Is the Trumpster capable of saying, "You're fired?" In a real vs. TV contrived instance?

When he should, because taxpayer money is being grossly abused; per WaPo, here. Excerpt:

Price has come under the most intense scrutiny — President Trump chastised him publicly Wednesday and suggested that his job was no longer secure — but lawmakers are also demanding probes of travel by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Pruitt has taken at least four noncommercial and military flights since mid-February, according to congressional oversight records, costing taxpayers more than $58,000, while Mnuchin is under investigation by the Treasury inspector general for his use of a government plane to visit Kentucky as well as one for a trip from New York City to Washington.

And a private plane chartered this summer by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, for a flight from Las Vegas to near his home in Montana, cost taxpayers $12,375, according to a department spokesman. Zinke also used private flights during a trip to the Virgin Islands.

[...] An HHS official said Thursday that Price would write a check for $51,887.31, which appears to cover the cost of his seat on chartered flights but not those of his staffers. Politico, which first reported on Price’s repeated use of chartered jets, has estimated the total expense of the trips exceeded $400,000 — and it reported early Thursday evening that his White House-approved flights on military planes to Africa, Europe and Asia cost more than $500,000.

Fire the lot of them. They are inept and overreaching APPRENTICES. In fact, they're fucking taxpayers royally, and are proving themselves reluctantly indifferent about paying up anything approaching full reimbursement. They are feeding their obscenely greedy wants, not anyone's needs (using that want/need distinction one particular Anoka County Board member seems enamored of using against non-Republicans).

Then add on a pinch of after-being-caught hypocrisy:

Although the secretary said in his statement that his private-charter travel was approved by legal and HHS officials, he added that he regretted “the concerns this has raised regarding the use of taxpayer dollars.”

“All of my political career I’ve fought for the taxpayers,” Price said. “It is clear to me that in this case, I was not sensitive enough to my concern for the taxpayer. I know as well as anyone that the American people want to know that their hard-earned dollars are being spent wisely by government officials.”

Who would ever believe that monstrous BS? It insults an electorate to say such garbage. Fools and knaves are sometimes overlapping sets of individuals; Price being in that overlap.

How about a little of that TV prime-time, "You're fired?" 

It's due.

____________UPDATE____________
Phrased differently:

Strib: image source.

_________FURTHER UPDATE__________
The bastard's gone. Trump must have said, "You're resigned," since it's not called a firing by the mainstream press. This link, and,

The Republican House speaker, Paul Ryan, is praising Price, saying that the former Georgia congressman and House Budget Committee chairman is a "good man."

The top House Democrat, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, says Price should never have become health secretary because the country needs someone in the job "who believes in health care for all Americans."

Pelosi says President Donald Trump should pick a replacement who will stop the administration's sabotage of health care programs.

Pelosi, a foe of single payer (so far, wet finger to test the wind being likely), has no place staking any claim yet about "health care for all Americans." Is she abandoning the money that's been behind DC politics so tediously long; shifting to the only real choice, single payer?

Believe any such change if you see it. It seems vague blowing smoke from here. A Pelosi charm, over the years.

Ryan? It takes a good man to know a good man. Ryan?

More, same source:

On the Democratic side, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state says Price was always unacceptable for the job because of his "ideologically driven" views on health care, especially women's health. Murray says the Trump administration lets top officials "put themselves and partisan politics ahead of families."

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden says Price "betrayed the agency's mission to improve Americans' health care." He says Price's replacement must implement federal health care laws and work to reduce prescription drug prices.

___

Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price says he regrets that the controversy over his travel created a distraction for the Trump administration and its health overhaul agenda.

Price writes in his resignation letter to President Donald Trump: "I have spent 40 years both as a doctor and public servant putting people first."

He adds: "I regret that the recent events have created a distraction from these important objectives."

How do you like that, "recent events" brand? The creep lacks the courage to say "things I've wrongly done" and instead says "recent events" as if it is separate and apart from him and choices he's made to be self-serving beyond any decent degree. What a project! Sent to Congress by the same district that inflicted Newt Gingrich on the nation during Gingrich-Clinton years, back then, when DC was not even by a pinch corrupt. Eh?

___________FURTHER UPDATE___________
Shoveling it on; same source; good man Speaker Ryan:

Ryan says Price was a "leader in the House and a superb health secretary," and he credits Price for helping the House pass a health care bill earlier this year. That measure went nowhere in the Senate.

Yeah, and Dracula was a superb vampire. A leader of that ilk. A good vampire, one with sound family values and opposed to aggressive Islam.

____________FURHTER UPDATE______________
Mrs. DeVos? Well traveled? Frugally so? Soon the nation may know. Many have hopes about what facts will emerge.

About what outcome may ensue.

Deficits only matter to Republicans when Democrats are in control and Republicans aim to hamstring the Democrats. When Republicans are in power they want to give tax sops to the wealthy; their only real constituency despite speaking of God and Jesus and embryos and where to pee, as mere diversionary theater to lull the gullible (tax-haven Whelan coming to mind).

Read all about it. WaPo. This link. Another. Bloomberg. CNN Money. CNN Opinion. Bloomberg, again. Chicago Tribune. Yahoo Finance. Bloomberg again.

Can you say, "Shell game by a shill?"

Reuters, here, reports:

The tax plan announced by Trump and fellow Republican leaders would cut the top tax rate for individuals and cut the corporate rate, but it offered scant details on how to pay for the cuts without dramatically driving up the federal deficit.

Stocks and the dollar gained on hopes that the lower tax rates would spur faster economic growth, while bond yields soared on concerns tied to inflationary pressures stemming from more federal borrowing to finance a bigger government deficit.

The dollar index .DXY hit a one-month high. Wall Street share prices .DJI .SPX .IXIC moved closer to their all-time peaks, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield US10YT=RR rose to its highest level since early August.

“You are seeing some optimism coming back into play” in the wake of the tax proposal, said Julien Scholnick, portfolio manager at Western Asset Management Co in Pasadena, California.

And Emmanuel Cau, executive director of global equity strategy at JP Morgan & Co in London, said the reflation trade was back.

“Clearly there’s a sensation that the reflation trade is coming back on the agenda,“ Cau said. “Most of our positioning is based on a reflation trade happening again.”

But the uncertainty clouding the tax proposal’s prospects could result in the reflation trade fading almost as quickly as it reappeared. Democrats, who were not consulted in drafting the proposal, are hostile to it and Republicans are divided over it.

Bonus image, an indulged complacent fat cat portfolio tender. Any questions?

Reader special offer: Get a Roy Moore "Ten Commandments" replica statue paperweight, yours for only $49.99 [plus postage].

But wait, there's more. Send me your check for the full purchase amount by noon Oct. 15, and get a replica Roy Moore solid [and not inflatable] doll with the replica. Both replica and doll are made of unbreakable polyurethane rubber. Your child can play with either, hammer nails in either, and it will still stand up proudly on your desk, atop your important papers, as vigilant of your desk as Roy will be of his. What more might you want? WELL! . If that check's received by Oct. 15, WE PAY THE POSTAGE.

Offer limited to one per customer, supply is greatly limited, and no check will be cashed unless the item ships. If you are not satisfied, or if items in inventory do not last to ship you yours, we will not cash your check and will return same if you include a stamped self-addressed envelope with your purchase letter. Offer not good in Washington DC, Texas, Wisconsin, Mississippi nor Alabama -and- any purchase letter offer is subject to a right to decline shipping for any reason, or no reason (like being fired from employment at will).

What a sharp doll, and what a special monument.
Just like the one Roy intends to take to DC
for his Senate office. His will have swamp drainage plumbing,
but your replica will not.

credit where due: images from online, here


______________UPDATE_______________
Well, the follow-up marketing plan was "Made in China" Moore Rock banks, the replica, hollow, with a coin slot on the top, between Commandment tablets. "Jesus saves and you can too" being a possible slogan. But since Roy's claiming copyright on the thing [a design patent being perhaps a better idea, but "intellectual property" as a term is arguably an insult to intellect as well as inapplicable to a hustle grounded on public domain stuff pasted together inartfully]; such a claim quells any real desire to hustle the Moore hustle beyond how extensively Moore's been hustling it. Sorry if you wanted doll and replica. Offer withdrawn. Go elsewhere for Roy paraphenalia if that is your true craving. Anywhere else. Please.

Moore wins Moore v. Strange Alabama GOP runoff election. Sane hope rests with the Democrat, sanity in Alabama being a top tier question.

Links, here and here. Is Alabama a litmus test of anything? Do many readers disagree with the headline of this post?

Image from before final runoff results.

Whores get on the bandwagon. Reporting of a Roy Moore victory speech, with little reporting of the Mike Pence reaction; it being fake news to report anything reflecting one way or another upon Mike Pence? At least there was, pre-runoff, this.

Mike Pence seemingly gets a press free ride. That is a curious phenomenon.

_______________UPDATE______________
Talking of camp followers, camp switchers,

https://twitter.com/mike_pence

And see how Strange the man's twitting was before the election; then look at his genuine thread, post election. Some seemed inclined to call out what was there to be called out.

However, Mitch McConnell won first prize in the contest to be named most indecent whore of the Alabama runoff outcome [italics added for emphasis]:

Despite making antipathy to the Republican establishment a centerpiece of his campaign, Moore was even embraced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Tuesday night. In a statement, McConnell, who was first elected to the Senate more than 30 years ago, claimed he shares Moore’s frustration about the workings of Washington DC.

Could anyone whore more? Doubtful. That quote is taken from an Aaron Rupar Thinkprogress post; per this screencapture [where links are shown but do not link - go to the original for link following].

Google Blogger makes
the screencapture unreadable.
Go to the original, please.

Readers are strongly urged to link to the Rupar item, to read it, and to think about it and what it says about sincerity. These are the minions of the "Grand Old Party." Dregs. Each. Every. It appears Paul Ryan had the good judgment to butt out of the Moore bandwagonning.

FURTHER READING: CNN, here and here, online. Will Michele Bachmann be a part of things, or will she remain a sideline observer with a vested federal pension and a lower than previous profile?

Who will Bannon run against Diane Feinstein, or against Nancy Pelosi? It seems as if every Republican declares he/she is running against Nancy Pelosi, so which will really do it in California, for real? Will Scott Walker prove too soft on godly virtue to survive a rabid Dominionist onslaught? Who is next? Is Vermont big enough to have one of them to challenge Bernie? Why is Hegseth staying at his FOX venue? Does he lack ambition? Has he fire in the belly? Won't he throw his axe in the ring?

FURTHER: Please Stevie B., put one in Debbie Wasserman Schultz's district, a really nasty godly one, retire Debbie the way Tim Canova might have; (but differing because Canova was a desirable candidate with desirable stances on key issues). Last, will Abigale Whelan challenge Klobuchar? It only seems absurd unless/until it happens. And it could.

An image used by Dan Burns at MPP, with a quote, raises a dichotomy.

First, the image, from MPP:

So, the question arises - schools as and within a community - should each local school be a reflection of its community, or should it aim to be an improvement, an upgrade to the mood of the community? Where I live, the latter. It is a community - county wide - full of Trump voting Dominionists with little schooling and less judgment. Followers of pastors who say whatever, not thinking on their own. Driving expensive tricked out pickup trucks with nary a scratch on the bed. Or stock from the lot, after-market trick-free. Show pickups far more frequently than working ones. Likely bought on credit, not cash sales. The taller the driver's seat, the better. Clear as black and white:

Schooling in the community holds out the hope of Teslas and hybrids. Next generation, or the one following.

AND - working pickups are fine. They have purpose. They belong, naturally. They are not unnatural like Mike Pence or Paul Ryan. (Neither of whom is a likely tricked out pickup driver, yet with each loved locally anyway, beyond reason and beyond good sense. Indeed, Michele Bachmann, a local favorite, is not likely a pickup driver either. She tricks up her aging face with makeup, but that's just fodder for a separate post.)

After-market face.

UPDATE: Tune time.

Jesse Ventura has a sound idea. If not the Anthem, what?

This link.

Jesse reacts to the Trumpster's dumpster diving twits. Before playing football, play United States Blues, or Jungle Work? Why not just a welcoming announcement expressing hope for an interesting game and for everyone in attendance to have a nice year? (Jesse should not object to that latter idea.) And it would be better than the present stuff. Every dictatorship and evil regime has had its flag and anthem. North Korea? Here and here. YouTube. Is that our direction, if so, is it ripe and fine for you? Bonus: Dead man playing. Second bonus, people enjoy United States Blues. Have you ever seen such crowd fervor for Star Spangled Banner? If so, where, Charleston?

UPDATE: More YouTube?

This link. Wave that flag . . .

FURTHER: Actual bonus: For fans of mellow yet monumental, in its way, . . .

Is Minnesota a microcosm of nationwide petty official abuse, because a situation shows it?

Strib: Court fight between Gov. Mark Dayton, lawmakers shines light on hefty legislative expenses - Court filings provide a rare glimpse into expenses. -- By Erin Golden Star Tribune - September 19, 2017 — 10:14pm; stating:

The latest turn in the monthslong dispute between the governor and Legislature provides a rare glimpse into the finances of the Legislature, which is not subject to the same open records laws as other public entities in Minnesota, [... per photo caption]

Spending items range from payroll and office expenses to State Fair Tickets ($3,750) and flowers ($482). The information disclosed does not link the expense reimbursements to the 201 individual members of the Legislature, or indicate if the sometimes-hefty expenses were racked up by Republicans or DFLers.

In court filings, legislative leaders say those expenses and others — which typically aren’t shared in detail with the public — are necessary to keep the Legislature running.

[ending italics emphasis added]

Editorial Board, Mpls. Star Tribune, September 19, 2017 — 5:59pm [UPDATED]

Clown Car Occupants - image from the Strib editorial

UPDATE: Sen. Graham: With your bill and your attitude toward the public's having single payer healthcare as a right; wrong finger.

Big Luther Strange. [UPDATED]

Proof that aside from college football, Alabama sucks. Not aside from Jeff Sessions as proof, in addition.

Video.

Websearch.

Another websearch: Online item.

Wikipedia raises a good ol' boys question:

Strange's appointment was welcomed by fellow Republicans, such as Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge,[33] and Karl Rove.[34] Conservative activists, such as Chris W. Cox of the NRA, also hailed the appointment.[35] NPR Southern political analyst Debbie Elliott said that Strange's conservative politics are "very much in the mold of Jeff Sessions." She noted that as state attorney general: "He's been very active in state-led fights against federal environmental regulations, against Obamacare, against transgender bathroom directives. He's fought for Alabama's strict abortion laws. He defended the state's controversial immigration law. A good bit of it was struck down by federal courts."[36]

There was negative reaction from other Republicans who expressed concern about Strange's appointment. In early November 2016, prior to Election Day, he had requested that impeachment proceedings against Bentley be delayed.[37] Some saw a link between this and Strange's appointment. "There's going to be such an air of conspiracy hanging over our state and our new senator," said state representative Ed Henry.[38] "It's just one of those things where it appears there could have been collusion," said state representative Allen Farley.[39] "The whole thing stinks," said State Auditor Jim Zeigler. "It is outrageous. We have the potential for Gov. Blagojevich situation."[40]

[...] Strange himself said February 10, "We have never said and I want to make this clear. We have never said in our office that we are investigating the governor. I think it's unfair to him and unfair to the process that it’s been reported out there.[43] We have six years of a record of the highest caliber of conduct of people in our Attorney General's office. That's why we don't comment on these things and why I don't plan to comment on that anymore."[42] Governor Bentley later resigned after being indicted on criminal charges.

Do your own websearch = Luther Strange Great America Alliance Deepwater Horizon

and see Trump's trip to Alabama on behalf of Strange and related info.

A doninionist, vs . . .

Yup, runoff opponent against Luther Strange is crazy Roy Moore. Alabama is a cesspool.

UPDATE: An Alabama outlet praising Luther Strange.

FURTHER: More links? Try this video. The least common denominator --
Breitbart, here, here, here, redundantly here, and best until last, here and here. Encore. Is the runoff campaign about Mitch McConnell, or is that what Moore and Breitbart hope to project? Also, Alex Jones has a point of view. Or had one, before the Republican primary winnowed things. Using Roger Stone as a commentator.

NEXT: The Alabama Democrat who won his primary outright and is not facing a runoff and is set to oppose ether Strange or Moore, whichever wins the Republican runoff; this link and Wikipedia. Doug Jones is a former federal prosecutor with a civil rights conviction of the Birmingham Church bombers in his resume. Never worked as an oil drilling lobbyist, never a Dominionist nor an ignorant state judge. Has Tim Ryan as a supporter, the Rep. who challenged Pelosi for House leadership and, unfortunately, lost to that multimillionaire champion of corporatism and Clintonism, instead of being for the people. Ryan wanted fresh air; a majority of his colleagues liked same-old. From Slate:

Vandergrift of Birmingham is a lifelong Democrat. “I’m a real anomaly in the state of Alabama, believe me,” he told me on Saturday. And for the “first time in a long time,” he said, “I feel hopeful about this one.”

Vandergrift was talking, improbably enough, about the special Senate election to fill Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ old seat. And he’s not the only Democrat in the state—or nationally—allowing himself to feel a twinge of optimism. Vandergrift and I were talking in Saturn, a new-ish Birmingham music venue where Democratic Senate candidate Doug Jones was hosting a rally ahead of Tuesday’s primary with special guest Tim Ryan, the Ohio congressman who unsuccessfully challenged Nancy Pelosi for the Democratic leadership in December. Ryan wasn’t the first national political figure to take note of Jones that week. Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis, the civil rights legend, had endorsed Jones several days earlier. And on Friday, an old friend of Jones, former Vice President Joe Biden, endorsed him too.

When I asked Ryan why he had come to campaign for Jones, he told me that he’d been reading about the race over recess, found himself intrigued by the opportunity of a deep-red pickup, and was impressed by Jones’ record. As a Clinton-appointed U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, Jones successfully prosecuted Thomas Blanton and Bobby Cherry, two Ku Klux Klan members involved in the 1963 Birmingham church bombing that killed four girls but had never faced justice.

Jones, who had worked for Alabama’s last Democratic senator, Howell Heflin, had considered running at the height of his acclaim in 2002—the first re-election race for Heflin’s successor, Jeff Sessions.

After a stint of private practice, Doug Jones is making the run for Senator. If Tim Ryan approves of Doug Jones and campaigns for him, how can you not like the man? Over either Moore or Strange, in particular? But Alabama IS Alabama, not us.

What Happened?

Besides a Minnesota superdelegate image: A video.

Strib online, September 15, 2017 ending text. As in, who can doubt it: Graham said he thinks this could be a turning point for the Minneapolis DFL. “I think there’s going to be the emergence of a progressive, grass roots leadership approach in the Minneapolis DFL,” he said, citing conversations he’s had “with many people who feel like that’s the direction the DFL needs to head.”

Progressive grass roots movement? A hope may be a reality. There could be a change. Something beyond dressed-up sloganeering can be wished for. Living outside of that DFL party jurisdiction, observing whatever progress happens will be worth the time it takes. Best wishes, DFL folks in Minneapolis.

Reality asserts itself - per The Real News.

Two segments with Thomas Frank; here and here. Think of Ossoff in viewing the first, (shortest), of the two.

Think of the Quist-Montana efforts, such as were there, from the Tom Perez lick-the-boots-of-big-donors string pulling failed part of the Democratic Party. It's not democratic. It's Obama's aim at people like himself and Hillary, their wealth building objectives. The mayor of Chicago? The rally (wholly in absentia) during Gipper years, on behalf of the air traffic controllers?

But - Nutshell Time. That first segment = Ossoff Incorporated. That IS the bottom line. (If there is one, that's it.) Did Ossoff mention universal healthcare coverage? Those who really cared over his chances should have that answer, immediately; presumably.

Another thing: Are some self elevating high profile Dem Party folks signing onto Bernie's bill because of Bernie's email donor list? Is there any other explanation, perhaps, sincerity?

UPDATE: View Sanders and the progressive populism he advocated as Jonah emerging from the belly of a whale. After the sailors threw Jonah overboard to calm the angry sea. New Deal Jonah, big donor whale. Only Bernie did not at first disavow his duties. While isolated within the whale the donor list emerged with this Jonah, and lo, attention followed.

Who opposes "Medicare for All?" In two videos. With links to other YouTube video.

Here and here. Republican/corporatist mongers of the status quo, in sheep's clothing.

RT interviews Grayson. The Canadian healthcare answer.

Democracy Now!

Bernie, himself, explains his bill, his intent and his thinking.

PBS, with an hour's worth of content. Watching it all will be an illumination. Cory Booker has a chance to reach out, among other speakers. Weigh what each speaker says, how it is said.

So how do you explain the foot dragging Dem establishment? Patty Murray. Nancy Pelosi. Diane Feinstein. Chuck Schumer. Who holds ownership of the opposition to the Bernie bill, and how is that exercised?

UPDATE: Does any reader have a good link to the actual text of the bill? That would be nice to have. Instead of commenting on it the media ought to link to it; also at least that if commentary is the first aim. Any reader with that link is urged to submit a comment giving the link.

FURTHER: Guardian coverage is sound. Another video - "a step forward ... not a fringe issue anymore."

FURTHER: Something happened. A book could be written about it.

FURTHER: Those cosponsoring Bernie's bill seem to be hopeful of presidential chances; 2020. While it is early, it is interesting to see the positioning behind what the people clearly want. A Republican House and Senate, after 2018 elections and after 2020, or one in Republican hands likely would prevent the civilized outcome from being enacted. The meaning is clear. Pelosi and Feinstein need primary opposition and the Dems must, to make progress, take over majorities in both houses.

The message is clear. Trump promised a lot and delivered to Wall Street/Goldman Sachs. For any shot at single payer, a Dem in the White House and majorities in both houses is a necessary condition, but to get off the dime it must be a sufficient condition also. That is not easy. Easier said than done is the old saying, which applies exactly. A lot of "ifs" are between civilized joinder with the civilized world's single payer situations; or more of the same. And the Republicans' efforts, laughable as they were when forced to articulate alternatives, would, on losing into minority status transit to more of what went on during the Obama terms - even with a leader more aggressively representing popular will and the public interest than the corporatist Obama proved to be.

We need CHANGE beyond cynical posturing and empty delivery. And yesterday was not soon enough. Cory Booker, tell us about income inequality and your answer for it, please, since legalization and single payer positions have been articulated. Sen. Booker, tell us how you'd police Wall Street after all the money they put behind your continued position-holding at the state and federal level. Or, again, there are alternatives besides Booker who in that PBS hour long video projected as much or more of a mood of sincerity over positioning.

Last thought, Tom Perez has been MIA on single payer and not because he's had no opportunity to articulate DNC support. Because it's not in his lexicon, or some such reason. The Perez posture will be an interesting barometer of things, and the man should most definitely not be allowed to skate. Glide and slide will not suffice. Mere lip synching with the choir will show.

Earth shaking 9/11 news.

Cory Booker. Next he'll say, "Legalize it."

The heart of the matter.

______________UPDATE______________

Websearches, here and here. YouTube, here, here, here, here, and here.

Blowin' in the Wind? Medical care for all? Medicinal weed for all? Foot-draggers step aside? This is for you, Paul Ryan? For you, Mike Pence?

__________FURTHER UPDATE___________
Cooption as an option? Trump having proven lying works. Better at lying than Ms. Clinton was, proved what? Talking and looking sincere to a least common denominator "trumps" being sincere - with actual sincerity a/k/a Bernie being a media-mediated liability? Trump got free network attention while Sanders was frozen out; networks thereby proving their power? Cory Booker's game plan is what, exactly? Selling HOPE? Or CHANGE?

__________FURTHER UPDATE__________
FRANKEN: In an awful hodge-podge locally written Minnesota Strib item; ending paragraphs suggest even Al Franken has gotten off the dime:

Franken joined a growing number of Democratic colleagues in the Senate in aligning with Sanders’ single-payer proposal. In coming out for the plan, Franken invoked the late Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone, a longtime advocate of a single-payer health care model.

“Like Paul Wellstone, I’ve always believed that health care is a right for all Americans — not a privilege — and that every person in our country deserves access to the care they need,” Franken said in a statement. “Establishing a single-payer system would be one way to achieve universal coverage, and Senator Sanders’ ‘Medicare for All’ bill lays down an important marker to help us reach that goal.”

Presumably constituent din finally was heard. Little, late, but Al it is good to see you better than previously. Now, income disparity is what is next for you to move forward on. And student debt. And minimum wage. And on-and-on, Al. How about "Legalize It?"

Al, leave the corporations to fend for themselves. Become a progressive populist. A democratic socialist. The troglodytes are calling you one anyway, so be one. Please, Al, do not let Cory Booker pose as more of a progressive than you. Please.

FURTHER: Al is seeing a light, brightly, at the end of the tunnel. Bravo, and keep on truckin' Al. [MORE: Kudos to Al. This link.]

FURTHER: Who to primary? Is a litmus test afoot? This Time item, this excerpt:

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday afternoon, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer declined to give his specific thoughts on Sanders' proposal.

"Democrats believe that healthcare is a right for all," Schumer said. "And there are many bills out there. Many good ones."

The strategy favored by Democratic leadership is a bipartisan effort spearheaded by Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, which would continue to subsidize insurance companies that reduce out-of-pocket costs for low-income Americans.

It is a far cry from the universality of Sanders' single-payer system.

Patty Murray, time's up. Senator from Boeing, from Microsoft, from Amazon and Bezos, step aside for single payer and other progressive things outside of your worldview. You are broken, being too corporate-Clintonian, and fixing is needed.

FURTHER: Apologists for a sick and failed status quo, the op-ed opening about sitting down with the nub of the problem:

At a meeting in California this spring, we sat down with a number of insurance company chief executives who are major participants in the Affordable Care Act exchanges. They asked us to carry back a message to Washington: Put partisanship aside and end federal uncertainty about support for the ACA; otherwise, they will end up setting premiums higher than necessary or withdrawing from markets across the country.

Mix it up with unwholesome dogs, you'll get fleas.

So --- Get the broom and sweep these creeps aside and into the dust bin of history. Single Payer rocks.

And Strib prints the advocacy piece with its imprimatur of approval. When considering the arguments of the obstructionist foot draggers you should judge Glen Taylor's Strib by its policies and friendships. I.e., judge harshly. It's a shill for the status quo.

[More] Readers are urged to read that Strib Op-ed. Nowhere does it say cut out the blood-sucking profiteer-privateer insurers from their fat city payday. Not even to curb such abuse in any sane way. Instead, pump in federal money so that they've more blood to suck. They are leeches and should be disenfranchised. Anybody defending the insurance companies and their lustful levels of greed and self interest should be regarded as what they are. Shills for a bad thing, for it to continue unabated while to the north Canadians have cradle to grave healthcare benefits, as a right, and as a responsibility of government to fund credibly. The Canadians are not hostage to insurer greed or employment lock-in based on need of ongoing family coverage. They are a civilized people. Our nation is less so. And intentionally so, which is sad.

Q- When is a cartoon not a cartoon? [UPDATED]

A- When it is more than a cartoon. When it is a well studied essay. When it moves from simple statement to complex art.

A deficiency is lack of a Podesta campaign-based publication. Cashing in that way when the lobbying fees likely are not as fresh. We await.

Will there be some Salon or Atlantic essay reaching the level of insight of Sean Delonas, Cagle Cartoons? Unlikely.

LAST: Buy the book? Be a fool. Tom Perez has a complimentary first edition signed copy. As does Hiam Saban "To my favorite Power Ranger. HC"

UPDATE: A video.

FURTHER: AND IN FAIRNESS: Giving Clinton her favorable platform to suggest a persona and rationales, with some policy topics left out of the narrative, this Vox link.

FURTHER: Check the opening of a Jimmy Dore segment on the "happening" book - the background image, a book excerpt. Compare, an earlier Clinton-based YouTube video.

From Dore item - for context, this link, word search = pony

So, at one point in the happening book it is asserted Sanders could not cite a single instance of Clinton flip-flopping on issues. Really. That is an assertion in the thing. Presumably based on a Clinton subjective recollection. Memory fade, not misstatement?

James Norman would be proud of 671 pages of full agenda stuffings. Snow those pages, hide whatever nuggets; some Ramsey town things persist.

James Norman, holding papers.

Start at p.552 of 671. It is where the Jim Deal deal stuff begins. ANOTHER Jim Deal deal. Under a deep snowfall of previous pages.

Kurt, do they teach snow-jobbing in town-administration curricula? It seems a mark of the beast. Norman did paper long agendas and now we get online e-agendas; with current council members seeming less fit, from less weight training, agenda by agenda.

Interestingly, one aspect of this proposed Deal deal is a new "Jackal Street NW," the new street being, presumably, coincidentally named.

Two new streets; with the pile of paper being unclear whether Deal pays for his streets or whether Ben Dover the Ramsey Taxpayer does. A detail, surely, amid all other 670 pages of fact.

And city utilities are to be extended to the site.

Gee.

Same ambiguity. Who pays?

Do you remember the old and early Ramsey Town Center days, with Bruce Nedegaard having his front man John Feges saying, "The Developer will pay for everything."

It was a fiction then, as likely as if said now, but at least it had a reassuring sound.

A ring, as if true.

So, Kurt and Tim, who pays? It may be that within pages 553, etc. after the below screen captured lead pages the ambiguity gets resolved; but I bet against it and do not want to put in the time being a paper ferret looking for one or two acorns in a desert.

Up front folks, what's the cost and who pays the cost to be the boss? And tell the truth w/o any glide and slide, please. Screencaptures:

p.552 of 671 pages

p.553 of 671 pages.

Glide and slide: What about that sentence, second page above (p.553 of 671 pages), the one that says:

Funding Source:
The Applicant is responsible for all costs associated with this request.

Great stuff! Would it not be more assuring if that sentence read, "The Applicant is responsible for all costs associated with this project."

Tim Gladhill could have written it that way. The cost of the "request?" = de minimis. Cost of the project, new roads, extending utilities and embedding utilities - electric, sanitary sewer, water, storm sewer - that stuff? Substantial and it's a shell game between "request" and "project." Ramsey town government being ambiguous that way, amid 671 pages of stuffed stuff? Shouldn't you expect the folks you [or you neighbors] elected to council to demand: The Developer pays ALL the costs?

Isn't that what a council is for? To protect the public interest, the public fisc, from too sweet dealings? Dealings at taxpayer expense?

And what about TIF planning for this hummer? Who pays what, and how much and when taxes generated by the project flow - NOT insignificant questions. Folks at town hall -

How about answers????????????

___________UPDATE___________
That IS the agenda for tomorrow's City Council formal meeting, the one after the work session. Readers liking the questions mulled over above might wish to attend. Will Jim Deal attend, being there to resolve ambiguities? Will his schedule permit that?

Your bet? Over that last uncertainty?

Do you depend on yourself? On the government? On FOX?

Well, depend on self or superstition, or government capabilities; where superstition motivates many:

Uber Christian patriot and Koch tool, Pete Hegseth, introduced Pastor Ronnie Floyd who is president of the National Day of Prayer Task Force – a vehicle that, since its inception in the 50’s, has been a platform for the religious right. Pastor Floyd has also been the leader of the Southern Baptists and is the author of “The Gay Agenda.” He believes that homosexuality is “Satan’s con job.”

Floyd preached to Fox & Friends viewers, "We are all about mobilizing unified public prayer for America.” Then he gushed over Trump’s “bold and courageous stand” in proclaiming a prayer day in which everybody should take part.

Fox friend Abby Huntsman, who was raised as a Mormon (not a group loved by evangelicals), said that she has spoken to Texans who say, "The way that our community is stronger is through faith and through our families.” She added, "I can't think of anything more important than the country coming together through a national day of prayer."

Floyd claimed that prayer shows we need God and that those who don’t pray are depending on themselves.

[links in original] Beauty in the eye/ear of the beholder:

Hegseth asked Floyd to offer a prayer which he began “Father, I ask in the name of Jesus” and continued in the hope that people would find “the Lord, Jesus Christ.”

At the end of the prayer, Hegseth said “Amen.”

Huntsman said, “That was beautiful.”

Would we, as a world, be a better place if Hegseth rejoined the military in order to slaughter heathen in Afghanistan, or perhaps another stint in authority, at Gitmo? Anywhere but "Amening" schlock, which casts him in the light of a money-grubbing hypocrite.

To some at least. Opinions can differ. As in did he fronting for the Kochs serve veterans, or mislead them with a bogus agenda? Your opinion is worth more, to you, than mine or Sir Hegseth's.

image source - with story detail

Respect for people by who their enemies are. Big crock makes Liebling shine. "Out of touch" with busy-body freedom of choice haters means in touch with liberty for individuals, which is something every cogent, thinking individual should treasure.

Hate mongering one way can be eye-opening another way, so bless the opportunity to learn and think:

This crock awakens me to one who may be as good or even better a candidate for governor than either Thissen or Otto; which is saying much about individual quality.

More to follow.

THISSEN: Likely our next governor, or hopefully so.

After favoring Becky Otto among earlier announced candidates, Thissen is no fence straddler, no waffle; that being strongly in his favor.

People under 30, all people under 30, need to register and vote. That is an age bloc the Republicans would stifle. Yet, the future rests with the young and not my elderly compatriots. The young need to know their voice and express it by ballot.

Good coverage, Grand Forks Herald.

Above screencapture from the Thissen campaign website:

http://www.paulthissen.com/

Click to donate; this online page - which also states:

Contributions may be sent by mail to:

Thissen for Minnesota, 4427 Fremont Ave S., Minneapolis, MN 55419

.............................

last: a websearch = thissen for governor

Sir Hegseth, again at war.

Reporting, here, here, here and here. Take up the cudgel, take up the ax.

So, has the Trumpster cut a Houston-Harvey check, or is it posing and promising without tender of legal tender? And what too, of that massive trans threat that bothers politically sensitive folks, locally as well as nationally. Will it be the total destruction of OUR way of life, and not North Korea doing us in?

Stay tuned for the Hegster dumps daily.

UPDATE: Hate group? Or just some dude's cash cow and tool to inflame rabid passions toward questionable ends?

Sanity vs. troglodytism.

screencapture source

At a guess, Abigale Whelan opposes legalization because some transexuals may once have been or may be users. That and she's probably never tried it and regards it as an evil Satanic weed known to be an assassin of youth. Yep, that rep. My district but surely NOT my rep.

Breitbart shifting editorial policy to celebrity coverage: Becoming "People" of the alt-right?

This link.

_______________UPDATE______________

We are us. We are us. Let them drink their Lionetti.

Iran, North Korea, we're coming. With purpose, believe it you guys.

Which one is Hegseth?

Absent Adventists. And their pacifist hymnals. Absent Adventists who lack the proper moxie, style, and aggression level. Sad.

Quoting Sir Hegseth, Knight of the Splendid Fox: "You've got to build that wall," he said. "It's so central to why he ran and who he is and why his supporters love him." "Shut the government down. Shut it down if you can't get the central campaign promise done," Hegseth said.

Build that wall. Hegseth demands it. Where is the guy with his Mason's apron, mortar, bricks, along the border, putting action behind his empty inflamatory words?

UPDATE: A Republican Party paradigm, within my life span, has been the Gipper's privatization as preeminent.

So privatize the fucking wall. Let all those Big Wall loving Trump voters, Hegseth in the lead, use private capital and initiative to go south, and build whatever border wall they choose, along the border wherever they choose, respecting private property rights, of course, because private property rights is another Republican Party paradigm. Just don't spend taxpayer money on it, because that would be socialized Big Wall building, which, as socialism in any form, is anethema within the Republican Party.

Be true to your Party paradigms, Republicans - privatize your wall.

And if YOU want to kickstart the inertia on this thing, send your check to: Pete Hegseth, c/o FOX News Network. Mail it today.

Make it a wonder of the world, The Great Border Wall of Private Republican Capital. Folks from Europe, Iran, North Korea, will be eager to tour the site and send home selfies.

Yes, you know; selfies. From coffee lounges spotted, again by private capital investment, all along the Great Wall.

FURTHER: Build that Great Wall brick by brick. Start with this brick.

Getting to the nub of things? " 'In order to maintain the current average annual 0.5 percent growth rate of the labor force ...,' Allen wrote, “the state will need to attract about four and a half times the current number of people who move to the state."

Stated otherwise, keeping wages depressed needs adult immigration, or on a longer time frame greater fertility [no abortions] in the State (and nation), with business interests perhaps about to assert themselves because business interests want depressed wages; which becomes strange when even consumer goods retailers are taken into account.

Let them buy on credit? The banks are big fans of consumer credit accounts; a/k/a usury.

The headline quote is from here: Stretched for workers, Minnesota businesses lament immigration pushback -- Labor projections suggest the state needs to increase, not cut, legal immigration. By Jim Spencer and Jennifer Brooks Star Tribune staff -
September 5, 2017 — 5:41am.

In parallel, same outlet, online here: Trump's decision on young immigrants could begin GOP battle; By JILL COLVIN Associated Press
September 5, 2017 — 6:35am.

Disadvantage 'em and feed 'em beans; but not to where the engines of commerce are not kept humming. Great again? Ever?

And as to business interests asserting themselves, it need not be ham-handed as much as constant and uninterrupted. Look for that; a theme stated with different slants but a consistent message. Over and over.

UPDATE: Over and over? Here and also here, same outlet as cited above. Get the drift, personalize it to tell folks how to think:

Abril Gallardo, 27, has used the work permit she got through DACA to get a job as a communications director for a Phoenix advocacy group. That's allowed her to pay for college so far, although cutting off in her ability to work legally threatens that.

If she can't work anymore, Gallardo plans on helping with her mom's catering business and hopes to start their own family restaurant one day.

"The most important thing is that we're safe together, and we're there for each other," Gallardo said.

Evelin Salgado, 23, who came from Mexico 13 years ago, is worried about losing her job, her home and her driver's license if DACA is canceled.

"It's like my life is crumbling on top of me," said Salgado, who graduated from Murray State University in Kentucky last year and in is her second year as a high school Spanish teacher just outside Nashville, Tennessee.

"My hopes. My dreams. My aspirations. Everything my parents and I have worked so hard for. We don't know what's going to happen," she said.

Salgado and her parents rent a home and she helps them financially. They may be forced to move to a smaller home or an apartment "because if I lose my job, of course, we can't pay for it."

Her father works in landscaping and her mother washes dishes [...]

Gee. It's people like you and me with aspirations. Not businesses having aspirations. How wrong my initial reaction must be. Don't we all aspire? Each of us? Corporate management too, so why no focus/quoting from boss executives at UnitedHealth or Boeing? Or Minnesota Twins baseball team ownership? Would they be owning and/or running giant labor employers without aspirations, personal and corporate? Corporate aspirations putting great food on their executives' tables while the executives might be quoted about rising tide and all boats [not a good theme in today's Houston].

RT getting a tad more assertive? A this-morning screen capture, and how about the Russian-China trade growth? The item attributed to Assange? And how about that Hezbollah guy and what he claims? How about war being tiring on a people?

https://www.rt.com/

Hezbollah guy. Assange. Trade. War. As a bonus, what's a church?

And more. Putin says ... Elon Musk says ...

Stuff CNN or Breitbard News would also have headlined online today, as "real" news?

A headline hard to resist: Norway or the highway.

Conservatives, whoever they are and whatever they say in Norwegian, seem ascendant in Norway as an election looms.

RAMSEY: A walkaway settlement with Ronald McDonald, but what about the "fee" that went to Landform? Is that recoverable. On a flipped deal, a real estate commission to a non licensed broker, some said.

Report here. Image credit. Also.

UPDATE: Tune time.

Speculation, or betting on the odds?

Do you guess that in some desk in Trump Tower there is an undated pardon signed by Mike Pence with space for a date insertion and with a series of fill-in-the-blank spaces for names, tendered to Trump before the GOP 2016 national convention (i.e., from before the nomination of Pence was made final)?

If so, would that have been an artful deal?

And if not an actual piece of paper, a pre-convention handshake?

A handshake with witnesses? Family member witnesses? Russian witnesses? Prepared by lawyers, names to be inserted?

Kazakh witnesses?

UPDATE: Equivalent of a thousand words?