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Ripoff Trumpcare and Tax Cut Schemes
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
Both Trump plans are schemes to transfer enormous amounts of wealth from ordinary Americans to business and high-net-worth households.
That’s what they’re all about. His health plan has nothing to do with providing affordable coverage for all Americans - just the opposite, nothing to curb spiraling out-of-control costs, nothing providing “great healthcare…in a much simplified form…much less expensive and much better,” as he promised. On July 12, the Tax Policy Center (TPC) headlined “A Tax Plan Consistent With Trump’s April Outline Could Cut Revenue By Up To $7.8 Trillion.”
Including tax increases candidate Trump suggested, $3.5 trillion over 10 years would be lost. Tax cuts he proposes are “highly regressive,” said the TPC.
Business and high-net-worth households would benefit hugely. One in five household would pay higher taxes than currently - “if a half-dozen tax hikes are included in a revenue package.”
Lula’s Conviction Aimed at Preventing His 2018 Presidential Run
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva served as Brazil’s president from 2003 - 2010. He’s led in opinion polls to win another term in office next year.
If it stands, his near ten-year sentence on corruption charges would bar him from seeking reelection in 2018. He’s a far cry from extremists now running things in Brazil.
Last year, Washington conspired with them to impeach and remove democratically elected President Dilma Rousseff from office on bogus charges.
Tyranny replaced democracy. A wish list for markets and investors was implemented - neoliberal harshness eliminating social justice, powerful privileged interests served at the expense of most others.
Lula is no paragon of progressive governance. James Petras earlier explained he “embrace(d) free trade, sign(ed) military agreements with Washington, (was) acclaimed ‘Statesman of the Year’ by the billionaire’s club at Davos in 2010, and has enriched bankers from Wall Street to the city of London…”
Cholera Ravages Yemen
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
Multiple plagues of Job ravage millions of Yemenis, including devastating US-planned and orchestrated war, famine, and untreated diseases, out-of-control cholera epidemic alone taking a devastating toll.
Known outbreaks exceeded 300,000 as of June 30, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The UN currently reported over 320,000 outbreaks in all governorates except one.
The ICRC said the epidemic “continues to spiral out of control,” known deaths more than 1,700, according to its spokeswoman Iolanda Jaquemet. Its regional director Robert Mardini said about 7,000 new cases are known daily in Sanaa and three other areas alone.
Yemen’s collapsed infrastructure, including minimal or lack of medical treatment for millions, created a “perfect storm for cholera,” the WHO explained.
The Destructiveness of America’s Alliances
Eric Zuesse
Alliances between nations are military. Without being military, they would be nothing. Trade agreements don’t require any alliances at all. World War I wouldn’t have occurred if there had not been alliances — it was built upon alliances. It was not built on trade agreements. It wasn't even built on trading-blocs.
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In fact, as the WTO (World Trade Organization) has said:
In the two decades prior to World War I, a number of tariff wars broke out, usually provoked by the establishment of a new, more protectionist tariff, or in the course of renegotiation of bilateral treaties.17 After the expiry of a treaty, tariffs were often raised temporarily as a means of improving negotiating leverage. … Despite the widespread increase of protectionist measures before World War I in continental Europe, the United States19, Argentina and other countries, world trade continued to expand rapidly.20
It goes on to observe: "Even though the contention that trade and peace dovetail is still very present today,119 it is not uncontested on theoretical and empirical grounds. Empirical evidence appears to generally support the idea that increasing bilateral trade reduces the risk of bilateral conflicts.122 But studies can be found that support either side of the argument, predicting both a negative and positive relationship between trade and war.123"
Putin and Trump Meet at G20
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
It took nearly six months after Trump’s ascension to power for both leaders to meet face-to-face for the first time.
Will a full-fledged summit follow in a mutually agreed on location? Having one won’t improve bilateral relations as long as neocons make policy in Washington, but at least it might foster a spirit of good will, hopefully to build on at a later time.
If past is prologue, odds against it are long, yet without trying, improved bilateral relations will remain unattainable. Putin and Trump met on the sidelines of the Hamburg, Germany G20 summit. Sergey Lavrov and Rex Tillerson participated in the talks. No one else was involved except translators for both leaders.
US to Act Alone on North Korea
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
Decades of US hostility toward Pyongyang could be resolved by America saying let’s talk, followed by officials of both countries meeting face-to-face for good faith discussions - something neocons infesting Washington reject.
Instead, the Trump administration intends instituting tougher anti-DPRK measures than already - stiffer sanctions and whatever else it has in mind.
Trump officials signaled policies coming to try strangling Pyongyang economically and financially, including more sanctions on China for failure to observe Washington rules.
The tougher US policies get, the more determined the DPRK becomes to strengthen its nuclear and ballistic missile deterrents, its best defense against possible US aggression.
The Latest Trump/Russia Non-Scandal
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
Another day, another bogus anti-Trump/Russia accusation.
The latest one comes from the disreputable NYT - gratuitous mudslinging its speciality, especially anything about Trump team and Russia.
On July 9, it claimed Donald Trump Jr. met with “Kremlin-connected lawyer (Natalya Veselnitskaya) for “promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign” - according three unnamed sources, another Times specialty.
Allegedly Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign manager at the time Paul Manafort were involved in the meeting. The Times cited unverified “confidential government documents” - perhaps nonexistent ones.
Trump Chooses Confrontation Over Diplomacy with North Korea
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
America is a warrior state, naked aggression its main strategy of choice. Its deplorable record speaks for itself.
Under Republican and Democrat administrations, it doesn’t negotiate. It demands, using pressure, bullying and threats of naked aggression to enforce its will.
It’s how imperial powers operate, none more ruthless and dangerous globally than the USA. Its reckless agenda for unchallenged global dominance risks unthinkable nuclear war - humanity’s survival up for grabs if launched.
The Trump administration rejected the only way to ease Korean peninsula tensions. Jointly proposed by Russia and China, it calls for Washington and Pyongyang stepping back from the brink, categorically rejecting force, provocative moves, and bellicose rhetoric.
Impeachment of President Trump Now Much More Likely The Trump-Qatar Scandal that Could End His Presidency
Eric Zuesse
On the morning of Monday July 10th, broke online from three reporters at The Intercept — Ryan Grim, Ben Walsh, and Clayton Swisher — the headline, “Jared Kushner Tried and Failed to Get a Half-Billion Dollar Bailout from Qatar”, recounting events which could also have been titled (perhaps more interestingly) “Evidence Trump Sparked Saud Boycott of Qatar to Salvage His Fortune and that of Daughter Ivanka”. Here are key portions of that narrative, which will be introduced and accompanied by other details of this case, which add even more to the picture of the U.S. President’s using his political position so as to protect, and add to, the wealth of Donald Trump and, even more, of Ivanka Trump.
Police State Tactics at G20
Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)
Assembling and protesting against deplorable policies are universal rights.
Not in Hamburg, Germany at the G20. On Thursday, as leaders were arriving for July 7 and 8 talks, tens of thousands of largely peaceful demonstrators took to the streets.
Things weren’t calm for long. Police blocked them from marching through the city as planned. Violence its ranks provoked erupted, turning Hamburg into a battleground, using tear gas, water cannons and batons as weapons. Numerous arrests and injuries were reported. Under the slogan “Welcome to Hell,” dozens more protests are planned on Friday and Saturday.
Demonstrators oppose what G20 leaders support, including predatory capitalism, globalization adversing affecting billions worldwide, neoliberal harshness, ecocide, and endless wars of aggression, among other issues.
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