Tag Archives: current

Top General Tells Senate We Can Win in Afghanistan With Just a “Few Thousand” More Troops

by JannaIZCOteot Posted on February 10, 2017

Mother Jones

I almost forgot about this:

The commander of the American-led international military force in Afghanistan, warning that the United States and its NATO allies are facing a “stalemate,” told Congress on Thursday that he needed a few thousand additional troops to more effectively train and advise Afghan soldiers.

“We have a shortfall of a few thousand,” Gen. John W. Nicholson said in a sober assessment of America’s longest war to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

A few thousand! We weren’t able to stamp out the Taliban and train the Afghan army when we had over 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, but Nicholson wants us to believe we can break the current stalemate with just a few thousand more troops? Is he serious?

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Top General Tells Senate We Can Win in Afghanistan With Just a “Few Thousand” More Troops

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Check Out Kellyanne Conway’s Version of an Apology

by ThomasEwald Posted on February 3, 2017

Mother Jones

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Just to follow up on last night, here is Kellyanne Conway’s apology for telling the nation about the “Bowling Green massacre” on prime time TV last night. It’s a masterpiece:

Just an honest mistake! What she meant to say, apparently, was this:

Two Iraqis came here to this country, were radicalized, and they were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green terrorists.

This makes no sense, of course. The two Iraqis were the masterminds behind the two Iraqis? Please. So here’s Conway’s version of a mea culpa:

Tell a tall tale about what she meant to say.
Link to a four-year-old story which—if you actually read it—says only that the FBI is conducting “dozens of current counter-terrorism investigations.”
Mount a grievance against a reporter who quoted her correctly on the Today show.
Compliment herself for her class and grace because she chooses not to bring down her slavering hordes on an editor who did nothing wrong.
Pretend that the White House didn’t spend days upon endless days moaning and bellyaching about the MLK Jr. bust story—a story that was corrected in less than half an hour.

Mission accomplished! Millions of people have now heard about the Bowling Green massacre. Conway has, technically, admitted she was wrong, so the media won’t bother following up and virtually no one will hear that no such massacre took place. You’d think that would be victory enough, but just for good measure she then attacked a reporter and told the world what a wonderful, gracious person she is. What a pro.

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Check Out Kellyanne Conway’s Version of an Apology

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Some Random Morning Trump Stuff

by ofnldfdks Posted on February 2, 2017

Mother Jones

Well, it’s morning for me, anyway. First up, under headlines you never thought you’d see:

That’s from the LA Times last night. Here’s another headline from Reuters:

Conveniently, this means that the current “Countering Violent Extremism” program will no longer target white supremacist groups. It’s good to see that Trump is demonstrating some loyalty to the groups that supported him so faithfully throughout the election. They’ve been harassed too much by the federal jackboots already, amirite?

Next up, we’re learning more details about President Trump’s Great Southern Wall:

In one of the Star Trek movies, Scotty uses an Apple Macintosh to whip up the formula for transparent aluminum. Maybe that’s what this is! A wall you can see through! Sadly, though, the truth turns out to be less futuristic: the “transparent wall” will be a non-wall. That is to say, it will be “sensors and other technology,” just like it is now. This, of course, is what wall enthusiasts have been bitching about forever. When Trump said he’d build a wall, they wanted a wall, dammit, not a bunch of namby-pamby sensors.

Finally, here is today’s Gallup poll on what Americans think of Trump’s recent executive orders:

It’s heartening to see that a majority of Americans disapprove of his Muslim ban (by 13 points) and the suspension of the Syrian refugee program (by 22 points). Maybe there’s hope for us after all.

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Some Random Morning Trump Stuff

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The AMA Represents Only About One-Sixth of All Doctors

by SonjaNewrnd Posted on December 27, 2016

Mother Jones

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How do doctors feel about the nomination of Rep. Tom Price as Secretary of Health and Human Services? The New York Times weighs in:

When President-elect Donald J. Trump chose Representative Tom Price of Georgia to be his health and human services secretary, the American Medical Association swiftly endorsed the selection of one of its own, an orthopedic surgeon who has championed the role of physicians throughout his legislative career.

Then the larger world of doctors and nurses weighed in on the beliefs and record of Mr. Price, a suburban Atlanta Republican — and the split among caregivers, especially doctors, quickly grew sharp. “The A.M.A. does not speak for us,” says a petition signed by more than 5,000 doctors.

A faithful reader emails to ask: “I remember reading recently that a shockingly low number of doctors are members of the AMA. So what is it exactly?”

Membership numbers, it turns out, are not a secret, exactly, but neither does the AMA go out of its way to make them easy to find. Their current membership is about 235,000, but you have to adjust this number to remove students, retired doctors, and so forth. Based on publicly available data, and guesstimating that about one-fifth of its members aren’t practicing physicians, here’s what the AMA’s membership looks like. They were indeed a powerhouse in the 50s, but no so much anymore:

Keep this in mind whenever you hear that “the AMA” endorses a political position—regardless of whether it’s one you approve of or not. They represent only about a sixth of all the physicians in the country. The rest may have very different opinions indeed.

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The AMA Represents Only About One-Sixth of All Doctors

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Virginia Republicans Are Going to Introduce a 20-Week Abortion Ban for the Third Time

by EstebanHarpster Posted on December 21, 2016

Mother Jones

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In the fight over reproductive rights, 20-week abortion bans stand out as one of the most successful legislative measures pursued by anti-abortion advocates. In all, 18 states have enacted a version of the legislation since 2011; three of them have seen their 20-week bans overturned in court because they banned abortions before a fetus could survive outside the womb and were in violation of the Supreme Court’s 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade. Earlier this month, Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed a 20-week abortion ban into law shortly after vetoing a “heartbeat bill” that would have banned abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy.

Now, as the year comes to a close, emboldened Virginia legislators have begun their push to pass their version of the controversial—and likely unconstitutional—measure.

Last week, Virginia delegate David LaRock, a two-term Republican, pre-filed HB1473, known as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Act. The bill will officially be introduced when the state Legislature begins its new session in January. LaRock introduced similar legislation during two previous sessions but has been unsuccessful in his attempts to ban late-term abortions.

As with previous versions of the bill, HB1473 would prohibit abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, a cutoff earlier than the “fetal viability” standard established by Roe v. Wade. Anti-abortion advocates argue that the ban is necessary because a fetus can feel pain at 20 weeks, a claim that has not been confirmed by research. The bill would not make allowances for a woman’s mental health or fetal abnormalities, or in instances of rape or incest, and offers exceptions only in cases that threaten the life of the mother or pose a “serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.” When a late-term abortion is performed, the bill stipulates that a physician “terminate the pregnancy in a manner that would provide the unborn child the best opportunity to survive.”

If passed, the bill would punish physicians providing unauthorized late-term abortions with Class 4 felonies, making them subject to prison time and a fine of up to $100,000. The bill also allows for “civil remedies,” giving a woman who receives an abortion or the biological father of the terminated fetus the ability to seek punitive damages against physicians who perform abortions in violation of the act.

The 20-week abortion ban is the latest restriction proposed in a state that already has some of the toughest anti-abortion laws in the nation. Virginia currently requires that women seeking abortions receive information encouraging them to carry pregnancies to term, mandates an ultrasound before the procedure, requires minors to receive consent from their parents prior to getting an abortion, and limits health plans covering abortion under the state’s Affordable Care Act exchange.

The Virginia GOP’s intensified effort to end late-term abortions is likely an opening salvo in the fight over the future of abortion access in the state. With the current Democratic governor, Terry McAuliffe, unable to run for a second term due to state law, anti-abortion advocates see next year’s gubernatorial election as a key opportunity to put an ally in office.

Virginia’s state Legislature won’t begin its new session until January 11, but reproductive rights advocates are already preparing for a long fight. “Bans on abortion at different points in pregnancy affect every woman’s ability to make decisions that are best for her, her health and wellbeing, and her family,” noted Tarina Keene, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia, in a letter sent to the candidates vying to replace McAuliffe. In a press release accompanying the letter, the reproductive rights group called the proposed ban a “dangerous and unconstitutional measure,” adding that it “would put politicians in the middle of Virginia women and families’ personal decisions about pregnancy and cut off access to safe medical care.”

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Virginia Republicans Are Going to Introduce a 20-Week Abortion Ban for the Third Time

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Conway: It’s Cool for Trump to Be Apprentice Executive Producer Because Obama Golfed

by TabithaBoose Posted on December 9, 2016

Mother Jones

On Wednesday afternoon, Variety published a scoop: President-elect Donald Trump will stay on as executive producer of Celebrity Apprentice on NBC, the hit franchise he created with reality TV mogul Mark Burnett from MGM. The show returns to air on January 2—hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Trumps spokeswoman Hope Hicks confirmed the president-elect “has a big stake in the show.” Trump won’t be involved in actually producing the show, but his fee per episode is likely to be in the low five figures, according to Variety. According to the Hollywood Reporter, this fee will be paid by MGM Television, the studio responsible for the production—not by NBC.

All this is raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest. As the Huffington Post explained:

Trump’s role is rife with potential entanglements. While his paycheck will come from MGM, the program airs on NBC, a major broadcast network with an influential news division (which employs reporters Trump has personally attacked). It’s also the same network that airs Saturday Night Live, a show Trump has criticized on numerous occasions for its unflattering depiction of him. And NBC is owned by Comcast, a corporation that was recently slapped with a hefty fine by the Federal Communications Commission—an entity that will soon be under Trump’s control.

Today, Trump adviser and former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway appeared on CNN’s New Day to defend the decision. According to Conway, whatever Trump does in his “spare time” is up to him, much in the way that Obama liked to play golf. “Were we so concerned about the hours and hours and hours spent on the golf course of the current president?” Conway said. “I mean presidents have a right to do things in their spare time, in their leisure time.” Watch the entire exchange above.

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Conway: It’s Cool for Trump to Be Apprentice Executive Producer Because Obama Golfed

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Forget the Wall. If You Want Less Illegal Immigration, Go After Employers.

by BrandyBergeron Posted on November 30, 2016

Mother Jones

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Controlling illegal immigration has never seemed all that hard to me. The vast majority of those who are in the United States illegally—either by crossing the border or overstaying their visas—are here to find jobs. So if you want to reduce illegal immigration, you need to make it hard for employers to hire anyone who’s not authorized to work. But in the LA Times today, Wayne Cornelius says that’s not in the cards:

There has never been much public or congressional appetite for a harsh crackdown on employers, especially the small businesses that depend most heavily on workers in the U.S. illegally. They are pillars of their communities and campaign contributors. Besides, immigration agents have had higher enforcement priorities — tracking down immigrants who committed serious crimes or pose national security threats.

President-elect Trump has called for full implementation of an electronic employment eligibility verification system called E-Verify….E-Verify, however, is no panacea. It does not prevent immigrants who are ineligible to work from getting jobs by providing valid information pertaining to other people (borrowed documents). And as long as penalties are weak, requiring employers to use E-Verify will not significantly reduce violations.

Will Congress approve crippling fines or even prison sentences for business owners who ignore E-Verify rules? Will lawmakers direct the Justice Department to make these scofflaws a top priority? Unless and until that happens, many employers will continue to view hiring those in the U.S. illegally as a low-risk, high-reward crime. In 2014, the probability that one of the nation’s 6 million employers would be investigated for violating immigration laws was 0.03%.

I don’t personally care all that much about the level of illegal immigration. The current numbers strike me as reasonable. But obviously a lot of people do care, and most of them are Republicans. They talk tough, they build walls and fences, and they promise to hire lots of border enforcement agents. But this is all a sham. If the economic incentives continue to exist, so will illegal immigration.

The problem is that Republicans can’t come to grips with their two main constituencies. Social conservatives generally hate undocumented workers and want to deport them all. Business conservatives want no such thing. So Republicans thunder on TV that borders are borders, and by God we need to control them. Then they quietly go back to their jobs and do nothing.

The obvious way to cut down on illegal immigration has always been to go after employers. Not only does this attack the root of the problem, but it’s practically self-funding. You hire lots of ICE auditors and then pay for them by levying big fines on employers who break the law. As the problem diminishes, you collect less money but you also need fewer auditors.

E-Verify isn’t perfect. Nothing is. But it could be made good enough. And once that’s done, enforcement could be made pretty widespread and the fines could be made pretty high. If you do that, you can forget about the wall. It’s just a distraction.

Bottom line: Anyone who claims to be fiercely opposed to illegal immigration but doesn’t support strong employer sanctions is just lying to you.

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Forget the Wall. If You Want Less Illegal Immigration, Go After Employers.

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Voucherizing Medicare Is a Death Ride for Republicans

by AngieCervantes Posted on November 25, 2016

Mother Jones

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Are Republicans really going to start off the 115th Congress by mucking around with Medicare?

For nearly six years, Speaker Paul D. Ryan has championed the new approach, denounced by Democrats as “voucherizing” Medicare. Representative Tom Price of Georgia, the House Budget Committee chairman and a leading candidate to be Mr. Trump’s secretary of health and human services, has also embraced the idea, known as premium support.

….Democrats say that premium support would privatize Medicare, replacing the current government guarantee with skimpy vouchers — “coupon care for seniors.” The fear is that the healthiest seniors would choose private insurance, lured by offers of free health club memberships and other wellness programs, leaving traditional Medicare with sicker, more expensive patients and higher premiums.

….Republicans say their proposal would apply to future beneficiaries, not to those in or near retirement. But the mere possibility of big changes is causing trepidation among some older Americans.

….“I’m scared to death,” said Charles Drapeau, who has multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, and takes a drug that costs more than $10,000 a month. “We don’t know exactly how it will work, but just the fact that they are talking about messing with Medicare, it’s frightening to me.”

Just for the record, that drug is actually $10,500 every four weeks. So Mr. Drapeau should be 14 percent more scared to death than he already is.

But back to Medicare vouchers premium support. It’s pretty plain that it would be worse for seniors than the current Medicare system. After all, if it were better, Ryan wouldn’t feel like he has to exempt current Medicare recipients. But everyone currently on Medicare is keenly aware of how their benefits would be affected by Ryan’s vouchers, and if they aren’t, AARP will tell them in no uncertain terms. So they’ll fight Ryan’s cuts tooth and nail.

So why is Ryan doing this, anyway? I suppose because it’s one of the few ways to open up a significant amount of budget room for his gigantic tax cuts. If you want big tax cuts, after all, you need big spending cuts too, and that means cutting big programs. Unfortunately for Ryan, there really aren’t all that many big spending programs, especially once you take defense off the table. So he has little choice but to chop away at Medicare if those top marginal rates are going to come down.

And yet, why now? In one sense, I suppose doing it right at the start, when political capital is highest, makes sense. You do the hard stuff when you have the biggest majorities and everyone is eager for change. That’s why Obama went after health care first. At the same time, this would be a huge, messy battle that would almost certainly be wildly unpopular. Medicare is probably even more beloved than Social Security, after all. A battle like this could easily up in an epic defeat, and wipe out whatever goodwill the new Congress has.

So it’s a bit of a mystery. I don’t think Ryan can win this battle unless he offers up a plan that doesn’t really save much money. That’s possible, of course: just take a look at the difference between Ryan 2011 and Ryan 2014. But if you don’t save much money, what’s the point?

I dunno. If it were me, I’d do the popular stuff first. Cut taxes, build the wall, repair some bridges, bomb the shit out of ISIS, etc. More to the point, if I were Donald Trump, that’s what I’d do. Trump wants to be adored by the masses, not hated by them. Voucherizing Medicare is very definitely not the way to get there.

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Voucherizing Medicare Is a Death Ride for Republicans

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Republicans Need to Abandon Angry White Guys

by JonathoMcCants Posted on October 21, 2016

Mother Jones

What’s going to happen to the Republican Party after November 8? I’ve raised the possibility that if Trump loses massively, the party establishment might get serious about marginalizing the tea party caucus in Congress instead of being held endlessly hostage to them. Most of the responses to that suggestion have been skeptical. The more likely possibility is that tea partiers will increase their influence and the GOP will become even crazier and more obstructionist than ever.

That’s pretty much what apostate Republican Max Boot thinks:

Republican leaders like Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan may hope that after Trump’s inevitable defeat the party will return to their brand of conservatism — in favor of free trade and American leadership abroad, cutting government spending and taxes, a balanced approach to immigration, and making deals where possible with centrist Democrats. But that’s not a safe assumption anymore.

….Perhaps Trump will fade away after the election and the Republican Party will return to its Reaganite roots. But…survey findings suggest a strong possibility that instead the GOP, or at least a substantial portion of it, could continue veering toward the fringe, muttering darkly about how Trump was robbed of his rightful victory. If that is the case, then the Republican Party may not survive the Trump takeover.

I want to make this easy. There’s basically only one thing that matters for the GOP: whether they double down on being the white men’s party, or whether they take the painful but necessary steps necessary to broaden their appeal. That’s it. Everything else pales in comparison.

If they continue on their current course, the presidency is going to get further and further out of reach. Eventually they won’t be able to hold on to the Senate or the House either. They’ve simply run out of ways to increase the white vote and suppress the non-white vote, and the demographics of America just flatly don’t support a party that’s increasingly loathed by women and minorities.

Lindsey Graham’s critique of four years ago is famous: “We’re not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term.” Republicans need to print this on a hat and start wearing it at all times. The Southern Strategy worked great for half a century, but nothing lasts forever. It’s time to abandon it.

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Republicans Need to Abandon Angry White Guys

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Top 10 Ways to Green Your Halloween

by FannySchwartz Posted on October 18, 2016

From pumpkins to costumes to candy, heres how to reduce all your spooky Halloweenwaste.

Is the thought of all the potential Halloween trash more frightening than Halloween itself? No need to fear. Weve got some green Halloween tips that are sure to scare away any waste but dont worry, we promise youll still get all of your Halloween treats!

1. Make a jack-o’-lantern

Can’t decide whether to carve or paint your pumpkins? Carve them! Many paints contain ingredients that cant be composted, so to ensure you can still dispose of your pumpkin responsibly, skip the paint and get handy with some carving tools!

Read More:Proper Green: Is it Bad to Paint my Pumpkin?

2. Keep the dcor natural

Putting your pretty carved pumpkins on display is a given, but there are also other gourds and dcor (think branches, leaves) that can be brought inside to make your home feel like a haunted house while reducing your consumption of man-made materials. Since everything will be natural, just add it to the compost pile at the end of the season.

3. Opt for decorations you can repurpose

If you cant get your hands on compostable leaves or cornstalks, choose decorations that will last for years to come in some form or another! For example, you can use fake cobwebs as replacement stuffing for stuffed animals or throw pillows.

4. Make your own DIY costume makeup

Use natural food coloring and cornstarch to make your own vibrant face paint without any of the harmful chemicals. By using simple ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen, you can avoid the extra cost and all the packaging that comes with store bought versions!

5. Make your own DIY costume using only what you already have

From old school classics like a bed sheet ghost to new ideas like raining cats and dogs (where you glue a bunch of stuffed animals to a raincoat and umbrella), many costumes can be made without a trip to the store. To reduce even more waste, get creative with old clothes that were headed for the trash anyway!

Read More:7 DIY Costume Ideas You Already Have the Materials For

6. Raid a thrift store for costume ideas

There are so many clothes in need of a second life, and many of them are at thrift stores just waiting to be pieced together into your next Halloween costume. Plus, for any DIY costumes missing key pieces say, a fringe vest or cool tie-dye shirt to complete a hippie look a thrift store is just the place to find what youre searching for.

7. Donate old costumes

Dont let those ghosts of Halloweens past haunt you (and take up all your storage space). Raid your current costume collection and donate any that youve grown out of or that youve gotten the most possible uses out of. For any of those costumes that have a bit too much wear and tear, you might be able to bring them to a drop-off center fortextile recycling.

8. Choose your treats wisely

Go for bulk candy options to avoid unnecessary packaging, or ditch the candy idea altogether! Small toys, fun pencils and erasers, or even loose change have been some successful lower-waste alternatives to add to those trick-or-treaters Halloween haul.

Read More:Intertwined: Simple Green Tricks for Trick-or-Treating

9. Skip the store-bought treat buckets

Those clich plastic pumpkins seem to be ubiquitous, but believe it or not, thereareother options. Going with a reusable bag that can be used over and over again is your best bet for reducing waste. Pillowcases fit more treats, anyway!

10. Dispose of all leftover candy (or just wrappers) sustainably

The bad news is that the candy itself isnt compostable, but the good news is that there are programs that accept candy wrappers, likeTerraCycles mail-in recycling program. If youre having trouble keeping up with all the candy youve collected, you could donate wrapped candies (try something likeOperation Gratitude), freeze some of it to save for later, or turn it into something new, like chocolates into candy bark or hard candies into cake and cookie toppers!

Have any other ideas to reduce all that wicked waste? Share your tricks and tips (or treats) in the comments below!

This post originally appeared on Recyclebank.

Photo Credit: Recyclebank

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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Top 10 Ways to Green Your Halloween

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