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Marco Rubio And Rand Paul Leading Struggle Against Trumpian Foreign Policy In Senate Foreign Relations Committee

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Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky, both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, are leading the struggle against Trumpian foreign policy, particularly in relation to Russia and Vladimir Putin.

Both were highly critical of Secretary of State nominee Rex TIllerson, who has zero foreign policy experience, and has spent his entire work career with Exxon Mobil, the largest corporation in the world.

Both put Tillerson’s “feet to the fire” today, and if both vote against him, he will be denied the chance to have a floor vote in the Senate, assuming that all Democrats oppose Tillerson as well.

Donald Trump is certainly on a collision course with his own party in Congress, and seems to relish it.

He reminds us most of Richard Nixon, but even Nixon did not set out to alienate his own party as Trump has.

So now we are nine days away from the official beginning of a nightmare, with a man determined to be as dictatorial as his party, the opposition party, the courts, and the news media will allow him.

It is going to be a tumultuous, confrontational four years, and the question is how much it will harm the American people, including those stupid and ignorant enough to have voted for the man often called the “Orange Trumpolini”.

Trump’s Pledge To “Drain The Swamp”? Trump Has More Wall Street Corporate Types And Military Leaders Than Any President Since Eisenhower!

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Donald Trump pledged to “drain the swamp” of corporate people having influence on government, and this is the first of his pledges that has been totally ignored.

His Secretary of the Treasury (Steve Mnuchin); Secretary of Commerce (Wilbur Ross); Secretary of State (Rex Tillerson); and Chief Strategist (Stephen K. Bannon) are all from Wall Street or from a leading corporation in the case of Tillerson (Exxon Mobil).

Additionally, he has more military people, including those who are not retired for long, and require special legislative approval to serve—Secretary of Defense (James Mattis); Secretary of Homeland Security (John Kelly); and National Security Adviser (Michael Flynn).

So this is more than ever the “Military-Industrial Complex” that President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned against in his Farewell Address in January 1961.

This is a danger to American democracy, as the wealthy one percent not only dominate this administration, but also, more than ever, members of Congress, who are overall wealthier than any previous Congress in American history.

Where is the concern for the average middle class or poor American?

Totally Unqualified For Cabinet: Ben Carson, Rick Perry, Rex Tillerson, And They Should All Be Rejected By US Senate!

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Donald Trump has selected three cabinet members who have absolutely no background for the positions they have been chosen for.

Ben Carson was a pediatric surgeon, who was conveniently given a “golden parachute” to leave Johns Hopkins Hospital since his behavior was becoming strange and weird, as people watching the Presidential campaign certainly noticed. He has NO qualifications to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, other than that he grew up in a poor family and lived in public housing in Detroit.

Rick Perry was 14 year Governor of Texas, and is not the brightest bulb in American politics, and when he sought the Presidency in 2011, he could not recall the Energy Department was one of the cabinet agencies he thought should be closed down. Now he is nominated to head that agency, although he has no knowledge of nuclear weapons or energy, and received Cs, Ds, and Fs in Science courses at Texas A & M University.

Rex Tillerson has been CEO of Exxon Mobil, and has never served in government, and is a chum of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who gave him the highest honor that can be bestowed on a foreigner, and they have done oil deals together and get along splendidly. But that is alarming to John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio and other Republicans, as well as Democrats, and would make Ronald Reagan turn over in his grave, as Barack Obama said today in a news conference, that such a pro Russian oil executive with ZERO knowledge of foreign policy, should be the nominee for Secretary of State.

All three should be stopped in committee by the Republicans or by filibuster by the Democrats in the Senate, as all three are a disgrace to the positions they have been nominated for by Donald Trump!

Could Donald Trump End Up As Nixon-Rockefeller Type Of Republican, Very Different Than Present Republicans In Congress?

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If one looks at Donald Trump’s statements about public affairs over many decades, he often seemed to be a liberal Democrat.

Now he is consorting with powerful military figures recently retired, and powerful corporate people from Exxon Mobil and Goldman Sachs and other corporate types, and is in bed with right wing Republican forces in Congress.

Trump changes his mind so much and so often that one wonders where his leanings are, but right now it seems to be moving to the hard right, based on appointments.

But one can hope that he might evolve into a Richard Nixon-Nelson Rockefeller type of Republican, a pragmatic, mainstream view of foreign policy as Richard Nixon had, and a support of basic domestic programs and ideas as Nixon and Nelson Rockefeller tended to support.

Under present circumstances, IF Trump turned out to be a Nixon-Rockefeller type of Republican, he would become very different than most Republicans in Congress are in 2016-2017. But he would also alienate the party that elected him, so do not expect Trump, who is totally unpredictable, to be a profile in courage.

But if he were, that would be the best we could expect from him, but do not hold your breath!

The Irony Of Global Warming: Melting Of Ice Caps Promotes Oil Drilling, Worsening The Crisis!

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Many ignorant people will dispute that global warming, or climate change, is occurring on the earth, but 98 percent of reputable scientists know that such a situation is rapidly developing, and weather evidence is growing which alarms anyone who wants to notice and accept reality!

The irony of the whole situation is that the rapidly melting ice caps in the Arctic are allowing oil companies to make deals, as now with the Russian government, to allow vastly increased exploration for oil drilling, which can make tremendous profits for those oil companies, such as Exxon-Mobil and British Petroleum, with the Russian government not concerning itself with environmental damage, but rather with economic advantages for the wealthy executives and government leaders who will profit from the oil deals!

So the ability for easier and further oil drilling by the reality of global warming is the ultimate irony–that we are seeing the worsening of the crisis with leadership putting their “heads in the sand” and worshipping wealth over health and safety of future generations,. who will suffer from the damage done in the name of capitalism over human needs!

So what else is new?

Senator Bernie Sanders’ Guide To Corporate Freeloaders!

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Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders has come up with a list of what he calls “Corporate Freeloaders”, corporations that have failed to pay taxes to the US government, and demonstrate an arrogance that is infuriating!

At the top of the list is Exxon Mobil, paying no federal income taxes, but receiving a rebate from the government, while making $19 billion in profits in 2009!

Bank of America is second on the list, making $4.4 billion in profits, but gaining a $1 trillion bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, and even receiving a $1.9 billion tax refund!

General Electric is third on the list, cutting American jobs by one fifth, earning $26 billion in profits over five years, and receiving a $4.1 billion tax refund!

The rest of the list includes oil companies Chevron, Valero Energy, and Conoco Phillips; banking and finance companies Goldman Sachs and Citigroup; and in transportation, Boeing and Carnival Cruise Lines.

So, in summary, it is the oil and energy companies, the banks and finance companies, plus transportation companies and General Electric, who have willingly robbed the nation of needed tax revenues!

Is there any way to justify this? Is it “Christian values” to refuse to pay taxes? Is it moral or ethical to do this? Or is it just plain greed, selfishness, and corruption that explains how the top American corporations can have no limit to their lack of patriotism and commitment to the advancement of the American people, instead of just themselves?