Frankly, Trump is not the real problem. Rather he is masking it. The real problem is this convergence of corporate interests and government. And it has a name. That name is fascism. That is the real problem. And defeating Trump (if it happens) won't make it any better. So your post is precisely on point, professor. And I, for one, don't know what to do about it. -- Very depressing.
Randy, These corporatists rely on courts to do their bidding. Hence, as Robert has asserted in many past newsletters, we must expand both the Supreme Court and the lower federal courts. If memory serves, Robert had offered cogent arguments for expanding them.
While we must shoot, in November, for a Democratic trifecta at the federal level and increase our numbers in state legislatures, I believe to expand the courts we need only hold our 49 Senate seats, flip 1 Republican-held seat, and hold the White House.
As I already have posted elsewhere on today’s site, I understand Senate Democrats have become increasingly receptive on two critical matters: 1) expanding the courts and 2) reforming the filibuster, thus, more readily being able to move legislation to the floor for debate and an up or down majority vote.
Touché…You forgot the Electoral College! I’m Tired of Minority Rule. I’m tired of Voting and MY VOTE NOT BEING COUNTED because of State Legislatures! I’m Tired of Swing States determining Who Wins The Presidency. I’m Tired of Presidents Winning the Office but Losing the Popular Vote! DRASTIC MEASURES ARE NEEDED TO RETURN POWER-TO-THE-PEOPLE! Where Is Our Modern FDR…? We have known for Decades Now what the Problems Are…We See How To Fix Them, But We Don’t.
Think about what it took to bring FDR to power. An awakened America. It took an economic catastrophe for change to occur. Largely before that, the public wasn’t engaged. So to today, it will take something similar to bring forth a push for change. Because, until it starts hurting right wingers, nothing will happen. That folks will be brought to you by a Trump administration. With all the grift, greed and incompetence that will follow. Remember, Trump will only hire toadies, not competent individuals to run the government.
Charlotte, While I share your frustration over the Electoral College, the only way we eliminate it is either through amending the Constitution or by reaching the 270 electoral vote threshold through the Interstate Compact. The former would require a two-thirds majority in each U.S. Chamber ratified by three-fourths of the States. As for the latter, I believe the current signatories amount to around 220 electoral votes, the point being that neither option is as close-at-hand as expanding the courts. Hence, as a pragmatic progressive, I prioritize how I spend calories by focusing, first, on agendas that seem most feasible.
Yay! THAT WOULD BE THE BEST SOLUTION! (THX, DUMB-FUCKS ON THE "SC"!) YOU GO, JOE! I'll go to the WH contact page and give Biden this HEL-LO-O-OO WAKE-UP CALL! 😀
You are dead right it is an atrocity. Because of MONEY!! Our whole system of government and elections are completely dominated by monied interests. We should copy how the Brits run elections.
Spending Limits: There are strict limits on how much candidates and political parties can spend on their campaigns.
Advertising and Media: Rules govern the use of broadcast media, including the allocation of free broadcasting time to political parties.
Electoral Integrity: Campaigning must adhere to laws against bribery, intimidation, and false statements.Spending Limits: There are strict limits on how much candidates and political parties can spend on their campaigns.
Advertising and Media: Rules govern the use of broadcast media, including the allocation of free broadcasting time to political parties.
Electoral Integrity: Campaigning must adhere to laws against bribery, intimidation, and false statements.
This means the official campaign period typically lasts about five weeks. However, if an election is called earlier than the scheduled date, the campaign period may be shorter, but it still follows the same legal requirements for notice and campaigning duration.
Harvey, heck, I'd be grateful if the campaign were only a year, with no ads or discussions about the upcoming election until just a year ahead. There could be fines or removal from ballots for fund-raising of any kinds, even for PACs that are for specific candidates or candidate issues earlier than the 1 year mark. We need the will to fix all of this, starting with expanding the SC and having 18-year term limits and an easier way to punish SC justices for breaking the law, like suspention for a term or removal to a lower court for a term or two. The Senate could do that without the filibuster and other barriers to actually doing something to help the American people.
Harvey, THANK YOU FOR THIS! GRATEFUL TO KNOW THE DETAILS OF THEIR SYSTEM! God Almighty, we spend 5 YEARS CAMPAIGNING HERE! AND IT IS . . . DISGRACEFUL!!
Charlotte, we too are tired of minority rule. The Senate was created to protect the interests of less populated states, often the interests of the slave-owning states. Today the interests of small states are not out of step with the larger states making the Senate the antiquated remnant of our race-based history. One major solution will be to regain control of the state houses to reflect the interests and values of the majority. Americans have seceded control of the states by not voting. We see what happens in states that extemists take over.
Harvey, I agree about state governments. People whine and complain that so many things aren't happening in their communities or states, but when asked if they vote, they say something like "I'm not going to vote; it wouldn't make a difference anyway." So, everything they want is just supposed to happen for them magically. Alas, that's not how it works and Democrats need to become more active in communicating with voters of all kinds at the local level to explain why they should vote and vote for the people who will actually work to make a positive difference. I know it works, but it is hard and time-consuming. Lies, insults, racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and general hatred work so much faster and give people a target they know nothing about that they can blame. Dems should not do that, but start asking questions like what do you want to be different in your life? How have things been going for you related to that goal/dream? Would you like things to really be different or are you OK with them as they are? (That is actually what a lot of people want because they can regularly complain and whine and that makes a connection with other like-minded people.) If you want improvement in that direction, Angela here has ideas for how the state/community could do this. Would you be on board to help her make it happen? Voting is the first thing, that is registering to vote and committing to go to the polls or vote by mail for the upcoming election. - We Dems could get this done! Stop whining over Biden, let him do his thing and run as the successful president he has been, then focus also on all the down-ballot elections, even in the reddest states.
Amen, Ruth. You hit the nail right on the head, as usual. I am very frustrated with people I know, and even love, saying they won't vote or pay attention because it depresses them. Non-voters are all over the place. I have a theory about that, too complicated to share here. It's about several thousand years of European serfdom. Many of these are the people who don't vote.
Sandra, that thought about European Serfdom is interesting and something we should take seriously. I know the reason so many women, for example are Republicans is that we have been taught from infancy that we are not as good as men and that we are weak and that "strong" men are what we should look for. People don't always say it out loud to us, but it is whispered in so many ways: articles we read, TV shows, political pundits, books, religious leaders/institutions (these are huge in pushing the Republican Party and many of them say it out loud in church when that is supposed to be against the law), and other women. Maybe we need to use these things to change the message and treat girls and women as though we are already strong and when we are interested in a partner for any purpose, we look deeper than some kind of physical strength or loud mouth. Women are not inferior no matter what some religious leaders, men in power and their surrogates claim and we need to stand up and say it over and over until more women hear and believe it. That would be a start, then push them to register to vote as their duty as an American citizen with full agency.
Totally agree with you Charlotte. Our founding fathers stuck us with the Electoral College and gave the states to much power. Of course they couldn't see into today's "future" and how those decisions would bring "their", our country to the brink of becoming a modern Fascist state. I don't know if that word even existed then. Lets be honest, they were a bunch of wealthy (mostly) white guys trying to figure out how to keep themselves and their friends in power, but without a King. Despite all we learned in school they really didn't give a shit about the average person, blacks, women, Native Americans, poor people or anyone not in their "class".
That pretty much sums up where we are today 250 years later. Their idea of lifetime court appointments assured that their lifestyles and ideas would most likely be upheld. Sometime we have been lucky and many judges have decided cases in favor of us regular folks but to often the courts swing the other way and we get ones that try to tear down all of the progress the common folk have gained over the years.
If a couple moves from a Blue state to Texas the wife will lose many of her rights as a citizen. If a couple moves from Texas to a Blue state the wife will gain rights as a citizen. This doesn't make sense on the face of it! We are all American citizen first and citizens of a state second. My passport proves that and so does my Navy discharge papers. I didn't join the Missouri Navy, I joined the US Navy.
The states should only be allowed to set speed limits and not much else. United States citizens should be allowed to travel and live in ANY state and expect to be treated equally any where any time. Cheers... GH
Not old enough to remember FDR but do Truman. I would rather not have a prom King or Queen in the Whitehouse by majority vote, but if that should come to pass the popular vote should go to he or she that received 2/3 of votes cast. If not, then electoral vote threshold determines winner.
Great comment, Barbara Jo. I've come around to expanding the court and eliminating the filibuster, as I hope others have. I didn't favor expanding the court previously because I thought it would start an escalation that may never end, but now I believe it is necessary to rebalance it after Felonious Trump's obvious court-stacking (and subsequent projection of that claim on Democrats). I didn't favor eliminating the filibuster because it served the purpose of forcing compromise, but its use has become so compromised that it is far more destructive than helpful.
Bob, Thank you for writing. As for the High Court, I would add that in 1869, when the number of Justices was set at 9, there also were 9 U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, 1 Justice assigned to each. Today there are 13.
Regarding the filibuster rule, while I don’t believe we have enough Senators to abolish the filibuster, we do have enough to resuscitate the talking filibuster plus carve-outs for fundamental rights, for example, voting. The point is that we would have mechanisms that would ensure legislation ultimately moved to the floor for debate and an up or down majority vote, with a Democratic VP casting, as warranted, the tie-breaking vote.
LUCKILY, President Biden has ALREADY appointed roughly 190 judges. MOST were in fact PUBLIC DEFENDERS, aka exactly the type of American we want to run Our courts!
We already wasted one Democratic trifecta and our current Congress, why would we do better in November?
2021–2023: 117th Congress
Congress controlled by: Democrats
--- Senate controlled by: Democrats
--- House controlled by: Democrats
- --President during 2021–2023: Joe Biden
The Senate majority was decided in two Georgia runoff elections on Jan. 5, 2020. Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff defeated Republican incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, respectively, to obtain 50 seats in the Senate, including the seats of two independent senators who caucus with the Democrats. With incoming Vice President Kamala Harris being the tie-breaking vote, the Georgia wins give Democrats narrow control of the Senate. The party also kept control of the House, albeit with a smaller majority than before.
2023–2025: 118th Congress
Congress controlled by: Split
--- Senate controlled by: Democrats
--- House controlled by: Republicans
- --President during 2021–2023: Joe Biden
Most notable, Kamala Harris cast 34th tie-breaking vote as VP. The 118th Congress has been characterized as a uniquely ineffectual Congress, with its most notable events pointing towards political dysfunction. [From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]
Locally unionise. Not just in industry and the workplaces but locally in communities. These political iterations of corrupt autocratic monopolies can only ever be successfully broken up by a combination of grassroots bipartisan pressure groups supported by legal eagle activists.
The ludicrous notion the corporations are people and corporations can bribe supreme court justices and congress is all the more reason to reign in corporate terrorists'.
I don’t completely agree. It is necessary to defeat Trump but not sufficient. What is also necessary is ti get enough Americans engaged in the politics so they can overcome those who are too lazy or intellectually challenged to see what is happening.
The power SCOTUS is ripping from our institutions is very depressing, yes. As individuals in a democracy that no longer feels representative, I share your worry that I do not know what to do. But there is one thing: though initially opposed, I now fully support the expansion of SCOTUS. At first it felt like changing the rules to the game, but as we can now see, the rules were changed a while ago. Defeating Trump in November is a critical step to achieving that end, to expanding the court.
Yes! More people need to realize this. They're obsessed with Trump while ignoring the real issues. Hundreds of my Facebook friends have posted about "Project 2025" which Trump didn't even write. Conservatives have been infiltrating down-ballot offices for years under every administration.
Just to clarify, while Trump did not write Project 2025 himself, at least twenty contributing authors are close Trump advisors and officials. There's not much daylight between Trump and Project 2025. From Wikipedia: "Notable authors of the project's Mandate for Leadership include many officials and advisors from the Trump administration, including Jonathan Berry, Ben Carson, Ken Cuccinelli, Rick Dearborn, Thomas Gilman, Mandy Gunasekara, Gene Hamilton, Christopher Miller, Bernard McNamee, Stephen Moore, Mora Namdar, Peter Navarro, William Perry Pendley, Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Kiron Skinner, Roger Severino, Hans von Spakovsky, Brooks Tucker, Russell Vought, and Paul Winfree.[56]" Agree the radical "conservative" movement to end democracy is way bigger than Trump and has been in place for many years.
Project 2025 written by Heritage Foundation members as extension of 1983 work.
Policy Agenda: The Policy Agenda is a detailed guide for the incoming administration, offering specific proposals for every major issue facing the country. It builds on the legacy of the Heritage Foundation's previous policy guides and pulls expertise from across the conservative movement to formulate effective strategies.
Presidential Personnel Database: The Presidential Personnel Database aims to cast a wide net across the country to identify conservative individuals from all walks of life who can serve in the next administration. This is meant to ensure that the policy agenda can be implemented effectively by having loyalists in key positions.
Presidential Administration Academy: The academy brings together experts who have served in prior GOP administrations to share their knowledge through workshops, seminars, online videos and mentorship programs. This training is intended to prepare new recruits to effectively carry out the administration's policies.
180-Day Playbook: The 180-Day Playbook is a plan outlining actions to be taken in the first six months of the new administration. Its goal is to essentially repeal various policies of the previous administration, including steps to implement the most urgent parts of the conservative agenda immediately after taking office.
Sometimes you just have to figure, “This is above my pay grade” ~ Check out Resolute Square and the Lincoln Project if you’re looking to get into the fight for our American Democracy
Randy, despite all of the intelligent analysis and correctives suggested here, I fear that what we are really seeing now is entropy in classic action. Historically, what begins with altruistic, governmental and social ideals, inevitably degrades into corruption and self-destruction. To date, the only effective correction has been a major disaster, such as war, global disease, environmental events or fear of some existential event that serves to unite us in mutual protective activities. Either by some miracle or sheer human cussedness, we manage to survive. So Hope remains at the bottom of Pandora’s box.
Trump is a "useful idiot" for the corporate interests as well as for Christian nationalists. He provides a pathway for their gaining more political power. What he says is immaterial as long as he delivers power whether for Christian nationalists to post the 10 Commandments on every public wall or for far more lax measures to protect the public.
Doesn't it seem strange that these same American corporations operate huge and very profitable companies in Europe under the strict and comprehensive EU regulations, and they make their profits, pay their taxes, pay their staff who get the regulated long holidays, sick pay, maternity and paternity leave, corporate pensions and all their workers rights, all without problem?
Makes you wonder why their American staff and customers put up with all this corporate bullshit, doesn't it.
Perhaps better equipped for this world? The new Right wing politician in France, Jordan Bardilla, 28 years old, is said to have 1.7 million followers on X social media page. Such is modern life.
Az- republican cult always screams that certain things cannot be done without destroying business, especially when it helps the average worker. But I frequently say, other countries have been doing this for years! It is not a matter of recreating the wheel. So we have to stop them from saying that with these facts. Good point!
I forgot to add all the environmental rules, the pollution regulations, the recycling rules, the rules that put Union and worker representatives on the Boards of major companies, the laws that stop a company firing workers or laying them off without negotiation with Unions, the 80% wages for a year or two years when a worker is made redundant......
No wonder American corporations tell you so many lies! Last thing they want is for you guys to know how great it is in Europe!
Because when the French get mad, they light your business on fire. Americans do nothing because our media convinces us that we're helpless and that the business is our savior.
In France, the priority of the State is the people, and businesses exist to employ them (under proper conditions) or supply them with satisfactory services or products.
In America the priority of the State is corporations and their profits, and people are there to serve those corporations as employees or customers or investors - anyone else is irrelevant to them.
Summed up in that phrase, "The business of America is business!"
Let's see what happens now that the European Right wing is rising on the back of migration.
To be clear, the European "nanny state" started back in 19th century Prussia when Bismarck realized he needed a healthy work force to generate the industrial output to feed his expansionist ambitions.
To your last question, Az, nope! I don't wonder at all. American workers have their healthcare tied to their jobs, for one thing. Also, unemployment benefits are anything but generous. I'd guess that the vast majority of workers live in daily fear of losing their jobs.
Meanwhile, the corporations can afford to operate under European regulations because they're making obscene profits in the U.S. They may not be paying taxes on overseas profits, either. Finally, depending on where they're incorporated (Ireland, for instance), they may not be paying full taxes in the U.S. So what are a few regulations in one area of operations???
I doubt ANY well run business will operate in any jurisdiction unless they are making genuine profits there - for one thing their shareholders would act to stop them in order to increase net profits!
But it is true that the very large tech companies have used loopholes in EU regulations to gut their European companies of gross profits, usually by charging fees from a low-tax division in, for example, Ireland. That has been targeted by the EU and is much reduced, but there is certainly more to do.
That still leaves thousands of American businesses that operate here, and pay their share of taxes and fit into all the rules, and make normal profits, like everyone else. So I still think they are just lying to you.
The Supreamo Court Has Cleared The Path For The First American KING “All Hail Caesar”
Bribes Work From Vacations , Speaking Fees, Private Airplane Travel , Lucrative Make Work For Spouse and Family Members, Forgiven Sweetheart Loans buying moms house for way more than it’s worth , paying for nephews private education.
You can buy The Supreme Court Decision You Want ; Or Need. Money Talks In The Supreme Court …
True. But, how do we regain control? I know the importance of voting, but I'm talking about policymaking and making it so good laws cannot be overturned. It makes no sense to annihilate laws that are good for people. How is it that the wealthy are so strong and against those not so rich?
Because they have trained and trained and taught and taught us all for over fifty years that anything other than a tiny corporate oligarchy of superrich and the rest of us paupers who spend our days scrambling for the teenyist little bit of money is "communism," that ALL taxes are bad and theft of "our" paychecks (such as they are), that all government is bad, that poor people are dangerous, lazy, and out to rob and shoot, and that any and all government assistance or laws to protect people are "taking our money and giving it away to lazy people who do not want to work." And we believed it and believed it, voted for it and voted for it, and the end result is Dump
Well, Still Learning, we can shoot them too! Lest they forget that . . . I offer up Clarence Thomas for starters, followed by beer lover, accused sexual assaulter Kavanaugh, then Roberts, who has turned turn-coat extraordinaire, Alito, who loves turning the Constitution on its head . . . that's good for now! In my state, there are no holds barred on guns and gun ownership!
It is we as the government grant corporations the right to exist. But do "we" have the right to abort corporations? Since Citizens United declared that corporations are people, I'm guessing not. I remember a tee shirt that read something like "I'll believe that corporations are people when Texas can execute one."
It is important, not to bury our heads in the sand and not look at the big picture. Democracy, as we have known it is crashing. The Supreme Court and the justice system under it is crashing, and as corporations are more and more given free rein, the economic markets will crash also. This is not “pie in the sky”thinking, it’s taking a good hard look at what is happening on the ground both in the United States and with the rise of fascism in Europe.
While the corporations and ultra wealthy capitalist are gaining ground, now is the time for us to consider a better system to put in place after the inevitable crash. Starting August 1, I will be attending a training on “Economic Democracy” near Asheville, North Carolina. I want to learn about a new system that will be able to lead us out of this political and economic morass. If anyone else wants information check out the following webpage:
There is are possibilities of dark money, old money,new money, who knows? Money talks, power controls, and communications connect;food for thought; go figure.
Enough people have to get hurt. It's sort of the same as with all primate societies. We have weak programming. Since we're coming off of a progressive cycle, it's going to be ugly for a while.
Finishing my comment: From the musical “Cabaret”: “Money makes the world go around, the world go around, the world go around.” And as my parents (RIP) used to say, “If you can’t figure something out, ask yourself if money’s behind it. It always is.”
That's not true! We just haven't exercised the power we have. Corporations don't run without labor and consumers. We have ALL the power. We've just been brainwashed into not using it. In Europe, labor shuts down entire cities when they don't think they're being treated fairly. Americans need to wake up to their power.
Elsie Gilmore: Yes. Somehow, we the workers and the consumers have to unite and work together. Somehow, we have got to see that we are the same, that we make a fabulous contribution and work together to bring about positive change. We have been forced to believe that only the CEO's make a great contribution; that we are helpless without their management and leadership skills. We have been forced to believe that the 1% deserve everything because they are the risk takers.
So happy I’m not alone in thinking that We the People in order to form a more perfect union definitely have the power to do just that if only we would take back that power from corporations who currently own our political (so called) leaders and who own our SCOTUS.
Wait till there is a major airline accident because Boeing took short cuts on safety related items that caused the accident. Or there is a major drug failure because the FDA could not regulate that drug. This will come back to haunt the Supreme Court. The people on Supreme Court are also consumers and so are their families.
They will once a member of their family dies because of a mislabeled drug, or dies in a horrible airplane accident, or dies because a car failed to stop at a stop sign because the brakes malfunctioned. Regulations are there to protect the public from harm, something the Supreme Court failed to realize. It may take 10 years, and countless lives lost, but this will be over turned once the reality sets in on why those regulations are there.
These guys live in another world, one of privilege and wealth, private medical care with access to proper drugs, etc, etc. They consider themselves immune to 99.99% of the effects of their decisions. Although they may want to reconsider those free Caribbean holidays from Boeing......
Az, While more insulated than most of us, they still, for example, breathe the same air. The foregoing notwithstanding, as part of this thread, I’ve laid the groundwork, quoting commenter Randy Gaul, for upending “this convergence of corporate interests and government.”
I applaud your sentiment and dedication and wish you well. But if I may pass on something that took me decades to discover myself.
I was also trying to 'make a difference' in a small way in England, that suffers some of the same curses of America, Then I moved to France and realised that many of the changes I had fought for had happened in France (and many other European countries) decades before. All I had to do was move there and problems solved, at least for me. I realised that I had been wasting years of my life to achieve something that simply was not going to happen, because not enough people actually cared. I could have spent my lifetime trying - worthy for sure, but also wasted.
I have said to people before that the difference between a tree and a person is that the tree is where it is, but the person can always move somewhere better. Many, many people have tried to make America a better place (and Russia, China, India, South America, and many, many other countries). Most have failed in frustration. Many have been locked up or died for their efforts.
Sometimes perhaps it is simply better to move to the place that suits one's own preferences and sensibilities, and leave behind that unsatisfactory place for those that seem content to accept it. In your case, perhaps America deserves Trump, the 1% and their bought-and-paid-for judges, lawyers and politicians, the untouchable corporations and the MAGA stormtroopers.
After all, it seems at least 50% of American voters may be voting for more of exactly that in November!
@Az, Speaking solely for myself, as long as I see a path for achieving even a modicum of social and economic justice for increasingly more people who feel overwhelmed and marginalized by oppressive forces largely beyond their individual control, I’m prepared to stay in the fight.
In his book “On Tyranny,” Timothy Snyder advises us to get a passport as part of a survival strategy. I hadn’t thought about that until he suggested it.
@four feet, I would submit we won’t have to wait 10 years if we expand the Court. Robert, in past newsletters, already has delineated the arguments for expanding the Court. Our job is to do all we can to ensure Democratic wins up and down the ballot. Specifically, we must hold our 49 Senate seats, flip one Republican-held seat, and hold the White House. Though not essential (I don’t think) for expanding the Court, we also must retake the House and increase our numbers in State Legislatures.
As a final point, I would note, If my understanding is accurate, our Democratic Senators have become increasingly receptive both to expanding the Court and to enacting filibuster rule reforms that would enable legislation, more readily, to move to the floor for debate and an up or down majority vote.
I agree but do you really think that this court even recognizes the damage they are doing? They are bought and indoctrinated by the Heritage Foundation, to believe that they are saving the country. These outside republican organizations are the deep state and they are a danger to us all. We cannot let Republicans define reality for us. Their funding comes strictly from Republican business moguls (or inherited money) paid for with about 10% of the tax cuts they have received from Republicans. Because they stick a fancy name on it, we don’t seem to notice their only job is to make sure that only those who do not need or deserve government funding get government funding. (think about it they are making a profit while manipulating the government for their personal benefit). The common good are dirty words to these people.
May all but Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson the 6 conservative justices suffer even more greatly than us unwashed masses. Especially the treasonously flag-waving justice and the one taking millions in bribes with a treasonous wife. What in heck have we come to???
Huh, four feet? Boeing has had several major disasters, and has it made a difference in Boeing's corporate protocols? Their planes should all be grounded until the major offenders can be weeded out and gotten rid of.
I've been writing abbot this. The basis for the attack largely comes from the false allegation that American administrative law is “unlawful” and tyrannous -- "that we have recreated, in another guise, the world of executive 'prerogative' that would have obtained if James II had prevailed, and the Glorious Revolution never occurred. Administrative agencies, crouched around the President’s throne, enjoy extralegal or supralegal power; the Environmental Protection Agency, with its administrative rulemaking and combined legislative, executive and judicial functions, is a modern Star Chamber." See Is Administrative Law Unlawful? Philip A. Hamburger (2014).
Article II, Section 2 refers to "executive departments" now called "agencies."
One of the prime movers in the bump stock, Mifepristone, SEC and now the Commerce Department cases is the "New Civil Liberties Alliance" group of lawyers, which according to its newsletter, "is working tirelessly to uphold the fundamental rights and liberties enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. This month, the U.S. Supreme Court heard NCLA’s Garland v. Cargill case, which challenges the ATF’s effort to rewrite a federal statute that bans bump stocks—something ONLY Congress can do."
Founded by Hamburger, the Alliance is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations. While NCLA does not disclose its donors, tax filings show notable donations from the Charles Koch Foundation ($1 million in 2017), Donors Trust ($1 million in 2019) , and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation ($300,000 in 2018).
Among its lawyers are Jeff Clark, who has been indicted a couple of times, https://statesuniteddemocracy.org/resources/clark-trial/ and its board is chaired by Janice Rogers Brown, formerly of the DC Cir. Court of Appeals, who once said that the Social Security Act was unconstitutional in a dissent.
As recently as March, the Alliance provided testimony that in essence, administrative agencies are unconstitutional.
Thanks Daniel! Regarding Lewis F. Powell Jr. and that 1971 memo and Substack… When this came up (within the last several months), he was unknown to me. The Substack at the time prompted me to have a look. Finding a PDF of it was not hard, but reading it was terribly disturbing. That prompted me to look Powell up on Wikipedia. One didn’t have to be a scholar to see that the memo was an attack by a bizarre person hell-bent on wanting to root out a perception existing in his mind, not the country. Sprinkle that with the BS of the Nixon presidency, and viola, here we are today. For the damage being done to American Democracy, perhaps for many Americans living, Powell lived a long time (as in, where was the grim reaper to call him home naturally before he wrote that horrible memo). Even on Wikipedia, it was surprising to see he was a Democrat. Just reading the memo, it seemed Powell was obsessed and filled with fear and loathing. Up the comment stream today, a mention of what can be done came up. It’s obvious that it will take time and more education for the American middle class and awareness of what has happened, but in a way, the message hits home to Millennials and Gen Z. As for SCOTUS, what a twisted mess; some of them are ageing fast, but perhaps not fast enough for Democracy’s sake. Even more reason to vote for Democrat in November and not DJT. (It sure seems Democracy in America needs a break from the bombardment of twisted extreme right-wing capitalism, the oppressively rich, and power corporations) Happy July Fourth to all!
Nixon liked that Powell had been part of the "massive resistance" movement. But Nixon was the author of "New Federalism" and the EPA. To the current Federalist Society/Heritage cult members, he gave us stuff like SSI and all his programs are suspect. I can go off for a month.
On a visceral level, several current SCOTUS justices are corrupt and all their decisions should be reviewed.
Among the myriad corporate amicus briefs in Loper Bright, includes one by the notorious John Eastman, for the Canter for Constitutional Jurisprudence, Constitutional Counsel Group.
Like I've said here before, the SCOTUS was the >true< loss of the '16 election. Forget Dobbs. This kind of thing was the >true< objective of the so-called conservative movement all along, and they've whored themselves to every cheap, half-assed, unpopular, unamerican pseudo religious subculture this country has to offer in order to consolidate that power into a force that serves achieving that objective. You can bet there's a lot more where that came from.
Project 2025 is the plan to take over all government operations. This Supreme Court is activily putting the project into place with out public awareness of what is going on. The future is indeed very gloomy, we are loosing rights at a rapid pace at the hands of minority elected autocrats. Even if they do not get re-elected the slide has started and it will take some very progressive thinking and legislation to right the ship of state.
One of the greatest flaws of today's capitalism is, as Robert Reich denounces, the absolute priority given to shareholders in corporate decision-making and he stubborn externalization of costs and ignorance of stakeholder concerns. In doing this, Corporate America has become a death cult guided only by short-term profit-maximization.
Professor Reich: i already see the impending mass demise of endangered species, the wholesale loss of nature (oil drilling + spilling in national parks, for example), the further poisoning of the land & waters -- and our bodies -- with PFOS + PFAS, the loss of human life to corporations using people as guinea pigs for newly-patented and poorly made drugs and cars and other objects, the boeing-made aircrafts falling out of the sky on a semi-regular basis, the loss of any workers' rights to lunch breaks and bathroom breaks, the widespread use of pesticides that were developed for use in killing PEOPLE in WW2 ... just to name a very very few things that literally keep me awake at night.
Robert, From now on I will say…regulations, that is, consumer protections ……
Perfect word exchange!
We need to retire the system of kingdom, called electoral college. We must re-elect Biden and banish Biden bashing until we have a Democratic president and majority Congress. Then we can go wild demanding the changes needed.
And we must roar if the SCOTUS dares to make trump immune from responsibility. WE can’t sit back and complain. WE become extra visible. I think this already happened with all of the pushback on right wing Biden bashing when he stood next to a 34 count felon, rapist and was allowed to spew lies, unchecked. That’s our focus! Stay on it.
absolutely,esp. on the EC-designed to attract and keep slave-holding states in the country-the outcome of the Civil War rendered it obsolete and it should have been abandoned then-but small farm states wanted some clout,and here we are-now its just tyranny of the minority
The super-rich and the six #GOP toolwankers on #SCOTUS are desperate to have a Republican president in 2025, otherwise their 30 year GOP plan to end democracy will fail. #GOPtraitors
I didn't think I needed to SAY it! I don't understand why they buried her there, maybe to keep anti-Maggot grave robbers from digging her up and hauling her around town, offering her corpse to the highest bidder!? (Now see where you have made me go with this, William?? Right into horror fiction!)
It was kept a really quiet affair. Didn't hear one word about her children mourning her. Maybe there was a write-up in the "New Yorker," or "The Atlantic"? Did you hear anything? Seems like it was all done in haste! "Famed Ivana Trump, first wife of Donald Trump, falls down flight of stairs (only 73 years old), immediately buried at Bedminster golf course in New Jersey." Funeral arrangements? Anybody showing obvious signs of loss or mourning?? Tribute or eulogy to her by anyone?? NOTHING!
This "Corporate Legal Movement" is exactly what took over Germany's democracy in the 1930's, and Hitler became the protector of it, the police and military arm of it.
Frankly, Trump is not the real problem. Rather he is masking it. The real problem is this convergence of corporate interests and government. And it has a name. That name is fascism. That is the real problem. And defeating Trump (if it happens) won't make it any better. So your post is precisely on point, professor. And I, for one, don't know what to do about it. -- Very depressing.
Randy, These corporatists rely on courts to do their bidding. Hence, as Robert has asserted in many past newsletters, we must expand both the Supreme Court and the lower federal courts. If memory serves, Robert had offered cogent arguments for expanding them.
While we must shoot, in November, for a Democratic trifecta at the federal level and increase our numbers in state legislatures, I believe to expand the courts we need only hold our 49 Senate seats, flip 1 Republican-held seat, and hold the White House.
As I already have posted elsewhere on today’s site, I understand Senate Democrats have become increasingly receptive on two critical matters: 1) expanding the courts and 2) reforming the filibuster, thus, more readily being able to move legislation to the floor for debate and an up or down majority vote.
Touché…You forgot the Electoral College! I’m Tired of Minority Rule. I’m tired of Voting and MY VOTE NOT BEING COUNTED because of State Legislatures! I’m Tired of Swing States determining Who Wins The Presidency. I’m Tired of Presidents Winning the Office but Losing the Popular Vote! DRASTIC MEASURES ARE NEEDED TO RETURN POWER-TO-THE-PEOPLE! Where Is Our Modern FDR…? We have known for Decades Now what the Problems Are…We See How To Fix Them, But We Don’t.
Think about what it took to bring FDR to power. An awakened America. It took an economic catastrophe for change to occur. Largely before that, the public wasn’t engaged. So to today, it will take something similar to bring forth a push for change. Because, until it starts hurting right wingers, nothing will happen. That folks will be brought to you by a Trump administration. With all the grift, greed and incompetence that will follow. Remember, Trump will only hire toadies, not competent individuals to run the government.
Another tRump administration to cause a rebellion among RWers? Must we have a catastrophe to institute real change?
Unfortunately, in my estimation, yes.
Charlotte, While I share your frustration over the Electoral College, the only way we eliminate it is either through amending the Constitution or by reaching the 270 electoral vote threshold through the Interstate Compact. The former would require a two-thirds majority in each U.S. Chamber ratified by three-fourths of the States. As for the latter, I believe the current signatories amount to around 220 electoral votes, the point being that neither option is as close-at-hand as expanding the courts. Hence, as a pragmatic progressive, I prioritize how I spend calories by focusing, first, on agendas that seem most feasible.
In President Biden's second term, he will be ABLE to fix these issues!
And even today, July 3, 2024, Biden can now hire the death of Donald Trump and not get prosecuted.
Yay! THAT WOULD BE THE BEST SOLUTION! (THX, DUMB-FUCKS ON THE "SC"!) YOU GO, JOE! I'll go to the WH contact page and give Biden this HEL-LO-O-OO WAKE-UP CALL! 😀
One man can't fix it.
Charlotte- I agree. This minority rule has put us where we are today. It’s an atrocity!
You are dead right it is an atrocity. Because of MONEY!! Our whole system of government and elections are completely dominated by monied interests. We should copy how the Brits run elections.
Spending Limits: There are strict limits on how much candidates and political parties can spend on their campaigns.
Advertising and Media: Rules govern the use of broadcast media, including the allocation of free broadcasting time to political parties.
Electoral Integrity: Campaigning must adhere to laws against bribery, intimidation, and false statements.Spending Limits: There are strict limits on how much candidates and political parties can spend on their campaigns.
Advertising and Media: Rules govern the use of broadcast media, including the allocation of free broadcasting time to political parties.
Electoral Integrity: Campaigning must adhere to laws against bribery, intimidation, and false statements.
This means the official campaign period typically lasts about five weeks. However, if an election is called earlier than the scheduled date, the campaign period may be shorter, but it still follows the same legal requirements for notice and campaigning duration.
Harvey, heck, I'd be grateful if the campaign were only a year, with no ads or discussions about the upcoming election until just a year ahead. There could be fines or removal from ballots for fund-raising of any kinds, even for PACs that are for specific candidates or candidate issues earlier than the 1 year mark. We need the will to fix all of this, starting with expanding the SC and having 18-year term limits and an easier way to punish SC justices for breaking the law, like suspention for a term or removal to a lower court for a term or two. The Senate could do that without the filibuster and other barriers to actually doing something to help the American people.
We are being too lienient with the suggestions on what to do. Any judge being corrupt should be stripped of his ability to serve as a judge.
Harvey, THANK YOU FOR THIS! GRATEFUL TO KNOW THE DETAILS OF THEIR SYSTEM! God Almighty, we spend 5 YEARS CAMPAIGNING HERE! AND IT IS . . . DISGRACEFUL!!
Perhaps it was all wrong to fight the revolutionary war, seeing as now the Brits have a more fair government?
Agree, Harvey, but how would those regulations ever be passed?
Charlotte, we too are tired of minority rule. The Senate was created to protect the interests of less populated states, often the interests of the slave-owning states. Today the interests of small states are not out of step with the larger states making the Senate the antiquated remnant of our race-based history. One major solution will be to regain control of the state houses to reflect the interests and values of the majority. Americans have seceded control of the states by not voting. We see what happens in states that extemists take over.
Harvey, I agree about state governments. People whine and complain that so many things aren't happening in their communities or states, but when asked if they vote, they say something like "I'm not going to vote; it wouldn't make a difference anyway." So, everything they want is just supposed to happen for them magically. Alas, that's not how it works and Democrats need to become more active in communicating with voters of all kinds at the local level to explain why they should vote and vote for the people who will actually work to make a positive difference. I know it works, but it is hard and time-consuming. Lies, insults, racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and general hatred work so much faster and give people a target they know nothing about that they can blame. Dems should not do that, but start asking questions like what do you want to be different in your life? How have things been going for you related to that goal/dream? Would you like things to really be different or are you OK with them as they are? (That is actually what a lot of people want because they can regularly complain and whine and that makes a connection with other like-minded people.) If you want improvement in that direction, Angela here has ideas for how the state/community could do this. Would you be on board to help her make it happen? Voting is the first thing, that is registering to vote and committing to go to the polls or vote by mail for the upcoming election. - We Dems could get this done! Stop whining over Biden, let him do his thing and run as the successful president he has been, then focus also on all the down-ballot elections, even in the reddest states.
Amen, Ruth. You hit the nail right on the head, as usual. I am very frustrated with people I know, and even love, saying they won't vote or pay attention because it depresses them. Non-voters are all over the place. I have a theory about that, too complicated to share here. It's about several thousand years of European serfdom. Many of these are the people who don't vote.
Sandra, that thought about European Serfdom is interesting and something we should take seriously. I know the reason so many women, for example are Republicans is that we have been taught from infancy that we are not as good as men and that we are weak and that "strong" men are what we should look for. People don't always say it out loud to us, but it is whispered in so many ways: articles we read, TV shows, political pundits, books, religious leaders/institutions (these are huge in pushing the Republican Party and many of them say it out loud in church when that is supposed to be against the law), and other women. Maybe we need to use these things to change the message and treat girls and women as though we are already strong and when we are interested in a partner for any purpose, we look deeper than some kind of physical strength or loud mouth. Women are not inferior no matter what some religious leaders, men in power and their surrogates claim and we need to stand up and say it over and over until more women hear and believe it. That would be a start, then push them to register to vote as their duty as an American citizen with full agency.
Charlotte, I agree completely!
Totally agree with you Charlotte. Our founding fathers stuck us with the Electoral College and gave the states to much power. Of course they couldn't see into today's "future" and how those decisions would bring "their", our country to the brink of becoming a modern Fascist state. I don't know if that word even existed then. Lets be honest, they were a bunch of wealthy (mostly) white guys trying to figure out how to keep themselves and their friends in power, but without a King. Despite all we learned in school they really didn't give a shit about the average person, blacks, women, Native Americans, poor people or anyone not in their "class".
That pretty much sums up where we are today 250 years later. Their idea of lifetime court appointments assured that their lifestyles and ideas would most likely be upheld. Sometime we have been lucky and many judges have decided cases in favor of us regular folks but to often the courts swing the other way and we get ones that try to tear down all of the progress the common folk have gained over the years.
If a couple moves from a Blue state to Texas the wife will lose many of her rights as a citizen. If a couple moves from Texas to a Blue state the wife will gain rights as a citizen. This doesn't make sense on the face of it! We are all American citizen first and citizens of a state second. My passport proves that and so does my Navy discharge papers. I didn't join the Missouri Navy, I joined the US Navy.
The states should only be allowed to set speed limits and not much else. United States citizens should be allowed to travel and live in ANY state and expect to be treated equally any where any time. Cheers... GH
Not old enough to remember FDR but do Truman. I would rather not have a prom King or Queen in the Whitehouse by majority vote, but if that should come to pass the popular vote should go to he or she that received 2/3 of votes cast. If not, then electoral vote threshold determines winner.
Great comment, Barbara Jo. I've come around to expanding the court and eliminating the filibuster, as I hope others have. I didn't favor expanding the court previously because I thought it would start an escalation that may never end, but now I believe it is necessary to rebalance it after Felonious Trump's obvious court-stacking (and subsequent projection of that claim on Democrats). I didn't favor eliminating the filibuster because it served the purpose of forcing compromise, but its use has become so compromised that it is far more destructive than helpful.
Bob, Thank you for writing. As for the High Court, I would add that in 1869, when the number of Justices was set at 9, there also were 9 U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, 1 Justice assigned to each. Today there are 13.
Regarding the filibuster rule, while I don’t believe we have enough Senators to abolish the filibuster, we do have enough to resuscitate the talking filibuster plus carve-outs for fundamental rights, for example, voting. The point is that we would have mechanisms that would ensure legislation ultimately moved to the floor for debate and an up or down majority vote, with a Democratic VP casting, as warranted, the tie-breaking vote.
LUCKILY, President Biden has ALREADY appointed roughly 190 judges. MOST were in fact PUBLIC DEFENDERS, aka exactly the type of American we want to run Our courts!
We already wasted one Democratic trifecta and our current Congress, why would we do better in November?
2021–2023: 117th Congress
Congress controlled by: Democrats
--- Senate controlled by: Democrats
--- House controlled by: Democrats
- --President during 2021–2023: Joe Biden
The Senate majority was decided in two Georgia runoff elections on Jan. 5, 2020. Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff defeated Republican incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, respectively, to obtain 50 seats in the Senate, including the seats of two independent senators who caucus with the Democrats. With incoming Vice President Kamala Harris being the tie-breaking vote, the Georgia wins give Democrats narrow control of the Senate. The party also kept control of the House, albeit with a smaller majority than before.
2023–2025: 118th Congress
Congress controlled by: Split
--- Senate controlled by: Democrats
--- House controlled by: Republicans
- --President during 2021–2023: Joe Biden
Most notable, Kamala Harris cast 34th tie-breaking vote as VP. The 118th Congress has been characterized as a uniquely ineffectual Congress, with its most notable events pointing towards political dysfunction. [From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]
Thank you for this breakdown,, Ron. Wow! What a sad distinction!
If we do well in the 118th Congress, I hope we see action like you suggest.
Locally unionise. Not just in industry and the workplaces but locally in communities. These political iterations of corrupt autocratic monopolies can only ever be successfully broken up by a combination of grassroots bipartisan pressure groups supported by legal eagle activists.
The ludicrous notion the corporations are people and corporations can bribe supreme court justices and congress is all the more reason to reign in corporate terrorists'.
All of that and more, Walter.... All of that and more.
I don’t completely agree. It is necessary to defeat Trump but not sufficient. What is also necessary is ti get enough Americans engaged in the politics so they can overcome those who are too lazy or intellectually challenged to see what is happening.
The power SCOTUS is ripping from our institutions is very depressing, yes. As individuals in a democracy that no longer feels representative, I share your worry that I do not know what to do. But there is one thing: though initially opposed, I now fully support the expansion of SCOTUS. At first it felt like changing the rules to the game, but as we can now see, the rules were changed a while ago. Defeating Trump in November is a critical step to achieving that end, to expanding the court.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22928900-one-nation-under-god
Actually, "Christian Nationalism" (it's the same folks who insist on blurring the line between church & state)...
Ironic that the folks who have enlisted the Banner of Heaven to further their project are anything but churchy.
Yes, they are downright un-American (and, sadly, taking their brand of anarchy/nihilism mainstream, thanks to the spineless worship of $).
Yes! That is not wasted on me. Who are they kidding? Themselves, I guess.
Yes! More people need to realize this. They're obsessed with Trump while ignoring the real issues. Hundreds of my Facebook friends have posted about "Project 2025" which Trump didn't even write. Conservatives have been infiltrating down-ballot offices for years under every administration.
Just to clarify, while Trump did not write Project 2025 himself, at least twenty contributing authors are close Trump advisors and officials. There's not much daylight between Trump and Project 2025. From Wikipedia: "Notable authors of the project's Mandate for Leadership include many officials and advisors from the Trump administration, including Jonathan Berry, Ben Carson, Ken Cuccinelli, Rick Dearborn, Thomas Gilman, Mandy Gunasekara, Gene Hamilton, Christopher Miller, Bernard McNamee, Stephen Moore, Mora Namdar, Peter Navarro, William Perry Pendley, Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Kiron Skinner, Roger Severino, Hans von Spakovsky, Brooks Tucker, Russell Vought, and Paul Winfree.[56]" Agree the radical "conservative" movement to end democracy is way bigger than Trump and has been in place for many years.
Project 2025 written by Heritage Foundation members as extension of 1983 work.
Policy Agenda: The Policy Agenda is a detailed guide for the incoming administration, offering specific proposals for every major issue facing the country. It builds on the legacy of the Heritage Foundation's previous policy guides and pulls expertise from across the conservative movement to formulate effective strategies.
Presidential Personnel Database: The Presidential Personnel Database aims to cast a wide net across the country to identify conservative individuals from all walks of life who can serve in the next administration. This is meant to ensure that the policy agenda can be implemented effectively by having loyalists in key positions.
Presidential Administration Academy: The academy brings together experts who have served in prior GOP administrations to share their knowledge through workshops, seminars, online videos and mentorship programs. This training is intended to prepare new recruits to effectively carry out the administration's policies.
180-Day Playbook: The 180-Day Playbook is a plan outlining actions to be taken in the first six months of the new administration. Its goal is to essentially repeal various policies of the previous administration, including steps to implement the most urgent parts of the conservative agenda immediately after taking office.
Drumpf can write?
Sometimes you just have to figure, “This is above my pay grade” ~ Check out Resolute Square and the Lincoln Project if you’re looking to get into the fight for our American Democracy
Randy, despite all of the intelligent analysis and correctives suggested here, I fear that what we are really seeing now is entropy in classic action. Historically, what begins with altruistic, governmental and social ideals, inevitably degrades into corruption and self-destruction. To date, the only effective correction has been a major disaster, such as war, global disease, environmental events or fear of some existential event that serves to unite us in mutual protective activities. Either by some miracle or sheer human cussedness, we manage to survive. So Hope remains at the bottom of Pandora’s box.
Well said, Ilene.
Exactly right. He is the PRODUCT of "Murican Facism," NOT the cause. Moscowmitch and his pawns are the CAUSE.
Trump is a "useful idiot" for the corporate interests as well as for Christian nationalists. He provides a pathway for their gaining more political power. What he says is immaterial as long as he delivers power whether for Christian nationalists to post the 10 Commandments on every public wall or for far more lax measures to protect the public.
JUST ANNOUNCED:SUPREME COURT GIVES TRUMP IMMUNITY!
Doesn't it seem strange that these same American corporations operate huge and very profitable companies in Europe under the strict and comprehensive EU regulations, and they make their profits, pay their taxes, pay their staff who get the regulated long holidays, sick pay, maternity and paternity leave, corporate pensions and all their workers rights, all without problem?
Makes you wonder why their American staff and customers put up with all this corporate bullshit, doesn't it.
Az, yes, indeed, it does make me wonder....Now if we could just get the 'low-information voter'
aka, the functionally illirate voter to 'wonder' too.
OO! Go for the live version, even though I usually hate those. Ian Anderson is SO FUN TO WATCH!!!
I agree, always entertaining for those of us of a certain age ( and still alive to remember it!) 😬
The mighty pen - but now the populous is illiterate and ignorant.
Perhaps better equipped for this world? The new Right wing politician in France, Jordan Bardilla, 28 years old, is said to have 1.7 million followers on X social media page. Such is modern life.
Az- republican cult always screams that certain things cannot be done without destroying business, especially when it helps the average worker. But I frequently say, other countries have been doing this for years! It is not a matter of recreating the wheel. So we have to stop them from saying that with these facts. Good point!
I forgot to add all the environmental rules, the pollution regulations, the recycling rules, the rules that put Union and worker representatives on the Boards of major companies, the laws that stop a company firing workers or laying them off without negotiation with Unions, the 80% wages for a year or two years when a worker is made redundant......
No wonder American corporations tell you so many lies! Last thing they want is for you guys to know how great it is in Europe!
Because when the French get mad, they light your business on fire. Americans do nothing because our media convinces us that we're helpless and that the business is our savior.
I see it as a more fundamental difference:
In France, the priority of the State is the people, and businesses exist to employ them (under proper conditions) or supply them with satisfactory services or products.
In America the priority of the State is corporations and their profits, and people are there to serve those corporations as employees or customers or investors - anyone else is irrelevant to them.
Summed up in that phrase, "The business of America is business!"
Right. We need to change that.
Az-Plenty of Fascist elements here since WWI
That’s why Fascists buy out news stations and encourage religion. No critical thinking, no truth gets out easily.
There is as much danger in the buy out of our media by rt wing as trump is to rule of law.
Let's see what happens now that the European Right wing is rising on the back of migration.
To be clear, the European "nanny state" started back in 19th century Prussia when Bismarck realized he needed a healthy work force to generate the industrial output to feed his expansionist ambitions.
Large areas of Russia are underpopulated. Do you think Vlad can be persuaded to take in migrants?
Of course I wouldn’t want to live in Siberia. But Siberia might be preferable to dying of starvation thanks to global warming.
You are spot on AZ
To your last question, Az, nope! I don't wonder at all. American workers have their healthcare tied to their jobs, for one thing. Also, unemployment benefits are anything but generous. I'd guess that the vast majority of workers live in daily fear of losing their jobs.
Meanwhile, the corporations can afford to operate under European regulations because they're making obscene profits in the U.S. They may not be paying taxes on overseas profits, either. Finally, depending on where they're incorporated (Ireland, for instance), they may not be paying full taxes in the U.S. So what are a few regulations in one area of operations???
I doubt ANY well run business will operate in any jurisdiction unless they are making genuine profits there - for one thing their shareholders would act to stop them in order to increase net profits!
But it is true that the very large tech companies have used loopholes in EU regulations to gut their European companies of gross profits, usually by charging fees from a low-tax division in, for example, Ireland. That has been targeted by the EU and is much reduced, but there is certainly more to do.
That still leaves thousands of American businesses that operate here, and pay their share of taxes and fit into all the rules, and make normal profits, like everyone else. So I still think they are just lying to you.
Nice to see SCOTUS providing a permission structure and paving the way for endless corruption.
It's not the corruption I worry about. It's slavery.
The Supreamo Court Has Cleared The Path For The First American KING “All Hail Caesar”
Bribes Work From Vacations , Speaking Fees, Private Airplane Travel , Lucrative Make Work For Spouse and Family Members, Forgiven Sweetheart Loans buying moms house for way more than it’s worth , paying for nephews private education.
You can buy The Supreme Court Decision You Want ; Or Need. Money Talks In The Supreme Court …
Citizen J,
Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting!
AZ, hopefully what he needs to do with it! Killing Trump, for starters!
Reality:Money, power, greed, and politics are in control; people are along for the ride!
True. But, how do we regain control? I know the importance of voting, but I'm talking about policymaking and making it so good laws cannot be overturned. It makes no sense to annihilate laws that are good for people. How is it that the wealthy are so strong and against those not so rich?
Because they have trained and trained and taught and taught us all for over fifty years that anything other than a tiny corporate oligarchy of superrich and the rest of us paupers who spend our days scrambling for the teenyist little bit of money is "communism," that ALL taxes are bad and theft of "our" paychecks (such as they are), that all government is bad, that poor people are dangerous, lazy, and out to rob and shoot, and that any and all government assistance or laws to protect people are "taking our money and giving it away to lazy people who do not want to work." And we believed it and believed it, voted for it and voted for it, and the end result is Dump
And they helped arm us with the guns to "rob and shoot" (EACH OTHER), and now they've added on bump stocks.
Well, Still Learning, we can shoot them too! Lest they forget that . . . I offer up Clarence Thomas for starters, followed by beer lover, accused sexual assaulter Kavanaugh, then Roberts, who has turned turn-coat extraordinaire, Alito, who loves turning the Constitution on its head . . . that's good for now! In my state, there are no holds barred on guns and gun ownership!
It is we as the government grant corporations the right to exist. But do "we" have the right to abort corporations? Since Citizens United declared that corporations are people, I'm guessing not. I remember a tee shirt that read something like "I'll believe that corporations are people when Texas can execute one."
Catherine, too funny (if not for the rest of their abominable human rights record when it comes to executing prisoners with abandon).
Catherine, I love that quote about Texas executing a corporation! 😀
It may have been an ACLU creation, but I can't remember.
It is important, not to bury our heads in the sand and not look at the big picture. Democracy, as we have known it is crashing. The Supreme Court and the justice system under it is crashing, and as corporations are more and more given free rein, the economic markets will crash also. This is not “pie in the sky”thinking, it’s taking a good hard look at what is happening on the ground both in the United States and with the rise of fascism in Europe.
While the corporations and ultra wealthy capitalist are gaining ground, now is the time for us to consider a better system to put in place after the inevitable crash. Starting August 1, I will be attending a training on “Economic Democracy” near Asheville, North Carolina. I want to learn about a new system that will be able to lead us out of this political and economic morass. If anyone else wants information check out the following webpage:
https://pri.institute/training/
Good morning,
There is are possibilities of dark money, old money,new money, who knows? Money talks, power controls, and communications connect;food for thought; go figure.
Enough people have to get hurt. It's sort of the same as with all primate societies. We have weak programming. Since we're coming off of a progressive cycle, it's going to be ugly for a while.
Money is power. As in Cabaret Money makes t
Finishing my comment: From the musical “Cabaret”: “Money makes the world go around, the world go around, the world go around.” And as my parents (RIP) used to say, “If you can’t figure something out, ask yourself if money’s behind it. It always is.”
That's not true! We just haven't exercised the power we have. Corporations don't run without labor and consumers. We have ALL the power. We've just been brainwashed into not using it. In Europe, labor shuts down entire cities when they don't think they're being treated fairly. Americans need to wake up to their power.
Elsie Gilmore: Yes. Somehow, we the workers and the consumers have to unite and work together. Somehow, we have got to see that we are the same, that we make a fabulous contribution and work together to bring about positive change. We have been forced to believe that only the CEO's make a great contribution; that we are helpless without their management and leadership skills. We have been forced to believe that the 1% deserve everything because they are the risk takers.
Very good point 👍 I have told people all we have to do is stop buying and traveling just necessitates and corporations will get the message.
So happy I’m not alone in thinking that We the People in order to form a more perfect union definitely have the power to do just that if only we would take back that power from corporations who currently own our political (so called) leaders and who own our SCOTUS.
Wait till there is a major airline accident because Boeing took short cuts on safety related items that caused the accident. Or there is a major drug failure because the FDA could not regulate that drug. This will come back to haunt the Supreme Court. The people on Supreme Court are also consumers and so are their families.
Do you really think they give a shit?
They will once a member of their family dies because of a mislabeled drug, or dies in a horrible airplane accident, or dies because a car failed to stop at a stop sign because the brakes malfunctioned. Regulations are there to protect the public from harm, something the Supreme Court failed to realize. It may take 10 years, and countless lives lost, but this will be over turned once the reality sets in on why those regulations are there.
These guys live in another world, one of privilege and wealth, private medical care with access to proper drugs, etc, etc. They consider themselves immune to 99.99% of the effects of their decisions. Although they may want to reconsider those free Caribbean holidays from Boeing......
Exactly. The planes they fly on, the food they eat, the cars they drive, the hospitals they stay in are all regulated for safety.
You're kidding yourself if you think the 1% is living the same experience as you are.
Makes my heart sink that the average citizen is not given the same consideration.
The average citizen is the person the corporate rich have taught to hate government for over fifty years.
Boeing makes private jets, too.
Az, While more insulated than most of us, they still, for example, breathe the same air. The foregoing notwithstanding, as part of this thread, I’ve laid the groundwork, quoting commenter Randy Gaul, for upending “this convergence of corporate interests and government.”
I applaud your sentiment and dedication and wish you well. But if I may pass on something that took me decades to discover myself.
I was also trying to 'make a difference' in a small way in England, that suffers some of the same curses of America, Then I moved to France and realised that many of the changes I had fought for had happened in France (and many other European countries) decades before. All I had to do was move there and problems solved, at least for me. I realised that I had been wasting years of my life to achieve something that simply was not going to happen, because not enough people actually cared. I could have spent my lifetime trying - worthy for sure, but also wasted.
I have said to people before that the difference between a tree and a person is that the tree is where it is, but the person can always move somewhere better. Many, many people have tried to make America a better place (and Russia, China, India, South America, and many, many other countries). Most have failed in frustration. Many have been locked up or died for their efforts.
Sometimes perhaps it is simply better to move to the place that suits one's own preferences and sensibilities, and leave behind that unsatisfactory place for those that seem content to accept it. In your case, perhaps America deserves Trump, the 1% and their bought-and-paid-for judges, lawyers and politicians, the untouchable corporations and the MAGA stormtroopers.
After all, it seems at least 50% of American voters may be voting for more of exactly that in November!
@Az, Speaking solely for myself, as long as I see a path for achieving even a modicum of social and economic justice for increasingly more people who feel overwhelmed and marginalized by oppressive forces largely beyond their individual control, I’m prepared to stay in the fight.
In his book “On Tyranny,” Timothy Snyder advises us to get a passport as part of a survival strategy. I hadn’t thought about that until he suggested it.
@four feet, I would submit we won’t have to wait 10 years if we expand the Court. Robert, in past newsletters, already has delineated the arguments for expanding the Court. Our job is to do all we can to ensure Democratic wins up and down the ballot. Specifically, we must hold our 49 Senate seats, flip one Republican-held seat, and hold the White House. Though not essential (I don’t think) for expanding the Court, we also must retake the House and increase our numbers in State Legislatures.
As a final point, I would note, If my understanding is accurate, our Democratic Senators have become increasingly receptive both to expanding the Court and to enacting filibuster rule reforms that would enable legislation, more readily, to move to the floor for debate and an up or down majority vote.
I agree but do you really think that this court even recognizes the damage they are doing? They are bought and indoctrinated by the Heritage Foundation, to believe that they are saving the country. These outside republican organizations are the deep state and they are a danger to us all. We cannot let Republicans define reality for us. Their funding comes strictly from Republican business moguls (or inherited money) paid for with about 10% of the tax cuts they have received from Republicans. Because they stick a fancy name on it, we don’t seem to notice their only job is to make sure that only those who do not need or deserve government funding get government funding. (think about it they are making a profit while manipulating the government for their personal benefit). The common good are dirty words to these people.
That's already happened, and there's speculation that they killed two whistle blowers. We're way past that.
It is already happened! Opiod sales, 737 Max!
It's already happened.
May all but Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson the 6 conservative justices suffer even more greatly than us unwashed masses. Especially the treasonously flag-waving justice and the one taking millions in bribes with a treasonous wife. What in heck have we come to???
Huh, four feet? Boeing has had several major disasters, and has it made a difference in Boeing's corporate protocols? Their planes should all be grounded until the major offenders can be weeded out and gotten rid of.
They don’t really care. At most we’ll get their “thoughts and prayers” after a major disaster, even if it involves one of their own.
Money is speech. Corporations are people. And other Republican NewSpeak. Welcome back to 1984.
Back to the (dystopian) future.
I've been writing abbot this. The basis for the attack largely comes from the false allegation that American administrative law is “unlawful” and tyrannous -- "that we have recreated, in another guise, the world of executive 'prerogative' that would have obtained if James II had prevailed, and the Glorious Revolution never occurred. Administrative agencies, crouched around the President’s throne, enjoy extralegal or supralegal power; the Environmental Protection Agency, with its administrative rulemaking and combined legislative, executive and judicial functions, is a modern Star Chamber." See Is Administrative Law Unlawful? Philip A. Hamburger (2014).
Article II, Section 2 refers to "executive departments" now called "agencies."
One of the prime movers in the bump stock, Mifepristone, SEC and now the Commerce Department cases is the "New Civil Liberties Alliance" group of lawyers, which according to its newsletter, "is working tirelessly to uphold the fundamental rights and liberties enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. This month, the U.S. Supreme Court heard NCLA’s Garland v. Cargill case, which challenges the ATF’s effort to rewrite a federal statute that bans bump stocks—something ONLY Congress can do."
Founded by Hamburger, the Alliance is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations. While NCLA does not disclose its donors, tax filings show notable donations from the Charles Koch Foundation ($1 million in 2017), Donors Trust ($1 million in 2019) , and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation ($300,000 in 2018).
Among its lawyers are Jeff Clark, who has been indicted a couple of times, https://statesuniteddemocracy.org/resources/clark-trial/ and its board is chaired by Janice Rogers Brown, formerly of the DC Cir. Court of Appeals, who once said that the Social Security Act was unconstitutional in a dissent.
As recently as March, the Alliance provided testimony that in essence, administrative agencies are unconstitutional.
https://www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/116992/witnesses/HHRG-118-JU05-Wstate-ChenowethM-20240320.pdf
This would be the predicate to adoption of the Heritage Foundation Project 2025 and the end of the American experiment in democracy.
The antidote is to sweep the election. Register Democrats to save administrative law.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
Thanks Daniel! Regarding Lewis F. Powell Jr. and that 1971 memo and Substack… When this came up (within the last several months), he was unknown to me. The Substack at the time prompted me to have a look. Finding a PDF of it was not hard, but reading it was terribly disturbing. That prompted me to look Powell up on Wikipedia. One didn’t have to be a scholar to see that the memo was an attack by a bizarre person hell-bent on wanting to root out a perception existing in his mind, not the country. Sprinkle that with the BS of the Nixon presidency, and viola, here we are today. For the damage being done to American Democracy, perhaps for many Americans living, Powell lived a long time (as in, where was the grim reaper to call him home naturally before he wrote that horrible memo). Even on Wikipedia, it was surprising to see he was a Democrat. Just reading the memo, it seemed Powell was obsessed and filled with fear and loathing. Up the comment stream today, a mention of what can be done came up. It’s obvious that it will take time and more education for the American middle class and awareness of what has happened, but in a way, the message hits home to Millennials and Gen Z. As for SCOTUS, what a twisted mess; some of them are ageing fast, but perhaps not fast enough for Democracy’s sake. Even more reason to vote for Democrat in November and not DJT. (It sure seems Democracy in America needs a break from the bombardment of twisted extreme right-wing capitalism, the oppressively rich, and power corporations) Happy July Fourth to all!
Nixon liked that Powell had been part of the "massive resistance" movement. But Nixon was the author of "New Federalism" and the EPA. To the current Federalist Society/Heritage cult members, he gave us stuff like SSI and all his programs are suspect. I can go off for a month.
On a visceral level, several current SCOTUS justices are corrupt and all their decisions should be reviewed.
I feel you brother the Federalist Society is the deep state yet folks.
Among the myriad corporate amicus briefs in Loper Bright, includes one by the notorious John Eastman, for the Canter for Constitutional Jurisprudence, Constitutional Counsel Group.
Like I've said here before, the SCOTUS was the >true< loss of the '16 election. Forget Dobbs. This kind of thing was the >true< objective of the so-called conservative movement all along, and they've whored themselves to every cheap, half-assed, unpopular, unamerican pseudo religious subculture this country has to offer in order to consolidate that power into a force that serves achieving that objective. You can bet there's a lot more where that came from.
Project 2025 is the plan to take over all government operations. This Supreme Court is activily putting the project into place with out public awareness of what is going on. The future is indeed very gloomy, we are loosing rights at a rapid pace at the hands of minority elected autocrats. Even if they do not get re-elected the slide has started and it will take some very progressive thinking and legislation to right the ship of state.
Except corporations and even Israel pour big money into preventing progressives from getting elected.
One of the greatest flaws of today's capitalism is, as Robert Reich denounces, the absolute priority given to shareholders in corporate decision-making and he stubborn externalization of costs and ignorance of stakeholder concerns. In doing this, Corporate America has become a death cult guided only by short-term profit-maximization.
The toxin is limited liability. Repeal it and the legal landscape will be unrecognizable.
Not to mention making bribes legal
Professor Reich: i already see the impending mass demise of endangered species, the wholesale loss of nature (oil drilling + spilling in national parks, for example), the further poisoning of the land & waters -- and our bodies -- with PFOS + PFAS, the loss of human life to corporations using people as guinea pigs for newly-patented and poorly made drugs and cars and other objects, the boeing-made aircrafts falling out of the sky on a semi-regular basis, the loss of any workers' rights to lunch breaks and bathroom breaks, the widespread use of pesticides that were developed for use in killing PEOPLE in WW2 ... just to name a very very few things that literally keep me awake at night.
america, i despair for your future.
Robert, From now on I will say…regulations, that is, consumer protections ……
Perfect word exchange!
We need to retire the system of kingdom, called electoral college. We must re-elect Biden and banish Biden bashing until we have a Democratic president and majority Congress. Then we can go wild demanding the changes needed.
And we must roar if the SCOTUS dares to make trump immune from responsibility. WE can’t sit back and complain. WE become extra visible. I think this already happened with all of the pushback on right wing Biden bashing when he stood next to a 34 count felon, rapist and was allowed to spew lies, unchecked. That’s our focus! Stay on it.
absolutely,esp. on the EC-designed to attract and keep slave-holding states in the country-the outcome of the Civil War rendered it obsolete and it should have been abandoned then-but small farm states wanted some clout,and here we are-now its just tyranny of the minority
Perfectly phrased Brooks! Tyranny of the minority! Absolutely!
not original with me but it fits the present sad situation
The super-rich and the six #GOP toolwankers on #SCOTUS are desperate to have a Republican president in 2025, otherwise their 30 year GOP plan to end democracy will fail. #GOPtraitors
Why would it fail? It's been progressing through Republican AND Democratic presidents this whole time.
It will fail for one of two reasons:
1. Trump joins Ivana UNDER the golf course
2. Blue votes to win
William, let's hope Trump joins Ivana on the golf course!
(correction) "UNDER" the golf course Haahhaaahhaaahaaa ❤️
I didn't think I needed to SAY it! I don't understand why they buried her there, maybe to keep anti-Maggot grave robbers from digging her up and hauling her around town, offering her corpse to the highest bidder!? (Now see where you have made me go with this, William?? Right into horror fiction!)
It was kept a really quiet affair. Didn't hear one word about her children mourning her. Maybe there was a write-up in the "New Yorker," or "The Atlantic"? Did you hear anything? Seems like it was all done in haste! "Famed Ivana Trump, first wife of Donald Trump, falls down flight of stairs (only 73 years old), immediately buried at Bedminster golf course in New Jersey." Funeral arrangements? Anybody showing obvious signs of loss or mourning?? Tribute or eulogy to her by anyone?? NOTHING!
It's a tax dodge. Putting her there gives a tax break on the whole property
What they really mean is a government run by a fascist regime!
This "Corporate Legal Movement" is exactly what took over Germany's democracy in the 1930's, and Hitler became the protector of it, the police and military arm of it.
Yes! We must not let this happen.