Tag: flunkies

Trump butt-kisser judges declare federal agency unconstitutional

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Three judges appointed by former President Donald Trump handed down an astonishing decision on Wednesday, effectively holding that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the federal agency charged with protecting consumers from a wide range of predatory activity by lenders and other financial services, is unconstitutional and must be stripped of its authority.

The decision by the conservative United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit relies on a novel reading of an obscure provision of the Constitution, and is entirely at odds with a Supreme Court decision that rejects the Fifth Circuit’s reading of that provision. This is not unusual behavior from the Fifth Circuit, which often reads the Constitution in novel and unexpected ways that benefit political conservatives and the Republican Party…

Should the three Trump judges’ decision stand, it would effectively neutralize much of the federal government’s ability to fight financial fraud — although that outcome probably is not likely given that the Fifth Circuit’s decision is such an outlier. As Wilson explains, the CFPB assumed enforcement authority “over 18 federal statutes” when it was formed nearly a dozen years ago, and these statutes “cover everything from credit cards and car payments to mortgages and student loans.”

There will be more time wasted in coming years – than crass class evil usually accounts for – simply trying to shovel horseshit ideology from where it has been piled atop American law craft by Trump and his lackeys.

Trump and his Flunkies lie about their Family Separation disaster

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During the year and a half in which the U.S. government separated thousands of children from their parents, the Trump administration’s explanations for what was happening were deeply confusing, and on many occasions—it was clear even then—patently untrue. I’m one of the many reporters who covered this story in real time. Despite the flurry of work that we produced to fill the void of information, we knew that the full truth about how our government had reached this point still eluded us.

Trump-administration officials insisted for a whole year that family separations weren’t happening. Finally, in the spring of 2018, they announced the implementation of a separation policy with great fanfare—as if one had not already been under way for months. Then they declared that separating families was not the goal of the policy, but an unfortunate result of prosecuting parents who crossed the border illegally with their children. Yet a mountain of evidence shows that this is explicitly false: Separating children was not just a side effect, but the intent. Instead of working to reunify families after parents were prosecuted, officials worked to keep them apart for longer…

Over the past year and a half, I have conducted more than 150 interviews and reviewed thousands of pages of internal government documents, some of which were turned over to me only after a multiyear lawsuit. These records show that as officials were developing the policy that would ultimately tear thousands of families apart, they minimized its implications so as to obscure what they were doing. Many of these officials now insist that there had been no way to foresee all that would go wrong. But this is not true. The policy’s worst outcomes were all anticipated, and repeated internal and external warnings were ignored.

When I speak to someone of fascist-minded politics, programs…the callous bigotry turned into programmatic cruelty by the worst kinds of bureaucrat, this is a legitimate example of what I’m talking about. Thugs like Trump and his followers haven’t the slightest concern for the lives they have destroyed. They would commit these crimes, again…in a heartbeat. Someone else’s heart, of course.

Those who lie(d) for Trump should be held accountable

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Don’t let the chronic liars cash in on their dishonesty. Press secretaries like Joe Lockhart, Ari Fleischer and Jay Carney, who left the White House with their reputations in various stages of intact, made millions taking their skills — and credibility — to corporate America. Trump’s liars don’t merit that same golden parachute. Let it be known to the business world: Hire any of Trump’s fellow fabulists above, and Forbes will assume that everything your company or firm talks about is a lie. We’re going to scrutinize, double-check, investigate with the same skepticism we’d approach a Trump tweet. Want to ensure the world’s biggest business media brand approaches you as a potential funnel of disinformation? Then hire away.

I second that emotion!

Congress Clown Show actually snuck some good into that clunky Omnibus Bill

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The legislation passed by the US Senate Monday was downright frankensteinian: a pile of unrelated bills stitched together. Apart from the pandemic relief measures, it contained thousands of pages of government funding and tax credit extensions, like a semester’s worth of homework stapled to the final exam.

But in the end, it includes the most significant federal energy and climate policy in years, setting the agenda for Department of Energy research programs and authorizing higher funding levels for clean energy priorities…

The legislation also includes the Energy Act of 2020, which lays out a lengthy to-do list for the Department of Energy and others. There is far too much in the act to detail it all, but [the article features] some highlights.

There are lots of if’s in the coming year. It will take a Herculean effort to clear the knee-deep shit overlaying many useful agencies. Criminal corporate flunkies musr be flushed down the same toilet of history that awaits Trumpublicans and hisself. Then, the need to rebuild and, of course, better than before.

I’m not certain if the Biden crowd and the Dems as currently constituted are capable of much [or all] of that. Reforming the Democratic Party into a progressive political party never made me salivate in the past…and still doesn’t. But, we all try our best, eh?

Trump sics his attack dog flunkies onto John Bolton

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The Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into the possibility that former national security adviser John Bolton “unlawfully disclosed classified information” in a memoir he published earlier this year, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Citing conversations with three people familiar with the matter, the Times said DOJ “has convened a grand jury, which issued a subpoena for communications records from Simon & Schuster, the publisher” of Bolton’s book, “The Room Where It Happened,” which was released in June…

Bolton, who served for a time as President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, has said he has complied with all of the revisions requested by the White House.

Someone on staff, no doubt, read the 2-paragraph condensed version to the Fake President.

Fake president is scared of genuine civil servants

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Yuri Gripas/Reuters

“My 42-year career began during the Carter administration and involved service to seven presidents: four Republicans and three Democrats. Most recently, I had the privilege of leading the dedicated professionals of the National Counterterrorism Center; over four decades, I worked throughout the intelligence community, on the National Security Council and overseas…”
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U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Mark Warner, heads of the Senate intelligence committee, voiced their support for whistleblowers on Friday after a former counterterrorism official fired by the Trump administration filed a complaint.

The senators’ joint statement reflected concern from both Senate Democrats and Republicans over the politicization of U.S. spy agencies under President Donald Trump with the appointments of loyalists to leadership positions.

A congressional source said their statement was prompted by a complaint about political interference in the intelligence process made by Russell Travers, a veteran intelligence officer ousted recently as acting chief of the National Counterterrorism Center…

Even suits like Rubio and Warner realize the value of non-partisan, experienced, civil servants vs the obedient sock puppets the Fake President loves putting into important jobs. They’re eager to kiss his ignorant butt…even though one of their prime roles is to take the fall for trying to implement the crap proto-fascist ideology he dotes on.