Month: July 2017

by William Skink

Donald Trump gets to play the role of President for a reason, and I think that reason is to be the fall guy for the coming economic crash.

This line of thinking resonated with me before the election so much that I predicted Trump winning on Halloween. That he actually won can be seen as confirmation.

This notion will never get purchase with the resistance to Trump because they are either too busy looking for Russians under every rock to grasp this crafty set-up, or preparing for the next impotent march for science, or truth, or whatever the current fashion of the moment is.

When the bubbles the Federal Reserve quantitatively eased back into existence burst, Trump and all the ignorant rednecks who voted for him will get the blame.

It’s already starting over at “The Montana Post” with a piece from Sue Malek, titled The Trump Effect–there goes our economy. Let’s take a look at this attempt to view the economic swindle through the partisan lens of a member of the resistance.

I’m not too interested in the opening framing of Trump’s fiscal irresponsibility because he wasn’t president then. What I am interested in is how Malek pulls of tricks like this:

The author of CHICKENSHIT CLUB was recently interviewed on Charlie Rose. He contends that our super-bright and well-educated US Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys are failing to file criminal charges against white collar criminals like those who led the 2008-2009 financial crisis. DOJ is fining banks and corporations but not filing criminal chargers against perpetrators. CEOs whose unethical behavior resulted in hundreds of thousands of Americans losing their jobs, their retirements, their homes, and their health insurance walk free with millions in their pockets.

I’m worried about that policy, but currently I’m more worried that Donald Trump is in charge of our economy. A recent Rockefeller Foundation study notes that 21 states, including Montana, are experiencing a budget shortfall in income taxes. Rich people are not paying the taxes they usually pay. They are delaying taking profits waiting for Trump’s proposed big tax cuts for the wealthy. Economists call it the “Trump Effect.”

Is Sue Malek too chickenshit to acknowledge that until 7 months ago the DOJ was being run by Obama administration appointees? It would appear so, since that awkward fact is not explicitly mentioned. Instead we get a quick pivot to Trump and some simplistic explanation of why Montana, along with 20 other states, are facing budget shortfalls.

Articles like this really piss me off because this duplicitous partisan scapegoating of one political wing actually reinforces the corrupt political duopoly the billionaires and hedge fund managers and extractive industries effectively control.

Sue Malek and the other authors of The Montana Post want to direct righteous anger away from their team’s complicity and toward their political opponents. That’s just politics, right?

I get it, Trump is too much of a visceral threat for the resistance to have the cognitive capacity to also acknowledge the role Democrats played in the bailing out of Wall Street, and the specific role the Clintons had in selling out the Democratic Party.

When I think of the Trump Effect, it’s not some vague theory cooked up by un-named economists about rich people not paying the taxes the usually would. How does that even work? Sue Malek doesn’t really explain this theory, or offer even a link to which economists are making this claim.

It is a handy theory if you want to blame Montana’s fiscal crisis on Trump and omit the pesky fact Governor Bullock signed SB 261 into law without a fight, allowing his political opponents to be long gone from Helena before this delayed legislative time-bomb started going off.

Here is how Logicosity put it in a post titled A Better Way Requires an Iota of Leadership:

Governor Bullock believes Montana has a story to share with the country.

He’s very proud of his four and one-half record as chief executive. He frequently reminds listeners about the number of bills he’s vetoed to hold the line against right-wing extremism and assaults on the state’s enviable fiscal picture.

Maybe he missed one.

According to Dan Villa, the Bullock staffer sent to brief the media on Tuesday about mandatory budget cuts on Tuesday, the Governor doesn’t like a new law that contains revenue thresholds, which if not met, triggers progressive spending reductions. The first installment announced on Tuesday requires state government to ax $74.0 million and lay off 20 or so employees.

The distinct inference of Villa’s comments about the cuts is that the Governor had a better plan than the one spelled out in Senate Bill 261.

So why did he sign the damned thing into law on May 22?

Had he vetoed it, his administration’s concerns would have a hint of credibility – – – he could have claimed the policy high ground, even if lawmakers had overridden it.

Without that act, the complaints ring hollow.

Well said. And it will probably need to be re-said as Bullock tests the political waters for his next job while pretending to be attentive to his current job leading a state in fiscal disarray and literally on fire.

Montana’s budget crisis did not happen because Trump got elected. And when the next economic crash hits, it also will not be the result of Trump’s occupation of the White House.

But that won’t stop the partisans from using Trump as the fall guy for the corporate scams being run on zero-interest liquidity injected into these zombie institutions for nearly a decade.

by William Skink

Since I don’t have time to write more involved posts about the myriad issues swirling around that concern me, I’ll try to touch on a few of the issues briefly with the hope of writing more down the road.

The first issue I’ll mention is the problem of homeless camps around the Reserve Street bridge. After the fall clean-up last year homeless campers returned in numbers not seen since the first clean-up in 2013. In response, a clean-up is scheduled for August and from one of my contacts on this issue, police are having to more frequently go out there. Driving home today I saw a fire truck and two police cruisers parked along the Reserve Street bridge.

This week Missoula approved another annual tax increase. While Emily and Jon traded barbs, what isn’t being talked about by council members is the role of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) in keeping the benefit of development from expanding the value of the tax base. Dan Brooks has a good piece on the TIF scheme as it relates to the Marriott project downtown, but it just barely scratches the surface of TIF shenanigans. I definitely hope to write more on this topic soon.

At the state level, low revenue is going to trigger brutal cuts to DPHHS. How badly this is going to hurt people is not quite clear yet, but it’s going to be bad. Meanwhile, Montana’s Governor and the stupid partisans who support him seem to think it’s a good thing Steve is grooming himself for higher office. This ridiculous piece at Cowgirl made me want to puke. Here’s a taste:

News came last week that Steve Bullock has started a political action group to amplify his voice nationally and perhaps even lay groundwork for a run for president or senate. This welcome news to democrats in Montana and nationally. Bullock is one of the most popular governors in the nation and could also bring red-state progressive chops to the 2020 contest.

Amid this news, it’s hard to imagine how utterly frustrated Republicans must be by now, given that Democrats in Montana seem always to be led by star power, by politicians who get strong mention as presidential timber or otherwise are able capture the country’s imagination (Bullock, Schweitzer, Tester). The GOP, meanwhile, now must settle for Steve Daines and Greg Gianforte. Can you imagine any of these duds trying form a national PAC and get 2020 buzz?

When will the Governor find time to do his actual job while he travels around the country and makes cable news appearances? Montana Democrats sacrificed a lot to ensure Steve won his reelection. Beyond that election, Democrats in Montana got their asses kicked. With the State of Montana on fire and the most vulnerable getting hit with budget cuts, anything that takes the Governor away from his duties to the people of this state is going to be a dangerous distraction.

There is so much more I would like to delve into right now, but I just don’t have the time. That doesn’t seem to be a problem for the contributors at Logicosity, a great blog turning out posts almost daily.

I’ll leave it there for now. Thanks for reading.

By JC

With a brilliant rebranding effort, it seems that Democrats led by Senator Chuck Schumer think that Trumpism-lite is better than nothing.

“So what did we do wrong? People didn’t know what we stood for, just that we were against Trump. And still believe that.”

Ahem, I think that those democrats and independents that didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton, or Congressional and Legislative democrats knew exactly what they stood for. And either didn’t go to the polls, or voted for someone other than a Democrat.

As long as Democrats just keep trying to rebrand themselves, and ram home the same old – same old BS, with a new marketing campaign, we can be assured that we will not have a “better” deal.

Until Democrats divest themselves of their neocon/liberal interventionist allies, work to reign in their Wall Street, corporate and elite overlords, and commit themselves to economic justice by vastly narrowing the wealth divide, they will remain a party in decline. To do this they will have to rectify themselves on trade, unionism, militarism including policing, the drug war and rampant prison privatization and forced labor, privacy, monopolies, financialization, health care… and on and on. Does anybody really see this happening?

In other words Dems are just setting themselves up for more failure. Or maybe that is really where success rests: in playing the victim, even if self-inflicted, while the country slowly burns. Always somewhere else to place blame rather than on their policies which benefitted others more than the common people of this country. Meanwhile elements of the party are comfortable in gated enclaves partying with the Trumpistas, hob-nobbing with wealth and power, laughing about how “better” than Trump means no meaningful change at all. It’s kinda like jumping from the fire back into the frying pan.

“A Better Deal: Better Jobs, Better Wages, Better Future”

Not with Republicans OR Democrats. If nothing else, 8 years of Bush, then 8 years of Obama have brought us to this place… set up by 8 years of Clinton and 12 years of Reagan/Bush. Just another version of “When past is prologue.” Let’s see what sort of greatness Schumer, et al. have in store for us. I can’t imagine there is any “there” there.

by William Skink

Summer break and light posting continues. Last night I went to the Ween show at the new Kettle House amphitheater. The venue was great, the sound was great, but the logistics of getting people in and out needs serious attention before someone gets hurt.

The biggest problem is pedestrian traffic leaving the show. Lots of people avoided paid parking by parking along the main drag, which meant lots of foot traffic in close proximity to vehicles when the crowd dispersed. I saw some very drunk people get very close to getting clipped by cars.

Speaking of the inebriated enjoyment of music, I recently ran across a brilliant re-working of Alex Jones’ ranting magically transformed into a Bon Iver-esque song.

I think this wins the internet. Like for the whole month of July. Enjoy!

by William Skink

You can thank James Conner for bringing my attention to these bitter Bernie haters:

Vermont resident Jon Svitavsky announced on July 5 that he is challenging Sen. Bernie Sanders in his upcoming re-election in 2018. In his most recent race for re-election, Sanders won over 71 percent of the vote and the Democratic Party didn’t bother to run a candidate. In the 2016 presidential primaries, Sanders received over 86 percent of the vote in Vermont. Among the small percentage of people who voted for Hillary Clinton in the state was Svitavsky, a homeless shelter director who is beginning to receive support from other disgruntled Clinton supporters across the country.

This is astoundingly self-destructive. The idea that any energy would be put toward defeating Bernie Sanders in 2018 is almost too absurd to believe. Going after the progressive fall-guy you rigged the primary against is beyond bad taste. It’s pathological.

Challenging Bernie in Vermont takes some serious audacity. I wonder who Jon Tester would support in this scenario. Here’s Farmer Jon from just a year ago:

Hillary Clinton is the most qualified candidate for president, Montana Sen. Jon Tester said Friday, announcing his endorsement of the former secretary of state.

“Hillary is the most qualified person on the ballot to unite our nation at a time when dangerous rhetoric threatens to divide us,” Tester said in a statement. “I look forward to working with her to create jobs, strengthen the middle class, keep our country safe, and invest in education and infrastructure so we can move our nation forward.”

Tester thanked Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders “for running a strong grassroots campaign,” energizing young voters and addressing important issues but added, “Now it’s time for us to come together to win up and down the ballot this November.”

If Hillary devotees feel compelled to punish Bernie for forcing them to corrupt the primary process in order to put him down, maybe Bernie supporters in Montana should see to it that Jon Tester goes back to the farm.