Is Trump Targeting Elijah Cummings Because Cummings Is Onto The Worst Trump Family Swamp Yet?

Most Americans outside of Washington and other than his own constituents in Baltimore had never heard of Elijah Cummings before Trump went on a week-long tirade against him. Can you recall Trump being more consistently vitriolic against any other member of Congress? Not Pelosi, not Schumer, not Adam Schiff, not Maxine Waters, not AOC, not Justin Amash, not Frederica Wilson, not Rashida Tlaib... Maybe Ilhan. But he's really been on an uncontrollable tear over Cummings. And now pretty much everyone knows something about Elijah Cummings, the son of sharecroppers from South Carolina, who, unlike the low-IQ "president," became a Phil Beta Kappa member and graduated college around the same time as Trump, but with honors. Trump lashed out at him blindly at first, accusing him, for example, of never visiting his district, even though Cummings home in Baltimore is his only home and where he sleeps every single night. But after Trump was made into a laughing stock for that comment, he assigned a team of White House aides (taxpayer paid) to start digging up dirt on Cunnings, like the video Trump, attempted to confuse people about the phrase "rat-infested" instead of "drug-infested", tweeted yesterday of Cummings making a plea for funds to solve solve drug problems in inner-city neighborhoods.

I'm The Least Racist Person There Is In The World by Nancy Ohanian

So why is Trump going after Cummings the way he is? Well, with Trump, it's always personal. Everything-- every single thing he does, every single breathe he takes, every move he makes, every bond he breaks, every step he takes, every smile he fakes, every vow he breaks, every claim he stakes-- is entirely self-serving. So... Cummings subpoenaing slumlord Kushner-in-law? the obscure personal bond Trump once had, briefly, with Cummings. It's more than just Trump's racism. But what?

How about Saudi Arabia? More than anything else, Trump is a greedy crook looking for a score. Saudi Arabia is that big score, more so than Russia. Ever since Trump met the Saudi dictator over that crystal ball, he's been trying to sell the regime there nuclear plants, not an idea any sane person approves of. The Daily Beast reports that "an underground coalition" of nuclear energy executives and lobbyists and apparatchiks they buy, is promoting an American nuclear energy comeback, a comeback that "would come via Saudi Arabia and would rely on using President Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s cozy relationship with the country’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Riyadh had launched its Vision 2030-- a project to decrease the country’s reliance on oil by building up its other economic sectors, including nuclear-- and it was looking for tenders to build its first reactors." The Daily Beast also asserts that it is this coalition is trying to persuade Trump. I'm not so sure, though. Is the "underground coalition" working for Trump rather than trying to influence him?

If the administration backed American nuclear enterprises in Saudi it could fulfill one of its main policy goals-- countering Russia and China. The coalition leaned on Trump officials to help them push forward its case, including former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Trump adviser Tom Barrack. Barrack is now under investigation in New York for his lobbying work. The New York Times reported that investigators have asked Barrack about his work related to the Saudi nuclear deal. Flynn, who left the administration in February 2017, was later indicted by Robert Mueller’s special counsel’s office and plead guilty to charges of lying to the FBI about his communications with then Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak.

...The coalition’s secret campaign to win over the Trump administration is concerning officials and Capitol Hill who are fearful that the plans for Saudi Arabia will move forward despite the fact that they raise legal concerns and could potentially threaten U.S. national security, according to two senior administration officials and more than half a dozen lawmakers. Congress is currently wrapping up an investigation into the origins of the coalition’s plans.

...The report into the House Oversight Committee’s congressional investigation into the coalition’s plan and its development is set to be released in the coming days.

House Oversight Committee? Who chairs that again? OK, let's look at a report from ABC News' Ben Siegel and Matt Mosk, House Dems blast Trump insider in new report, allege profit motive in push for Saudi nuclear plan. House Dems? Well... Oversight Committee Dems... Cummings. And who are they going after? Long time crooked Trump crony Tom Barrack who was the one pushing the proposal to build dozens of nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia while seeking to avoid restrictions on the transfer of U.S. nuclear technology and, likely to profit gigantically for... himself and... Señor Trumpanzee? Would it surprise you? It wouldn't surprise Elijah Cummings, who said "Today's report reveals new and extensive evidence that corroborates Committee whistle-blowers and exposes how corporate and foreign interests are using their unique access to advocate for the transfer of U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia."

The 50-page report, which relied on 60,000 documents and statements from whistle-blowers inside the administration, was made public Monday. It focuses on the actions of Thomas Barrack, a wealthy Los Angeles businessman who oversaw President Donald Trump's inaugural committee, as well as earlier efforts by retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn to push a Saudi nuclear energy plan. Investigators said they found evidence that "private parties with close ties to the President wield[ed] outsized influence over U.S. policy towards Saudi Arabia."

"These new documents raise serious questions about whether the White House is willing to place the potential profits of the President's friends above the national security of the American people and the universal objective of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons," according to the report.

...The investigation focuses on company called IP3 International, which is run by a group of retired American generals, and their years-long effort to promote a plan to sell dozens of nuclear power plants to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. The company has been aided in its efforts by two well-known Trump advisers: Flynn and Barrack, a California investment executive who has deep ties in the Middle East.

The report alleges that Flynn and later Barrack helped push the proposal during the 2016 campaign, in the White House and later during briefings with senior White House officials including Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and ultimately President Trump. IP3 officials also briefed cabinet officials including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, according to the report.

Barrack promoted the effort as part of what he called a "Middle East Marshall Plan" despite concerns from some White House officials and lawmakers that Saudi Arabia's true goal was to obtain technology for nuclear weapons, which could heighten tensions in the unstable region.

Ahead of the report's release, a spokesman for Barrack spoke with the New York Times about allegations that the longtime Trump friend used his connections to assist foreign interests, telling the newspaper Barrack had no incentive to lobby on behalf of any particular country or countries in the Persian Gulf because his business interests and policy concerns span the entire region.

...Barrack met with Trump at the White House about the Middle East Marshall Plan on the same day the president met with Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House, correspondence between Barrack's secretary and the White House cited in the report shows.

Barrack told a business associate he briefed Trump before and after his meeting with the Saudi deputy crown prince and helped facilitate the prince's visit, according to text messages cited in the report. Those text messages also indicate that Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and a White House senior adviser, participated on a call with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and leader of the United Arab Emirates who is closely aligned with Saudi Arabia.

Barrack later emailed Kushner about his potential role in the administration.

"After thinking through our discussion this week, it might be an interesting idea to have the Special Envoy position hold responsibility for implementing the economic agenda and related action items that will arise out of your Saudi-sponsored summit," he wrote, according to the report.

Barrack texted a business associate in UAE that he had floated the idea, which he said would be "to make me a special envoy to the Middle East to help them with Saudi, UAE and gulf USA cooperation…"

In the days following Trump's meeting with the Saudi deputy crown prince, IP3 leaders engaged with senior Trump administration officials to promote the nuclear proposal, including former Defense Secretary James Mattis, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

In a March 17, 2017, letter to the Saudi leader, the IP3 officials said the "agreements" between the president and the Saudi ruler "established the framework for our unique opportunity to take the next steps with IP3 and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." The letter also referenced a "partnership" to acquire Westinghouse Electric, a U.S.-based company that manufactures nuclear reactors.

Soon after, Barrack began corresponding with top officials at IP3 about a plan to bid for Westinghouse in what Democrats believe to be the Saudi Public Investment Fund, a sovereign wealth fund. IP3 officials met with Kushner in August on their proposal to acquire Westinghouse, which, under the agreement, would be the main partner in the effort to build more than 30 nuclear reactors in Saudi Arabia.

In a memo to Stephen Schwarzman, the CEO of Blackstone, one of the private equity firms he contacted about potentially bidding, Barrack said Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates "have committed to invest in the Westinghouse acquisition and are willing to concurrently lock in Westinghouse as their primary partner on the 30+ reactors expected to be constructed… in the coming decade." Blackstone declined to partner with Colony.

While that bid for Westinghouse was unsuccessful, Barrack in January of 2018 began corresponding with a top official at Brookfield Asset Management, the firm that acquired Westinghouse, according to emails cited in the report, offering his assistance.

More than a month later, an employee at Barrack's firm firm Colony NorthStar sent a slide presentation to another associate, suggesting it had been invited to contribute $50 million to Brookfield's bid for Westinghouse.

On Aug. 1, 2018, Brookfield completed its acquisition of Westinghouse after securing final government approval for the deal from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a review board filled by Cabinet secretaries. It's not clear whether Barrack's company participated in the successful bid.

The House report notes that just two days later Brookfield agreed to a 99-year lease of 666 Fifth Avenue, a distressed building owned by Kushner Companies, Jared Kushner's family real estate firm. The property was a financial burden on Kushner Companies and the group was facing a $1.4 billion mortgage payment the following February.

Cummings is lucky Trump didn't have him eliminated. Or kill a member of his family.

Today Facebook announced it had removed Saudi manipulative endeavors on its platforms. "This week," wrote Nathaniel Gleicher, their Head of Cybersecurity Policy, "we removed multiple Pages, Groups and accounts that were involved in coordinated inauthentic behavior on Facebook and Instagram. We found two separate operations: one of which originated in United Arab Emirates and Egypt, and another in Saudi Arabia. The two campaigns we removed were unconnected, but both created networks of accounts to mislead others about who they were and what they were doing. We have shared information about our findings with law enforcement, industry partners and policymakers."

We also removed 217 Facebook accounts, 144 Facebook Pages, five Facebook Groups and 31 Instagram accounts that were involved in coordinated inauthentic behavior originating from Saudi Arabia that focused primarily on the Middle East and Northern Africa, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan.

The individuals behind this activity posed as locals in countries targeted by this campaign-- often using fake accounts-- and created fictitious personas to run Pages and Groups, disseminate their content, increase engagement and drive people to an off-platform domain. They managed Pages that masqueraded as local news organizations. The Page admins and account owners typically posted in Arabic about regional news and political issues, including topics like the Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, his economic and social reform plan “Vision 2030,” and successes of the Saudi Armed Forces, particularly during the conflict in Yemen. They also frequently shared criticism of neighboring countries including Iran, Qatar and Turkey, and called into question the credibility of Al-Jazeera news network and Amnesty International. Although the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, our review found links to individuals associated with the government of Saudi Arabia.

• Presence on Facebook and Instagram: 217 Facebook accounts, 144 Facebook Pages, 5 Facebook Groups and 31 Instagram accounts.
• Followers: About 1.4 million accounts followed one or more of these Pages, about 26,000 accounts joined at least one of these Groups, and around 145,000 people followed one or more of these Instagram accounts.
• Advertising: Around $108,000 spent on Facebook and Instagram ads paid for in Saudi riyal and US dollars.

Trump, The Republicans And Baltimore

Rats by Nancy Ohanian

In 2016, Trump won the Republican primary in Maryland with 236,623 votes. On the same day, Hillary beat Bernie in that state, 63.0% to 33.2%... but Bernie's 281,275 second place finish was still enough to beat Trump. In Baltimore City. It was even funnier. Hillary beat Bernie by a lot-- 81,115 to 38,710, but in the GOP primary that Trump won, he only got a little more than a tenth of what Bernie got, 3,950 votes. and in the general election, Hillary crushed Trump statewide, 60.5% to 35.3% but really eviscerated him in Baltimore-- 85.4% to 10.9%. So, apparently, the feeling is mutual.

Remember when Trump promised he would help cities like Baltimore if he was elected? Maybe someone believed him... but no one I know. Yesterday, John Wagner, reporting for the Washington Post, wrote "Four years ago, in the aftermath of rioting in Baltimore, Donald Trump criticized then-President Obama for not doing enough to address problems in the city and claimed that 'I would fix it fast!' if he were president."

But what does Señor Trumpanzee even know about Baltimore? Anything at all? Well... maybe. It turns out that Kushner-in-law is a slumlord there, reviled for mismanagement. Ellen Cranley reported that Kushner "has continued ownership of several Baltimore-area housing complexes that have been so embroiled in housing violations and mismanagement that Kushner has been called a 'slumlord.'nA 2017 investigation by ProPublica and the New York Times called The Beleaguered Tenants of Kushnerville detailed how a subsidiary of the real-estate firm Kushner Companies functioned and the poor living conditions that plagued residents in complexes bought under Kushner's oversight. The investigation reported decrepit conditions including leaking ceilings, maggots in living-room carpet, and raw human sewage coming from a kitchen sink. The report also includes mention of multiple retaliatory lawsuits against tenants who tried to move out. Residents said in lawsuits they noticed near-constant but largely unexplained fees that would end up aiding their eviction if they weren't paid. The cases are ongoing, as Kushner Companies switched the suit to state court after a federal judge ordered the company to reveal the identity of mysterious company investors."

Whether Trump is aware of the complexes where it seems "no human being would want to live" or not, the housing troubles tied to Kushner haven't gone unnoticed by the city.

Baltimore County officials took notice of Kushner's powerful status while announcing in 2017 that he was to be fined for more than 200 code violations in apartments owned by Kushner Companies.

"We expect all landlords to comply with the code requirements that protect the health and safety of their tenants," county officials said in a statement at the time, "even if the landlord's father-in-law is president of the United States."

The Post Greg Sargent noted that whenever Trumpanzee "unleashes one of his racist attacks, the political world tends to go through a now-predictable cycle. We are first told Republicans think Trump’s latest racist display is brilliant politics, a view often pushed by Trump himself. Then gullible pundits echo that claim. And then persistent digging by reporters shows that Republicans are actually worried that his racism poses a serious problem for the party, unmasking the initial confidence as false bravado." Yesterday two other Post writers, Mike DeBonis and Paul Kane, reported that Republicans might not agree with Trumpanzee's assessment of Baltimore. "House Republicans have scheduled their yearly policy retreat for a downtown Baltimore hotel in September… That could present an uncomfortable situation for Trump, as sitting presidents customarily speak each year at their party’s House retreat." Who will play Winston in the Trump reenactment of Room 101 for the convention. I'm sure he would have loved to have gotten Justin Amash. House Republicans with the lowest Trump adhesion score so far this year are Will Hurd (R-TX), John Katko (R-NY), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Fred Upton (R-MI)...

Will Trump Be Impeached For Selling Nuclear Technology To Saudi Arabia?

A Saudi riyal is worth about a quarter. Do you know what one looks like? Take a closer look at what Kushner-in-law is counting and pocketing in the photo above. And some think Trump's big score isn't going come from deals in Russia but from solicited bribes (and deals) with the Saudis. In fact, one top Senate staffer told me last night that if Trump goes through with a sale of nuclear technology to the Saudis, it could be the last straw among some Republicans to give Pelosi the thumbs up to move forward with impeachment.

"If he goes forward with this without explicit backing from Israel," the staffer for a high profile senator told me, "he's going to set loose a chain reaction among Republicans that could lead right to impeachment. Pelosi knows how to count votes-- even Senate votes."

Early Monday morning Erin Banco reported for the Daily Beast what many on Capitol Hill have been buzzing about for some time: Trump's push for a Saudi nuclear deal. "In 2017," wrote Banco, "Team Trump worked to clinch a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia-- and an independent investigative agency wants to know what happened behind closed doors."

The Office of the Special Counsel-- not Mueller-- is investigating whether officials (whistleblowers) were retaliated against for raising concerns about Trump's nuclear deal with the Saudis. Banco: "As part of that investigation, OSC has also reviewed allegations about potentially improper dealings by senior members of the Trump administration in their attempt to map out a nuclear deal with Riyadh, according to two sources with knowledge of OSC’s work." Congress is also on the same track after Elijah Cummings issued a report outlining allegations about efforts inside the White House to rush the transfer of highly sensitive U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia-- a potential violation of the Atomic Energy Act and without review by Congress.

The Cummings report said IP3-- a firm that includes former top military officers, diplomats, and energy experts-- had developed a proposal for Saudi Arabia that was simply “a scheme for these generals to make some money.” That report said former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had ties to the firm during his time working in the Trump administration.

Sources with direct knowledge of the IP3 plans today say the firm is focused on providing security for nuclear-related projects and in finding ways to compete with Russia and China to secure those projects throughout the Middle East.

In the wake of the Cummings announcement, the Daily Beast reported that U.S. companies and officials in the administration were moving forward in their conversations with Riyadh about a nuclear deal and the transfer of nuclear technology.

The Department of Energy then approved seven U.S. companies to conduct nuclear-related work in Saudi Arabia. (Federal law stipulates that companies obtain clearance from the U.S. government for exporting nuclear technology to or engaging in the production or development of special nuclear material in the kingdom.)

That news has prompted intense questioning by lawmakers in hearings with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Energy Rick Perry.

“One thing that is in our interest is to prevent Saudi Arabia from getting a nuclear weapon,” Rep. Brad Sherman, a California Democrat, said. “What I’ve seen in this administration recently... is an effort to evade Congress and to some extent evade your department and provide substantial nuclear technology and aid to Saudi Arabia while [the country] refuses to abide by any of the controls we would like to see regarding reprocessing, enrichment.”

A cohort of lawmakers is ready to reveal next week a new piece of legislation that would stop the Trump administration from bypassing Congress on the transfer of nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia.

Congress is also increasingly concerned about Jared Kushner’s relationship with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and his recent trip to Riyadh, especially because of the news that his security clearance was denied last year in part because of concerns about foreign influence. Engel is demanding a briefing from Pompeo on Kushner’s trip to Saudi Arabia last month that included a senior State Department official but otherwise left American diplomats in the dark.

Long Island Congressman Tom Suozzi isn't going for any of this talk about nuclear proliferation. "If the Saudis," he told me this morning, "can’t be trusted with a bone saw, they can’t be trusted with nuclear weapons. Regardless of any relationship this administration may think they currently enjoy with the Saudis, giving them nuclear technology is a bad idea in the short term and, especially over the long term."

Ted Lieu (D-CA), a very active member of both the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Judiciary Committee, isn't feeling any more sanguine and comfortable about this than Suozzi is. This morning he growled that "Trump wants to transfer nuclear technology to a regime that has committed war crimes, tortured activists and cut up a journalist with a bone saw. What could possibly go wrong?"

Midnight Meme Of The Day!

by Noah

You're a fine man Mr. Cummings, and those are fine words, but Republicans do not consider "this country" to be their country. Some of them have never left The Confederacy. Some of them sold out to Russia when they accepted all that Russian cash that the NRA laundered just for them. Some, if not all, went for having it both ways. So the question is: What are you and your Democratic colleagues going to do about it? And, by the way, half measures will not be acceptable. We used to hang traitors and foreign agents.

Would Trump And His Cronies Really Sell Nuclear Technology To The Saudis?

Michael Flynn by Nancy Ohanian

The Republicans put Gym Jordan in as ranking member of the House Oversight and Reford Committee, basically to obstruct oversight and reform. He has 17 GOP members behind him, although two of his members, Justin Amassh (R-MI) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) are know to sometimes weigh things from a patriotic, rather than a partisan perspective. Not that it matters that much. Chairman Elijah Cummings is backed by 23 Democrats. And it's not just the number disparity that favors the Dems. Look who's on the committee: Ro Khanna (D-CA), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), Jackie Speier (D-CA), John Sarbanes (D-MD)... FIRE. CRACKERS. And the committee is about to come front and center.

If there's a group who can confound the fascist-oriented new "legal" theory by crackpot wing nuts David Rivkin and Elizabeth Price Foley that Congress can't investigate Trump because there are too many crimes, Cummings has the team. And, like the House Judiciary Committee, they're taking one crime at a time. I'm particularly interested in something that has caught Ro Khanna's attention: a plot my Trump insiders to subvert the law by transferring nuclear technology to the Saudis.

Flynn may be headed to prison and I've been predicting that eventually Trump crooked billionaire crony Tom Barrack would eventually follow him. But now the two of them appear to be at the heart of this scheme to sell the Saudis and other Middle East players nuclear technology as Trump was being sworn in to his illegitimate "presidency." NBC has been reporting the story for 3 days and it's being picked up widely now. But there are still some important at the center of this that will have to be answered by Cummings and Khanna, if not Mueller. Were the whistleblowers encouraged by Netanyahu-- or someone else within the Israeli establishment-- for example?

This morning Ro Khanna told me that "It’s is deeply concerning given the financial interests Tom Barrack has that he was driving our policy in selling nuclear secrets to the Saudis. For context, Barrack has defended the murder of Khashoggi as legitimate. He raised $100 million plus for Trump’s inaugural and he would stand to gain millions from the sale of nuclear technology to the Saudis."

What Ken Dilanian reported for NBC News is that "whistleblowers" from within Trump's National Security Council have told the Oversight Committee that "efforts by former national security adviser Michael Flynn to transfer sensitive nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia may have violated the law, and investigators fear Trump is still considering it."

The House Oversight Committee has formally opened an investigation into the matter, releasing an interim staff report that adds new details to previous public accounts of how Flynn sought to push through the nuclear proposal on behalf of a group he had once advised. Tom Barrack, a prominent Trump backer with business ties to the Middle East, also became involved in the project, the report says.

Just days after Trump's inauguration, backers of the project sent documents to Flynn for Trump to approve, including a draft Cabinet memo stating that the president had appointed Barrack as a special representative to implement the plan and directing agencies to support Barrack's efforts, the report says.

Career national security officials objected to the plan, citing what they deemed Flynn's conflict of interest, and also that the proposal sought to bypass a policy review that is required whenever nuclear technology is transferred to another country, the report says.

The proposal, which involved enlisting the U.S. nuclear power industry to build nuclear plants across the Middle East, was backed by a group of retired generals who formed a firm called IP3. Flynn described himself in financial disclosure filings as an "advisor" to a subsidiary of IP3, IronBridge Group Inc., from June 2016 to December 2016 — at the same time he was serving as Trump's national security adviser during the presidential campaign and the presidential transition, the report says.

The report quotes one senior Trump official as saying that the proposal was "not a business plan," but rather "a scheme for these generals to make some money," and added, "OK, you know we cannot do this."

"The whistleblowers who came forward have expressed significant concerns about the potential procedural and legal violations connected with rushing through a plan to transfer nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia," the report says.

"They have warned of conflicts of interest among top White House advisers that could implicate federal criminal statutes. They have also warned about a working environment inside the White House marked by chaos, dysfunction, and backbiting."

The Oversight Committee, led by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said its investigation of the plan "is particularly critical because the administration's efforts to transfer sensitive U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia appear to be ongoing."

On Feb. 12, the report notes, Trump met with nuclear power developers at the White House about sharing nuclear technology with countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia. Next week Trump son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner is set to embark on a tour of Middle Eastern capitals-- including Riyadh-- to discuss the economic portion of the administration's Middle East peace plan.

"Experts worry that transferring sensitive U.S. nuclear technology could allow Saudi Arabia to produce nuclear weapons that contribute to the proliferation of nuclear arms throughout an already unstable Middle East," the report says.

Khanna has been reminding people that "the Saudis have a track record of providing weapons to America’s enemies-- such as Al Qaeda In Yemen. We should be very concerned about the threat of nuclear proliferation if the Saudis were to acquire sensitive nuclear technology." He added when we spoke that he "will work on the Oversight Committee to get to the bottom of the financial interests that are driving the Administration’s policy to sell nuclear technology to the Saudis. I also will work to make sure Congress opposes under the Atomic Energy Act any such sale to the Saudis."

In a press release from Cummings office Tuesday, there were two highlighted sections:

and, ominously...

Aside from a letter to Señor Trumpanzee's clownish Chief of Staff, Cummings sent letters to multiple entities involved with promoting this plan, including the Departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy, State, and Treasury; the Joint Chiefs of Staff; the Central Intelligence Agency; Flynn Intel Group; IP3; ACU Strategies; Colony NorthStar; and Mr. Barrack.

And Today’s Mass-Murdering Politico Award Goes To… Nick Lyon, Alleged Criminal Mastermind Behind Flint, Michigan’s Water Poisoning!

-by Noah

Way to go Nick Lyon! Who, you might ask, is Nick Lyon? Well, Nick isn’t a household name, at least not yet, but he is the head of Michigan’s "health” department." He has been charged by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette with involuntary manslaughter for his part in the city of Flint’s water being poisoned with brain-damaging lead. Lyon is the highest-ranking official in his state to be charged, so far.

What amounted to willful introduction of lead into the Flint water system has resulted in untold cases of permanent brain damage among the children of Flint, along with numerous cases of the dreaded Legionnaires’ disease, a type of pneumonia caused by excessive amounts of bacteria in the Flint River water. Twelve people have died, hence the involuntary manslaughter charge.

In the case of Legionnaires’ disease, you can get it by inhaling the vapor from your building’s cooling system, which is apparently what happened. The state is disputing that and it is harder to show a connection as direct as the lead issue. To prevent the lead problem, all the government officials had to do was treat the water to reduce the leaching of lead from pipe corrosion into the water. They chose not to when they decided to switch Flint’s water supply to the polluted Flint River and the lead from the pipes in the water system was free to flow into the homes, offices, and schools of Flint.

With such notoriety has Nick Lyon now has, I won’t be surprised if President Trump choose him for a high position in the EPA, or maybe a brand new Department of Clean Water Cabinet slot that will oversee drinking water for the entire country. Senor Trumpanzee is probably looking over his resume right now. After all, Trump has already inflicted the country with another Michigan disaster named Betsy DeVos. All Nicky will have to do is kneel before the prez and tell him what beautiful hair he has.

The charges against Lyon were announced Wednesday. Predictably, Michigan’s Governor, Rick Snyder was not charged, so, it looks like Nick Lyon is at the top of the list of those taking the fall. Such is justice in these United States. Others have also been charged with involuntary manslaughter, though, including former Flint Emergency Director Darnell Earley, former Flint water manager Howard Croft, and Liane Shekter-Smith and Stephen Busch of the ironically named Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. I have to add that the word ‘involuntary’ in the charge seems misused to me.

In a separate move, Dr. Eden Wells, Michigan’s chief medical officer, has been charged with obstruction of justice and lying to a police officer. Take a few seconds to absorb the poetic meaning of the name Dr. Eden Wells, as it applies to a case where a water supply was poisoned, not just on the watch of a person named Eden Wells, but a doctor, no less. The Michigan Department of Health & Human Services website describes her position as one that “serves Michigan citizens by providing professional leadership”. Dr. Eden Wells formerly worked for the state Bureau of Epidemiology where her responsibilities included “preparedness planning for potential bioterrorism and pandemic influenza events.” Talk about irony. If what happened in Flint wasn’t some sort of bioterrorism, I don’t know what is. It certainly was preventable.

The events that lead to the Flint tragedy have their origins in republican-style governance. Yes, the Flint River has been polluted for over 100 years but that is precisely why it was not considered a viable source for human consumption until Rick Snyder and his people came along. It was they who brought in the republican version of “Emergency Management”; a legal move where by a democratically elected local government can be replaced by a hand-picked team of cronies.

The law actually has its roots in a 1990 law called the Local Government Fiscal Responsibility Act, which was passed when Democratic Governor James Blanchard was in office. Under Governor Snyder’s direction, the law was “fine-tuned” into the now infamous Emergency Manager Law. It was one of Snyder’s very first moves upon taking office. Initially, Michigan voters rejected the new version of the law when it was put before them in a referendum in 2012, only to see a further “fine-tuning” which included a stipulation that the public could not repeal it. And you thought Wisconsin’s Scott Walker was the worst fascist governor in the Midwest.

This amped up, steroid version of the original law is now championed by republicans who see it as a nifty way to subvert democracy, when, in their warped, agenda-packed view, the people of a town or city can’t govern themselves, or they think they can do things better by making dictator moves. The side perks of running things with your own team naturally enter into the concept.

The professed ideas of self-governance, self-determination, self-reliance, and whatever else you want to call it, that republicans always mouth on about is mightily contradicted by the truths and greed of their “Emergency Management” “we know best”, “we will decide for you” approach to local government. It’s one thing to label democrats in such a way, but it’s a whole other thing to say you stand for one way and do another.

That Governor Snyder hasn’t also been charged with something in this case is a joke. The same can be said for all of the statehouse republicans that voted to ram through the aforementioned Emergency Management system that enabled this criminal fiasco. Flint had financial problems but at least their water was safe. Nick Lyon reportedly directly to Snyder. Are we supposed to believe Snyder had no idea what was going on with Flint’s water?

Snyder was called to Washington to testify before Congress but it was a classic insincere dog and pony show. Little has been done, even with a democratic president and EPA head; little that is except the distribution of water bottles and the supplying of some water filters that may or may not always work, depending on the concentration of lead in the water at a given place on a given day. At least, the Flint River is no longer being used as a water source for Flint. The state has switched them back to the Detroit River for their water.

Finally, last December, Congress approved at least $120 Million to fix Flint’s water situation. In March, the Trump administration cut that down to $100 Million. Don’t be shocked if further subtractions are made. After all, Senor Trumpanzee has a wall he wants to build.

Snyder, predictably, is defending his people, and, by proxy, himself, saying:

“Nick Lyon has been a strong leader at the Department of Health and Human Services for the past several years and remains completely committed to Flint’s recovery. Director Lyon and Dr. Eden Wells, like every other person who has been charged with a crime by Bill Schuette, are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Fair enough Rick. That is our system, even when you decided to remove the democratically elected local government of Flint. I guess you want things both ways. I especially love the part about him saying that Lyon is committed to Flint’s recovery from a disaster; a disaster that he could have prevented even after the installation of the governor’s Emergency Management team.

All in all, the Flint water catastrophe is yet another fine example of the Republican Party’s concept of healthcare and environmental protection, not to mention the protection impoverished Americans who just don’t matter to them. The attitude of Snyder and his people was: Let them drink lead. There’s no just penalty in our legal system for that.

If you want to see Governor Snyder doing his Sgt. Schultz “I know nothing. I don’t recall fest,” check this out. They don’t come much more contemptuous.

Yes, Let's Have A Big Tent-- While Not Stinking It Up With Anti-Choice Dirt-Bags And Racists

Yesterday, Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), speaking at Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn, noted how the supporters of the Jim Crow laws that the 60s generation was still fighting are very much alive and well inside the Republican Party, particularly inside the Trump Regime. Thankfully, at this point, we've mostly driven them out of the Democratic Party. Hopefully, forever. "While Jim Crow may be dead, he's got some nieces and nephews that are alive and well. And a few of them are running around 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," explained Jeffries to an appreciative audience. Too bad Elijah Cummings and Tom Perez weren't in it.

When I was growing up, the members of Congress who prevented civil rights legislation from passing-- many of them untouchably powerful committee chairmen-- were Democrats, mostly, though not entirely, from the South. Someone should ask Elijah Cummings if he'd want them to be part of his Big Tent too... because I can't imagine many of them would be interested in being in a tent with him if he's being treated equally. Cummings was on Morning Joe yesterday extolling the virtues of the big tent and how fabulous the Blue Dogs-- like the Trumpists, the nieces and nephews of Jim Crow-- are. "Because it's one thing to say, 'OK, I don't want to be bothered with these folks.' It's another thing to say, 'Let's pull them under the tent, so we can be effective and efficient in getting something done.' Period." Tom Perez was on ABC News and very much on the same page: "If you’re going to be a big tent party as we are, and you're going to help elect Democrats who have generated support in their communities ... the will of those voters is the will that we must respect."

They were both talking about anti-Choice Democrats. I don't want to kill them or hurt them or say they can't register as Democrats and vote for Democratic candidates. They're more than welcome to. But they can't be leaders of the party and they can't drag the Democratic Party backwards towards the bad old days. After all, that's what we have a Republican Party to represent. The Democratic Party is a pro-Choice party, the same way the Democratic Party is a pro-equality party. Cummings and Perez might need a little refresher course.

That poll PPP released yesterday showing a mammoth 2018 enthusiasm gap developing for the Democrats is not because the Democrats want to welcome racists and anti-Choice freaks into the party leadership. "Democrats," reports PPP, "lead the generic Congressional ballot 47-41. But what's more notable is the enthusiasm imbalance. 63% of Democrats say they're 'very excited' about voting in the 2018 election, compared to only 52% of Republicans who express that sentiment. When you look at the 2018 House picture just among the voters most excited about turning out next year, the lead for Democrats grows to 19 points at 57-38. Republican leaning voters are comparatively disengaged, with the GOP holding advantages only among voters who are 'somewhat excited' (48- 40) and 'not that excited' (46-31)... One reason for the comparative lack of Republican excitement may be the continued unpopularity of Donald Trump. Only 43% of voters approve of the job he's doing to 50% who disapprove. The core promise of Trump's campaign was to 'Make America Great Again,' but only 35% of voters actually think he's accomplished that goal to 55% who think he hasn't... One finding that may best sum it all up when it comes to how down voters are on Trump: by a 42/40 spread, they have a higher opinion of United Airlines than they do of him."

Ryan and McConnell, tied to the Republican Party's despised anti-Choice and racist policies, are colossally unpopular. Who wants to invite that stinking pile of garbage into the Democratic tent? Oh, right: Elijah Cummings, Tom Perez and, of course, Debbie Wasserman Schultz. If the Democratic Party doesn't stand for something besides coddling Wall Street campaign donors, it will wind up as hated as the Republican Party-- and deservedly so.

The TPP And The Democratic National Convention

John Laesch our old friend-- a union carpenter and the former Illinois congressional candidate who began the process of ending Denny Hastert's disgraceful career-- is still very much a Democratic Party activist in Illinois. When the House voted to grant President Obama fast track authority to ram the TPP through Congress with minimal fuss and bother, Illinois House delegation was split-- 9 for and 9 against... but then a few days before the vote one of the crooks in the delegation, pro-TPP Aaron Schock, was forced to resign in a corruption scandal that's still unfolding. In the end, every single Illinois Republican plus one disreputable New Dem, Mike Quigley, voted in favor and all the other Democrats-- even fake Democrat Dan Lipinksi-- voted NO. It passed 219-211 and Obama and Paul Ryan are trying to make sure its voted on in the lame duck session of Congress right after the election, when it's relatively easy to pass unpopular legislation. Last week Laesch wrote a post for the Progressive Fox, which he asked us to share here.


We NEED To Undercut President Obama's TPP At The Democratic Convention
-by John Laesch

At the last Democratic Party Platform Committee meeting in St. Louis, Secretary Clinton’s surrogates on the platform committee voted to keep the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) off of the platform agenda.  We also saw the language and strategy that they are employing to allow the Clinton campaign to quietly shift positions on the TPP; giving the Obama Administration one last chance to pass this disastrous trade bill.

According to the Washington Post, during the platform meeting, Rep. Elijah Cummings (Clinton) said, “I don’t want to do anything as he ends his term to undercut the president of the United States.”

Dr. Cornel West (Sanders) effectively countered Cummings when he said, “the responsibilities of citizenship should transcend loyalty to the president.”

I would like to go a step further-- We need to undercut President Obama’s TPP. It is not good for America or working people anywhere in the world. It is not good for the environment. The TPP extinguishes democracy; replacing it with corporate government. We don’t need the TPP. The president is wrong and he needs to reverse his position on the TPP. The time to send this message is at the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia. If you need to read more about the TPP, this in-depth analysis from Public Citizen titled, "Secret TPP Text Unveiled: It is worse than we thought,” is worth the read.

Some labor leaders are OK with this public neutering by Clinton and her corporate allies, because in private she has offered them the reassurance of her opposition to the TPP. I would encourage those labor leaders to join David Sirota and simply ask the former Secretary of State to share her State Department e-mails on the topic. Sirota received a letter saying the e-mails would not be available until after the November election. What is the big secret?  More importantly, how can we trust someone who flip-flops so much? Do we think that Secretary of State Clinton’s e-mails regarding the TPP reflect her real views? Or, do we think that candidate Clinton’s position on the TPP is real? Or, are the most recent views by her platform committee surrogates the real view?

The Presumptive Presidential Nominee Directs the Democratic Platform:

In 2012, Democratic Chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz repeatedly underscored that a political party’s platform represents the views of the presidential candidate.

In this exchange with Anderson Cooper, Cooper asked Wasserman Shultz, “you’re saying he (Mitt Romney) directed the writing of the platform, at least that’s the claim you make in your fundraising e-mail?” Wasserman Schultz cuts Anderson off and says, “That’s the responsibility of a presidential campaign.” Throughout the interview she resolutely and emphatically claimed that the presidential candidate directs the writing of the platform.

In this case, the presumptive nominee, Hillary Clinton, is directing the platform. Using the DNC chairs emphatic statements and the recent platform vote, it is safe to say that Hillary Clinton herself now supports the TPP.

What Do We Do to Stop the TPP?

For those who still appreciate the benefits of organized labor and the scraps of democracy that we enjoy with a main course of oligarchy, the TPP is suicide. I think labor leaders need to take this more seriously. One thing you can do is contact your labor union representatives and underscore that we need to undercut President Obama at the Democratic Convention in July.

In asking the question, “who do we trust?” I still trust Bernie Sanders.  Sanders has launched a petition calling on the U.S. Congress to vote no on the TPP. Please sign Bernie’s petition.

Disclosure: I am a proud union carpenter with Local 195 (Carpenters Officially oppose the TPP) and I am a #StillSanders delegate to the Democratic National Convention. I will be standing strong against the TPP at the convention.

It is time for President Obama to listen to the people and put the brakes on the TPP, fast track, “smart track,” or anything else that further dissolves our democracy and offshores American jobs to sweatshops in foreign countries. Instead, we should be talking about an exit from NAFTA-- an Obama pledge from his 2004 U.S. Senate race.

The Red State Model

Republican venture capital billionaire Bruce Rouner invested $26 million out of his own pocket and raised far more than that from 9 other right-wing oligarchs like sociopathic billionaire and Rahm Emanuel ally Ken Griffin, to buy the Illinois governorship in 2014. Democratic ineptitude and corruption-- with a little nudge from Rahm Emanuel-- helped Rauner, another close ally of Emanuel's, defeat Democratic reformer Pat Quinn. Within a month of taking over, Rauner had moved to defund unions and taken over $4 billion in state funding out of higher education, Medicaid, state employee pensions, public transit, and local government support, while starting work on cutbacks to end funding for infrastructure projects and programs that address GOP bugaboos like domestic violence, public transit service, Child Care Assistance, homeless youth, autism and immigrant integration.

Soon after, Rauner announced he wanted to put an emergency manager in charge of the Chicago Public Schools, a tactic commonly applied in neighboring Michigan by another multimillionaire Republican Governor, Rick Snyder. Unlike Snyder, however, Rauner has a Democratic legislature to contend with. The Illinois House has 71 Democrats and 47 Republicans and the Illinois Senate has 39 Democrats and 20 Republicans. It's served as a partial check on Rauner. In Michigan the story is very different. Although the state voted for Obama both times-- 57-41% in 2008 and 54-45% in 2012-- and reelected Democrat Debbie Stabenow 59-38% in 2012 and elected Democrat Gary Peters 55-41% in 2014, Republicans have effortlessly outmaneuvered corrupt and inept Democrats in gerrymandering up the state so that the legislature consists of a Republican-controlled House (61 GOPers to 45 Dems) and a Republican-controlled Senate (27 Republicans to 11 Democrats). In 2010 when Michigan Republicans elected "one tough nerd" governor, over a pathetically weak Democrat, the stage was set for Republican one-party rule in a pretty Democratic-leaning state.

Like Rauner, if Michigan's Rick Snyder stands for one thing, it is running government like a business. Modeling himself on Koch/ALEC-owned Scott Walker next door, Snyder immediately went after unions and immediately started appointing emergency managers to override democratically-elected local governments-- entirely in black areas. Although Republicans in the House did all they could this week the help Snyder and Michigan Republicans shirk responsibility for the catastrophe in Flint, as early as January, the New York Times was already connecting the dots between Snyder's overthrow of democracy and what ensued in his state.

Public outrage over the tainted water in Flint and the decrepit schools in Detroit has led many people to question whether the state has overreached in imposing too many emergency managers in largely black jurisdictions.

In the cases of both Flint and the Detroit Public Schools, governance was under the jurisdiction of the governor, rather than local officials closer to the ground.

In Flint, emergency managers not only oversaw the city-- effectively seizing legal authority from the mayor and City Council-- but also pressed to switch the source of the financially troubled city’s water supply to save money.

In Detroit, the schools are on the brink of insolvency after a series of emergency managers dating to 2009 repeatedly failed to grapple with its financial troubles, while also falling short on maintaining school buildings and addressing academic deficiencies. The current emergency manager for the schools, Darnell Earley, previously served in that role in Flint.

Residents of majority-black cities have long cried foul over the practice. They argue that it disenfranchises voters and violates a deeply felt ethos of American democracy that allows for local representation. They also say emergency management gives influence to what is now a mostly white, Republican leadership in Lansing, the state capital. And they worry that in their decisions, emergency managers are more concerned with fiscal discipline than public health.

“Tell me what race dominates in those communities that get emergency managers?” said Hubert Yopp, the mayor of Highland Park, Mich., which is 93 percent black and in past years has had an emergency manager. “People have a very real reason to question what that’s about. It would be one thing if the emergency managers worked with the local governments to make things better. But it’s about having dictator power in the city. The locals have no say.”

...In 2011, when Mr. Snyder took office, he and the Legislature agreed to grant more sweeping powers to emergency managers, but opponents succeeded in repealing the law in a statewide referendum a year later. Mr. Snyder and lawmakers promptly passed another law, which allowed more options for cities and schools in fiscal distress-- including emergency managers.

“They’ve chosen this policy, and this is the outcome,” said Jim Ananich, a Democratic state senator whose district includes Flint. “We have poisonous water flowing through people’s faucets. In the Detroit Public Schools, they have overcrowded classrooms and rats. Unfortunately, the emergency managers in these communities have been failing.”

Mr. Ananich said the law allowing emergency managers should be “reviewed and repealed quickly.”

“It’s been a failed project,” he said. “There’s absolutely no accountability with the government. They are trying to circumvent local democracy and say, ‘This one individual knows best.’”

...Marcus Muhammad, the new mayor of Benton Harbor, Mich., whose population is 89 percent black and which had been under emergency management, said the managers had been a “horrific experiment” that left the city defending itself against lawsuits filed over actions they had taken.

“I have said that a different strategy and a different law should be put in place to help distressed cities,” he added. “Not to poison democracies, poison water, poison communities.”

There is no other outcome possible from conservative governance than what we've seen in Michigan. The nature of conservatism is authoritarian, anti-democratic, anti-human and above, corrupt. Friday, writing for New York, Eric Levitz castigated the GOP for what their ideological social experiments have done to Louisiana and Kansas, a topic we have discussed regularly here at DWT, most recently after a GOP debate in which Li'l Marco, not yet aware that he was a well-coiffed walking corpse, claimed, with a straight face, that "conservatism is about ideas." Rubio, another third-rate puffed up Republican hustler incapable of critical thinking, was wrong; conservatism is about looting. Levitz is calling for accountability, specifically in Kansas and Louisiana, and wonders why the presidential debates never veered towards questions about how doctrinaire and crackpot conservative governance has driven the two states towards bankruptcy. He suggests that voters "demand that Donald Trump, John Kasich, and Ted Cruz explain why their tax policies won’t fail America in the same way they’ve failed the people of Kansas."

In 2010, the tea-party wave put Sam Brownback into the Sunflower State’s governor’s mansion and Republican majorities in both houses of its legislature. Together, they implemented the conservative movement’s blueprint for Utopia: They passed massive tax breaks for the wealthy and repealed all income taxes on more than 100,000 businesses. They tightened welfare requirements, privatized the delivery of Medicaid, cut $200 million from the education budget, eliminated four state agencies and 2,000 government employees. In 2012, Brownback helped replace the few remaining moderate Republicans in the legislature with conservative true believers. The following January, after signing the largest tax cut in Kansas history, Brownback told the Wall Street Journal, “My focus is to create a red-state model that allows the Republican ticket to say, 'See, we've got a different way, and it works.'"

As you’ve probably guessed, that model collapsed. Like the budget plans of every Republican presidential candidate, Brownback’s “real live experiment” proceeded from the hypothesis that tax cuts for the wealthy are such a boon to economic growth, they actually end up paying for themselves (so long as you kick the undeserving poor out of their welfare hammocks). The Koch-backed Kansas Policy Institute predicted that Brownback’s 2013 tax plan would generate $323 million in new revenue. During its first full year in operation, the plan produced a $688 million loss. Meanwhile, Kansas’s job growth actually trailed that of its neighboring states. With that nearly $700 million deficit, the state had bought itself a 1.1 percent increase in jobs, just below Missouri’s 1.5 percent and Colorado’s 3.3.

Those numbers have hardly improved in the intervening years. In 2015, job growth in Kansas was a mere 0.1 percent, even as the nation’s economy grew 1.9 percent. Brownback pledged to bring 100,000 new jobs to the state in his second term; as of January, he has brought 700. What’s more, personal income growth slowed dramatically since the tax cuts went into effect. Between 2010 and 2012, Kansas saw income growth of 6.1 percent, good for 12th in the nation; from 2013 to 2015, that rate was 3.6 percent, good for 41st.

Meanwhile, revenue shortfalls have devastated the state’s public sector along with its most vulnerable citizens. Since Brownback’s inauguration, 1,414 Kansans with disabilities have been thrown off  Medicaid. In 2015, six school districts in the state were forced to end their years early for lack of funding. Cuts to health and human services are expected to cause 65 preventable deaths this year in Sedgwick County alone. In February, tax receipts came in $53 million below estimates; Brownback immediately cut $17 million from the state’s university system. This data is not lost on the people of Kansas-- as of November, Brownback’s approval rating was 26 percent, the lowest of any governor in the United States.

Louisiana has replicated these results. When Bobby Jindal moved into the governor’s mansion in 2008, he inherited a $1 billion surplus. When he moved out last year, Louisiana faced a $1.6 billion projected deficit. Part of that budgetary collapse can be put on the past year's plummeting oil prices. The rest should be placed on Jindal passing the largest tax cut in the state's history and then refusing to reverse course when the state's biggest industry started tanking. Jindal's giveaway to the wealthiest citizens in the country's second-poorest state cost Louisiana roughly $800 million every year. To make up that gap, Jindal slashed social services, raided the state’s rainy-day funds, and papered over the rest with reckless borrowing. Today, the state is scrambling to resolve a $940 million budget gap for this fiscal year, with a $2 billion shortfall projected for 2017 ...Louisiana can no longer afford to provide public defenders for all its criminal defendants. Its Department of Children and Family Services may soon be unable to investigate every reported instance of child abuse. Education funding is down 44 percent since Jindal took office. The state’s hospitals are likely to see at least $64 million in funding cuts this year.

What has happened to these states should be a national story; because we are one election away from it being our national story. Ted Cruz claims his tax plan will cost less than $1 trillion in lost revenue over the next ten years. Leaving aside the low bar the Texas senator sets for himself-- my giveaway to the one percent will cost a bit less than the Iraq War!-- Cruz only stays beneath $1 trillion when you employ the kind of “dynamic scoring” that has consistently underestimated the costs of tax cuts in Kansas. Under a conventional analysis, the bill runs well over $3 trillion, with 44 percent of that lost money accruing to the one percent. John Kasich’s tax plan includes cutting the top marginal rate by more than ten percent along with a similar cut to the rates on capital gains and business taxes. Even considering Kasich’s appetite for Social Security cuts, his plan must rely on the same supply-side voodoo that Kansas has so thoroughly discredited. As for the most likely GOP nominee, even with dynamic scoring, his tax cuts would cost $10 trillion over the next ten years, with 40 percent of that gargantuan sum filling the pockets of Trump’s economic peers.

If any of these men are elected president, they will almost certainly take office with a House and Senate eager to scale up the “red-state model.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said of Brownback’s Kansas, “This is exactly the sort of thing we (Republicans) want to do here, in Washington, but can’t, at least for now.” Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s celebrated budgets all depend on the same magical growth that has somehow escaped the Sunflower State.

Do you know anyone who votes for Republicans who who doesn't vote at all? Have a talk with them. Or chip in $5 or $10 to the campaigns of people ready to fight them... by tapping the thermometer: