Corporations

Time For Direct And Massive Federal Action After Hurricane Harvey

Ronald 7 Comments

The horrible disaster of Hurricane Harvey demands direct and massive federal action, including tens of billions of dollars to rebuild ravaged Houston, the fourth largest city in America, as well as nearby areas that have been devastated.

The idea that charity and local efforts will be enough is preposterous, and Congress must do whatever needs to be done.

It is time for wealthier Americans to do their part, after having gained massive tax cuts under Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

Instead of tax cuts once again, which Donald Trump wants for the wealthy, they must have their taxes increased dramatically, as they were in World War II, and also the higher rates under Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s and Richard Nixon in the 1970s, both Republican Presidents.

They can complain all they wish, as that is the American tradition, but they have been very fortunate, and already own the vast majority of the nation’s assets, and it is now their responsibility to do their part, and to thank the nation for their good fortune, also accentuated by the tax cuts in the 1980s and 2000s that greatly distorted the class system in America, and made this nation more stratified than Great Britain.

And corporations must pay the taxes they are responsible for, instead of lobbying constantly for special treatment.

Unfortunately, with a GOP Congress, they may not come through for Houston and Southeast Texas, and if they do not, that is the campaign issue for the Democrats in the midterm Congressional elections of 2018 and the Presidential and Congressional elections of 2020, including on the state level.

All National Parks And Monuments MUST Be Preserved As Is, And In Fact, Expanded! Mining And Drilling Is Not The Energy Future!

Ronald 6 Comments

The review by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke of our national parks and national monuments, at the direction of President Donald Trump, has led to proposals to cut down some national monuments in the Western states, while not eliminating any, as was originally feared.

While it is somewhat good news that the aim now of the Trump Administration is to do less damage to our national parks and national monuments, it is totally unacceptable to cut down ANY of the national parks and monuments.

Instead, these parks and monuments need to be preserved as is, and in fact, expanded!

Mining and drilling is NOT the energy future, and we should not damage any of nature’s great blessings, or interfere with Native American ancestral grounds and artifacts.

One of the great blessings of the American continent is that we have great natural wonders, fantastic scenery, and wonderful access for all Americans and people from foreign nations to spend time in nature.

We have many Presidents to thank for this, starting with Theodore Roosevelt and the Antiquities Act of 1906 onward, and being from both political parties, and we should not allow Donald Trump, who has no regard for nature or for tradition, to commit any damage on the jewels represented by our national park and national monument system.

No industrial or corporate machinations in the name of greed and profit should ever come over nature, and hopefully, future Presidents of both parties will add to our blessed system begun more than a century ago!

Potential Of 2017 Being Third Time In American History Of Three Presidents, After 1841 And 1881!

Ronald 6 Comments

There is continued turmoil surrounding the Trump Presidency, with the latest developments, including the growing number of Republicans denouncing Trump for his reaction to Charlottesville; the resignation of businessmen from his various councils; the decision of many corporations and groups to refuse to use Trump properties for their gatherings; the condemnation of military leaders, intelligence professionals, diplomats and arts committee members; and legions of conservatives alienated from the 45th President.

So the possibility exists that Donald Trump, under fire, might resign from the Presidency, before the Robert Mueller investigation can bring charges of Russian collusion against him.

It used to seem impossible to imagine a resignation, but the idea looks more possible by the day.

Were that to happen, and if it happened before the end of 2017, it would mark the third time in American history, that the nation has had THREE Presidents in the same calendar year.

In 1841, losing Presidential candidate Martin Van Buren served until March 4, and then was succeeded by his successful opponent, William Henry Harrison. A month later, on April 4, Harrison died of pneumonia, having been sick beginning on the evening of the inauguration, and having been the oldest President at inauguration until then, and until later when we had Ronald Reagan in 1981 and Donald Trump in 2017. Vice President John Tyler succeeded to the Presidency on April 4, marking three Presidents in little more than three months of the year.

In 1881, outgoing President Rutherford B. Hayes finished his term on March 4, and was succeeded by Presidential winner James A. Garfield, who four months later, on July 2, was shot and seriously wounded by assassin Charles J. Guiteau. With medical malpractice, Garfield suffered greatly over the next two and a half months, and died on September 19, having been in a coma much of the time. Vice President Chester Alan Arthur succeeded Garfield, so in eight and a half months, we had seen three Presidents.

Now in 2017, we had Barack Obama as President until January 20, when Donald Trump succeeded him, and the odds are growing that he could resign before the year’s end, making Vice President Mike Pence the 46th President of the United States before the beginning of 2018.

Donald Trump Rejects The Paris Climate Deal, A Tragedy Long Term For America And The World!

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Donald Trump has just done the most disastrous long term action so far in his Presidency. by rejecting the Paris Climate Deal!

His own daughter, Ivanka, could not get through to him, and neither could Secretary of State Rex Tillerson; thousands of climate scientists; and hundreds of corporations, including Shell Oil and Exxon Oil, where Tillerson was once its leader.

It is a smack in the face to the entire world, with 195 countries having agreed to it, and only Syria and Nicaragua not taking part, and in the case of Nicaragua, they rejected the deal as too weak and wanted a stronger deal. So only a nation in the midst of a long civil war has refused to cooperate, as millions are dying, being wounded, or fleeing for their lives in that tragic war in Syria.

Trump is rejecting science, and allowing Scott Pruitt, his despicable head of the Environmental Protection Agency, and White House Advisor Stephen Bannon, to control his decision.

Trump will be condemned in history for this dastardly act, and his super nationalistic view reeks of Fascism, and it must be bitterly opposed by marches and demonstrations, and the push to defeat every Republican in Congress who supports what Trump has done.

Trump is showing no concern for future generations, and we will see over this century the eventual flooding of such cities as New York City, Boston, Miami, and New Orleans, and his legacy will be that he helped to cause this to occur.

Politicians go to doctors for medical treatment, for their expertise, so why not have politicians leave it to scientists to warn us what we must do to prevent climate change and global warming from destroying the nation and the world?

Imagine if Franklin D. Roosevelt had rejected the advice of Albert Einstein about nuclear weapons in 1939, because after all, one cannot see the atom visually!

America has given up world leadership, and will pay long term for our isolationism, and whatever can be done to reverse this crazy decision legally and politically over the next few years must be done!

How selfish and self serving can a President be? And Trump says the world will laugh at us if we do not rescind the Paris agreement, as the world is taking advantage of us, when in fact, the world is laughing at his stupidity and ignorance precisely because he has made this despicable decision!

54 Percent Of Voters Against Trump On Election Day, Same Percentage After 100 Days Of Trump Presidency

Ronald 1 Comment

On Election Day 2016, 54 percent, a clear strong majority, voted AGAINST Donald Trump.

The Electoral College system elected Donald Trump, NOT the American people.

Now, 100 days into his administration, the same 54 percent, a clear strong majority, has condemned and rejected Donald Trump’s record.

What else is needed to know?

The American people, counting one person one vote, have rejected Donald Trump and his despicable domestic and foreign agenda, and no President has ever had such a rejection in the era of public opinion polls since Harry Truman to now.

The American people have voted no confidence in a President who is:

a loose cannon;

a mentally deranged leader;

a person who lives in an alternate reality;

a man who is racist, misogynistic, nativist, and associates with antisemites;

a man who consorts with authoritarian leaders who deny their own people basic human rights;

a man who is totally ignorant of history, science, and basic morals and ethics;

a man who is out to promote the elite wealthy over the middle class and poor population of this nation;

a person who is out to destroy all labor, consumer, environmental laws in favor of the interests of corporations;

a President who is undermining our relations with our allies and friends in the world;

and a man who is truly the LIAR IN CHIEF, rather than the Commander in Chief of this nation, and never admits any mistakes or errors, and tells mistruths multiple times a day.

Donald Trump is a total disaster and embarrassment as our 45th President, and undermines respect for the office, and definitely raises the stock of our worst Presidents and most controversial Presidents up a notch!

Another Massive Tax Cut For The Wealthy: Sacrificing The Middle Class, The Poor, And The National Debt Totally Immoral And Unethical

Ronald 1 Comment

Donald Trump is promoting yet another massive tax cut for the elite wealthy and corporations, who already have many methods to avoid fair payment of taxes.

What Trump is ready to do is further sacrifice the dwindling middle class and the poor, and add trillions of dollars to the national debt.

This is totally immoral and unethical, and will undermine basic needs of millions of Americans who will lose health care, lose labor protections, and be subjected to corporate abuse of workers, consumers and the environment.

And one can be sure that Trump, who has refused to reveal his tax returns, will benefit handsomely from the massive tax cut.

The concept of social justice which advanced America under both Democratic and Republican Presidents over the past 85 years since the New Deal is being destroyed, as America moves backward.

The Republican Party has lost all humanity, and only if a few GOP Senators refuse to go along with this unconscionable tax proposal, will it be avoided! But don’t bet on that possibility!

The 38th Earth Day: And Donald Trump Has Declared War On The Environment And Science!

Ronald 1 Comment

Saturday, April 22, is Earth Day, first declared by Richard Nixon in 1970.

Richard Nixon turned out to be one of the great environmental Presidents, despite his Watergate Scandal.

So was Jimmy Carter, with the best one term record on the environment. Also outstanding on the environment was Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson.

Barack Obama reached the few on the top of the list with his magnificent advancements, which sadly, is being destroyed to a great extent by Donald Trump.

Ronald Reagan was a horrible person on the environment, but Trump is rapidly moving him from the bottom of the modern Presidents on the environment.

Trump has hired Scott Pruitt head of the Environmental Protection Agency, the agency created by Nixon and the Democratic Congress, and Pruitt is like putting a fox in a chicken coop, and is out to destroy and defund the EPA entirely in the next couple of years.

The American people must demand that this war on the environment be stopped, as for a government to be unconcerned about clean air, clean water, and safe environmental conditions at work is a crime against humanity, really equivalent of a war crime, as it indicates no concern about the health and well being of the American people.

Theodore Roosevelt, our greatest environmental President, would be furious if he knew what his Republican Party has done, declare war on nature for the selfish benefit of corrupt corporations only interested in making profits.

Donald Trump is criminal for declaring war on the environment and science, and must be held accountable for the damage he has wrought already.

It should be one of the impeachment charges brought against him in a future confrontation between the President and the Congress, hopefully brought about in 2018 by a Democratic controlled House of Representatives.

Even if that fails to occur, progressives must hold Trump accountable in history for his crimes against the environment!

The Wealthy And Corporations Love Trump, Most Pro Business Since Calvin Coolidge, But The Great Depression Came After Coolidge!

Ronald 3 Comments

The stock market has surged since the election of Donald Trump, and has hit the 20,000 mark and now the 21,000 mark, a 15 percent increase.

And why not? This nation, and its clueless masses, worship wealth and opulence over principle and ethics, sorry to say!

The wealthy elite and the corporations love what Donald Trump represents—massive tax cuts for the top one percent promised, and the end of most regulations of corporations in all fields of the economy.

This is already the most conservative President, just in pledges and promises, that we have seen since Calvin Coolidge nearly a century ago.

Even Ronald Reagan was not able to do so much so quickly, or pledge to do, as Donald Trump has been pledging to the elite wealthy.

Meanwhile, for the average American, and the blue collar whites who voted for Trump, they are not yet aware of the scam being perpetrated, as they lose their health care, their protection from environmental calamity, and their social safety net that they receive in greater numbers than minorities often have.

No longer can they get a lower interest rate on mortgages, or a greater overtime pay at work, or protection from being victimized by those who advise them on retirement investments.

Public schools will be harmed; gays and transgender people will be discriminated against in an open fashion; civil rights violations will not be investigated; and civil liberties of all of us will be undermined by a lawless, corrupt administration which is taking advantage of gullible citizens who thought a narcissistic billionaire, who has always treated his workers, contractors, and tenants with disdain throughout his life, could be trusted.

While the wealthy and corporations celebrate Trump, expect that we will have the same result we had under Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover–the coming of the Great Depression; and the same results we had under George W. Bush, the Great Recession.

Remember also we had great economic recessions under Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s; under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford in the 1970s; and under Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush in the 1980s and 1990s.

The way we get out of economic depressions and recessions is to elect Democrats—Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy. Lyndon B. Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama, with FDR and Obama being the most crucial Presidents in taking us out of the two greatest economic downturns of the past hundred years–1929 and 2008!

Could Donald Trump End Up As Nixon-Rockefeller Type Of Republican, Very Different Than Present Republicans In Congress?

Ronald 3 Comments

If one looks at Donald Trump’s statements about public affairs over many decades, he often seemed to be a liberal Democrat.

Now he is consorting with powerful military figures recently retired, and powerful corporate people from Exxon Mobil and Goldman Sachs and other corporate types, and is in bed with right wing Republican forces in Congress.

Trump changes his mind so much and so often that one wonders where his leanings are, but right now it seems to be moving to the hard right, based on appointments.

But one can hope that he might evolve into a Richard Nixon-Nelson Rockefeller type of Republican, a pragmatic, mainstream view of foreign policy as Richard Nixon had, and a support of basic domestic programs and ideas as Nixon and Nelson Rockefeller tended to support.

Under present circumstances, IF Trump turned out to be a Nixon-Rockefeller type of Republican, he would become very different than most Republicans in Congress are in 2016-2017. But he would also alienate the party that elected him, so do not expect Trump, who is totally unpredictable, to be a profile in courage.

But if he were, that would be the best we could expect from him, but do not hold your breath!

Trump Cabinet Appointments And Other Top Advisers Mostly A “Basket Of Deplorables”! An Outrage To Presidential Cabinet History!

Ronald 6 Comments

Donald Trump is nearing the end of his search for Cabinet appointments and other top advisers, and sadly, the group is mostly a “Basket of Deplorables”, an outrage to Presidential Cabinet history!

The problem is that some skeptical Republicans and the entire Democratic Party in the US Senate have limited ability to prevent or hold up more than a few of this disgraceful group.

The list of people Trump is offering us includes people too close to Russia; people who are billionaires and deeply engaged in the corporate culture; people who are totally inexperienced and unqualified to hold the positions they are being offered; people who are retired generals who have not been retired long enough from the military, so must have legislation passed to allow them to serve, undermining the idea of civilian control; and people who are simply outrageous in their views on the environment, education, health care, labor rights, and foreign policy.

It is hard to find anyone who one can be content with as a choice, and it seems as if Donald Trump is determined to select the kind of people which seem assured to wish to destroy not only the Barack Obama legacy, the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, but also to promote the interests of major corporations such as in the oil industry and Wall Street at the expense of workers, consumers, and the middle class and the poor, while also stirring up animosity toward China, Iran, and North Atlantic Treaty allies, while strangely becoming cozy with Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

We are on the road to a massive constitutional crisis that may surpass Richard Nixon and Watergate, and Donald Trump seems very willing and able to create one crisis after another, as he lurches toward Fascist type government, and declares war on the news media and civil liberties and civil rights. He is already alarming many members of the Republican Party, which he feels no loyalty to, and to think that we are seeing John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Susan Collins, Ben Sasse, and Floyd Flake as already alarmed about his controversial statements and actions, and he is not yet inaugurated as President, but already is stirring a tempest, is a sign of the crisis that is coming after January 20, 2017!

I just published an article on the Trump Cabinet choices on History News Network, and it is posted on the blog on the right side for everyone to read and consider.