Trump will “not to terminate NAFTA” 

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

Trump told the leaders of Canada and Mexico Wednesday he was not immediately planning to end the North American Free Trade Agreement, a pact which he railed against as a candidate and as recently as last week declared was harmful to US workers.

…During his run for office last year, Trump made his disdain for NAFTA a central component of a populist message designed to engender support among working class Americans. He consistently cast the agreement — which was negotiated by President Bill Clinton, the husband of Trump’s presidential opponent Hillary Clinton — as a raw deal for the middle class.

…Nonpartisan congressional research found in 2015 that NAFTA isn’t responsible for an exodus of jobs south of the border, nor for a big jobs boom in the US. Researchers concluded the deal has had a minor impact on the US economy.

Still, about 14 million US jobs depend on trade with Mexico and Canada, according to the US Chamber of Commerce.

Trump agrees “not to terminate NAFTA at this time”, will negotiate – CNNPolitics.com

hmmmm

Judge cites Trump’s comment in “sanctuary city” ruling 

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

For the third time in two months, a federal judge has knocked down an immigration order by President Trump and used Trump’s own language against him.

In a ruling on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge William Orrick quoted Trump to support his decision to block the president’s order to withhold funding from “sanctuary cities” that do not cooperate with U.S. immigration officials.

Trump called the sanctuary cities order a “weapon” against communities that disagree with his preferred immigration policy, Orrick said. The judge also cited a February interview in which he said the president threatened to cut off funding to California, saying the state “in many ways is out of control.”

…Orrick’s preliminary injunction against the sanctuary cities order will stay in place while the lawsuits by San Francisco and Santa Clara work their way through court.

The government hasn’t cut off any money yet or declared any communities sanctuary cities. But the Justice Department sent letters last week advising communities to prove they are in compliance. California was informed it could lose $18.2 million.

Orrick said Trump cannot set new conditions on spending approved by Congress.

Even if the president could do so, those conditions would have to be clearly related to the funds at issue and not coercive, as the executive order appeared to be, Orrick said.

Judge cites Trump’s comment in “sanctuary city” ruling – CBS News

hmmm

Trump is rolling back the actions of 3 presidents 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Environment,Leave a comment

President Donald Trump is all about bucking precedent, and he’s doing it again when it comes to public lands.

In a move that could allow him to roll back the protection of lands designated by Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Trump signed an executive order Wednesday that reviews enforcement of the law that gives him power to designate lands as national monuments.

The order, which Trump signed at the Interior Department, could lead to the reshaping of 24 national monuments, including Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Basin and Range National Monument, as well as a host of Pacific Ocean monuments, including the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument.
…Should Trump and his administration opt to de-list these sites, they would be going back on some off their promises to both voters and members of Congress who oversaw Zinke’s confirmation process.
…Trump isn’t the only Republican who expressed this view: Zinke also told senators during his confirmation process that he was against giving public lands back to the states.

Trump is rolling back the actions of 3 presidents – CNNPolitics.com

Agggggh!

Groups File Ethics Complaints Over State Department’s Mar-a-Lago Blog Post 

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

Ethics groups have filed complaints over a blog post written by a bureau of the State Department that used glowing language to describe Mar-a-Lago.

…The complaint, filed Tuesday with the Office of Government Ethics by the group Common Cause, is in response to a blog post published on the State Department’s ShareAmerica website that referred to Mar-a-Lago as the “winter White House” and noted that it is open to paying members.

…Common Cause called the post an “abuse of taxpayer funds.” The group’s president accused the Trump administration of failing to set boundaries between the president’s businesses and the business of the government.

…Last week, reports surfaced that Trump had previously met with two former Colombian presidents at his Florida home to discuss opposition to a Colombian peace deal with revolutionaries. The White House denied the reports, claiming Trump only briefly spoke to the two presidents after bumping into them at the club.

After North Korea conducted a missile test in February, Trump appeared to hold an open-air strategy session during a dinner with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with aides holding cell phones to illuminate documents, CNN reported at the time.

Following [Trump’s] election, the club’s membership fees doubled to $200,000, with critics asserting that those who can afford the high costs have unique access to the president.

Groups File Ethics Complaints Over State Department’s Mar-a-Lago Blog Post – NBC News

hmmmm

Trump Inauguration Admits Errors, Vows To Correct Numerous Faulty Donor Records 

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

That such errors made their way into the official inauguration committee filing suggests that the committee failed to perform even basic checks to ensure that its record-keeping was accurate, a requirement under FEC guidelines.“

Even in light of the diminished reporting required by inaugural committees as opposed to campaigns, it doesn’t seem that they’ve done the basic reporting required by the FEC,” said Fischer. “These are not new rules, and this looks like negligence.”

…Fischer said the errors exposed by the Citizen Sleuth volunteers raise doubts about whether the Trump inauguration did basic due diligence, as required by law. By linking individual donations to the mailing address of the access code ― which was easy to pass around ― and not the address of the actual donor ― the Trump inaugural committee effectively created an alternate universe of donors records, he noted.

Trump Inauguration Admits Errors, Vows To Correct Numerous Faulty Donor Records | The Huffington Post

hmmmm

Sen. Cotton blitzed by constituents at rowdy town hall 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Local Interest,Leave a comment

When a man asked Cotton whether he would “take the initiative” to subpoena Trump’s tax returns, which the president has refused to release, Cotton invoked the White House defense that Trump remained under audit by the IRS. That response did not sit well with many in the room.

“Do your job!” one woman shouted as Cotton added [the fully discredited fallacy] that Trump complied with financial disclosure laws that would indicate possible conflicts of interest.

At another point, about an hour into the town hall, people yelled “Lock him up!” after Cotton praised Trump’s foreign policy.

…“Thank you for coming to Little Rock, finally,” a woman said before asking Cotton whether he was committed to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“I just wondered if you were going to be as forceful as you were about the Russian hacking situation with Donald Trump as you were [in seeking answers about] the Benghazi attack,” she asked, to cheers and applause.

…One man berated Cotton for supporting another GOP deregulatory measure that would allow internet service providers to sell users’ browsing histories to advertisers and other third parties.

…Cotton replied that he was “committed” to the idea of internet privacy but insisted that the measure he supported would “level the playing field” for internet service providers competing with companies like Google and Facebook.

But Cotton’s constituent was unmoved. Unless the senator introduces legislation soon to protect consumers, the Arkansas man said, “I think it’s time to repeal and replace you in 2020.”

He sat down, and the room erupted in cheers.

Cotton blitzed by constituents at rowdy town hall – POLITICO

hmmm

This Vermont High School Is Having a Very Vermont Problem 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Local Interest,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

In South Burlington, a plan to abandon the ‘Rebels’ nickname, adopted by the local high school in 1961, has triggered a tizzy; 40-member ‘School District Mascot Selection Oversight Committee.’

…The controversy heated up in 2015 when the Burlington Free Press newspaper dug up some old high-school yearbooks from the 1960s. They showed photos of cheerleaders and sports teams posing alongside Confederate flags. Until the early 1990s, the school’s mascot was, in fact, a Confederate colonel.

The “Confederate Rebel guy,” as principal Patrick Burke calls the mascot, has long been removed from the school’s gym floor, uniforms and official materials.

Yet in this largely white, upscale, liberal city of some 18,000 people, also known as the headquarters of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, the photos didn’t go down so well. In the November election, Donald Trump won 19% of the vote here; Hillary Clinton, 68%.

Monica Ostby, a 49-year-old parent of two South Burlington students, says she hadn’t been aware of that bit of school history. “I thought it was about Ethan Allen, ” she says, referring to the Revolutionary War figure who was a founder of Vermont. She says the Rebels nickname is too tainted to keep.

…“This will be short because I have to go home and let the dog out,” Mr. McDowell, an engineer in his 60s, told the board as the meeting neared 10 p.m.

In Mr. McDowell’s view, the Rebels name doesn’t need fixing, and it could just as easily refer to Muhammad Ali, Rosa Parks or himself, for that matter.

This Vermont High School Is Having a Very Vermont Problem – WSJ

hmmm

Cherokee Nation Sues Walmart, Drug Companies Over Opioids 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Addiction,, Drugs & Drink,, Money, Class, and Poverty,, The Americas,Leave a comment

The Cherokee Nation filed suit against CVS, Walmart and others on April 20 declaring an “opioid epidemic of unprecedented proportions’ in Indian country.

…By ignoring red flags and refusing to monitor the supply chain, contributing to what is known as “drug diversion,” the suit alleges that the effects of opioid addiction has had a devastating human toll on the tribe’s citizens and crushing impact on its resources.

Cherokee Nation Sues Walmart, Drug Companies Over Opioids – Indian Country Media Network

hmmm

Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions ramp up their crusade against black and brown Americans 

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Race,Leave a comment

Remember when Trump promised to “take care” of African-Americans? Sessions is now in charge of carrying that out. 

…Sessions’ claims are based on a combination of half-truths and outright lies. There is no crime wave or “plague of violence” in the United States. In fact, crime is at or near record lows in most places, including President Trump’s home city of New York. Sessions also, by implication, is continuing with the disproved claim that there’s a war on America’s police  (in reality, being a police officer is one of the nation’s safest jobs) or are somehow unfairly restrained by being forced to show minimal respect for the civil liberties of the Americans they supposedly “protect and serve.”

…Sessions’ promise to further unleash America’s police on the “inner city” in order to make sure that “every neighborhood” is “safe and peaceful” reflects a larger set of values and political priorities.

The president’s inner circle of advisers includes an alarming number of apparent white supremacists and alleged neo-Nazi sympathizers, who view people of color as a threat to white, Christian American identity.

Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions ramp up their crusade against black and brown Americans – Salon.com

hmmmm

Landrieu: Remaining monuments to come down ‘sooner rather than later’ | wwltv.com

On By peanutgallerynhIn Gulf Coast Region,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

New Orleans has begun the process of removing its Confederate-era monuments with the removal of the monument to the Battle of Liberty Place.

…“The removal of these statues sends a clear and unequivocal message to the people of New Orleans and the nation: New Orleans celebrates our diversity, inclusion and tolerance,” said Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

“Relocating these Confederate monuments is not about taking something away from someone else. This is not about politics, blame or retaliation. This is not a naïve quest to solve all our problems at once. This is about showing the whole world that we as a city and as a people are able to acknowledge, understand, reconcile — and most importantly– choose a better future. We can remember these divisive chapters in our history in a museum or other facility where they can be put in context – and that’s where these statues belong.”

…Landrieu said the memorials were coming down during the wee hours because of death threats and intimidation from some of those who want the monuments to stay and to minimize city disruption.

…New Orleans historical records reflect that the battle was fought between a group known as the ‘White League’ and Reconstruction government forces. A few thousand members of the White League fought against members of the local police, killing some of them in the uprising. 

“The statue was put up to honor the killing of police officers by white supremacists,” said Landrieu at a press briefing shortly after the monument was removed. 

Landrieu: Remaining monuments to come down ‘sooner rather than later’ | wwltv.com

“I believe more strongly today than ever that in New Orleans we should truly remember all of our history, not some of it. that means we will no longer allow the Confederacy to literally be put on a pedestal in the heart of our city.” – Mayor Landrieu

Amen.

America’s forgotten black cowboys 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,, Race,Leave a comment

“I bet you nine out of 10 people in this country think that cowboys were all white – as I did.”

In the real Old West, as opposed to the film depiction, black cowboys were a common sight.

…Not only did Hollywood ignore black cowboys, it plundered their real stories as material for some of its films.

The Lone Ranger, for example, is believed to have been inspired by Bass Reeves, a black lawman who used disguises, had a Native American sidekick and went through his whole career without being shot.

America’s forgotten black cowboys – BBC News

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CNN Politics on Twitter: House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz says it appears that Michael Flynn accepted money from Russia 

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

 

And so it begins….

I wonder how many Trump administration officials will have to face charges before one of them sings like the proverbial canary.