Weekend Open Thread

8 thoughts on “Weekend Open Thread”

1. Nothing says compassion and concern for your alcoholic brother like a vodka that bears the family name?  

   Like his bankrupt casinos, closed college, and other dead-end brand journeys, Trump Vodka was a flamboyant exercise in failure. Trump, naturally, insists it was a triumph, though good luck finding a bottle today. Its slogan was “Success Distilled.”

   

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2. After the announcement yesterday, Roger Stone went on a Twitters rant; today his account was suspended. Is it getting hot in here?!?

   

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3. And for a lighter take on the Mueller news, I appreciated the article

   It's Mueller time! Twitter goes crazy …

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   1. Thanks for the link, JiD. The film spoof was a crack-up.

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4. Hey Dems:

   More Tax Cuts for Millionaires and Billionaires is Not "Tax Reform"

   Republican rhetoric, the media's complicity in using same, and Elected Democrats' complicity in using same is harmful to the economy and is weak-minded.

   As our economy continues to recover, Michael believes we need to work together and start making the tough decisions necessary to put our nation's fiscal house in order. Putting the country on a sustainable, long-term fiscal path and bringing our debt under control is incredibly important to our economy and our standing in the world.

   Michael has been leading the fight for a comprehensive, bipartisan solution to our nation's unsustainable debt since joining the U.S. Senate in 2009. He's pushed for a balanced approach that materially reduces our deficit and demonstrates we're all willing to make the sacrifices necessary to reduce spending and reform our outdated tax code. 

   It's stupid policy and it cannot be defined in any way as "fiscal responsibility":

   (If I could trust Bennet to fight for the fair taxation and representation of the Middle Class over the Billionaire Class, I'd quit linking to the vacuous and inaccurate blurb quoted above that's been on his website since before he was sworn into office.)

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5. Update for Vger: Watch your blood pressure. I'm going to mention Bernie Sanders, Trade and the Jones Act, all in one comment. Ready?

   Sanders' organization, "Our Revolution", posted a plea for supporters to write their representatives to exempt Puerto Rico from the strictures of the Jones Act. This is apparently Sanders' way of keeping faith with the unions of ship and shipping industry workers who were early endorsers of his candidacy.

   He's not calling for an end to the trade protectionism of the Jones Act; just that Puerto Rico should be exempt (as Houston,  Florida, the Virgin Islands and other hurricane-affected areas are) until it has recovered from the effects of the hurricanes.

   Sanders went to Puerto Rico to see the effects of the storm first-hand. He has proposed a range of aid, including forgiveness and/ or restructuring Puerto Rico's debt, rebuilding the energy grid and housing to be renewable and hurricane – resistant, cancelling the corrupt Whitefish contract, and more.

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   1. In what way does suspending the Jones Act "keep faith" with the special interests who endorsed him because he supported the Jones Act?

      The Virgin Islands, happily, are not covered by Jones.

      .  Houston, Florida, like p.r., were given brief suspensions that have now expired.

      It would appear bernie has broken, in a minor way, from his protectionist supporters.  Good for him.

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      1. Sanders is "keeping faith", or compromising, with his union endorsers by not pushing for a total repeal of Jones (as many are doing), but only an exemption for Puerto Rico.

         Jones is punitive for island communities, including Hawaii.

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