". . . A federal appeals court ruled late Tuesday that presidential electors who cast the actual ballots for president and vice president are free to vote as they wish and cannot be required to follow the results of the popular vote in their states. . . The decision could give a single elector the power to decide the outcome of a presidential election — if the popular vote results in an apparent Electoral College tie. . ."
. . . Trump took a moment to explain the significance of a Supreme Court vacancy Wednesday to Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, saying that, "In our country, the election of a justice of the United States Supreme Court is considered, I think we can all say, one of the most important events." . . . He added that, "Some people think outside of obviously war and peace it's the most important thing that you can have. . ."
(from https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/conway%E2%80%99s-husband-blasts-trump-tweet-calling-special-counsel-%E2%80%98unconstitutional%E2%80%99/ar-AAydy3E)
". . . Trump's . . . (asserted last week). . . that the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to oversee the Russia probe "is totally unconstitutional.". . . "
(from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_prosecutor#Constitutionality)
". . . The appointment of a special prosecutor raises inherent separation of powers questions under the U.S. Constitution. Since the special prosecutor is a member of the executive branch, it has been argued that the special prosecutor is ultimately answerable to the president, and can therefore be fired by them. Richard Nixon, for example, argued that he could not be compelled by a subpoena issued by his own subordinate. . . The constitutionality of the independent counsel law was affirmed by a 7–1 decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Morrison v. Olson (1988). . ."
". . . Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens is calling for the repeal of the Second Amendment to allow for significant gun control legislation. . . The 97-year-old Stevens says in an essay on The New York Times website that repeal would weaken the National Rifle Association's ability to "block constructive gun control legislation.". . . Stevens was on the losing end of a 2008 ruling in which the high court held that the Second Amendment gives individuals the right to own a gun for self-defense. He had previously called for changing the Second Amendment to permit gun control. . . Stevens says the decision in that case, District of Columbia v. Heller, "has provided the N.R.A. with a propaganda weapon of immense power.". . . "
(https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/26/us/politics/supreme-court-trump-travel-ban-case.html)
". . . The (supreme) court’s opinion sets up a historic legal clash in which the justices will weigh the president’s power to set national security priorities against the need to protect individuals from discrimination based on their religious beliefs or national origin. . . In saying they would take the case, the justices partly endorsed the administration’s view that the president has vast authority to control who crosses the border. They said the president’s powers to limit immigration “are undoubtedly at their peak when there is no tie between the foreign national and the United States.” . . . But the opinion also signaled that some of the justices might believe that Mr. Trump exceeded even that broad authority when he twice sought to impose a blanket ban on entry to the United States from certain predominantly Muslim countries. . ."
(from http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/)
". . . The Promise: "We will move the American embassy to the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem."
Update June 2nd, 2017: Trump delays moving U.S. embassy to Jerusalem
The Promise: "We’re going to cancel the Paris Climate Agreement and stop all payments of U.S. tax dollars to U.N. global warming programs.”
Update June 1st, 2017: Trump says U.S. pulling out of Paris climate agreement [rendering the country one of three of the 178 attending nations not to sign]
The Promise: “I’m not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican and I’m not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid.”
Update May 26th, 2017: White House budget cuts Social Security disability benefits
The Promise: “And if people don't like it, we've got to have a country folks. Got to have a country. Countries in which immigration will be suspended would include places like Syria and Libya. And we are going to stop the tens of thousands of people coming in from Syria.”
Update May 26th, 2017: 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds block on Trump’s travel ban
The Promise: "I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great great wall on our southern border and I’ll have Mexico pay for that wall."
Update May 24th, 2017: Trump’s 2018 budget requests $1.6 billion for border security [Mexico vows NOT to pay]
My latest solo offering, No Frills, is now available at - No Frills
(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)
(from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33039815) ". . . Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court has upheld the sentence of 1,000 lashes and 10 years of imprisonment on blogger Raif Badawi, despite a foreign outcry. Speaking from Canada, his wife Ensaf Haidar told the BBC she feared his punishment would start again on Friday. Badawi was arrested in 2012 for "insulting Islam through electronic channels". Saudi authorities sent his case for review amidst global protests, after the first round of lashes in January. For four years Badawi ran the Liberal Saudi Network, which encouraged online debate on religious and political issues. Ms Haidar said she had held high hopes that her husband was about to be released, but he remained less optimistic. When they last spoke three days ago he told her not to expect him home in the near future. She called on the countries and rights groups that had campaigned for her husband's release to mobilise once more. Amnesty International activists held a protest demanding the release of blogger Raif Badawi in front of the Saudi Arabian embassy in Berlin on 22 May 2015 Protests were held following Badawi's first flogging by the kingdom Badawi received his first 50 lashes in January, but subsequent floggings have been postponed. A shaky video taken on a mobile phone showed Badawi being lashed by a member of the security forces. The footage prompted international protests which were repeated every Friday, the scheduled day for the beatings. In March, the kingdom expressed "surprise and dismay" at international criticism over the punishment. At the time, the foreign ministry issued a statement saying it rejected interference in its internal affairs. It is not clear why Badawi has not yet endured a second round though a medical report found he was not fit for the punishment. Saudi Arabia enforces a strict version of Islamic law and does not tolerate political dissent. It has some of the highest social media usage rates in the region, and has cracked down on domestic online criticism. . . "
OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak. Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com
My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music is now available at - Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak
(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)
(from Friends of Bernie Sanders)
As a result of the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision, billionaires and large corporations can now spend an unlimited amount of money to influence the political process. The results of that decision are clear. In the coming months and years the Koch brothers and other extraordinarily wealthy families will spend billions of dollars to elect right-wing candidates to the Senate, the House, governors’ mansions and the presidency of the United States. These billionaires already own much of our economy. That, apparently, is not enough. Now, they want to own the United States government as well.
Four years ago, the Supreme Court passed Citizens United. A few weeks ago, they passed the equally horrendous McCutcheon campaign finance decision which gives even more political power to the rich. Now, many Republicans want to push this Supreme Court to go even further. In the name of “free speech,” they want the Court to eliminate all restrictions on campaign spending -- a position that Justice Thomas supported in McCutcheon -- and a view supported by the Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Not surprisingly, as it will give them the opportunity to buy politicians at will, this has always been the position of the Koch brothers.
The Koch brothers are the second wealthiest family in America, making most of their money in the fossil fuel industry. According to Forbes Magazine, they saw their wealth increase last year from $68 billion to $80 billion. In other words, under the “anti-business”, “socialist” and “oppressive” Obama administration, their wealth went up by $12 billion in one year.
In their 2012 campaigns, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney each spent a little more than $1 billion. For the Koch brothers, spending more than Obama and Romney combined in an election would be a drop in the bucket. They would hardly miss the few billion spent.
Given the reality that the Koch brothers are now the most important and powerful players in American politics, it is important to know what they want and what their agenda is.
Interestingly and not widely known, David Koch ran as the Libertarian Party’s vice-presidential candidate in 1980. He believed that Ronald Reagan was much too liberal. Despite Mr. Koch putting a substantial sum of money into the campaign, his ticket only received one percent of the vote. Most Americans thought the Libertarian Party’s platform of 1980 was extremist and way out of touch with what the American people wanted and needed.
Fast-forward 34 years and the most significant reality of modern politics is how successful David Koch and like-minded billionaires have been in moving the Republican Party to the extreme right. Amazingly, much of what was considered “extremist” and “kooky” in 1980 has become part of today’s mainstream Republican thinking.
Let me give you just a few examples:
In 1980, Libertarian vice-presidential candidate David Koch ran on a platform that called for abolishing the minimum wage. 34 years ago, that was an extreme view of a fringe party that had the support of one percent of the American people.
Today, not only does virtually every Republican in Congress oppose raising the $7.25 an hour minimum wage, many of them, including Republican leaders like Mitch McConnell and John McCain, are on record for abolishing the concept of the federal minimum wage.
In 1980, the platform of David Koch’s Libertarian Party favored “the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs.” 34 years ago, that was an extreme view of a fringe party that had the support of one percent of the American people.
Today, the mainstream view of the Republican Party, as seen in the recently passed Ryan budget, is to end Medicare as we know it, cut Medicaid by more than $1.5 trillion over the next decade, and repeal the Affordable Care Act. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “Under the Ryan plan, at least 40 million people -- 1 in 8 Americans -- would lose health insurance or fail to obtain insurance by 2024. Most of them would be people with low or moderate incomes.”
In 1980, the platform of David Koch’s Libertarian Party called for “the repeal of the fraudulent, virtually bankrupt, and increasingly oppressive Social Security system.” 34 years ago, that was an extreme view of a fringe party that had the support of one percent of the American people.
Today, the mainstream view of the Republican Party is that “entitlement reform” is absolutely necessary. For some, this means major cuts in Social Security. For others who believe Social Security is unconstitutional or a Ponzi scheme this means the privatization of Social Security or abolishing this program completely for those who are under 60 years of age.
In 1980, David Koch’s Libertarian Party platform stated “We oppose all personal and corporate income taxation, including capital gains taxes … We support the eventual repeal of all taxation … As an interim measure, all criminal and civil sanctions against tax evasion should be terminated immediately.” 34 years ago, that was an extreme view of a fringe party that had the support of one percent of the American people.
Today, 75 Republicans in the House have co-sponsored a bill that Paul Ryan has said “would eliminate taxes on wages, corporations, self-employment, capital gains, and gift and death taxes in favor of a personal-consumption tax.”
Here is what every American should be deeply concerned about. The Koch brothers, through the expenditure of billions of dollars and the creation and support of dozens of extreme right organizations, have taken fringe extremist ideas and made them mainstream within the Republican Party. And now with Citizens United (which is allowing them to pour unlimited sums of money into the political process) their power is greater than ever.
And let’s be very clear. Their goal is not only to defund Obamacare, cut Social Security, oppose an increase in the minimum wage or cut federal funding for education. Their world view and eventual goal is much greater than all of that. They want to repeal every major piece of legislation that has been signed into law over the past 80 years that has protected the middle class, the elderly, the children, the sick, and the most vulnerable in this country. Every piece of legislation!
The truth is that the agenda of the Koch brothers is to move this country from a democratic society with a strong middle class to an oligarchic form of society in which the economic and political life of the nation are controlled by a handful of billionaire families.
Our great nation must not be hijacked by right-wing billionaires like the Koch brothers.
For the sake of our children and our grandchildren, we must fight back.
OHO's
"Ocean City Ditty," the
CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if
you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD)
My latest solo release, '2014', can be digitally downloaded at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)
In a 5-to-4 ruling, the Supreme Court conservatives struck down some of the last remaining limits on how much wealthy donors can donate to electoral campaigns. The reason, they claim, is freedom of speech. FREEDOM OF SPEECH? How can donating large sums of money to a candidate, who takes that money and pays Hollywood to make an entertainment spectacle full of emotion and not small amounts of misinformation, slanted (by the way) towards the political and or social position of the donator of the large sums of money, which a great percentage of American people sitting comfortably in their lazy boys with a beer in their hand interprets as FACTUAL. . . be called freedom of speech?
With those limits gone, it will be even harder for everyday people to have their voices heard in Washington.
I’m all for freedom of speech but I don’t believe buying a politician is freedom of speech. Let the Koch brothers spend lots of money, go on TV, identify themselves and speak. That would be freedom of speech. The way it’s done now deceives all the bumpkins whose major form of recreation (and for some, their highest level of education) is watching TV.
OHO's
"Ocean City Ditty," the
CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if
you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD)
(from http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/03/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-hobby-lobby-supreme-court-arguments/359539/)
". . . Chief Justice Roberts appeared to tip his hand when he told Mr. Verrilli that the parade of horribles — all kinds of religious exemptions being claimed by all sorts of employers, punching holes in the uniform application of the laws — could be avoided by a ruling limited to closely held enterprises, like S corporations that pass their earnings through to their shareholders. That would leave the issue of, say, an Exxon claiming religious freedom rights to another day. Later, Justice Breyer suggested he might be open to that type of resolution. . ."
. . . well OF COURSE they're OPEN to THAT!!!!! They think corporations are PEOPLE!!!!!
OHO's
"Ocean City Ditty," the
CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if
you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD)
Halliburton
has agreed to plead guilty to a charge of destroying evidence in the
Deepwater Horizon case and in a settlement with the U.S. Department of
Justice pay a fine of US$200,000 and a three-year probation period. In
turn, the Department of Justice will not pursue further criminal
prosecution of the company for any conduct relating to case.
Oh, and Halliburton made a voluntary contribution of $55 million to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
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