Friday, August 03, 2018

I suppose there can be an appeal.

It is basically unbelievable that Governor Snyder can end the democracy in a city or town, poison the people, have people die of disease, reinstate an emergency manager law after a statewide referendum to end it and never be held responsible for any of those decisions in lawsuits where he was the ultimate culprit.

There is something Un-American about it. This is a civil suit and all the more reason to keep everyone responsible on the roster. Civil suits don't hold the highest degree of proof, but, only evidence that points to those liable.

Something is very wrong here.

August 1, 2018

A federal judge on Wednesday (click here) removed Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, a former mayor of Flint, along with the state government from a list of defendants in a class-action lawsuit over the Flint water crisis.

The lawsuit, brought by a dozen residents of Flint and three local businesses, involves 13 claims related to a decision in 2014 to pipe water from the Flint River, instead of water provided by Detroit Water and Sewerage.

The water from the Flint River was more corrosive than Detroit’s, and rife with lead and bacteria. By the time Flint reverted to using the DWSD, some residents of the largely African American city, including children, showed evidence of lead poisoning.

According the 128-page opinion by U.S. District Judge Judith E. Levy, “Lead poisoning caused plaintiffs to suffer from severe medical problems with their hair, skin, digestive system, and organs, as well as brain and other developmental injuries including cognitive deficits, among other issues.”

In the opinion, Levy dismissed the governor, former Flint Mayor Dayne Walling and other state and municipal officials from the suit....

...Different lawsuits related to the crisis are also pending in at least seven different state and federal courts throughout Michigan.

There is something very wrong here.

August 2, 2018
By Nicquel Terry

Detroit— The impact of Flint's lead-tainted water (click here) could last decades, affecting children whose development could be hurt and causing generations of residents to lose trust in government, panelists on the water crisis said Thursday. 

Discussion included long-term health effects for children exposed to the lead-tainted water, response from Flint residents, the legal ramifications and what it will take to fully recover. Lead leached into the city's water after Flint switched its municipal source to the Flint River in April 2014.

Despite what officials say about the water being safe, residents remain leery of drinking tap water, said panelist Leonard Fleming, a Detroit News reporter who has extensively covered the Flint water crisis for the past two years.

“They don’t trust government officials," said Fleming. "It could take a generation or two for residents to trust the city and state again and its water."...

When can a Governor get away with negligent homicide? When the State AG wants to be Governor and needs Republican backing.

July 31, 2018
By Paul Egan

Attorney General Bill Schuette (click here) asked more than a dozen state employees to join him on a 2015 weekday conference call to discuss “presidential politics,” and offered state employees financial incentives to secure endorsements for then-presidential candidate Jeb Bush, according to emails obtained by the Free Press....

The Michigan AG's office is corrupt. Welcome to the "Age of the Unthinkable."

December 15, 2017
By Paul Egan

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette (click here) has loaded his taxpayer-funded office payroll with Republican campaign activists in the run-up to his 2018 campaign for governor, a Free Press investigation has found.

Schuette also has used no-bid state contracts to pay more than $130,000 to two influential Republicans — one of whom has been active in the tea party movement that is important in winning a Republican primary, records show....

Please remember one thing, just one thing.

Putin.

Vladimir Putin has taken Trump under his wing and has rewarded Trump time and again. Putin has created an image of Trump as being a hero to Russia and the American establishment the real enemy.

Oh, yes indeed. So when Trump makes these outrageous statements, like the one about the press being the enemy, there are loyal Russians that take him as seriously as they take their own President.

Recently, RT sponsored an American police officer now living in Russia that states he was a lone man in his job trying to end racism by turning in other officers committing unthinkable assassinations of young black men. He feared for his life as a do - gooder. I have no idea if the facts were true or not. The point is Putin’s Russia is now more interested in America’s problems than their own. Remember now Trump’s the hero slaying all the dragons. 

Does RT ever tell their viewership about Russian Birth Vacations in the USA while their hero American President is committing human rights abuses of people and their children fleeing from deadly drug cartels. RT should feature the Russian Birth Vacation side by side with devastated parents from the USA’s southern border and ask what is wrong with that picture? Same President, who is the fool now?

I think the American people are very naive to believe President Trump’s message about the press has only one audience within the sovereign USA.

That observation is not about Europe.

Caught “The Beat” on MSNBC when a guest, Mr. Podesta notes the day Trump stated, “If Russia is listening...30,000 emails...”, it was that very night the Russian hackers started their attack on the “Hillary” election offices including the DCCC.

All that is true and now what seems like the entire past week Trump is stating, “The (American) Press is an enemy to the people.”

The Press actually believes that was directed to the American people? I don’t and haven’t since I heard it. Trump is talking to the hackers again; Russian or otherwise.

The Hackers are being played for fools. Trump stated the press is the enemy to inspire the hackers to destroy the elections of 2018 knowing he will run interference for them from inside his seat of power. Better said, Donald Trump will make whatever damage the hackers do stick from his Oval Office.

Everyone needs to listen with better ears. Not easy to do I guess, but, then I consider him treasonist. Trump is a human rights abuser and obviously a treasoner to me. He is a nightmare and evidently a USA Press Corp that takes offense to such lies are so pure of professional ethics they can’t think corruptly. That is amazing. At a time in USA history when the country needs the Press to be vigilant; they can’t even conceive of a president that is sincerely a treasonist. Wow.

Trump talks a lot to powers outside the USA. Pompeo is his second Secretary of State, right? Pompeo is having the same exact problems as Tillerson and Pompeo was never a CEO of a global petroleum company.

Hello?
A statement from Russia yesterday was the re-commitment of Russian troops to Syria protecting the Golan Heights from invasion by Israel. This needs to go before the U.N. Security Council as Israel is an ally to the USA. Such activity by sovereign Russian troops is new. It should rise urgently to the U.N. Security Council to be sure there are clear understanding of borders and incursion limits. 

Of course, that means Assad is backed by the sovereign Russia and not simply Russian mercenaries. The USA has troops in the region and acted to defend themselves killing 200 Russian mercenaries. There should be no active threat to any USA military as it could spark a larger conflict. The region does not need a larger conflict with millions of displaced Syrians already and a death toll pushing one million deaths. Continued aggression and any escalation has to be met with accusations of any player with genocide. The Syrian people need peace.

I also remind the USA has not returned all the children that were border crossers with their parents to their families inside the USA or in foreign lands. This dissolving of families currently named “deleted  families” is a form of genocide. The Trump Administration does not get partial credit. All the children have yet to be returned to their families. Any expense affiliated with this reunification belongs to the USA. These families can’t afford unification and that financial burden is an extension of a genocide. The poverty facilitates the Trump genocide when families are unduly burdened by a punitive government action. Welcome to Trump World where actions through irrational anger turns out to be expensive. Has the class action started yet?
With the advent of the Manafort trial and presentation of actual evidence, Congress is drawing up new sanctions against Russia. Also, Putin blatantly stating in Helsinki he tampered with the election of 2016, raises a new reality about Putin and Russia. I have to speculate if Putin’s boasting in Helsinki will also be introduced as evidence somewhere along the line in the prosecution and ongoing investigation. There is also more evidence of election tampering this year by Russia as well.

Left to be answered is what EXACTLY took place in the 2 and a half hour meeting in Helsinki and does it amount to witness tampering by Trump?
The USA debt just passed $21.3 trillion. The US Treasury is planning to increase bond sales in the next 3 months with higher interest rates to increase buyer incentives. Increased interest rates also increases the USA’s debt and deficit.

Next auction of US Treasury Bonds will be increased by $7 billion including a new 2 month bond to increase liquidity.

The US Treasury under Trump/Mnunchen will increase US borrowing $30 billion each quarter. The borrowing in the second half of 2018 is $769 billion which is an increase of 63% over 2017.

Trump/Munuchin has stated the increase in borrowing would be countered by economic growth. That has not borne out. The US budget deficit, not the budget alone, but the deficit will be near $1 trillion by 2019 and surpass $1.5 trillion by 2028.

Financing the US Debt, not deficit, was $458 billion in fiscal 2017 and so far financing 2018 is $415 billion. 

The tax and withholding has dropped 1% from the same time last year; a fall in US Treasury income of $17 billion; which explains the new 2 month bond offering to shore up liquidity to pay the bills. The government shutdown isn’t about anything except the lack of Treasury income predicted to pay for tax cuts and additional government spending. Basically, Trump/Munuchin are losing ground on their own budget projections and spending exceeds the expected income from any economic growth.

Bottom line is White House’s tax bill looked great on paper but is a sinking ship. And, oh by the way, housing sales are down, too.