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welcome to reality trivia
reality is the state of things as they actually exist
march 19, 2019
real news today
march 19, 2019
*Trump proposal to cap student loans would deepen inequality in higher ed
(Education)
*HOW DEREGULATION MADE FLYING MORE DANGEROUS
(Talkers)
*Trump’s racist followers are embracing Christian end times theology to rid the world of liberals: Ex-Bush speechwriter(Suckers)
*The 'great dying': rapid warming caused largest extinction event ever, report says
(Ancient Times)
*Trump uses bad poll question to claim half of America thinks Mueller’s on a “witch hunt”
(Worthless Media)
*Make sure that vote gets counted’: Elizabeth Warren calls for a constitutional amendment to ‘get rid of the electoral college’(Progressives)
*Supreme Court to Decide Fate of Man Whose Conviction Came After Prosecutor Consistently Worked to Keep Black People from Jury(America)
*Record high US temperatures outpace record lows two to one, study finds
(Environment)
(for previous day's articles see "what's inside" below)
comment/tweet of the day
H. L. Mencken: Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.
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Isn't it interesting that Trump DIDN'T say his roving biker gangs would stop white nationalists?
ck4829 - demo underground
Anyone else find it odd that Trump threatens to deploy tough military, police, and biker gangs against Democrats but not against white nationalist terrorists?
What's the matter? Are his tough guys too chicken to go against guys who are certain to shoot back? Or is it because they have the same skin color and similar politics? Or maybe a little bit of both?
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Samuel L. Jackson doesn't care if his anti-Trump stance costs him fans
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin - demo underground
“This motherfucker is like ruining the planet and all kinds of other crazy shit,” the 70-year-old actor said. “And the people think that’s OK. It’s not fucking OK. And if you’re not saying anything, then you’re complicit.”
When asked if he was worried about antagonizing Trump voters, the "Avengers" star dismissed concerns: “I know how many motherfuckers hate me. ‘I’m never going to see a Sam Jackson movie again.’ Fuck I care? If you never went to another movie I did in my life, I’m not going to lose any money. I already cashed that check. Fuck you. Burn up my videotapes. I don’t give a fuck.”
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Only a Sick Man Would Continue to Bash a Dead Man
louis c - demo underground
The President* of the United States, of the same party, chooses to denigrate a man who is no longer here to defend himself. What a piece of shit he is. But, I'm wondering what Trump's new lackey, Lindsey Graham is thinking?
Donald J. Trump
✔ @realDonaldTrump
Spreading the fake and totally discredited Dossier “is unfortunately a very dark stain against John McCain.” Ken Starr, Former Independent Counsel. He had far worse “stains” than this, including thumbs down on repeal and replace after years of campaigning to repeal and replace!
4:46 PM - Mar 16, 2019
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Rick Wilson
Apparently this was the image @DevinNunes really, really disliked.
No one should repost it. It would be wrong, and bad.
The Freedom Caucus White House coup is officially complete
by Joan McCarter / Daily Kos - alternet
March 19, 2019
If there’s one thing that really sums up just how profoundly messed up the Trump White House is, top to bottom, it’s this: the one person capable of making Trump and Co. happy in the role of chief of staff is former Freedom Caucus maniac Mick Mulvaney. The once—and current—Office of Management and Budget Director, who also moonlighted as the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for over a year, has been filling in as top deputy for Trump since John Kelly left last year, reportedly no longer even trying to talk with Trump. But Mulvaney is doing so great at the job, they’re making it permanent.
That’s right, the Freedom Caucus lives on, and this time it’s taking over the White House. Apparently, Mulvaney is working out so well because he just lets Trump do whatever the hell he wants, and is also nice to first daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, the guy running around on the world stage with a security clearance he should not have. Mulvaney lets them do whatever they want, as well, so they don’t go running to Daddy complaining about the nanny being mean. This all is absolutely real, sources tell Politico. He’s succeeding because he lets them be awful. “He has stayed out of a lot of people’s way,” a senior administration official told reporter Nancy Cook. “No one is saying he is killing it but staying out of people’s way has helped.”
Here’s something to help you sleep at night: “Mulvaney has also quietly installed roughly eight loyal aides within the West Wing.” It’s a Freedom Caucus coup, brought about by the fact that literally no one else Trump tried to talk into taking the chief job was willing to do it. He got bored with the hunt for Kelly’s replacement after multiple, public rejections by people like Rep. Mark Meadows, the North Carolina maniac, Nick Ayers, and Chris Christie, so it looks like Mulvaney is ending up on top. Trump has apparently not made it official yet, and could change his mind, but he’s done nothing else in the interest of the country so it doesn’t seem likely he’ll want to chance getting someone else who might try to rein in his impulses again.
Back to that coup—he’s installed his people in the “chief of staff’s office, communications shop and Domestic Policy Council, which crafts policy on issues like health care, drug prices, welfare, education and transportation.” That’s comforting, huh? While Trump’s out there being as Trumpy as he wants to be, Mulvaney and team will be behind the scenes trying to dismantle our society. Good times.
That’s right, the Freedom Caucus lives on, and this time it’s taking over the White House. Apparently, Mulvaney is working out so well because he just lets Trump do whatever the hell he wants, and is also nice to first daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, the guy running around on the world stage with a security clearance he should not have. Mulvaney lets them do whatever they want, as well, so they don’t go running to Daddy complaining about the nanny being mean. This all is absolutely real, sources tell Politico. He’s succeeding because he lets them be awful. “He has stayed out of a lot of people’s way,” a senior administration official told reporter Nancy Cook. “No one is saying he is killing it but staying out of people’s way has helped.”
Here’s something to help you sleep at night: “Mulvaney has also quietly installed roughly eight loyal aides within the West Wing.” It’s a Freedom Caucus coup, brought about by the fact that literally no one else Trump tried to talk into taking the chief job was willing to do it. He got bored with the hunt for Kelly’s replacement after multiple, public rejections by people like Rep. Mark Meadows, the North Carolina maniac, Nick Ayers, and Chris Christie, so it looks like Mulvaney is ending up on top. Trump has apparently not made it official yet, and could change his mind, but he’s done nothing else in the interest of the country so it doesn’t seem likely he’ll want to chance getting someone else who might try to rein in his impulses again.
Back to that coup—he’s installed his people in the “chief of staff’s office, communications shop and Domestic Policy Council, which crafts policy on issues like health care, drug prices, welfare, education and transportation.” That’s comforting, huh? While Trump’s out there being as Trumpy as he wants to be, Mulvaney and team will be behind the scenes trying to dismantle our society. Good times.
penalizing the poor, stupid people keep electing republicans!!!
Work Requirements Will Be Enforced for Medicaid Recipients in Ohio
BY TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE | MARCH 19, 2019 AT 7:45 AM
By Kaitlin Schroeder
Ohioans who are covered by the expansion of Medicaid will soon have to get a job, go to school or get an exemption.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services gave Ohio approval Friday to impose work requirements for those covered by Medicaid expansion.
The health insurance program for low-income Ohioans is jointly funded by the state and federal government. The state lists about 540,000 covered through Medicaid expansion as of February.
"I am pleased that Ohio is a model state that balances a pathway to employment and access to health care in our reasonable work requirements. They are intended to put those able-bodied adults served by the Medicaid expansion on a pathway to full employment," Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement.
Work requirements have been hailed by some conservative lawmakers as a way to encourage self sufficiency. Critics of the move have said work requirements are an unnecessary burdens on the poor, will make health outcomes worse, and waste money on red tape.
"According to the State of Ohio's own extensive, independently conducted research, Ohio's Medicaid program enabled hundreds of thousands of Ohioans to get and stay healthy. Healthy Ohioans can keep their jobs and take care of their families without fear of choosing between their health and other necessities like food or rent," John Corlett, former Ohio Medicaid director and executive director of the Center for Community Solutions.
He said the state needs to monitor how this change impacts the economic viability of safety net hospitals, community health centers and community mental health centers that serve a large percentage of Medicaid patients.
Ohio requested federal permission to create work requirements under the direction of the Republican-majority Ohio General Assembly during former Gov. John Kasich's administration.
The state had estimated that about 95 percent of those covered by the expansion would already either meet the work requirement or be exempt. Some of the exemptions include being age 50 years or older, participating in drug or alcohol treatment, being pregnant, or complying with work requirements associated with other programs like SNAP, also known as food stamps.
Center for Community Solutions has questioned the math of how many people will lose coverage, pointing to when the state implemented work requirements for SNAP benefits. While the state estimated 134,000 recipients would be affected, nearly 400,000 Ohioans no longer receive SNAP benefits.
Dayton-based CareSource, which privately manages Ohio Medicaid plans, had grown when the program was expanded.
Steve Ringel, president of Dayton-based CareSource, said in a statement that the company "looks forward to partnering with the state to support work requirements and the community engagement waiver." He highlighted that CareSource had previously developed a program called JobConnect, which connects its Medicaid members to one-on-one coaching and support with seeking employment and education.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services gave Ohio approval Friday to impose work requirements for those covered by Medicaid expansion.
The health insurance program for low-income Ohioans is jointly funded by the state and federal government. The state lists about 540,000 covered through Medicaid expansion as of February.
"I am pleased that Ohio is a model state that balances a pathway to employment and access to health care in our reasonable work requirements. They are intended to put those able-bodied adults served by the Medicaid expansion on a pathway to full employment," Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement.
Work requirements have been hailed by some conservative lawmakers as a way to encourage self sufficiency. Critics of the move have said work requirements are an unnecessary burdens on the poor, will make health outcomes worse, and waste money on red tape.
"According to the State of Ohio's own extensive, independently conducted research, Ohio's Medicaid program enabled hundreds of thousands of Ohioans to get and stay healthy. Healthy Ohioans can keep their jobs and take care of their families without fear of choosing between their health and other necessities like food or rent," John Corlett, former Ohio Medicaid director and executive director of the Center for Community Solutions.
He said the state needs to monitor how this change impacts the economic viability of safety net hospitals, community health centers and community mental health centers that serve a large percentage of Medicaid patients.
Ohio requested federal permission to create work requirements under the direction of the Republican-majority Ohio General Assembly during former Gov. John Kasich's administration.
The state had estimated that about 95 percent of those covered by the expansion would already either meet the work requirement or be exempt. Some of the exemptions include being age 50 years or older, participating in drug or alcohol treatment, being pregnant, or complying with work requirements associated with other programs like SNAP, also known as food stamps.
Center for Community Solutions has questioned the math of how many people will lose coverage, pointing to when the state implemented work requirements for SNAP benefits. While the state estimated 134,000 recipients would be affected, nearly 400,000 Ohioans no longer receive SNAP benefits.
Dayton-based CareSource, which privately manages Ohio Medicaid plans, had grown when the program was expanded.
Steve Ringel, president of Dayton-based CareSource, said in a statement that the company "looks forward to partnering with the state to support work requirements and the community engagement waiver." He highlighted that CareSource had previously developed a program called JobConnect, which connects its Medicaid members to one-on-one coaching and support with seeking employment and education.
Author explains how GOP uses racism to fool dumb whites: ‘At least our tax dollars aren’t going to welfare queens’
David Edwards - raw story
19 MAR 2019 AT 13:54 ET
A new book by physician Jonathan Metzl explores how the Republican Party uses racism to fool white people into voting for policies that are against their own self-interests.
In his book, Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment is Killing America’s Heartland, Metzl argues that political beliefs like support for gun rights or opposition to the Affordable Care Act can be tied to racism.
Vox’s Sean Illing spoke to Metzl about the new book in an interview that was published this week.
Metzl explained:
That’s the core question I address in the book. I look at the rejection of the Affordable Care Act in the South. I look at policies that make it far easier for people to get guns and carry guns everywhere. I look at tax cuts that benefit wealthy Americans but cut roads, bridges, and schools in poor and working-class areas. Every one of those policies has been sold as a policy that will make America great again. But they have devastating consequences for working-class populations, particularly working-class white populations, in many instances.
You can’t really understand why people might support those agendas if you just start the conversation today. There are long trajectories of anti-government sentiment that course through the South that Trump has tapped into. There are also concerns about what it means to have the government intervene in ways that equally distribute resources that working-class white populations fear might undermine their own sense of privilege.
I think the GOP has also been remarkably successful at tapping into this narrative — a narrative that makes people anxious that immigrants and minorities are going to take away privileges that are theirs.
Metzl was careful to point out that some of the Republicans he spoke to did not appear to be racist.
“It might hurt us but at least our tax dollars aren’t going to Mexicans and welfare queens,” he recalled one person saying.
“The key point I make in the book is that all these negative health risks don’t necessarily stem from racist individuals,” he said. “The health risks rise when the politics of racial resentment shapes the health care policies, the health policies, in your state or community. So it really was the policies themselves that were racially motivated, not the individual people or their psychologies.”
In his book, Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment is Killing America’s Heartland, Metzl argues that political beliefs like support for gun rights or opposition to the Affordable Care Act can be tied to racism.
Vox’s Sean Illing spoke to Metzl about the new book in an interview that was published this week.
Metzl explained:
That’s the core question I address in the book. I look at the rejection of the Affordable Care Act in the South. I look at policies that make it far easier for people to get guns and carry guns everywhere. I look at tax cuts that benefit wealthy Americans but cut roads, bridges, and schools in poor and working-class areas. Every one of those policies has been sold as a policy that will make America great again. But they have devastating consequences for working-class populations, particularly working-class white populations, in many instances.
You can’t really understand why people might support those agendas if you just start the conversation today. There are long trajectories of anti-government sentiment that course through the South that Trump has tapped into. There are also concerns about what it means to have the government intervene in ways that equally distribute resources that working-class white populations fear might undermine their own sense of privilege.
I think the GOP has also been remarkably successful at tapping into this narrative — a narrative that makes people anxious that immigrants and minorities are going to take away privileges that are theirs.
Metzl was careful to point out that some of the Republicans he spoke to did not appear to be racist.
“It might hurt us but at least our tax dollars aren’t going to Mexicans and welfare queens,” he recalled one person saying.
“The key point I make in the book is that all these negative health risks don’t necessarily stem from racist individuals,” he said. “The health risks rise when the politics of racial resentment shapes the health care policies, the health policies, in your state or community. So it really was the policies themselves that were racially motivated, not the individual people or their psychologies.”
Trump-loving Bob Kraft is being offered a sweetheart deal to avoid facing prostitution charges: report
Brad Reed- raw story
19 MAR 2019 AT 13:37 ET
Trump-loving New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is being offered a deal in which Florida prosecutors drop solicitation charges against him — but only if he admits that he would have been found guilty had his case been taken to court.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the deal, in addition to asking Kraft to admit he would have been found guilty, also requires “completion of an education course about prostitution, completion of 100 hours of community service, screening for sexually transmitted diseases and payment of some court costs.”
The Journal’s report describes the admittance of probable guilt as an “unusual” clause and it is not yet clear if Kraft will agree to it, especially after his attorneys have insisted that he engaged in no illegal activity when he went to a Florida day spa that’s been caught up in a human trafficking and prostitution investigation.
“Prosecutors alleged they saw Mr. Kraft, 77 years old, enter Orchids of Asia Day Spa, located in a small strip mall, on two occasions and saw him pay cash and receive sex acts,” notes the Journal. “He was identified in a traffic stop after his first visit on Jan. 19, when he was the passenger in a vehicle, and visited the spa again the next day, before the Patriots played the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game.”
The Wall Street Journal reports that the deal, in addition to asking Kraft to admit he would have been found guilty, also requires “completion of an education course about prostitution, completion of 100 hours of community service, screening for sexually transmitted diseases and payment of some court costs.”
The Journal’s report describes the admittance of probable guilt as an “unusual” clause and it is not yet clear if Kraft will agree to it, especially after his attorneys have insisted that he engaged in no illegal activity when he went to a Florida day spa that’s been caught up in a human trafficking and prostitution investigation.
“Prosecutors alleged they saw Mr. Kraft, 77 years old, enter Orchids of Asia Day Spa, located in a small strip mall, on two occasions and saw him pay cash and receive sex acts,” notes the Journal. “He was identified in a traffic stop after his first visit on Jan. 19, when he was the passenger in a vehicle, and visited the spa again the next day, before the Patriots played the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game.”
‘Nothing is considered too cruel’: Anti-vaxxers are now targeting parents of dead children for harassment
Brad Reed - raw story
19 MAR 2019 AT 09:13 ET
Some parents who have lost children to illnesses are being targeted by anti-vaccination activists who frequently blame the parents’ decision to support vaccinations for their children’s deaths.
CNN reports the campaigns have targeted parents who have lost children and who then speak up about the importance of giving vaccinations to every child who is healthy enough to receive them.
As an example, the report cites the experience of Jill Promoli, a Toronto mother who lost one of her sons to the flu in 2016, and who subsequently got involved in a public flu prevention campaign.
“Some anti-vaxers told her she’d murdered Jude and made up a story about the flu to cover up her crime,” CNN reports. “Others said vaccines had killed her son. Some called her the c-word. The worst ones — the ones that would sometimes make her cry — were the posts that said she was advocating for flu shots so that other children would die from the shots and their parents would be miserable like she was.”
A similar experience happened to a Midwestern mother who wishes to remain anonymous and who told CNN that she had a similar experience after her four-year-old son died of the flu, as anti-vaxxers swarmed her Facebook page to tell her that her son never existed or that she was the one who really killed him.
“Nothing is considered too cruel,” CNN writes of the tactics.
Larry Cook, the founder of the activist group Stop Mandatory Vaccinations, blamed the harassment campaign against grieving parents on a few bad apples.
“Any discussions about parents who lose their children after those children are vaccinated would be minor in number, and even smaller would be the number of members reaching out to parents in private message to share their concerns that vaccines may have played a role in a death,” he said.
Read the whole report here.
CNN reports the campaigns have targeted parents who have lost children and who then speak up about the importance of giving vaccinations to every child who is healthy enough to receive them.
As an example, the report cites the experience of Jill Promoli, a Toronto mother who lost one of her sons to the flu in 2016, and who subsequently got involved in a public flu prevention campaign.
“Some anti-vaxers told her she’d murdered Jude and made up a story about the flu to cover up her crime,” CNN reports. “Others said vaccines had killed her son. Some called her the c-word. The worst ones — the ones that would sometimes make her cry — were the posts that said she was advocating for flu shots so that other children would die from the shots and their parents would be miserable like she was.”
A similar experience happened to a Midwestern mother who wishes to remain anonymous and who told CNN that she had a similar experience after her four-year-old son died of the flu, as anti-vaxxers swarmed her Facebook page to tell her that her son never existed or that she was the one who really killed him.
“Nothing is considered too cruel,” CNN writes of the tactics.
Larry Cook, the founder of the activist group Stop Mandatory Vaccinations, blamed the harassment campaign against grieving parents on a few bad apples.
“Any discussions about parents who lose their children after those children are vaccinated would be minor in number, and even smaller would be the number of members reaching out to parents in private message to share their concerns that vaccines may have played a role in a death,” he said.
Read the whole report here.
Ohio union leader hammers Trump for broken promises: ‘He told folks jobs are coming back — we’ve seen job losses’
Brad Reed - raw story
19 MAR 2019 AT 08:18 ET
David Green, a United Auto Workers leader who was targeted by President Donald Trump in an angry tweet this week, hit back at the president for breaking his promises for workers.
During a CNN segment about the closing of an Ohio General Motors plant, Green singled out the Republican Party’s 2017 tax law as a major reason for GM’s decision to shut down operations in the area.
“The GOP tax cut gave corporations like GM an incentive to build products outside the state,” he said. “I just wanted him to understand that… the regulations on books aren’t really helping working people, it’s not helping companies that actually employ people.”
He then turned to Trump’s 2016 campaign vows and he said the president has so far come up woefully short.
“A lot of people here voted for him,” he said. “He came here and told folks, ‘Don’t sell your house, those jobs are coming back.’ And we’ve seen job losses.”
The GM plant in Lordstown, Ohio closed two weeks ago, resulting in layoffs of 1,400 auto workers.
During a CNN segment about the closing of an Ohio General Motors plant, Green singled out the Republican Party’s 2017 tax law as a major reason for GM’s decision to shut down operations in the area.
“The GOP tax cut gave corporations like GM an incentive to build products outside the state,” he said. “I just wanted him to understand that… the regulations on books aren’t really helping working people, it’s not helping companies that actually employ people.”
He then turned to Trump’s 2016 campaign vows and he said the president has so far come up woefully short.
“A lot of people here voted for him,” he said. “He came here and told folks, ‘Don’t sell your house, those jobs are coming back.’ And we’ve seen job losses.”
The GM plant in Lordstown, Ohio closed two weeks ago, resulting in layoffs of 1,400 auto workers.
*bites from real news - 3/19/2019*
*The Trump Administration Is Detaining Migrant Children in Clandestine Shelters
The federal government is relying on secret shelters to hold unaccompanied minors, in possible violation of the long-standing rules for the care of immigrant children, a Reveal investigation has found.
BY AURA BOGADO AND PATRICK
*Trump Budget Ends Medicaid Expansion, Axes Affordable Housing Programs by
Cuts Target the Poor, People of Color and Students
*She Injured Herself Working at Amazon. Then The Real Nightmare Began.
How Amazon’s in-house health care can leave workers in the lurch.(mother jones)
*‘Weak and phony’ Ben Sasse obliterated by conservative for rolling over for Trump: He’s the ‘Marco Rubio of Jeff Flakes’
In a column at the Daily Beast, conservative commentator Matt Lewis stuck a fork in the presidential aspirations of Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) after the frequent Donald Trump critic gave the president the okay to bypass Congress.
*Ivanka and Jared are too ignorant about how the real world works to realize how incompetent they are: NYT columnist
In a harsh New York Times opinion piece, columnist Michelle Goldberg used a new book on Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner to make the case that they are the privileged children of the rich whose cushy lives never prepared them intellectually.
*Pennsylvania Republican resigns after woman accuses him of raping her while she was blacked out
A Pennsylvania Republican state lawmaker resigned over allegations that he had sex with an unconscious woman.
*Manafort-linked oligarch ridicules Trump for his multiple bankruptcies and ‘third grade’ education: ‘He can’t even talk’
A oligarch who is hiding out in Vienna to avoid charges stemming from an investigation begun under President Barack Obama joked that Donald Trump has the education of third grader.
*GAO Urges Federal Government to Reveal Key Information on Political Appointees
Citing ProPublica’s Trump Town database, the watchdog agency recommended Congress consider legislation that would require the federal government to make many officials’ financial disclosures public.
*Nutritional psychiatry Can you eat yourself happier?
‘What we stick in our mouths matters to our mental health,’ says a leading light in this new field. So what should we be eating?
*Racists in Congress lost a major battle 60 years ago today
sixty years ago, Dwight Eisenhower signed legislation making Hawaii America’s 50th state. The Hawaii admission act followed a centuries-old tradition in which American territories –acquired through war, conquest and purchase – became fully integrated states of the union.
*7 U.S. Military Members Identified As Part Of White Nationalist Group Leaked chat logs revealed military servicemen with ties to the extremist group Identity Evropa.(huff post)
*BETO O’ROURKE'S ACTUAL POLITICAL RECORD IS NOT WHAT PROGRESSIVES MIGHT EXPECT
(DEMO POLITICS)
*BETO O’ROURKE FREQUENTLY VOTED FOR REPUBLICAN LEGISLATION, ANALYSIS REVEALS
(SELLOUTS)
*'They don't bother nobody'
The quiet presence of New York's mafia
*White Nationalism’s Deep American Roots.
(the atlantic)
German politicians call for expulsion of ‘bratty’ Trump ambassador: ‘Complete diplomatic failure’
Noor Al-Sibai - raw story
19 MAR 2019 AT 14:10 ET
German politicians are calling for the expulsion of Trump-appointed ambassador Richard Grenell over his alleged interference in the country’s politics.
The Financial Times reported Tuesday that figures across the German political spectrum have criticized Grenell for his comments about the country’s defense spending budget.
Grenell, like President Donald Trump, regularly condemns Germany for the small size of its military budget amid NATO spending targets.
In a tweet Monday, the US Embassy in Berlin echoed the president, saying Germany “reducing its already unacceptable commitments to military readiness is a worrisome signal to Germany’s 28 #NATO allies.”
Wolfgang Kubicki, the speaker of Germany’s Bundestag and vice president of the Free Democratic Party, called on the German foreign minister to “declare Richard Grenell persona non grata immediately,” Politico Europe reported.
“If a U.S. diplomat acts like a high commissioner of an occupying power,” Kubicki added, “he will have to learn that our tolerance has its limits.”
Carsten Schneider, the parliamentary manager of the Social Democrats Party, said Grenell is a “total diplomatic failure” who was acting like a “brat.”
“This entire thing seems like the behavior of a naughty schoolboy,” Schneider said. “With his repeated clumsy provocations Mr. Grenell is damaging the transatlantic relationship.”
FT noted that since Grenell assumed the ambassadorship in 2018, he has claimed he wants to “empower” conservative movements across Europe, threatened sanctions over a pipeline Germany backed and urged German companies to cease operations in Iran.
The Financial Times reported Tuesday that figures across the German political spectrum have criticized Grenell for his comments about the country’s defense spending budget.
Grenell, like President Donald Trump, regularly condemns Germany for the small size of its military budget amid NATO spending targets.
In a tweet Monday, the US Embassy in Berlin echoed the president, saying Germany “reducing its already unacceptable commitments to military readiness is a worrisome signal to Germany’s 28 #NATO allies.”
Wolfgang Kubicki, the speaker of Germany’s Bundestag and vice president of the Free Democratic Party, called on the German foreign minister to “declare Richard Grenell persona non grata immediately,” Politico Europe reported.
“If a U.S. diplomat acts like a high commissioner of an occupying power,” Kubicki added, “he will have to learn that our tolerance has its limits.”
Carsten Schneider, the parliamentary manager of the Social Democrats Party, said Grenell is a “total diplomatic failure” who was acting like a “brat.”
“This entire thing seems like the behavior of a naughty schoolboy,” Schneider said. “With his repeated clumsy provocations Mr. Grenell is damaging the transatlantic relationship.”
FT noted that since Grenell assumed the ambassadorship in 2018, he has claimed he wants to “empower” conservative movements across Europe, threatened sanctions over a pipeline Germany backed and urged German companies to cease operations in Iran.
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Christian Charity Gave Over $50 Million to Hate Groups, Report Reveals
Ilana Novick -truthdig
MAR 19, 2019
The National Christian Foundation is America’s eighth largest public charity, but it doesn’t build houses, educate children, feed the hungry, or provide other goods or services one might commonly associate with a charity. It’s also not a household name like the Red Cross, but that doesn’t prevent it from having vast influence. According to a new investigation from Sludge, the far-right, evangelical NCF “has donated $56.1 million on behalf of its clients to 23 nonprofits identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as hate groups.”
These nonprofits include multiple anti-LGBT, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant hate groups. In fact, as reporter Alex Kotch points out, Inside Philanthropy has said that NCF “is probably the single biggest source of money fueling the pro-life and anti-LGBT movements over the past 15 years.”
In addition to not being a direct service charity, the NCF is also not a conventional foundation that a wealthy donor uses as a vehicle to grow and then give away their money to multiple other charities over time. Instead, it’s a donor-advised fund, offering its Christian donors “expert guidance and creative giving solutions,” Kotch writes.
Helaine Olen, writing in The Atlantic, calls these donor-advised funds a “waiting room for charitable donations,” in which anyone, not only the wealthy, can place money into the fund, let it grow, and then have it distribute the money gradually to organizations of the donor’s choice.
According to Kotch, these funds allow their clients “immediate tax breaks on donations.”
They also give individual donors who pay into the fund anonymity. While Sludge was able to use publicly available tax findings to determine which organizations NCF funded, the names of the fund’s donors stay hidden.
The biggest recipient of NCF funds, according to Sludge’s investigation, is Alliance Defending Freedom, a network of lawyers, who, Kotch writes, “have supported criminalizing homosexuality, sterilizing transgender people, and claimed that gay men are pedophiles.”
Kotch continues:
Alliance Defending Freedom took in $49.2 million from NCF from 2015-17. ADF received $46.3 million in contributions and grants during the 2016 fiscal year (from July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016). It got $16.8 million from NCF in the calendar year of 2015, meaning that, if these years were aligned, NCF’s donations would have represented over one-third of ADF’s annual contributions.
The Family Research Council, which the Southern Poverty Law Center says “often makes false claims about the LGBT community based on discredited research and junk science,” including linking homosexuality to pedophilia, is another frequent beneficiary of NCF funds. Sludge found it received $5.3 million from 2015 to 2017.
While anti-LGBT organizations are the primary recipients of NCF’s funds, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant organizations also benefit:
Anti-Muslim groups ACT for America ($98,000), American Freedom Law Center ($40,000), David Horowitz Freedom Center ($40,000), and Virginia Christian Alliance ($3,600) have received thousands from NCF since mid-2014, and anti-immigrant nonprofits American Border Patrol ($100) and The Remembrance Project ($2,500) also got NCF funding.
Donor-advised funds, in general, are not required to have policies addressing hate groups. As Kotch explains, “these giant funds absolve themselves of any responsibility, saying that as long as the Internal Revenue Service has granted 501(c)(3) status to an organization, it’s fair game.”
At least one expert Sludge spoke to believes funds like NCF are funding hate groups intentionally, and could, if they chose, deny a client’s request to fund them.
Aaron Dorfman, president and CEO of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, told Sludge, “With the dramatic escalation of violence and intimidation by white nationalists and right-wing extremists, it’s way past due for sponsors of donor-advised funds to cut off any dollars flowing to hate groups.” And, he continued, “they have every right to exercise discretion by refusing a donor’s request to fund a hate group.”
NCF did not respond to Sludge’s requests for comment. Read the entire article here.
These nonprofits include multiple anti-LGBT, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant hate groups. In fact, as reporter Alex Kotch points out, Inside Philanthropy has said that NCF “is probably the single biggest source of money fueling the pro-life and anti-LGBT movements over the past 15 years.”
In addition to not being a direct service charity, the NCF is also not a conventional foundation that a wealthy donor uses as a vehicle to grow and then give away their money to multiple other charities over time. Instead, it’s a donor-advised fund, offering its Christian donors “expert guidance and creative giving solutions,” Kotch writes.
Helaine Olen, writing in The Atlantic, calls these donor-advised funds a “waiting room for charitable donations,” in which anyone, not only the wealthy, can place money into the fund, let it grow, and then have it distribute the money gradually to organizations of the donor’s choice.
According to Kotch, these funds allow their clients “immediate tax breaks on donations.”
They also give individual donors who pay into the fund anonymity. While Sludge was able to use publicly available tax findings to determine which organizations NCF funded, the names of the fund’s donors stay hidden.
The biggest recipient of NCF funds, according to Sludge’s investigation, is Alliance Defending Freedom, a network of lawyers, who, Kotch writes, “have supported criminalizing homosexuality, sterilizing transgender people, and claimed that gay men are pedophiles.”
Kotch continues:
Alliance Defending Freedom took in $49.2 million from NCF from 2015-17. ADF received $46.3 million in contributions and grants during the 2016 fiscal year (from July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016). It got $16.8 million from NCF in the calendar year of 2015, meaning that, if these years were aligned, NCF’s donations would have represented over one-third of ADF’s annual contributions.
The Family Research Council, which the Southern Poverty Law Center says “often makes false claims about the LGBT community based on discredited research and junk science,” including linking homosexuality to pedophilia, is another frequent beneficiary of NCF funds. Sludge found it received $5.3 million from 2015 to 2017.
While anti-LGBT organizations are the primary recipients of NCF’s funds, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant organizations also benefit:
Anti-Muslim groups ACT for America ($98,000), American Freedom Law Center ($40,000), David Horowitz Freedom Center ($40,000), and Virginia Christian Alliance ($3,600) have received thousands from NCF since mid-2014, and anti-immigrant nonprofits American Border Patrol ($100) and The Remembrance Project ($2,500) also got NCF funding.
Donor-advised funds, in general, are not required to have policies addressing hate groups. As Kotch explains, “these giant funds absolve themselves of any responsibility, saying that as long as the Internal Revenue Service has granted 501(c)(3) status to an organization, it’s fair game.”
At least one expert Sludge spoke to believes funds like NCF are funding hate groups intentionally, and could, if they chose, deny a client’s request to fund them.
Aaron Dorfman, president and CEO of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, told Sludge, “With the dramatic escalation of violence and intimidation by white nationalists and right-wing extremists, it’s way past due for sponsors of donor-advised funds to cut off any dollars flowing to hate groups.” And, he continued, “they have every right to exercise discretion by refusing a donor’s request to fund a hate group.”
NCF did not respond to Sludge’s requests for comment. Read the entire article here.
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The "Tells" Are Just So Telling
NanceGreggs - demo underground
3/19/19
If Donald Trump has one skill, it’s his ability to broadcast his own guilt, his own weaknesses, and his own fears.
The expert at “projection” is far too self-absorbed to realize that he’s constantly telling the world exactly where his criminality lies, and exactly what terrifies him the most.
His weekend tweets about John McCain being the “lowest in his class” are a classic case in point. Given that he always projects his own failings on others, we now know that it was Trump who was the “lowest in his class”. And he’s just too stupid to realize that by virtue of his lashing out at McCain, he’s admitting his own academic failure.
His previous statements about McCain – e.g. “I like people who weren’t captured” – were a clear “tell” that Trump himself knows he is a draft-dodging weakling too cowardly to have served at all, no less strong enough to have survived as a POW.
Think about all the statements he’s made about Hillary and the Democrats colluding with the Russians – rhetoric that gets ratcheted-up every time more evidence of his own collusion is exposed. Think about all the times he’s insisted that it’s HRC who should be investigated for alleged criminal activity – another “tell” that what’s uppermost in his mind is the idea that his criminality is being investigated, and will inevitably be exposed.
I remember Trump stating that the Democratic powers-that-be were laughing at the gullibility of their constituents who were refusing to believe how the GOP’s “middle-class tax-cut” was in their own best interest – a sure tell that it was Republicans who were doing the laughing at their own gullible voters, who had fallen for the promise of tax relief that turned out to be a scam to enrich the already-wealthy.
When Trump tweets ”NO COLLUSION!!! over and over, it’s a sure tell that he’s terrified that his own collusion is not only about to be exposed, but that it can be proven in no uncertain terms.
Trump’s paranoia is now so out-of-control, he’s talking about Beto O’Rourke’s “crazy hand movements” – a sure sign that he knows his own unhinged “craziness” is being recognized for what it is.
Trump’s “tells” are obvious – accuse others of what you know you’re guilty of, denigrate those who you know are held in much higher esteem than you will ever be, demean those who you know are more successful than you ever were, or ever could be.
Accusations that other people – like Cohen, Flynn, and Gates – are lying to save their own skins are the most obvious tells that the man who has been shown to have lied to the American people over 9,000 times is desperate to accuse others of what he knows he himself to be guilty of.
Spanky is just too stupid to realize that he gives himself away with every tweet, every statement, every declaration that it’s the other guy who is guilty of every failing, every lie, every weakness that he displays on a daily basis.
If Trump tweeted tomorrow that a political opponent had once been stood-up by a high school prom date, you can take it to the bank that Spanky showed up at his own prom with his homely, awkward cousin – who had to be paid-off in order to pretend to be his adoring girlfriend for a few miserable hours.
The expert at “projection” is far too self-absorbed to realize that he’s constantly telling the world exactly where his criminality lies, and exactly what terrifies him the most.
His weekend tweets about John McCain being the “lowest in his class” are a classic case in point. Given that he always projects his own failings on others, we now know that it was Trump who was the “lowest in his class”. And he’s just too stupid to realize that by virtue of his lashing out at McCain, he’s admitting his own academic failure.
His previous statements about McCain – e.g. “I like people who weren’t captured” – were a clear “tell” that Trump himself knows he is a draft-dodging weakling too cowardly to have served at all, no less strong enough to have survived as a POW.
Think about all the statements he’s made about Hillary and the Democrats colluding with the Russians – rhetoric that gets ratcheted-up every time more evidence of his own collusion is exposed. Think about all the times he’s insisted that it’s HRC who should be investigated for alleged criminal activity – another “tell” that what’s uppermost in his mind is the idea that his criminality is being investigated, and will inevitably be exposed.
I remember Trump stating that the Democratic powers-that-be were laughing at the gullibility of their constituents who were refusing to believe how the GOP’s “middle-class tax-cut” was in their own best interest – a sure tell that it was Republicans who were doing the laughing at their own gullible voters, who had fallen for the promise of tax relief that turned out to be a scam to enrich the already-wealthy.
When Trump tweets ”NO COLLUSION!!! over and over, it’s a sure tell that he’s terrified that his own collusion is not only about to be exposed, but that it can be proven in no uncertain terms.
Trump’s paranoia is now so out-of-control, he’s talking about Beto O’Rourke’s “crazy hand movements” – a sure sign that he knows his own unhinged “craziness” is being recognized for what it is.
Trump’s “tells” are obvious – accuse others of what you know you’re guilty of, denigrate those who you know are held in much higher esteem than you will ever be, demean those who you know are more successful than you ever were, or ever could be.
Accusations that other people – like Cohen, Flynn, and Gates – are lying to save their own skins are the most obvious tells that the man who has been shown to have lied to the American people over 9,000 times is desperate to accuse others of what he knows he himself to be guilty of.
Spanky is just too stupid to realize that he gives himself away with every tweet, every statement, every declaration that it’s the other guy who is guilty of every failing, every lie, every weakness that he displays on a daily basis.
If Trump tweeted tomorrow that a political opponent had once been stood-up by a high school prom date, you can take it to the bank that Spanky showed up at his own prom with his homely, awkward cousin – who had to be paid-off in order to pretend to be his adoring girlfriend for a few miserable hours.
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Scandal-Hit USC Students Blocked From Enrolling in Classes
daily beast - cheat sheet
University of Southern California students who have been linked with the college-admissions scandal have been blocked from registering for classes or getting transcripts, the school has announced. The daughters of actress Lori Loughlin, who was charged in the alleged scam, study at USC. Tweeting late Monday, the school announced: “USC has placed holds on the accounts of students who may be associated with the alleged admissions scheme; this prevents the students from registering for classes or acquiring transcripts while their cases are under review.” The scam is alleged to have helped parents buy their kids way into colleges by getting them admitted to elite universities as recruited athletes or helping them cheat on entrance exams. Federal prosecutors have accused Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, of agreeing to pay bribes totaling $500,000 to boost their daughters’ chances of getting into USC. They’re among 50 people charged in the $25 million scandal.
Donald Trump: I Will Never Be a ‘Fan’ of John McCain
daily beast - cheat sheet
After a fresh series of critical tweets about the late Sen. John McCain, President Donald Trump offered up an explanation on Tuesday: He has never been “a fan.” “I was never a fan of John McCain and I never will be,” Trump said after being asked about his weekend tweet storm during a Oval Office meeting with the visiting president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro.
Trump told reporters that he’s “still very unhappy” that the Arizona Republican did not vote to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act as he intended to in July 2017—about a year before his death from brain cancer in 2018. “I’m very unhappy that he didn’t repeal and replace Obamacare. He campaigned on repealing and replacing Obamacare for years. And then he got to a vote and he said thumbs down," Trump said. “I think that’s disgraceful.”
Trump told reporters that he’s “still very unhappy” that the Arizona Republican did not vote to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act as he intended to in July 2017—about a year before his death from brain cancer in 2018. “I’m very unhappy that he didn’t repeal and replace Obamacare. He campaigned on repealing and replacing Obamacare for years. And then he got to a vote and he said thumbs down," Trump said. “I think that’s disgraceful.”
West Virginia Attorney General Sues Catholic Diocese, Alleging It ‘Knowingly Employed Pedophiles’
DAILY BEAST - CHEAT SHEET
West Virginia’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit against the Wheeling-Charleston diocese and its former bishop, alleging that they “knowingly employed pedophiles.” The civil complaint, filed in Wood County Circuit Court on Tuesday, alleges that the diocese and former Bishop Michael J. Bransfield did not conduct adequate background checks and hired staff who admitted to sexually abusing children. “Parents who pay and entrust the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese and its schools to educate and care for their children deserve full transparency,” Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, a former GOP Senate candidate, said in a statement to The Daily Beast.
In September, Bransfield was banned from exercising any priestly or episcopal ministry within the diocese amid an investigation into sexual harassment against adults and other crimes. Later that month, Morrisey’s office launched its investigation into the diocese. “Our investigation reveals a serious need for the Diocese to enact policy changes that will better protect children, just as this lawsuit demonstrates our resolve to pursue every avenue to effectuate change as no one is above the law,” he said.
In September, Bransfield was banned from exercising any priestly or episcopal ministry within the diocese amid an investigation into sexual harassment against adults and other crimes. Later that month, Morrisey’s office launched its investigation into the diocese. “Our investigation reveals a serious need for the Diocese to enact policy changes that will better protect children, just as this lawsuit demonstrates our resolve to pursue every avenue to effectuate change as no one is above the law,” he said.
GOP Lawmaker: Increased Access to Menstrual Products Would Make Jails Like ‘Country Clubs’
DAILY BEAST - CHEAT SHEET
Richard Pickett, a Republican state representative from Maine, said that access to basic menstrual hygiene products for female prisoners would make the prison system seem too much like a “country club.” The comment came during a state hearing last week over the issue. On Friday, members of the legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted to advance a bill that would ensure access to menstrual products in all of Maine’s correctional and detention facilities. Pickett voted against the bill. During debate, the lawmaker argued that detainees already have access to menstrual products such as pads and tampons. However, supporters of the bill explained how incarcerated people who menstruate are only given a limited amount of supplies each month, and must buy more if they run out, weighing the purchase against other necessities such as phone calls. “Quite frankly, and I don’t mean this in any disrespect, the jail system and the correctional system was never meant to be a country club,” Pickett said.
U.S. jury rules against Bayer in Roundup cancer case
Jim Christie - reuters
MARCH 19, 2019
(Reuters) - A U.S. jury on Tuesday found Bayer AG’s glyphosate-based weed killer to be a “substantial factor” in causing a man’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, allowing the trial to proceed into a second phase on liability and damages.
The jury in San Francisco federal court in a unanimous ruling found Roundup, one of the world’s most widely-used weed killers, to be responsible for the cancer of California resident Edwin Hardeman. It was not yet a finding of liability against Bayer, however.
The case will proceed into a second trial phase before the same jury on Wednesday to determine Bayer’s liability and potential damages.
During that phase, Hardeman’s lawyers can present evidence allegedly showing the company’s efforts to influence scientists, regulators and the public about the safety of its products, which they were not allowed to in the initial phase.
Bayer in a statement on Tuesday said it was disappointed with the jury’s initial decision.
“We are confident the evidence in phase two will show that Monsanto’s conduct has been appropriate and the company should not be liable for Mr. Hardeman’s cancer,” the company said.
Bayer acquired Monsanto, which makes Roundup.
The case was only the second of some 11,200 Roundup lawsuits to go to trial in the United States. Another California man was awarded $289 million in August after a state court jury found Roundup caused his cancer, sending Bayer shares plunging at the time. That award was later reduced to $78 million and is on appeal.
Hardeman’s case was a so-called bellwether trial intended to help determine the range of damages and define settlement options for the more than 760 Roundup cases consolidated in the federal court in San Francisco.
Bayer denies allegations that Roundup, or glyphosate, cause cancer. It says decades of studies and regulatory evaluations, primarily of real-world human exposure data, have shown the weed killer to be safe for human use.
The jury in San Francisco federal court in a unanimous ruling found Roundup, one of the world’s most widely-used weed killers, to be responsible for the cancer of California resident Edwin Hardeman. It was not yet a finding of liability against Bayer, however.
The case will proceed into a second trial phase before the same jury on Wednesday to determine Bayer’s liability and potential damages.
During that phase, Hardeman’s lawyers can present evidence allegedly showing the company’s efforts to influence scientists, regulators and the public about the safety of its products, which they were not allowed to in the initial phase.
Bayer in a statement on Tuesday said it was disappointed with the jury’s initial decision.
“We are confident the evidence in phase two will show that Monsanto’s conduct has been appropriate and the company should not be liable for Mr. Hardeman’s cancer,” the company said.
Bayer acquired Monsanto, which makes Roundup.
The case was only the second of some 11,200 Roundup lawsuits to go to trial in the United States. Another California man was awarded $289 million in August after a state court jury found Roundup caused his cancer, sending Bayer shares plunging at the time. That award was later reduced to $78 million and is on appeal.
Hardeman’s case was a so-called bellwether trial intended to help determine the range of damages and define settlement options for the more than 760 Roundup cases consolidated in the federal court in San Francisco.
Bayer denies allegations that Roundup, or glyphosate, cause cancer. It says decades of studies and regulatory evaluations, primarily of real-world human exposure data, have shown the weed killer to be safe for human use.
Polluters’ Friend Stalls On Protecting Public Water Supplies
Trump’s New EPA Administrator Delays Efforts to Regulate Deadly PFAS in Drinking Water
By Sarah Okeson - DC REPORT
Andrew Wheeler, the former lobbyist now in charge of protecting our nation from dangerous chemicals, would get final say on whether the EPA should regulate a dangerous class of chemicals that are sometimes found in public drinking water.
The Safe Drinking Water Act, signed into law by former President Gerald Ford in 1974, is a set of regulations governing how to set safety standards for our nation’s drinking water. The law gives the EPA administrator “sole judgment” to decide if the health risks of a chemical mean it should be regulated under the act.
The chemicals, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, have been made since the 1940s and are valued because they can repel oil and water. The chemicals, used in products such as microwave popcorn bags and firefighting foam, may have contaminated more than 1,500 drinking water systems that serve nearly 110 million Americans.
Under Wheeler, the EPA announced that it would propose a “regulatory determination” for two types of PFAS chemicals, a move environmentalists derided as just more procrastination about deciding whether to regulate the toxic chemicals.
“Has the Trump administration so thoroughly purged EPA of scientists, and so completely stacked its management with industry lobbyists, that it can’t even decide whether to lift a finger to regulate widely-known toxic chemicals?” asked Erik Olson, senior director for health and food at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
PFAS are linked to cancer, thyroid disease and lowered immunity. At least 121 U.S. military installations have groundwater contaminated with PFAS.
The National Drinking Water Advisory Council, appointed by the EPA administrator, will also help evaluate whether PFAS should be regulated. In May, the EPA posted a notice seeking nominations for three-year seats on the council.
The council’s new members include Alexandra Campbell-Ferrari, who co-founded a nonprofit that works on water security, and James Proctor II, the vice president and general counsel of McWane. The company was prosecuted for environmental crimes and pleaded guilty to nine felony charges of knowingly violating the Clean Water Act.
Former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and the White House tried to block the release of a health study about PFAS chemicals last year. The report recommended that “minimum risk level” for exposure to two PFAS chemicals should be seven to 10 times lower than the level previously recommended by the EPA.
The Safe Drinking Water Act, signed into law by former President Gerald Ford in 1974, is a set of regulations governing how to set safety standards for our nation’s drinking water. The law gives the EPA administrator “sole judgment” to decide if the health risks of a chemical mean it should be regulated under the act.
The chemicals, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, have been made since the 1940s and are valued because they can repel oil and water. The chemicals, used in products such as microwave popcorn bags and firefighting foam, may have contaminated more than 1,500 drinking water systems that serve nearly 110 million Americans.
Under Wheeler, the EPA announced that it would propose a “regulatory determination” for two types of PFAS chemicals, a move environmentalists derided as just more procrastination about deciding whether to regulate the toxic chemicals.
“Has the Trump administration so thoroughly purged EPA of scientists, and so completely stacked its management with industry lobbyists, that it can’t even decide whether to lift a finger to regulate widely-known toxic chemicals?” asked Erik Olson, senior director for health and food at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
PFAS are linked to cancer, thyroid disease and lowered immunity. At least 121 U.S. military installations have groundwater contaminated with PFAS.
The National Drinking Water Advisory Council, appointed by the EPA administrator, will also help evaluate whether PFAS should be regulated. In May, the EPA posted a notice seeking nominations for three-year seats on the council.
The council’s new members include Alexandra Campbell-Ferrari, who co-founded a nonprofit that works on water security, and James Proctor II, the vice president and general counsel of McWane. The company was prosecuted for environmental crimes and pleaded guilty to nine felony charges of knowingly violating the Clean Water Act.
Former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and the White House tried to block the release of a health study about PFAS chemicals last year. The report recommended that “minimum risk level” for exposure to two PFAS chemicals should be seven to 10 times lower than the level previously recommended by the EPA.
The Pentagon can’t account for $2.5 billion in border wall funding
Where will the $2.5 billion come from?
REBEKAH ENTRALGO - thinkprogress
MAR 19, 2019, 11:08 AM
UPDATED: MAR 19, 2019, 2:00 PM
Details of where the Trump administration will get billions of dollars to pay for the president’s border wall are slowly beginning to make their way to the public, but still are not making much sense.
Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Monday delivered to Congress a list of military projects that could be impacted by Trump’s national emergency declaration. The projects include a hangar for drones at a base in South Korea and a wastewater treatment plant at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Funding could also be siphoned away from facilities that affect everyday life on domestic and international U.S. military bases, including dining halls, medical facilities, and roads.
The funding from these military projects will total roughly $3.6 billion. While it isn’t known when the $3.6 billion will be cut and from which Pentagon programs, Shanahan’s list to Congress is general and includes $12.5 billion worth of program funding that is up for grabs. The White House has the sole discretion of deciding where the $3.6 billion will come from.
But Shanahan’s list doesn’t account for an additional $2.5 billion in funding that Trump requested to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
In his emergency declaration last month, Trump announced that in addition to diverting money from the military reconstruction budget, he would also take $2.5 billion from the Pentagon’s counter-drug funding. But as The Washington Post reported, the counter-drug account currently has less than $100 million in it. This leaves the Pentagon the task of finding more projects to cut funding from and moving that money into the budget for the wall. There still isn’t clarity on where that money will be coming from.
The Office of Management and Budget has not responded to a request for comment.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who sits on the Senate Armed Services committee, said in a statement that Trump “is putting his border wall ahead of the safety of our troops.”
“The projects that could lose funding include military training centers in Virginia, a plant to prevent water contamination at Camp Lejeune, and a cybersecurity facility in Georgia,” he said. “I hope my colleagues in Congress will take a serious look at the projects that support our military in their own states and then vote to override the president’s veto.”
Additionally, siphoning counter-drug funding from the Pentagon would do very little to actually stop drugs from crossing the U.S.- Mexico border. As ThinkProgress has previously reported, most drugs come through vehicles by legal ports of entry.
In recent weeks, some of CBP’s largest drug seizures have occurred at ports not located on the southern border. Nineteen million dollars’ worth of cocaine was discovered at a seaport in Savannah, Georgia last month, while 100 pounds of fentanyl was seized at the Port of Philadelphia the month prior.
While Russell Vought, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, has stated that the money pooled from military projects will contribute to the “full completion” of the wall, the president’s own administration has estimated that its total cost will be far higher. The White House requested $8.6 billion in funding from Congress for the 2020 fiscal year to help pay for the border wall, but the Department of Homeland Security has estimated that the wall could wind up costing $22 billion. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, have warned of a $70 billion sticker price.
Congress voted to reject Trump’s national emergency declaration, but the president used his first veto on the legislation last week.
Despite both the record-long shutdown over border wall funding and the national emergency declaration, a single new linear mile of border wall has yet to be constructed. The existing 694 miles were all constructed by Trump’s predecessors.
Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Monday delivered to Congress a list of military projects that could be impacted by Trump’s national emergency declaration. The projects include a hangar for drones at a base in South Korea and a wastewater treatment plant at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Funding could also be siphoned away from facilities that affect everyday life on domestic and international U.S. military bases, including dining halls, medical facilities, and roads.
The funding from these military projects will total roughly $3.6 billion. While it isn’t known when the $3.6 billion will be cut and from which Pentagon programs, Shanahan’s list to Congress is general and includes $12.5 billion worth of program funding that is up for grabs. The White House has the sole discretion of deciding where the $3.6 billion will come from.
But Shanahan’s list doesn’t account for an additional $2.5 billion in funding that Trump requested to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
In his emergency declaration last month, Trump announced that in addition to diverting money from the military reconstruction budget, he would also take $2.5 billion from the Pentagon’s counter-drug funding. But as The Washington Post reported, the counter-drug account currently has less than $100 million in it. This leaves the Pentagon the task of finding more projects to cut funding from and moving that money into the budget for the wall. There still isn’t clarity on where that money will be coming from.
The Office of Management and Budget has not responded to a request for comment.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who sits on the Senate Armed Services committee, said in a statement that Trump “is putting his border wall ahead of the safety of our troops.”
“The projects that could lose funding include military training centers in Virginia, a plant to prevent water contamination at Camp Lejeune, and a cybersecurity facility in Georgia,” he said. “I hope my colleagues in Congress will take a serious look at the projects that support our military in their own states and then vote to override the president’s veto.”
Additionally, siphoning counter-drug funding from the Pentagon would do very little to actually stop drugs from crossing the U.S.- Mexico border. As ThinkProgress has previously reported, most drugs come through vehicles by legal ports of entry.
In recent weeks, some of CBP’s largest drug seizures have occurred at ports not located on the southern border. Nineteen million dollars’ worth of cocaine was discovered at a seaport in Savannah, Georgia last month, while 100 pounds of fentanyl was seized at the Port of Philadelphia the month prior.
While Russell Vought, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, has stated that the money pooled from military projects will contribute to the “full completion” of the wall, the president’s own administration has estimated that its total cost will be far higher. The White House requested $8.6 billion in funding from Congress for the 2020 fiscal year to help pay for the border wall, but the Department of Homeland Security has estimated that the wall could wind up costing $22 billion. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, have warned of a $70 billion sticker price.
Congress voted to reject Trump’s national emergency declaration, but the president used his first veto on the legislation last week.
Despite both the record-long shutdown over border wall funding and the national emergency declaration, a single new linear mile of border wall has yet to be constructed. The existing 694 miles were all constructed by Trump’s predecessors.
*What's Inside*
march 15 - march 18
✔RAGING WHITE WOMAN SPITS AT BLACK PEOPLE AS SHE SPEWS THE N-WORD — AND QUICKLY LOSES HER JOB
(AMERIKKKANS)
*ST. LOUIS STORE ASKS WHETHER NEW ZEALAND MOSQUE SHOOTING WAS TRAGIC OR 'FUCKING GREAT'
(AMERIKKKANS)
*SCIENTISTS GROW 'MINI-BRAIN ON THE MOVE' THAT CAN CONTRACT MUSCLE
(CURRENTS)
*AMNESIAC CHUCK TODD WONDERS WHY PRESIDENT OBAMA FAILED TO UNITE THE COUNTRY DESPITE HISTORIC REPUBLICAN OPPOSITION(WORTHLESS MEDIA)
*TWO OF CAPITALISM’S BIGGEST DEFENDERS JUST CONFESSED THAT IT’S NO LONGER WORKING FOR A LOT OF AMERICANS
(CAPITALISM)
*FACING WRONGFUL DETENTION AND THREATS, AFRO-COLOMBIAN WOMEN CALL FOR JUSTICE
(WORLD)
*AMERICANS ARE DYING BECAUSE THEY CAN’T AFFORD THEIR INSULIN. THAT’S NOW A 2020 CAMPAIGN ISSUE.
(CORPORATE CRIMINALS)
*DEAR TERRIFIED WHITE DUDES: YOUR STRATEGY NEEDS AN UPDATE
(AMERIKKKANS)
*WISCONSIN SWING VOTERS TURN ON TRUMP: ‘HE’S A DIRTY CROOK THAT LIES, CHEATS AND STEALS’
(SUCKERS)
*DEAD WHALE WASHED UP IN PHILIPPINES HAD 40KG OF PLASTIC BAGS IN ITS STOMACH
(EARTH)
*US AND SAUDI ARABIA BLOCKING REGULATION OF GEOENGINEERING, SOURCES SAY
(OIL)
✔HERE IS WHY RICH PARENTS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE UNETHICAL — ACCORDING TO SCIENCE
(REAL PEOPLE)
*HOW CLEAN AIR TRANSFORMED AMERICAN CITIES
(ENVIRONMENT)
*WHITE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT GOES GLOBAL — PUSHING LONE-WOLF ATTACKS
(WHITE SUPREMACY)
*UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE WILL BE FREE FOR LOW-INCOME STUDENTS STARTING IN FALL 2020
(EDUCATION)
*ESTABLISHMENT DEMOCRATS ARE UNDERMINING MEDICARE FOR ALL
(SELLOUTS)
*GOVERNMENT WITHHOLDS 84-YEAR-OLD WOMAN'S SOCIAL SECURITY, CLAIMS SHE OWES FOR COLLEGE
(AMERICA)
✔WE NEED A NEW DECLARATION OF RIGHTS FOR BLACK AMERICANS
(TALKERS)
*‘I CAN DO IT, AND I WILL DO IT’: N.J. TEEN OVERCOMES HOMELESSNESS, GETS ACCEPTED INTO 17 COLLEGES
(REAL PEOPLE)
*WHY MERITOCRACY IS A MYTH IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS
(EDUCATION)
*PAYING BRIBES TO GET THEIR KIDS IN ELITE SCHOOLS IS GOING TO SEND SOME VERY WEALTHY PEOPLE TO JAIL
(COMMENTARY)
*DESPITE CRACKDOWNS, WHITE SUPREMACIST AND NEO-NAZI VIDEOS TAKE STUBBORN ROOT ON YOUTUBE
(WORTHLESS MEDIA)
*LAWSUIT FILED BY BLACK OHIO UPS WORKERS CLAIMS MANAGERS ‘TOLERATED’ RACIALLY HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT
(RACE MATTERS)
*THE LONGER HISTORY OF THE CHRISTCHURCH ATTACKS
(WHITE SUPREMACY)
*I AM NOT A CHRISTIAN
(GOP POLITICS)
*A CLOSED EMERGENCY ROOM AND ONE AMBULANCE OPERATING IN RURAL MISSISSIPPI RESULTED IN DEATH OF PREGNANT MOTHER(AMERICA)
*I CAN'T SUPPORT LOSERS O'ROURKE OR ABRAMS FOR POTUS
(OPINION)
*THE DEEP ROOTS OF AMERICA'S WHITE NATIONALISM
(WHITE SUPREMACY)
Such a catchy slogan for Nazi's. Soph0571 - Demo Underground
*late news of interest*
Puerto Rico starts cutting food aid as Senate Republicans drag their feet
Laura Clawson
Daily Kos Staff
Tuesday March 12, 2019 · 11:00 AM PDT
With the Senate refusing to act, Puerto Rico has started cutting food assistance to more than 675,000 residents of the island still struggling after 2017’s Hurricane Maria. House Democrats have already passed funding for food aid and other needs, but the Republican-controlled Senate has dragged its feet and isn’t giving a more specific timeline on a vote for a smaller aid bill than maybe sometime this month.
In the wake of the hurricane, Puerto Rico has gotten aid to increase its food stamp allotments—but that doesn’t mean its citizens are getting more than people on the mainland. Rather, the additional aid has brought Puerto Ricans up to the same benefits levels as the rest of the country, and they now face cuts to lower levels. This is happening while people’s jobs have been lost or hours cut just as they’re trying to recover from the disaster.
The $600 million in additional aid being proposed by Republican Sen. David Perdue—an amount Donald Trump has now reportedly agreed to after his administration called it “expensive and unnecessary” when it was a Democratic proposal—would only fund the food assistance program through September.
In the wake of the hurricane, Puerto Rico has gotten aid to increase its food stamp allotments—but that doesn’t mean its citizens are getting more than people on the mainland. Rather, the additional aid has brought Puerto Ricans up to the same benefits levels as the rest of the country, and they now face cuts to lower levels. This is happening while people’s jobs have been lost or hours cut just as they’re trying to recover from the disaster.
The $600 million in additional aid being proposed by Republican Sen. David Perdue—an amount Donald Trump has now reportedly agreed to after his administration called it “expensive and unnecessary” when it was a Democratic proposal—would only fund the food assistance program through September.
Mired in scandals, top executives of company contracted to detain migrant kids quit
Gabe Ortiz
Daily Kos Staff
Tuesday March 12, 2019 · 10:30 AM PDT
Mired in accusations of self-dealing and abusive conditions within his company’s facilities, the CEO of the so-called non-profit that has received well over $1 billion in federal contracts over a decade to detain migrant kids has resigned. “This was a very difficult decision,” Juan Sanchez wrote in a letter to Southwest Key’s board of directors. He blamed his resignation on a “widespread misunderstanding of our business and unfair criticism of our people,” yet apparently neglected to mention why his company has been under so much scrutiny in the first place.
Numerous Southwest Key employees have been arrested and charged with child molestation. The company, which received $626 million in federal grants last year alone, was threatened with revocation of licenses for all of its Arizona facilities after failing to show proof of background checks for employees. Shocking footage released in late December then showed staffers “dragging and pushing children” inside Southwest Key’s now-closed Hacienda del Sol facility.
Sanchez hasn’t been alone in jumping ship while the company is reportedly under investigation by the Department of Justice for its shady business dealings: “The charity’s chief financial officer, Melody Chung, left last month after a New York Times article outlined allegations of mismanagement and possible malfeasance at the charity.” Chung raked in a $1 million salary, while Sanchez pulled in $1.5 million. Sanchez’s wife, another Southwest Key executive who remains with the company, earns half a million.
Exact numbers vary, but Southwest Key is estimated to have received anywhere from $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion in federal contracts over the past ten years. The New York Times estimated that the company was sitting on over $60 million in cash at the end of 2017. Our money is being used to detain as many as 5,000 kids in dozens of facilities across the U.S. Southwest Key touts its modest beginnings, but as Hacienda del Sol has shown in living color, it has lost our confidence. The new Congress must end this contract—now.
Numerous Southwest Key employees have been arrested and charged with child molestation. The company, which received $626 million in federal grants last year alone, was threatened with revocation of licenses for all of its Arizona facilities after failing to show proof of background checks for employees. Shocking footage released in late December then showed staffers “dragging and pushing children” inside Southwest Key’s now-closed Hacienda del Sol facility.
Sanchez hasn’t been alone in jumping ship while the company is reportedly under investigation by the Department of Justice for its shady business dealings: “The charity’s chief financial officer, Melody Chung, left last month after a New York Times article outlined allegations of mismanagement and possible malfeasance at the charity.” Chung raked in a $1 million salary, while Sanchez pulled in $1.5 million. Sanchez’s wife, another Southwest Key executive who remains with the company, earns half a million.
Exact numbers vary, but Southwest Key is estimated to have received anywhere from $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion in federal contracts over the past ten years. The New York Times estimated that the company was sitting on over $60 million in cash at the end of 2017. Our money is being used to detain as many as 5,000 kids in dozens of facilities across the U.S. Southwest Key touts its modest beginnings, but as Hacienda del Sol has shown in living color, it has lost our confidence. The new Congress must end this contract—now.
