Category Archives: National

Gather ‘round Scott Pruitt’s EPA bonfire

National,

EPA head Scott Pruitt will be testifying before two Congressional committees today. He will face questions about his efforts to roll back Obama-era environmental rules and regulations as well as about a sizable list of ethical problems. These complaints include Pruitt’s costly first-class travel, outlandish security expenses, and allegations that he accepted a sweetheart condo rental from an oil industry lobbyist. The NYTimes.com is reporting Pruitt’s defense strategy will be “[…] to blame both career and political staff members as well as his security detail for myriad spending decisions.”

Scott Pruitt Tosses Another PVC Tube On Campfire
Scott Pruitt Tosses Another PVC Tube On Campfire at TheOnion.com

For those who wish to follow along CNN has thoughtfully compiled a list of Pruitt’s controversial regulatory actions and his alleged ethical lapses. The one ethical question most people have heard of — which in a pre-Trump political universe would have been more than enough to trigger his firing — is of course Pruitt’s sound-proof booth. Dubbed “the cone of silence,” it was created in his office at cost of $43,000, even though secure telecommunications facilities are available in the same building a few floors below.

So, follow along but don’t let the toxic smoke get in your eyes given that Trump and company are still determined to gut the EPA.

“Visitors are an ideal captive audience” VT. Commissioner of Tourism and Marketing

Business, local/regional, National, , , ,

Stay to Stay — the Vermont state tourism agency’s planned series of four weekends in different locations designed with the intent of turning tourists into full-time residents — got off to a “chilly start” this weekend according to Vtdigger.com: Like the recent weather, the first-blush level of commitment for the state’s campaign to entice nonresidents to move to Vermont has been cool.

Organizers note, however, that this is but the first of four scheduled weekends for people interested in becoming Vermonters to be formally welcomed as part of the Stay-to-Stay initiative.

Think! Vermont, Scott’s Department of Economic Development promotional webpage slogan, describes the events in terms not unlike a vacation timeshare real estate sales pitch weekend. Vermont commissioner of Tourism and Marketing Wendy Knight says her inspiration for the promotional campaign happened when: “I got to thinking; visitors are an ideal captive audience,”

Sure sounds like timeshare pitch, only (befitting the Vermont brand) a bit more refined — sweetened with real maple syrup: [Stay to Stay] gives tourists the opportunity to relax and also to network with business leaders and tour Vermont communities with real-estate experts to learn more about relocating to Vermont.

It is all part of Governor Scott’s unproven million-dollar effort to boost Vermont’s population and address the state’s worker shortage. But attendance at the Department of Tourism’s weekend premier in Brattleboro, Bennington, and Rutland is expected to be less than even the modest numbers hoped for. Half of the dozen potential visitors signed up for the Rutland and Brattleboro areas cancelled and no one who signed up will be visiting Bennington.

Undaunted by the dismal turnout Knight noted one positive — the free media she had gotten nationally for the first event. Bloomberg.com does indeed have nice blurby press release style bit about “Stay to Stay” headlined:This Weekend, Aging Vermont Will Try to Make Tourists Into Residents.

But the thing about free media is you give up a certain amount of control of the whole message.Vermont taps tourists

The U S News piece about Stay to Stay starts with what I hope is unintentionally a funny headline: Vermont Taps Tourists to Bolster Workforce. That headline sounds to me as if Governor Scott, desperate to boost our workforce, intends to force visitors to pick apples, milk cows, turn cheese curds, or tend sugar houses.Vermont taps tourists2

But the “great” thing about the US News bit is the targeted sidebars, as you can see from the two screen shots, which all tout other states — Massachusetts best for women and children, Connecticut high school record graduation rate,  and a list of the U S News top five states not including Vermont.

Maybe it was just the weather that ruined this Stay to Stay, so spin it however you want. But you can’t spin away from the out-of-proportion amount of taxpayer-funded effort it took to get a half dozen out-of state “captive” visitors to sit still for a Think!Vermont sales pitch in April.

Maybe some nice sticky sugar-on-snow painted on the seats would help.

Trump is “floating” below the surface

National,

President Donald Trump (I’ll never get comfortable writing that) was thrilled a couple days ago and twitter bragging about a Rasmussen poll that showed his approval rating hitting 50% — the first time he’s polled that high since February. Rasmussen’s results are recognized as historically being more favorable to the GOP and Trump.

But now some other polls are showing Trump’s ratings are still bobbing along below the 50% surface. In fact The Hill.com reports on several polls that show him at record lows.Trumpshipsinking

Morning Consult’s 50-state approval tracker finds 41 percent of registered voters approved of Trump’s job performance during March.

A majority, 54 percent, disapproved of the president’s job performance.

The data from March surpasses [sinks below] the president’s previous lows in the Morning Consult poll. In October and November, 42 percent of respondents approved of Trump’s job performance and 53 percent disapproved.

Other results from an average of poll numbers by RealClearPolitics show a recent approval rating of 41.8 percent for Trump.

A majority, 53.3 percent, disapprove of the job Trump is doing in office, according to the average.

Donald Trump may not be sinking like an anchor but he looks to be swamped, with some polls showing over half of those surveyed disapproving of his performance in office. In the nautical world swamping typically means that a boat fills with water (often from capsizing) but often will remain barely floating, filled to the gunnels  — for a while — before finally sinking.

And from what we’ve seen of Trump he’s more likely to head out for a round of golf than to bail his sinking ship.

Income-based traffic fines could be just the ticket

local/regional, National, , ,

I heard about income-based traffic fines in Europe a couple years ago, and now I see the New York Times has an op-ed piece in support of it here in the U.S. The concept of basing fines for traffic violations on income is that flat-rate fines , associated costs, and collection fees weigh more heavily on lower-income drivers than on higher-income speeders. A flat-rate fine also fails its role as a behavioral deterrent to speeding if it is only a slap on the wrist to wealthy violators.TrafficTicketvoid

In Finland, several other European countries, and Argentina, penalties on offenses ranging from shoplifting to securities law violations are imposed on a sliding scale based  on a person’s last declared income and the nature of the crime. In these nations it is believed the wealthy and the poor should suffer equally for infractions. In other words, as the title of nytimes.com opinion piece by Alec Schierenbeck suggests : A Billionaire and a Nurse Shouldn’t Pay the Same Fine for Speeding.

And the author makes a good case for change: For people living on the economic margins, even minor offenses can impose crushing financial obligations, trapping them in a cycle of debt and incarceration for nonpayment. In Ferguson, Mo., for example, a single $151 parking violation sent a black woman struggling with homelessness into a seven-year odyssey of court appearances, arrest warrants and jail time connected to her inability to pay.

Across America, one-size-fits-all fines are the norm, which I demonstrate in an article for the University of Chicago Law Review. Where judges do have wiggle room to choose the size of a fine, mandatory minimums and maximums often tie their hands. Some states even prohibit consideration of a person’s income. And when courts are allowed to take finances into account, they frequently fail to do so.

Here in Vermont a judge is allowed “wiggle” room to consider income when handing out a fine. However someone charged with a violation that wishes a judge to consider their income must take the time to appear in court to contest rather than mailing in the traffic fine. Vermont fines range from 0-$1,000.00 with a non-waivable surcharge of $47.00. Conceivably someone could leave with only a $47.00 fee to pay as a “fine” if the judge accepts a public plea of poverty. Although more reasonable, than, say, the Ferguson Mo. practice, getting a day off work to plead your case carries a built in hardship — likely loss of pay for many low-income people.

In 2016 Vermont changed laws to help low-income drivers whose driver’s licenses had been suspended for non-criminal offenses regain the right to drive. Now the legislature is exploring changes to the new, rigid, computer-driven vehicle-inspection regulations. The change sought would allow some repairs to be listed as “recommended,” rather than “required,” where the faulty part is not safety-related. There is growing awareness that the stricter rules can be an unfair burden, particularly on low-income drivers who rely on high-mileage used vehicles.

So now might be the time for income-sensitive traffic fines to be considered for the same reasons.

Income based fines — charging wealthy drivers enough for traffic and speeding violations so it really is a deterrent — might be just the ticket for economic fairness and safety.

Hmmm, imagine that Jaguar driver on the side of the road in front of blue flashing lights having to pay 10 times what the 10-year-old Chevy driver pays. In the privacy of your vehicle, you’re allowed to smile.

New poll: support for “strong leader” who does not bother with Congress & elections

National, ,

Studies and polling surveys showing tepid support for democracy in the U.S. have been appearing on regular basis for a while. In light of Donald Trump’s “joke” about the U.S. needing a president for life, the findings in a recent poll done by a new research collaborative, the Democracy Fund Study Group,  are unsettling. Their study, completed this March, was designed to measure how committed Americans are to democracy in the age of Trumpism.

From their study summary: Specifically, the Democracy Fund Voter Study Group asked respondents to assess the favorability of three types of political systems:

  1. A strong leader who does not have to bother with Congress and elections;
  2. Army rule
  3. A democratic political system.

DFSGfindingsOne slightly reassuring finding in an otherwise discouraging survey of views on democracy is that when given a direct choice, the overwhelming majority of Americans will choose democracy: 75% of all respondents showed some support for democracy and 50% or more favor democracy as the strongest option.

But, when they dug deeper it was found that only a slim majority of Americans (54 percent) consistently express a pro-democratic position across all five of our measures.

And the following: Nineteen percent of respondents express one nondemocratic position, 13 percent express two nondemocratic positions, and 15 percent express three or more nondemocratic positions. Notably, 29 percent of respondents show at least some support for either a “strong leader” or “army rule.”

Other findings show 20% of Hillary Clinton’s primary supporters favor “strong man” option. […] and 15 percent [Clinton primary supporters] go so far as to support “army rule” — both slightly higher than the levels expressed by the primary supporters of Bernie Sanders, John Kasich, Marco Rubio, or Ted Cruz. (Yet Clinton’s primary supporters were more likely to say that democracy is preferable to any other form of government.)

However for those who favor a “strong leader” type, Donald is the one. Among those who voted for Trump in the primaries, 32% support a “strong leader.” Voters who supported Barack Obama switched parties and got behind Trump supported the “strong man” unbound by congress or elections by 45%.

Overall this survey seems like a batch of pretty grim stuff but there is this: [the Democracy Fund study] finds evidence that conflicts with two key findings that have recently raised alarm bells about the state of democracy: We do not find that public support for democracy in the U.S. is declining. Nor do we find higher support among young people for an authoritarian political system.

That’s a pretty slim sliver of light coming out of the storm clouds. But I guess for those optimists favoring democracy, the glass is not half empty. And for all those “strong man” fans who believe past dictators made the trains run on time — remember that assessment was a propaganda myth. Well, maybe the weekend Trump golf train to Mar-a-Lago will be on schedule: the rest of us can try to hitch a ride on a troop transport, or maybe a tank.

This is not the mission statement*

National, Uncategorized, , ,
nestpastrumpipe
Adapted from “The Treachery of Images” Rene Magritte

Due to sheer volume — call it a flood, deluge, tsunami, or a simple fire hose flow of “news” — it’s a challenge to even focus on the less splashy  yet highly damaging transgressions  of the Trump administration. But it is slowly emerging that government agencies under Trump are now not only less vigilant at enforcement (well, except for ICE), but have “adjusted” their agencies’ mission statements, references, and associated language to reflect their political agendas in the new  “reality.”

Steve Benen, a producer and blogger at The Rachel MaddowShow,  has managed to spot and document this disturbing trend. First and foremost the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under acting head Mick Mulvaney (a vociferous opponent of the CFPB) announced in January that the agency will be “less focused” on protecting consumers. That announcement puts the agency’s mission directly at odds with the “reality” of the bureau’s mandated task and what of course the name should imply (in a normal world).

Benen notes other reality-challenging adjustments: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services [is] changing its mission statement, eliminating the phrase “America’s promise as a nation of immigrants.” Then it was the Department of Housing and Urban Development mission statement, which will apparently no longer reference “free from discrimination,” “quality homes,” or “inclusive communities.”

The Interior Department’s mission statement no longer references native Americans or providing “scientific and other information.” The State Department’s mission statement no longer prioritizes the goal of a “just and democratic world.”

And then there’s FEMA and its new strategic plan. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, the federal government’s first responder to floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters, has eliminated references to climate change from its strategic planning document for the next four years.*

[*Clearly our own Governor Phil Scott’s administration is on board with that agenda and is using the same tactic in a recent editing out of climate change from a Vermont State planning document.]

That document, released by FEMA on Thursday, outlines plans for building preparedness and reducing the complexity of the agency.

FEMA’s strategic plan mentions expected cost increases “due to rising natural hazard risk,” but makes no mention of the global crisis that contributes to those risks.

This effort to spin reality (should I even bother mentioning it is right out of Orwell’s 1984?) may be expedited by Trump’s so called  “beachhead teams”— almost 600 hires quietly installed early on throughout government bureaucracies. The teams included dozens of industry lobbyists, political cronies (many from far-right media) and can be found here in a  problubica.org’s searchable database.

Who knows which Trumpist or GOP lackey made these changes? But given that President Trump has openly bragged about lying and making up “facts” in a meeting with the Prime Minister of Canada, it’s obvious where the deception and lies start. So it won’t be a surprise that in terms of deceptive practices this fish — the Trump administration — is continuing to rot from the head first.

*A word about the famous pipe image

“How people reproached me for it! And yet, could you stuff my pipe? No, it’s just a representation, is it not? So if I had written on my picture ‘This is a pipe’, I’d have been lying!” — René Magritte

Thus, ‘this is not a mission statement’ and the Trumpists can stuff it.

The Onion has the scoop on Trump’s business

National

Well, it’s been another week of the Trump administration creating unprecedented chaos and havoc in Washington, and there seems no let up in sight.

[UNVERIFIED CONTENT] Dairy Queen,NJ
[UNVERIFIED CONTENT] Dairy Queen,NJ
So here’s a news brief that might almost be believable in the age of Trump — but it’s only from theOnion.com — America’s finest news source:

Subpoenaed Trump Organization Financial Documents Reveal Company’s Only Holding Is Single Dairy Queen In New Jersey

NEW YORK—Saying they are beginning to perceive the full scope of the secretive business dealings, investigators working for special counsel Robert Mueller announced Friday that subpoenaed Trump Organization financial records show the company’s only discrete holding is a Dairy Queen franchise in West Milford, NJ.

[…] Agent Maria Russo said that the investigation had not yet turned up definitive links to Russian money, but noted the job description for the Dairy Queen night manager included “at least three ‘ruble runs’ a week” to the currency exchange at the Newark Airport.

 

 

 

Enabling Donald’s TV news

Business, National, , ,

It’s not only Fox News that covers Trump’s back. Sinclair Broadcasting, the largest owner of local TV stations in the U.S., is widely known as a champion of right-wing GOP causes. During the presidential election Sinclair and the Trump campaign struck a deal in order to gain favorable media coverage .Recently they started a promotional campaign for their local news outlets to broadcast.

Now Sinclair has  tailored promotional spots for its almost 200 local news outlets that seem to mirror  parts of Trump’s oft repeated bogus “fake news” claims. Their corporate memo to local stations dictates the promo be scheduled “to create maximum reach and frequency.”

StateofTVOne of Sinclair’s local anchors — who remained anonymous for fear of retribution — told CNN: “I felt like a POW recording a message,” […] On its face, some of the language is not controversial. But that’s precisely why some staffers were so troubled by it. The promo script, they say, belies Sinclair management’s actual agenda to tilt reporting to the right.

CNN reports: The promos begin with one or two anchors introducing themselves and saying “I’m [we are] extremely proud of the quality, balanced journalism that [proper news brand name of local station] produces. But I’m [we are] concerned about the troubling trend of irresponsible, one sided news stories plaguing our country.”

Then the media bashing begins.

“The sharing of biased and false news has become all too common on social media,” the script says. “More alarming, national media outlets are publishing these same fake stories without checking facts first. Unfortunately, some members of the national media are using their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control ‘exactly what people think’ … This is extremely dangerous to our democracy.”

Then the anchors are supposed to strike a more positive tone and say that their local station pursues the truth. “We understand Truth is neither politically ‘left or right.’ Our commitment to factual reporting is the foundation of our credibility, now more than ever.”

[…]At the end of the promo, viewers are encouraged to send in feedback “if you believe our coverage is unfair.” The instructions say that “corporate will monitor the comments and send replies to your audience on your behalf.” In other words, local stations are cut out of the interactions with viewers. Management will handle it instead.

Sinclair’s political bent has been a factor in its pending acquisition of Tribune Media. Sinclair is already the biggest owner of local television stations in the country — with 173 it either owns or operates — and Tribune will give it dozens more, furthering the company’s ambitions. Some analysts believe Sinclair wants to rival Fox News, although officials at Sinclair have rejected those suggestions.

Vermont’s own little TV station, WCAX, formerly locally owned and managed, was scooped up last year not by Sinclair but by Gray Television. The large Atlanta Georgia-based communication corporation  may not share Sinclair’s solid right wing reputation but they certainly have their sights set on New Hampshire’s  First-in-the–Nation© presidential primary’s  advertising profits. And not to be paranoid but it’s worth being watchful of our neighbor state’s media scene. Jacqueline Policastro, the Washington bureau chief for Gray Television, was among those at a special White House dinner after Trump addressed Congress last year. Attending the Trump administration’s effort to court and spark local TV news markets were reporters from Hearst, Scripps, Cox, Nexstar, and naturally, Sinclair.

Commenting in an interview early this year on how he thought President Trump might weather the Mueller investigation, former White House Counsel John Dean (of  Watergate notoriety) observed: “I think there’s more likelihood (Nixon) might have survived if there’d been a Fox News.”  The implication, of course, is that with the backing of Fox News — or another powerful national media propaganda outlet — even Richard Nixon, how ever damaged and corrupt as a leader, could have clung to power.

And now, facing multiple investigations, President Trump can apparently count not only on Fox News nationally but on Sinclair Broadcasting to cover his troubled a … ah, backside at the local level, while all three entities fart  on democracy.

ICE out time in Vermont

local/regional, National, , , , ,

The non-profit investigative journalism organization ProPublica is asking for help through crowd-sourcing: enlisting members of the public in keeping an eye out for ICE — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.

VTICEout

 

Specifically, ProPublica is looking for people to report where ICE and the CBP are seen to be  operating, especially those places that might be considered sensitive: Officially, both U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection say they “generally” avoid arrests, interviews or surveillance related to immigration enforcement at “sensitive locations,” which include places of worship, hospitals, schools, weddings, funerals and public demonstrations.

But there are some pretty large exceptions to the policy: Courthouses and workplaces do not have any special protection from immigration enforcement activities. Ambulances pass through immigration checkpoints in border cities. And while certain buildings are considered off limits, nothing keeps agents from intercepting people as they leave. Immigration agents are also allowed to conduct enforcement actions at sensitive locations with approval from a supervisor, or in “exigent circumstances.”

We have seen that immigration sweeps have grown more frequent nationally since Trump has been in office. An ICE raid in Vermont and the arrest of 14 construction workers in Colchester this January brought home to us in Vermont the immigration enforcement crack-down.

ICE says arrests at sensitive locations are “exceedingly rare,” yet Trump’s enforcement agencies don’t keep track of how, or how often, “exigent circumstances” occur.

To document if these enforcement location exceptions are actually rare or not ProPublica has teamed up with Univison News (the American Spanish language news organization) to offer a mechanism for people to confidentially report where, when and how these operations are taking place, and how the sweeps or raids are affecting them.

Has an immigration enforcement action impacted you or someone you know? Have you changed a habit or stopped going somewhere because of ICE or CBP activities? Tell us  [the ProPublica website asks in an online reporting form].  A note about our commitment to your privacy: ProPublica and Univision News are gathering these stories for the purposes of our reporting, and will not voluntarily share your information with third parties without your express permission.

Vermonters might want to help: after all it is mud season in Vermont, and tradition dictates we watch for when ICE is out.

After Parkland shooting Congress takes action: funds bulletproof vests…for themselves

National, Uncategorized,

A Congressional committee has voted to expand funding that provides bulletproof vests and other safety measures for fellow members even while speaker Ryan rules out gun control.

At a news conference after recently meeting with students representing victims of the Parkland high school shooting, House Speaker Paul Ryan said: Republicans would focus on law enforcement failures, not tighter gun control, in the wake of the latest mass shooting, which left 17 children and educators dead at a Florida school Feb. 14. 

The House did attach incentives for better sharing of gun crime data through the existing National Instant Criminal Background Check System, NICS, to a bill passed last December called “Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.” But Senate Democrats considered the NRA-promoted expanded concealed-carry act a non-starter and the bill remained in the House.

But ‘ in-House’ safety concerns come first it seems. The Hill.com reports that nine members of the Congressional Committee on House Administration (six Republicans and three Democrats) by voice vote, have arranged to spend more money to keep themselves and their colleagues safe from gun violence.vested interest

The Committee on House Administration passed the measure by voice vote, amending the Members’ Congressional Handbook to define bulletproof vests for members as a “reimbursable” expense.

The amendment allows members to use taxpayer dollars to hire security personnel for events like town halls, to accompany them “during the performance of their official duties” or to be stationed at their district offices.

This increase in personal-safety funds comes on top of a previous increase they granted themselves following the shooting and wounding of Congressman Steve Scalise at a GOP baseball practice last summer. That measure provided each member an extra $25,000 for office and public-event security.

Maybe when they have provided themselves enough-bullet proof vests and security guard funding to feel safe they could schedule the time and courage to tackle the issue of gun violence for everyone else — you know, high school students and the general public, their constituents. Or, they could recycle some 1960s PSA’s advising the rest of us to just “duck and cover.”