Super-Short Snippets

Posted on March 11, 2023 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Random, Social commentary

Just a few mini snippets that have crossed my path and made me either grrrrrrowl or smack myself upside the head this week …

Ever notice that the word “Republican” contains the word ‘public’? And yet … and yet, the Republican Party could care less about the public. Funny that.

“Former Speaker Paul Ryan is on a quiet quest to reboot the GOP as one of policy and ideas—not of identity and celebrity.” Yeah, right … believe it when you see it.

Nikki Haley says that “wokeness is more dangerous than any pandemic.” How many people have been killed by ‘wokeness?’ 6.8 million people globally have died from Covid …

“Former Trump National Security Advisor and retired US. Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn is suing the U.S. government for $50 million on grounds of wrongful prosecution.” This would mean that every taxpayer in this nation would be paying money to Mike Flynn, liar, conspiracy theorist, and insurrectionist. No way, Josè! I wouldn’t give the man a dime if he were starving!

“Republican Lawmakers Withdraw Bill To Rename John Lewis Way After Trump”. That they even thought of the idea in the first place tells you everything you need to know. John Lewis, a great civil rights leader, vs Donald Trump, a bigot, a conman, and a crook.

Over at Fox “News”, ol’ Tucker C. is blaming the failure of Silicon Valley Bank on the bank’s support of women and women’s history month. Okaaaaaaaayyyy … well, you gotta take whatever the Tuck-monster says with a grain of salt.

So Long, Paul — It’s Been … Interesting

Posted on December 20, 2018 by jilldennison under Political commentary, Tributes

There was a time when I thought Paul Ryan was a man of conscience, a decent man. I don’t judge people … or at least I used not to judge people … by their political party affiliation, so it didn’t matter to me that Paul was a republican, only that he act in the best interest of the nation. One of the reasons, perhaps the main reason, that I believed he had integrity came from a May 2016 interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper. When Tapper asked whether he was supporting then-candidate Donald Trump, Mr. Ryan said …

“Well, to be perfectly candid with you, I’m just not ready to do that at this point. I’m not there right now. I think what a lot of Republicans want to see is that we have a standard-bearer that bears our standards. I think conservatives want to know, ‘Does he share our values and our principles on limited government, the proper role of the executive, adherence to the Constitution?’ There are lots of questions that conservatives, I think, are gonna want answers to, myself included. I want to be a part of this unifying process. I want to help to unify this party.”

In August 2017, there was another moment when I believed perhaps he had a conscience and would finally stand firm against the abomination some call a president. It was during the aftermath of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, after Trump’s ignominious speech saying that some of the white supremacists and neo-Nazis were ‘very fine people’. Ryan, again interviewing with Jake Tapper, said …

“I do believe that he messed up in his comments on Tuesday when it sounded like a moral equivocation or at the very least moral ambiguity when we need extreme moral clarity.”

Well, he talked a good talk, but when it came time to walk the walk, it was another story altogether. Paul Ryan went on to become just as much a sycophant, a boot-licker, as his buddy in the Senate, Mitch McConnell.

And perhaps his perfidy had early beginnings that we just overlooked, for in a March 2017 interview with Rich Lowry of the National Review, Ryan said …

“So Medicaid, sending it back to the states, capping its growth rate. We’ve been dreaming of this since I’ve been around — since you and I were drinking at a keg. . . . I’ve been thinking about this stuff for a long time. We’re on the cusp of doing something we’ve long believed in.”

Taking health care from the poor … something he’s been thinking about since college. And Wisconsinites elected him to the House of Representatives nine times! But then, Wisconsinites are gluttons for punishment, for they elected asshole Scott Walker to the governorship three times.

Ryan has received some ‘fond’ farewells from the press …

In truth, he leaves Congress after his Republican brethren were drowned in the biggest blue wave since 1974. He leaves Congress with his conservative ideals in tatters. He leaves Congress having consoled himself, as he remarked on December 3, “that in a democracy, sometimes you fall short.” – The Atlantic

Ryan’s burden [was] the fact that he had to work with a president who was his opposite in every measure but party affiliation, and it’s easy to think Ryan’s speakership was doomed from the start. – Roll Call

But now, as Ryan prepares to leave Congress, it is clear that his critics were correct and a credulous Washington press corps — including me — that took him at his word was wrong. In the trillions of long-term debt he racked up as speaker, in the anti-poverty proposals he promised but never passed, and in the many lies he told to sell unpopular policies, Ryan proved as much a practitioner of post-truth politics as Donald Trump. – Ezra Klein, Vox

Look, the single animating principle of everything Ryan did and proposed was to comfort the comfortable while afflicting the afflicted. Can anyone name a single instance in which his supposed concern about the deficit made him willing to impose any burden on the wealthy, in which his supposed compassion made him willing to improve the lives of the poor? So how did such an obvious con artist get a reputation for seriousness and fiscal probity? Basically, he was the beneficiary of ideological affirmative action. – Paul Krugman, New York Times

And to these tributes, I would like to add a few words of my own.

Paul, you had an opportunity to stand against a madman, to stop the madness before it set this nation on a path of destruction, and frankly, you blew it. You started out, maybe, with some values and even a bit of integrity, but you sold your soul downriver the day you threw your lot in with the Donald Trump gang. You could have argued against a tax bill that provided huge amounts of cash to those who already dine on steak, and gave nothing to those of us who struggle to put a chicken leg on the table. You had the unique opportunity to speak out against horrible policies that have enabled the fossil fuel and other industries to further damage our environment, our very planet.

So many times, all you had to do was say, “No, Mr. Trump, I will not support you in ______________” (fill in the blank with any of hundreds of examples). You were a huge disappointment to the people who looked to you to use your power, your office, to stop Donald Trump from killing us, and instead you smiled, looked into the camera with your sad-puppy eyes, and lied to us. You fell on your knees before King Trump and when he said “Jump!”, you asked “How high, sir?” You sold us downriver and I cannot say that I’m sorry to see you leave Washington. I wish that I could wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors, but the truth is that, as Melania might say, “I don’t really care”.

Abandon Ship!

Posted on October 31, 2018 by jilldennison under Election 2018, Global Issues, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry

Passengers and crew aboard the Trumptanic are headed for the lifeboats! About time some of them woke up and noticed that the ship had no captain, only a madman with a demonic expression at the helm.

The latest in the series of evacuations was none other than Paul Ryan, who had the temerity to say …

“You cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order. As a conservative, I’m a believer in following the plain text of the Constitution, and I think in this case the 14th Amendment is pretty clear, and that would involve a very, very lengthy constitutional process.”

Quite so, and well done for standing up to the ‘man’, even though ol’ Paul had nothing to lose, since he isn’t running in next week’s mid-terms and therefore will be requiring no further favours from Trump.

But then, speaking to the same issue, none other than George Conway, an attorney and a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School, not to mention Kellyanne’s husband, also spoke against Trump in an OpEd for The Washington Post:

“Sometimes the Constitution’s text is plain as day and bars what politicians seek to do. That’s the case with President Trump’s proposal to end “birthright citizenship” through an executive order. Such a move would be unconstitutional and would certainly be challenged. And the challengers would undoubtedly win.

He is threatening, with the stroke of a pen, to declare certain people who are born in the United States ineligible for citizenship — despite the plain words of the 14th Amendment.

The president promised to put justices on the Supreme Court in the mold of the late Antonin Scalia, but we have no doubt what Scalia — who preached adherence to the text of the Constitution and the laws of the United States in light of their original meaning — would think about this proposal. To say that he would have declared it dead on arrival would be an understatement.”

Kellyanne, meanwhile, went on Fox News to defend Trump’s claim that with a stroke of a pen he can undo the 14^th Amendment. Can you imagine last night’s dinner table conversation between George and Kellyanne? Anybody smell a divorce in the making?

And then there were Paul Ryan and even master boot-licker Mitch McConnell, who refused Trump’s offer to accompany him on his misguided visit to Pittsburgh yesterday. Trump was asked by Mayor Bill Peduto to stay away, saying that it was a time of grieving and the focus should be on the victims, not politics. Even democrats Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi declined his invitation. But Trump, in his usual manner, did as he wished and went to Pittsburgh where the red carpet was definitely not rolled out, and local officials refused to appear with Trump. It sent a message, loud and clear.

In the wake of the brutal murder of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi, five republican senators have declared that negotiations between the US and Saudi Arabia for a deal that could allow American companies to build nuclear reactors in the kingdom should be suspended. The five, Senators Marco Rubio of Florida, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Todd Young of Indiana, Cory Gardner of Colorado and Dean Heller of Nevada, penned a letter to Trump, which reads, in part …

“The ongoing revelations about the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as well as certain Saudi actions related to Yemen and Lebanon, have raised further serious concerns about the transparency, accountability, and judgment of current decision-makers in Saudi Arabia.”

It’s only a start, but as Trump blatantly refuses to denounce white supremacy, as he escalates his calls for racism and further divides the nation, and as he continues to support strongarm dictators while disparaging our allies, perhaps those who have blindly supported him are beginning to rub the dust out of their eyes and see that he is bringing this nation down, that he is causing us all to be the laughingstock, the embarrassment and the shame of the world.

The Conversation …

Posted on September 22, 2018 by jilldennison under Humour, Political commentary

The following conversation actually took place … at least in my mind, and quite possibly in the Oval Office:

It was Thursday evening, and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had been summoned, just before 5:00 as they were preparing to go home after a long day of pandering, boot-licking and patootie-kissing, to the White House for an impromptu meeting with Donald Trump. They were to be there at 6:30, so they called their wives and told them not to hold supper, that they would be late. They had a brief pow-wow, each trying to see if the other knew the reason for the summons, but they were both in the dark. Neither of them could find the bloomin’ light switch in the conference room!Ryan and McConnell were escorted by the nighttime cleaning lady into the Oval Office, where Trump was just settling in with his nightly McDonald’s order: 3 Big Macs, 3 orders of fries, a jumbo milkshake, and a diet Pepsi. Mouth full, he motioned the two to a chair, and kept on chewing, as food particles tumbled down his tie. Ryan and McConnell each reached for one of the remaining Big Macs, and got their hands smacked for their efforts.

“MINE!”

“I called you two bozos here because I want to know how the budget bills are coming?”

“We’ve been passing bills, Mr. Trump … I know you’ve seen them,” said Ryan.

“I’ve seen the ridiculous garbage you sent up here, but there’s only one thing I haven’t seen that I need to see … the funding for my damn border wall!”

“Sir, you agreed to postpone the fight over the border wall until after the mid-term elections in November, remember? We all agreed that a fight over the border wall right now could negatively impact the elections and swing some in favour of the democrats. The border wall really is only popular among about 20% of the country, and the rest of the country hates it,” argued Mitch in a calm, yet obviously stressed voice.

BAM!!! 💢

Two fists came down hard on the 139-year-old Resolute desk.

“I said, ‘We’ll see’, when you to mentioned a postponement a few weeks ago. I never agreed to it! I want my wall and I want it now!!!” He slammed his little pudgie fists on the desk again for emphasis. “How have you managed to keep your job this long, Mitch? Why do the people of the great state of … where is it you’re from again? Missouri?”

“Kentucky, sir.”

“Oh … that explains it, then.”

Ryan, sweating around his collar by now, tried again …

“Mr. Trump, the impor…”

“The important thing is MY WALL! Who do you think pays your salary??? I’ll tell you who pays you and who can fire you tomorrow … maybe even tonight!”

Straightening his shoulders just a bit, thankful that he was leaving at the end of this term, Paul Ryan ventured bravely forth with …

“Actually, sir, the taxpayers pay my salary and no, sir, you cannot fire me.”

“SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP! I am the president and I can do whatever I damn well please. I have built the greatest economy and put the most judges on the bench of any other president in history. The economy is doing great, just ask anyone! The people all love me … everybody says so! And what I want is A WALL! I promised the people a wall and I’m gonna build them a big beautiful wall!”

“Sir … to be clear, the people thought Mexico was going to pay for the wall because you told them so.”

“SEE! They love me, they trust me, they believe me!”

“But, Mr. Trump … Mexico isn’t going to pay for the wall. You are spending money you don’t have, and the people will end up paying for it.”

Trump rolled his eyes, crossed his stubby, fat arms across his expansive chest as he is wont to do, and sighed a sigh of exasperation.

“It. Doesn’t. Matter. Don’t you get it? Are you seriously that stupid? It doesn’t matter who pays, as long as I … er, the people … get the wall to keep all the murderers and rapists from coming in from shithole countries!”

Paul Ryan stands. Removes his tie. Turns and exits the Oval Office.

Trump, now on his third Big Mac, slurping the last of the milk shake, splutters and spits a bit of milk-laced burger on McConnel’s glasses. But Mitch doesn’t notice, for all of a sudden it is dark in the Oval Office. Paul Ryan had turned the lights off on his way out. Turns out, Kellyanne is the only one who knows the location of the light switch.

To be continued …

Sold Downriver

Posted on July 17, 2018 by jilldennison under Global Issues, Political commentary

Paul Ryan, Jeff Flake, Ben Sasse, Mitch McConnell, John McCain, Bob Corker, Tim Scott, John Kasich, Newt Gingrich … what do these men have in common? Two things: they are all republicans and they have all spoken out against Trump’s behaviour in yesterday’s meeting/summit with Vladimir Putin. Surprised? So was I, but it is a testament to just how abominable Trump’s actions/words actually were. Perhaps more surprising yet is that even his state-news network, Fox News, disagreed with his handling of this meeting:

“There is a growing consensus across the land tonight … that the president threw the United States under the bus.” — Fox News White House correspondent John Roberts.

“No negotiation is worth throwing your own people and country under the bus.” – Abby Huntsman, Fox News Channel host and daughter of Trump’s ambassador to Russia, John Huntsman

Some republicans in and out of Congress who routinely lick his boots were appalled:

“There is no moral equivalence between the United States and Russia.” – Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan

“One of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.” – Senator John McCain

“This is bizarre and flat-out wrong. The United States is not to blame. America wants a good relationship with the Russian people but Vladimir Putin and his thugs are responsible for Soviet-style aggression. When the President plays these moral equivalence games, he gives Putin a propaganda win he desperately needs.” – Senator Ben Sasse

“I have said a number of times, I’ll say it again: The Russians are not our friends. And I entirely believe the assessment of our intelligence community.” – Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell

“I never thought I would see the day when our American President would stand on the stage with the Russian President and place blame on the United States for Russian aggression. This is shameful.” – Senator Jeff Flake

“It’s depressing, really unlike anything we’ve seen in my lifetime. A president of the United States saying, ‘You know, I kind of believe a former KGB agent over our intelligence community.’ This is a sad day.” – Ohio Governor, John Kasich

“When he had the opportunity to defend our intelligence agencies who work for him, I was very disappointed and saddened with the equivalency that he gave between them and what Putin was saying. The president’s comments made us look as a nation more like a pushover and I was disappointed in that.” – Senator Bob Corker

“It’s certainly not helpful for the President to express doubt about the conclusions of his own team. He has assembled a first-rate intelligence team handled by Dan Coats and I would hope that he would take their analysis over the predictable denials of President Putin.” – Senator Susan Collins

“As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I am deeply troubled by President Trump’s defense of Putin against the intelligence agencies of the U.S. & his suggestion of moral equivalence between the U.S. and Russia. Russia poses a grave threat to our national security.” – Representative Liz Cheney

“The President’s summit in Helsinki today should have been an attempt at confronting Russian aggression, hacking, and election interference. Russia is not a friend or ally. As Americans, we stand up for our interests and values abroad; but I fear today was a step backwards.” – Senator Tim Scott

“President Trump must clarify his statements in Helsinki on our intelligence system and Putin. It is the most serious mistake of his presidency and must be corrected—-immediately.” – Former House Speaker, Newt Gingrich

“I’ve seen the Russian intelligence manipulate many people many people in my career, and I never would have thought the US President would be one of them.” – Representative and former CIA officer, Will Hurd

“The American people deserve the truth, & to disregard the legitimacy of our intelligence officials is a disservice to the men & women who serve this country. It’s time to wake up & face reality. #Putin is not our friend; he’s an enemy to our freedom.” – Representative Adam Kinzinger

Needless to say, democrats were outraged, but that was to be expected. I am only slightly encouraged by the above comments, all by republican sycophants, for the proof will be in the pudding. Are they disturbed enough to act, or are they only paying lip service to an enraged public? And speaking of the public, what about Trump’s ignoble followers? Are they angered at all, or are they still cheering? Do they even understand the ramifications of his actions, his words? Do they understand that We the People have been sold downriver?

More Snarky Snippets …

Posted on June 6, 2018 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Global Issues, Political commentary, Random

Today finds me with an overload of snarkiness and far more to do than time in which to do it, so I thought it a perfect day for some snarky snippets!

He found one!

Mark this day on your calendar, folks, for today, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, stood up for a moment from his never-ending boot-licking and denied one of Donald Trump’s conspiracy illusions! Well … sort of, anyway.

“Normally I don’t like to comment on classified briefings. Let me say it this way: I think Chairman Gowdy’s initial assessment is accurate. I think — but we have some more digging to do. We’re waiting for some more document requests. We have some more documents to review. We still have some unanswered questions. But I have seen no evidence to the contrary of the initial assessment that Chairman Gowdy has made. But I want to make sure that we run every lead down and make sure we get final answers to these questions. I’ll leave it at that.”

In case you’ve forgotten what Representative Trey Gowdy said last week, he said that, “the FBI did exactly what my fellow citizens would want them to do” in investigating information alleging certain Trump campaign advisers had suspicious ties to Russia, “and that it has nothing to do with Donald Trump.”

Ryan also responded to a question about whether Trump would be able to pardon himself, the hot topic of the week, to which he said, “I don’t know the technical answer to that question. But I think obviously the answer is, he shouldn’t and no one is above the law.”

Seeing one of Trump’s sycophants turn, even so slightly, almost brings a tear to your eye, doesn’t it? Of course, Ryan has nothing to lose, for he is not running for re-election in November, so one might question why it took him so long to find a cojone.

Throw the bum out!

You all remember the Brock Turner case, right? Brock was the Stanford University student who, back in 2016 was convicted of three felonies for sexual assault and rape against an unconscious woman on campus. Despite the seriousness of his crime, and despite three felony convictions, the judge gave Turner a slap on the wrist. Though the minimum sentence was to have been two years, Judge Aaron Persky gave him a six-month sentence, of which he served only three months. There was speculation at the time that perhaps some money had exchanged hands between Turner’s wealthy father and the good judge.

Well, yesterday, Judge Persky became the first judge to be recalled in California in more than 80 years! He had four years left in his term, but voters decided they had enough of him. A recall campaign began almost immediately after Persky handed down the sentence, and was able to garner enough signatures to put the matter on yesterday’s ballot. I see this as a win, although I also understand the concerns of some who fear it will send a message to judges who will be more hesitant to grant leniency even where leniency would be appropriate. Now if only they could find a way to stick Brock Turner back in jail for another year or two …

Like a sausage?

I like President Emmanuel Macron of France. He is intelligent, charismatic, and has his heart in the right place. I did not like the way he cozied up to Trump during his last visit here, but I don’t think that will be happening again any time soon! Macron is none too happy with Trump over the ridiculous tariffs Trump imposed last week on nearly every one of our allies. In fact, nobody except Trump and his sycophants are finding any joy. But I do believe that one can safely assume the bromance is over when Macron compared his most recent phone call with Trump to sausages, saying it’s best not to know what’s inside.

“As Bismarck used to say, if we explained to people how sausages were made, it’s unlikely they’d keep eating them.”

It is said that the call was “terrible”. I do hope somebody puts Trump in his place soon, before we have no friends left.

Trump’s new advisor?

We have seen just how little Trump listens to the few experienced advisors he actually has, preferring instead to listen to the likes of Sean Hannity over at FOX. But I think he has found a new advisor, one who is similar in nature to his former favourite Hope Hicks, and also to Kellyanne. Last week, after Trump got on his pardoning rocking horse and started issuing pardons to bigots and bimbos, he was paid a visit by one of those Kardashian people, asking him to commute the life sentence of one Alice Marie Johnson.

Now, if I requested an audience with Trump (which I would never do, for fear of contracting a fatal illness) to discuss, say, making student loans affordable, or protecting wildlife and the environment, I would be laughed off the continent. But let some entertainer who has acquired wealth not by use of any brain cells, but rather by the shape of his/her body ask for an audience, and the door is always open.

Bottom line is that today, at the behest of the Kardashian person, Trump commuted the life sentence of Ms. Johnson. I make no judgement as to whether she should have remained in prison or not, for I haven’t time to delve into the details – some of us use our heads for more important matters. But the point is that Trump did exactly what he was asked by this Kardashian person, whereas he does not take the advice of people with brains who have decades of experience. If General Mattis had asked him to pardon Ms. Johnson, she would still be sitting in her cell. It is said that Trump is considering many more pardons … I wonder if the Kardashian people will provide him a list?

I wonder if there is a way to use this knowledge to the advantage of the nation? Perhaps a Kardashian person could be planted to convince Trump to fire Scott Pruitt?

Oh … and by the way … Melania Trump seems to have been found, if anybody cared.

And thus ends my Snarky Snippets for today. I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Den of Thieves …

Posted on May 20, 2018 by jilldennison under Political commentary

Do you remember the name Blake Farenthold from my December 3^rd post titled He Stole Our Money? He is a representative to the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas, and what put him on my radar back in December was that he had settled out of court, an accusation of sexual misconduct and gender discrimination, and he had done so to the tune of $84,000 … on our dime. Yes, folks, he used taxpayer money to pay money so that he wouldn’t be sued, for he knew he was guilty. I concluded my December post saying, “Mr. Farenthold must be made to serve as an example, for if there are no repercussions for him, he will not be the last to play fast and loose with our money.”

The very next day, Farenthold promised to ‘hand a check over this week.’ No, I really don’t think it was anything I said, but more likely pressure he faced from his fellow House members. Well, that week came and went, another, and another, until it was March, and more than 100 days after the promised check that seemed to have been forgotten. And no doubt it would have faded into the shadows, but for Representative Jackie Speier, who sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan, requesting that he hold Farenthold accountable and demand repayment of the $84,000.

Farenthold came up with a series of excuses, one being that he was waiting to see if the House passed a bill on sexual harassment in the workplace. The House passed the bill … still no check from Farenthold. Then he said he would wait to see if it passed in the Senate. It did … still no check. Then he said he would wait to see if Trump signed the bill. He did … and, sigh, still no check from Blake. Estimates of his net worth vary significantly, but the lowest seems to be $5.7 million! I think he can afford the $84,000 we paid because he couldn’t keep his fly zipped.

Paul Ryan took no action, but in April, the House Ethics Committee warned Farenthold that it was about to rule against him in its investigation into whether he sexually harassed members of his staff, used official money for campaign purposes and lied in previous testimony to the committee. On April 6^th, Farenthold abruptly resigned from his seat in the House of Representatives, thereby avoiding any punishment that would have been handed down by the Ethics Committee.

Last Tuesday, May 15^th, Farenthold told a reporter with ABC News …

“I will say this on the record: I have been advised by my attorneys not to repay that. That’s why it hasn’t been repaid.”

Farenthold has a new job, by the way, as a government lobbyist at the Calhoun (Texas) Port Authority, earning $160,000 annually. My understanding is that, legally there is very little that can be done to force Farenthold to repay the money.

We paid for a man to wiggle out of a situation he got himself into by sexually harassing his staff, yet we are told that we cannot afford more funding for schools, cannot afford to provide healthcare to lower income families, cannot afford the bills for food stamps and housing subsidies for those living below the poverty level, cannot afford to reduce the interest rates on student loans … and the list goes on. But we can pay for ol’ Blake’s indiscretions. I see a problem here … do you?

Let Them Eat Trump Steaks

Posted on May 11, 2018 by jilldennison under Political commentary, Social commentary

Paul Krugman is an economist who has taught Economics at MIT, Yale, and the London School of Economics. In 2008, he won a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. This man obviously knows of what he speaks. He is also a columnist for the New York Times. His column today, titled Let Them Eat Trump Steaks, is about the current administration’s efforts to rob low income people of any and all benefits. His words grabbed me and I felt it was something worth sharing.

In general, Donald Trump is notoriously uninterested in policy details. It has long been obvious, for example, that he never bothered to find out what his one major legislative victory, the 2017 tax cut, actually did. Similarly, it’s pretty clear that he had no idea what was actually in the Iran agreement he just repudiated.

In each case, it was about ego rather than substance: scoring a “win,” undoing his predecessor’s achievement.

But there are some policy issues he really does care about. By all accounts, he really hates the idea of people receiving “welfare,” by which he means any government program that helps people with low income, and he wants to eliminate such programs wherever possible.

Most recently, he has reportedly threatened to veto the upcoming farm bill unless it imposes stringent new work requirements on recipients of SNAP — the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, still commonly referred to as food stamps.

Let me be upfront here: There’s something fundamentally obscene about this spectacle. Here we have a man who inherited great wealth, then built a business career largely around duping the gullible — whether they were naïve investors in his business ventures left holding the bag when those ventures went bankrupt, or students who wasted time and money on worthless degrees from Trump University. Yet he’s determined to snatch food from the mouths of the truly desperate, because he’s sure that somehow or other they’re getting away with something, having it too easy.

But however petty Trump’s motives, this is a big deal from the other side. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that new work requirements plus other restrictions proposed by House Republicans would end up denying or reducing nutritional aid to around two million people, mostly in families with children.

Why would anyone want to do that? The thing is, it’s not just Trump: Conservative hatred for food stamps is pervasive. What’s behind it?

The more respectable, supposedly intellectual side of conservative opinion portrays food stamps as reducing incentives by making life too pleasant for the poor. As Paul Ryan put it, SNAP and other programs create a “hammock” that “lulls able-bodied people to lives of dependency and complacency.”

But this is a problem that exists only in the right’s imagination. Able-bodied SNAP recipients who should be working but aren’t are very hard to find: A vast majority of the program’s beneficiaries either are working — but at unstable jobs that pay low wages — or are children, elderly, disabled or essential family caregivers.

Oh, and there’s strong evidence that children in low-income families that receive food stamps become more productive and healthier adults, which means that the program is actually good for long-run economic growth.

Is it about the money? The enactment of the budget-busting 2017 tax cut proved once and for all, for anyone who had doubts, that Republicans don’t actually care about deficits.

But even if they did care about deficits, the C.B.O. estimates that the proposed cuts to food stamps would save less than one percent, that’s right, one percent, of the revenue lost due to that tax cut. In fact, over the next decade the entire SNAP program, which helps 40 million Americans, will cost only about a third as much as the tax cut. No, it’s not about the money.

What about racism? Historically, attacks on food stamps have often involved a barely disguised racial element — for example, when Ronald Reagan imagined a “strapping young buck” using food stamps to buy T-bone steaks. And I suspect that Trump himself still thinks of food stamps as a program for urban black people.

But while many urban blacks do get food stamps, so do many rural whites. Nationally, significantly more whites than blacks receive food stamps, and participation in SNAP is higher in rural than in urban counties. Food stamps are especially important in depressed regions like Appalachia that have lost jobs in coal and other traditional sectors.

And yes, this means that some of the biggest victims of Trump’s obsession with cutting “welfare” will be the very people who put him in office.

Consider Owsley County, Ky., at the epicenter of Appalachia’s regional crisis. More than half the county’s population receives food stamps; 84 percent of its voters supported Trump in 2016. Did they know what they were voting for?

In the end, I don’t believe there’s any policy justification for the attack on food stamps: It’s not about the incentives, and it’s not about the money. And even the racial animus that traditionally underlies attacks on U.S. social programs has receded partially into the background.

No, this is about petty cruelty turned into a principle of government. It’s about privileged people who look at the less fortunate and don’t think, “There but for the grace of God go I”; they just see a bunch of losers. They don’t want to help the less fortunate; in fact, they get angry at the very idea of public aid that makes those losers a bit less miserable.

And these are the people now running America.

These, folks, are the facts. Just one more reason we need to ensure some changes happen on 06 November.

Clown vs Cleric

Posted on April 28, 2018 by jilldennison under Political commentary, Social commentary

One of the chief clowns in the circus that was once the federal government of the United States took it upon himself to fire the House chaplain, Reverend Patrick Conroy, a Jesuit priest. Speaker of the House, soon to be just a plain-ol’-Joe like the rest of us, decided that the priest praying for the poor, for peace, and for equality was a firing offense. Hmmmm … think about that one for a minute, folks!

Ryan has warned Conroy before about praying for the things that seem to have dropped off the agenda of the government, such as compassion, but the prayer that broke the camel’s back came last Friday when Conroy prayed “for all people who have special needs” and “those who are sick” and for those “who serve in this House to be their best selves.”

Now, folks … you all know by now that I am not religious. However, I cannot find a darn thing in the Padre’s prayer with which to take umbrage. Not. One. Thing. Conroy’s firing may well be the clue to exactly what our government, such as it is, has become. It has become a group of self-serving men and women who feel threatened when they are reminded of the majority of this nation whom they have harmed in one way or another. They are offended by those who would have the gall to remind them that there are people in this nation who are suffering from such things as illness, starvation and homelessness.

Ryan’s statement of the priest’s termination came on April 16^th, but was phrased in such a way that nobody realized what happened, for Ryan merely said that Conroy would be ‘stepping down’:

“As chaplain, Father Conroy has been a great source of strength and support to our community. He is deeply admired by members and staff. Father Conroy’s ministry here has made a difference, and we are all very grateful to him.”

Sounds fairly innocuous, eh? Until this week when Conroy’s letter of resignation was made public. The first line says it all:

“As you have requested, [emphasis added] I hereby offer my resignation as the 60th chaplain of the United States House of Representatives.”

Conroy later said in an interview that his resignation was requested on behalf of Ryan by Ryan’s chief of staff … he couldn’t even be bothered to do his own dirty work. Or … was he afraid to face Conroy, knowing there would be questions?

One prayer that earned Conroy a rebuke from Ryan last November, when the bill that would give huge tax cuts mainly to the wealthy was being debated on the floor, included:

“May all members be mindful that the institutions and structures of our great nation guarantee the opportunities that have allowed some to achieve great success, while others continue to struggle. May their efforts these days guarantee that there are not winners and losers under new tax laws, but benefits balanced and shared by all Americans.”

And Ryan took umbrage. A few days after, a staffer from Ryan’s office came to Conroy and said that Ryan felt the prayer was too political and was upset. And then one day, as Conroy and Ryan passed in the halls of the Capitol, Ryan said, “Padre, you just got to stay out of politics.”

I wonder if Ryan would have been happier if Father Conroy had prayed for the continued wealth of the members of Congress, or the good health of Donald Trump? Perhaps he should have prayed for the people of the United States to all develop amnesia and forget the abominations that have been thrust upon us since 20 January 2017.

In the grand scheme of today’s environment in Washington, the firing of the House chaplain is not the most important issue, not the biggest news of the day. But it speaks volumes and speaks them loudly, I believe. It sends the message, once again, that among republicans in the federal government, there is little if any concern for the people of this nation, and any who believe otherwise will not be tolerated in the ‘hallowed’ halls of our government. In truth, I no longer think of it as a government, but rather as either a circus or a train wreck, depending on the news of the day.

Some members of both parties are outraged and demanding more information regarding the priest’s firing. Representatives Walter Jones, a republican from North Carolina, and Gerald Connolly, a democrat from Virginia, are circulating a letter for their colleagues to sign, asking Mr. Ryan for more information. Jones said …

“I’m very upset. If this is true about the prayer, and we have freedom of religion in America, how about freedom of religion on the floor of the House? The members of the House vote for the chaplain. This is not a one-man decision. The House should have the facts of whatever the problem is.”

On Friday, House democrats attempted to establish an investigative panel to look into Ryan’s decision to fire Conroy, but the House republicans, predictably, succeeded in shutting down the idea before it even sprouted wings. Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong issued a statement saying, “The speaker made the decision he believes to be in the best interest of the House, and he remains grateful for Father Conroy’s many years of service.” Yeah, sure he does. Ms. Strong must be practicing to get Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ job someday.

As one writer for The Washington Post puts it: “Only in this perverted time could a priest lose his job after committing the sin of crying out for justice for the poor.” I think that says it all.

GOP Beliefs About Poor People Are Myths To Justify Tax Cuts For Rich/ Cuts To Entitlement Spending

Posted on April 25, 2018 by jilldennison under Political commentary, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Today’s Congress is the richest in the history of the nation. These wealthy men & women have zero concept what it is like to choose between putting food on the table or taking their sick child to the doctor. They have no understanding what it is like to wonder how to pay the rent or electric bill. And thus, since they have no real life experience, they make up myths to justify cutting social services that benefit the lower income groups in order to increase their own wealth via tax cuts for the wealthy. Our friend Gronda has done an excellent job de-bunking those myths and showing our elected representatives for the greedy, self-focused people they are. Please take a moment to read, and remember this on November 6th! Thank you, Gronda!

Gronda Morin

I have observed the resurrection of the racist myth of the “Welfare Queen” as well as other misleading talking points to describe poor people by members of the GOP.

The GOP in the US Congress cannot be allowed to disseminate these myths as an excuse to enact cuts to current safety-net programs for the poor and/ or to justify additional tax cuts for the wealthy.

See: Why the UN is investigating extreme poverty … in America/ Guardian/ December 2017

Here is the rest of the story…

(Source for below AP report published by the Chicago Tribune on the 19th of December 2017 by Michele Gilman, University of Baltimore: (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Excerpts from “3 myths about the poor that Republicans are using to support slashing US safety net:”

“Republicans continue to use long-debunked…

View original post 1,059 more words

Filosofa's Word

Cogito Ergo Sum

Tag Archives: Paul Ryan