BUCKNACKT'S SORDID TAWDRY BLOG
We should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive & well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate, bier or wein in hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WHOO-HOO, WHAT A RIDE!!!!!!"
+Senator Elizabeth WarrenD MA is angry, you can hear and read it the words of her speech to the +AFL -CIO on 10NOV16. drumpf/trump-pence, republicans, tea-baggers and right wing theocratic plutocrats and DINOS, you have been warned. And the rest of us have our marching orders. The BOLD PROGRESSIVES of the PCCC / Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Our Revolution offer opportunities to be to be informed and involved. If you are committed to defending our democracy, protecting our Republic then check them out, sign up and get involved. From the PCCC, transcripts from the +The Boston Globe .....
We’re now two days removed from an incredibly close and hard-fought election, and many people here in Washington and around the country are trying to make sense of what happened.
This wasn’t a pretty election. In fact, it was ugly, and we should not sugarcoat the reason why. Donald Trump ran a campaign that started with racial attacks and then rode the escalator down. He encouraged a toxic stew of hatred and fear. He attacked millions of Americans. And he regularly made statements that undermined core values of our democracy.
And he won. He won - and now Latino and Muslim-American children are worried about what will happen to their families. LGBT couples are worried that their marriages could be dissolved by a Trump-Pence Supreme Court. Women are worried that their access to desperately needed health services will disappear. Millions of people in this country are worried, deeply worried. And they are right to be worried.
Today, as President-Elect, Donald Trump has an opportunity to chart a different course: to govern for all Americans and to respect our institutions. In his victory speech, he pledged that he would be “President for all” of the American people. And when he takes the oath of office as the leader of our democracy and the leader of all Americans, I sincerely hope that he will fulfill that pledge with respect and concern for every single human being in this country, no matter who they are, no matter where they come from, no matter what they believe, no matter whom they love.
And that marks Democrats’ first job in this new era: We will stand up to bigotry. There is no compromise here. In all its forms, we will fight back against attacks on Latinos, African Americans, women, Muslims, immigrants, disabled Americans-on anyone. Whether Donald Trump sits in a glass tower or sits in the White House, we will not give an inch on this, not now, not ever.
But there are many millions of people who did not vote for Donald Trump because of the bigotry and hate that fueled his campaign rallies. They voted for him despite the hate. They voted for him out of frustration and anger-and also out of hope that he would bring change.
If we have learned nothing else from the past two years of electioneering, we should hear the message loud and clear that the American people want Washington to change. It was clear in the Democratic Primaries. It was clear in the Republican Primaries. It was clear in the campaign and it was clear on Election Day. The final results may have divided us - but the entire electorate embraced deep, fundamental reform of our economic system and our political system.
Working families across this country are deeply frustrated about an economy and a government that doesn’t work for them. Exit polling on Tuesday found that 72 percent of voters believe that, quote, “the American economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful.” 72 percent of ALL voters-Democrats and Republicans.1 The polls were also made clear that the economy was the top issue on voters’ minds. Americans are angry about a federal government that works for the rich and powerful and that leaves everyone else in the dirt.
Lobbyists and Washington insiders have spent years trying to convince themselves and each other that Americans don’t actually believe this. Now that the returns are in and the people have spoken, they’re already trying to wave their hands and dismiss these views as some sort of mass delusion. They are wrong-very wrong.
The truth is that people are right to be angry. Angry that wages have been stagnant for a generation, while basic costs like housing, health care, and child care have skyrocketed. Angry that our political system is awash in barely legalized campaign bribery. Angry that Washington eagerly protects tax breaks for billionaires while it refuses to raise the minimum wage, or help the millions of Americans struggling with student loans, or enforce the law when the millionaire CEOs who fund our political campaigns break it. Angry that Washington pushes big corporate interests in trade deals, but won’t make the investments in infrastructure to create good jobs right here in America. Angry that Washington tilts the playing field for giant corporations - giving them special privileges, letting them amass enormous economic and political power.
Angry that while Washington dithers and spins and does the backstroke in an ocean of money, while the American Dream moves further and further out of reach for too many families. Angry that working people are in debt. Angry that seniors can’t stretch a Social Security check to cover the basics.
President-Elect Trump spoke to these issues. Republican elites hated him for it. But he didn’t care. He criticized Wall Street and big money’s dominance in Washington-straight up. He supported a new Glass-Steagall. He spoke of the need to reform our trade deals so they aren’t raw deals for the American people. He said he will not cut Social Security benefits. He talked about the need to address the rising cost of college and about helping working parents struggling with the high cost of child care. He spoke of the urgency of rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and putting people back to work. He spoke to the very real sense of millions of Americans that their government and their economy has abandoned them. And he promised to rebuild our economy for working people.
The deep worry that people feel over an America that does not work for them is not liberal or conservative worry. It is not Democratic or Republican worry. It is the deep worry that led even Americans with very deep reservations about Donald Trump’s temperament and fitness to vote for him anyway.
So let me be 100% clear about this. When President-Elect Trump wants to take on these issues, when his goal is to increase the economic security of middle class families, then count me in. I will put aside our differences and I will work with him to accomplish that goal. I offer to work as hard as I can and to pull as many people as I can into this effort. If Trump is ready to go on rebuilding economic security for millions of Americans, so am I and so are a lot of other people-Democrats and Republicans.
But let’s also be clear about what rebuilding our economy does not mean.
It does not mean handing the keys to our economy over to Wall Street so they can run it for themselves. Americans want to hold the big banks accountable.2 That will not happen if we gut Dodd-Frank and fire the cops responsible for watching over those banks, like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. If Trump and the Republican Party try to turn loose the big banks and financial institutions so they can once again gamble with our economy and bring it all crashing down, then we will fight them every step of the way.
It does not mean crippling our economy and ripping working families apart by rounding up and deporting millions of our coworkers, our friends and neighbors, our mothers and fathers, our sons and daughters. And if Republicans choose that path, we will fight them every single step of the way.
Americans want reform to Obamacare -Democrats included. We must bring down the costs of health insurance and the cost of health care. But if the Republicans want to strip away health insurance from 20 million Americans, if they want to let cancer survivors get kicked to the curb, if they want to throw 24-year-olds off their parents’ health insurance, then we will fight them every step of the way.
Americans want to close tax loopholes that benefit the very rich,3 and Donald Trump claimed to support closing the carried interest loophole and other loopholes. We need a fairer tax system, but if Republicans want to force through massive tax breaks that blow a hole in our deficit and tilt the playing field even further toward the wealthy and big corporations, then we will fight them every step of the way.
The American people - Democrats, Republicans, and Independents - have been clear about what economic policies they want Washington to pursue. Two-thirds of people support raising the federal minimum wage.4 Three-quarters of Americans want the federal government to increase its infrastructure investments.5 Over 70 percent of people believe students should have a chance at a debt-free education.6 Nearly three-quarters support expanding Social Security.7 These are the kinds of policies that will help level the playing field for working families and address the frustrations felt by millions of people across the country.
The American people sent one more message as well. Economic reform requires political reform. Why has the federal government worked so long only for those at the top? The answer is money-and they want this system changed. The American people are sick of politicians wallowing in the campaign contributions and dark money. They are revolted by influence peddling by wealthy people and giant corporations. When Bernie Sanders proved his independence by running a campaign based on small dollar contributions and when Donald Trump promised to spend his own money, both were sending an important message that they could not be bought. And once again, if Donald Trump is ready to make good on his promise to get corruption out of politics, to end dark money and pay-to-play, count me in. I will work as hard as I can and to pull as many people as I can to end the influence of big money and return democracy to the people.
Donald Trump won the Presidency under a Republican flag. But Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan and the Republicans in Congress - and their way of doing business - were rejected-rejected by their own primary voters, rejected during the campaign, and rejected in Tuesday’s election. Regardless of political party, working families are disgusted by a Washington that works for the rich and powerful and leaves everyone else behind.
The American people have called out loudly for economic and political reform. For years, too many Republicans and too many Democrats have refused to hear their demands.
The majority of Americans voted against Donald Trump. Democrats picked up seats in both the House and the Senate. And yet, here we are. Republicans are in control of both houses of Congress and the White House. And that makes our job clear. As the loyal opposition we will fight harder, we will fight longer and we will fight more passionately than ever for the rights of every human being in this country to be treated with respect and dignity. We will fight for economic opportunity, not just for some of our children, but for all of our children. We do not control the tools of government, but make no mistake, we know what we stand for, the sun will keep rising, and we will keep fighting - each day, every day, we will fight for the people of this country.
The time for ignoring the American people is over. It’s time for us to come together to work on America’s agenda. Democracy demands that we do so, and we are ready.
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts on Thursday pledged to work with President-elect Donald Trump to build an economy that works for everyone while vowing to fight him if the vitriol of his candidacy takes root in his presidency.
“There are many millions of people who voted for Donald Trump not because of the bigotry and hate that fueled his campaign rallies,” Warren said in her first major address since the New York businessman was elected president of the United States. “They voted for him out of frustration and anger and out of hope that he would make real change in this country.”
She spoke before the AFL-CIO Executive Council in an address that was broadcast via Facebook live and watched by more than 16,000 people.
“I believe the outcome of this election is an indictment on politics as usual,” Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, said while introducing Warren. “The type of indictment that Senator Warren has spent her career fighting against.”
Warren, a progressive Democrat, and Trump, a Republican, have both argued that Wall Street has harmed the working class. And while they agree on the problem, their worldviews could not be further apart.
Thursday’s speech was an attempt to chart a path forward for dispirited liberals after Trump’s stunning victory on Tuesday. Warren also tried to explain and validate aspects of Trump’s appeal to workers who have been hammered by Wall Street.
She vowed to put aside their differences if Trump makes good on his promises to increase government spending on infrastructure to create jobs, oppose trade deals, and increase Social Security benefits.
“When President-elect Trump wants to take on these issues, when his goal is to increase the economic security of middle-class families, then count me in,” Warren said. “I will work as hard as I can and pull as many people as I can into this effort.”
But Warren was clear: There would be no compromise if President-elect Trump insults women, minorities, or immigrants the way candidate Trump did.
“Whether Donald Trump sits in a glass tower or sits in the White House, we will not give an inch on this, not now, not ever,” she said pounding the podium for emphasis. “We will stand up to bigotry.”
The election wasn’t pretty, she said, calling the campaign a “toxic stew of hatred and fear.”
“Millions of people are worried, and they are right to be worried,” she said.
Trump’s candidacy started with a speech in which he disparaged Mexican immigrants as “rapists.” He proposed a temporary ban on allowing Muslims into the country. He mocked a disabled journalists and was accused of sexually assaulting women.
Warren became one of Trump’s biggest foes, engaging with him in a fierce war of words that often played out in 140-character exchanges on Twitter. He called her “Pocahontas” in reference to the controversy about her Native American heritage that emerged during the race for her Senate seat. She called Trump a “bully.”
But their common ground appears to be making the country a better for those angry that government seems to work only for the rich and powerful.
And while Trump might have won the White House, Warren noted that he lost the popular vote.
“The time for ignoring the American people is over,” Warren said. “It is time for us to come together to work on America’s agenda.”
“Are we ready to be in this fight?” she asked to rousing applause. “You bet!”
Michael Levenson of Globe staff contributed to this report. Akilah Johnson can be reached at akilah.johnson@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @akjohnson1922.
PRESSURE from Bold Progressives has forced rep debbie wasserman-schultz D FL (as well as rep patrick murphy D FL) to drop their sponsorship and support of pending legislation in the US House opposing the new CFPB regulations on payday lenders. Debt Trap Debbie is eating crow now, but that doesn't mean she isn't a DINO. wasserman-schultz needs to be removed as the chair of the DNC, and it has to happen before the convention in July. Doing so will not be a sign of chaos and infighting in the Democratic Party. It will be a confirmation to the American people that the party is dedicated to representing us and our best interest. From the +Tampa Bay Times .....
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Friday became the second Florida Democrat to back away from opposition to new payday lender rules pushed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
In a statement, Wasserman Schultz said, "it is clear to me that the CFPB strikes the right balance and I look forward to working with my constituents and consumer groups as the CFPB works towards a final rule.”
Her support of a bill to delay the new regulations was a source of controversy, drawing TV ads from a liberal group that called her "Debt Trap Debbie." It also put her opposite President Obama, Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton and other advocates of a crackdown on the lenders.
The proposed rules were published Thursday. Rep. Patrick Murphy, a candidate for U.S. Senate, also retreated from the House bill, which held up Florida regulations as a model.
“As a strong supporter and partner of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Congress, I stand with the CFPB in its efforts to protect Americans from predatory lending," Wassserman Schultz said. "From the outset of this process, I have said that I trust the CFPB to do what’s right for consumers, and these proposed rules are an important step towards that critical goal."
“I am pleased that the proposal includes lender reporting requirements to track loans and assess each borrower’s ability to repay. Florida has tracked loan data for over ten years and it has been pivotal in protecting consumers and helping to end the cycle of debt for many. The CFPB proposal also curbs the abusive lending practice of repeatedly attempting to withdraw funds from consumers’ accounts. This practice results in heavy overdraft fees for borrowers, and I support the CFPB’s plan to help rein it in and preserve access to credit without the burden of unexpected costs.
“After reviewing the proposed rule, it is clear to me that the CFPB strikes the right balance and I look forward to working with my constituents and consumer groups as the CFPB works towards a final rule.”
Allied Progress, which ran ads against Wasserman Schultz, declared victory. “This is a wake-up call for progressives in Congress and every state legislature around the country. Getting in bed with the payday lending industry isn’t only bad policy, it’s bad politics,” said Allied Progress executive director Karl Frisch. “Now that both Patrick Murphy and Debbie Wasserman Schultz have endorsed the CFPB’s proposed rule to rein in predatory payday lenders, we can say without hesitation that the push to spread the disastrous ‘Florida model’ of payday lending nationally is dead. Anyone who thinks this effort is still a viable alternative to the CFPB’s proposal without the continued support of its two most influential congressional backers is delusional.”
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FOTZE rep debbie wasserman-schultz D FL, chair of the DNC / Democratic National Committee, is a political whore. She is working for the 1%, for corporate America and especially for the bank-financial cabal to screw the poor, the retired, vets and active military, the working class and the middle class. Her latest action in support of the bank-financial cabal is co-sponsoring legislation that will nullify the new rules the CFPB / Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is enacting to regulate payday loan lenders (see below) to the financial detriment of the poor and working class. She has also welcomed lobbyist to dictate the Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Platform, the result will be little different than the republican's presidential campaign platform if she is not removed from the DNC. If the Democrats loose the presidency to donald drumpf it will, in large part, be thanks to wasserman-schultz. She needs to be forced out as the DNC chair and might as well change her party affiliation to repiglican. Then she will be able to sell herself to the highest bidders without needing to explain her actions. Word of warning to anyone thinking of getting in bed with her. You should tie a board across your ass so you don't fall in. Think she isn't a political whore? Take a better look at the picture above, schlempe has a lot of "miles" on her.....These from +Daily Kos Democrats Can’t Unite Unless Wasserman Schultz Goes!
To paraphrase the words of that Scottish master Robert Burns, the best laid plans of mice, men — and women — go often astray, or “gang aft agley,” as they say in the Highlands. No one knows this better than Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Twice now, the flight of her presidential aspirations has been forced to circle the airport as other contenders put up an unexpected fight: In 2008, Barack Obama emerged to grab the Democratic nomination away and this year, although all signs point to her finally grabbing the brass ring, unexpected and powerful progressive resistance came from the mighty wind of the Bernie Sanders campaign.
Certainly, Hillary Clinton is angered by all of this, but the one seemingly more aggrieved — if public comments and private actions are any indication — is Democratic National Committee chair and Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Hillary surrogate who takes umbrage like ordinary folks pop their vitamins in the morning.
As we recently wrote, “… She embodies the tactics that have eroded the ability of Democrats to once again be the party of the working class. As Democratic National Committee chair she has opened the floodgates for Big Money, brought lobbyists into the inner circle and oiled all the moving parts of the revolving door that twirls between government service and cushy jobs in the world of corporate influence.”
And that ain’t all. As a member of Congress, particularly egregious has been her support of the payday loan business, defying new regulations from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that would rein in an industry that soaks desperate borrowers. As President Obama said, “While payday loans might seem like easy money, folks often end up trapped in a cycle of debt.”
In fact, according to an article by Bethany McLean in the May issue of The Atlantic, “After studying millions of payday loans, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that 67 percent went to borrowers with seven or more transactions a year, and the majority of borrowers paid more in fees than the amount of their initial loan.”
A recent editorial in the Orlando Sentinel notes that 7 percent of Florida’s population “must resort to this predatory form of small-dollar credit – nearly the highest rate in the nation…” What’s more, “Based on a 14-day loan term, the typical payday loan… had an annual percentage rate of 278 percent. Many lenders advertise rates of more than 300 percent.” Let us repeat that slowly… 300 percent!
So why has Wasserman Schultz been so opposed to the CFPB’s proposed rules? She has said,“Payday lending is unfortunately a necessary component of how people get access to capital, [people] that are the working poor.” But maybe it has something more to do with the $2.5 million or so the payday loan industry has donated to Florida politicians from both parties since 2009. That’s according to a new report by the liberal group Allied Progress. More than $50,000 of that cash has gone to Rep. Wasserman Schultz.
But we digress. It’s the skullduggery going on within the Democratic Party establishment that’s our current concern and as we wrote in March, Rep. Wasserman Schultz “has played games with the party’s voter database, been accused of restricting the number of Democratic candidate debates and scheduling them at odd days and times to favor Hillary Clinton, and recently told CNN’s Jake Tapper that superdelegates — strongly establishment and pro-Clinton — are necessary at the party’s convention so deserving incumbent officials and party leaders don’t have to run for delegate slots ‘against grassroots activists.’ Let that sink in, but hold your nose against the aroma of entitlement.”
Now Wasserman Schultz has waded into the controversy over what happened or didn’t happen last weekend when Sanders supporters loudly and vehemently objected to the rules at the Nevada State Democratic Convention. In truth, some behaved badly at the event and others made trollish, violent and obscene threats to Democratic state chair Roberta Lange via phone, email and social media. There’s no excuse for such aggressive, creepy conduct, and Sanders was quick and direct in apologizing for the behavior of the rowdies and bullies.
But there is a double standard at play here. Why, pray tell, shouldn’t the peaceful majority of Sanders people be angry at the slow-motion, largely invisible rigging of the political process by Wasserman Schultz and the Clinton machine — all for the benefit of Secretary Clinton?
Wasserman Schultz claims the party rules over which she has presided (and manipulated) are “eminently fair.” She told CNN on Wednesday morning, “It is critical that we as candidates, we as Democratic Party leaders, everyone involved needs to make sure that we can take all the steps that we need to, to ensure that the process is not only run smoothly but that the response from the supporters of both candidates is appropriate and civil.”
In response to the DNC chair’s remarks, Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver talked to CNN, too, and said Wasserman Schultz had been “throwing shade on the Sanders campaign since the very beginning… Debbie Wasserman Schultz has really been a divider and not really provided the kind of leadership that the Democratic Party needs.”
The Nation’s Joan Walsh, a Clinton supporter critical of the Sanders campaign, concurs: “Once again, Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz escalated a conflict that she should have worked to defuse,” she writes. “… Wasserman Schultz is not helping her friend Hillary Clinton with her attacks on Sanders. Just the appearance of fairness can go a long way in assuaging worries about fairness. Wasserman Schultz’s defiant rebuke to the Sanders camp has made it worse.”
So, too, has her abolition of the restraints that had been placed on corporate lobbyists and big money — now they can write checks bankrolling what doubtless will be swank and profligate parties during this summer’s Democratic National Convention. At The Intercept, Lee Fang and Zaid Jilani report that a number of the members of the Philadelphia host committee “are actively working to undermine progressive policies achieved by President Barack Obama, including health care reform and net neutrality. Some… are hardly even Democratic Party stalwarts, given that many have donated and raised thousands of dollars for Republican presidential and congressional candidates this cycle.”
This is a slap in the face to progressives calling for a halt to big money and allowing lobbyists to buy our elected officials. And it’s contrary to what Hillary Clinton herself has said about money and politics on the campaign trail. The Sanders movement has shown that lots of cash can be raised from everyday people making small donations. His supporters and all of us should be outraged that Debbie Wasserman Schultz and convention officials have kowtowed not only to the corporate wing of their own party but also to those high rollers who back the opposition and ideas antithetical to a democracy.
Rep. Wasserman Schultz is facing a primary challenge for the first time this year, her opponent a law professor, activist and progressive Sanders supporter named Tim Canova. But the primary’s not until late August, long after the Democratic National Convention. Unless she steps down now or Hillary Clinton has her removed, Philadelphia will be dominated by someone who represents everything that has gone wrong with the Democratic Party and Washington. At the convention’s opening session, Debbie Wasserman Schultz will be bringing the gavel down squarely on progressive hopes of returning the party to its legacy as champion of working people and the dispossessed.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Time for her to go.
AN E MAIL FROM DAILY KOS ON PAYDAY LENDERS 23MAI16
Craig, payday lenders are known for their predatory practices, which include exorbitant interest rates (390% is the national average), transaction fees, penalties, and contracts which keep people in a vicious cycle of debt that is damn near impossible to break.
These operations target the poorest populations, primarily operating in low-income and communities of color where they perpetuate the cycle of poverty.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the brainchild of Elizabeth Warren, wants to change these practices by placing new rules on the industry, which currently operate on a state-by-state regulatory basis.
Unfortunately, some Democrats are siding with the payday lending industry to restrict CFPB's ability to regulate the industry.
The CFPB has been the target of Republican ire since its inception—and now corporate Democrats are jumping on the bandwagon.
DNC chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is co-sponsoring a bill to restrict the CFPB from enacting rules, BEFORE they have been issued.
The CFPB is scheduled to propose new rules on June 2, 2016 in Kansas City, MO. Daily Kos and our allies will be in attendance at the event, where we intend to deliver your support to members of the CFPB.
These rules would be a huge financial victory for low-income workers and communities hardest hit by these practices.
Wasserman Schultz is co-sponsoring a new bill that would gut the [Consumer Finance Protection Board’s] forthcoming payday loan regulations. She's also attempting to gin up Democratic support for the legislation...
The CFPB hasn’t issued final regulations, but Republicans and the person supposedly running the Democratic National Committee have been fighting hard to protect those predatory lenders (and other enemies of American consumers).
According to DWS, the feds should stay out of it and adopt Florida’s approach to payday lenders, a law that she proudly admits to “helping write.” And what about that law?
The average interest rate on Florida's payday loans is 304 percent -- only slightly better than the 390 percent annual average. Critically, the average payday loan amount of $389 is equal to 35 percent of average paychecks in the state -- in line with national figures.
Odious. And, I suspect, getting rid of her is something that both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters can agree on.
