Category: Money, Class, and Poverty,

Trump’s treasury nominee tries to answer for foreclosure practices, ties to offshore entities 

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

Mnuchin, a veteran Wall Street investor, has also come under fire for his 2009 purchase of failed subprime mortgage lender IndyMac from the federal government. Mnuchin renamed the bank OneWest and ran it for six years.

Mnuchin purchased OneWest for $1.6 billion and sold the bank to CIT Group in 2015 for $3.4 billion.

He also faced scrutiny of his complex business interests. According to the memo from Democratic staff, Mnuchin initially failed to disclose his homes in New York City, Southampton, N.Y., and Los Angeles, as well as $15 million in real estate holdings in Mexico. Also missing was $906,556 worth of artwork held by his children.

On Thursday, Wyden accused Mnuchin of using loopholes in international tax law to shield millions of dollars from taxation. “I’m very troubled about this question of how you’re going to un-rig the system if you’ve got a record of taking advantage of tax shelters,” Wyden said.


Trump’s treasury nominee defends foreclosure practices, ties to offshore entities – The Washington Post

Oy….

The Curious World of Donald Trump’s Private Russian Connections 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Central Northern Asia and The Caucasus,, Domestic Affairs,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Did the American people really know they were putting such a “well-connected” guy in the White House?

….Putin and his billionaire friends have plundered the wealth of their own people. They have also run numerous schemes to defraud governments and investors in the United States and Europe. From public records, using his renowned analytical skills, Henry shows what the mainstream news media in the United States have failed to report in any meaningful way: For three decades Donald Trump has profited from his connections to the Russian oligarchs, whose own fortunes depend on their continued fealty to Putin.

The Curious World of Donald Trump’s Private Russian Connections – The American Interest

hmmmm

As it turns out … Bentley’s driver’s license closures were racial, after all 

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

US DOT concludes investigation, ALEA folds

When the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency announced the closure of 31 driver’s license offices in 2015, I printed out a blank map of the state’s 67 counties and began coloring in the ones that no longer had a place to get the most common form of photo ID.

Rural Alabama had been hit hard by the closures, but especially the Black Belt — the region of Alabama that takes its name first from the color of its rich soil but also from the concentration of African-Americans who live there. A few economic development projects aside, the Black Belt has always suffered the worst from Alabama’s sins, leaving its citizens with the least means the farthest distance from basic necessities, be it a job, simple trip to a grocery store, utilities like broadband internet.

…And for what? We now know the driver’s license closures saved little money — somewhere between $200,000 and $300,000, tops, according to Bentley’s former ALEA secretary Spencer Collier. The routine shortfalls in the General Fund budget typically range from $100 million to $200 million. The closures didn’t even scratch that. They were a naked act of political vengeance.

…”Based on its investigation, DOT has concluded that African Americans residing in the Black Belt region of Alabama disproportionately underserved by ALEA’s driver licensing services, causing a disparate and adverse impact on the basis of race,” the department said.

As it turns out … Bentley’s driver’s license closures were racial, after all | AL.com

sigh….

Trump’s Debts Are Widely Held on Wall Street, Creating New Potential Conflicts 

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

The debts of Donald Trump and his businesses are scattered across Wall Street banks, mutual funds and other financial institutions, broadening the tangle of interests that pose potential conflicts for the incoming president’s administration.

Trump’s Debts Are Widely Held on Wall Street, Creating New Potential Conflicts – WSJ

Aghhhh!

House Republicans shut down investigation into Flint water crisis, blame EPA instead 

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

…On Friday just hours after the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Maryland’s Rep. Elijah Cummings, called for a subpoena of the Republican governor of Michigan responsible for appointing the emergency manager who had switched Flint’s water supply, Chaffetz announced he was ending the congressional investigation. Chaffetz said he had concluded that “a series of failures at all levels of government caused, and then exacerbated, the water crisis.”

…Arguing that “the federal regulatory framework is so outdated that it sets up states to fail,” Chaffetz called for EPA funds designated for use for studying and combatting climate change be redirected to water pipe improvement projects across the nation. Chaffetz also called for removing the requirement that federally funded drinking-water construction projects pay prevailing wages under the Davis Bacon Act.

…Democrats, however, have pushed back on the Committee’s rushed assessment, criticizing Chaffetz’s sudden lack of interest in thorough investigations. (Under Chaffetz’ chairmanship, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee has chased the Planned Parenthood hoax, sought to impeach the IRS commissioner over the agency’s scrutiny of Tea Party-affiliated groups that sought tax-exempt status and vowed to continue investigating Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server even after the election.)

Cummings refused to sign Chaffetz’s letters closing the Flint investigation and a spokeswoman for the committee’s Democratic staff noted that Gov. Synder  had “defied” requests to provide documents for the investigation.

House Republicans shut down investigation into Flint water crisis, blame EPA instead – Salon.com

Sigh….

Donald Trump brought his daughter Ivanka to meet Japan’s Shinzo Abe as she was doing a deal with Sanei International 

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

When president-elect Donald J. Trump brought along his daughter Ivanka to meet Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in mid-November, observers raised their eyebrows. While family members often accompany heads of state on diplomatic visits, Ivanka’s presence in the meeting itself was highly unusual.

It also came as she was negotiating a deal with a Japanese company, which is backed by a government-owned development bank. As the New York Times reports (paywall), Ivanka is in the midst of closing a licensing deal with a Japanese retail company company known as Sanei International. The potential partnership highlights the troubling overlap between the Trump family’s corporate deals and president-elect Trump’s diplomatic efforts.

Donald Trump brought his daughter Ivanka to meet Japan’s Shinzo Abe as she was doing a deal with Sanei International — Quartz

Forget not prosecuting the child for the sins of the father, forget giving things a chance to shake out before coming to judgement.

These people are disgusting, greedy monsters.

Disgusting, immoral, and just plain trashy.

The worst humanity can produce, a cancer on the soul of humankind.

Trump advisors aim to privatize oil-rich Indian reservations

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

Native American reservations cover just 2 percent of the United States, but they may contain about a fifth of the nation’s oil and gas, along with vast coal reserves. Now, a group of advisors to President-elect Donald Trump on Native American issues wants to free those resources from what they call a suffocating federal bureaucracy that holds title to 56 million acres of tribal lands, two chairmen of the coalition told Reuters in exclusive interviews.

Trump advisors aim to privatize oil-rich Indian reservations

Oh Lawd…..

Trump Can’t Hold Lease On His Hotel Near White House, Law Professor Says 

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

Donald Trump has a 60-year lease on his new hotel, just a few blocks from the White House. But its terms say no elected U.S. official shall benefit from the lease.

…”Some civil servant at GSA is going to sit down with the president of the United States’ children to negotiate adjustments to a multimillion-dollar lease on an annual basis. That’s incomprehensible,” he says.

Trump Can’t Hold Lease On His Hotel Near White House, Law Professor Says : The Two-Way : NPR

hmmm

Melania Trump’s White House snub: Appalling or good parenting? 

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

Melania and Barron Trump won’t move to Washington with Donald yet – is that unusual?

Melania Trump’s White House snub: Appalling or good parenting? – BBC News

Fuck the little scion’s comfort and education. If the Trumps aren’t paying for the millions and millions the extra security for this (non)move will cost, they shouldn’t be inflicting their princess-ass priorities on the country. They -and that most definitely includes Melania and the minor- gave up the right to be private citizens when they campaigned.