Tag: Susan Eckenrode

Bills

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bills he has signed
Newsweek reports: Trump Has Signed Fewest Bills Into Law of Any Modern President, Research Shows

President Donald Trump often brags of his “record setting” term, but the 45th president has signed the fewest bills so far compared to all administrations dating back to President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

 

[…]

 

The GovTrack review follows Trump’s enthusiastic celebration of the new tax bill that passed on Wednesday, when Trump gloated his administration had “records all over the place.” The president is expected to sign the 185-page bill in January.

 

President Trump will also have to put his John Hancock on a Congressional bill that will avert a government shutdown, which is expected to be passed by Friday’s deadline. And, obviously, other bills will be passed by the Republican-controlled Congress that Trump will chose to sign rather than veto.

 

But numbers aren’t everything, the website points out. Presidents can sign a high number of bills into law, but that doesn’t mean each bill is important. Trump has signed 10 bills this year naming post offices, crating memorials, and naming citizens to boards, GovTrack reports.

Read the article …

 

 

 

So the BLOTUS brags bills he has signed
in a year leave all others behind.
It’s a ludicrous boast
but he can claim the most
maliciously mendacious mind.

Susan Eckenrode, 12/30/17

GOP Tax Scam

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USA Today reports: How corporations and the rich are fueling inequality

Political and economic power are now inseparable. We must dismantle not just this abysmal plan but also the structural conditions that wrought it.

 

The tax plan that Republican congressional leaders hope to pass this week and send to President Trump will soon be regarded as the zenith in a story nearly 40 years in the making, where corporations and a handful of America’s wealthiest families — some of whom now hold positions in the government directly — leverage their outsized economic power into political power. It is what happens when corporate and political power become inseparable. It is a call to arms to dismantle not just the plan itself, but the structural conditions that wrought it.

 

The compromise House-Senate plan, like the separate bills each chamber passed earlier, so lacks a clear policy or economic justification that it can only be explained as pure pander to Republican donor interests. Though have some tried to marshal policy arguments in favor, each fails on its merits.

 

Economists and CEOs on both the left and right have been clear that the massive corporate tax cuts will not create jobs. The Tax Policy Center, the Joint Committee on Taxation, and every other credible analysis has indicated only a small share of the corporate windfall will reach workers. Even CEOs themselves admitted they would not use the money to invest. And the most damning evidence that the GOP’s purpose is to appease donor interests came from senators themselves, who admitted their financial contributions would dry up if they didn’t pass a tax package.

 

Continue reading …

 

Like the multinational corporations that demanded it, the Republican tax bill is extractive, taking money from middle-class Americans in order to finance tax cuts for the rich. In much the same way that corporate executives leverage their power to outsource jobs, borrow money, close plants, and squeeze supply chains in order to provide pay-outs to the company’s wealthy shareholders, Republicans have leveraged their power to raise taxes on workers, cut Medicare, borrow money from future generations, and outsource jobs in order to provide pay-outs to the corporate interests that are, in effect, congressional Republicans’ wealthy shareholders. When Senate Democrats offered an amendment to require corporations benefiting from the tax cut to raise wages at the same rate they reward shareholders and CEOs, every single Republican senator opposed it.

 

 

 

Those Republican cons in the know
have their tax scam all ready to go.
Watch the rich get a lift
and the poor get short shrift
by kleptocracy’s brutal elbow.

When kleptocracy’s brutal elbow
delivers its mightiest blow,
democracy loses
and nurses its bruises
in a trumpian reality show.

Susan Eckenrode, 12/18/17

 

Uber Obnoxious

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Snopes fact checks: Did Mad Magazine Publish a Trump Cartoon in 1992?

The magazine lampooned the business leader for his bankruptcies.

 

This is a real comic that was published by Mad Magazine in 1992.

 

Some were skeptical that Mad had really lampooned President Trump in the 1990s, but it’s not really all that surprising. Although Trump has only been president for a five months as of this writing, he has been a public figure for much of his life. In fact, shortly after Trump became president, Mad released a book of previously published comics “chronicling his rise from obnoxious businessman to really obnoxious reality show host to uber obnoxious “Commander-in-Tweet.”

 

 

When the “uber obnoxious commander-in-tweet”
is surrounded by sycophants kissing his feet,
when their greed and self interest are governing guides,
we have all got to stand for a turning of tides.

Susan Eckenrode, 12/18/17

 

He’s Still Got the Best Words

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Business Insider reports: “People are ripping Trump for a White House statement with a blindingly obvious flaw.”

“We will get rid of the redundancy and duplication that wastes your time and your money.” — President Donald J. Trump

 

The quote is from a speech Trump gave on June 9, and it was unintentionally hilarious then, too.

 

“Redundancy” and “duplication” mean the same thing, making the appearance of both of those words, well … redundant.

 

While the irony may have been lost on the White House, it didn’t escape Twitter users, who gave Trump another round of mocking for his linguistic slip-up.

 

 

 

 

“We will get rid of…”
(then eliminate)
“redundancy and duplication.”
Great!
Trump’s funny and amusing,
yet and still,
his presidency’s sliding down the Hill
into the mucky swamp he vowed to drain.
He’ll duplicate redundancy again.

Susan Eckenrode, 12/15/17

 

Heroines

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heroines

Vox reports: The Alabama election is the latest example of the political power of black women

When Democrat Doug Jones won Alabama’s hotly contested Senate special election on Tuesday night, observers on Twitter were quick to point one thing out: Jones’s victory was most likely due to high black turnout, particularly among black women.

 

[…]

 

Alabama’s Senate race isn’t the first election this year where a strong turnout among black voters, led by black women, helped determine an election. In a performance that closely matched their 2013 behavior in the state, black women in Virginia helped keep the governor’s mansion in Democratic hands, with 91 percent of their vote going to Ralph Northam last month. They also showed the strongest support for the winning Democratic gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey. And while Hillary Clinton did not win the 2016 election, black women overwhelmingly supported her, backing her by a 94-6 margin over Donald Trump and other candidates.

 

[…]

 

In a state where a disproportionate level of African-Americans face rampant poverty, poor education systems, and unequal access to healthcare, the votes of black women weren’t about some altruistic mission to save America from itself. Their votes were a very real attempt to make a change that would help themselves and their families.

 

They were also counteracting a candidate who argued that America was last “great” when slavery was in place, responded affirmatively when asked if constitutional amendments after the 10th should be abolished, and was backed by a president who has engaged in vitriolic attacks against prominent black women while pursuing legislation that would harm them. The results outline why they were such a powerful political force that should be focused on beyond election season.

 

 

 

 

There are heroines poised in your midst,
preparing to proudly persist.
With their power at polls,
they will further their goals
as a force that cannot be dismissed.

Susan Eckenrode, 12/14/17

 

Senator Doug Jones of Alabama

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The Washington Post reports: Jones victorious in stunning Alabama Senate upset

It was the first Democratic Senate victory in a quarter-century in Alabama, one of the reddest of red states, and proved anew that party loyalty is anything but sure in the age of Trump. The Republican loss was a major embarrassment for the president and a fresh wound for the nation’s already divided GOP.

 

“We have shown not just around the state of Alabama, but we have shown the country the way — that we can be unified,” Jones declared as supporters in a Birmingham ballroom cheered, danced and cried tears of joy. He added, “This entire race has been about dignity and respect.”

 

Hurray, congratulations Mister Jones…
Republicans are tweeting moans and groans
while Democrats are dropping microphones!

Susan Eckenrode, 12/12/17

 

You’re a mean one, Mr. Trump

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Another Merry Christmas season in 45’s America. Sing along to the 2015 video by brentalfloss. Rhyming resisters, submit a verse of your own to be added below.

 

 

 

#1
You’re a mean one, Mister Trump.
Your heart’s a lump of coal.
Your brain is addlepated, you have maggots for a soul,
Mister Trump
Your promises are empty lies, division is your goal.

#2
You’re a vile one, Mister Trump
You’re a xenophobic heel
Your foul misogynistic ways and racist rants are real,
Mister Trump
I wonder are you capable of knowing how to feel.

Susan Eckenrode, 12/4/17

 

Deception’s the game they all play

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The Week reports: The Republican tax bill is an assault on American values

This conservative radicalism and contempt for precedent can be seen not only in the god-awful content of the bill, but also in the way it was passed. At every point Republicans relied on lies, concealment, and trampling over traditional democratic deliberation. They held no hearings, they had no official score from the Joint Committee on Taxation (the JCT scored an earlier draft, but not the most recent one, especially not a slew of last-minute giveaways to corporations and hedge fund managers) — indeed, they did not even release the final text until the last possible moment. House Speaker Paul Ryan lied constantly about its contents. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin repeatedly promised an analysis “showing” that the bill would not increase the deficit by turbo-charging growth. This was such a preposterous lie that he didn’t even bother faking the numbers. The secrecy prevented people from examining how it is stuffed full of quiet corporate handouts, only some of which have been discovered — like a big one to General Electric.

 

This bill will explode the deficit. And make no mistake, when it does, Republicans (and deficit scolds, who have been notably quiet up to now) are going to immediately start demanding cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid — indeed, under congressional rules Medicare is due for a $25 billion cut in 2018 alone.

 

Let us hear no more about how Republicans are the defenders of traditional American values. They are about strip-mining the citizenry to give as much money as possible to rich people. There is no other coherent explanation for this bill.

 

Now deception’s the game they all play
and corruption’s the rule of the day,
so in twenty eighteen
let’s create a new scene
with integrity paving the way.

Susan Eckenrode, 12/2/17

 

A persistent purveyor of hate

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Southern Poverty Law Center offers Ten Ways to Fight Hate: A Community Response Guide:

A presidential candidate wins election after denigrating Muslims, Latinos, women and people with disabilities. A young white man opens fire and kills nine African Americans who welcomed him into Bible study at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, telling his victims, “I have to do it.” A Muslim woman is seated on a bench in front of a coffee shop in Washington, D.C., when a woman begins screaming anti-Muslim epithets. A swastika and other anti-Semitic graffiti appear at an elementary school in Stapleton, Colorado. A lone gunman carrying an assault rifle and a handgun storms a well-known gay club in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people and wounding 53 others.

 

​Bias is a human condition, and American history is rife with prejudice against groups and individuals because of their race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or other characteristics. As a nation, we’ve made a lot of progress, but stereotyping and unequal treatment persist.

 

When bias motivates an unlawful act, it is considered a hate crime. Most hate crimes are inspired by race and religion, but hate today wears many faces. Bias incidents (eruptions of hate where no crime is committed) also tear communities apart and can escalate into actual crimes.

 

Since 2010, law enforcement agencies have reported an average of about 6,000 hate crime incidents per year to the FBI. But government studies show that the real number is far higher — an estimated 260,000 per year. Many hate crimes never get reported, in large part because the victims are reluctant to go to the police. In addition, many law enforcement agencies are not fully trained to recognize or investigate hate crimes, and many simply do not collect or report hate crime data to the FBI.

 

The good news is, all over the country people are fighting hate, standing up to promote tolerance and inclusion. More often than not, when hate flares up, good people rise up against it — often in greater numbers and with stronger voices.

 

This guide sets out 10 principles for fighting hate in your community.

Continue reading …

 

 

A persistent purveyor of hate
still stands at the helm of our fate
but he’s reckoned too soon
that his acts are immune
to the karma that’s lying in wait.

‘Cause the karma that’s lying in wait
will come calling before it’s too late;
we can fix what he broke
while refusing to stoke
all the fears that keep fueling the hate.

Susan Eckenrode, 12/1/17

 

Ms. Huckabee Sanders

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Newsweek reports:

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is a “serial congenital liar” who buries the American people “in an avalanche of horse shit” and must know in her soul that what she’s doing is wrong, a GOP strategist and media consultant said Monday night.

 

Rick Wilson piled on Sanders after the White House mouthpiece defended Trump’s use of the insult “Pocahontas” during a White House reception honoring the Navajo code talkers, a group of Native American World War II heroes. Sanders said the term was “not a racial slur,” even though Native Americans absolutely see it as one.

 

Sanders also flipped Trump’s comment into a further attack on Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the target of Trump’s insult. She repeated Trump’s dubious claim that Warren lied about Native American heritage “to advance her career.”

 

Hear the huckster, Ms. Huckabee Sanders
as she pompously proffers and panders
to cover the butt
of the resident nut
whose victims she viciously slanders.

© 2017 Susan Eckenrode