed off the world's first 3D-printed gun.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-45018513

That's even worse. Wtf.

[boutons_deux]

Republican Senate candidate's spokesman called majority-black cities 'shitholes' (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/30/1784666/-Republican-Senate-candidate-s-spokesman-called-majority-black-cities-shitholes)



https://images.dailykos.com/images/552989/story_image/AP_18139723909792.jpg?1528984840

So about that whole "civility" thing: How does this fit?

Virginia Republican Senate candidate Corey Stewart,

who has a bit of a white nationalist problem (https://www.mediaite.com/online/va-gop-senate-front-runner-praised-white-nationalist-paul-nehlen/),

also has a campaign spokesperson,

Rick Shaftan,
who wants to be the embodiment of Trump (https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-candidate-corey-stewarts-spokesperson-called-majority-black-cities-shitholes) in that

he thinks it's cute to call places "shit-holes."

Not just random places, but American cities like Memphis, New Orleans, and Baltimore—three cities with populations that are majority African American.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/30/1784666/-Republican-Senate-candidate-s-spokesman-called-majority-black-cities-shitholes?detail=emaildkre

[boutons_deux]

House Republicans want to tax bicycle tires, transit, and electric vehicle batteries (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/30/1784657/-House-Republicans-want-to-tax-bicycle-tires-transit-and-electric-vehicle-batteries)

House Republicans have an insane fix (https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/07/30/house-gop-transportation-bill-would-raise-taxes-on-transit-and-bikes/):

tax all the things that take cars off the road.

And yes, that includes bicycle tires. In addition to the 10 percent tax hike on those tires—for adult bikes alone, apparently—

Republican Bill Shuster, chair of the House Transportation Committee is also pushing

a hike to the gas tax of 15 cents per gallon over the next three years, and

impose fuel taxes on transit agencies.

But it's the taxes on bicycles and transit that make this bill a joke,

giving Republicans just one more chance to "own the libs" and their crazy conservationist ways.

That bicycle tire tax is estimated to raise, get this, $15 million a year by 2021.

the tax hikes on transit agencies is real.

Since 1978, transit agencies have been exempted from federal fuel taxes, but this bill would end that exemption:

"Transit agencies running diesel buses would have to start paying the existing 24.5-cent per gallon diesel tax,

plus the 20-cent hike on diesel as well.

Agencies operating diesel trains would also be newly subject to a smaller 4.3-cent per gallon tax."

transit agencies used 603 million gallons of diesel fuel in 2017,

meaning this tax would cost them in excess of $200 million annually, for diesel alone.

That would undoubtedly result in service cuts and

fare hikes for most of the transit operations in the country.

And would undoubtedly put more cars on the roads.

Which would create more wear and tear that needs to be fixed, without even taking into consideration the environmental costs.

Shuster says this is necessary because

"a number of surface transportation system users do not currently pay into the system,

even though they benefit from it."

Like bicyclists, those free-riders. Using the roads like they owned them or something.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/30/1784657/-House-Republicans-want-to-tax-bicycle-tires-transit-and-electric-vehicle-batteries?detail=emaildkre (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/30/1784657/-House-Republicans-want-to-tax-bicycle-tires-transit-and-electric-vehicle-batteries?detail=emaildkre)

Repugs a sociopathic sickos.

[boutons_deux]

crap so-called pastor spewing total crap, like his crappy father

Jerry Falwell Jr. Lists Clinton, Soros, Hitler as ‘Progressives Elites’ Waging War Against ‘Freedom Loving’ Americans

https://am13.akamaized.net/med/cnt/uploads/2018/08/falwell-1200x675.jpg

“Instead of conservative v liberal, the future will be progressive elites (think Woodrow Wilson, Margaret Sanger, HillaryClinton, Hitler, Soros) v freedom loving average Americans!”

was immediately mocked by Washington Free Beacon reporter (and Mediaite alum)

Alex Griswold, who called it “a dumb, blind, idiotic political take,” joking that Falwell “forgot to mention Christianity.”

https://www.mediaite.com/online/jerry-falwell-jr-lists-clinton-soros-hitler-as-progressives-elites-waging-war-against-freedom-loving-americans/

It's a job, pays in the multi $Ms, and infinite job security.

[boutons_deux]

Senators want an investigation into Mar-a-Lago members getting their own Air Force One tours (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/3/1785439/-Senators-want-an-investigation-into-Mar-a-Lago-members-getting-their-own-Air-Force-One-tours)

four U.S. senators (all Democrats, of course) are asking the Department of Defense to investigate media reports that Donald Trump has been giving dues-paying members of his private clubs their own tours of the presidential plane (https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tariniparti/trump-air-force-one-tour-investigation-senate).


"If true,

these reports could mean that the President or his family have used government property for private gain —

giving tours of Air Force One as a perk for club membership —

or that some citizens have potentially been able to buy access to Air Force One

via their personal payments to the President's private club," the letter states.

It is normally difficult for Regular Folks to get a tour of Air Force One due to, ahem,

it being a military aircraft and

not a goddamn pony ride.

But if you're a Mar-a-Lago member and have ponied up the steep cash to hang out with Donald during his "presidency,"

it looks like your chances of getting a private tour get substantially boosted.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/3/1785439/-Senators-want-an-investigation-into-Mar-a-Lago-members-getting-their-own-Air-Force-One-tours?detail=emaildkre (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/3/1785439/-Senators-want-an-investigation-into-Mar-a-Lago-members-getting-their-own-Air-Force-One-tours?detail=emaildkre)

[boutons_deux]

The descent of the Repugs and right wing hate media into paranoid fantasies and whoredom to the oligarcy is fucking America

10 signs the Republican Party is now a full-blown cult (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/30/1784619/-10-signs-the-Republican-Party-is-now-a-full-blown-cult)

1. The leader is the ultimate authority
If you’re not allowed to criticize your leader, even if the criticism is true, you’re probably in a cult.


2. The group suppresses skepticism
If you’re only allowed to study your organization through approved sources, you’re probably in a cult.


3. The group delegitimizes former members
If you can’t think of a legitimate reason for leaving your group, you’re probably in a cult.


4. The group is paranoid about the outside world
If you believe the end of the world is near, you’re probably in a cult.


5. The group relies on shame cycles
If you need your group in order to feel worthy, loved, or sufficient, you’re probably in a cult.


how Trump has weaponized shame. (https://www.thenation.com/article/donald-trump-shamer-in-chief/)


Indeed, his skill is precisely this: to create an entire national theater of shame in which he induces that very emotion in his followers, on the one hand, while on the other saving them from having to acknowledge its pain by publicly shaming others instead. This has been the central action of his campaign from the outset. He tells people that “we don’t win anymore,” that we are losers, losers who “don’t even have a country,” because it has been overrun and “raped” by immigrants and foreign powers.


6. The leader is above the law



If you’re held to a different moral standard, specifically in regard to sex, you’re probably in a cult.


7. The group uses “thought reform” methods


If your serious questions are answered with cliches, you’re probably in a cult.



“MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.”

“Fake news!”

“Drain the swamp!”

“Lock her up!”

8. The group is elitist


If your group is the solution for all the world’s problems, you’re probably in a cult.


Remember when Trump said “I alone can fix it” during the campaign? (https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/07/trump-rnc-speech-alone-fix-it/492557/)

I am your voice, said Trump. I alone can fix it. I will restore law and order.




9. There is no financial transparency

If you’re not allowed to know what the group does with their money, you’re probably in a cult.

10. The group performs secret rites

If there are secret teachings or ceremonies you didn’t discover until after you joined, you’re probably in a cult.


Does this count? (https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/world-news/donald-trump-melania-bedtime-routine-14112651)

Insinuating a bizarre night time ritual, Wolff said Trump demanded a key to his bedroom,

locking his wife and the secret service out

so he could binge on cheeseburgers while watching not one but THREE televisions.

Wolff also alleges Trump likes to head beneath the duvet at 6.30pm.

Being that I am about as far from Trump’s inner circle as one can be, I have no idea what kind of, if any, bizarre rituals he has for his people.

We do know he demands loyalty oaths (https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-demands-loyalty-oath-from-job-seekers-who-criticized-him-during-election)—an unprecedented ritual for a president.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/30/1784619/-10-signs-the-Republican-Party-is-now-a-full-blown-cult?detail=emaildkre

[boutons_deux]

Scandals Pile Up For Interior Chief Ryan Zinke

Former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt resigned amid at least 18 federal investigations. Zinke has tallied up nearly a dozen.

1. His ties to a Montana real estate deal.

2. ‘Make America Great Again’ socks.

3. Keeping the public in the dark about personal meetings.

4. Flying in style.

5. Exempting Florida from offshore drilling plan.

6. His apparent effort to bully Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

7. He failed to disclose shares in a Montana gun company.

8. Staff shake-up that critics charge was politically motivated.

9. Mixing work with politics.

10. Halting health impact study of mountaintop mining.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ryan-zinke-growing-scandals_us_5b5496f2e4b0fd5c73c65990

Trash only hires The Best Corrupt People

[boutons_deux]

Texas women wouldn't get gunned down their ex's if the judges and women weren't so unfair

Top Republican laments how men 'railroaded' by family courts end up shooting 'unfair' wives (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/1/1785105/-Top-Republican-laments-how-men-railroaded-by-family-courts-end-up-shooting-unfair-wives)

a lamentation about how poor unfortunate men get “railroaded” into paying child support and … killing their wives?
“Dallas County, a few years ago, went through a number of terrible shootings.

And I gathered together, they were at the time Republican district judges, and

I said ‘guys, men, women, we’ve now had I think four or five shootings.’

One of them was from a big-time guy in Highland Park, who went and killed his wife, just gunned her down.

And that was because the judge was unfair, and the woman was unfair.

And she demanded something, and he was out.

And it was frustration,” Sessions said during a local GOP event earlier this summer.

“So now we go through the court system.

And unfortunately lives have to be lost and there has to be tragedy — there now is a better system.”


I’m gonna go ahead and guess that

a man whose response to unhappiness with family court proceedings was maybe not physically harming his wife for the first time when he “gunned her down.”

(Sessions) voted against the Violence Against Women Act because it got tough on men who rape Native American women).

No explanation of the sympathy he all too obviously feels for the poor “railroaded” murderer.

But, hey, no need, guys! Sessions is a member of the party of “legitimate” rape and “grab ‘em by the pussy.”

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/1/1785105/-Top-Republican-laments-how-men-railroaded-by-family-courts-end-up-shooting-unfair-wives?detail=emaildkre

[boutons_deux]

Betsy DeVos Is Making Life Harder for Students Screwed Over by Predatory For-Profit Schools

Obama’s Education Department went after colleges accused of fraud. So much for that.

Betsy DeVos’ Education Department has reversed course in the past few weeks, sharply moving to undo Obama-era protections and effectively leaving students more vulnerable than ever before.

Two planned Education Department changes would (https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-takes-action-protect-student-borrowers-hold-higher-education-institutions-accountable-deceptive-practices) make it more difficult for defrauded students to have their loans forgiven

reduce protections for current students.

“These new regulations are really a giveaway to predatory for-profit colleges, especially the large chains, that have defrauded students at the behest of individual borrowers,”

the department has recently overhauled protections for student borrowers and empowered for-profit colleges to act with impunity:

Eliminating debt relief rules

Ending the requirement of gainful employment

Gutting the unit that investigated fraud

Replacing full debt relief with partial forgiveness

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/08/betsy-devos-education-department-for-profit-colleges-debt/ (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/08/betsy-devos-education-department-for-profit-colleges-debt/)

This what all y'all righwingnutjobs voted for, right?

To have Trash appoint swamp monsters, predatory Capitalists, to fuck over students. Trash University! :lol

[boutons_deux]

Betsy DeVos's multimillion yachts fly foreign flags because paying taxes isn't 'America first' (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/9/1787085/-Betsy-DeVos-s-multimillion-yachts-fly-foreign-flags-because-paying-taxes-isn-t-America-first)

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/9/1787085/-Betsy-DeVos-s-multimillion-yachts-fly-foreign-flags-because-paying-taxes-isn-t-America-first

[boutons_deux]

The White House Is Using California Wildfires as a Pretext to Seize Control of State Waterways (https://gizmodo.com/report-the-white-house-is-using-california-wildfires-a-1828212379)

Donald Trump’s administration has moved to have the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration take control of California water management under the official rationale of fighting the state’s rampaging fires, saying that the water “should be prioritized for wildfire response instead of endangered species protections,”

state officials say that there is more than enough water to fight the fires.

The Commerce Directive announced a directive (https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2018/08/us-secretary-commerce-wilbur-ross-issues-directive-national-marine) on Wednesday

ordering the National Marine Fisheries Service, a sub-agency of NOAA, to “facilitate access to the water needed to fight the ongoing wildfires affecting the State of California.”

That more or less cuts California Fish and Wildlife, which works with the NMFS to regulate state waters, out of the process. Per ABC News, said

directive would allow federal officials to overrule protections for threatened and endangered wildlife:

what Trump actually intends to accomplish as a result of the order is injecting itself into a fight (https://www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/Trump-tweets-again-on-CA-wildfires-and-13135373.php) between

the salmon fishing industry, which wants to reduce stress on populations critical to its future, and

industrial farmers that want access to protected waterways.

wildlife experts say the move is nothing more than a pretext to give the Trump administration the power to bypass laws protecting endangered species and redirect the water to “corporate agribusiness”:

“At this point, water supply hasn’t affected any of our operations,”

https://gizmodo.com/report-the-white-house-is-using-california-wildfires-a-1828212379?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+gizmodo%2Ffull+%28Gizmodo%29

[boutons_deux]

EPA must have been paid my mesotheoloma doctors' lobbyists

The EPA Is Making It Easier to Use Asbestos Again. Why Is It Dangerous?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enacted a rule on June 1 making it easier for companies to use asbestos in products,

those tiny asbestos fibers can be inhaled and get trapped in a person's lungs, causing disease,

Technically, the EPA still (https://web.archive.org/web/20150312202955/https:/www.epa.gov/asbestos/us-federal-bans-asbestos) allows the use of asbestos in certain products, including car and motorcycle brakes, fireproof clothing and certain construction materials.

But until recently there were still strict limitations on how it could be used.

Under the new rule, Fast Company reported, the EPA will make it much easier for companies to use asbestos, following a Trump administration "framework (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/07/us/politics/epa-toxic-chemicals.html)" for evaluating risks.

Instead of considering whether an asbestos product poses a risk to air, ground or water contamination,

the agency will restrict only the products

that pose a direct risk to workers

who come into contact with the material during the manufacturing process.

asbestos can cause mesothelioma, as well as lung, laryngeal and ovarian cancer.

The material can also cause asbestosis, or fibrosis of the lungs — a scarring of the lungs and thickening of the lung lining, both of which cause shortness of breath,

https://www.livescience.com/63280-epa-asbestos.html?utm_source=ls-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20180809-ls (https://www.livescience.com/63280-epa-asbestos.html?utm_source=ls-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20180809-ls)

just fucking amazing

[boutons_deux]

coal lobbyist overriding science, for profit

E.P.A. Staff Objected to Agency’s New Rules on Asbestos Use, Internal Emails Show

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/08/11/science/11CLI-ASBESTOS1/09CLI-ASBESTOS1-superJumbo.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp


Top officials at the Environmental Protection Agency pushed through a measure to review applications for using asbestos in consumer products, and

did so over the objections of E.P.A.’s in-house scientists and attorneys,

The clash over the proposal exposes the tensions within the E.P.A. over the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back environmental rules and rewrite other regulations that industries have long fought.

The E.P.A. says it is toughening oversight. :lol

(https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/10/climate/epa-asbestos-rule.html)https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/10/climate/epa-asbestos-rule.html

the oligarchy wins again, people will suffer horribly and die, for profit

[dabom]

Sick fucks.

[boutons_deux]

Mulvaney Looks to Weaken Oversight of Military Lending

The Trump administration is planning to suspend routine examinations of lenders for violations of the Military Lending Act, which

was devised to protect military service members and their families from financial fraud, predatory loans and credit card gouging, according to internal agency documents.

intends to scrap the use of so-called supervisory examinations of lenders,

arguing that such proactive oversight is not explicitly laid out in the legislation (https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-are-my-rights-under-the-military-lending-act-en-1783/), :lol

the main consumer measure protecting active-duty service members,

The consumer bureau conducted dozens of investigations into payday and other lenders during the Obama administration without any significant legal opposition, and

no lenders are currently challenging its oversight based on the law,

The agency’s supervisory exams have been critical in uncovering previous instances of wrongdoing and led to several of its biggest fines.

In 2014, the bureau fined one of the largest payday lenders in the country, Ace Cash Express, $10 million after determining

the company, based in Texas, (https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-takes-action-against-ace-cash-express-for-pushing-payday-borrowers-into-cycle-of-debt/)steered low-income borrowers, including those in the military, into a succession of financially damaging high-interest loans.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/10/us/politics/mulvaney-military-lending.html

All y'all rightwingnutjobs, esp the vets, voted for Trash to screw vets, right?

[boutons_deux]

The Trump administration is dismantling financial protections for the military

Predatory lenders disproportionately target military members. The CFPB will no longer supervise them.

The federal government’s top consumer watchdog has decided it no longer needs to proactively supervise banks, credit card companies, and other lenders

who deal with members of the military and their families to make sure they’re not committing fraud or abuse.

will put service members in the claws of predatory lenders and

put their careers and livelihoods — and potentially US national security — at risk.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/8/14/17684810/military-lending-act-mick-mulvaney-cfpb-loans

[boutons_deux]

‘Not what 9-1-1 was designed for’: Devin Nunes slammed for ‘calling the police’ on protesting constituents
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/08/not-9-1-1-designed-devin-nunes-slammed-calling-police-protesting-constituents/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

Thanks, CA rednecks, bubbas, assholes! :lol

[boutons_deux]

Ben Carson to Gut Anti-Segregation Rule in New Attack on Fair Housing Act

https://www.truthdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/AP_18200604487030-850x558.jpg

HUD Secretary Ben Carson announced (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ben-carson-hud-fair-housing-rule_us_5b72538ee4b0ae32af9b0bc0) late Monday that he was moving to

roll back the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule (AFFH),

a 2015 regulation the Obama administration passed :lol

to ensure that local governments that receive federal funding combat racial segregation in housing.

The rule was introduced with the intent of making sure communities were observing the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which banned housing discrimination based on race.

Under AFFH, well-off communities that accept federal grants have been pushed to introduce affordable housing to de-concentrate poverty.

Carson has derided the rule as “social engineering” and

claimed on Monday that the rule was “suffocating investment” in distressed neighborhoods.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/ben-carson-to-gut-anti-segregation-rule-in-new-attack-on-fair-housing-act/

[boutons_deux]

Without the AFFH in place, communities will be free to shut low-income families out of middle-class areas.
“You’re going back to communities willfully blinding themselves to patterns of segregation,”

Sara Pratt, a former HUD attorney under the Obama administration, told (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ben-carson-hud-fair-housing-rule_us_5b72538ee4b0ae32af9b0bc0) NBC News.

“Without this rule, communities will not do the work to eliminate discrimination and segregation.”

[boutons_deux]

Corporate crime is being ignored by Trump administration as it focuses on locking up immigrants
Among the reasons the Trump administration gives for these brutal policies is that they are necessary for “restoring law and order” and “making America safe again.”

But the “law and order” the president seeks to “restore,”

does not seem to apply to violations committed by the corporate class,

and the threats that America must be made “safe” from, apparently,

do not include pollution, rip-offs and recklessness that are unleashed by deregulated corporate greed.

Enforcement against corporate criminals and regulatory violations, a new Public Citizen report finds, has dramatically plummeted since Trump took office.

Public Citizen found (https://corporatepresidency.org/enforcement/) that in 11 out of 12 agencies led by a Trump administration official for most of 2017,

the dollar amount of penalties imposed on corporate violators dropped, in most cases by more than 50 percent.



At the DOJ,

corporate penalties dropped 90 percent;

at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), penalty amounts against all violators dropped by 94 percent.

Even those who did not expect robust corporate enforcement from President Donald Trump are shocked.

When legendary academic and political dissident Noam Chomsky mentioned the report on Democracy Now!, he said the rollback in corporate enforcement the report revealed was so drastic, it was “almost comical.”

How can we make sense of this law enforcement disparity?

Consider the two categories of people Trump surrounds himself with.

One category is the far-right ideologues,

white nationalists and ultraconservative militants.

It’s the Breitbart and Alex Jones wing of the Republican party.

It includes anti-immigration ideologues like Stephen Miller and his former boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and

recklessly hawkish figures like John Bolton.

It includes infamous but erstwhile advisers like Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka.

These are the self-identified “deplorables,” and they seem to take delight in the way they alarm Democrats and moderate conservatives alike.

We have them to thank for this xenophobic and prejudiced “zero-tolerance” immigration policy.

The second category is the corporate class,

which consists of billionaires and CEOs.

During Trump’s first year in office alone,

he had triple the number of CEO meetings as Obama had over the course of seven years.

Trump, a corporate executive himself, and the executives and former executives in his immediate circle include Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, former adviser Carl Icahn, and intimate allies such as Las Vegas Sands’ Sheldon Adelson, Dow Chemical’s Andrew Liveris and Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman.

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/08/corporate-crime-ignored-trump-administration-focuses-locking-immigrants/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

White MALE supremacist ideologues and the oligarchy, tells Trash was to do, and he caves to swamp monsters like flaccid dick.

[boutons_deux]

Trump’s Labor Department Is Expanding Its Imposition of Religious Fundamentalism

The new appointee to the Department of Labor's Wages and Hours Division potentially has influence over its policies regarding family and maternity leave for private employers and government contractors.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) moved

to further cement the imposition of fundamentalist Christian religious beliefs on economic and employment policies

last week through a new directive and an appointment to the federal agency.

So-called religious freedom and natural law advocate (https://jameswilsoninstitute.org/about/2016-fellowship) Steven Begakis

was on Monday appointed (https://www.bna.com/religious-freedom-advocate-n73014481666/) policy adviser to the agency’sWages and Hours Division (WHD), which oversees enforcement of rules regarding family leave, wage theft, and employment discrimination.

The news came just after

DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) on Friday announced (https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ofccp/ofccp20180810) a directive instructing its staff to “in all their activities … take into account recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions and White House executive orders that protect religious freedom,”

The DOL directive (https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/directives/Dir2018-03-ESQA508c.pdf) imposing religious beliefs sets out new guidelines

for the OFCCP to follow “in anticipation of an addition to the Department’s regulatory agenda followed by rule-making informed by public comment.”

it does task OFCCP auditors with granting companies—including those with no formal religious affiliation—a religious exemption from LGBT discrimination charges, if certain requirements are met.”

“This is an attempt to encourage businesses to take taxpayer dollars and then fire people for being transgender,”

“Religious organizations have ample protections under federal law, but they are not allowed to use federal money to discriminate against people.

The language of this directive is so broad and so vague because it is

part of a long line of attempts by this administration to sow confusion and encourage any employer to act on their worst prejudices.

No employer should be allowed to use taxpayer dollars to fire someone because of who they are.”

https://rewire.news/article/2018/08/15/trumps-labor-department-is-expanding-its-imposition-of-religious-fundamentalism/

"religious freedom" is actually Christian Sharia extremism to persecute people for "un Biblical" behaviour.

[boutons_deux]

Trump's Military 'Parade' to Cost Almost $100 Million: US Department of Defense

The figure includes $50 million from the Pentagon and $42 million from interagency partners.

https://www.alternet.org/trumps-military-parade-cost-almost-100-million-us-department-defense
Repugs so delireiously fucked up :lol

Tricky Dicky Nixon:
http://www.weirduniverse.net/images/2016/1970guards.jpg

[boutons_deux]

US interior secretary's school friend blocking climate research, scientists say

Trump administration forces some scientific funding to be reviewed by adviser who was

high-school football teammate of Ryan Zinke

At the beginning of 2018, interior secretary Ryan Zinke instated a new requirement that

scientific funding above $50,000 must undergo an additional review to ensure expenditures “better align with the administration’s priorities”.

Zinke has signaled that climate change is not one of those priorities:

this week, he told Breitbart News that “environmental terrorist groups (https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/08/13/exclusive-zinke-environmental-terrorist-groups-western-us-wildfires/)” (https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/08/13/exclusive-zinke-environmental-terrorist-groups-western-us-wildfires/) were responsible for the ongoing wildfires in northern California and, ignoring scientific research on the issue, dismissed the role of climate change.

Steve Howke, one of Zinke’s high-school football teammates, oversees this review.

Howke’s highest degree is a bachelor’s in business administration.

Until Zinke appointed him as an interior department senior adviser to the acting assistant secretary of policy, management and budget,

Howke had spent his entire career working in credit unions.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/17/interior-secretarys-school-friend-crippling-climate-research-scientists-say


:lol

[boutons_deux]

Trump's 'Immoral' Plan to Allow Coal States to Self-Regulate Could Send 365 Million Tons of Carbon Into Atmosphere

"Yet another reminder that this administration values polluter profits over Americans' basic right to clean air."

the president would soon unveil a plan to give several other states the right to self-regulate regarding pollution—but the states in question this time are coal producers, and

Trump's proposal is likely to cause an explosion in emission rates as well as a worsening of the climate crisis.
At a rally in West Virginia on Tuesday, Trump is expected to unveil a plan to allow states to determine whether they'll regulate coal plant emissions, and if so, how.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/08/18/trumps-immoral-plan-allow-coal-states-self-regulate-could-send-365-million-tons?cd-origin=rss

Trash intends to fuck up quality of life to the max as the planet burns up.

[boutons_deux]

the oligarchy gets their little cheap whore Trash to pull dirty trick$$$ for them

Trump to Relax Rules for Coal-Fired Plants, Likely Leading to Surge in CO2 Emissions

Trump is set to continue his administration’s methodical effort to dismantle the

Obama :lol

administration’s signature measures to combat climate change (https://www.wsj.com/articles/epa-is-set-to-roll-back-restrictions-on-coal-burning-power-plants-1534622001), this time by delivering a gift to the coal industry.

to propose a broad nixing of regulations on emissions from coal plants as part of an effort to keep them operating for longer rather than phasing them out.

The new rules would replace the so-called Clean Power Plan for the electricity sector in a move that would

hand more power to the states and could very well lead to a sharp increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

The change in rule that the administration will put forward “is

projected to release at least 12 times the amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere

compared with the Obama rule over the next decade,”

the man who leads the Environmental Protection Agency’s clean air office has been key to delivering these proposed changes that favor the companies that employed him when he was in the private sector.

For many environmental experts, the role of William L. Wehrum in loosening requirements that were meant to combat climate change has been key (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/19/us/politics/epa-coal-emissions-standards-william-wehrum.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region%C2%AEion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news).

“They basically found the most aggressive and knowledgeable fox and said, ‘Here are the keys to the hen house’,”

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/08/trump-to-relax-rules-for-coal-fired-plants-likely-leading-to-surge-in-co2-emissions.html

"states rights" where slave/red states just LOVE to make money from blacks (stuff).

[boutons_deux]

Republicans threaten North Carolina Supreme Court: 'Rule how we want, or we'll impeach you' (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/20/1789594/-Republicans-threaten-North-Carolina-Supreme-Court-Rule-how-we-want-or-we-ll-impeach-you)

North Carolina Republicans escalated their assault on democracy to yet another level on Friday when state party executive director

Dallas Woodhouse issued a barely disguised threat to impeach the Democratic justices on the state Supreme Court (https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article216886935.html)

if they block the GOP's attempt to put several deceptively worded constitutional amendments on the November ballot,

an effort that’s been widely criticized as a partisan power grab (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/10/1787360/-Voting-Rights-Roundup-Massachusetts-joins-growing-list-of-states-with-automatic-voter-registration#10).​

“Rule the way we want or we’ll boot you out of your jobs”—

making no attempt whatsoever to disguise their contempt for the rule of law and judicial independence.

Earlier this year, Pennsylvania Republicans threatened to impeach (https://www.dailykos.com/story/2018/3/21/1750863/-Top-GOP-leaders-will-consider-bill-to-impeach-Pennsylvania-Supreme-Court-justices-over-redistricting) their state Supreme Court after it struck down the GOP’s congressional gerrymander (https://www.dailykos.com/story/2018/2/23/1744308/-Voting-Rights-Roundup-Pennsylvania-court-orders-a-fair-congressional-map-to-replace-GOP-gerrymander) and replaced it with a fairer map.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/20/1789594/-Republicans-threaten-North-Carolina-Supreme-Court-Rule-how-we-want-or-we-ll-impeach-you?detail=emaildkre

[boutons_deux]

once a slave state ...
Georgia candidates decry plan to close voting sites in mostly black county
A plan to close most polling places in a predominantly black Georgia county ahead of November’s elections is

drawing opposition from the state’s gubernatorial candidates and voting rights activists,

who deem it blatant voter suppression.

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/08/georgia-candidates-decry-plan-close-voting-sites-mostly-black-county/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

[boutons_deux]

manslaughter: Trash and his oligarchical kakistocracy GUILTY

E.P.A.’s New Coal Pollution Rules Will Lead to More Deaths, Agency’s Numbers Show

The Trump administration on Tuesday made public the details of its new pollution rules governing coal-burning power plants, and

the fine print includes an acknowledgment that

the plan would increase carbon emissions and lead to up to 1,400 premature deaths annually.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/21/climate/epa-coal-pollution-deaths.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

[boutons_deux]

Trump’s August Assault on Climate Policy


If the proposed rule is finalized,

the U.S. would have weaker fuel-economy standards than the European Union, South Korea, India, Japan, China, and even Saudi Arabia.
On August 2nd, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration jointly proposed freezing the fuel-economy standards for cars and light trucks that were adopted under President Obama.

On Tuesday, the E.P.A. unveiled the Affordable Clean Energy (A.C.E.) rule (https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-08/documents/frn-ace-proposal_8.20.2018.pdf), a proposal to neuter Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which was designed to decrease carbon emissions from coal-powered electric plants.

Together, these policies are as abominable as they are unsurprising:

they represent the fossil-fuel industry’s warmest fantasies, and

a fulfillment, more or less, of various Trump promises.https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/trumps-august-assault-on-climate-policy?mbid=nl_Daily%20082118&CNDID=43758549&utm_source=Silverpop&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20082118&utm_content=&spMailingID=14103592&spUserID=MTQzNTk4NzA3ODYzS0&spJobID=1461888749&spReportId=MTQ2MTg4ODc0OQS2

Trash as the oligarchy's little, cheap whore, campaigning for dark money donations for 2020.

[boutons_deux]

Trump’s August Assault on Climate Policy

If the proposed rule is finalized,

the U.S. would have weaker fuel-economy standards than

the European Union,

South Korea,

India,

Japan,

China, and

even Saudi Arabia.

On August 2nd, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration jointly proposed freezing the fuel-economy standards for cars and light trucks that were adopted under President Obama.

On Tuesday, the E.P.A. unveiled the Affordable Clean Energy (A.C.E.) rule (https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-08/documents/frn-ace-proposal_8.20.2018.pdf), a proposal to neuter Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which was designed to decrease carbon emissions from coal-powered electric plants.

Together, these policies are as abominable as they are unsurprising:

they represent the fossil-fuel industry’s warmest fantasies, and

a fulfillment, more or less, of various Trump promises.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/trumps-august-assault-on-climate-policy?mbid=nl_Daily%20082118&CNDID=43758549&utm_source=Silverpop&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20082118&utm_content=&spMailingID=14103592&spUserID=MTQzNTk4NzA3ODYzS0&spJobID=1461888749&spReportId=MTQ2MTg4ODc0OQS2

Trash as the oligarchy's little, cheap whore, campaigning for dark money donations for 2020.

[boutons_deux]

A Black and Sooty Mess


https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/08/22/opinion/22coal/merlin_142672899_49348a64-abaa-44fe-8d33-02c68b67a26f-superJumbo.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp


President Trump tosses a tangled lifeline to the declining coal industry.

It will lead to more deaths,

it won’t help workers and

it will make global warming worse.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/22/opinion/editorials/coal-trump-climate-change.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

[boutons_deux]

Devos, white she-devil, implementing Biblical hate, Christian Sharia, white supremacy

Education Department fails to report thousands of racial discrimination complaints in schools (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/22/1790093/-Education-Department-fails-to-report-thousands-of-racial-discrimination-complaints-in-schools)

Students in American schools are increasingly reporting more incidents of racial discrimination, yet the Department of Education is underreporting their complaints

more than 2,000 allegations of race-based discrimination in schools were excluded from the department’s annual reports.

under Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ leadership, the department is now cutting back the OCR’s work.

During the Obama administration, the office increased its enforcement of civil rights laws in schools.

The Trump administration is doing just the opposite.

DeVos has already rescinded protection for transgender students and

is trying to reduce the number of complaints that OCR will consider.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1790093

[FrostKing]

Yet the left claims to not be anti-White

[boutons_deux]

Trump Asks Sessions to ‘Look Into Corruption’ of His Political Foes: ‘Come On Jeff, You Can Do It’

the Commander in Chief turned his ire to the embattled Sesssions, ostensibly asking why the Department of Justice hasn’t been looking into what Trump sees as coordinated political attacks he’s received.

Trump tweeted the two-parter:


Donald J. Trump
✔@realDonaldTrump
(https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump)
“Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.”

Jeff, this is GREAT, what everyone wants, so look into all of the corruption on the “other side”

including

deleted Emails,

Comey lies & leaks,

Mueller conflicts,

McCabe,

Strzok,

Page,

Ohr......

5:17 AM - Aug 24, 2018 (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1032934937962442754)

==============
Donald J. Trump (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump)


✔@realDonaldTrump
(https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump)
....FISA abuse,

Christopher Steele & his phony and corrupt Dossier,

the Clinton Foundation,

illegal surveillance of Trump Campaign,

Russian collusion by Dems -

and so much more.

Open up the papers & documents without redaction?

Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting! :lol

5:28 AM - Aug 24, 2018 (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1032937718219714560)


UPDATE: Trump wasn’t done tweeting vitriol towards his sitting AG, adding:


Donald J. Trump (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump)
✔@realDonaldTrump

Ex-NSA contractor to spend 63 months in jail over “classified” information.

Gee, this is “small potatoes” compared to what Hillary Clinton did!

So unfair Jeff, Double Standard.

6:10 AM - Aug 24, 2018


https://www.mediaite.com/online/trump-appeals-to-sessions-to-investigate-political-rivals-come-on-jeff-you-can-do-it/

a whataboutism NOT written by Trash.

PVL non-indicted-co-conspirator illegit so-called Pres Trash telling the (personal legal dept) DoJ to go after Trash's political enemies.

[boutons_deux]

Lindsey Graham: ‘Very Likely’ Donald Trump Will Replace Jeff Sessions

But hiring a new attorney general before the midterm elections would be a “non-starter,” the senator said.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lindsey-graham-trump-replace-jeff-sessions_us_5b7f22cfe4b0729515115460?utm_medium=em ail&utm_campaign=__TheMorningEmail__082418&utm_content=__TheMorningEmail__082418+CID_7f10f360 5d2e46a8150adbcd36f62c34&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=HuffPost&ncid=newsltushpmgnews__TheMorningEmail__082418

[boutons_deux]

Education Dept. Proposals On Guns In Schools Sparks Outcry

The Education Department says it is weighing whether to allow states to use federal funds to purchase guns for schools, prompting a storm of criticism from Democratic lawmakers and educators.

the agency is reviewing legislation governing federal academic enrichment grants :lol

to see if the money can be used to buy firearms. :lol

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/eduation-department-proposals-on-guns-in-schools-prompt-outcry?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

Repugs deny health to non-whites, but want to pay for guns in schools. :lol

DoE: student rape, OK.

LGBT and racist harassment: OK

Predatory college loans scams: OK

For-profit rip-off fraudulent so-called colleges: OK

Repugs lowering the threshold for acceptable insanity in MISgovernance.

[boutons_deux]

Pesticide Studies Won E.P.A.’s Trust, Until Trump’s Team Scorned ‘Secret Science’

Backed by agrochemical companies, the current administration and Congress are moving to curb the role of human health studies in regulation.

Trump administration wants to restrict how human studies like Chamacos are used in rule-making. A government proposal this year, called Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science, could stop them from being used to justify regulating pesticides, lead (http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/05/epa-s-secret-science-rule-could-undermine-agency-s-war-lead) and pollutants like soot (https://insideclimatenews.org/news/22032018/epa-air-pollution-soot-rules-scott-pruitt-secret-science-policy-health-regulations), and undermine foundational research (https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/six-cities-air-pollution-study-turns-20/) behind national air-quality rules. The E.P.A., which has funded these kinds of studies, is now labeling many of them “secret science.”

But weeks after Donald J. Trump was elected president, CropLife America, the main agrochemical trade group, petitioned the E.P.A. (http://www.croplifeamerica.org/news/2017/10/26/cla-petitions-epa-to-stop-using-studies-that-are-not-backed-by-sound-science-or-quality-data) to “halt regulatory decisions that are highly influenced and/or determined by the results of epidemiological studies” unless universities were forced to share more of their data.

“It is a naked attempt to use a false claim that something nefarious is going on with these studies in an effort to allow industry to challenge conclusions that are not in their favor,”

“There is a breadth of information available on the potential adverse neurodevelopmental effects in infants and children as a result of prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos,” the agency concluded in 2016 (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4641119-2016-11-03-EPA-Chlorpyrifos-Revised-Human-Health.html),

The pesticide industry’s reaction was loud and intense.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/24/business/epa-pesticides-studies-epidemiology.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

[boutons_deux]

Is this Pootin-toy Repug an outlier, or is he out loud with what other Repugs and Repug supporters want?

California Republican says Justice Department should bow to Trump's will, endorses 'loyalty test' (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/25/1790836/-Rohrabacher-R-CA-says-U-S-Justice-Department-should-bow-to-Trump-s-will-endorses-loyalty-test)

https://images.dailykos.com/images/571915/story_image/25-dana-rohrabacher.w710.h473.jpg?1532972399

Dana Rohrabacher, the embattled Orange County congressman known for his close ties to the Kremlin, said Friday that

Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions should resign after showing disloyalty to President Trump by refusing to shut down the Russia investigation.

“The fact that Jeff Sessions has not quit is a disloyalty to this president and to the country,”

Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) told Fox Business Network.

“The fact is, if he disagrees with what the president wants him to do, he should resign.”

With no one to enforce the laws Trump may have broken, and no punishment for any crimes he may have committed, this President would then assume dictatorial powers.

That is what Rohrabacher apparently has endorsed.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/25/1790836/-Rohrabacher-R-CA-says-U-S-Justice-Department-should-bow-to-Trump-s-will-endorses-loyalty-test

What Rohrbacher wants for JeBo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIJIXMX2zw8

[boutons_deux]

TX Repugs want to screw their rural base

Texas proposal to close 87 driver license offices would leave 78 counties without centers (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/24/1790690/-Texas-proposal-to-close-87-driver-license-offices-would-leave-78-counties-without-centers)

There are reports (https://www.dallasnews.com/news/carrollton/2018/08/06/insane-8-hour-waits-prove-dps-mega-centers-working-fed-drivers-say) of ridiculously long waits up to 8 hours at the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) centers—many of which include hours of waiting in the sun during hot temperatures.

closing 87 centers as a way to close smaller offices and push more people to the megacenters (which are already claiming eight-hour wait times).

A vast majority of the centers proposed to close are the only centers in their county, which would lead to longer travel times.

“We have been told the dollar savings from the closing of the 87 offices would amount to approximately $760,000. However, the wasted dollars and inefficiencies suffered by the citizens of these rural counties will in the long run exceed these savings,”

“Additionally, most rural citizens already drive many miles from home to their county office to receive those services. By closing these offices, it would mean these

citizens would have to travel several counties away to receive services.”

The state already has one of the most strict voter ID laws (https://www.npr.org/2018/04/28/606730179/texas-voter-id-law-stands-for-midterm-elections-court-rules) in the country and adding miles (and time) to someone’s trip for identification will inevitably be a barrier for some.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/24/1790690/-Texas-proposal-to-close-87-driver-license-offices-would-leave-78-counties-without-centers?detail=emaildkre (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/24/1790690/-Texas-proposal-to-close-87-driver-license-offices-would-leave-78-counties-without-centers?detail=emaildkre)

Is this a backhanded voter suppression tactic?