Maryland Gov Hogan was elected as a Republican having MOVED FORWARD all of global banking 1% ENTERPRISE ZONE policies advanced during O'Malley era-----Hogan has moved more global banking economic and development ties to Baltimore and Maryland then anyone else. He says nothing about ATTACKS on national, state, and local county sovereignty as Maryland Assembly and county councils keep passing ONE WORLD ONE GOVERNANCE for only the global 1%. Hogan said nothing against SANCTUARY STATE because he supports MARYLAND as a US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE. HOGAN is not a right wing REPUBLICAN. Here we see the 2018 Democratic primary for Governor----every candidate in this picture has these few decades worked HARD as ROBBER BARON global banking 5% players having every intention of MOVING FORWARD whatever HOGAN installs. None of these candidates in the photo are DEMOCRATS. These candidates and HOGAN are the SAME TEAM GLOBAL BANKING 1%----MOVING FORWARD ONE WORLD----only looking to advance THEMSELVES----they are JULIEN SORELS ----RED AND BLACK.
Maryland Democratic Candidates for Governor Focus on Hogan
Maryland's Democratic candidates for governor focus on the GOP incumbent.
May 21, 2018, at 7:32 p.m.
Maryland Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ben Jealous, right, adjusts his tie as he prepares for a Maryland Democratic primary gubernatorial debate, Monday, May 21, 2018, in Baltimore. Maryland's primary is scheduled to take place Tuesday, June 26.
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) The Associated Press
By BRIAN WITTE, Associated Press
BALTIMORE (AP) — Maryland's Democratic candidates for governor spent much of their first primary debate on Monday focusing on the candidate who wasn't on stage with them, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.
Eight candidates appeared together for the first time at an event produced by Maryland Public Television in association with WBAL-TV. From the start, candidates took aim at the incumbent who is seeking to become the first Republican governor in 64 years to be re-elected in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1.
"Too many Marylanders feel ignored, left out and forgotten by this governor," said Prince George's County Executive Rushern Baker, a two-term county executive in one of the state's largest jurisdictions, near the start of his opening statement to kick off the event.
The governor's would-be opponents pounced on his decision not to move forward with the Red Line light rail proposal in Baltimore, Maryland's largest city, as an indicator he wasn't leading the state in the right direction to stimulate the economy and reduce traffic congestion.
"While Marylanders have focused on Donald Trump, Larry Hogan has taken us in the wrong direction," said Jim Shea, a Baltimore attorney and former chairman of the state's largest lawfirm. "Our schools have slipped, we sit in the worst commuter traffic in the nation, and our economy lags behind our neighbors."
School infrastructure problems and crime in Baltimore also were highlighted.
"I think the people of Maryland are tired of Larry Hogan spending money the way he wants to spend it for his own agenda," said James Jones, who also is seeking the nomination. "People are tired of their children going to schools and not having heat and air conditioning. People are tired for the murders that occurring every day in our streets."
Ben Jealous, the former president of the NAACP, underscored his experience as the head of the nation's oldest civil rights organization.
"If you want to make Donald Trump's blood pressure go up, if you want to beat Hogan, send a civil rights leader to be your next governor," Jealous said.
The Maryland Republican Party, meanwhile, panned the event as "uninspired."
"These debates should come with a viewer warning message; 'Be advised prolonged exposure will result in extreme boredom and likely deep sleep,'" Maryland Republican Party Chairman Dirk Haire said.
Scott Sloofman, Hogan's campaign spokesman, said Hogan has provided a record level of financial support for the city, including nearly $4 billion in local transportation projects.
"It's politically inconvenient for these candidates to admit, but Maryland is better off under Gov. Hogan's steady leadership, and they promise little more than a return to the failed policies of the past," Sloofman said.
The popular governor doesn't face primary opposition. The primary is June 26.
Valerie Ervin, whose campaign for governor is only days old after deciding last week to run in place of Kevin Kamenetz who died suddenly this month, says candidates are going to have to start talking about their differences.
"Some people are running for the first time," Ervin said. "They have no experience in government," Ervin, a two-term Montgomery County Councilmember, said in an interview.
State Sen. Richard Madaleno said his experience and record in state government separates him from the other candidates.
"I would say it's my unique proven record of results for the people of the state of Maryland from Ocean City to Oakland, Maryland, and my leadership on the issues that matter for the people of the state," Madaleno, of Montgomery County, said in his opening statement.
Alec Ross, a technology entrepreneur and author from Baltimore, said he was the standout candidate as an innovator who could bring fresh solutions to recurring problems the state faces.
"I think the biggest difference is you've got a merry-go-round of career politicians who are just going to do exactly what is Democratic Party doctrine, and then you've got me, who is going to focus on the root of the problem," Ross said after the debate.
Krish Vignarajah, a lawyer and former policy director for Michelle Obama, said she was the candidate who was both fiscally responsible and socially progressive.
"I think that there is an opportunity to highlight how we can fully fund our schools support businesses, but also protect our environment, address the opioid crisis — a couple of issues that we obviously didn't touch on during this debate, but fortunately there's are going to be a few more debates, so I suspect we will have an opportunity," she said after the event.
Candidate Ralph Jaffe did not attend, but recorded comments were to be included when the debate is broadcast Monday evening.
"I want to get money out of politics," he said. "And also I want to put a stop to these career politicians because all they care about is themselves."
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Third Way Clinton/Obama global banking neo-liberals used our Federal health programs for massive ROBBER BARON frauds of trillions of dollars from our US Federal Medicare and Medicaid ---now ROBBER BARON frauds are ending with coming economic collapse----they are morphing to far-right wing extreme wealth extreme poverty LIBERTARIAN MARXISM ---that is the OUR REVOLUTION for only the global 1% players----like Bernie, Jill Stein, Gabbard, Warren, Turner, Ellison---all FAKE populist left. What the OUR REVOLUTION for only the global 1% crowd want---as too CLINTON NEO-LIBERALS is for all 99% of US WE THE PEOPLE to have the same third world health access as those in Asia, Africa, Arabia. Doesn't matter that Americans paid tens of trillions of dollars into MEDICARE having plenty of money in that TRUST-----global banking 1% says----ALL GONE.
SANDERS' style socialism---FAR-RIGHT WING GLOBAL CORPORATE CAMPUS MAOIST keep them alive if they can work. NOTHING 'left' MOVING FORWARD.
Clinton Democrats Embrace Losing Strategy To Combat ‘Sanders-Style Socialism’ In Midterms
25 Jul 2018 Kevin Gosztola
Democratic Party elites are increasingly concerned the midterm elections will be a “base election” and make their centrist politics even more irrelevant, as insurgent candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez garner widespread support.
The think tank, Third Way, recently held a conference in Ohio with Democrats, who primarily adhere to the politics of President Bill Clinton, and new recruits, who they hope will counter “Bernie Sanders-style socialism.” They also intend to defend corporate executives and wealthy people from condemnation for their attacks on poor and working class Americans.
“Right now, in the Democratic Party, there is only one option on the table: Sanders-style socialism. That’s the main option on the table. We’re doing this now because the party’s got to have a choice,” Jon Cowan, one of the presidents of Third Way, declared. “It’s going to matter a hell of a lot in 2020, and so while 2020 may feel a ways off, in our mind it isn’t. And the ideas primary starts now.”
“So we’re actually doing this for a very straightforward reason: to stand up and launch a serious, compelling economic alternative to Sanderism,” Cowan added.
Similarly, former Delaware Governor Jack Markell whined, “The only narrative that has been articulated in the Democratic Party over the past two years is the one from the left.”
OH, REALLY??????
“I think we need a debate within the party. Frankly, it would have been better to start the conversation earlier,” Markell said.
Democratic Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio earned laughs when he quipped, “You’re not going to make me hate somebody just because they’re rich. I want to be rich!” The line went over well because Third Way and the 250 insiders that attended the conference have deep ties to hedge funds and various financial institutions on Wall Street.
As of 2014, “Two-thirds of its 31 trustees [had] held senior leadership positions in investment funds or big banks or served in some other capacity on Wall Street.” However, corporate Democrats bristle at the notion that their money ethically compromises them. Hillary Clinton even went so far as to defend her speeches to Goldman Sachs by accusing critics of misogyny.
Mitch Landrieu, a pragmatic liberal and former mayor of New Orleans, warned during the conference, “Republicans have chosen their [path]. They’re going to run a base election, which means they have ceded the middle of the road. In my opinion, Democrats would be making a big mistake if they run a base election. We have to find common ground.”
Days after the conference, James Comey, former FBI director, longtime Republican, and darling of The Resistance™, called on Democrats to please not lose their minds and “rush to the socialist left.”
“This president and his Republican Party are counting on you to do exactly that. America’s great middle wants sensible, balanced, ethical leadership,” Comey added.
The strategy of finding “common ground” or the myth of the “great middle” is one the establishment of the Democratic Party has promoted for the past few decades, particularly to ward off left-wing populist challenges. It was adhered to by Hillary Clinton in 2016, President Barack Obama embraced it as a core philosophy in 2008 and 2012, and Bill Clinton, along with Al Gore, perfected the art of making common cause with corporate interests to maintain power and influence in the United States government.
As Lance Selfa detailed in his book, “The Democrats: A Critical History, ” Clinton and Gore broke with labor, civil rights, and other liberal causes to push for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). They backed welfare repeal, bills which fueled the rise of mass incarceration, and signed a 1997 budget that slashed millions for social programs, like Medicare and Medicaid. They put corporations ahead of protecting the environment. They encouraged the deregulation of industry, which greatly boosted Wall Street.
This tradition continues with former Labor Secretary, Tom Perez, as the head of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Perez was a major proponent of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. He granted waivers for UBS, Barclays, J.P. Morgan, the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, and Citigroup while he was Labor Secretary, which allowed the banks to go back to managing pension money even though they were guilty of crimes. He also refused to support a revival of Obama’s ban on donations from corporate lobbyists.
The Democratic Party managed to defeat a strong challenge from Representative Keith Ellison, who represented Sanders on the DNC’s Platform Committee in 2016. So, Cowan’s suggestion that Democrats have veered from his preferred course is far-fetched. But it does indicate the leadership of the party still views a coalition of progressives and democratic socialists within the party as a threat.
Landrieu’s fear of a “base election” is striking, given the fact that such an election is what Democrats need to bolster voter enthusiasm for candidates in November so they can potentially take control of the Senate and/or the House of Representatives.
Also, the leadership of the Democratic Party did everything it could to prevent a “base election” from taking place in 2016, when Sanders gained momentum against Clinton. It took steps to aid Clinton so she would remain the inevitable nominee. Clinton ran a poor campaign that promoted centrist politics as a counter to President Donald Trump’s right-wing populist message and lost the election.
Corporate Democrats, like House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, point to candidate Conor Lamb’s victory in Pennsylvania as evidence their “moderate economic” message can work.
“Conor Lamb won with a message that I think is a Democratic message: The tax bill was not for you. They’re trying to take your health care away,” Hoyer said. “Clearly, what we found in the polls was, [voters] will listen, they’re not happy.”
Indeed, the tax bill was not for most Americans. It was for corporations and wealthy elites. They plan to take Americans’ health care away to pay for their tax cuts. But that message is not one that meshes well with the center-right politics of corporate Democrats. It is truly a message to be bolstered by the socialist politics of insurgent candidates.
The Democratic Party has floundered throughout Trump’s presidency because it refuses to articulate an alternative vision to Trumpism that addresses the material conditions which many Americans endure. Among Sanders Democrats, there is an alternative vision with grassroots energy that could be seized. However, Clinton Democrats cling to the role of sensible steward for corporate elites so tightly that they will not embrace critiques of capitalism and offer policy solutions that address root causes of systemic problems.
As a result, what Third Way proposes is a set of bland focus-grouped policies, such as “a massive apprenticeship program to train workers, a privatized employer-funded universal pension that would supplement Social Security, and an overhaul of unemployment insurance to include skills training.”
The emphasis on training workers is indicative of centrist Democrats compulsion to triage the impacts of capitalism on poor, working class, and middle class Americans rather than support measures that could lift up the 99 percent.
In fact, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer suggested in an op-ed for the New York Times in 2017 that employers, “particularly small businesses, a large tax credit to train workers for unfilled jobs.” He contended this “Better Deal” would help Americans in “smaller cities and rural areas, which have experienced an exodus of young people who aren’t trained for the jobs in those areas.”
It was like a proposal Hillary Clinton put forward during her presidential campaign in June 2015. She called for tax credits for businesses for “every apprentice hired as a way to boost employment among young adults.”
Schumer’s announcement ultimately flopped. The Democrats scrapped the “Better Deal” message last week. They now believe, based on their most politically connected public relations consultants, that “For the People” is better. But what that means for policy is anyone’s guess.
Other ideas touted by Third Way include a “small business bill of rights” and “BoomerCorps,” a national service program where seniors can earn money to supplement their dwindling Social Security payments.
The idea of “BoomerCorps” is rather offensive. It basically says to Americans, who have labored for decades to fuel the U.S. economy, “Hey, why not break your back some more for America if you really want to retire?”
Nevertheless, the narrative pushed by Clinton Democrats into the media should not fool anyone into believing they cannot get their message out, that voices in the party have drowned them out, or that Sanders Democrats had a “head start” and now they must battle their way back to challenge them before they cost Democrats seats in the midterm election.
These Democrats are the very individuals who collectively shepherded Hillary Clinton to a presidential nomination. They have fended off an insurgency for the past two years and stunted efforts to develop the Democratic Party into an actual opposition party that will meaningfully challenge Trump. They have responded to dissent against Trump by complaining that “incivility” is not the answer. They even will go so far as to accuse Sanders Democrats of dividing Democrats by running challengers against incumbents.
Clinton Democrats or followers of the Third Way still have the power, and that is part of what is holding back an agenda for working people. They stand in the way of a movement that believes the country should move away from destructive corporate politics, and until their obstruction is overcome, progress on economic, environmental, racial, and social justice will be exceptionally difficult to achieve.
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We want to stress----every time a global banking 1% player whether pol or NGO tells us what is MOVING FORWARD with UNIVERSAL CARE here in US is like Canada or Europe-----what they are not telling us is -----both Canada and Europe have been privatizing that once REAL PUBLIC UNIVERSAL CARE that did provide quality care for all 99% of citizens -------it no longer does. It is all being OUTSOURCED to private global corporations which are no longer allowing UNIVERSAL ACCESS to ordinary health care.
'Private vs. public: Battle for Ontario’s health-care system
By Marc Montgomery | english@rcinet.ca
Thursday 17 March, 2016
Canada has long had a publicly-funded health care system. Generally it means that for the majority of medical situations and hospital visits there will be little or no cost to the patient.
The provinces however control their own health care system meaning there are slight differences among the provinces. In all locations the private sector has been making inroads and taking over some health services previously carried out in hospitals or elsewhere in the public health sector.
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) has been calling for increased privatization and now plans a major year-long campaign to promote the idea.
Warren (Smokey) Thomas is president of the Ontarioa Public Service Employees Union and strongly opposes the privatization trend'
Our US MEDICARE TRUST is not empty---it has been sacked and looted and we need to bring that citizen health care savings BACK.
Here's a Map of the Countries That Provide Universal Health Care (America's Still Not on It)
Max Fisher
Jun 28, 2012 The U.S. stands almost entirely alone among developed nations that lack universal health care.
As excited as American liberals and proponents of expanding access to health care might be about the Supreme Court's decision to largely uphold the Affordable Care Act, the U.S. still stands out from much of the developed world in state efforts to make medical care available to the public. If universal health care in the U.S. is your goal, then today was a big step forward, but maybe also a reminder of how far behind America still lags.
The above map shows, in green, countries that administer some sort of universal health care plan. Most are through compulsory but government-subsidized public insurance plans, such as the UK's National Health Service. Some countries that have socialized and ostensibly universal health care systems but do not actually apply them universally, for example in poverty- and corruption-rife states in Africa or Latin America, are not counted.
What's astonishing is how cleanly the green and grey separate the developed nations from the developing, almost categorically. Nearly the entire developed world is colored, from Europe to the Asian powerhouses to South America's southern cone to the Anglophone states of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. The only developed outliers are a few still-troubled Balkan states, the Soviet-style autocracy of Belarus, and the U.S. of A., the richest nation in the world.
The handful of developing countries that provide universal access to health care include oil-rich Saudi Arabia and Oman, Latin success story Costa Rica, Kyrgyzstan, and, famously, Cuba, among a few others. A number of countries have attempted universal health care but failed, such as South Africa, which maintains a notoriously inefficient and troubled public plan to complement the private plans popular among middle- and upper-class citizens.
None of this is to downplay the importance of today's Supreme Court ruling for supporters of the U.S. effort to expand health care coverage, nor to argue that U.S. health care is equivalent to that in, say, Egypt or Belarus. It's precisely because the quality of U.S. health care is so high that makes this map interesting.
That brings us to another way that America is a big outlier on health care. The grey countries on this map tend to spend significantly less per capita on health care than do the green countries -- except for the U.S., where the government spends way more on health care per person than do most countries with free, universal health care. This is also true of health care costs as a share of national GDP -- in other words, how much of a country's money goes into health care.
"The overall level of health spending in the United States is so high that public (i.e. government) spending on health per capita is still greater than in all other OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development] countries, except Norway and the Netherlands," according to a recent OECD report, which covers most of the developed world.
Whether or not that will change with President Obama's health care reform now Supreme Court-approved, access to health care will remain yet another way in which the U.S. stands out from the rest of the developed world.
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When global banking 1% freemason STAR----JORDAN is DONATING funds to provide a local health clinic service in US communities-----he is treating AMERICAN CITIZENS just as SAVE THE CHILDREN donations provided health clinics in third world nations last century. This is a third world PATRONAGE system having nothing to do with our US national system of public health care hospitals, clinics, and quality of care.
JORDAN, made to sound like a PHILANTHROPIST----is simply getting a tax write-off from what are probably tax debts he ignores.
PEOPLE LIVING IN AFGHANISTAN----UKRAINE----SOMALIA----receive patronage private donations for health clinics only able to treat preventative care only.
PLEASE WORLD GLOBAL 1% HELP PAY FOR OUR US 99% OF CITIZENS' HEALTH CARE-----OUR GLOBAL BANKING 5% FREEMASON/GREEK ROBBER BARON POLS AND PLAYERS SACKED AND LOOTING OUR ENTIRE FIRST WORLD PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM.
Michael Jordan donates $7 million to fund health clinics in Charlotte's at-risk areas
Cindy Boren
Washington Post October 9, 2017
Michael Jordan is going public with his largest philanthropic gift, donating $7 million to establish two medical clinics in troubled Charlotte, N.C., communities.
Jordan, the billionaire owner of the Charlotte Hornets and a North Carolina native, is making a personal gift to fund Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Clinics, according to the Charlotte Observer. The clinics, projected to open in late 2020, are designed to serve some of the city's densest areas of poverty.
"Michael really wanted to do something personally, he and his family, in the North Carolina area, separate from the work we've done with the Hornets," Estee Portnoy, Jordan's spokesperson, told the Observer.
In a statement, Jordan said he hoped the clinics "will help provide a brighter and healthier future for the children and families they serve."
Over the years, one of the biggest criticisms of Jordan has been his neutrality on social and political issues. That, though, seems to be ending. The Hall of Famer spoke up when Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was forced out for racist comments in 2014, and again in the summer of 2016, when he condemned the killing of African-Americans by police. Recently, with NFL players, coaches and owners choosing to make a statement during national anthems across the country, and the NBA in the spotlight because of President Donald Trump's "uninvite" of the Golden State Warriors to the White House, Jordan added his voice.
"One of the fundamental rights this country is founded on was freedom of speech, and we have a long tradition of nonviolent, peaceful protest. Those who exercise the right to peacefully express themselves should not be demonized or ostracized," he said in a statement. "At a time of increasing divisiveness and hate in this country, we should be looking for ways to work together and support each other and not create more division. I support Commissioner Adam Silver, the NBA, its players and all those who wish to exercise their right to free speech."
In a lengthy statement given to The Undefeated in July 2016, Jordan wrote of the need to "find solutions that ensure people of color receive fair and equal treatment AND that police officers - who put their lives on the line every day to protect us all - are respected and supported." Jordan added that he was donating $1 million each to the International Association of Chiefs of Police's newly established Institute for Community-Police Relations and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
Jordan was vocal about the North Carolina "bathroom bill" that cost Charlotte the 2017 All-Star Game. Similarly, he did not remain silent in the face of Sterling's racist comments, saying he was "completely outraged."
"We are privileged to live in the world's greatest country - a country that has provided my family and me the greatest of opportunities," his Undefeated post said. "The problems we face didn't happen overnight and they won't be solved tomorrow, but if we all work together, we can foster greater understanding, positive change and create a more peaceful world for ourselves, our children, our families and our communities."
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'The accelerated trust fund insolvency was blamed on both reduced Medicare tax receipts stemming from the recent recession and rising healthcare provider salaries'.
As global banking 5% Clinton neo-liberal KATHERINE SEBELIUS has always known----these few decades of massive health industry frauds used to expand corporate brands GLOBALLY----taking $300-500 billion in fraud EACH YEAR these few decades----is what Sebelius calls PROFITEERING. There are no REAL DATA coming from US MEDICARE AND MEDICAID ---it is all FAKE DATA. So, now the year of depletion is 2024----back in 2009 we were told 2036-----but recovering those trillions in fraud would have our US MEDICARE TRUST fully funded through 21ST century.
Medicare trust fund will be exhausted in 2024, officials say
By Rich Daly | May 13, 2011
Medicare's trust fund will be exhausted in 2024, according to a report Friday from the Social Security and Medicare boards of trustees. The new insolvency date is five years earlier than the trustees predicted in 2010.
The accelerated trust fund insolvency was blamed on both reduced Medicare tax receipts stemming from the recent recession and rising healthcare provider salaries.
Obama administration officials responded to the report by highlighting the effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which they credited with lowering future Medicare spending by 25%.
“Having the ACA in place is the main reason these projections are not worse,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said at a Friday news conference.
If the hospital trust fund is exhausted, an administration official said, it would delay provider payments until additional tax revenue was received or allow payment of only portions of provider bills.
“The big question is whether the hospitals, physicians and other providers would be happy to receive only 80%, or what have you, of what they are supposed to get,” an administration official said.
Separately, Medicare spending on physicians and drugs, which is paid for by general tax revenues, is expected to nearly double as a percentage of GDP over the next 25 years, according to the report. However, that estimate is based on a 29.5% physician reimbursement cut going into effect at the end of this year, which an administration official said is “not very realistic.”
Additionally, the trustees reported that the Social Security Disability Insurance trust fund will be unable to pay all expected obligations by 2018, although it would still cover about 90% of payments, according to administration officials. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis called for Congress to enact legislation the administration has suggested to address that.
“We must act and act swiftly to close the gap left between revenues and expenditures,” she said.
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'Over the last eleven months the federal government has spent $434.63 billion on interest payments on the debt, according to U.S. Treasury data'.
No matter how many times global banking 5% pols and players PRETEND our national debt does not matter---just print more -----THEY ARE LYING.
As today, global banking 1% FAKE Republicans and Democrats are pretending to have to pass laws to allow NO BUDGET DEBT----slashing and dashing to achieve balance from budget debt completely caused by massive and systemic CORPORATE FRAUDS against our US Federal agencies.
So, we already KNOW these sky-high NATIONAL DEBTS will not be ignored. A Trump or the next global banking 1% player pol will demand NO NATIONAL DEBT laws be passed and VOILA----no intentions of funding Federal public trusts, pensions, et al.
THIS NATIONAL DEBT MOSTLY DRIVEN BY OBAMA ERA US TREASURY BOND FRAUDS WAS CRIMINAL AND CAN BE VOIDED.
As stated at top-----we are now paying almost a trillion dollars a year to global banking just to service this national debt---which was of course the goal of Obama and Clinton neo-liberals.
No one can PRETEND the US has any intentions of paying PUBLIC TRUST SAVINGS with intentional national debt.
It’s Official: Government Is $20 Trillion In Debt
That’s a lot of zeroes, people …
September 12, 2017
The federal government’s debt officially eclipsed the $20 trillion mark this week – a truly frightening demarcation of our nation’s unsustainable addiction to deficit spending. Officially, the United States of America is $20.1 trillion in debt – although the actual tide of red ink is far higher when entitlement obligations are factored into the equation.
How did we get here? Fast … that’s how.
Deficit spending exploded under the administrations of former U.S. presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. During the eight fiscal years in which Bush’s administration held sway over the federal budget, $5.849 trillion was added to the debt.
During the seven fiscal years in which Obama’s administration presided over the budget (we’re technically in Obama’s final budget year right now), $7.917 trillion was added – although this number will climb in the months to come when we get a sense of the deficit for the fiscal year that ends on September 30.
How much red ink will new U.S. president Donald Trump add to the debt?
Who knows … but if he keeps cutting deals with Democrats and bowing down to our nation’s war gods, our guess is there will be no deficit reduction on the horizon anytime soon.
Does this ever-escalating number matter anymore? Or has it become so big people are numb to it?
Absolutely it matters …
Over the last eleven months the federal government has spent $434.63 billion on interest payments on the debt, according to U.S. Treasury data. That’s a staggering sum, and it’s only increasing the deeper in debt our nation becomes.
That money cannot be spent on core government functions (or debt reduction). It simply vanishes into the ether of decades of bad decision-making …
Looking beyond these soaring interest payments, the two trust funds that comprise the government’s Social Security program are projected to be exhausted in 2034. Meanwhile the nation’s primary Medicare trust fund will run dry in 2029 – with costly expanded benefits approved during the Bush and Obama years also weighing heavily on annual budgets.
Contrary to popular perception these trust funds won’t go “broke” when their respective clocks hit zero (they’re still taking in cash at an elevated rate from American workers), but the benefits they are scheduled to pay out will begin to decline precipitously.
And yes … all of this is happening at a time when consumer debt is out of control, too.
The solution? LOL. Don’t be silly. There isn’t a solution. We’re well past that point now.
OH, REALLY????
Seriously. You can’t tap your brakes and expect something to happen if the vehicle you’re driving has already gone over the cliff …
“History is full of examples of once-dominant civilizations crumbling under the weight of their rapidly-expanding debt, from the Ottoman Empire to the French monarchy in the 1700s,” noted Simon Black of the website Sovereign Man. “Or as former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers used to quip, “How long can the world’s biggest borrower remain the world’s biggest power?'”
How long indeed …
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We want to end this week's discussion on ENTERPRISE ZONE public policy by reminding our US 99% WE THE PEOPLE black, white, and brown citizens that our CONGRESSIONAL POLS these few decades are the ones passing FOREIGN TRADE ZONE policies attached to each state. Our Congressional political machines then send global corporate lobbyist money to fix state and local elections to only global banking 1% candidates able to win.
These FEDERAL FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE policies DO NOT have to be acted upon LOCALLY. These laws are not legally allowed to be forced on US cities or counties-----our LOCAL city councils and mayors/county executives are the ones passing local laws to INSTALL these ZONES having only global corporate campuses benefit with PAY-TO-PLAY for those dastardly global banking 5% freemason/Greek players soon to be pushed under the bus.
WHEN OUR US MEDICARE TRUST IS ALLOWED TO BE SACKED AND LOOTED WITH NO PATHWAY TO JUSTICE---THAT IS WHAT BEING IN A US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE/ENTERPRISE ZONE/SANCTUARY CITY/STATE DOES.
Foreign Trade Zone 183 of Central Texas
Economic Development Taxes & Incentives Foreign Trade Zones
A Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) is an area within the United States which is designated by the federal government as outside of U.S. Customs territory. FTZs encourage investment in the U.S. and the creation of American jobs by allowing U.S. businesses to operate with equivalent customs treatment to business conducted off-shore. Business using FTZs can reduce customs duties and fees, and achieve logistics benefits for the import and export of goods. FTZs can be an effective part of a community economic development program.
Foreign Trade Zone & Freeport Magnet Sites FTZ Savings Calculator - Distribution FTZ Savings Calculator
- Manufacturing
The Austin region is served by FTZ 183 which was established in the 1990s to capitalize on the growth of the high tech industry and to provide local businesses with a tool to help them compete in the global economy. The Foreign Trade Zone of Central Texas, Inc., is the grantee of FTZ 183 and is run by a board of directors appointed by the cities and chambers in the Austin metropolitan area. The Austin Chamber of Commerce is the administrator for FTZ 183.
In July 2012, the Foreign Trade Zone of Central Texas received approval from the federal government to operate under new streamlined procedures designed to make U.S. business more competitive. Under the new approval, all of the five-county metropolitan statistical area (MSA) has been preapproved by the federal government as eligible FTZ property. With the concurrence of local officials, the federal government will provide any eligible business in the Austin MSA FTZ designation on an expedited and simplified basis. A process that has taken historically over a year and been very expensive may now take less than 45 days with modest expense.
Resources
pdf Foreign Trade Zone of Central Texas Overview
pdf FTZ 183 Summary
pdf FTZ 183 Policies, Procedures, Definitions & Zone Schedule
pdf Foreign Trade Zone Handbook, Ernst & Young
For questions or for more information about FTZ 183 please contact: Ben Ramirez, Administrator, Foreign Trade Zone of Central Texas, at ben.ramirez@ftzcentraltexas.com or 512.595.0741.
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Foreign Trade Zone & Freeport
There is quite a bit of overlap of the FTZ and freeport exemptions. Freeport exempts inventory which is held in Texas for less than 175 days from property tax. The FTZ exempts any item imported from outside the U.S., regardless of the ultimate destination, and there is no time restriction. For example, inventory which is held in Austin for 90 days and then goes to Arkansas would be exempt under Freeport, but not FTZ. Inventory imported into an Austin FTZ from Japan which is sold to a customer in Fort Worth is exempt under FTZ, but not Freeport. Practically speaking, for jurisdictions which have a Freeport exemption, the incremental effect of the FTZ is to exempt inventory which has been imported from outside the U.S. and is destined for a Texas customer. All other inventory that might be exempt under the FTZ exemption is already exempt under Freeport. And, of course, the Freeport exemption applies to all property within the jurisdiction, while the FTZ exemption is site specific, applying only to inventory in activated FTZ space.
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Magnet Sites
The Austin region has one active magnet site located at Tech Ridge. industrial building and land sites within central Texas have been pre-designated as FTZ magnet sites. A magnet site is open to multiple users and do not require an application to the federal FTZ board, which allows companies to begin working on activation of the zone site with U.S. Customs.
Maryland Democratic Candidates for Governor Focus on Hogan
Maryland's Democratic candidates for governor focus on the GOP incumbent.
May 21, 2018, at 7:32 p.m.
Maryland Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ben Jealous, right, adjusts his tie as he prepares for a Maryland Democratic primary gubernatorial debate, Monday, May 21, 2018, in Baltimore. Maryland's primary is scheduled to take place Tuesday, June 26.
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) The Associated Press
By BRIAN WITTE, Associated Press
BALTIMORE (AP) — Maryland's Democratic candidates for governor spent much of their first primary debate on Monday focusing on the candidate who wasn't on stage with them, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.
Eight candidates appeared together for the first time at an event produced by Maryland Public Television in association with WBAL-TV. From the start, candidates took aim at the incumbent who is seeking to become the first Republican governor in 64 years to be re-elected in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1.
"Too many Marylanders feel ignored, left out and forgotten by this governor," said Prince George's County Executive Rushern Baker, a two-term county executive in one of the state's largest jurisdictions, near the start of his opening statement to kick off the event.
The governor's would-be opponents pounced on his decision not to move forward with the Red Line light rail proposal in Baltimore, Maryland's largest city, as an indicator he wasn't leading the state in the right direction to stimulate the economy and reduce traffic congestion.
"While Marylanders have focused on Donald Trump, Larry Hogan has taken us in the wrong direction," said Jim Shea, a Baltimore attorney and former chairman of the state's largest lawfirm. "Our schools have slipped, we sit in the worst commuter traffic in the nation, and our economy lags behind our neighbors."
School infrastructure problems and crime in Baltimore also were highlighted.
"I think the people of Maryland are tired of Larry Hogan spending money the way he wants to spend it for his own agenda," said James Jones, who also is seeking the nomination. "People are tired of their children going to schools and not having heat and air conditioning. People are tired for the murders that occurring every day in our streets."
Ben Jealous, the former president of the NAACP, underscored his experience as the head of the nation's oldest civil rights organization.
"If you want to make Donald Trump's blood pressure go up, if you want to beat Hogan, send a civil rights leader to be your next governor," Jealous said.
The Maryland Republican Party, meanwhile, panned the event as "uninspired."
"These debates should come with a viewer warning message; 'Be advised prolonged exposure will result in extreme boredom and likely deep sleep,'" Maryland Republican Party Chairman Dirk Haire said.
Scott Sloofman, Hogan's campaign spokesman, said Hogan has provided a record level of financial support for the city, including nearly $4 billion in local transportation projects.
"It's politically inconvenient for these candidates to admit, but Maryland is better off under Gov. Hogan's steady leadership, and they promise little more than a return to the failed policies of the past," Sloofman said.
The popular governor doesn't face primary opposition. The primary is June 26.
Valerie Ervin, whose campaign for governor is only days old after deciding last week to run in place of Kevin Kamenetz who died suddenly this month, says candidates are going to have to start talking about their differences.
"Some people are running for the first time," Ervin said. "They have no experience in government," Ervin, a two-term Montgomery County Councilmember, said in an interview.
State Sen. Richard Madaleno said his experience and record in state government separates him from the other candidates.
"I would say it's my unique proven record of results for the people of the state of Maryland from Ocean City to Oakland, Maryland, and my leadership on the issues that matter for the people of the state," Madaleno, of Montgomery County, said in his opening statement.
Alec Ross, a technology entrepreneur and author from Baltimore, said he was the standout candidate as an innovator who could bring fresh solutions to recurring problems the state faces.
"I think the biggest difference is you've got a merry-go-round of career politicians who are just going to do exactly what is Democratic Party doctrine, and then you've got me, who is going to focus on the root of the problem," Ross said after the debate.
Krish Vignarajah, a lawyer and former policy director for Michelle Obama, said she was the candidate who was both fiscally responsible and socially progressive.
"I think that there is an opportunity to highlight how we can fully fund our schools support businesses, but also protect our environment, address the opioid crisis — a couple of issues that we obviously didn't touch on during this debate, but fortunately there's are going to be a few more debates, so I suspect we will have an opportunity," she said after the event.
Candidate Ralph Jaffe did not attend, but recorded comments were to be included when the debate is broadcast Monday evening.
"I want to get money out of politics," he said. "And also I want to put a stop to these career politicians because all they care about is themselves."
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Third Way Clinton/Obama global banking neo-liberals used our Federal health programs for massive ROBBER BARON frauds of trillions of dollars from our US Federal Medicare and Medicaid ---now ROBBER BARON frauds are ending with coming economic collapse----they are morphing to far-right wing extreme wealth extreme poverty LIBERTARIAN MARXISM ---that is the OUR REVOLUTION for only the global 1% players----like Bernie, Jill Stein, Gabbard, Warren, Turner, Ellison---all FAKE populist left. What the OUR REVOLUTION for only the global 1% crowd want---as too CLINTON NEO-LIBERALS is for all 99% of US WE THE PEOPLE to have the same third world health access as those in Asia, Africa, Arabia. Doesn't matter that Americans paid tens of trillions of dollars into MEDICARE having plenty of money in that TRUST-----global banking 1% says----ALL GONE.
SANDERS' style socialism---FAR-RIGHT WING GLOBAL CORPORATE CAMPUS MAOIST keep them alive if they can work. NOTHING 'left' MOVING FORWARD.
Clinton Democrats Embrace Losing Strategy To Combat ‘Sanders-Style Socialism’ In Midterms
25 Jul 2018 Kevin Gosztola
Democratic Party elites are increasingly concerned the midterm elections will be a “base election” and make their centrist politics even more irrelevant, as insurgent candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez garner widespread support.
The think tank, Third Way, recently held a conference in Ohio with Democrats, who primarily adhere to the politics of President Bill Clinton, and new recruits, who they hope will counter “Bernie Sanders-style socialism.” They also intend to defend corporate executives and wealthy people from condemnation for their attacks on poor and working class Americans.
“Right now, in the Democratic Party, there is only one option on the table: Sanders-style socialism. That’s the main option on the table. We’re doing this now because the party’s got to have a choice,” Jon Cowan, one of the presidents of Third Way, declared. “It’s going to matter a hell of a lot in 2020, and so while 2020 may feel a ways off, in our mind it isn’t. And the ideas primary starts now.”
“So we’re actually doing this for a very straightforward reason: to stand up and launch a serious, compelling economic alternative to Sanderism,” Cowan added.
Similarly, former Delaware Governor Jack Markell whined, “The only narrative that has been articulated in the Democratic Party over the past two years is the one from the left.”
OH, REALLY??????
“I think we need a debate within the party. Frankly, it would have been better to start the conversation earlier,” Markell said.
Democratic Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio earned laughs when he quipped, “You’re not going to make me hate somebody just because they’re rich. I want to be rich!” The line went over well because Third Way and the 250 insiders that attended the conference have deep ties to hedge funds and various financial institutions on Wall Street.
As of 2014, “Two-thirds of its 31 trustees [had] held senior leadership positions in investment funds or big banks or served in some other capacity on Wall Street.” However, corporate Democrats bristle at the notion that their money ethically compromises them. Hillary Clinton even went so far as to defend her speeches to Goldman Sachs by accusing critics of misogyny.
Mitch Landrieu, a pragmatic liberal and former mayor of New Orleans, warned during the conference, “Republicans have chosen their [path]. They’re going to run a base election, which means they have ceded the middle of the road. In my opinion, Democrats would be making a big mistake if they run a base election. We have to find common ground.”
Days after the conference, James Comey, former FBI director, longtime Republican, and darling of The Resistance™, called on Democrats to please not lose their minds and “rush to the socialist left.”
“This president and his Republican Party are counting on you to do exactly that. America’s great middle wants sensible, balanced, ethical leadership,” Comey added.
The strategy of finding “common ground” or the myth of the “great middle” is one the establishment of the Democratic Party has promoted for the past few decades, particularly to ward off left-wing populist challenges. It was adhered to by Hillary Clinton in 2016, President Barack Obama embraced it as a core philosophy in 2008 and 2012, and Bill Clinton, along with Al Gore, perfected the art of making common cause with corporate interests to maintain power and influence in the United States government.
As Lance Selfa detailed in his book, “The Democrats: A Critical History, ” Clinton and Gore broke with labor, civil rights, and other liberal causes to push for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). They backed welfare repeal, bills which fueled the rise of mass incarceration, and signed a 1997 budget that slashed millions for social programs, like Medicare and Medicaid. They put corporations ahead of protecting the environment. They encouraged the deregulation of industry, which greatly boosted Wall Street.
This tradition continues with former Labor Secretary, Tom Perez, as the head of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Perez was a major proponent of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. He granted waivers for UBS, Barclays, J.P. Morgan, the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, and Citigroup while he was Labor Secretary, which allowed the banks to go back to managing pension money even though they were guilty of crimes. He also refused to support a revival of Obama’s ban on donations from corporate lobbyists.
The Democratic Party managed to defeat a strong challenge from Representative Keith Ellison, who represented Sanders on the DNC’s Platform Committee in 2016. So, Cowan’s suggestion that Democrats have veered from his preferred course is far-fetched. But it does indicate the leadership of the party still views a coalition of progressives and democratic socialists within the party as a threat.
Landrieu’s fear of a “base election” is striking, given the fact that such an election is what Democrats need to bolster voter enthusiasm for candidates in November so they can potentially take control of the Senate and/or the House of Representatives.
Also, the leadership of the Democratic Party did everything it could to prevent a “base election” from taking place in 2016, when Sanders gained momentum against Clinton. It took steps to aid Clinton so she would remain the inevitable nominee. Clinton ran a poor campaign that promoted centrist politics as a counter to President Donald Trump’s right-wing populist message and lost the election.
Corporate Democrats, like House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, point to candidate Conor Lamb’s victory in Pennsylvania as evidence their “moderate economic” message can work.
“Conor Lamb won with a message that I think is a Democratic message: The tax bill was not for you. They’re trying to take your health care away,” Hoyer said. “Clearly, what we found in the polls was, [voters] will listen, they’re not happy.”
Indeed, the tax bill was not for most Americans. It was for corporations and wealthy elites. They plan to take Americans’ health care away to pay for their tax cuts. But that message is not one that meshes well with the center-right politics of corporate Democrats. It is truly a message to be bolstered by the socialist politics of insurgent candidates.
The Democratic Party has floundered throughout Trump’s presidency because it refuses to articulate an alternative vision to Trumpism that addresses the material conditions which many Americans endure. Among Sanders Democrats, there is an alternative vision with grassroots energy that could be seized. However, Clinton Democrats cling to the role of sensible steward for corporate elites so tightly that they will not embrace critiques of capitalism and offer policy solutions that address root causes of systemic problems.
As a result, what Third Way proposes is a set of bland focus-grouped policies, such as “a massive apprenticeship program to train workers, a privatized employer-funded universal pension that would supplement Social Security, and an overhaul of unemployment insurance to include skills training.”
The emphasis on training workers is indicative of centrist Democrats compulsion to triage the impacts of capitalism on poor, working class, and middle class Americans rather than support measures that could lift up the 99 percent.
In fact, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer suggested in an op-ed for the New York Times in 2017 that employers, “particularly small businesses, a large tax credit to train workers for unfilled jobs.” He contended this “Better Deal” would help Americans in “smaller cities and rural areas, which have experienced an exodus of young people who aren’t trained for the jobs in those areas.”
It was like a proposal Hillary Clinton put forward during her presidential campaign in June 2015. She called for tax credits for businesses for “every apprentice hired as a way to boost employment among young adults.”
Schumer’s announcement ultimately flopped. The Democrats scrapped the “Better Deal” message last week. They now believe, based on their most politically connected public relations consultants, that “For the People” is better. But what that means for policy is anyone’s guess.
Other ideas touted by Third Way include a “small business bill of rights” and “BoomerCorps,” a national service program where seniors can earn money to supplement their dwindling Social Security payments.
The idea of “BoomerCorps” is rather offensive. It basically says to Americans, who have labored for decades to fuel the U.S. economy, “Hey, why not break your back some more for America if you really want to retire?”
Nevertheless, the narrative pushed by Clinton Democrats into the media should not fool anyone into believing they cannot get their message out, that voices in the party have drowned them out, or that Sanders Democrats had a “head start” and now they must battle their way back to challenge them before they cost Democrats seats in the midterm election.
These Democrats are the very individuals who collectively shepherded Hillary Clinton to a presidential nomination. They have fended off an insurgency for the past two years and stunted efforts to develop the Democratic Party into an actual opposition party that will meaningfully challenge Trump. They have responded to dissent against Trump by complaining that “incivility” is not the answer. They even will go so far as to accuse Sanders Democrats of dividing Democrats by running challengers against incumbents.
Clinton Democrats or followers of the Third Way still have the power, and that is part of what is holding back an agenda for working people. They stand in the way of a movement that believes the country should move away from destructive corporate politics, and until their obstruction is overcome, progress on economic, environmental, racial, and social justice will be exceptionally difficult to achieve.
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We want to stress----every time a global banking 1% player whether pol or NGO tells us what is MOVING FORWARD with UNIVERSAL CARE here in US is like Canada or Europe-----what they are not telling us is -----both Canada and Europe have been privatizing that once REAL PUBLIC UNIVERSAL CARE that did provide quality care for all 99% of citizens -------it no longer does. It is all being OUTSOURCED to private global corporations which are no longer allowing UNIVERSAL ACCESS to ordinary health care.
'Private vs. public: Battle for Ontario’s health-care system
By Marc Montgomery | english@rcinet.ca
Thursday 17 March, 2016
Canada has long had a publicly-funded health care system. Generally it means that for the majority of medical situations and hospital visits there will be little or no cost to the patient.
The provinces however control their own health care system meaning there are slight differences among the provinces. In all locations the private sector has been making inroads and taking over some health services previously carried out in hospitals or elsewhere in the public health sector.
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) has been calling for increased privatization and now plans a major year-long campaign to promote the idea.
Warren (Smokey) Thomas is president of the Ontarioa Public Service Employees Union and strongly opposes the privatization trend'
Our US MEDICARE TRUST is not empty---it has been sacked and looted and we need to bring that citizen health care savings BACK.
Here's a Map of the Countries That Provide Universal Health Care (America's Still Not on It)
Max Fisher
Jun 28, 2012 The U.S. stands almost entirely alone among developed nations that lack universal health care.
As excited as American liberals and proponents of expanding access to health care might be about the Supreme Court's decision to largely uphold the Affordable Care Act, the U.S. still stands out from much of the developed world in state efforts to make medical care available to the public. If universal health care in the U.S. is your goal, then today was a big step forward, but maybe also a reminder of how far behind America still lags.
The above map shows, in green, countries that administer some sort of universal health care plan. Most are through compulsory but government-subsidized public insurance plans, such as the UK's National Health Service. Some countries that have socialized and ostensibly universal health care systems but do not actually apply them universally, for example in poverty- and corruption-rife states in Africa or Latin America, are not counted.
What's astonishing is how cleanly the green and grey separate the developed nations from the developing, almost categorically. Nearly the entire developed world is colored, from Europe to the Asian powerhouses to South America's southern cone to the Anglophone states of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. The only developed outliers are a few still-troubled Balkan states, the Soviet-style autocracy of Belarus, and the U.S. of A., the richest nation in the world.
The handful of developing countries that provide universal access to health care include oil-rich Saudi Arabia and Oman, Latin success story Costa Rica, Kyrgyzstan, and, famously, Cuba, among a few others. A number of countries have attempted universal health care but failed, such as South Africa, which maintains a notoriously inefficient and troubled public plan to complement the private plans popular among middle- and upper-class citizens.
None of this is to downplay the importance of today's Supreme Court ruling for supporters of the U.S. effort to expand health care coverage, nor to argue that U.S. health care is equivalent to that in, say, Egypt or Belarus. It's precisely because the quality of U.S. health care is so high that makes this map interesting.
That brings us to another way that America is a big outlier on health care. The grey countries on this map tend to spend significantly less per capita on health care than do the green countries -- except for the U.S., where the government spends way more on health care per person than do most countries with free, universal health care. This is also true of health care costs as a share of national GDP -- in other words, how much of a country's money goes into health care.
"The overall level of health spending in the United States is so high that public (i.e. government) spending on health per capita is still greater than in all other OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development] countries, except Norway and the Netherlands," according to a recent OECD report, which covers most of the developed world.
Whether or not that will change with President Obama's health care reform now Supreme Court-approved, access to health care will remain yet another way in which the U.S. stands out from the rest of the developed world.
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When global banking 1% freemason STAR----JORDAN is DONATING funds to provide a local health clinic service in US communities-----he is treating AMERICAN CITIZENS just as SAVE THE CHILDREN donations provided health clinics in third world nations last century. This is a third world PATRONAGE system having nothing to do with our US national system of public health care hospitals, clinics, and quality of care.
JORDAN, made to sound like a PHILANTHROPIST----is simply getting a tax write-off from what are probably tax debts he ignores.
PEOPLE LIVING IN AFGHANISTAN----UKRAINE----SOMALIA----receive patronage private donations for health clinics only able to treat preventative care only.
PLEASE WORLD GLOBAL 1% HELP PAY FOR OUR US 99% OF CITIZENS' HEALTH CARE-----OUR GLOBAL BANKING 5% FREEMASON/GREEK ROBBER BARON POLS AND PLAYERS SACKED AND LOOTING OUR ENTIRE FIRST WORLD PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM.
Michael Jordan donates $7 million to fund health clinics in Charlotte's at-risk areas
Cindy Boren
Washington Post October 9, 2017
Michael Jordan is going public with his largest philanthropic gift, donating $7 million to establish two medical clinics in troubled Charlotte, N.C., communities.
Jordan, the billionaire owner of the Charlotte Hornets and a North Carolina native, is making a personal gift to fund Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Clinics, according to the Charlotte Observer. The clinics, projected to open in late 2020, are designed to serve some of the city's densest areas of poverty.
"Michael really wanted to do something personally, he and his family, in the North Carolina area, separate from the work we've done with the Hornets," Estee Portnoy, Jordan's spokesperson, told the Observer.
In a statement, Jordan said he hoped the clinics "will help provide a brighter and healthier future for the children and families they serve."
Over the years, one of the biggest criticisms of Jordan has been his neutrality on social and political issues. That, though, seems to be ending. The Hall of Famer spoke up when Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was forced out for racist comments in 2014, and again in the summer of 2016, when he condemned the killing of African-Americans by police. Recently, with NFL players, coaches and owners choosing to make a statement during national anthems across the country, and the NBA in the spotlight because of President Donald Trump's "uninvite" of the Golden State Warriors to the White House, Jordan added his voice.
"One of the fundamental rights this country is founded on was freedom of speech, and we have a long tradition of nonviolent, peaceful protest. Those who exercise the right to peacefully express themselves should not be demonized or ostracized," he said in a statement. "At a time of increasing divisiveness and hate in this country, we should be looking for ways to work together and support each other and not create more division. I support Commissioner Adam Silver, the NBA, its players and all those who wish to exercise their right to free speech."
In a lengthy statement given to The Undefeated in July 2016, Jordan wrote of the need to "find solutions that ensure people of color receive fair and equal treatment AND that police officers - who put their lives on the line every day to protect us all - are respected and supported." Jordan added that he was donating $1 million each to the International Association of Chiefs of Police's newly established Institute for Community-Police Relations and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
Jordan was vocal about the North Carolina "bathroom bill" that cost Charlotte the 2017 All-Star Game. Similarly, he did not remain silent in the face of Sterling's racist comments, saying he was "completely outraged."
"We are privileged to live in the world's greatest country - a country that has provided my family and me the greatest of opportunities," his Undefeated post said. "The problems we face didn't happen overnight and they won't be solved tomorrow, but if we all work together, we can foster greater understanding, positive change and create a more peaceful world for ourselves, our children, our families and our communities."
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'The accelerated trust fund insolvency was blamed on both reduced Medicare tax receipts stemming from the recent recession and rising healthcare provider salaries'.
As global banking 5% Clinton neo-liberal KATHERINE SEBELIUS has always known----these few decades of massive health industry frauds used to expand corporate brands GLOBALLY----taking $300-500 billion in fraud EACH YEAR these few decades----is what Sebelius calls PROFITEERING. There are no REAL DATA coming from US MEDICARE AND MEDICAID ---it is all FAKE DATA. So, now the year of depletion is 2024----back in 2009 we were told 2036-----but recovering those trillions in fraud would have our US MEDICARE TRUST fully funded through 21ST century.
Medicare trust fund will be exhausted in 2024, officials say
By Rich Daly | May 13, 2011
Medicare's trust fund will be exhausted in 2024, according to a report Friday from the Social Security and Medicare boards of trustees. The new insolvency date is five years earlier than the trustees predicted in 2010.
The accelerated trust fund insolvency was blamed on both reduced Medicare tax receipts stemming from the recent recession and rising healthcare provider salaries.
Obama administration officials responded to the report by highlighting the effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which they credited with lowering future Medicare spending by 25%.
“Having the ACA in place is the main reason these projections are not worse,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said at a Friday news conference.
If the hospital trust fund is exhausted, an administration official said, it would delay provider payments until additional tax revenue was received or allow payment of only portions of provider bills.
“The big question is whether the hospitals, physicians and other providers would be happy to receive only 80%, or what have you, of what they are supposed to get,” an administration official said.
Separately, Medicare spending on physicians and drugs, which is paid for by general tax revenues, is expected to nearly double as a percentage of GDP over the next 25 years, according to the report. However, that estimate is based on a 29.5% physician reimbursement cut going into effect at the end of this year, which an administration official said is “not very realistic.”
Additionally, the trustees reported that the Social Security Disability Insurance trust fund will be unable to pay all expected obligations by 2018, although it would still cover about 90% of payments, according to administration officials. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis called for Congress to enact legislation the administration has suggested to address that.
“We must act and act swiftly to close the gap left between revenues and expenditures,” she said.
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'Over the last eleven months the federal government has spent $434.63 billion on interest payments on the debt, according to U.S. Treasury data'.
No matter how many times global banking 5% pols and players PRETEND our national debt does not matter---just print more -----THEY ARE LYING.
As today, global banking 1% FAKE Republicans and Democrats are pretending to have to pass laws to allow NO BUDGET DEBT----slashing and dashing to achieve balance from budget debt completely caused by massive and systemic CORPORATE FRAUDS against our US Federal agencies.
So, we already KNOW these sky-high NATIONAL DEBTS will not be ignored. A Trump or the next global banking 1% player pol will demand NO NATIONAL DEBT laws be passed and VOILA----no intentions of funding Federal public trusts, pensions, et al.
THIS NATIONAL DEBT MOSTLY DRIVEN BY OBAMA ERA US TREASURY BOND FRAUDS WAS CRIMINAL AND CAN BE VOIDED.
As stated at top-----we are now paying almost a trillion dollars a year to global banking just to service this national debt---which was of course the goal of Obama and Clinton neo-liberals.
No one can PRETEND the US has any intentions of paying PUBLIC TRUST SAVINGS with intentional national debt.
It’s Official: Government Is $20 Trillion In Debt
That’s a lot of zeroes, people …
September 12, 2017
The federal government’s debt officially eclipsed the $20 trillion mark this week – a truly frightening demarcation of our nation’s unsustainable addiction to deficit spending. Officially, the United States of America is $20.1 trillion in debt – although the actual tide of red ink is far higher when entitlement obligations are factored into the equation.
How did we get here? Fast … that’s how.
Deficit spending exploded under the administrations of former U.S. presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. During the eight fiscal years in which Bush’s administration held sway over the federal budget, $5.849 trillion was added to the debt.
During the seven fiscal years in which Obama’s administration presided over the budget (we’re technically in Obama’s final budget year right now), $7.917 trillion was added – although this number will climb in the months to come when we get a sense of the deficit for the fiscal year that ends on September 30.
How much red ink will new U.S. president Donald Trump add to the debt?
Who knows … but if he keeps cutting deals with Democrats and bowing down to our nation’s war gods, our guess is there will be no deficit reduction on the horizon anytime soon.
Does this ever-escalating number matter anymore? Or has it become so big people are numb to it?
Absolutely it matters …
Over the last eleven months the federal government has spent $434.63 billion on interest payments on the debt, according to U.S. Treasury data. That’s a staggering sum, and it’s only increasing the deeper in debt our nation becomes.
That money cannot be spent on core government functions (or debt reduction). It simply vanishes into the ether of decades of bad decision-making …
Looking beyond these soaring interest payments, the two trust funds that comprise the government’s Social Security program are projected to be exhausted in 2034. Meanwhile the nation’s primary Medicare trust fund will run dry in 2029 – with costly expanded benefits approved during the Bush and Obama years also weighing heavily on annual budgets.
Contrary to popular perception these trust funds won’t go “broke” when their respective clocks hit zero (they’re still taking in cash at an elevated rate from American workers), but the benefits they are scheduled to pay out will begin to decline precipitously.
And yes … all of this is happening at a time when consumer debt is out of control, too.
The solution? LOL. Don’t be silly. There isn’t a solution. We’re well past that point now.
OH, REALLY????
Seriously. You can’t tap your brakes and expect something to happen if the vehicle you’re driving has already gone over the cliff …
“History is full of examples of once-dominant civilizations crumbling under the weight of their rapidly-expanding debt, from the Ottoman Empire to the French monarchy in the 1700s,” noted Simon Black of the website Sovereign Man. “Or as former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers used to quip, “How long can the world’s biggest borrower remain the world’s biggest power?'”
How long indeed …
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We want to end this week's discussion on ENTERPRISE ZONE public policy by reminding our US 99% WE THE PEOPLE black, white, and brown citizens that our CONGRESSIONAL POLS these few decades are the ones passing FOREIGN TRADE ZONE policies attached to each state. Our Congressional political machines then send global corporate lobbyist money to fix state and local elections to only global banking 1% candidates able to win.
These FEDERAL FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE policies DO NOT have to be acted upon LOCALLY. These laws are not legally allowed to be forced on US cities or counties-----our LOCAL city councils and mayors/county executives are the ones passing local laws to INSTALL these ZONES having only global corporate campuses benefit with PAY-TO-PLAY for those dastardly global banking 5% freemason/Greek players soon to be pushed under the bus.
WHEN OUR US MEDICARE TRUST IS ALLOWED TO BE SACKED AND LOOTED WITH NO PATHWAY TO JUSTICE---THAT IS WHAT BEING IN A US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE/ENTERPRISE ZONE/SANCTUARY CITY/STATE DOES.
Foreign Trade Zone 183 of Central Texas
Economic Development Taxes & Incentives Foreign Trade Zones
A Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) is an area within the United States which is designated by the federal government as outside of U.S. Customs territory. FTZs encourage investment in the U.S. and the creation of American jobs by allowing U.S. businesses to operate with equivalent customs treatment to business conducted off-shore. Business using FTZs can reduce customs duties and fees, and achieve logistics benefits for the import and export of goods. FTZs can be an effective part of a community economic development program.
Foreign Trade Zone & Freeport Magnet Sites FTZ Savings Calculator - Distribution FTZ Savings Calculator
- Manufacturing
The Austin region is served by FTZ 183 which was established in the 1990s to capitalize on the growth of the high tech industry and to provide local businesses with a tool to help them compete in the global economy. The Foreign Trade Zone of Central Texas, Inc., is the grantee of FTZ 183 and is run by a board of directors appointed by the cities and chambers in the Austin metropolitan area. The Austin Chamber of Commerce is the administrator for FTZ 183.
In July 2012, the Foreign Trade Zone of Central Texas received approval from the federal government to operate under new streamlined procedures designed to make U.S. business more competitive. Under the new approval, all of the five-county metropolitan statistical area (MSA) has been preapproved by the federal government as eligible FTZ property. With the concurrence of local officials, the federal government will provide any eligible business in the Austin MSA FTZ designation on an expedited and simplified basis. A process that has taken historically over a year and been very expensive may now take less than 45 days with modest expense.
Resources
pdf Foreign Trade Zone of Central Texas Overview
pdf FTZ 183 Summary
pdf FTZ 183 Policies, Procedures, Definitions & Zone Schedule
pdf Foreign Trade Zone Handbook, Ernst & Young
For questions or for more information about FTZ 183 please contact: Ben Ramirez, Administrator, Foreign Trade Zone of Central Texas, at ben.ramirez@ftzcentraltexas.com or 512.595.0741.
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Foreign Trade Zone & Freeport
There is quite a bit of overlap of the FTZ and freeport exemptions. Freeport exempts inventory which is held in Texas for less than 175 days from property tax. The FTZ exempts any item imported from outside the U.S., regardless of the ultimate destination, and there is no time restriction. For example, inventory which is held in Austin for 90 days and then goes to Arkansas would be exempt under Freeport, but not FTZ. Inventory imported into an Austin FTZ from Japan which is sold to a customer in Fort Worth is exempt under FTZ, but not Freeport. Practically speaking, for jurisdictions which have a Freeport exemption, the incremental effect of the FTZ is to exempt inventory which has been imported from outside the U.S. and is destined for a Texas customer. All other inventory that might be exempt under the FTZ exemption is already exempt under Freeport. And, of course, the Freeport exemption applies to all property within the jurisdiction, while the FTZ exemption is site specific, applying only to inventory in activated FTZ space.
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Magnet Sites
The Austin region has one active magnet site located at Tech Ridge. industrial building and land sites within central Texas have been pre-designated as FTZ magnet sites. A magnet site is open to multiple users and do not require an application to the federal FTZ board, which allows companies to begin working on activation of the zone site with U.S. Customs.
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