n2doc

n2doc's Journal

December 20, 2017

How to Make Lawmakers Rue the Day They Voted for This Scam of a Tax Bill

When President Trump delivered his first big speech on taxes this past August in Springfield, Missouri, it gave us the chills. Full of Pinocchios, of course, but also one of the best speeches of his presidency. Lifting the “crushing tax burden,” he promised, would lead to a “big, beautiful comeback” for America’s main street, with more jobs and higher wages. In a nation wracked by economic insecurity, we worried Trump’s oily sales pitch would work.

The good news is the American people never fell for it. In fact, as Republicans cranked up the old “trickle down” rhetoric over the past six weeks, opposition to the bill grew by 10 points to 55 percent, with only one in three in support. And that promise of tax cuts’ leading to higher wages? More than 70 percent of Republicans and 85 percent of Democrats didn’t buy it.

The bad news: Republicans didn’t care much about public sentiment. To please their wealthy donors, they rammed their 500-page tax bill through Congress in warp speed.

So where do we go from here? Fortunately, the hard work in this round to educate and organize the public has made progressive social movements better-positioned for the next rounds of the fight.

more
https://www.thenation.com/article/how-to-make-lawmakers-rue-the-day-the-voted-for-this-scam-of-a-tax-bill/

December 20, 2017

Three Washington Co. (Georgia) deputies charged with murder in Tasing death

Three Washington County deputies turned themselves in Wednesday morning after being indicted on charges of felony murder in the Tasing death of 58-year old Eurie Martin.

On Tuesday, a grand jury listened to hours of interviews from investigators and were presented with body camera video from the day that Martin was Tased.

Cell phone video sent to us by a viewer in July shows the moment that Deputies Michael Howell, Henry Copeland, and Rhett Scott were spotted on Deepstep Road with Mr. Martin. One of them Tases him and he falls to the ground.

Hayward says after the grand jury was presented with all the evidence they only deliberated for a few minutes before coming to a conclusion.

more
http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local/three-washington-co-deputies-charged-with-murder-in-tasing-death/500959710

December 20, 2017

Wall Street Journal Killed Editorial on Trumps Mob Ties

In a short period of time, five staffers have departed The Wall Street Journal editorial page. The general cause of their departures, willing and otherwise, is known: the Journal editorial line has increasingly conformed with the pro-Trump dictates of the rest of the Murdoch media empire. (Most recently, Journal editorials, which once presented Ken Starr as the last hope to preserve the rule of law, have fomented various right-wing conspiracy theories about Robert Mueller and called for his firing.)

Sam Tanenhaus, deep into his excellent story on the dwindling band of anti-Trump conservative intellectuals, reports more specifically on the circumstances surrounding their departure. As Trump’s chances of winning the nomination grew, the paper buried an editorial highlighting his underworld connections:

Those were heavy losses in pages whose content is managed by fewer than thirty people in total. And the reason, according to several defectors, was the Journal’s skidding reversal once Rupert Murdoch realized Trump could win. Several sources pointed to the editorials by one writer, James Freeman. “All-in for Ted Cruz” during the primaries, Freeman wrote a strong attack on Trump’s Mob dealings, and had a second ready to go. But as Trump got closer to clinching the nomination, Paul Gigot kept delaying publication, saying “it needed work.” Once Trump became the likely Republican nominee, Freeman executed a neat volte-face. “The facts suggest that Mrs. Clinton is more likely to abuse liberties than Mr. Trump,” he wrote. “America managed to survive Mr. Clinton’s two terms, so it can stand the far less vulgar Mr. Trump.”

(Trump’s Mafia connections are the sort of scandal that would have killed an ordinary candidacy but barely even register on the outsize scale of Trump scandals.)

more
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/12/wall-street-journal-killed-editorial-on-trumps-mob-ties.html

December 20, 2017

Bankrupt Toys R Us Weighs Closing at Least 100 Stores

Toys “R” Us Inc., which filed for bankruptcy in September, is considering closing at least 100 U.S. stores in the face of weak holiday sales, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

U.S. sales have declined about 15 percent this Christmas-shopping season from a year earlier, according to people recently briefed on the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. The number of closed stores could reach approximately 200, one of the people said, but no decision has been made.

“Final decisions about our real estate portfolio will be done only after careful consideration about the best interests of our business,” said spokeswoman Amy von Walter. “Any speculation on that figure is premature and likely to be inaccurate.”

The Wayne, New Jersey-based company operated 879 U.S. stores as of the end of January, according to its last annual report.

more
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-18/bankrupt-toys-r-us-is-said-to-mull-closing-at-least-100-stores

December 20, 2017

On the Road to Kleptocracy

With the passage of the Republican tax bill, there’s no longer room for doubt: The big heist is on. The looting of the national commons is well underway, and now those behind it feel no need to hide it.

Let’s face it—this is why they allowed President Donald J. Trump to happen. He may not have been the first pick of GOP leaders, who would have preferred a more subtle approach, something that looked more like the invisible hand of the market than outright pillage. But once Trump had the nomination locked up, they fell in line. However ugly things might get, a bonanza awaited the crowd that carried Trump across the White House threshold.

You’ve likely heard by now that 83 percent of the gains to taxpayers in the bill go to the top 1 percent, ranked by income. How the tax cuts for middle-income earners are modest and temporary, while the cuts for corporations are robust and permanent. How many middle class people in blue states will actually take a hit. How 13 million people are expected to land among the ranks of those with no health insurance, thanks to the monkey wrench thrown into the works of Obamacare through the repeal of the individual mandate. How social programs that allow everyday Americans to get ahead or simply stay alive are set to be starved.

Taken alone, the tax bill is an abomination. Taken in the context of the institution-breaking behavior of this administration, it’s but one battle in a march of conquest. There’s nothing subtle here: The riches of the nation are being stolen from the people.

more
http://prospect.org/article/on-road-kleptocracy

December 20, 2017

Just one-third of Americans say they would vote for President Trump in 2020 election

Only one-third of Americans would vote for President Trump if he runs for reelection in 2020, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday.

A scant 18% of people surveyed said they would “definitely” support Trump if he runs in 2020. Another 18% said they would “probably” vote for him, while 38% said they would vote for someone else.

While 2020 is still a small dot on the political horizon, and it’s unclear who will emerge as the democratic nominee or if Trump will face a primary challenge, a full 38% of respondents says they will be voting for someone other than Trump.

more
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/one-third-americans-vote-trump-2020-article-1.3710806

Only going down after today....

December 20, 2017