Richard Eskow, at the OurFuture blog, wonders if the Wells Fargo illegal-account scandal -- in which "two million felonies" may have been committed -- will be the thing that finally starts getting banksters prosecuted and shamed. To which I respond: we can only hope! On the plus side: two states are "suspending" their relationships with Wells Fargo, which could actually hit them where it hurts, i.e., their pocketbook. On the minus side: the "liberal" media and politicians of both parties still suck up to bankster clowns. Economist William Black's list of a bank CEO's "four priorities" is well worth memorizing, and perhaps even deploying in casual conversation.
Uh oh: Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted fails to deliver absentee ballots to over a million Ohio voters. Why? Oh, you already know why: to protect Ohio from "voter fraud." That's why anyone who changed their address or didn't vote in the last two elections didn't get one -- because relocating is probable cause for fraud, and no one ever changes their mind, particularly when one party nominates a maniac. Of course, Mr. Husted is the same man who tried to slash weekend voting hours in 2012, out of a deep and sincere concern that black voters who work all week wouldn't be able to get out and vote. OK, he didn't really put it that way. But an Ohio GOP county chair kinda did.
ProPublica finds that state and local government officials in Louisiana harshly criticized the American Red Cross's response to the flooding there in August. Which is what happens when you hire a CEO from the corporate world who cares more about how her organization looks than what good works it does. I mean, where do you think she got the idea to slash Red Cross staff? Not from any experience in social work, that's for damn sure.
I'll admit I wasn't looking forward to reading Dean Baker's argument in TruthOut that the Affordable Care Act is working; I was even less enthused when I read his opening paragraph, in which he compares our health care situation to a choice between three inches of rain in 24 hours and a hurricane (the three inches of rain, of course, being Obamacare). Then I read that the Affordable Care Act has saved Americans $220 billion in health care costs this year, and I realized that number is exactly as impressive as it looks -- even with our government spending some $4 trillion annually, $220 billion is real money. I'd still prefer the saving go to something good (like a Public Works Administration-style renewable energy buildout), and I'd also prefer a single-payer, Medicare-for-all system that would save even more money. But I won't fuss too much about Mr. Baker's argument.
Finally, in a story that sure is moving quickly, the New York state Attorney General has ordered the Donald J. Trump Foundation to stop raising money and do the necessary charity registration paperwork it's thus far avoided within 15 days. Best part: when Mr. Trump suggests he's got lawyers to make sure his charitable foundation is adhering to the law -- and we then learn that the Trump Foundation spent about $8 annually on lawyers between 1990 and 2014. Still, I'm not looking forward to hearing Mr. Trump whine about paperwork -- which we have for very good reasons, but which nobody likes to do.
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