Month: June 2018

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Appearance Of Impropriety Surrounding Justice Kennedy-Trump Relationship

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Americans increasingly consider the Roberts Supreme Court more of a political body than a court of lawโ€“a troubling trend. Even more troubling is this New York Times piece that  says the Trump Administration conducted a โ€œquiet campaignโ€ to  effect Justice Kennedyโ€™s retirement before Midterms 2018.  The New York Times piece, partly written by Maggie Haberman was quick to add; โ€œThere were no direct efforts to pressure or lobby Justice Kennedy to announce his resignation on Wednesday, and it was hardly the first time a president had done his best to create a court opening.โ€

Given the norm-breaking habit  of the Trump Administration, many people including Yours Truly will take issue with this conclusory assertion by Haberman that โ€œthere were no direct effortsโ€ to pressure Justice Kennedy into retirement before the Midterms. Dems should not treat Habermanโ€™s conclusory assertion as Biblical truth, but instead keep inquiring into the circumstances surrounding Justice Kennedyโ€™s seemingly strategic departure from the High Court. Any reasonable person would conclude that Justice Kennedyโ€™s departure right before the midterm elections signals a political motivationโ€“one highly beneficial to Trump and his GOP.

In addition to that, the Financial Times reported in 2017 that Justice Kennedyโ€™s son was Trumpโ€™s most trusted banker at Deutsche Bank, which gave Trump loans when no U.S. bank was willing to. Deutsche Bank has also been linked to Russian money laundering and is one of the banks Special Counsel Robert Mueller is looking into in the TrumpRussia investigation. How the son of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice gets caught up in the affairs of Deutsche Bank involving Trump should be a question of the utmost importance for Dems. And Dems donโ€™t have to take Yours Trulyโ€™s word for it,  just check out this excellent thread by Amy Siskind regarding this issue.

Also check out this interesting 2017 Politico piece which highlighted a private conversation (hot mic moment) between Justice Kennedy and President Trump regarding Kennedyโ€™s son; โ€œSay hello to your boy,โ€ Trump said, โ€œSpecial guy.โ€ โ€œYour kids have been very nice to him,โ€ Kennedy replied. โ€œWell,โ€ Trump said, โ€œthey love him, and they love him in New York.โ€ This establishes conclusively that Justice Kennedy was well aware of his sonโ€™s interactions with Trump and his children.

Bottomline Dems must demand answers from retiring Justice Kennedy and indeed Chief Judtice Roberts about whether he coordinated his exit with the Trump Adninistration and secondly the extent of his sonโ€™s dealings with Trump while he was at Deutsche Bank and thereafter. Justice Kennedyโ€™s sonโ€™s dealings with Trump raise genuine conflict of interest questions or at the very least create an appearance of impropriety. Peopleโ€™s faith in the U.S. Supreme Court as an independent court of law is waning and stories like these only add to the mistrust. Dems must raise all these lingering questions as they fight for the U.S. Supreme Court.

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The Unjust Roberts Supreme Court

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The U.S. Supreme Court deals with a wide range of issues affecting the daily lives of Americans. Because the issues the court deals with are so many and  so diverse, it is impossible/unfair to paint the courts decisions with a broad brush. However when it comes to politics, especially as it relates to GOP vs Democratic Party issues, the Roberts Supreme Court has established itself as a reliable GOP ally making horrendous decisions that favor the GOP

One such horrendous decision was Citizens United, where the court allowed the unlimited flow of dark/anonymous money into political campaigns. No reasonable person can ever conclude that the Roberts Supreme Court did not envision the disastrous effect unlimited dark/anonymous money would have on U.S. politics. Reasonable people will conclude that the Roberts Supreme Court knew their decision in Citizens United would likely lead to a spike in political corruption (pay for play) but went along with it anyway because it favored the GOP. The disastrous effects of Citizens United on U.S. politics continue to be felt to this day especially by poor voters who feel their representatives only cater for their rich mega donors

Then this week the Roberts Supreme Court made yet another horrendous decision which any reasonable person knows or should know will lead to the political disenfranchisement of millions of minority voters but like Citizens United, favors the GOP. The Roberts Supreme Court struck down lower court decisions that had found Texas Congressional Districts unconstitutionally gerrymandered(racially). There is no question that this will embolden Texas and other GOP-controlled states to gerrymander congressional districts even further.

As if this is not enough, the Roberts Supreme Court also upheld Ohioโ€™s policy of purging voters that a lower court found unconstitutionalโ€“targeted minority voters. This again is a horrendous decision by the Roberts Supreme Court which any reasonable person knows or should know will lead to even further purging of minority voters in Ohio and other states. The Ohio decision fits the patternโ€“it is yet another horrendous decision by the Roberts Supreme Court, whose disastrous effects are easily predictable, but the court upheld because it favors the GOP.

Bottom line it is time for Dems to come out of the wood works and start speaking boldly about the troubling trend being set by the Roberts Supreme Court as regards the GOP.  As Yours Truly stated earlier, the Roberts Supreme Court has essentially become a trusted wing of the GOP. From sanctioning unlimited flow of money into politics through Citizens United, sanctioning racially-based gerrymandering, to now sanctioning voter purging, Dems have no otherwise but to start speaking out against these horendous decisions.

So you ask, โ€œbut @Emolclause how are Dems supposed to speak out against the Roberts Supreme Court? Wonโ€™t that look bad?โ€ Well, Dems need to do what has worked for them for decadesโ€“peaceful protests. Peaceful protests outside the Roberts Supreme Court like the one done yesterday after the court upheld Trumpโ€™s Muslim ban must become more common.

Surely the strong grassroots Dem women who organized the highly successful Womens March can put together a Supreme Court March to protest Citizens United, Gerrymandering and voter purge decisions. Everbody knows the justices have lifetime appointment and thereโ€™s nothing Dems can do to effect their removal. However the justices like the rest of us consume the same national news stories. Images of massive protests outside the U.S. Supreme Court will not go unnoticed by the Roberts Supreme Court and may,just may, revert the court back to being the โ€œpeopleโ€™s courtโ€ not the โ€œGOP’s courtโ€.

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Putin Told Trump To Stop Joint Military Exercises With S. Korea

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From the beginning Yours Truly has maintained that there is something very strange/suspicious about the Trump/North Korea dealโ€“that this is a Putin operation designed to help Trump politically, not solve the nuclear crisis

A bombshell 6/25/2018 segment on MSNBCโ€™s Rachel Maddow Show just confirmed Yours Trulyโ€™s suspicions. Turns out per Maddow, that Trump had initially wanted to end  joint military operations between the U.S. & South Korea but dropped the idea after pushback from Defense Secretary Mattis.

Later however, following a phone conversation with Putin, Trump abruptly decided to end the crucial joint military exercises that are meant to provide readiness in the unfortunate event North Korea launches a nuclear strike.

Even more troubling, and an issue that Congressional Dems should definitely inquire into, is the shocking revelation by Maddow that prior to Trump making the highly consequential decision on S. Korea joint exercises, neither Sec Def Mattis nor senior White House officials were consulted. In other words Putin simply told Trump to do it and he did itโ€”fast!!

This is a very troubling development given that virtually all U.S. Intel agencies agree that Russia is not only Americaโ€™s enemy but is actively working to inflict harm on America. The shocking report by Maddow that despite this threat, Putin is literally telling the U.S. President what to do with senior government officials seemingly left in the dark should be cause for great alarm.

Bottom line Congressional Dems must push for hearings on this issue

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Meet the 23 House Republicans Hiding Trumpโ€™s Tax Returns

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After news that Rhode Islandโ€™s Senate approved a measure requiring all presidential candidates to release 5 years of their tax returns in order to be placed on the stateโ€™s ballot, the focus has again shifted to Trumpโ€™s tax returns, a major campaign issue during the run-up to the 2016 presidential elections. Grassroots Dems including Yours Truly, ecstatic about Rhode Islandโ€™s decision are now pushing for other states to follow Rhode Islandโ€™s lead and lock Trump out of the 2020 ballot unless he releases the tax returns he promised toโ€“the #NoTaxReturnsNoBallot campaign

โ€” Emoluments Clause (@Emolclause) June 22, 2018

Left out of the renewed tax return debate however, is the fact that GOP members of Congress have played a major role in aiding the president hide his tax returns from the public, especially these 23 Republicans in the House Ways and Means Committee, or as Yours Truly calls them, the “wall of shame”.

Their efforts to block moves by Congressional Dems to have Trumpโ€™s tax returns released to the public were reported in this February 15, 2017 piece by the DailyKos. As you can see from the article, the DailyKos has done all the legwork in exposing these shameful GOP members of congress. Yours Truly is simply hitting you with a reminder now that midterms 2018 are around the corner. As usual they will be coming begging for your votes claiming they stand for โ€œtransparency in government.โ€ They will be hoping off course that youโ€™ve long forgotten about their lack of transparency re Trumpโ€™s tax returns. Boy are they in for a rude awakening this fall?!

Here is a handy list of the names and office phone numbers of the wall of shame members

U.S. Representative Devin Nunes (CA-22)

Phone: (202) 225-2523

U.S. Representative Kevin Brady (TX-08)
Phone: (202) 225-4901

U.S. Representative Sam Johnson (TX-03)

Phone: (202) 225-4201

U.S. Representative Pat Tiberi (OH-12)

Phone: (202) 225-5355

U.S. Representative Dave Reichert (WA-08)

Phone: (202) 225-7761

U.S. Representative Peter Roskam (IL-06)

Phone: (202) 225-4561

U.S. Representative Vern Buchanan (FL-16)

Phone: (202) 225-5015

U.S. Representative Adrian Smith (NE-03)

Phone: (202) 225-6435

U.S. Representative Lynn Jenkins (KS-02)

Phone: (202) 225-6601

U.S. Representative Erik Paulsen (MN-03)

Phone: (202) 225-2871

U.S. Representative Kenny Marchant (TX-24)

Phone: (202) 225-6605

U.S. Representative Diane Black (TN-06)

Phone: (202) 225-4231

U.S. Representative Tom Reed (NY-23)

Phone: (202) 225-3161

U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (PA-03)

Phone: (202) 225-5406

U.S. Representative Jim Renacci (OH-16)

Phone: (202) 225-3876

U.S. Representative Pat Meehan (PA-07)(resigned in disgrace)

U.S. Representative Kristi Noem (SD-AL)

Phone: (202) 225-2801

U.S. Representative George Holding (NC-02)

Phone: (202) 225-3032

U.S. Representative Jason Smith (MO-08)

Phone: (202) 225-4404

U.S. Representative Tom Rice (SC-07)

Phone: (202) 225-9895

U.S. Representative Dave Schweikert (AZ-06)

Phone: (202) 225-2190

U.S. Representative Jackie Walorski (IN-02)

Phone: (202) 225-3915

U.S. Representative Carlos Curbelo (FL-26)

Phone: (202) 225-2778

Bottomline folks, #NoTaxReturnsNoBallot is a win-win fight for Dems because it puts the GOP in the unenviable position of defending a public official(Trump) who promised to release his tax returns while campaigning but now chooses to hide them, even as questions about his corrupt business practices continue to pile up. Dem State Reps across the country must introduce bills like the one in Rhode Island so as to get Republicans go on the record with a vote to hide Trumpโ€™s tax returnsโ€“a vote for lack of transparency in government. Dems can rest assured that midterms 2018 voters will not be happy with pro-secrecy in government candidatesโ€“the GOPers hiding Trumpโ€™s tax returns.

Folks see if one of these wall of shame bums is your Rep in Congress and if they are, make sure to vote them out this Midterms 2018!!

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