Ralph Nader: "Biden Needs To Report Trump’s Wreckage in Executive Branch as Markers"

 

Photo: USA Today

One of the main challenges facing the incoming Biden administration is to restore the federal government.  Over the last 4 years, the Trump administration has tried to pare down the federal government.  Mostly by hiring inexperienced business owners who would conduct Trump's dirty work inside the government.  As a result, the good/lifelong government employees have retired or quit in protest over the last 4 years.

Don't believe me?  Just read the news about federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency or the State Department.  Those two federal agencies have lost a significant amount of lifelong talent dedicated to making the world a better place.  When the Trump administration hired inexperienced directors to run these agencies, business executives ran federal agencies like businesses.  The rest is history -- failure.  The federal government is not a private business and cannot be run as a business, regardless of who is in the executive branch.

With this being said, consumer activist Ralph Nader pointed out the need for the incoming Biden administration to be as transparent as possible about the destruction over the last 4 years.  Specifically, show the American people the deterioration of the federal government.  Which, by the way, has held democracy together over the last 4 years.  The newsletter is shown below:

Biden Needs To Report Trump’s Wreckage in Executive Branch as Markers

The Biden Transition team is about to connect with the Trumpsters running federal departments and agencies into the ground. The Biden staff should prepare for serial shocks. Biden’s people will be observing the first glimpses of staggering wreckage and corruption. They need to tell the American people what they find.

The Trump regime gave itself lawless license to do whatever it wanted. Trump operatives dismantled or disabled humane program after humane program, health and safety regulations, and economic protections designed to protect working people, children, the elderly, and people living in poverty.

After all, the Trumpsters got the green light from their boss Donald, who when not playing golf, tweeting tantrums, and watching Fox News, believed that “I have an Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.”

When the Bidenites take over on January 21, they will find hollowed-out government law enforcement and shelved research projects. They’ll see offices empty after government scientists and other civil servants were forced out. Other public servants will be sitting in what the Japanese call “window jobs,” ordered to stop working on vital matters ranging from limiting climate disruption to stopping Wall Street rip-offs. The Trump administration turned important government jobs into do-nothing positions.

Heavily censored federal CDC workers, benumbed from prohibitions on what they can say, and who were ordered not to speak the words “climate change” will receive their rescuers with deep relief. EPA workers who were ordered to repeal or weaken over 100 environmental safeguards – unleashing deadly toxins into people’s air and water – will feel the breaking of the restraints imposed on sound science.

Specialists who were told to weaken or eliminate about 50 occupational health and safety standards and literally shut down enforcement at OSHA will also start to see the early dawn.

Biden’s team will discover destruction or theft of public records, spectacles of looting and plunder of public trust and public property.

They will hear stories of corporate lobbyists coming in and out of the agencies as if they owned the government because they did. Trump turned over the federal government to Big Business, as has never before happened, brazenly, openly, and endlessly. His nominee to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) into nothingness, marauding Mick Mulvaney, openly said the agency’s mission was to protect Wall Street Big Banks and unscrupulous payday lenders!! Mulvaney abandoned tens of millions of defrauded Americans. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said Mulvaney proved “he would rather cozy up with payday lenders and industry insiders than listen to consumer advocates who want to make sure hard-working Americans are not cheated by financial scams.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Mick Mulvaney had “no intention of putting consumers above financial firms that cheat them.”

Much of the Trump Administration corruption started at the despoiled White House, which Trump turned into a family business incubator to enhance his Brand. Trump’s crime spree was aided and abetted by his “personal lawyer,” Attorney General, William Barr who twisted government lawyers into ignoring or overturning the rule of law under orders from the political bosses.

Shoveling out corrupt, crony contracts, grants, subsidies, giveaways, and bailouts in a frenzy of taxpayer torture will occupy many officials in the new Administration as they attempt to unravel, expose, and if possible, claw back ill-gotten gains.

Unlike the entering Obama Administration back in 2009, the Biden Administration must come in with a determined mindset as they begin restoring the rule of law and reversing Trump’s cruel and crazy policies. Biden’s team will also need to start restoring past services and initiating new services for the citizenry.

They must not let the Trumpster outlaws escape and become immune fugitives from justice. If Trump’s wrecking crew escapes the arm of the law, for sure they and their base will return with a vengeance in two and four years.

For Joe Biden, healing America is not incompatible with bringing these self-dealing, law-breaking, constitution-violating, anti-American crooks to justice. In truth, both tasks are complementary with the basic belief that “nobody is above the law,” which escapee Trump has long treated as a laughable cliché.

The way to start this redeeming process is to draw a clear line between what Biden’s appointees find and what they intend to change. They must give cogent reports to the people about Trump’s crumbled and wasted agencies so that Trump’s record of destruction and pillage will not be forgotten because of short public memories. Otherwise, Trump’s mass media will let him leave the public with the truth-denying Orwellian impression that he left the Democrats “a great” federal legacy.

(See our new book, Wrecking America: How Trump’s Lawbreaking and Lies Betray All)

Stay tuned to see if that happens!

 

Environmental Groups Call on Democratic Majority House to Reject Fossil Fuel Money from Lobbyists

 

Photo: Solar Surge

Climate change is one of the front issues in the spotlight of the current 2020 election.  As the election dies down and the ballots continue to be counted, environmental groups and lobbyists are hard at work getting in touch with newly elected Senators along with re-elected Senators.  Pushing their agendas. 

The Democratic majority House of Representatives is now being solidified as the blog post is being composed.  With that being said, environmental groups are reaching out to Democratic Representatives with the following letter of expectation:

November 16, 2020

Dear Congressional Democrats:

As the 2020 election results are finalized, it is clear that Democrats will remain in leadership of the US House of Representatives. We call on all members of the Democratic Caucus of the House of Representatives to unambiguously commit to serving in the interest of the public, rather than corporations. To clearly demonstrate this commitment, we demand that:

● Representatives be disqualified from chairing a commitee with any jurisdiction (whether full or partial) over climate and energy, food and agriculture, and the financial and insurance sectors if they have accepted donations over $200 from executives, lobbyists, and PACs representing, respectively, fossil fuel, food and agribusiness, and financial and insurance sector corporations.

● Representatives be disqualified from serving in any leadership position within the Democratic Caucus if they have accepted donations over $200 from executives, lobbyists, and PACs representing fossil fuel, food and agribusiness, and financial and insurance sector corporations. 

We must build on the principles outlined in the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge, already signed by 54 members of Congress, which requires elected officials “not to take contributions over $200 from oil, gas, and coal industry executives, lobbyists, and PACs and instead prioritize the health of our families, climate, and democracy over fossil fuel industry profits.” Elected officials should similarly reject donations from food and agribusiness as well as and financial and insurance sector corporations.

Large food and agribusiness corporations, many of them virtual monopolies, have dominated food and agriculture policy to the detriment of family farmers, food chain workers, public health, and the environment. And without billions of dollars in support from Wall Street banks and insurance companies, fossil fuel companies and large agribusinesses would be unable to continue or expand activities that worsen climate change, harm communities, and result in human rights abuses.

The people of the United States are tired of their elected representatives sacrificing the health and well-being of people and the planet at the altar of corporate greed. The 2020 Democratic Party Platform rightfully asserts, “We will hold polluters and corporate executives accountable for intentionally hiding or distorting material information and for affecting the health and safety of workers and communities.” The House Democratic Caucus cannot credibly put these words into action if those in leadership and oversight positions take contributions from the polluters and profiteers they are supposed to hold to account. 

Thank you for your consideration. 

The tides are changing in support of fossil fuels.  More and more local municipalities are changing practices at the local level to plan for converting toward renewable energy resources rather than resorting to old fossil fuels.  Congress should act on the momentum and start thinking about a strategy for the individual states to transition toward renewable energy.

 

 

Ralph Nader: "Trump’s Massive, Lawless, and Immoral Legacy to Our Country Will Continue Unless …"

 

Photo: The New York Times

President Trump, then President-elect, campaigned in 2015 on the idea of 'draining the swamp.'  How has America fared over the last 3.5 years with this campaign slogan?  Americans have learned that President Donald J. Trump is possibly heading for the title of 'the most corrupt President in history.'  That is correct.  The United States Senate held hearings over the last few years regarding the corrupt behavior of the President of the United States.  How many hearings?  Too many.  

With that being said, former acting U.S. solicitor General Neal Katyal has said in a recent interview that President Trump's immunity as President expires in less than 60 days.  He will be a civilian and open to prosecution. President Trump has spent recent days trying to undo the inevitable.  The fact that he is going to be headed for the courtroom.  And rightfully so as we look back on his track record.

Not just looking back, but having to look toward the future.  Why? Because the Trump administration continues in the last few months to develop plans and protocols that will be dangerous for the United States in the future.  Ralph Nader wrote recently in his newsletter about corrupt behavior and the lasting effect looking forward to the United States:

Trump’s Massive, Lawless, and Immoral Legacy to Our Country Will Continue Unless …

 

Trump has gotten away with almost everything throughout his bankruptcy-driven business career and his corrupt, cruel, and costly political years in the White House. Things changed on November 3, when he was retired by the voters.

Refusing to concede, however, so as to prolong his crazed fantasies, Trump is distracting the mass media from his looting of the Executive Branch departments to the advantage of big business bosses and his failing family enterprises. Expect this to continue until January 20, 2021. (See my op-ed titled: “If Trump loses, expect him to exact revenge on his way out” Boston Globe, August 10, 2020).

Trump and his cronies will get away with their crime sprees unless Joe Biden has a Justice Department team that will follow the law and prosecute any government official who broke the law. In 2009, Barack Obama let law-breaking Wall Streeters and the Bush/Cheney war criminals become successful fugitives from justice.

Trump has inflicted lasting damage to our social morality and to the rule of law. Unfortunately, the destructive and uncontrollable momentum unleashed by Trump will not be easily reversed.

Trump’s unabashed verbal and physical abuses of women were widely publicized. Consider the repulsive example Trump sets for young boys and young men who see the president getting away with menacing machismo.

Trump boasts about paying very little income taxes. With declining corporate tax compliance in the country, exacerbated by his starving of the IRS enforcement budgets. Many of Trump’s supporters think his tax avoidance and evasions are cool and believe his actions are a model for emulation.

Trump’s relentless and baseless charges alleging massive election fraud are inflammatory and dangerous. Trump’s lies seriously undermine the public’s confidence in our vote-counting system, not just by his supporters, but by foes and friends abroad.

Trump’s erosion and subversion of the laws and the Constitution have lowered the bar for future presidents and their regimes. Chronic Presidential violations of the law preceded Trump (the Obama, Bush, and Clinton Administrations and other previous administrations before them), but Donald Trump took this Executive Branch’s lawlessness to new depths – both in open sight and under a cloak of government secrecy. Corruption, obstruction of justice, self-dealing, and mass giveaways to corporate crooks is a way of life at the lying Trump White House.

It is difficult to overestimate the continuing harm to our beleaguered democracy and its people, should Trump and his cohorts not be brought to justice. (See our new book, Wrecking America: How Trump’s Lawbreaking and Lies Betray All)

Trump’s assault on facts and truth is multiplied by his non-stop tweets to 70 million people and a dittohead media. Previous Presidents had a tiny bully-pulpit by comparison. Trump projects an image of getting away with stiffing everyone – his workers, consumers, and creditors, as a failed gambling czar, and the Congress, the IRS, and government investigators as President.

When the leader of the country, headlining the daily mass and social media throughout each day presents such a many-sided decadence and criminality, it can only accelerate a decaying culture and goad his supporters into believing that they too can get away with anything. Remember Trump said, “I have an Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.”

A country-wide rebound, toward a wholesome, respectful, and steadfast America is more than the responsibility of just the political representatives who replace the Trumpsters. Ultimately, it must come from aroused civic communities that have historically saved and advanced our country.

Time will tell.  Historians will write correctly about the pre-Trump era along with the post-Trump era.  Students of history will study the strange four years of the Trump administration.  Additionally, the years (and events) leading up to the Trump administration.  They will ask and look for answers to the questions:

Why did President Trump win the 2016 election?

What did President Trump do to change democracy in the United States?

What did President Trump's administration change about Foreign Policy?

What did President Trump do to relationships with foreign leaders?

Time will tell.  Stay tuned.  

Infectious Disease Physicians Call Out Colleague for Misrepresentation of Science

 

Photo: Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

Dr. Atlas made a grave mistake.  Why?  No one knows why any person would back up nonsensical assertions made by President Trump regarding the danger of gathering in large crowds.  Especially as the U.S.A approaches the favorite (for some Americans) holiday -- Thanksgiving Holiday.   Where families gather in large settings and have a wonderful meal.  

No one wants to ruin a holiday for any American.  Although, anyone's celebration ends where another person's safety is concerned.  Especially when a medical doctor speaks out in front of the Nation to avoid the rules (which are backed by science) that are in place to minimize the spread of COVID-19. 

No one wants to be shunned for bad practices among their peer group.  Although, when the offense is spreading false news regarding science or practice, that is the appropriate consequence.  Infectious disease experts called out their colleague Dr. Atlas in an open letter shown below:

September 9, 2020

Dear Colleagues,

As infectious diseases physicians and researchers, microbiologist and immunologists, epidemiologists and health policy leaders, we stand united in efforts to develop and promote science-based solutions that advance human health and prevent suffering from the coronavirus pandemic. In this pursuit, we share a commitment to a basic principle derived from the Hippocratic Oath: Primum Non Nocere (First, Do No Harm).

To prevent harm to the public’s health, we also have both a moral and an ethical responsibility to call attention to the falsehoods and misrepresentations of science recently fostered by Dr. Scott Atlas, a former Stanford Medical School colleague and current senior fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford University. Many of his opinions and statements run counter to established science and, by doing so, undermine public-health authorities and the credible science that guides effective public health policy. The preponderance of data, accrued from around the world, currently supports each of the following statements:

● The use of face masks, social distancing, handwashing and hygiene have been shown to substantially reduce the spread of Covid-19. Crowded indoor spaces are settings that significantly increase the risk of community spread of SARS-CoV-2.

● Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 frequently occurs from asymptomatic people, including children and young adults, to family members and others. Therefore, testing asymptomatic individuals, especially those with probable Covid-19 exposure is important to break the chain of ongoing transmission.

● Children of all ages can be infected with SARS-CoV-2. While infection is less common in children than in adults, serious short-term and long-term consequences of Covid-19 are increasingly described in children and young people.

● The pandemic will be controlled when a large proportion of a population has developed immunity (referred to as herd immunity) and that the safest path to herd immunity is through deployment of rigorously evaluated, effective vaccines that have been approved by regulatory agencies.

● In contrast, encouraging herd immunity through unchecked community transmission is not a safe public health strategy. In fact, this approach would do the opposite, causing a significant increase in preventable cases, suffering and deaths, especially among vulnerable populations, such as older individuals and essential workers.

Commitment to science-based decision-making is a fundamental obligation of public health policy. The rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the US, with consequent morbidity and mortality, are among the highest in the world. The policy response to this pandemic must reinforce the science, including that evidence-based prevention and the safe development, testing and delivery of efficacious therapies and preventive measures, including vaccines, represent the safest path forward. Failure to follow the science -- or deliberately misrepresenting the science – will lead to immense avoidable harm.

We believe that social and economic activity can reopen safely, if we follow policies that are consistent with science. In fact, the countries that have reopened businesses and schools safely are those that have implemented the science-based strategies outlined above.

As Stanford faculty with expertise in infectious diseases, epidemiology and health policy, our signatures support this statement with the hope that our voices affirm scientific, medical and public health approaches that promote the safety of our communities and nation.

As I mentioned above, no one wants to be shunned by their peer group.  Although, when the message runs counter to the accepted view (backed by data) by scientists and researchers across the world.  The damage that Dr. Atlas has done to the U.S.A. is not known at this time.  History will write about this incidence and bear out the statistics, which are a consequence of this tragic message.

Be safe.  Wear a mask.  Do not follow the terrible advice of the President of the United States.  Who is spreading misinformation not backed by science.  We are under threat by our own leader.  It is more important than ever that citizens listen to doctors on the front lines fighting COVID-19.  Further, the vaccine is under inspection now by clinical trial officials.  Hopefully, that vaccine will be produced and distributed equitably and promptly soon.  Stay tuned.

Related Blog Posts:

Residents of South Dakota are still in Denial of COVID-19 reality??

What is the status of a COVID-19 vaccine or treatment?

Former White House Task Force Aide: CDC Guidance Was Watered Down to Align With President Trump's Message

COVID-19 Vaccine by November? Yeah right!

President Trump Attempts To Discredit Science and 'Blue States'

The American People Do Not Like Liars - Politicians Take Note!

COVID-19 Vaccine Update from Dr. Bright

 

Photo:  NBC News

Dr. Rich Bright, a former Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, is back in front of cameras rallying for support/preparedness of the potential roll-out of the vaccine for the COVID-19 virus.  The office is part of the Health and Human Services but charged with assessment and preparedness against chemical/biological threats to the United States.  Back in May of 2020, Dr. Bright was fired by the Trump administration for a whistleblowing offense.  What was the offense?

At the time, under Dr. Bright's observation, the Trump administration was nowhere near any point of preparedness to handle the production and distribution of a COVID-19 virus vaccine.  In fact, the Trump administration was acting like an ostrich and putting their heads in the sand.  Avoid the inevitable rather than face production and distribution.  For the warning to the public, Dr. Bright was fired.

With the election over and the lack of communication between an outgoing administration (Trump administration) and the incoming administration (Biden administration), the potential lingering problem will be kicked down the road.  Resulting in more unnecessary hospitalizations and deaths.

News this week with two promising COVID-19 vaccines emerged.  MSNBC's Willy Geist interviewed Dr. Bright about the developments (trial data/results) in the video below (6 minutes in length):

The most important takeaway news from the video above was the lack of communication between administrations regarding the production/distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine.  This is frightening.  With around 25 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in existence today, the following questions remain to be answered:

1) How to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine?

2) How to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine equitably?

3) Who gets the first round of vaccine doses?

4) How to transport and store the COVID-19 vaccine safely without destruction?

The last question might seem trivial.  When in fact, the last question is the most important question of all.  The COVID-19 vaccine has to be stored at a very cold temperature.  Otherwise, the vaccine will be rendered unusable (i.e., ineffective).  How cold?

The type of freezer that is required is shown below from ThermoFisher:

Photo: ThermoFisher

The freezer shown above is just one of many many many that will be needed across the United States in the coming months to store and distribute the COVID-19 vaccine.  The alternative is to pack the vaccine under dry ice.  More about that in a future post.  In the near future, I will write a dimensional analysis blog post about the required space.

For the time being, the questions above can serve as a table discussion for those having small gatherings at next week's traditional Turkey Holiday.  Have a great weekend.

Related Blog Posts:

Residents of South Dakota are still in Denial of COVID-19 reality??

What is the status of a COVID-19 vaccine or treatment?

Former White House Task Force Aide: CDC Guidance Was Watered Down to Align With President Trump's Message

COVID-19 Vaccine by November? Yeah right!

President Trump Attempts To Discredit Science and 'Blue States'

the American People Do Not Like Liars - Politicians Take Note!

Residents of South Dakota are still in Denial of COVID-19 reality??

 

Photo: CDC

After a nation experiences 246,000 deaths, how can the myth still exist that COVID-19 still is a hoax?  Residents of South Dakota are entering the emergency room on their way to another world upstairs upon death.  The emergency room, for some patients, is the last step before death.  And given that reality, patients in record numbers still want to believe that the diagnosis is not COVID-19 related.  Really?

As one nurse who works the front lines in a small town hospital in South Dakota notes that as oxygen levels (assistance) rise, patients are still inclined to believe that the diagnosis is lung cancer rather than COVID-19.  That to me is absolutely stunning.  But that is the reality.

In the CNN interview below (8 minutes in length), news anchor Alisyn Camerota interviews nurse Jodi Doering about what she is seeing on the fronts lines of the emergency room in South Dakota:

Deaths of around 683 are occurring and the town in which the nurse is living has a total population of 650 people.  That means out of town residents are seeking help and dying in her hospital.  

The reality of COVID-19 is real.  Whether people around the world wake up to that fact is the question of the day?

Here is another interview with doctors from an I.C.U. -- intensive care unit -- sharing their observations in the video below:

In the video above, the example from Utah is an astounding one.  The statistics indicate that there is a second-round where the first round was mitigated due to shutdown procedures.  Now, in a state where the average amount of COVID-19 cases per day was around 700 -- has been elevated to around 3000 cases per day.  What?

Not to mention, the reality that during the COVID-19 pandemic over the last 7 months, many Americans have stayed home during pandemic to avoid exposure. Now, the health problems which are now compounded by stress and avoidance of the hospital during the pandemic, hospitals are not able to handle the added medical needs of the residents of the state.

This is sad.  The time has come to accept the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The situation in hospitals is dire compared to what is seen in the grocery store.  To see the community members not wearing masks and avoiding exposure of COVID-19 is a kick in the face to these front line heroes.  Wake up America.  COVID-19 is a reality.

 

Anderson Cooper: "Trump's outrage doesn't matter. Here's what does"

 

Photo: USA Today

Today's Blog Post is going to be short.  I mean short.  Here is a video worth watching (7 minutes in length) about the current state of affairs with President Trump's inability to concede and the election results.  The video is from CNN Journalist Anderson Cooper:

Wow!  

Ralph Nader: "Apart From Defeating Trump, Why Did The Democrats Have A Bad Election Day?"

 

Photo: NPR

We are almost two weeks past the possibly most divisive election in the history of the United States.  Our country is still divided greatly.  History books will be written about the current time after the election.  Iconic activist Ralph Nader has written his analysis in a newsletter recently -- that is shown below:

Apart From Defeating Trump, Why Did The Democrats Have A Bad Election Day?

Apart from barely squeezing through the swing states to defeat corrupt, incompetent, lying, corporatist Donald Trump, the Democratic Party had a bad election.

Loaded with nearly twice as much money as the Republican Party, the Democratic Party showed that weak candidates with no robust agendas for people where they live, work, and raise their families, is a losing formula. And lose they did against the worst, cruelest, ignorant, lawbreaking, reality-denying GOP in its 166-year history.

The Democrats failed to win the Senate, despite nearly having twice the number of Senators up for re-election than the Republicans. In addition, the Democratic Party lost seats in the House of Representatives. The Democrats did not flip a single Republican state legislature, leaving the GOP to again gerrymander Congressional and state legislative districts for the next decade!

Will all this lead to serious introspection by the Democratic Party? Don’t bet on it. The GOP tried to learn from their losses in 2012, which led to their big rebound. Already, the Democratic Party is looking for scapegoats, like third party candidates.

Will the leaders of these inexcusable defeats – Senator Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – explain how this happened? Will they take some responsibility and tell the American people why they let their profiteering media consultants spend so much money on tepid, low-impact TV ads at the expense of a massive ground game to give voters personal reasons to get themselves out to vote, beyond Trump? A third of all eligible voters stayed home. Could part of the problem be the 15% commission the consultants receive from TV ad revenues as compared to zero commissions from ground game expenditures?

Can the corporate Democratic leaders respond to inquiries by progressives and the sidelined primary voters of Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren? Can they respond to why the living wage, the corporate crime wave, and the GOP blocked stimulus/relief package passed by the Democrats in May (including a $600 a week extension for tens of millions of desperate workers and critical aid to local agencies overwhelmed by the Covid-19 pandemic) were not prominently front and center? Also, why did the Democrats refuse to campaign for full Medicare for All, supported by 70 percent of the American people? The Democrats, as pointed out by political media specialist, Bill Hillsman, did not speak directly to white, blue-collar workers who deserted Hillary Clinton for Donald Trump in 2016.

Moreover, the Democratic Party has a long-standing problem with authenticity. Rhetoric for a large infrastructure jobs program paid for by repealing corporate tax cuts and loopholes is seen as a throwaway line by many voters. Democrats should have explained, at the local level, how determination and integrity could shape the upgrading of our schools, clinics, roads, mass transit systems, waterworks, and other public services, with good-paying jobs.

Meanwhile, the Trumpsters showed their ferocious energy for wannabe, ego-obsessed, dictatorial Donald with more rallies, signs, and door-to-door contacts. The Democrats misread the faulty polls again thinking that the projected huge turnouts were primarily their voters and not also the Trump voters who turned out in greater numbers as well.

Too many Democratic operatives treat Trump with derision and mockery, instead of stressing how his daily lawlessness and serial violations of the Constitution have dismantled the protections for the people and turned the government over to big business to do and grab whatever they want.

Trump openly commits federal crimes (e.g. The Hatch Act, the Anti-Deficiency Act) using federal property, including the White House, for his campaign, spending money illegally, while brazenly defying over a hundred investigative subpoenas from the House of Representatives.

Yet, neither Biden and Obama nor the Democratic Party made these corrupt forms of obstruction of justice, front and center issues. They even ignored Trump’s past criminal assaults of women, whom he has repeatedly degraded.

These many missed, obvious opportunities have consequences. Don’t Trump voters and their families also suffer from frozen minimum wages, from the absence of adequate or any health insurance, from those sky-high drug prices that Trump failed to reduce? He put more toxins in the air and water and allowed more dangerous workplaces. Trump calls endangering people and the planet “deregulation” but what he was really doing is rewarding his corporate paymasters.

Trump just pushes many more buttons than do the Democrats. Why don’t the Democrats promote more unions, more consumer cooperatives, more campaign finance reforms, and more known ways to empower the people directly?

Of course, the Democrats would never argue that the American people, not corporations, should CONTROL what they already OWN such as the public lands, the public airwaves, and the shareholding mutual and pension funds investing their money. The Democrats never even think to demand that U.S. taxpayers get a direct return for trillions of dollars of government research and development that have subsidized the growth of modern industries (from aerospace to computers to agribusiness, biotech, pharma, and more).

While Trump incites street violence and then cries loudly for “law and order,” the Democrats don’t throwback “law and order” for violent, polluting corporate crooks who cheat and harm children, consumers, workers, and communities, as well as rip off government programs like Medicare. Trump has gotten away with defunding the federal corporate crime police big time. Never will the Democrats go after Trump for the bloated, runaway, unaudited military budget and its Empire that are devouring necessities here at home.

The House Democrats refused to keep multiple impeachment pressure (apart from the Ukraine matter) on the Republicans. A national TV audience of the Senate dealing with a dozen of Trump’s impeachable offenses would give even the most ardent Trump supporters pause. (See December 18, 2019, Congressional Record, H-12197).

The Democrats let Trump and his lawless Attorney General William Barr get away with all his corrupt, criminal, and unconstitutional actions, which have turned the White House into an ongoing crime scene. And, despite this “rap sheet” Trump came close to winning the Electoral College for a second term!

Next time, the rulers of the Democratic Party should listen to civic groups and advocates and not be so smug and incommunicado. As an example, I’ll refer you to my Eleven Suggestions for turning out the vote, with popular mandates, available to everyone in whole and in part for weeks (See also my latest op-ed in the Louisville Courier-Journal, October 27, 2020).

Now let’s see how many rollbacks and repeals Biden will quickly institute to stop Trump’s devastations and usher in a truly progressive, majoritarian set of long-overdue policies.

Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate and author of many public policy books, including the just published, Wrecking America: How Trump’s Lawbreaking and Lies Betray All.

I am sure that there will be loads of more commentary to come in the next few weeks.  Stay tuned!

 

Republicans Want To Legitimate Their Vote But Illegitimate Presidential Votes?

 

Photo: WallStreet Journal

Over the past few years, the Republican party has allowed President Trump to act on behalf of the party.  This means that the United States' current division due to a racist, bigot, unprecedented President - is a reflection of the Republican party.  Yes, that is true.

With that being said, the current behavior of GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill is absolutely amazing.  The Associated Press reports that GOP lawmakers are alright (i.e., in agreement) that the votes counted to date, which supports their re-election, are legitimate.  The problem lies in the bizarre declaration that the same GOP lawmakers say that the votes need to be certified to ensure President Trump got fair election results.

What is the problem?

Well, voters filled out ONE BALLOT ONLY for the election.

This means that if the ballot count for the President of the United States is in question, then the same ballot is in question - the results of which certified the same GOP lawmakers.  

This is to say, if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is questioning the election results for the President of the United States, then by logic, the same results which named him the victor of re-election would be in question too.

Senators Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, and other GOP lawmakers should be confident in the election results.  Call the results certified.  You cannot have it both ways.  Either you were re-elected with the same ballot that certified the new President to be (Joe Biden) or not!

Ralph Nader: Looking back one week to tweets toward the election

 

Photo: DW

The last week of the election has been filled with ups and downs as both political sides of the aisle were battling over the vote count.  Of course, in President Trump's eyes, the battle is not over.  We still have to wait and see.  Although, clearly by electoral college votes, Vice President Joe Biden is in line to be the next President of the United States in January of 2021.  It's been a wild ride during the past few months.  I wanted to take us back just a little over a week to the weekend before the election.

Ralph Nader, an iconic consumer advocate put together into newsletter bullet points from his tweets about the election.  The list is worth inspecting given the current situation:

Election Time Tweets For Getting Out The Vote

This is a special column of some of my tweets on the upcoming election and other pressing topics.

1) How can anyone vote for corrupt Trump? He lets corporate crooks cheat, steal and increase deadly pollution. Broke promise to bring back jobs from China, pushing against 23 million with health insurance, and egotistically bungling everything to intensify anxiety dread and fear.

2) How can any woman vote for Donald Trump? The savage sexual predator has abused, degraded, assaulted and insulted women without any remorse. His regime’s social safety net has been stingy and cruel to programs fostering the well-being of low-income mothers and children.

3) Yesterday’s New York Times headlined Trump’s corruption and the convictions of many of his circle. The long article only scratched the surface of what vast corruption will emerge in the coming months. Why aren’t the Democrats making Trump corruption a daily headline issue?

4) Many millions of workers making less than $15 an hour can go to the polls and vote for a raise. Minimum wages have been frozen at $7.25 an hour federal. Democrats promise $15 an hour. Republicans oppose. Florida has referendum at $15 an hour. Go vote for a raise!

5) How can workers vote for Trump? He’s frozen the federal minimum wage, thinks they are overpaid, undermines unions and pensions, and destroys protections for health and safety by shutting down OSHA. He put Eugene Scalia as Sec. of the Anti-Labor Dept. on their backs to boot.

6) If the Dems win Ohio, they win the election. Polls show Ohio is tied, under a Republican Secretary of State. Why aren’t the Democrats having their open ally former Republican Governor John Kasich, still popular, campaign for Biden in Ohio? Any answers DNC?

7) Are Democrats making the same mistake again? Relying heavily on TV with little ground game to get out voters. On the ground in swing states, volunteer Trumpsters greatly outnumber Dems in contacting neighbors and planting signs. Polls were wrong in 2016. Beware.

8) Why would any veteran vote for Cowardly Draft Dodging Trump who calls fallen soldiers “losers and suckers” and who declines to visit military cemeteries observing cynically “what was in it for them?” He says these things because he’s always gotten away with his foul mouth.

9) Eureka! Obama emerges with a drive-in rally in Philadelphia for the Biden/Harris ticket. A new book explains his long absence with few exceptions from publicly challenging Trump. It’s called “Hollow Resistance: Obama, Trump and the Politics of Appeasement” by Paul Street.

10) How can any workers hard pressed by stagnant or frozen minimum wages vote for Trump? Crooked Donald once said American workers are overpaid. Maybe that’s because they don’t lie, cheat and steal like he has in his career.

11) Trump has continued years of the frozen federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. People can’t live on Walmart wages—a company that shows its workers how to apply for welfare programs. Millions of people are entitled to go vote for their raise—$15 an hour. November 3rd.

12) If Dems lose to Trump in the swing states, due to the Electoral College, it will be because they didn’t front and center stand for a living wage, address anxiety dread and fear with specific proposals and highlight Trump as the savage sexual predator he has boastfully been.

13) Trump said that if Biden wins, he may have to leave the country. He may be right. He’ll be a fugitive from justice, thinking about moving to a country without an extradition treaty thereby escaping the arm of U.S. law.

14) Why is the widely reported corporate crime wave, in its harm to consumers, workers, communities and governments, not an issue by the Democrats? It’s off the table. Go to my 2008 website votenader.org and see what other issues the two party duopoly took off the table.

15) Arch-criminal violator of federal laws and arch-serial violator of our Constitution and system of checks and balances—Donald J. Trump—demands that his private lawyer AG Barr prosecute everyone in his fevered view, even reporters asking questions. Flailing and Imploding Donald.

16) Trump’s Covid illness is being totally cared for by socialized medicine. He goes to a government hospital paid by taxpayers, receives medicines paid by taxpayers, and doctors and nurses paid by taxpayers. Yet he wants to get rid of ACA insurance for 23 million Americans. Hypocrite. In 1999, when he flirted with running for president, Trump was for universal health care. He also changed a lot of other positions when he ran in 2016, including on climate disruptions.

17) One of Trump’s great damages to America is that he brought out the worst of our country. Inciting bigotry, misogyny, violence in the streets and wrongfully undermining trust in scientists, the postal service and our electoral system. His is a cruel, vicious and immoral ego.

18) If Democrats want to get out more votes, why aren’t they more frequently asking Jesse Jackson to help on their social media and TV ads? He is arguably the greatest Get Out the Vote activist in our generation.

19) Millions of Americans daily caught in anxiety, dread, fear and deprivation without health insurance. Solution? Full Medicare For All. Millions of Americans harassed and obstructed from voting. Solution? The Australian way—universal voting as a legal duty. Only in America!

20) Boss Trump, in 2015, said American workers are overpaid. For almost four years he has sat on the frozen minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Who says he’s not cruel and callous? Right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

21) Continue demanding Trump’s resignation. He is undermining and obstructing our elections, inciting civil strife, corruptly dismantling our health and safety protections and worsening the Covid-19 pandemic. A lawbreaking, egomaniacal menace. America can’t wait.

22) Trump won the debate for Biden. Keep at it, Donald. Stay the careening course that keeps turning off more Americans from your interruptive fabrications and vile indecencies.

23) Not too late to recognize the millions of midnight shift workers who keep the country going while we are asleep. Candidates campaigning at midnight during the work shifts at hospitals, nursing homes, factories, police stations, plus all night retail stores will earn votes. These workers feel excluded. Recognizing them may result in workers going to the early morning polls after they leave work.

24) Will Trump’s boastful record as a savage sexual predator be publicized and televised by his opponents to make him pay a political price? Or will he get away with it like he has on so many other criminal and criminogenic activities, from his business to his political career? If you don’t think this is a serious matter, please read my letter to selected members of Congress.

25) Unlike the Republicans, the Democrats seem to have no nicknames for their opponents and no slogans for their supporters. Catchy nicknames and stand up slogans work. What’s their problem?

26) Why has Trump lied over 22,000 times as president? The less he knows and the less he accomplishes, the more he has to lie to provide camouflage for his image. Trouble is when he lies, people die, get sick and are ripped off.

27) To get last minute voters, opponents of Trump must emphasize long overdue $15 min. wage. “Go vote yourself a raise.” Trump’s criminal violence and degrading language against women. Campaigning for millions of midnight shift workers. And ways to reduce anxiety, dread and fear.

28) There would be no nightmares and stress heading into next week’s presidential election were it not for the tyrannical Electoral College. When will the Dems (after 2000 and 2016) wake up and support nationalpopularvote.com that makes whoever gets the most votes nationally president?

29) Why would consumers vote Trump? He pulls federal cops off the corporate crime beat so crooks like him can cheat, deceive and harm. He lets polluters force poisons into their bodies. He’s OK with marketeers selling bad things directly to kids, undermining parental authority.

30) Surveys of Covid-19 viruses showed overwhelming support for Trump. They like his downplaying, blasting media for fake news, and overruling scientists. They also like his ignoring protective equipment. One virus said, “we love him so much we let him off lightly when he caught us.” “He’s our super-spreader-in-chief” they sang, especially around Trump’s mass rallies.

31) How could this election be close? Voter suppressor Trump lies daily and endangers millions of people. He’s given away our govt. to Wall Street. He is a serial bigot, has assaulted and openly degraded women. He tweets his ego. Watches Fox all day while Americans pay the price.

Add the above comments/tweets into your equation of wrapping your head around the following question:

Where are we as a nation?

 

Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey on current election results

 

Photo: Philly Voice

This week has been straight-up crazy with the results (still developing) of the election for the next President of the United States.  To offer some guidance, we should look to elected politicians from the contentious states - such as Pennsylvania.  As we progress toward a potential Biden/Harris victory or a long-contested court battle, each vote should be counted and all Americans should be patient.

In the video below, an interview with Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey who offers some words of guidance during these crazy times:

Stay tuned and stay calm!

How Does The U.S. Protect Restricted Airspace?

 

Photo: Wikipedia

From 1996-2000 I had the honor to serve in the United States Air Force.  My job was to provide assistance to support the mission of the 55th Fighter Squadron out of Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, South Carolina.  Mainly, our squadron supported the theaters in the Middle East.  The plane I worked on was the F-16 Fighter Jet.  I was an electrician/environmental journeyman.  Meaning, I worked on wires and cooling/heating air throughout the entire jet.  The experience was extraordinary.  

The U.S. Air Force has many missions.  The primary is to protect the sky above the United States.  This is why the news story last week of a civilian plane violating airspace was interesting to me.  The plane of choice in protecting airspace surrounding airports or urban cities is the F-16 Fighter Jet.  Fly by wire, fast maneuvering, the jet is crazy fast and good at flying at visible altitudes.

President Trump was holding a rally for campaigning at an Arizona airport.  Anytime that a high-level political official is in the airspace, the Federal Aviation Authority grants local airspace to be restricted until the official leaves.  That means, officials like the Vice President or President or Secretary of State. 

In addition to closing airspace, the local train/light rail system will also be shut down if the official is traveling by car anywhere.  But back to the airspace which involves the F-16 fighter jet protection.  I searched and found the following video to show what happens when a plane violates the airspace which is closed temporarily due to the presence of a high-level official present.  Check it out below:

There are many hidden steps that are taken by the military and other organizations to protect high-level officials.  Of course, these restrictions are also in place to protect the American people.  Concentric circles are drawn around large cities (New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles) to protect the people.  The airspace is protected by the F-16 Fighter Jet squadron located in the State, Local area. 

This is just another protection/aspect of life that is not immediately respected or apparent to the average person.  Which costs money to support.  But is well worth the protection.

Ralph Nader: "Wrecking America: How Trump’s Lawbreaking and Lies Betray All"

 

Photo: WBUR

President Trump is headed on a downward spiral.  Don't believe me?  Just watch the President speak at any recent rally and the obvious will become apparent.  Ralph Nader adds to this observation in his recent newsletter worth reading before heading to the polls to vote tomorrow:

Wrecking America: How Trump’s Lawbreaking and Lies Betray All

Political analysts of all stripes have concluded that President Trump has a base of supporters who are credulous, immovable, and unpersuadable. Allow us to briefly test that hypothesis, but to ignore the skins-shirts labels — Left-Right, Democrat-Republican — that often though not always determine how a person votes.

Instead, we’d like to ask sincere Trump voters whether they’d have a neighbor over for a family dinner who did any or all of the following?

* He has admitted on tape to routinely abusing women as several dozen have publicly accused him of sexual assaults. And he paid substantial hush money to buy the silence of at least two mistresses.

* He has cheated his workers, vendors, customers, and wives, and even cheated on his college entrance exam. Indeed, his only sister and niece have denounced his “dishonesty” and “phony” character. He says he used bankruptcy for his companies as a strategy — one that allows him to run away with responsibility.

* He has paid large civil fines after unlawful conduct, is prohibited from sitting on a charitable board in New York State, and is currently the subject of a grand jury investigation for financial fraud.

* He has been caught in 20,000+ falsehoods or lies in the past four years alone — telling an average of 22 a day — including several that led to thousands of deaths.

* He favors allowing toxic polluters to contaminate your neighborhood’s air and your family’s food because he believes “in the free market.”

* He brags that he is very religious, but doesn’t go to church or show any awareness of the Bible while violating most of the Ten Commandments.

* He frequently makes cruel, dehumanizing remarks about people of color, legal immigrants, and the disabled in your community and never retracts them.

* He rejects public health warnings designed to protect your neighborhood during an ongoing lethal epidemic, substituting his amateur hunches and reckless behavior for those of epidemiologists.

* He often ignores the by-laws of the neighborhood association, saying “so sue me” when challenged. The rules don’t apply to him.

* And he has never apologized for anything above, actually telling a group of 6th-graders, “apologies are for losers.”

Were all this true of a Democrat, say Barack Obama, you wouldn’t hesitate refusing any relationship with him. But if you don’t want such a person as your neighbor, why would you want him as your President where he’d have exponentially more power to harm you and your family?

One answer really can’t be that you heard about someone in another town — or years ago — who is/was supposedly even worse. On the other hand, a respectable response would be to reconsider your vote for President since, as you tell your children and grandchildren, “Honesty is the best policy.” Or as President Kennedy once put it, “sometimes party loyalty demands too much.”

Mark Green and Ralph Nader are consumer advocates and authors of many public policy books, including their just published, Wrecking America: How Trump’s Lawbreaking and Lies Betray All. Unlike other books on Trump, this is a book to be used, not just read, for the coming months.

Get out and vote for change!

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