Tuesday, September 03, 2019
Monday, September 02, 2019
Happy Labor Day
Labor Day is one of my favorite holidays, because it celebrates the men and women who built this country and keep it running -- the working men and women of America. Don't let anyone fool you into believing this country was built by the rich or privileged. The rich and privileged are powerless without the labor of ordinary Americans.
I wish all my readers a very happy and safe Labor Day. And I urge you to remind our politicians who the real heroes are in this country!
Trump / Republicans Blame Shooting On Mental Illness
We don't know why he did that, but he was recently fired from his job. He was also the owner of an AR-15 assault-style weapon (which he used in the mass shooting).
Donald Trump, and other Republicans, were quick to blame the shooting on mental illness. But there is no history of Ator being mentally ill.
Mental illness is just an excuse that Republicans now use to avoid doing anything about the epidemic of gun deaths in this country. It's a rather pathetic excuse.
The United States doesn't have more mentally ill people than other developed nations, and most of the mentally ill are not a danger to other people. If the cause was mental illness, and gun laws cannot prevent many of these shootings, then why is the United States the only developed nation that has this problem with mass shootings and gun deaths.
We know why -- and so does Trump, Republicans, and the NRA leadership. It's because there are too many guns in this country, and they are accessed too easily by those who should not have them. The GOP just doesn't want to admit it -- afraid they'll lose NRA money for their next election.
Don't let the Republicans get away with blaming mental illness for our gun problem.
A man angry at losing a job is not mentally ill.
A young white man angry at losing his white privilege is not mentally ill.
Racism is not a mental illness.
White supremacy is not a mental illness.
Trump said none of the recent shootings would have been prevented by background checks. That's not the point. We do not want dangerous people being able to buy any kind of gun and as much ammunition as they want. And banning assault-style weapons could have prevented many of those shootings, since those are the weapons used in nearly all mass shootings.
Demand Congress take action -- on the real problem (the easy access to guns).
Labor Day - And Trump Is Waging War On Workers/Retirees
During his campaign in 2016, Donald Trump promised to be the president that would bring great jobs back to the U.S., and he promised to protect Social Security and Medicare.
It turns out those were just a couple of his thousands of lies. He has done neither. In fact, he is waging war on both workers and retirees.
Here is much of an article by Nancy J. Altman at Alternet.org on this subject.
Labor Day is a holiday designed to honor America’s workers. Instead, Donald Trump continues to attack them. Indeed, his administration is in the midst of a stealth effort that not only attacks workers but also our earned Social Security benefits. . . .
Trump’s war on workers is extremely well documented. It is perhaps best illustrated by his anti-worker nominees to be Secretary of Labor, a pack of wolves in the hen house. The first nominee was guilty of scores of labor law violations and forced to pay millions of dollars in settlements to workers he cheated. He was ultimately rejected because even many Republicans decided that they couldn’t vote for an ethically challengednominee who was also an accused domestic abuser.
Trump’s second anti-worker nominee was Alex Acosta, best known for his sweetheart deal with the billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. His current acting Secretary of Laboris, if anything, more anti-worker than the first two. And his newest nominee for the jobhas spent his career defending businesses seeking to roll back labor protections. . . .
Trump’s hostility to Social Security and Medicare is equally clear. He recently floated a proposal to reduce Social Security’s funding. Days later, he gloated over his intentions to cut Medicare as a “fun second-term project.”
The American people did not vote for these benefit cuts. In fact, Trump ran on a promiseto protect Social Security and Medicare. This was a shrewd political strategy, given that voters of all political stripes strongly value our Social Security and strongly opposecutting its modest but vital benefits. They strongly value our Medicare, as well. But as with his promise to raise taxes on the rich, to provide quality health care for everyone, even to act presidential, Trump has done the exact opposite now that he’s in the White House.
Despite their claims, the GOP elite’s hostility to Social Security and Medicare — indeed, to anything the government does to help us improve our lives — doesn’t have anything to do with the debt or deficit. It has everything to do with the donor class trying to avoid paying their fair share toward the common good.
Yet because Social Security and Medicare are so popular, Republicans know that direct benefit cuts will be impossible to pass into law, as long as all of us pay attention. That is why Trump and his Congressional allies are conducting a stealth war, using guerilla warfare tactics against our earned benefits.
One of their most nefarious tactics is undercutting the Social Security Administration (SSA), the agency charged with ensuring that workers receive their earned Social Security benefits in a timely and stress-free manner. SSA has suffered nearly a decade of budget cuts from Congressional Republicans. These cuts have resulted in office closures, staff reductions, and a years-long wait for disability hearings.
Attacks on SSA don’t just hurt the agency and its 60,000 workers. They hurt all Americans by making it increasingly difficult to collect the Social Security benefits we earn with every paycheck. That’s why all of us should fight to defend it.
At SSA and across the federal government, the Trump Administration is playing hardball. It has issued anti-worker executive orders. It has failed to negotiate in good faith with those representing federal workers. And recently, the Trump administration launched a new assault. It arbitrarily and unilaterally sought to impose a new contract on SSA workers. That imposed contract would effectively destroy the ability of the workers’ union to represent them.
The Trump Administration’s goal is to make conditions at SSA so intolerable that demoralized workers will quit in droves, taking essential institutional knowledge with them. This will directly affect the hundreds of millions of us who call SSA or visit a local field office regarding our earned Social Security benefits. . . .
The only way to protect the hard-working civil servants at the Social Security Administration, and thereby protect our Social Security and Medicare, is to make Donald Trump a one-term president.
Sunday, September 01, 2019
Another Mass Shooting (But Don't Expect Congress To Act)
The United States had its 280th mass shooting of the year on Saturday. This time it was in Midland and Odessa in Texas. The shooter was killed by police, but not before he killed 5 people and wounded 21 others (including a 17 month-old, a Texas state trooper, a Midland officer, and an Odessa officer).
The shooting happened just one day before new gun laws went into effect in Texas. But those new laws didn't do anything to restrict guns. Instead, it further loosened gun laws in the state. The Texas legislature (controlled by Republicans) is as useless as the U.S. Senate (also controlled by Republicans). Both have had time to act since the El Paso shootings, but have done NOTHING (and undoubtably will repeat that pathetic performance after this latest shooting).
This shooting, like those before it, makes a few things very clear:
* There are too many guns in this country (more guns than people).
* Guns are too easy to get by people who shouldn't have them (criminals, terrorists, the dangerously mentally ill, etc.).
* Young white homegrown men are far more dangerous to the public than immigrants (yes, this shooter was a 30 year-old white man).
* Republican legislators think guns are more important than the lives of their fellow Americans.
Nebraska Corn Farmers Are Not Happy With Trump
The following is a statement released by the Nebraska Corn Board.
As harvest approaches after an extremely difficult year for agriculture, many Nebraska corn farmers are outraged by the Trump administration’s lack of support for the American farmer. The Nebraska Corn Board and the Nebraska Corn Growers Association call upon the administration to fulfill its promises and to abide by the law and uphold the integrity of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
President Trump’s administration continues to erode the RFS by granting 31 unjustified refinery waivers, destroying demand for corn and ultimately choosing to bail out the oil industry rather than helping American farmers. Corn farmers are already suffering from ongoing trade disputes, uncertain weather and continued low prices.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this,” said David Bruntz, chairman of the Nebraska Corn Board and farmer from Friend. “All we’re getting is lip service. At one moment, we think President Trump is on our side, and then the refinery waivers come through. It’s truly a slap in the face. Farmers are hurting and it just keeps getting worse.”
Along with undermining the RFS, the U.S. has made little progress in trade. A new deal between the U.S., Mexico and Canada still has not been reached and tensions continue to escalate between the U.S. and China.
“Many of our corn farmers have stood with Trump for a long time, but that may soon change” said Dan Nerud, president of the Nebraska Corn Growers Association and farmer from Dorchester. “Trump needs to uphold the law and his commitment to our nation’s corn farmers by making the RFS whole and bringing trade agreements to the finish line.”
Nebraska Corn urges you to stand up for our state’s corn and ethanol industries by telling the Trump administration to stop stripping the RFS. Rural America is under attack and now is the time to act. Submit a letter to President Trump by clicking here. Submit comments before the August 30 deadline.
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