Stephan: As you read this story, ask yourself: Could this be a coincidence, that a right wing Trump appointee to the Federal Election Commission at just this moment would leave, essentially making the FEC defunct, and go to work for a Koch organization? If you can believe that you probably believe God chose Donald Trump to be president. The Republican Party is doing everything in its power to rig the November election.
Caroline Hunter testifies during a hearing before the Elections Subcommittee of House Committee on House Administration November 3, 2011. Credit: Alex Wong/Getty
After 10 months, the Federal Elections Commission in May regained a quorum with the confirmation of Republican appointee Trey Trainor—and promptly lost it just over five weeks later on Friday when commissioner Caroline Hunter resigned to join the Koch-funded group Stand Together, leaving the regulatory body again essentially powerless as the November general election draws closer.
“The FEC’s brief period of functioning appears to be over,” tweetedPublic Integrity reporter Carrie Levine.
Hunter’s last day is July 3.
“Republican FEC commissioner leaving to joining the Koch network’s dark money fundraising apparatus,” tweeted Dig Left researcher Andrew Perez. “Says a lot!”
In a statement reacting to the resignation, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), the chair of the Committee on House Administration, said the news “makes abundantly clear the shortsightedness of the Senate Majority’s naked partisanship in abandoning a longstanding tradition of confirming bipartisan pairs of Commissioners.”
“The FEC just emerged from a nine-month period without a quorum—the longest running period of the commission’s history—during which it was hamstrung from […]
Stephan: Yet another article in the foreign press describing a failing America. And I think this report by the BBC is correct. This trend is just starting.
Credit: BBC
As hair salons, churches and restaurants reopen across the US, so are eviction courts. Advocates and experts say that an unprecedented crush of evictions is coming, threatening millions of Americans with homelessness as a possible second wave of the pandemic looms.
Sitting in her car parked outside of the little white house in Kansas City, Missouri, where she’d lived for two years, Tamika Cole was overwhelmed. She’d worked a long shift as a machine operator the night before, at a factory where she makes detergent bottles for $18 an hour. It’s good, stable work. Nevertheless, Cole was on the brink of losing her home. Her nerves were shot.
“What am I supposed to do?” she said. “I’m tired of crying.”
Cole said that she came home in early May to find an eviction notice affixed to her door. She believed that it was because of a dispute she had with her upstairs neighbour, but that her landlord never spoke to her about it before filing the eviction against her.
Due to the coronavirus, an eviction moratorium was in place in Kansas […]
Stephan: Just because millions of Americans have Covid-19, and over 100,000 have died in the worse handled pandemic in modern history doesn't mean that Trump and his greed orcs are not out working to advance their interests.
Credit: strmx/AP
On Thursday, five federal regulatory agencies voted to roll back a key financial rule enacted following the 2008 financial crisis. The change will make it easier for banks to invest in venture capital and will tweak some restrictions on bank investing in hedge funds and private equity—all forms of riskier investing that Congress limited after 2010.
The revised rule will also shrink the financial cushion that banks are required to keep on hand during certain types of derivatives trading. This particular change could free up an estimated $40 billion of capital for banks to trade with.
Sheila Bair, who served as chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation during the financial crisis, told CNBC that she believes the changes are “ill-advised” because “that $40 billion that will no longer be in banks to protect them” will expose the government to more risk.
Called the Volcker rule, the original version of this regulation has long been one of the most controversial parts of the Dodd-Frank Act, a sweeping package of Wall Street reforms enacted after the 2008 crisis and the bailout that stabilized […]
Stephan: As I noted in the first story in today's edition just because we are in the worst pandemic in our lifetimes, with millions sick, and over 100,000 dead, and millions out of work, why what better time could there be to try and destroy America's already barely functioning healthcare? What this report describes is a level of nastiness at the Caligula level. Unusual? Not at all. Just another day for Donald Trump and the orcs around him.
Supreme Court chamber
Credit: Wikimedia
The Trump administration on Thursday night urged the Supreme Court to strike down Obamacare, pushing forward with its attack on the health care law as millions of newly jobless Americans may come to depend on its coverage.
The Justice Department in a new legal brief argues Obamacare in its entirety became invalid when the previous Republican-led Congress axed the unpopular individual mandate penalty for uninsured people. The filing comes weeks after President Donald Trump confirmed his administration would continue to press for Obamacare’s elimination, ignoring warnings from top aides about the risk of voter backlash in November.
“No further analysis is necessary; once the individual mandate and the guaranteed-issue and community-rating provisions are invalidated, the remainder of the ACA cannot survive,” the Justice Department stated.
Trump’s new legal brief offers fresh ammunition to Democrats and their presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden, who believe their advantage on health care will help the party retake the White House and possibly the Senate this fall. On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced plans to […]
Stephan: Here's a question for you: Can you be appointed to a senior position in the Trump administration if you are NOT a White supremacist grifter? It would appear not. Here is the latest orc Trump has put forward.
Retired Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata in 2013. Credit: Chris Seward, The News & Observer/AP
Anthony Tata is a combat veteran. But the retired Army brigadier general and Fox News commentator — now a nominee for the No. 3 post at the Defense Department — does not have the courage of his odious convictions.
CNN’s KFile team, led by ace Internet sleuth Andrew Kaczynski, has unearthed a long trail of deranged comments from Tata, many of which he recently deleted from Twitter in an unsuccessful attempt at cleanup. The first CNN story, on June 12, reported that Tata had called Islam the “most oppressive violent religion I know of” and that he had described President Barack Obama as a “terrorist leader” who did more to “help Islamic countries than any president in history.” Tata argued that Obama negotiated the Iranian nuclear deal because he had “Islamic roots” and wanted “to help Iranians and the greater Islamic state crush Israel.” In addition, he lashed out at Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), calling them “violent extremists” and accusing Waters […]
