The Commoner Call – Page 69 – Standing Resolute, Together.

ALL ARTICLES May 3, 2018

‘A Dangerous Low’: Trump Ignores Deadline For Reporting Civilians Killed By US Drone Attacks

(Editors’ Note: While the White House may not be willing to admit our national war crimes that does not make any of us innocent. We fund the killing with our tax dollars and silence. — Mark L. Taylor) By Jessica Corbett Common Dreams (5/2/18) The Trump administration on Tuesday flouted two major deadlines for disclosing the number of civilians killed by U.S. military forces: one public report that was mandated by an Obama-era executive order and focused on drone strike deaths; and one report to Congress that is supposed to detail all civilian deaths tied to U.S. military…

ALL ARTICLES, Good News May 3, 2018

Holding Up A Mirror To The Ways & Patterns Of Life

(Editor’s Note: This BBC feature is a beautifully haunting portrayal of lived life that is a wonderful reminder of what is — and isn’t — important in life. True magic. Enjoy. — Mark L. Taylor) BBC (4/27/18) From childhood to old age, a journey through life reflected in the mirror – via a series of interviews recorded with people as they confront their reflection in the mirror. What do they see? How has their face changed? What stories lie behind the wrinkles and scars? We hear the initial wonder of the small child give way to the embarrassment of the…

ALL ARTICLES May 3, 2018

Down Range: Gun News From Around The Country

Not Worth The Headache: Vista Outdoor May Dump Its Gun Brands By Aaron Smith CNN (4/30/18) Vista Outdoor, a manufacturer of guns and ammunition, said on Tuesday that it could divest from its gun brands, prompting a steep decline in stock price. “Vista Outdoor is exploring strategic alternatives, which include potentially divesting the remaining Sports Protection brands, Savage/Stevens firearms, and Jimmy Styks [paddle boards,]” said the company, in a statement provided to CNNMoney. “We will begin the process immediately, but will take the time necessary to make prudent decisions.” Vista said that it’s “potentially” selling its Savage brand of shotguns and…

ALL ARTICLES, Resist!, Resistance Tunes May 3, 2018

Folksinging Activist Pete Seeger Was Born 99 Years Ago Today

“And there’s a wonderful parable in the New Testament: The sower scatters seeds. Some seeds fall in the pathway and get stamped on, and they don’t grow. Some fall on the rocks, and they don’t grow. But some seeds fall on fallow ground, and they grow and multiply a thousandfold. Who knows where some good little thing that you’ve done may bring results years later that you never dreamed of?” — Pete Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014)

ALL ARTICLES May 3, 2018

Crash Test Dummies: Trump Lawyer Cohen’s Shady Personal Injury Practice

By Seth Hettena Rolling Stone (5/1/18) A few years before he started working for Donald Trump, and long before he gave legal advice to people like Fox News personality Sean Hannity, Michael D. Cohen had a different kind of clientele. Cohen roamed the courthouses of New York City, filing lawsuits on behalf of people with little means who were seeking compensation for the injuries they suffered in car collisions. Many personal-injury lawyers make their living this way, but there was something striking about Cohen’s cases: Some of the crashes at issue didn’t appear to be accidents at all. A Rolling Stone investigation…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, Police State America, Resist! May 3, 2018

Activist Holds Up Sign Saying Police Hate Free Speech, So They Arrest Him To Prove Him Right

By Matt Agorist Activisst Post (5/2/18) Stamford, CT — Free speech and liberty activist, Michael Picard had harmed no one, had not committed a crime, and was merely expressing his right to free speech by claiming the Stamford PD dislikes free speech. Indeed, within just a few minutes, the chief of police himself came out to prove Picard right. Last Thursday, Picard held a sign that said, “F*ck Free Speech —Stamford PD,” merely attempting to point out the gross violations of the First Amendment committed by the department after they arrested another activist, Michael Friend, for holding up a different sign…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE April 30, 2018

Leftist Dilemma: The Double Russia Conspiracy Trap

By Paul Street Counter Punch (4/27/18) The RussiaGate conspiracy drama is a double-edged damned-if-you-do/damned-if-you-don’t trap for people on the portside. The perils of signing on to the storyline are clear as day to any self-respecting Leftist. Five come to mind off the top of my head: 1. Neo-McCarthyite distraction from numerous terrible things that the racist, nativist, sexist, white-nationalist, and eco-cidal, planet-cooking Trump administration and the Republican Party are doing with scant serious opposition from the dismal dollar Democrats. The media and the Democrats have the political culture mired in the Russia-Trump conspiracy while the in-power right-wing has worked all-too behind the…

ALL ARTICLES, Russia Monitor April 30, 2018

Russia Monitor: Do The Dems Dare Play The Trump-Russia Card?

“As far as the presidential race in 2020, the Democrats seem to be repeating the mistake that Hillary Clinton made: counting on the awfulness of Trump to do their work for them.” — New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd (4/29/18). By Dan Peak The Connoner Call (4/30/18) Dear Fellow Readers, Let’s give the answer to a question as a way to start. The answer is: Vladmir Putin just broke form and has openly demonstrated he influenced the U.S. election in favor of Trump. There is much competition for the most important news of the latest cycle for Trump-Russia corruption. Maybe your…

ALL ARTICLES, Good News April 30, 2018

Recognizing The Corruption Running The Joint, More Than 75% Of Americans Back Campaign Finance Reform

By Andrea Germanos Common Dreams (4/27/18) Amidst a widely-shared recognition that the country is effectively being run by powerful special interests, a new poll out Friday shows that more than 3 out of 4 Americans now support serious campaign finance reform as a way to mitigate the corrupting influence of money in the nation’s democracy. The results of the extensive Pew Research Center survey, released Thursday, reveal Americans “see the country falling well short in living up to” democratic ideals and values, and believe core changes are needed in the political system. Seventy-six percent say the government is run by a few…

ALL ARTICLES, Democrats April 30, 2018

Secretly Taped Audio Reveals Democratic Leadership Crass Strong-Arming Progressive Candidate To Drop Out Of Primary Race

[Editor’s Note: Hmm, ‘nothing personal’? What is this, a lost episode of the Sopranos? — Mark L. Taylor] By Lee Fang The Intercept (4/26/18) STENY HOYER, the No. 2 Democrat in the House of Representatives, has for years been a prolific campaigner on behalf of current and potential members of Congress. It was no surprise, then, that December found him in Colorado, where the party has hopes of knocking off Republican incumbent Mike Coffman. Before Donald Trump had even been inaugurated, local resistance groups began deluging Coffman’s public appearances, pressing him not to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and putting him back on…

ALL ARTICLES April 30, 2018

This Week’s Edition Of ‘On The Media’ Gives Insightful Round-Up Of All Things Trump

‘On The Media’ is one of the best public radio shows on the air. Each week hosts Brooke Gladstone and Bob Garfield and the staff of WNYC take an unflinching look at how the media handles breaking news the previous week and long-term trends in news coverage. ‘On The Media’ is public radio at it’s best. This past week’s edition of OTM — ‘Dog Whistle’ — had several really insightful segments on Trumpland. You can listen to the whole show straight through here, or check out individual segments of interest below. — Mark L. Taylor ***** How A Strong Economy Could…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism April 30, 2018

Silencing Speech, Muzzling The Mind & Cutting Off The Flow Of Information

These recent incidents are part of a broader government scheme to wield immigration authority to silence activists both within and beyond the US borders. By Carrie DeCell The Guardian (4/20/18) The Trump administration has explained that its so-called “extreme vetting” program is intended to bar individuals from the United States based on their attitudes toward this country. It is the fulfillment of a campaign promise to resurrect a cold war–era “ideological screening test” for admission into the United States. If the growing number of activists who have been denied admission or removed from the country in recent months is any indication, that test…

ALL ARTICLES, You Can't Say That. Oh, Yes I Can! April 30, 2018

You Can’t Say That. Oh, Yes I Can!

The rising tide of national protest and opposition has brought forth a lot of creative humor, satire and other forms of protest. Some of that is to be found on protest signs created by fellow citizens speaking truth to power. In our new original cartoon feature — “You Can’t Say That! Oh, Yes I Can!” — The Commoner Call will feature some of that handheld wisdom. If you see a particularly good protest sign send it along for consideration. Pass this invitation to your contacts. And maybe take some of this good signage to your next local protest. (Commoner Call cartoon by…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE, Gun Cult April 30, 2018

Americans & Guns: A United State Of Insecurity

The Why Factor/BBC (4/23/18) In the USA, those least likely to become victims of gun violence are the most likely to carry guns. So if they are not likely to become victims of crime, what are they really afraid of? We speak to people getting their gun licence to try and untangle what lies behind their anxieties and discover it’s about something much less tangible. Link to Story and 23-Minute Audio (Commoner Call photo by Mark L. Taylor, 2018. Opensource nd free for non-derivative use with link to www.thecommnercall.org )

ALL ARTICLES April 30, 2018

In ‘Huge Win For Pollinators, People, And The Planet,’ EU Bans Bee-Killing Pesticides

By Jessica Corbett Common Dreams (4/27/18) Faced with mounting scientific evidence that bee-poisoning neonicotinoids, or neonics, could cause an “ecological armageddon,” European regulators on Friday approved a “groundbreaking” and “historic” ban on the widely-used class of pesticides—an announcement met with immediate applause by campaigners. “The E.U.’s groundbreaking ban on bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides is a huge win for pollinators, people, and the planet,” responded Tiffany Finck-Haynes, senior food futures campaigner for Friends of the Earth (FOE). Lori Ann Burd, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s environmental health program, said it’s also a win for “science-based regulation of pesticides.” Under the new rules, which…

ALL ARTICLES April 30, 2018

Syrian Refugee Stranded In An Airport Transit Zone For More Than A Month

VICE News (4/20/18) For anyone who has complained about being delayed in an airport, spare a thought for Hassan Al Kontar. The Syrian refugee has been stuck in the transit zone of Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia since early March. Al Kontar’s chronicled his story on social media, highlighting similarities to the Tom Hanks film The Terminal. The 36-year-old left Syria for the UAE well before the war started, but when it came time to renew his Syrian passport in 2012 the regime refused, because he hadn’t completed his military service. He was eventually kicked out of the UAE…

Paul Ryan April 30, 2018

House Chaplain Who Prayed For Fairness In GOP Tax Bill Fired By Paul Ryan

By Jennifer Bendery The Huffington Post (4/26/18) WASHINGTON ― House Chaplain Patrick Conroy was suddenly forced out of his job last week by Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), and while it’s not clear why, Democratic lawmakers and Hill sources say it was driven by Ryan’s distaste for one of Conroy’s prayers about the GOP’s tax bill. As first reported by The Hill, Conroy was clear in his resignation announcement that it wasn’t his choice to go. It was Ryan’s. “As you have requested, I hereby offer my resignation as the 60th Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives,” reads Conroy’s…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, FEATURE, History They Don't Want You To Know, Trumpenstan April 26, 2018

Pulitzer-Winning Reporter David Cay Johnston: “The evidence suggests Trump is a traitor”

[Editor’s Note: Please listen to this interview. Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter David Cay Johnston’s insights on Trump and his long ties with the Mafia and Russian oligarchs and the only way the democrats can unseat Trump are spot on. Unlike many, he calls things as they are. Also, listen to Chauncey DeVargas’ comments afterward. He gives a hard dose of reality that we on the left need to fully grasp about what may well be coming even if — especially if — Trump were driven from office. This is serious business, folks and the democrats and the left really…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, History They Don't Want You To Know April 26, 2018

Scholar Of Authoritarianism Tells Seth Meyers That When She’s Being Asked On TV ‘you know America is in bad shape’

By Sarah K. Burris The Raw Story (4/25/18) Writer and researcher Sarah Kendzior’s new book is a series of essays that she wrote from 2012 through 2014 that ultimately predicted the rise of today’s politics, government institution bashing, paranoia — and the possibility of a President Donald Trump. In a Tuesday interview with “Late Night” host Seth Meyers, Kendzior explained that despite understanding the possibilities of Trump, she finds no solace in being right. “When I’m in demand, when my areas of expertise are in demand, then you know America is in bad shape,” she explained. She went on to…

ALL ARTICLES, Media Hits & Misses April 26, 2018

“Handout Hannity”: Trump’s Fox News Bro Faces Questions Over $90 Million Real Estate Empire

Illustration by Seth L. Taylor, 2018. By Charlie May Salon (4/23/18) Fox News host Sean Hannity is responding to the “latest fake news attack” against him, playing the victim to claim that he is being vilified for “investing my personal money in communities that badly need such investment.” Despite his frequent rants against liberal or media “elites,” an extensive report from The Guardian on Monday revealed that Hannity is linked to numerous shell companies that have spent at least $90 million on nearly 900 properties across the country. Furthermore, belying his supposed conservative principles, Hannity’s empire was purchased at a deep…

ALL ARTICLES, Democrats, History They Don't Want You To Know April 26, 2018

What’s In A Name — Are You Really A Progressive Or A Liberal?

How a vital term in U.S. political life lost its significance—and could regain it today. By Win McCormick The New Republic (4/20/18) What distinguishes a progressive from a liberal? This is one of the more pervasive ambiguities in contemporary American political discourse. In a recent issue of the journal Democracy, the historian Sean Wilentz addressed it head-on: Liberals, he argues, recognize the flaws of capitalism, are dedicated to remedying them, and have great achievements to their credit in that regard, notably those of the New Deal, the New Frontier, and the Great Society. Progressives are meanwhile “emphatically anti-liberal”—because they are hostile to capitalism and, “deep…

ALL ARTICLES, Russia Monitor April 26, 2018

Russia Monitor: Russian Lullaby Lies & And Weird Stuff To Keep You Awake At Night

“We are experiencing a dangerous time in our country, with a political environment where basic facts are disputed, fundamental truth is questioned, lying is normalized, and unethical behavior is ignored, excused or rewarded.” — James Comey, “A Higher Loyalty” By Dan Peak The Commoner Call (4/26/ Dear Fellow Readers, Some days politics seems like something worse than just a dirty word. Certainly, as the Washington Post documents, Trump and his cronies contribute to such a feeling: The Daily 202: Mick Mulvaney’s Confession Highlights The Corrosive Influence Of Money In Politics. As Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve write about the head of…

ALL ARTICLES, Russia Monitor April 26, 2018

Russian Dissident Garry Kasparov’s ‘Winter’ Warning To The West

“‘Winter is coming’ is a warning, not an inevitable conclusion. The good thing about the seasons of political and social change is that we can affect them if we try hard enough. If we rouse ourselves fro complacency and relearn how to stand up to the dictators and terrorists who threaten the modern world we have built, we can alter the course. Anti-modernity is a dangerous virus, and to remove a virus a reboot or re-set is not enough. We have to build a values based system that is robust enough to resist the virus at home, smart enough to…

ALL ARTICLES, Democrats, FEATURE April 26, 2018

Black Agenda Report: Democrats Prepare To Pimp Their Own Lefties For 2018 & 2020.

By Bruce A. Dixon Black Agenda Report (4/26/18) Every two years, Democrats need a Big Black Vote, along with impressive turnouts of Latino and Latina voters, the elderly, students and young people to maintain their status as a national party. They need this turnout of their base constituencies to elect governors, members of Congress and state legislators, senators and of course the president. So while the commanding heights of the Democratic party remain securely in the hands of the representatives of capital, empire and the deep state, Democrats must allow self-identified leftists a certain amount of room to campaign for…

ALL ARTICLES, Economic Injustice April 26, 2018

Big Banks Cash In On Their Congressional Buyout (And Your Family Will Pay For It All)

By Libby Watson Splinter News (4/20/18) The Associated Press reported this morning that the nation’s six biggest Wall Street banks got a honking great $3.6 billion tax cut from the Republican tax bill, which will raise taxes on Americans earning less than $75,000 by 2027. The tax plan, as has already been well established, is a big scam. Many activist groups worked tirelessly to try and defeat it; average Americans called their congressional offices, wrote letters, made demands on social media. It was for naught. The six biggest Wall Street banks spent a total of $19 million on lobbying in 2017 and received a…

ALL ARTICLES April 26, 2018

Sanders Slams Trump’s Talk Of Rejoining Trans-Pacific Partnership Scheme

[Editor’s Note: In addition to the points Bernie makes also remember that the TPP would subjugate American laws and protections for things like the environment and labor conditions to review and possible rejection by an international body of corporate lawyers. We got a nasty taste of what that can look like when our ‘country of origin’ labeling of meat requirement had to be killed off because a 2016 World Trade Organization ruling cleared the way for punishing fines. Among all the reasons to stay out of TPP the loss of sovereignty is the greatest. — Mark L. Taylor]…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, Trumpenstan April 26, 2018

A Short History Of Threats Received By Donald Trump’s Opponents

By Decca Muldowney ProPublica (4/20/18) When Stormy Daniels spoke to “60 Minutes” last month, the porn actress described a threat she received years ago after speaking to a journalist about her alleged affair with Donald Trump. A stranger approached her in a parking lot in Las Vegas. Daniels was there with her baby daughter. “Leave Trump alone,” Daniels recalled the man warning her. “That’s a beautiful little girl. It’d be a shame if something happened to her mom.” Daniels did not report the threat to the police. On Wednesday, Donald Trump tweeted that Daniels’ account of events was “a total con job” about…

ALL ARTICLES, M. Taylor Columns, Trumpenstan, Your Brain On Politics April 23, 2018

Strictly Speaking, Trump Is Actually Quite Easy To Understand

“Men grow accustomed to poison by degrees.” — Victor Hugo, Les Travailleurs de la Mer By Mark L. Taylor The Commoner Call (4/23/18) As a political junkie and psychotherapist I get a lot of people asking me to explain just what the hell is going on with Donald Trump and his gang of misfit appointees and rabid fans. They want to know: Why does he say that?; Don’t his supporters realize he is going to make things worse for them?; I can’t believe what he just tweeted!; Why would anyone think that way?; He’s gonna’ change, right?” I…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism April 23, 2018

They Spewed Hate. Then They Punctuated It With Trump’s Name

By Will Carless Reveal/The Center For Investigative Reporting (4/19/18) Editor’s note: To provide a full picture of what hate speech victims experienced, we have not edited out offensive language. It was the day after the 2016 presidential election. Melissa Johnson was walking out of a Trader Joe’s in the heart of San Diego when a shiny BMW pulled up alongside her. The driver was a man in his late 30s. Dark hair. Green eyes. Her first thought: He’s kind of hot. The car slowed down. Then the man shouted at her through the open window. “Fuck you, nigger, go back…

ALL ARTICLES, M. Taylor Columns, Ron "Wall Street" Kind April 23, 2018

WTH, Dems? Tammy Baldwin, Gwen Moore & 7 Other Democrats Sign Up To Protect Wall Street Corporate Car Thieves

By Zach Carter The HuffPost (4/22/18) If an ordinary person committed any of the abuses listed in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s latest complaint against Wells Fargo, other ordinary people might call it “theft,” or “car theft.” Alas, Wells Fargo is only considered an ordinary person when it spends money on elections. The rest of the time, it is a too-big-to-fail bank, and improperly relieving its customers of their automobiles is just one of a few “unfair acts and practices” to which it neither admitted nor denied when it agreed to settle a federal investigation on Friday. But the…

ALL ARTICLES, Media Hits & Misses April 23, 2018

Supposedly Progressive MSNBC Ordered Ed Schultz Not To Cover Bernie Sanders, Then Fired Him

“The fix was in.” (Editor’s Note: One of the greatest republican myths is the one about the “liberal media”. Mainstream corporate media is occupied territory and generally not open to progressive candidates or opinion. While there are individual stories and occasional glimmers of fairness, ultimately, when it comes to mainstream media there is only one interest: MONEY. — Mark L. Taylor) The Young Turks (4/19/18) Former MSNBC host Ed Schultz opened up in a recent interview about why he believes he was fired in 2015. Schultz, who’s now anchor of a show on RT, told National Review‘s Jamie Weinsteinthat…

ALL ARTICLES, You Can't Say That. Oh, Yes I Can! April 23, 2018

You Can’t Say That. Oh,Yes I Can!

ALL ARTICLES, Russia Monitor April 23, 2018

Russia Monitor: World’s Biglyest Liar Keeps Spinning Them Out. Honestly!

“The Comey Memo is a distraction from the Michael Cohen scandal which is a distraction from the love child payoff scandal which is a distraction from the Stormy Daniels scandal which is distraction from the Trump U fraud scandal which is a distraction from the election.” — Mikel Jollett tweet from 4/20/18 By Dan Peak The Commoner Call (4/23/18) Dear Fellow Readers, We hope for government and leaders with integrity. We imagine leaders that put the interests of all ahead of their own cramped personal interests. We want our leaders to address real problems – make our world safer,…

ALL ARTICLES, Documentaries April 23, 2018

James Comey Believes Donald Trump Has An “Emptiness” Inside of Him

This past Thursday evening the New Yorker Radio Hour featured an interview with former FBI director James Comey by New Yorker editor David Remnick. Remnick did his homework and wasn’t afraid to challenge Comey on a number of things ranging from some of the cheap shots taken at Donald Trump’s appearance in his newly released book Higher Loyalty to decisions made regarding the Hillary Clinton email investigation and actions during the Bush years. Things get a little prickly at points. A damn good interview worth the time. Link to 74-Minute Audio

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE April 23, 2018

Feeling Safe, Yet? Border Patrol Fines Woman $500 For Saving Free Delta Air Lines Apple

By Alexandra Deabler MSN (4/22/18) A Colorado woman is facing a $500 fine from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol for saving a free apple she received as a snack from Delta Air Lines on her way back to the United States from Paris, France. Crystal Tadlock told Fox 31 Denver, toward the end of her flight from Paris, flight attendants passed out apples in plastic bags as a snack. Tadlock put the fruit in her carry-on to save for when she was hungry during the second leg of her trip. Once Tadlock arrived in the U.S., she went through Customs and…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, FEATURE April 23, 2018

‘Bring The War Home’ Shows Right Wing ‘Lone Wolf’ Terrorists Are Really Part Of A Pack

By Lulu Garcia-Navarro Sunday Morning Edition/NPR (4/22/18) Last year, when neo-Nazis and members of the so called alt-right demonstrated in Charlottesville, Va., many Americans evinced shock that such a thing could happen: A demonstration of the white power movement, in 2017. But it’s only the latest in a history of social activism that goes back decades — and, as Kathleen Belew argues in her new book, Bring the War Home, we ignore that history at our peril. In it, she explains what many disparate events have in common — the war in Vietnam. The aftermath of warfare has correlated with widespread…

ALL ARTICLES, War State America April 23, 2018

National Insecurity — Astronomical’ Cost of War: Average US Taxpayer Sent $3,456 To Pentagon Last Year & Just $39 To The EPA

Arms industry executives make out like bandits. By Jake Johnson Common Dreams (4/17/18) As Americans rushed to pay their taxes on Tuesday before the official deadline, peace groups reminded the public of the uncomfortable fact that an “astronomical amount” of the money sent to the IRS each year goes not to funding education or a single-payer healthcare system the U.S. supposedly can’t afford, but straight into the bloated coffers of the Pentagon. “Congress appropriates more for U.S. military spending than the next eight countries combined, but year after year refuses to adequately invest in access to quality education and healthcare…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE, Screwing With Your Vote April 19, 2018

Top Republican Official Says Trump Won Wisconsin Because Of Voter Suppression ID Law

By Ari Berman Mother Jones (4/16/18) Election officials and Democrats in Wisconsin have repeatedly argued that the state’s strict voter ID law allowed Donald Trump to win the state in 2016 by keeping thousands of voters—predominantly in Democratic-leaning areas—from the polls. Now a top Republican official in the state is saying the same thing. “We battled to get voter ID on the ballot for the November ’16 election,” Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel, who defended the law in court, told conservative radio host Vicki McKenna on April 12. “How many of your listeners really honestly are sure that Sen. [Ron] Johnson was going to win reelection or President Trump…

ALL ARTICLES April 19, 2018

Taking Aim At Corporate Impunity, Sanders’ Bill Would Send Big Pharma Execs Behind Opioid Crisis To Jail

By Julia Conely Common Dreams (4/17/18) While President Donald Trump attempts to place blame for the enduring opioid addiction crisis on immigrants, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced Tuesday that he would introduce legislation to take aim at those who drug policy experts agree are truly behind the epidemic that kills tens of thousands of Americans per year—pharmaceutical companies and executives. “At a time when local, state and federal governments are spending many billions of dollars a year dealing with the impact of the opioid epidemic, we must hold the pharmaceutical companies and executives that created the crisis accountable,” said Sanders in…

ALL ARTICLES, Paul Ryan April 19, 2018

Paul Ryan Is Just Two Years Away From Collecting A Federal Pension — Here’s How Much We’ll Be Giving Him

Ready to suck up his share of benefits. (Editor’s Note: After Paul Ryan’s father died when he was a teenager he received Social Security survivor benefits. That did not stop him from trying to gut Social Security for others. As with so many doctrinaire right wing ideologues, Paul Ryan has no trouble cashing in on federal benefits for personal gain. He will now enjoy a generous taxpayer funded pension. — Mark L. Taylor) By Robert Schroeder MarketWatch (4/12/18) Retiring House Speaker Paul Ryan hasn’t said much about his future, but, like other members of Congress, the soon to be former “weekend…