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I'm engaged in a discussion on an email list and I've been "called on the carpet" for my use of "ex-President" in referring to Trump. I've been informed that properly, it's either "President" (as if he still held the office) or "former President". The inference I get from that other person is that "ex" is negative. OK, I too agree that it's negative. Why should I not use it anyway if that's the way I feel? Is there another term I could use even if it's even worse than "ex"? I won't go the extreme of saying "The cockroach from New York with the orange hair who thinks his shit doesn't stink who poorly demonstrated leadership abilities while he was unfortunately in the White House after being elected by morons who couldn't recognize truth if it bit them on the ass". I think that may go slightly too far and it's difficult to remember. It also insults cockroaches :) Ken -- "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." -- Bertrand Russell, British philosopher and mathematician

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/the-senate-just-cast-a-preliminary-vote-on-trumps-impeachment-trial-heres-the-good-and-bad-of-it/36012/ The Senate just cast a preliminary vote on Trump’s impeachment trial – here’s the good and bad of it Bill Palmer | 3:33 pm EST January 26, 2021 Palmer Report ? Analysis Rand Paul forced the Senate to hold a vote today on whether holding an impeachment trial of Donald Trump after he’s out of office is constitutional. Paul’s motion was shot down 55-45, meaning the trial will happen. That’s the good news. The bad news, at least for the moment, is that only five Republicans voted in favor of holding an impeachment trial. That’s far from the seventeen votes required to convict Trump. But here’s the upshot: the news keeps getting uglier about Trump’s role in trying to overthrow the election, inciting the Capitol attack, and trying to block a response to the Capitol attack. More ugly details over the next week could prompt more Republicans to shift toward convicting Trump. They’re keeping their powder dry for now. In any case, Trump’s impeachment trial is a win-win for Democrats. Either they get a conviction, or they get to use acquittal against every Senate Republican who faces reelection in 2022. Don’t listen to the media trying to invent reasons why the trial is somehow a loss for Democrats. That’s just fear mongering for the sake of ratings. Don’t fall for it. -- "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." -- Bertrand Russell, British philosopher and mathematician

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When you get to the section on 1856 and Charles Sumner, I remember as a child reading the big bronze plaque on the Courthouse Square where I grew up in Brooksville, Florida describing how the town got its name, as tribute to a criminal. I do not know of any efforts at changing the name, seems a little like the old "horse is out of the barn, let's lock the door" thing to me. I did notice on my last visit home that the Confederate soldier statue ("Johnny Reb" in the generic form) now has an iron spike fence around it. Ken ========== https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/al-franken-republicans-deficits-1122888/ Surprise! Surprise! Republicans Care About Deficits Again! Al Franken: The GOP only cares about deficits when Democrats hold the Oval Office By Al Franken On Monday, President Biden met with 10 supposedly moderate Republicans in the Oval Office to discuss their scaled-down $618 billion Covid-relief proposal. Even though the economy is still reeling from the pandemic and tens of millions of Americans are struggling to feed their families and put a roof over their heads, they are very concerned about the $1.9 trillion price tag on Biden’s plan. Lately, it seems, Republicans have taken renewed interest in deficits and our growing national debt. That’s because a Democrat is in the White House. When a Republican is president, deficits don’t matter. In fact, that means it’s time to cut taxes — on the wealthy. Republicans’ purported thinking is that tax cuts on high-income earners will incentivize economic growth and thus, as calculated through something called “dynamic scoring,” will produce far more revenue, which in turn more than pays for the tax cuts. This actually never happens. Remember the Laffer Curve? If not — look in the dictionary under “discredited.” You may remember that I wrote a book titled Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations. Undertaking the painstaking — I’m sorry, painful — research, Rush did make an arguably valid point about the Laffer Curve. “If you had to pay a 100 percent tax rate on your income, you wouldn’t work!” Of course, Rush was absolutely right. Almost everyone should pay somewhere between 0 percent and 100 percent in order to optimize productive economic activity and everyone’s well-being. And, yes, out-of-control debt can be an existential threat to a nation. The question becomes: “When is it out of control?” To Republicans, the answer is simple: “When a Democrat is president.” The record, of course, is almost exactly the opposite. The national debt nearly tripled under Ronald Reagan, who gave huge tax cuts almost exclusively to the top of the income ladder. (In fact, because of a substantial increase in the payroll tax, taxes actually went up for the bottom 40 percent.) During George H.W. Bush’s single term, the national debt increased by 54 percent. Without a single Republican vote, Bill Clinton increased marginal tax rates for the affluent at the beginning of his two terms. Instead of leading to a recession, as every Republican House and Senate member had predicted, we experienced eight straight years of marked economic growth and a balanced budget with a surplus that George W. Bush inherited. During his first debate with Al Gore, W. touted his tax-cut proposal: “By far the vast majority of my tax cut goes to those at the bottom.” Not just “a majority.” Not “a vast majority.” But “by far a vast majority.” Not one of those was true. In fact, the vast majority of the Bush tax cuts went to those at the top. When W. took office, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan endorsed Bush’s tax cut not only as fiscally prudent, but necessary. The looming budget surpluses, Greenspan feared, would pay off the entire federal debt before the end of the decade! If the surpluses didn’t end when our debt was paid off, it could cause serious economic disruption. Large tax cuts, Greenspan said, were necessary to avoid that catastrophe. That particular catastrophe certainly was avoided. By the time George W. Bush handed off the worst economy since the Great Depression

Recent exchanges I've had with others referencing the Republican Party in the US made me want to get down into the nuts and bolts of it. There are many ways to break it down, here are a couple of them which caught my interest. Note thatone of these seems to be "old" but if you consider how much change you've seen since that poll/study, you'll note that much of it was toward the edges and not seeking the center in the GOP. My interpretation (and certainly yours may vary!) is that the Republicans are getting whiter, older, and, depending on how you interpret the statistics, more Christian. Flip that statement over completely and it seems to describe the evolving Democratic Party. Ken ======== https://news.gallup.com/poll/160373/democrats-racially-diverse-republicans-mostly-white.aspx Politics February 8, 2013 Democrats Racially Diverse; Republicans Mostly White Democrats and independents grow more diverse since 2008 by Frank Newport PRINCETON, NJ -- Non-Hispanic whites accounted for 89% of Republican self-identifiers nationwide in 2012, while accounting for 70% of independents and 60% of Democrats. Over one-fifth of Democrats (22%) were black, while 16% of independents were Hispanic. These results are based on more than 338,000 interviews conducted as part of Gallup Daily tracking in 2012, and clearly underscore the distinct racial profiles of partisan groups in today's political landscape. Republicans are overwhelmingly non-Hispanic white, at a level that is significantly higher than the self-identified white percentage of the national adult population. Just 2% of Republicans are black, and 6% are Hispanic. Seventy percent of Americans who identify as independents are white, but independents have the highest representation of Hispanics (16%) of the three groups. Eight percent of independents are blacks. Democrats remain a majority white party, but four in 10 Democrats are something other than non-Hispanic white. More than one in five Democrats are black, roughly twice the black representation in the adult population. Racial and Ethnic Groups Gravitate Toward Different Parties Looked at differently, these party composition patterns reflect major differences in the way Americans in various racial and ethnic groups identify their political affiliation. Almost two-thirds of blacks identify as Democrats, with most of the rest identifying as independents. Only 5% of blacks nationwide identify as Republicans. Half of Hispanics identify as independents, although the majority of the rest identify as Democrats. This is despite their high level of approval and strong majority voting support for Democratic President Barack Obama. Relatively few Hispanics (13%) identify as Republicans. Whites are the most politically diverse of the three major racial and ethnic segments, with between 26% and 38% identifying with one of the three partisan groups. Whites tilt slightly toward being independents or Republicans rather than Democrats. The large white concentration of Republican identifiers, in short, is caused by a dearth of nonwhites self-identifying with the GOP, rather than a monolithic Republican orientation among whites. Although Asians and other races make up a small proportion of the U.S. population, the data show that the political pattern they follow is quite similar to that of Hispanics: they are most likely to identify as independents, second-most likely to identify as Democrats, and least likely to identify as Republicans. Racial Breakdown of Independents and Democrats Has Shifted Most Since 2008 The racial and ethnic composition of the Republican Party today is similar to what it was in 2008, the year when Gallup began its daily tracking. There have been essentially no changes in the percentage of GOP identifiers who are white, black, and Hispanic. Independents have become more Hispanic since 2008 (and slightly more black), while Democrats have become more black and more Hispanic. Phrased differently, the independent and Democratic segments of the U.S. population are now less white than they were in 2008, reflecting the uptick

https://religiondispatches.org/how-do-you-beat-a-pretty-damning-impeachment-case-you-lie/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-do-you-beat-a-pretty-damning-impeachment-case-you-lie How Do You Beat a ‘Pretty Damning’ Impeachment Case? You Lie Republican Senator Kevin Cramer who, after saying that Trump bore responsibility for inciting the Capitol assault, now says Trump is not culpable. He is presumably committed to "draining the swamp." Image: Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons. Facebook Tweet The House Democrats presented evidence Wednesday substantiating the allegation that, on January 6, Donald Trump incited an insurrection against the United States. For about eight hours, to be followed today by another eight hours, the impeachment managers showed a pattern of violent rhetoric by the former president, and tried to show a connection between his violent rhetoric and his supporters’ violent actions. In granular and exhaustive detail, the managers walked us through each of the stages leading up to the worst attack on our government since September 11, 2001. First, Trump targeted the courts. When that failed, he targeted state election officials. When that failed, he targeted high-ranking Republicans. When non-violent options ran out, he turned to violent options, culminating in January 6’s attempted coup. The former president didn’t yell “fire” in a crowded theater, lead manager Jamie Raskin said: It’s more like a case where the town fire chief—who’s paid to put out fires—sends a mob not to yell fire in a crowded theater, but to actually set the theater on fire. And who then, when the fire alarms go off and the calls start flooding into the fire department asking for help, does nothing but sit back, encourage the mob to continue its rampage and watch the fire spread on TV with glee and delight.” The Democrats’ chief obstacle, it must be said, is establishing causality. Did Trump’s violent rhetoric cause violent action? That’s a legitimate question. But it’s a question needing to be in accordance with the task at hand. The impeachment managers are not prosecuting a criminal case (though they are alleging an actual crime). They are not trying to demonstrate guilt beyond doubt. They are prosecuting a political case, affirmed and guided by the Constitution, in order to achieve a political goal the Constitution’s framers said was important to achieve. Even if there’s some daylight between rhetoric and action, that daylight is narrow and dim. That’s why Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said the evidence presented was “pretty damning.” That’s why she went on to say she can’t imagine the American people voting for Trump again. But even if Trump did not cause it, he did nothing to stop it. This, I thought, was the most compelling part of the Democrats’ presentation. If the former president did not light “the fire,” he certainly didn’t try to put it out, as would be expected from the commander-in-chief in matters of national security. If he’s not guilty of incitement, he’s guilty of dereliction of duty. (The obvious inference is that he didn’t try to put it out because he wanted to see it burn, which brings us back to incitement.) After insurgents occupied the Capitol for about three hours, Trump did issue a tweet telling them to go home. He never said stop, though. He never said violence is wrong. He said thank you. He implied a job well done. The Democrats showed a video clip of Jacob Chansely, the so-called Q shaman, responding to Trump’s tweet. “He’s saying we won the day.” The question on everyone’s mind is what do the Senate Republicans think? Are 17 willing to convict a former GOP president? Well, there’s Sen. Murkowski. But she’s never been chummy with Trump. (Indeed, she owes him nothing.) As for the others, it seems even the sight of Mitt Romney running for his life, and Vice President Mike Pence being shuttled to safety, is not enough to change their minds. Sure, they have strong words, mighty strong words, for the insurgents themselves, but not for Donald Trump. “It doesn’t affect me in terms of how I feel abou

https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/67794-heres-how-many-covid-deaths-we-can-blame-on-trumps-terrible-response Here's How Many COVID Deaths We Can Blame on Trump's Terrible Response By Paul Blest, VICE 13 February 21 A new report says 40% of total COVID deaths could have been avoided. ormer President Donald Trump’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was a public health disaster. Now a new report in one of the world’s most respected medical journals is attempting to quantify the human cost. The report, published by the Lancet, faults the Trump administration’s lack of preparedness around personal protective equipment (PPE) and its “non-existent oversight of infection control practices” for the deaths of nearly 3,000 healthcare workers alone. It also says Trump’s decision to designate the meatpacking industry “essential” was a contributor to more than 45,000 COVID-19 cases, and the deaths of at least 239 meatpacking workers. But perhaps most damning of all, the Lancet found that roughly 40 percent of the nation’s COVID deaths—as many as 188,000 people out of nearly 470,000—could have been avoided, something that the researchers directly blame on Trump’s pandemic response, or lack thereof. “Even the best of countries have had deep problems with COVID, but we think there’s substantial shortfall because of Trump,” Dr. David Himmelstein, a primary care doctor, professor at the CUNY School of Public Health, and one of the report’s lead authors, told VICE News. Reasons for that shortfall, according to Himmelstein, include Trump’s well-documented downplaying of COVID, his boosting of unproven crank treatments like hydroxychloroquine, and the Trump administration’s de-emphasis on public health, which included eliminating a pandemic unit within the National Security Council in 2018, less than two years before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. The failure to respond effectively to COVID-19 has disproportionately affected people of color, increasing the life expectancy gap between Black and white people by more than 50 percent. Overall COVID mortality rates are as much as 3.6 times higher for people of color than non-Hispanic white people, according to the study. Aside from the terrible initial response to COVID, Himmelstein also placed blame for the nation’s struggling vaccine rollout at Trump’s feet. “We had a good eight months warning there would be a vaccine, and there was no planning for how to get it out,” he said. “We have now, in many parts of the country, people desperately looking for appointments... Planning would have averted that kind of waste and scrambling.” The Lancet report alleges that Trump’s impact on public health was disastrous even before the pandemic. There were 22,000 extra deaths related to environmental and occupational factors in 2019 than there were in the last year of former President Barack Obama’s presidency, which the commission attributes to federal regulatory rollbacks. But the report’s authors say the problem goes way beyond just the former president. “We started out really looking at what Trump had done, and he has certainly done a lot wrong,” Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, another lead author on the report and a distinguished professor at the Hunter College School of Public Health, told VICE News. “But we looked at the health of the American people...and what we found is that it’s been four decades of government failure to support policies that support human health.” The authors suggest an overhaul in the country’s public health infrastructure to fix the problem. In addition to giving the CDC more tools to fight systemic racism, they recommend transitioning to a Medicare for All system like the one championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders. (Himmelstein and Woolhandler are co-founders of the Physicians for a National Health Program, a doctor-led group advocating for Medicare for All.) President Joe Biden has opposed such a bill, claiming it would cost too much. And until Medicare for All becomes a reality, Himmelstein said the U.S. should try to get to universal coverage regardless. “At the mi

And don't even talk to me about the Democrats being portrayed as the bad guys in here. Look back to the 1960s when the Democrats joined the Civil Rights movement at full speed under LBJ, and when Republicans fought it, they were warned that they had lost the black vote for at least a generation. We have Republicans as the bad guys now, with the party infested/infected with white supremacists and full of hate. Ken ====== https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/02/18/ku-klux-klan-act-capitol-attack/?utm_campaign=wp_evening_edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_evening The 150-year-old Ku Klux Klan Act being used against Trump in Capitol attack By Erick Trickey Feb. 18, 2021 at 7:00 a.m. EST Violent attempts to overturn an election aren’t new in American politics. After the Civil War, the Ku Klux Klan launched white-supremacist insurrections all across the South to stop Black people and their allies from voting. And 150 years ago, President Ulysses S. Grant and Congress responded to those vigilante attacks with a groundbreaking law. Known as the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, it still protects Americans from political intimidation today. This week, the Klan Act was cited in a federal lawsuit aimed at those involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Filed by House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the lawsuit accuses former president Donald Trump, his lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, and members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers of conspiring in violation of the Klan Act to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. House Homeland Security chairman sues Trump and Giuliani, accusing them of inciting Capitol riot The Klan, founded in Tennessee in 1865 by Confederate veterans, grew by 1867 into an armed paramilitary force that pledged to restore “a white man’s government” in the South. In disguises to shield their identities, Klansmen intimidated and murdered Black and White members of the Republican Party after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Klan violence peaked just before the 1868 and 1870 elections. “We have just passed through an Election which, for rancour and virulence on the part of the opposition, has never been excelled in any civilized community,” South Carolina’s Republican governor, Robert K. Scott, wrote to Grant in fall 1870. “Colored men and women have been dragged from their homes at the dead hour of night and most cruelly and brutally scourged,” Scott reported, “for the sole reason that they dared to exercise their own opinions upon political subjects.” The opposition, Scott told Grant, had declared “that they will not submit to any election which does not place them in power.” Klan sympathizers were even plotting to disrupt the vote tally. “I am convinced that an outbreak will occur here on Friday ... the day appointed by law for the counting of ballots,” Scott wrote. Grant, elected president in 1868, had led the Union Army to victory in the Civil War. But as letters from his Southern supporters beseeched him for help, Grant realized that the Klan threatened to undo the U.S. government’s postwar efforts to create a multiracial democracy. “Sir, we are in terror from Ku-Klux threats & out?rages,” S.E. Lane, a woman in Chesterfield, S.C., wrote to the president in 1871. “Our nearest neighbor, a prominent Republican, now lies dead — murdered, by a disguised Ruffian Band, which attacked his House at midnight a few nights since. His wife also was murdered. … My Husband’s life is threatened…. We are in constant fear and terror.” Grant responded by sending more federal troops to North and South Carolina to stop the insurrection. He named a new attorney general, Amos T. Akerman, a federal prosecutor from Georgia who had aggressively enforced the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Akerman moved the new Justice Department, created in 1870, into the Freedmen’s Savings Bank building in Washington. That symbolic solidarity with former enslaved people reflected his priorities. Akerman charged the Justice Department with upholding the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendm

http://www.universe-people.com/english/default_en.htm Are you ready for the rapture, er, I mean, are you ready for the evacuation of Earth by the Universe-People? If you're color blind, you will miss about 99% of the glory of this site. If you aren't color blind, kindly don your sunglasses before entering ;) Ken -- "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." -- Bertrand Russell, British philosopher and mathematician

Note the Governor's word I highlighted below. I would not be against internment for Rash Limpballs, but have yet to hear what he's been convicted of and further, would it serve to deter others if we lock up a dead man? ;) The Guv's assertion that he was a leader of patriots shows he doesn't know the meaning of that word, either. If we need to take up a collection to send him to an English class after hours, I'll contribute a small amount. Ken =========== https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/02/22/kriseman-fried-push-back-on-desantis-call-to-lower-flags-for-rush-limbaugh/?utm_medium=push&utm_source=pushly&utm_campaign=12221,11163 Kriseman, Fried push back on DeSantis call to lower flags for Rush Limbaugh The St. Petersburg mayor and agriculture commissioner announced their plans Monday. St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman. [ OCTAVIO JONES | Times ] By News Service of Florida Published 39 minutes ago Updated 39 minutes ago St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried intend to defy a call by Gov. Ron DeSantis to lower flags to half-staff to honor conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, who died last week. Fried, the only statewide elected Democrat, issued a statement Monday that she will direct offices within her Cabinet agency not to lower flags. “Lowering to half-staff the flag of the United States of America is a sacred honor that pays respect to fallen heroes and patriots. It is not a partisan political tool,” Fried said. “Therefore, I will notify all state offices under my direction to disregard the governor’s forthcoming order to lower flags for Mr. Limbaugh — because we will not celebrate hate speech, bigotry, and division.” Fried added that “our flags will remain flying high to celebrate the American values of diversity, inclusion, and respect for all.” After Fried’s announcement, Kriseman, also a Democrat, tweeted that city flags also won’t be lowered to honor Limbaugh, but will instead be lowered to honor Pinellas County sheriff’s deputy Michael Magli, who died last week after he was struck by a pickup truck. The sheriff’s office said the driver was fleeing deputies and had a blood-alcohol level more than three times the level at which Florida presumes impairment. Fried oversees the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which includes nine regional licensing offices, 38 state forests and 23 agricultural law-enforcement inspection stations. On Friday, DeSantis said Florida will lower flags to half-staff after funeral plans are set for Limbaugh, a Palm Beach resident who died Wednesday after a battle with cancer. “When there’s things of this magnitude, once the date of internment for Rush is announced, we’re going to be lowering the flags to half-staff,” DeSantis said during a campaign-style press event at the Hilton Palm Beach Airport in West Palm Beach. In a statement Wednesday, DeSantis praised Limbaugh for having an ability to “connect with his listeners across the fruited plain — the hard-working, God-fearing and patriotic Americans who were and are the subject of derision and ridicule by the legacy media.” Fried is widely rumored to be considering a run against DeSantis in 2022. -- "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." -- Bertrand Russell, British philosopher and mathematician

One concept in here requires a rabid denunciation: that of the "rising tide lifting all boats." I dispute that with one question: How far up has the Titanic risen? It's Newton's law of inertia: boats/ships at the bottom tend to remain at the bottom. It's the same with those on the bottom of the wealth scale in that tax advantages to the rich didn't in the past/don't in the present/won't in the future affect the poor in a positive way. Trickle down is a flawed hypothesis with supporters using flawed data in an attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the non-rich. Ken ======= https://theconversation.com/elizabeth-warrens-wealth-tax-would-reduce-inequality-the-problem-is-its-probably-unconstitutional-156349 Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax would reduce inequality – the problem is it’s probably unconstitutional March 2, 2021 3.05pm EST Sen. Elizabeth Warren says it’s time to tax wealth. The Massachusetts senator on March 1 introduced a bill to tax households worth over US$50 million and up to $1 billion at a rate of 2%, and anything over that at 3%. She first proposed the idea of a wealth tax during the Democratic presidential primary in 2019. The legislation, which could raise an estimated $3 trillion over a decade, is meant to reduce inequality by using revenue from the wealthiest Americans to pay for new federal programs to lift up some of the poorest. There’s at least one problem: It may be unconstitutional. We believe good journalism is good for democracy and necessary for it. As an expert on tax policy, I know firsthand how America’s system has exacerbated inequality. Fortunately, there are other ways to tax the rich. Income and wealth inequality Concerns about inequality have increased in recent decades. Americans enjoyed substantial economic growth and broadly shared prosperity from the end of World War II into the 1970s. But in the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan dramatically slashed taxes on the wealthy – twice – cutting the top rate on wages from 70% to 28%. Studies have shown that the drop in tax rates, combined with other “trickle-down” policies such as deregulation, led to steadily rising income and wealth inequality. The wealthiest 1% controlled 39% of all wealth in 2016, up from less than 30% in 1989. At the same time, the bottom 90% held less than a quarter of America’s wealth, compared with more than a third in 1989. Currently, the federal government taxes all income above $518,400 at 37% with an additional 3.8% investment tax on incomes over $250,000. Income inequality by country Inequality in the U.S. is highest among most high-income countries, according to the GINI index. Zero indicates perfect equality and one indicates total inequality. United States 0.41 Luxembourg 0.35 United Kingdom 0.35 Spain 0.35 Switzerland 0.33 Germany 0.32 France 0.32 Sweden 0.29 Denmark 0.29 Netherlands 0.29 Austria 0.27 Belgium 0.27 Finland 0.27 Norway 0.27 Data shows most recent figure available, either 2017 or 2016. Chart: The Conversation, CC-BY-ND Source: World Bank Get the data The problem with a wealth tax Warren’s wealth tax aims to change that. Her tax on estates worth over $50 million would affect an estimated 100,000 families, or fewer than 1 in 1,000, according to University of California, Berkeley economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman. The tax wouldn’t start until 2023. Unlike an income tax, a wealth tax reaches the root of both wealth and income inequality. There’s only one snag: There are strong arguments that a federal wealth tax is unconstitutional. Wealth taxes violate Article I, Section 2, Clause 3, of the U.S. Constitution, which forbids the federal government from laying “direct taxes” that aren’t apportioned equally among the states. A direct tax is a tax on a thing, like property or income. An indirect tax is a tax on a transaction: for example, a sale or a gift. The income tax is a direct tax and constitutional because of the 16th Amendment, which specifically allows income taxes without apportionment. As for property, you may notice that only states levy real estate taxes. In almost every case, th

Will the truth sway the court from its apparent move to the far right? It's "Equal justice under law" and not "every advantage to the Republican Party." The last line invites you to listen. That link won't copy, but I'll save you the trouble in that it is the audio of what appears in this story in print about politics being a zero-sum game. Ken ======== https://www.alternet.org/2021/03/supreme-court-voting-rights/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6713 A Republican lawyer made a stunning admission to the Supreme Court about a voting rights case President Donald J. Trump and Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas listen as Justice Amy Coney Barrett delivers remarks during her swearing-in ceremony as Supreme Court Associate Justice Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, on the South Lawn of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks) David Badash and The New Civil Rights Movement March 02, 2021 At the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday an attorney for the Republican National Committee admitted GOP candidates need voter suppression laws, especially those that target minority voters, to win. The high court was hearing arguments related to the historic Voting Rights Act of 1965, which under Chief Justice John Roberts was gutted to be almost useless in 2013 when he infamously announced, "Our country has changed." The Guardian and HuffPost have written he was suggesting that racism is pretty much over. It is not. Tuesday's arguments discussed the landmark Voting Rights Act and "an Arizona law that disqualified ballots cast in the wrong precinct," as Mother Jones reports. The Brennan Center, as The Washington Post, reporting on today's Supreme Court hearing notes, is tracking over 250 bills Republicans are pushing in more than half the states across the country that are designed to take the "voter fraud" lies Donald Trump and his supporters have been pushing for nearly a year and turn them into "legal" voter suppression. The Supreme Court has changed dramatically in the nearly eight years since it suggested racism isn't a big deal anymore – and not for the better. But it was the court's newest member, and one of the most right-wing yet, who asked a revealing question. "What's the interest of the Arizona RNC here in keeping, say, the out-of-precinct ballot disqualification rules on the books?" That law forces the state to throw out voter ballots if cast in the wrong precinct. The question was asked by Justice Amy Coney Barrett. The answer stunned many. "Because it puts us at a competitive disadvantage relative to Democrats," the lawyer, Michael Carvin, responded, as Mother Jones reports. "Politics is a zero-sum game," he added. "It's the difference between winning an election 50-49 and –" he continued, but Justice Barrett wouldn't even let him finish his sentence, perhaps for fear of what else he would say. "Republicans' intentions couldn't be any clearer," writes Mother Jones' Abigail Weinberg. "It's not about reducing fraud. It's about keeping minorities from voting for Democrats." Listen as Carvin, a Federalist Society lawyer, very matter-of-factly, and almost condescendingly, admit what Republicans need to do to win: -- "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." -- Bertrand Russell, British philosopher and mathematician

To be a tad bit crude, I'm very happy to see a Baptist with some balls! I was raised in the Southern Baptist Church and much of my family still belongs and supports that denomination. I'm appalled at the 18th century beliefs shown by the leadership and the hypocrisy of what they do compared with what the Bible says they should be doing. Oops, sorry, saying "18th century" perhaps puts them too far back since they were founded in 1845 in the runup to the US Civil War in response to the "Northern Baptist" predilection toward abolition. Ken ====== https://theweek.com/speedreads/971218/beth-moore-popular-bible-writer-evangelist-no-longer-southern-baptist?utm_campaign=10_things_newsletter_20210310&utm_source=10_things_newsletter&utm_medium=email Beth Moore, popular Bible writer and evangelist, is 'no longer a Southern Baptist' 12:51 a.m. Beth Moore, a popular writer and speaker on the Bible, has quit the Southern Baptist Convention, and people in evangelical Christian circles are struggling to explain how big a deal that is for the largest U.S. Protestant denomination and the broader evangelical community, especially evangelical women. Beth Moore leaving the Southern Baptist Convention is the religion news equivalent to Prince Harry leaving the royal firm. A big and unthinkable deal. — Diana Butler Bass (@dianabutlerbass) March 9, 2021 Moore told Religion News Service on Friday that she is "no longer a Southern Baptist," RNS's Bob Smietana reported Tuesday. "I am still a Baptist, but I can no longer identify with Southern Baptists," she added. "I love so many Southern Baptist people, so many Southern Baptist churches, but I don't identify with some of the things in our heritage that haven't remained in the past." She also said she's ended her 25-year publishing and events partnership with Lifeway Christian Resources, the SBC's publishing arm. Moore, who has said her local Southern Baptist church "growing up saved my live" as a refuge from sexual abuse at home, began her ministry by mixing Bible study into her aerobics class at First Baptist Church in Houston. Lifeway published her first book in 1995, and she then founded Living Proof Ministries. Southern Baptists do not allow women to be pastors, but her teaching ministry earned millions of dollars from 2001 to 2016. Then, in October 2016, Moore was shocked at Donald Trump's comments on the Access Hollywood tape — and more shocked that SBC leaders rallied around him. "The disorientation of this was staggering," she told RNS. After Moore criticized Trump, she became something of a pariah. And when she became an advocate for victims of sexual abuse after the Houston Chronicle in February 2019 uncovered more than 700 cases of sexual abuse by Southern Baptist leaders over 20 years, she says she felt even more an outsider. From 2017 to 2019, RNS reports, Moore's Living Proof Ministries lost $1.8 million . "I do not believe these are days for mincing words," Moore tweeted in December. "I'm 63 1/2 years old & I have never seen anything in these United States of America I found more astonishingly seductive & dangerous to the saints of God than Trumpism. This Christian nationalism is not of God. Move back from it." Moore expects her audiences will be smaller now, she told RNS, but "I am going to serve whoever God puts in front of me." Peter Weber -- "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." -- Bertrand Russell, British philosopher and mathematician

https://www.nationalmemo.com/red-and-blue-states While Republicans Vote No, Their States Win Big In Rescue Plan Donna Provencher @ProvencherDonna March 12 | 2021 Reprinted with permission from American Independent As President Joe Biden signed Democrats' $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill into law Thursday afternoon, Republicans falsely claimed the bill only serves to bail out "blue states" at the expense of "red states" — but the landmark legislation will deliver massive funding and relief to many deep-red states in need during the pandemic. The American Rescue Plan will send more than $195 billion in aid to all 50 states and Washington, D.C., as well as $130.2 billion in aid to local governments throughout the country, benefiting red and blue states alike. In fact, according to a recent Reuters analysis, traditionally Republican states will receive a slightly disproportionate amount of federal aid from the package as compared to traditionally Democratic states — $3,192 per state resident as opposed to $3,160. And the bill levies no extra taxes on red states. But on Thursday afternoon, Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA) took to social media to criticize the legislation, tweeting, "It's red states like Georgia who will have to bail out the deep blue states who recklessly spent taxpayer $ on irresponsible decisions over the past year. They need to face the consequences of their actions rather than lean on the red states & the stimulus to bail them out!" This has been a frequent talking point of Republicans, with Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst claiming last week that Iowans shouldn't have to "foot the bill for other states' bad behavior and mismanagement," and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy complaining in mid-February about Democrats seeking "blue-state slush funds." Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) has opposed state and local funding to his own state, hard hit by the pandemic, despite criticism from Florida mayors. "Biden wants to spend more than $350 billion to bailout wasteful states," Scott said in January. "I've been clear — asking taxpayers to bailout failed politicians in liberal states like New York and Illinois and save them from their own bad decisions isn't fair to fiscally responsible states like Florida." The accusation of "blue state bailouts" may have originated with Donald Trump early in the pandemic, as he frequently made false claims that blue states merely wanted a government handout at the expense of other states. Trump tweeted in April, "Why should the people and taxpayers of America be bailing out poorly run states (like Illinois, as example) and cities, in all cases Democrat run and managed, when most of the other states are not looking for bailout help? I am open to discussing anything, but just asking?" Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, too, sought to block funds to state and local governments in the first COVID-19 relief bill passed last spring, the HEROES Act, claiming the legislation was a "blue state bailout" despite the $7 billion it directed toward his home state of Kentucky. He later touted himself as having providing relief to the citizens of Kentucky — despite his own efforts to fight the legislation. But despite Republican claims, a third-quarter report from the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center found that many red states were harmed by the pandemic. Six states saw the steepest drops in tax revenue (Alaska, North Dakota, Nevada, Florida, Oregon, and Texas), and of these, two-thirds — Alaska, North Dakota, Florida, and Texas — are traditionally Republican strongholds. These four states in particular suffered economically during the pandemic due to their dependence on tourism and natural resources, both of which saw depletions during lockdown with the collapse of tourism and oil prices. The report also found that the 22 states that saw economic improvement during the third quarter of the pandemic were a fairly even mix of red and blue states. Meanwhile, although not a single congressional Republican voted for the historic $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, Biden is planning a trip to visit states al

https://www.alternet.org/2021/03/trump-crimes/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6770 'The walls seem to be rapidly closing in': Trump 'may be in real trouble' with the law, experts say Sky Palma Trump was so upset with Melania's renovations at Mar-a-Lago that he demanded they be removed: report Brad Reed and Raw Story March 12, 2021 Investigators are ramping up criminal probes into former President Donald Trump, and two legal experts argue that Trump may not even be able to count on his few remaining lawyers to help him. Writing in the Washington Post, legal experts Donald Ayer and Norm Eisen argue that Trump's decades-long evasion of legal accountability may now finally be coming to an end thanks to the multiple investigations he's facing. Although Trump in the past has employed top-notch lawyers to get him out of trouble, they write that the president's remaining "legal enablers" may have difficulty staying with him given their own mounting troubles. "Judge James E. Boasberg of the D.C. District Court recently referred attorney Erick Kaardal to a court grievance committee for potential punishment because Kaardal filed an allegedly bogus case attacking the November election results," they write. "Giuliani is beset with even greater challenges: Late last week, news reports indicated that federal prosecutors in Manhattan had resumed their investigation into whether he broke federal law in his Ukraine dealings, which helped lead to Trump's first impeachment." They conclude by saying that Trump's indictment and conviction are far from assured, although at this point prosecutors seem to be barreling toward slapping him with criminal charges. "This is not to say that exacting justice will be easy — as a private businessman, Trump was notorious for using the law as a weapon," they write. "But the walls seem to be rapidly closing in. If they do, they may finally mark an end to the ex-president's involvement in our public life. It is not easy to be involved in politics if you are broke and in jail." -- "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." -- Bertrand Russell, British philosopher and mathematician

Reading this doesn't give you the same effect as listening to him, but the video link won't copy. Click the link below, scroll down, and watch that video. Depending on your point of view, you will either say "AMEN!" or you will laugh. Ken ========= https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/robin-bullock-claims-prophets-have-the-power-to-call-trump-back-into-the-white-house/?utm_source=rww&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=bestof Robin Bullock Claims ‘Prophets’ Have the Power to Call Trump Back Into the White House By Kyle Mantyla | March 10, 2021 11:16 am Right-wing pastor Robin Bullock used his church service Tuesday to urge his fellow “prophets” to come together and call former President Donald Trump back to the White House, declaring that if they will do so, “God will supernaturally move things out of the way” to allow Trump to return. Bullock is among the various self-proclaimed “prophets” who guaranteed that Trump would win the 2020 election. Like many of those other “prophets,” Bullock still refuses to accept that his prophecies were wrong even though President Joe Biden has been in the White House for over a month. “Prophetical authority has to start being used by God’s prophets,” Bullock declared. “We’ve got to come up now to another level and start speaking with authority. Not just declaring, speaking with authority. And the Lord is going to give you words to warn people and speak to people in high-ranking positions. Whether you think they’re listening or not, they’re listening.” “The stage is set,” he continued, “but you’re going to have to pray for the rightful president, whether he wants to walk back into this or not. You must pray that he wants to do it because God won’t make him do anything. Is it his will? Yes. Is he the president? Yes. That’s why he could just walk right back in, and God will supernaturally move things out of the way.” “Even now the rightful president, Donald J. Trump, will hold a rally, and you can tell he’s still the president,” Bullock said. “All you have to do is listen to him. He’s the president. … No matter what happens, he’s the president, and he’s supposed to walk back in that office. So call him back. Call him back. Call him back. Once he knows the prophets are calling, he’ll come.” “We’re gonna have to start publicly talking about that he’s the president. I know they will say, ‘Really? Why would you say that in public?’ Because he is!” Bullock bellowed. “Don’t mess with us, Satan. Don’t mess with us, corrupt political regimes. Don’t mess with God’s people like that because I’m going to tell you something: If you mess with us, we’ll call him back for three terms. Don’t mess with us. You’ve never seen the power of God in action before.” -- "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." -- Bertrand Russell, British philosopher and mathematician

Will I be considered overly partisan if I share something based on facts and not politics? Ken ======== https://nowthis.cmail20.com/t/ViewEmail/d/F1F0D7C381EB5B602540EF23F30FEDED/59C1B7D6EC896AF33D3F7F9A22A6E02E Study finds that states with GOP governors have seen higher rate of COVID cases, deaths A new study has found that Republican-led states have had a higher rate of COVID-19 cases and deaths than those led by Democrats. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Medical University of South Carolina found that as the pandemic progressed, governors’ party affiliation correlated with coronavirus infection rates and deaths. States with Democratic governors took harder hits early in the pandemic, when scientists and public health officials were still learning about the virus. But the study found that “on June 3, the association reversed, and Republican-led states had higher incidence ... For death rates, Republican-led states had lower rates early in the pandemic, but higher rates from July 4 through mid-December.” The researchers wrote that a reason for this could be “policy differences” and the level of strictness when it came to enforcing guidelines. KnowThis Every state that currently does not have a mask mandate, or is lifting their mandates later this month, has a Republican governor. -- "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." -- Bertrand Russell, British philosopher and mathematician

"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth." -- Albert Einstein, German-American physicist, Nobel laureate (14 Mar 1879-1955)

https://www.palmerreport.com/community/lara-trump-gets-caught-up-in-dog-charity-scandal/37419/ Lara Trump gets caught up in dog charity scandal Bocha Blue | 7:09 pm EST March 13, 2021 Palmer Report ? Community The term “what’s Trump done now” really should have its own listing in the dictionary as this phrase has become almost as standard as saying hello. But it isn’t just Donald who is making news. There has been widespread speculation that Eric Trump’s wife, Lara Trump, will run for the Senate in North Carolina. It may well be true, although I think Lara would have a tough time getting elected. North Carolina is a purple state, and Mrs. Eric Trump is as solid MAGA red as it gets. Plus, she has a bit of baggage. And one piece of that baggage is going to be hard to explain. Per the Huffington Post (and now reported by other outlets), Lara’s charity “Big Dog Ranch Rescue” may have some explaining to do. Big Dog is a dog rescue charity associated with Lara as she is one of its chair people. Yet, through documents, including some IRS forms, it has come out that the charity spent 1.9 Million in fundraising for Trump at various properties of his including Mar-A-Lago and his Florida golf course. This has caused some eyebrows to rise, to put it mildly. What is a dog charity doing with Trump’s fundraising expenses? It is pretty odd. Many on Twitter are deeply upset about this and have even compared Lara to Cruella de Vil. This is most likely not the way Mrs. Trump would like to kick off any campaign, and she is going to have to, at some point, explain herself. The charity President, Lauren Simmons, has defended the charity. And Friday evening, Mr. Insurrectionist himself, one Donald Trump, gave an impromptu speech at a fundraiser for the charity where he alluded to Lara possibly running. She will undoubtedly face many questions if she does. -- "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." -- Bertrand Russell, British philosopher and mathematician

https://www.bookbub.com/blog/bestselling-books-the-year-you-were-born?position=4&source=multicontent&target=title -- "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." -- Bertrand Russell, British philosopher and mathematician