Friday, December 18, 2015

Debby Wasserman Shultz Must Go


Democratic Chairperson Debby Wasserman Schultz isn’t answering her phones or even taking messages.  This DNC impostor leader is really doing everything she can to sabotage the Bernie Sanders campaign.  Now the “firewall between the databases” is down and they are trying to get the Sanders campaign in trouble and then denying the data Sanders people developed themselves- - for their own usage.  I don’t like the idea of Thom Hartman disallowing any criticism of Clinton.  If the Republicans are right on an issue or not it doesn’t matter.  We have every right to bring up the Trust issues with Hillary, or the sort of under-handed stuff she pulled on Obama in the 2008 campaign.  We don’t like Hillary’s ties to Wall Street.  I consider this a major campaign issue.  I hate the idea that Hartman and people are like him are saying “Don’t support Sanders because you’ll only help the Republicans.”  It’s a LONG way till next November.  Not a single vote has been cast yet.  Now they’re trying to declare victory without a single vote being case in rigging the poll numbers by not allowing new voters under 26 a right to be represented in the polls as “likely voters”.  Why disallow data from students and others 18 to 26 years of age?   These very stunts by Debby Wasserman Schultz including the scheduling of the debates themselves on the very weekend Star Wars comes out and the biggest Christmas shopping day of the year.  We need to get rid of this head of the democratic national committee.  She is nothing but trouble.

The US Congress is about to pass one of their omnibus Christmas tree style legislation where the good gets mixed in with the bad.  See Thom Hartman for details.  They are lifting the ban on oil exports.  This will increase pollution world wide and drive up the price of gasoline at the pump for domestic users do to increased transportation costs.  It’s also something people like the Koch Brothers want.  Also the ban on labeling GMO foods is left intact.  There are many such odious measures. We desperately need to go back to voting out individual bills.  I’ve heard it’s a mutual back scratching festival now where there is a compromise that neither Republicans nor Democrats like and neither would vote for in a straight up or down vote- - but they make these slippery deals with imbedded poison pills in them.  They pulled the same stunt last year and I didn’t like it then.  

 In other news the White House promises a “non traditional State of the Union message”.  And Trump has praised Vladimir Putin ant Putin has praised Trump calling him a great leader.  What can I say?  Great despots think alike.  Maybe this is why Trump’s foreign policy in Syria was demonstrably soft on Russia and Putin.  If we can work at all with Vladimir Putin, this would be a plus.  Trump appears unstoppable anyhow.  Israel and Turkey are reconciling and reaching an understanding over a 2010 naval incident.   But it’s the Palestinian population on the West Bank and in Gaza who are getting the shaft by Israel.  This is a military occupation and not to put too fine of point on it, basically a giant internment camp. 

This is Friday December 18, 2015 and the 45th anniversary of a couple of dubious events in 1970 maybe we’ll get to.  Apparentl Star Wars The Force Awakens premered last night.  I think the hype is over-bearing.  Now Rocky Mountain Mike is doing a review of the year’s hits.  This is Stephanie Miller’s last day before vacation and John Fugelsang won’t be here today.  I guess Glenda is being picked up for the mountains any time now.  They’re still playing all the year’s parody hits.  Yesterday will be known as “the lost day”.   The one normal thing that happened before Judy called after nine was that I watched a segment of “Ring of Fire” just before nine.  Then I had Thom Hartman on and Judy called about linking into the computer and we were off to the races.  It took seven and a half hours just to reinstall MacAfee, which was done after dinner. 

I'm puzzled by the margin here.  Why is this indented so far?  The photo thing doesn't seem to work now unless it fixes itself.  OK it fixed itself.  (Maybe the cat is camera shy)


The spending measure, more than $1.1 trillion, includes a provision to end the 40-year ban on exports of crude oil from the United States — a priority of Republicans — as well as a large increase in funds for medical research at the National Institutes of Health that received bipartisan support.
It also reauthorizes and expands federal aid for emergency workers suffering from health ailments related to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York City.
Under the bill, Congress would permanently extend several tax breaks that have been renewed repeatedly on a temporary basis. These include a popular business tax credit for research expenses, a small but symbolic tax deduction for teachers who spend their own money on books, supplies and computer equipment used in the classroom, and a separate deduction for state and local sales taxes.
After weeks of tense negotiations, congressional Democrats and the Obama administration succeeded in beating back a blizzard of policy amendments, known as riders, that Republicans had sought to attach to the spending measure.
“We walked into these negotiations focused on making sure that Republicans would not succeed in advancing their ideological agenda through the budgetary process,” said Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary.
The Republican proposals included efforts to scuttle an environmental rule expanding federal oversight over domestic waterways, new rules on conflicts of interest for financial advisers handling retirement funds and a labor provision that would have made it more difficult for employees of fast-food restaurants to join unions.
The spending bill also includes more vigorous security checks as part of the visa-waiver program, a fast-track process used by millions of visitors to enter the United States that was pursued because of concern after the recent terrorist attacks carried out by the Islamic State. In addition, the bill incorporates a measure that expands the sharing of information between private firms and federal security agencies to prevent cyberattacks.
The spending legislation notably does not include tighter restrictions on admitting Syrian and Iraqi refugees that had been approved overwhelmingly in a separate measure in the House.
The tax portion also delays some key provisions of the Affordable Care Act, including the so-called Cadillac tax on expensive private health insurance plans.
Republican leaders in Congress characterized the year-end package as representing a hard-fought compromise that would keep the government open and provide large-scale tax breaks.
“We played the cards that we were dealt with as best as we possibly could,” said the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin. “I believe we’ve made the best of it.”

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