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babylonsister
babylonsister's Journal
babylonsister's Journal
October 29, 2019
'The climate doesn't need awards': Greta Thunberg declines environmental prize
The teen activist implored politicians and people in power to ‘listen to the best available science’ in an Instagram post
Agence France-Presse in Stockholm
Tue 29 Oct 2019 18.01 EDT
Last modified on Tue 29 Oct 2019 18.26 EDT
snip//
But after it was announced, a representative for Thunberg told the audience that she would not accept the award or the prize sum of 350,000 Danish kroner (about $52,000 or €46,800), the TT news agency reported.
She addressed the decision in a post on Instagram from the United States.
“The climate movement does not need any more awards,” she wrote.
“What we need is for our politicians and the people in power start to listen to the current, best available science.”
While thanking the Nordic Council for the “huge honour”, she also criticised Nordic countries for not living up to their “great reputation” on climate issues.
Still only 16 years old, Thunberg rose to prominence after she started spending her Fridays outside Sweden’s parliament in August 2018, holding a sign reading “School strike for climate”.
'The climate doesn't need awards': Greta Thunberg declines environmental prize
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/29/greta-thunberg-declines-award-climate-crisis?fbclid=IwAR3JAU1yf56gXJX9RymCU57jzBkkVUPaIgTpbrFh5lWWC-7IH5sIlmSQPGc'The climate doesn't need awards': Greta Thunberg declines environmental prize
The teen activist implored politicians and people in power to ‘listen to the best available science’ in an Instagram post
Agence France-Presse in Stockholm
Tue 29 Oct 2019 18.01 EDT
Last modified on Tue 29 Oct 2019 18.26 EDT
snip//
But after it was announced, a representative for Thunberg told the audience that she would not accept the award or the prize sum of 350,000 Danish kroner (about $52,000 or €46,800), the TT news agency reported.
She addressed the decision in a post on Instagram from the United States.
“The climate movement does not need any more awards,” she wrote.
“What we need is for our politicians and the people in power start to listen to the current, best available science.”
While thanking the Nordic Council for the “huge honour”, she also criticised Nordic countries for not living up to their “great reputation” on climate issues.
“There is no lack of bragging about this. There is no lack of beautiful words. But when it comes to our actual emissions and our ecological footprints per capita … then it’s a whole other story,” Thunberg said.
Still only 16 years old, Thunberg rose to prominence after she started spending her Fridays outside Sweden’s parliament in August 2018, holding a sign reading “School strike for climate”.
October 29, 2019
Conservative writer unleashes on Republicans defending Trump on Ukraine: ‘What the heck is wrong with these people’
MSNBC
Written by Alex Henderson October 29, 2019
Many Republicans serving in the House or the Senate continue to insist that President Donald Trump did nothing wrong when he tried to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into helping him dig up dirt on a political rival — former Vice President Joe Biden — as well as his son, Hunter Biden. But Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin, a Never Trump conservative, has no patience with Trump apologists in the GOP — and she went off in a new column Tuesday, arguing that Republicans who defend the president’s actions with Ukraine should be voted out of office.
Rubin notes that “Minority House Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), to this day, cannot find anything wrong with” Trump’s July 25 phone conversation with Zelensky. And she adds that “Trump’s lackeys in the Senate say they have not seen any impeachable conduct.”
Rubin advises that Republicans who vigorously defend Trump’s July 25 conversation with Zelensky “might consult their constituents,” noting that according to a newly released Grinnell College poll, “81% of Americans say it is not okay for political candidates in this country to ask for assistance from a foreign government to help them win an election.” That includes 87% of people living in rural areas, 81% of Republicans and 85% of evangelicals — in other words, the GOP base.
“Only 7% say it is OK,” Rubin observes. “Apparently, a large subset of that 7% work in the White House or serve in Congress as Republicans.”
“Inviting foreign interference” in a U.S. election, Rubin argued, is “a betrayal of American democracy” — especially when there is a “quid pro quo” involving aid to Ukraine. And Republicans who fail to realize that, she writes, don’t deserve to hold public office.
Conservative writer unleashes on Republicans... 'What the heck is wrong with these people'
https://www.alternet.org/2019/10/conservative-writer-loses-it-over-republicans-defending-trump-on-ukraine-what-the-heck-is-wrong-with-these-people/?fbclid=IwAR32p8hsSsO_RAkp6fin6jtHeZmiCUr2vrX38EfPUwyz6m2I2pozSgk-pkM#.XbieT4smmZk.facebookConservative writer unleashes on Republicans defending Trump on Ukraine: ‘What the heck is wrong with these people’
MSNBC
Written by Alex Henderson October 29, 2019
Many Republicans serving in the House or the Senate continue to insist that President Donald Trump did nothing wrong when he tried to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into helping him dig up dirt on a political rival — former Vice President Joe Biden — as well as his son, Hunter Biden. But Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin, a Never Trump conservative, has no patience with Trump apologists in the GOP — and she went off in a new column Tuesday, arguing that Republicans who defend the president’s actions with Ukraine should be voted out of office.
Rubin notes that “Minority House Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), to this day, cannot find anything wrong with” Trump’s July 25 phone conversation with Zelensky. And she adds that “Trump’s lackeys in the Senate say they have not seen any impeachable conduct.”
“You do have to wonder what the heck is wrong with these people,” Rubin asserts. “Are their powers of moral discernment so diminished that they can no longer recognize that the mere request for a foreign power to intervene is grossly inappropriate — let alone tying U.S. aid to that intervention, the quid pro quo? Perhaps they know all too well how grossly wrong Trump’s scheme was but still lack the moral courage to say what is in front of their noses.”
Rubin advises that Republicans who vigorously defend Trump’s July 25 conversation with Zelensky “might consult their constituents,” noting that according to a newly released Grinnell College poll, “81% of Americans say it is not okay for political candidates in this country to ask for assistance from a foreign government to help them win an election.” That includes 87% of people living in rural areas, 81% of Republicans and 85% of evangelicals — in other words, the GOP base.
“Only 7% say it is OK,” Rubin observes. “Apparently, a large subset of that 7% work in the White House or serve in Congress as Republicans.”
“Inviting foreign interference” in a U.S. election, Rubin argued, is “a betrayal of American democracy” — especially when there is a “quid pro quo” involving aid to Ukraine. And Republicans who fail to realize that, she writes, don’t deserve to hold public office.
“There is no better evidence of the Republicans’ moral coma than this,” Rubin asserts. “They plainly cannot be entrusted with power. We have an 8 out of 10 chance of randomly picking from the entire U.S. population more ethically astute leaders.”
October 29, 2019
Diplomat Bill Taylor receives rock star reception in Ukraine after House testimony
In an interview with NBC News, Taylor declined to answer questions about the impeachment inquiry but praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Oct. 29, 2019, 1:38 PM EDT
By Anna Schecter
MARIUPOL, Ukraine — More than 5,000 miles from the congressional room where he testified that President Donald Trump tried to get a foreign government to investigate his political opponents, acting Ambassador Bill Taylor took to a stage here Tuesday and was greeted like a rock star.
Taylor was applauded by hundreds of attendees and swarmed by well-wishers at an economic conference days after his stunning testimony connected the president, his lawyer and other political appointees to an effort to dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden and his family.
The career diplomat used the opportunity to praise Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who convened the international gathering of diplomats and international business leaders in this remote eastern city near the Russian border.
Asked about his testimony before Congress, Taylor smiled but declined to comment.
more...
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1073366?fbclid=IwAR0rCrs_m2fqpJNQvMeYPByJElGXuQoBFUFDFcP-8dBXg-YevSMV5ch3Wss
Diplomat Bill Taylor receives rock star reception in Ukraine after House testimony
Diplomat Bill Taylor receives rock star reception in Ukraine after House testimony
In an interview with NBC News, Taylor declined to answer questions about the impeachment inquiry but praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Oct. 29, 2019, 1:38 PM EDT
By Anna Schecter
MARIUPOL, Ukraine — More than 5,000 miles from the congressional room where he testified that President Donald Trump tried to get a foreign government to investigate his political opponents, acting Ambassador Bill Taylor took to a stage here Tuesday and was greeted like a rock star.
Taylor was applauded by hundreds of attendees and swarmed by well-wishers at an economic conference days after his stunning testimony connected the president, his lawyer and other political appointees to an effort to dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden and his family.
The career diplomat used the opportunity to praise Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who convened the international gathering of diplomats and international business leaders in this remote eastern city near the Russian border.
“President Zelenskiy ran on two things: One was ending the war on Ukrainian terms. And the second was defeating corruption," Taylor told NBC News. “He has done some very brave things on ending the war.”
“And this message here today on the investment in the East is an important component of ending the war, developing the confidence of people here and people in the nongovernment controlled areas.”
“And this message here today on the investment in the East is an important component of ending the war, developing the confidence of people here and people in the nongovernment controlled areas.”
Asked about his testimony before Congress, Taylor smiled but declined to comment.
more...
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1073366?fbclid=IwAR0rCrs_m2fqpJNQvMeYPByJElGXuQoBFUFDFcP-8dBXg-YevSMV5ch3Wss
October 29, 2019
The big picture: Kushner argued the Trump administration had notched many achievements, like lowering drug prices, completing trade deals and creating jobs.
He criticized congressional Democrats, saying, "If they want to play silly games we will obviously deal with that in an appropriate manner but we are not going to let that distract us as an administration."
Between the lines: Trump is counting on the historically low unemployment and high stock gains during his tenure as insurance with voters should he be impeached by the House, Axios' Margaret Talev reported.
If the economy tanks before November 2020, he plans to blame Democrats for fomenting uncertainty and gridlock via impeachment.
Yes, but: Despite Kushner's confidence, Trump has told friends and allies he worries about the stain impeachment will leave on his legacy, per Axios' Jonathan Swan and Alayna Treene.
Trump believes that impeachment could help him get re-elected and win back the House, but he doesn't want the history books recording him as an impeached president.
Exclusive: Kushner says Trump's "record of accomplishments is unimpeachable"
What accomplishments? He's not being honest, quelle surprise.
https://www.axios.com/jared-kushner-donald-trump-impeachment-interview-530c2248-1cb2-4e0a-987d-1740629b9cb6.html
Exclusive: Kushner says Trump's "record of accomplishments is unimpeachable"
President Trump's senior adviser Jared Kushner told me during an exclusive interview with Israel's Channel 13 News that the president’s "record of accomplishments is unimpeachable" — and that "he hasn't done anything wrong." 
Why it matters: Kushner is one of the officials working on the White House's impeachment strategy, per CNN — but this is the first time he has spoken publicly about the issue since the Ukraine scandal erupted.
Kushner told me that House Democrats have been trying to impeach Trump for the last three years but that all their efforts had failed.
He added: "The best thing going for the president is that he hasn't done anything wrong, and, at this point, they investigated him over and over and over again. I think the American people are sick and tired of it."
He added: "The best thing going for the president is that he hasn't done anything wrong, and, at this point, they investigated him over and over and over again. I think the American people are sick and tired of it."
The big picture: Kushner argued the Trump administration had notched many achievements, like lowering drug prices, completing trade deals and creating jobs.
He criticized congressional Democrats, saying, "If they want to play silly games we will obviously deal with that in an appropriate manner but we are not going to let that distract us as an administration."
Between the lines: Trump is counting on the historically low unemployment and high stock gains during his tenure as insurance with voters should he be impeached by the House, Axios' Margaret Talev reported.
If the economy tanks before November 2020, he plans to blame Democrats for fomenting uncertainty and gridlock via impeachment.
Yes, but: Despite Kushner's confidence, Trump has told friends and allies he worries about the stain impeachment will leave on his legacy, per Axios' Jonathan Swan and Alayna Treene.
Trump believes that impeachment could help him get re-elected and win back the House, but he doesn't want the history books recording him as an impeached president.
October 29, 2019
After DC Ballpark Booing, Chicagoans Surround Trump Event With Sound and Fury
Protesters gather along the Chicago River as President Trump attends fundraisers at the Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago on October 28, 2019, in Chicago, Illinois.
Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images
By William Rivers Pitt,
Truthout
Published October 29, 2019
snip//
Scattered boos at the game are entirely commonplace, but a full-throated Everyone Boo is special. It is an exhilarating community event, and when it happens, the guy kicking your seat as he boos over your shoulder is your sudden brother. When done properly, when everyone’s in it, when the decibels surpass annoyance and pin the needle to wrath, the building shakes enough to make the TV cameras tremble. You are your own thunderstorm in that moment, a collective demigod hurling thunderbolts at the puny mortals below.
Donald Trump got a full serving of the Everyone Boo experience with dessert and a mint on Sunday night when he peeked out of his bubble for the very first time to take in a World Series game at Nationals Park in the District. They flashed his grimacing, rubbery visage on the Jumbotron and the crowd went ballistic for many long, sustained minutes.
snip//
Handwringers like MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, Delaware Senator Chris Coons and Chris Cillizza of CNN can lament the lack of respect shown to the office of the presidency by that ballpark audience when they parroted Trump’s “Lock her up” chant back at him. On the subject of respect, you can put me in the same category as Charles P. Pierce of Esquire. “Why should I respect the office of the president when the occupant so clearly doesn’t?” he asked.
Indeed. The old tricks don’t work anymore, and Mr. Trump has clearly worn out his welcome in large swaths of the country. Though they aren’t playing October baseball in Chicago, the Windy City had plenty of heckles ready for Trump when he arrived for a conference of police chiefs on Monday. Thousands of protesters shut down a major street and surrounded Chicago’s Trump Tower with sound and fury, making their presence felt. I sense a pattern developing.
These are grim days for a president who requires adulation the way mammals require oxygen. His exhausted Republican defenders are popping off in the public prints about how standing up for him “feels like a horror movie.” After enduring days of GOP nonsense about procedure, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has scheduled a Thursday vote that will put every House member on record as to where they stand on the ongoing impeachment inquiry.
Thursday is Halloween. Play ball!
After DC Ballpark Booing, Chicagoans Surround Trump Event With Sound and Fury
https://truthout.org/articles/after-dc-ballpark-booing-chicagoans-surround-trump-event-with-sound-and-fury/After DC Ballpark Booing, Chicagoans Surround Trump Event With Sound and Fury
Protesters gather along the Chicago River as President Trump attends fundraisers at the Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago on October 28, 2019, in Chicago, Illinois.
Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images
By William Rivers Pitt,
Truthout
Published October 29, 2019
snip//
Scattered boos at the game are entirely commonplace, but a full-throated Everyone Boo is special. It is an exhilarating community event, and when it happens, the guy kicking your seat as he boos over your shoulder is your sudden brother. When done properly, when everyone’s in it, when the decibels surpass annoyance and pin the needle to wrath, the building shakes enough to make the TV cameras tremble. You are your own thunderstorm in that moment, a collective demigod hurling thunderbolts at the puny mortals below.
Donald Trump got a full serving of the Everyone Boo experience with dessert and a mint on Sunday night when he peeked out of his bubble for the very first time to take in a World Series game at Nationals Park in the District. They flashed his grimacing, rubbery visage on the Jumbotron and the crowd went ballistic for many long, sustained minutes.
snip//
Handwringers like MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, Delaware Senator Chris Coons and Chris Cillizza of CNN can lament the lack of respect shown to the office of the presidency by that ballpark audience when they parroted Trump’s “Lock her up” chant back at him. On the subject of respect, you can put me in the same category as Charles P. Pierce of Esquire. “Why should I respect the office of the president when the occupant so clearly doesn’t?” he asked.
Indeed. The old tricks don’t work anymore, and Mr. Trump has clearly worn out his welcome in large swaths of the country. Though they aren’t playing October baseball in Chicago, the Windy City had plenty of heckles ready for Trump when he arrived for a conference of police chiefs on Monday. Thousands of protesters shut down a major street and surrounded Chicago’s Trump Tower with sound and fury, making their presence felt. I sense a pattern developing.
These are grim days for a president who requires adulation the way mammals require oxygen. His exhausted Republican defenders are popping off in the public prints about how standing up for him “feels like a horror movie.” After enduring days of GOP nonsense about procedure, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has scheduled a Thursday vote that will put every House member on record as to where they stand on the ongoing impeachment inquiry.
Thursday is Halloween. Play ball!
October 29, 2019
Cheney Rips ‘Shameful’ Attacks On ‘Patriotism’ Of Impeachment Probe Witnesses
By Cristina Cabrera
October 29, 2019 11:09 am
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) called out conservatives who have been attacking Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and other witnesses in the House impeachment investigation on Tuesday morning.
After complaining about Democrats’ handling of the investigation during a House Republican leadership presser, Cheney switched tracks.
The Republican lawmaker urged for Vindman’s critics to “show that we are better than that as a nation.”
more...
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/liz-cheney-republicans-criticize-patriotism-shameful?fbclid=IwAR3l9eMwOJoNCkgyNdCbzq_KJTGLuLP5rh-S0GMmbFvEEF7a40Jc0eQ8BmM
Cheney Rips 'Shameful' Attacks On 'Patriotism' Of Impeachment Probe Witnesses
Cheney Rips ‘Shameful’ Attacks On ‘Patriotism’ Of Impeachment Probe Witnesses
By Cristina Cabrera
October 29, 2019 11:09 am
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) called out conservatives who have been attacking Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and other witnesses in the House impeachment investigation on Tuesday morning.
After complaining about Democrats’ handling of the investigation during a House Republican leadership presser, Cheney switched tracks.
“Now I also want to say a word about something else that’s been going on over the course of the last several hours and last night which I think is also shameful,” she said. “And that is questioning the patriotism, questioning the dedication to country, of people like Mr. Vindman, Lt. Col. Vindman, who will be coming today, and others who have testified.”
The Republican lawmaker urged for Vindman’s critics to “show that we are better than that as a nation.”
“We’re talking about decorated veterans who have served this nation, who’ve put their lives on the line, and it is shameful to question their patriotism, their love of this nation, and we should not be involved in that process,” she continued.
more...
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/liz-cheney-republicans-criticize-patriotism-shameful?fbclid=IwAR3l9eMwOJoNCkgyNdCbzq_KJTGLuLP5rh-S0GMmbFvEEF7a40Jc0eQ8BmM
October 29, 2019
A crucial federal program tracking dangerous diseases is shutting down
What hasn't this admin fucked up? 
A crucial federal program tracking dangerous diseases is shutting down
Predict, a pandemic preparedness program, thrived under Bush and Obama. Now it’s canceled.
By Kelsey Piper Oct 29, 2019, 8:00am EDT
Most of the deadliest diseases to affect humanity leap to human hosts from other animals. The 1918 flu pandemic likely came from birds. HIV likely jumped from a similar virus in chimpanzees and other monkeys. Recent Ebola outbreaks have come from bats, rats, and gorillas.
Ever since the 2005 H5N1 bird flu scare, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has run a project to track and research these diseases, called Predict. At a cost of $207 million during its existence, the program has collected more than 100,000 samples and found nearly 1,000 novel viruses, including a new Ebola virus.
But on Friday, the New York Times reported that the US government is shutting down the program. According to its former director Dennis Carroll, the program enjoyed enthusiastic support under Bush and Obama, but “things got complicated” in the last few years until the program “essentially collapsed.”
Some aspects of the program — it’s unclear which — will be continued under different auspices in other departments of the government. But the core program — working with local researchers around the world to collect samples and better understand viruses in animals — is over.
That’s a shame, and it’s indicative of a bigger problem. While pandemics make the news when they happen, efforts to understand, predict, and prevent them are underfunded. The US government has several agencies that do work on pandemic preparedness, but experts say that much more leadership in the area is needed.
As researchers warn that a flu like the 1918 influenza outbreak could kill as many as 50 million to 80 million people — and as new technologies alter the landscape of biology research, making it possible to study diseases in new ways but also making dangerous research easier than ever — it’s important for the US government to treat pandemic risks as a serious priority, to be addressed through many different organized international programs. The cancellation of Predict, despite its reported shortcomings, is a step in the exact opposite direction.
more...
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/10/29/20936921/usaid-predict-pandemic-preparedness
October 29, 2019
October 29, 2019 7:00AM ET
The Secrets of a Right-Wing Dark-Money Juggernaut — Revealed
DeVos, Thiel, Adelson: Inside the once-hidden finances of a secretive political group funded by the biggest names in the GOP
By Andy Kroll
WASHINGTON — Anonymous campaign cash is as much a fixture of American politics nowadays as yard signs and awkward photos of presidential contenders eating corn dogs. Dark money may have existed well before Citizens United, but that 2010 Supreme Court decision opened the floodgates for untraceable money to soak our elections. It also left voters clueless about who was putting up the hundreds of millions of dollars spent by groups with anodyne names like Priorities USA and Americans for Prosperity.
One of the most infamous players in the dark-money game was an outfit by the name of Americans for Job Security. Founded by a Republican political operative close to Rick Perry, Americans for Job Security acted like a laundromat for wealthy donors. Instead of giving directly to a candidate or campaign and having their names disclosed, they donated to Americans for Job Security, which scrubbed their identity and spent their millions to elect Republicans across the country and push right-wing policy proposals. The group dropped $5 million in 2010 to elect dozens of new House Republicans and another $15 million in 2012 to try to defeat President Obama. It also funneled tens of millions more to state-level campaigns, including to fund the opposition to two 2012 California ballot measures to raise taxes on the very rich and weaken labor unions.
On Friday, the mystery of who bankrolled Americans for Job Security was finally solved. After losing a seven-year legal battle, the now-defunct group revealed where its money had came from — a rare victory for clean-government groups and an even more rare glimpse at the internal workings of a dark-money juggernaut. According to documents turned over to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Americans for Job Security’s donor list is a who’s-who of 1-percenters.
The biggest givers include: Investor Charles Schwab ($8.8 million); Amway co-founder and Christian conservative mega-donor Richard DeVos and wife Helen ($2 million); Peter Thiel, the libertarian investor and Trump supporter: ($500,000); casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson and wife Miriam ($500,000).
Other notable names on the donor rolls are Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, former Trump cabinet secretary Linda McMahon, and members of the Fisher of the family that co-founded the Gap. The donor list also features major corporations including oil and natural gas companies Continental Resources ($1 million) and Devon Energy ($3 million), U.S. Sugar Corp ($750,000), casino conglomerate Wynn Resorts ($500,000), and Quicken Loans ($250,000).
more...
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/dark-money-republican-party-americans-for-job-security-peter-thiel-devos-904900/
The Secrets of a Right-Wing Dark-Money Juggernaut -- Revealed
October 29, 2019 7:00AM ET
The Secrets of a Right-Wing Dark-Money Juggernaut — Revealed
DeVos, Thiel, Adelson: Inside the once-hidden finances of a secretive political group funded by the biggest names in the GOP
By Andy Kroll
WASHINGTON — Anonymous campaign cash is as much a fixture of American politics nowadays as yard signs and awkward photos of presidential contenders eating corn dogs. Dark money may have existed well before Citizens United, but that 2010 Supreme Court decision opened the floodgates for untraceable money to soak our elections. It also left voters clueless about who was putting up the hundreds of millions of dollars spent by groups with anodyne names like Priorities USA and Americans for Prosperity.
One of the most infamous players in the dark-money game was an outfit by the name of Americans for Job Security. Founded by a Republican political operative close to Rick Perry, Americans for Job Security acted like a laundromat for wealthy donors. Instead of giving directly to a candidate or campaign and having their names disclosed, they donated to Americans for Job Security, which scrubbed their identity and spent their millions to elect Republicans across the country and push right-wing policy proposals. The group dropped $5 million in 2010 to elect dozens of new House Republicans and another $15 million in 2012 to try to defeat President Obama. It also funneled tens of millions more to state-level campaigns, including to fund the opposition to two 2012 California ballot measures to raise taxes on the very rich and weaken labor unions.
On Friday, the mystery of who bankrolled Americans for Job Security was finally solved. After losing a seven-year legal battle, the now-defunct group revealed where its money had came from — a rare victory for clean-government groups and an even more rare glimpse at the internal workings of a dark-money juggernaut. According to documents turned over to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Americans for Job Security’s donor list is a who’s-who of 1-percenters.
The biggest givers include: Investor Charles Schwab ($8.8 million); Amway co-founder and Christian conservative mega-donor Richard DeVos and wife Helen ($2 million); Peter Thiel, the libertarian investor and Trump supporter: ($500,000); casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson and wife Miriam ($500,000).
Other notable names on the donor rolls are Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, former Trump cabinet secretary Linda McMahon, and members of the Fisher of the family that co-founded the Gap. The donor list also features major corporations including oil and natural gas companies Continental Resources ($1 million) and Devon Energy ($3 million), U.S. Sugar Corp ($750,000), casino conglomerate Wynn Resorts ($500,000), and Quicken Loans ($250,000).
more...
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/dark-money-republican-party-americans-for-job-security-peter-thiel-devos-904900/
October 29, 2019
Marijuana Legalization Plan Shows Sanders Is No Socialist
His proposal seeks to create a class of marijuana small-business owners, rather than nationalizing the industry and forwarding the benefits to victims of marijuana prohibition.
by Jon Walker
October 29, 2019
Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’s plan to legalize marijuana would establish the industry as a regulated private-sector market with the goal of creating small businesses.
Bernie Sanders has unveiled a new plan to legalize marijuana. It is a reasonable plan that would even stand a decent chance of passing the Senate. But one thing it is not is socialism. It is not even democratic socialism–adjacent. It is a pro-market plan that will overwhelmingly favor a small group of business owners over consumers or the general public, in the name of equity.
Sanders’s plan would legalize marijuana through executive action, but establish the industry as a regulated private-sector market with the main goal of creating small businesses. It does not try to decommodify marijuana, as some other plans would. Sanders does not try to drive down marijuana prices to financially benefit millions of regular consumers. Nor does the plan have the government try to capture all the profits, in order to share them as broadly as possible with the public, or with victims of the drug war. His plan is to make sure that the several thousand lucky business-license holders who will profit from legalization comprise a racially and ethnically diverse group.
Effectively all of the potential federal tax revenue from the first decade of marijuana legalization will be used to create a small number of minority-owned businesses and marijuana capitalists. The plan calls for $40 billion in different grants to help create minority-owned businesses, or businesses owned by people with marijuana convictions. Just $10 billion would be allocated for general community-development funds in low-income areas. The design and size of these grants also means that much of this revenue could end up being wasted, since the Sanders campaign seems to be overly optimistic about the ease of running marijuana businesses (or any small business in general).
snip//
Sanders is effectively presented with a blank slate of how to create and regulate a new sector of the economy, and his big bold plan is … regulated capitalism with almost all the revenue going to create a relatively small number of business entrepreneurs.
If Sanders doesn’t even want to bring public ownership to marijuana, it seems his “socialism” has been widely overstated.
Marijuana Legalization Plan Shows Sanders Is No Socialist
https://prospect.org/health/marijuana-legalization-plan-shows-sanders-is-no-socialist/Marijuana Legalization Plan Shows Sanders Is No Socialist
His proposal seeks to create a class of marijuana small-business owners, rather than nationalizing the industry and forwarding the benefits to victims of marijuana prohibition.
by Jon Walker
October 29, 2019
Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’s plan to legalize marijuana would establish the industry as a regulated private-sector market with the goal of creating small businesses.
Bernie Sanders has unveiled a new plan to legalize marijuana. It is a reasonable plan that would even stand a decent chance of passing the Senate. But one thing it is not is socialism. It is not even democratic socialism–adjacent. It is a pro-market plan that will overwhelmingly favor a small group of business owners over consumers or the general public, in the name of equity.
Sanders’s plan would legalize marijuana through executive action, but establish the industry as a regulated private-sector market with the main goal of creating small businesses. It does not try to decommodify marijuana, as some other plans would. Sanders does not try to drive down marijuana prices to financially benefit millions of regular consumers. Nor does the plan have the government try to capture all the profits, in order to share them as broadly as possible with the public, or with victims of the drug war. His plan is to make sure that the several thousand lucky business-license holders who will profit from legalization comprise a racially and ethnically diverse group.
Effectively all of the potential federal tax revenue from the first decade of marijuana legalization will be used to create a small number of minority-owned businesses and marijuana capitalists. The plan calls for $40 billion in different grants to help create minority-owned businesses, or businesses owned by people with marijuana convictions. Just $10 billion would be allocated for general community-development funds in low-income areas. The design and size of these grants also means that much of this revenue could end up being wasted, since the Sanders campaign seems to be overly optimistic about the ease of running marijuana businesses (or any small business in general).
snip//
Sanders is effectively presented with a blank slate of how to create and regulate a new sector of the economy, and his big bold plan is … regulated capitalism with almost all the revenue going to create a relatively small number of business entrepreneurs.
If Sanders doesn’t even want to bring public ownership to marijuana, it seems his “socialism” has been widely overstated.
October 29, 2019
The IRS Tried to Hide Emails That Show Tax Industry Influence Over Free File Program
After ProPublica sued the IRS, the agency released emails that show it has allowed the tax preparation industry to write the rules.
by Justin Elliott and Paul Kiel Oct. 29, 5 a.m. EDT
The TurboTax Trap
How the Tax Prep Industry Makes You Pay
For a decade and a half, the IRS program to allow most Americans to file their taxes for free has been floundering.
Now, IRS emails obtained by ProPublica help show why: The agency has allowed the tax preparation industry to write the rules.
The IRS tried to hide the documents from public view, initially withholding more than 100 pages of emails between agency officials and industry representatives in response to ProPublica’s Freedom of Information Act request filed in April. The agency released the emails this month only after ProPublica sued.
This year, as part of our coverage of the IRS and TurboTax maker Intuit, we filed a request for correspondence between the IRS and the Free File Alliance, an industry group. The request sought records surrounding a public-private partnership called Free File.
Under that program, which has long been championed by Intuit, the IRS agrees not to create its own tax filing system that would pose a threat to the industry’s profits. In exchange, Intuit and several other tax prep companies agree to offer free tax filing to most Americans. But the program has been declining for years, with less than 3% of eligible Americans using it this year.
The email correspondence sheds light on a pivotal moment for the future of Free File in the fall of 2018: An expert body called the IRS Advisory Council (IRSAC) had spent months investigating the program. It was preparing to publish a blistering report concluding that the IRS’ “deficient oversight and performance standards for the Free File program put vulnerable taxpayers at risk.”
more...
https://www.propublica.org/article/the-irs-tried-to-hide-emails-that-show-tax-industry-influence-over-free-file-program?utm_content=bufferb5ac0&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=buffer&fbclid=IwAR0akVs-C1QQ-ey-DA0gZlDPfhm2UPCBHqqhobvEAXa6p3cVxuwJP1nKqHA#169990
The IRS Tried to Hide Emails That Show Tax Industry Influence Over Free File Program
The IRS Tried to Hide Emails That Show Tax Industry Influence Over Free File Program
After ProPublica sued the IRS, the agency released emails that show it has allowed the tax preparation industry to write the rules.
by Justin Elliott and Paul Kiel Oct. 29, 5 a.m. EDT
The TurboTax Trap
How the Tax Prep Industry Makes You Pay
For a decade and a half, the IRS program to allow most Americans to file their taxes for free has been floundering.
Now, IRS emails obtained by ProPublica help show why: The agency has allowed the tax preparation industry to write the rules.
The IRS tried to hide the documents from public view, initially withholding more than 100 pages of emails between agency officials and industry representatives in response to ProPublica’s Freedom of Information Act request filed in April. The agency released the emails this month only after ProPublica sued.
This year, as part of our coverage of the IRS and TurboTax maker Intuit, we filed a request for correspondence between the IRS and the Free File Alliance, an industry group. The request sought records surrounding a public-private partnership called Free File.
Under that program, which has long been championed by Intuit, the IRS agrees not to create its own tax filing system that would pose a threat to the industry’s profits. In exchange, Intuit and several other tax prep companies agree to offer free tax filing to most Americans. But the program has been declining for years, with less than 3% of eligible Americans using it this year.
The email correspondence sheds light on a pivotal moment for the future of Free File in the fall of 2018: An expert body called the IRS Advisory Council (IRSAC) had spent months investigating the program. It was preparing to publish a blistering report concluding that the IRS’ “deficient oversight and performance standards for the Free File program put vulnerable taxpayers at risk.”
more...
https://www.propublica.org/article/the-irs-tried-to-hide-emails-that-show-tax-industry-influence-over-free-file-program?utm_content=bufferb5ac0&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=buffer&fbclid=IwAR0akVs-C1QQ-ey-DA0gZlDPfhm2UPCBHqqhobvEAXa6p3cVxuwJP1nKqHA#169990
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