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Author Topic: Corruption in Government  (Read 72296 times)

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AGelbert

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Re: Corruption in Government
« Reply #240 on: January 15, 2017, 05:35:43 pm »
Memphis PD Lt. Earl Clark fired the shot that killed Dr. King, not James Earl Ray.

Uploaded on Aug 1, 2008

Talk by William Pepper author of "An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King" and "Orders to Kill: The Truth Behind the Murder of Martin Luther King" given February 27, 2003 in Seattle.

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Corruption in Government
« Reply #241 on: January 15, 2017, 09:23:32 pm »
Agelbert NOTE: William Pepper explains how he was the key influence on MLK in convincing him to oppose the war (which is basically what got MLK assassinated by Hoover's FBI). The hit on MLK was originally set up to occur in Los Angeles BUT was MOVED to Memphis because the government did not want TWO hits (the RFK hit was already scheduled there) in one city. RFK was planning to ELIMINATE the oil depletion allowance for the fossil fuel industry. So, that alone, made him a marked man. The fossil fuelers have ALWAYS killed anyone that gets in their way.

William Pepper on the Assassinations of MLK, RFK and JFK


Published on Oct 21, 2013
The attorney for the family of Martin Luther King Jr., talks about the assassinations of JFK, RFK and MLK, the role of the government, CIA and other intelligence agencies and the innocence of Sirhan Sirhan, Lee Harvey Oswald and James Earl Ray.


He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Corruption in Government
« Reply #242 on: January 17, 2017, 05:43:37 pm »


January 17, 2017'

Denier Roundup

Quote
From White House to State Houses, Hypocrisy Flourishes in 2017

Wouldn’t it be neat if there were a test to tell us whether certain political statements are honest expressions of an intellectual position or a convenient excuses for partisan ideology? Of course it would. And last week, we could’ve benefitted from it several times over.


First with the nomination of Rex Tillerson and many other special interest leaders.



Next with the now five hires from Goldman Sachs, even after his campaign promised to drain the swamp of special interest influence and attacked those with connections to the bank.

Another example is of course EPA Admin nominee Scott Pruitt. A report reported on by PoliticoPRO Friday shows that in 13 of the 14 cases where Pruitt co-sued the EPA with a corporation, that corporation had donated money to a political committee linked to Pruitt. How that squares with Trump, who repeatedly invoked the idea that his opponents were guilty of “pay to play,” is unknown.

And already, the start of the 2017 legislative year has brought even more examples of hypocrisy at the state level.

A favorite reason given for opposition to policies to promote renewable energy is that government shouldn’t be picking winners and losers. Is that more than just rhetoric to mask a pro-fossil fuel position? We’ll soon see, based on how many of those same voices speak out against a new bill in Wyoming. The proposed legislation would prevent utilities from using large-scale wind or solar. A lack of vociferous GOP pushback would indicate that the government should pick winners and losers, so long as coal wins and renewables lose.

You know how deniers rail against supposed political interference in academia? About how liberals are somehow influencing what college students learn? Apparently one conservative Arizona legislature thought that was a good idea, and introduced legislation to ban colleges from having any course, activity or event that deals with social justice or race. So far, no outrage from outlets that regularly warn against political influence in universities, like the Daily Caller.

Speaking of which, they recently ran an opinion piece attacking the Rockefeller foundation for funding Exxon investigations, bearing the headline Fake News: When Leftist Foundations Fund Activism Posing As Journalism. Despite mentioning that the left loves to attack the Koch brothers in this piece, they conveniently left out any mention of the hundreds of thousands of dollars the Koch foundation’s given the Daily Caller.   

The sad part is, that’s not even the most hypocritical fake news happening of last week. No, that distinction goes to Trump, who at his press conference refused to take a question from CNN, calling it fake news, and instead called on someone from Breitbart.

Breitbart, which just so happens to have sent its former chief to the Trump campaign. And is heavily financed by the Mercer family, who besides sending millions of dollars to climate denial organizations, were said to “basically own” the Trump campaign by an insider.

Assuming they’re not hypocrites, it should only be a matter of time before we see something in the Daily Caller about the Mercer family funding activism posing as journalism. 

We were going to say we’re holding our breath for that reporting, but considering what air quality is apt to be once Pruitt’s running the EPA, we might as well enjoy clean air while we can.   
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Corruption in Government
« Reply #243 on: January 18, 2017, 06:31:50 pm »
Pruitt’s EPA Lawsuits Are Worse Than You Think


Union of Concerned Scientists
SNIPPET:

Quote
Pruitt's lawsuits clearly demonstrate that he is against regulation, particularly of the oil and gas industry. That much we already knew.

But when one looks at the actual cases he has filed and the legal arguments he has advanced, one sees something even more disturbing—a disrespect for science, a penchant for a rigged method of performing cost-benefit analysis, and a lack of interest in helping to police the problem of interstate air pollution—which clearly must be done at the federal level.

http://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-epa-lawsuits-2197643441.html
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Corruption in Government
« Reply #244 on: January 19, 2017, 06:40:22 pm »

Elizabeth Warren DESTROYS Ben Carson 
.

The Young Turks   
 
Published on Jan 12, 2017

Elizabeth Warren questioned Ben Carson on whether he would prevent Donald Trump from profiting from his office. Cenk Uygur and John Iadarola, hosts of The Young Turks, break down Ben Carson’s answer. Tell us what you think in the comment section below. https://www.tytnetwork.com/go

“During his confirmation hearing Thursday, Ben Carson repeatedly refused to guarantee that money from the Department of Housing and Urban Development would not go to benefit President-elect Donald Trump or his family.

“Among the billions of dollars that you will be handing out in grants and loans, can you just assure us that not one dollar will go to benefit either the president-elect or his family?” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) asked.

“I can assure you that the things that I do are driven by a sense of morals and values,” Carson responded. “And therefore I will absolutely not play favorites for anyone.”

Carson is Trump’s nominee to run HUD, an anti-poverty agency charged with federal affordable housing efforts.”

Read more here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/b...

Hosts: Cenk Uygur, John Iadarola

Cast: Cenk Uygur, John Iadarola

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Corruption in Government
« Reply #245 on: January 21, 2017, 03:34:35 pm »

First petition generated on White House site demands
  Trump 
release tax returns

By Kerry Eleveld   

Friday Jan 20, 2017 ·  3:49 PM EST


http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/1/20/1622867/-First-petition-generated-on-White-House-site-demands-Trump-release-tax-returns

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Corruption in Government
« Reply #246 on: January 21, 2017, 04:14:33 pm »
Agelbert Observation: You've all heard the famous quote that Governments derive their power from the consent of the governed. Trump DOESN'T have that consent.

Trump inauguration TV special a big ratings loser - Sad!   

By davidkc   

Saturday Jan 21, 2017 ·  1:41 PM EST

One reason the TV networks have been so soft on popular vote loser Donald Trump and given him so much nonstop coverage is the assumption that he’s a big ratings draw (i.e. he’ll earn them lots of $$$$$). Seems like that assumption has been blasted to smithereens, as ABC found out the hard way.

The network’s pre-inauguration special, “20/20: The Trumps Go to Washington,” was a big ratings loser, placing behind “The Blacklist” in the key adults 18-49 demographic and placing behind “Pure Genius” (a show I’ve never heard of) in the total number of viewers.

A paltry 5.1 million viewers tuned in for the 20/20 Trump inauguration special, compared to the 15 million viewers who watched the top show that evening, “The Big Bang Theory” on CBS.

By placing its hopes on Heir Trump, ABC was rewarded by placing fourth in the 18-49 demo and third in total viewers for the evening. SAD!  :laugh:

Maybe now networks will realize that going all-in on Trump is not going to be a moneymaker for them.


http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/1/21/1623151/-Trump-inauguration-special-a-big-ratings-loser-Sad

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Corruption in Government
« Reply #247 on: January 21, 2017, 04:35:43 pm »
Donald Trump is now violating the emoluments clause

By Mark Sumner   

Friday Jan 20, 2017 ·  3:47 PM EST

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: President Donald Trump turns to House Speaker Paul Ryan as he is joined by the Congressional leadership and his family as he formally signs his cabinet nominations into law, in the President's Room of the Senate, at the Capitol in Washington,January 20, 2017. Pictured are Donald Trump, wife Melania Trump, son Barron Trump,Vice President Mike Pence wife Karen Pence, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Calif., House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner and children Arabella, Joseph and Theodore.Donald Trump Jr., wife Vanessa Haydon, children two daughters, Kai and Chloe, and three sons, Donald, Tristan and Spencer.Eric Trump wife Lara Yunaska and Tiffany Trump (Photo by J. Scott Applewhite - Pool/Getty Images) (at article link)

On the rebooted White House petitions page, there’s currently just a single item:

Immediately release Donald Trump's full tax returns, with all information needed to verify emoluments clause compliance.

Oddly enough, the ability to sign this petition was disabled at the time of this article was written. But even assuming that the page was working properly, and the petition racked up the requisite number of votes, there’s a good reason to think it would never be acted on. Because Trump would have to admit that he was in violation the moment he took the oath.

The moment Trump takes that oath, he will violate it. This is because Donald Trump has refused to divest himself of his business, both domestic and foreign and will receive, as a result, on January 20, 2017, emoluments from foreign sources and domestic governments, federal, state and local.

Just to remind everyone how tightly his business and his regime will be entangled, Trump stopped by his hotel to shake a few hands last night. Though don’t expect to see much press coverage.

The Trump International Hotel in Washington is banning the media from its premises during inauguration week.

If you need another reminder, Trump will supposedly stop by his hotel as part of the inaugural parade. In fact, it may be the only point where he climbs out of his car.

Trump’s DC hotel is far from the worst example of how Trump’s businesses benefit from his position, but it is one of the most visible. And his hotel lease runs squarely into the Constitution.

Article 2 of the Constitution provides, in pertinent part:

The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

This provision states, in unmistakable terms that the president of the United States can receive only his salary as an “emolument” and is expressly barred from receiving any other compensation from the federal government and the States (which necessarily comprises local governments as well as they are creatures of State creation).

The president can’t take, no matter how indirectly, a dime of additional money from the government. Neither can he take a dime from foreign governments. Petition or no petition, Donald Trump is now in violation of the emoluments clause.

What can Trump do? What presidents have always done—divest himself of his holdings. It’s not a complex analysis.

Can he do something else? Will a blind trust place him in compliance with the Emoluments Clause? No it will not. The problem is not just that Trump will know about his emoluments (and let’s face it, Trump can’t unknow what he holds anyway), it is that he will receive them. If Trump wants to be president and not violate the Constitution, he has to divest.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/1/20/1622841/-Donald-Trump-is-now-violating-the-emoluments-clause
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Corruption in Government
« Reply #248 on: January 21, 2017, 04:47:04 pm »
Women's March On Washington (and everywhere else) much, MUCH larger than expected
 

By Mark Sumner   

Saturday Jan 21, 2017 ·  2:01 PM EST

SNIPPET:

300,000 in New York City. 125,000 in Boston. 50,000 in Austin, Texas. 15,000 in St. Louis. 10,000 in Portland, ME.

Across the country, the numbers for the Women’s March have turned out to be not just high, but higher than anyone would have predicted. Cities that had expected two thousand got ten. Areas that had planned on ten thousand got a hundred.

The overflow crowds are also happening in Washington, D.C. where so many have turned up that it’s proving difficult to actually march.



http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/1/21/1623203/-Women-s-March-On-Washington-and-everywhere-else-much-MUCH-larger-than-expected
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Corruption in Government
« Reply #249 on: January 21, 2017, 05:59:34 pm »
 

January 21, 2017

Trump's Infrastructure Plan: Public Investment, Private Profit  

The newly inaugurated president says his plan will benefit all Americans, but the 99% are likely to pay for it while the 1% profit, says economist Michael Hudson.



Agelbert NOTE: Code Speech MEANING for the expression, "Our People", mentioned in Trump's Inaugural Address:


 January 20, 2017

When Trump Says 'America First,' It's About the America of the Elites

Norman Solomon joins TRNN's live inauguration coverage to discuss the absence of references to the U.S. constitution and climate change in Trump's inaugural speech.


He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Corruption in Government
« Reply #250 on: January 21, 2017, 09:00:07 pm »
Anything at All Can Happen in the Age of Trump
 

Jon Schwarz

2017-01-21T14:26:59+00:00

SNIPPET:

But while nothing is certain, some alarming things are more likely than others. The path the new administration hopes to take may be discernible in a 2016 report by the conservative Heritage Foundation. According to The Hill on Thursday, Trump transition staffers – including a vice president at Heritage’s grassroots arm Action for America – are using the Heritage document as the basis for Trump’s first proposed budget.

The Trump transition staff did not respond to questions about whether they are in fact doing this, and understandably so — the Heritage plan treats social spending like Lizzie Borden treated her parents, axing $10.5 trillion, or 20 percent, from the $51.4 trillion that the Congressional Budget Office projects the federal government would otherwise spend over the next ten years.

“Unprecedented” is simultaneously accurate and insufficient to describe the Heritage cuts. As Joel Friedman, vice president for federal fiscal policy at the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, puts it: “No administration up to this point has ever bought into proposals this far-reaching. Even the George W. Bush administration was never proposing cuts of anywhere near this magnitude.”


As seen above, $6.8 trillion in cuts – or 65 percent of the total — would be extracted from Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other non-discretionary spending, including all of the Affordable Care Act.

In addition to sharply reducing Social Security and Medicare benefits for most people, the Heritage plan would raise the programs’ eligibility ages and then index them to longevity – thereby enshrining in law the concept that no matter how wealthy the U.S. becomes, regular people will never be permitted to work fewer years at the end of their lives.

Heritage does not provide details about how exactly Medicaid and other mandatory spending would be whacked, but the cuts would be even heavier. While most Americans don’t know this until they need it, 65 percent of the elderly in nursing homes depend on Medicaid to pay their bills, and the program covers 45 percent of the country’s spending on nursing home care overall. Non-Medicaid mandatory spending includes income security for veterans, food stamps, and unemployment benefits.

Non-defense discretionary spending would also be eviscerated. Heritage would slice expenditures on clean energy, environmental programs, and veterans’ health, as well as funding for the Departments of Commerce, Transportation, Justice, and State. The National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities would be totally eliminated.

While all this is happening, one part of the government would see its budget protected and even increased: the Pentagon.

But wait, there’s more: The Heritage plan gets more draconian as time goes by, so these numbers actually understate the size of spending cuts in the long term. The graph below shows by percentage how much each area of government would be reduced in Heritage’s 2026 budget in comparison to the CBO’s current projection for 2026. For instance, spending on non-defense discretionary spending would be cut almost in half.



full article:

https://theintercept.com/2017/01/21/anything-at-all-can-happen-in-the-age-of-trump/

Agelbert NOTE: The author of the above article seems to think that Trump is different from Pence in that Pseudo-Christian Pence certainly would carry out all the murderous budget cuts, while Trump might not.

I believe that is wishful thinking. Trump, if anything, will attempt even more draconian empathy deficit disordered budget cuts in order to further enrich his plutocratic pals at the expense of we-the-people. Mark my words. Trump is pure poison for we-the-people.

The sad fact is that the US Government is now fully fascist and will proceed to ignore every clean air, soil and water regulation on behalf of the fossil fuel industry and other polluters from the pharmaceutical and chemical industries.

Also, the entire social contract that has been laboriously built up by people of good will since the time of FDR up to and including civil rights gains for people of color and healthcare for all Americans during the LBJ Administration will be deliberately and methodically destroyed piece by piece.

Every step in the dismembering of the social contract that will cause the unnecessary misery and the death of millions of Americans will be given an Orwellian label. For example, the Ryan plan to DEFUND the Affordable Care Act (i.e. Obamacare) is cynically called a "rescue", when in fact it is a death sentence. This nihilistic cynicism is part and parcel of the fascist regressive modus operandi now only slightly less prevalent in the Democratic Party wing of the duopoly as in the Republican in-your-face fascist wing.

More wealth transfer from the poor and middle class of all colors to the rich is what the Trump Administration is all about, as well as more pollution, more sickness, and more rampant racist brutality.

The defunding of the ACA immediately hands out an average of 7 million dollars in tax cuts (EACH!) to the 400 most wealthy families in America. The only reason the ACA was bad mouthed and demonized as "Obamacare" for the past seven years by the internet noise machine and the bought and paid for news media is because all those families that make over $250,000 a year did not like funding this program, even though it was a poor substitute for what every other industrialized country in the west has for their own citizens.

For those who labor under the belief that Trump isn't as "radical" as Pence in wanting to destroy the safety net of we-the-people, all you have to do is study Trump's choice for OMB (i.e. BUDGETS!).
 
Donald’s Budget Chief Nominee GOP Congressman Mick Mulvaney—He’s a Political/Economic “House of Cards” 

Mulvaney pressed for slashing federal spending more deeply than House GOP leaders wanted. During the Obama administration, Mulvaney took a super-hard line on spending. In 2011, he vowed not to raise the nation’s debt limit. Not raising the debt limit to pay debts already owed would have caused domestic and international economic collapse. Mulvaney could have cared less. He labeled himself part of the “Shutdown Caucus” because he was willing to shut down the government rather than raise the debt ceiling. 

Mulvaney was one of several dozen House GOPers who refused to back the final deal to raise the statutory debt limit (NY Times, Shear, 12/16/16).  Mulvaney voted against passing the 2013 fiscal cliff agreement. Failure to enact this deal would have increased taxes on the middle class and denied unemployment benefits to millions (Wash. Post U.S. Cong. Votes Database).

Mulvaney objected because there were not enough spending cuts, and taxes were allowed to rise on families making over $450,000 (NY Times, Weisman, 1/03/13, McClatchy Newspapers, J. Rosen, 1/12/13).

Mulvaney, who comes from a state often hit by hurricanes, voted against aid for Northeastern Hurricane Sandy victims because this relief didn’t include “corresponding budget cuts.” This condition  had never been attached to prior disaster relief bills (See “Politico,” Everett & Sherman, 1/10/13, “Politico,” Rogers, 1/15/13).

At the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Mulvaney would guide Trump in repealing Obamacare. He would help Trump overhaul taxes and work on an infrastructure plan, which in Trump’s hands, appears to be more of a giveaway to his 1% rich friends than a middle class stimulus.

Mulvaney would also manage the White House’s annual proposed budget program and policies. He would be in charge of government purchases of goods and services, and oversee the review of government agencies and federal employees (NYTimes, Shear, 12/16/16, CNN, Diaz & Acosta, 12/17/16).

In introducing Mulvaney as his OMB pick, Trump stated, “We are going to do great things for the American people with Mick Mulvaney leading the Office of Management and Budget.” Trump called Mulvaney a “high- energy leader with deep convictions for how to responsibly manage our nation’s finances and save our country from drowning in red ink  (CNN, Diaz & Acosta, 12/17/16).” Translation: Trump and Mulvaney will cut middle class programs to the bone, but help the super-rich.

Mulvaney at OMB will also cut science research. In a now deleted (though cached) Facebook page, Mulvaney wrote, “Do we really need government-funded research at all (Levy, “Mother Jones”)?  Mulvaney recently spoke to the original tinfoil hat John Birch Society. He argued against all scientific knowledge that the Zika virus does not cause birth defects (Kos, Sumner, 12/19/16).  Hey, why fund science at all?

He endorsed Donald a few hours after House Speaker Paul Ryan jumped on the Trump bandwagon in 6/2016. At a candidate’s forum in Gaffney, S. Carolina, Mulvaney stated that Trump could “advance the Republican agenda.” 

Mulvaney talked of Trump having “possible common ground with him on entitlements,” read, cutting Social Security and Medicare (CNN, Diaz & Acosta). Scam artist Trump and his political/economic “House of Cards” OMB nominee Mulvaney are nothing more than selfish radical budget cutters. Again, the only people getting more money in a Trump administration will be the super-rich.

Plutocratic greed is destroying America. This will end VERY badly.

Quote
"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both." — Dwight D. Eisenhower
« Last Edit: January 21, 2017, 11:14:24 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Corruption in Government
« Reply #251 on: January 24, 2017, 03:09:55 pm »
Hi, I'm the Trump Pro-Free Market Ideas Representative.

Get Ready for the First Shocks of Trump’s Disaster Capitalism

Naomi Klein

January 24 2017, 1:11 p.m.

We already know that the Trump administration plans to deregulate markets, wage all-out war on “radical Islamic terrorism,” trash climate science and unleash a fossil-fuel frenzy. It’s a vision that can be counted on to generate a tsunami of crises and shocks: economic shocks, as market bubbles burst; security shocks, as blowback from foreign belligerence comes home; weather shocks, as our climate is further destabilized; and industrial shocks, as oil pipelines spill and rigs collapse, which they tend to do, especially when enjoying light-touch regulation.

All this is dangerous enough. What’s even worse is the way the Trump administration can be counted on to exploit these shocks politically and economically.

Naomi Klein explains how the Trump administration might take advantage of coming crises to Jeremy Scahill at the Women’s March, Jan. 21, 2017. (video at article link)

Speculation is unnecessary. All that’s required is a little knowledge of recent history. Ten years ago, I published “The Shock Doctrine,” a history of the ways in which crises have been systematically exploited over the last half century to further a radical pro-corporate agenda. The book begins and ends with the response to Hurricane Katrina, because it stands as such a harrowing blueprint for disaster capitalism.

That’s relevant because of the central, if little-recalled, role played by the man who is now the U.S. vice president, Mike Pence. At the time Katrina hit New Orleans, Pence was chairman of the powerful and highly ideological Republican Study Committee (RSC). On September 13, 2005 — just 14 days after the levees were breached and with parts of New Orleans still under water — the RSC convened a fateful meeting at the offices of the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Under Pence’s leadership, the group came up with a list of “Pro-Free-Market Ideas for Responding to Hurricane Katrina and High Gas Prices” — 32 policies in all, each one straight out of the disaster capitalism playbook. 

Vehicles form a line at an Exxon gas station off of Interstate 55 in Jackson, Miss., Aug. 30, 2005. The station was one of the few in the city with both power and gas one day after Hurricane Katrina made landfall.Photo: Rick Guy/The Calrion Ledger/AP (at article link)

To get a sense of how the Trump administration will respond to their first crises, it’s worth reading the list in full (and noting Pence’s name right at the bottom).

What stands out in the package of pseudo “relief” policies is the commitment to wage all-out war on labor standards and on the public sphere — which is ironic because the failure of public infrastructure is what turned Katrina into a human catastrophe. Also notable is the determination to use any opportunity to strengthen the hand of the oil and gas industry.


The first three items on the RSC list are “automatically suspend Davis-Bacon prevailing wage laws in disaster areas,” a reference to the law that required federal contractors to pay a living wage; “make the entire affected area a flat-tax free-enterprise zone”; and “make the entire region an economic competitiveness zone (comprehensive tax incentives and waiving of regulations).”

Another demand called for giving parents vouchers to use at charter schools, a move perfectly in line with the vision held by Trump’s pick for education secretary, Betsy DeVos.

All these measures were announced by President George W. Bush within the week. Under pressure, Bush was eventually forced to reinstate the labor standards, though they were largely ignored by contractors. There is every reason to believe this will be the model for the multi-billion-dollar infrastructure investments Trump is using to court the labor movement. Repealing Davis-Bacon for those projects was reportedly already floated at Monday’s meeting with leaders of construction and building trade unions.

Back in 2005, the Republican Study Committee meeting produced more ideas that gained presidential support. Climate scientists have directly linked the increased intensity of hurricanes to warming ocean temperatures. This connection, however, didn’t stop Pence and the RSC from calling on Congress to repeal environmental regulations on the Gulf Coast, give permission for new oil refineries in the United States, and to green-light “drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.”

All these measures are a surefire way to drive up greenhouse gas emissions, the major human contributor to climate change, yet they were immediately championed by the president under the guise of responding to a devastating storm.

The oil industry wasn’t the only one to profit from Hurricane Katrina, of course. So did a slew of well-connected contractors, who turned the Gulf Coast into a laboratory for privatized disaster response.

The companies that snatched up the biggest contracts were the familiar gang from the invasion of Iraq: Halliburton’s KBR unit won a $60 million gig to reconstruct military bases along the coast. Blackwater was hired to protect FEMA employees from looters. Parsons, infamous for its sloppy Iraq work, was brought in for a major bridge construction project in Mississippi. Fluor, Shaw, Bechtel, CH2M Hill — all top contractors in Iraq — were hired by the government to provide mobile homes to evacuees just ten days after the levees broke. Their contracts ended up totaling $3.4 billion, no open bidding required.

And no opportunity for profit was left untapped. Kenyon, a division of the mega funeral conglomerate Service Corporation International (a major Bush campaign donor), was hired to retrieve the dead from homes and streets. The work was extraordinarily slow, and bodies were left in the broiling sun for days. Emergency workers and local volunteer morticians were forbidden to step in to help because handling the bodies impinged on Kenyon’s commercial territory.

And as with so many of Trump’s decisions so far, relevant experience often appeared to have nothing to do with how contracts were allocated. AshBritt, a company paid half a billion dollars to remove debris, reportedly didn’t own a single dump truck and farmed out the entire job to contractors.    

Full article:

https://theintercept.com/2017/01/24/get-ready-for-the-first-shocks-of-trumps-disaster-capitalism/

Agelbert NOTE: THe full article has many details that irrefutably prove that Trump, despite his penchant for talking out of both sides of his mouth, (watch the Trump flip flop video on u-tube if you haven't done it  ;), is a Fascist, Fossil Fuel Industry Pandering Republican ALL THE WAY. The Heritage Foundation's PLAN is TRUMP's PLAN.


AND, these empathy deficit disordered Plutocrats are NOW planning to CASH IN on Catastrophic Climate Change while they DENY it is happening!

Instead of making any attempt whatsoever to prevent or ameliorate it, they are helping to GOOSE the Polluting Emissions (MORE PROFITS for the Fossil Fuel Industry Fascists) so that there are MORE DISASTERS for them to CASH IN on. Rampant and unlimited GREED has driven TRUMP and his Plutocratic pals CRIMINALLY INSANE. 

Don't say I didn't warn you.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Corruption in Government
« Reply #252 on: January 25, 2017, 02:39:08 pm »
Looks like Dump is going to do exactly what he said he was going to do.  He's going to create a bunch of temporary jobs building pipelines and building a wall.  Key here is temporary, but we all know Merikans can't think much past the next football game so nobody cares about the temporary aspect.  Long term thinking need not apply in Merka. 

Of course Dump is not doing this, the Corporatocracy/deep state/military industrial complex is doing this.  He's just following orders.  I can't believe anything other.

Yep, Dumps doing all he said he would do, except for the whole "this is your Merka," "Merka is for you the people," "Goobermint is going to work for the Merkan people," and all of that other bullshit he diarrhead out of his mouth during his inauguration bullshit monologue.  It definitely was no speech. 


Well said. 

To Trump and his "alternative facts" true believing followers:

Agelbert NOTE: The full quote sheds even more light on who the Trumpers, many who claim to be Christians, REALLY are.

Quote
“To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture.” - Thomas Paine
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Corruption in Government
« Reply #253 on: January 25, 2017, 06:42:16 pm »
While I agree with you guys basically it could be that Trump may be a tool of his tool more than a tool of the 'tool'.

Regardless of quibbling details the way the mainstream press is treating Trump is disgusting.  The clueless disrespect the clueless and a pretty sight it is not.

Journalism was always subject to bias, but it is quite apparent there are no more objective news outlets. Everybody has an axe to grind.

On Trump and speculation about what he might or might not do....I try not to jump to conclusions, but all the evidence seems to point to a new government envisioned by somebody whose name starts with K. (for Kleptocrat)

True, but the Trumpers still labor under the illusion that Trump "is not as bad" as Obama. He is FAR WORSE. An objective analysis, soon to be made by everybody and his dog who has illusions about TRUMP, will emerge within six months.

I predict the realization of the Trumpers that Obama was a piker compared to Trump's zeal to ADVANCE Empire and the Police State on behalf of Plutocratic polluters everywhere will dawn on them WHEN the BIG WAR SCARE that is coming is followed by a MAJOR PRICE SHOCK in fossil fuels that will finish DESTROYING the middle class in the USA (see below).

Any similarity between K-Dog and the canine in the photo is totally coincidental.  ;D

$10.00 a Gallon?


 

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Corruption in Government
« Reply #254 on: January 25, 2017, 10:15:28 pm »
Trump Administration Tells EPA to Cut Climate Change Page From Website 

http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-epa-climate-page-2213948545.html

Federal Agencies Barred From Speaking to Press, Posting on Social Media

http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-gag-order-2213985518.html

Government Agencies Defy Trump by Tweeting Climate Facts

http://www.ecowatch.com/badlands-national-park-trump-2213976759.html

Agelbert NOTE: K-Dog responds that these commie librul employees need to be more respectful of El Presidente! 

Not these tweets no.  They tweet the truth in defiance of a crazy man who like the King of Nothing from that short little book 'The Little Prince' thinks he can change reality by commanding that it be so.  The bone I'm chewing on is the total lack of professionalism in the MSM.

If they were more professional they would be more effective.  Give him some rope and let him hang himself.  He will do it of that we can be sure, be patient.  Ordering that science be silenced is a good step on his road to ruin.

When I was a little boy I closed my eyes and concentrated on a pencil to try and make it levitate.  It didn't budge.  I learned I was not the center of the universe.  Trump in trying to create his own reality never having earned that lesson.  It seems like he could be diagnosed with a narcissistic mental disorder.  Today's actions regarding the Mexican wall suggests he actually thinks he can make Mexico pay for the damn thing.  The country thought he was joking and elected him based on his assumed humor.  Now we find out he actually may be humorless and simply deranged.

What I just wrote makes the point that we don't have to wait long before we we can 'roast' Trump based on his actions and not on our emotional reaction to him.  I find that more satisfying.

RE does not mind the MSM hatchet job but I think RE would have Trump go straight to the head chopper.

K-Dog,

So you wake up when tweets start from some scientists and claim media "hatchet" jobs and "disrespect" to El Presidente up until NOW?  Did you miss all the other REAL NEWS about the ACTIONS of this POS President? ???

We NEVER had to wait long to "roast Trump" because he has CONSISTENTLY telegraphed his racism, authoritarian government, nationalist fascism AND his support of fossil fuel industry profit over planet and Empire ALL ALONG the campaign trail.

At present, the list of fascist moves, along with managerial incompetence (FEMA is NOT helping Georgia tornado victims properly - What next, a claim there WAS NO TORNADO OUTBREAK because that implies support for the Climate Change "Chinese Hoax"?   :evil4:) so far was TOTALLY predictable. I predicted it (see my post shortly  after the election about fascist OVERREACH).

But you have been rather slow to smell the Trump Fascism on steroids ever since the election.

It's time for you to leave the Obama fascist piker behind and face the facts, not some "alternative facts" nice euphemism for BOLD FACED LIES! Obama was the fascist warm up. Trump is the MAIN EVENT.



Quote
2950-10K • 11 min 27 sec ago

Regarding the election that just took place....We all knew that if the illegal seizure of our government was successful, the future of the entire planet would end up in deep peril. Weeks of opportunity went by to legally correct and redirect this evil back to where it came from. I'm still outraged the election wasn't declared invalid. It seems not a single Dem including Obama nor our Justice dept. cared to step up and do what was right for humanity. Obama wouldn't even fire Comey.

Sure, we've turned a blind eye to election fraud before, and it got us into endless war that is still costing trillions, not to mention a crashed economy. This time however it's far more evil. The entire planet is about to get sodomized by a few bloated old wheezers/sniffers with bad hair dye, and it seems we are all just standing by and watching the assault unfold.

How many years do the Koch's have left, a couple at best? ....and how many more billions do they need?

Just in case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm sure most have....Trump has the same type of mental illness that Hitler had. Standing in his shadows are Pence, Ryan, and McConnell ... just plain old SS type dumb- asses, all totally ignorant of the magnitude of what is about to unfold.

I sure hope I'm wrong, but I'm afraid the only way to stop this now is the old fashion way. Crack open your history books...it ain't pretty.

http://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2017/01/coming-war-net-neutrality
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

 

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