Saturday, June 30, 2018
Friday, June 29, 2018
RAMSEY: restaurant news
Lunch Box, the ground-floor restaurant that had operated in Jim Deal's office building has officially closed, as of today.
Coming soon to that location: The Kitchen Table
No notice has been posted as to opening date, hours, or menu, but checking after the holiday might prove interesting.
The location is great. The Lunch Box food was good, and the dining area it is not obnoxiously loud like the Mexican food branch in the Coborns shopping area.
For Mexican food, readers should consider Mucho Loco: http://www.mucholocomn.com/
Opinions can differ, but I give it a few more stars than the place in Ramsey Town Center.
Lunch Box had a liquor license, so at a guess Kitchen Table would also; but again, no detailed notice beyond the name and "coming soon" was posted at the site.
__________UPDATE_________
Sammy's in Elk River is closer to much of Ramsey than Sammy's in Coon Rapids. The Elk River location has comparable pizzas and good draft beer choices, as at the Coon Rapids location.
For a good Ramsey restaurant, there is Riostone Cafe. Riostone has a Facebook page, as does Kitchen Table, with the latter posting "We Can't Wait to Pour You a Glass!" So, a liquor license, apparently. Riostone does not have a liquor license but serves great coffee, while being quiet and well lit, not a loud bar with food served too in order to draw more people while making money from the bar.
Coming soon to that location: The Kitchen Table
No notice has been posted as to opening date, hours, or menu, but checking after the holiday might prove interesting.
The location is great. The Lunch Box food was good, and the dining area it is not obnoxiously loud like the Mexican food branch in the Coborns shopping area.
For Mexican food, readers should consider Mucho Loco: http://www.mucholocomn.com/
Opinions can differ, but I give it a few more stars than the place in Ramsey Town Center.
Lunch Box had a liquor license, so at a guess Kitchen Table would also; but again, no detailed notice beyond the name and "coming soon" was posted at the site.
__________UPDATE_________
Sammy's in Elk River is closer to much of Ramsey than Sammy's in Coon Rapids. The Elk River location has comparable pizzas and good draft beer choices, as at the Coon Rapids location.
For a good Ramsey restaurant, there is Riostone Cafe. Riostone has a Facebook page, as does Kitchen Table, with the latter posting "We Can't Wait to Pour You a Glass!" So, a liquor license, apparently. Riostone does not have a liquor license but serves great coffee, while being quiet and well lit, not a loud bar with food served too in order to draw more people while making money from the bar.
Ross Barkan is a journalist and candidate for the New York state senate. Why should you care?
He is a progressive, having HOPE for CHANGE. Guardian, this link.
After the Crowley loss, why not seek the brass ring: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for Speaker of the House, after that Blue Wave crests in November.
Shake a little of the rust and cruft off.
And as for the federal minimum wage, if a fight is needed, why not: Eighteen in Eighteen? An eighteen dollar minimum wage, for 2018.
Progressives may not get all they aim for, but they certainly will not be accorded more than they ask. Aim high.
After the Crowley loss, why not seek the brass ring: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for Speaker of the House, after that Blue Wave crests in November.
Shake a little of the rust and cruft off.
And as for the federal minimum wage, if a fight is needed, why not: Eighteen in Eighteen? An eighteen dollar minimum wage, for 2018.
Progressives may not get all they aim for, but they certainly will not be accorded more than they ask. Aim high.
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Without articulating a winning plan of their own for the nation, one with workable political reality steps, wsws.org is critical. Critical of "the DSA."
This link, a cherry-picked quote because it leads me to recall something I've believed for years. The item was posted pre-primary:
The not for real "socialism," like us bit, in noting that in a clearly safe Dem district progressivism is less a boat-rocking than running progressive in swing districts; myreawakened resonated imagination translated that to wouldn't it be nice to have had an Ocasio-Cortez policy positioned primary challenge in CD4. Another Bruce Vento, or one to the left of Vento, where no Republican would be a threat to up the GOP Congressional nose count. We've lost vigor in that district since Vento died.
The two party system sucks, but it is what we have, and the worse of the trainwrecks happen when Republicans predominate. Yet trying to flip a safe Dem district to a more progressive outlook is a good aim, and more practical than funding Laura Moser's Houston attempt. That one had to be funded to face-slap the rudeness of the DCCC in its figurative shooting at Moser pre-primary. Yet it was contribution money with more of a risk of being in vain. The more one looks at politics in our nation the more sadness settles in. Sell me a little CHANGE and HOPE. Manipulation rules given that those who can fund "news" want to minipulate so as to keep all real money and power within a small number of hands, but aristocracies are not new and actual peasant rebellions have been put down with great brutality. The history books are written by the winners of wars; published by the owners of presses.
UPDATE: At a guess Crowley will prosper much as the Clintons did after Bubba left office with the couple allegedly then "dead broke."
Lesser evil does get stale. Perhaps Crowley ran a low energy Jeb!-like campaign, for the greater good, so we could be stronger together.
Ocasio-Cortez has centered her campaign on the need to “acknowledge that not all Democrats are the same,” attacking Crowley on the basis that he is part of the Democratic Party machine. She has also criticized Crowley for being disconnected from working class and Hispanic residents in the 14th District, which includes parts of the boroughs of Queens and the Bronx in New York City, separated by the East River and connected only by the Bronx/Whitestone Bridge.
The race between Ocasio-Cortez and Crowley to some extent echoes the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, with Ocasio-Cortez, who worked as an organizer for the Bernie Sanders campaign, seeking to channel mass opposition to Trump and American capitalism back into the two-party system. She is sowing illusions that the Democratic Party can be transformed either through “progressive” Democratic candidates winning primaries or by pushing their opponents (in this case Crowley rather than Hillary Clinton) to the left. As with the Sanders campaign, a wide range of liberal publications and pseudo-left organizations have thrown their weight behind Ocasio-Cortez.
So far her campaign has been endorsed by Sanders’ Our Revolution, Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats, as well as the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). The DSA, to which Ocasio-Cortez belongs, has organized phone banks, canvassed for her and produced her campaign video. Curiously however, despite publicly endorsing her, the DSA has made no further comment on her campaign and its affiliated publication Jacobin has remained quiet. A search of the websites of both the DSA and Jacobin for “Ocasio” yields the response “no result.”
This reflects an apparent agreement between the DSA and the Democratic Party establishment, at least as far as recent elections are concerned: DSA candidates may run for local and state legislative seats, as they did last year in Virginia and this year in Pennsylvania, California and other states, but they will not interfere in the central concern of the Democratic Party leadership, [...]
The DSA is not backing any “left” candidates for Congress in districts targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as potential takeovers from the Republicans. In the case of Ocasio-Cortez, whether she wins or loses in the primary, there is no chance that the Democrats would lose the seat, since the Republican Party is virtually moribund in 14th Congressional District. Its token candidate in 2016 took 17 percent of the vote against Crowley.
The last thing on Ocasio-Cortez’s agenda is any break with the Democratic Party. She has spent her entire adult life in or around it. She first worked as an intern for Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy, while attending college at Boston University. After graduating she joined the publishing house Brook Avenue Press and in 2012 shared a platform with New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, where she endorsed the senator’s bill for tax breaks for new businesses. After a four-year hiatus from politics, she joined the Sanders campaign.
Ocasio-Cortez was recruited by Brand New Congress, a political action committee (PAC) established by former Sanders campaign staff, to run against Crowley. [...]
As she said in an interview with the online news website Splinter, “When you look at what we’ve got in the Democratic Party, the people who have these safe seats are centrist, corporatist Democrats. If we have to have centrist Democrats in the party, let those Democrats come from swing districts. But in districts that are very highly Democratic, we should be advancing the national conversation on prison abolition, on student debt cancelation [sic], on Puerto Rico, on a Marshall Plan, on 100% renewable energy in ten years.”
What her position translates to is that she is perfectly fine with the Democratic Party running pro-corporate politicians—and advocating and carrying out such policies—as long as it makes room for its “left” supporters in districts like the 14th CD in New York, where they can blather on about policies that the Democratic Party leadership flatly opposes, in order to provide a left cover.
The not for real "socialism," like us bit, in noting that in a clearly safe Dem district progressivism is less a boat-rocking than running progressive in swing districts; my
The two party system sucks, but it is what we have, and the worse of the trainwrecks happen when Republicans predominate. Yet trying to flip a safe Dem district to a more progressive outlook is a good aim, and more practical than funding Laura Moser's Houston attempt. That one had to be funded to face-slap the rudeness of the DCCC in its figurative shooting at Moser pre-primary. Yet it was contribution money with more of a risk of being in vain. The more one looks at politics in our nation the more sadness settles in. Sell me a little CHANGE and HOPE. Manipulation rules given that those who can fund "news" want to minipulate so as to keep all real money and power within a small number of hands, but aristocracies are not new and actual peasant rebellions have been put down with great brutality. The history books are written by the winners of wars; published by the owners of presses.
UPDATE: At a guess Crowley will prosper much as the Clintons did after Bubba left office with the couple allegedly then "dead broke."
Lesser evil does get stale. Perhaps Crowley ran a low energy Jeb!-like campaign, for the greater good, so we could be stronger together.
Does "Humbolt Marten" sound like the name of an Agatha Christie novel character? Murdered on the Orient Express? Or on the Minnesota Northstar light rail line?
Do not bother web searching. The online answer is here.
Minnesota questions that are harder to have to ask, than to find answered in news outlets.
1. Who were the persons on Richard Painter's "exploratory committee?"
2. Between Richard Painter and Tina Smith, which has run before for public office? That's dog catcher, on up.
2. Between Richard Painter and Tina Smith, which has run before for public office? That's dog catcher, on up.
Is the mood of Montana that Democrats do not do well other than in predominently urban areas?
The Cowgirl blog, reporting and linking to a poll.
A very interesting poll. This link.
Send a contribution. That link is to the "about" page of the candidate, while trusting the will and skill of readers to find "contribute" info, (ActBlue, or snail mail).
Gee. Montana must be more "urban" than some might have thought.
------
Guardian reporters need not fear a body-slam response from the kathleenformontana.com candidate, which might mean something. For those needing it, search = gianforte body-slam
But aside from last time nostalgia, it is that poll which should make it as a focus of current attention. Big TV soundbite spending likely will ramp up, so it will be interesting to see November results. Montana blue, like the big blue sky?
A very interesting poll. This link.
Send a contribution. That link is to the "about" page of the candidate, while trusting the will and skill of readers to find "contribute" info, (ActBlue, or snail mail).
Gee. Montana must be more "urban" than some might have thought.
------
Guardian reporters need not fear a body-slam response from the kathleenformontana.com candidate, which might mean something. For those needing it, search = gianforte body-slam
But aside from last time nostalgia, it is that poll which should make it as a focus of current attention. Big TV soundbite spending likely will ramp up, so it will be interesting to see November results. Montana blue, like the big blue sky?
Tax the Rich.
Ah, the nostalgia.
Tina Smith inherits the legacy of differentiation between words and actions. There is a long way to go to get to fairness. I put Tina in the Pastel-blue Dog camp, and want better. For now, Smith seems option number one; among present options. Real and ideal worlds differ.
Tina Smith inherits the legacy of differentiation between words and actions. There is a long way to go to get to fairness. I put Tina in the Pastel-blue Dog camp, and want better. For now, Smith seems option number one; among present options. Real and ideal worlds differ.
Play a guessing game: What other progressive Democrat in tune with the actual needs of regular people should take heart from the Ocasio-Cortez victory?
My candidate: Ian Todd, the veteran in the contest, who can now see the work he is doing might defeat the MN CD6 Stanley Hubbard incumbent.
That's it. That's the post. Hubbard's guy is not number four in his party's House caucus. Making the target easier. However, a caveat, MN CD6 is a harder district to doorknock, being a non-urban district.
That's it. That's the post. Hubbard's guy is not number four in his party's House caucus. Making the target easier. However, a caveat, MN CD6 is a harder district to doorknock, being a non-urban district.
In light of the NY CD-14 primary result, Corporate Democrats now must be really fearful of the young, when energized. Chickens might come home to roost after how they've passively [give them benefit of the doubt by not saying actively] allowed to be done to the young what has been done to the young, marginalization being a word that fits. But in marginalization effort, the young have not been unique. All progressives can claim that word as their own; e.g., Keith Ellison running for Minnesota Attorney General after those in the Crowley club clubbed him via Tom Perez.
Which segues easily enough to emphasizing that Ellison mentored Erin Maye-Quade, who must appreciate the NY CD-14 outcome.
An Eric Cantor moment, at the other end of the political spectrum?
Mainstream media has had its focus upon mainstream candidates, but now must handle news.
Headlining and opening of various reports is interesting, as well as opening photos showing the winner favorably or less so:
Republican Glen Taylor's Strib, carrying an AP feed: "Democratic heavyweight loses in New York as Trump picks win," with opening paragraph:
CNN, "A 28-year-old Democratic Socialist just ousted a powerful, 10-term congressman in New York," with opening paragraph:
Gender and ethnicity and age are noted as the winner is actually named. Berniecrat affiliation in the headline; "democratic socialist" being the euphemism (or is it more a depersonalization of an issue set) to mean those given hope by Bernie's ascendance and the ugly Dem status quo in descent. And disarming the gender-bias excuse some used after Ms. Clinton's loss.
"10-term" noted early in CNN reporting. How long has Pelosi been in Congress? How old was Methuselah?
Breitbart: " ‘Abolish ICE!’ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Upsets Rep. Joe Crowley in New York Primary " starting:
WSJ: "New York Democrat Joe Crowley Is Defeated by Newcomer in Primary Upset -- Crowley, the first Democratic incumbent to lose in 2018, is unseated by 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez," starting:
Mother Jones: With an opening photo of the Manhattan skyline, a sunrise over New York City, beginning:
Good ol' MoJo.
FOX: "Rep. Joe Crowley defeated in Democratic primary upset by newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez," beginning:
Rupert and Hegseth, shocked, SHOCKED!
NY Times: "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Defeats Joseph Crowley in Major Democratic House Upset," [unfavorable photo], first paragraph:
Our Revolution: "Press Release -- Our Revolution Statement on Rhode Island and New York Primary Wins," beginning:
LA Times, carrying an AP feed, lead image of Crowley, not of the winner,"Democratic heavyweight Rep. Joe Crowley loses in New York; Trump's picks win," [much like Strib].
Bloomberg, " [nice photo], beginning:
"More liberal." Cannot they say, "Progressive?" They do clearly say, "Berniecrat." Bless that. Those are the Dem wings, "Corporate" and "Progressive," but MSM avoids the usage. And there is a mish-mosh middle, needing a big push to progress.
The people wanted Bernie. In 2016. They continue to show a 2020 inclination, and Bloomberg acknowledges the fact.
Boston Globe: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old BU grad, just upset Rep. Joe Crowley in a New York primary -- 'We meet a machine with a movement, and that is what we have done today.' " First paragraph:
Presumably from the same AP feed Strib used (with the Trump referenced clipped off as being of secondary importance).
Guardian: "Democrats see major upset as socialist beats top-ranking US congressman -- Joe Crowley, 10-term Democrat expected to be party’s next House leader, loses to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 28, in New York," starting:
With a Guardian sidebar pointer to an op-ed, "Democrats are losing the millennial vote and need to change message | Cas Mudde -Read more."
Are you optimistic about facing how massive a pile driver is needed to drive one really thick establishment pile to a depth so that only a little remains showing?
CONSIDER: Navel gazing over fact and implications, Politico as the DC barometer; a buffet sampling:
[capitalization in original, bolding omitted]
A video. Another. Pre-primary Intercept reporting; read it.
Not another DCCC-beloved millionaire - still paying off student loans being the single needed fact saying "Not your pedestrian PAC-money Dem millionaire" indirectly, but clearly enough.
downwithtyranny.blogspot.com
"What Happened Last Night? Alexandria's Earthquake-- And The DCCC Stinks Up The Room Again."
Leave it there.
BOTTOM LINE: Here at Crabgrass at least, the bet is Crowley backed Tom Perez for head of DNC and opposed any DNC declaration that PAC money would not be accepted. Fossil. Feinsteinian. Good ol' DCCC "money talks" consultancy type's ouster cannot be but encouraging. People in some places can tell who may best represent their actual pecuniary best interests: the candidate who listens when people say what they want, and beleives in the same goals and ambitions. Nationwide, who knows? An actual CHANGE causing actual HOPE? But November looms, nationwide; and money buys TV scare-ads. Money will buy much, because big money had no problems with the ousted guy.
____________UPDATE______________
Error in leaving out downwithtyrany.com commentary of interest - corrected by update:
[italics added]
Meanwhile, a read-bite from the Intercept's pre-election feature on the Crowley vs. Orsino-Cortez primary:
That Intercept item also covered a dinner Ocasio-Cortez held with supporters.
____________FURTHER UPDATE______________
At least one news outlet will call a progressive a "progressive" and not "liberal" or "extreme liberal." NPR:
Honesty is the best policy. Don't "sanitize" Progressives with false colors. Liberal has a historically evolved general Gestalt; and Berniecrats step substantially beyond that. Schumer is a "liberal," in the classic sense. Meanwhile, today's progressives are not evolved from Woodrow Wilson usage of the "Progressivism" label. The best term is the one Bernie resurrected, "democratic socialist." That is so, even after the Eisenhower years where McCarthy and HUAC propagandized the term "socialist" in order to mislead a nation. "Socialism" is not a synonym for "evil." Just as the word "trump" in general usage as a verb does not mean "buffoon."
Headlining and opening of various reports is interesting, as well as opening photos showing the winner favorably or less so:
Republican Glen Taylor's Strib, carrying an AP feed: "Democratic heavyweight loses in New York as Trump picks win," with opening paragraph:
As Donald Trump's party came together, a 28-year-old liberal activist ousted top House Democrat Joe Crowley in the president's hometown Tuesday night, a stunning defeat that suddenly forced Democrats to confront their own internal divisions.
CNN, "A 28-year-old Democratic Socialist just ousted a powerful, 10-term congressman in New York," with opening paragraph:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old Latina running her first campaign, ousted 10-term incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in New York's 14th congressional district on Tuesday, CNN projects, in the most shocking upset of a rollicking political season.
Gender and ethnicity and age are noted as the winner is actually named. Berniecrat affiliation in the headline; "democratic socialist" being the euphemism (or is it more a depersonalization of an issue set) to mean those given hope by Bernie's ascendance and the ugly Dem status quo in descent. And disarming the gender-bias excuse some used after Ms. Clinton's loss.
"10-term" noted early in CNN reporting. How long has Pelosi been in Congress? How old was Methuselah?
Breitbart: " ‘Abolish ICE!’ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Upsets Rep. Joe Crowley in New York Primary " starting:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old, Bernie-Sanders-supporting political novice, has defeated incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) in the 14th congressional district in the New York primary.
WSJ: "New York Democrat Joe Crowley Is Defeated by Newcomer in Primary Upset -- Crowley, the first Democratic incumbent to lose in 2018, is unseated by 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez," starting:
In a major upset for the Democratic Party establishment, Rep. Joe Crowley of New York lost his primary election Tuesday, unseated by a young progressive newcomer who reflects restiveness in the left wing of the party.
Mother Jones: With an opening photo of the Manhattan skyline, a sunrise over New York City, beginning:
The election of President Donald Trump sparked a grassroots resurgence in the Democratic Party, an organized resistance in red and blue America that has put Republican elected officials on notice. But in New York, the story has been a bit more complicated. Sure, Democrats are vying for a half dozen Republican-held seats this fall, but to an unusual degree, progressive activism in New York politics has focused on the Democratic party itself. Over the last two years, frustrated by the pace of change in Albany as places like Washington state and California lead the way in passing ambitious progressive policy, organizers have pushed back against a local party establishment they believe has failed to live up to the state’s deep-blue potential on things like health care, public corruption, immigration, and voting rights.
Good ol' MoJo.
FOX: "Rep. Joe Crowley defeated in Democratic primary upset by newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez," beginning:
Rep. Joe Crowley, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus who was thought by some to be a future Speaker of the House, suffered a shocking primary defeat in New York's 14th House District Tuesday.
Rupert and Hegseth, shocked, SHOCKED!
NY Times: "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Defeats Joseph Crowley in Major Democratic House Upset," [unfavorable photo], first paragraph:
Representative Joseph Crowley of New York, once seen as a possible successor to Nancy Pelosi as Democratic leader of the House, suffered a shocking primary defeat on Tuesday, the most significant loss for a Democratic incumbent in more than a decade, and one that will reverberate across the party and the country.
Our Revolution: "Press Release -- Our Revolution Statement on Rhode Island and New York Primary Wins," beginning:
Our Revolution on Wednesday congratulated Marcia Ranglin-Vassell and Jeanine Calkin of Rhode Island and Anthony Eramo of New York on their primary victories.
LA Times, carrying an AP feed, lead image of Crowley, not of the winner,"Democratic heavyweight Rep. Joe Crowley loses in New York; Trump's picks win," [much like Strib].
Bloomberg, " [nice photo], beginning:
Longtime Representative Joe Crowley was dealt a stunning upset in New York’s Democratic primary Tuesday by a young challenger from the party’s progressive wing, while Republican Representative Dan Donovan decisively beat back a challenge from former congressman and ex-convict Michael Grimm with the help of an endorsement from President Donald Trump.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who previously worked as an organizer for Senator Bernie Sanders’s 2016 presidential campaign, won the Democratic nomination for Crowley’s district covering Queens and part of the Bronx in a race seen as a fight between the party’s old guard and a new, more liberal generation.
"More liberal." Cannot they say, "Progressive?" They do clearly say, "Berniecrat." Bless that. Those are the Dem wings, "Corporate" and "Progressive," but MSM avoids the usage. And there is a mish-mosh middle, needing a big push to progress.
The people wanted Bernie. In 2016. They continue to show a 2020 inclination, and Bloomberg acknowledges the fact.
Boston Globe: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old BU grad, just upset Rep. Joe Crowley in a New York primary -- 'We meet a machine with a movement, and that is what we have done today.' " First paragraph:
NEW YORK (AP) — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old Sen. Bernie Sanders supporter, has upset longtime U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley in the Democratic congressional primary in New York.
Presumably from the same AP feed Strib used (with the Trump referenced clipped off as being of secondary importance).
Guardian: "Democrats see major upset as socialist beats top-ranking US congressman -- Joe Crowley, 10-term Democrat expected to be party’s next House leader, loses to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 28, in New York," starting:
Joe Crowley, a 10-term Democrat pegged as his party’s next leader in Congress, lost his party’s New York congressional primary to a 28-year-old socialist, in a result likely to send shockwaves through the party.
With 98% reporting, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had 57.5% and Crowley had 42.5%, in a majority minority district that included parts of Queens and the Bronx.
Ocasio-Cortez, a Puerto-Rican American and former Bernie Sanders volunteer, defeated Crowley in his re-election bid Tuesday night, after hitting the incumbent on his ties to Wall Street and accusing him of being out of touch with his increasingly diverse district.
Crowley, head of the Queens county Democratic party and the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, was considered to be Nancy Pelosi’s likely successor as House speaker if she stepped down.
The result was compared to the shock defeat of Eric Cantor, the No 2 House Republican, to a Tea Party candidate, David Brat, in 2014. Cantor’s defeat stopped any momentum for Republicans in Congress on immigration reform and helped to create the House Freedom Caucus and drive out the former speaker John Boehner.
With a Guardian sidebar pointer to an op-ed, "Democrats are losing the millennial vote and need to change message | Cas Mudde -Read more."
Are you optimistic about facing how massive a pile driver is needed to drive one really thick establishment pile to a depth so that only a little remains showing?
CONSIDER: Navel gazing over fact and implications, Politico as the DC barometer; a buffet sampling:
THE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS -- which Crowley chairs -- was beginning, for the first time, to allow a conversation about a transition toward a new leadership structure, which he could’ve led. Some allies and friends of NANCY PELOSI were even envisioning a scenario -- far off, for sure -- in which she served as speaker for some period of time in a Democratic majority, and set up a situation in which Crowley could take the reins.
NO LONGER. Just like when Cantor was turned out of office in 2014, the Democratic leadership structure is going to be confronted with serious upheaval. To be sure, Crowley was not perfect for House Democrats. He was a middle-aged white man as the party turned more diverse. He was a big-city party boss in an age of insurgency. But, like Cantor -- who also ran counter to party trends at the time -- Crowley was seen as safe and stable.
NOW, the race for the Democratic leadership will be wide open. It’s too early to say definitively what this means for PELOSI, JIM CLYBURN and STENY HOYER, the 78-, 77- and 79-year olds who have been in Congress a combined 93 years.
IS THE MESSAGE you got from last night that the party wants leaders in their upper 70s who have been in Washington for three decades? Seventy-something year old leaders, have a laundry list of votes and positions they’ve taken and been part of the machine the base is railing on. IT’S IMPORTANT TO NOTE: 63 Democrats voted against Pelosi in the last leadership election. More than a dozen candidates this cycle have said they would follow suit.
A SENIOR HOUSE DEMOCRATIC AIDE, however, pushed back on the idea that Crowley’s defeat has any bearing on Pelosi: “Tonight’s developments have little practical impact on the race for the top Democratic slot since Pelosi has made clear that she’s staying put. Real question is which younger Members of leadership will step up in their leadership roles. One real way to do that now is to raise money now. We literally are in a position of where we cannot afford the opportunity that exists on the map.”
[...] -- CHARTING THE FALL … GLORIA PAZMINO and LAURA NAHMIAS: “From future speaker to primary loser: Inside Crowley’s crushing defeat”: “Ocasio-Cortez pounded the pavement and never wavered from her message: Crowley was out of touch with his district and could no longer represent a community of Latino, Asian and African immigrants whose families and friends face an existential threat from the Trump Administration.” [link omitted]
GREG GIROUX -- Bloomberg’s Hill election expert (@greggiroux): “Congress has never had a woman under 30 in its membership. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is 28. #ny14 … The youngest woman ever elected? Elise Stefanik (R-NY) at 30 in 2014. She's seeking 3rd term in #ny21”.
-- “Who Is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? A Democratic Giant Slayer,” by NYT’s Vivian Wang: “She has never held elected office. She is still paying off her student loans. She is 28 years old. ‘Women like me aren’t supposed to run for office,’ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in a viral campaign video released last month. They certainly weren’t supposed to win.” [links omitted]
[...] STAT OF THE DAY … OCASIO-CORTEZ spent $128,140 from the beginning of April to June 6. Crowley spent $1.1 million over the same period.
REP. STEVE STIVERS (R-OHIO), the chairman of the NRCC, weighs in with an 11 p.m. message to Team Playbook: “2018 Democratic Primaries require a major investment from establishment D’s, or the results wildly favor progressive candidates.
“When they spend, they take money from the General Election. ($10 million spent in California - that’s 5 less races in the Fall) When they don’t spend, they get less electable candidates (Eastman, Balter & Delgado).
“Either outcome is good for us. And Crowley losing means there is no clear alternative to Nancy Pelosi.”
[...] THINK OF THIS … EVERY SINGLE “next” House Democratic leader is gone. Joe Crowley lost. Xavier Becerra is AG of California. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland is a senator. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida to the DNC, where she was pushed out of the chairmanship.
[...] WHAT THIS MEANS FOR 2020 … THE LEFTWARD LURCH ... If you thought Democrats were already leaning left, look now for the lurch. After last night, can you envision the forces running the Democratic Party today anointing a Joe Biden-type candidate?
PRESIDENT TRUMP ON CROWLEY -- @realDonaldTrump at 10:18 p.m.: “Wow! Big Trump Hater Congressman Joe Crowley, who many expected was going to take Nancy Pelosi’s place, just LOST his primary election. In other words, he’s out! That is a big one that nobody saw happening. Perhaps he should have been nicer, and more respectful, to his President!”
THIS TAKE is unlikely to get repeated by many people who understand what happened last night. Crowley got beat by a woman who ran to his left.
[capitalization in original, bolding omitted]
A video. Another. Pre-primary Intercept reporting; read it.
Not another DCCC-beloved millionaire - still paying off student loans being the single needed fact saying "Not your pedestrian PAC-money Dem millionaire" indirectly, but clearly enough.
downwithtyranny.blogspot.com
"What Happened Last Night? Alexandria's Earthquake-- And The DCCC Stinks Up The Room Again."
Leave it there.
BOTTOM LINE: Here at Crabgrass at least, the bet is Crowley backed Tom Perez for head of DNC and opposed any DNC declaration that PAC money would not be accepted. Fossil. Feinsteinian. Good ol' DCCC "money talks" consultancy type's ouster cannot be but encouraging. People in some places can tell who may best represent their actual pecuniary best interests: the candidate who listens when people say what they want, and beleives in the same goals and ambitions. Nationwide, who knows? An actual CHANGE causing actual HOPE? But November looms, nationwide; and money buys TV scare-ads. Money will buy much, because big money had no problems with the ousted guy.
____________UPDATE______________
Error in leaving out downwithtyrany.com commentary of interest - corrected by update:
[...] 28 year old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did exactly what she told me she would do several months ago... she defeated the #4 member of the House Democratic leadership, and most corrupt Democrat in Congress, Joe Crowley. She did it by working and working and working and working smart and working hard. Crowley, who's taken more bribes from Wall Street than any other House Democrat-- $7,148,700-- spent-- as of June 6th-- $3,354,370 to her $300,709. And outside independent spending... minimal. [...]
Anyway, Alexandria beat him 15,897 (57.5%) to 11,761 (42.5%)-- a big win, especially considering EMILY's List absolutely refused to endorse her. Everyone is Congress who got involved, including big women's champion Kirsten Gillibrand, endorsed him and only Ro Khanna backed her (although it was a dual endorsement). No one from the establishment took her seriously. Now they have to learn how to pronounce her name. Randy Bryce was delighted and speaking for fellow grassroots progressives said, "Tonight was yet another example of the Beltway getting it wrong-- regular, working people are on a mission. We’re on a mission to stand for our values and win the monumental battles at hand. Alexandria proved people wrong and I’m excited to serve with her and unite in defying the odds." This is a great day for for NY-14, a great day for progressives, a great day for Alexandria's team (including the Justice Democrats), a great day for the Democratic Party, a great day for America, a miserable day for Mark Pocan.
[inline image indicating BlueAmerica - Ocasio-Cortez endorsement]
Also in New York, the DCCC lost another one. Up in the Syracuse area (NY-24), all the local Democrats were firmly behind Dana Balter when suddenly, the DCCC-- ignoring the local Democratic Party, as they always do-- parachuted their own candidate into the race, Juanita Perez Williams. The locals were furious. The final score: [Dana Balter by over sixty percent]
The DCCC should fight Republicans-- and first learn how to-- and stop fighting their own party's grassroots and progressives. Syracuse voters slapped them hard across the snout, just the way voters in Omaha, Nebraska and Lexington, Kentucky did recently.
[italics added]
Meanwhile, a read-bite from the Intercept's pre-election feature on the Crowley vs. Orsino-Cortez primary:
Michael Bloomberg is fundraising for Crowley, [...] An invitation for the fundraiser Bloomberg hosted at his Manhattan home on May 2 suggested contributions of $1,000, $2,700, and $5,400.
That Intercept item also covered a dinner Ocasio-Cortez held with supporters.
____________FURTHER UPDATE______________
At least one news outlet will call a progressive a "progressive" and not "liberal" or "extreme liberal." NPR:
Updated at 12:35 a.m. ET
National progressives scored a major coup over the Democratic establishment Tuesday night as 28-year-old activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez upset House Democratic Caucus chairman and longtime New York Rep. Joe Crowley.
It was a breakthrough for the left wing of the Democratic Party, in a primary season where they haven't been able to cause too many headaches for the establishment. Crowley's defeat capped a string of progressive victories over the Democratic establishment on Tuesday, including in the Maryland governor's race, where Ben Jealous won the nomination with the backing of Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Honesty is the best policy. Don't "sanitize" Progressives with false colors. Liberal has a historically evolved general Gestalt; and Berniecrats step substantially beyond that. Schumer is a "liberal," in the classic sense. Meanwhile, today's progressives are not evolved from Woodrow Wilson usage of the "Progressivism" label. The best term is the one Bernie resurrected, "democratic socialist." That is so, even after the Eisenhower years where McCarthy and HUAC propagandized the term "socialist" in order to mislead a nation. "Socialism" is not a synonym for "evil." Just as the word "trump" in general usage as a verb does not mean "buffoon."
Monday, June 25, 2018
Tim Pawlenty and common sense.
A Pawlenty snailmail solicitation was handed me, in which he prominently mentions, multiple places in the letter, he mentions common sense.
Common sense is good, as in: Make your bank mortgage payments on time or lose the house to the bankers; keep discretionary money for later when it becomes needed, all that.
As a show of common sense, Pawlenty style, the mailing included a response envelope, postage prepaid.
Sending it back empty to reflect the emptiness of the statements of problems and concerns the letter addresses makes good sense.
Sense which, common or uncommon, is good.
His letter has a lot to say about Minnesotans - "nice, "frugal," "respectful" and "polite."
Send back the empty envelope. Or first insert a note about Jeff Johnson being a nice man, respectful of the caucus system, politely so.
UPDATE: Chomsky.
Common sense is good, as in: Make your bank mortgage payments on time or lose the house to the bankers; keep discretionary money for later when it becomes needed, all that.
As a show of common sense, Pawlenty style, the mailing included a response envelope, postage prepaid.
Sending it back empty to reflect the emptiness of the statements of problems and concerns the letter addresses makes good sense.
Sense which, common or uncommon, is good.
His letter has a lot to say about Minnesotans - "nice, "frugal," "respectful" and "polite."
Send back the empty envelope. Or first insert a note about Jeff Johnson being a nice man, respectful of the caucus system, politely so.
UPDATE: Chomsky.
Strawman delux: Preexisting condition coverage is not the issue. Single payer is. The latest diversion is just that: a diversion.
Republican Glen Taylor's Strib, locally written item, saying by implication the opposite of the headline:
Everyone knows the Obamacare mess is inadequate. Move directly to single payer, let UnitedHealthcare twist in the wind, they deserve it. If the share price falls, those thinking the firm a good idea and a good investment may need to recalculate. So?
Same Strib item:
Ian Todd is for real. The unfortunate demographics of CD6 - Bachmannistan - cut against him; but Tom Emmer has done little to merit staying in-office. Todd's voter outreach and sincerity about the real economic needs of regular people is a message that could prevail. It's a big uphill battle, but he stands for the way people should expect to be treated by the government they can vote out when it is unresponsive to reality.
The bit about preexisting condition coverage being at risk is laughable. Paulsen is out of tune, and so "beltway" he cannot see that sane voters can see where they might misstep in a pasture.
Fight phony issue mongering. Keep focused upon what's best, and not what politicians tell you to think, whether they be media owners or in office diversionaries.
Calling out a hoax of a politician: No bigger hoax than Debbie Wasserman Schultz. A reader forwarded an email solicitation for the one who poisoned the DNC well, for Hillary and Podesta lobbying and Goldman Sachs. Asking for money to advance her staying in office, she writes:
Economic justice and health and welfare of the poor, for example, go unmentioned. And, lo, DWS can see cutting to the quick, pre-existing conditions. Yeah. Right in there with Paulsen. "Preserve" and not "fix?" Number one preservation goal for her and us; her seat in Congress.
Tax breaks given earlier after Trump took office to benefit the rich? No, the implication being not on Debbie's list because it is not important to us, in our minds.
Let's say "women's health" when freedom to have an abortion choice vs. forced to have unwanted children is one of the most fundamental human rights you can think of, so it is reduced to vanilla vague terminology. Why? Because her agenda is somebody's agenda, but is it yours.
Those with power don't care what music you prefer, just don't rock their boat one iota, or suffer for it with Debbie there to "help."
Abortion is not an economic fairness issue except for having to feed the kids being a stress test of willingness to conform and to not make waves.
LGBTQ as a focal issue means the people DWS really has as a constituency is the donors who care little where in private you put your mouth, as long as you show up for work on time and rent them your time on their terms, for their gain.
Medicare and Social Security as "our goals" under attack, so don't even think of Universal Single Payer and guaranteed income as answer to "How should the economy be structured." Syria, wartime budgets for the military when we are not under any external threat, don't look there, nothing to see there. The woman is a disgrace. Better than Paulsen? Likely.
So?
How is Debbie Wasserman Schultz really different in her policy perspective than Roy Moore? Other than it is hard to imagine her riding to the polling place on a horse. Ask yourself: Which of the three is most likely to advocate for a redistribution of wealth to help the world's people and the nation's people, Debbie, Roy, or the horse?
This month, the Justice Department threw a new twist into the debate when it urged a federal court to get rid of the ACA’s pre-existing conditions protections as part of a lawsuit filed by Texas and 19 other states alleging that the individual mandate is unconstitutional. Attempts by the Republican administration to undercut the ACA — even popular provisions like those protections — could leave some Republicans on the defensive.
“Rep. [Erik] Paulsen has long supported protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions, and he continues to do so,” a spokesman for Paulsen, the Republican representing Minnesota’s Third Congressional District, said in a statement. Paulsen declined an interview request.
Paulsen and his two fellow Minnesota Republicans in Congress voted more than once to repeal and replace the ACA. His DFL opponent, businessman Dean Phillips, is homing in on the issue in a suburban congressional district that went for Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.
“The Affordable Care Act is imperfect, but it can be much more successful by investing in it and fixing it,” Phillips said. Pointing to Paulsen’s votes to repeal it, Phillips said he was “disappointed in Erik Paulsen’s continuous efforts to undermine it ... without any thoughtful replacement.”
He added: “I do believe it’s the responsibility for thoughtful Republicans and Democrats to speak against the Justice Department’s actions to stop enforcing the pre-existing condition policy, because it hurts human beings.”
Everyone knows the Obamacare mess is inadequate. Move directly to single payer, let UnitedHealthcare twist in the wind, they deserve it. If the share price falls, those thinking the firm a good idea and a good investment may need to recalculate. So?
Same Strib item:
Emmer’s DFL challenger, Ian Todd, is advocating for a single-payer health care system. He said he was surprised to find even some conservative voters were open to his views. People know the current system isn’t working, he added.
“Do I think I’ll have most conservatives come over to my side? No, I don’t,” said Todd. “But there are a lot of people who do see things from my point of view that I wouldn’t have expected.”
He said he would talk about Emmer’s votes to repeal and replace the ACA during the campaign, but that “it’s less about what he’s done and more about what we can do” in the future.
Ian Todd is for real. The unfortunate demographics of CD6 - Bachmannistan - cut against him; but Tom Emmer has done little to merit staying in-office. Todd's voter outreach and sincerity about the real economic needs of regular people is a message that could prevail. It's a big uphill battle, but he stands for the way people should expect to be treated by the government they can vote out when it is unresponsive to reality.
The bit about preexisting condition coverage being at risk is laughable. Paulsen is out of tune, and so "beltway" he cannot see that sane voters can see where they might misstep in a pasture.
Fight phony issue mongering. Keep focused upon what's best, and not what politicians tell you to think, whether they be media owners or in office diversionaries.
Calling out a hoax of a politician: No bigger hoax than Debbie Wasserman Schultz. A reader forwarded an email solicitation for the one who poisoned the DNC well, for Hillary and Podesta lobbying and Goldman Sachs. Asking for money to advance her staying in office, she writes:
I have continually spoken out on the Trump/Ryan dangerous and cruel agenda. That’s why President Trump continually attacks me on Twitter.
Trump, his allies, and my opponents like to talk. They like to spew half-truths and partisan rhetoric. They think attacking me will make me back down.
Boy, are they wrong.
We took to the streets to protest cuts to women's health, to push for greater gun safety in our schools, and this month, to support the rights of the LGBTQ community. We're speaking out to protect Americans with pre-existing conditions, preserve Medicare and Social Security, and stop the inhumane and degrading treatment of immigrant children in this country.
These issues matter… to all of us. Together, we can fight back and make a difference.
Economic justice and health and welfare of the poor, for example, go unmentioned. And, lo, DWS can see cutting to the quick, pre-existing conditions. Yeah. Right in there with Paulsen. "Preserve" and not "fix?" Number one preservation goal for her and us; her seat in Congress.
Tax breaks given earlier after Trump took office to benefit the rich? No, the implication being not on Debbie's list because it is not important to us, in our minds.
Let's say "women's health" when freedom to have an abortion choice vs. forced to have unwanted children is one of the most fundamental human rights you can think of, so it is reduced to vanilla vague terminology. Why? Because her agenda is somebody's agenda, but is it yours.
Those with power don't care what music you prefer, just don't rock their boat one iota, or suffer for it with Debbie there to "help."
Abortion is not an economic fairness issue except for having to feed the kids being a stress test of willingness to conform and to not make waves.
LGBTQ as a focal issue means the people DWS really has as a constituency is the donors who care little where in private you put your mouth, as long as you show up for work on time and rent them your time on their terms, for their gain.
Medicare and Social Security as "our goals" under attack, so don't even think of Universal Single Payer and guaranteed income as answer to "How should the economy be structured." Syria, wartime budgets for the military when we are not under any external threat, don't look there, nothing to see there. The woman is a disgrace. Better than Paulsen? Likely.
So?
How is Debbie Wasserman Schultz really different in her policy perspective than Roy Moore? Other than it is hard to imagine her riding to the polling place on a horse. Ask yourself: Which of the three is most likely to advocate for a redistribution of wealth to help the world's people and the nation's people, Debbie, Roy, or the horse?
Sunday, June 24, 2018
There's a new economic development leader in Anoka County, and officials say she will play a key role as the county works to polish its image. Anoka County commissioners unanimously approved Jacquel Hajder this month for the newly minted position of economic development specialist. Hajder, who most recently worked as housing and economic development coordinator for White Bear Lake, will act as a point person in Anoka County for cities and stakeholders, county officials said.
Those FEMA camps, being used for unaccompanied migrant children's detention; or whatever you call the facilities -- without understanding things fully and with media coverage high on rhetoric and short on actual fact -- wha's 'appening?
Start with Obama, 2014; and inattention to a situation urged then as news, by one Congressman, per CNN. No legs grown from that, then, Democrat critics of practices then being few if any. Unlike now.
An open invitation to readers to try on their own: Find another mainstream media coverage item online from around 2014 - not Alex Jones stuff among non-mainstream "FEMA camp speculations" which are replete on the web, but instead looking at the Obama administration coverage by the likes of NYT, HuffPo, WaPo, etc.
The CNN item is all that was found in Crabgrass searching, which admittedly was not tediously pursued.
NOW: Strib carrying a June 23, NY Times feed, a kind of follow the money thing, but hardly encompassing. Both links given in case a reader wants to do a compare/contrast look at possible editing decision making. NYT version, having this:
Okay, there is one guy making money as if he were a UnitedHealth senior executive, a fact. Beyond that, all heat, no light, is vexing. Chris Hayes on MSNBC blathering, or a guest talking head doing the same, while images of young dark haired people behind chain link are featured, is fear mongering without a conscience.
Again, Wha's 'appening?
Finally, those saying abolish ICE are doing a real glide and slide over the "C" part of: Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Surely the abolition argument is not aiming to want open borders for containers full of contraband grenade launchers and such.
Also, the more concentration on the "I" part, the less resources will be going to policing the "C" dimensions where arguably RFID and database stuff should be enhanced at ports to include, for example, radiation detection, at a minimum. If DEA only gets single digit interception percentages of meth shipments, at least there is some attention, but the point is how much is being spent and how effective is the spending? And illicit drug policing is kind of silly when Big Pharma has created an opioid crisis with no pharma executives yet into the slammer over it. Something is unbalanced that way; the expensive-suit drug pushers getting the "Get Out of Jail Free" Monopoly card. And Afghanistan occupation over the poppy fields by U.S. military, is that a part of the opioid crisis?
As headlined, "Wha's 'appening?"
Is there any cost/benefit analysis in the public domain on the money going into ICE, and the benefit return from it? Chris Matthews, a/k/a Chicken Little does not cut it. And how do you do "benefit" valuation for incarceration/detention, which ever it is and perhaps, just perhaps, different things at different sites?
So; 2014, Obama days, not big news then, because . . . hysteria needs imminent elections? Is there another, better answer? Steven Miller pushing Trump into pushing things to a head? Damn the expense, November is months away?
Then from January 2017, a perhaps premature TYT short item, which makes a fine closing of this post.
______________UPDATE_______________
On further search there was coverage during the Obama years, e.g., CNN again, here, but the frenzy seems more focused now under family separation practices as recently adopted. It goes a step beyond the unaccompanied minor migrant detention practice of the past. Actual number of separations seems absent from reporting, and lower ages of separations is unclear. What seems afoot is a situation where the can got kicked down the road. This report suggests partisan gridlock existed during Obama years.
With GOP control of both houses and the presidency, for a year and a half, nothing has happened beyond the situation worsening. This current item suggests GOP opinions in Congress is ranging in ways that make consensus uncertain. Cold feed lead to inaction, but kicking the can further down the road seems more difficult for the GOP majorities to get away with. As with healthcare, there is much bellowing with the in-control party, the Republicans incapable of governing things to a solution of any kind. Never mind one where Dem Reps could sign on a bipartisan basis.
Things are left hanging, twisting in the wind, and frenzy now might easily produce a greatly suboptimal resolution. As to what would be optimal, nobody seems to know and within the public there appears no consensus. SNAFU.
What seems clear, FEMA death camps are outside of the actual problems, more a distant worry among a segment, but not nearly a reality.
Emergency housing and housing detainees are necessary steps; but FEMA has jurisdiction over emergency relief, not border issues.
___________FURTHER UPDATE___________
What seems apparent is that the Mexican government is satisfied with transshipment of Central Americans from their southern border to their northern border, with little incentive for the Central Americans to want to stay in Mexico. Whether current NAFTA agreement, what is left of it at this point, provides immigrant terms and conditions is for others to answer; but relations between Trump and Mexico currently are not ideal, making Mexican agreement unlikely with anything Trump and Miller decide to want to ask. The term "Mexican standoff" from the past likely is not a current politically correct usage, but "impasse" seems too inadequate a term. Interestingly, the man is not bellowing, "Build me a wall." Fantasy that way being absent is good. It would be counterproductive at this point to resurrect that rhetoric, not that such an understanding would influence some quarters. It always was a counterproductive fantasy wall concept except for getting Trump elected because dumb people liked such a simplistic rhetorical device as was employed to motivate their votes.
An open invitation to readers to try on their own: Find another mainstream media coverage item online from around 2014 - not Alex Jones stuff among non-mainstream "FEMA camp speculations" which are replete on the web, but instead looking at the Obama administration coverage by the likes of NYT, HuffPo, WaPo, etc.
The CNN item is all that was found in Crabgrass searching, which admittedly was not tediously pursued.
NOW: Strib carrying a June 23, NY Times feed, a kind of follow the money thing, but hardly encompassing. Both links given in case a reader wants to do a compare/contrast look at possible editing decision making. NYT version, having this:
HARLINGEN, Tex. — The business of housing, transporting and watching over migrant children detained along the southwest border is not a multimillion-dollar business.
It’s a billion-dollar one.
The nonprofit Southwest Key Programs has won at least $955 million in federal contracts since 2015 to run shelters and provide other services to immigrant children in federal custody. Its shelter for migrant boys at a former Walmart Supercenter in South Texas has been the focus of nationwide scrutiny, but Southwest Key is but one player in the lucrative, secretive world of the migrant-shelter business. About a dozen contractors operate more than 30 facilities in Texas alone, with numerous others contracted for about 100 shelters in 16 other states.
If there is a migrant-shelter hub in America, then it is perhaps in the four-county Rio Grande Valley region of South Texas, where about a dozen shelters occupy former stores, schools and medical centers. They are some of the region’s biggest employers, though what happens inside is often highly confidential: One group has employees sign nondisclosure agreements, more a fixture of the high-stakes corporate world than of nonprofit child-care centers.
[...] President Trump’s order on Wednesday calling for migrant families to be detained together likely means millions more in contracts for private shelter operators, construction companies and defense contractors.
A small network of private prison companies already is operating family detention centers in Texas and Pennsylvania, and those facilities are likely to expand under the new presidential directive, should it stand up to legal review, analysts said.
The range of contractors working in the migrant-shelter industry varies widely.
BCFS, a global network of nonprofit groups, has received at least $179 million in federal contracts since 2015 under the government’s so-called unaccompanied alien children program, designed to handle migrant youths who arrive in the country without a parent or other family member.
[...] But several large defense contractors and security firms are also building a presence in the system, including General Dynamics, the global aerospace and defense company, and MVM Inc., which until 2008 contracted with the government to supply guards in Iraq. MVM recently put up job postings seeking “bilingual travel youth care workers” in the McAllen area of South Texas. It described the jobs as providing care to immigrant children “while you are accompanying them on domestic flights and via ground transportation to shelters all over the country.”
The migrant-shelter business has been booming since family separations began on a large scale last month along the southwest border.
For years, including during the Obama administration, contractors housed children who were caught illegally crossing the border unaccompanied by a parent or guardian. After the new policy, the contractors put in new beds and expanded beyond their licensed capacities to house the growing numbers of children the government separated from their families.
[...] Many of these contractors, including Southwest Key, whose president and chief executive, Juan Sánchez, has been a well-known and politically connected figure in South Texas for years, [...] Critics have released tax records showing Mr. Sánchez’s compensation — more than $770,000 in 2015 alone — and his organization’s usually under-the-radar efforts to open new shelters have become pitched public battles. In Houston, a number of Democratic officials, including Mayor Sylvester Turner, called on Mr. Sánchez to abandon plans to turn a former homeless shelter into a new migrant youth shelter near downtown. [...]
Okay, there is one guy making money as if he were a UnitedHealth senior executive, a fact. Beyond that, all heat, no light, is vexing. Chris Hayes on MSNBC blathering, or a guest talking head doing the same, while images of young dark haired people behind chain link are featured, is fear mongering without a conscience.
Again, Wha's 'appening?
Finally, those saying abolish ICE are doing a real glide and slide over the "C" part of: Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Surely the abolition argument is not aiming to want open borders for containers full of contraband grenade launchers and such.
Also, the more concentration on the "I" part, the less resources will be going to policing the "C" dimensions where arguably RFID and database stuff should be enhanced at ports to include, for example, radiation detection, at a minimum. If DEA only gets single digit interception percentages of meth shipments, at least there is some attention, but the point is how much is being spent and how effective is the spending? And illicit drug policing is kind of silly when Big Pharma has created an opioid crisis with no pharma executives yet into the slammer over it. Something is unbalanced that way; the expensive-suit drug pushers getting the "Get Out of Jail Free" Monopoly card. And Afghanistan occupation over the poppy fields by U.S. military, is that a part of the opioid crisis?
As headlined, "Wha's 'appening?"
Is there any cost/benefit analysis in the public domain on the money going into ICE, and the benefit return from it? Chris Matthews, a/k/a Chicken Little does not cut it. And how do you do "benefit" valuation for incarceration/detention, which ever it is and perhaps, just perhaps, different things at different sites?
So; 2014, Obama days, not big news then, because . . . hysteria needs imminent elections? Is there another, better answer? Steven Miller pushing Trump into pushing things to a head? Damn the expense, November is months away?
Then from January 2017, a perhaps premature TYT short item, which makes a fine closing of this post.
______________UPDATE_______________
On further search there was coverage during the Obama years, e.g., CNN again, here, but the frenzy seems more focused now under family separation practices as recently adopted. It goes a step beyond the unaccompanied minor migrant detention practice of the past. Actual number of separations seems absent from reporting, and lower ages of separations is unclear. What seems afoot is a situation where the can got kicked down the road. This report suggests partisan gridlock existed during Obama years.
With GOP control of both houses and the presidency, for a year and a half, nothing has happened beyond the situation worsening. This current item suggests GOP opinions in Congress is ranging in ways that make consensus uncertain. Cold feed lead to inaction, but kicking the can further down the road seems more difficult for the GOP majorities to get away with. As with healthcare, there is much bellowing with the in-control party, the Republicans incapable of governing things to a solution of any kind. Never mind one where Dem Reps could sign on a bipartisan basis.
Things are left hanging, twisting in the wind, and frenzy now might easily produce a greatly suboptimal resolution. As to what would be optimal, nobody seems to know and within the public there appears no consensus. SNAFU.
What seems clear, FEMA death camps are outside of the actual problems, more a distant worry among a segment, but not nearly a reality.
Emergency housing and housing detainees are necessary steps; but FEMA has jurisdiction over emergency relief, not border issues.
___________FURTHER UPDATE___________
What seems apparent is that the Mexican government is satisfied with transshipment of Central Americans from their southern border to their northern border, with little incentive for the Central Americans to want to stay in Mexico. Whether current NAFTA agreement, what is left of it at this point, provides immigrant terms and conditions is for others to answer; but relations between Trump and Mexico currently are not ideal, making Mexican agreement unlikely with anything Trump and Miller decide to want to ask. The term "Mexican standoff" from the past likely is not a current politically correct usage, but "impasse" seems too inadequate a term. Interestingly, the man is not bellowing, "Build me a wall." Fantasy that way being absent is good. It would be counterproductive at this point to resurrect that rhetoric, not that such an understanding would influence some quarters. It always was a counterproductive fantasy wall concept except for getting Trump elected because dumb people liked such a simplistic rhetorical device as was employed to motivate their votes.
Random thoughts.
First, were I a restaurant owner it would be a joy to deny service to any of the Bush family, any of the Clintons, Karl Rove, either Podesta brother and surely others not immediately coming to mind. Sarah Sanders is not special that way, Trump people are not special. Forgot, Bannon or dad and Rebekah Mercer. Jarad. Bankster Tim Pawlenty. Orrin Hatch and the executives at UnitedHealth. Steven Miller the Trump hatchet man, (not Steve Miller the musician, who is okay). For Miller's early career mentor, Ms. Bachmann, the joy of saying "Go to Chick-Fil-A" would be immediate and resonant, as a key part of a refusal.
And I would surely rather serve Willie Horton than Lee Atwater. (Of course that one is the most hypothetical because Atwater is dead and Horton is incarcerated.)
There likely would be a booming business among that part of a local populace in agreement on those thoughts.
Second, if being the chief ethics lawyer in the Bush Second's administration, what's the job besides holding a leash on Karl Rove to keep him out of trouble while not restraining any more mischief than necessary. Salute the difficulty, but not taking on the tasking. Ethics in the "Do that and they can get you" sense is more narrow a thing than a common man's view that lying the nation into the Iraq war was unethical. The Bushco crowd did get away with it, but from a personal morality perspective of "ethics," keeping an "ethics" advisory role among those folks and not quitting after half a day, no salute. Ergo, Tina in the primary and, hence, Tina in the general.
From the look of things production of the Dumpster Fire bit could have preceded the Hamlet choice to be or not to be called, for now, a Democrat. That, plus there is the thought that a true and loyal Bush aide might be expected to have a dislike of Trump from the start of how "low energy Jeb" terminology was first launched, and how it succeeded.
And I would surely rather serve Willie Horton than Lee Atwater. (Of course that one is the most hypothetical because Atwater is dead and Horton is incarcerated.)
There likely would be a booming business among that part of a local populace in agreement on those thoughts.
Second, if being the chief ethics lawyer in the Bush Second's administration, what's the job besides holding a leash on Karl Rove to keep him out of trouble while not restraining any more mischief than necessary. Salute the difficulty, but not taking on the tasking. Ethics in the "Do that and they can get you" sense is more narrow a thing than a common man's view that lying the nation into the Iraq war was unethical. The Bushco crowd did get away with it, but from a personal morality perspective of "ethics," keeping an "ethics" advisory role among those folks and not quitting after half a day, no salute. Ergo, Tina in the primary and, hence, Tina in the general.
From the look of things production of the Dumpster Fire bit could have preceded the Hamlet choice to be or not to be called, for now, a Democrat. That, plus there is the thought that a true and loyal Bush aide might be expected to have a dislike of Trump from the start of how "low energy Jeb" terminology was first launched, and how it succeeded.
Saturday, June 23, 2018
While Sarah Sanders is denied restaurant service without it being a Bull Connor dog show response to a civil rights sit in, things are actually happening that are actually real news.
Here and here, and trade wars cooking away to whatever ending may happen.
And it is said DC is a dumpster fire, but that is not news. Instead, it is old fashioned politics. Shock jock gimmick stuff.
And it is said DC is a dumpster fire, but that is not news. Instead, it is old fashioned politics. Shock jock gimmick stuff.
On a historical time frame, to understand the present one must remember the historically very recent past.
A two part Truth, part 1, and part 2. And Carter shows no rancor. Habitat for Humanity takes its place.
The Monitor. HuffPo. And the one now, jerking the nation around for his amusement, and for his and Jarad's prosperity. And the same damned fools from back then put this one into the opportunity.
My question: What's Pence's share? When will his ship come in and what will be its cargo?
My favorite factoid: Since Johnson, particularly after Carter, Carter is the only President who's not had a war cooking.
Again: On a historical time frame, to understand the present one must remember the historically very recent past.
The Monitor. HuffPo. And the one now, jerking the nation around for his amusement, and for his and Jarad's prosperity. And the same damned fools from back then put this one into the opportunity.
My question: What's Pence's share? When will his ship come in and what will be its cargo?
My favorite factoid: Since Johnson, particularly after Carter, Carter is the only President who's not had a war cooking.
Again: On a historical time frame, to understand the present one must remember the historically very recent past.
If the Supreme Court says a bakery can deny a gay wedding cake, what exactly would be wrong with a restaurant refusing service to Sarah Sanders? I know I'd not want a thing to do with her and it is not as if she was served after a server urinated in her soup.
Tyler Durden, Fight Club, aside, people are put off planes for being unruly. But that is for conduct, not status. Sanders is not a part of some special protected class where strict scrutiny is required and a rational basis alone is not justification for a private party's refusal of service. Some places post, "No shoes, no service," or "No shirt, no service." It is not as if she was lulled by making a reservation in her name, having it accepted by phone, and then having a denial of service.
It seems to not be inconceivable to me that some people might harbor a disgust for Mike Pence and cohorts including Sanders, in as strong a way and premised upon as strong a personally compelling belief set and tenet of their existence as others feel about dislike for gay folks.
Why think religion is superior to a dislike of Donald Trump and his hangers on? It is not and to say otherwise is fiction.
The event was nothing special and Sanders had no purpose other than to belittle, in making the denial of service something more than it was.
Poor victim mouthpeice for manifest destiny.
Sorry, but presumably the lady found another restaurant and had her just right porridge.
Surely John Roberts could find eight ways to split hairs over this vs. the gay wedding cake decision, but I cannot. I am not adept in magic legal doctrine as is the Chief Justice, but at a bet I am more sincere.
Missing from reports: how big was the entourage, how pressed was the restaurant to meet regular business from within its repeat business community, and how big a nuisance might the Sanders entry into the place as "special" might have been? Those are degrees of evidence missing in reporting, but things I'd want fleshed out before any final judgment of the incident. Given that the totality of circumstances affects reasonableness judgments; I was not there to see things for myself as they unfolded, and can only guess about any circumstantial totality beyond the scant press coverage. Did Sanders get loud and belligerent? Reporting quotes her as pretty much saying, "Okay, I'll leave," and she left, no police involvement, no reporting of threats of retribution, but again I and readers of this post were not there as eyewitnesses.
Bottom line: you like Robert's gay wedding cake stuff, then like Sanders facing a refusal; it's no different. If bakery bigotry is okay, Sanders can try McDonalds or go hungry one evening. She'd not melt away from missing one supper.
____________UPDATE_____________
My bullshit meter unpegs from zero and moves substantially to pegging the other end on conscious parallelism suggesting false flag staging, timing seeming more than random happenstance. How it gets spun in the next few days may pin the hummer all the way to "pure phony."
There just seems something crude, the cameras ready, townhall.com too poised and ready, etc.
These guys.
A miasma to it. The "fake news" accuser would not fake anything as news, would he?
__________FURTHER UPDATE_____________
Too bad that Lady Sanders did not ask gentleman Scott Puritt for a good place to get a great GOP meal.Perhaps a restaurant next door to a Hobby Lobby. Ditto, the ICE lady.
___________FURTHER UPDATE___________
Breitbart on their toes too, here and here. Next staging, Betsy DeVos might even visit a ghetto school, hoping to provoke. No, never mind, not DeVos. She hasn't visited a school, so far, has she, and in a ghetto? Instead, have Erik Prince denied service by a socialist gun vendor. If they could find one. The clown car keeps running even with gas prices going up.
It seems to not be inconceivable to me that some people might harbor a disgust for Mike Pence and cohorts including Sanders, in as strong a way and premised upon as strong a personally compelling belief set and tenet of their existence as others feel about dislike for gay folks.
Why think religion is superior to a dislike of Donald Trump and his hangers on? It is not and to say otherwise is fiction.
The event was nothing special and Sanders had no purpose other than to belittle, in making the denial of service something more than it was.
Poor victim mouthpeice for manifest destiny.
Sorry, but presumably the lady found another restaurant and had her just right porridge.
Surely John Roberts could find eight ways to split hairs over this vs. the gay wedding cake decision, but I cannot. I am not adept in magic legal doctrine as is the Chief Justice, but at a bet I am more sincere.
Missing from reports: how big was the entourage, how pressed was the restaurant to meet regular business from within its repeat business community, and how big a nuisance might the Sanders entry into the place as "special" might have been? Those are degrees of evidence missing in reporting, but things I'd want fleshed out before any final judgment of the incident. Given that the totality of circumstances affects reasonableness judgments; I was not there to see things for myself as they unfolded, and can only guess about any circumstantial totality beyond the scant press coverage. Did Sanders get loud and belligerent? Reporting quotes her as pretty much saying, "Okay, I'll leave," and she left, no police involvement, no reporting of threats of retribution, but again I and readers of this post were not there as eyewitnesses.
Bottom line: you like Robert's gay wedding cake stuff, then like Sanders facing a refusal; it's no different. If bakery bigotry is okay, Sanders can try McDonalds or go hungry one evening. She'd not melt away from missing one supper.
____________UPDATE_____________
My bullshit meter unpegs from zero and moves substantially to pegging the other end on conscious parallelism suggesting false flag staging, timing seeming more than random happenstance. How it gets spun in the next few days may pin the hummer all the way to "pure phony."
There just seems something crude, the cameras ready, townhall.com too poised and ready, etc.
These guys.
A miasma to it. The "fake news" accuser would not fake anything as news, would he?
__________FURTHER UPDATE_____________
Too bad that Lady Sanders did not ask gentleman Scott Puritt for a good place to get a great GOP meal.Perhaps a restaurant next door to a Hobby Lobby. Ditto, the ICE lady.
___________FURTHER UPDATE___________
Breitbart on their toes too, here and here. Next staging, Betsy DeVos might even visit a ghetto school, hoping to provoke. No, never mind, not DeVos. She hasn't visited a school, so far, has she, and in a ghetto? Instead, have Erik Prince denied service by a socialist gun vendor. If they could find one. The clown car keeps running even with gas prices going up.
Yesterday, flaming left-wing radical George Will published an opinion item in WaPo. But - with his background why take it seriously?
This link. Hello, Karin Housley. Hiding from her actual Bachmannesque record by "look over there" climbing all over Minnesota's nursing homes. So will the diversion justifiably grow blowback rather than growing legs? Good try, but like the Buffalo Sabres, a strictly second tier track record, however it is tarted over or recharacterized.
______________UPDATE_______________
With an eye kept on WaPo op-ed publishing from the last several days, can we expect, if confronted, for Ms. Housley to declare, "I've been pretty busy and have never looked at what Project Votesmart wrote about my record."
______________UPDATE_______________
With an eye kept on WaPo op-ed publishing from the last several days, can we expect, if confronted, for Ms. Housley to declare, "I've been pretty busy and have never looked at what Project Votesmart wrote about my record."
Bless the young. When they inherit the earth, may they be compromise-free, keeping eyes on the prize.
The Vietnam generation slipped, but knowing it when you step in it or it's heaped on you via endless propaganda should involve an immunity growing not diminishing with age. As with exposure to any disease. The propaganda bath must be working.
With the stain of Michel Bachmann upon him, why wonder that he is as he is?
Stephen Miller, Wikipedia. What a resume.
Thursday, June 21, 2018
Deplorables convene.
This link.
Getting demagogued, attendees living and loving it. Stuff so deep you need hip-waders to navigate it.
As a state, we are better than the Duluth reporting suggests. More inventive outside the halls.
______________UPDATE_______________
Don't blame the town, for showing a clown.
Getting demagogued, attendees living and loving it. Stuff so deep you need hip-waders to navigate it.
As a state, we are better than the Duluth reporting suggests. More inventive outside the halls.
______________UPDATE_______________
Don't blame the town, for showing a clown.
Despite the post a day ago below this one: Things looking as they are, it has to be Tina. [Please note updating]
First, Karin Housley, look at this wholly objective delineation of the Housley record and shudder over the thought of her reaching the U.S. Senate. This ultra conservative choice-hater would be a train wreck of a disaster if winning in November, so who in the Dem primary has an actual record to be trusted? Something as solid as "You can take it to the bank?" Something beyond nice-sounding words, spiffy spot TV ads, etc.? That is the question.
---
Housley has a record, Votesmart.org objectively presents it, and it puts her into the Abigail Whelan camp, of divisive bill mongering and posturing while fully knowing the mischief could never survive a Dayton veto. Votesmart lists:
---
The dumpster fire guy, running an early gimmick ad with no actual content except saying the man will campaign by criticizing Trump; i.e., by trying to divert voters having anti-Trump sentiment from voting for a clear and actual Democrat with a track record as one, to instead support a Bushco "ethics" guy; who stayed and collected paychecks [despite Bush whoring to evangelicals when it seemed he was not at all really one himself and despite Bush-Hank Paulson's kllling of the economy and handing the basket case to Obama while the Republicans in Congress impeded Obama's effort to dig out of the Republican engineered disaster. And lo, Obama had Geithner, another Goldman Sachs alum in his Cabinet for which Obama can be faulted but that is old news. This time it will be Trump seeking 2020 reelection with an economy better than Bush left, but with an opportunity if given a second term to mirror the down-cycle engineering, in perhaps a worse way, with a host of Cabinet Goldman Sachs alums in tow; just as Paulson was when the fan loaded up big time.
Do you have the willing suspension of disbelief that supporting Painter requires?
Dick Painter has a reported net worth roughly equal to that of Hously and Mr. and Mrs. Smith combined. [Please note updating at the end of this post]. Painter says he is highly offended by Trump, as an ethicist, but criticism is easy and voters can be too easily deceived. John Anderson as a vote-siphoning stalking horse for Reagan against Carter should never be forgotten, much as George Wallace was a red-neck race-bating stalking horse for Lyndon Johnson. A half century of evidence of stalking horses showing up in elections exists and should not be at all discounted.
If Painter is serious he'd publish his portfolio. While saying he loves Boundary Waters sanctity and wants single payer, what mining (and fossil fuel) extraction stocks he is holding and what med-industrial complex stocks he is holding would show whether or not he is talking a position mix differing from his own financial best interests. Absent that, "trust me" seems hollow. Rhetoric to not resonate very much at all, absent proof.
Tina has the Dayton years in her resume, super-moderate Dem status, but sincerely standing as a Democrat. Trust the record, as much as the words. If Painter denies DC was a Dumpster Fire during Bush years, Iraq war based on lying and all, phony-Jesus stuff and all, bless him. Along with blessing Karl Rove, from an ethics standpoint. It's a situation where there seems to be a logical disconnect, along with an apparent glide-and-slide on any Bushco "Dumpster Fire" questioning being advanced/permitted by mainstream media coverage - be it Republican Glen Taylor's Strib or GOP money-man Stan Hubbard's radio-TV empire doing the coverage. Free pass? You decide.
The ethics of lying the nation into the Iraq war; of Karl Rove; of Bush schmoozing Billy Graham; of firing capable U.S. Attorneys it's in the record. Who else remembers the "lost" email non-governmental email server situation which the media suppressed, unlike per Ms. Clinton?
Go figure. We rightly should question a Dumpster Fire video-bite thing coming from one who served through the second term of the Bush Dumpster Fire years ["chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration from 2005 to 2007" per Wikipedia, admittedly starting after Bush/Powell/Rove lying us into war and after most of working the fundamentalist bloc to get elected, and before the tanking of the economy]. Yet for several years Painter was a GOP insider getting a regular Republican paycheck; a fact nobody denies.
Surely Wikipedia paints an entire picture having merit, but John Anderson's record had merit too. The jury is still out on Painter. It would be too extreme to say otherwise, but as a noted contributor to the Federalist Society he is on a par with John Roberts, that way, which might appeal to dyed in the wool conservatives while giving progressives pause. Progressives will recognize the Federalist Society is nobody's den of Bernie backers, but for those feeling themselves in the moderates' DFL camp do they view the Federalist Society as more Republican than neutral? You'd have to poll them, but I have a guess. Recall that Painter debated running GOP vs DFL, before filing. Strib in a photo caption to a report from before Painter filed noted "an exploratory committee" involvement, without naming names of said explorers. Detail there would be helpful. Who voiced pros and cons either way might matter.
Doubts need answers.
--
BOTTOM LINE: So Tina "lesser evil" time is upon us, and as an "evil" Tina is less that than merely a well intentioned but vexing regular DFL moderate unlikely to push single payer - yet in essence - a clear choice-by-elimination at least in my mind.
Karin Housley deserves a later separate post, beyond what's presented in opening this Tina "warts and all seeming the better choice" post.
A post looking at an elder care anti-abuse "advocate come lately" spieler status; one of trying to draw attention away from contentious positioning per the Votesmart evidence toward a single issue no voter would dispute; shuffling cards that smarmy way.
But that is for later.
Absent a peek at least into the Dick Painter holdings, voluntarily disclosed, why buy into "trust me" from a Bushco Dumpster Fire alum? Credibility gap, who can say none is there; Bush minion to Trump critic as winds of politics change? No portfolio disclosure would leave only words, which from a lawyer absent a presentation of evidence, leaves doubt.
Yes, the Smith Amendment legislative Polymet land-swap cramdown effort can offend progressives, as did the Nolan blessing of same, but leaving ideology aside and focusing upon practical matters, disarming Stauber's main blather serves the purpose of Stauber having to show more to define himself than "mine, mine, mine, for jobs, jobs, jobs, I love you Ranger dudes" simplicity:
Well, nobody in Minnesota CD8 is against taconite mining, so read the essence of the Stauber positioning for what it is.
Disarming the Republicans of that Iron Range posturing opportunity per a "me too" stance and actions enhances the chance of a Blue Wave reaching Lake Superior, and if left to the Republicans the mining decision would be worse, where the Democrats would at least champion a fair sized escrow from Twin Metals where anticipated GOP tokenism that way seems the alternative. If sulfide mining happens, at least expect the Dems to be better on the sizing of any required pre-event remediation escrow against potential/expected environmental devastation. Those massive snow geese die-offs associated with copper mining quarry pit water in Butte, Montana, is a real and ongoing thing; and a lesson.
________________UPDATE_______________
A KEY UNCERTAINTY: Posting above and yesterday was based upon not finding any Painter disclosure with the FEC, but noting this item, online. That involved error.
See; this FEC link, hat tip to this item's linking.
Without combing through the Painter FEC disclosure form it would be improper to question either report, the $9 million net worth claim, nor the detail of Painter's disclosure. Given large "range" disclosure valuation and a leading "Unascertainable" valuation item, per the FEC report, along with key missing valuations for some items Painter listed, squaring the two items is not attempted here. Nor is it possible with blank valuations of some assets.
Yet, FOLLOW THE MONEY is an essential factor.
Ask Painter. The press should resolve FOLLOW THE MONEY questions as a routine matter, but it does require diligence.
In any event, while no obvious smoking gun investment appears as detailed in the Painter FEC disclosure, MPR's indication is that Painter most certainly is a man of wealth well above "middle class":
Such an annual income fits being a Republican now, as well as being a former Republican federal office holder during Bush/Cheney.
With Archie and Tina Smith quite wealthy, into the millions, perhaps follow the money is a wash.
If so, subjective judgments enter into things. That judgment, here, favors Tina Smith. The ghost of John Anderson might motivate thinking of others less than it motivates me. But it is as it is. Regardless of what Painter says; regardless of how assertively he says it.
Opinions can differ.
The Dumpster Fire video bit may impress many. In stating the obvious, it does not impress me enough for my vote. Between now and the August primary voting, who knows what might be an "August Surprise" to tip the balance one way or another.
Early primary voting in person or by mail opens July 29.
________________FURTHER UPDATE______________
Sometimes the BS meter unpegs, and you have to ask . . .
PowerLine, March 7, Let Freedom Ring, March 8, then PowerLine, again, April 3, all before Painter filed to run DFL. Conscious parallelism of that manner gives off the smell of a skunk, and raises an immediate question: were - respectively on the timeline - either John Hinderaker, Gary Gross, or Scott Johnson, or some combination of them on the Painter exploratory committee; i.e., was coordinated hijinks afoot, back then? As in "doth protest too much." Too uniformly.
Strib, March 8, using "exploratory committee" language, Gary Gross and Scott Johnson tracking the usage. Hinderaker a day before Strib publishes, setting a theme for follow-up punditry. It looks too cute.
Unconscious parallelism? What? Three self identified Republican ideologues; same theme, trash Painter in advance of . . .
Urban dictionary: Jumping in as a passage rite of membership.
If setting up a stalking horse, how would you preamble it, hoping for greatest street cred?
_____________FURTHER UPDATE_______________
The timeline of those Minnesota table setting posts overlap other things: Dust it up with Dershowitz on MSNBC with having Breitbart publish of it as news the very same day, May 5; file with FEC as DFL May 15, so add those to the timeline. Getting a compressed timeline of preamble online drum beating - with name calling and such - leading up to a mid-month of apparent self-discovery as a Democrat.
Cute? Or coincidental? WWKRS - What Would Karl Rove Say?
______________FURTHER UPDATE_______________
The gift keeps giving. The stalking horse uncertainty has its charm. After digesting first impressions of the latest "Annals of Muffing It" left.mn posting of dissatisfaction with the Tina Smith amendment which does disarm Pete Stauber and cohorts of a sharp stick to poke in the DFL eye; and then really seriously thinking how worse things would be with an Iron Range tilt leading to more Republican success in November; I can see logic in the Smith move parallel to the earlier same move by Nolan. Perhaps Timmer was drinking too liberally at Drinking Liberally when Koolaid was being served. Wool pulling over eyes is not to be discounted, even if involving the most savvy of eyes. Perhaps. Perhaps not. Timmer wrote:
We can only guess on some things and we always have incomplete information when voting. After a day's reflection, I split hairs differently than Timmer does. After reading good writing and forming a similar first impression, nonetheless my bottom line is I have to trust my own ambiguous but dominant gut feelings. Putting qualms aside -
Tina Smith. For Senate.
I sure wish Dayton had appointed someone else, however. He made things much harder for progressives, as Nolan has done.
Look at the names running in Minnesota CD5. There were alternatives ignored by Dayton. Corporatist Dems surfing an anti-Trump Blue Wave into office while DNC/DCCC/DSCC each aggressively spurns progressives is hardly an ideal world scenario. As the Corporatists smugly say, yet again, what choice have you, that gets really stale and truly is maddening. It insults. At least it appears the Corparate Dems at least are trying to keep Hillary Clinton and Debby Wasserman Schultz in the closet this cycle, showing a kind of barbaric cunning, if not wisdom. At least there is that.
_____________FURTHER UPDATE_____________
Some might want to reflect upon why Painter has had little to nothing to say about the ethics of Tim Pawlenty. Nor is he loudly faulting Mike Pence for his immediate after-the-fact straight out lying about the Trump motive for firing Comey. It would be guessing, but the questions have merit. Sherlock solved one case by the dog that didn't bark.
_____________FURTHER UPDATE______________
The Tina Smith amendment might best be viewed in light of this thousand word bullshit equivalent aimed at simplistic minds on the Range.
---
Housley has a record, Votesmart.org objectively presents it, and it puts her into the Abigail Whelan camp, of divisive bill mongering and posturing while fully knowing the mischief could never survive a Dayton veto. Votesmart lists:
Karin Housley Co-sponsored - SF2849 - Requires Abortion Physicians to Give Patients Option of Ultrasound
Karin Housley was rated 88% by American Conservative Union(State Legislature Positions) [higher than Jeff Howe, a percentage point below Sondra Erickson, Kurt Daudt and Steve Drazkowski, identical to Peggy Scott, and 30 points ahead of Mary Franson; i.e., in the ozone layer of "Conservative"; compare Debra Hilstrom at 0% and Jim Abeler at half the percentage given Housley]
Karin Housley was rated 0% by Voices for Racial Justice ("Minnesota Legislative Report Card on Racial Equality")
Karin Housley was rated 100% by Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (Positions)
Karin Housley was rated 100% by Minnesota Chamber of Commerce (Positions)
Karin Houlsey was rated 29% by Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (Lifetime Score)
Karin Housley was rated 0% by AFSCME Council 5 (Positions)
Karin Housley voted Yea (Passage With Amendment) - HF600 - Prohibits Local Laws Regarding Minimum Wage or Paid Sick Leave
Karin Housley was endorsed y National Rifle Association
---
The dumpster fire guy, running an early gimmick ad with no actual content except saying the man will campaign by criticizing Trump; i.e., by trying to divert voters having anti-Trump sentiment from voting for a clear and actual Democrat with a track record as one, to instead support a Bushco "ethics" guy; who stayed and collected paychecks [despite Bush whoring to evangelicals when it seemed he was not at all really one himself and despite Bush-Hank Paulson's kllling of the economy and handing the basket case to Obama while the Republicans in Congress impeded Obama's effort to dig out of the Republican engineered disaster. And lo, Obama had Geithner, another Goldman Sachs alum in his Cabinet for which Obama can be faulted but that is old news. This time it will be Trump seeking 2020 reelection with an economy better than Bush left, but with an opportunity if given a second term to mirror the down-cycle engineering, in perhaps a worse way, with a host of Cabinet Goldman Sachs alums in tow; just as Paulson was when the fan loaded up big time.
Do you have the willing suspension of disbelief that supporting Painter requires?
Dick Painter has a reported net worth roughly equal to that of Hously and Mr. and Mrs. Smith combined. [Please note updating at the end of this post]. Painter says he is highly offended by Trump, as an ethicist, but criticism is easy and voters can be too easily deceived. John Anderson as a vote-siphoning stalking horse for Reagan against Carter should never be forgotten, much as George Wallace was a red-neck race-bating stalking horse for Lyndon Johnson. A half century of evidence of stalking horses showing up in elections exists and should not be at all discounted.
If Painter is serious he'd publish his portfolio. While saying he loves Boundary Waters sanctity and wants single payer, what mining (and fossil fuel) extraction stocks he is holding and what med-industrial complex stocks he is holding would show whether or not he is talking a position mix differing from his own financial best interests. Absent that, "trust me" seems hollow. Rhetoric to not resonate very much at all, absent proof.
Tina has the Dayton years in her resume, super-moderate Dem status, but sincerely standing as a Democrat. Trust the record, as much as the words. If Painter denies DC was a Dumpster Fire during Bush years, Iraq war based on lying and all, phony-Jesus stuff and all, bless him. Along with blessing Karl Rove, from an ethics standpoint. It's a situation where there seems to be a logical disconnect, along with an apparent glide-and-slide on any Bushco "Dumpster Fire" questioning being advanced/permitted by mainstream media coverage - be it Republican Glen Taylor's Strib or GOP money-man Stan Hubbard's radio-TV empire doing the coverage. Free pass? You decide.
The ethics of lying the nation into the Iraq war; of Karl Rove; of Bush schmoozing Billy Graham; of firing capable U.S. Attorneys it's in the record. Who else remembers the "lost" email non-governmental email server situation which the media suppressed, unlike per Ms. Clinton?
Go figure. We rightly should question a Dumpster Fire video-bite thing coming from one who served through the second term of the Bush Dumpster Fire years ["chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration from 2005 to 2007" per Wikipedia, admittedly starting after Bush/Powell/Rove lying us into war and after most of working the fundamentalist bloc to get elected, and before the tanking of the economy]. Yet for several years Painter was a GOP insider getting a regular Republican paycheck; a fact nobody denies.
Surely Wikipedia paints an entire picture having merit, but John Anderson's record had merit too. The jury is still out on Painter. It would be too extreme to say otherwise, but as a noted contributor to the Federalist Society he is on a par with John Roberts, that way, which might appeal to dyed in the wool conservatives while giving progressives pause. Progressives will recognize the Federalist Society is nobody's den of Bernie backers, but for those feeling themselves in the moderates' DFL camp do they view the Federalist Society as more Republican than neutral? You'd have to poll them, but I have a guess. Recall that Painter debated running GOP vs DFL, before filing. Strib in a photo caption to a report from before Painter filed noted "an exploratory committee" involvement, without naming names of said explorers. Detail there would be helpful. Who voiced pros and cons either way might matter.
Doubts need answers.
--
BOTTOM LINE: So Tina "lesser evil" time is upon us, and as an "evil" Tina is less that than merely a well intentioned but vexing regular DFL moderate unlikely to push single payer - yet in essence - a clear choice-by-elimination at least in my mind.
Karin Housley deserves a later separate post, beyond what's presented in opening this Tina "warts and all seeming the better choice" post.
A post looking at an elder care anti-abuse "advocate come lately" spieler status; one of trying to draw attention away from contentious positioning per the Votesmart evidence toward a single issue no voter would dispute; shuffling cards that smarmy way.
But that is for later.
Absent a peek at least into the Dick Painter holdings, voluntarily disclosed, why buy into "trust me" from a Bushco Dumpster Fire alum? Credibility gap, who can say none is there; Bush minion to Trump critic as winds of politics change? No portfolio disclosure would leave only words, which from a lawyer absent a presentation of evidence, leaves doubt.
Yes, the Smith Amendment legislative Polymet land-swap cramdown effort can offend progressives, as did the Nolan blessing of same, but leaving ideology aside and focusing upon practical matters, disarming Stauber's main blather serves the purpose of Stauber having to show more to define himself than "mine, mine, mine, for jobs, jobs, jobs, I love you Ranger dudes" simplicity:
[...] said he "will not tiptoe around the fact that I support responsible taconite and precious metals mining in northeast Minnesota."
Well, nobody in Minnesota CD8 is against taconite mining, so read the essence of the Stauber positioning for what it is.
Disarming the Republicans of that Iron Range posturing opportunity per a "me too" stance and actions enhances the chance of a Blue Wave reaching Lake Superior, and if left to the Republicans the mining decision would be worse, where the Democrats would at least champion a fair sized escrow from Twin Metals where anticipated GOP tokenism that way seems the alternative. If sulfide mining happens, at least expect the Dems to be better on the sizing of any required pre-event remediation escrow against potential/expected environmental devastation. Those massive snow geese die-offs associated with copper mining quarry pit water in Butte, Montana, is a real and ongoing thing; and a lesson.
________________UPDATE_______________
A KEY UNCERTAINTY: Posting above and yesterday was based upon not finding any Painter disclosure with the FEC, but noting this item, online. That involved error.
See; this FEC link, hat tip to this item's linking.
Without combing through the Painter FEC disclosure form it would be improper to question either report, the $9 million net worth claim, nor the detail of Painter's disclosure. Given large "range" disclosure valuation and a leading "Unascertainable" valuation item, per the FEC report, along with key missing valuations for some items Painter listed, squaring the two items is not attempted here. Nor is it possible with blank valuations of some assets.
Yet, FOLLOW THE MONEY is an essential factor.
Ask Painter. The press should resolve FOLLOW THE MONEY questions as a routine matter, but it does require diligence.
In any event, while no obvious smoking gun investment appears as detailed in the Painter FEC disclosure, MPR's indication is that Painter most certainly is a man of wealth well above "middle class":
Richard Painter, the ethics attorney running in a Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, made hundreds of thousands of dollars the past couple of years from speeches, expert witness testimony, book royalties and articles.
The combined $370,000 in payments to Painter are outlined in a required disclosure for federal candidates, which he submitted this month. They are in addition to a $200,000 salary as a law professor at the University of Minnesota, where his wife also works.
Such an annual income fits being a Republican now, as well as being a former Republican federal office holder during Bush/Cheney.
With Archie and Tina Smith quite wealthy, into the millions, perhaps follow the money is a wash.
If so, subjective judgments enter into things. That judgment, here, favors Tina Smith. The ghost of John Anderson might motivate thinking of others less than it motivates me. But it is as it is. Regardless of what Painter says; regardless of how assertively he says it.
Opinions can differ.
The Dumpster Fire video bit may impress many. In stating the obvious, it does not impress me enough for my vote. Between now and the August primary voting, who knows what might be an "August Surprise" to tip the balance one way or another.
Early primary voting in person or by mail opens July 29.
________________FURTHER UPDATE______________
Sometimes the BS meter unpegs, and you have to ask . . .
PowerLine, March 7, Let Freedom Ring, March 8, then PowerLine, again, April 3, all before Painter filed to run DFL. Conscious parallelism of that manner gives off the smell of a skunk, and raises an immediate question: were - respectively on the timeline - either John Hinderaker, Gary Gross, or Scott Johnson, or some combination of them on the Painter exploratory committee; i.e., was coordinated hijinks afoot, back then? As in "doth protest too much." Too uniformly.
Strib, March 8, using "exploratory committee" language, Gary Gross and Scott Johnson tracking the usage. Hinderaker a day before Strib publishes, setting a theme for follow-up punditry. It looks too cute.
Unconscious parallelism? What? Three self identified Republican ideologues; same theme, trash Painter in advance of . . .
Urban dictionary: Jumping in as a passage rite of membership.
If setting up a stalking horse, how would you preamble it, hoping for greatest street cred?
_____________FURTHER UPDATE_______________
The timeline of those Minnesota table setting posts overlap other things: Dust it up with Dershowitz on MSNBC with having Breitbart publish of it as news the very same day, May 5; file with FEC as DFL May 15, so add those to the timeline. Getting a compressed timeline of preamble online drum beating - with name calling and such - leading up to a mid-month of apparent self-discovery as a Democrat.
Cute? Or coincidental? WWKRS - What Would Karl Rove Say?
______________FURTHER UPDATE_______________
The gift keeps giving. The stalking horse uncertainty has its charm. After digesting first impressions of the latest "Annals of Muffing It" left.mn posting of dissatisfaction with the Tina Smith amendment which does disarm Pete Stauber and cohorts of a sharp stick to poke in the DFL eye; and then really seriously thinking how worse things would be with an Iron Range tilt leading to more Republican success in November; I can see logic in the Smith move parallel to the earlier same move by Nolan. Perhaps Timmer was drinking too liberally at Drinking Liberally when Koolaid was being served. Wool pulling over eyes is not to be discounted, even if involving the most savvy of eyes. Perhaps. Perhaps not. Timmer wrote:
The land that PolyMet has its eye on is currently owned by We The People. The US Forest Service is our land agent here, and the swap under consideration is being examined administratively [and now in the courts, ed.] from an environmental standpoint and the fairness of the price (which it doesn’t seem to be).
Anyway, Tina said “What, the hell; let’s just do it!” So she offered her “amendment” to a defense authorization bill, claiming the metals that would be produced at the mine are “strategic.” Strategic for China, perhaps, since that is where any copper from the mine is going for the first several years, anyway.
It is a brazen and disingenuous end-around due process to benefit a Canadian “mining” company (PolyMet) and its effective bad-boy Swiss conglomerate parent (Glencore). We The People are just chopped liver, I guess. When first approached after she offered the amendment about why she did, she didn’t have a response. No ready justification for what she had just done? Later she told the AP it wouldn’t interfere with rigorous environmental review. [chortle] Naturally, that is what it is supposed to do. But lying about it just compounds the felony.
[...] It didn’t take Tina Smith very long to go native in Washington.
But you can hear dollars clapping in some places, the PolyMet corporate offices for one. Three PolyMet executives, President Jon Cherry, Vice President Brad Moore, and Vice President Bruce Richardson have each contributed to Tina Smith’s campaign.
You will never guess who they contributed to last cycle. (And apparently their only contributions.) Oh, of course, you can guess: Rick Nolan. Rick has offered the same legislation as the Smith Amendment in the House.
You might compare all of this to the position of Senate candidate Richard Painter. He is unalterably opposed to sulfide mining in Minnesota. He has said so in many places, including Drinking Liberally last week.
We can only guess on some things and we always have incomplete information when voting. After a day's reflection, I split hairs differently than Timmer does. After reading good writing and forming a similar first impression, nonetheless my bottom line is I have to trust my own ambiguous but dominant gut feelings. Putting qualms aside -
Tina Smith. For Senate.
I sure wish Dayton had appointed someone else, however. He made things much harder for progressives, as Nolan has done.
Look at the names running in Minnesota CD5. There were alternatives ignored by Dayton. Corporatist Dems surfing an anti-Trump Blue Wave into office while DNC/DCCC/DSCC each aggressively spurns progressives is hardly an ideal world scenario. As the Corporatists smugly say, yet again, what choice have you, that gets really stale and truly is maddening. It insults. At least it appears the Corparate Dems at least are trying to keep Hillary Clinton and Debby Wasserman Schultz in the closet this cycle, showing a kind of barbaric cunning, if not wisdom. At least there is that.
_____________FURTHER UPDATE_____________
Some might want to reflect upon why Painter has had little to nothing to say about the ethics of Tim Pawlenty. Nor is he loudly faulting Mike Pence for his immediate after-the-fact straight out lying about the Trump motive for firing Comey. It would be guessing, but the questions have merit. Sherlock solved one case by the dog that didn't bark.
_____________FURTHER UPDATE______________
The Tina Smith amendment might best be viewed in light of this thousand word bullshit equivalent aimed at simplistic minds on the Range.
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
So Barak Obama declined to deliver CHANGE. What, then, is next? Well, with claims Iraq and Libya were targeted over attempts to lessen dollar hegmony in the fossil fuel wellhead-to-distribution market CHANGE IS FEASIBLE IF BITCOIN WERE LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE.
And we should question all incumbent and intending elective office holders over, "Why not?" Push them.
Buy a home with Bitcoin, pay taxes, get a bank to write mortgages in Bitcoin, it is all possible.
Would Warren Buffet then corner the Bitcoin market? Would it not be good to have Russian and Chinese leaders repurpose their hacking to accumulate Bitcoin?
Were I a Bitcoin genius, with a massive Bitcoin fiat money holding, unlike others but like shady oligarchs of old Europe, I'd want to convert pronto to prime worldwide real estate. Others might feel otherwise, given how the Fed and other central banks cannot even well handle nation-backed currencies (or is there intention behind that machinery making order look like chaos but always favoring the already rich).
This kind of post originates when the first item read online with morning coffee is this. Queued up, this. First of those items linking here.
With fiat money and futures contracts big in finance and central banking, why not Bitcoin? Arguably, it is no less ephemeral than paper stock saying "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private." No gold backing. Just, "Trust me." Making Bitcoin legal tender would at least rock some boats, and if it became an election issue things would be less tedious and boring than Stormy Daniels lawyer allegedly being "news" and not as boring as Pete Hegseth being now sued over the ax stupidity where a grown man should have known better.
One sure thing, if Bitcoin could be used to finance abortions, Abigail Whelan, Peggy Scott, and their minions of deplorables would be all over it, issue-wise. Biasing the market.
Poke the pinata. Advocate: BITCOIN = LEGAL TENDER
Or does dollar hegemony ring your bell as much as it does the U.S. of A. State and Defense Departments? Would they go to war over Bitcoin?
Once thinking outside of the box, go full bore. Tim Pawlenty, once defeated on election day, could move into founding a "Bitcoin Roundtable" group where he could have an obscenely high management salary, in Bitcoin. Give the man something to do as top dog Bitcoin lobbyist. Ideally, based for that outside of Minnesota. Since Iceland with its cheap and plentiful electricity has become an international Bitcoin mining hub, Iceland would be a fine place for Pawlenty. As fine as any I can imagine.
Buy a home with Bitcoin, pay taxes, get a bank to write mortgages in Bitcoin, it is all possible.
Would Warren Buffet then corner the Bitcoin market? Would it not be good to have Russian and Chinese leaders repurpose their hacking to accumulate Bitcoin?
Were I a Bitcoin genius, with a massive Bitcoin fiat money holding, unlike others but like shady oligarchs of old Europe, I'd want to convert pronto to prime worldwide real estate. Others might feel otherwise, given how the Fed and other central banks cannot even well handle nation-backed currencies (or is there intention behind that machinery making order look like chaos but always favoring the already rich).
This kind of post originates when the first item read online with morning coffee is this. Queued up, this. First of those items linking here.
With fiat money and futures contracts big in finance and central banking, why not Bitcoin? Arguably, it is no less ephemeral than paper stock saying "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private." No gold backing. Just, "Trust me." Making Bitcoin legal tender would at least rock some boats, and if it became an election issue things would be less tedious and boring than Stormy Daniels lawyer allegedly being "news" and not as boring as Pete Hegseth being now sued over the ax stupidity where a grown man should have known better.
One sure thing, if Bitcoin could be used to finance abortions, Abigail Whelan, Peggy Scott, and their minions of deplorables would be all over it, issue-wise. Biasing the market.
Poke the pinata. Advocate: BITCOIN = LEGAL TENDER
Or does dollar hegemony ring your bell as much as it does the U.S. of A. State and Defense Departments? Would they go to war over Bitcoin?
Once thinking outside of the box, go full bore. Tim Pawlenty, once defeated on election day, could move into founding a "Bitcoin Roundtable" group where he could have an obscenely high management salary, in Bitcoin. Give the man something to do as top dog Bitcoin lobbyist. Ideally, based for that outside of Minnesota. Since Iceland with its cheap and plentiful electricity has become an international Bitcoin mining hub, Iceland would be a fine place for Pawlenty. As fine as any I can imagine.
Monday, June 18, 2018
Stewing over it for days, and finally seeing another author say it better than I would, Tina Smith you are selling out the Boundary Waters for short term vote expediency and it galls. Throwing the environment under the bus, Tina, under the bus is something your decision faces. As a first act and a memorable one, selling out the environment stinks. [UPDATED: Plus, with a big med Tech portfolio bias, holding for example shares in big pharma's Abbott Labs, venture a guess about hunger of the appointee for true healthcare reform.]
Amy, a henchperson; Timmer here, linking here.
---
Single Payer needs somebody in high places with vision and talent. Tina? Amy? Bet on a waffle to have stronger beliefs and feelings.
Dayton's choice, where others might have chosen better.
From Timmer:
[links in original, italics added]
Pope of the North Tom Bakk gets his ring kissed. Jeez. Fraser and Vento put it all on the line for the BWCA Wilderness; Smith puts it all, decades of work by a host of good people, behind her like a thoughtless fart on the way to November.
Vento must be spinning in his grave.
People should be telling Smith she's being a damned fool and should stop. Or is it too late? She might between now and November redeem something, but while not being hard of hearing, I have not heard it attributed to her or said by her: Single Payer, Student Debt Relief, Fixing Income Inequality, Ending the Drug War Against Cannabis; none of it. All Smith has to run on at this point in time is selling out the BWCA Wilderness. Beyond disappointed, I am disgusted.
The process fails when politicians with extreme short-term personal and party agendas subvert procedures for sensible tempered decision making to have a chance to work to a judgment and resolution fitting the time frame environmental havoc entails, centuries, i.e., well beyond a tack-on ploy to a wholly unrelated Act done because an election is months away. That latter kind of thing unprincipled Republicans do. Tricky Dick earned his name.
Tricky Tina?
While suitably cautious about a candidate who held a job in the Bush administration with a Republican background as possibly being a stalking horse much as John Anderson was in the Carter-Reagan days, presenting links regarding Painter remains fair in allowing readers to follow the links and decide for themselves; e.g., here, here, here, here (with an embed of Painter's first campaign video, same embed here); with readers skilled in how to do their own web searching.
Giving links is not passing judgment for or against Painter, which would be premature. He is a moderate as is Smith in many ways, but on mining, single payer, Painter says he is there with an issue stance, while Smith is MIA and quiet beyond the recent surprise Nolan-like BWCA bomb throw.
If you really want a protest vote candidate, check out:
http://www.legalcannabisnow.org/
A protest vote that way would show dissatisfaction with two-party agonies and aloofness and mediocrity on key issues, as well as showing support for a sane cause as we move further into our Twenty-first Century milieu. Thinking out of the box may help the people against being boxed up and delivered, yet again, to the malefactors of great greed and wealth. Which is better than stoically taking it, saying, "I love Big Brother."
______________UPDATE______________
Vento relates back to a time when a career school teacher like Jeff Erdmann had a chance to reach Congress. Which multimillionaire lights your fire? This one? Or the other?
Pick your Tweedle. Dum or De. Dayton, or Alida and Dayton, picked theirs.
But I'm O.K. I love Big Brother.
_____________FURTHER UPDATE_____________
Spouse Archie:
Then, does this portfolio disclosure give any hint as to Tina Smith's reticence in backing Single Payer; and can a snowball survive long in Hell?
_______________FURTHER UPDATE______________
1:09 PM 6/19/2018: Mr. and Mrs. Smith: Single Payer would depress share price and dividends from private sector FOR-PROFIT money sucking med-industrial complex operators. I.e., trimming the fat would trim Archie and the Senate appointee's portfolio, given how it's being kept med-heavy and not cashed out elsewhere to quell potential conflicts.
Winnowing out possible problems is what primaries are for. That said, the caveat is Richard Painter is reported to have a net worth at least twice that of the Smith spouses; and it appears he has yet to disclose detail of where the cash is parked. His holdings in med-related adventures might dwarf that of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, or it might not.
Ethics hotshot: The man staking his claim upon Bushco public service and upon a tout of strong ethical motivations should have feet put to the fire to disclose the equivalent of incumbent fiscal disclosure to the public, which could easily be done via a press release and posting on the Painter campaign website.
Else, how can one follow the money? For all I know and the public knows, the Painter portfolio could be real top-heavy in United Healthcare and Big Pharma to where a likelihood of foot-dragging on Single Payer may be inferred.
As to well positioned intermediaries in today's world siphoning off money that could be going to actual, factual, physician-patient provision of health services, Strib published:
Plus senior management extracts an obscene cut from gross earnings well in front of regular public company shareholders; e.g., this link showing Omar Ishrak of Medtronics and Stephen Hemsley of UnitedHealth Group sucked out eighty-two million compensation between them in 2016, Ishrak gaining 5/8th of non-healthcare-delivery cash flow, each from their respective firms.
If the right oxen get gored by Single Payer, would that be less fair than the status quo?
Candidates should not be in cahoots with a status quo that could be characterized as a bond between profiteers in the top 1%. Conscious parallelism in favoring political outcomes akin to parallelism in income sources is an ever-present danger. Likewise, distance from any interest in defeat of Single Payer to keep personal oxen from being gored would be welcome sunshine upon a murky, swampy, "as is, like it or love it."
---
In closing, earlier two millionaires were juxtaposed, Smith and Housley. Now, Painter joins himself into the picture, making it at least three millionaires seeking the same political office. So what's grassroots to think?
DCCC/DSCC: We know priorities there - feed the consultancies slushing around the DCCC/DSCC's part of the DC swamp or go suck eggs. Just do not rock the yacht. In such a world we must presume millionaires are corporatists all or most of the time unless irrefutable contrary proof exists. DCCC/DSCC playing favorites complicates the analysis, but really does not CHANGE or cause HOPE of it.
---
Follow the money, unless you've a better idea. Questions exist and in good faith they should be answered with full and suitable disclosure. Especially from a self-proclaimed ethics hotshot.
The press should be all over that. Painter could be holding a seven-figure stake in shares of Chilean copper mining giant Antofagasta, which would be of interest to environmental activists and to the public wondering about Twin Metals' prospects adjacent to the Boundary Waters.
Saying you oppose sulfide mining is a fine first step. Backing that with the credibility of disclosing a high seven figure portfolio devoid of mining holdings would be a fine second step, for one with nothing to hide.
Why not? If wanting my vote, move in a way to earn it.
---
Single Payer needs somebody in high places with vision and talent. Tina? Amy? Bet on a waffle to have stronger beliefs and feelings.
Dayton's choice, where others might have chosen better.
From Timmer:
It didn’t take Tina Smith very long to go native in Washington.
But you can hear dollars clapping in some places, the PolyMet corporate offices for one. Three PolyMet executives, President Jon Cherry, Vice President Brad Moore, and Vice President Bruce Richardson have each contributed to Tina Smith’s campaign.
You will never guess who they contributed to last cycle. (And apparently their only contributions.) Oh, of course, you can guess: Rick Nolan. Rick has offered the same legislation as the Smith Amendment in the House.
You might compare all of this to the position of Senate candidate Richard Painter. He is unalterably opposed to sulfide mining in Minnesota. He has said so in many places, including Drinking Liberally last week.
Update: For a more complete, and frankly better, exposition of this issue I recommend Marshall Helmberger’s terrific piece in the Timberjay.
Further update and correction: There is an article about Tina Smith’s response to questions about the land exchange deal in the Saturday edition of the Strib. “Oh, the exchange seems fair,” opines Tina, “And besides, it’s done all the time.”
Perhaps she can point to a deal to sell or exchange land for use in strip mining after the Weeks Act was passed in 1911. We’re waiting.
[links in original, italics added]
Pope of the North Tom Bakk gets his ring kissed. Jeez. Fraser and Vento put it all on the line for the BWCA Wilderness; Smith puts it all, decades of work by a host of good people, behind her like a thoughtless fart on the way to November.
Vento must be spinning in his grave.
People should be telling Smith she's being a damned fool and should stop. Or is it too late? She might between now and November redeem something, but while not being hard of hearing, I have not heard it attributed to her or said by her: Single Payer, Student Debt Relief, Fixing Income Inequality, Ending the Drug War Against Cannabis; none of it. All Smith has to run on at this point in time is selling out the BWCA Wilderness. Beyond disappointed, I am disgusted.
The process fails when politicians with extreme short-term personal and party agendas subvert procedures for sensible tempered decision making to have a chance to work to a judgment and resolution fitting the time frame environmental havoc entails, centuries, i.e., well beyond a tack-on ploy to a wholly unrelated Act done because an election is months away. That latter kind of thing unprincipled Republicans do. Tricky Dick earned his name.
Tricky Tina?
While suitably cautious about a candidate who held a job in the Bush administration with a Republican background as possibly being a stalking horse much as John Anderson was in the Carter-Reagan days, presenting links regarding Painter remains fair in allowing readers to follow the links and decide for themselves; e.g., here, here, here, here (with an embed of Painter's first campaign video, same embed here); with readers skilled in how to do their own web searching.
Giving links is not passing judgment for or against Painter, which would be premature. He is a moderate as is Smith in many ways, but on mining, single payer, Painter says he is there with an issue stance, while Smith is MIA and quiet beyond the recent surprise Nolan-like BWCA bomb throw.
If you really want a protest vote candidate, check out:
http://www.legalcannabisnow.org/
A protest vote that way would show dissatisfaction with two-party agonies and aloofness and mediocrity on key issues, as well as showing support for a sane cause as we move further into our Twenty-first Century milieu. Thinking out of the box may help the people against being boxed up and delivered, yet again, to the malefactors of great greed and wealth. Which is better than stoically taking it, saying, "I love Big Brother."
______________UPDATE______________
Vento relates back to a time when a career school teacher like Jeff Erdmann had a chance to reach Congress. Which multimillionaire lights your fire? This one? Or the other?
Pick your Tweedle. Dum or De. Dayton, or Alida and Dayton, picked theirs.
But I'm O.K. I love Big Brother.
_____________FURTHER UPDATE_____________
Spouse Archie:
Archie Smith
Independent investor specializing in medical device stocks. Previously: a partner with Rothschild Capital Partners with a focus on publicly traded medical device stocks, a Venture Partner with SightLine Partners, a venture capital firm focused on investments in later stage private medical device companies and Piper Jaffray as a Senior Healthcare Analyst and Managing Director in Equity Research.
Then, does this portfolio disclosure give any hint as to Tina Smith's reticence in backing Single Payer; and can a snowball survive long in Hell?
_______________FURTHER UPDATE______________
1:09 PM 6/19/2018: Mr. and Mrs. Smith: Single Payer would depress share price and dividends from private sector FOR-PROFIT money sucking med-industrial complex operators. I.e., trimming the fat would trim Archie and the Senate appointee's portfolio, given how it's being kept med-heavy and not cashed out elsewhere to quell potential conflicts.
Winnowing out possible problems is what primaries are for. That said, the caveat is Richard Painter is reported to have a net worth at least twice that of the Smith spouses; and it appears he has yet to disclose detail of where the cash is parked. His holdings in med-related adventures might dwarf that of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, or it might not.
Ethics hotshot: The man staking his claim upon Bushco public service and upon a tout of strong ethical motivations should have feet put to the fire to disclose the equivalent of incumbent fiscal disclosure to the public, which could easily be done via a press release and posting on the Painter campaign website.
Else, how can one follow the money? For all I know and the public knows, the Painter portfolio could be real top-heavy in United Healthcare and Big Pharma to where a likelihood of foot-dragging on Single Payer may be inferred.
As to well positioned intermediaries in today's world siphoning off money that could be going to actual, factual, physician-patient provision of health services, Strib published:
Health care sector, led by UnitedHealth Group, has outsized presence on Top 50 list
UnitedHealth Group maintained its status as Minnesota's largest public company in 2017 as the Minnetonka-based health care giant for the first time surpassed the $200 billion mark in annual revenue.
By Christopher Snowbeck Star Tribune
June 16, 2018
[...] UnitedHealth Group accounts for more than one-third of the revenue among all companies in the Star Tribune 50. It’s the primary reason that the six health care companies on the list account for an outsized portion of both revenue and income.
At the start of this month, the market capitalization of UnitedHealth Group was $232 billion, up by one-third from the same time last year.
Investors have been less excited about Medtronic, the medical device manufacturer with operational headquarters in Fridley. It’s the second-largest health care company in the Star Tribune 50, yet Medtronic’s market capitalization at the start of June was down slightly compared to the same period a year ago.
[...] UnitedHealth Group last year had more than nine times the revenue of Medtronic, but the companies were much more comparable in terms of overall earnings [...] since health insurers typically see profits in the range of 3 percent to 6 percent before taxes. Among medical device manufacturers, pretax margins often exceed 20 percent.
Plus senior management extracts an obscene cut from gross earnings well in front of regular public company shareholders; e.g., this link showing Omar Ishrak of Medtronics and Stephen Hemsley of UnitedHealth Group sucked out eighty-two million compensation between them in 2016, Ishrak gaining 5/8th of non-healthcare-delivery cash flow, each from their respective firms.
If the right oxen get gored by Single Payer, would that be less fair than the status quo?
Candidates should not be in cahoots with a status quo that could be characterized as a bond between profiteers in the top 1%. Conscious parallelism in favoring political outcomes akin to parallelism in income sources is an ever-present danger. Likewise, distance from any interest in defeat of Single Payer to keep personal oxen from being gored would be welcome sunshine upon a murky, swampy, "as is, like it or love it."
---
In closing, earlier two millionaires were juxtaposed, Smith and Housley. Now, Painter joins himself into the picture, making it at least three millionaires seeking the same political office. So what's grassroots to think?
DCCC/DSCC: We know priorities there - feed the consultancies slushing around the DCCC/DSCC's part of the DC swamp or go suck eggs. Just do not rock the yacht. In such a world we must presume millionaires are corporatists all or most of the time unless irrefutable contrary proof exists. DCCC/DSCC playing favorites complicates the analysis, but really does not CHANGE or cause HOPE of it.
---
Follow the money, unless you've a better idea. Questions exist and in good faith they should be answered with full and suitable disclosure. Especially from a self-proclaimed ethics hotshot.
The press should be all over that. Painter could be holding a seven-figure stake in shares of Chilean copper mining giant Antofagasta, which would be of interest to environmental activists and to the public wondering about Twin Metals' prospects adjacent to the Boundary Waters.
Saying you oppose sulfide mining is a fine first step. Backing that with the credibility of disclosing a high seven figure portfolio devoid of mining holdings would be a fine second step, for one with nothing to hide.
Why not? If wanting my vote, move in a way to earn it.
Saturday, June 16, 2018
"America’s veterans are in crisis. On average, 22 veterans commit suicide every day. Veterans suffer chronic severe pain at rates disproportionately higher than their civilian counterparts (roughly 40 percent higher, according to the National Institutes of Health), helping explain why the opioid crisis has hit veterans at a rate two times the national average. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), upwards of 20 percent of the 2.7 million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans will experience post-traumatic stress or depression. While VA physicians are quick to prescribe powerful drug cocktails (opiates and benzodiazepines) in response to these and other service-related conditions, the federal government continues to deny veterans legal access to a demonstrably safer alternative treatment option: medical cannabis."
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