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Paying Attention to The Details                  #239

By Hank Silverberg 

A great deal is being written right now about the 2024 presidential election that is just under 18 months away. We have already seen too much of the candidates and heard a number of them talk about what they will do if we just give them our vote.  

(Read the fine print)
But not much has been written about the details of their proposals. That's why a story in the New Republic magazine caught my eye this week. It tells a nasty tale of just what the GOP is planning for an America in which they rule. 

You can read the gruesome details in the article that I have linked below, but here are some of the highlights--or rather lowlights, of the GOP plans. 

Before you go and scream, "fake news!" or "propaganda!" please note this is actually written down by the "Republican Study Committee," which is made up by three-quarters of the House Republicans. It comes in the form of a desired 2024 budget, which they have called "priorities." Note, it is not a wish list, but a "priorities" list. 

Here's a brief description:

1) Raising the retirement age, though they don't say by how much. 

2)Requiring disabled Americans to wait longer before getting Medicare and turning the whole system into a voucher program that would NOT guarantee coverage for all the disabled.  

3) Tax reform that would lower taxes a lot for the wealthy and corporations and at the same time, add new "work requirements" for poor people trying to obtain ANY social service.

4) Extending work requirements for those between the ages of 55-64 before they receive any benefits. 

5) Eliminating free school lunches for all students, and instead imposing means-testing in order for students to get the free lunch. 

6) Regulatory reform in a number of areas that would reduce oversight of everything from pollution to banks, to railroads (increasing the likelihood of bank failures and train derailments). 

These are just the basics. There's more. 


https://newrepublic.com/post/173661/republicans-bringing-back-plan-gut-social-security-medicare


I also want to point out, the GOP has been screaming for weeks about cutting the national deficit and some even proposed letting our economy fall into a depression by not approving a debt ceiling. (Cooler heads prevailed and it didn't happen.) The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says this GOP plan I just noted, because of the large tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, would add $2.5 trillion to the deficit over ten years. So don't let them tell you they favor deficit reduction.  


"No Labels" is Deceptive

A poll done in April showed that a majority of Americans do not want the 2024 election to be a repeat of 2020. Seventy percent didn't want Biden to run for re-election, and 60% didn't want Trump to run again. 

At the same time, a big majority of Democrats (88%) said they would vote for Biden if he is the nominee, and 46% of Republicans said they would vote for Trump it he gets the GOP nomination. 

But those numbers indicate a general dissatisfaction with both Biden and Trump. 

That has produced a lot of talk about a potential third party, and in fact a group called "No Labels" has already formed for that purpose and is seeking to get on the ballot across the country. 

 

The group claims they are looking for dissatisfied voters from both parties, mostly from the center, as a pathway to the White House. 

There has even been some talk of trying to draft conservative Democratic Senator Joe Mansion of West Virginia as their candidate, though he has not expressed interest, at least in public.  

But here is where the deception begins. "No Labels", as the so-called third-party brands itself, looks for help from the center and describes the movement as non-partisan. Its founders include former Senator Joe Lieberman, a Democrat turned Independent, and some of those involved may actually believe that. But the actual company which handles the financial donations is called Anedot, and that company raises money for right-wing causes and the GOP. Mother Jones magazine is reporting that Anedot was built and controlled by conservatives and served more than 1,500 Republican candidates and elected officials in 2020. They will get a significant percentage of all money raised by "No Labels". 

Among the major contributors to "No Labels" is right-wing billionaire Harlan Crow, who likes to collect Nazi memorabilia. You may remember Crow was among those who had given some lavish gifts to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.  

So, voters beware. All is not as it seems in the third- party push.  

 No Labels Is Helping a Firm that Raises Money for Right-Wing Extremists – Mother Jones


Update On First Amendment Trial 


There has been a bad result in that First Amendment trial in North Carolina I wrote about last week. Using narrow instructions from the judge, a jury has found two reporters guilty in a trespassing case. Matilda Bliss and Veronica Coit were arrested for trespassing and violating a curfew in a public park on Christmas night in 2021 while they were covering a police eviction of a homeless camp. The police knew who they were and why they were there and that they were working at the time. But the reporters worked for the Asheville Blade, which had been critical of the police in the past. The arrests were a clear effort by the police to prevent media coverage of the eviction event.

But the judge in the case instructed the jury not to consider the constitutionality of the charges, and he denied a motion to dismiss on First Amendment grounds. That's the real issue, and of course, the conviction will be appealed. But in the meantime, the case will have a chilling effect on similar incidents across the country and handcuff journalists everywhere. 

It is a journalist's job to cover what government, including the police, are doing. And preventing them from doing so is a clear violation of the First Amendment. I'm not a lawyer, but I can read the words in the picture above.  

The reporters aren't going to jail or anything like that. It was a $25.00 fine for the violation. But the case gives police and other government entities an opening to harass reporters in similar circumstances, and that is NOT in the public interest.   

It will be interesting to see how far up the judicial ladder this case goes on appeal. 


Press freedom and civil liberties orgs condemn conviction of Asheville journalists

College Not Worth It??


College enrollment took a big dip during the pandemic, but as the fall semester approaches in 2023, it seems to be creeping back up a bit. 

With that as a base, some statistics now out present an interesting guide for the future. Much of it may be a sad echo from the pandemic. 

First, let me agree that college is NOT for everyone. For some very lucrative careers it's not needed. 

For some Generation Z students coming of age 

during the pandemic and watching millennials struggle with millions of dollars in student loan debt, this may be obvious. 

A survey conducted by the Washington, D.C. based consulting firm EAB, talked to 20,234 high school students. It found 20% of those were opting out of a college education and listing "not worth the cost" as their reason. That's up from 8% in pre-pandemic 2019.  

One in five (22%), said they will not go to college because they are not mentally ready. That's also a sharp increase up from 14% in pre-pandemic 2019. High school counselors may have an explanation. 

Seventy-three percent of the counselors surveyed indicated many students were not academically prepared for college because of the pandemic years in virtual high school. 

About 35 % of those counselors also say fewer students are even considering college after the pandemic.  

It's not clear of course how this will turn out. Many people may choose to pick up their education later. But it's clear Covid -19 has made a big mark on the education of Generation Z in more ways than one. 

Why students opt out of college (insidehighered.com)


Dumbest Quote of The Week!

This week's dumb quote goes to GOP Presidential candidate Nikki Haley. Please look at this tweet and see if you get what caused her some trouble:  


Nikki Haley
@NikkiHaley
.
@BarackObama
set minorities back by singling them out as victims instead of empowering them. In America, hard work & personal responsibility matter. My parents didn’t raise me to think that I would forever be a victim. They raised me to know that I was responsible for my success.
3.5M
Views
454
Retweets
1,163
Quotes
3,560
Likes


Haley has made much during her campaign about her background as an Indian American (her parents immigrated from India), how she faced some prejudice when she was growing up, and how she overcame it. She says that again in the tweet.  

Yet when referring to minorities in this tweet, she used the word "them" instead of "us". That was immediately attacked in the twittersphere, and many other places. Sorry Nikki, but either you are a minority, or you are not. You can't have it both ways. Don't even get me started on her comments about President Obama which were also way off the mark. 


 (Your comments and suggestions for this blog are welcome, see comment section below)  


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