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When I began Schwartzreport my purpose was to produce an entirely fact-based daily publication in favor of the earth, the inter-connectedness and interdependence of all life, democracy, equality for all, liberty, and things that are life-affirming. Also, to warn my readers about actions, events, and trends that threaten those values. Our country now stands at a crossroads, indeed, the world stands at a crossroads where those values are very much at risk and it is up to each of us who care about wellbeing to do what we can to defend those principles. I want to thank all of you who have contributed to SR, particularly those of you who have scheduled an ongoing monthly contribution. It makes a big difference and is much appreciated. It is one thing to put in the hours each day and to do the work for free, but another to have to cover the rising out-of-pocket costs. For those of you who haven’t done so, but read SR regularly, I ask that you consider supporting it.
Sahil Kapur, National Political Reporter - NBC News
Stephan:
We are three weeks away from learning whether a majority of American voters want the United States to remain a democracy or to become an authoritarian nation ruled by a male dominant White supremacy oligarchy. Personally, I feel like I am living in Germany in 1933 waiting to see whether Hitler comes to power. It is not at all clear to me who is going to win this election, but I have already learned something very sad about America.
Traitor Trump advocating and end to American democracy Credit: NBC News
Donald Trump is ramping up his rhetoric depicting his political rivals and critics as criminals, while dropping a long trail of suggestions that he favors outlawing political speech that he deems misleading or challenges his claims to power.
In a speech Friday in Aurora, Colorado, the Republican presidential nominee blasted the immigration system and lobbed a rhetorical grenade at his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.
“She’s a criminal. She’s a criminal,” said Trump, who was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his New York hush money trial. “She really is, if you think about it.”
It’s a pattern of messaging that has long been part of Trump’s stump speeches but has escalated significantly in his 2024 candidacy. In the final stretch to the Nov. 5 election, the former president has developed a tendency to claim that speech he disapproves of is illegal, even if it is protected by the First Amendment.
A questionable cut of a “60 Minutes” Harris interview? “Totally illegal,” Trump wrote on X, saying it makes Harris look […]
John B. Alexander, Contributing Writer - Daily Kos
Stephan:
John Alexander lays it out, and I agree with him. The clock is ticking and you will see what kind of country you will be living in based on what happens on the 5th of November.
Credit: Amazon
America is a unique concept based on trust and confidence. Once trust and confidence are lost, the failure of the system is inevitable. At this time there is an existential threat to the continuance of our nation as it has survived for 246 years. That concerted effort is led by Donald Trump, and his MAGA sycophants who are willing to destroy the nation to support a cult of personality. The ultimate narcissist, Trump is prepared to burn the country down in pursuit of his personal ambition to return to power.
There are no words to describe how shamelessly egocentric this move is, and at the expense of the minions who blindly follow his persistent lying. Even though many of the lies are provably wrong, and evidence prominently published, Trump supporters adamantly reject the facts in favor of his traducements. Trump rightfully believes that repetition on his version of events is sufficient to satisfy his generally unsophisticated base. With aplomb Trump invokes Joseph Goebbels dictum for inculcating the “Big Lie.”
There are several glaring current examples that have exacerbated the situation. These are events that Trump, and […]
Here is an aspect of the election I have not seen anyone else discussing. What Mark Stern is writing is historically accurate, and I want to point that out. In my view the Electoral College should be abolished.
The MAGAt Republicans in the House, led by Mike Johnson, perhaps the worst Speaker of the House in my lifetime, are not willing to end their attempt to retain power and actually help ordinary Americans. This story should tell every voter in a state impacted by the hurricanes Helene and Milton that if they want relief they better vote only for Democrats.
An aide to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), seen here on Capitol Hill earlier this year, said Congress would act on disaster relief “upon its return in November.” Credit: Francis Chung / Politico
Hurricane Milton’s rampage is not swaying House Republican leaders who oppose returning to Washington to approve billions of dollars for disaster assistance.
President Joe Biden on Thursday said lawmakers should return to Capitol Hill “immediately” from their preelection recess, echoing pleas from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers from the afflicted states.
But despite questions about the solvency of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster fund, House Speaker Mike Johnson and top appropriators insist the agency can manage just fine — for now — with the $20.3 billion that Congress freed up for it late last month. That money is for the fiscal year that ends next Sept. 30.
Biden urges Congress to return for emergency storm response fundingSharePlay Video
“To be clear: Congress will act again upon its return in November to address funding needs and ensure those impacted receive the necessary resources,” Athina Lawson, a spokesperson for […]
We are less than three weeks away from the possibility that the United States will become a christofascist White supremacist, male dominant oligarchy controlled unless you and everyone you know, and everyone they know, vote and vote only for Democrats. If the Trumpers win you can expect to see the military used to stifle dissent and America descending into civil war. The situation is that dire. MAGAt Republican Representative scum Mike Waltz should be defeated by Florida voters if they wish to remain a democracy.
MAGAt Republican Representative Mike Waltz of Florida Credit: ABC Screengrab
One Republican member of Congress is now openly defending former President Donald Trump’s call to use the military as a means of crushing American dissent.
Earlier this week, Trump told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo that he wasn’t ruling out deploying the U.S. military against “the enemy from within,” which apparently includes “radical left lunatics.” Trump even mentioned Rep. Adam Schiff (D-California), who is the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, when discussing “lunatics that we have inside.” And on Tuesday morning, CNN host John Berman got Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Florida) on the record in favor of the former president’s proposal.
“Do you think deploying the military against political opponents is something that’s responsible to discuss from political candidates?” Berman asked.
“I think that’s completely appropriate,” Waltz said. “I think it’s responsible to discuss deploying the National Guard, which is clearly part of the military, John, to keep our streets safe, to keep rioters out of the street. […]
What surprises me is that unions and large numbers of working class people simply don’t seem to be able to understand that if they vote for Trump they are voting to worsen the quality of their own lives and the lives of their family. It is indisputable that this is true, and yet I just saw another report of a union that is not backing Harris because a majority of their members don’t want that. It’s pathetic, and they are going to be so miserable if Trump wins.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s proposal to further reduce the U.S. corporate tax rate from 21% to 15% would make the bottom half of the nation’s income distribution poorer while boosting the fortunes of those at the very top, according to an analysis published Thursday by economists at American University.
The analysis, released just over a month before the high-stakes November 5 election, projects the hypothetical macroeconomic and distributional impacts of corporate tax rate plans put forth by Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. Harris has called for increasing the corporate tax rate to 28%.
If implemented, the economists found, Trump’s plan would “modestly reduce” the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), decrease government revenue, and “significantly increase inequality,” given that wealthier households “are the primary owners of corporate stocks” that would benefit from the former president’s tax cuts.
The “share of national income going to the top 5% would increase by around 1.6%, while the share of the bottom 50% would fall by roughly 4.8%,” the analysis estimates.
Harris’ plan, by contrast, would “mildly” raise U.S. GDP, increase […]
Patrick Greenfield, Staff Writer - The Guardian (U.K.)
Stephan:
Every scientific paper about climate change that I see is screaming with alarm. Most are too technical for SR, so I search for general audience versions like this report from The Guardian because I want you, my readers, to fully understand that science is in a panic of concern. Yet you see and hear almost nothing about these alarms in corporate media. Earth’s matrix of life is under a threat most don’t even seem to understand and yet every living being, from bacteria to humans, is going to be disastrously affected.
Phytoplankton in the Barents Sea. Melting sea ice exposes algae-eating zooplankton to more sunlight, which could cut the amount of carbon stored on the seabed. Credit: Nasa / Alamy
It begins each day at nightfall. As the light disappears, billions of zooplankton, crustaceans and other marine organisms rise to the ocean surface to feed on microscopic algae, returning to the depths at sunrise. The waste from this frenzy – Earth’s largest migration of creatures – sinks to the ocean floor, removing millions of tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere each year.
This activity is one of thousands of natural processes that regulate the Earth’s climate. Together, the planet’s oceans, forests, soils and other natural carbon sinks absorb abouthalf of all human emissions.
The sudden collapse of carbon sinks was not factored into climate models – and could rapidly accelerate global heating
It begins each day at nightfall. As the light disappears, billions of zooplankton, crustaceans and other marine organisms rise to the ocean surface to feed on microscopic algae, returning to the depths at sunrise. The waste from this frenzy […]
