Politics Plus

Monday has arrived and with it, a busy week. Today I have a ton of volunteer writing to do.  Tomorrow I have to be here to order groceries in the morning.  I have a community meeting after lunch, and after that, I’m meeting my friend with cancer for coffee.  Wednesday is grocery delivery day, and I also have an O₂ delivery coming.  Depending on my X-Ray, I hope to reschedule my MRI for Friday.  I’ll know tomorrow.  For now, lets not even talk about a few back burner items.  Our Poll host has fixed the broken comment section on our poll.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:14 (average 5:26).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: And here are the 18 CEOs Sanders labeled job destroyers in his report. The list below only touches on each company. The Top Corporate Dodgers report, Sanders penned, goes into further detail.

1. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan
Amount of federal income taxes paid in 2010? Zero. $1.9 billion tax refund.

2. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein
Amount of federal income taxes paid in 2008? Zero. $278 million tax refund.

3. JP Morgan Chase CEO James Dimon
Taxpayer Bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department? $416 billion.

I included three, Click through for the other 0.1% beneficiaries of welfare payments from you and me,

From NY Times: President Obama’s most aggressive and sustained legislative push since the Affordable Care Act faces a crucial first test this week when a divided Senate considers a bill that would grant him accelerated power to complete a massive trade accord with 11 nations across the Pacific Rim.

But after lobbying members of Congress in a campaign that has included rides on Air Force One, meetings in the West Wing, private vows of political support and public attacks on critics in his own party, Mr. Obama’s top legislative priority remains at risk.

A vote scheduled for Tuesday on legislation that would grant him trade promotion authority, also known as “fast track,” has become mired in a procedural thicket, with Democrats — many of them loyal to labor unions bent on killing the bill — vowing to oppose it.

Once Congress grants a president trade promotion authority, lawmakers have the ability to vote up or down on a final trade agreement, but they forfeit the right to amend the deal or filibuster it. The bill before the Senate adds a new twist: If lawmakers decide a final trade accord falls short of their standards, Congress can vote to revoke the president’s authority and then try to amend the deal.

Call your Senators. Tell them to oppose this measure.

From NY Times: Last year the vampires of finance bought themselves a Congress. I know it’s not nice to call them that, but I have my reasons, which I’ll explain in a bit. For now, however, let’s just note that these days Wall Street, which used to split its support between the parties, overwhelmingly favors the G.O.P. And the Republicans who came to power this year are returning the favor by trying to kill Dodd-Frank, the financial reform enacted in 2010.

And why must Dodd-Frank die? Because it’s working.

This statement may surprise progressives who believe that nothing significant has been done to rein in runaway bankers. And it’s true both that reform fell well short of what we really should have done and that it hasn’t yielded obvious, measurable triumphs like the gains in insurance thanks to Obamacare.

But Wall Street hates reform for a reason, and a closer look shows why.

For one thing, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — the brainchild of Senator Elizabeth Warren — is, by all accounts, having a major chilling effect on abusive lending practices. And early indications are that enhanced regulation of financial derivatives — which played a major role in the 2008 crisis — is having similar effects, increasing transparency and reducing the profits of middlemen.

Click through so Paul Krugman can explain how Republicans want to vamp you!

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I think what kept me going yesterday was anger at my doctor’s staff. or perhaps this was a delayed reaction.  When I woke up this morning, it was like running into a wall.  I went back to bed.  Normally, I could have spent several hours in research by now, but since I have not even started, I decided this is a good day to take off.  Hugs to all!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:58 (average 5:48).  Ti do it5, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Late yesterday afternoon my doctor’s office called.  At the last minute they could not get insurance company approval for the MRI, without a more recent X-Ray.  I have a bone to pick with them over scheduling me for an MRI before having the final approval squared away.  I get the X-Ray at the same place.  It’s a walk in item, but I learned too late to cancel my LIFT ride, so I have to do an X-Ray on an MRI schedule.  Grrr!  I’ll add another paragraph when I get back and let you know how it went.

The day was a complete mess.  I’ll explain it layer.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:37 (average 5:08).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

I’m waiting for Store to Door to call me for my grocery order, and it’s a very busy week.  Tomorrow is grocery delivery day and Thursday afternoon I go for the MRI on my shoulder.  Getting home, even on the Lift bus, just got a whole lot more difficult.  I just learned that Barack Obama will be attending a fund raising event just seven blocks from my home that afternoon, and the streets will be clogged with spectators and the demonstrators protesting the TPP.  It could take me hours to get home.  Now I’m all for Obama fundraising in Portland, and I’m all for protesting the TPP, but does it have to be THAT day?  ARGH! 🙁

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:36 (average 5:51).  To do it, click here.  How did you do? 

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: The most racist areas in the United States

Some of the spots are surprising.

From Upworthy: See how a group of Swedish police officers responded when a fight broke out on the New York subway.

Portland should hire a few Swedish cops!!

From NY Times: When the U.K. Independence Party received a donation of 1 million pounds a few weeks ago — about $1.5 million — it seemed like a big lift heading into the British general election on Thursday.

But the populist, anti-immigration party then faced an unusual problem: spending its cash.

In a country where television election spots are banned, billboards are booked long before voting day, and other strict laws constrain election spending, that task proved so hard that the party says it is unlikely to use all the money before Britons go to the polls.

Britain is not unusual in running short, relatively inexpensive campaigns. But few nations combine enthusiastic fascination with American-style politics — the governing Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party both hired top advisers to President Obama this election cycle — with campaign finance rules so stringent that they would seem better suited to City Council races in the United States.

The US needs to implement campaign finance rules from the UK.

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