A Reality Check: Trump's Covid Relief Exec Orders Aren't Worth An Ounce of Doggie Lickspittle

"Come on in, suckers!  I got great news for ya! I'm gonna revive unemployment bonus insurance and extend the moratorium on evictions! Howzzat for a stable genius!"

"We begin with a foundational premise, a stone-bound axiom learned the hardest of hard ways after three long years: Donald Trump does not care about you, or me, or anyone on this planet. Donald Trump cares only about Donald Trump, full stop, end of file. Do not let the triumphant-sounding weekend headlines about his executive orders fool you; those orders are made of soap bubbles. Yes, friends, it’s yet another scam.'"   - William Rivers Pitt, smirkingchimp.com

On Saturday, frustrated on no headway made by congress passing the HEROES Act - to help over 35 million jobless American workers- Trump took (executive) action on his own.  He fired off executive orders claiming to extend unemployment insurance, as well as defer the payroll tax until year's end, and reinstate a moratorium on evictions.  The latter to prevent up to 22 million getting tossed onto the streets in the middle of a pandemic.

 Knowing at some level it is congress that controls the power of the purse, the Dotard said he would use unspent funds from the CARES act to continue unemployment payments to millions of newly unemployed Americans at a rate of $400 per week – a $200 drop from the earlier $600 payment, (Which will cause at least ten million to now have to choose between rent and utilities - or food.)  Further, in reality his order only supplies $300 more per week, expecting the Covid near- bankrupted states to provide the rest.  This is sheer lunacy given the budget morass of the states.

He also plans to defer payroll tax through the end of 2020, though that will not help the millions of 'gig' workers affected during the pandemic.

Typical of the consummate con man he is, Trump claimed:

“Congressional Democrats have stonewalled our efforts to extend  this relief,”

Actually, Trump and the Repukes have stonewalled in resisting spending the money needed to help over 30 million stay on their feet and not be sucked into a financial loss maelstrom.  Most of those millions are a cat's whisker from losing a home or domicile or not having enough food.  But the 'pukes keep insisting a  $600 bonus in unemployment insurance would incline too many to stay at home watching TV and chomping Twinkies-  instead of going back to work.  This despite several reports and research papers skewering that claptrap.

By contrast, the HEROES Act passed by House Democrats in May would have extended the enhanced $600 unemployment benefit through January, but the White House and Senate Republicans sought to change the formula for these benefits so that — in many cases — the weekly payment came to about $200 a week. Republicans eventually changed their offer and told Democrats they would agree to about $400 a week in benefits-  but only for 5-6 weeks - not to year's end.  The Dems had sense enough to grasp this was a joke, a non- starter, especially given the fact that by changing from $600 to less per week bonus, state job offices would take weeks - maybe months-  to have to reconfigure their systems.

Asked by a reporter why the benefits would be $400 instead of the previous $600, Trump responded: “This is the money they need, this is the money they want, this gives them a great incentive to go back to work.”

He added: “There was a difficulty with the 600 number because it really was a disincentive.”

But that's balderdash as I noted.  In fact, the money has nada to do with incentives to return to work. Americans already have that. What they don't have is enough money to meet all their financial obligations especially during renewed lockdowns in many areas as the virus returns.  Also, they need more jobs created to be able to FIND work, given there is currently an estimated 5 workers to each available  job.

Let's also note the Republican package failed to include an additional $1,200 direct payment to individuals, money for states to hold elections in November, or support for the beleagured US Postal Service, which  Nancy Pelosi said was “central to the life of our democracy” in an election year when many Americans will be voting by mail.

So the Dems had no choice but to hold out for a sane deal, which the Reepo atrocity was not.  Oh, and also it meant not allowing the Trust Act to go through - as part of the Repuke package, e.g.

• Don't Trust The Repuke TRUST Act: It Will Gut Soc...

When one looks beneath the 'hood' of these  Trump "exec orders"  (actually one real order and three 'memoranda')  one sees they are mostly shams.  How so?

Trump’s unilateral actions, if carried out, would provide only limited relief. The White House on Saturday authorized taking about $50 billion from the FEMA fund  (in the middle of hurricane season, mind you) to pay for unemployment benefits.  But that money will only last about five weeks before expiring,   Worse, it could well take 5-6 weeks to get the increase implemented .  This is given the states are expected to supply $100 of the $400, but they are running on financial fumes. Here in Colorado, for example, a $3 billion estimated budget shortfall exists because of the pandemic, As Gov. Jared Polis indicated  (Denver Post,  p. 8A) that means the state will only be able to provide the supplemental $100/week for 2-3 weeks at most.  Polis is hoping by the end of that temporary aid the White House will 'get real'  and  cooperate with Congress for real stimulus money.  Well, don't hold your breath, Guv.

Basically, Trump’s action on unemployment does not funnel additional money to the existing unemployment program, but instead creates a new program for “lost wages” that states will then have to set up from scratch (since they will  have to commit to the $100 additional support Trump does not). This could take up to two months, their monies are also running low for any added administrative purposes, and meanwhile people are without a pot to piss in.

Regarding the suspension of the payroll tax, another element in his orders, one Trump aide admitted (Denver Post, today, p. 12A):  "Yeah, it's really an interest -free loan that would have to be repaid, not a freebie."

As for the order to minimize evictions and foreclosures, it  does not reinstate the federal eviction moratorium that expired last month or fund the billions in assistance necessary to help people already behind on their rent.  Instead, it calls on the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to “consider” whether it is necessary to temporarily halt evictions.

All a Trump sleight of hand, or in more blunt language another of his cons, a classic one. As Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote on Twitter:

"This scheme is a classic Trump con: play-acting at leadership while robbing families of the support they need. This ‘plan’ fails to reinstate supercharged unemployment, and would throw already overburdened state programs into chaos, making it harder to get benefits out the door.”

More precisely, from the order lingo:

 The Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development “shall identify” federal funds to provide temporary assistance to renters and homeowners “who, as a result of the financial hardships caused by COVID-19, are struggling to meet their monthly rental or mortgage obligations,”.

Jack Smalligan, a former official at the Office of Management and Budget and now a senior policy fellow at the Urban Institute, put it this way:

"The President cannot create new money with an executive order. These EOs simply show the limitations of the President’s legal authority,”

Even senior members of Trump’s cabal cast doubt on the feasibility of these blatant PR maneuvers.   Most believe it a 'hail Mary' play for Dotard Donnie to try to recover lost ground against Biden. This  since nothing else seems to work and Trump himself  doesn't relish doing much real work to stop the virus.  He'd rather tweet and watch Fox News. (Mary L. Trump in her new expose book says that is all he really likes to do.  The thought of actual work is a buzzkill.)

The sad fact is most of the media and likely too many citizens have been played by this political posturing move of desperation.   To make matters worse, the Trump administration recently decided against extending a food stamps waiver that allowed needy families to bypass certification, such as providing pay stubs. The move will now reduce the number of eligible families in the coming months, even as other stimulus measures expire.

One hopes that on November 3rd the many millions of seniors who still fancy Trump won't be taken in again. Especially given he's promised to cut the payroll tax permanently if he gets re-elected. Meaning Social Security's Trust Fund will run out of money even earlier than now forecast (2035).

See Also:

Donald Trump | Media

Here We Go Again: Trump's BS Executive Orders Sucker the Media on Coronavirus Relief

And:

Economic Policy

Trump's Unemployment Insurance Proposal Is Even Stingier than Expected

And:

Economic Policy | Social Security

Trump’s Social Security Sleight of Hand Is Another Scam. Don’t Fall for It.

Don't Trust The Repuke TRUST Act: It Will Gut Social Security & Medicare On Top Of Leaving 55 Million Without A Covid Lifeline

"True to form, Republicans are trying to gut Social Security and Medicare in the middle of a pandemic. This bill doubles down on using secret, closed-door panels to undo these earned benefits. I will oppose any bill that includes a fast lane to cut Social Security and Medicare."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Sen. Ron Wyden's tweet above says it all.

As Jill Schlesinger noted last week when the last jobless numbers came in:

"That extra $600 a week was spent in the economy. So without a new package I think we are going to see the economy flatten out and that would create a really big problem in getting these millions of people back to work."

Let's cut to the chase:  

The Repukes  are trying to use the pandemic to cut  Social Security and Medicare benefits behind closed doors, using a bill with an Orwellian name—the TRUST Act.  The TRUST Act creates a closed-door committee to fast-track cuts to our earned benefits. And now, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have put the bill on a fast-track of its own by including it in the Republican Covid-19 package known as the HEALS Act.

These vermin who are plotting to use this public health crisis as a vehicle to ram through cuts to  earned social insurance benefits, are fungal pond scum. The American people will never forget that they used the worst global cataclysm of modern times to try to rob millions of their Social Security and Medicare benefits. 

Most of the politicians pushing this dastardly plan are Republicans. Prominent Democrats are speaking out against it, including Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee and lead Senate negotiator on the relief packages.  He went on to explain:

The TRUST Act will result in far-reaching cuts to Social Security and Medicare—that is the intention of the bill. The legislation sets up closed-door commissions to fast-track the destruction of these programs. In 2010, a similar closed-door commission made cuts to the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA); hiked the retirement age (which is an across-the-board benefit cut for all retirees); changed the Social Security benefit formula to reduce the amount people receive each month; and made cuts to Medicare that forced seniors and individuals with disabilities to pay more for drugs, doctor visits, and hospital care by increasing cost-sharing like co-pays.

The last thing struggling Americans need right now is a secret panel designed to slash their earned benefits and further undermine their economic security. It’s astonishing that attacking Social Security and Medicare are Republicans’ priorities at this moment, not protecting people’s health care or ensuring families can afford to stay in their homes and put food on the table.

Rep. John Larson (D-CT), lifelong champion of Social Security and chair of the Social Security subcommittee, condemned it with the strongest language possible:

This is a direct assault on Social Security benefits. The TRUST Act Commission would make it easier to fast track cuts, while ignoring the urgent needs to strengthen Social Security, especially during this pandemic. This would just kick the can down the road and ignore regular order. It’s Congress’s responsibility to do this correctly and vote! As Chairman Neal points out, we have seen this before with the 2010 Bowles-Simpson report, which proposed major Social Security and Medicare cuts. Instead, what we need to do is enact the Social Security COVID Correction and Equity Act to increase benefits, rather than cut them.

But a small splinter group of Democrats, publicly led by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), supports the TRUST Act. They are the most reprehensible of all, for giving it bipartisan cover.

It’s not too late for politicians who originally supported the TRUST Act, when it was first introduced in January, to partially redeem themselves. They need to make it clear that even though they supported the bill, they do not support holding the pandemic response package hostage to jam it through behind the American people's backs.

We already know that Mitt Romney and his ilk are  holding personal protective equipment for nurses and doctors hostage so they can cut  Social Security benefits. What Krysten Sinema is doing is holding financial relief for millions of Americans who lost their job through no fault of their own hostage in order to cut Medicare benefits. It is sick, even by the gutter standards of the current reality with a deranged traitor scum as president.

Their justification for including the TRUST Act in the Covid-19 package is telling. They claim that with this coronavirus relief package adding to the deficit, we need the TRUST Act to "rein in the national debt." What they don't mention is that  Social Security doesn't add a single penny to the debt  because it had no creditors.  Even Ronald Reagan understood that!   At the same time Medicare is far more cost-effective than private insurance because it's administrative costs are 10 -15 times lower than private insurance.

This isn't really about the deficit. It's about achieving a long-standing right-wing ideological goal to gut senior Americans'  earned benefits—and using the Covid-19 catastrophe to do it. That's why even AARP, which rarely takes a stance on Social Security legislation, has come out against including the TRUST Act in the next pandemic relief package.

Dems needs to fight like demons to insure no eventual compromise arises which contains this refuse buried inside it, akin to a Trojan horse.

See Also:

Economic Policy | Healthcare Policy | Social Security

Alert! Social Security and Medicare are in Critical Danger

by Dave Lindorff | August 11, 2020 - 5:09am | permalink

And:

Covid-19 | Economic Policy

Forcing People Back to Work in a Pandemic is Both Stupid and Immoral

Dem Tsunami In November Will Ensure The End Of Devin Nunes and His Bogus Investigations

The Trump lackey Devin Nunes, still going on with bogus investigations to distract from the real ones.

It is incredible that while the House and Senate intelligence committees have known for months about credible allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, GOP saboteurs have tried to undermine their credibility. They've done this by using a number of hired lackeys and conspiracy "research monkeys"  charged with finding something, anything to distract from the Mueller and other investigations. In their desperation, they've tried to make much ado over the Steele dossier, over Hillary's involvement in "Uranium One" and also the use of Fusion GPS to do oppo research.

At the forefront in most of these recent efforts has been Devin Nunes, so in the wheelhouse of Donnie Dotard that he continues to wage a cynical campaign to portray Bob Mueller as trying to instigate a "coup" against his master. Obviously, however, Nunes is merely one of the unwitting victims of Kremlin disinformation- or perhaps more bluntly, their useful idiot.

Recall back in March it was Nunes and his Repuke compadres (Trey Gowdy and Thomas Rooney) who did their level best (using their question sessions)  to highlight only the leaks to journalists and thereby criticize the news coverage about the Russia investigation. Nunes at one point even bellowed:

"We aim to determine who has leaked or facilitated leaks of classified information so that these individuals can be brought to justice."

The supreme irony? That Nunes himself had become the paramount leaker of classified files in the course of a covert mission to the White House and subsequent disclosure of his criminal file handling to appease Trump.  To quote Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee:  “Representative Nunes’s statements would appear to reveal classified information, which is a serious concern." 

In effect, Devin Nunes, in a desperate move to provide cover for his master Dotard,   committed a felony in order to sabotage the commission he chaired. He since recused himself (on paper) after the ensuing brouhaha but has remained in the background trying to toss spanner after spanner into the investigative works.

One of the bees in Nunes' bonnet is the Steele dossier, which I've read in toto and find nothing amiss, nothing inconsistent with Donnie Dotard's malignant narcissistic character.  Even the so-called "salacious" part makes eminent sense when one reads it in context and is aware of Dotard's unhinged, malignant, sexually abusive nature. It reads as follows:

"Trump's perverted conduct in Moscow (2013) included hiring the presidential suite of the Ritz Carlton Hotel. where he knew President and Mrs. Obama (whom he hated) had  stayed on one of their official trips to Russia, and defiling the bed where they had slept by employing a number of prostitutes to perform a 'golden showers'  (urination) show in front of him.   The hotel was known to be under FSB control with microphones and concealed cameras in all the main rooms to record anything they wanted to."

There is no reason at all to doubt this account given the fact the behavior described- as appalling as it is - is totally consistent with Trump's psychological profile.  That includes his penchant for "pussy grabbing" and assaulting Miss Universe contestants by grabbing their breasts in their dressing rooms. Using Russian "piss whores" to defile a bed he knew the Obamas had slept him is precisely a debased act in his "wheelhouse".  

Christopher Steele, as I've written before, is no clown or stooge or even a "spook" likely to be fooled as assorted WSJ nattering nabobs have claims.  According to one Financial Times account (Feb. 16) , Steele was the "UK intelligence expert on Russia".  It is, therefore, highly unlikely he'd be 'fooled" by any kind of false intel or disinformation as the WSJ's Kremlin dupes seem to believe.   James Nixey, the head of Chatham House's Russia and Eurasia program, informed the AP that sections of the dossier document created by Steele "read exactly as reports from the secret services".

Another Nunes' obsession has been the "unmasking" of assorted Trump associates and campaign personnel, but which was totally validated after an Australian diplomatic official notified the FBI that George Papadopoulos had bragged to him of getting access to "dirt on Hillary Clinton" from the Russians.   But he's stuck to this dead end distraction nonetheless, along with the already disproved "uranium one"  conspiracy.

In the above context, perhaps the most generous characterization one can allow for Nunes's  actions is that the man himself is simply out of his depth.   After all, Devin clearly doesn't know the difference between actual surveillance and collection of data - a passive activity for which one doesn't need a FISA warrant. Also, one doesn't need to redact names on the intel products or reports if it's simple collection.  (This was pointed out by a FISA-surveillance specialist at the time it was raised 10 months ago.)

On the other hand, Nunes's performance  the past year has had all the hallmarks of a classic disinformation and obfuscation mission which I've seen many times before in other investigations. They usually occur just as the "noose" is tightening or when an investigation is finally coming toward a unifying resolution. 

For example, just as the House Select Committee on Assassinations in 1978 was finally coming to a definitive conclusion for a grassy knoll head shot in the JFK assassination, based on acoustic tests by MIT scientists  Weiss and Barger, up pops Norman Ramsey.  This guy was dispatched by old line Warren Commission defenders and hacks to besmirch the MIT acoustic tests and undermine the HSCA  investigation.. With little or no experience and background compared to the MIT team, Ramsey's panel managed to muddy the waters sufficiently by their absurd interjections and criticisms..

Subsequently the Ramsey Panel analysis was alleged to have  'refuted' the original Weiss -Barger study, but in fact it only showed that the Weiss group had omitted some considerations. The Ramsey analysis certainly did not 'nullify' the Weiss/Barger analysis since up to now it has not been  reproduced, so cannot be accepted as a bona fide scientific conclusion. Indeed, as per an email received in 1996 from another acoustic researcher, W. Antony Marsh, "the Ramsey team even exceeded the claimed errors of the Barger team and at a more fundamental level".

 The Ramsey insinuation and deliberate muddying had the effect of forcing the HSCA to tie itself in knots - accepting enough of the MIT analysis to find for "96 percent probability of conspiracy" but not enough to shuck the idiotic WC version for the kill shot, allegedly fired from the rear (Texas Book Depository)  when the rear of the skull was blown out - a physical impossibility.  Incredibly, some clueless Warrenite dupes (e.g. a "Walter Butler")  to this day refuse to acknowledge the actual fake is the one circulated by the WC, and the real autopsy photograph is that showing the rear of the head blown out.

In this guise,  Devin Nunes himself is either a useful idiot or a deliberate tool for the Russkies and Trump.  In any case, he's compounding the number of investigatory and other errors, false assumptions and egregious conclusions. And it is to the point one must conclude he's a "soldier" doing the Trumpies' bidding to derail existing congressional investigations. On the positive side, when the Dem mid term tsunami hits, as it will in eleven months, we can be sure Devin's clown act will be at an end, along with his bogus conspiracy ideations and "investigations". Indeed, the investigatory structure may then be turned back on him.

See also:

https://www.mediaite.com/online/fusion-gps-founders-write-nyt-op-ed-responding-to-republicans-selectively-leaking-info/

Why Dems May Need To Go "Nuclear" To Stop The Repuke Tax Bill

"Hey, , the longer we can bamboozle the base, the better!"

"We got to get this thing passed. Otherwise, our base will fracture, people will stop writin' checks, and the party will crumble under its own weight." Lindsey Graham yesterday.

Let's not mince words: the GOP tax "reform" bill on offer is an unmitigated atrocity. For starters:

- The corporate tax cut is intended to be made permanent, and going from 35% to 20%

- The tax cut for average citizens has been designed to "sunset" in 10 years, so taxes will then increase.

- The tax cut benefit overall for those earning less than $75,000 a year, is $100. That benefit may well come at the cost of cutting Medicaid, Medicare benefits later.

- The overall tax benefit is allotted so that 62 percent of the takings go to the top 1 percent.

- Allows drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.(ANWR)

- As reported by the NY Times there is also a plan to change from the Consumer Price Index to the Chained CPI, which move would essentially negate any future Social Security cost of living increases - certainly in a low inflation environment such as we have.

Last night this perfidy was at least temporarily stopped in its tracks,  even after the GOOPs grew giddy after John McCain reverted to sock puppet to back it.  However, a nonpartisan analysis released hours ahead of a planned vote projected the Republican tax plan would add $1 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade.  Process that! ONE Trillion bucks! That's more than $200 b beyond the cost of the entire Obama stimulus package in 2009, which at least spared this nation from another Great Depression.

The other hit to the Reeps last night came by way of the nonpartisan Senate Parliamentarian who ruled they could not use the "trigger" sunset mechanism to try to contain the deficit explosion. This sent them right back to 'square one' scrambling for other ways to raise revenue,  including reinstating the AMT or Alternative Minimum Tax, and (GASP!) reducing the corporate tax cuts.

Recall the Republicans had contended the vast tax cuts enclosed in their plan would in effect pay for themselves through economic growth. But the analysis, released by the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, forecasted the tax bill would balloon the deficit even after factoring in the economic growth the bill is expected to generate.  Of course, through U.S. economic history no tax cuts have come close to paying for themselves.

The other aspect of why this wouldn't happen is that corporate CEOs are not even on board with any job creation, despite the yammering of the GOP con men.  Most illuminating was White House economic advisor Gary Cohn's meeting with dozens of CEOs, and most of them giving thumbs down when he asked about potential jobs, e.g.

http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-gop-tax-plan-gary-cohn-bill-2017-11


The moderator (WSJ's John Bussey)  asked those in attendance whether they were planning to increase their business investment if the tax bill became law. The CEOs in attendance didn't seem to be on the same wavelength as Cohn.  While there was a smattering of raised hands in the auditorium, it was clear there were not as many as Cohn would have liked.  You see Cohn asking, almost embarrassed to be caught in the same room with these misfits:

"Why aren't the other hands up?"

Then, realizing he'd get no rational or decent answer, moving on to another question. So there you have it. These CEOs would rather put their tax cut benefit money into stock buybacks and paying out dividends than creating new jobs.

An even more cogent reason not to allow this sham to add to the deficit and destroy lives is that there isn't a scintilla of rational justification for it. At least when other tax cuts were implemented unemployment was high. That isn't the case now as Bruce Bartlett (former economic advisor to G.W. Bush) pointed out last night. We have virtually full employment so the only reason to hang this schlock on citizens is to attempt to spur growth using a ruse that will only be of benefit to corporations and explode the deficit. (The non-partisan CBO forecasts a maximal increase in growth rate of only 0.6%). But as I've noted before, in an environment in which the quality of energy is degraded (lower energy return on energy invested), low economic growth will be the byproduct. Short of creating more efficient energy - say like nuclear fusion - there is no solution for this.


To their credit,  Democrats seized on the report by the Joint Committee on Taxation as proof that the Republican tax is all hot air and flim flam, since it would not do what the Reeps claimed. Hocus Pocus. Voodoo economics, to use George Bush Sr.'s term.  Holding a copy of the report, Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, said the analysis proved the bill was nothing more than a “holiday bonanza to multinational corporations and special interests."

Fair enough, but if this piece of toxic crap somehow rises from potential ashes today, the Dems need to do more. They need to use their leverage in possibly stopping a government shutdown to extract concessions.  If no concessions are forthcoming, then the Dems refuse to cooperate to avoid a gov't shutdown.   The $64 question: What do the 'pukes want more, their sham tax cuts, OR preventing a government shutdown next week?

Let's first note that the Republicans hold all the power needed to stop a government shutdown on December 8th. They have the numbers, they have control of all branches of government. They do not need the Dems to help them - IF  all their members (mainly in the House) were on board. But, they're not on board. There are just enough rebellious Repukes - mainly Tea Party hard cores / holdouts,  that a shutdown can't be prevented without Democratic votes to stop it.

But should the Dems cooperate? I say NO, unless the 'pukes deliver the following:

-  No spending cuts to try to make up for any unrealized economic growth. That means NO cuts to Medicare, and no cuts to Medicaid.

- NO drilling in the ANWR.

- Revocation of any tax provision to withdraw the ACA mandate  - which would affect 13 million now covered.

- . No use of "Chained CPI" or other means to cut Social Security to lower the deficits because of the tax cuts.

- $100 b allocated for reconstruction in Puerto Rico.

- DACA remains intact and no deportations of the 60,000 Haitians who've arrived since the Haitian earthquake in 2010. Repatriating them would send Haiti into total chaos since there are neither the resources or job opportunities to provide for them.

- Change  all the "permanent" Corporate tax cuts to temporary ones only. And make them fully contingent on the corporations creating jobs.  No jobs, no tax cuts.

Make no mistake that this is a draconian move but the toxic tax plan on offer from the Reptiles  has the potential to hurl this nation into permanent  third world status  - while dramatically increasing economic inequality.

It is also true that people will suffer in a shutdown, but as Lawrence O Donnell put it on his show two nights ago, "Sometimes principles and governance must take precedence."  That is the case now, when we have to look beyond immediate problems incurred with a shutdown  to the need to prevent more radical, widespread destruction and worse suffering in the future.

A Message From Sen. Bernie Sanders concerning this refuse:

The current Republican “tax cut” bill, paid for by the Koch brothers and other billionaire campaign contributors, continues the push to make the rich richer at the expense of everyone else. It would raise taxes on middle class families making $75,000 a year or less and would throw 13 million Americans off of health insurance. And it would do all of these things to provide permanent tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans and profitable corporations that ship American jobs to China while moving their American profits to the Cayman Islands.

But let's be clear. This legislation goes well beyond taxes. Its ultimate goal is to radically transform American society and the role that government plays in the lives of the working families of our country. This legislation will increase the deficit by at least $1.5 trillion over ten years. Mark my words. If passed, the Republicans will then rediscover the "deficit crisis," and push aggressively for massive cuts in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education – higher education in particular – nutrition, affordable housing and more. They will seek to undo every major piece of legislation passed in the last 80 years designed to help working families, the elderly, the children, the sick and the poor.

This is the Republican plan. Huge tax breaks for the rich and powerful. Massive cuts to life and death programs for the middle class and working families of our country.

This is not moral. This is not what the American people want. This is not what our country and our pledge for "liberty and justice for all" is supposed to be about.

That is why I am going on the road this week to talk directly to working people in Kentucky, Ohio, and Pennsylvania about this disastrous piece of legislation. If we stand together – black, white, Latino, Asian American, Native American, male and female, young and old, gay and straight – we can defeat this horrific bill.

See also:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/greg-coleridge/76490/corporations-and-the-super-rich-tax-democracy


And:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/p-m-carpenter/76492/the-gops-utterly-uninformed-hasty-tax-bills

Reform the 'Patriot Act'? Of course!

Now that the federal appeals court ruling has come down that the main NSA surveillance program - based on the Patriot Act  - has been illegal, what should be the reaction of our congress critters? Well, total reform! But instead we see the usual lunatics on the Right saying it must be sustained. Mitch McConnell, not known for being the sharpest knife in the drawer, actually said that had the current  dragnet, mass surveillance program existed back in Sept. 2001 the attacks never would have occurred.

Of course, this is out and out blatant balderdash. But, as usual the 'pukes play on Americans' short term memories of events to exploit new fears. The facts? There was a surfeit of data available at the time that - had the Bushies paid the slightest attention - could have thwarted the attacks.

Nowhere do reepos like Marco Rubio or McConnell mention how FBI agent Coleen Rowley  and her Minneapolis FBI field office  nabbed "20th hijacker" Zaccharias Moussaou  just before 9/11- and detained him.  The Minneapolis FBI office immediately sought a criminal warrant to search his belongings  but were prevented from doing so. Management at the FBI dealing with the request threw up numerous obstacles to the agents, and even withheld information from them, including the now-infamous Phoenix Memo written by an agent in Arizona warning of terrorists training in flight schools for a possible upcoming attack. The request was denied and agents were prevented from searching Moussaoui's laptop, which contained information that would have tipped the FBI off to the 9/11 plot.

So the information was right there, suspect at hand and a critical search in the offing, but it was ignored!  Bush himself stands accused of the most blatant carelessness in not responding proactively  to the President's Daily Briefs (PDBs)  that came his way that August. If one goes to the official 9/11 Commission Report he will find the following, under the section: ‘The System was Blinking Red’

Page 254:

"Each PDB (President's Daily Brief) consists of a series of six to eight relatively short articles or briefs covering a broad array of topics; CIA staff decides which subjects are the most important on any given day. There were more than 40 intelligence articles in the PDBs from January 20 to September 10, 2001, that related to Bin Ladin. "

On page 255:

"In the spring of 2001, the level of reporting on terrorist threats and planned attacks increased dramatically to its highest level since the millennium alert. At the end of March, the intelligence community disseminated a terrorist threat advisory, indicating a heightened threat of Sunni extremist terrorist attacks against U.S. facilities, personnel, and other interests."

And further (ibid.):

"On March 23, in connection with discussions about possibly reopening Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House, Clarke warned National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice that domestic or foreign terrorists might use a truck bomb—their “weapon of choice”—on Pennsylvania Avenue. That would result, he said, in the destruction of the West Wing and parts of the residence. He also told her that he thought there were terrorist cells within the United States, including al Qaeda."

Further (ibid.):

"In May 2001, the drumbeat of reporting grew louder with reports to top officials that “Bin Ladin public profile may presage attack” and “Bin Ladin network’s plans advancing.” In early May, a walk-in to the FBI claimed there was a plan to launch attacks on London, Boston, and New York.

Attorney General John Ashcroft was briefed by the CIA on May 15 regarding al Qaeda generally and the current threat reporting specifically. The next day brought a report that a phone call to a U.S. embassy had warned that Bin Ladin supporters were planning an attack in the United States using “high explosives.”

Of course, the most sensational Daily Brief of all was that dated August 6, 2001 and headed: Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US . Bush received this while at his Crawford, TX retreat. (He took more vacations than any other president in his first year alone.) And how did Bush respond to this? He gave a quick glance then went to clear some ....bush. But what ought to have made his eyeballs pop out was the short paragraph reading (p. 255-56):

"An Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) operative told an [—] service at the same time that Bin Ladin was planning to exploit the operative’s access to the US to mount a terrorist strike."

I also found it interesting to read through the communication exchanges as the hijackings became apparent, especially for American Flt. 11. According to the transcripts in the Report (page 20):

FAA: Hi. Boston Center TMU [Traffic Management Unit], we have a problem here.We have a hijacked aircraft headed towards New York, and we need you guys to,we need someone to scramble some F-16s or something up there, help us out.

NEADS: Is this real-world or exercise?

FAA: No, this is not an exercise, not a test.

The reaction of NEADS (National Emergency Air Defense System), i.e. asking “Is this real world or exercise?” is instructional. Evidently, as came out later, no less than five different military “exercises” were planned and underway, including:

‘Operation Vigilant Guardian’ which simulated hijacked planes in the northeast sector-corridor. This definitely contributed to the confused response on the given day, as evidenced after NORAD received a phone call from Boston Center about a hijacking and Lt. Col. Dawne Deskins responded “It must be part of the exercise”.

Thus delaying critical response to the REAL attacks in NYC.

Then there was ‘Operation Northern Vigilance’ – planned months in advance of 9/11 (tracked to when the peak of terror warnings were being issued in May, as reported by the 9/11 Report) and for which jet fighters were removed from the east coast and sent to Alaska and Canada. Thereby, leaving a security hole at the precise date and region which would be most directly affected

As I learned more about these exercises, and the withdrawal of needed air security, the similarity to what transpired in the days before the Kennedy assassination was striking. Researchers learned only in the wake of that executive action that: 1) The Secret Service detail had been changed in the days leading up to the Dallas motorcade, with an inexperienced agent in Kennedy’s car, while the more experienced guy (Cliff Hill) protected LBJ, and 2) The usual Army security detail from Ft. Sam Houston, TX was removed so their presence was nowhere on Dallas’ streets on Nov. 22, 1963. Ordinarily they’d have had building oversight, ensuring no open windows and have had snipers posted themselves as a counter measure.

Were the 9/11 military exercises, planned in advance as a cover or distraction to make effective air defense response more unlikely? The basic answer is we don’t know, although the extent of withdrawn protection makes one suspicious.

Without wading into the morass of 9/11 conspiracy theories  - most of which I deem improbable - the main  point in context here (re: renewing of full Patriot Act) is there was: a) ample surveillance data present at the time to have stopped the attacks if proper response from authorities was forthcoming, and b) there were likely ample military resources to prevent the attacks had these not been displaced to a location where they became useless.

In effect, if a surfeit of data available then didn't stop the  9/11  attacks it is  logical to assert that vacuuming up massive amounts of data now won't make us any safer either. It will merely increase the 'haystack' in which the critical 'needle' must be found. Hence, we don't need the Patriot Act as it stands and it merely serves as an excuse to undermine civil liberties, nothing more.

As Sen. Ron Wyden put it this morning on MSNBC, citing the President's own Advisory Group  - (made up of "very conservative people with strong national security credentials") said on page 104 of their report:

"Collecting all of these phone records from law-abiding Americans with no connection to wrongdoing does not really advance the cause of fighting terror. That information can be obtained by  conventional means."

To his credit, Sen. Wyden made clear that if the fear mongers seek to go with a "short term extension" he plans to filibuster - unless there are reforms to the bulk collection program. Wyden stated he's "tired of extending a bad law".

Let's also recall that one of the original authors of the Patriot Act, Jim Sensenbrenner, has asserted that Section 215 was never intended to go as far as Bush and Obama have driven it. Writing in the Summer, 2014 issue of the ACLU Stand:

"Section 215 was intended to give the government the ability to secure 'any tangible thing' connected to specific terrorism investigations. As is now common knowledge, the Bush and Obama administrations took the limited power Congress intended and went rogue. If we had known during any subsequent re-authorizations what we now know about Section 215's blatant misinterpretation, Congress would have allowed it to sunset.  And if it's not fixed by the 2015 re-authorization, Congress will.

The basic idea behind the American search and seizure law is that you can't investigate unless you can first provide at least some articulable reason to do so. Investigations just can't be arbitrary. The government's definition, on the other hand, is the very definition of arbitrary. "

Let us hope Congress processes that carefully, before taking any reckless action to approve this egregious law's extension or reinstatement.

'Citizen Four': An Oscar-Winning Documentary Every Citizen Needs To See

Though it's been nearly two years, most alert and aware Americans still can recall the brouhaha that erupted after Edward Snowden exposed how we were all being tracked relentlessly by the NSA. Tracked using programs with cryptic names such as XKeyscore and PRISM. Tracked via our telephone calls, emails and our web wanderings - including even terms we'd googled and all the websites visited.  Of course, in the wake, the Neoliberal machine  and its 'evil sister' Neocon War-Security state,  exploded with self righteous indignation - questioning who exactly was this "traitor" (with only a high school education) that brought these things to light.

Those of us who are real Americans applauded Snowden's courage in outing the vile violators of our Constitution's Fourth Amendment, which reads:

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Clearly showing that only individual warrants are acceptable and one cannot have mass warrants issued out of laziness, disrespect for the Constitution or mere expedience and efficiency provided by technology. Moreover, Snowden was ultimately vindicated when a  300-page report     was released last year by a commission appointed by Obama himself (who was finally backed into a corner after NSA spying on foreign heads of state was made public in one release)

All this came out at the time, but what is less known is the backstory on how Snowden accomplished his file access and then made contact with the journalists who he would entrust with the actual file release. That incudes documentary film maker Laura Poitras who - with Glenn Greenwald (then journalist for the UK Guardian) took home the Oscar for the Best Documentary Feature on Sunday night.

Watching the film last night on HBO, Janice and I were both spellbound as the movie - though totally factual - had the aura of a John Le Carre spy novel. We see the first encrypted messages between Poitras and Snowden and then the instructions she needs to follow to ensure the spooks aren't listening in. As I mentioned to Janice (barely one tenth of the way in), the guy may only have a high school degree but he's absolutely brilliant as well as skilled - something the idiot corporate media downplayed when they tried to make the story about him.

The scene in his Hong Kong hotel when he needs to upload a set of documents to Greenwald's laptop is intriguing in itself, including all the sundry precautions taken to ensure electronic spying eyes or ears don't compromise the transfer. Greenwald and another Guardian journalist are then charged with releasing the files using their best judgment since Snowden didn't want his personal bias reflected. He also wanted to delay his identity being outed so the story could be about what was done to his fellow Americans, as opposed to making him the story. (Which eventually happened thanks to our Neoliberal media elites.)

Two of the more appalling scenes which made us want to chew nails, showed NSA honcho Keith Alexander and then James Clapper lying through their teeth before congress when directly asked (by Sen. Ron Wyden, in the case of Clapper) if any  phone calls of ordinary Americans had been scooped up by the NSA. (After some prodding the turkey explained it might have been done "accidentally")

Clapper lying to congress.

In another scene that soon follows, where the NSA's mass surveillance of  (Verizon) phone records is being challenged,  we see a Justice Dept. lawyer trying to argue the federal court hearing the case has no real standing and besides, "national security would be affected" if the mass seizure of phone records was stopped.

The documentary then follows Snowden's crisis after his name is released, and we see here this is what he wanted as he didn't wish to be perceived sneaking around "in the shadows".  From the CNN broadcasts the media learns he's holed up in a Hong Kong hotel and it soon becomes clear he needs to leave or risk possible extradition. He's then helped by Julian Assange and his group to make it to Russia and we see only occasional communications with Poitras keyboarded onto the screen - he's obviously taking great precautions.

The issue of the sort of justice Snowden might face (if he returned to the U.S.)  then comes up for discussion and it's noted he'd be prosecuted under the 1917 Espionage Act as a spy, just like other whistleblowers. There would be no comeback and no fair trial because the court and jury proceedings would be entirely weighted ab initio for Snowden's guilt as a spy.  The preservation of the amendments of the Constitution would be totally irrelevant. All of which points up the fact that those yahoos who yelp about Snowden returning and "facing justice" are idiots.

This segment also had our heads ready to explode given that Obama is a former Constitutional lawyer and essentially betrayed all his (early) promises of governmental  "transparency". What makes it even more wretched is how those doing the truth telling,  whistle -blowing have been put behind bars while the torturers and Constitutional violators have been allowed to roam free and even appear on TVs .... as opposed to being shot or turned over to the International Court in the Hague.

The segments dealing with the NSA's overstretch in spying on Brazilian leaders is also gripping, with Greenwald delivering testimony in Portuegese before the Brazilian parliament. And then William Binney, former NSA technical director, testifying before the German parliament to do with NSA's mass  spying on Germans.

The final scenes show Snowden and his girlfriend (American, who joined him in July, 2014) seen through the window of their Moscow apartment.

Leave out Oscars' host  Neil Patrick Harris' idiot snipe about 'treason'(after the award), most real Americans know that Snowden is a hero, a Constitutional protector and defender, and if this film doesn't convince you (assuming you don't believe it currently) well,  you need to admit you're just like the Good Germans. That lot who were quite happy to have the Gestapo looking over their shoulders, and were more than elated to turn their neighbors in on the slightest pretext.

NSA Troll Clapper Now Admits 4th Amendment Was Violated (Though He Doesn't Put It So!)

"Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for the purpose of a temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin

"In every government on earth is some trace of human weakness, some germ of corruption and degeneracy, which cunning will discover and wickedness insensibly open." - Thomas Jefferson, in 'Notes on Virginia'.

"Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves therefore are its only safe depositories. AND TO RENDER THEM SAFE, THEIR MINDS MUST BE IMPROVED." - Thomas Jefferson, 'Notes on Virginia'.

Less than a year ago on this blog I pointed out there were likely "thousands of 4th amendment violations"  thanks to the scurrilous NSA programs PRISM, MUSCULAR, XKeyscore.  See e,g,
http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2013/08/thousands-of-4th-amendment-violations.html

Now, we know there were millions, thanks to NSA troglodyte James Clapper's recent admissions of warrantless wiretaps.  Before examining Clapper's admission (which was cloaked in a pseudo-legalese cover) let us note the 4th amendment is very clear on the limits of warrants and how they are issued. The specific wording is:

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Note, “secure in one’s person, house, papers, effects” implies PRIVACY! These are after all MY private papers, my private effects, my house, etc. If an inherent right to privacy was a myth then by all accounts being secure in one’s person, papers, effects wouldn’t matter. Hell, let the whole freakin’ world see ‘em! This is why in a fascist dictatorship “personal effects” don’t exist. “Personal papers” has no meaning. The state has full monopoly, de facto ownership on whatever the person has, even his own body. Hence, in fascist dictatorships, such as existed in Nazi Germany, all personal effects, papers could be seized by the Nazis on a whim or remote suspicion - under the Reich Laws. (The Reich laws, as Konrad Heiden notes, altered Weimar laws to render what had been originally illegal, legal.)

Clapper has finally admitted that the National Security Agency had a secret backdoor into its vast databases under a "legal authority"  enabling it to search for US citizens' email and phone calls without a warrant. This was revealed in top-secret NSA documents provided to the Guardian by Edward Snowden.

The previously undisclosed rule change allows NSA operatives to hunt for individual Americans' communications using their name or other identifying information. Senator Ron Wyden told the Guardian that the law provided the NSA with a "loophole"  potentially allowing "warrantless searches for the phone calls or emails of law-abiding Americans".

Now, we know - thanks to Clapper's admissions in his letter, the searches were indeed warrantless - and hence in violation of the 4th amendment.  This is according to the most recent Guardian report,
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/01/nsa-surveillance-loophole-americans-data

According to Clapper, quoted above, NSA "performed warrantless searches on Americans' emails and phone calls."

We must not only thank Edward Snowden for the original revelations, but also Sen. Ron Wyden for keeping after Clapper to respond to his letters and 'fess up.  (After all, Wyden already knew the little rat lied before a Senate Intelligence Committee last March when asked directly if the NSA conducted mass surveillance of Americans.)

Of course, to Clapper 'fessing up isn't the same as it is for the rest of us. NO, it means delivering a mealy-mouthed wad of euphemistic babble which - for the weaker minded- is designed to assuage any doubts that it was legal by baffling with bullshit. Clapper's exact words as reported by The Guardian:

"There have been queries, using US person identifiers, of communications lawfully acquired to obtain foreign intelligence targeting non-US persons reasonably believed to be located outside the United States.

These queries were performed pursuant to minimization procedures approved by the Fisa court and consistent with the statute and the fourth amendment.”


Pay attention to the last sentence in particular, because this is where the attempted exculpation of his misbegotten agency resides.  He claims the "queries were performed pursuant to minimization procedures approved by the FISA court" but what were these anyway?  In fact, nothing more than the merest fig leaf. The merest cover to defend the searches (i.e. one "end" of a phone call is in a foreign country, say Barbados).

Most of these came under Section 702  of the misnamed "Patriot Act" - which the traitors in congress also helped approve. As Clapper pointed out:

“As you know, when Congress reauthorized Section 702, the proposal to restrict such queries was specifically raised and ultimately not adopted,”

So congress punked out, When the opportunity arose to protect citizens' rights under the 4th amendment, congress shat on it, and refused to adopt the protections. Traitors!  Let us also recall congress - instead of prosecuting the Bushites for their warrantless wiretapping - made those illegal searches LEGAL!  Thus, they perverted the existing 1978 FISA law as fully as Hitler and the Nazis perverted the original Weimar laws into "Reich laws". The point is that using such a nefarious tactic any act which was once condemned as illegal can be made "legal" - all that's needed is the political will and power to do so.   This is why Clapper insists in his letter that the procedures were "consistent with the statutes and the 4th amendment".

In fact they were not! The 4th amendment is clear in its wording - as I showed above. Individual warrants must be issued for individual acts. And no amount of perturbing the language or making laws that were once illegal, legal can alter that. In this sense, the laws that legalized the original warrantless wiretaps of the Bushites are themselves baseless and LAWLESS.  They overturned the real laws that afforded genuine protections in return for mock laws.

Senators Wyden and  (Mark) Udall,  in their response to the Clapper bafflegab, were blunt:

“This is unacceptable. It raises serious constitutional questions, and poses a real threat to the privacy rights of law-abiding Americans. If a government agency thinks that a particular American is engaged in terrorism or espionage, the fourth amendment requires that the government secure a warrant or emergency authorization before monitoring his or her communications. This fact should be beyond dispute,”

If congress really had the interests of Americans at heart, and the protection of their 4th amendment rights, they'd have prosecuted the Bushite criminals, as they ought to have for their torture and rendition exercises - and illegal wars.  But they punked out! They refused to exercise their authority to uphold the actual laws, much as the Nazis - once in power- overturned the existing Weimar legal infrastructure in the Enabling Act. 

The tragedy is that by legalizing lawlessness - as regards the Constitution and citizen rights - the country has proceeded down the path of a "gangster state"- to use the words of deep politics authors Michael Parenti, as well as Chris Hedges, see e.g. http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/bradley_manning_and_the_gangster_state_20130821

The Senators final comment is one which to which we all need to pay heed:

“Today’s admission by the Director of National Intelligence is further proof that meaningful surveillance reform must include closing the back-door searches loophole and requiring the intelligence community to show probable cause before deliberately searching through data collected under section 702 to find the communications of individual Americans."