October 29, 2015

It's not a good day to be Obama, or Hillary by extension

Slapped down by the EU over the Russian sanctions,

Slapped down at the UN over Cuba,

Slapped down by the EU again over Snowden's persecution...

But damn, it feels good personally to be on the right side of the question!

October 28, 2015

The Real Kingmakers in the G.O.P. By Ryan Lizza

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-real-kingmakers-in-the-g-o-p

Top Republican strategists have begun to argue that Donald Trump could win the nomination...Political parties are rarely suicidal in Presidential campaigns. While it’s not uncommon for a party to nominate an unelectable candidate in a Senate or House election, the Presidential nominating systems used by both Democrats and Republicans only occasionally produce a fringe candidate. The last time that the Republican Party truly misfired was in 1964, when it nominated Barry Goldwater, who lost forty-four states in the general election. On the Democratic side, the last time the party produced a fringe candidate was in 1972, when George McGovern, who took advantage of new nominating rules that he had helped to write, lost forty-nine states.

HEY, WHAT ABOUT ROMNEY? THAT WAS A MISFIRE! MCCAIN/PALIN, A MISFIRE IF EVER THERE WAS ONE! DEMETER

The question that has hung over the Republican race for the past few months is whether the party is on the path to producing another historic loser by nominating an unelectable candidate, like Donald Trump or Ben Carson, or whether Republican voters, many of whom don’t make up their minds until the final days before a caucus or primary, will settle down with a more traditional—and electable—candidate, such as Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, or even the voluble Ted Cruz...Ever since June, when Trump announced his candidacy, the conventional wisdom among G.O.P. and media élites has been that Trump was a soufflé candidate who would collapse just like fringe outsiders in previous contests, such as Herman Cain, in 2012. But recently, a number of prominent observers have stepped forward to declare that, actually, Trump could win the Republican nomination.

In August, Norm Ornstein, a longtime and well-regarded political observer, made the most comprehensive argument that Trump could prevail. Ornstein pointed to several factors: a conservative media that has fostered a deeper anti-establishment sentiment among G.O.P. voters, who are less likely to get news from outside an ideological bubble; a more extreme G.O.P. electorate, especially on the issue of immigration; the absence of a consensus establishment alternative to Trump; the emergence of Super PACs, which might encourage the traditional candidates to stay in the race longer and divide up the non-Trump vote; and the fact that Trump is “a far more savvy candidate” than Cain and the like. More recently, Alex Castellanos, who worked for Mitt Romney, echoed Ornstein’s arguments, and wrote, “Slow learner that I am, I’ve resisted the idea that Donald Trump could and would become the Republican nominee. Unhappily, I’ve changed my mind.” Steve Schmidt, a veteran of John McCain’s 2008 campaign, has repeatedly argued that Trump could win. Ron Fournier, the National Journal columnist, said in June that Trump “won’t win the G.O.P. nomination,” but this week he changed his mind and wrote, “I was wrong to rule out Trump winning the nomination or the presidency.” Ironically, the recent burst of Trump-could-win commentary occurred just as Trump lost his lead in Iowa to Ben Carson, and, in at least one poll, nationally as well. (Trump is dealing with this development as one would expect: by questioning Carson’s religion and the validity of the polls.)

But has the Republican Party really lost its mind? Is it really going to nominate someone like Trump (or Carson), whose views are are so far outside the mainstream that either would pave the way for a historic Democratic landslide?

It’s doubtful.

The overwhelming majority of Republican voters have repeatedly told pollsters this year that, whatever their choice in any given poll, they haven’t made up their minds yet....

MORE, AND IT'S NOT REASSURING, EITHER

Ryan Lizza is the Washington correspondent for The New Yorker, and also an on-air contributor for CNN.

October 27, 2015

UPS Continues Its “Wreck the Post Office” Campaign, Presses for Increases on Parcel Prices

By Mark Jamison, a retired postmaster. He can be contacted at markijamison01@gmail.com. Originally published at Save the Post Office

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/10/ups-continues-its-wreck-the-post-office-campaign-presses-for-increases-on-parcel-prices.html

One of the “too many to count” looting operations underway is the effort to make the constitutionally-mandated Post Office uncompetitive in price terms so that private contractors like UPS and Fedex have a greater and more lucrative share of parcel and letter delivery.

The latest offense is an under-the-radar effort by UPS to argue that the Post Office is pricing its products unfairly, and overcharging on services like first class letter delivery to subsidize parcel shipments.

This post is a bit lengthy because it goes into important detail as to how UPS is mounting its attack and the procedural mechanisms it is using. The author, Mark Jamison, describes worryingly how the traditional Post-Office haters, which were stalwart right-wingers as well as Post Office competitors, have recently been joined by neoliberals. ...

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LENGTHY AND DETAILED REPORT FOLLOWS

October 27, 2015

Elizabeth Warren: How Clinton Backed Student Loan, Mortgage Debt Slavery with Bankruptcy “Reform” “

Elizabeth Warren on How Clinton Backed Student Loan and Mortgage Debt Slavery with 2005 Bankruptcy “Reform” Vote

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/10/elizabeth-warren-on-how-clinton-backed-student-loan-and-mortgage-debt-slavery-with-2005-bankruptcy-reform-vote.html

A sorry chapter of Hillary Clinton’s legislative record was her vote in support of the 2005 bankruptcy “reform” bill. This bill had been keenly sought by the credit card industry, had come up repeatedly in Congress and had managed to be beaten back….until 2005, when it became law. One of its biggest proponents was the big credit card issuer MBNA, which is now part of Bank of America. MBNA has estimated that getting the bill passed would enable them to get an additional $10 a month from consumers who were eligible for bankruptcy, which would mean an additional $85 million a year to them in profits.

In addition to restricting access to Chapter 7 bankruptcies, which enabled borrowers to wipe out their debts, and forced more into Chapter 13 bankruptcies, which force borrowers to negotiate a 60 month repayment plan with budgets that require them to live at an extremely meager level (one indicator: the amounts allotted for food are stunningly low, and one wonders how people who are juggling multiple jobs can possibly find the time to shop for food bargains and cook so as to stay within these restrictions). Many people cannot complete their Chapter 13 plans due to ‘shit happens” (an unexpected expense, like a medical emergency or car problem, can lead to a borrower missing his repayment schedule). And that’s before you get to bad faith conduct by the lender intended to make the borrower fail or appear to fail, which we documented regularly during the foreclosure crisis (the objective was to enable the bank to proceed with a foreclosure).

As most readers know well, the provisions of the 2005 bankruptcy “reform” bill on student debt were even more draconian. The overwhelming majority of Student loan borrowers are barred from discharging these debts in bankruptcy. Moreover, Social Security payments can be garnished to repay student loans. putting parent/grandparent co-signers and middle aged students presumably seeking to qualify themselves for new careers at risk.*

As you can see in this Bill Moyers segment, Elizabeth Warren recounts how Hillary Clinton sought out Warren’s advice on the bankruptcy bill in 1999, and persuaded her husband to veto it, one of the last acts he took as an outgoing President. Warren points out that this bill at the time was not very high priority pro-business measure and by implication was not unduly costly for a departing Chief Executive to veto...

MORE AND VIDEO AT LINK

October 27, 2015

poll shows Donald Trump beating Hillary Clinton...Trump taking 70% of the electoral votes

Latest presidential poll shows Donald Trump beating Hillary Clinton in head-to-head contest, Trump taking 70% of the electoral votes

http://powderedwigsociety.com/trump-kills-hitlery-in-head-to-head-matchup/



...

Based on an average of the RCP (Real Clear Politics) polling data from all the states and all the “head to head” matchups between Donald Trump (by far the winner of the GOP) and Hillary Clinton (The winner of the Democratic Party) shows bad news for the Democrats.

Clinton is losing handily in all the swing states, and is even losing Democrat strongholds of Maryland, Connecticut, and Oregon.
According to many polls, and the averages, Clinton cannot even hold on to California and New York without a major fight. On the bright side for the Democrat party, they make gains in the south as Obama is now off the ticket.

Trump would defeat Hillary Clinton by 5 percentage points nationwide: getting 52% and Clinton gathering 47% (presuming the pollsters are citing the popular vote)

......

This is one freaky website!

October 27, 2015

Farming Planned For 60 Acres Of Blighted Detroit Land

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2015/10/26/farming-planned-for-60-acres-of-blighted-detroit-land/

About 22 blocks of vacant land in Detroit are destined for a future in agriculture. The Detroit News reports that officials detailed a plan Monday that calls for 60 acres on the city’s east side to be used for greenhouses and hoop houses where specialty vegetables will be grown.

The project will be operated by RecoveryPark Farms and is expected to provide 128 jobs with 60 percent going to Detroit residents. Mayor Mike Duggan says the project is taking “the hardest to employ” and “putting them to work on land that had been long abandoned and forgotten.”

The Detroit Land Bank Authority will lease 35 acres to RecoveryPark, a nonprofit that turns blighted areas into land that can be farmed. The Detroit City Council has to OK the plan.

I SURE HOPE THEY ARE HYDROPONIC, OR BRING IN CLEAN SOIL, OR AT LEAST TEST FOR HEAVY METAL AND ORGANIC AND INORGANIC CHEMICAL POISONS. PARTS OF DETROIT ARE UNMITIGATED BROWNFIELDS.

October 26, 2015

Gov. Snyder: Helping pay off Detroit schools' $750 million debt better than alternative

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2015/10/gov_snyder_helping_pay_off_det.html

Gov. Rick Snyder sat down for an interview with WDIV-TV, Channel 4 News "Flashpoint" host Devin Scillian that aired Sunday. VIDEO AT LINK

Snyder was asked about a number of issues, including the Flint water dilemma, his plan to revamp Detroit schools and the new road funding plan.

Detroit Schools

Snyder's plan to revamp Detroit schools and address its crippling $750 million debt involves creating an entirely new district that would handle school operations. Detroit Public Schools, and its School Board, would remain for the sole purpose of paying the debt. The new district would have a school board appointed by the governor and Mayor Mike Duggan, with all of the members becoming elected officials by 2021.

Snyder said the plan takes about $50 per student statewide to deal with the Detroit problem and puts about $1,100 per student back into Detroit classrooms. Although the state is sharing Detroit's burden, Snyder said it would be much worse if Detroit Public Schools went bankrupt. He said this would put an estimated $1 billion pension liability on schools statewide.

MORE

October 25, 2015

Why Obamacare Can’t Lower Costs

http://itsoureconomy.us/2014/05/why-obamacare-cant-lower-costs/



President Obama and the Democratic Party dug themselves into a deep hole by claiming the Affordable Care Act would cut the nation’s health care costs when in fact it will raise them. It’s the gift that will keep on giving to opponents of the law.

The ACA cannot cut costs because its proponents subscribed to the wrong diagnosis of the U.S. health care crisis. They accepted the conventional wisdom that overuse of health care services is the most important reason why per capita health care costs are double those of the rest of the industrialized world, and that overuse is caused by two chronic failings among American doctors: They routinely order services patients do not need and fail to provide them with obviously beneficial preventive ones that would keep them healthy and minimize later need for medical interventions.

This diagnosis is wrong. First, underuse is far more common than overuse, even among the insured. To cite one example, 80 percent of insured Americans showing telltale symptoms, such as shortness of breath, do not see a doctor. Second, preventive services usually raise spending because they cost more to supply than they save.

Predictably enough, the mistaken “overuse” diagnosis led ACA proponents to the wrong solution, namely, that doctors can be forced or induced to stop ordering unnecessary services and provide more preventive services if they are subjected to more control by insurance companies. But the premises upon which this solution is based are also false. It is not true that the methods that the insurance industry uses to control doctors are so precise that they reduce overuse without aggravating underuse. It is also not true that the insurance industry’s methods are so inexpensive compared with the savings due to reduced overuse that, on balance, costs go down...The ACA’s failure to control costs might not have mattered if we were still in the 1940s or ’50s, when health care spending absorbed 4 or 5 percent of our national income. But it is 2014. Health care spending now eats up 17 percent of our income. Since the 1970s, observers across the political spectrum have agreed that America will never achieve and maintain a substantial reduction in our uninsured rate, never mind universal coverage, unless we reduce the cost of our health care system. As a candidate and as president, Barack Obama made it clear he understood that.

MORE

October 25, 2015

The Economist: Who will fight the next war?

http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21676778-failures-iraq-and-afghanistan-have-widened-gulf-between-most-americans-and-armed?fsrc=scn/tw/te/pe/ed/whowillfightthenextwar


...Southern, poorer than the national average, mostly black and with longstanding ties to the army, the inhabitants of Clayton County (GA) are among the army’s likeliest recruits. Last year they furnished it with more soldiers than most of the rest of the greater Atlanta area put together. Yet Sergeant’s Haney’s battalion, which is responsible for it, still failed to make its annual recruiting target—and a day out with the unit suggests why.

Much of the friendly reception for Sergeant Haney he puts down to fine southern manners; in fact, no one in Walmart is likely to enlist. Lemeanfa has a tattoo behind his ear, an immediate disqualifier. Dseanna has a one-year-old baby, and would have to sign away custody of him. Lily’s girlfriend has a toddler she does not want to leave; Archel won’t leave his sister. Even the cookie-giver is less propitious than he seems: he symbolises, Sergeant Haney says ruefully, as he bins his gift, that paying lip-service to the armed forces, as opposed to doing military service, is all most Americans are good for.

In a society given to ostentatious public obeisance to the services—during National Military Appreciation Month, on Military Spouse Day and on countless other such public holidays and occasions—the figures that support this claim are astonishing. In the financial year that ended on September 30th America’s four armed services—army, navy, air force and marines—aimed to recruit 177,000 people, mainly from among the 21m Americans aged 17-21. Yet all struggled, and the army, which accounted for nearly half that target, made its number, at great cost and the eleventh hour, only by cannibalising its store of recruits for the current year. It failed by 2,000 to meet its target of 17,300 recruits for the army reserve, which is becoming more important to national security as the full-time army shrinks from a recent peak of 566,000 to a projected 440,000 by 2019—its lowest level since the second world war. “I find it remarkable,” says the commander of army recruiting, Major-General Jeffrey Snow. “That we have been in two protracted land campaigns and we have an American public that thinks very highly of the military, yet the vast majority has lost touch with it. Less than 1% of Americans are willing and able to serve.”

That is part of a longstanding trend: a growing disconnect between American society and the armed forces that claim to represent it, which has many causes, starting with the ending of the draft in 1973. Ever since, military experience has been steadily fading from American life. In 1990, 40% of young Americans had at least one parent who had served in the forces; by 2014, only 16% had, and the measure continues to fall. Among American leaders, the decline is similarly pronounced. In 1981, 64% of congressmen were veterans; now around 18% are...During the Korean war, around 70% of draft-age American men served in the armed forces; during Vietnam, the unpopularity of the conflict and ease of draft-dodging ensured that only 43% did. These days, even if every young American wanted to join up, less than 30% would be eligible to. Of the starting 21m, around 9.5m would fail a rudimentary academic qualification, either because they had dropped out of high school or, typically, because most young Americans cannot do tricky sums without a calculator. Of the remainder, 7m would be disqualified because they are too fat, or have a criminal record, or tattoos on their hands or faces. According to Sergeant Haney, about half the high-school students in Clayton County are inked somewhere or other; according to his boss, Lieutenant-Colonel Tony Parilli, a bigger problem is simply that “America is obese.” That leaves 4.5m young Americans eligible to serve, of whom only around 390,000 are minded to, provided they do not get snapped up by a college or private firm instead—as tends to happen to the best of them. Indeed, a favourite mantra of army recruiters, that they are competing with Microsoft and Google, is not really true. With the annual exception of a few hundred sons and daughters of retired officers, America’s elite has long since turned its nose up at military service. Well under 10% of army recruits have a college degree; nearly half belong to an ethnic minority.



MORE

AMERICA DOESN'T WANT AN EMPIRE--QED! SO STOP WITH THE STUPID WARS, ALREADY!

October 25, 2015

102 countries pledge not to oppose UN action on genocidele

Source: India Times


UNITED NATIONS: More than 100 countries have signed a "Code of Conduct" pledging not to vote against a credible UN Security Council resolution seeking to prevent or end genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.

The initiative was launched on Friday, the eve of the UN's 70th anniversary, by Liechtenstein's Foreign Minister Aurelia Frick who called the code "a catalyst for a culture of zero tolerance for atrocity crimes within the council." She said it would also serve as a catalyst for political accountability between the council and the rest of the 193 UN member states.

While not legally binding, the Code of Conduct reflects growing concern at the power of the five veto-wielding council members — the US, Russia, China, Britain and France — to veto a resolution on atrocity crimes.

Read more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/102-countries-pledge-not-to-oppose-UN-action-on-genocide/articleshow/49512935.cms

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The 99% is getting restless everywhere!