Day: June 14, 2017

Apparently There Are Two Kinds of Government Shutdown

Buck Banks

“At times there could be a good shutdown, at times there may not be a good shutdown. There could be reasons at various times why that is the right outcome.”

— Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, quoted by The Hill, when asked about President Trump’s tweet earlier this year that “Our country needs a good ‘shutdown’ in September to fix mess!”

Most Trump Real Estate Deals to Buyers Who Shield Their Identity

Buck Banks

79%

“Since President Trump won the Republican nomination, the majority of his companies’ real estate sales are to secretive shell companies that obscure the buyers’ identities,” a USA Today investigation has found. “Over the last 12 months, about 70% of buyers of Trump properties were limited liability companies – corporate entities that allow people to purchase property without revealing all of the owners’ names. That compares with about 4% of buyers in the two years before.”

Almost 200 Democrat Lawmakers Sue Trump

Buck Banks

200

USA Today: “Nearly 200 Democratic members of Congress filed a lawsuit against President Trump on Wednesday morning alleging that his continued ties to his business empire violate the U.S. Constitution. The unprecedented legal action accuses Trump of violating the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits federal officials from accepting gifts or titles from foreign governments without congressional approval. … The lawsuit will have the greatest number of congressional plaintiffs of any lawsuit against the president in the nation’s history.”

More Trust Comey Than Trump

Buck Banks

45% to 32%

“Voters have greater faith in former FBI Director James Comey to tell the truth than in President Donald Trump, who has disputed the veracity of Comey’s sworn testimony before a Senate committee last week. A new Politico/Morning Consult poll conducted in the days following Comey’s appearance before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 45% of voters said they trust Comey more to tell the truth, compared to 32% for Trump. Twenty-three percent have no opinion.”

Naomi Klein: How to Resist Donald’s Shock Doctrine Politics

Jon Ponder

From Naomi Klein’s new book, No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need:

Shock. It’s a word that has come up a lot since November— for obvious reasons.

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about shock. Ten years ago, I published “The Shock Doctrine,” an investigation that spanned four decades from Pinochet’s U.S.-backed coup in 1970s Chile to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

I noticed a brutal and recurring tactic by right wing governments. After a shocking event – a war, coup, terrorist attack, market crash or natural disaster – exploit the public’s disorientation. Suspend democracy. Push through radical “free market” policies that enrich the 1 percent at the expense of the poor and middle class.

[…]