BREAKING: McConnell has cracked on impeachment

BREAKING NEWS

"Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the Senate would have no choice but to take up impeachment if the House votes to effectively charge President Donald Trump," according to MSNBC. Is the senate lowlife at a point where he believes Donald Trump must go? Because that's all it will take when the House charges him. 

Had trouble with your credit report? The Bern can fix it

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2019 NEWS BYTES

A good answer to credit report problems... 

I did a privacy blog some 13 years ago, and one of the biggest complaints was from readers who had trouble with their credit reports. If they had a problem with the report, they could not get through to the three credit reporting agencies to talk to a competent individual. The key word here is competent. If you were lucky enough to get a human being, you were bounced around from inept clerks to supervisors, to supervisors of supervisors. The idea was to wear you out.

There are three major companies in the business of collecting your credit data, and they act as if it belongs to them and they don't have to divulge anything to you, even though it is your personal information. I once advocated the concept of giving ownership of personal data to the individual. The public didn't understand the concept and many of the major privacy blogs were supported to some degree by the credit bureaus.

Consumer Reports tells you how to fix credit score problems...

Let's name them: Trans Union, Experian and Equifax. You might remember the recent breach of 140 personal records from Equifax. This was due to "insufficient data security practices," something the database industry has been riddled with over the years. If you are really interested, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has a file that documents data breaches all the way back to 2005. This organization is one of the best at fighting identity theft and has been around for decades.

Bernie Sanders wants to eliminate the private credit reporting companies and substitute them with a government-managed credit registry. Similar to Medicare for All, it would eliminate the private sector in the administration of personal credit. It reeks of socialism, which it is, but you have to consider whether or not the private sector is acting in behalf of the American public. It is not in the case of either health insurance or personal credit information. I'll let Bernie run with Medicare for All, but I have had years of experience with credit unions.

They are not operated in the best interest of the consumer. They are operated to produce a profit and that amounts to billions of dollars a year. I was a data broker consultant for 35 years and witnessed the manipulation of your personal information in ways that would terrify you. From your name and address to your income and hundreds of other private factors about your life are sold daily to junk mail marketers. Even your Social Security number in financial transactions.

The Credit Pros lists the four ways credit bureaus reap huge profits on your private data...

• Selling Your Information to Lenders
• Selling Your Information to Marketers
• Selling You Your Own Information
• Disputes

My theory for owning your personal information included participation in the proceeds of its sale, but in number three, above, you are actually paying for your own private data, as an example, when you order a non-free credit report or your credit score. And, as indicated earlier, the credit bureaus, Trans-Union, Equifax and Experian, protect this information as if it was theirs. It isn't, it is yours and The Bern's concept would eliminate that exclusivity. A must to be successful.

Your rights under Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)

 
In my privacy blog, The Dunning Letter, I did a post in 2006, "Experian Denies My Right to Dispute Credit Report Problem," where I had an actual one-on-one experience with what I consider the worst of the credit bureaus. The problem was I was denied my credit report where I had been a member for over twenty-five years, paying $90 annually for the service. Here's the scenario...

After hours on the Internet and telephone with Credit Manager [an Experian service] personnel who turned out to be completely useless—and being regularly “escalated” to the “right” people—I finally reached a supervisor who was known as…the Escalation Manager. Mark sounded competent, acted like he wanted to help, and spent another hour covering the same material as the “useless” bunch. I was wrong. He couldn’t help me, even if he wanted to. Something was also blocking Mark—the Credit Manager Escalation Manager, no less—from accessing my credit report.

Well, Mark couldn't help, or perhaps, just lost interest after a while, and said I should file a dispute. Dispute, that word that signifies more revenue for Experian. To make a long story short, the dispute didn't even work and subsequent phone calls proved completely fruitless. It is almost as if their work ethic is to deny the consumer anything they need or ask for that you don't have to pay for. Bernie Sanders said...

“We must and we will remove the profit motive from assessing the creditworthiness of American consumers."

Although this is socialistic and anti-capitalism, this kind of move has become necessary because private enterprise does not police itself. This is the kind of thing Progressives have vowed to address and make it right for the consumer. Everyone should welcome it, and it can't come soon enough.

Here are more early posts on Experian. 

Ukrainegate will doom Donald Trump's administration

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2019 NEWS BYTES

Ukrainegate is taking its toll...   

Rudy Giuliani should be concerned

In an opinion piece for The Washington Post, Paul Waldman said acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire in his opening statement to the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday, "perhaps unintentionally," may have dumped on Donald Trump. Waldman felt Maguire's implication was, " just how thoroughly infected with corruption the entire executive branch has become under President Trump." Intentional or not, it is a true statement.

Waldman feels Magure is not an "amoral conspiracy theorist like Michael Flynn," or "not willing to brazenly deceive the public and twist government to the president’s purposes like Attorney General William P. Barr." It's amazing the acting director is still where he is. But, "Maguire’s first stop, upon receiving a breathtaking set of accusations about Trump and his White House, was … Donald Trump’s White House."

And in a refute to Trump's accusations against the Bidens re. son Hunter's Ukrainian dealings with the gas company there...

"A former Ukrainian prosecutor who investigated a gas company tied to Hunter Biden said Thursday that there was no evidence the former vice president's son engaged in illegal activity."

"From the perspective of Ukrainian legislation, he did not violate anything,” Yuriy Lutsenko said.

Hunter Biden and Ukrainegate...

Lutsenko made this statement way back in May, but T-rump keeps renewing the accusation. And anyway, “Hunter Biden cannot be responsible for violations of the management of Burisma that took place two years before his arrival,” Lutsenko added. If you are really interested, here are four false claims by the Oval Office lunatic that show his concern with winning in 2020...

False: Biden pushed out a Ukrainian prosecutor investigating his son
False: Hunter Biden made a killing on a China deal
False: Biden lied about talking to his son
False: Democratic senators also threatened Ukraine’s aid

Based on Donald Trump's administration, the Republic Party will be known in the future as the party that refined and improved lying in politics. Now, poor baby...Salon portrays T-rump as, "consumed with self-pitying paranoia as the Ukraine scandal spirals out of his control." The scenario...

"The fact that this material was released so quickly indicates that the White House expects to lose the impeachment vote in the House and are counting on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the “gravedigger of democracy” himself, either to refuse to hold a trial at all or to ensure that no such trial produces a two-thirds majority for conviction."

Here's lowlife Mitch McConnell on impeachment...disgusting...

Not sure Trump can be so sure about the senate with public opinion fast turning in favor of impeachment, and members of Congress finally realizing that country is more important than their reelection or the Party. I don't believe anything could raise the opinion of the American public about Congress, but as they say, it's time to do the right thing. Heather Digby Parton of Salon comments...

"Rudy Giuliani is on the verge of some kind of breakdown, acting like a wild man on television on a nightly basis?"

Here's a Giuliani quote...

“It is impossible that the whistle-blower is a hero and I’m not. And I will be the hero! These morons — when this is over, I will be the hero. I’m not acting as a lawyer. I’m acting as someone who has devoted most of his life to straightening out government. Anything I did should be praised.”

Well, that pretty much seals the deal. Donald Trump's impeachment is just around the corner.

Bill Barr's Ukraine connection, Whistleblower, Impeachment and Mitch McConnell

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 BEST OF THE NEWS

What's happenin?... 

Never been truer than Trump administration

Attorney General William Barr is one of the biggest failures of the Trump administration...READ MORE

Trump early response to the whistleblower complaint is incoherent...READ MORE

Trump will be hurt at least three ways by impeachment, even if the senate exonerates him...READ MORE

MSBC's Rachel Maddow on Trump impeachment...

Lowlife Mitch McConnell is with Trump all the way as he continues to undermine national security...READ MORE

Republicans look the other way, as usual, as Brett Kavanaugh lies under oath...READ MORE

John Bolton turning on Trump and apparently has info on whistleblower...READ MORE

In recent demonstrations over Climate Change, which brought out over 400,000 demonstrators, one sign commenting on Donald Trump's Cabinet read: "I've seen smarter cabinets at IKEA."...READ MORE

Climate change demonstrations...

Karen Pence turns to Twitter to lavish praise on Donald Trump; it was a failure like everything this family does. Something like a religious Cheney family...READ MORE

More indecipherable Trump over Ukraine allegations; call in the white coats...READ MORE

Donald Trump resorts to more lies when asked about impeachment; if T-rump didn't lie, he wouldn't say anything at all...READ MORE

Hard data show economic program Donald Trump said would help average Americans has "actually imposed substantial costs on about 70 percent of Americans."...READ MORE

READ THIS Goldman Sachs 34-page analysis of the impact of climate change. The results are reported as "terrifying."...READ MORE

Would Donald Trump throw Mike Pence under the bus to save himself? Hell yes!...READ MORE

LATEST NEWS: Whistleblower statement will impeach Trump

BREAKING NEWS: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2929

Ukrainegate whistleblower complaint released... 

The damning complaint

The Ukrainegate complaint on Donald Trump's unethical and illegal conversation with Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has been released. It is as damning as it is a reflection on perhaps the worst abuse of executive power this country has ever seen. It should be noted here that the document was stored in the Nat'l Security Council (NSC) computer servers, not for reasons of security, but for the purpose of hiding it from the public.

READ TE FULL COMPLAINT...

This mongrel in the White House keeps demonstrating that he will do anything to get what he wants, and it is obvious that he wants a second term in office. The complaint letter's first sentence, "I am reporting an 'urgent concern...'" The letter continues recounting that he had...

"received information from multiple U.S. Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election."

The complainant admits he was...

"not a direct witness to most of the events described. However, I found my colleagues' accounts of these events to be credible because, in almost all cases, multiple officials recounted fact patterns that were consistent with one another. In addition, a variety of information consistent with these private accounts has been reported publicly."

Trump completely coming off the spool over whistleblower complaint...

The complaint states emphatically...

"I am deeply concerned that the actions described below constitute "a serious or flagrant problem, abuse, or violation of law or Executive Order" that "does not include differences of opinions concerning public policy matters," consistent with the definition of an"urgent concern" in 50 U.S.C. §3033(k)(5)(G). I am therefore fulfilling my duty to report this information, through proper legal channels, to the relevant authorities."

The complainant goes on to provide a timeline of the impending damage this could do the country in relation to the possibility of national security. If T-rump is willing to withhold $400 million in aid from Ukraine for cooperation in his 2020 election win, what might he offer if it was necessary to give up more? We have witnessed this kind of breach in the past. Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal atty. and U.S. AG Bill Barr were also implicated.

Giuliani is a loose cannon that seems to have lost at least as many marbles as Donald Trump, but Bill Barr is supposed to be the attorney for the American people. However, the Oval Office lunatic has turned him into the great protector of the Trump brand, another abuse of executive power.

The whistleblower complaint is a must-read.

Will Democrats recover for 2020?

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 NEWS BYTES

What is wrong with the Democrats?... 

If anyone knows, he does

The best break the Democratic Party has had for months, perhaps years, is the recent Ukrainegate telephone conversation Donald Trump had with that country's president, Volodymyr Zelensky. T-rump asked the new leader to dig up dirt on his 2020 opponent Joe Biden. Although not adding pressure at the time, the Oval Office lunatic had withheld $400 million in aid just a week before. All hell broke loose and now Dem Speaker Nancy Pelosi is proceeding with impeachment.

If history repeats itself, the Democrats could screw it up somehow. Today, when they are faced with a fascist in the White House, the inability still persists according to Salon...

"the Democratic Party has a historic opportunity — and a historic responsibility. It has repeatedly proven itself to be unequal to the task, to a comic and pathetic degree."

My favorite word to describe Republicans, pathetic, and I can't really disagree with the above assessment. Here's an opinion by AlterNet's Alex Henderson...

"Despite his anemic approval ratings, President Donald Trump could nonetheless win reelection in 2020 if he aggressively turns out his base and Democrats don’t do enough to get out the vote."

With these numbers, hard to see how Dems will lose...

I wish someone could explain to me why it is that Republicans are able to get their voters to the polls in larger numbers than Democrats. The Dems have the edge from the get-go with 42 million voters compared to 30 million Republicans. There are also 24 million Independents. With 12 million more people at the polls, the Democrats should be controlling this county. But apparently they have been sitting at home on their butts when it's time to do their patriotic duty.

But not so when there was a record turnout for 2018 when the Democrats took over the House flipping the most seats since the Watergate election of 1974, and gained measurably in the Senate. According to The Nation, they also took more than 335 state legislative seats in an election that saw the party gain control of at least eight new legislative chambers. Here's the scenario...

"In 2018, according to The Washington Post, “Democrats outvoted Republicans by more than 4 million. And, the data dive explained, Democratic votes were high, even compared with the 2016 presidential election."

An example of the Democrats trouble...

But are 2016 and 2018 foreboding another sweep by the left in 2020? I mean they do seem to be on a roll and Ukrainegate is certainly a nice surprise they can capitalize on. If they are smart. And they haven't been so many times. This is how Republican strategist Stuart Stevens sees it...

"Democratic ideas are much more popular than Trump’s. Taxing multi-millionaires is far more popular than a border wall. Medicare for all is more popular than a border wall. Free trade is more popular than a trade war, (and) somehow, R’s have granted that advantage to D’s. There are no new conservative solutions, only victim shopping.”

Finally, Stevens said...

“Companies that sell old products lose market share” and fail —and the GOP has become an analog party in a digital world.”

It is entirely possible that Donald Trump has lifted the curse from the Democrats and if they steer the right course in the next several months, then years they will bring this country's position of prominence back where it was before Donald Trump.

Here is the Trump/Zelensky Ukraine transcript

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 NEWS BYTES

Here come the Ukrainegate transcript...  

Hard to read but it's there

While we wait for the White House to release the transcript of the whistleblower complaint, there may be a bump in the road reported by Fox News, always a questionable news source. Fox says "the intelligence community inspector general found the whistleblower had 'political bias in favor of 'a rival candidate' of the president." First, the report come from the unreliable Fox News, second, Donald Trump appointed Michael Atkinson ICSG.

The above, which started out as today's post, has been left with strikethrough because it makes two important points. One is the fact that Fox News is mostly unreliable if you're looking for facts, and second, the guy who determined the whistleblower was biased in his statement was a Trump appointee. That said, the L A Times reports it would appear that not only did T-rump ask Ukraine's Zelensky...

"to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, he also urged the foreign leader to look into CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm that did work for the Democrats in the 2016 election."

Here's coverage of the transcript...

Trump pushed it even further by adding to congratulations for the new Ukrainian leader that he should "speak with U.S. Atty. Gen. William Barr and Rudolph W. Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, who was leading Trump’s efforts in urging Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son, Hunter." Here's the scenario...

"Trump has insisted he has done nothing wrong. But the transcript shows Trump urged a foreign government to intervene in the 2020 election against his rival..."

"Trump had already acknowledged that he asked Zelensky to investigate Biden, whose son Hunter had a contract with a Ukrainian gas company. Trump also acknowledged this week that he held up military aid intended for the Ukrainian government in the same period. He has denied that the delay in releasing the aid money was a form of pressure to prompt the investigation."

The Democrats aren't satisfied and say there are more questions to be answered. To begin with, the document released Wednesday was only a memorandum of the Zelensky conversation, according to The Washington Post, not a verbatim account. BINGO! There was a cautionary note with the memorandum warning...

"that the text reflects the notes and memories of officials in the Situation Room and that a number of factors 'can affect the accuracy of the record.'”

BINGO! again. The WP piece goes on to point out some background on the call and specifics that relate to the conversation. It all boils down to the fact that the American president, who is running for a second term, asks the president of a foreign nation to investigate what he thinks is wrongdoing by his opponent in the election. Although the $400 million in aid promised, but withdrawn just prior to the call to Zelensky, isn't mentioned, at least as far as we know, the implication was always there.

Trump response to transcript: If you want dumb here's dumb...

Is there a transcript of the actual recording? If so, why wasn't that made available instead of the "notes and memories " of those in the Situation Room? This is just a continuation of the ambiguous Donald Trump the American people have had to live with since he entered the White House. So far Speaker Pelosi is moving ahead with impeachment but dealing with such an enigmatic administration will continue to make the effort look like madness at times.