Voting Against Their Interests: Wealth Inequality

This is part of a series of articles about how Republicans convince its base to vote against their own interests. Today, we examine how some of the wealthiest Americans have taken over the Republican Party, thereby causing them to mislead most Republicans and some Independents into voting against their own interests.

By Terry Frye

  

Inequality of wealth is the greatest economic and social problem that our country now faces. The statistics state the case in a shocking manner. The wealthiest 1 percent in the United States owns more wealth than the bottom 90 percent ^[1] and 95 percent of economic gains go to wealthiest 1 percent of Americans. ^[2]   

 

In 2011, the 400 wealthiest Americans had more wealth than 50 percent of all Americans combined. ^[3] The amount of money in bonuses on Wall Street last year is twice the amount all minimum-wage workers earned in the country combined. ^[4]  The wealthiest 85 people on the planet have more money that the poorest 3.5 billion people combined. ^[5] Unbelievably, only 4 of the 150 countries have a worse inequality of wealth problem than does the U.S. ^[6]

The poorest Americans do come out ahead in one statistic: the bottom 90 percent of America owns 73 percent of the debt in the US. ^[7]

This situation has not always been so dire. From 1947 to 1973, all along the economic spectrum, Americans had become a little better off with each passing year while productivity had risen by 97 percent and median wages had risen by 95 percent. ^[8] Paradoxically, from 1973 to 2011, working class productivity grew 80 percent, while median hourly compensation, after inflation, grew by just 6.4 percent. Since 2000, productivity has risen 23 percent, while real hourly pay has essentially flat-lined. ^[9]

During the past 40 years, low-wage jobs have disproportionately increased, while employment has become less secure and benefits have been cut. ^[10]

Polling shows that Democrats view wealth inequality quite differently than most Republicans. A Pew Research Center survey in March 2015 concluded that 55 percent of GOP members believe the economic system is fair to most people, but 75 percent of Democrats and 63 percent of Independents believe it strongly favors the wealthy. 

The GOP attitude was reflected in a comment by Mitt Romney during the 2012 Presidential race, who said “[t]here are 47 percent of the people…who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims. …These are people who pay no income tax….and so my job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

Presidential candidate Jeb Bush recently made headlines for claiming that working class “people need to work longer hours.” His brother, President Bush, expedited the growing wealth inequality with the “Bush tax cuts” which disproportionately benefit the wealthy. 

The results of this should have been predictable. The top 1 percent of the population enjoyed 65 percent of income growth between 2002 and 2007. ^[11] In 2000, 11.3 percent of the population was in poverty. By 2009, that percentage had increased to 14.3 percent. Job growth under Bush was the weakest in any business cycle since the 1950s and was only one-third of the rate seen between 1989 and 2000 (the Clinton years). In 2001, the surplus in the federal budget was $127 billion. The 2010 budget had a budget deficit of $1.3 trillion. The long-term national debt more than doubled while Bush was in office. ^[12] This is further evidence that “trickle-down economics” is a myth.

What should our attitude as Christians be on this issue? There was also wealth inequality in Jesus’ day. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus exhorted his hearers to sell their earthly goods and give to the poor, and so provide themselves with “a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys” (Luke 12.33). In Luke 12:34, Jesus added “[f]or where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”.

Jesus stated in the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12: 13-21) that he who lays up treasure for himself is not rich toward God. The person whose identity is tied up with his or her possessions, status, and/or achievement and is driven by acquiring them, can so easily end up unaware of the plight of his neighbor.^[13]

Pope Francis has often shown a great sensitivity to the plight of poor people who are victimized by the wealthy. He spoke recently in South Korea of those of “…us who live in societies where, alongside immense wealth, dire poverty is silently growing; where the cry of the poor is seldom heeded and where Christ continues to call out to us, asking us to love and serve him by tending to our brothers and sisters in need.”

In the golden rule, Jesus taught us that ^“whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them….” ^[14] I believe the golden rule is the central theme of the Democratic Party, and yet another reason why when Christians vote Republican, they vote against their own financial interests and the teachings of Christ. 

Terry Frye is an attorney, an elected constitutional officer, a minister, a writer, a longtime community organizer and a political activist who has lived his entire life in rural Southern Appalachia. 

Footnotes:

[1] Rugaber, Christopher S.; Boak, Josh (January 27, 2014). “Wealth gap: A guide to what it is, why it matters”. AP News. 

[2] Svaldi, Aldo (January 11, 2014), “Robert Reich: Income inequality the defining issue for U.S.”, The Denver Post, retrieved January 26, 2014.

[3] Wealth, Income, and Power by G. William Domhoff of the UC-Santa Barbara Sociology Department. 

[4] A Mind Boggling Statistic About Wall Street Bonuses, CBS Money Watch, March 17, 2014.

[5] 85 Richest Now Have As Much Money as Poorest 3.5 Billion, USA Today, 9:27 a.m. EST November 7, 2014.

[6] Weissmann, Jordan (March 11, 2013). “Yes, U.S. Wealth Inequality Is Terrible by Global Standards”. The Atlantic. 

[7] 35 Mind Blowing Facts about Inequality, AlterNet, July 13, 2015.

[8] New York Times Sunday Review, Our Economic Pickle, January 12, 2013.

[9] Id.

[10] The American Prospect; The Forty Year Slump, by Harold Meyerson, November 12, 2013.

[11] Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Economic Policy Institute

[12] Id.

[13] The Parables of Jesus: A Commentary, by Arland J. Hultgren, pg. 109.

[14] Matthew 7:12

Piece Of Shit Texas Legislator Tony Dale Is A Piece Of Shit

Posted by Rude One

Of all the goddamned stupid things that Republicans have been saying in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks, none can even come close to what GOP state legislator from Texas House District 136, Tony Dale, said. That's this motherfucker right here, looking like Glenn Beck's vestigial twin:

In a letter to Senator John Cornyn asking him to stop the United States from taking in more Syrian refugees, Dale writes, a bit illiterately (the errors in here are all Dale), "While the Paris attackers used suicide vests and grenades it is clear that firearms also killed a large number of innocent victims. Can you imagine a scenario were a refugees is admitted to the United States, is provided federal cash payments and other assistance, obtains a drivers license and purchases a weapon and executes an attack?”

You got that? Dumbass piece of shit Dale, whose district is just north of the rational island of Austin, is worried that it's too fuckin' easy to buy a gun in Texas. And you know what fuckin' dumbass piece of shit Texas legislator voted in favor of every bill to loosen gun regulations? Well, the smilin' sumbitch up there, that's who.

Now, you can say that this is just a minor player who said something idiotic and hypocritical and utterly devoid of a connection with his own fucking actions and beliefs. You could ask him, "Wouldn't your precious good guys with guns stop the bad guy Syrian with a gun?" You might even try to reason and say, "Hey, how about universal background checks?" But Dale is a kind of bellwether for the cockknobs of the right who would utter shit like that and pretend it makes perfect sense.

It's why Chris Christie can, in the span of a couple of months, go from mourning a dead refugee child to saying that not even toddler orphans from Syria should be allowed on the supple shores of America. It's why Ted Cruz can utter, with all seriousness, that religious freedom is precious but we should only allow in Christian refugees and by the way, he loves Jesus, who would come down from the cross just to beat the shit out of Cruz.

Tony Dale is a fucking pimple on humanity. But he's a mere blackhead compared to the throbbing pustules who lead the GOP.

Now, more than ever, America needs an intelligent President — not a lying carnival barker

By Robert Reich

A caricature of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (DonkeyHotey/Flickr)

The next president of the United States will confront a virulent jihadist threat, mounting effects of climate change, and an economy becoming ever more unequal.

We’re going to need an especially wise and able leader.

Yet our process for choosing that person is a circus, and several leading candidates are clowns.

How have we come to this?

First, anyone with enough ego and money can now run for president.

This wasn’t always the case. Political parties used to sift through possible candidates and winnow the field.

Now the parties play almost no role. Anyone with some very wealthy friends can set up a Super PAC.
According to a recent New York Times investigation, half the money to finance the 2016 election so far has come from just 158 families.

Or if you’re a billionaire, you can finance your own campaign.

And if you’re sufficiently outlandish, outrageous, and outspoken, a lot of your publicity will be free.

Since he announced his candidacy last June, Trump hasn’t spent any money at all on television advertising.

Second, candidates can now get away with saying just about anything about their qualifications or personal history, even if it’s a boldface lie.

This wasn’t always the case, either. The media used to scrutinize what candidates told the public about themselves.

A media expose could bring a candidacy to a sudden halt (as it did in 1988 for Gary Hart, who had urged reporters to follow him if they didn’t believe his claims of monogamy).

But when today’s media expose a candidates lies, there seems to be no consequence. Carson’s poll numbers didn’t budge after revelations he had made up his admission to West Point.

The media also used to evaluate candidates’ policy proposals, and those evaluations influenced voters.

Now the media’s judgments are largely shrugged off. Trump says he’d “bomb the shit” out of ISIS, round up all undocumented immigrants in the United States and send them home, and erect a wall along the entire U.S.-Mexican border.

Editors and columnists find these proposals ludicrous but that doesn’t seem to matter.

Fiorina says she’ll stop Planned Parenthood from “harvesting” the brains of fully formed fetuses. She insists she saw an undercover video of the organization about to do so.

The media haven’t found any such video but no one seems to care.

Third and finally, candidates can now use hatred and bigotry to gain support.

Years ago respected opinion leaders stood up to this sort of demagoguery and brought down the bigots.

In the 1950's, the eminent commentator Edward R. Murrow revealed Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy to be a dangerous incendiary, thereby helping put an end to McCarthy’s communist witch hunts.

In the 1960's, religious leaders and university presidents condemned Alabama Governor George C. Wallace and other segregationist zealots – thereby moving the rest of America toward integration, civil rights, and voting rights.

But when today’s presidential candidates say Muslim refugees shouldn’t be allowed into America, no Muslim should ever be president, and undocumented workers from Mexico are murderers, they get away with it.

Paradoxically, at a time when the stakes are especially high for who becomes the next president, we have a free-for-all politics in which anyone can become a candidate, put together as much funding as they need, claim anything about themselves no matter how truthful, advance any proposal no matter how absurd, and get away with bigotry without being held accountable.

Why? Americans have stopped trusting the mediating institutions that used to filter and scrutinize potential leaders on behalf of the rest of us.

Political parties are now widely disdained.

Many Americans now consider the “mainstream media” biased.

And no opinion leader any longer commands enough broad-based respect to influence a majority of
the public.

A growing number of Americans have become convinced the entire system is rigged – including the major parties, the media, and anyone honored by the establishment.

So now it’s just the candidates and the public, without anything in between.

Which means electoral success depends mainly on showmanship and self-promotion.

Telling the truth and advancing sound policies are less important than trending on social media.

Being reasonable is less useful than gaining attention.

Offering rational argument is less advantageous than racking up ratings.

Such circus politics may be fun to watch, but it’s profoundly dangerous for America and the world.

We might, after all, elect one of the clowns.

This article was originally published at RobertReich.org

Secret Fallout 4 Treasure Room Contains One Of Every Item (PC)

A secret room in Fallout 4 that has every item, weapon and armor set including bobbleheads & holotapes in the game. Get to the room by using the console command coc qasmoke.

Sizzling hot takes

5 Reasons To Be Glad You Watched The CBS Democratic Debate

By Jason Easley

Hillary Clinton got pressed on Wall Street, CBS asked a loaded question, and 3 other reasons to be glad that you watched the CBS Democratic debate.

1). CBS Asks A Loaded Question About Obama And ISIS –
The Democratic candidates were asked if the Obama administration will be remembered for not being on top of ISIS. Clinton said that the bulk of the fight did not belong to the United States. O’Malley tried to play catch up in the polls by disagreeing with Clinton. Bernie Sanders tied the founding of ISIS with the war in Iraq. Sanders said that he didn’t think any reasonable person would disagree that the invasion of Iraq led to ISIS.

The question by Face The Nation John Dickerson was short-sighted and wrong. One can’t understand how ISIS came to be without considering the role of the decision by the Bush administration to invade Iraq. Trying to blame Obama for ISIS would be like blaming FDR for the Great Depression.

The idea that Obama is to blame for ISIS was flat out wrong and more superficial media nonsense.

Clinton talked about the broader underlying historical factors that led to the extremism. Sanders called for the Muslim countries to lead the effort against ISIS. Clinton disagreed and said that was unfair to countries like Jordan, who have made a great effort. Clinton agreed with Sanders that many of the countries have to make up their minds on their role in the fight against ISIS.

2). The Amount Of Debate Time Given To The Question Of ISIS and Extremism Benefited Clinton –

Nearly 30 minutes of the debate was dedicated to a discussion of ISIS and radical Islam. This discussion benefitted Hillary Clinton because, as former Sec. of State, she was the most knowledgeable on foreign policy issues. Bernie Sanders is very well informed and has a solid worldview, but Clinton was at another level. As a former governor, Martin O’Malley was doomed in this discussion.

The events in Paris effectively put this debate right into Hillary Clinton’s wheelhouse. Clinton took apart Marco Rubio’s claim that the United States is at war with radical Islam. Sanders brought up a great point that much of the military spending is being wasted and not being properly used to target the terrorist threat.

3). O’Malley and Clinton Hit Republican Immigrant Bashers With The Facts –

After calling Donald Trump an immigrant bashing carnival barker, Martin O’Malley said that net immigration from Mexico has reached zero. Hillary Clinton backed him up and said that it is a fact. Clinton then laid out her vision for immigration reform. According Pew Research, Clinton and O’Malley were correct, “In 2012, 5.9 million unauthorized immigrants from Mexico lived in the U.S., down about 1 million from 2007. Despite the drop, Mexicans still make up a slight majority (52% in 2012) of unauthorized immigrants. At the same time, unauthorized immigration overall has leveled off in recent years. As a result, net migration from Mexico likely reached zero in 2010, and since then more Mexicans have left the U.S. than have arrived.”

4). Sanders Tells Clinton That Her Answer On Regulating Wall Street Is Not Good Enough –
Hillary Clinton said that her record shows that she will battle Wall Street, and pointed out that two billionaires are running a super PAC against her. Sanders replied by going to town on Clinton’s record, and he brought up the common sense point that all of those campaign contributors expect something.

Clinton fired back and said that Sanders had impugned her integrity. Clinton said that she was proud that she helped Wall Street after 9/11. She said that her proposal is tougher than Sanders’ plan to restore Glass-Steagall because she goes after all of Wall Street. Sanders played his trump card and said that it isn’t enough for Democrats to say that they will repeal Citizens United. He said that Democrats must lead by example.

O’Malley got his chance to talk and called Clinton’s proposal to regulate Wall Street “weak tea.”

O’Malley killed his momentum though by agreeing with Sanders that Glass-Steagall must be restored. Clinton said that Wall Street needs to play by the rules, and Sanders replied that the Wall Street business model is fraud.

The Democratic candidates finally disagreed on something. The result was an enlightening discussion on how Wall Street should be reined in.

5). Distinctions Are Drawn When The Candidates Are Asked About The Crisis That Shaped Them
For Hillary Clinton, it was advising Obama on whether or not to go after Bin Laden. Martin O’Malley didn’t have a crisis. Sanders talked about his time as Chairman of the Senate Veterans Committee. Sanders said he was determined to make VA care the best in the world. He discussed his role in shaping one of the most important pieces of bipartisan legislation for vets.

The crisis question was really an experience question. Clinton and Sanders were light years ahead of O’Malley on experience. If Democrats are looking for an experienced leader, the choice is between Clinton and Sanders, with Clinton being ahead of the senator from Vermont in the kind of experiences that look good for a potential president.

Nina Turner changes her mind on Hillary Clinton, endorses Bernie Sanders for President

Former State Sen. Nina Turner arrives at her 2013 campaign kickoff for Ohio secretary of state. Turner announced Thursday that she is backing Bernie Sanders for president. (Chuck Crow, Plain Dealer Publishing Co.)

By Henry J. Gomez, cleveland.com
on November 12, 2015 at 5:03 PM, updated November 12, 2015 at 9:36 PM

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Nina Turner, the former state senator from Cleveland and a top Ohio Democratic Party official, is ditching Hillary Clinton in favor of Bernie Sanders.

Turner and Sanders' presidential campaign confirmed the endorsement Thursday.

"I'm very attracted by his message and his style -- and that he has held pretty much strong on his beliefs and the world is catching up with him," Turner said.

Turner added that Sanders' positions on voting rights and wage issues have stood out to her. While she is expected to be active in his campaign, a Sanders spokeswoman said whatever role Turner has will not be paid.

Turner spoke to cleveland.com by telephone before flying to Iowa, where she will attend Saturday's Democratic debate featuring Clinton, Sanders and Martin O'Malley.

She also will introduce Sanders at his Monday rally at Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center.

The Vermont senator, who describes himself as a democratic socialist, has emerged as Clinton's strongest Democratic primary rival.

"We are extremely, extremely humbled by the support of Sen. Nina Turner," Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said. "She is nationally known as a voice for voting rights, for workers' rights and for marginalized people. The support of someone with that record of standing up for middle-income and working people is tremendously important."

The move comes as a surprise -- and a blow for Clinton. Turner had been among her most enthusiastic cheerleaders in the Buckeye State and nationally. She was involved early with the Ready for Hillary super political action committee that promoted Clinton as a presidential candidate before the former U.S. secretary of state launched her campaign.

Turner spoke last fall in New York and earlier this year at a Cleveland fundraiser for the now-defunct organization. In June, she spoke at a grassroots-organizing event for the Clinton campaign in Cleveland. She also had served on the board of Correct the Record, another pro-Clinton super PAC but recently severed ties.

And Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, sent a letter on Turner's behalf last year that sought donations for her ultimately unsuccessful run for Ohio secretary of state.

Turner said Thursday that, despite her efforts on Clinton's behalf, she had not formally endorsed the former U.S. secretary of state. Clinton, she said did not lose her support so much as Sanders earned it with his attention to issues dear to her. She stressed that her decision had nothing to do with controversy over Clinton's private email server.

"Yes, I was out there, 'ready' [for Clinton], because I wanted to make sure Democrats were ready," Turner said. "I thought it was important to show that Democrats were ready to go right back at it for 2015 and 2016. This has nothing to do with the secretary."

Turner, who is frequently mentioned as a future candidate for mayor of Cleveland, said she will take a leave of absence from her role as the Ohio Democratic Party's engagement chair as she helps Sanders with his bid for the nomination. She said her endorsement, which party insiders had been buzzing about for days once they heard it was possible, has resulted in some pushback from Clinton loyalists in Ohio.

"I was approached by a Clinton supporter who said that I am doing a disservice to the country," Turner said. "It was very insulting."

Clinton doesn't lack for prominent Ohio supporters. U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown announced his backing two weeks ago. U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge of Warrensville Heights endorsed her in July. Reps. Tim Ryan of the Youngstown area and Joyce Beatty of Columbus also are on board. And former Gov. Ted Strickland, a U.S. Senate candidate, is a longtime Clinton ally in the Buckeye State.

The Ohio Democratic Party, meanwhile, is emphasizing its neutrality.

"The Ohio Democratic Party has not endorsed in the 2016 presidential primary -- we welcome, support and work with all Democratic candidates as they compete for the nomination and come to Ohio to talk with voters," state party spokeswoman Kirstin Alvanitakis said Thursday.

"Given this stance, Sen. Turner will take a leave of absence from her leadership role as chair of Party Engagement while serving as a national surrogate for the Sanders campaign. Her tireless work for the party has been so important in engaging Ohio voters, and while we will certainly miss her passion and fearlessness, we wish her nothing but the best in her new role and look forward to her return following the conclusion of the primary."

Postal Workers Snub Clinton, Back Sanders

Sanders wins backing of American Postal Workers Union, his largest labor endorsement.

By KEN THOMAS, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders secured the endorsement of the 200,000-member American Postal Workers Union on Thursday, marking the largest labor union to back his Democratic presidential campaign.

The union's decision gives Sanders a boost heading into the second Democratic debate in Iowa on Saturday and comes as the Vermont senator has sought to halt a string of labor endorsements to Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The postal workers' union said Sanders has a long history of supporting its workers and pointed to his efforts to keep open post offices and mail-sorting plants in rural communities, oppose slower delivery standards and fight attempts to privatize the mail service.

"Sen. Bernie Sanders stands above all others as a true champion of postal workers and other workers throughout the country," APWU President Mark Dimondstein said in a statement. "He doesn't just talk the talk. He walks the walk."

Clinton has locked down several key components of organized labor, including the National Education Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Sanders has assiduously courted rank-and-filed union members but battled against perceptions he wouldn't be as electable as Clinton and strong enough to take on the eventual Republican nominee.


Until now, Sanders had received one national labor endorsement, which came from the 185,000-member National Nurses Union.

Postal worker union officials said Sanders showed a deep understanding of their issues and said they were particularly swayed by his address to 2,000 activists in Las Vegas in October. From his Senate perch, Sanders has also blocked two nominees to the postal Board of Governors who are opposed by postal unions.

The union said Sanders' support was overwhelming among its executive board, which also heard from a labor liaison from Clinton's campaign.
___
On Twitter, follow Ken Thomas: https://twitter.com/KThomasDC

How Facebook Is Stealing Billions Of Views

Facebook just announced 8 billion video views per day. This number is made out of lies, cheating and worst of all: theft. All of this is wildly known but the media giant Facebook is pretending everything is fine, while damaging independent creators in the process. How does this work?



Hank Greens Article:
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How Facebook is Stealing Billions of Views

Help us caption & translate this video!

http://amara.org/v/HWix/

Police Tracking of 'Pre-crime' Activities - Robocop on Steroids? - Scary Stuff Coming

By tomm2thumbs

From a bit earlier in the year - figured it was worth a post.

Discussions of technology being marketed to seek out apparent 'pre-crime' activity, including drones, facial recognition, motion-tracking and other 1984 style police techniques.

Given that much of this is publicly sold and available to companies, you can imagine the behind-the-scenes military technology that is even more powerful than what you see here...no doubt already under widespread use.

5 Reasons To Be Glad That You Didn't Watch The Fox Business Republican Debate

By Jason Easley

Republicans offered no new policy ideas while resurrecting some old lies about immigration and The Affordable Health Care Act. Here are five reasons to be glad that you didn’t watch the Fox News Republican presidential debate.

1). All Republicans Oppose Raising The Minimum Wage

The first question was about the fast food worker strike and raising the minimum wage. Not surprisingly, Trump said paying workers more money wouldn’t help them. Ben Carson said that the American people need to be “educated about the minimum wage,” and Marco Rubio told viewers that tax reform a.k.a. tax cuts for the wealthy would be better than increasing the minimum wage.
Republicans are setting themselves up for a major defeat as an October poll of low-wage workers found that 75% supported raising the minimum wage to $15/hour and the ability to join a union. The debate demonstrated that Republicans are on the wrong side of the minimum wage issue.

2). Carly Fiorina Falls On Her Face When Asked Why Democrats Are Better At Creating Jobs
 

Carly Fiorina was asked how she would counter the argument that Democratic presidents are better at creating jobs than Republican presidents. Fiorina responded with a long-winded dance about what she would do as president to grow the economy, but nowhere in her answer was an explanation how she would counter the fact that the economy does better under Democratic presidents.

Fiorina’s inability to answer the question illustrated a fundamental problem for Republicans. Whoever the Republican nominee is will not be able to argue that they can create more jobs after President Obama brought the country back from George W. Bush’s Great Recession. Republicans can’t argue the issues, which is why they have to deflect and distract anytime they are confronted with the facts on their economic failures.

3). Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Carly Fiorina Uncork 3 Huge Republican Lies 

Two Republican candidates showed that their party has learned nothing from their party’s 2008 and 2012 presidential election losses by bringing back two tired old lies that have failed Republicans in elections past. Marco Rubio claimed that The Affordable Health Care Act is killing jobs, and Ted Cruz claimed that immigration is hurting jobs and the economy. Fiorina claimed that The Affordable Health Care Act is crushing small businesses.

A study by The Urban Institute found that The Affordable Health Care Act doesn’t kill jobs, “We find that the ACA had virtually no adverse effect on labor force participation, employment, or usual hours worked per week through 2014. This conclusion is true for ACA policies overall and for the Medicaid expansions, in particular, and it applies to the full sample of nonelderly persons and to the subgroup of nonelderly persons with a high school education or less who are more likely to be affected by the ACA.”

The bad news for Carly Fiorina is that only 3% of small businesses were impacted by the ACA.
Ted Cruz was not telling the truth. As reported in 2014, “According to the Pew Research Hispanic Trends Project, there were 8.4 million unauthorized immigrants employed in the U.S.; representing 5.2 percent of the U.S. labor force (an increase from 3.8 percent in 2000). Their importance was highlighted in a report by Texas Comptroller Susan Combs that stated, “Without the undocumented population, Texas’ workforce would decrease by 6.3 percent” and Texas’ gross state product would decrease by 2.1 percent. Furthermore, certain segments of the U.S. economy, like agriculture, are entirely dependent upon illegal immigrants.”

4). Jeb Bush Blames Obama For His Brother’s Failure In The Middle East 

Bush blamed Obama for a “failure of leadership” in Iraq. It was amazing to hear a Bush argue for more war in the Middle East as if he had no idea that the Iraq war remains a foreign policy blunder that is thought of badly by a majority of the American people. The Bush tactic of blaming Obama for his brother’s failures, while arguing that the country should return to his brother’s policies is exactly why his campaign is failing. Bush tried to pull a page from the Romney playbook by sounding like he is the most electable. Bush tried to get fired up about foreign policy and take on Trump, but he got tongue-tied and lost his momentum.

Jeb Bush’s plan is to claim that he can beat Hillary Clinton while blaming President Obama for his brother’s foreign policy failures.

5). In Mixed Up Republican World, Regulating The Big Banks Causes Financial Collapse

The Republican presidential candidates agreed that not regulating the banks would prevent another financial collapse. Carly Fiorina called Dodd-Frank socialism and claimed the CFPB is digging through individual Americans financial records to detect fraud. In crazy Republican land, the way to prevent financial collapses is to get government out of the way and not regulate the banks.
Republicans again demonstrated that they have learned nothing from their previous failures by doubling down on another failed policy.

The debate itself was a colossal bore. The top eight contenders for the Republican nomination managed to avoid proposing any new policies while doubling down on their previous failures. No one should be surprised if the ratings for the Republican debates continue to slide. The energy and charisma of Trump have vanished, and all that is left is a bunch of Republicans with no new ideas trying to sell America on a return to failure.

GOP Dream Debate

An Open Letter From A Black Man To White America's Dying White Working Class and Poor

By Chauncey DeVega

My white brothers and sisters, believe me when I tell you that I love and care about you. Because I care, I will tell you things that you may not like. On occasion, I have been moved to write you an open letter. I always do this with concern and care. For example, after the horrific mass shooting in Charleston, I wondered when and if my white brothers and sisters would confront the plague of gun violence in their community. Such worries were met with deflection, denial and anger. Because I love my white brothers and sisters, I will try again.

In rapid succession, over the last few days and weeks, The New York Times, “60 Minutes,” and MSNBC have featured stories about the heroin epidemic that is ravaging the “heartland.” These stories were accompanied by new research that shows how the middle-aged white working class and poor are now dying at extremely high rates as compared to other groups.

The New York Times describes this trend in the following way:

Something startling is happening to middle-aged white Americans. Unlike every other age group, unlike every other racial and ethnic group, unlike their counterparts in other rich countries, death rates in this group have been rising, not falling.

That finding was reported Monday by two Princeton economists, Angus Deaton, who last month won the 2015 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science, and Anne Case. Analyzing health and mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and from other sources, they concluded that rising annual death rates among this group are being driven not by the big killers like heart disease and diabetes but by an epidemic of suicides and afflictions stemming from substance abuse: alcoholic liver disease and overdoses of heroin and prescription opioids.

The analysis by Dr. Deaton and Dr. Case may offer the most rigorous evidence to date of both the causes and implications of a development that has been puzzling demographers in recent years: the declining health and fortunes of poorly educated American whites. In middle age, they are dying at such a high rate that they are increasing the death rate for the entire group of middle-aged white Americans, Dr. Deaton and Dr. Case found. 

The mortality rate for whites 45 to 54 years old with no more than a high school education increased by 134 deaths per 100,000 people from 1999 to 2014.

My brothers and sisters in White America, do these facts scare you? They probably should.

My grandmother grew up under the wicked regime of Jim and Jane Crow. Like many other black Americans she escaped to a northern American city during the Great Migration that occurred after World War II. I remember her telling me that the average white person wouldn’t survive being black for even a day. They would die from stress and anxiety.

I believe that she may have been exaggerating. But her observation does get to something real about the way white privilege manifests. Research suggests that the average white American has no basic idea about how white racism and white supremacy impact the day-to-day lives and life chances of non-whites. In fact, social psychology experiments have shown that white folks believe that not having access to television is a far greater hardship than being black. This absurdity is compounded by the belief, demonstrated in recent surveys, that in the Age of Obama, “discrimination” against white people is now a bigger problem in the United States than racism against people of color.

In all, white privilege is a system that gives unearned advantages to white people because of their perceived racial group membership. Those unearned advantages in turn nurture and cultivate a deficit in coping skills. (This is not a function of race, but rather of power. Men likely have worse life coping skills relative to women, and straight people less so than those in the LGBT community.) This should not be a surprise. White America was built upon stolen land, income, labor and wealth, taken from First Nations, African-Americans and other people of color. More recently, the modern white American middle class was created through transfer payments and government subsidies such as the G.I. Bill and VA/FHA housing programs, opportunities that were systematically denied to black and brown Americans. Racism (and sexism) in the American labor force meant that jobs which earned a living wage were deemed the near exclusive province of white men.

And now white people — and white working class men in particular — are suffering an identity crisis, as their perceived birthright is being taken away from them.

Of course, the facts undermine any claims of relative disadvantage compared to people of color. Poor and working class white people possess much more wealth and assets than do black and Latinos who are nominally “middle” or “upper class.” By implication, poor and working class whites have greater financial security than people of color in the same economic cohort. Nevertheless, it is the perception of white insecurity and suffering that matters, not empirical reality. Those who have historically been privileged will feel like equality is oppression.

White America — its poor and working classes in the throes of depression and hopelessness about the future, and killing themselves, intentionally or otherwise — must now summon up in itself the very same “personal responsibility” that the right so often uses to disparage the suffering of the black and brown poor. While globalization is most certainly pushing the white poor and working classes even further into a category of expendables, this same group of people must acknowledge their own complicity with such an outcome.

The truth hurts.

Poor and working class white Republicans, who vote for policies that hurt people like them, have contributed to this problem. White conservatives in the South, who flocked to the Republican Party because of anger about the civil rights movement, have caused this problem. Poor and working class white Republicans, who use the financial prosperity and success of the rich and upper classes as a barometer for how they should vote (a choice made even more absurd in a country where inter-generational upward mobility has been basically non-existent for decades), are a cause of this problem.

And white poor and working class people (as well as white folks en masse) — who do not realize that white elites have systematically lied to them by using the politics of racial resentment to focus their attention on “black crime,” “illegal immigrants” and “welfare queens,” instead of properly on the destructive power of neoliberalism — are among the primary conspirators in their own destruction.

* * *

What is perhaps most unnerving about the current concern for the wellbeing of white America is that Black, brown and First Nations peoples have been dying at far higher rates for years, decades, centuries. Yet there was no great cry of public alarm or panic then.

In this moment, white people struggling with addiction are to be treated with mercy and empathy. A white Republican presidential primary candidate, Chris Christie, has even been recorded sharing a story about a rich white man, a dear friend from law school, whose addiction to pain killers ruined his life. By comparison, black and brown people who use drugs are locked up without mercy or pity by a carceral society that views their pain as criminality.

Black and brown communities were ruined by the Great Recession. Yet their loss was greeted with crickets in the mainstream news media. Black people are recorded being shot, choked to death, beaten up in schools and otherwise brutalized. And yet too many of those in White America engage in excuse-making, and defend the thuggish behavior of its racist and classist criminal justice system.

White America now increasingly encounters those same broken dreams, because the wages of whiteness do not pay the dividends they once did in the not-so-recent past. And this time the mainstream media inaugurates a crisis.

The suffering of people of color in the United States is the rule, a quotidian matter, a given. By definition, white privilege means that white people will have better life chances than whose who are not white. This is the cruel calculus of the color line both in the United States and around the world.

Undoubtedly, there are some black and brown folks who will have no sympathy for white drug addicts, who won’t care how the white working class and poor are dying at increasing, alarming rates. Such cynicism is wholly understandable. But I will not surrender the moral high ground. That is incumbent upon us who are heirs to the Black Freedom Struggle.

What’s more, I am also a secular humanist. I care about all people—even those who are invested in the lie that is Whiteness. Because loyalty to whiteness is treason to humanity, those who see themselves first as “white,” before they see that we are all human beings, are the most in need of help and guidance about how to live a full, rich and ethical life. To borrow from Baldwin, Wright and Ignatiev: A person cannot be a full member of the human race without first dropping and surrendering the lie that is “whiteness.”

James Baldwin spoke to this reality with his genius insight as:

“I’d like to say that when I say ‘white’ I’m not talking about the color of anybody’s skin. I’m not talking about race. It’s a curious country, a curious civilization, that thinks of it as race. I don’t believe any of that. White people are imagined. White people are white only because they want to be white.”

But, I am very worried. The anxiety and the pain and the loss that is being felt by working class and poor white people should occasion a moment of  transcendence, one in which they realize that their elites have lied to, tricked, hoodwinked, and bamboozled them. I dream that this moment of white pain and suffering could be the impetus for new alliances across lines of race and class. There, Lani Guinier’s vision of what she describes as “political race” could be made real: Collective and shared self-interest could trump individual, provincial and superficial, albeit very real, differences of perceived “racial” identities, and the arbitrary value assigned to a person’s melanin count—or lack thereof.

Unfortunately, American history is replete with examples when white people chose racism and white racial affinity over shared class interests with people of color. When threatened, those who are invested in Whiteness as a type of property and psychological wage often double down on protecting it. Instead of embracing black and brown Americans, White America in crisis may wholly abandon the chimera of “post racial” politics and fully embrace a reactionary type of white racial identity politics—and perhaps even overt, old fashioned, bigotry.

White America is hurting. White America is in a panic — stirred up by know-nothing nativists like Donald Trump, the bigotry and resentment-based politics of the Republican Party, as well as the eliminationist anxieties produced by the right-wing media. I worry that, as horses in a fire, that White America will run back into the burning barn instead of running out to the freedom that awaits them should they ever try at meaningful alliances with people of color.

Real Estate Shell Companies Scheme To Defraud Owners Out Of Their Homes

Relying on the secrecy of limited liability companies, white-collar
thieves are targeting pockets of New York City for fraudulent
deed transfers, leaving the victims groping for redress.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/08/nyregion/real-estate-shell-companies-scheme-to-defraud-owners-out-of-their-homes.html?_r=0

Ben Carson's Strange Theory About The Egyptian Pyramids

By Igor Bobic

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson once vocalized an odd theory about Egyptian history.

According to a video unearthed by BuzzFeed on Wednesday, Carson posited in a 1998 commencement address at Andrews University that the pyramids in Egypt were used for grain storage rather than as tombs for ancient kings and queens.

"My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids to store grain," Carson said, referring to the Old Testament. "Now all the archeologists think that they were made for the pharaohs’ graves. But, you know, [something to store that grain] would have to be something awfully big, if you stop and think about it."

Carson appeared to be referencing the biblical figure of Joseph, who was sold into slavery in Egypt and later went on to advise the Egyptian pharaoh to store grain due to a coming famine.


The famed neurosurgeon, who is currently the front-runner for the GOP nomination, added in the speech that he didn't think aliens built the pyramids, as some conspiracy theorists have stated.

"And when you look at the way that the pyramids are made, with many chambers that are hermetically sealed, they’d have to be that way for various reasons," he said.

"And various of scientists have said, 'well, you know there were alien beings that came down and they have special knowledge and that’s how.'

You know, it doesn’t require an alien being when God is with you."

Betsy M. Bryan, professor of Egyptian Art and Archeology at Johns Hopkins University, explained the pyramids were not conducive structures for storing grain.

"The actual space available within pyramids of any era was highly limited -- far more was devoted to descending and ascending shafts. These would be highly unsuitable for grain storage in large amount," Bryan said in an email, adding that Egyptian granaries "were not pyramidal but mostly beehive-shaped. They were built over brick lined circular bases, and they were filled from the top with ladders set up against them."

J.G. Manning, a professor of classics who studies Egyptian history at Yale University, called Carson's version of events "lunatic."

"It's a biblical view of the pyramids," he told The Huffington Post. "It just has no basis in fact."

Asked Wednesday by CBS News whether he still believed the pyramids were primarily used for grain storage, Carson said, "It's still my belief, yes."

Ben Carson's History As A Medical Malpractice Trainwreck

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson isn’t as good of a doctor as he’s made himself out to be. Carson is actually a walking medical malpractice suit waiting to happen. Thom Hartmann and Ring of Fire host Mike Papantonio discussed Carson’s shady history of medical malpractice.

Watch.

About the Author

Joshua De Leon

Josh de Leon is a writer and researcher with Ring of Fire.

Deadly Anticoagulant Xarelto Continues To Get Celebrity Endorsements

As the number of Xarelto lawsuits approaches 2,000 and the drug’s connection to fatal bleeding becomes more widely known, manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceutica is pulling out all the stops on its marketing campaign – including a recent television ad featuring a quartet of prominent celebrities.

The four celebrities –  NBA player Chris Bosh, NASCAR driver Brian Vickers, golfing legend Arnold Palmer and Saturday Night Live alumnus Kevin Nealon – move in widely separated social and professional circles, and would be unlikely to meet for a casual luncheon under most circumstances. However, Janssen would have us believe they’re all old friends who decided to meet up for a friendly game of golf, then retire to the clubhouse to talk about how “treatment with XARELTO® was the right move” for them.

Vickers assures viewers about how Xarelto was “proven to treat and help reduce the risk of DVT (deep vein thrombosis) and PE (pulmonary embolism) blood clots,” while Nealon points out that “Xarelto was also proven to reduce the risk of stroke in people with ‘A-Fib’ (atrial fibrillation, or irregular heartbeat) not caused by a heart valve problem.”

Of course, there’s no mention of FDA concerns over aspects of the clinical tests (specifically, whether or not test subjects had been at the optimal level of blood clotting for a sufficient period of time), nor the fact that post-market studies were funded by the manufacturer and its marketing partners at Bayer.

During the after-game luncheon, in which viewers see the four celebrities chowing down on healthful salads, a voice-over acknowledges that “for people with ‘A-Fib’ currently well-managed on warfarin, there was limited information on how Xarelto and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke.”

Nonetheless, Vickers shares his experience: “You know, I tried warfarin…but the blood testing and dietary restrictions…”  Nealon commiserates: “Don’t get me started on that.”

This has been the big selling point of Xarelto. Warfarin patients are at risk for some 500 interactions with other prescription drugs as well as various foods high in Vitamin K, such as spinach. Those drug interactions are of particular concern among elderly patients, many of whom take several different medications. Xarelto (also known as rivaroxaban) has fewer than 50 interactions and requires far less in the way of expensive, time-consuming patient testing. The ad acknowledges that patients on Xarelto “may bruise more easily, and it may take longer for bleeding to stop.”

That is a gross understatement. In fact, the bleeding may not stop at all until the drug has been removed from the system, as there is no approved reversal agent. Patients taking rival medications Pradaxa (dabigitran) faced similar problems; however, that drug could sometimes be removed by putting the patient on emergency dialysis. Due to Xarelto’s particular mechanism of action, this is not an option for Xarelto patients. The ad goes on to state: “Xarelto may increase the risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines…Xarelto can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding.” The voice-over advises patients to seek emergency help in the case of emergency bleeding – but again, there is no mention how such bleeding should be handled.

Meanwhile, our celebrity endorsers are seen as they continue to enjoy their post-luncheon round of golf, to the accompaniment of sprightly guitar music. As Vickers tells Nealon in a confidential tone as they watch Palmer sink a putt, “You know, Xarelto is the Number One prescribed blood thinner in its class,” to which Nealon responds, “That’s a big win.”

It wasn’t such a big win to those who allege that they been injured or killed by Xarelto, says Levin Papantonio attorney Ned McWilliams who is helping to head the national litigation against those involved in the manufacture and promotions of Xarelto. Executives at Janssen and its parent company Johnson & Johnson, which has been target in several liability lawsuits in recent years, know they’re facing some serious trouble, especially with recent studies published in major medical journals.

Although a small San Francisco biotech firm has come up with a promising reversal agent, that drug  – Annexa-R – is still undergoing clinical trials, with no indication as to when or if it will get FDA approval.  In the meantime, Janssen and Bayer are determined to wring as much revenue out of Xarelto as possible, taking advantage of America’s obsession with celebrities in order to manipulate consumers and boost sales.

Hopefully, all four of Xarelto’s celebrity cheerleaders will continue to live healthy, productive lives. However, if any of them wind up suffering uncontrolled bleeding like almost 2,000 other patients, it could put a serious damper on the drug maker’s current marketing ploy.

About the Author

KJ McElrath

K.J. McElrath is a former history and social studies teacher who has long maintained a keen interest in legal and social issues.

Hackers Expose 11 Major Security Flaws In Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge

Posted by Soulskill

MojoKid writes:  

Going on a bug hunt might not sound like the most exciting thing in the world, but for Project Zero, the name for a team of security analysts tasked by Google with finding zero-day exploits, a good old fashioned bug hunt is both exhilarating and productive. 

As a result of Project Zero's efforts to root out security flaws in Samsung's Galaxy S6 Edge device (and by association, likely the entire Galaxy S6 line), owners are now more secure. 

The team gave themselves a week to root out vulnerabilities, and to keep everyone sharp, the researchers made a contest out of it pitting the North American and European participants against each other.  

Their efforts resulted in the discovery of 11 vulnerabilities, the "most interesting" of which was CVE-2015-7888. It's a directory traversal bug that allows a file to be written as a system. Project Zero said it was trivially exploitable, though it's also one of several that Samsung has since fixed.

Wingnut Perspectives

Bernie Sanders Sends Shock Waves Through American Politics With $2 Million Campaign Ad

By Jason Easley

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is sending shock waves through the 2016 presidential election with a $2 million television ad that takes his message of change to the masses.

Video:



Transcript of the ad:

VOICE OVER
 
The son of a Polish immigrant who grew up in a Brooklyn tenement.

He went to public schools, then college where the work of his life began.
Fighting injustice and inequality.
Speaking truth to power.

He moved to Vermont, won election and praise — as one of America’s best Mayors.
In Congress, he stood up for working families and for principle
Opposing the Iraq War.
Supporting veterans.

Now, he’s taking on Wall Street and a corrupt political system.
Funded by over a million contributions.
Tackling climate change to create clean energy jobs.
Fighting for living wages, equal pay and tuition-free public colleges

BERNIE SANDERS

“People are sick and tired of establishment politics and they want real change.”

VOICE OVER

Bernie Sanders.
Husband. Father. Grandfather.
An honest leader — building a movement with you, to give us a future to believe in.

BERNIE SANDERS
 
“I’m Bernie Sanders and I approve this message.”

Notice how the ad specifically mentions building a political movement. Bernie Sanders isn’t only interested in winning the Democratic nomination. He is trying to build a movement that will change the United States of America.

Sanders campaign manager John Weaver said, “Thousands of Americans have come out to see Bernie speak and we’ve seen a great response to his message. This ad marks the next phase of this campaign. We’re bringing that message directly to the voters of Iowa and New Hampshire.”

The Sanders campaign is growing. The movement is evolving. Bernie Sanders isn’t going to be stopped by politics as usual. Whether or not he wins the Democratic nomination, Bernie Sanders is sending shock waves through American politics with his movement to change America by handing political power back to ordinary Americans.

The message that Republicans, their billionaires, and the corporate interests don’t want people to hear is now being broadcast over the mass media. The Sanders call for taking the country back has gone mainstream.

Bernie Sanders has changed the race for the Democratic nomination by making it more liberal and giving voice to issues that would not normally be discussed in primary campaigns. Sanders is also impacting the Republican contest. Republicans are getting debate questions about income inequality.

The impact of his message is sending shock waves through our national dialogue.

The senator from Vermont is changing the political conversation in the United States, and taking his message to television will only expand his reach.

The fact that Sanders can spend $2 million on ad buy for Iowa and New Hampshire is a tribute to the 750,000+ Americans who have donated to his campaign.

Bernie Sanders isn’t just out to win an election. He’s out to change a country.