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riversedge's JournalDonald Trump Pentagon Pick Mattis Made Nearly $1,000,000 On Board Of Defense Contractor
Source: ibtimes
On 12/02/16 AT 5:29 PM
In his farewell address, President Dwight Eisenhower warned that for security and liberty to prosper together, We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.
Fifty-five years later, a new president is planning to have his Pentagon run by a top official at one of the worlds largest defense contractors. President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will appoint retired General James Mattis as the U.S. Secretary of Defense. Not only would Mattis be the first general to hold the traditionally civilian position, he would move into the job directly from his position helping to run General Dynamics a $30-billion colossus that heavily relies on Pentagon contracts overseen by the Defense Secretary.
Mattis is currently listed as one of 13 independent directors of the company. Financial filings reviewed by International Business Times show that since taking the position in 2013, Mattis has been paid $594,369 by General Dynamics, and has amassed more than $900,000 worth of company stock. While on the General Dynamics board, Mattis testified before Congress, where he called caps on defense spending known as the sequestration a national security threat. No foe in the field can wreak such havoc on our security that mindless sequestration is achieving, he said during the 2015 hearing.
Some legislators have already questioned the legality of a military official being appointed to a traditionally civilian position. Meanwhile, ethics experts interviewed by IBT say Mattis link to General Dynamics poses major conflict-of-interest questions for a Defense Department that annually directs more than $250 billion worth of spending to private military contractors. General Dynamics could try to use this relationships to get access into the Pentagon, Richard W. Painter, the former chief ethics counsel to President George W. Bush, told IBT. I am very worried about this.
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Read more: http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/donald-trump-pentagon-pick-mattis-made-nearly-1000000-board-defense-contractor
Not draining the swamp!
Jennifer won!
I got this email. So so so happy for Jennifer
Wisconsin Senate Democrats (via SSDC) senate@wisdems.org via bounce.bluestatedigital.com
1:18 PM (2 hours ago)
We are so excited that Sen. Jennifer Shilling has survived the recount and officially won re-election to the Wisconsin Senate! Having Jennifer back in the Senate next year is a huge step for progress in Wisconsin.
Thank you so much for stepping up, .......... Wisconsin Republicans thought they could steal this Senate seat and silence Jennifer’s strong progressive voice, but you proved them wrong. With your generous help, Jennifer was able to withstand the GOP recount and hold on to her seat. And Wisconsin Democrats proved how strong we can be together and showed everyone that we will not back down........................................
http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/shilling-declares-victory-after-recount-with-kapanke/article_ed9759a7-17f5-5d1c-a38f-ecb73d7d1e29.html
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Hillary Clinton campaign manager: 'Absolutely' should have focused more on Wisconsin
Clinton lost the state to Trump by about 22,000 votes.
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Shilling declares victory after recount with Kapanke
Randy Erickson randy.erickson@lee.net 2 hrs ago 13
State Sen. Jennifer Shilling declared victory in her first race for re-election Friday, retaining a narrow vote margin after a recount this week of more than 89,000 ballots.
The La Crosse Democrat, who is her party’s leader in the Senate, edged Republican challenger Dan Kapanke, who sought the recount after the initial tally had Shilling ahead by 56 votes.
La Crosse County completed its recount at midday Friday, and while County Clerk Ginny Dankmeyer didn’t have the official results ready for release, she said lawyers for the Shilling and Kapanke campaigns had been keeping on top of the tally and had Shilling ahead in the end by 55 votes, one less than the original election results.
She said official results from the La Crosse County recount might even take until Saturday to complete, but both Shilling and Kapanke issued statements indicating that the matter was settled.....................................
Seduced and Betrayed by Donald Trump-Supporters soon to lose Obamacare, Medicare
Good to the point article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/02/opinion/seduced-and-betrayed-by-donald-trump.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=Trending&version=Full®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article
Seduced and Betrayed by Donald Trump
Paul Krugman DEC. 2, 2016
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Yes, the white working class is about to be betrayed.
The evidence of that coming betrayal is obvious in the choice of an array of pro-corporate, anti-labor figures for key positions. In particular, the most important story of the week — seriously, people, stop focusing on Trump Twitter — was the selection of Tom Price, an ardent opponent of Obamacare and advocate of Medicare privatization, as secretary of health and human services. This choice probably means that the Affordable Care Act is doomed — and Mr. Trump’s most enthusiastic supporters will be among the biggest losers.
The first thing you need to understand here is that Republican talk of “repeal and replace” has always been a fraud. The G.O.P. has spent six years claiming that it will come up with a replacement for Obamacare any day now; the reason it hasn’t delivered is that it can’t.
Obamacare looks the way it does because it has to: You can’t cover Americans with pre-existing conditions without requiring healthy people to sign up, and you can’t do that without subsidies to make insurance affordable.
Any replacement will either look a lot like Obamacare, or take insurance away from millions who desperately need it.
What the choice of Mr. Price suggests is that the Trump administration is, in fact, ready to see millions lose insurance. And many of those losers will be Trump supporters.
You can see why by looking at Census data from 2013 to 2015, which show the impact of the full implementation of Obamacare. Over that period, the number of uninsured Americans dropped by 13 million; whites without a college degree, who voted Trump by around two to one, accounted for about eight million of that decline. So we’re probably looking at more than five million Trump supporters, many of whom have chronic health problems and recently got health insurance for the first time, who just voted to make their lives nastier, more brutish, and shorter.
Why did they do it? .............
Trump backers ask federal judge to halt Wisconsin recount
Source: The Capital Times
JESSIE OPOIEN | The Capital Times @jessieopie 4 hrs ago
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A lawsuit filed by the Great America PAC, Stop Hillary PAC and Ronald R. Johnson (not the Wisconsin senator) seeks a temporary restraining order to block the recount, arguing it could jeopardize the Equal Protection rights of Wisconsin voters in violation of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the 2000 Bush v. Gore case.
The recount, which started Thursday, must be completed by Dec. 13 in order to meet a federal deadline for certification of electoral votes.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs argue that timeline creates too much possibility for errors in the process and potentially jeopardizes the state's 10 electoral votes.
"This chaotic rushing creates an unacceptable risk of error that would both undermine the fundamental Due Process right to vote and cast an unjustified pall over the results of the election — both within the State of Wisconsin and (depending on the outcome of similar pending recounts in other states) potentially throughout the nation," attorney Jay E. Heit wrote.
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Read more: http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/election-matters/trump-backers-ask-federal-judge-to-halt-wisconsin-recount/article_2e476960-151e-57ea-a061-645510858c78.html
As the article points out--this is the second legal challenge! First one asked for a hand recount which was rejected.
Now this one went to a Federal court!! Stupid reason! Just let us do the recount!
Trump Commerce pick signed pro-TPP letter, said jobs wouldn't come back from China
Source: CNNMoney
by Andrew Kaczynski @CNNMoney December 2, 2016: 11:23 AM ET
Wilbur Ross, Donald Trump's pick to be Commerce secretary, signed a letter in support of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal in 2015.
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The TPP letter was sent by the Partnership of New York to New York's congressional delegation and was signed by other notable businessmen like Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, and Rupert Murdoch of 21st Century Fox. The letter argued TPP would create jobs in the United States. The letter was first posted by the Huffington Post in May 2015, before Trump was running for president, noting that some billionaire Republican donors backed TPP.
"On behalf of the Partnership for New York City, whose members collectively employ 1.5 million New Yorkers, we urge you to support the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (TPA) and allow negotiation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement to move forward," the letter reads.
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"I think the China bashing is widely overdone in this country," Ross said on CNBC in 2012. "The reality is if something were to happen that cost China jobs -- like if they upwardly revalued the currency a lot -- those jobs aren't going to come back to the U.S. They would go to Vietnam, they would go to Thailand. They would go to whatever country was the lowest cost. So it's a fiction on both sides that those jobs will come back. The way we'll get more jobs is by creating new industries, new companies, businesses that are higher tech and therefore can compete." .......................................
Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2016/12/02/news/economy/kfile-wilbur-ross-tpp/index.html
He is right to say that the jobs will not come back from China. His followers are going to feel betrayed soon.
Now he says: "Since then, Ross has emerged as a vocal critic of trade deals, saying as recently as Wednesday that the TPP was a "horrible deal."
ADL Reverses on Keith Ellison, Now Opposes His DNC Leadership Bid
ADL Reverses on Keith Ellison, Now Opposes His DNC Leadership Bid
http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/219052/adl-reverses-on-keith-ellison-now-opposes-his-dnc-leadership-bid
The anti-bigotry watchdog drew the line when audio surfaced of Ellison claiming that U.S. foreign policy is ‘governed’ by Israeli interests. Its stance poses a test for the left and the organization itself.
By Yair Rosenberg
December 1, 2016 • 5:48 PM
Last month, when Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison announced his bid to chair the Democratic National Committee, he quickly came under fire from critics for his early ties to the Nation of Islam and its anti-Semitic leader Louis Farrakhan. As documented today in careful detail by CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski, in his youth, Ellison organized events for Farrakhan and defended him from charges of anti-Semitism. He similarly vouched for Kwame Ture (a.k.a. Stokely Carmichael) after he delivered a speech claiming “the Zionists joined with the Nazis in murdering Jews, so they would flee to Palestine.”
But as Kaczynski notes, Ellison has since repudiated and apologized for these activities and distanced himself from the Nation of Islam. And the Congressman reiterated this stance in a statement last night. Given this contrition, Anti-Defamation League director Jonathan Greenblatt came out in defense of Ellison last week, deeming him “a man of good character” and “an important ally in the fight against anti-Semitism and for civil rights.”
But earlier this week, new audio came to light that has altered the ADL’s stance. In a 2010 speech at a private fundraiser released by the Investigative Project on Terrorism, Ellison was recorded saying:
The United States foreign policy in the Middle East is governed by what is good or bad through a country of 7 million people. A region of 350 million all turns on a country of 7 million. Does that make sense? Is that logic? Right? When the Americans who trace their roots back to those 350 million get involved, everything changes. Can I say that again?
This sort of conspiracy theorizing ......................................
Need to contact Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.about Repeal of ACA
This headline is real scary. Actually leaving millions without health care for YEARS while the Repugs 'figure it out" WTF have they been doing for 8 years? I am really having problems wrapping this around my head that they are actually going to do this-repeal ACA!!-It is so irrational--But I know they will --next year.
**I am suggesting we all contact these members and let them know how we feel about Repealing the ACA!!
Yes--contact both Republicans and Democrats. We have no time to lose.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/obamacare-republicans-repeal-replace-232025
GOP may delay Obamacare replacement for years
Republicans are setting up a high-stakes deadline to replace the health care law.
By Rachael Bade and Burgess Everett
12/01/16 05:10 AM EST
161130_senate_gop_getty_1160.jpg
“We’re talking about a three-year transition now that we actually have a president who’s likely to sign the repeal into the law,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (second from right). | Getty
Prepare for the Obamacare cliff.
Congressional Republicans are setting up their own, self-imposed deadline to make good on their vow to replace the Affordable Care Act. With buy-in from Donald Trump’s transition team, GOP leaders on both sides of the Capitol are coalescing around a plan to vote to repeal the law in early 2017 — but delay the effective date for that repeal for as long as three years.
They’re crossing their fingers that the delay will help them get their own house in order, as well as pressure a handful of Senate Democrats ......................
“We’re talking about a three-year transition now that we actually have a president who’s likely to sign the repeal into the law. ........................
This time , however, it’s access to health care for tens of millions of people that’s on the line.
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The strategy presents significant risks. The fight over a replacement is guaranteed to be messier than the cathartic repeal vote. Giving themselves as many as three years to figure it out shows that Republicans are well aware of how tough it will be.
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And following a repeal vote, insurance companies could bail on Obamacare immediately, even if there is a three-year grace period, leaving people with no health plans.
“The flaws in Obamacare are obvious to me. The solutions are much harder,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
Boris Epshteyn, a spokesman for President-elect Donald Trump, arrives at Trump Tower, Friday, Nov. 11, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
Moreover, there is already some intraparty turmoil over the repeal timeline, starting with Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee. He’s pressing to have a replacement plan ready before tackling repeal, which could significantly delay things, given that Republicans are far from a consensus on what kind of replacement they want.
The Tennessee Republican has notably began swapping the words “repeal and replace,” used by Republicans for years, to “replace and repeal.”
“There’s an eagerness to address it, so I think there’s no doubt we’ll start immediately to replace and repeal Obamacare, but the president-elect has said that the replacement and the repeal need to be done simultaneously, and that means to me that we need to figure out how to replace it before we repeal it,” he said.
Most Republicans, particularly in the House, want to repeal as soon as possible and deal with the replacement later. Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), a staunch conservative, said the party must “take no chances; do it now.” And House leadership has heard those demands clearly.
“This law, you have to remember, is hurting families in America,” said Speaker Paul Ryan during a news conference on Wednesday. “So we have to bring Obamacare relief as fast as we possibly can in 2017.”..............
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
http://www.help.senate.gov/about
Committee Membership
Republicans by Rank
Lamar Alexander (TN)
Michael B. Enzi (WY)
Richard Burr (NC)
Johnny Isakson (GA)
Rand Paul (KY)
Susan Collins (ME)
Lisa Murkowski (AK)
Mark Kirk (IL)
Tim Scott (SC)
Orrin Hatch (UT)
Pat Roberts (KS)
Bill Cassidy, M.D. (LA)
Democrats by Rank
Patty Murray (WA)
Barbara Mikulski (MD)
Bernie Sanders (VT)
Robert P. Casey, Jr (PA)
Al Franken (MN)
Michael F. Bennet (CO)
Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)
Tammy Baldwin (WI)
Christopher S. Murphy (CT)
Elizabeth Warren (MA)
UW-Madison puts raises on hold after Obama overtime rule blocked
Source: Madison.com
NICO SAVIDGE nsavidge@madison.com 58 min ago 0
Thousands of UW-Madison employees will not receive planned raises or become eligible for overtime pay after a federal judge blocked an Obama administration action to change rules affecting salaried workers, campus officials announced Thursday.
The salary increases and changes to move some university workers from salaried to hourly pay were to take effect Thursday, but UW-Madison administrators said the judge's Nov. 22 ruling has put those plans on hold.
The Obama administration said Thursday that it will appeal the decision. The order -- which required that salaried employees who earn less than about $47,000 annually be paid overtime if they work more than 40 hours in a week -- faces an uncertain future as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to enter the White House. The rule would have affected an estimated 4 million people nationwide.
Before the May order, salaried workers had to be paid overtime only if they earned less than $23,660. After it was issued, businesses and universities such as UW-Madison prepared to either raise salaries above the new $47,000 threshold or start tracking the hours of employees who fell below it.
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Read more: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/university/uw-madison-puts-raises-on-hold-after-obama-overtime-rule/article_112942ef-a870-546f-8cbf-692a856051cc.html
I am sure this is happening across America
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"Unfortunately, our office is no stranger to his bullying behavior," Koltun said of Sheriff Clarke.
Another bully. No wonder Trump likes him.
Medical examiner "threatened" by Clarke over jail deaths
http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/investigations/daniel-bice/2016/12/01/medical-examiner-threatened-clarke-over-jail-deaths/94746392/
Daniel Bice , Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 4:41 p.m. CST December 1, 2016
News: Republican National Convention
(Photo: Robert Deutsch, Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports)
Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. has been largely silent in public about the deaths of four people at the Milwaukee County Jail since April, even though his office oversees the jail.
But, boy, has Clarke been doing some yelling behind the scenes.
Brian Peterson, Milwaukee County chief medical examiner, said Thursday that the sheriff called him on Oct. 28 and "verbally pummeled" and "threatened" him over information that Peterson's office made public regarding the deaths of two inmates at the jail earlier this year. Peterson said his office followed appropriate protocol in the cases cited by the sheriff.
Even so, Clarke said he would be contacting the state Medical Examining Board to have Peterson sanctioned or his license revoked.
"I haven't been talked to like that since I was probably 5," Peterson said in an interview.
Peterson documented the hostile 20-minute conversation a day later in a lengthy email to Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele, Abele's chief of staff and Clarke. The county exec appoints the medical examiner with the consent of the Milwaukee County Board.
Raisa Koltun, Abele's chief of staff, responded to Peterson by saying her office would "obviously have your back" if Clarke followed through with his threat to go to the state medical board. "Unfortunately, our office is no stranger to his bullying behavior," Koltun said of Clarke.
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The Obama Administration is PURE CLASS. #WorldAIDSDay
Damon Bethea Retweeted
Girls Really Rule. ?@girlsreallyrule 3h3 hours ago
The Obama Administration is PURE CLASS. #WorldAIDSDay
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