deregulation

Did anyone ever really believe Trump's idiotic campaign promises to drain the swamp that he personifies or hold Wall Street-- which now runs his regime-- accountable? If so... how tragic! Late Tuesday evening Trump had Mike Pence break the 50-50 tie in the Senate that will now allow banks more leeway to prey on their customers without fear of sanctions. That it even got to a point where the GOP-controlled Senate needed a tie-breaking vote from Pence was strange.

What's more exciting, watching the new season of Game of Thrones or the new season of the Señor Trumpanzee Presidency? Remember, though, while we're being distracted by the outrageous antics of America's first-ever kakistocracy, they're working behind the scenes to chip away at everything that makes America great... little by little, relentlessly. Their latest victims: residents of nursing homes. No, really...

NPR's Fresh Air has a fascinating piece on Wednesday that sought to shone some light on how the Trump Regime is accomplishing quite a bit while everyone is paying attention to the clown tripping all over himself in the center ring. The guest was NY Times journalist Eric Lipton and he's been reporting on how the Trump Regime has brought in lobbyists to help destroy the regulations that have protected the public from the very industries that those lobbyists were working for-- and no doubt will again.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt holds up a hardhat he was given during a visit to coal mine in Sycamore, Pa., April 13, 2017. (AP/Gene J. Puskar)
Published in partnership with Shadowproof.
A senior Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official resigned from the agency in protest against EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s plans for massive industry deregulation that will threaten human health.

Breaking Point, by K.M. Ramich-by Skip Kaltenheuser"The evil that men do lives after them, The good is oft interred with their bones..." Updated, Shakespeare's Mark Anthony might have included mischief done while scrambling for campaign funds as the finance sector obliges those doing its bidding. That mischief stumbles on like a zombie.

New era for infrastructure? Please. It's nothing like that. The public relations element of this administration’s actions is wildly outstripping the reality. That is both good and bad. The unwelcome parts of the Trump agenda (protectionism, drug warriorism, travel restrictions) have so far proven to be as overblown as the welcome parts (health care reform, tax cuts, and privatization).

With Article 50 due to be triggered imminently, we might naturally ask ourselves again what it is that the ‘Brexit’ process is meant to lead us towards in the long-run. ‘Shock Doctrine’, Child Poverty, Ultra-Capitalism ‘On Steroids’ and the UK’s potential future as a corporate tax-haven are just part of the picture feared by some. And […]

In this Oct. 11, 2007 file photo, private equity investor Carl Icahn speaks at the World Business Forum in New York. (Mark Lennihan /AP)
(REPORT) — Billionaire investor Carl Icahn will be a non-governmental advisor to President-elect Donald Trump on issues such as deregulation said Trump’s transition team Wednesday.

This old anvil laughs at many broken hammers.
There are men who can’t be bought.
The fireborn are at home in fire.
— Carl Sandburg, from The People, Yes