Our Rulers Flip the Rabble Classes another Bird


‘Inhumane at Any Time,’ But During a Pandemic? House Approval of $740 Billion Pentagon Budget Condemned;
“Once again, the House has voted to put the interests of weapons manufacturers and war hawks over the wellbeing of people here and abroad;; commondreamsorg, Eowin Higgins, July 31,2020 (Creative Commons)

“Win Without War was among the anti-war voices on Friday issuing blistering condemnations of the passage in the U.S. House of a $740 billion defense bill as part of the 2021 Appropriations Minibus.

“A $740 billion Pentagon budget is inhumane at any time,” said the group’s executive director, Stephen Miles. “In the midst of a pandemic—as people across the country struggle to make rent, to pay their bills, to survive a deadly disease—it should be unthinkable. Once again, the House has voted to put the interests of weapons manufacturers and war hawks over the wellbeing of people here and abroad.”

The bill passed the House on Friday by a 217 to 197 margin, largely along party lines, with 16 members not voting.”

Wanna guess which party lines?  Yeppers, you’re correct:

“Only 12 Democrats voted against the measure while 217 voted in favor. All Republicans in the House either voted against the bill or did not vote. Read the full roll call here. [at the ‘passed’ link]

“Though last week’s votes on whether or not to cut the Pentagon budget by ten percent were hopeful signs of the shifting tides on Pentagon spending, this Appropriations bill is a reminder that there remains much to be done,” said Miles. “We are also disappointed that House Democrats have decided to once again couple passage of a bill that fuels militarism abroad with bills that fund our priorities at home [no mention of what those might be], forfeiting the ability to challenge the former without undermining the latter.”

Miles did point to what he called “bright spots” in the bill, including two provisions from Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) that repeal the 2001 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force and require congressional approval before going to war with Iran and an amendment from Rep. Jackie Spier (D-Calif.) banning the Department of Defense from using funds to implement a ban on transgender Americans in the military.”

From Barry Gray at wsws.org, Aug, 1, 2020: ‘As stock indexes continue their climb US unemployment supplement expires, setting the stage for mass hunger and homelessness’ (with permission)

“The $600 weekly unemployment insurance supplement enacted in March as part of the bipartisan multi-trillion-dollar bailout of Wall Street expired Friday, leaving some 25 million US workers laid off due to the coronavirus pandemic facing destitution.

The loss of the federal supplement to state jobless insurance will cut benefits by up to 80 percent in some states, dropping the average national payment from $920 a week to $520, according to some estimates.

In addition, a moratorium on evictions of tenants in buildings with mortgages backed by the federal government, affecting 18 million of the 44 million renter households in the US, expired last week. This means that 11 million households could be served with eviction papers over the next four months, according to the global advisory firm Stout Risius Ross LLC.

With home mortgage payment moratoriums also expiring, a vast growth of homelessness is looming.

Mile-long lineups of cars at food distribution centers have already become commonplace. A cutoff or reduction in the unemployment pay supplement will greatly increase the spread of hunger and even starvation in the US. Already, almost 40 million people do not expect to be able to make their next rent or mortgage payment, and nearly 30 million say they did not have enough to eat during the week ending July 21.

The Labor Department reports that 33.8 million workers are either receiving jobless benefits or have applied and are waiting to see if they will receive them. These workers account for fully 20 percent of the US labor force.” […]

“Under these conditions, the stalemate in Congress over an extension of the unemployment pay supplement, which is certain to result in either the total elimination or a major cut in the benefit, amounts to a declaration of war by the capitalist ruling elite against the entire working population.” […]

The ruling class is demanding the elimination of the $600 benefit or its reduction in order to carry through its drive to force workers back to work under conditions where its incompetence, indifference and sheer greed have led to the uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus pandemic and the deepest social crisis since the 1930s Depression. Workers are being given the “choice” of going back to factories and workplaces that are breeding grounds for the virus, without any serious protection for themselves or their families, or seeing their families go homeless or hungry.

The Republicans openly denounce the $600 benefit as a “disincentive to work,” because a majority of workers laid off due to the pandemic are receiving more income in jobless pay than they did when they were working. This fact is a stark commentary on the near-poverty wages of most American workers.”


“But the Democrats echo the Republican line, agreeing, as in the New York Times editorial of July 30, that replacing only “a portion of the income of the average unemployed worker” is “reasonable in normal times,” because it “encourages people to find jobs,” but not in the midst of a pandemic.

In any event, there are no jobs for millions of laid-off workers to return to. As the Economic Policy Institute noted: “There are 14 million more unemployed workers than job openings, meaning millions will remain jobless no matter what they do. Slashing the $600 cannot incentivize people to get jobs that are not there.” […]

“House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said Tuesday on CNN, “Look, it’s not $600 or bust.” He went on to signal his agreement with the Republicans that the current benefit was a “disincentive to work,” saying, “I think that’s an argument that… has some validity to it, and we ought to deal with that.”

Schumer is jointly sponsoring a bill along with Senator Ron Wyden (Democrat of Oregon) that would progressively cut the federal unemployment supplement by $100 for every drop of 1 percentage point in a state’s unemployment level.

And on Friday, Pelosi reiterated on CNN her position that, prior to the August 7 adjournment of Congress for the party conventions, “We’ll find our common ground” on a relief bill.”

In case you find Barry Gray’s report a bit too cynically…jaundiced  (especially without hyperlinks to check out), The Hill has a few pieces on the sausage-making, and I have no idea whether or not it’s a partisan place or not, including cherry-picking quotes or a slanted overall narrative, but  I’ll just drop the titles and links, maybe a brief excerpt or two, and yo can decide.

‘Frustration builds as negotiators struggle to reach COVID-19 deal’, Aug.1, 2020, thehill.com, Jordan Carney

“The division between the two sides are steep: Democrats want to extend the $600 per week in additional unemployment benefits through early next year. They are proposing roughly $1 trillion in new help for state and local governments and are pushing for priorities like worker protections and a boost in food assistance.

But the White House is increasingly focused on trying to get a smaller deal amid deadlocks on unemployment, state and local aid and liability protections.”
“A deal in a week, negotiators acknowledge, is unlikely.”

‘Progress’ but no deal as coronavirus talks head into next week’, Jordain Carney – 08/01/20, thehill.com

“The hurdles between the two sides are steep: Senate Republicans have introduced a roughly $1 trillion package, while the bill passed by House Democrats was roughly $3 trillion.”  […]

“But there are also serious divisions on other pieces, including additional money for state and local governments. Democrats are proposing an additional $1 trillion, while the GOP package includes more flexibility for the $150 billion already appropriated but no new funding.”

But Democrats have rejected the piecemeal approach [D.Trump’s], wanting one large bill that addresses all of the issues as part of the next coronavirus relief deal.

‘Stimulus checks debate now focuses on size, eligibility’, Naomi Jagoda,  07/31/20, thehill.com

“The two key issues that need resolving: payment amounts for dependents and eligibility requirements.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have put forth direct payment proposals largely similar to the stimulus checks included in the CARES Act from late March that provided checks for most Americans — up to $1,200 per adult and $500 per child under 17.”

Yet: Trillions for Wall Street, close to a trillion for War.

Big Fucking Woop: ‘Up to $1200 per adult’.  What a great way to reduce the surplus population.


(cross-posted from Café Babylon)

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Lookout's picture

There is no antiwar party. Whatta mess.

As you suggest, add in the economic collapse on top of a pandemic and you have a real conundrum.

Danny Sjursen thinks we're ripe for major conflicts.

Our nation faces a perfect storm of crises and may be teetering on the brink of widespread communal violence.

https://scheerpost.com/2020/07/31/welcome-to-sectarian-america-a-people-...

Hope all is well in your corner. We're still laying low here on the mountain...hiding in the holler. Take care.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

wendy davis's picture

@Lookout

that's a hella mouthful from danny! even a scan of it all took me some time, lol, although i hadn't seen anything that particularly struck me as new that way. but more ballast for what we already know and suspect w/ all of the ingredients afoot, including the police state protests.

but the headings said a lot, didn't they?

of course neither the blue team nor the red team are anti-war, but occasionally the greens and libertarians are, including some of the authors at antiwar.com, iirc.

ah yeah; mr. wd and i just livin' the dream! but srsly, we live in one of the most gorgeous places imaginable, including the over 200 trees and shrubs we've planted over the decades. an oxygen-rich oasis for us and and four-legged wildlife, as well. no monarchs, but a few swallowtails, and at last a few bees, and woot! the summer (so-called) monsoons brought us 1.4 inches of rain! dayum, it's been dry!

glad to hear you're hunkerin' down well in your holler, lookout. what a weird 'new normal' this is. will it be permanent? no, it cannot. but what's ahead in terms of massive civil unrest? i don't have the gift of prophecy, either, which may be a blessing in itself:

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxu0H42-hek]

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Lily O Lady's picture

@Lookout

some time now. I keep telling my husband not to piss off the Trump flag guy up the street. He’s armed. I’m aware of the Proud bois and the Boogaloos. Recently a Hawaiian themed Chik-fil-a had huge lines of cars going through their drive-thru from other states. I couldn’t help but wonder if it had to do with the boogaloos who sport Hawaiian shirts.

We live in interesting time, damn it!

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

wendy davis's picture

@Lily O Lady

discover that the boogaloo boys were so organized a group.

when mr. wd goes grocery shopping on sat. mornings in what ed abby had dubbed: 'the shithead capital of dipstick county, CO', he's appalled at the number of pickups flying amerikkan flags, thin blue line flags, and this week: confederate flags. they honk endlessly, cat call, as in a parade. and yes, as with the only peace march a few of us idjits ever did in that town, the 300-strong oppo women were even more vicious than their male counterparts.

but when people on the boards say that it may come to a violent revolution/insurrection, i ask: 'and who has all the firepower?' a longer quesston would involve the issue/s, citizen militias, police, and the military and national guard, wouldn't it?

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magiamma's picture

This from danny s caught my eye, given the inordinate amount of chaos being dished out... how log can this go before something pops.

Chaos Empowers Demagogues and Sociopaths

4 As I saw three years after America’s invasion in the name of “Iraqi Freedom,” once civil society crumbles, opportunistic and self-interested civil war seekers can deftly capitalize on existing racial, ethnic, tribal, religious, and/or ideological divides. At the top, demagogues — defined more by zeal than competence — rise to the fore. These charismatically cruel and divisive sorts, offer the instinctive comfort of clan loyalty and belonging to desperate people.

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Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook

wendy davis's picture

@magiamma

heading that had caught my eye and how true that's always been. thank you; and i'd forgotten to tell lookout that i'll read more of it as i'm able. (weekends are full of chores here, and ah'm slloowwww.)

the next hugely complicates story that i'll try to tell is the one in which the WaPO Bezos rag) is reporting that those 'close to mnuchin' (sp?) have it that he's demanded a $10 billion Treasury Dept. loan to the USPS in 'trade' for for information on its contracts with private-sector shippers, including....Amazon..

and in my Post Office News and a PSA, under trump's new postmaaster general, luis deJoy, workers have been stripped of overtime, and much mail lies unsorted on the floor, and he's fine with it, even when it's packages.

but voting by mail during this pandemic is not only necessary, but crucial. i had/have some links showing that Ds of course, want the rules changed as to 'absentee', always my mail as in CO and a few other states, etc.), including ballots counted by the postmark day of sending, not the day or arriving (late, of course).

now the gist of the larger story is that Trump's causing it all, as was his firing of the chief prosecutor in the southern district of NY (berman), and installing his own crony hedge-funder, iirc.)

yes to pandemonium, chaos, unpredictability and demagogues as Saviors. sociopaths (and compradors) are less powerful as well as far more familiar... ; )

thanks, amiga.

back to the tabouli salad for mr. wd's work lunches...then whipping up some Sunday lunch.

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earthling1's picture

about the Repubs attaching 26 billion in Pentagon pork into the CARES Act.
Can't find it now. It had a photo of a pig flying an F35. The pork was to purchase more of several different aircraft, all to fight Covid19, presummably.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Lily O Lady's picture

@earthling1 do fly!

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

wendy davis's picture

@earthling1

but i'll echo lily o lady's great response: "so pigs do fly!"

well, some do call it: 'A war on covid-19'. baffling stuff, earthling1. yanno how fascist RT.com's become on the police-state protests? one thing's up to today mocking "peaceful" portland protestors for burning a bible, a flag, and a pig's head in a cop hat. hey; that's peaceful revolutionary art! ; )

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earthling1's picture

@wendy davis
The headline said "Violent protestors".
I see nothing violent about a book and flag burning or a pig roast for that matter.
Wonder who got the hog jawls?
Heh, best part of the pig.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

wendy davis's picture

> @earthling1

as though they'd doused it all in gasoline...there may not be any good parts.

my rule of thumb is: if you're a cop, and ya don't want to be called a pig, don't act like one.

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travelerxxx's picture

@wendy davis

... yanno how fascist RT.com's become on the police-state protests?

Okay, so it's not just me. It's gotten bad enough with RT that – while I may still read them – I refrain from recommending them to the public at large. It's not just the coverage of the protests, by the way. I haven't bothered to add it up, but I feel it's getting to be nearly 50% of their "news" coverage.

I"ve expected President Pompeo to ban the entire network at some point, but if it keeps going in the direction it's going, I might be exactly wrong.

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wendy davis's picture

@travelerxxx

but a hella lot of the reporting is srsly fascistic lately. it used to be a good place for subversives to the zeitgeist used to get a voice, including stephen cohen, et.al.. a few good op-eds (caitlin johnstone, for one), but mainly dreck and click-bail.

and isn't tucker carlson on fox? by the headlines, he's been awesome lately in calling a spade a spade.

nice to see you, mi amigo. hope they let you outta jail soon. ; ) (i just found earthling1's story, and will put it up.) good golly miss molly: the HEALS Act.

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wendy davis's picture

@earthling1

here it is, from the excellent alan MacLeod at mint press news, july 29, 2020:

"On Monday the Senate GOP released their outline for a new $1 trillion coronavirus stimulus package. A successor to March’s CARES Act, the 177-page document, named the HEALS Act, includes no funding for hazard pay, the Postal Service, state and local governments, nutrition assistance, or help for uninsured or underinsured Americans, but incorporates a $29.4 billion bonanza for the Pentagon.

The package is presented as a necessary measure to help the country fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which has so far caused the deaths of nearly 153,000 Americans. But it appears that the GOP had a very different enemy in mind when writing some parts of it. “To prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, domestically and internationally,” the bill (pp. 35-38) allocates $686 million for the purchase of extra Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets, $650 million for A-10 Warthog fighter-bombers, $720 million for C-130J transport planes, $283 million for AH-64 Apache attack helicopters and $1.068 billion for P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft.

It is not just the Air Force that will benefit from the new bill; it also includes $41.4 million for Raytheon missiles, $260 million for a new Navy fast transport ship, $250 million for amphibious shipbuilding programs and $375 million for armored combat vehicles. Most of these military spending requests are ones that had previously been subject to cuts in February as the Trump administration moved Pentagon money around to fund construction of the border wall. The plan also allocates (p. 11) $1.75 billion to the FBI for the design and construction of a huge new facility in Washington, D.C.

The new HEALS Act, which differs both in scope and its recipients from the $3 trillion Democrat-backed Heroes Act, which President Trump has promised will be “dead on arrival.” Unsurprisingly, Democrats have condemned the new plan. “The bill contains billions of dollars for programs unrelated to the coronavirus, including over $8 billion for what appears to be a wish-list from the Department of Defense for manufacturing of planes, ships, and other weapons systems,” said Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy. “The bill provides nothing to address the long lines at food banks and shortchanges education and childcare, but we can shore up the defense industry? I am at a loss for words.” “Amphibious ships don’t feed hungry children,” added House Appropriations Committee Chair Nita Lowey (D-NY).

Yet Democrats have supported other sections of the bill, particularly that to do with cutting unemployment benefits. While providing a second $1,200 check, the HEALS Act also reduces unemployment payments from $600 to $200 per week, although in the long term it would move to a system where the government would pay up to 70 percent of a worker’s pre-COVID wages, a setup that most of Europe opted for in the beginning. “Look, it’s not $600 or bust,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), claiming that a weekly $600 check serves as a disincentive to many to start working again.

The proposed act also ensures that businesses and other entities have near blanket immunity from coronavirus-related lawsuits coming from customers and employees. “Mitch McConnell’s new coronavirus ‘relief’ proposal is an utter disgrace. It somehow manages to make the pandemic and economic pain even worse,” wrote consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, labeling it a “brazen giveaway” to big business and the military.

the grisly rest is here.

related historical coverage: The Dem’s $3 Trillion Dollar HEROES Act Can Not Brace Us for the Coming Shock; As the Trump show continues and each side of the political aisle takes aim at each other, the economy’s freefall is quickly reaching catastrophic levels', by Raul Diego, may 18, 2020 (which i'd never read)

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wendy davis's picture

@wendy davis

the Big Pork for Flying War Machines. i just bingled, and it turns out that mitch mcConnel has a D challenger, 'The 2020 polls show that it may be an uphill battle this time in a state where Republicans should not have to worry'

she is:
...fighter pilot Amy McGrath, who is polling evenly with McConnell, as well. While it is not common that a Democrat gets elected to a top seat in Congress, it absolutely is possible.

Polls have had McGrath and McConnell deadlocked. Dem Andy Beshear won as KY Gov. His approval rating for his handling of corona virus among Kentuckians is 81%.

@thomaskaplan
NEWS: Amy McGrath raised $17.4 million in the second quarter, her campaign says.

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earthling1's picture

@wendy davis
I'd thought I lost it down the memory hole.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

wendy davis's picture

@earthling1

but i'd actually just run into it. not having checked in at mintpress news, i had a minute, and had thought i would. but my sense for the deeper reason to go digging for polls on mcConnel that i'd heard vague rumblings in my brain that the Ds thought they might get a majority in the senate this cycle.

now it doesn't mean that the HEALS act will become law, but i'd imagine most of the Rs would like to strike while the iron is still pretty red.

War on Corona Virus Indeed!

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2 users have voted.

Do they not understand that $600 per week into the hands of the unemployed goes to grocery stores and rent? or utility payments? car payments? etc?

GOP yells about the economy but I do not think they understand much about how it works on ground level.

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NYCVG

Lily O Lady's picture

@NYCVG

Just don’t measure up.

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

wendy davis's picture

@Lily O Lady

comedic roll, mi amiga.

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Lily O Lady's picture

@wendy davis

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

wendy davis's picture

@Lily O Lady

and maybe it won't pass. humor (teh funny) is one thing that gets us thru the US Zeigiest of Madness, yes? and of course...flowers. and cannabis. and a shot of the hard stuff... ; )

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wendy davis's picture

@NYCVG

macro- economics 101: the multiplier effect of the social safety net. what's left of it, that is. i wouldn't limit it to the republicans, though. how many times, for instance, did those 1200 dollar stim payments change hands amonng those wo received on last time?

and the blue team's just arguing who qualifies, and the amounts per minor. an both R and Blue signed ff on the CARES debacle, trillions for wall street shit for me and thee.

by the by, a week or so ago i'd PMed you about tips on embedding videos and images. there should be a (1) in the Message tab in the center of the black bar below the c99% header. if i did it right, of course...

jeezum crow! mr. wd just brought a 5-bucket pail in he brought home from our neighbor next door. turns out mr. wd showed him which of his cannabis plants were male v. female, and he gifted us this male for foliage for flower arrangements. it must be at least 7 ft. tall, and very bushy and highly scented. Woooot!

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@wendy davis Yes, I got it Wendy and am making progress. Thank you.

Next link will be done/attempted to be correct.

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NYCVG

wendy davis's picture

@NYCVG

to do with it. you and traveller xxx seemed to be stumped is all. so i tried to be a little more specific as to the little boxes' meanings, and how to use them and all. i do try at times to show folks how to delete all the superfluous @s added on edits, though. ; )

JtC's commenting software is the best i've ever seen online.

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travelerxxx's picture

@wendy davis

... you and traveller xxx seemed to be stumped is all...

I do find the video process to be convoluted, in that the S.O.P. doesn't seem to work for me. It's been explained, as you know. Naturally, I haven't had time to test it since then... Figures.

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wendy davis's picture

@travelerxxx

maybe if they let ya outta jail you'd have some time!

if you need more help on it, do let me know. now there are possible resizing blanks as well below the Enter URL (web address), but i dunno how a person would even know what the original size might be.

a good full moon morning to you. it's also our son's 37th birthday, and miraculously we just reached him by phone. he's another peep working two jobs, and seems to meet himself comin' and goin', and to say he doesn't operate well under time pressure would be an understatement.

a gorgeous 4-pt buck in velvet just sauntered by, and the low angle of the rising sun made him look even more magnificent and huggable.

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travelerxxx's picture

@wendy davis

I tend to think that "in jail" I'll remain. It just seems fitting somehow.

Still too backed up to freely mess around with the video embedding. When I finally do it, you're on my list for a lifeline.

Happy birthday to your son! More than one job is no fun – once upon a time I was actually doing four at once. Four didn't last too long, but I've done quite a lot of two and three. The older I get, the more the pressure works against me, so I can sympathize with your son. Some do it well, others not so much. Being forced into it is my complaint.

I'm jealous of you living in such a beautiful area. Here, north of Houston, if you did manage to see deer, you might mistake them for a large dog. Certainly they are not what I was used to seeing up in the middle of the country ...where they are huge – even the whitetails.

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wendy davis's picture

@travelerxxx

seems fitting. as a side note: if my dreams were made visibly public, i'd be stuck in bedlam pronto!

but such great avatar photo of buster keaton you've chosen; tickles me every time i see it.

i'll be glad to help...as far as i'm able. having 4 jobs even 4 even a short time must have been crazy-making, but then the older i get the less able i am at multi-tasking.

thanks for BD wishes to our son; he'd hoped to get off early at one job, spend some time with his GF, without her...um...er...4 chirren.

hard 4 me to imagine living around houston, though. i remember it well. it really is fine here, save for the large redneck factor in cortez west of here. but still, i like it there better than the yuppie town durango 30 mi. east of here.

best to you, amigo,
wd

sorry i hadn't seen your comment earlier; i got off on another post office toot.

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Even with the marches, the riots, the looting, it seems nothing substantial has resulted in police reform or even a vision of new methods of policing. Trump with Pelosi in their utter incompetence can't even extend bread crumbs to the people.

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snoopydawg's picture

@MrWebster

Instead of the full congress being involved with the bills coming out next they have limited it to just the leaders which is not how it’s supposed to be done. But then that was how they did the other ones too. One article I read on this said that some republicans can have a say in what goes into the bill, but no other democrats are there so they don’t get to have a voice. This makes sense to me just because I read about it a few months ago. It’s ruling by fiat. Or something....but apparently it’s not legal.

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“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

wendy davis's picture

@snoopydawg

the only one here who'd like to know more about this. i tried my hand at Bingling some of the search terms...but failed to kick up anything useful.

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snoopydawg's picture

@wendy davis

negotiate bills where everyone has the opportunity to discuss it. Rachel covers some of this at around 2:30 in this video.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eMnMFtNEf4&list=TLPQMDIwODIwMjDUpMI4SPX...

Having just Pelosi, Schumer, Mnuchin and Meadows negotiate what is in the bill is what has happened with the 3 others and then the house and senate are supposed to vote on them without knowing what is actually in the bill. If I see anything on this again I'll shoot you a PM.

Mnuching states that since people are getting more money being unemployed they are refusing to go back to work. NO QUESTION that is happening. Bull pucky. There are no jobs for a lot of people to go back to or their employers are not opening or other reasons. But then if getting a tad extra money lifts people out of poverty then I think they should see that too damn many people are not paid a living wage. The federal wage is $7.25 for gawd's sake. You have to make about $15./hour to afford an apartment in every city in the country. But hey people should have saved for this emergency right? But big businesses never have to live by that rule and if the Catholic Pedophilic Church can take a $14 billion bailout whilst sitting on TRILLIONS in assets through the Vatican then I have no problem if people are being paid more than they normally wake. Businesses could have and should have been required to sell their stocks, but then they couldn't just take all that money that they didn't need or use as directed. One guy took a $4 billion loan and bought really nice luxury items. Oops... he got caught. 1 out of how many?

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“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

wendy davis's picture

@snoopydawg

i'd only put 'pelosi and schumer' into my search, as the OP has quite a lot of info on the closed-door sessions with 'administration officials', trump and pelosi. i shouldn't have edited out some of those snippets i'd originally included, but it was getting 2 long 2 read.

one from the hill in the OP:

Trump administration officials and Democratic leaders negotiating a new coronavirus relief package said they made "progress" during a rare Saturday meeting but aren't yet close to a deal.

mnuchin, meadows, pelosi, and chuck. sorry, bill gages' IE explorer's copy/paste is suckable.

The meeting marked the first time Democratic leaders and administration officials have come out of a closed-door negotiating session and spoken positively about their discussions. It's also their first meeting since the $600 federal unemployment benefit expired on Friday night, adding a new urgency to the discussions.

got this email on a DSCC header in my junkbox thia a.m. the Dems must be targeting even unafilliated voters as i've been for eons now:

I need to hear from top Democrats like you at this critical point in our country’s history. Will you please take a moment to share your priorities?

Let me tell you why I think this moment is so important.

Almost everything that's wrong in Washington boils down to this: Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans.

They fill our courts with hard-right nominees, intent on overturning Roe v. Wade and crucial climate protections. They claim to support protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions -- and then they launch attack after attack to gut those protections. Simply put, Senate Republicans enable President Trump's worst behavior and pave the way for his harmful agenda.

So I mean it when I say that the future of our country depends on Democrats flipping the Senate majority. I'm working tirelessly to make that happen, but I need input from you to make sure we have the best possible plan.

We’ve just put together a brand new priorities survey. Will you please take a moment to complete it now? Here's the best link: http://www.dscc.org/Priorities

Thanks for taking the time. I look forward to reading your responses.

Chuck

; )

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wendy davis's picture

@snoopydawg

as to Trump deciding by EO or fiat, was himself deciding without full congressional debates.

i'd say even $15. hr isn't really a living wage, esp. depending on family size, if both parents work, and so on. the thing with stim checks is a bit dicey, as well, as folks too old to work or hadn't made enough money to even file taxes...got no stim checks, even the paltry $1200 'fiat' currency' (bretton woods decision, iirc).

i admit i was tickled that i'd been able to feature the on-the-money R Cobb (born 1937) cartoon in the OP: he was a man before his time!

thanks, Snoop. so now, i wish i could find the wapo/pinhead mnuchin $12 billion treasury loan to the USPS extortion 'bargain' for info on their contracts with Bezos, et. al. to me, it's another huuuuuge story, but seems exhausting. one can't fault folks for believing that trump and his new PM general have contrived it all because: MAGA!

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snoopydawg's picture

@wendy davis

Might see if it’s inside this article or look on the site for more.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/31/watchdog-groups-demand-prob...

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“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

wendy davis's picture

@snoopydawg

while bingling further for the WaPo's version of the 'truth', (i can't get into it, th NYT, bloomberg) because they all saay i'm in private mode, when i'm not. the AFL-CIO had two paragraphs of it, then said: read the rest here...

but that piece is the reason i'd discovered the first lice of the OP: the passage in the U.S. House of a $740 billion defense bill as part of the 2021 Appropriations Minibus.

thank you so much for the able assist. i might just have to wait until mint press news covers it. ; )

i'd seen the news first at sputnik & had stuck it on my USPS news diary, and kept obsessing in my occasional 'free moments'. it's just a triple whammy if it's so. DT hates the PO, but any time the Ds had the presidency and both houses, they could have changed the mandate on pre-paying health care, etc. for future employees.

but voting my mail is a fucking necessity now.

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snoopydawg's picture

@wendy davis

https://theintercept.com/2020/07/29/usps-postal-service-privatization/

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“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

wendy davis's picture

@snoopydawg

even though it was the Intecept, i did click in, but mine eyes and mind R 2 frayed to even scan much.

i'm guessing, but my compendium may have more history, esp. given i've been a PO advocate for a hella long time.

'grim post office news & a PSA', july 25, 2020

good night; time for me to shut down for the night. zzzzzzzzzleep more tonight?

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wendy davis's picture

@snoopydawg

but the WaPo let me in today (although the boston globe reprint hadn't):

Treasury agrees to lend Postal Service $10 billion in trade for rivals’ shipping contracts; The debt-laden mail service will provide the agency proprietary information on its agreements with private-sector competitors;, WaPo, July 29, 2020

the Dems are saints as per Bezos's news... but fearing i'd never be allowed in again, i tore the whole mess out and pasted it into a word document. save the Post office (including link to a CIA Slimes oped, and wsws have more, but parlaying into one diary seems monumental (for me given trying to transpose by now), and it's not clear to me if all this is generally important, or that i'm obsessed about it. yanno? ; )

anyhoo, i'll take care of a few chores, consider if my needs outweighs the toil.

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wendy davis's picture

@MrWebster

(and has been) our ruling class doesn't give toss for our welfare, side from snatching the fruits of our labor.

it's capitalism's purpose to create more capital, and is written to corporate charters' fiduciary responsibilities: maximize profits to shareholders at whatever cost.

police reform ideas is a whole 'nother ballgame: defund, end, etc., but it's city PD x city PD, but rest assured, the reason that 'police' were born was to protect capital (escaped slaves, then pinkertons), but even 'disbanding police' will be replaced by various entities hiring mercenaries like erik prince clones to: protect capital.

no, no breadcrumbs allowed for the serfs. 'we're dying of their gravy spills'....

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX_AhL2SsUs]

sleep well, dream well as you're able, MrWebster.

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wendy davis's picture

@MrWebster

out today, and FWIW to the 'police reform' discussions: from in these times, July 27, 2020:
We Are On the Cusp of Something Great”: A Black Liberation Organizer on Next Steps for the Movement’

“The demand to defund the police and fund the people has real traction. It’s not a new demand, but it has become a unified rallying cry."

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