BIDEN AND HIS SUPPORTERS also refer to the Inflation reduction Act as the biggest step forward on climate ever.” it comes after four years of unchecked destruction of earth, air and …
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BIDEN AND HIS SUPPORTERS also refer to the Inflation reduction Act as "the biggest step forward on climate ever.” it comes after four years of unchecked destruction of earth, air and water — all in ways best serving the self-interest of Donald Trump.
And what readily illustrates how things have changed during the Trump and Biden administrations are a couple of current headlines in The Seattle Times. Across the top of the front page on Aug. 17, the headline read: “WHAT’S IN THE VAST CLIMATE AND TAX BILL.” The sub-head Began “Inflation Reduction Act: It beefs up the IRS, imposes new assessment on big businesses . . .”
So I’ll pause here to note that the entire bill sticks with Biden’s original pledge not to raise taxes on families or businesses making less than $400,000 a year. And money also is raised to increase the IRS’s going after tax cheats.
Which is why I also found quite a bit of coincidence just two days later (Aug. 19) in The Times’ major headline that read “TRUMP EXEC PLEADS GUILTY IN TAX SCHEME. Plea Deal — Allen Weisselberg is required to testify at company’s trial.” Weisselberg entered the Trump scene in the 1970s as a junior bookkeeper for Ex-President Donald Trump’s father Fred. He so far is personally guilty of avoiding ‘$1.76 million in income taxes over the past 15 years.
The news story began: “One of Donald Trump’s most-trusted executives pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiring with Trump’s company to carry out a long-running tax scheme, an admission that painted a damning picture of the former president’s family business but did not advance a broader investigation into the former president himself.“
Those interested in reading these stories by the Associated Press and The New York Times may Goggle the headlines on the Internet. I still personally prefer good old newspaper front pages.
With one of the most important elections in history coming up on Nov. 8 in the form of the 2022 mid-term, we’re fortunate indeed that Biden’s Inflation Reductional Act was passed into law Aug. 16 by a divided Congress. This included a 50-50 Senate forcing a tie-breaking vote by Vice-President Kalama Harris.
And even that required some fossil-fuel concessions to West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, who should remembered by all for his family connections to the coal industry. Hard to say how the Senate (let alone the House) will be structured after Nov. 8 — although Biden should protect us from any serious reversals with the power of his veto well into the future.
As the AP reported last week, Biden’s bill — passed midway through his second year with a divided Congress — “brings the biggest investment ever in the U.S. to fight climate change. Also in the legislation is a $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket prescription drugs for Medicare recipients as well as a new 15% corporate minimum tax to ensure big businesses pay their share. And billions will be left over to pay down federal deficits.”
None of this, of course, sets well with Republicans. But although more comprehensive versions of the bill collapsed (thanks again in large part to Manchin), it will touch the lives of countless American lives and secure longtime party goals.
Politics will remain in play none the less as the bill probably won’t do much to immediately tame inflationary price hikes (which, it should be noted, are pretty much world-wide these days). So we’ll be hearing a lot from Republicans with short-term memories and short-range outlooks between now and Nov. 8.
Take GOP Governor Greg Abbott of Texas who is polling a slight edge over Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke. He blames Biden for a high inflation and looming recession — quite the opposite of what is promised by the climate and tax bill. In fact, government figures show inflation is 10.2% in the Houston area and 9.4% around Dallas — higher than the national average of 8.5%.
Trump and his ilk continue to find lies productive . . . so Republicans, who have long accused the IRS of unfairly targeting conservatives, have seized on the new law to fan unfounded conspiracy theories about the threat that mom-and-pop shops and middle-class Americans will face from an emboldened tax collector. The scale and speed at which rumors about the agency have spread portend the challenges the Biden administration will confront as it embarks on the biggest overhaul of the IRS since its inception. From Twitter and TikTok to newsletters and cable news, Republicans have embraced the notion that a bigger IRS is poised to be weaponized against them, often distorting facts to make their points.
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Justin Hale
Trump is asking a federal court to appoint a special master to review the do***ents the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago.
Remember, it was the FBI with the help of the Clinton campaign, that created the false "Russia Collusion" story, why would he trust them?
Thursday, August 25, 2022 Report this
MargeS
"Former President Donald Trump has pulled a dramatic about-face to hail “great” FBI agents in the wake of the search of his Mar-a-Lago home — and boasts that he has “always had their backs.”
He also claimed in a Truth Social post on Saturday that FBI agents “like,” even “love” him “a lot.”
HuffPost August 20, 2022
Crazy Trump!
Thursday, August 25, 2022 Report this
Thomas Camfield
Hillary Clinton decided to run for president in 2008. That was some 16 years prior to the 2024 presidential election toward which we're now looking. So I'm not all that keen in rabbit hunting in the wrong direction. I did a little looking back, however. and quickly ran across a 2020 fact-check site that began: "President Donald Trump and his supporters on social media are citing unverified 'Russian intelligence' from 2016 as evidence that Hillary Clinton 'was behind the entire Russian collusion hoax.' But that so-called intelligence is largely a reflection of publicly available information at the time. Federal investigations since then have do***ented multiple links between Trump associates and individuals tied to the Russian government."
So I quit without reading further or studying the plethora of well-known conservative Internet sites eager to promote the word "hoax" and proceed from there. I did notice along the way a comment by Trump’s own former attorney general 'William Barr: "The tactic that Trump is using to exert this control over the Republican Party is extortion," Barr said of his former boss. “What other great leader has done this? Telling the party, ‘If it’s not me, I’m going to ruin your election chances by telling my base to sit home. And I’ll sabotage whoever you nominate other than me.’ It shows what he’s all about. He’s all about himself.”
And let’s keep in mind, meanwhile, that Hillary can run again in 2024.
Friday, August 26, 2022 Report this
MargeS
I think Hillary has stated she will be supporting Joe Biden in 2024. It would be unusual for her to run against an in***bent president, unless Joe decides not to run, which I think is doubtful and I hope he does run, but if she did run she has my vote.
Friday, August 26, 2022 Report this
MargeS
Your dirty word checker is ridiculous. Read the whole word not pick out what you decide is dirty. In***bent? doc**nts? I think I have learned more dirty words since you sicked the word police on comments.
Friday, August 26, 2022 Report this
Justin Hale
Ironic that the left-leaning media in PT employs a censor program that is just assinine.
Saturday, August 27, 2022 Report this
Thomas Camfield
Meanwhile, this discussion began with Biden's new tax bill.
Monday, August 29, 2022 Report this
Justin Hale
"President Donald Trump and his supporters on social media are citing unverified 'Russian intelligence' from 2016 as evidence that Hillary Clinton 'was behind the entire Russian collusion hoax."
These are from credited news sources;
"US officials investigating the origin of the inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 election have now charged a prominent lawyer with lying to the FBI.
Michael Sussmann is accused of concealing that he was working for Hillary Clinton's campaign when he submitted a tip about Donald Trump." (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58591969)
This from (https://www.npr.org/2021/11/12/1055030223/the-fbi-arrests-a-key-contributor-to-efforts-trying-to-link-trump-with-russia)
DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE: Right. So the dossier included a lot of accusations about Trump, a lot of salacious accusations about Trump's *** life. It was put together by a former British intelligence official for a consulting firm hired by Democrats. And it claimed that Russia had cultivated Trump as a target for years and that the Russians were likely blackmailing him. The dossier alleged the Trump campaign was also conspiring with Russia in the 2016 election to damage Hillary Clinton. This dossier was misused by FBI agents to surveil a U.S. citizen. And a lot of the specific accusations in the dossier were even denied at the time. They looked shaky as time moved forward and have since been discredited, yet they echoed for several years.
"Federal investigations since then have do***ented multiple links between Trump associates and individuals tied to the Russian government." ..... So what? Shall we talk about Biden's connections to Chinese government officials?
Monday, August 29, 2022 Report this
Thomas Camfield
Yahoo News
With legal peril rising, Trump turns to QAnon and 4chan memes for support
David Knowles
David Knowles·Senior Editor
Tue, August 30, 2022, 11:48 AM
With the Justice Department investigation of his handling of classified do***ents pressing forward, former President Donald Trump spent Tuesday morning posting dozens of messages to Truth Social, his financially troubled social media platform, and sharing content from QAnon-linked conspiracy theory accounts and 4chan message boards.
Trump posted or reposted more than 60 messages early Tuesday, hours after he demanded on Truth Social that he be declared “the rightful winner” of the 2020 election, amplifying several memes that portrayed him as a political messiah, attacking President Biden and moderate Republicans and portraying Democrats as greater enemies of the state than Russia.
Etc., etc/
Tuesday, August 30, 2022 Report this
MargeS
Everyone should read this:
Washington Post, 8/30/2022 Opinion
Trump wants to be treated like Hillary Clinton? By all means.
By Dana Milbank
Tuesday, August 30, 2022 Report this