Author: KJ McElrath

Ronald Reagan & Present GOP Candidates Worlds Apart: Nancy to Host GOP Debates in Sept.

Ronald Reagan & Present GOP Candidates Worlds Apart: Nancy to Host GOP Debates in Sept.

Posted by | Aug 13, 2015 | |

Sixteen of the GOP Presidential candidates will be appearing on CNN on September 18 for another round of “debates.” This time the showcase of GOP lack of ideas will be hosted by Nancy Reagan, who was quoted in USA Today saying that “Debates are a crucial part of the election process, and I’m thrilled that so many qualified candidates have the opportunity to be heard at the Reagan Presidential Library.” The event is full of irony all around. First of all, consider the location. Ronald Reagan, conservative as he was, would be considered left of Barack Obama, today. Among...

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Public Pressure Can Work: Corporations withdrawing from ALEC in Droves: Including Oil Companies

Public Pressure Can Work: Corporations withdrawing from ALEC in Droves: Including Oil Companies

Posted by | Aug 13, 2015 | , |

Like the proverbial rats deserting the sinking ship, corporate members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) are abandoning the organization in droves.  The latest deserters: Canadian National Railway, a major coal transporter, and oil producer Royal Dutch Shell. The most recent defections bring the total number of “corporate people” who have left ALEC to 106. Does this mean that Shell Oil plans to change its ways? Shell, no. Despite massive protests and blockade attempts in Seattle and Portland, Shell is going forward with plans to start drilling in the Arctic. Those plans are also completely at odds with...

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Senators Reintroduce a Glass-Steagall Bill. One of Them is John McCain. Did he Fall on His Head?

Senators Reintroduce a Glass-Steagall Bill. One of Them is John McCain. Did he Fall on His Head?

Posted by | Aug 13, 2015 | , |

Four senators recently reintroduced an updated version of the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act – and right wing Republican John McCain was one of them.  The other three: Progressive Democrat Elizabeth Warren, moderate Democrat Senator Maria Cantwell, and liberal Independent Senator Angus King. The original Glass-Steagall Act was passed as a way to mitigate the economic damage that came in the wake of the Stock Market Crash of 1929 – and to prevent such a disaster from happening again. The law prevented a single financial institution from doing business as a commercial bank, an investment bank and an insurance company –...

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Why is Mainstream Media Refusing to Talk about the Absurd Funding Fossil Fuel is Giving the GOP Candidates?

Why is Mainstream Media Refusing to Talk about the Absurd Funding Fossil Fuel is Giving the GOP Candidates?

Posted by | Aug 13, 2015 | , |

If you had any doubts about whose side the Republican Party is on, doubt no more. As first reported in the UK Guardian (not the US corporate media), eight of the seventeen GOP presidential candidates have been given campaign donations by a handful of hyper-wealthy persons – both natural and corporate – all of which have ties to the fossil fuel industry. So far, those donations total $62 million. Almost one quarter of that amount was given to a single candidate: corporatist theocrat Ted Cruz, who received $15 million from Dan and Farris Wilks, right from his home state...

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Bernie: Obama’s Failures Resulted from GOP Intent: GOP Totally Out of Touch

Bernie: Obama’s Failures Resulted from GOP Intent: GOP Totally Out of Touch

Posted by | Aug 12, 2015 | |

After the tragicomic farce that was last Thursday evening’s GOP debates, statesman and Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders tweeted, “It’s over. Not one word about economic inequality, climate change, Citizens United or student debt. That’s why the Rs are so out of touch.”  That turned out to be the most retweeted reaction to the event. Small wonder. Over the course of the two-hour “debate” (if it can be called that), candidates referred to the economy only ten times. At the same time, there were nearly twice that number of references to “God,” faith and the Bible. Apparently, Republicans are counting...

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