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Brussels Opposes New US Sanctions on Russia
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
House and Senate members are poised to impose tough new illegal sanctions on Russia for phony reasons.
They’re aimed at preventing improved bilateral relations, Trump held hostage to their deplorable agenda.
On Sunday, new White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said “(t)he original piece of legislation was poorly written, but we were able to work with the House and Senate, and the administration is happy with the ability to do that and make those changes that were necessary, and we support where the legislation is now.”New White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said Trump will decide on the measure “shortly. He hasn’t made the decision yet to sign that bill one way or the other,” adding:
“Go with what Sarah is saying as I am new to the information…It’s my second or third day on the job.”
Trump has no practical choice. Both houses will pass sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea overwhelmingly - maybe by unanimous voice votes, making the measure veto-proof.
Are AG Jeff Sessions’ Days Numbered?
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
Days earlier, Trump criticized Sessions for recusing himself from the Justice Department’s Russiagate investigation - saying had he known, he wouldn’t have appointed him AG, adding:
“Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, which frankly I think is very unfair to the president.”
“How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, ‘Thanks, Jeff, but I’m not going to take you.’ It’s extremely unfair — and that’s a mild word — to the president.”
He acted on advice from DOJ ethics experts and the American Bar Association - to avoid a possible conflict of interest or appearance of one.
What Trump Is Learning From His Presidency
Eric Zuesse
It is now clear that Donald Trump had never cared about public policy except to the extent it affected his own bottom line as a businessman, and that he’s only now starting, as the U.S. President, to think about ideology, and about public policy, and about what the functions of government are and what they ought to be, and how they can most efficiently be carried out in policy. He’s in a learning-mode, now, more than a doing-mode. So: what is he actually learning? Back on 27 February 2017, after already more than a month as President, he said “Nobody knew that healthcare could be so complicated,” and that "I have to tell you, it's an unbelievably complex subject.” For him, as someone who never had really thought about it before, this fact (the need for authentic expertise in the interests of the public, not of himself) came as an unpleasant shock — after already several weeks in the White House.
Criminalizing Support for BDS
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
BDS activism is vital to demand Israel be held accountable for its longstanding high crimes against millions of Palestinians.
The late Howard Zinn called dissent “the highest form of patriotism.” The Center for Constitutional Rights earlier said “(t)he growing threat to the right to dissent has been demonstrated in the US government’s efforts to silence speech, and criminalize and target peaceful movements.”
It calls effort to silence criticism of Israel “the Palestinian Exception” to fundamental First Amendment rights.In June 2016, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed Executive Order No. 157, “directing state entities to divest all public funds supporting the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel.”
Saving Illinois: Getting More Bang for the State’s Bucks
Ellen Brown
Illinois is teetering on bankruptcy and other states are not far behind, largely due to unfunded pension liabilities; but there are solutions. The Federal Reserve could do a round of “QE for Munis.” Or the state could turn its sizable pension fund into a self-sustaining public bank.
Illinois is insolvent, unable to pay its bills. According to Moody’s, the state has $15 billion in unpaid bills and $251 billion in unfunded liabilities. Of these, $119 billion are tied to shortfalls in the state’s pension program. On July 6, 2017, for the first time in two years, the state finally passed a budget, after lawmakers overrode the governor’s veto on raising taxes. But they used massive tax hikes to do it – a 32% increase in state income taxes and 33% increase in state corporate taxes – and still Illinois’ new budget generates only $5 billion, not nearly enough to cover its $15 billion deficit.
Adding to its budget woes, the state is being considered by Moody’s for a credit downgrade, which means its borrowing costs could shoot up. Several other states are in nearly as bad shape, with Kentucky, New Jersey, Arizona and Connecticut topping the list. U.S. public pensions are underfunded by at least $1.8 trillion and probably more, according to expert estimates. They are paying out more than they are taking in, and they are falling short on their projected returns. Most funds aim for about a 7.5% return, but they barely made 1.5% last year.
Fake News Alleging Second Putin/Trump Meeting at G20
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
Media scoundrels are all over this story, misreporting what happened.
A White House statement called an alleged second meeting “false, malicious and absurd.”
Trump tweeted: “The Fake News is becoming more and more dishonest! Even a dinner arranged for top 20 leaders in Germany is made to look sinister!”
“Fake News story of secret dinner with Putin is ‘sick.’ All G 20 leaders, and spouses, were invited by the Chancellor of Germany. Press knew!”
NYT fake news said the following:“(T)here was another (Putin/Trump) encounter (at the G20): a one-on-one discussion over dinner that lasted as long as an hour and relied solely on a Kremlin-provided interpreter.”
Do You Think the U.S. Won't Have A New Financial Collapse Soon?
Executive Intelligence Reiew
July 17, 2017 (EIRNS) -- Signs of growing defaults are showing across the range of ultimately unpayable debt bubbles in the United States economy, while underlying economic growth continues in the crater of a 1.5% nominal GDP annual rate.
The July 17 {Wall Street Journal} featured a report of an "unheard of event" -- a Houston-based private equity fund once "worth" more than $2 billion, is now worth zero. Even following the report in the July 11 {Houston Chronicle} that defaults throughout Texas corporations are shooting up and exceed even 2009 economic collapse levels, securities funds of this size losing all their value remains "unheard of"; 25% maximum losses are typical when large PE funds go bust. Yet, the {Journal} quotes one expert, "several other energy-focused funds are in danger of doing so." Big losers in the evaporation of $2.1 billion EnerVest Ltd include Canada's second-largest pension fund, the Teamsters Western Conference Pension Fund; various high-roller charitable foundations like Getty Trust, MacArthur Foundation; and Wells Fargo bank, which loaned EnerVest Ltd. $1.3 billion to leverage its investments in oil securities.
Trumpcare Closer to Demise
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
Earlier articles explained it’s not a healthcare plan. It deceptively claims to be what it’s not.
Combined with Trump’s tax cut scheme, it’s a colossal scam to transfer trillions more dollars of wealth than already from most Americans to business and high net-worth households.
Four GOP senators along with 48 undemocratic Democrats rejected the so-called Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (BCRA), preventing Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell from getting a floor vote he sought.
The GOP plan to repeal and replace Obamacare is dead in its current form. So is repeal alone as things now stand.
Responsible Healthcare Reform Needed
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
Irresponsible Trumpcare couldn’t muster enough support for Senate passage.
What’s next is unclear. What’s needed is indisputable. Expecting anything positive from Congress is living in a fantasy world.
Bipartisan complicity against the general welfare is longstanding, serving privileged interests exclusively.
According to Americans for Tax Justice (ATJ), the nation’s eight largest insurance companies would get a $72 billion tax cut windfall over the next decade under Trumpcare. They’d get “nearly half of the $145 billion 10-year tax cut for the entire insurance industry (as) estimated by the Joint Committee on Taxation,” said ATJ.
According to ATJ’s executive director Frank Clemente, “(i)t’s appalling that Republicans in Congress would yank healthcare from 20 million people and give insurance companies a $72 billion tax cut.”
Trumpcare on Life Support
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
The House version barely passed, heavy pressure enabling passage after initially failing.
As of Monday, four GOP senators joined all 48 undemocratic Democrats, rejecting the misnamed Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (BCRA).
Republicans need 50 Senate votes plus Vice President Pence’s tie-breaker for passage. With four GOP defectors, they lack it. Trumpcare isn’t dead. It’s on life support close to it. Earlier, GOP Senators Rand Paul and Susan Collins expressed opposition to the Senate version - for different reasons.
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