(from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/fact-checking-trump-no-tariff-man-china-doesn-t-foot-n943686)
"The people who are purchasing foreign goods are paying tariffs," said Columbia Business School professor Amit Khandelwal, who teaches on international trade. . . If you went to an electronics store right now and bought a foreign-made, big screen television hit by tariffs, the sale price will likely include a sizeable price hike thanks to the U.S. tariff — potentially to the tune of hundreds of dollars.
(http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-david-horsey-message-to-red-state-trump-voters-i-want-my-country-back-20161114-story.html)
". . . Yes, congratulations. At the same moment you elected a billionaire who claimed he would drain the special interest "swamp" in Washington, D.C., you kept in power insiders like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, one of the biggest snakes in the swamp, plus all the other Republicans in Congress who have fought to keep the mighty flow of corporate dollars streaming in. . . You think you have struck a blow against the "elites" on the coasts who look down on "real Americans" in the heartland. . ."
"The memory of things gone is important to a jazz musician."
Louis Armstrong
“Music is my religion.”
Jimi Hendrix
“But sometimes, talent isn't worth shit. There are tons of talentless people out there making zillions of dollars. And unfortunately, an equal number of brilliant artists whose name and voices you'll never hear. . .”
Tiffanie DeBartolo
"... when you're making money, people don't think you're playing jazz. Now when you're not making money, people think that you're a good jazz musician."
Pete Fountain
"When you hear music, after it’s over, it’s gone, in the air, you can never capture it again."
Eric Dolphy
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 will be released April 7, 2014 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)
(from Dylan Ratigan
Host, MSNBC's 'The Dylan Ratigan Show'; Author, 'Greedy Bastards'; Founder, Get Money Out Foundation
Auction 2012: Greedy Bastards and Student Debt)
".
. . In President Obama's first speech to a joint session of Congress,
he said "education in no longer a pathway to opportunity, it is a
prerequisite." It's no wonder - conventional wisdom says that those
with college degrees earn roughly a million more dollars over their
lives than those without them. And there is a vast apparatus of lending
institutions and Federal guarantees set up to help put people into
college. They do this not by keeping tuition free or low, as we did as a
country after World War II, but by helping people get access to student
loans.
This is the essence of what I've been calling
The Very Bad Deal, where costs are deferred while benefits accrue
upfront. If you get a student loan, you get to attend college, and
college is apparently the key to earning more over your lifetime, to
"opportunity". But student debt has some very nasty tricks and traps
that most 18 year olds aren't aware of when they sign on the dotted
line, and college may not be the opportunity gateway we've been assured
it is.
The scale of the deal is vast and getting bigger
- two thirds of those who attend college do so with borrowed money. In
August of 2010, the Wall Street reported that student loan debt
surpassed credit card debt for the first time in history. This amount
is now sitting at roughly a trillion dollars. Higher education
inflation is the higher than health care inflation, and two and a half
times the rate of normal inflation. Are students really learning two
and a half times as much?
Of course not. What is
happening is that universities have pricing power, and the Greedy
Bastard behavior encourages them to compete on facilities and brand-name
faculties rather than price and quality. The Chronicle of Higher
Education has described "an arms race of expenditures triggered by the
pursuit of prestige." Student debt also distorts pricing. If students
had to pay the full freight in college, they might be more
price-sensitive consumers. But since the costs of the education they
are receiving are hidden, they don't pressure universities to reign in
costs. Lavish living environments, pointlessly luxurious sports
facilities, and high salaries for administrators are just symptoms of a
system where costs have become irrelevant. . ."
. . . that the price of gasoline in Maryland could reach four dollars per gallon by Memorial Day.
Seems to me that whenever 'analysts' (as reported by our dear, respected media) SAY something about an increase in the price of gasoline, it comes true.
Is that particularly good ANALYSIS? Or are the 'analysts' really oil industry payees simply 'preparing' us for the inevitable?
What do YOU think?
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html
Download
your
very own copy of
ANOTHER SHOT
by Ray
Jozwiak
They dance together Just watch their feet in flight They're Fred and Ginger But only when the music's right
The wedding was a big event The champagne flowed and so many dollars were spent The social season now complete He picked her up and Swept her right off of her feet They looked so sweet
Dance just dance the night away Tomorrow brings a new day Tomorrow brings a new day That's their only chance to play Tomorrow brings a new day Tomorrow brings a new day
Everything was going right The truth won't see the daylight The truth won't see the daylight Now they can't avoid the fights The truth won't see the daylight The truth won't see the daylight
Something's gone awry They dance together Never look into each other's eyes The feeling isn't quite the same But was it ever Which of the two is to blame It's such a shame Such a shame
They dance together Just watch their feet in flight They're Fred and Ginger But only when the music's right
(from ANOTHER SHOT Copyright 2010 Raymond M. Jozwiak)
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