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Friday, 19 May 2017 - 10:40pm
John Feffer
The comparisons are multiplying. There was Trump’s appeal to the “silent majority” during the presidential election, his later adoption of the “mad man” theory in his foreign policy, his possible taping of conversations, his arm-twisting of top officials, and his all-around involvement in the scandals enveloping his administration.
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 10:28pm
Judith Schwartz
Thursday’s military airstrikes against pro-Syrian government forces barely made a dent in the unceasing news coverage of the political drama in the White House. This in itself reveals a discomfiting reality: bombing has become so routine we barely take note. In truth, our economy is addicted to war. Recall that the stock price of Raytheon, which makes the Tomahawk Cruise Missile, soared the day after the U.S. attack on Syria in April, Trump’s first foray into military aggression.
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 9:47am
If you're getting distracted by the election, don't forget that TEF results are due less than a week after we go to the polls. Andrew McRae has some predictions for the future of the exercise.
The post Not forgotten yet – what next for TEF? appeared first on Wonkhe.
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 9:02am
Academician parks are a new innovation from China, something to support coming to the UK perhaps?
The post Celebrating and supporting academics (in the park) appeared first on Wonkhe.
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 6:51am
Lauren McCauley, staff writer
Rob Quist, the once-longshot, banjo-strumming populist running for Montana's empty U.S. House seat, is giving Republicans a scare.
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 6:34am
Deirdre Fulton, staff writer
Outraged that a formatting mistake may cost disadvantaged Montana students their chance to earn a college degree, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) has come up with a creative way to force Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to reconsider: Hold her salary hostage.
Last month, the U.S. Education Department (DOE) rejected dozens of grant applications to the federal Upward Bound program over minor formatting problems. The University of Montana (UM), which had requested $1.7 million—$340,000 a year from 2017 to 2022—was among them.
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 6:24am
Jeff Cohen
Roger Ailes, the man who pioneered “alternative facts,” is dead. During the first five years of Fox News—which was built almost single-handedly by Ailes’ genius—I was a regular on-air contributor/panelist there. I dealt with his right-wing lieutenants plenty, but only met Ailes once, at a Fox News “Holiday Party.” The invite did not call it a “Christmas Party.” It was one of hundreds examples of hypocrisy at the TV channel that would soon launch the “War on Christmas” hoax.
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 6:17am
Peter Van Buren
“My guilt will never go away,” former Marine Matthew Hoh explained to me. “There is a significant portion of me that doesn't believe it should be allowed to go away, that this pain is fair.”
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 6:10am
Nadia Prupis, staff writer
Senate Democrats said President Donald Trump's company could be "effectively a pass-through for income" that violates the Constitution's two Emoluments Clauses, and demanded that the Trump Organization hand over details about its operations since its chief took office.
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 5:09am
Jon Queally, staff writer
In the wake of news that the U.S. military bombed forces allied with the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday, at least one member of Congress is voicing dissent by saying President Donald Trump has no legal authority to order such attacks.
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 4:38am
Deirdre Fulton, staff writer
The Trump administration is preparing to unveil a sweeping school choice plan that would be prioritized at the expense of student aid and debt relief as well as public education programs that help low-income children, according to news reports.
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 4:20am
Nika Knight, staff writer
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under President Donald Trump on Thursday afternoon voted to begin slashing regulations protecting a free and open internet.
"This doublespeak—the claim that every attempt to protect true free market competition from monopoly control is necessarily a regulatory attack on the free market—is pure Orwellian demagoguery."
—Writers Guild of America, West
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 4:03am
Nadia Prupis, staff writer
Watchdog groups are sounding the alarm over the Trump administration's formal announcement to Congress on Thursday that he will relaunch negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico.
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 3:31am
Today, the FCC voted to move ahead with its plan to slash net neutrality protections, despite overwhelming public outcry and growing evidence of serious fraud by net neutrality opponents.
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 3:27am
The Trump Administration submitted notice to Congress today that it intends to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, according to reports.
Bill Waren, Friends of the Earth’s senior trade analyst, issued the following response:
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 3:13am
Lauren McCauley, staff writer
Calling his comments and attempted explanations both "bizarre" and "crazy," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) slammed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin during a hearing on Thursday for backtracking on repeated promises by the Trump administration that it would support breaking up the big banks by reinstating a new version of the Glass-Steagall Act.
"This is just bizarre... this is crazy." —Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 3:03am
Doug Henwood
How much longer can this go on? As I write this, PredictIt gives 71/29 odds that Trump will last the year, but it’s mighty tempting to buy the “no”—especially after the revelation that he asked Comey to shut down the Flynn investigation. (Disclosure alert: I bought 100 shares of “no” at $0.28.)
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 2:53am
Jeff Bryant
The vision of “education reform” coming from the Trump administration and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos entails cutting direct aid to students, especially those from low-income families, in order to expand the private sector’s financial footprint in education.
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 2:30am
Robert C. Koehler
“Trump emphasized the need to work together to end the conflict in Syria” . . . and “emphasized his desire to build a better relationship between the United States and Russia.”
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 2:21am
On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission voted along party lines to begin a rulemaking process in order to jettison Title II protections and once again place broadband-access providers under Title I of the Communications Act — a move that would undermine the sound and successful basis for the FCC’s landmark 2015 Open Internet Order.
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 1:33am
As a candidate, Donald Trump promised to make NAFTA “much better” for working people. Today’s notice is markedly vague.
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 1:30am
Robert Borosage
Democratic Party luminaries and 2020 presidential mentionables gathered this week for an “ideas conference” organized by the Center for American Progress, the Democratic establishment’s premier think tank.
Its stated purpose was to focus not on “what could have been,” said CAP Vice President Winnie Stachelberg introducing the day, but on “new, fresh, bold, provocative ideas that can move us forward.”
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 1:23am
Lauren McCauley, staff writer
While many welcome the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller to oversee the Russia probe as a "first step," observers warn that it is not enough to guarantee an independent, impartial investigation nor to tackle the range of possible misdeeds by President Donald Trump and his team.
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 1:11am
Center for Biological Diversity
The Center for Biological Diversity and Thomas Bachand filed suit today against the U.S. Department of State to obtain information on the route of the Keystone XL Pipeline, as well as contracts and correspondence with private consultants involved.
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 12:42am
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will hold a hearing this morning on the nomination of former energy lobbyist David Bernhardt to become the Deputy Secretary of the Interior.
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 12:24am
Nika Knight, staff writer
Update:
As feared, the Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday afternoon to begin the process of undoing open internet protections.
Earlier:
As the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) prepares to vote Thursday to begin the process of repealing net neutrality regulations, the grassroots resistance is rising up.
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 12:07am
Friday, 19 May 2017 - 12:05am
Deirdre Fulton, staff writer
Former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, who changed American politics by injecting right-wing conservatism into cable news (and vice versa), has died at 77.
The news was announced by his family; no cause of death has been reported. Citing two sources, New York Magazine national affairs editor Gabriel Sherman writes on Twitter that Ailes fell last week in Palm Beach, Florida, and suffered complications from a blood clot.