Polling firm CEO: ’20 million Trump voters’ will lose time and half overtime pay under GOP plan

Stephan:  It is going to be painful to watch the Trump voters become disillusioned, or if they continue to be played. Trump's behavior is modeled on a Putin kind of leadership, and like Putin's it demands a pliant peasantry. For me the question is will American put up with this? I'm not sure at this point. What I do know is that history is clear authoritarian governments don't last, are more expensive, less productive, less efficient, less pleasant to live under, less productive of individual and social wellbeing. Recovering from it requires a long social convalescence.
Donald Trump supporters in St. Louis, Missouri  Credit: R. Gino Santa Maria / Shutterstock.com

Donald Trump supporters in St. Louis, Missouri
Credit: R. Gino Santa Maria / Shutterstock.com

Millions of Americans who voted for Donald Trump are expected to lose overtime pay rights soon after he is sworn in as president.

Tom Bonier, CEO of the polling firm Targetsmart, pointed out on Monday that “almost 20,000,000 Trump voters would lose time and a half overtime” under a Republican plan to reverse regulations put in place by President Barack Obama.

Based on exit polls, almost 20,000,000 Trump voters would lose time and a half overtime under this change.

According to Politico, House Republicans are already plotting the most efficient way to dismantle Obama-era regulations. An overtime rule requiring companies to pay time-and-a-half to workers who make less than […]

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Brexit slashes U.K. household wealth by $1.5 trillion

Stephan:  BREXIT which was driven by the same forces that elected Donald Trump President, has been a financial disaster particularly for those in the U.K. who voted for it. Racial nativism is a powerful and visceral emotion that trumps rational thought.

logo_brexit_new_size2It looks like the British will be leaving the European Union with much lighter wallets. U.K. household wealth has plummeted by a combined $1.5 trillion as a “direct result” of the vote to leave the EU, according to a new report on global wealth produced by Credit Suisse.

The dramatic plunge in wealth was driven by a decline in the value of the pound, which has lost 15% of its value following the Brexit vote.

The loss of $1.5 trillion over the past 12 months translates into a 10% reduction in household wealth, according to Credit Suisse. Household wealth includes financial investments and real assets like housing. Debts are subtracted.

Only Mexico, Egypt, Russia, Ukraine and Argentina suffered larger percentage drops in household wealth than the U.K. Meanwhile, households in Turkey and Colombia fared better than those in the U.K.

Britain is expected to trigger EU exit negotiations early next year. The government’s strategy for the talks is not yet clear, but it’s unlikely that Britain will be able to maintain access to Europe’s single trading bloc.

“The [U.K.] outlook is very uncertain, both for the economy and household wealth,” Credit Suisse said.

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Literacy Not A Right For Detroit School Kids According To State

Stephan:  This and the next story, both about Michigan should be read with what has happened to Kansas under Sam Brownback in mind. Michigan's Governor Rick Snyder, like his fellow Republican Brownback, is following the nightmare ideology of the Republican Right to the gross detriment of his state. And yet both were voted into office which tells us that White race and immigration fear trumps good sense, and even self-interest. Ask yourself: Why would anyone want to create a genereation of illiterate or semi-literate children? Could it be that such a situation  would serve Republican fascist interests to have an electorate as ignorant and easily manipulated as possible?
Detroit public school classroom Credit: Psychology Today

Detroit public school classroom
Credit: Psychology Today

DETROIT, MICHIGAN Detroit school children have no fundamental right to literacy, according to Gov. Rick Snyder’s attorneys, in the midst of a suit claiming the poor reading skills of Detroit students at five schools, deplorable building conditions, and lack of basic classroom necessities are the fault of the state. (emphasis added)

A California public interest law firm is representing seven Detroit public school students who believe the education they are getting is substandard and essentially want the courts to rule that literacy is a fundamental constitutional right reports WWJ legal analyst Charlie Langton.

The suit looks to establish that literacy is a U.S. constitutional right.

“Decades of State disinvestment in and deliberate indifference to Detroit schools have denied Plaintiff schoolchildren access to the most basic building block of education: literacy,” the suit claims at its start.

The lawsuit says the schools are in “slum-like conditions” and “functionally incapable of delivering access to literacy.” The case, filed in federal court, directly accuses Gov. Rick […]

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Michigan Officials Seek to Block Court-Ordered Bottled Water Delivery in Flint

Stephan:  Flint, Michigan represents a classic example of alt-right Republican governance, and the effect it has on minority populations. Like the preceding story about the attempt to degrade the most basic task of a public school -- teaching reading and writing -- the behavior of the Rick Snyder administration concerning Flint, Michigan is disgusting and morally repugnant.
Sheila Cunningham rinses fish with bottled water in Flint, Michigan, October 6, 2016. Flint residents' fears over using the water have scarcely subsided, even as lead pipes are slowly being replaced.  Credit: Brittany Greeson / The New York Times

Sheila Cunningham rinses fish with bottled water in Flint, Michigan, October 6, 2016. Flint residents’ fears over using the water have scarcely subsided, even as lead pipes are slowly being replaced.
Credit: Brittany Greeson / The New York Times

State officials in Michigan asked a federal court in Detroit on Thursday to block a court order requiring bottled water deliveries to homes in Flint, Michigan, where residents are still waiting for clean tap water two years after municipal water supplies were contaminated with dangerous levels of lead.

The state’s motion requests the court to temporarily block the water delivery order while officials appeal the requirement. The order was issued by a federal judge last week and requires city and state officials to deliver bottled water to Flint residents unless they have a functioning faucet filter or refuse the […]

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Pat McCrory Lost the North Carolina Governorship. Now He’s Trying to Steal It.

Stephan:  There is a major story that is not getting enough coverage, and that is how Theocratic Rightist Identitarian politics has captured the Republican Party. The party of Abraham Lincoln, or Teddy Roosevelt, or Dwight Eisenhower, has become the party of Sam Brownback, Bobby Jindal, Chris Christie, Pat McCrory and, most particularly, Donald Trump. I don't really see these corrupt White racists as Republicans. It's like a science fiction novel where the hero is possessed and taken over by the dark forces; he looks the same, has the same name, but is not at all the same.
North Caroline Gov. Pat McCrory vows to contest the results of North Carolina’s gubernatorial election, while his wife, Ann, looks on. Credit: Jonathan Drake/Reuters

North Caroline Gov. Pat McCrory vows to contest the results of North Carolina’s gubernatorial election, while his wife, Ann, looks on.
Credit: Jonathan Drake/Reuters

North Carolina Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, champion of the country’s most notorious anti-LGBTQ law, lost his bid for re-election on Nov. 8—at last count, by 7,448 votes. Yet nearly two weeks later, McCrory still refuses to concede. Instead, he and his legal team are baselessly alleging that the results were tainted by fraud, petitioning election boards to review the results and determine their validity. McCrory is not so obtuse as to think he can actually overtake his opponent, Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper, in raw votes. His strategy is more insidious: He seems intent on delaying the formal declaration of a winner—and delegitimizing the voting process—in order to let the Republican-dominated legislature ignore the true result and […]

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