Robert Reich
November 11, 2019
Don’t forget he denigrated a Gold Star family, and repeatedly attacked veteran John McCain. What a disgrace.
trump does not support the troops or the veterans !
Category: “Dead Skunk in The Middle of The Road”
Issues and events that stink to high heaven
trump is not the only problem !
Let the Revolution Begin. Peacefully of Course.
November 11, 2019
Northwest Family Farm Bankruptcies Increase
OPB TV – BBC Newshour
Northwest Family Farm Bankruptcies Increase
The number of family farms seeking bankruptcy protection grew 24% over the last year, according to an Ameican Farm Bureau Federation analysis of recent court data.
The analysis found family farm bankruptcies are rising fastest in the Northwest.
“We’ve seen low crop prices, low livestock prices for a number of years now,” said chief economist John Newton. “On the back, now, of that we have the trade war where agriculture’s been unfairly retaliated against.”
Newton monitors Chapter 12 bankruptcy filings as one measure of health for the farm economy. Chapter 12 is a kind of bankruptcy protection meant to help family farmers reorganize and keep farming.
Courtesy of the American Farm Bureau Federation
Nationwide, 580 family farms filed for bankruptcy in the 12-month period ending in September 2019. Newton considers that a sign of poor health.
“While it’s nowhere near the historical highs we saw in the ‘80s, it’s an alarming trend that continues to get worse,” he said.
Newton said farmers are also assuming record debt and taking longer to pay it back.
“I’m getting calls from farmers across the country that may not be at Chapter 12 bankruptcy point, but they’re very close to it,” he said.
Thirty-three farms in the Northwest filed for Chapter 12 protection over the time period measured. Most of them were in Idaho and Montana, but the figure includes Oregon apple farmers struck by tariffs in their major export markets.
Richard and Sydney Blaine, for example, filed for Chapter 12 protection just days after President Donald Trump signed a law this summer making it easier to access. The Family Farmer Relief Act increased the amount of debt a farmer can have —$10 million — and still qualify for Chapter 12 protection.
The 33 Northwest bankruptcies represent a 74% increase over the previous year, according to the American Farm Bureau’s analysis. The size of the increase appears large in part because the Northwest previously had fewer bankruptcy filings than some other regions, such as the Midwest.
Still, economist John Newton said each Chapter 12 bankruptcy matters.
“These are family farms,” he said. “And these are family farms that are having to restructure their debt due to tough financial conditions in agriculture.”
Because of the new bankruptcy rules, more farms could seek protection in the months ahead.
Mosco Mitch – Obstructing America’s Business
Attack on the Middle Class
November 7, 2019
These high-pocritical republi-con bastards in the senate then try to blame the Democratic House for doing nothing. John Hanno
Trump to pay millions in case over fraudulent charitable foundation
MSNBC
The Rachel Madow Show – The MaddowBlog
Trump to pay millions in case over fraudulent charitable foundation
Trump ordered to pay $2 million over scammy foundation ‘charity’
As a presidential candidate in 2016, Donald Trump took great pride in boasting to the public that he doesn’t settle lawsuits. “I don’t settle cases,” the Republican bragged during a primary debate in March 2016. “I don’t do it because that’s why I don’t get sued very often, because I don’t settle, unlike a lot of other people.”Indeed, in June 2018, when the president’s fraudulent charitable foundation was taken to court, Trump made a specific vow via Twitter: “I won’t settle this case!”
Yesterday, he settled the case, agreeing to a $2 million judgment for improperly using the now-defunct Trump Foundation.
The order appears to bring to an end the New York attorney general’s lawsuit against the president and three of his oldest children over the now-shuttered foundation, which the attorney general said had engaged in repeated wrongdoing.
“Our petition detailed a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation — including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more,” then-Attorney General Barbara Underwood alleged in a statement late last year.
The Washington Post had a report on the developments, which added, “In a statement signed by Trump’s attorney, the president admitted to poor oversight of the charity.”
And while I’m sure the president isn’t pleased with the $2 million judgment, this case could’ve been much worse for Trump. We are, after all, talking about an entity that was supposed to be a charitable foundation, which Trump repeatedly misused for his own interests.
As regular readers may recall, New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office compiled evidence of the president using his foundation “for his own benefit and [the] benefit of entities in which he had a financial interest.” Trump was accused of, among other things, using charitable assets to pay for portraits of himself, make political donations, pay for advertisements for Trump Hotels, settle lawsuits involving his business, and improperly intervening in the 2016 election.
According to one of the court filings in the case, the misuse of the charity was “willful and intentional.” Trump was “aware of” the legal limits, the state attorney general’s office concluded, but he ignored those limits anyway.
Given details like these, the president should consider himself lucky the judgment wasn’t more severe.
None of this, of course, should be confused with the $25 million settlement Trump had to pay in the Trump University case, in which the president ran a “school” that was little more than a scam created to take advantage of unsuspecting students who trusted the New York Republican.
It can be difficult at times to keep track of the multi-million-dollar settlements the president has had to pay in cases in which he was accused of perpetrating public frauds.
Postscript: In case this isn’t obvious, in 2016, voters were told Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both had charitable foundations, but Clinton’s was the controversial one. The irony is breathtaking.
The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision has been disastrous for American politics
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders
November 3, 2019
“When I ran against Gerald Ford, you know how much money we raised for the general election? Zero.” Jimmy Carter understands how disastrous the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision has been for American politics.
Jimmy Carter on How Money Has Corrupted Politics in America
"When I ran against Gerald Ford, you know how much money we raised for the general election? Zero." Jimmy Carter understands how disastrous the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision has been for American politics.
Posted by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders on Friday, November 1, 2019
“Moscow Mitch” McConnell needs to be retired in 2020 – Go Amy
Oliver Cromwell describes the republi-cons in congress !
The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to begin impeaching trump ! Not one single republi-con took their oath to the constitution seriously ! Not surprising but very disappointing. We’ll see how they vote after the overwhelming evidence is presented to the American public. John Hanno
Stephanie Ruhle Fans
October 30, 2019
Lord Cromwell could have just as easily been talking about Republicans in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
republi-cons believe trump is above the law !
Drawing Fire. America’s Best Political Cartoons.
October 31, 2019
Kevin Siers
No surprise; Trump is committing felony bribery !
Newsweek – U.S.
TRUMP IS COMMITTING ‘FELONY BRIBERY’ BY GIVING FUNDRAISING CASH TO GOP SENATORS AHEAD OF IMPEACHMENT TRIAL: EX-BUSH ETHICS LAWYER
By Jason Lemon October 31, 2019
President Donald Trump leaves after joining Senate Republicans for their weekly policy luncheon at the Capitol on March 26.CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY
Attorney Richard Painter, who served as the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, warned on Thursday that President Donald Trump appeared to be committing “felony bribery” by giving Republican senators fundraising cash ahead of an increasingly likely impeachment trial in the Senate.
The lawyer shared an article published by Politico on Thursday morning. Titled “Trump lures GOP senators on impeachment with cold cash,” the article outlined how the president is turning to his large network of donors to raise funds for a few senators facing difficult re-election campaigns in 2020. All of those senators have also signed a resolution condemning the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry.
“This is a bribe. Any other American who offered cash to the jury before a trial would go to prison for felony bribery. But he can get away with it?” Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota, wrote on Twitter. “Criminal.”
Richard W. Painter: The senators can raise their own campaign cash. Any senator who accepts cash from @realDonaldTrump before the impeachment trial is guilty of accepting a bribe and should go to the slammer.
In a follow-up tweet, Painter argued that GOP lawmakers who accept the fundraising support should face criminal charges as well.
“The senators can raise their own campaign cash. Any senator who accepts cash from @realDonaldTrump before the impeachment trial is guilty of accepting a bribe and should go to the slammer,” he tweeted.
The House of Representatives on Thursday will vote on a resolution, which is expected to pass the Democrat-controlled body, to outline the formal impeachment inquiry rules. The resolution will allow for public hearings and the release of transcripts of closed-door depositions. This is not a vote to impeach the president, which is expected to come later after the public hearings. As things stand now, most lawmakers and analysts believe the president will be formally impeached by Congress’ lower chamber.
After that, the Senate will be required to take up the inquiry and carry out a trial for the president. As the upper chamber is Republican controlled, it is considered highly unlikely that Trump will be found guilty and removed from office. The president’s removal requires a two-thirds majority vote, and the Senate is made up of 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independents, who caucus with the Democrats.
None of the Senate Republicans have publicly stated that Trump’s actions have amounted to impeachable behavior, but several have expressed serious misgivings and raised concerns.
“There’s lot of things that concern me,” GOP Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina said Wednesday, The Hill reported.
“The question on the table is impeachment, and that’s the question we should get an answer to, and the answer so far is ‘For what would we impeach the president?'” he said. “And the answer is ‘I don’t see anything for that.'”