The LuLac Edition #4,347, July 9th, 2020

U.S. SUPREME COURT ALLOWS PROSECUTOR BUT NOT CONGRESS TO GET TRUMP'S FINANCIAL RECORDS

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that a New York prosecutor can obtain President Donald Trump's financial records but prevented - at least for now - Democratic-led House of Representatives committees from getting similar documents.
Both 7-2 rulings were authored by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts. One ruling means that the subpoena issued to Trump's long-term accounting firm, Mazars LLP, for various financial records to be turned over to a grand jury as part of a criminal investigation can be enforced.
But the court sidestepped a major ruling on whether three House committees could also obtain Trump financial documents under subpoena, giving Trump at least a short-term win. Litigation will now continue in lower courts.
Here’s what this means. Congress can’t get its hold on the tax returns. At least for now. That would appear to be a victory for Trump.
The major part of this is that the subpoena to the New York District on Trump’s tax returns can be enforced and not thrown out. Whatever is in those tax returns that Trump is hiding can still be investigated, looked at and at some point charged by a court there.
What we need to watch here is the Roberts Court. I think Judge Roberts has his eye on history and does not want to be seen as the Court that enabled a crook like Trump. 

Supreme Court Justices have life terms. Diaper Don can bellyache all he wants about them but what matters to most of them is the fact that history will judge them.
None of them will want to stake their lifetime reputations and legacies for Trump. Since 1789, only 114 people have served as Supreme Court Justices. That is too small a number for a person of true integrity to risk for the likes of Trump.

VINDICATION IS MINE AT LONG LAST!

As far back as 2016 when Donald Trump first started running for President, I recognized he was a bull shitter. Having been one for the majority of my life (childhood and parts of adulthood when I went off the rails) I recognized one when I saw and heard one. What confounded me was that he was a stupid bull shitter. What shocked me even more was the fact that he wasn’t even a good one. What stunned me was that a certain percentage of his cult members believed him.
His lies about his education were the thing that intrigued me. Knowing a few people who went to the Wharton School of Business, and some who didn’t get in, I knew that someone had to have taken his tests to get there and stay there. I said that many times on TV and in this blog. Some pooh poohed it, some said I was unhinged and that I was jealous. But I stood my ground.
This week with the publication of Mary Trump’s book on old Diaper Don, it was confirmed he had a guy named Shapiro take the exams.
Many of you most likely have a similar story on perhaps another factoid that Trump has thrown the crap about. I assure you when you find out you were right, like I was about the tests, you’ll have a sense of satisfaction of knowing that your own BS detector was working just fine.
Let’s hope the rest of thinking Americans feel that way.

A SHOCKING POLL SHOWS MITCH MCCONNELL LOSING TO HIS DEMOCRATIC OPPONENT, AMY MCGRATH.

Mitch McConnell is furious ... but the bad news for Mitch doesn't stop there.
Poll after poll, it is becoming clear that we've NEVER been this close to ending McConnell's right-wing reign as Senate majority leader. Even one of McConnell's top aides admitted that "the Senate is absolutely at risk of going Democratic."
In Arizona, once a ruby-red Republican state, Democrat Mark Kelly—a gun control activist and former astronaut—is beating right-wing Senator Martha McSally by NINE points in the polls.
In Maine, GOP Senator Susan Collins—who single-handedly confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court—is trailing her leading Democratic opponent by four points.
In Colorado, GOP Senator Cory Gardner—one of the most vulnerable GOP senators up for re-election—is falling behind his Democratic opponent.
In Montana, Democrat Steve Bullock—who led the effort to expand access to Medicaid to over 90,000 Montanans—is beating out GOP Senator Steve Daines, who supports repealing Obamacare and leaving millions uninsured.
This year the Democrats have a real shot at ending GOP control of the Senate and terminating McConnell's extremist tenure as Senate majority leader, but there's one big challenge: Montana, Colorado, and other Senate battleground states will not decide the presidential election in 2020, but these crucial states will determine who controls the Senate. My plea to you is if you get an out of state solicitation from a Democratic candidate in any of those states, dig in and send them whatever you can afford.
This is a great opportunity to get rid of the garbage in the once hallowed floors of the United States Senate.

CARTWRIGHT FIGHTS FOR MILITARY FAMILIES, VETERANS IN FY 2021 FUNDING BILLS

Congressman Matt Cartwright (Photo: LuLac archives)

During a House Appropriations Subcommittee markup on Monday evening, U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright supported the advancement of the fiscal year 2021 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs funding bill to the full committee, where it will be considered on Thursday, July 9.
In total, the bill provides $250.9 billion for military construction, veterans affairs and related agencies, an increase of $15.2 billion above the fiscal year 2020 enacted level. As a member of the subcommittee that writes this annual legislation, provisions Cartwright fought for include:
$90 billion for veterans’ medical care, including veteran suicide prevention, opioid treatment, women’s care, and medical and prosthetic research;
$12.5 billion in emergency funds for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to address the rising cost of providing health care for veterans;
$1.49 billion to address unsafe living conditions in privatized military housing;
Strong accountability measures for base housing property managers; and
More flexibility for VA hospitals, like the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center, to meet their localized information technology needs.
“This bill we’ve put forward makes strong investments in our servicemembers, military families and veterans,” Cartwright said. “It authorizes robust funding to support a high standard of affordable health care for veterans, including for mental health and substance abuse treatment. It protects American military families by holding private military housing developers accountable for serious health and safety hazards in their facilities. And it provides critical resources to help our military fight current and emerging threats. This legislation holds true to our commitment to those who sacrifice for our nation.”

CASEY INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO ADDRESS CHILD POVERTY

ALMOST HALF OF YOUNG CHILDREN IN THE UNITED STATES LIVE IN POVERTY OR NEAR POVERTY, WITH INFANTS AND TODDLERS AT GREATEST RISK

Senator Bob Casey (Photo: LuLac archives)

U.S. Senators Bob Casey, Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) are introducing The Child Poverty Reduction Act of 2020, which would set a national goal of reducing child poverty by half in 10 years and require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Census Bureau to report annually on child poverty. In 2018, nearly 1 in 6 children, or 11.9 million children, were living in poverty. U.S. Representative Danny K. Davis (D-IL-7) is introducing companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
“Every child in America should have the opportunity to be economically secure,” said Senator Casey. “More than 15 percent of children in Pennsylvania grow up in poverty. This is unacceptable. The Child Poverty Reduction Act makes a commitment to cut child poverty in half over the next decade. Economic stability and security for children and their families are the best predictors of a child’s wellbeing. We must ensure every child has the opportunity to grow and flourish and every child in America should have the freedom to reach her or his full potential.”
“There are far too many children living in poverty both in Wisconsin and across our country. We must act now,” said Senator Baldwin. “I’m leading this legislation with Senators Casey and Brown to take action and meet the challenge of better understanding and ending child poverty, so we can build healthier, stronger families and communities.”
“No child in America should have to grow up in poverty, period,” said Senator Brown. “Whether they’re raised in families that are working harder than ever with less and less to show for it, or in overwhelmed and under-funded foster care programs, far too many children are brought up with the odds stacked against them. And systemic racism often reinforces cycles of poverty for Black and Brown children. This legislation is an important step toward ensuring that federal policies and programs actually work to reduce child poverty and promote the health, safety, and economic security for all children.”
“Child poverty underlies a persistent tangle of inequities in our society. Children who grow up poor end up earning less than other children; they suffer significantly greater health risks, encounter more trauma and social conflict and face greater barriers in education in proportion to the number of years they live in poverty. We need the tools to measure and understand the links behind childhood poverty and long-term outlooks for child development. I am pleased to work with Senator Casey on this legislation that will provide the non-partisan, scientific basis for shaping evidence-based programs and policies to level the playing field for all our children,” said Representative Davis.
Child poverty not only affects individual children, but also has broader societal effects, including higher spending on health care, increased rates of crime, reduced rates of education attainment and higher spending on remedial education. In February, Senator Casey introduced a comprehensive legislative agenda, the Five Freedoms America’s Children. This agenda lays out a roadmap identifying five basic freedoms our society must guarantee to the Nation’s children—the Freedom to be Healthy, the Freedom to be Economically Secure, the Freedom to Learn, the Freedom from Hunger and the Freedom to be Safe from Harm. Among the policy recommendations in the agenda, Senator Casey proposed expanding the Child Tax Credit and allowing parents to claim it monthly, as well as the creation of children’s saving accounts, seeded annually with $500 in government contributions, which children can later use in pursuit of a post-secondary education, home ownership or a business enterprise.

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1980

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The parliament of Syria passed a law making membership in the Muslim Brotherhood punishable by death. President Hafez al-Assad announced the next day that members of the Muslim Brotherhood would be spared the death penalty if they surrendered before being confronted by law enforcement. The legislation provided legal authority for "shoot on sight" raids on suspected Brotherhood hideouts……Military leaders in Iraq were informed of a decision, made the day before by the ruling Ba'ath Party under the leadership of President Saddam Hussein, to prepare to launch a war against Iran. An invasion would take place in September....Iran's chief prosecutor, the Ayatollah Ali Ghoddusi, issued an order requiring all female government employees to wear the full-length chador and the traditional black head veil in accordance with the Ayatollah Khomeini's order for women to comply with the Islamic dress code or to be fired. In the first year of the Iranian Revolution, western-style clothing had been tolerated by the new regime. ................The final performance by Led Zeppelin of "Stairway to Heaven" was made at the closing concert of the band's Tour Over Europe 1980, at the Eissporthalle near Berlin in the suburb of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. After the death of drummer John Bonham in September, the heavy metal group broke up on December 4. The band would not do another full-length concert for more than 27 years until the reunion of Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones December 10, 2007, in London.

A wave of labor strikes at 91 factories in Poland began in the town of Świdnik, a suburb of the city of Lublin, starting with a walkout of workers at the Communication Equipment Factory (Wytwórnia Sprzętu Komunikacyjnego, WSK), a manufacturer of parts for the State Aviation Works (Państwowe Zakłady Lotnicze or PZL). As a historian noted later, "the whole thing began... with a pork chop" when workers preparing to purchase the day's lunch found that the price of the pork chop dinner had increased from Zł 10.20 to Zł 18.10. At the time, the minimum monthly wage in Poland was Zł 5100 or $43 per month……Hundreds of Iranian officers and servicemen were arrested at Nojeh Air Base, near Hamedan, foiling a plot to overthrow the government of the Ayatollah Khomeini and President Abolhassan Banisadr, and to disestablish the Islamic Republic.
Pope John Paul II visited Brazil. Seven people were crushed to death in as a crowd surged into Castelão stadium in Fortaleza to see him. Although the stadium had a capacity of 120,000 people, and estimated 200,000 came to see the Pontiff.
The record heat wave in the U.S., originally centered on Texas expanded across the South and the Plains States with temperatures above 100 °F in eight states and above 90° in twelve others. With the heat wave in its 17th day, the death toll rose to 177 nationwide. Within four days, 443 people in 15 states had died from heat stroke, with the majority of them in Missouri, Texas and Arkansas….and the number one song in LuLac land and America was “Steal Away” by Robbie Dupree.