tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158788612024-02-28T19:37:58.547-05:00Cross Speak IndependentUS Political commentary. All opinions welcome.Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.comBlogger102125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-14580139680208456502022-04-21T18:06:00.079-04:002022-10-24T13:34:44.009-04:00Inflation: An Accepted Business Practice<p> <span style="text-align: right;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">Abstract</span></b></span></p>
<w:sdt id="1375273687" multiline="t" prefixmappings="xmlns:ns0='http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/coverPageProps' " storeitemid="X_55AF091B-3C7A-41E3-B477-F2FDAA23CFDA" text="t" title="Abstract" xpath="/ns0:CoverPageProperties[1]/ns0:Abstract[1]">
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #595959;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiVflTojMmXqaUYvSWUhlRVjnnkIZGSeP462ss-U50wL3pMCIqKUvQ4B0PnPCgDbtrDvgc4hDZ2N09hoGeqkAgYpPjv47mo3ICMPmTJfwKjnolTuQeLwoFOfTsKpdLFnqbD2-EC9FcXu7ITCrnBZ1NABIquC64AhtqhbkMwxgAdW7De_PpKfo/s275/inflation.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiVflTojMmXqaUYvSWUhlRVjnnkIZGSeP462ss-U50wL3pMCIqKUvQ4B0PnPCgDbtrDvgc4hDZ2N09hoGeqkAgYpPjv47mo3ICMPmTJfwKjnolTuQeLwoFOfTsKpdLFnqbD2-EC9FcXu7ITCrnBZ1NABIquC64AhtqhbkMwxgAdW7De_PpKfo/s1600/inflation.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>Inflation’s
causes can be confusing to the average American. Many people hold a false
belief that businesses are not the cause of cyclical financial events such as
inflation. Inflation is explained by some
conservative politicians and media as an unintended economic event that occurs
mainly due to governmental actions around money supply. Meanwhile, large corporations making billions
in tax free profits, increase prices, send trillions of dollars to off-shore
accounts and reduce employment in continuous business cycles which increase
the business’ share of the money supply, manipulates Federal Reserve policy
and devalues the US dollar.<br /></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><h1>Introduction<o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal">The arrival of the COVID19 pandemic to America has caused
health hardships on many Americans. Over
the past couple of years, nearly a million people have died in America
alone. Many more have been sickened by
the virus. The number of sick patients
exceeded the capacity of many American hospitals. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We have also seen shortages of certain grocery
supplies. Many businesses have lost
employees through sickness, death or resignation. In response to the bad news related to the
virus, the stock market has become very volatile with wide swings between gains
and losses. Some particularly
susceptible industries, such as travel related ones, have lost business income
and stock value. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At this time the health situation is getting better. Although we have a new variant that is still
infecting the unvaccinated, medical science has stepped up to develop and
distribute enough working vaccines for all Americans which is protecting those who
received them. The government stepped in to help people remain mostly capable
of surviving, not only with rapid introduction of vaccines and other medicines
to fight the disease, but also with monetary assistance to keep businesses and
workers financially solvent.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">However, in the middle of the pandemic, we began to see an
increase in prices of many products.
Some of the increase was probably the result of price gouging for
essential products and some may have been due to scarcity of products due to
consumer fear and over-purchasing essential products.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Americans are now facing a seven percent rise in the price
of all goods, which is the worst inflation in about 40 years. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Economics theory has missed the mark about inflation in this new business climate. Although some theories are still viable, they are the ones that have minimal impact on inflation. What is very true of this era of capitalism is that business itself has become a major contributor to greed-based inflation. I will discuss this and other economic theories and their degree of impact on inflation.</p>
<h1>Economic theory indoctrination<o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal">At the outset, I must admit that I am not an economics
expert and my understanding of the situations I describe comes from over
thirty-years of experience in corporate management positions.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What I find disturbing in regard to economics theory are the
explanations that I hear in the media for inflation. Depending on the source, economics theory is
often used to support a particular political view. In those situations, it seems the speakers use
economics theory as reassurance to those dealing with financial data that there
is comprehendible logic in business activity and the blame for economic ills
belongs with government. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Some advocates seem to see economics theory’s foundation as
accepting of all business activities, policies and ethics, regardless whether
those activities, policies and ethics are beneficial or harmful to the economy
as a whole. However, economics theory isn’t
an absolute or a required mathematical model that all businesses must follow. Business is free to take whatever price related actions they think necessary to maintain profits.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Economics, as a subject, has had its share of partisan
influence. College business courses in the United States
have been influenced through the donations of the Koch brothers’
foundation. The Koch brothers have been
able to attach strings to their contributions.
For example, they have been given control over curriculum at many
schools. Some say the selection of professors
has been left to them. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Koch brothers have been instrumental in promoting and
investing in laissez-faire deregulatory policies on business. They promote a world-view that business is
always right and it is the government and not business that threatens honest capitalism
and individual freedom. The 1980 political platform of David Koch was full of anti-government propaganda which favored an unregulated business environment and urged the dissolution of many government agencies that protected consumers. The platform is nearly identical to the modern day Republican platform.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Koch’s have considered education a fundamental part of
the strategy to manipulate public understanding of business. Many of the business leaders coming out of
today’s universities favor the Koch’s conservative political view. They will adamantly defend what they have
learned. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The focus area of this paper is inflation. The definition of inflation escapes most
lay-people, but in order to remove some of the mystery, I will call it price
inflation. Let’s examine the various
factors that could cause price inflation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<h1>Cost-push price inflation<o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal">Economics theory describes “cost-push price inflation” as
resulting from supplier increases in the cost of supplied materials to a
manufacturer. These costs usually have a minimal or temporary impact on the price of the manufacturers goods.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is almost never made clear to the public, the reason that
the supplier increased prices. It is
important to note however that price inflation always starts with an increase
in prices. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the cost-push price inflation scenario, because raw
materials cost increase, the profit of the manufacturer would decrease unless
it took actions to protect that profit. The manufacturer could take any of a
number of actions. Their first action should not be increasing their prices. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The manufacturer could change the cost to manufacture the finished product
created from those raw materials. Some
manufacturers may try to negotiate price with the supplier or find cheaper
alternative suppliers. Some
manufacturers may try to improve their manufacturing process to reduce
costs. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Some manufacturers may have no desire to find a
consumer-friendly way to improve their product and retain profits, so they just
pass the increased cost on to the consumer with a price increase on the
saleable product. Some manufacturers may
pass on cost plus an additional amount to accommodate unforeseeable future supplier
cost increases, or just to price gouge the public.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">These are just some of the varied actions that different
businesses could take. The idea is that
not all actions are the same and some may cause price inflation, while others
may not.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If a product price increase deters consumers from buying the
product, then other more drastic measures may be taken to retain profits at the
original price point. For example, some
manufacturers may layoff some employees and increase the workload of those
employees remaining. Workers’ wages are
a large part of the cost to manufacture and fewer employees means greater
profit.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Alternatively, a company could layoff highly paid
experienced workers and hire cheaper labor to reduce the manufacturing
cost. If practical, some companies could
import cheaper foreign labor or shift assembly to other cheaper labor
countries. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Layoffs may resolve the short-term profit issues for the
business but may have a devastating personal effect on the former employees,
leading to other economic problems if the scale of layoffs across the country
are large enough. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Layoffs are an important tool which business uses not only
to increase profits, but also to manipulate the Federal Reserve Banking system into
supporting further increases in profits and resulting increase in businesses
share of the money supply, as will be discussed later.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One should understand that the primary reason most
businesses increase pricing is to protect or improve their profit margin. There are no laws that control the price of a
product, except in monopoly situations or when price fixing occurs between
companies or in the occasional case of huge price gouging for essential medical
products. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My assumption is that most companies would like to improve
their profit margins in the quickest and least costly way. This probably leads most to simply pass
pricing increases on to the consumer and is what fuels cost-push price inflation.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Cost-push price inflation is a real thing. As prices rise for the manufacturer, business
management usually increase prices for the consumer. But should the supplier or the manufacturers have
done anything to stop price inflation? A
full-blown price inflation does not happen overnight or due to one manufacturer's price increases, so what are the
mechanisms to stop full-blown inflation from happening? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Because business doesn’t reliably find ways to prevent price
inflation, (and quite the contrary, they are usually looking for ways to
increase prices), it has made it necessary for the government to add those
kinds of responsibilities to the Federal Reserve Banking system. More about that later. <o:p></o:p></p>
<h1>Demand-Pull Price Inflation<o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal">Economists describe “Demand-Pull” price inflation as being
caused when consumer demand for products is so high that it reduces the
availability of those products. Again, this type of inflation should be small and temporary.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When the supply of products is low but the product is highly
desired by the consumer, the manufacturer may increase product prices before
attempting to increase manufacture of those products. If the demand remains high, the manufacturer
may also increase pricing of other related products even if there is no
shortage of those products. The
manufacturer’s profitability benefits from high prices in the Demand-Pull
situation. Their stock prices may also rise,
making stockholders more prosperous.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This situation can easily be taken advantage of by companies
that produce highly desirable products.
In this case, the company may be able to increase prices solely to
improve their profit margins and not as a result of increases in cost of goods
or anything that adversely affects their bottom line. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Some companies such as those that produce consumer essential
medicines or energy may raise prices at will without concern for loss of
demand. Government intervention in price gouging for such products may still be
a concern however some companies may risk the penalties and could be fined less
than the profit made during the attempt.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If a company only has profit margin as motivation and can
make products that are indispensable, essential and highly desired by
consumers, then that company may be able to make sizable increases in
pricing. In that case other related
products may also benefit and might be able to be over-priced as well. <o:p></o:p></p>
<h1>Supply and Demand<o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Supply and demand” is not a cause of inflation, but rather a theoretical relationship between
the price of a product and the willingness to buy or sell it. What lends itself to inflation insofar as supply and demand theory is concerned is the suggestion that
any time demand increases, supply diminishes and therefore businesses must
charge more for their products to retain their profits. This is a questionable cause and effect. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When the ordinary person speaks of supply and demand theory,
the factor that usually isn’t considered is manufacturing capacity. Capacity is basically the number of employees
and machine resources that are available to meet increased demand. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If a company has sufficient capacity, it can easily increase
the production to accommodate the demand without a need for price
increases. Even if a company is at 100%
capacity (and most are never that high), it has a choice to hire new employees
or buy new machines to meet the demand. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There may be a limit to what can be done immediately and
during that interim period of limited capacity it may be acceptable to increase
price to reduce demand. Pricing could be
returned to previous levels once sufficient capacity is available, but this
hardly ever happens. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Business people should ask these questions in these
circumstances: “Is a price increase necessary?” and “What is a fair price
increase if necessary?” Price increases
cause price inflation and the decision to set a certain price is under the
control of business.<o:p></o:p></p>
<h1>Profiting on Consumer Fear<o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal">Occasionally, a major societal event may occur that
initiates irrational or even rational fear in the consumer. If a majority of consumers fear that products
may become in short supply, they may be motivated to buy while the supply still
exists. This action may trigger a
shortage of the product by excessive demand that exceeds replenishment
capacity. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In that situation, businesses that supply those products
have a choice to make. They can either
increase capacity to meet the new demand or they can simply increase the price
higher and higher while the shortage continues. They may even increase
production but not release the product into the market while the consumer buying
frenzy takes hold, thereby allowing them to make larger profits while they
increase their pricing under the false implication that the shortage is real
and out of their control.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Again, the increase in pricing is an inflationary choice by
the business.<o:p></o:p></p>
<h1>Change in money supply<o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is one of the most misunderstood and abused explanations for inflation's causes. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Conservative politicians and media often place blame or lead
the consumer to believe that the Federal Reserve Banking system is responsible
for starting price inflation by their control of the money supply and interest
rates. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Federal Reserve was created to maximize employment,
stabilize prices, and moderate long-term interest rates. The US Treasury prints the money in
the United States and Federal Reserve Banks control the money supply by this and other means. If the Federal Reserve wants to increase the money supply it
can have the Treasury print more money or lower the required cash reserve ratio for member banks
or purchase government securities in the open market. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When the Fed increases money supply, they also tend to lower
interest rates which can encourage business investments and consumer credit and
spending. The increase in consumer
demand can lead to an increase in production and services. The “Fed” usually increases money supply in
response to financial data caused by business activity. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When the Fed wants to decrease the money supply it can sell
bonds which causes the inflow of cash to be removed from the open market. When the Fed decreases money supply, they
also tend to increase interest rates.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When the business cycle and economy are in a state of rapid expansion,
the Fed may attempt to reduce high prices and inflation, by increasing interest
rates. This amounts to controlling
inflationary pressure caused by rapid price increases. Importantly, the Fed's actions are a reaction to business activities causing inflation or unemployment. The Fed's actions do not cause inflation or unemployment. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Prices increase during rapid expansion periods because businesses take the chance that they can make larger profits for the time that demand is high. Once the fed catches on to businesses actions, price inflation usually has already taken hold. The fed's actions to increase interest rates and/or reduce money supply is done to influence businesses to reduce their prices because of the loss of demand that higher interest and lower money supply usually causes. Businesses would not lower prices on their own and are in fact the cause of the price increases we call inflation.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In economic recession or depression, the Central Bank usually
attempts to stimulate the economy by increasing money supply and decreasing
interest rates.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Economic theory states if money supply increases faster than
the goods and services being produced, it will cause or increase price
inflation. Conversely if the money
supply does not increase enough, then it will lead to unemployment. This appears to place blame for price inflation
and unemployment on the Fed. The
conclusions proposed by these words are used broadly by partisan political
groups to place blame on the government.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The partisan groups try to lead the public into believing
that the Federal Reserve’s act of increasing money supply causes price inflation. But price inflation is manifested by an
increase in prices. It is businesses and
not the Fed that increase pricing. In fact, the Fed’s actions during inflation is
to reduce the money supply and not increase it, so the partisan view is
contradictory to the Fed’s actual actions during inflation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Federal Reserve’s action to increase money supply is actually
done in response to business actions that lay-off employees or cause an
increase in unemployment. It does not
cause unemployment.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let’s look at business actions during increased supply
periods to help unravel some reason for money supply not increasing fast enough. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When businesses increase production, they should be
experiencing more demand. They should be utilizing more capacity, or making
better use of existing capacity and making more profit by selling more. It is not a time to layoff personnel. So why should the money supply diminish (or
not increase enough) during good economic times as stated in the money supply
theory that causes unemployment?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If money supply diminishes during thriving economic times,
it could be because much of that money is being removed from the US economy by
businesses and C-level executives. Once businesses
share of the existing money supply goes into off-shore tax havens or purchases
of foreign islands or property outside of the USA, or purchases of other non-money
investments, that money is no longer counted as part of the existing money
supply. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is estimated that over $11.3 trillion of the world money
supply was stored in offshore accounts in the year 2020 and nearly $3 trillion
of that was from American fortune 500 companies. Compared to the $3 trillion removed from the money supply by business, the Fed increased the money supply in 2020 by $146.4 billion. It's fairly clear that the impact of off-shore accounts on money supply outweighs the impact of the Fed's money supply actions. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In that regard, it is likely that those with the biggest
proportion of the money supply have control over the money supply numbers and
can influence Federal Reserve actions by the actions they take concerning their
money.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When business raises prices so much that it increases price
inflation, the Federal Reserve decreases money supply. Less money supply and high interest rates is expected
to slow down price inflation caused by business during good economic
times. If the businesses decided to earn
higher profits by increasing production or selling new products or services,
rather than raising prices, price inflation would not rise.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sometimes businesses use of layoffs manipulates the Fed into
action. They reduce their costs by
laying off workers and making the remaining workers increase their work output.
This started happening during the early 2000s with “off-shore” labor strategy
in large businesses across America. Americans
by the thousands were laid-off from large businesses so that the business could
increase profits by reducing employee costs and covering capacity needs with
lesser paid foreign workers. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This continues today.
In Trump’s first term in office over 300,000 American jobs were lost to
“off-shoring”. The Economic Policy
Institute estimates that 700,000 jobs were lost to China in Trump’s first two
years in office. Trump’s 2018 tax law
created new incentives to offshore jobs by reducing tax rates for off-shore
profits. In the past 20 years or so, it
is likely that 10,000,000 or more Americans have become unemployed because of
this strategy.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The labor reduction strategy used by large corporations also
involves using the federal work visa program.
Businesses supposed need for the work Visa program is that there are no
American workers capable of doing the jobs that they have open. There are many and varied ways that the
federal work visa program helps the rich eliminate high labor costs and is a
favorite of large technology companies.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Employee lay-offs in large numbers make the Federal Reserve
increase the money supply and reduce interest rates to support one of their
main goals of reducing unemployment. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Businesses know how the Federal Reserve responds to
their actions. As a result, businesses
tend to repeat the cycle to increase business owner enrichment. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Businesses increase their prices and this causes price
inflation. The Federal Reserve responds
by decreasing money supply and increasing interest rates. Businesses respond by moving their personal
funds into off-shore banks and laying off American employees. The Federal Reserve responds by increasing
money supply and lowering interest rates.
When the money supply increases, businesses again raise their prices,
making more money for less work and increasing the wealth gap between the poor
and rich. The inflated prices never
return to their pre-inflationary value.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">It is this repetitious cycle of price increases and layoffs
initiated by businesses that manipulates the Federal Reserve to work in a way
that benefits them. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Prices never return to pre-inflationary values and causes
the value of money for consumers to become less and less every cycle. This devalued money does not cause harm to
businesses because the revenue they are taking in is increased by the increase in product pricing and offsets the decreased buying power of the dollar. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The consumer suffers from the devaluation of the dollar
because unlike the business, they do not get more salary money for their labor to produce the inflated price products. They must pay the inflated prices for products which means their cost of living has gone up. Consumer/laborers become
less able to provide for themselves and their families.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">America will never again have a dollar with the buying power
of a 1960 dollar. The value of the
dollar has decreased consistently over the years, making it even more apparent
that this is a continuous and damaging economic cycle. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The following table gives a few examples of how inflation
has affected consumer purchasing power.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTable15Grid4Accent5" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-themetint: 153; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr>
<td style="border-right: none; border: 1pt solid rgb(91, 155, 213); mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #5B9BD5 .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-left-alt: solid #5B9BD5 .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-top-alt: solid #5B9BD5 .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent5; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.8pt;" valign="top" width="208">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-yfti-cnfc: 5;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background-color: white; background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 10.5pt;">Product<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(91, 155, 213); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(91, 155, 213); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(91, 155, 213); border-top-width: 1pt; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(91, 155, 213); mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #5B9BD5 .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-top-alt: solid #5B9BD5 .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent5; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.85pt;" valign="top" width="208">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-yfti-cnfc: 1;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background-color: white; background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 10.5pt;">1960 value of $5000<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: 1pt solid rgb(91, 155, 213); mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #5B9BD5 .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-right-alt: solid #5B9BD5 .5pt; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-top-alt: solid #5B9BD5 .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent5; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.85pt;" valign="top" width="208">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-yfti-cnfc: 1;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background-color: white; background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 10.5pt;">2022 value of $5000<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #deeaf6; background: rgb(222, 234, 246); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid rgb(156, 194, 229); mso-background-themecolor: accent5; mso-background-themetint: 51; mso-border-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-themetint: 153; mso-border-top-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-top-themetint: 153; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.8pt;" valign="top" width="208">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-yfti-cnfc: 68;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background-color: white; background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 10.5pt;">Gas/gallon<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="background-color: #deeaf6; background: rgb(222, 234, 246); border-bottom-color: rgb(156, 194, 229); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(156, 194, 229); border-left: none; border-right-color: rgb(156, 194, 229); border-right-width: 1pt; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(156, 194, 229); border-style: none solid solid none; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent5; mso-background-themetint: 51; mso-border-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-bottom-themetint: 153; mso-border-left-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-left-themetint: 153; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-right-themetint: 153; mso-border-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-themetint: 153; mso-border-top-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-top-themetint: 153; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.85pt;" valign="top" width="208">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-yfti-cnfc: 64;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background-color: white; background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 10.5pt;">15,151 gallons<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background-color: #deeaf6; background: rgb(222, 234, 246); border-bottom-color: rgb(156, 194, 229); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(156, 194, 229); border-left: none; border-right-color: rgb(156, 194, 229); border-right-width: 1pt; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(156, 194, 229); border-style: none solid solid none; border-top: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent5; mso-background-themetint: 51; mso-border-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-bottom-themetint: 153; mso-border-left-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-left-themetint: 153; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-right-themetint: 153; mso-border-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-themetint: 153; mso-border-top-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-top-themetint: 153; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.85pt;" valign="top" width="208">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-yfti-cnfc: 64;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background-color: white; background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 10.5pt;">1,315 gallons<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid rgb(156, 194, 229); mso-border-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-themetint: 153; mso-border-top-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-top-themetint: 153; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.8pt;" valign="top" width="208">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-yfti-cnfc: 4;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background-color: white; background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 10.5pt;">House<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(156, 194, 229); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(156, 194, 229); border-left: none; border-right-color: rgb(156, 194, 229); border-right-width: 1pt; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(156, 194, 229); border-style: none solid solid none; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-bottom-themetint: 153; mso-border-left-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-left-themetint: 153; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-right-themetint: 153; mso-border-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-themetint: 153; mso-border-top-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-top-themetint: 153; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.85pt;" valign="top" width="208">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background-color: white; background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 10.5pt;">2.5 houses<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(156, 194, 229); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(156, 194, 229); border-left: none; border-right-color: rgb(156, 194, 229); border-right-width: 1pt; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(156, 194, 229); border-style: none solid solid none; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-bottom-themetint: 153; mso-border-left-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-left-themetint: 153; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-right-themetint: 153; mso-border-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-themetint: 153; mso-border-top-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-top-themetint: 153; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.85pt;" valign="top" width="208">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background-color: white; background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 10.5pt;">0.014 houses<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.1pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="background-color: #deeaf6; background: rgb(222, 234, 246); border-top: none; border: 1pt solid rgb(156, 194, 229); height: 12.1pt; mso-background-themecolor: accent5; mso-background-themetint: 51; mso-border-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-themetint: 153; mso-border-top-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-top-themetint: 153; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.8pt;" valign="top" width="208">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-yfti-cnfc: 68;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background-color: white; background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 10.5pt;">Car<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="background-color: #deeaf6; background: rgb(222, 234, 246); border-bottom-color: rgb(156, 194, 229); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(156, 194, 229); border-left: none; border-right-color: rgb(156, 194, 229); border-right-width: 1pt; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(156, 194, 229); border-style: none solid solid none; border-top: none; height: 12.1pt; mso-background-themecolor: accent5; mso-background-themetint: 51; mso-border-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-bottom-themetint: 153; mso-border-left-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-left-themetint: 153; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-right-themetint: 153; mso-border-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-themetint: 153; mso-border-top-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-top-themetint: 153; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.85pt;" valign="top" width="208">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-yfti-cnfc: 64;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background-color: white; background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 10.5pt;">2.5 cars<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="background-color: #deeaf6; background: rgb(222, 234, 246); border-bottom-color: rgb(156, 194, 229); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(156, 194, 229); border-left: none; border-right-color: rgb(156, 194, 229); border-right-width: 1pt; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(156, 194, 229); border-style: none solid solid none; border-top: none; height: 12.1pt; mso-background-themecolor: accent5; mso-background-themetint: 51; mso-border-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-bottom-themetint: 153; mso-border-left-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-left-themetint: 153; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-right-themetint: 153; mso-border-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-themetint: 153; mso-border-top-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-top-themetint: 153; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.85pt;" valign="top" width="208">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-yfti-cnfc: 64;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background-color: white; background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 10.5pt;">0.16 cars<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid rgb(156, 194, 229); mso-border-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-themetint: 153; mso-border-top-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-top-themetint: 153; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.8pt;" valign="top" width="208">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-yfti-cnfc: 4;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background-color: white; background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 10.5pt;">Tuition<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(156, 194, 229); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(156, 194, 229); border-left: none; border-right-color: rgb(156, 194, 229); border-right-width: 1pt; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(156, 194, 229); border-style: none solid solid none; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-bottom-themetint: 153; mso-border-left-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-left-themetint: 153; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-right-themetint: 153; mso-border-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-themetint: 153; mso-border-top-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-top-themetint: 153; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.85pt;" valign="top" width="208">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background-color: white; background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 10.5pt;">4 kids through college<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(156, 194, 229); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-bottom: 1pt solid rgb(156, 194, 229); border-left: none; border-right-color: rgb(156, 194, 229); border-right-width: 1pt; border-right: 1pt solid rgb(156, 194, 229); border-style: none solid solid none; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-bottom-themetint: 153; mso-border-left-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-left-themetint: 153; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-right-themetint: 153; mso-border-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-themetint: 153; mso-border-top-alt: solid #9CC2E5 .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent5; mso-border-top-themetint: 153; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.85pt;" valign="top" width="208">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background-color: white; background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 10.5pt;">0.09 of a kid through college<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background-color: white; background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span>It is what causes many in the workforce to require two jobs
to make ends meet. It is what makes
married people both get jobs so they can raise a family. It is what prevents many working-class people
from ever getting positive cash flow. It
is what helps cause wealth inequality.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><h1>Wage-Price Spiral<o:p></o:p></h1><p class="MsoNormal">Economics describes “wage-price spiral” situation where an
increase in wages leads consumers to purchase more product thereby increasing
demand which makes business increase prices and can lead to price inflation. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Why does increased demand make businesses increase
prices? The increased demand amounts to
increased sales revenue and more profit for business. Even if the production capacity of the
business is exceeded in this scenario, good business management knows how to
increase capacity to meet the increased demand.
There is no good or ethical reason that business should increase prices
in this situation. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Some people may be thinking of the Supply and Demand curve
of economics theory which they are taught makes price increases acceptable and
necessary when demand increases. But the
increased demand has allowed the business to reach its profit targets sooner
than planned. Any additional sales are
beneficial and can be accommodated provided the manufacturer focuses capacity
towards making those high demand products. It is a bonus for business to have
high demand products and not a bad thing.
Punishing the consumer or “shaking their pockets” for more money by
increasing price is not necessary. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The most likely reason that business does increase prices
when demand increases is because they can. Economic theories like the wage-price spiral and
supply and demand make it seem that business has no choice or is legally obligated
to increase prices when demand increases.
It seems to give them tacit approval to continue doing so. That is not the intention of economics theory.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Some might say that business is taking a risk that might make
them lose customer demand if the price is raised too high. They may argue that the supply
and demand curve attempts to explain this.
However, taking into consideration the benefit that high demand has on
business profits, it is really just greed and the profit motive that brings
some businesses to inflate prices in this situation. <o:p></o:p></p><h1>Conclusions<o:p></o:p></h1><p class="MsoNormal">Economics theory should not be viewed as a set of hard rules
that all businesses must follow. Every
business owner has free will to set any price that they want and establish any
profit margin they want. The driving
force of most businesses in America is increasing profits. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The decisions of business owners are their own and not based
on some economic theory that they are subject to. That would be putting the cart before the
horse, so to speak. No business owner,
one day realizes that there is price inflation and then increases prices. (Well, maybe those who missed the earlier opportunity
for price increases might.) It is the
price increase that causes and worsens price inflation and not the other way
around. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Capitalism is a good thing that has done much to provide
technological improvements for society and provide affluence to many. However, there is a need for business to
consider more than just the race for profits.
For example, it should consider the worker as an important partner who
should benefit when the business benefits and deserves respect and be valued by
management. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Business decisions should be made with concern for the
impact they have on society as a whole.
Decisions that may increase wealth inequality, devalue money or increase
inflation should be avoided. The
motivation for being in business should expand to more than just profiting. Business needs to become smarter and more
humane. <o:p></o:p></p><h1>Suggested Corrective Measures<o:p></o:p></h1><p class="MsoNormal">Business itself is largely responsible for the condition of
the economy at any point in time. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Business regulations should be enacted to prevent the cycle
of money devaluation and wealth inequality it causes. For example, laws preventing increased
pricing after Fed action to stimulate the economy should be enacted. Prices should remain at previous levels for
some period of time once the Fed action is undertaken. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Government regulations should be created that require providing
evidence that proves American businesses have searched adequately for American
candidates for jobs offered by industries partaking in the Visa work program. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Businesses use of off-shore account tax havens should be
investigated.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Government policies that favor off-shoring and relocation of
businesses to foreign countries should be re-evaluated and prevented when it
means loss of American jobs.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Businesses tendency to increase prices in high demand
situations should be the subject of a Congressional investigation that results
in regulations concerning acceptable and unacceptable business practices in
that regard. This is not to suggest that
prices must be regulated by government, but rather to restrain pricing impulses
during certain critical economic times.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Since the cycle of money devaluation is set in motion by
actions of business and since the devaluation makes it more difficult for
workers to support themselves, significant guaranteed recurring pay raises for
all workers should be made law. This is
in addition to minimum wage laws.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Laws concerning business ethics should be
established to provide guidance for business and punishment for businesses when
bad business ethics violates the law.</span></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /></div></w:sdt><div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-33272407605473206872022-01-22T22:20:00.005-05:002022-05-03T16:53:41.144-04:00President Biden's One Year accomplishments<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjmlOiwDCpjsegQhsBBiKsrtp8Ik47ioBjNQAmPKzKLzqAyp1KF9CnOYGPbX-2ZFYHUZUefGka27FT0olTX1lQo1cPpTMlHZ1z32j55F5fRj0do9RaU5LB9xBPwlkIfYbWYAcI2fuDQmBfQ04lqDPVyDrzDdbcubqxxMpv4PnhZgWoz214s7lg=s2500" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1713" data-original-width="2500" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjmlOiwDCpjsegQhsBBiKsrtp8Ik47ioBjNQAmPKzKLzqAyp1KF9CnOYGPbX-2ZFYHUZUefGka27FT0olTX1lQo1cPpTMlHZ1z32j55F5fRj0do9RaU5LB9xBPwlkIfYbWYAcI2fuDQmBfQ04lqDPVyDrzDdbcubqxxMpv4PnhZgWoz214s7lg=w200-h137" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anti-Democracy GOP</td></tr></tbody></table> After President Biden's one year anniversary in office, the media and GOP leaders have been labeling him as unpopular with the American people. <p></p><p>Despite the reality of his successes, it is true that in recent polls of his popularity, some Americans rate him lower than when his term began. But to lay all the blame on the President is unfair and misleading. It minimizes what President Biden has accomplished over the past year, much of which most Americans don't realize. It also misses the fact that there are people, who are mostly GOP Congressional members, who do not want President Biden to succeed and are able to prevent him from accomplishing more. <br /></p><p>Despite Congressional obstruction, there were many things accomplished in President Biden's first year in office. Remember that he got bipartisan support for and passed the Infrastructure and Jobs Act, giving over $1.2 trillion for building and repairing infrastructure in every state. This accomplishment alone will improve the lives of average Americans, increase jobs, benefit workers unions and make the rich and stockholders much richer. But he didn't stop there.</p><p>Biden signed the American Rescue Plan that gave $1.9 trillion in relief to people and businesses. The plan restored veterans benefits which had been cut under Trump. It increased Affordable Care Act funding and provided new coverage options and lower prices. The plan saved American jobs in the airline industry by preventing layoffs and furloughs planned by lack of business. Some $4 billion of the plan will benefit socially disadvantaged farmers. $1 billion will be used for a racial equality commission. </p><p>President Biden used the Defense Production Act to accelerate vaccine development, and supply personal protective equipment. This saved lives by delivering protection months earlier than expected. Following scientific recommendations, Biden took actions to limit the spread of COVID such as issuing rules for companies with more than 100 employees to require vaccines. He doubled military health teams assisting hospitals. He required federal employees to be vaccinated. </p><p>The President increased the number of immunizations available and increased the locations of immunization sites so that over 200 million Americans have been vaccinated as of today.</p><p>President Biden used a global attack on COVID by directing the US to donate $4 billion to international vaccine distribution.</p><p>Besides this, President Biden kept to his pledge to increase wages by increasing Federal workers pay to $15/hr after Republicans rejected a national wage increase for all workers. Families budgets would stretch further as Biden increased SNAP funding by 15% for families who qualified for free school lunches. He increased food stamp benefits to needy families by 25%. He released rules to help protect patients from unexpected medical bills. He established a $2.5 billion fund to address mental illness and addiction. He approved pension relief which kept more than 100 pensions solvent.</p><p>He helped alleviate supply issues by making agreements with the busiest ports in America. His enacted an executive order that will make American suppliers less dependent on foreign companies. </p><p>He returned money to the teachers in Republican run states who had their pay withheld for instituting mask mandates.</p><p>These are only a few of the many accomplishments President Biden has already accomplished. </p><p>If he were allowed to continue with his plans for the Build Back Better Act, much more would be accomplished. Unfortunately all Republicans and a couple of Republican-acting Democrats are preventing this. </p><p>If he was allowed to sign voter rights legislation, our democracy could be protected and not be potentially turned into an autocratic state, which the GOP membership seems to prefer. Again all Republicans and a couple of Republican-acting Democrats are preventing this.</p><p>If President Biden did not receive obstruction by the GOP, would you benefit from the Build Back Better plan and the Voter Rights plan he and Democrats want to pass? </p><p>Would you prefer a Republican administration whose only policy is to block progress made for Americans and install an autocrat who incites insurrection and tries to steal elections with the help of the Republican party, cult followers and insane lawyers? </p><p>When the Republicans were in power, the only thing they accomplished was to give the ultra-rich a tax break that would provide them with $1.7 trillion dollars every 10 years and continuing forever. They tried really hard to kill healthcare and were it not for John McCain, they would have succeeded. </p><p>If they were in power again, this GOP would certainly eliminate social security, eliminate public schools, privatize the post office and allow voter suppression laws to be enacted to be sure they remain in power forever. Democracy would become a facade. People may still be allowed to vote, but the votes couldn't be trusted. </p><p>So it's important that Americans don't think President Biden is as popular as he once was. It lets the Democrats realize that their message is being diluted or diminished. It is up to Democratic leadership to ensure the following: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span> </span>That the Democratic message is clear. </li><li><span> </span>That the President's accomplishments are common knowledge. </li><li><span> </span>That the differences between the anti-democracy GOP and the Democrats is easily understood. </li><li><span> T</span>hat the successful future of America and every American depends heavily on Democrats governing.</li></ul><div><br /></div><p></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-17079030081642302902022-01-05T19:36:00.005-05:002022-01-06T02:11:03.812-05:00Can Merrick Garland shake some sense into Trump's loyal MAGATS? <blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-dcPWnFiAr9bkUsOynInDShyS2yErmKblvo0xOiWArWWAPgfDsq-yM9oN_G5U6CPnnLfjX7nuj_n5PZ2WJhKNmyIxPWpBR_q1Mc00xMXJ8SGZd7WIiNruwFScHtx6Nwn-m9S7FMvL3FJcjmTC5JSrciMabkDEzCJbYs_yLpbquyKsBXG7ih0=s2880" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="2880" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-dcPWnFiAr9bkUsOynInDShyS2yErmKblvo0xOiWArWWAPgfDsq-yM9oN_G5U6CPnnLfjX7nuj_n5PZ2WJhKNmyIxPWpBR_q1Mc00xMXJ8SGZd7WIiNruwFScHtx6Nwn-m9S7FMvL3FJcjmTC5JSrciMabkDEzCJbYs_yLpbquyKsBXG7ih0=w200-h172" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MAGA insurrection</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"><span>It is nearly a year since Trump supporters were organized by former President Trump and the Republican leadership to attack the Capitol Building in an attempt to stop the transfer of power from Trump to Biden.</span> </p><p style="text-align: left;"><span>Today, Merrick Garland, Biden Administration Attorney General, gave a public presentation of the progress that the Justice Department has made concerning the January 6, 2021 insurrection. His explanation covered multiple areas of past, present and future activities of DOJ involvement. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span>Garland explained that the investigation is being run in accordance with DOJ procedures and started with the lower level insurrectionists who broke into the Capitol building, but will not stop there. In a sweeping statement, Garland indicated the DOJ will follow the facts as far as they lead. Every person who was involved in the planning, encouragement, inciting, funding and desecration will be held accountable and suffer whatever punishments are appropriate by law regardless of who they are. No one will be given favoritism because of stature, position, party membership or wealth and everyone will be treated equally. It appears that this DOJ may really carry out consequences. It is so important for the country to realize the culprits for who they really are. Our Democracy depends on it.</span> </p><p style="text-align: left;"><span>The seriousness of this investigation cannot be denied. The results may and should remove many in Republican leadership positions who financially supported the insurrectionists and contributed to the insurrection by promoting the lies that led to it.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span>Garland spoke directly about the "Big Lie." The "Big Lie" is the prerequisite misdirection used by Donald Trump and the Republican leadership in order to enrage and incite their army of MAGATS </span>to physically rise up against the government. The "Big Lie" states that there was Democrat initiated election fraud in the 2020 elections and that Joe Biden stole the election from the "true" winner, Donald Trump. It is a lie. Garland mentioned that the intelligence communities and DOJ of both the Trump administration and the Biden administration found no election fraud. Further he stated that the "Big Lie" was being used by Republican run states to initiate restrictive election laws that would deny many voters of their vote. He mentioned that some states even established laws that would allow partisan (Republican) secretaries of state to throw out votes at their whim. Garland indicated that the DOJ would do everything in their power to preserve the right to vote as that is the foundation of our Democracy. Without a real sense that every citizen's vote is counted, America would become no different than the fake Democracies of other autocratic dictatorships. Garland appealed to the Congress to vote to initiate the actions of the Department of Justice to ensure the voting laws of the United States are not being violated.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Presumably the findings of the Congressional January sixth Committee will be shared with the DOJ, since it appears the DOJ will be further investigating the attack on American Democracy.</p><p style="text-align: left;">With so many MAGATS still stuck in the cult belief that the "Big Lie" is truth, it will probably be a cold day in Hell when they come around, but perhaps the DOJ investigation will help. Something needs to shake them free of the mind control the GOP and Trump have on them. For the sake of the country, I hope they see the light.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"> </p><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-88154410580861744362021-06-06T00:16:00.006-04:002021-06-06T13:57:40.441-04:00Is the GOP willing to give up democracy to a Trump autocracy?<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdyjQLmkWLjeMkUwz6KFGd0FwmWvX15Vw9iB2APAcI43shoPQJ9cvJlXM_Cet9nQXXsgS80bQErqIQqdLNi2ygKsLoPw9-yf4tOotkKLPmBPnXpzSHJHibvPKMh3joU-GyED765g/s2048/Trump+Russians.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1319" data-original-width="2048" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdyjQLmkWLjeMkUwz6KFGd0FwmWvX15Vw9iB2APAcI43shoPQJ9cvJlXM_Cet9nQXXsgS80bQErqIQqdLNi2ygKsLoPw9-yf4tOotkKLPmBPnXpzSHJHibvPKMh3joU-GyED765g/w320-h206/Trump+Russians.jpeg" title="Trump excludes US Press includes Russians" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Russians favored over US Press</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial;">What is wrong with the GOP? I’ve been critical of the Trump presidency these last four years, and am still exhausted from the experience. It is unbelievable that there are any Trump loving voters left in the Republican party, but instead we see a large majority of Republicans who see Trump as the leader of the Republican party. Some even believe his “big lie” that the election was stolen by Democrats and Trump is the true President.</span></span></div><p></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We've all been through the Trump Presidency and know how bad it was. It is unforgivable for Republicans to perpetuate the “big lie” and not speak out against it. Republican leaders must leave the crazy train, yet we see more and more Republican leaders who not only praise Trump, but also act as insane as Trump himself.</span></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A friend has enumerated some of the damaging, illegal and just crazy things that Trump has done that I have listed below. This should make it clear that he is a real danger to American democracy should he re-enter politics.</span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ5ple8HDjza0sRer4zDPPzAyPX9S-IeT6HSzP1stsCkBKfviJbBEFYMpoHNv96VDsV7ByMiGecwN23eaDGDaLqAa0D6mCfm8y7uXqq35WSs9pK8pKfv4WNPfDigVaKLM3K87gJA/s275/insurrection.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ5ple8HDjza0sRer4zDPPzAyPX9S-IeT6HSzP1stsCkBKfviJbBEFYMpoHNv96VDsV7ByMiGecwN23eaDGDaLqAa0D6mCfm8y7uXqq35WSs9pK8pKfv4WNPfDigVaKLM3K87gJA/s0/insurrection.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Trump incited Insurrection</span></td></tr></tbody></table><b><i><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial;">He tried to block all Muslims from entering the country.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></i></b><p></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>Trump incited an insurrection against the government. </i></b></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><b><i><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></i></b></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He mismanaged a pandemic that killed nearly half a million Americans.</i></b></span></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He separated children from their families and then lost those children in the bureaucracy. </i></b></span></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He tear-gassed peaceful protesters on Lafayette Square so he could get a photo op holding a bible in front of a church.</i></b></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq90XMOh-A54z8PqF6xfkQOJzyiZjqTNc0gjVs4ELjVY9xCNN6_40ituLpeB4TAzZGeZYMYVKzJkHFwFc6fCVO1FsuVWrM_cgI763YunZSEmsUnZatxbeAxNGXhP5t1mrRJmBvjQ/s275/lafayette+Square.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><b><i> <span style="text-align: left;"> </span></i></b></a></span></span></div><p></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He got impeached and then got impeached again. </i></b></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><b><i><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq90XMOh-A54z8PqF6xfkQOJzyiZjqTNc0gjVs4ELjVY9xCNN6_40ituLpeB4TAzZGeZYMYVKzJkHFwFc6fCVO1FsuVWrM_cgI763YunZSEmsUnZatxbeAxNGXhP5t1mrRJmBvjQ/s0/lafayette+Square.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></i></b></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><i>Tear gas used on peaceful protestors</i></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He had the worst jobs record of any president in modern history. </i></b></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He pressured Ukraine to dig dirt on Joe Biden.</i></b></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He fired the FBI director for investigating his ties to Russia and then bragged about firing the FBI director on TV. </i></b></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><i><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></i></b></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i><br />He took Vladimir Putin’s word over the US intelligence community. </i></b></span><p></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUKfSXwM21Rnkfl2zkyzK45QlwXWYSri6bS10g1ZOwp-0yAkYNOi1vMCi5dVmlIxpWmChGRep4HMMej6W7zd1EUIYaeRxa9aJKgIEpgoBN9X5PmIl_vDupYrzMCoy8loIxtO83mA/s300/Helsinki.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><b><i><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUKfSXwM21Rnkfl2zkyzK45QlwXWYSri6bS10g1ZOwp-0yAkYNOi1vMCi5dVmlIxpWmChGRep4HMMej6W7zd1EUIYaeRxa9aJKgIEpgoBN9X5PmIl_vDupYrzMCoy8loIxtO83mA/s0/Helsinki.jpeg" /></span></i></b></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><b><i>Trump submissive to Putin at Helsinki</i></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He diverted military funding to build his wall. </i></b></span><p></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He caused the longest government shutdown in US history. </i></b></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He called Black Lives Matter a “symbol of hate”. </i></b></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He lied nearly 30,000 times during his Presidential term. </i></b></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He banned transgender people from serving in the military. </i></b></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He ejected reporters from the White House briefing room who asked tough questions. </i></b></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He vetoed the defense funding bill because it renamed military bases named for Confederate soldiers. </i></b></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He refused to release his tax returns. </i></b></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He increased the national debt by nearly $8 trillion. </i></b></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He had three of the highest annual trade deficits in U.S. History. </i></b></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He called veterans and soldiers who died in combat losers and suckers. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPJYvmKTwEFaanesUJ4iOa7shZHvnhl6phillUIcCwHrbb8b2h-M2TBUUbYlIafxbiDqsKRge1SlIGogFpW6gIwPwDAJ62kPp7ZT9gEm20qLI6OjR3Zt4SozffsPNbPBW0-p0UmQ/s272/Saudi+Prince.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><b><i><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="185" data-original-width="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPJYvmKTwEFaanesUJ4iOa7shZHvnhl6phillUIcCwHrbb8b2h-M2TBUUbYlIafxbiDqsKRge1SlIGogFpW6gIwPwDAJ62kPp7ZT9gEm20qLI6OjR3Zt4SozffsPNbPBW0-p0UmQ/s0/Saudi+Prince.jpeg" /></span></i></b></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Trump signals he's OK with Saudi Prince</span> </i></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He coddled the leader of Saudi Arabia after he ordered the execution and dismembering of a US-based journalist. <br /></i></b></span><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He refused to concede the 2020 election. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He hired his unqualified daughter and son-in-law to work in the White House. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He walked out of an interview with Lesley Stahl. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPOPs2VRhEeyiRe_wqRqyxF6xgFubEbeMiQJRYuLPXArtkJolDKQ_8GjGh9fb5jjLhG_3iunSzrDvrEhqLtsaKEMsIHjiisa5pfk7qPEhZPzFSFxZIXxajxnIk1EEpOh5Nb6GEPQ/s1200/Charlotteville.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><b><i><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPOPs2VRhEeyiRe_wqRqyxF6xgFubEbeMiQJRYuLPXArtkJolDKQ_8GjGh9fb5jjLhG_3iunSzrDvrEhqLtsaKEMsIHjiisa5pfk7qPEhZPzFSFxZIXxajxnIk1EEpOh5Nb6GEPQ/s320/Charlotteville.jpeg" width="320" /></span></i></b></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><b><i>Neo-Nazi rally at Charlottesville</i></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i><br />He called neo-Nazis “very fine people.” </i></b></span><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He suggested that people should inject bleach into their bodies to fight COVID. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He abandoned our allies the Kurds to Turkey. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He pushed through massive tax cuts for the wealthiest but balked at helping working Americans. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He incited anti-lockdown protestors in several states at the height of the pandemic.</i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He withdrew the US from the Paris climate accords. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He withdrew the US from the Iranian nuclear deal. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He withdrew the US from the Trans Pacific Partnership which was designed to block China’s advances. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He insulted his own Cabinet members on Twitter. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He pushed the leader of Montenegro out of the way during a photo op. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He failed to reiterate US commitment to defending NATO allies. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He called Haiti and African nations “shithole” countries. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He called the city of Baltimore the “worst in the nation.” </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He claimed that he single handedly brought back the phrase “Merry Christmas” even though it hadn’t gone anywhere. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He forced his Cabinet members to praise him publicly like some cult leader. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He believed he should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He berated and belittled his hand-picked Attorney General when he recused himself from the Russia probe. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He suggested the US should buy Greenland. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He colluded with Mitch McConnell to push through federal judges and two Supreme Court justices after supporting efforts to prevent his predecessor from appointing judges. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He repeatedly called the media “enemies of the people.” </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He claimed that if we tested fewer people for COVID we’d have fewer cases. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He violated the emoluments clause. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He thought that Nambia was a country. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He told Bob Woodward in private that the coronavirus was a big deal but then downplayed it in public. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He called his exceedingly faithful vice president a “p---y” for following the Constitution. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He nearly got us into a war with Iran after threatening them by tweet. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He nominated a corrupt head of the EPA. He nominated a corrupt head of HHS. He nominated a corrupt head of the Interior Department. He nominated a corrupt head of the USDA. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He praised dictators and authoritarians around the world while criticizing allies. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He refused to allow the presidential transition to begin. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He insulted war hero John McCain – even after his death. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He spent an obscene amount of time playing golf after criticizing Barack Obama for playing (far less) golf while president. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He falsely claimed that he won the 2016 popular vote. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He called the Muslim mayor of London a “stone cold loser.” </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He falsely claimed that he turned down being Time’s Man of the Year. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He considered firing special counsel Robert Mueller on several occasions. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He mocked wearing face masks to guard against transmitting COVID. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He locked Congress out of its constitutional duty to confirm Cabinet officials by hiring acting ones. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He used a racist dog whistle by calling COVID the “China virus.” </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He hired and associated with numerous shady figures that were eventually convicted of federal offenses including his campaign manager and national security adviser. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He pardoned several of his shady convicted associates. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to two congressman who amplified his batshit crazy conspiracy theories. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He got into a telephone fight with the leader of Australia(!). </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He had a Secretary of State who called him a moron. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu7MqXYpZzqC6_ap5nVivNZ53uKMTVuc1S7pxLqanij54W2ttfeBxflTE2D1XfES5msjH5IuvsVBpxcTPIn6iPwdZLwPZgTuyOMHXtNxdqCriTx4Lnv66TLqTJjduoY_1C1fcvpw/s1200/crowd+split.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><i><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu7MqXYpZzqC6_ap5nVivNZ53uKMTVuc1S7pxLqanij54W2ttfeBxflTE2D1XfES5msjH5IuvsVBpxcTPIn6iPwdZLwPZgTuyOMHXtNxdqCriTx4Lnv66TLqTJjduoY_1C1fcvpw/s320/crowd+split.jpeg" width="320" /></span></i></b></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He forced his press secretary to claim without merit that his was the largest inauguration crowd in history. <br /></i></b></span><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He botched the COVID vaccine rollout. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He tweeted so much dangerous propaganda that Twitter eventually banned him. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He charged the Secret Service jacked-up rates at his properties. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He constantly interrupted Joe Biden in their first presidential debate. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He claimed that COVID would “magically” disappear. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He called a U.S. Senator “Pocahontas.” </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He used his Twitter account to blast Nordstrom when it stopped selling Ivanka’s merchandise.</i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He opened up millions of pristine federal lands to development and drilling. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><b><i><span style="font-family: arial;">He got into a losing tariff war with China that forced US taxpayers to bail out farmers and </span><span style="font-family: arial;">claimed that his losing tariff war was a win for the US. </span></i></b></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He ignored or didn’t even take part in daily intelligence briefings. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He blew off honoring American war dead in France because it was raining. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He redesigned Air Force One to look like the Trump Shuttle. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He got played by Kim Jung Un and his “love letters.” </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He threatened to go after social media companies in clear violation of the Constitution. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He botched the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and threw paper towels at Puerto Ricans when he finally visited them. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He pressured the governor and secretary of state of Georgia to “find” him votes. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He thought that the Virgin Islands had a President. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He drew on a map with a Sharpie to justify his inaccurate tweet that Alabama was threatened by a hurricane. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He allowed White House staff to use personal email accounts for official businesses after blasting Hillary Clinton for doing the same thing. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><b><i><span style="font-family: arial;">He rolled back regulations that protected the public from mercury and asbestos hazards. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">He pushed regulators to waste time studying snake-oil remedies for COVID. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">He rolled back regulations that stopped coal companies from dumping waste into rivers. </span></i></b></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He held blatant campaign rallies at the White House. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He tried to take away millions of Americans’ health insurance because the law was named for a Black man. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He refused to attend his successors’ inauguration. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He nominated the worst Education Secretary in history. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He threatened judges who didn’t do what he wanted. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He promised that Mexico would pay for the wall (They didn’t). </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He allowed political hacks to overrule government scientists on major reports on climate change and other issues. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He struggled navigating a ramp after claiming his opponent was feeble. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He called an African-American Congresswoman “low IQ.” </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He threatened to withhold federal aid from states and cities with Democratic leaders. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He went ahead with rallies filled with maskless supporters in the middle of a pandemic, one of which caused the death of Herman Cain from COVID-19. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He claimed that legitimate investigations of his wrongdoing were “witch hunts.” </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He seemed to demonstrate a belief that there were airports during the American Revolution. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He demanded “total loyalty” from the FBI director. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He praised a conspiracy theory that Democrats are Satanic pedophiles. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He completely gutted the Voice of America. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He placed a political hack in charge of the Postal Service. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He claimed without evidence that the Obama administration bugged Trump Tower. </i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>He claimed that the 2020 election was rigged and the democrats stole it. He claims he will be reinstated as President in August of 2021.</i></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There are many more serious and nefarious acts that Trump has undertaken since he was elected. The list could be much larger than those issues cited.</span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial;">He is a dangerous man who is totally incapable of being a President of all the people and has been described as having dangerous autocratic tendencies. He is a threat to American democracy. Watching the GOP support this is frustrating and concerning.</span></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So what is wrong with the GOP? One possibility is that they see themselves as a shrinking party with no way to continue to win elections unless they marry themselves to Trump. Trump seems to have convinced most of his cult following that he is the best person to lead the GOP. The GOP as a whole believes it is easier to get those cult followers votes if they join Trump in his insanity, rather than prove his insanity to the cult followers. </span></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Additionally, we see the GOP standing by Trump by rejecting the January 6<sup>th</sup> insurrection bipartisan investigation. We see the state level GOP leaders pushing the lie that election fraud caused Biden to win by creating laws that suppress voting rights and hiring a fake investigation of votes of certain states districts lost by Trump. </span></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Thoughtful and concerned citizens should realize that our democracy is fragile. The power of the ruling party can be used in nefarious ways to destroy that democracy. Citizens should be aware that the GOP no longer is a party for the people and instead has shown itself to be an anti-democracy cult full of conspiracy theorists who only want to remain in power because of what that power can mean to them personally. To them it is power to avoid prosecution of serious crimes. It is power to evoke huge monetary gains by grifting off the taxpayer. It is power to create state level laws that suppress voting rights. It is power to obtain millions of dollars from lobbyists who keep them in office. All they need from you is to believe their lies and give them your vote. After that they do not care about you anymore and will cater only to the needs of the richest of Americans.</span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Democracy needs politicians who will do what's best for the country and not their party or themselves. Democracy must be based on truth and politicians that lie cannot be a part of democracy. Voters must vote wisely because when a party has gone off the rails like the GOP, it is time to vote them out.</span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-39626548931543102172020-02-06T16:32:00.003-05:002020-03-25T23:29:32.396-04:00The First American Dictator<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHOmy04v_vh3k_SuUbTLAy0T1T55CnUgUKXMLWprary57RJmTN2nUTgTerzMtPIxdGzHpOqHyRlqBFAni56aVV-Q5zr1pVWASCqzQXD6FcNlRXMhhorVQZrQH4TOhZg4y87QqN8Q/s1600/Trump_dic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHOmy04v_vh3k_SuUbTLAy0T1T55CnUgUKXMLWprary57RJmTN2nUTgTerzMtPIxdGzHpOqHyRlqBFAni56aVV-Q5zr1pVWASCqzQXD6FcNlRXMhhorVQZrQH4TOhZg4y87QqN8Q/s1600/Trump_dic.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The First American Dictator</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today, in front of an audience of GOP members, Trump had a celebration with his allied partners in crime at the White House. He was celebrating escaping responsibility for violating the Constitution, exceeding his Presidential authority and obstructing justice. In other words, he celebrated escaping removal from office as a result of a scam Senate trial, designed to conceal damning evidence and all witnesses. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Trump is now emboldened. He cannot be impeached anymore. He is above the law. He can commit any crime and must remain in office as long as he is still in his presidential term. The check that the Congress had on him is now defunct. He has in effect, become the first American dictator.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today was, as Trump described it, "Total Acquittal" day. As before with the Mueller "Total Exoneration" day, Trump was free to celebrate with his accomplices, who he identified by name.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">His celebration started by reviewing what he called "unfair treatment" which "everybody wanted to come to an end. " He reminded his audience of the "witch hunt" he had to overcome "ever since I came down the elevator at Trump Tower." He used terms to describe the investigators of his campaign as "evil," "corrupt," "dirty cops," "leakers" and "liars." He explained that they have been after him since the beginning. He complimented himself for firing James Comey stating that he caught Comey "in the act." One of his most atrocious and frequently repeated statements was "this should never happen to another President." He said that Obama would have "jailed people already" giving a hint that Trump may be thinking about jailing his accusers in the near future.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then he began praising himself for the job he has done as President. He thanked the administration and Republican Congressmen for helping him accomplish so much. He claimed the stock market would have crashed if he was not elected and gave himself credit for it's continued success. He claims that the market responded well recently because it liked his state of the union address. He indicated someone (nameless) who said it was the best state of the union address ever.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He thanked his lawyer staff for working so hard to get him acquitted. "It just worked out" he said. "I did nothing wrong." He holds up the Washington Post with the headlines "Trump Acquitted." He called the Russia investigation "bullshit" and because of the Mueller investigation a "rough campaign" mixing reasons for his impeachment with the reason for his campaign investigation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He returned to his campaign investigation and called it running against "bad" and "evil" people; "Dirty cops" and a "FISA Court that should be ashamed." He made fun of the results of the Mueller testimony, saying it "didn't work out for the other side" and receiving laughter from his conspirators in the audience. He attacked Hillary Clinton and said "the DNC paid millions for a fake dossier." He claimed even "Steele said it was fake." He thanked his legal team saying they did a great job.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He called Adam Schiff "corrupt" and claimed he made up Trump's statements when on the phone with President Zelensky. He ridiculed Lieutenant Colonel Vindman. He gave credit to Tim Scott for telling him he never did anything wrong. He tells McConnell he did a "fantastic job." He thanks Mitch for getting 191 federal judges approved. Calls him a great guy and says Mitch understands this is crooked politics.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Trump insulted Nancy Pelosi numerous times about her sincerity about praying for Trump. His complicit Republicans applauded his comments condemning Pelosi. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He pointed out Bill Cassidy as a great man and someone he could go to about health insurance and pre-existing conditions. He compliments Mike Brand for an unknown reason. He compliments Chuck Grassley for getting James Comey to "choke." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He mentions Josh Hartley for winning over Claire McCaskill and congratulates himself for the Hartley's win. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He denounced Mitt Romney as someone who uses religion as a crutch. He asked the Congressman from Utah to apologize to Utah for Romney. He complimented Kelly Lafler for defending him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Trump says 197-0 with no explanation and follows that by "Democrats have horrible policies." He mentions "open borders, raising taxes, getting rid of healthcare." But he says Democrats are "vicious and mean." "Horrible persons." "They stick together like glue. That's how they impeached.", he claims.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then he announces the poll numbers for the Republican party and himself are the highest ever. He reminds people again that he thinks the impeachment was "unfair to his family and the country."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He returns to the "perfect call". "Think of it" he says, "a phone call." Many people were on the call." He says Ukraine and the United States were supposed to work together to get rid of corruption in Ukraine. He adds that there must be corruption in the Biden's if Hunter Biden worked for so much money. He turns against the European allies by saying they did not pay enough for Ukraine aid. He criticizes the Obama administration for putting up with it and says they did it because they were "righteous weaklings."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He resumed his praise of his willing accomplices by citing Kevin McCarthy as doing an incredible job.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">After giving himself credit for winning two house seats in 2018, Trump continues to name his accomplices for congratulatory purposes. He calls them Trump's warriors. He names:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kelly Armstrong, Jim Banks, Andy Biggs, Bradley Byrne, Doug Collins, Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordon, Debra Lesko, Mark Meadows, Ron DeSantis, Mike Johnson, Devin Nunes, Scott Perry, John Ratcliff, Steve Scalese, Mike Turner, Brad Wenstrup, Lee Zeldin and Louis Gohmert.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Republican party has allowed a wannabe tyrant to violate the Constitution, abuse his power and obstruct justice into an impeachment investigation. Like the arrogant bullies that they are, they sit in allegiance to their criminal leader and toss insults and false accusations on their political enemies, laughing and applauding at their chicanery.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">These Republicans think that their leader will carry them along to future success and prolonged political office, but their fate is sealed. They have chosen the criminal over the country. The criminal expects their loyalty, but does not return that loyalty. The moment Trump does something so unforgivable, that some begin to turn on him, they will be targeted. For those that survive Trump's retaliation, the country will make them pay for their treason.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Good people cannot permit the destruction of our Constitution and democracy. In a worst case scenario, as our government systems falter we will not be able to answer intrusion from adversaries. If our system of government falls, our safety and security will be lost. This will increase the need that our population has for the dictator, ironically making Trump even stronger. Chaos is good for Trump. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In order to hold our democracy together, we need all voters to vote as many Republicans as possible out of office. Forget about party allegiance for 2020. Once we get the corrupt politicians out, we can rebuild a friendlier two party system and work toward a better democracy and more unified country after that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is truly our last chance to save democracy. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-18363496661088412452020-02-01T12:39:00.000-05:002020-02-05T00:01:39.772-05:00A Party Disgraced<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJZHl0h_JQJ34ondyC1tLw52Zxv5w5toyak_hh8-NobolkO6TwDDsQq_Vs-Fcn4CMYTkBOWG8pEwymOogsUyUERxXwUNypugvh57xXhA14de4LF1Xh3Y8gYrklHwEF_X4_5B_WA/s1600/McConnell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="299" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJZHl0h_JQJ34ondyC1tLw52Zxv5w5toyak_hh8-NobolkO6TwDDsQq_Vs-Fcn4CMYTkBOWG8pEwymOogsUyUERxXwUNypugvh57xXhA14de4LF1Xh3Y8gYrklHwEF_X4_5B_WA/s320/McConnell.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">McConnell's Republican Scam</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Senate impeachment trial of Donald John Trump has reached its predetermined conclusion which Mitch McConnell openly admitted prior to the start of the trial. With only two dissenting Republicans, the vote to allow witnesses has been denied along party lines.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This is a foreshadowing of McConnell's ultimate pre-trial public admission, that Trump will be acquitted next week on both articles of impeachment, regardless of what the evidence shows.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Trump's actions to cheat in the 2020 election has been upheld by the GOP majority. And when you think about it, Republicans have become famous for finding ways to cheat at elections. They are the ones who created the false narrative around voter fraud. They found many ways to deter or suppress Democrats from voting. They came up with the idea to use mathematical models to help them win against overwhelming opposition by gerrymandering state districts. Why should Congressional Republicans expect their President to be any more honest than they themselves have shown to be? Why would they want their candidate to lose in the 2020 election? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">With patriotism devoid in the GOP, they do not care about the Constitution or their oath of office or the oath that they took at the start of the trial to be impartial jurors. Hell, they don't even care about guilt and innocence or right and wrong. They only care about power and money. The power they get from having their party's President working only for the rich and the money they get from that and ultra-rich donors who's sole bidding they do every day in the Congress.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If there was a party that the devil himself would join, it would be the Republican party. Think about the atrocities and cruel things that Trump has been allowed to get away with. Things like caging Latin-American men, women and children because he thinks they are undeserving of entry into America. Like losing track of over 1800 children in government custody. Like preventing the population of innocent Muslim countries from entering the United States. Like reducing and preventing immigration of refuges from Syria. Like undoing regulations that the Obama administration placed in order to protect Americans air and water. Like attempting to eliminate health protections of the Affordable Care Act. Like reversing DACA so that registered immigrant children are deported back to countries they don't even know. Like taking from the poor and middle class in order to fund a tax cut that satisfied the greed of the ultra-rich and himself.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">And his moral offenses are really something the devil would be proud of. Things like having extra-marital affairs with porn stars while his wife is pregnant. Like proudly speaking of sexually abusing women. Like hanging around with a pedophile and allegedly taking part in sex with underage girls. Like allegedly raping multiple women who have come forward. Trump is a scar on the Presidency that the Republican party not only approves of, but encourages to violate the American Constitution.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">With an acquittal, Republicans will have given up their constitutional duty to protect America from a tyrant. Every Republican Senator must now face the will of the American people if our republic is to survive. If America accepts this acquittal without removing those responsible, our government is lost. The one last chance America has to keep its democracy is left with the voting public. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Now that Trump will be very active in doing favors for other foreign countries in order to get them to help him cheat in the 2020 election, this may be a formidable task. It will take every person who is eligible to vote to get out and vote like our democracy depends on it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Because this time it really does.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-40433397645921113422020-01-23T17:23:00.003-05:002020-01-26T14:30:09.245-05:00Caution: Autocracy Ahead<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGe3IPCwbGrbWHLtfu4m89EBR3N3-vbma-XIYpz5BE7ByZ6Z9dP1N53aHz3tSuaBRcmsb0PwMVMN8iV9SROGih83n3iyGQGi2YGy-K7e3rDVuqxpDJedesVtLqUlv4d6JK6DlI9g/s1600/kingme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGe3IPCwbGrbWHLtfu4m89EBR3N3-vbma-XIYpz5BE7ByZ6Z9dP1N53aHz3tSuaBRcmsb0PwMVMN8iV9SROGih83n3iyGQGi2YGy-K7e3rDVuqxpDJedesVtLqUlv4d6JK6DlI9g/s320/kingme.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In February of 2017, Steve Bannon, then Trump administration mastermind, spoke at CPAC about how the policies of Donald Trump would become a "deconstruction of the administrative state." At the time, many observers believed he meant that the Trump administration would seek to change taxes, trade pacts and regulations in order to reduce the size of government and positively impact the economy and America's growth.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">However, Americans who have been following political news since that time should by now realize that Trump and his administration have amplified Bannon's statements to also mean strengthening and widening executive branch authority and tearing away at the balance of power between the branches of government.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We are now seeing what the founding fathers could never have imagined. The office of the President of the United States has always had great authority and power, but there were limitations on that power. Trump has seized power that was never intended by the founding fathers.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">During Trump's first term he has been able to replace administration officials that many thought would keep him in line. Anyone in his administration who would not comply with or simply spoke out against Trump's actions, especially when those actions were illegal or Constitutionally subversive, was fired. Any Justice Department official who was investigating him was fired or publicly humiliated by Trump. Trump replaced those officials with people who would be subservient and loyal to him and not to the Constitution of the United States or any oath they took for office.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In order to gain complete control of government so that no other branch has authority over him, Trump would need to have the cooperation of the Congress, cooperation of the Justice Department and a Judicial branch that would favor his policies without question. Trump is testing those waters now.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When he fired Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, Trump himself took the first step in creating his autocracy by hiring William Barr. Trump knew that Barr would be loyal to him and not the Constitution since he had written a memo in June of 2018, that some saw as a resume letter for the job of Attorney General. The letter showed he believed Trump could not be guilty of obstruction of justice. Barr had been known to be a proponent of the unitary executive theory ascribing to a nearly unhampered presidential authority.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Barr had criticized the Mueller report before taking office. While Attorney General, he summarized it publicly before the report was made available. Barr's summary indicated that the Mueller report was a complete exoneration of Donald Trump. It was not.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The investigation of the Mueller investigators requested by Trump showed no evidence that there was political bias against Trump, but Barr publicly stated that he did not believe his Inspector General. Barr was born to be Trump's second Roy Cohn and the person most likely to create an American dictator. With Barr at his side, Trump has complete control over the Justice Department.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Trump and his Republican cronies in Congress have already shown that they band together like a criminal organization where loyalty to the leader means more to them than loyalty to the nation. We know that the GOP meets with Trump to corroborate policies with him. They are in lock-step with Trump. The GOP has given up their Congressional power in this submission to Trump. To them, violating their oaths of office and the Constitution of the United States means nothing.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In allowing Trump to trample on the Constitution without rebuke, the Republican party has taken the second step into making Trump an autocrat. As long as Senate Republicans do not vote with the Democrats, Trump will not be removed from office. That is a priority in becoming a dictator. You must first be the President. Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, has publicly stated that he will not be an impartial juror and will be coordinating with the White House lawyers during any Senate impeachment trial. McConnell has also stated that he does not want any witnesses to appear. McConnell has said that Trump will never be removed from office, effectively admitting that the GOP will run a scam trial in order to acquit Trump.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The third step in becoming an autocrat is getting a docile and cooperative Judicial branch. Under Mitch McConnell, this began many years ago. The Republican party has been working diligently on the lifetime appointments of many conservative judges. More conservative judges have been appointed during Trump's term than ever before. With the GOP giving up their power to Trump, the judicial branch of Republican judges should fall in line with the needs of the party on substantial issues.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">McConnell had prevented Obama from appointing a Supreme Court judge for two years of his Presidency in hopes that a Republican would become the next President to appoint another Supreme Court conservative judge. That is exactly what happened. Judgeships are important to the Republican party and a key element in giving Donald J. Trump autocratic rule. But cooperating with the Judicial branch is not really very important to Donald Trump. White House officials have reported that Trump has already questioned the need for judges, signaling an end to the judiciary if he becomes the first United States dictator.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So all of the steps are in motion. Without some other intervening force, it seems very likely that Donald Trump will become the first United States dictator. Some readers may think this is impossible, but isn't it strange that Donald Trump has not been stopped yet? His plan is clear. His violations of Constitutional law are obvious. His mental state is questionable and many experts have stated that he is a danger to the security of America. Trump has been continuously assaulting American democracy since he was elected. This assault has not been prevented and appears will be encouraged by the Republican party. In a real democracy where there is a respect for the constitution and checks and balances, he would have been stopped long ago. Those checks and balances are no longer effective. Not much else is in his way.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Don't count on the American voter to remove Trump. If Trump is not removed from office, he will advertise it as complete exoneration. He is guilty of asking a foreign nation to interfere in an American election for his personal advantage. Knowing he can get away with it will inspire more of the same with other countries. We may have many foreign nations interfering in our elections. Who can tell if the vote tallies will be affected? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Don't count on the military to remove Trump. The President of the United States is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. They won't be able to help.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In a world where the President has unlimited power and malignant narcissism, expect the worst. My guess is that Trump will establish himself and family as the present and future rulers of America for the rest of our lifetimes. Why should he stop at himself being the dictator when he could have his family rule as American royalty for as long as Trumps exist.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Am I being too unrealistic and negative? I don't think so. I think Trump is totally capable of making a monarchy out of American democracy.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Who's going to stop him?</span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-14892003063927128112020-01-16T21:15:00.000-05:002020-01-16T21:39:05.955-05:00Trump's Acquittal is not Guaranteed<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlM9oP_35NL8xxyS9XMW3UlY5GNJ8zUs9VsDZbi8zJZPuhkU7UfuO8P53cNYFv1uzowMMBeYQAXXhIlCPXqOmSdD5GCIBi5mcSEWeQl3-PLRsVKfoMNM4LfnRl8XZjbmOWYP6aOg/s1600/GiuliniTrumpParnas.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlM9oP_35NL8xxyS9XMW3UlY5GNJ8zUs9VsDZbi8zJZPuhkU7UfuO8P53cNYFv1uzowMMBeYQAXXhIlCPXqOmSdD5GCIBi5mcSEWeQl3-PLRsVKfoMNM4LfnRl8XZjbmOWYP6aOg/s1600/GiuliniTrumpParnas.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Partners in Crime</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Today, America witnessed the start of the early proceedings to prepare the Senate for the impeachment trial of Donald John Trump, current President of the united States.<br />
<br />
But before those proceedings, we heard from the Government Accountability Office. The GAO has announced that Trump and the Budget Office did in fact break the law when Trump ordered that money approved by Congress to be released to Ukraine, was withheld. <br />
<br />
Before that, Lev Parnas, an associate on team Trump, who was tasked along with Rudy Giuliani and others, to coerce Ukrainian President Zelinsky, to announce an investigation into the Biden's, was interviewed on the Rachael Maddow show. <br />
<br />
Parnas admitted that Donald J. Trump directed and knew everything about this plot. Parnas reported that Trump's purpose was to gain political advantage over Joe Biden in the upcoming 2020 election. There were many pieces to accomplish this plot, including releasing Ukrainian oligarch Dimitry Firtash from DOJ prosecution in a legal case he was involved in, in exchange for announcing information that would be detrimental to the Mueller investigation. <br />
<br />
Parnas says that William Barr knew of the plot to release Firtash and was part of the team working for Trump. The Justice Department has denied any truth to those statements. Two colluding fox news TV lawyers (Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing) would become Firtash's lawyers and Parnas would broker them. All of this was to help ensure that the Ukrainians would make the announcement of the Biden investigation. Back at home, Trump had others at Fox news promoting his conspiracy theories about Joe Biden's son Hunter, to keep the Republican base focused on defending their leader.<br />
<br />
It seems appropriate that there should be an investigation into the actions of William Barr, Devin Nunes and others in the administration who colluded in this plot. If justice is done, we should see additional impeachments or incarceration against others in the Trump circle.<br />
<br />
It is hard to believe that the start of the Senate impeachment proceeding would be preempted by such relevant news directly related to the guilt of Donald J. Trump, but this is Trump's America where a mad man rules. You can expect the worst when a malignant narcissist has the keys to the country.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, back to the impeachment trial. <br />
<br />
Chief Justice John Roberts was sworn in by Chuck Grassley, to do impartial justice according to the Constitution and the law. Roberts gave the oath to swear in to all Senators, also to do impartial justice according to the Constitution and the law. Each Senator was called up to sign the document of their oath. <br />
<br />
Remember that McConnell and Graham have already publicly declared that they would be traitors to the Constitution and not be impartial jurors. They also already predetermined and announced that Trump would be acquitted in a rapid trial with no witnesses. <br />
<br />
I wonder how many of the GOP sycophants in the Senate were feeling a little differently about how their vote would go, being that they had just made a promise to the American people to be impartial. This was the quietest and most solemn period I have ever seen in the Senate.<br />
<br />
We shall see what GOP Senators will do in the coming days. They should be re-evaluating their intentions given the additional information that has come out recently. More incriminating evidence is sure to come out before the Senate trial begins. <br />
<br />
The Senate is expected to begin their trial in earnest on Tuesday of next week, January 21, 2020, although additional findings and Trump's travels may delay it.<br />
<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-61269915933270811092020-01-13T13:12:00.000-05:002020-01-26T13:28:15.402-05:00Trump's Soleimani Secrets<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0iAb5rTVl1PFnPQvc5cG0s9O2H38WVVjVWqWO2XkbN1kG8ZKxqpZHg7sj2ZUAbRAR7JUuAa_jY6VlPxCo4EjkFJ5YCEyC29gm7is2WNDFG2mbskNZo__d71JYXj_VLYS5PUqm8g/s1600/Soleimani.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="183" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0iAb5rTVl1PFnPQvc5cG0s9O2H38WVVjVWqWO2XkbN1kG8ZKxqpZHg7sj2ZUAbRAR7JUuAa_jY6VlPxCo4EjkFJ5YCEyC29gm7is2WNDFG2mbskNZo__d71JYXj_VLYS5PUqm8g/s320/Soleimani.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Qasem Soleimani</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
If you didn't know Donald Trump was a compulsive liar, then you probably will believe the lies he has been telling about the killing of the Iranian Quds Force commander, Qasem Soleimani. </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
Trump has been telling America that Soleimani was planning an imminent attack on four American embassies. Trump says Solemani's death stopped those attacks and saved American lives. In order for Trump to take military action without the approval of Congress, it would require an imminent threat to American lives. Without the urgency of an imminent attack, Trump would be abusing his Presidential authority and guilty once again of violating the American Constitution.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
But now defense secretary Mark Esper has admitted that there was no intelligence that discussed any immediate threat especially to American embassies. Esper indicated that he shared Trump's opinion, but it was only a personal opinion and not based on any information from the American intelligence community. He also said that the gang of eight had been told about the imminent threat.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
Adam Schiff, who is chair of the House Intelligence Committee and a member of the gang of eight, who are privy to highly classified information, indicated that there was no such intelligence shared with the gang of eight members.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
The original story Trump put out to the public was a lie. </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
NBC news has reported that Trump, at the insistence of Pompeo and Bolton, authorized the killing of Soleimani months ago but he required final sign-off and only if Iran killed an American. When a US contractor was killed in Iraq by Iranian proxies, killing Soleimani then qualified as an option for the US to counter the attack. But the US intelligence agencies indicated that Iran did not intend to escalate, but just keep pressure on the United States. The intelligence did not support the idea of an imminent threat to other Americans.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
After the contractor was killed, Trump ordered strikes that killed dozens of Iran-backed militia members, which led to protesters attack on the Baghdad embassy. This is when Trump decided to order the killing of Soleimani. There was no imminent threat.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
One of Trump's greatest lies is that he is a stable genius. In this case as in so many others with this President, Trump's malignant narcissism prevents him from taking the appropriate actions and allows him to carry out actions that support his alternative view of reality. </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
We have a mad man running the United States who has been given permission by his party to mold America into the newest Western dictatorship. If Republicans in Congress won't agree to remove him, then he must be removed from office by American voters before he can accomplish his sinister goal.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-46312295919641961622020-01-12T13:25:00.000-05:002020-01-26T13:28:22.785-05:00Trump's Legal Defense Team<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaae-on_KdNUSoak19et_QH_K69I7YCPz1m8rQOYHm2rZSAm1jroZyhi4qKyS8ETj7MxF0I-9Aa2gnyUo4VTCLWh8JsQaeTDLeg8QADrlft7n74g5u6OqKcDlszLxGge1o-2g1Yw/s1600/defenseteam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaae-on_KdNUSoak19et_QH_K69I7YCPz1m8rQOYHm2rZSAm1jroZyhi4qKyS8ETj7MxF0I-9Aa2gnyUo4VTCLWh8JsQaeTDLeg8QADrlft7n74g5u6OqKcDlszLxGge1o-2g1Yw/s400/defenseteam.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Besides the Senate Republicans, Trump has defense lawyers defending him in the Senate impeachment trial. By now the public has become familiar with Trump's peculiar choices in defense attorneys. A quick synopsis of some of them and their connection to Trump follows.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Pat Cipollone</i></b> served as assistant to Attorney General William Barr from 1992 to 1993. In private life, Trump was a client of Cipollone. Cipollone succeeded Don McGahn who departed (was fired) after he refused to fire Mueller as Trump requested him to do. Cipollone has been the voice of opposition to the Trump investigations and established the obstruction posture regarding the impeachment demands of Congress.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Jay Sekulow</i></b> has a history of making millions of dollars from businesses and charity organizations that he created with himself and his family members as owners. The Guardian reported that documents they obtained showed that attorneys general in New York and North Carolina had opened investigations into one of Sekulow's charities for pressure tactics on donors and misdirecting money to him and his family. Michael Cohen testified that Sekulow and other Trump attorneys made changes to his false statements about the length of time the Trump Tower project in Russia was ongoing. Cohen testified that it was Sekulow who instructed him to lie to Congress and testify falsely about the duration of the project.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Ken Starr</i></b> is best known for heading investigations into the Clinton administration known as "Whitewater." He was initially appointed by the Bush administration to investigate the death of Vince Foster and investments in Whitewater real estate by Bill Clinton. This was later expanded into investigating Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky. After four years of investigations, he released the Starr report, which stated that Clinton lied about his affair in a sworn deposition. This led to the Clinton impeachment. He was fired as president of Baylor University because he mishandled several sexual assaults there.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Alan Dershowitz</i></b> has been involved in several high profile legal cases. He is probably best known for his part as an attorney for O.J. Simpson during his murder trial. He has handled celebrity cases for Mike Tyson, Patty Hearst and Jim Bakker. He won an appeal for Claus von Bulow and defended Jeffrey Epstein as well being a consultant for the legal team defending Harvey Weinstein. Dershowitz stated that he will take a minor role in the defense of Trump, speaking only to the constitutional aspects of impeachment.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Robert Ray</i></b> has been the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York and was the successor to Ken Starr as the Independent Council when he investigated and issued final reports on the Whitewater investigation and other controversies.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Pam Bondi</i></b> is a former Florida Attorney General. Bondi was the lead attorney general in the unsuccessful lawsuit intended to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. She argued that the individual mandate provision of the Act was unconstitutional. Bondi joined with nineteen other Republican run states to allow insurance companies to charge people with pre-existing conditions more for insurance or to deny them coverage. While Bondi was still attorney general, she hosted Fox news shows and appeared on the Sean Hannity show. While Bondi was Florida attorney general, she first claimed to be joining a New York suit against Donald Trump for tax fraud in regard to the Trump University scandal. When a few days later, she received a $25,000 contribution from the Donald J Trump Foundation, she decided to drop out of the fraud case against Trump. In 2016, Bondi appeared at the Republican Convention where she led cheers of "lock her up" against Hillary Clinton. In 2019 she was hired by Ballad Partners, a firm with close ties to Trump. She also began working as a lobbyist for Qatar. She was hired by the Trump administration to help with messaging during Trump's impeachment.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Jane Raskin</i></b> is a Florida lawyer who represented Trump during the Mueller investigations. Resistance to Mueller's requests for interviews came from Raskin and her husband, also a lawyer on Trump's Mueller defense team.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-29884543174420569792020-01-10T12:16:00.000-05:002020-01-26T14:31:59.356-05:00Senate Scam Impeachment Trial<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3kiTZWZ8h7Yf51npc0d8yzlCgTQi7dChI0Z6IQFxRoAUTFbH2ue9eslY-LusKyVy-iuj5BuRMmbAM7IaPHlftZtV41_pi5dTebGjJMsQm-Sk_uhD_EUp6h8OKPTdSlL0IULoiyA/s1600/McConnell.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="129" data-original-width="150" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3kiTZWZ8h7Yf51npc0d8yzlCgTQi7dChI0Z6IQFxRoAUTFbH2ue9eslY-LusKyVy-iuj5BuRMmbAM7IaPHlftZtV41_pi5dTebGjJMsQm-Sk_uhD_EUp6h8OKPTdSlL0IULoiyA/s200/McConnell.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enemy of Justice</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
Nancy Pelosi will be passing the impeachment articles on to the Senate the week of January 13th. Shortly after that, Mitch McConnell will begin the Senate trial to decide the status of Trump's presidency. </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
The fate of our Democratic Republic depends on the outcome of the Senate impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump. </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
Senator McConnell said that he will not be an impartial juror and will coordinate every step of the Senate trial with the White House and Trump. Before the Senate trial even starts, Mitch McConnell, has publicly stated that Donald J. Trump will be acquitted and not be removed from office.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
McConnell says this, not because he believes Trump is innocent, but because he and the GOP Senators are rigging the trial to allow a guilty President to go unpunished and continue his abuse of power. The GOP will ignore their oath of office and the oath they will take before the trial to be impartial jurors. If there could be a definition of a treasonous party without there being a war, the GOP would exemplify it.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
The prosecutors of the Senate trial are the House members who are chosen as "case managers." At this time it is unclear who these people will be, but it is fairly certain that Adam Schiff, House Intelligence Committee chair and Jerry Nadler, Judiciary Committee chair will be among them. </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
Besides every Republican member of the Senate, Trump will have White House lawyers defending him. There is rumor that Alan Dershowitz may also be on Trump's legal team.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
It's possible that the Republicans may vote to dismiss the impeachment even before a trial commences. In the case of a Senate impeachment trial, only a simple majority would be needed to eliminate the impeachment proceedings. Although the expected outcome of dismissal would be the same as a scam trial, it may be too arrogant or at least unwise for the GOP to eliminate the trial altogether. There is the smallest chance that a few Republicans would vote against dismissing. With a dismissal, Republicans would not have a chance to cloud the issue of Trump's guilt and help him appear innocent to confuse American voters.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
As the trial starts, the Senate's sergeant-at-arms will proclaim that all persons are to remain silent, on pain of imprisonment, while the House is exhibiting to the Senate the articles of impeachment. </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
The trial will be overseen by Chief Justice John Roberts. With the Republicans so openly partisan and standing steadfastly by their guilty president, John Roberts' role may be moot. The Chief Justice will be able to rule on questions about evidence, however, his decision can be overridden by a simple majority vote in the Senate. Unless the Democrats can convince four or more Republican Senators to vote with them, it is likely that all votes will follow the Republican game plan and favor Trump. </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
McConnell said that he does not want any witnesses to be heard, however, Republican Senator Susan Collins has publicly announced that she is working with a small contingent of Republicans to ensure that witnesses can be heard. Based on Collins' previous actions it is fairly certain that she will walk back those words if a vote on witnesses is required, but we shall see.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
It would take a super majority of sixty-seven votes to convict and remove Donald Trump from office. Anything short of that leads to an acquittal. That verdict would be final and no appeals would be allowed.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
The outcome is certain. Donald Trump will be allowed to continue his pursuit of the destruction of our Constitution and democratic republic. </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
Perhaps the GOP believes Donald Trump will support their re-election, helping to maintain their Republican Senate majority. But they miss the most important point. Trump is guilty of violating our Constitution and is abusing Presidential power. The GOP has lost its sense of justice and its ability to do what is right for the country. Some could argue that the GOP lost those things many years ago, but it has become worse with Trump. </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
The best result of the trial we could expect is that it could generate significant controversy around the actions of the GOP in excusing Trump's violation of our Constitution. It may lead to more active participation by more Americans in peaceful demonstrations against autocracy. It may cause more Americans to vote against the GOP and Donald Trump in upcoming elections. Let's hope the GOP loses their Senate majority and loses the Presidency in 2020.</div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
The GOP will regret the day that they helped create the first American dictator. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-87862756822383149092020-01-05T21:02:00.003-05:002020-01-16T19:33:31.248-05:00How Trump's "Accomplishments" hurt Americans<head>
</head>
<br />
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj5fcND-GSbYE6A8eBIT840iyd1xgZFtun3Wmw7cZGucYgmka3UnOhHrzPIBqiZSoNbbg5Jff4JQmo7mqio5SVkBB4Oe2UAZXBMEillWhiQJ-TYsr1Ab0JYlh9IJCZrW6yx16RBQ/s1600/donald-trump-irony.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj5fcND-GSbYE6A8eBIT840iyd1xgZFtun3Wmw7cZGucYgmka3UnOhHrzPIBqiZSoNbbg5Jff4JQmo7mqio5SVkBB4Oe2UAZXBMEillWhiQJ-TYsr1Ab0JYlh9IJCZrW6yx16RBQ/s320/donald-trump-irony.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">President Donald (mocking J) Trump</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Republican media has stated that many more evangelicals will vote for Donald Trump in the 2020 election compared to 2016 because now they have seen all the things he has accomplished.</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
Since this is such a general statement of unproven fact, we thought it would make sense to review those things that the Trump Presidency has done for you.</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
The Trump Administration has published a list that it considers accomplishments of Donald Trump. They range from taking credit for 400,000 manufacturing jobs being created in three years to eliminating regulations. The complete list is found at <a href="http://whitehouse.gov/trump-administration-accomplishments/">http://whitehouse.gov/trump-administration-accomplishments/.</a></div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
In order to discuss how these "accomplishments" really hurt average Americans, I have grouped them into categories as follows:</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
1. Job related<br />
2. Regulation related<br />
3. Tax cut related<br />
4. Health related<br />
5. Energy related<br />
6. Armed forces related<br />
7. Judiciary related<br />
8. Export/Import related<br />
9. Immigration related</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
<u>Job related accomplishments</u><br />
Trump is taking credit for the growth in jobs, which amounted to 4,000,000 jobs since his election. Based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs since the recovery from the "great recession" of 2007, have been maintaining the same rate of growth. This growth rate was started due to the economic successes of the Obama administration in dealing with the greatest financial crisis since the great depression. The most Trump should take credit for related to job growth is that he hasn't yet had a downturn in job growth rate during his first term. </div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
<u>Regulation related</u><br />
Trump boasts that he has made it easier for businesses by reducing regulations. What he doesn't admit is that in many cases, those regulations were created to protect the environment and the Americans that must live in it. The Trump administration has reversed or is in process of reversing a total of ninety-five environmental regulations on pollution, toxic substances and safety and water purity. In many cases, this was done in an underhanded manner where the administration failed to provide a legal argument for the changes and skipped steps in the process such as notifying the public and asking for public comment. It has been estimated by the New York University Law School's State Energy and Environmental Impact Center that the increase in greenhouse gases and emissions from these regulation changes alone could lead to thousands of unnecessary deaths every year from air pollution and many more from the eventual damage to the earth through climate change.<br />
One can read the details of some of these and other reversed regulations on the <a href="http://brookings.edu/interactives/tracking-deregulation-in-the-trump-era/">Brookings Institute</a> site. Reviewing these regulation reversals makes it seem Trump thinks making America great again includes returning to a time when pollution was rampant. It also shows that he honors oil and gas company lobbyists much more than he values life.</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
<u>Tax cut related</u><br />
Trump is very proud of his tax cut program. He boasts that it is the biggest tax cut in history. But when one takes a closer look into the bill, one can understand why most Democrats view it as a tax scam. Briefly, the tax cuts created will deliver over $1.7 trillion dollars to the ultra rich in the next ten years. That is a very small percentage of Americans with income in the millions of dollars. The bill is written so that it continues indefinitely for the ultra rich, but will stop it's small benefit to the rest of us in 2025. It has been estimated that nearly 87% of all benefits of the tax scam bill go to the ultra-rich and Corporate America.</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
Additionally, the GOP tax scam bill will increase the United States deficit by trillions of dollars. This plays perfectly into GOP leadership hands as they will now have a reason for reducing Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the social safety net in the near future. If Republicans become the majority in Congress and Trump wins re-election you can be assured that they will not care about anyone who needs those services, including their own base.</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
<u>Health related</u><br />
Trump says his administration has "reformed" Medicare by stopping hospitals from overcharging low-income seniors for drugs. He claims his administration has provided more healthcare options. He takes credit for the FDA approving more lower cost generic drugs. </div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
Donald Trump and the GOP currently have lawyers pursuing ending the Affordable Care Act in the courts. They have also taken steps to help destroy the act by passing legislation designed to defund the act. They have passed legislation tied to the tax scam act that removed the individual mandate, which will cause more of a financial burden on the implementation of the act. Trump and the GOP almost destroyed the Affordable Care Act in 2017 before Senator McCain voted to stop their plans. At every turn, the GOP have tried to take away the benefit that the ACA has provided to so many people who have not had health insurance before. The plans that Trump would prefer are those that give the upper hand to the insurance companies. The GOP wants you to have a full compliment of insurance plans that can reject covering you for certain diseases, drop you from their plans at will, charge you rediculously high deductibles and not cover your pre-existing conditions.</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
<u>Energy related</u><br />
Trump celebrates and takes credit for the coal, oil and gas industries accomplishments. They have increased coal exports and reached record high oil production recently. Natural gas is exported now from the United States. These environmentally hazardous industries are big donors to the Trump campaign, so Trump must do his best to keep them profitable. Trump refers proudly to exiting from the "illegal" clean power plan. Investing in developing sources of clean energy is seen as a threat to the fossil fuel industry, so Trump and the GOP will vote clean energy down. Trump lists withdrawing from the "job-killing" Paris Climate Accord as an accomplishment. <br />
Trump and the GOP are not interested in the health of individual Americans nor are they interested in saving the earth from climate change. If the GOP as a group shows people they are not valued, that is a good reason to remove yourself from the party.</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
<u>Armed Forces related</u><br />
Trump considers record making budgets for the military an accomplishment. He sees forcing NATO allies into an uncomfortable position to get them to donate more to NATO as a good thing. He considers his "guns in space" Space Force idea, brilliant. He is taking credit for violating the Iran Nuclear deal.</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
Unless Trump is planning on starting World War III, there is no reason for the United States to fund our military with more money than the combined total amount of the next 10 largest military countries in the world. When the GOP thinks about the deficit, instead of thinking about reducing the social safety net, perhaps they should start with reducing the military budget and giving back the tax scam money.</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
Trump has turned America into a fair weather friend insofar as our NATO allies are concerned. Because of Trump's poor treatment of our NATO allies, Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, has said that Europe can no longer depend on America. The world is less secure with Donald Trump as the American President.</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
Because Trump withdrew from the Iran deal, we are today in a much less secure world. The middle east is now more destabilized because of Trump's actions regarding Iran and his decision to violate the Iranian deal.</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
<u>Judiciary related</u><br />
Trump takes credit for confirming more conservative judges than any other Republican president. He is happy to acknowledge that he selected two Supreme Court judges.</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
Mitch McConnell deserves much of the credit that Trump takes for judge confirmations. McConnell changed the rules for confirming judges, so that only a simple majority vote (fifty-one votes) was required instead of 2/3 majority. This may have lead to the appointment and confirmation of many unqualified judges. The American Bar Association has given a "Not Qualified" rating to many of the judges the GOP has confirmed.</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
For two years, Mitch McConnell held up a Supreme Court judgeship that was legally President Obama's to appoint. As a result Trump was able to appoint a conservative judge to the Supreme Court. With such trickery going on for appointment of unqualified judges, there really is nothing for Trump to be proud of.</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
<u>Export/Import related</u><br />
Trump sees removing the United States from the NAFTA agreement as an accomplishment. It was really a deal that did not need to be redone. He is replacing the NAFTA agreement with a USMCA agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada. Thanks to the Democrats, the USMCA agreement is better than the original agreement designed by Trump and the GOP. It is currently being held up by Mexico who does not agree with provisions for the United States to inspect Mexican manufacturing sites.</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
The riskier side of the equation that Trump is toying with includes the negative effect on consumer incomes that has been caused by his questionable tariff program. Tariffs increase cost of goods to consumers and the companies that must use the imported goods in their manufacturing processes. Trump has placed tariffs on steel, aluminum, and various products from China. We have seen that farmers have been affected so badly by Trump's tariffs, that they have had to be reimbursed for $billions in losses. All of this has a negative impact on the economy as a whole.</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
<u>Immigration related</u><br />
Trump claims that a travel ban against certain Islamic nations is an accomplishment. He claims that improved vetting and screening of refugees and switching to overseas settlement is an accomplishment. He claims he has begun building the Southern border wall which he thinks all Republicans want.</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
Trump and his administration have removed children seeking refuge in the United States from their parents permanently. This inhumanity to fellow humans is criminal. In the meantime, people entering the United States from airports, or docks or any other border crossing are allowed in without problem. Even people seeking legal refuge from the Southern border are being denied entry.<br />
Trump touts his wall while he takes land by eminent domain from his base at the border. </div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
<u>Other issues</u><br />
Let's not forget that Trump has been impeached. There is a continuous flow of information that is proving Trump is violating the Constitution and should be removed from office. In allowing Trump to act against the Constitution without rebuke, the GOP is complicit. Mitch McConnell has stated he will coordinate with the White House lawyers and will not remove Donald Trump from office. That should be all you need to know about Trump and the GOP. None of them deserve to govern. </div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br />
The lesson is that you must investigate the claims that Trump and the GOP make. The underlying philosophy of the party is that big donors are their primary concern. The average American can only help them get elected and so their promises during campaigns and their claims while in the majority are usually lies designed to convince the electorate that GOP policies will benefit them. Once they are elected, the legislation they support only caters to their corporate donors. Average Americans are ignored and as shown here, may suffer or at least lose benefits from GOP policies once they are in office. </div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<br /></div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5rjal" data-offset-key="16glb-0-0" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
Be smart and don't vote for a party that doesn't really care about you. </div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-4113603542829541042019-12-14T13:21:00.000-05:002019-12-14T14:20:35.221-05:00Dems need Judicial Branch to rule against McConnell<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0PAm2f1W_gmJ646LWvKPht5RSCmZGFu_dto-jmzm7o5FDc97tqQRG08m2ucgk_Baf1HMl80jpe-wv24QF2TwT3T5JFn49Y4nMpOtM4zmy9QnXxEmKz5kvQN4RjQCfkSjPe3d_1Q/s1600/McConnell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0PAm2f1W_gmJ646LWvKPht5RSCmZGFu_dto-jmzm7o5FDc97tqQRG08m2ucgk_Baf1HMl80jpe-wv24QF2TwT3T5JFn49Y4nMpOtM4zmy9QnXxEmKz5kvQN4RjQCfkSjPe3d_1Q/s1600/McConnell.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mitch McConnell</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The House Judiciary Committee has voted to pass the impeachment amendments against Donald J. Trump as a result of sufficient evidence and witnesses testimony. <head>
<script async="async" src="https://platform-api.sharethis.com/js/sharethis.js#property=5db7b42720af1e001258e29f&product=sticky-share-buttons" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The next steps are to submit the impeachment articles to the full House of Representatives to allow all Representatives to vote. Impeachment is expected to pass there where Democrats are in the majority. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As was seen in the impeachment inquiry, the vote was split along party lines. Despite overwhelming evidence by all witnesses and even public disclosure of culpability by the President and his staff, Republicans refuse to see the evidence as indicative of impeaching Trump.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And now, Mitch McConnell, while speaking publicly on a right wing media show, has confessed that the jury trial of Donald J. Trump in the Senate will be a scam. McConnell has admitted that he is coordinating with the White House and the President will be acquitted. Americans should be outraged at the arrogance of the Senate majority leader. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Senate is sworn to allowing a fair trial and these remarks by McConnell represent it will be anything but fair. The Senators are the jury in the trial of Donald J. Trump and when the jury, before having the trial, declares that there is no way the President will be convicted, it is a travesty of justice.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Democrats cannot allow this Senate trial to proceed without the legal intervention of the court system. If the Democrats allow a vote in the House and then pass the impeachment proceedings on to the Senate, America is guaranteed that all of the evidence against this President will not be considered. McConnell has said as much. It will be the real sham impeachment trial, that Republicans have been accusing the Democrats of. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Perhaps forty percent of Americans want this President to remain in office, but McConnell's admission essentially cheats the majority of Americans of a fair trial. Furthermore, if there is no penalty to Donald Trump, you can be assured that he will continue to cheat in the 2020 election with renewed fervor.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Assuming the Democrats can sue McConnell for such public notice of disdain for the rule of law and American Constitutional justice, McConnell would have to explain to the court just why the impeachment trial can be run as a Republican sham trial. If it drags out the impeachment proceedings into next year, so be it. The negative publicity that McConnell and all Republican leadership would receive would almost certainly make them lose votes in 2020.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And maybe it can bring up new litigation against those Republicans who would dismiss American Constitutional justice and with it, American democracy.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Sue McConnell now!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-89817285332873839442019-12-11T21:28:00.001-05:002019-12-11T21:40:31.707-05:00Chief Justice Roberts is not a Trump Sycophant<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyOpI000jXRAqumjDS6KkuhtZT6KBasl-3SE8757hoioeXyB57VOZr-FDaACdZhg8Ko1fFemd5i8t3Pbg6dfto-eNdJLs_n7E-zcMaFUgoSStMsS1Cms2h80XAGqyBoH7XgzNwDg/s1600/Roberts2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyOpI000jXRAqumjDS6KkuhtZT6KBasl-3SE8757hoioeXyB57VOZr-FDaACdZhg8Ko1fFemd5i8t3Pbg6dfto-eNdJLs_n7E-zcMaFUgoSStMsS1Cms2h80XAGqyBoH7XgzNwDg/s320/Roberts2.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chief Justice John Roberts</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Despite what the GOP Congressional leaders want you to believe, it is obvious and undeniable that Trump has committed acts that are abuse of power and obstruction of Congress and deserving of impeachment and removal from office.<br />
<br />
But based on recent House impeachment hearings, we know the Republican party will not save America. House Republicans have shown that they will not vote to impeach Trump. In fact, despite evidence to the contrary, the GOP defends and praises a "victimized" Trump. They want America to think that the impeachment is a partisan ruse to remove a duly elected President. It is not.<br />
<br />
In the Senate, where Republicans are in the majority, Senator McConnell wants a fast and speedy acquittal of Trump. <br />
<br />
Many believe that partisanship runs so strong that the Republican majority in the Senate will not remove Trump from office and it will be up to the American people to vote Trump out in 2020. But how confident should we be that the American people will vote him out? With little being done to prevent it, we can't be certain that Russia won't influence or change the voting results. Is there any hope that the 2020 election will be fair? Is there any hope that something or someone may help Americans understand the seriousness of Trump's constitutional infractions?<br />
<br />
<head>
<script async="async" src="https://platform-api.sharethis.com/js/sharethis.js#property=5db7b42720af1e001258e29f&product=sticky-share-buttons" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>By most polls, more than half of America wants Trump impeached and removed from office. Enter Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Will Roberts treat Trump's violations of the Constitution with the seriousness it deserves? Chief Justice Roberts will be presiding over Trump's impeachment trial to be held in the Senate.<br />
<br />
Roberts has described the SCOTUS role as that of impartial interpreters of the constitution. When questioned about partisanship, Roberts has stated that the Supreme Court must not be partisan and must fairly interpret the laws and constitution without consideration of party membership. It was Justice Roberts that allowed the Obama administration's Affordable Care Act to become law, so he seems to act according to his philosophy. Incidentally, Trump was extremely annoyed to the point of insulting Roberts for allowing the ACA to pass. They are not on great social terms.<br />
<br />
Roberts could have a major part in intervening in the trial between partisan Senators. An important aspect of his role in the proceedings is to rule on questions of evidence. <br />
<br />
The Trump administration has denied the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees any evidence in the form of documents and witnesses during their impeachment inquiry. If asked, it may be possible that Roberts may approve requests for those documents or witnesses in the Senate trial. <br />
<br />
For example, Mick Mulvaney has direct knowledge and has publicly announced that there was a quid pro quo in the Ukrainian dealings. Trump had not allowed him to be questioned in the House committees. Perhaps Roberts will. <br />
<br />
Another personality of importance is Don McGhan. Being a close counsel for Trump, McGhan knows a lot about Trump's character, behavior and infractions. McGhan voluntarily participated in the Mueller investigation after which Trump fired him without warning. Recently a court has ruled that Trump cannot shield McGhan from testifying in the impeachment hearings. If McGhan is asked to be a witness, it is likely the GOP will object, but Roberts may intervene and force McGhan to testify. It's true that articles of impeachment do not touch on Trump's actions in the Mueller investigation, but McGhan may be a good witness to provide examples of Trump's behavior in that investigation and it's consistency with the obstruction impeachment articles.<br />
<br />
Rudi Giuliani is another witness that Roberts could force to testify in the Senate trial. Giuliani was the central figure assigned by Trump to convince Ukraine to give a public announcement of an investigation into the Biden's. <br />
<br />
Add to that list John Bolton, Mike Pompeo and Vice President Pence. All were involved in the Ukraine quid pro quo. Roberts would do America a huge favor by having them approved to testify.<br />
<br />
The degree to which Roberts controls the trial may depend on his observations of irreconcilable differences between the parties and prior understanding of the actions that Trump is being tried for.<br />
<br />
For example, Chief Justice William Rehnquist presided over Bill Clinton's impeachment trial but did not influence that trial much at all. The difference in the seriousness of constitutional infractions between Clinton (who had sexual improprieties) and Trump (who withheld needed military aid for election interference from a foreign government) may account for that.<br />
<br />
Chief Justice Roberts will most certainly review the reports that came out of the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees before the Senate trial. He should be well versed in the types of infractions being charged and the extreme partisan differences in behavior between the Republicans and Democrats. Because of that, my belief is that he will take a much larger part in the trial than Rehnquist did with Clinton's trial.<br />
<br />
A Senate trial may be run with more decorum than the House Committee meetings, but it will be good to see an impartial intermediary like Roberts help control the proceedings. Roberts is a reasonable and intelligent individual. That means he will make good judgements and attempt to keep the participants honest. The truth must be told.<br />
<br />
Although most analysts believe Trump will be acquitted, if the truth is told and Republicans do not convict, they will pay politically for not removing this President from office.<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-15907379189078827832019-11-22T14:51:00.000-05:002019-12-10T14:09:04.582-05:00Could Donald Trump usher in the End of the American Democratic Republic?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRwOap4va_HkOpAx_IFDtaVGjnsNZM4sg9sLpTJJRZW3qgwnfo7jmlFAgTc4EbvvguF1DueRjqv-q2koX1sVlTwFlAELtyAsd9JBR3npAwcaBjW6z1GdlsOA10FUmewkJrAMy-bQ/s1600/end.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRwOap4va_HkOpAx_IFDtaVGjnsNZM4sg9sLpTJJRZW3qgwnfo7jmlFAgTc4EbvvguF1DueRjqv-q2koX1sVlTwFlAELtyAsd9JBR3npAwcaBjW6z1GdlsOA10FUmewkJrAMy-bQ/s1600/end.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The End of American Democracy?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<head>
<script async="async" src="https://platform-api.sharethis.com/js/sharethis.js#property=5db7b42720af1e001258e29f&product=sticky-share-buttons" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head><br />
With the barrage of witnesses whose testimony corroborated each other, at this point in the impeachment of Donald J. Trump, honest Americans can see that he is guilty. <br />
<br />
Nearly every witness so far has testified that Trump directed a group of people to work with Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to help Trump abuse his power by recruiting Ukraine for interference in the 2020 US election. <br />
<br />
Trump ordered actions taken that would delay Ukraine from receiving Congressionally approved military aid unless Ukraine President Zelensky made a public announcement that he was investigating Hunter and Joe Biden. <br />
<br />
Additionally, Trump wanted President Zelensky to announce an investigation into Ukraine's part in the 2016 election interference, a false narrative that is being pushed by Russian president Vladimir Putin. Every intelligence agency of the American government has identified Russia as the 2016 election intruder. They have also indicated that the conspiracy Trump is pushing about Ukraine being the culprit in election interference is a Russian conspiracy propaganda attack.
<br />
<br />
The Republicans on the committee could have accepted the witnesses evidence. But they didn't. Instead, they defended Trump's conspiracy theories, blamed Democrats for an impeachment scam, lied and yelled at witnesses. They have lost their self-respect and prostrated themselves in loyalty to the worst President in US history. And for what? Are they complicit? Do they know the "fix is in" and they can't lose in 2020? What could make a whole party go mad? Does Donald Trump have a spell cast over them?<br />
<br />
Maybe it doesn't matter to understand Republican thinking. Maybe the important things to know are that they do not govern with all Americans in mind. They will not defend American democracy. They do not respect the law. They do not care about Presidential accountability. They do not recognize their Constitutional duty in the balance of powers. They do not care about America's national security. <br />
<br />
Even worse, hope that the impeachment inquiry will help more Americans come to the realization that Republicanism is a betrayal of democracy, is being lost. Recent polls are showing that there are now more Independents that are against impeachment than for it. This is a bad sign for Democrats. Independents are the game changers for political elections. If this signals that Independents are becoming more Republican leaning, it could usher in another Trump term.
<br />
<br />
It is the Senate that determines if Trump is removed from office. Trump has already met with his jury of Republican Senators who might be on the fence about removing him from office. The transcripts of that meeting are not published, but Senator Susan Collins, one of those at the meeting, announced that she will not vote to remove Trump from office. Making this decision before the Senate trials even start, begs the question; what empty promises did Trump make to those Senators?<br />
<br />
If Susan Collins and the House Republicans are any indicator, the Senate will never remove Trump from office unless their constituents (the ultra-rich and lobbyists) call for it. Since the ultra-rich and lobbyists are reaping the lion's share of benefits from having a Republican like Trump in office, there is no reason for them to insist that Trump be removed.<br />
<br />
The Senate will not save America. In fact, Republicans who support Trump despite the damaging evidence against him, have set up the failure of American democracy. Republicans have forsaken the balance of powers by defending Trump. They are denying Article I of the US Constitution and are thereby making Trump more of a dictator than a President. <br />
<br />
Trump's administration started out by admitting they were out to "deconstruct the administrative state." Trump appointed administrative officials who opposed the agencies they lead. Trump has decimated the State Department. Regulations that protected Americans' health and welfare have been perverted or overturned to make America less safe for Americans and more profitable for the rich. Science has been denied and puts human existence in jeopardy. If Trump is re-elected, there is no telling what other deleterious changes to US democracy and national security he may make.
<br />
<br />
It has been reported that Trump has seriously asked if he could just get rid of judges. Without a Judicial branch, all power would lie with the President. That is a dictatorship. His praise for and friendships with global dictators is already in public view and gives a plausible assessment of his desire to become one himself.<br />
<br />
Ultimately, it is the American voter who has the last chance to save our Republic. This will not be an easy fight. Russia will be out in force, attempting to interfere in our elections and power grid. Trump will be spending millions of dollars on propaganda campaigns to denigrate Democrats and praise himself. Trump loyalists will be repeating the ramblings of the Trump administration and those in Senate committees will advance Trump's conspiracy theories. Right wing media will be continuing to lie to their viewers to make Trump appear the right choice for President. Trump's mysterious and almost supernatural spell over MAGAts and Republican political figures will be strong. <br />
<br />
America faces the possibilities of two futures. One being the shining star of freedom and hope for the world, the other being the frightening world of a self-serving dictator. We will only get one chance to get it right. After that, we will have the country we deserve, be it good or bad.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-14622190589696123332019-11-02T16:15:00.002-04:002019-12-10T14:11:38.531-05:00Meet Elizabeth Warren<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsB7L3Hwd4JJiG_vEQp3PEfakr1RVk5vL2rkMeSQgtkZ3zDx-2meFh8koGBHKNrIS1D98e_FYnAeQmMCA2_coGVrzLzeeL8ofqAglLywBfdAIKAOBKOMy6vVBFQNSsbx1lRziA3Q/s1600/E_WARREN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsB7L3Hwd4JJiG_vEQp3PEfakr1RVk5vL2rkMeSQgtkZ3zDx-2meFh8koGBHKNrIS1D98e_FYnAeQmMCA2_coGVrzLzeeL8ofqAglLywBfdAIKAOBKOMy6vVBFQNSsbx1lRziA3Q/s320/E_WARREN.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elizabeth Warren</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Born in Oklahoma to a working class family, Elizabeth Warren has the childhood experiences of the ordinary American whose family is struggling from paycheck to paycheck. She understands what middle class Americans have been going through for the longest time and in her gut has the motivation to help people.<head>
<script async="async" src="https://platform-api.sharethis.com/js/sharethis.js#property=5db7b42720af1e001258e29f&product=sticky-share-buttons" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Her first marriage was to her high school sweetheart, Jim Warren. Shortly after marriage, she received a Bachelor of Science degree in speech pathology and audiology from the University of Houston.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A couple of years after having her first child, she enrolled in Rutgers Law school where she received her Law Degree while pregnant with her second child.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Warrens divorced and two years later Elizabeth married Bruce Mann but retained her last name from her first marriage.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Prior to her service in elected office, Elizabeth has been a public school teacher, a lawyer and a law professor at various Universities including U of Pennsylvania and Harvard. Law and economics has been her focus area in the private sector. She is a published author with eleven books to her credit. She was a highly influential law professor and is the most cited scholar in the field of bankruptcy and commercial law during the time she was in that role.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She is a former FDIC Advisory Committee member and a member of the national Bankruptcy Conference. She was a vice president of the American Law Institute. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
During the 2007 economic recession, she was appointed to chair the Congressional Oversight Panel to oversee implementing the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. She was an early advocate of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and was assigned by President Obama to setup the CFPB. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Warren had been a long time conservative and registered Republican, but in 1995 began to vote Democrat because she started realizing that the Republican Party no longer was "principled in its conservative approach to economics and to markets" and instead was favoring the rich and large corporations at the expense of middle-class Americans.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Elizabeth won her Senate seat in the 2012 election win against Republican Scott Brown, becoming the first woman Senator in Massachusetts history. At the 2012 Democratic national Convention she gave a speech that explained her beliefs as a champion of the middle class. She ran for re-election to the Senate in 2018 and won over the Republican by 60% to 36%. As Senator she has been assigned to the Committee on Armed Services, Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and the Special Committee on Aging.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Since announcing her candidacy for President, Elizabeth Warren has been developing her important focus areas and policies she will pursue as President. Her top priorities are: </div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Strengthening Democracy</li>
<li>Rebuilding the Middle Class</li>
<li>Equal Justice Under Law</li>
<li>Ending Washington Corruption</li>
<li>A Foreign Policy for All</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<div>
She wants to strengthen democracy by ensuring voting rights are not suppressed and by eliminating gerrymandering. She wants to ensure America fights back appropriately when foreign governments attack our elections. She wants to hold Americans in power accountable for divisive talk.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She wants to rebuild the middle class by building Unions. She wants workers to elect 40% of the Corporate board. She wants antitrust enforcement. She wants to stop the give-aways to the rich and ensure they pay their fair share. She wants to enact an ultra-millionaires tax on the 75,000 richest people in America. She is for green manufacturing, clean energy, affordable housing and wants to fight for veterans and service members. She advocates for Medicare for all and promises that she has a plan to accomplish it without raising middle class taxes. She wants to create great public schools and refurbish the public school system.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She'll fight for equal justice under law. She knows there are two legal systems; one for the rich and one for the rest of us. She will fight to change this. Criminal Justice reform must make the punishments for laws fair and equal for everyone. She is for legalizing marijuana. She wants to ban private prisons. She'll lead a new commitment to prosecuting giant corporations and their leaders when they cheat customers, stomp out competition or rob workers. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She'll fight for ending Washington Corruption. Corruption in Washington, DC makes government work for the rich but fails the rest of America. She wants to put political and economic power back into the hands of the people. She wants to remove big money from politics by overturning Citizens United. She wants no more lobbying, PACS or SuperPACS. She wants to eliminate the unfair advantage that corporate America gets when high level federal employees go to work as lobbyists for Corporate America after their federal jobs end. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She'll fight for a foreign policy for all that serves all people and not just the wealthy. She is against Trump's NAFTA II trade policies unless it produces a better deal for Americans. She advocates for people over corporate profits. She is in favor of cutting the military budget to a reasonable level to end the stranglehold defense contractors have on our military policy. She wants to reinvest in diplomacy and stand with our allies to advance our shared interests, something that Trump has directed us away from. She is an advocate for cybersecurity and fighting climate change.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I can't go into the details here but it will be important for you to follow the debates and Elizabeth Warren's rallies during the campaign. She explains her policies best when you hear her speak. In my opinion, Elizabeth Warren has a very good chance to be the Democratic nominee.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-44981482249607447842019-11-01T15:04:00.002-04:002019-12-10T18:02:53.530-05:00McConnell's Senate Graveyard<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiaOieHp4YYM42gvfaPF2fNapPjiM6osIH5SXBJpQVFfp0Y06t5ezIbMaaM9TCIaGzPW3LxbCQf6aVvs18psbXpHGwMvSKSecbk7UMcW2zSsKN11jzXasc9e34ZFVfw9jb_jF_8Q/s1600/Mcconnell_Graveyard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiaOieHp4YYM42gvfaPF2fNapPjiM6osIH5SXBJpQVFfp0Y06t5ezIbMaaM9TCIaGzPW3LxbCQf6aVvs18psbXpHGwMvSKSecbk7UMcW2zSsKN11jzXasc9e34ZFVfw9jb_jF_8Q/s320/Mcconnell_Graveyard.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pelosi describes McConnell's Bills Graveyard</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The primary duty of Congress is to write, debate and pass laws. Congress is composed of two bodies; the House of Representatives and the Senate.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The leader of the House of Representatives is a person selected from the members of the party in the majority. In the house, the Democrats are in the majority and Nancy Pelosi is the leader known as Speaker of the House. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The leader of the Senate is known as the Senate Majority Leader and is also selected from the party in the majority for that body. In the Senate, the Republicans are in the majority and Mitch McConnell is the Senate Majority Leader. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The White House and the Congressional GOP have often used derogatory terms to describe the Democrats in Congress. Much like the childish bullies they are, they believe that name-calling is a useful policy tool. We have heard Trump use slogans like "Do nothing Democrats" to convince their own gullible constituents that it's the Democrats who are not getting anything done in Congress. However, in this case, the name-calling tool is really a projection of their own failure to work for America. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In order to pass legislation that originates in the House of Representatives, Mitch McConnell must bring those bills up for debate in the Senate. In a normal functioning Congress, the goal is to find agreement in both houses through compromise and concessions during a healthy debate. The goal is to enact legislation intended to help all Americans and improve the condition of the country. But in the Republican led Senate, the goal is to stifle Democratic legislation that would help Americans.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
McConnell has stated publicly that no Democratic bills will ever pass the Senate and will "die" there. McConnell has been so pleased to prevent America from progressing with bipartisan legislation that he sees his new job as that of a "grim reaper," a name that he gave himself. And he has been true to his name. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
According to the website congress.gov, in this 116th Congress, the House has so far passed 258 (H.R.) bills since the session started in 2019. To view each bill and search for other interesting data, visit congress.gov at the following shortened url: <a href="http://bit.ly/2PJQ9A5">http://bit.ly/2PJQ9A5</a> .</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Only thirty-three House bills have passed the Senate and only thirty-one have become law.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
McConnell and the Republicans in the 116th Congressional Senate have introduced thirty-nine bills. Eleven of them have become law. Included in those Senate initiated bills that became law are:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>S.2249 A bill to allow the Deputy Administrator of FAA to continue as Deputy</li>
<li>S.1693 National Flood Insurance Extension</li>
<li>S.1379 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness</li>
<li>S.998 Supporting and Treating Officers in Crisis</li>
<li>S.863 A bill to amend title 38 to clarify pay grade and pay of podiatrists of the VA</li>
<li>S.744 Effective Prosecution and Possession of Biological Toxins and Agents</li>
<li>S.483 Pesticide Registration Improvement Extension</li>
<li>S.252 A bill to authorize Bob Doyle to grade of Colonel in the regular Army</li>
<li>S.163 Alaska Remote Generator Reliability and Protection</li>
<li>S.49 A bill to designate the outstation of the VA in North Ogden, Utah as Major Brent Taylor Vet Center Outstation</li>
</ul>
<div>
There are so many House Democratic bills that McConnell is holding up, I cannot include them all, but a few of the more important ones include:</div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>H.R.3722 Joint Task Force to Combat Opioid Trafficking</li>
<li>H.R.3710 Cybersecurity Vulnerability Remediation</li>
<li>H.R.3625 PCAOB Whistleblower Protection Act of 2019</li>
<li>H.R.3525 U.S. Border Patrol Medical Screening Standards</li>
<li>H.R.3239 Humanitarian Standards for Individuals in Customs and Border Protection Custody</li>
<li>H.R.2513 Corporate Transparency Act</li>
<li>H.R.2359 Whole Veterans Act</li>
<li>H.R.1585 Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act</li>
<li>H.R.1331 Local Water Protection Act</li>
<li>H.R.1112 Enhanced Background Checks Act</li>
<li>H.R.987 Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs</li>
<li>H.R.986 Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions</li>
<li>H.R.582 Raise the Wage Act</li>
<li>H.R.6 American Dream and Promise Act</li>
</ul>
<div>
If you visit the government website mentioned above, you can see the stark reality that it is the Republicans in Congress that are obstructionists. You realize that the Democrats in Congress have the energy, desire and concern for America that enables them to create these bills.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Republicans have proven themselves to be liars, obstructionists, and now grim reapers. They may think they are attacking Democrats but it is you, the American people, that the Republicans are really hurting. Vote smart when the time comes and don't believe the Republican lies. </div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
<head>
<script async="async" src="https://platform-api.sharethis.com/js/sharethis.js#property=5db7b42720af1e001258e29f&product=sticky-share-buttons" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-18398289496873704692019-10-30T16:43:00.001-04:002019-10-30T20:52:31.957-04:00Impeachment inquiry continues to get at the truth while Trump and GOP call it witch hunt<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0u-IWZK6hBtNLzjNJzG99RxRqMPdQ4qtfa241vCrLlkwb8XIc24_O1HpzuH7sEMzX9fTo1p4k0yShE5KZpulcV45iJ6LpHAYZo2u9ipzgiFrw3A1VLXJmjWqVShL4F_iR_QEmlA/s1600/Kiev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0u-IWZK6hBtNLzjNJzG99RxRqMPdQ4qtfa241vCrLlkwb8XIc24_O1HpzuH7sEMzX9fTo1p4k0yShE5KZpulcV45iJ6LpHAYZo2u9ipzgiFrw3A1VLXJmjWqVShL4F_iR_QEmlA/s320/Kiev.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kiev, Ukraine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Donald Trump's hatred of the beautiful country of Ukraine may grow stronger as his impeachment inquiry continues to uncover damning evidence from witnesses familiar with the Ukraine meeting.
<head>
<script async="async" src="https://platform-api.sharethis.com/js/sharethis.js#property=5db7b42720af1e001258e29f&product=sticky-share-buttons" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<br />
<br />
Although there have been plenty of other reasons for the impeachment of Trump, the phone meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky has been the subject that initiated the formal impeachment inquiry by Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats.<br />
<br />
Trump and his zealous Republican loyalists have given their own classification of the impeachment inquiry. According to them it's a "witch hunt," "bull," "a joke," "a lynching" and "a scam." <br />
<br />
They believe the Democrats are trying to overthrow the 2016 election. So they are spending money on ad campaigns to smear the impeachment investigation. Trump has so far committed at least $1 million to ad campaigns to lie to the American people about it. <br />
<br />
Trump and his supporters present no evidence that would prove Trump innocent of the claims of the whistle-blower and the multiple corroborating witnesses who have been testifying in Congress. There is only the party line that they expect us to believe, even though they have been caught in their lies thousands of times. <br />
<br />
It seems the Ukraine venture by the Trump organization is much more complex than we first thought.<br />
<br />
It has been reported that before he resigned, John Bolton warned the administration that Rudy Giuliani may be too closely involved in the Ukraine situation. Not being an official government statesman, this would be an illegal activity for Giuliani.<br />
<br />
Kurt Volker, Envoy to Ukraine, testified that Trump requested military aid to Ukraine to be held up. Giving testimony on Trump's thinking about Ukraine, he said that Trump believed (or said he believed) that Ukraine interfered with the 2016 election. Volker also had text messages that showed that Trump and Giuliani pushed Zelensky to investigate the Bidens.<br />
<br />
Bill Taylor testified that Trump would withhold military aid to Ukraine until they publicly announced an investigation into the Bidens.<br />
<br />
Catherine Croft, who reported to Ukraine envoy, Kurt Volker, testified that Trump told Mulvaney to hold off on Ukrainian aid. She also testified that Trump was pressured by Giuliani to remove Ukraine Ambassador Yovanovich. Yovanovich herself testified that there was a concerted effort by the Trump administration and Rudy Giuliani to remove her for questionable motives from her position as Ambassador to Ukraine.<br />
<br />
Christopher Anderson, also a report of Kurt Volker, testified that the White House blocked a condemning formal statement by the State Department regarding a 2018 incident where Russia seized a Ukrainian vessel. Anderson also testified that he attended the meeting where John Bolton warned the White House of the interference of Giuliani in Ukrainian affairs.<br />
<br />
Lieutenant Colonel Vindman, a Ukrainian expert, testified that Trump and the White House omitted details about the quid, pro quo regarding dirt on the Bidens from their telephone meeting summary. As the Ukraine expert, he attended the meeting held in Ukraine with Energy Secretary Perry. After the meeting he was told by the White House staffer Fiona Hill that he would not be invited to the debriefing of the meeting and was instead replaced by a former Devin Nunes staffer, Kashyup Patel. Patel has no knowledge of Ukraine.<br />
<br />
The witnesses corroborating testimony is getting to the facts that even Trump loyalists cannot deny. We are fortunate that there are still some patriots left in government. Trump attempts to pervert the truth with such statements as "the Ukraine meeting was perfect!" and "no quid, pro quo!" But these are falling apart with the barrage of witnesses who are claiming otherwise to Congress.<br />
<br />
Let the truth cleanse this administration.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-17832703622009815452019-10-28T21:39:00.001-04:002019-10-30T18:02:03.616-04:00Multiple Trump officials should be impeached over the substance of Ukraine meeting<head>
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
<script async="async" src="https://platform-api.sharethis.com/js/sharethis.js#property=5db7b42720af1e001258e29f&product=sticky-share-buttons" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBeCaM1LfdGv4mLkQmme7l71mAtiVUhDACbG3ewVJMP2nRcGRjZz_zzW-bbhplSk01qnCvdHON-CafQDPDEDScEahOasv9plOlAxT2jyCmA_UDZ1bX3OkGcDe0AMhMzSKpKZd3Ug/s1600/Nancy+P.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="254" data-original-width="198" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBeCaM1LfdGv4mLkQmme7l71mAtiVUhDACbG3ewVJMP2nRcGRjZz_zzW-bbhplSk01qnCvdHON-CafQDPDEDScEahOasv9plOlAxT2jyCmA_UDZ1bX3OkGcDe0AMhMzSKpKZd3Ug/s200/Nancy+P.jpg" width="155" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Throughout his Presidency, Donald Trump gave the public many examples of his betrayal of the Constitution and denigration of the office of President. So many of Trump's actions have been attacks on democracy and our American way that any one of them could be a part of the articles for impeachment.<br />
<br />
Nancy Pelosi has focused on one of Trump's recent infractions before she committed to impeaching him. And that one was a big one. Big in substance but also big in the number of Trump officials involved.<br />
<br />
This recent infraction was the quid, pro quo that Trump asked from the newly elected Ukraine President. Trump is so driven to find ways to ensure his re-election, he has not only avoided taking precautions against future Russians interference, but has also asked the Ukrainian President to dig up dirt on his Presidential challenger, Joe Biden. Trump told Ukrainian President Zelensky that he must report on the requested investigation into Joe Biden and his son in a public announcement to be given at a White house visit, or he would not be given military aid that Ukraine so desperately needs to defend against Russia.<br />
<br />
Just as Trump and his family asked Russia for dirt on his 2016 challenger, Hillary Clinton, they have now asked Ukraine for dirt on his 2020 opponent, Joe Biden. It seems when it comes to finding an illegal leg up on the competition, Trump is surprisingly consistent.<br />
<br />
And now we find out that this plan was in effect many month's ago, when his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, his EU Ambassador, Gordon Sondland and his Energy Secretary, Rick Perry were sent to discuss related matters with Ukrainian officials. <br />
<br />
On July 25, 2019, Trump had the infamous quid, pro, quo call with Zelensky. Mike Pompeo was present for the call. Trump instructed Mick Mulvaney to delay the Ukraine military aid related to the quid, pro, quo call.<br />
<br />
If by these actions Trump is guilty of impeachable offenses, so are all of the other Trump officials that were involved. Perry has self-impeached as he recently announced his resignation, but all the others except Giuliani should also be impeached. Giuliani is not a federal employee but has to answer for other crimes such as not registering as a foreign agent.<br />
<br />
As for impeachment, Donald Trump's attorneys have gone to court to have the impeachment deemed illegal since there was no formal impeachment vote in the House. Last week Lindsey Graham introduced a resolution condemning the impeachment inquiry as illegitimate. Republican officials have been stymied by a judge covering the case who has determined that the inquiry being carried out by the House is legitimate and does not need a vote to continue. <br />
<br />
However, Nancy Pelosi has announced that Democrats wanted to push back on claims by Trump that the impeachment is not valid and will hold a vote on Thursday, October 31, 2019 to establish the procedure for open hearings, dispositioning transcripts and transfer of evidence to Judiciary as they consider impeachment articles. <br />
<br />
The impeachment will happen. The House of Representatives has the votes for that. However, the impeachment is not the same as removing Donald Trump from office. It will take more Americans to register their outrage with Trump in order to convince Republicans in the Senate to vote to remove him from office. At this point, the GOP is still solidly with Trump.<br />
<br />
As public hearings give Americans more insight into the impeachable offenses of the Trump administration, perhaps more GOP Senators will come to their senses and save America, democracy and their own dignity. <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-13802587448511289612019-10-25T19:48:00.001-04:002019-10-29T15:05:45.580-04:00When the Justice Department helps create a dictator<head> <script type='text/javascript' src='https://platform-api.sharethis.com/js/sharethis.js#property=5db7b42720af1e001258e29f&product=sticky-share-buttons' async='async'></script> </head>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1nuk8UOEVdI_22s-bPf92GRgJOySYhP78pyQzS8iOEYCLq2VIPlcWricHS-ehLP92xqGpOIfDT6ZZNeX0Tz4MzM9sPcOT7N9p9FWfptd0xOVHzk_g1H1sdy_tsRXq66oWUHjxFQ/s1600/Barr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="268" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1nuk8UOEVdI_22s-bPf92GRgJOySYhP78pyQzS8iOEYCLq2VIPlcWricHS-ehLP92xqGpOIfDT6ZZNeX0Tz4MzM9sPcOT7N9p9FWfptd0xOVHzk_g1H1sdy_tsRXq66oWUHjxFQ/s320/Barr.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William Barr, Attorney General</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Donald Trump is a malignant narcissist. He can convince himself he is an innocent victim of any criticism, even if he knows the criticism is accurate. <br />
<br />
Believing that he has escaped prosecution for his part in the Russian 2016 Presidential election interference, Trump has been proclaiming that the intelligence community came to their conclusions of his involvement for partisan political reasons. He thinks his own Justice Department is conspiring against him.<br />
<br />
The Mueller report made it clear that Trump could have been indicted as a co-conspirator in campaign contribution violations. It identified at least ten instances of obstruction of justice for which Trump was found responsible. Mueller himself said that the only reason Donald Trump was not indicted was due to a policy statement of the Justice Department. Foolishly, the Justice Department believes that they cannot indict a guilty sitting President. Mueller left that to Congress, which has the power to remove such a President through impeachment.<br />
<br />
Trump, due to his narcissistic delusions, believes that he can convince the general population of his innocence. The proof he puts forward has no substance. There are no witnesses that can vouch for him. He doesn't have any alibi. In fact, many of his tweets and public appearances are outright displays of obstruction or violations of the Constitution. The written answers Trump gave to Mueller's questions were nothing more than "I do not remember" non-replies. The facts are not on Donald's side.<br />
<br />
That Donald Trump believes he must convince America of his innocence is puzzling. The "heat" of the Mueller investigation is passed. Democrats did not do a good job of making the serious conclusions of the Mueller investigation an issue for Trump. One could say he got away with it unscathed. So why is Trump bringing it up again?<br />
<br />
Trump has fired most of the patriots who were in his administration that might have done something about his bad behavior. He has replaced them by loyalists who have the power and desire to protect him. Cowardly Republicans in Congress still stand by Trump and defend his every aberrant move. They will likely stand by him until just before their own careers are impacted. That day will come as more and more of the American people call for Trumps impeachment. <br />
<br />
America will soon begin to hear more about the high crimes and misdemeanors Trump has committed that are worthy of his impeachment. Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats will impeach him. In the next couple of weeks, some of the impeachment interviews they are doing will become public appearances. <br />
<br />
To my thinking, this is why Donald Trump needs to find another way to convince the American people of his innocence. Donald will soon need a distraction from the negative news coming from Congress. That distraction must be large enough to draw the attention of Americans away from the Congressional hearings.<br />
<br />
An official investigation into Trump's own intelligence community will give credence to the conspiracy theories he wants us to believe. He needs the force of the Justice Department loyalists to carry out the investigation as if it were something real. His hand picked and proven loyalist attorney general, William Barr is just the man for the job.<br />
<br />
Trump loyalists have so far ignored Congressional subpoenas. They have refused to appear in front of Congress. They have refused to give requested documents to Congress to aid their investigations. That pretty much means these loyalists are willing to break the law and are likely to take other extreme actions in defense of Donald Trump. <br />
<br />
Barr may think he is defending a person of integrity. Maybe he thinks all Presidents are patriots. Maybe he is just a fool. In any case, Trump is counting on Barr to give the conspiracy theory life. Now it appears that it is about to happen as tonight the Justice Department has opened a criminal inquiry into its own Russia investigation.<br />
<br />
If the Justice Department can be used as the President's personal police force to round up political prisoners, then we have a dictatorship. Something I believe Trump has been working toward since he was elected.<br />
<br />
This is a serious attack on American democracy. America must snap out of their Trump induced depression and start acting like democracy is something to save.<br />
<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-48635264896217671452019-10-23T16:42:00.003-04:002019-12-11T14:33:49.181-05:00Will the GOP survive once Donald Trump becomes the first American dictator?<head>
<script async="async" src="https://platform-api.sharethis.com/js/sharethis.js#property=5db7b42720af1e001258e29f&product=sticky-share-buttons" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDG8KY1US3XYPsurbLkMNXMf7UcWKWMXQ7-TdC7-IF6ay2EKWW8qxH7bHBHrFVqCm8mSHUEKO12A75yaQv8nmorXsDIrFLFx30OpOPxn0uQAacLdcFYL_GIHXVHG3_CpTSJh146A/s1600/Trump_Miliitary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="130" data-original-width="121" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDG8KY1US3XYPsurbLkMNXMf7UcWKWMXQ7-TdC7-IF6ay2EKWW8qxH7bHBHrFVqCm8mSHUEKO12A75yaQv8nmorXsDIrFLFx30OpOPxn0uQAacLdcFYL_GIHXVHG3_CpTSJh146A/s200/Trump_Miliitary.jpg" width="186" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Future Mr. President</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: medium;">Since Trump has gained the Presidency, America is being publicly bombarded with aberrant behavior previously</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">considered unacceptable by most Americans. Some of us are outraged. Some of us are simply not paying attention. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But there are others who are finding cover for Trump's outrageous behavior. They are trying to convince us that Trump's violations of the Constitution and America's laws are acceptable and within the powers of the President.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Just yesterday, Trump's lawyers were in court arguing that the President could not be accused of any crime as long as he remained in office. The judge asked Trump's personal lawyers if Trump could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and get away with it, as Trump once claimed. The lawyer answered in the affirmative.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">These are dangerous times, brought to us by the Grand Old Party. The GOP prepared for their eventual rise to power during the Obama administration. They were convinced that they could rise to power by obstructing everything the Democratic President did for the American people and create false narratives about how bad everything was in America because of Obama. Some may remember that they even obstructed bills that they themselves brought up if Obama favored them. They hated Obama so much that they had television interviews where they said they considered Putin a better President than Obama. The GOP has hated the fact that a black man could be in the most powerful seat reserved for white power. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Some of you may still believe that the GOP was only trying to protect America by attempting to destroy the Affordable Care Act. Maybe you believe they only meant the best or were trying to reduce fraud by removing food from the hands of children when they reduced food stamps. Maybe you think they were only trying to find better jobs for America when they rejected the American Jobs Act that Obama wanted passed. What reason did you find for the GOP's lack of support for an increase in the federal minimum wage? How did you rationalize the GOP's resistance to the Fair Treatment of Women's act.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The GOP has proven over and over again that they do not support the average American. Their recent tax scam under Trump was only meant to serve their true constituents, their million dollar campaign donors. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">A party that is concerned with all Americans does not deny services to the needy. It should not fight against fair wages for workers. It should not give entitlements to people who already have enough to live 1000 lifetimes. It does not reverse regulations that protect Americans health and environment. It does not create a budget that intends to strip medicare and social security. And it does not find ways to divide Americans against one another. But yet, these are the priorities of the GOP.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">And now the GOP are at a crossroads. Do they continue to find excuses for Trump and forsake American democracy for a wannabe dictator? Or do they come to their senses and save America while at the same time saving their party?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Trump has created around himself, a circle of sycophantic loyalists. These loyalists hold most of the power in government and refuse to abide by the checks and balances of government power. They openly refuse to obey court orders. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Trump has a propaganda media company at his disposal in Fox News that is also culpable in the "dumbing down" of the American GOP. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Trump is making decisions that distance our allies and partner up with the axis of evil. Trump has created human rights abuse issues at our border. He has sacrificed our Kurdish allies to the bombs of Turkish genocide.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Trump is seeking campaign help from Ukraine's new President asking him to create and announce a controversy around Trump's political opponent Joe Biden. Trump will hold off on military aid until Ukraine follows through. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Trump and his campaign has been delighted to have had help with the 2016 election from the Russians, meeting with them in secretive rendezvous. In 2016 Trump's personal attorney announced on news shows that there would be an October surprise that was a prelude to knowledge the campaign had in regards to the DNC hacking done by the Russians.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">And now Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats are investigating Trump for behavior deserving of impeachment. The GOP leadership is still siding with Trump. Some even performing ludicrous acts in front of TV cameras. About thirty-six of the more unstable GOP leadership, led by Matt Gaetz, have stormed a secure SCIF meeting uninvited, with iPhones blazing to defend their divine leader Trump.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Since his inauguration, Trump has thrown a long list of his former allies under the bus by either firing them or blaming them for crimes which he had no part in. (Fingers crossed.) Here are a few:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Reince Priebus, John Kelly, Kirstjen Nielsen, Steve Bannon, Carl Icahn, Sebastian Gorka, Michael Flynn, H. R. McMaster, John Bolton, K. T. McFarland, Tom Bossert, Rob Joyce, Keith Kellogg, Fred Flitz, Fiona Hill, Rob Porter, Sean Spicer, Michael Dubke, Anthony Scaramucci, Hope Hicks, Sara Huckabee Sanders, Raj Shah, Boris Epshteyn, Michael Short, Gary Cohn, Jeremy Katz, Peter Navarro, Justin Clark, Steve Munisteri, Omarosa Manigault Neuman, Keith Schiller, Bill Stepien, Don McGahn, Ty Cobb, John Dowd, Ronny Jackson, Chris Christie, James Mattis, Patrick Shanahan, Rick Perry, Tom Price, Ryan Zinke, Jeff Sessions, Sally Yates, Dana Boente, Rod Rosenstein, Mathew Whitaker, James Comedy, Andrew McCabe, Alex Acosta, Rex Tillerson, Nikki Haley, Marie Yovanovitch, Kurt Volker, David Shulkin, Dan Coats, Richard Cordray, Scott Pruit and dozens more who were assistants or under secretaries, or deputies.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Trump supporters may not think of him as a dictator, but his actions resemble those of other dictators in history. American democracy is only holding on by a thread right now. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The GOP, who is in the majority in the Senate, are responsible for removing him from office, once the impeachment is transferred to them. Up to now, the GOP leadership has defended Trump throughout all of the damaging news brought into public view. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">If the GOP fails to remove this potential dictator from office, then our last hope will be the American people's vote in the 2020 election. Here's hoping that one of those two fail-safes prevents the end of American democracy. My confidence in either is not very high.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelaH4XIGpK2Om0a4moxYVDDqw9Txf2ztwcR0mTX_F-SNcwC4E7cNLctsvS1KoIe56fU42awaFwNXvPkuUfTxiniDAy-taILydBVjdxiZDLuzNM9GZqtyPMqAW7ygRPG-wg74AaQ/s1600/i+alone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="84" data-original-width="302" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelaH4XIGpK2Om0a4moxYVDDqw9Txf2ztwcR0mTX_F-SNcwC4E7cNLctsvS1KoIe56fU42awaFwNXvPkuUfTxiniDAy-taILydBVjdxiZDLuzNM9GZqtyPMqAW7ygRPG-wg74AaQ/s400/i+alone.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-13326076474188735412016-11-05T22:57:00.000-04:002019-10-30T01:07:12.396-04:00There is a much better way than voting for Trump to express your anger with government<head>
<script async="async" src="https://platform-api.sharethis.com/js/sharethis.js#property=5db7b42720af1e001258e29f&product=sticky-share-buttons" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWJoG1gsFjxPL04sufNzpA_vAOhUOG5glvV9xuYbIpfJrsQB1hn6Dwygg_nK6rNDPLdLWBlAd8qkD-KtFdhXfS118_TCIDIpZVhGYRd6Lz-0y6d_pfI4hMflsVUkO5bpxY18s_uw/s1600/angry+voter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWJoG1gsFjxPL04sufNzpA_vAOhUOG5glvV9xuYbIpfJrsQB1hn6Dwygg_nK6rNDPLdLWBlAd8qkD-KtFdhXfS118_TCIDIpZVhGYRd6Lz-0y6d_pfI4hMflsVUkO5bpxY18s_uw/s1600/angry+voter.jpg" /></a></div>
Whether you are Republican or Democrat, many people are upset with government. Some are so upset with what they call government establishment politicians, that they want something completely different. They want someone with no connection to the existing government infrastructure. Given the choices for President this year, they see Donald Trump, a person with more connections to the Russian government than the American government, as suitable.<br />
<br />
Trump supporters are so angry with government, that they are willing to forgive Trump of all his trespasses. They have faith that a proven narcisisstic sociopath and sexual predator such as Trump can change his nature to become a true American dream of a patriotic and fair presidential Trump. Someone who will "drain the swamp" in Washington (as Donald tweets) to correct the injustices they have felt and that they believe have been caused by those politicians running the government now.<br />
<br />
These angry feelings are understandable, but the source of this anger may be misdirected and the resolution of this anger by voting for Trump will only feel good for a very short time. Trump's transgressions and trespasses will only get worse if he becomes President. <br />
<br />
We are dealing with a man who has serious mental illness that may not be curable. It prevents him from respecting anyone's opinion but his own. It causes him to do and say things that a psychologically healthy person would find abhorrent. <br />
<br />
Winning is more important to him than being President, and if he should lose, his flaws will cause him to find unreasonable excuses and blame others. It causes him to assume an authoritarian personality which if elected, will make his term as President resemble a dictatorship more than democracy.<br />
<br />
His business dealings with foreign governments will jeopardize foreign policy. His closeness to Russia may cause him to champion policy that will favor Russian world domination. He may even be seen by Putin as an unwitting partner in his pursuit of that effort. Imagine the influence that allying with the United States could have for Putin.<br />
<br />
He has already shown an ignorance of our Constitution by challenging freedom of the press and stating that he would jail his political adversaries if elected. He even violates the rights of American citizens by claiming that an entire religion should be exiled from the country.<br />
<br />
He has violated business ethics and treated workers and small businesses unfairly by refusing to pay for work performed according to business contracts. Many of his businesses have gone down to bankruptcy, which he feels makes him a smart businessman, showing complete apathy for the workers who lost jobs as a result.<br />
<br />
He claims he will bring American jobs back to America, yet his own companies operate in China, India, Bangladesh and other third world nations.<br />
<br />
I can continue on many more reasons that Donald Trump should not be President, but I promised in my title that there is a better way to resolve the situation that is causing so much anger with the government.<br />
<br />
The American electorate agrees that the current Congress is worthless. We all know that nothing gets done there. One thing that may be missing from the explanation you have heard in the media is that not everyone there is useless. In fact, those people that are useless are the biggest reason you are angry, even if you don't realize it.<br />
<br />
Republicans may not accept this explanation, but I would ask that you remain open minded and consider that the GOP may have caused your anger. If you are a devoted Fox News Republican, or listen to the multitude of right wing broadcasters, you may have been brainwashed into believing that Obama and the Congressional Democrats are responsible for all of your anger. I submit for your review a few of the things that I believe may have caused some of your anger. <br />
<br />
If you don't have a good job, let me remind you that America's unemployed work force could be put back to work if the President's American Jobs Act was enacted. Unfortunately Congressional Republicans prevented passing it.<br />
<br />
If you don't feel the improvement in the economy, remember that women earn less than men and yet could become equal in the workforce if legislation to prevent discrimination in wages was lifted by removing Republican obstruction. Women belong to families, so increasing women's wages increases family wages.<br />
<br />
If you care about your fellow Americans, America's immigrant families could receive fairer treatment if Congressional Republican leadership would not disallow a vote. A bipartisan immigration effort was stifled by Republican leadership.<br />
<br />
If you want to improve the finances of many Americans who work in lower paying jobs, and want to help stimulate the economy by putting more money in their hands, then an increase in the minimum wage could do it, except that Republicans refuse to support it.<br />
<br />
The unfair control of government realized by the few uber-rich American contributors to the Republican party who influence their legislation and activities could be eliminated if Democrats were in the majority.<br />
<br />
The economic theories of the GOP is summed up in the "trickle down" theory, which pretends that jobs will be created by giving tax breaks to the rich at the expense of the middle class. The failure of the theory has been proven over many years. <br />
<br />
It fails because jobs will never be created unless demand for products increases. No business owner is going to increase the number of people working unless he needs them because the demand for product is exceeding current capacity of the workforce. <br />
<br />
One way to benefit the economy, the rich and the middle class would be to increase the wealth of the middle class. This will allow them to spend more on products and stimulate demand. This would then allow the business to increase the workforce. Provided the businessman has some patriotism left, these new workers will be American workers. <br />
<br />
This demand side policy has not been allowed into practice by Republicans who are in the majority in Congress and all attempts to introduce increased wages have been blocked by the Congressional GOP. <br />
<br />
If you are a caring person, realizing that some poor children go to bed hungry should make you angry with Congressional Republicans whose cuts to the SNAP program are based on incorrectly identifying fraud as the reason for cutting aid.<br />
<br />
If you are proud of your vote, then falsely imposed voting restrictions in Republican run states might make you angry.<br />
<br />
Perhaps you are angry that Congress is spending millions of tax dollars on the Republican party's partisan witch-hunts based on false accusations. Maybe you would like to see this waste of money stop being the focus of the Congress. The GOP has already promised many more years of "witch hunts" if Hillary Clinton is elected. <br />
<br />
America would never again renege on their debt obligations if Republicans are not given the power of the majority to cause it as they have already. Incidentally, this also added billions to our debt because of our decreased credit rating and increased interest charges as a result. <br />
<br />
Dealing with scientific facts, the government could make more reasonable decisions to enact laws that protect our environment and prevent climate change if Republicans were not in control.<br />
<br />
Near treasonous acts that show Republican leadership's opposition to government would end.<br />
<br />
Using fear tactics and lies to persuade Americans into voting against their own self interest could end if Republicans are shown that using those unethical tactics cannot win them elections.<br />
<br />
The federal government may never face another shutdown if Republicans were not in control.<br />
<br />
Real efforts to fix the Affordable Care Act to protect Americans with health insurance would be possible and not face Republican efforts to repeal it and replace it with "something really terrific" but as yet unidentified and most likely non-existent.<br />
<br />
We can accomplish all of this by voting for Democrats up and down the ticket. Believe it or not, it is your Republican run Congress that is causing your anger. <br />
<br />
Your vote is the key. Don't waste it on four more years of obstruction. Your situation will improve as soon as we have reasonable politicians who put people before profits working in our government.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-8811378289521430932016-08-12T16:57:00.002-04:002019-10-30T01:09:18.918-04:00Should Presidential candidates be psychologically tested?<head>
<script async="async" src="https://platform-api.sharethis.com/js/sharethis.js#property=5db7b42720af1e001258e29f&product=sticky-share-buttons" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYHJaVnOD8F-dcXsoKnrp3jfU2Oz0OX90rEYgb68JDY8tXwOsfmMZW48I5mFy6X73RCA-XGEWtXFcGtgSkUdqdp0SXv4OeXlqlTwbq29_JjDrCOvWyqHMRBD6ku1_c5nGDDXKYxA/s1600/Donald-Trump-Choking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYHJaVnOD8F-dcXsoKnrp3jfU2Oz0OX90rEYgb68JDY8tXwOsfmMZW48I5mFy6X73RCA-XGEWtXFcGtgSkUdqdp0SXv4OeXlqlTwbq29_JjDrCOvWyqHMRBD6ku1_c5nGDDXKYxA/s200/Donald-Trump-Choking.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Donald Trump mocking handicapped</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Maybe it goes without saying that Americans would prefer their President to be psychologically healthy. But how do we know if our nominees are sane for sure?<br />
<br />
<br />
One could postulate that anyone running for President is by definition psychologically healthy. After all, being in front of the public exposes all of your abilities and frailties. It should be easy to spot someone who lives in a fantasy world or by their actions has other psychological problems deserving of a trip to the insane asylum. How could a psychologically unfit candidate ever get by that scrutiny?<br />
<br />
Perhaps there is a type of person who can pass that scrutiny even though they are not truly psychologically healthy. If there is one such type of person in this election year, my guess is that is Donald Trump. Now, I am not a psychologist or mental health worker, so my observations are based on my own bias on what I think normal is.<br />
<br />
But it is also based on the findings of a group of seventy Republicans who have petitioned the RNC to discontinue funding for their Presidential nominee. The members of this group have worked with Republicans throughout previous administrations and they enumerate a number of observations they have made about the statements of the candidate that seem to give credence to the questionable state of his psychological health. <br />
<br />
Their letter includes the observations below:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Attacking Gold Star families of soldiers who died serving their country. </li>
<li>Urging a hostile country to intervene in a U.S. election.</li>
<li>Suggesting that gun owners take action against his opponent if she is elected.</li>
<li>Repudiating our NATO treaty obligations to protect our allies.</li>
<li>Reportedly expressing interest in the preemptive use of nuclear weapons.</li>
<li>Exposing his total ignorance of basic foreign policy matters.</li>
<li>Stating his admiration for violent foreign autocrats.</li>
<li>Refusing to release any of his past income taxes including those not under audit.</li>
<li>Deliberately and repeatedly lying about scores of issues, large and small</li>
<li>His campaign is built on anger and exclusion where he has mocked and offended millions of voters including the disabled, women, Muslims, immigrants and minorities.</li>
<li>He has shown dangerous authoritative tendencies including threats to ban an entire religion from the country, ordering the military to break the law by torturing prisoners, killing families of suspected terrorists, tracking law abiding Muslim citizens in a database, and using executive orders to commit other illegal and unconstitutional acts.</li>
<li>Waging battle with other Republicans with his own super PAC and openly refusing to support Republican candidates. </li>
</ul>
It is also based on the opinion of 50 former Republican administration security experts that say Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to the safety and security of Americans. <br />
<br />
If you believe that Donald Trump would be a good President, ask yourself why you are supporting him. Could it be that he appeals to the skeletons in your own closet? Perhaps he appeals to your secretly hidden worst nature. Many of his supporters say he is just like one of them. Does this mean that you are OK with the above list? If not, then perhaps you are supporting the wrong candidate.<br />
<br />
But I digress. Perhaps it is time for Congress to enact legislation that requires all Presidential candidates to pass a psychological test before we allow them to run for office. It appears that in this election, if we leave it up to the people to decide, it is quite possible that a person who should be in a mental hospital could wind up being President.<br />
<br />
Then again, maybe we should just not vote for Republicans for any office.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-35957646440589409682016-08-08T17:01:00.000-04:002019-10-30T01:10:47.379-04:00Living in the past, Trump reincarnates Reagan trickle down plan as most forward looking policy for America<head>
<script async="async" src="https://platform-api.sharethis.com/js/sharethis.js#property=5db7b42720af1e001258e29f&product=sticky-share-buttons" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyLucS5xG1RNFuQ41LBzoEDuHlybNd-Ws2sA7bwH0XGnJfPkAbFUzugR_DaWoXADbAQOmtWBgJJh4ck7VSwLMgIgD_FrpFIX6gPj2MCm0w9vHFIBm-2ttzn-spC_KWEEEsw8aTmQ/s1600/Trump.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyLucS5xG1RNFuQ41LBzoEDuHlybNd-Ws2sA7bwH0XGnJfPkAbFUzugR_DaWoXADbAQOmtWBgJJh4ck7VSwLMgIgD_FrpFIX6gPj2MCm0w9vHFIBm-2ttzn-spC_KWEEEsw8aTmQ/s200/Trump.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trump speaking in Detroit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Today, Donald Trump gave some specifics about his Tax plan, among other subjects, if he were elected President. I review here what the major features of his plan includes.<br />
<br />
Trump believes that taxes are the biggest differentiation between him and Hillary. He repeated his campaign's rhetoric and false claim that Hillary says she will increase taxes on the middle class.<br />
<br />
Overall, his approach to taxes is to reduce them for most people, but especially for the wealthy and Corporate America. Although he stated that he is the future thinking of American taxes, his tax plan is to reactivate the 1980's Reagan trickle down economic policy, which many argue does not increase the number of jobs, or give wage increases to workers. What it does do is pad the bank accounts of the extremely rich. He spoke nothing about minimum wage increases.<br />
<br />
The "trickle down" policy is cited as one of the major reasons for the redistribution of wealth from the middle class to the rich which caused today's income inequality. Most of his recommendations would reduce revenue to run the Federal government and likely increase the deficit unless severe cuts are made to the social safety net or other programs thought unworthy by a Republican Congress.<br />
<br />
For example, Donald Trump admits that the tax code is extremely complicated but does not mention how the tax code would change, other than by reducing the number of tax brackets from seven down to three. The three brackets would be 12%, 25% and 33%.<br />
<br />
Donald believes that taxes and regulation on Corporate America have had the most adverse impact on reducing the GDP. Further, he believes that reducing the already highest business tax rate of all western countries from 35% to 15% will improve the economy and spur on business investments and job growth. The problem with that statement is that 2/3 of all businesses pay no taxes and those that do, have their taxes reduced through exemptions, deductions and off-shore tax havens to about 12.6%. If reduction in Corporate taxes had any long term impact on increasing jobs or increasing wages, we should have already seen it. We have not.<br />
<br />
Not stopping there to improve the lives of the wealthy, Mr. Trump also advocates elimination of estate taxes. This was received by a large round of applause from the audience, who apparently either are very rich themselves or do not understand that estate taxes are not paid by any family having less than a $10.8 million estate.<br />
<br />
Mr. Trump indicates that the rich will pay their fair share of taxes, but this is very subjective. Mr. Trump did not get into details on what constitutes a fair share. For example, if a Corporate CEO who enjoys a $15 million annual income shelters $14 million of it in offshore tax shelters, does he pay tax on the $15 million or $1 million? Even if he finds legal ways to protect most of that income, what constitutes a fair share?<br />
<br />
One tax advantage offered that could favor working women is elimination of all child care expenses from taxes. Again no specifics but on the surface, it appears that provided you have a job and a child in day care, your child care costs might be deductible from your gross income and not be subject to a tax. The average cost of child care for working women is about $200 per week, so this has the potential to save over $10,000 from being taxed. We'll have to see how a Republican Congress would find this proposal, but if history is any indicator, Republicans are not very generous appropriating money for such social reasons.<br />
<br />
For example, on the subject of equal pay, if Republicans in Congress passed equal pay legislation, women's wages would be increased by about 30%, potentially increasing the take home pay by much more than $10,000. That has been rejected by Republicans more than once. My guess is that Trump's child care deduction will be solidly rejected if Republicans stay in control of Congress.<br />
<br />
Donald indicates that more about his tax policies can be found on his website. <div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15878861.post-39462530405427348632016-08-02T20:49:00.000-04:002019-10-30T01:11:49.449-04:00The economy is great...so why don't I feel it?<head>
<script async="async" src="https://platform-api.sharethis.com/js/sharethis.js#property=5db7b42720af1e001258e29f&product=sticky-share-buttons" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLPwSoMKfywjHSlCvykCPleHn3xW7BYwemA1hkXI7DyDFrAEQ_z-F9zdgicOMFbEYU7-RrdlHTzopizJyK6zVXyAs4o1lgBlyw9bJU8M5aGoyWb-30RsbWasuOFkyszDcBBtRxUg/s1600/economy1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLPwSoMKfywjHSlCvykCPleHn3xW7BYwemA1hkXI7DyDFrAEQ_z-F9zdgicOMFbEYU7-RrdlHTzopizJyK6zVXyAs4o1lgBlyw9bJU8M5aGoyWb-30RsbWasuOFkyszDcBBtRxUg/s1600/economy1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Led by Donald Trump, a familiar claim of the Republican party is that Obama has made the economy far worse than ever. However, the economy has actually improved, especially after the Bush financial crisis was resolved by the Obama administration. But this fact does not ring true with many workers in the middle class. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
And therein lies the strength of the Republican strategy to convince people of their false statements about the economy. As a whole, the middle class has truly not participated in the economic improvements and large cash in-flows enjoyed by the financially top 1% of society.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The reason for this is simple to explain and has nothing to do with the Obama Administration or the new Democratic platform.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
If you are a middle class worker, you have a job. The salary you got when you took that job was between you and your boss. The government currently has no control over the wages that you are paid by your employer, except if you are a minimum wage worker. State legislatures set the minimum wage that your employer cannot legally go below. But there is no governmental requirement for an employer to increase your pay at any time. Whether you get a pay increase at all, depends on the policies of the executives running your employer's company. In the distant past, employers used to treat employees to annual raises, the amount of which depended on how well you met your job objectives. Today however, regardless of how well you do your job, your employer may still not increase your pay.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Prior to the Reagan administration, some middle class workers enjoyed protections on living wages by their union membership. Labor unions were started under a Democratic administration at a time when business executives put profits before people in the worst way. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Before labor unions, many company executives treated workers with contempt and disrespect. Hours were long. Safe working conditions were not a consideration. Weekend work was expected. If you got a vacation it was not paid. Children were put to work in factories as executives of manufacturing companies took advantage of families that could not afford to eat during the depression unless their children worked. Some workers were killed during strikes against unfair labor practices.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
As soon as they gained back the Presidency, the Republicans worked hard to reverse workers gains received from labor unions. This effort continues even today and has resulted in the demise of union membership. Today, less than 25% of workers belong to unions and the Republicans are still trying to get rid of unions altogether. Their "Right to Work" legislation is being promoted as a positive measure to help workers, but in reality it is just another Republican lie to reduce current Union membership and reduce workers rights and wages. Republican legislators have argued that the National Labor Relations Board, the agency that is the only help workers have with grievances against their boss, be dissolved from the federal government. Republican legislators have refused to increase the federally mandated minimum wage. They have legislated for increased work visas for lower paid foreigners to take American jobs. Working for their true constituents, the Republican party has assisted the wealthy by devaluing workers and ensuring that workers wages do not impact the corporate bottom line.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Labor to an executive is an expense. It costs the company money and reduces the profits. The profits are for the executives and the owners and not something shared with workers in most companies. A large part of business management's responsibility is to reduce costs so there is always downward pressure on wages. In a society that found slavery as a viable alternative to more expensive labor, it is fairly apparent that in a capitalistic society the powerful value profits over people.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Your employer has enjoyed the benefits of the economic progress made by the Obama administration, but has not shared the profits with you. Your wages could be increased since there is plenty of cash in the coffers of Corporate America, but your employers have decided against it. That is why you have not been feeling the benefits of economic gains being realized by the rich. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
For the last thirty years, the share of the economic gains received by the top 1% of society have exceeded those that most workers have received by nearly 300 times. If you have been employed for more than 20 years, you may remember a time when annual raises were a thing. Today, most corporations have eliminated annual raises and increased the competition between fellow workers in order to keep their workers more productive and content with having a job with no increase in wages. With foreign workers visas being increased yearly, American workers today are always fearful that their company may have another lay-off, in which they might lose their job to lesser paid foreigners unless they out-work their fellow employees and don't complain about their wages.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Ultimately, you are not feeling the improvement in the economy because of the greed of your bosses. They have received the benefits, which one could say are the result of your labor, since no company is made profitable by its non-human elements. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Nearly 75% of the economy is from consumer purchases. The other 25% is from government spending. The Republicans want to keep your wages low and reduce the federal government. Both tactics will reduce the economy for all socio-economic classes. The Republicans are married to the "trickle-down" theory where you give
the economic benefits to the rich and they will create more jobs. This
is a total farce that has hurt the middle class for over the last 35 years. The
only thing their economic theory has caused is a redistribution of
wealth to the top 1%. Jobs don't get created if demand does not warrant
it and simply giving tax breaks and exemptions to the rich does not
increase demand.<br />
<br />
The Democrats want to improve the economy from the middle class out, which will improve the economy from the consumer side. This will ultimately benefit the rich as well since consumers with more money can buy more things.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
When you vote this November, remember that Donald Trump is not an island to himself, but rather the culmination of historic Republican obstruction and erroneous economic policies that contributes to your inability to make gains from the improvement in the economy. If you are middle class, you should not want Republicans in state or federal office.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Vote for Democrats for all political offices to eliminate the obstruction in Washington and give America back to the middle class. Only then will workers make progress against the powers that otherwise would hold them down.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Share this blog with your favorite social media sites.</div>Cross Speak Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127169778850806485noreply@blogger.com0