Incompetent Donald Trump is incompetent...and Captain Obvious is obvious
Greetings, fellow Dot Calm Readers, Freedom Fighters, and Truth Crusaders!
I'm still going to focus most of this post on the lunacy of the world's most incompetent businessman and tin-pot dictator wannabe whose only talent is grand theft: Donald John Trump...
...but I can go no farther before I let loose a howl of dismay for beautiful Haiti, smacked down once again...this time by Hurricane Matthew.
Oh, friends, it grieves me.
We are the richest nation on earth--or so I am told--and not only do we not help our precious brothers and sisters in Haiti, but we have actively and aggressively clobbered them every chance we've gotten. We have a long history of thwarting democracy in Haiti and undermining that nation's independence and liberty every chance we get, including kidnapping democratically-elected President Jean Bertrand Aristide in our March 2004 coup so we could replace him with someone right wing and thus acceptable to our corporations.
It was about our occupation of Haiti after the turn of the last century that Marine Corps General Smedley Butler said, "War is a racket," outing himself for having served as high-class muscle for Big Business and big banks.
It grieves me that people like my Tea Party Christian friend seriously believe that we help wherever we go. Sure, friends--we help ourselves, not the people whose nations we invade.
Vulture capitalists...or just plain vultures?
As if that's not bad enough--as if it's not bad enough that we can't spare a square and parcel out the merest smidgeon of our own vast wealth to bless Haiti with the merest semblance of decent, dignified humanity to brighten up their existence...as if we don't owe them that as the very least we could do--we turn around and blame them for all their own problems, including all the ones no one could prevent, like earthquakes, and all the ones we ourselves created and exacerbate...right down to the global warming that is driving more and more severe hurricanes. We blame them for being lazy (they're not), for being savages (they're not), and for being Black (well, ya got me there)...
(From 2010)
(From 2015)
That's right, folks, and you heard it here: over 300,000 Haitians died in the 2010 earthquake because Haiti made a pact with the devil, "true story"! ...Doncha just love how Pat Robertson can quote the devil literally because doncha know he was in the room during that conversation...?!?? Of course Pat Robertson was there in person--he is the devil! And, as Kyle says, we backed Papa Doc and the Duvaliers--and Mother Teresa was bestest buds with them.
Phuque...I remember when France was urged to pay Haiti $40B in reparations (that was in 2010--I wonder where that stands today), and we should, too, for all the damage we've caused them. I wonder where they as a nation would have been today if we hadn't gone in, time after time after time, and robbed them of their potential. What would they have built? What would they have made of themselves if we hadn't hamstrung them whenever we felt like it?
But shhh...don't mention any of this to my Tea Party Christian friend. He'll call you all manner of unpleasant, unpatriotic names. He equates being honest about our nation's actual actions and history with hating America. I'd hate to see how his kids turned out if that's how he treated them growing up--never dealing with, never admitting they ever did anything wrong. Somehow, I doubt that Mr. "Spare the rod, spoil the child" ever had any issue with pulling out his hitting stick whenever he felt his kiddie-winkies were getting out of line.... Oh, that's right--he's perfectly happy to beat up on others, but he'll pound you to a pulp the minute you dare to be honest about his own shortcomings, the shortcomings of Christians in general, and the shortcomings of God Himself as described in the Bible (pew!!).
And that is why Haiti can't have nice things.
*****
I was listening to "Democracy Now!" for a few minutes on the way into work this morning...or maybe it was yesterday...my life is a blur right now. Amy Goodman was interviewing her guests, David Barstow and David Cay Johnston, about Donald Trump's tax avoidance--I missed the later segment on how a Trump presidency would destroy freedom of the press as we know it...not to mention women's right to choose, LGBTQ+ rights, civil rights for Blacks and Latinos, and the right to exist for everyone on the planet due to deregulation, nuclear war, and global warming denial (I'm taking bets regarding whether we as a species can last long enough to determine whether incompetent corrupt Donald Trump's nuclear winter actually does combat global warming enough to give the straggling survivors a chance to take permanent action to slow or stop runaway warming...).
But I digress.
There are links to these guests' pieces in the DN! headlines below, but what I really wanted to do today was check out David Cay Johnston's work. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter formerly with The New York Times, now a columnist for The Daily Beast. His latest piece is headlined "Art of the Steal." His biography of Donald Trump is titled The Making of Donald Trump.
If you've been following the blawg, then you saw (and hopefully watched) Randi Rhodes's video on Donald Trump's tax avoidance and its implications. Like Dot Calm, I love Randi because she is so danged thorough. As Randi said, it-snot Donald Trump who "understands the tax code." It-snot Donald Trump with the "business acumen." It-snot Donald Trump who's the "genius" here. It's Jack Mitnick, Donald Trump and Marla Maples's tax accountant--and 1995 was the last year he was with the company that did their taxes.
No, it turns out that Donald Trump's real genius is pissing away his daddy's fortune in one after another after another after another bad debt, failed venture, bankruptcy, and staggering business loss...like losing nearly $1 BILLION in 1995 alone. IN A BOOM YEAR.
David Cay Johnston's investigation is damning. Based on the evidence available, Johnston pegs Donald's wealth at $100-150 million--making Donald quite wealthy but not nearly in the same league as the multi-billionaire he claims to be. Donald can't pay his bills. He converts his own private debts into private and public losses for banks, investors, and actual taxpayers like us. He takes on debts with no intention of ever paying them--clearly a form of fraud. And, as Randi Rhodes reminded us in the video I posted Monday, Donald Trump got Chris Christie, as governor of New Jersey, to reduce his bill to the state from $35 million to a mere $5 million--leaving the non-multi-millionaire residents of New Jersey to pick up Donsie-Wonsie's $30 million tab.
There so much more to this story that it might just be easier to post Johnston's whole piece verbatim for you to read for yourself. It's definitely a hackle-raiser, grrrr.
As the "Democracy Now!" guests pointed out, the last time there was clear evidence that Donald Trump paid any taxes was in the 1970s. That fat bastard has been living like a king all this time--freeloading off of all of us working stiffs. I thot Republicans didn't like freeloaders. Hum, I guess they do when it's one of theirs. In 1995, I was making $50k working as an engineer for the federal government for an incompetent boss who would rather have poked needles in his eyes than give a competent engineer like me the raise and promotion I deserved. I was working my way through doctoral school at the time, but I used to put in 14 and 16 hour days so that my work deadlines wouldn't slip. And not only could I not get the salary and position I deserved, but I paid more phuquen taxes than corrupt, thieving Donald John Trump!!!!!
And you, my friends, did, too.
Doesn't that just take the piss outta ya--we all made shit-tons less money than celebutante Donald Trump, but we all subsidized him and his lifestyle of the rich and famous with our taxes--which should have gone to feed, clothe, shelter, and care for the needy and to support our public schools and infrastructure.
And if you think for a NY minute that celebutante-in-thief Donald Trump has any intention of cutting us some slack for a change by cutting our taxes and raising his own, I have some nice swamp land in Marathon, Florida, to sell ya.
Oh, sure, Donald will change the tax code--to further enrich himself and his children.
And that is why we can't have nice things.
*****
So...didja watch the Veep debate?
I wanted to, but there was just no way...so the best I could do was find highlights and news articles after the fact.
Vox savaged human sweater vest Tim Kaine, calling him aggressive and desperate-sounding, saying that Kaine failed on style, lost the debate, and would have done better to emulate Pence by trying not to win the argument but the audience. Hurtful! I say, don't they know how habitually--reflexively--Mike Pence lied? Have they been listening to Donald Trump's outrage upon outrage? Which is more important--style or substance? Why is it a win for Pence to spew a constant stream of lies with the silky smoothness of a well-practiced used car salesman trying to unload a heavily-Bondo'ed Yugo with two wheels missing on someone shopping for a late-model Mercedez? Why is it a loss for Kaine to demand to hear what we all want to hear: how can a seemingly sane, apparently civil person like Mike Pence agree to participate in this campaign and defend the indefensible butt nugget that is Donald Trump? Inquiring minds want to know!
A friend of mine at work said that Kaine was trying to throw everything Donald Trump has been saying at Mike Pence to see how much would stick. I agree and think it was not a bad strategy. After all, Kaine successfully forced Pence into cowshitting the entire "debate" (bullshit is where you make up stoopit shit that doesn't answer any question; cowshit is when you ignore the question that was asked and answer one you'd rather answer instead).
Personally, I wish Kaine had been more aggressive--he should have projected his voice better to drown out Pence when he talked over him. And he should never have let Pence get away with projecting--for example, claiming that Hillary's campaign is the insult-driven one! Let's take a quick minute and break that down, shall we? Since the campaign started, Donald Trump has inundated us every news cycle with a constant deluge of insults against Mexicans, Muslims, Blacks, women, veterans, overweight people, and pretty much everyone else. Not even other Republicans or his own supporters were safe! In contrast, Hillary was only too generous when she called out as deplorable only half of Donald Trump's supporters for being the racists, bigots, misogynists, haters, etc. that no one denies that they are.
Is Pence really saying that racists, bigots, misogynists, haters, etc. are not deplorable?
Hmmmm...!
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I was telling my aunt in an e-mail the other day about how my dad is improving and should be ready and able to come home next week. I lamented about the popularity--or lack thereof--of both presidential candidates. If Republicans had nominated someone with half a brain who almost sounds sane sometimes--meaning John Kasich--he'd have beat Hillary hands down. But if Democrats had nominated Bernie, he'd have squashed Donald Trump like a
*****
Surely you've heard by now (if not, there's a wonderful Randi Rhodes video in todaze m00bies) that Julian Assange totally punked tinfoil-hat Republicans, like Alex Jones, by making them stay up a-l-l night...setting up their broadcast studios...waiting with bated breath...drooling in near-orgasmic anticipation...to hear the Wikileaks "October surprise" bombshell promised to blow Hillary's presidential campaign out of the water....only to get nothing but a crummy commercial for Assange's book in honor of Wikileaks's 10th anniversary. I can hear the tinfoil-hat crowd now..."B-e-s-u-r-e-t-o-d-r-i-n-k-y-o-u-r-O-v-a-l-t-i-n-e...Ovaltine?! A crummy commercial?!?? Sonovabitch!!" Republican tears...soooo yummy! Well played, Mr. Assange, well played.With that thot, be sure to t00n in next time, folks--same blawg time, same blawg channel!
And, until then...
Don't forget to read Dot Calm's shadow's favorite independent sources of news and information:
Daily Kos
AlterNet
Peas, friends. Take care of yourselves for me. Trust me--you're worth it! I lurves each and every one of you!!
- Dot Calm's shadow
Consider the preemptive Blogger phuqued-up phormatting disclaimer to be in effect. Grrr.
-- Dot Calm's shadow
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David Cay Johnston reminds us
that Donald Trump should be happy
if we spend our tax dollars
on a federal investigation of his conduct:
"While a federal investigation
into Trump’s conduct
will cost us some of our income-tax dollars,
it wouldn’t cost Trump a penny."
that Donald Trump should be happy
if we spend our tax dollars
on a federal investigation of his conduct:
"While a federal investigation
into Trump’s conduct
will cost us some of our income-tax dollars,
it wouldn’t cost Trump a penny."
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A word or three from Vox
The stunning collapse of Colombia's peace agreement with the FARC, explained
The 2016 Nobel Prize in physics, explained in 500 words
The 11 incredibly negative stories surrounding the Trump campaign right now
Is your doctor Republican or Democrat? The answer can impact your health.
No country on Earth is taking the 2 degree climate target seriously
Mike Pence claimed "smoking doesn't kill" as late as 2000
...And that's because, as an evangelist, Mike Pence thinks that God kills, God's followers kill, and the demons God created to torment us whether we sin or not kill. Mike Pence doesn't believe that cancer kills, oh no. Heck, if Mike Pence were enough of an apostate to "believe" in cancer, he'd never in a million years understand or accept that there's causality between smoking and cancer. Oh no, Mike Pence don't want no truck with the notion that ciggies have anything to do with cancer. Ciggies have to do with $$$, and THAT is what Mike Pence cares about! Why? Because, like all Republicans of his ilk, Mike Pence is pro-death. Enforced birth is not pro-life if you starve the resulting child and deprive it of food, shelter, clothing, education, and opportunity. Anti-regulation sure as hell is not pro-life--just ask the parents of the Chinese babies poisoned by melamine in their infant formula. Sending other people's family members into war purely so you can make money is not pro-life. And global warming denial sure as hell isn't pro-life. This is why I call Republicans the pro-death party. Mike Pence is pro-death. Donald Trump is pro-death. I'm pro-life--including being pro-the life of a woman who is entitled to decide what happens or not to her body. Are you pro-life?
Hillary Clinton just took a step toward Elizabeth Warren's view on monopolies
Mike Pence and Donald Trump disagree on a heck of a lot of issues
...And Trump makes it clear that he hasn't a bit of use for Mike Pence or his pesky opinions unless it's [cue Herve Villechaize to Ricardo Montalban] "Yes, Boss."
Donald Trump's humiliation of Mike Pence has made tonight's VP debate very strange
...Yeah! As in, if Pence "wins," does that refute Trump and Trumpism? Does it mean that the Republican party shit the bed by nominating Trump when Kasich would have squashed Hillary like a bug? Hm....
Donald Trump's polling since the debate has been dismal
...And it couldn't happen to a nicer, more deserving guy.
The most revealing Republican ad of the election is an attack ad against Tim Kaine
...So what are Republicans attacking Kaine for? Why, following the law, of course! Don't believe me--click through and read the story!
Gary Johnson: it's good to not know stuff about other countries
...And he thinks that's a wonderful quality for our next president. To have. Derp. It would be hilarious if it were SNL.
The best new Senate race gaffe is about whether Donald Trump is a good role model for children
...As Bugs Bunny would say, "Oh, Pru-nella!" This, too, would have been hilarious if it had been SNL. Or The Onion.
A Trump-Pence administration absolutely would "punish" women who have abortions
...It happens NOW. Just ask Purvi Patel, jailed in Mike Pence's Indiana thanks to Mike Pence's law...until her conviction was overturned. Bonus: Purvi Patel: What you need to know about the woman arrested under Gov. Mike Pence's abortion law
Mike Pence demonstrated what Trumpism might look like after Trump
...Creepy AF. Mike Pence is not a nice man. He is not a good man. Mike Pence is a bad man--a very bad man.
Reports suggest Donald Trump is unhappy with Mike Pence for winning the VP debate
...So, of course, Pence had to come out today and announce that Trump won the VP debate. That's because vindictive Donald Trump gave Mike Pence the choice of sucking him off now or sucking him off later. So Pence took the easier option of sucking his boss off now, when he could still do it using his words, as opposed to...you know.
7 criticisms of Trump that Mike Pence refused to answer
...What, only 7?!??
2 winners and 4 losers from the vice presidential debate
...Vox counts Kaine as a loser--ouch--and it counts the truth as a loser, too, implying that either Kaine wasn't truthful (wut?!??) or didn't hold Pence's feet to the fire enough...?!?? You know who they forgot? We are the losers because the Veep debate was the opening salvo of Mike Pence's 2020 presidential campaign. That's if we don't all commit suicide by then at the prospect. Go to Vox for more articles slamming Kaine.
Mike Pence brazenly contradicted Trump on Russia and Syria
...Mikey Wikey's gonna get a spanking from angry-wangry Donsie Wonsie....
Tim Kaine: Pence and Trump should "trust women" on abortion, not ban it
...Hey, Vox--how is this not a win for Kaine?
VP debate moderator says both campaigns add to the debt. Trump's plan adds a lot, LOT more.
...And yet the Trumpists--who hate, loathe, and despise the national debt with a seething passion--are only too happy to guzzle Donald's kool-aid to skyrocket the debt! smh, smh...
Donald Trump made it 6 minutes into the VP debate before tweeting something bizarre
...He probably thinks Carly Simon's song "You're So Vain" is about him....
Mike Pence won the debate by throwing Donald Trump under the bus
...The whole situation is just bizarre.
The 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, explained in 500 words
Poland is backing off an extreme abortion ban after thousands of women went on strike
...I can't believe we are still fighting this issue. When are we as human beings going to accept that the female half of the species is as human as the male half and treat them accordingly by recognizing that women have the same right to bodily autonomy as men?
How the Clinton campaign is making #ThatMexicanThing a thing, explained
...Heh heh! Pence choked. Good.
And now a word from FiveThirtyEight
Trump's Doing Worse Than Romney Did Among White Voters
What's So Wrong With Insider Trading Anyway?
Election Update: North Carolina Is Becoming A Problem For Trump
People Who Oppose Gay Marriage Are Less Likely To Value Expert Opinion
...No duh!
Trump Is More Unpopular Than Clinton Is — And That Matters
...Republicans really had to work overtime to find
Art of the Steal: This Is How Trump Lost $916M and Avoided Tax
This is how Donald Trump’s accountants and lawyers most likely used the tax code to avoid paying income tax for almost two decades.
The big New York Times scoop that Donald Trump used $916 million of tax losses to enjoy many income tax-free years raised a question the newspaper didn’t try to answer: How did Trump do it?
Trump, the only major-party presidential nominee in four decades to keep all his tax returns secret, insists “there’s nothing to learn from them.”
Yet in one day I figured out how Trump’s advisers almost certainly arranged the massive tax losses, skipped out on a massive income-tax bill, and then fashioned a loophole with more valuable tax benefits than the already liberal tax breaks Congress gives big real-estate owners while sticking others with the bill.
Trump dumped the real costs of all this on investors who saw gold in his brand name, but who lost everything even as he was paid tens of millions of tax-free dollars.
All this came from subtle clues on the front pages of Trump’s 1995 Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York state income-tax returns. Which sums were on which lines in each state pointed to how Trump must have organized his affairs. Two of the most respected tax professors in America agree with my analysis. Edward Kleinbard of the University of Southern California and Martin J. McMahon Jr. of the University of Florida refined my view.
Trump’s gambit is easy to explain in plain English, but for tax wonks the short version is this: Trump combined tax benefits under Section 1231 of the Internal Revenue Code with the exception provisions in Section 108.
The story of Trump’s income tax-free life begins in 1990 with Trump’s well-documented mismanagement of his casinos and his admission that he paid far too much for “trophy properties” like the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan and 23 worn-out jetliners for the short-lived Trump Shuttle airline.
These mistakes created about $1 billion of “net operating losses,” or NOLs, under Section 1231 of the tax code.
NOLs are incredibly valuable. These tax losses can be used to offset salaries, business profits, and income from, say, a television show or making neckties in China. Thanks to his $916 million of NOLs, Trump could earn much over 18 years in salaries, profits, and interest, but pay no income taxes.
Net operating losses should reflect economic damage suffered by the owner of the NOLs. But Trump found a way to gain from these losses by spreading the costs around to bankers and investors.
NOLs can be used right away or be applied to reduce taxes from two previous years and up to 15 future years. In contrast, Congress requires that real estate be depreciated for tax purposes over 39 years. The faster a tax break becomes available, the greater its value. Trump’s advisers found a way to convert real-estate depreciation into NOLs that were much more flexible and could be used faster.
Trump claimed to be worth billions in 1990, just as he does now, yet he could not pay his bills. He stiffed hundreds of small-business suppliers, including those for the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, which will go out of business next week. In all he owed more $3 billion, nearly a third of his debt secured by nothing more substantial than his signature on bank loan papers.
Last May, Trump revealed that he took on debt with no intention of paying it all back, which strikes me as fraud. “I’ve borrowed knowing you can pay back with discounts,” he told CNBC in May, boasting “I’ve done well with debt.”
Back then Trump threatened endless litigation unless 70 banks he owed money gave him millions more in new loans at low interest rates and provided him with $5.4 million a year for personal spending, the equivalent of $10 million in today’s money.
Back then, one billionaire told The New York Times he didn’t know how to spend that much on himself and his family.
What made the litigation threat credible was Trump’s refusal to pay more than 150 illegal immigrants who demolished the Bonwit Teller department store to make way for Trump Tower. A federal judge ruled that Trump conspired to cheat the workers, who never did collect all of their $4-an-hour wages despite an 18-year struggle.
The bankers realized that a man who would endure almost two decades of litigation to avoid paying such meager wages might tie them up for eternity over the billions of dollars owed to them.
When the New Jersey Casino Control Commission took Trump’s side against his bankers, they gave in. The banks canceled close to a billion dollars of Trump’s debts and extended new loans on favorable terms.
Normally, any part of a loan that is forgiven becomes taxable income, as millions of people who could not repay home mortgages or student loan debt have learned in recent years.
That’s where Section 108 comes in. Three years after Trump bested his bankers, Congress amended that section to let real-estate professionals avoid income taxes on debts that were canceled.
The technique is simple. The taxes due immediately because a debt is forgiven can be exchanged for relinquishing future real-estate tax deductions. Trump agreed to forgo his future right to take about $1 billion worth of depreciation on his casino hotels.
This exchange created a future problem for Trump. Real estate that cannot be depreciated is worth a lot less. Indeed, generous tax benefits drive real-estate investment. So while Trump escaped an immediate income-tax bill, the future tax benefits he gave up would mean that he would likely have to pay income taxes on his salary, fees for licensing his name, and other income.
To solve this problem, Trump sold stock for the first time in 1995. He founded Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, which then took ownership of his casino hotels.
That meant Trump got money for selling his casino hotels, while the investors got real estate with greatly diminished tax benefits.
Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts was a complete disaster. It lost money every year. During Trump’s 13 years as chairman, the company lost $1.1 billion. Trump stock fell from a high of $35 to just 17 cents, wiping out investors.
Trump did just fine, though. He was paid $82 million, Fortune magazine estimated. The publicly traded company even took out loans that were used to pay off some of Trump’s remaining obligations to the banks from when he owned his casinos outright.
The $82 million Trump was paid by the publicly traded company bearing his name should have all been received income tax-free thanks to those NOLs. Thus his mismanagement, and the tax benefits he stripped out of the casino hotels before he sold them to shareholders, made him richer and them poorer.
So while Trump made money at every turn, the banks that lent him money, the workers and small businesses who delivered for Trump, and the investors in his casino company all got stiffed. And while they paid taxes on whatever income they did manage to collect, Trump enjoyed at least $916 million of tax-free income.
In the first debate with Hillary Clinton, Trump did not dispute her statement that he pays no income taxes. Instead he said it shows he is smart.
That may be, but it also suggests the rest of us are chumps for paying our taxes while Trump enjoys all the benefits of the United States government—little things like individual liberty, the FBI, and a military to protect us—while bearing none of the burden. If we all did as Trump does, we would, to quote a line Trump employs often, not have our country anymore.
Just three pages of tax forms, years of assiduously following Trump, and a deep knowledge of tax law allowed me to determine how he almost certainly arranged to escape income taxes for years while he stuck others with the bill. Now imagine what voters could learn if I had just one complete Trump tax return or years of his Form 1040s and Schedules A through E. It would be possible then to evaluate his unverifiable claims that he is a modern Midas worth more than $10 billion.
A complete tax return for 1995 would also make it possible to determine if Trump followed the law, as a statement he issued asserts, or misreported figures to inflate his tax savings.
Trump has been found more than once to have used two sets of figures to short others and benefit himself.
Keep in mind that we know Trump engaged in sales tax fraud, as I detail in my book The Making of Donald Trump.
Earlier this year I revealed badges of fraud on Trump’s 1984 income-tax returns.
Under oath, his own tax lawyer and accountant disowned the return.
Then there’s Trump’s role in authorizing an alleged quarter-billion-dollar income-tax fraud on profits from the Trump SoHo in Manhattan. The profits were run through a corrupt Icelandic bank under the control of one of the many Russian oligarchs whom Trump has said have paid him tens of millions of dollars and are among his best customers.
Trump’s full tax returns would help us understand how deeply he is involved with the oligarchs, whose fortunes and even lives depend on maintaining friendship with Vladimir Putin, the murderous Russian autocrat whom Trump goes out of his way to praise at every opportunity. Trump’s full tax returns would also tell us about his debts to the Bank of China, owned by the communist rulers in Beijing, and his many deals with Middle East potentates and their retainers.
Knowing how much leverage these foreign power brokers have on Trump is highly relevant since he wants to become commander in chief and possess the powers of federal law enforcement.
What I distilled from just three pages of Trump tax documents—together with other reporting—provides Congress with ample reasons to investigate Trump’s finances, especially the way the tax code can be abused to cheat others and enjoy tax-free living.
Trump, who demands that Congress press investigations into his opponent over personal emails, surely could have no complaint about the use of federal tax dollars to investigate his finances. After all, while a federal investigation into Trump’s conduct will cost us some of our income-tax dollars, it wouldn’t cost Trump a penny.
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Mailbag
From SumOfUs.org--Tell Duracell to switch to safe button batteries for children's sake
Fifteen minutes. That’s how long a single Duracell button battery takes to burn through the throat of a toddler.
Duracell’s small lithium button batteries, used in toys, watches and remotes, are easily swallowed and can kill children -- or leave them unable to speak or eat without help for the rest of their lives.
Duracell can stop this. Engineers invented safe button batteries years ago, but Duracell is still refusing to switch to them. Instead, it is passing responsibility onto parents, telling them to just be careful. A massive public outcry can force Duracell to switch now to save children.
Duracell: switch to safe button batteries now.
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From Daily Kos--Help fund DKos's coverage of the Trumpocalypse and help drive Trump's meltdown
1.6 million people came to Daily Kos this past Monday and Tuesday to read our debate coverage, generating more than 5.7 million page views between them—our biggest traffic days since the conventions.
Simply put, Daily Kos is the go-to place for progressives to get their news and traffic is huge right now.
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Can you chip in $5 right now to help Daily Kos Get Out The Vote for Democrats?
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Worse still for the other side: Hillary Clinton's powerhouse debate performance has energized Democrats like never before this year. If we can turn that energy into momentum for Democrats running for House and Senate, well ... that'd be the Trumpocalypse.
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From Change.org--27 years in prison for a stoopit marijuana offence but not even a slap on the wrist for police shooting unarmed Blacks or Donald Trump freeloading or rich Republicans stealing ordinary Americans' futures!!! Please sign this one in honor of Dot Calm--she was a huge proponent of medical marijuana.
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Republicans and even some Democrats jump through their own assholes to disenfranchise Blacks in this country. This is a very real problem reported only in independent media by people like Amy Goodman and Greg Palast--so, naturally, most of us have no idea. Dot Calm hated this kind of bigotry and worked tirelessly to rid society of it. Please sign this petition to honor her effort and her love of all people, no matter what size, shape, or color!
-- Dot Calm's shadow
It’s a bedrock principle of our democracy:
One person, one vote.
But a few years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court undercut the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Now, many states are reinstituting discriminatory voting restrictions that should have remained a relic of our nation’s lesser days.
Take action with Public Citizen — and allies like Daily Kos, League of Conservation Voters, People For the American Way and more — to oppose voter suppression.
Sign the petition against discriminatory voting restrictions.
Thank you for taking action TODAY to protect the rights of ALL voters.
Onward,
Robert Weissman
President, Public Citizen
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Stop Trump Volunteers via ActionNetwork.org
things just keep getting worse for Donald Trump.
On Saturday, the New York Times revealed that Trump may have avoided paying income tax for the last 20 years by claiming that he lost nearly one billion dollars in 1995. He promptly melted down at a campaign rally after the news was released.
Now, Trump is under fire for suggesting that military veterans suffering from PSTD just aren't "strong."
Plus, the New York attorney general's office has issued a letter to Trump's charitable foundation, ordering it immediately stop raising money in the state of New York because it is not actually registered to do so under state law.
This is our chance to put Trump away and build a lead he can never come back from.
Sign up to make calls from home to get out the vote in swing states for Hillary Clinton. Follow this link, click the "get started" button, create an account, and start calling!
Can't make calls? Please chip in $5 on PayPal to help me sign up volunteers to make phone calls. I'm just a volunteer working to elect Hillary Clinton and defeat Donald Trump, and I fund the operation of this email list out of my own pocket.
As Trump unravels, Hillary Clinton is soaring in the polls. Her chance of winning the election went from 51.5% to 71.8% in just the last seven days, according to Nate Silver.
It's not just Nate Silver showing Hillary rising. The New York Times shows her chances going from 70% to 78% last week, while her odds at Daily Kos went from 64% to 72%.
The timing couldn't be better. Voting has already begun in swing states like Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Virginia. It is about to begin in Maine, North Carolina and New Mexico.
Please, get started making phone calls for Hillary to voters in swing states where early voting is either underway or about to begin. Just follow this link to Hillary's website, click the "get started" button, create an account, and call some voters!
Thank you, thank you, thank you to the 395 people who went to Hillary's website to volunteer to make phone calls from the email I sent on Sunday! It is volunteers like you who are going to stop Donald Trump and win this election for Hillary Clinton.
Phone calls are the number one way that volunteers can make a difference. It is efficient: you can quickly contact crucial voters no matter where you live.
It is really easy, too:
- All you need is a computer and a phone.
- Once you are ready, just click through this link.
- From there, you will see a red "Get started" button. Click that button.
- After you click the red button, a pop-up window will appear.
- In that window, take 30 seconds to create an account as a Hillary Clinton volunteer.
- Once you create an account, you will be automatically directed to a list of active phone banks.
- Choose whichever phone bank you like, or select a state from the drop-down menu you will see.
- Finally, the name and phone number of a voter will appear on your screen, along with a script of what to say.
- Just give the voter a call, read the script, listen to what they have to say, and mark down how the call went!
- When you are done, you can easily move on to another call. Make as few or as many calls as you wish!
It's really that easy, but if you need more help Hillary's campaign has tutorials and training sessions which are easy to find after you create an account. You can even make practice phone calls before starting the real thing.
Sounds great! I can sign up and start making phone calls from home to help get out the vote in swing states for Hillary Clinton.
Can't make calls? Please chip in $5 to help me sign up more people to make phone calls. I'm just a volunteer working hard to elect Hillary Clinton and defeat Donald Trump and I fund the operation of this email list out of my own pocket.
Thank you for reading,
Natasha Chart
Mother. Daughter. Private citizen. Volunteer.
Rochester, New York
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PS - Join us on Facebook!
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From UltraViolet--Trump's "motherhood" ad sure ain't motherhood and apple pie...
Over the weekend, Donald Trump aired a deceptive ad called "Motherhood" to sell his so-called "plan" for child care and family leave.1
Trump's child care and family leave plans are a scam that excludes gay and adoptive families, offers little to low-income parents, and gives huge payouts to the wealthy.2
But of course, Trump's new ad paints a completely false picture--and is airing nationally.
There's only 34 days until the election. We can't let him convince women voters of his lies. Can you re-share this ad that tells the TRUTH about Trump's scam plan?
Share on Facebook or share on Twitter.
You can also forward this email or share this link: http://act.
Thanks for taking action,
--Nita and Shaunna
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A provision in the Senate’s defense authorization bill (S 2943) would limit the information the Pentagon is required to report about its use of private contractors. [1] If the Senate's provision were passed, the Pentagon's reported figures for the number of private contactors it is using would be so underestimated as to be useless. A House-Senate conference committee is now writing a final version of the bill. Whatever emerges from that conference will almost surely become law.
Urge your Rep. & Senators to demand accountability in Pentagon contracting by signing our petition at MoveOn.
An unaccountable army of private Pentagon contractors doesn't just waste taxpayers' money - that's bad enough. According to one estimate, the Pentagon could save more than $20 billion per year just by reducing its contractor work force by 15%.
But just as privatized prisons establish an unnecessary financial incentive for creating more prisoners, privatized Pentagon services establish an unnecessary financial incentive for wars of choice - like the current U.S. participation in the civil wars in Yemen and Syria.
Urge your Senators and Representative to demand transparency and accountability by signing and sharing our petition.
Thanks for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just,
Robert Naiman, Avram Reisman, and Sarah Burns
Just Foreign Policy
Help support our work!
If you think our work is important, support us with a $15 donation.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.
References:
1."Pentagon Reports Sharp Drop in Use of Contractors," John M. Donnelly, CQ Roll Call, Oct. 4, 2016
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Fat asshole Donald Trump, who dodged the draft and can't even remember which foot he claimed was flat to do so, has the unmitigated gall to call vets with PTSD "weak"! I can't even. It would be soooo worth going to jail for assault to flatten the fat orange anus's ugly nose with one well-placed punch.
-- Dot Calm's shadow
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The NRA is airing television ads featuring the graves of dead
veterans. It's a disgraceful spot, and even the VFW said they "don't
want any candidate using our dead to score political points." But the
NRA doesn't care.
Make your voice heard: Tell the NRA to remove their ads featuring the graves of dead veterans. |
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Avaaz--Help register voters!
We've just discovered a way to register likely anti-Trump voters at way below the cost of the best voter registration efforts out there!
I was shocked, but the numbers are holding steady. You've probably seen that Avaaz has taken the lead on registering the 8 million US citizens overseas (who normally don't vote!) with a dead simple tool that reduces the process from days to minutes! It's been covered in hundreds of media outlets.
Now with targeted Facebook ads that reach Americans overseas and link to the tool, we're registering new US voters for as low as $2.50 per voter. That’s pretty great -- we could get thousands of voters registered quickly! The election is close, registration deadlines are approaching and we need every vote, will you chip in ?
Some of the largest groups of expat Americans come from swing states like Florida. It was actually overseas Florida ballots that decided the 2000 election!
Avaaz and our American members are mobilized all over the world for this - with battle buses, rallies, and ad campaigns running from London to Berlin to Mexico city. BUT the law requires that US citizens must provide 100% of the funding for this effort. So how big the effort can go will be determined by how big the response to this email is! Let's make it huge:
Our movement has fought and won many battles for environmental sustainability, human rights, anti-corruption, democracy, women's rights, and peace. Donald Trump is the greatest danger we've ever faced on all of these fronts. He could erase decades of progress. We have just weeks to stop him. Let's pull out all the stops.
With hope,
Emma, Rewan, Oli, Nataliya, Meredith and the entire Avaaz team
I was shocked, but the numbers are holding steady. You've probably seen that Avaaz has taken the lead on registering the 8 million US citizens overseas (who normally don't vote!) with a dead simple tool that reduces the process from days to minutes! It's been covered in hundreds of media outlets.
Now with targeted Facebook ads that reach Americans overseas and link to the tool, we're registering new US voters for as low as $2.50 per voter. That’s pretty great -- we could get thousands of voters registered quickly! The election is close, registration deadlines are approaching and we need every vote, will you chip in ?
Some of the largest groups of expat Americans come from swing states like Florida. It was actually overseas Florida ballots that decided the 2000 election!
Avaaz and our American members are mobilized all over the world for this - with battle buses, rallies, and ad campaigns running from London to Berlin to Mexico city. BUT the law requires that US citizens must provide 100% of the funding for this effort. So how big the effort can go will be determined by how big the response to this email is! Let's make it huge:
Our movement has fought and won many battles for environmental sustainability, human rights, anti-corruption, democracy, women's rights, and peace. Donald Trump is the greatest danger we've ever faced on all of these fronts. He could erase decades of progress. We have just weeks to stop him. Let's pull out all the stops.
With hope,
Emma, Rewan, Oli, Nataliya, Meredith and the entire Avaaz team
More information:
Average cost per registration (The Voter Participation Center)
http://www.voterparticipation.
EXAMINING THE VOTE; How Bush Took Florida: Mining the Overseas Absentee Vote (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/
'Stop Trump' campaign bus tours London (CNN)
http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/23/
Anti-Trump campaigners tear down cardboard wall at Brandenburg Gate (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/
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...Yes, and "illegal" immigrants also pay taxes
unlike Donald Trump.
They get ZERO benefits for their taxes...
but corrupt Donald Trump
benefits from the roads, educated workers,
and military that undocumented immigrants
pay for with their taxes.
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Democracy Now!
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...Donald Trump IS a genius:
it takes a real genius to lose
nearly $1 BILLION
during a boom
running a casino!
Donald must not have realized
that the house always wins.
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Daily Kos
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Hey, Republicans...
Ditch the double standards already!
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AlterNet
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I doubt this is real, but it's still funny!
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Movies!
Joe Scarborough is annoying AF--he interrupts his guests so often they hardly get a point across, and they all interrupt poor Mika so much that she seldom gets to finish a sentence--but this piece is great nonetheless (it's worth listening between the interrupts). They all really nail Donald Trump--they take apart piece by piece how his personality, his history as a failed businessman, and his narcissism are all incredibly self destructive for his scampaign.
Another look at the Donald Trump wee hour tweetstorm meltdown--this time from TYT
Randi Rhodes on Julian Assange totally punking Trump supporters to honor Wikileaks's 10th anniversary...Trump supporter tears, so yummy!!!
'Til next time, check out these great channels:
...or, if you just want something mindless and fun, try Tested
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posted by Dot Calm @ 8:26 PM
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