Month: July 2016

Liberty Links 07/18/16

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17 links today. Enjoy. How Finance Costs Too Much and Fails to Deliver (Must read, Naked Capitalism) Obama Has Failed Victims of Racism and Police Brutality (Excellent, by Cornel West) U.S. Seen on Wrong Track by Nearly Three-Quarters of Voters (Wall Street Journal) Turkey Government Seemed to Have List of Arrests Prepared (Reuters) View on Turkey: … Read more

Bernie Sanders Inspired Florida Congressional Candidate Raises More Money in Last 3 Months Than DNC Chair

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Regular readers will be familiar with Tim Canova, but in case you aren’t caught up, here’s a refresher from January’s post, The DNC is “Feeling the Bern” – Debbie Wasserman Schultz Faces Serious Primary Challenge:

Debbie Wasserman Schultz has not had a great last couple of months. The Florida Congress member and embattled Democratic National Committee Chair has been repeatedly criticized for leading the committee both ineffectively and with a heavy hand, and for an alleged bias toward Hillary Clinton that has made the party’s presidential debates few and far between—one reason why the Republican candidates have dominated the political discussion. The progressive wing of the party base is volubly getting fed up with her.

Now, if the increased calls for her to step down from her post as party head weren’t enough, Wasserman Schultz is also facing the prospect of a tough primary challenge from the left. Liberal economist and longtime Wall Street–reform advocate Tim Canova announced last week that he will challenge Wasserman Schultz in the August 30 primary in Florida’s 23rd Congressional District. Touting a platform that closely mirrors Bernie Sanders’s, Canova hopes that the energy Sanders has roused nationally could work to his advantage in the South Florida district. Given Wasserman Schultz’s prominence, the primary could turn into a referendum pitting the progressive wing of the Democratic Party against its establishment wing, in much the way the (successful) primary challenge by another economist, Dave Brat, against then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor was a test of strength between the Republicans’ factions.

Over the years, says Canova, Wasserman Schultz has become less accountable to her district and more responsive to Wall Street. “She’s become such a corporate Democrat; she takes so much corporate money,” Canova says. “The way she talks the talk isn’t the way she walks the walk. That kind of unaccountable power needs to be challenged.”

Fast forward six months, and Tim Canova’s got some impressive momentum on the fundraising front.

The Hill reports:

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Police Rushed to Rescue Bono and Other Celebrities During Nice Attacks

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When it comes to terror attacks, we now know that #CelebrityLivesMatter. A lot.

Specifically, some Nice residents expressed concern that U2 frontman Bono and other celebrities dining a half mile away from the scene of the recent terror attack received special treatment. According to the Telegraph:

But on Thursday, Bono, fellow musician Elton John, and the chef Alain Ducasse were among a number of celebrities caught up in the Bastille Day massacre in Nice.

The lead singer of U2, 56, and Ducasse, 59, were dining on the terrace of La Petite Maison restaurant near the seafront when the mass murderer Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove a lorry into crowds who had just watched a fireworks display, killing 84 – including 10 children.

Bono and Ducasse were rescued by armed counter-terrorism police along with other prominent French figures including the former mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, who was also at the restaurant. 

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The 28-Pages Are Way Worse Than I Thought

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Shortly after the release of the infamous 28-pages earlier today, the White House issued a statement dismissing allegations of Saudi involvement in the attacks of 9/11. I believe such assurances are intended to prevent people from reading it in the first place, because if you actually read them, your mouth will be wide open the entire time in disbelief.

There are only two conclusions any thinking person can come to after reading the 28-pages.

1. Elements within the Saudi government ran the operations behind the 9/11 attack.

2. The U.S. government covered it up.

But don’t take my word for it. You should read it yourself.

Just to give you a little taste, here’s what was found on the first page alone (click on the images for the entire document).

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Illinois Obamacare Co-Op Goes Bust Leaving Tens of Thousands at Risk

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The fact that Obamacare is a gigantic train wreck barreling uncontrollably into a brick wall is pretty much undeniable at this point. I’ve covered this reality from several angles in 2016, with one of the more popular posts being, The Health Insurance Scam – “Coverage” Doesn’t Mean Affordability or Access, in which I noted: 

Politicians, particularly those of the Democratic persuasion, love to throw around statistics about how many additional people have healthcare coverage without ever talking about the cost of such coverage, or whether it actually translates into actual access in the real world.

While a greater number of Americans having health insurance is a good thing when it comes to protecting against unexpected catastrophic events or extended hospital stays, it doesn’t tell you anything about two very important variables: 1) How much does it cost? 2) What kind of access does it provide? As usual, the devil is in the details.

We’ve all seen headlines about higher monthly premiums, but that’s just the tip of iceberg. Once you’ve paid your premium, you’re far from off the hook. Another one-two punch of deductibles, copays and out of pocket maximums appear which can collectively run into the thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars for families.

In my opinion, the above situation represents the number one failure of Obamacare, but there are others. Today’s piece focuses in on the state of Obamacare co-ops, which were “created under the federal health law to provide cost-effective coverage and competition in state insurance markets.”

Just like with Obamacare in general, stark reality is not living up to the sales pitch, and 16 of the 23 nonprofit cooperatives created nationwide have now failed.

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Video of the Day – CNN Reporter Cut Off As She Critiques Hillary Clinton

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So did CNN intentionally pull the plug on its reporter, or was it just a convenient coincidence.

I’ll let you decide.

For related articles, see:

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Donations to Jill Stein’s Campaign Jump 1000% Following the Bernie Betrayal

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Headline of the day, courtesy of Yahoo.


People are going to be pissed off no matter who wins this election and that is a very important social dynamic I believe is vastly under appreciated by the majority of mainstream pundits and analysts out there.  This is also very distinct from the environment that prevailed in 2008.  Four years ago, the financial markets were crashing and the economic future of America was circling the toilet bowl, yet a majority of Americans embraced the potential of a young, inexperienced biracial politician from Illinois who was saying all of the right things.  Despite the gigantic disappointment he has proven to be as President, there is no denying that he had all of the Democrats and most Independents under his spell on this day four years ago.

Fast forward to 2012 and the county isn’t “divided” as mainstream media talking heads like to say.  The country is pissed off.  Genuine and legitimate frustration permeates the land from sea to shining sea and rightly so.  Ever since the banker coup of 2008, crony capitalism has been institutionalized as the only real way to make money.  If you aren’t connected or “too big to fail,” sorry but America isn’t the place for you.  What makes the economic nightmare so much worse is that it is being coupled with a complete and total decimation of civil liberties.  One by one the Bill of Rights is being ignored and indeed trampled on systemically by the political and economic oligarchs emboldened by their successful takeover of the executive, legislative and for the most part judicial branches of government. 

– From the 2012 post: The Seventy Percent

Most Americans dislike both Presidential candidates on offer from the two major political parties. I would include myself in this category, with the caveat that I haven’t liked a major party candidate for President since I was born.

So while I’ve always been hard to please curmudgeon, this election really is different from a general public perspective. For example, here are a few remarkable findings from a recent Associated Press-GfK poll:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The vast majority of Americans say they are afraid of at least one of the two major candidates — Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump — winning the White House, a remarkable finding that reflects an unsettled nation unhappy with its choice.

Eighty-one percent of Americans say they would feel afraid following the election of one of the two polarizing politicians, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll. That includes a quarter who say it doesn’t matter who wins: they’re scared of both.

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Clinton Cash Author Reports – “The Strange Gaps in Hillary Clinton’s Email Traffic”

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Peter Schweizer, author of Clinton Cash, has published a very important and disturbing piece over at Politico titled, The Strange Gaps in Hillary Clinton’s Email Traffic.

Here are some key excerpts:

But, when it comes to Clinton’s correspondence, the most basic and troubling questions still remain unanswered: Why are there gaps in Clinton’s email history? Did she or her team delete emails that she should have made public?

The State Department has released what is said to represent all of the work-related, or “official,” emails Clinton sent during her tenure as secretary—a number totaling about 30,000. According to Clinton and her campaign, when they were choosing what correspondence to turn over to State for public release, they deleted 31,830 other emails deemed “personal and private.” But a numeric analysis of the emails that have been made public, focusing on conspicuous lapses in email activity, raises troubling concerns that Clinton or her team might have deleted a number of work-related emails.

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People Just Want to Kill the Status Quo – Thoughts on Trump’s Swing State Surge

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Two weeks ago, I wrote a post titled, Don’t Count Out Donald Trump Yet. Let’s take a moment to revisit a few of my observations:

Trump experienced a horrible period from mid-May to mid-June, which culminated in the dismissal of campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Based on my Twitter feed, Trump is finished. I’ve been incessantly bombarded with articles highlighting an ever widening lead for Hillary Clinton nationally in the polls. So is Trump finished? Not by a long shot.

First off, let’s discuss the macro environment. As the Brexit vote demonstrated in spades, people are not in a cheery mood and appear willing to suffer negative consequences in the short-term in order to blow up the status quo. This is hugely important and a huge part of the Trump phenomenon. I also think the arrogant, dismissive, undemocratic and paternalistic attitude of so-called “elites” in the aftermath of Brexit will not be lost on U.S. voters.

Equally interesting, is how incredibly close the race between Clinton and Trump is in a wide variety of swing states, as well as states that typically lean one way or the other. The reason this is happening is we essentially have a race between a nativist populist versus a Wall Street neocon for the first time in recent memory. As such, anyone claiming they know how this will play out is full of…

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Liberty Links 7/12/16

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15 links today. Enjoy. Images of Militarized Police in Baton Rouge Draw Global Attention (Must read of the day, The Intercept) Obama Calls For Turret-Mounted Video Cameras On All Police Tanks (From 2014, The Onion) Dallas Cop-Killer Micah Johnson Was Blacklisted by Black-Power Groups as ‘Unstable’ (The Daily Beast) When Cops Kill, and When Cops Die … Read more