Category: Money, Class, and Poverty,

Treasury secretary’s wife faces criticism for Instagram post, reply 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment
The post began with a glamorous photo of Linton stepping off an official government plane on a trip to Kentucky with her husband, who was there to discuss tax reform with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and visit Fort Knox.

Dressed in all white and carrying a handbag and silk scarf, the Scottish-born actress and producer tagged a series of luxury designers, including Hermes, Roland Mouret, Tom Ford and Valentino.

…”She went to a state where one in five people lives in poverty and many children don’t know where their next meal is coming from. Instead of helping in some way, she chose to brag about her outlandishly expensive clothes. It’s more than tone-deaf, it’s deplorable,” Miller said

Treasury secretary’s wife faces criticism for Instagram post, reply – CNNPolitics

What a cheap piece of trash. Has she ever done anything in her life? Other than pose with diamonds that were gifted to her (because cheap pieces of trash like her can always be bought) that is? Forgettable bit parts in movies doesn’t make her an actress…. I guess she has a high opinion of women who earn their baubles on their back.

Treasury secretary’s trashy wife wrote a fictional white savior memoir of her time in Africa and tried to pass it off as real 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Money, Class, and Poverty,, Race,Leave a comment

Louise Linton self published a controversial book last year that was …scorched by critics as a “white savior” fantasy and ultimately removed from sales.

…On Monday, Linton bragged on Instagram about flying on a government plane with her husband to Kentucky. She listed the slew of fashion brands she wore on the trip, tagging them by name. In response to a critical comment about her picture, the treasury secretary’s wife disparaged the woman, boasting about her extreme wealth.

…The memoir, it turns out, was also littered with inaccuracies, as Zambians pointed out on social media.

The Zambian High Commission in London denounced Linton and her “falsified” memoir for depicting the country as “savage.” It accused Linton of “tarnishing the image of a very friendly and peaceful country.”

“It is a historic fact that Zambia has never been at war but rather has been home to thousands of refugees fleeing wars from other African countries,” a statement from the Zambian embassy read. “The Congo war has never spilt into Zambia.” It also condemned how Linton identified children with HIV and published their photographs in the book.

Treasury secretary’s wife stirred controversy before, with memoir of her ‘living nightmare’ in Africa – The Washington Post

What a classless piece of trash.

Donald Trump travel, family depletes Secret Service funds for agents

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

The Secret Service can no longer pay hundreds of agents it needs to carry out an expanded protective mission – in large part due to the sheer size of President Trump’s family and efforts necessary to secure their multiple residences up and down the East Coast.

…Agents must protect Trump – who has traveled almost every weekend to his properties in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia – and his adult children whose business trips and vacations have taken them across the country and overseas.

…Alles said the service is grappling with an unprecedented number of White House protectees. Under Trump, 42 people have protection, a number that includes 18 members of his family. That’s up from 31 during the Obama administration.

…Officials had hoped that the agency’s workload would normalize after the inauguration, but the president’s frequent weekend trips, his family’s business travel and the higher number of protectees has made that impossible.

…Always costly in manpower and equipment, the president’s jaunts to Mar-a-Lago are estimated to cost at least $3 million each, based on a General Accounting Office estimate for similar travel by former President Obama. The Secret Service has spent some $60,000 on golf cart rentals alone this year to protect Trump at both Mar-a-Lago and Bedminster.

…Eric Trump’s business travel to Uruguay cost the Secret Service nearly $100,000 just for hotel rooms. Other trips included the United Kingdom and the Dominican Republic. In February, both sons and their security details traveled to Vancouver, British Columbia, for the opening of new Trump hotel there, and to Dubai to officially open a Trump International Golf Club.

In March, security details accompanied part of the family, including Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner on a skiing vacation in Aspen, Colo. Even Tiffany Trump, the president’s younger daughter, took vacations with her boyfriend to international locales such as Germany and Hungary, which also require Secret Service protection.

Donald Trump travel, family depletes Secret Service funds for agents

…wait does the Donald know that protection extends to Tiffany? I mean, is he OK with that? Just kidding.. Sort of.

What Ever Happened to Mass Incarceration Reform? | Brennan Center for Justice

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

With the confirmation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who ushered in a 1980’s throw-back Department of Justice directive on low-level drug offenses, it remains unclear whether there might be a return to a bipartisan approach to criminal justice reform in the 115th Congress.

…According to a recent Brennan Center analysis, even as crime declined by 10 percent from 1991-1994, prison populations exploded pre-1994 by 400 percent and doubled in the decade following the law’s passage.  With today’s well-documented growth in state and federal prison population, most people, including President Bill Clinton, accept that the 1994 incentives he championed were a mistake, rewarding states to build and fill more prisons.  

Indeed, in the more than two decades since the passage of the 1994 Crime Bill, the evidence is overwhelming that resulting incarceration rates are harming families, communities, and federal and state budgets.  Despite having only 5 percent of the world’s population, the United States has 25 percent of the world’s incarcerated at an annual cost of roughly $80 billion. 

In 2007, Texas got smart and increased the availability of drug addiction and mental health treatment for non-violent drug offenders. Then, in 2011, the Texas legislature passed legislation to allow drug offenders to reduce their sentences by completing educational programs. The result was stark — 14 percent reduction in crime, 8 percent reduction in incarceration, saving $444 million in corrections expenses and $20 million direct savings for taxpayers.  Recent reports indicate that Texas is on pace to close 8 prisons by year’s end.

By enacting new laws to eliminate some mandatory sentences for low-level property crimes and improving the parole and probation release process, South Carolina saw a 38 percent drop in violent crime and an 18 percent in their prison population, saving the state $18 million over four years.  

What Ever Happened to Mass Incarceration Reform? | Brennan Center for Justice

That time when the ethically correct thing and fiscally responsible thing to do are the exact same thing…

New Orleans flooded as pumps failed, worrying residents about what will happen when the next hurricane hits 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Gulf Coast Region,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Residents worry the city’s infrastructure is poised to fail: “If we get hit by another Katrina, the city will be gone.”

… thunderstorm dropped as much as nine inches of rain in just four hours. The ensuing flood overwhelmed the city’s pump system and covered much of central New Orleans in several feet of water, taking 14 hours to drain and prompting 200 “life-threatening” emergency calls, according to city records.

…Unlike during Hurricane Katrina, the problem over the weekend wasn’t the 133 miles of levees and flood walls that protect New Orleans from the tidal surges of the Gulf of Mexico or Lake Pontchartrain, which hangs over the northern and eastern edge of the city. Instead, parts of New Orleans were underwater because the city’s hundreds of miles of drains and pumps couldn’t bail rainwater fast enough.

Though the water finally receded this week, the aftermath has thrown the New Orleans government and its municipal water and sewage authority into turmoil, reviving long-standing concerns that natural disasters here have been made worse by inconsistent leadership.

…the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans promised that all 121 drainage pumps were working properly during the storm. They said the flooding was simply caused by too much rain for the system to handle.

By Tuesday, as community skepticism deepened, the board acknowledged that eight pumps were either broken or out of service for maintenance when the rain began. Power shortages also hampered pump operations in some neighborhoods.

As a result, pumps in some hard-hit areas were operating at half of capacity, according to Joseph Becker, the water board’s superintendent.

…In an uptown neighborhood, some of the flooding might also have been exacerbated by a Corps of Engineers project designed to limit future flooding. Contractors digging new drainage culverts left three 70-foot holes in metal panels that lead to the Peoples Avenue Canal, allowing water to back up into the neighborhood, said Col. Michael N. Clancy, commander of the corps’ New Orleans district.

…Residents say many storm drains and canals are too clogged with debris to be effective. At Tuesday’s council meeting, public works officials said the city has only enough money to clear 68 of the 1,300 miles of canals this year.

New Orleans flooded as pumps failed, worrying residents about what will happen when the next hurricane hits – The Washington Post

The tone of some of the officials and experts in this story is obnoxiously counter-productive. Make the systems in place work properly already.

Fewer Passengers Bumped by U.S. Airlines After Dragging Case 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Infrastructure and Transportation,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

A raft of airline policy changes prompted by the high-profile case of a man who was injured while being dragged off a plane in Chicago earlier this year have had a dramatic result: airlines reported the lowest level of involuntary passenger bumpings in history.

Fewer Passengers Bumped by U.S. Airlines After Dragging Case – Bloomberg

Funny how the impossible becomes possible when the alternative is losing money.

Stephen Miller slammed for $1M condo after ‘cosmopolitan’ jab 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

The back-and-forth featured the [Miller] suggesting the journalist was somehow blinded by his privilege, though Miller himself came under fire Monday after the Washington Post reported that he lives at one of the capital’s “poshest addresses.”

…Miller, through a company based at the same place as his father’s real estate firm, was 28 and working as a Senate staffer in 2014 when he bought the condo for $973,000, the newspaper reported.

Stephen Miller slammed for $1M condo after ‘cosmopolitan’ jab – NY Daily News

He didn’t buy that on a Senate staffer’s salary… So basically beyond Miller being a hypocritical douche-bag, he’s also a Daddy’s boy. What a loser!

Jim Justice Made his money from coal. ….And Russians.

On By peanutgallerynhIn Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Jim Justice …is the billionaire owner of the Greenbrier Resort — the place of presidents and the summer home of the New Orleans Saints. He’s also the owner of coal mines he sold to the Russians five years ago for nearly $600 million but which he has recently bought back for $5 million.

Billionaire Coal Magnate Jim Justice Shunned By Coal Industry In W. Va. Gubernatorial Bid

Oy…..

West Virginia governor Jim Justice announcing Republican party switch at Trump rally.

On By peanutgallerynhIn Local Interest,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Here are some facts about Jim Justice:

  • He’s a billionaire who inherited a coal business from his father.According to Forbes, he is the richest man in West Virginia.
  • He became a registered Democrat in February 2015, shortly before he announced his entry into a the governor’s race. Before that, he was a Republican.
  • He not only owns a resort at which the PGA Tour holds an event, he owns a resort at which the PGA Tour holds an event on a golf course called “The Old White Course.”

In other words, the really remarkable thing here is that Jim Justice—an old white golf man who inherited a coal fortune, for God’s sake—was ever a Democrat at all.

West Virginia governor Jim Justice announcing Republican party switch at Trump rally.

hmmm

Food stamp program works with fresh food farmers markets

On By peanutgallerynhIn Granite State,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Kenney’s on food stamps now, and he said he still wants to eat healthy but can’t afford fresh greens anymore. That’s where the tokens come in. The market match program operates at farmers markets all across the state, funded by a combination of charitable donations and a federal grant.

Jill Hall, director of programs at Seacoast Eat Local, one of the nonprofits that runs the token tables at markets, said the program is about knocking down financial barriers to fresh, healthy food.

…Kenney was using a program called the Granite State Market Match. When food stamp recipients come to farmers markets, the program will match, dollar for dollar, whatever they spend on fruits and veggies. Ten dollars in food stamps will get you $20 of tomatoes.

Food stamp program works with fresh food farmers markets

very cool!

Israeli Authorities Arrest Antiquities Dealers In Connection With Hobby Lobby Scandal

On By peanutgallerynhIn Middle East,, Money, Class, and Poverty,, Religion,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

Israel’s Antiquities Authority says the dealers, arrested early Sunday morning, were involved in sales of antiquities to Hobby Lobby — including items that U.S. authorities determined were smuggled.

Israeli Authorities Arrest Antiquities Dealers In Connection With Hobby Lobby Scandal : Parallels : NPR

hmmmm

Jared Kushner’s White House connection still being used to lure Chinese investors 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Jared Kushner’s status as a top aide to President Donald Trump was used to lure Chinese investors to his family’s New Jersey development, even after his family’s company apologized for mentioning his name during a sales pitch in May, CNN has found.

: Jared Kushner’s White House connection still being used to lure Chinese investors – CNNPolitics.com

hmmm

Abortions Rights Aren’t Optional for Democrats — There’s No Economic Justice Without Abortion Rights

On By peanutgallerynhIn Chick Stuff,, Domestic Affairs,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

In spite of this, even some on the self-proclaimed socialist left, like Sanders, now seem willing to sell out abortion rights in pursuit of the elusive vote of the working-class white man. There’s no evidence that moving right on abortion will gain Democratic votes. But it’s an appeal to the same dynamic Trump ran on: a bygone America, the symbol of which is the white factory man, able to support his children and a stay-at-home wife on the salary he earned doing good honest work with his hands.

Safe, legal abortion and modern, reliable contraception made it easier for women to pursue education and work; it let us delay childbearing and to choose our marital mates more carefully, and enabled us to leave bad relationships more easily or avoid them entirely; it let us compete with men. Which is a big part of why it’s such a divisive and animating issue, both for the women who are thriving because of the freedom contraception and abortion offer, and for the traditionalists who think life was better when gender roles were clearer and women knew their place (and it wasn’t in the corner office or on the factory floor).

Many of the white voters who support Trump do so him precisely because he suggests to them that he’ll put white men back on top. If Democrats do the same, they’ll only be able to peel off some of these voters — many are simply GOP loyalists who aren’t going to be swayed — and they’ll alienate their base, which remains a multiracial and disproportionately female coalition, while they sell their souls.

Abortions Rights Aren’t Optional for Democrats — There’s No Economic Justice Without Abortion Rights

hmmmm

Ben Carson calls poverty ‘state of mind’ in interview 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson said in an interview Wednesday that having “the wrong mindset” contributes to poverty.

“I think poverty to a large extent is also a state of mind,” the retired neurosurgeon said during an interview with SiriusXM Radio released on Wednesday evening. “You take somebody that has the right mindset, you can take everything from them and put them on the street, and I guarantee in a little while they’ll be right back up there. And you take somebody with the wrong mindset, you could give them everything in the world, they’ll work their way right back down to the bottom.”

Ben Carson calls poverty ‘state of mind’ in interview – CNNPolitics.com

Ben Carson is an idiot.