Working Class Whites Watch: Day 341

It's a good thing for Trump that the election was last year.  The razor-thin victory he claimed in Pennsylvania is not likely to come again:

Despite President Donald Trump’s promises to bring back steel manufacturing, many steel mill workers are facing layoffs.

For example, ArcelorMittal-owned mill in Conshohocken, Penn. announced in September that it would cut 150 of 207 jobs based on seniority. Many steel workers who voted for Trump because they believed he’d be a boon for the industry are feeling abandoned by the president, New York Times reported on Friday.

(Apply the usual caveats that policies which adversely affect working class whites ALSO affect ALL working-class Americans)

Making Nursing Home Great!

I can't say it any better than Kevin Drum does.

I just want to add one observation to the following quote from the New York Times:

The shift in the Medicare program’s penalty protocols was requested by the nursing home industry. The American Health Care Association, the industry’s main trade group, has complained that under President Barack Obama, federal inspectors focused excessively on catching wrongdoing rather than helping nursing homes improve.

The idea that we should ignore wrongdoing in the name of 'helping nursing homes improve' falls right in line with Trump's strategy of 'making America great' by openly supporting white supremacists, denying people health care, and raiding the federal treasury to give even more tax breaks to the wealthiest 1%.

Please people.  Stop voting for Republicans.

Minnesota is Suing in Support of Net Neutrality

I received the following email today from Minnesota's Attorney General, Lori Swanson:

I will be filing a lawsuit with some of my colleagues from other states asking the court to overturn the Federal Communication Commission’s repeal of the “net neutrality” rules that guarantee a free and open internet.  Net neutrality is essential for consumers and an informed electorate.

Background.  The internet is an important part of daily life.  Each day, tens of millions of Americans go online to shop, communicate, work, and stay informed.

For years, we have counted on a free and open internet—where service providers don’t get to dictate the online content that reaches our homes and workplaces.  In 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reinforced these expectations with “net neutrality” regulations.

The net neutrality rules say that all internet traffic should be treated equally by internet companies.  The rules prohibited internet companies like Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon from blocking or slowing down online content or creating “fast lanes” for companies that pay them money.  In 2016, the courts upheld the legality of these rules.

Earlier this month, the FCC—led by a former Verizon attorney—voted 3-2 to repeal the net neutrality rules for internet providers. Public reports indicate that as many as 2 million comments filed with the FCC ostensibly in support of net neutrality repeal may have been submitted using stolen identities, with as many as 500,000 fake comments reportedly linked to Russian addresses.  The Pew Research Center found that 94 percent of these comments were submitted multiple times and that the name of the commentator was “The Internet” 7,400 times.

Net neutrality matters.  Without net neutrality, broadband companies are free to block content they don’t want you to see, to slow it down and make it harder to access, or to prioritize content based on who pays them money.  Mega corporations can dominate the content people see online by paying money to obtain faster speeds.  This will make it more difficult and more expensive for consumers to access the content they want.  Many commentators predict that internet companies will adopt the business model of the cable companies, which charge consumers more to access popular programs.

But this isn’t just a consumer protection issue—it’s a democracy protection issue too.  Tens of millions of Americans now get at least some of their news online.  We see corporate conglomerates buy up media companies.  AT&T has announced plans to Time Warner, which operates CNN, and the Koch Brothers are bankrolling an acquisition of Time Magazine.  Without net neutrality, internet companies can control what content to make prominent or to obscure, including by promoting sites they own or favor.  This will influence the information to which voters and the public have access and will impact elections.  Think of the role the internet played in the Arab Spring.

Next Steps.  Senator Al Franken deserves enormous credit for his bulldog defense of equal access to the internet.  In the face of lawsuits like ours to stop the repeal of net neutrality, many people believe that Congress might try to pass a law next year to cement the FCC’s repeal of net neutrality.  If you share my concerns, I hope you will consider contacting your members of Congress to let them know that you support an internet that is free, fair, open, and accessible by everyone.

Working Class Whites Watch: Day 334

Many political experts believe that Trump's victory last November was due mainly to his appeal to working class white voters.  We have made numerous observations about the ways in which Trump is screwing them sideways (not just working class whites, of course; the entire working class).  This may be the most egregious example yet:

The rule doesn’t actually require that employers share those tips with untipped staff. Under the proposal, employers can pocket those tips as long as workers earn the minimum wage. In fact, the Department of Labor all but openly acknowledges that the change could lead to this scenario: “The proposed rule rescinds those portions of the 2011 regulations that restrict employer use of customer tips when the employer pays at least the full Federal minimum wage.”

Yep.  Trump wants to make it perfectly legal for employers to scoop up their employees' tips and keep them for themselves, so long as the employees earn at least the minimum wage.  So that great waitressing job you have that only pays a base wage of $6.00/hr, but you get between $50-$100 tips each shift?  Well, now it's suddenly a minimum wage job.  Doesn't that seem like it will make America great?

And it gets better.  Many states have regulations preventing this kind of wage theft, so the only people who would really be affected would be those who work in states without this kind of burdensome regulation.  And so which states would get hit the hardest?  Kevin Drum has prepared a convenient map:

It sure looks like Trump is doing his damnedest to turn absolutely every state in the union blue in 2020, doesn't it?

Update: The full text of the proposed rule is available here, and it's a long, hard slog.  But this is the key paragraph:

Much of that litigation involves the application of the Department's 2011 tip credit regulations providing that an employer's ability to utilize tips received by its employees is restricted even when it has not taken a tip credit. In several cases, employees alleged that their employers, who had paid their tipped employees a direct cash wage of at least the Federal minimum wage, improperly retained some or all of the tips received by employees or mandated that they participate in a tip pool that included non-tipped employees. The proposed rule rescinds those portions of the 2011 regulations that restrict employer use of customer tips when the employer pays at least the full Federal minimum wage and does not claim a section 3(m) tip credit, likely reducing litigation in this area.

So you see, it's not really about screwing workers out of the tips they earned; it's about eliminating workers' ability to sue their employers when they get screwed out of the tips they earned.  What a laudable goal.

Fortunately, the government is accepting comments from the public on the proposed rule change.  You can leave your comments here.

Update: Okay, this isn't an accident.  The Trump administration knows damn well what it's doing, it knows that the rule change allows owners to take tip money out of workers' pockets, and it doesn't care.  More than that, it's doing everything it can to cover up what they're doing, as Kevin Drum reports.

Mueller

Concerned that Trump plans to fire Mueller soon, MoveOn is pre-emptively planning mass protests to occur quickly after the firing happens.  Some people believe Trump will fire Mueller on Friday, December 22, in the hopes that the long Christmas weekend will mute the response.

We can't let that happen.  When Mueller is fired (if he is fired), we must response in large numbers, and in person.  Please find an event in your area, commit to attend, and pass it on.

Our Response to the FOX Attacks on Mueller: Boycott

I don't watch Fox News, because I'm an adult and I have no interest in right-wing propaganda.  However, more and more of the media outlets I DO consume have recently been pointing out a concerted effort by Fox to discredit Robert Mueller and the FBI, and in so doing undermine the investigation into Donald Trump --- perhaps, even, provide a pretext for Trump to fire Mueller and end the investigation altogether.

I'm used to the idea that Fox is the propaganda arm of the Republican party, and I'm used to the idea that they actively cheer for Republicans and dissemble against Democrats.  But this is a willful and concerted effort to undermine U.S. law enforcement.  It may or may not be illegal, but it is clearly immoral and, in my mind, treason.

Unfortunately, it seems that there is precious little that average Americans can do about it.  I do have two suggestions, however:

1. Boycott Fox's Advertisers
Boycott efforts have been ongoing for some time.  There's a site set up specifically with ways you and I can take action to bring Fox to heel, mostly by telling Fox's advertisers that we plan to boycott them:

http://foxnewsboycott.com/

My plan is to write to the companies I patronize, and tell them that I'm leaving them if they continue to advertise on Fox after January 1.  Media Matters for America has a similar effort in place, specifically for Sean Hannity's show:

https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2017/05/23/these-are-sean-hannitys-advertisers/216607

Update: Shortly after posting this, I realized that the 'Fox News Boycott' site has not been updated for some time.  Thus the sponsor list given there is likely out of date.  I have thus far been unable to find a current sponsor list.

2. Get the Facts

I'm fortunate in that I have no friends or family (that I know of) who support Trump OR watch Fox.  But sadly that's not true of everyone.  So for the Trump supporters in your life, here's the truth about the investigation into Trump, and why Fox's attacks on Mueller and the FBI are baseless.

The big 'bombshell' that Fox has which 'proves' the FBI is corrupt is a collection of personal text messages sent between agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page prior to the 2016 election.  The two made several anti-Trump statements, calling him an "idiot" among other things.  Strzok was briefly part of the investigation into Trump's collusion with Russia, and so Fox now claims that the entire investigation is tainted.

However, here are some important facts to keep in mind:

1. FBI agents, like all other Americans, have the right to their political opinions, and to express them in private (remember, these were personal text messages --- the Justice Department only knows about them because they were sent and received on government phones).
2. Sending these text messages is not illegal or unethical, but it IS unprofessional.  Which is why Robert Mueller removed Strzok from the Russia investigation as soon as he found out about them, back on July 27.
3. Fox insists that the Russian investigation is a corrupt witch hunt because ONE agent and an FBI lawyer apparently think Trump is an idiot.  But logically, this means that Fox would only accept an investigation as legitimate if 100% of the agents on the case were Trump supporters --- which is clearly absurd.
4. However, as far as that goes, the FBI is possibly the most Republican agency in the U.S. government.  Far from being a corrupt tool of the Democrats, it is about as highly slanted toward the Republicans as it can be and still be a legitimate law enforcement agency.
5. Any criticism of Robert Mueller as a partisan operative is ridiculous.  Republicans nearly uniformly applauded his appointment back in May, with even Newt Gingrich saying "His reputation is impeccable for honesty and integrity."  But now all of a sudden that's changed, because one FBI agent doesn't like Trump --- and Mueller took that agent off the case?

Republican propaganda can't be allowed to derail a legitimate investigation into a president's potential wrongdoing.  Call your Senators and Representatives to tell them you support Robert Mueller.  Get the facts out.  And boycott Fox.

The cost of Fox succeeding could be very high indeed.

Update: Concerned that Trump plans to fire Mueller soon, MoveOn is pre-emptively planning mass protests to occur quickly after the firing happens.  Some people believe Trump will fire Mueller on Friday, December 22, in the hopes that the long Christmas weekend will mute the response.

We can't let that happen.  When Mueller is fired (if he is fired), we must response in large numbers, and in person.  Please find an event in your area, commit to attend, and pass it on.

It's Official: GOP Stands for Grand Old Pedophiles

Two years ago, any casual observer could see that Donald Trump lied easily and frequently.  That pattern continued throughout the 2016 campaign, and unfortunately through his first year in the Oval Office.

His most tragic lie was his promise to 'Make America Great'.  For nearly 11 months now, he's been doing precisely the opposite.  And perhaps tonight marks the lowest ebb yet for this president, his party, and the country.

As everyone of a political bent knows, there's going to be an election in Alabama on December 12.  The candidates are Democrat Doug Jones, who has served as U.S. Attorney for 20 years, with a lifelong commitment to civil rights, and Roy Moore, a bible-thumping judge who was removed from office not once, but twice for putting his personal religious beliefs above the law.  He's a rabid sexist, and by any reasonable standard should be considered unfit for office.

And that was before November 9, when the Washington Post broke a story that in 1979, a 32-year old Moore sexually assaulted a 14-year old girl.  Additionally, the Post reported that when Moore was in his 30's, he pursued romantic relationships with three other girls who were between the ages of 16 and 18.

In the intervening weeks, more stories came out.  Two more women described receiving unwanted advances from Moore when they were 18 and he was in his 30's.  It turns out that it's common knowledge that Moore would cruise the mall for teenage girls nearly every weekend when he was in his 30's.

Let's be clear: there is absolutely ZERO reason to believe that any of these women lied about Moore's actions.  And while naturally Moore has denied that allegations, and declared them politically motivated, many other Republicans disagreed, and disavowed Moore.  Even Trump himself considered Moore to be toxic, as White House legislative affairs director conceded that Trump believed the allegations against Moore were credible.

That was then.

Amazingly, in the 4 weeks since the initial allegations were reported against Moore, the Republican party has gradually moved back to supporting him.  Which brings us to today.

This morning, Trump enthusiastically endorsed Moore --- and tellingly, he did so without doubting the credibility of the allegations that Moore is a child molester.  Rather, he emphasized that the Republican agenda is so important to him that (apparently), it doesn't matter whether or not Moore is a pedophile.

Take a moment and weep about how far America has fallen in such a short time.  The President of the United States is literally asking the citizens of Alabama to elect a pedophile to the Senate, because --- among other things --- Trump needs his vote on 'stopping crime'.

Just not pedophilia, apparently.  This is what is called putting 'party over principle'.

But to be fair, Trump is an amoral monster, who doesn't truly care about anything other than Donald Trump.  Yes, his position is morally repugnant, but Trump has been morally repugnant his entire life.  Surely OTHER Republicans aren't so evil, right?

Wrong.

The Republican National Committee is the face of the Republican party.  Their public actions speak for ALL Republicans.  And in particular, any Republican office holder who does not denounce Moore and the RNC's support of Moore is complicit is putting their political goals ahead of the welfare of children.

This is not hyperbole.  This is not partisanship.  This is objective fact.

A Brief History of Partisan Legislation in the U.S.

Some important points to keep in mind:

August 10, 1993: President Bill Clinton signs the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, which literally passed by a single vote in both the House and Senate, with 0 Republican votes.  Factcheck.org describes what happened next (emphasis mine):

Republicans denounced it as the “largest tax increase in history,” though in fact it was not a record and also contained some cuts in projected spending. Republican Rep. Newt Gingrich predicted: “The tax increase will kill jobs and lead to a recession, and the recession will force people off of work and onto unemployment and will actually increase the deficit.” But just the opposite happened. Fears of inflation waned and interest rates fell, making money cheaper to borrow for homes, cars and investment. What had been a slow economic recovery turned into a roaring boom, bringing in so much unanticipated tax revenue from rising incomes and stock-market gains that the government actually was running record surpluses by the time Clinton left office.

March 23, 2010: President Barack Obama signs the Affordable Care Act, which passed the Senate by a 60-39 margin despite a Republican filibuster, and without a single Republican vote in either the House or the Senate.  Whatever its flaws, it did accomplish the following:

• 20 million Americans (or more) got health insurance who didn't have it previously.
• "Studies have found that fewer people struggled with medical bills or avoided medical care because of cost, and that medical debt and bills in collections have declined."
• It made health insurance more comprehensive.
• Despite what you might hear from Republicans, Obamacare actually lowered the deficit.

December 2, 2017: At about 2:00 AM on a Saturday morning, after hastily hand-writing changes to the legislation, including a long list of amendments containing giveaways to lobbyists, Senate Republicans pass the 'Cut, Cut, Cut' tax reform bill with 0 Democratic votes.  A similar bill had previously passed the House with 0 Democratic votes.

This bill is fundamentally nothing more than a giveaway to millionaires and corporations, as it's more or less a wash for families earning less than $75,000 a year.  You can read a good summary here or do your own Googling, but the key takeaway is that Republicans are blowing a $1.5 trillion hole in the budget to give even more tax breaks to the ultra-rich.  And contrary to Republican claims that this cut will supercharge the economy, the actual economic benefit will be modest-to-nonexistent.  Which all by itself is just greedy and stupid, but there's collateral damage to consider as well:

• 13 million Americans will lose health insurance, and everyone else participating in the individual market will see a 10% premium hike.  One expert predicts that the bill will lead to "ballooning premiums that will crush millions of families".
• It will decimate graduate education in the United States.
• It will open up the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
• Worst of all, it will trigger the sequester, which will mean $25 billion in cuts to Medicare, $20 billion in cuts to farm aid, and complete elimination of many other programs.

Now, the good news is that the stupid Republican tax plan is not yet law.  The House must either pass the same bill just approved by the Senate, or the two houses must work together to come up with a reconciliation bill, which both houses must vote on and pass.  Which means there's time to stop it!  Contact your representative and tell them to defeat the tax reform bill, or send them a letter, or both!  And act fast!  You never know when Republicans might decide to hold another vote under the cover of darkness!

(P.S. Hopefully this history lesson demonstrates the fact that Democrats and Republicans have starkly different priorities.  Not to mention the fact that this stupid tax plan would have zero chance of becoming law if a Democrat sat in the oval office.  Remember this the next time some smug idiot tells you that there's no difference between the two major parties.  And then never listen to them again.)