I pray that the Democrats move urgently and pass the Electoral Count Reform Act. For me, to not do so is unconscionable. What are they waiting for--permission? I also pray they modify or repeal Section 230. If the EU can do it, why can't we? I also hope the EU bans Twitter and that many other countries do the same, and sink the hate-filled, bigoted, cesspool it is rapidly becoming. I also hope we find something in Trump's tax returns that will strike a truly damaging direct blow.
Finally, as for Trump's moral depravity, I can only recall what he said during an interview on Larry King live decades ago. He had taken out full page ads in the major NY newspapers calling for the death penalty for five young teenagers (4 Black and 1 Latino), the so-called Central Park 5, who fearing for their lives at the hands of the police, gave forced confessions to a brutal rape of a White woman in Central Park. When King pressed him on having done that, he refused to apologize saying that it was justified. He then looked into the camera stone-faced and said, "They're animals. I hate them. And you should hate them. Sometimes, hate gets things done." He helped get those boys convicted and unleashed racist vitriol throughout America, much as he did while president. After years in prison, the boys (then men) were exonerated by DNA evidence of the real rapist. They sued NYC and collectively won a few million dollars judgment. Nothing like the large awards we see today and nothing that could ever make up for their lost youth and freedom for a crime the did not commit. When asked while president if he regretted any of his part in their convictions, Trump scornfully said, "No...they confessed. Plus, I don't think they deserved the money." If that's not cold-blooded and racist, I don't know what is. Trump is morally bankrupt and extremely dangerous, even now. It would be foolish to think otherwise.
In a prior life I use to use Amtrak it go between Philadelphia, New York and DC. It was the quickest way to get to and from these locations. Over many centuries the union contracts added costs which made both cost effectiveness and profits impossible to achieve. When Federal funding became an issue and new management was installed they realized the rail systems were top heavy in resources and lacking in effective technology to reduce costs and provide a better more efficient customer experience. Additionally they realized shipping materials and goods could be a great revenue stream and began a shift to be becoming a transportation company rather than a railroad. They have made great progress so much so that they are the heart of our supply chain transportation system. Republicans voting against giving adequate and fair sick leave to employees is a clear signal to working people that Republicans don’t support the working people of this country and really only support large corporation’s profit structures. Another clear message what is important to Republicans at the expense of others.
President Biden has been confronted with yet another "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation with regard to the rail workers potential strike. Let's start with the fact that the workers demands are quite modest. I would make the case that 7 days of sick leave is pretty basic in a civilized society. But shutting down a huge percentage of the economy would cause pain that would ripple through the nation - many innocents would be harmed. What does a President do?
First, Biden was right to halt the strike. But he could have proposed a "cooling off period" that would have given the parties more time to negotiate and for the public to learn more about the working conditions. It didn't have to be an all or nothing decision. Stop the strike and then lock the negotiators in a room with Marty Walsh who really knows what he is doing. Unions need more power. Not to kill the economy but to have a meaningful impact on the lives of its members.
I once wrote schedules as part of my job. I taught the process. If a schedule is purely based on a profit factor with no consideration of the lives of the employees, then it is a really bad schedule. Employees have a right to know what their hours will be. Employees have a right to a schedule that allows for a regular sleep pattern and family activities. If employees feel as if the employer "has their backs" when personal problems arise, they develop loyalty and usually go above and beyond when the employer asks.
This is just common sense scheduling and employee support. The railroads have done what retailers did years ago. They let consultants and efficiency driven software replace simple and practical benevolence. Software doesn't know that loyal employees are the required heartbeat of the company. But senior management should. If they don't, they live in a bubble dangerous to us all. Loyal workers = long term profits and success. It is not rocket science. It is smart management.
The suggestion regarding Section 230 is really helpful. Modifying Section 230 to make clear that a failure to moderate content would make a social media platform subject to the same defamation rules as newspapers and magazine seems reasonable.
We also need some kind of modification in our labor laws. We need an alternative to strikes that would damage the employers (putting all revenue in escrow or an automatic substantial temporary tax on the revenue by which the employer loses that portion of its income forever) and sustain the operation of essential services. The unions' strike equivalent weapon should place a burden on employees as well, after all a strike is certainly a sacrifice by employees toward attaining a greater long term good. We need unions to be powerful in their confrontations with employers, but strikes or their equivalent should be against employers not the public.
Kevin McCarthy is a shrub that never got pruned. He is out of his league. His ignorance is profound. He is a power-hungry opportunist with no moral compass. I wish I could say that the GOP could do better, but no GOP member of Congress comes to mind. The GOP has no problem-solving skills, they only know how to obstruct.
Four Republicans and one Democrat got lost hiking in the middle of winter. Night was falling and they were freezing cold. The Democrat scouted around, found some kindling and logs, and started a fire so they could stay warm. The Republicans immediately poured water on the fire.
I write to expand upon Robert’s mention of Congress’s final session before Republicans, on January 3rd, retake the House. I, further, would suggest our legislators need to hear from us as we press for at least three major priorities: 1) completing their bipartisan legislative work reforming the Electoral Count Act, 2) prophylactically raising the debt ceiling to block the Republican controlled House in 23 & 24 from leveraging concessions on entitlements like Social Security and Medicare to avert defaulting on the national debt and placing blame on Biden for the economic calamity that would ensue, and 3) advancing legislation already passed in the House banning high capacity assault weapons and instating universal background checks and nationwide red flag laws.
Members of the Lincoln Project have formed a new endeavor. It is called Resolute Square , and they plan to take on the right wing media. There will be no “both-side-ism”. Tonight they are going to have a discussion about Twitter at 6:00 p.m. Check out their website and tune in for what will be a frank, and raucous discussion of Elon Musk and Twitter. https://resolutesquare.com/
It strikes me that the political polarization that we've been talking about for years, is not actually between Democrats and Republicans. The Democrat's. While they certainly disagree are united in their goals. As evidenced by the uneventful election of a new generation of House leaders.
On the other hand, the real divide is within the Republican party, where they are publicly tearing themselves apart. Traditional Rs are seemingly helpless to jettison Trump, even though it's clear that he only causes them to lose. But the MAGA crowd are happy to destroy their own party from within, while their leaders are trapped in a no win scenario. Pass the popcorn as we watch them rip themselves to shreds trying to decide on a Speaker. Sad.
"Honorable conservatism," now there's a quaint term from the years of the "liberal consensus" that's conspicuously missing in the nation's political discourse since Trump appeared on stage. With Trump's arrival, these and a slew of other words such as "truth," "justice," "equality," "decency," "democracy," noble words that once defined America's ethos as the leader of the free world, have disappeared as norms in the national conversation. Now, especially as far as MAGA Republicans are concerned, "hate," "lies," "fascism," "fear," '"cruelty," and other words of deceit and moral bankruptcy dominate the language of government. As Scripture says, "In the beginning was the word." Today, as we ponder the prospects in our collective quest for "a more perfect union" and begin each day anew in our experiment in representative democracy, let us consider Trump and all of his vile enablers, firmly and irrevocably---"DENOUNCED."
The parallels of our time with the early 20th century keep showing up. Now, it's the railroad moguls again. This is another manifestation of the horrendous income disparity that is making serfs out of the middle class. People are simply pawns of the super rich to do with as they please. What they please is to take away the humanity and decency of their workers to get the most profit for the most rich. This over zealous schedule efficiency that is producing a lot more profit is destroying the well being of their workers who are nothing but necessary tools in their game of wealth above all. We need a Well Being Index instead of GNP to measure the success of our culture. It is imperative that we do so. For native Americans wealth is measured by a person's generosity and the well-being of all members of the community. We need to shed the narcissism and go back to caring and supporting each other. As I've said before -- instead of fighting over a slice of a fixed pie let's work together to make more and bigger pies to share. We-llness versus I-llness. We, the People, all of us together this time!
"In a truly perverse display of GOP deceit. . . " Wait for it. . . Could it be from the Senior Senator from Florida? Bingo! What's new, Marco? Robert says you "give politicians a bad name," and it is true. Once again in your text about the railway workers contract, you gave only half the story. And the people of Florida have just reelected you to six more years. Woe is us. Shame on us.
An open letter to all US Senators. Not only do we need the Senate to vote on the Electoral Count Act as a matter of protecting the American people from mob tyranny, but we Americans are expecting the Senate to pass H.R. 5746 by a bi-partisan coalition who believe in our democracy.
The Ukrainians are willing to die for their democracy and the Senate is clinging to a filibuster which denies CA with 39m votes its Senators to have 1 vote each on the floor of the Senate and 5 States with 3.9 population have 10 Senators and the filibuster. Our Senate needs to fight for 1 Senator\ 1 Vote to rebut the unfairness of the Senate's filibuster.
Senators:
· Your filibuster vote against H.R. 5746 means indigenous people do not have ready access to the ballot box in many States.
· By reconsidering H.R. 5746 on the floor of the Senate you will be enabling the Senate to debate and vote on the substantive federal voting rights law.
· Your support of H.R. 5746, the Freedom to Vote: John R Lewis Voting Rights Bill will guarantee baseline protections for voting rights for all Americans
· By ending the filibuster against H.R. 5746, US Senate itself will have one person one vote and a majority vote determining legislation for voting rights
Some facts to consider: The Supreme Court has effectively ruled that unless Congress acts directly and specifically, voting rights can be determined by individual state legislatures – potentially even overriding that state’s constitution. But Congress does have the power to set national standards for voting rights under the Constitution of the United States of America: Article 1.4 grants to each State Legislature the power to set the times, places and manner of holding elections for US Senators and Representatives, “but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations.....”
How Did We Get Here?
The Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 declared, “No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure, shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.” The VRA’s greatest impact was in its pre-clearance requirement for federal court or Justice Department approval before jurisdictions that had historically discriminated could change voting rules, processes, or procedures. One result: By 1969, Mississippi’s Black voter registration rate increased to 59% from 6%.
The Supreme Court is Gutting the Voting Rights Act of 1965
● Citizens United v FEC (2010) removed Federal campaign restrictions on Corporations and Unions, unleashing unlimited money in politics
● Shelby County v Holder (2013) held that the pre-clearance formula is unconstitutional. Impact: 1688 polling places CLOSED in previously covered States; 30 million voters purged from rolls; restrictive voting laws passed in many states.
● Rucho v Common Cause (2019) ruled that state laws permitting partisan (not racial) gerrymandering are “beyond the reach of the federal courts.”
● Brnovich v DNC (2021) upheld an Arizona law to stop people from collecting ballots to deliver to precincts, which disproportionately impacted indigenous peoples; and to stop counting ballots from people who voted in the wrong precinct.
● Cases now before the US Supreme Court - Merrill v Mulligan and Moore v Harper - threaten to further undermine the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Our ZIP code should not determine how, if, or when we can vote!
Regarding tfg’s tax returns. I read somewhere (wish I could find the article / post a link) about tfg making a stipulation one of the times he hosted SNL that there not be any jokes about how rich he was, how much he was worth. Everything else was game but not that. Supposedly he made the stipulation because he is very sensitive about the subject of his wealth and not nearly as rich as he has (so often) claimed to be.
Perhaps his tax returns will confirm he’s not part of the wealthy elite. If true, such a disclosure would be a deep blow to his ego. His insecurity/ insecurities might not be able to handle anybody knowing the truth. Certainly not anybody on the House Ways and Means Committee much less the public. His sense of self worth is so tied to the image he projects of being extremely wealthy who knows what sort of meltdown he might have if he’s exposed to be a “fake rich guy”.
There is a piece in New York magazine by Eric Levitz “Why America’s Railroads Refuse to Give Their Workers Paid Leave” which was very helpful in understanding the railroad’s position. It’s still shortsighted and inexcusable but at least I understand it better.
I pray that the Democrats move urgently and pass the Electoral Count Reform Act. For me, to not do so is unconscionable. What are they waiting for--permission? I also pray they modify or repeal Section 230. If the EU can do it, why can't we? I also hope the EU bans Twitter and that many other countries do the same, and sink the hate-filled, bigoted, cesspool it is rapidly becoming. I also hope we find something in Trump's tax returns that will strike a truly damaging direct blow.
Finally, as for Trump's moral depravity, I can only recall what he said during an interview on Larry King live decades ago. He had taken out full page ads in the major NY newspapers calling for the death penalty for five young teenagers (4 Black and 1 Latino), the so-called Central Park 5, who fearing for their lives at the hands of the police, gave forced confessions to a brutal rape of a White woman in Central Park. When King pressed him on having done that, he refused to apologize saying that it was justified. He then looked into the camera stone-faced and said, "They're animals. I hate them. And you should hate them. Sometimes, hate gets things done." He helped get those boys convicted and unleashed racist vitriol throughout America, much as he did while president. After years in prison, the boys (then men) were exonerated by DNA evidence of the real rapist. They sued NYC and collectively won a few million dollars judgment. Nothing like the large awards we see today and nothing that could ever make up for their lost youth and freedom for a crime the did not commit. When asked while president if he regretted any of his part in their convictions, Trump scornfully said, "No...they confessed. Plus, I don't think they deserved the money." If that's not cold-blooded and racist, I don't know what is. Trump is morally bankrupt and extremely dangerous, even now. It would be foolish to think otherwise.
In a prior life I use to use Amtrak it go between Philadelphia, New York and DC. It was the quickest way to get to and from these locations. Over many centuries the union contracts added costs which made both cost effectiveness and profits impossible to achieve. When Federal funding became an issue and new management was installed they realized the rail systems were top heavy in resources and lacking in effective technology to reduce costs and provide a better more efficient customer experience. Additionally they realized shipping materials and goods could be a great revenue stream and began a shift to be becoming a transportation company rather than a railroad. They have made great progress so much so that they are the heart of our supply chain transportation system. Republicans voting against giving adequate and fair sick leave to employees is a clear signal to working people that Republicans don’t support the working people of this country and really only support large corporation’s profit structures. Another clear message what is important to Republicans at the expense of others.
President Biden has been confronted with yet another "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation with regard to the rail workers potential strike. Let's start with the fact that the workers demands are quite modest. I would make the case that 7 days of sick leave is pretty basic in a civilized society. But shutting down a huge percentage of the economy would cause pain that would ripple through the nation - many innocents would be harmed. What does a President do?
First, Biden was right to halt the strike. But he could have proposed a "cooling off period" that would have given the parties more time to negotiate and for the public to learn more about the working conditions. It didn't have to be an all or nothing decision. Stop the strike and then lock the negotiators in a room with Marty Walsh who really knows what he is doing. Unions need more power. Not to kill the economy but to have a meaningful impact on the lives of its members.
I once wrote schedules as part of my job. I taught the process. If a schedule is purely based on a profit factor with no consideration of the lives of the employees, then it is a really bad schedule. Employees have a right to know what their hours will be. Employees have a right to a schedule that allows for a regular sleep pattern and family activities. If employees feel as if the employer "has their backs" when personal problems arise, they develop loyalty and usually go above and beyond when the employer asks.
This is just common sense scheduling and employee support. The railroads have done what retailers did years ago. They let consultants and efficiency driven software replace simple and practical benevolence. Software doesn't know that loyal employees are the required heartbeat of the company. But senior management should. If they don't, they live in a bubble dangerous to us all. Loyal workers = long term profits and success. It is not rocket science. It is smart management.
The suggestion regarding Section 230 is really helpful. Modifying Section 230 to make clear that a failure to moderate content would make a social media platform subject to the same defamation rules as newspapers and magazine seems reasonable.
We also need some kind of modification in our labor laws. We need an alternative to strikes that would damage the employers (putting all revenue in escrow or an automatic substantial temporary tax on the revenue by which the employer loses that portion of its income forever) and sustain the operation of essential services. The unions' strike equivalent weapon should place a burden on employees as well, after all a strike is certainly a sacrifice by employees toward attaining a greater long term good. We need unions to be powerful in their confrontations with employers, but strikes or their equivalent should be against employers not the public.
Kevin McCarthy is a shrub that never got pruned. He is out of his league. His ignorance is profound. He is a power-hungry opportunist with no moral compass. I wish I could say that the GOP could do better, but no GOP member of Congress comes to mind. The GOP has no problem-solving skills, they only know how to obstruct.
Four Republicans and one Democrat got lost hiking in the middle of winter. Night was falling and they were freezing cold. The Democrat scouted around, found some kindling and logs, and started a fire so they could stay warm. The Republicans immediately poured water on the fire.
I write to expand upon Robert’s mention of Congress’s final session before Republicans, on January 3rd, retake the House. I, further, would suggest our legislators need to hear from us as we press for at least three major priorities: 1) completing their bipartisan legislative work reforming the Electoral Count Act, 2) prophylactically raising the debt ceiling to block the Republican controlled House in 23 & 24 from leveraging concessions on entitlements like Social Security and Medicare to avert defaulting on the national debt and placing blame on Biden for the economic calamity that would ensue, and 3) advancing legislation already passed in the House banning high capacity assault weapons and instating universal background checks and nationwide red flag laws.
Members of the Lincoln Project have formed a new endeavor. It is called Resolute Square , and they plan to take on the right wing media. There will be no “both-side-ism”. Tonight they are going to have a discussion about Twitter at 6:00 p.m. Check out their website and tune in for what will be a frank, and raucous discussion of Elon Musk and Twitter. https://resolutesquare.com/
It strikes me that the political polarization that we've been talking about for years, is not actually between Democrats and Republicans. The Democrat's. While they certainly disagree are united in their goals. As evidenced by the uneventful election of a new generation of House leaders.
On the other hand, the real divide is within the Republican party, where they are publicly tearing themselves apart. Traditional Rs are seemingly helpless to jettison Trump, even though it's clear that he only causes them to lose. But the MAGA crowd are happy to destroy their own party from within, while their leaders are trapped in a no win scenario. Pass the popcorn as we watch them rip themselves to shreds trying to decide on a Speaker. Sad.
Anyone who criticizes President Biden and the Democrats for averting a rail strike in the holiday season is a political dunderhead or a saboteur.
"Honorable conservatism," now there's a quaint term from the years of the "liberal consensus" that's conspicuously missing in the nation's political discourse since Trump appeared on stage. With Trump's arrival, these and a slew of other words such as "truth," "justice," "equality," "decency," "democracy," noble words that once defined America's ethos as the leader of the free world, have disappeared as norms in the national conversation. Now, especially as far as MAGA Republicans are concerned, "hate," "lies," "fascism," "fear," '"cruelty," and other words of deceit and moral bankruptcy dominate the language of government. As Scripture says, "In the beginning was the word." Today, as we ponder the prospects in our collective quest for "a more perfect union" and begin each day anew in our experiment in representative democracy, let us consider Trump and all of his vile enablers, firmly and irrevocably---"DENOUNCED."
Thank you, as always, for your very informative summation of current events with a splash of optimism and hope!
The parallels of our time with the early 20th century keep showing up. Now, it's the railroad moguls again. This is another manifestation of the horrendous income disparity that is making serfs out of the middle class. People are simply pawns of the super rich to do with as they please. What they please is to take away the humanity and decency of their workers to get the most profit for the most rich. This over zealous schedule efficiency that is producing a lot more profit is destroying the well being of their workers who are nothing but necessary tools in their game of wealth above all. We need a Well Being Index instead of GNP to measure the success of our culture. It is imperative that we do so. For native Americans wealth is measured by a person's generosity and the well-being of all members of the community. We need to shed the narcissism and go back to caring and supporting each other. As I've said before -- instead of fighting over a slice of a fixed pie let's work together to make more and bigger pies to share. We-llness versus I-llness. We, the People, all of us together this time!
"In a truly perverse display of GOP deceit. . . " Wait for it. . . Could it be from the Senior Senator from Florida? Bingo! What's new, Marco? Robert says you "give politicians a bad name," and it is true. Once again in your text about the railway workers contract, you gave only half the story. And the people of Florida have just reelected you to six more years. Woe is us. Shame on us.
An open letter to all US Senators. Not only do we need the Senate to vote on the Electoral Count Act as a matter of protecting the American people from mob tyranny, but we Americans are expecting the Senate to pass H.R. 5746 by a bi-partisan coalition who believe in our democracy.
The Ukrainians are willing to die for their democracy and the Senate is clinging to a filibuster which denies CA with 39m votes its Senators to have 1 vote each on the floor of the Senate and 5 States with 3.9 population have 10 Senators and the filibuster. Our Senate needs to fight for 1 Senator\ 1 Vote to rebut the unfairness of the Senate's filibuster.
Senators:
· Your filibuster vote against H.R. 5746 means indigenous people do not have ready access to the ballot box in many States.
· By reconsidering H.R. 5746 on the floor of the Senate you will be enabling the Senate to debate and vote on the substantive federal voting rights law.
· Your support of H.R. 5746, the Freedom to Vote: John R Lewis Voting Rights Bill will guarantee baseline protections for voting rights for all Americans
· By ending the filibuster against H.R. 5746, US Senate itself will have one person one vote and a majority vote determining legislation for voting rights
Some facts to consider: The Supreme Court has effectively ruled that unless Congress acts directly and specifically, voting rights can be determined by individual state legislatures – potentially even overriding that state’s constitution. But Congress does have the power to set national standards for voting rights under the Constitution of the United States of America: Article 1.4 grants to each State Legislature the power to set the times, places and manner of holding elections for US Senators and Representatives, “but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations.....”
How Did We Get Here?
The Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 declared, “No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure, shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.” The VRA’s greatest impact was in its pre-clearance requirement for federal court or Justice Department approval before jurisdictions that had historically discriminated could change voting rules, processes, or procedures. One result: By 1969, Mississippi’s Black voter registration rate increased to 59% from 6%.
The Supreme Court is Gutting the Voting Rights Act of 1965
● Citizens United v FEC (2010) removed Federal campaign restrictions on Corporations and Unions, unleashing unlimited money in politics
● Shelby County v Holder (2013) held that the pre-clearance formula is unconstitutional. Impact: 1688 polling places CLOSED in previously covered States; 30 million voters purged from rolls; restrictive voting laws passed in many states.
● Rucho v Common Cause (2019) ruled that state laws permitting partisan (not racial) gerrymandering are “beyond the reach of the federal courts.”
● Brnovich v DNC (2021) upheld an Arizona law to stop people from collecting ballots to deliver to precincts, which disproportionately impacted indigenous peoples; and to stop counting ballots from people who voted in the wrong precinct.
● Cases now before the US Supreme Court - Merrill v Mulligan and Moore v Harper - threaten to further undermine the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Our ZIP code should not determine how, if, or when we can vote!
Alice Schaffer Smith
Executive Director
National Voter Corps
www.nationalvotercorps.org,
a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) Social Good Fund project
Regarding tfg’s tax returns. I read somewhere (wish I could find the article / post a link) about tfg making a stipulation one of the times he hosted SNL that there not be any jokes about how rich he was, how much he was worth. Everything else was game but not that. Supposedly he made the stipulation because he is very sensitive about the subject of his wealth and not nearly as rich as he has (so often) claimed to be.
Perhaps his tax returns will confirm he’s not part of the wealthy elite. If true, such a disclosure would be a deep blow to his ego. His insecurity/ insecurities might not be able to handle anybody knowing the truth. Certainly not anybody on the House Ways and Means Committee much less the public. His sense of self worth is so tied to the image he projects of being extremely wealthy who knows what sort of meltdown he might have if he’s exposed to be a “fake rich guy”.
There is a piece in New York magazine by Eric Levitz “Why America’s Railroads Refuse to Give Their Workers Paid Leave” which was very helpful in understanding the railroad’s position. It’s still shortsighted and inexcusable but at least I understand it better.