[Wash Times] Senate Democrats are poised to throw away 20 years of friendship and a bipartisan working relationship with Sen. Jeff Sessions to wreak political vengeance on him this week as they consider his nomination for attorney general.
Highlighting the deep partisan divide and the bad blood between Democratic lawmakers and President-elect Donald Trump, the same senators who have socialized and co-authored reams of legislation with Mr. Sessions are under pressure from liberal interest groups to air accusations that he is a racist, a sexist and a homophobe.
Mr. Sessions, who has held an Alabama seat in the Senate since 1997 and has served as the state’s attorney general and as a U.S. attorney, is expected to win confirmation from his colleagues, including support from several Democrats. But it won’t be pretty.
Heading into two days of confirmation hearings that begin Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he serves as a member, liberal activist groups have gone so far as to label him a "white supremacist," and his Democratic colleagues have expressed doubt about his ability to enforce the law without prejudice.
Mr. Sessions has weathered protests in Alabama by the NAACP, which joined other racial minority groups in urging senators to oppose the nomination.
Be afraid you lawless, thieving bastids. Be very afraid.
#1
Still, none of the governments business overall. He should be not picking out anyone for any reason.
He should be focusing on making it more profitable and enticing to all business owners to run here.
The time he spends in the weeds is unbelievable.
He could maybe focus on making small business more attractive again instead of setting up idiot trade wars which again is stupid.
Tariffs and shit that failed before need to go by the wayside. Your Administration is not about punishing People or Nations, it is about rising them up.
We will check this out naturally, but again,
what is not Specifically outlined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights is reserved for the states.
#2
Precisely, the only reason that US car industry improved is because Japanese cars started to demonstrate how much better they were.
Maybe Trump wants USAAF with biplanes. That what happened with Italian airforce at start of 2WW after stupid Mussolini went autarchic and incapable of having a competitive fighter engine. Because his Government forbid manufacturers from developing inline engines.
#4
GM quickly denied Trump’s tweet, and in a press release that same day, the company claimed that all Cruze sedans sold in the US are “built in GM’s assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio”, and that GM builds the Cruze hatchback for global markets in Mexico, with only a small percentage being sold in the US:
#5
The time he spends in the weeds is unbelievable.
Because no one else has been checking on it for decades. When a failed commander is relieved, his replacement can not sit in the office and just issue orders. He has get out and look with his eyes at the problems and issues that created the problems, even kicking tires. Management by walking around. Bright subordinates pick up on the tenure and tone of the commander and start sticking their noses back to where they should have been focused before. The less than bright are fired and replaced. Accountability and ownership is reestablished. Then the new commander can pull back.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
01/09/2017 9:22 Comments ||
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#8
Newc I couldn't disagree with you more.
Trump's tweets are forcing companies with a history of offshoring US jobs to reassess the financial risk of making large capital investments to move or create jobs overseas. To pick on just a few components of that analysis: 1) overseas capex intended to support the manufacturing of goods that, in whole or part, will be sold within the US becomes significantly more risky as the belief that a tariff will be imposed on said goods becomes more solid; 2) this kind of publicity is to corporate America what sunlight is to vampires, it has an effect on the decision process all by itself; and 3) large businesses are herd animals, if Trump can stampede a few into staying others will begin to doubt their own decisions to go, some to the extent that they'll stay as well (don't believe me - go work at a high level in a Fortune 50 company for a while). Note that in none of these cases is an actual tariff necessary in order to begin modifying the decision process.
A bit outside my wheelhouse but from what I'm reading of the Trump tax plan:
In VAT tax nations, the VAT is (effectively) not levied on exports. Consider Mexico as an example: the price of a GM vehicle manufactured and sold in Mexico will include Mexico's 15% VAT. The same GM vehicle Manufactured in Mexico but imported into and sold in the USA escapes Mexico's 15% VAT while likely entering the US without any tariff applied and is thus cheaper here than the same vehicle had it been manufactured and sold in Mexico. Further, an identical vehicle manufactured in the US but sold in Mexico is slammed with all the effects of the world's highest corporate income tax rate, the world's worst regulatory environment and the world's worst legal environment (all on the US side of course) plus a VAT-equalizing tax levied by Mexico when it crosses the border. As I understand it our present "free trade" deals do not prohibit these VAT-equalizing tariffs being applied to US goods entering "free trade" partner nations but we assess not similar equalizing tax when their goods are brought here. That's a problem if one is interested in preserving business activity in the US.
Again not in my wheelhouse but what's been reported so far is that Trump is proposing a very low US "business" income tax rate, no taxation of profits from exported goods and an equalization tax applied to foreign goods crossing our borders that is levied at the same rate as our business income tax. That seems rather imminently reasonable as it merely attempts to put US goods on the same footing as foreign goods in the global marketplace. This is a sane, rational and measured step that's long overdue if we're interested in preserving economic activity and jobs related thereto in the US.
#10
Very well explained, Woodrow Sinatra7133. I would only add that senior management has been very frustrated that they've had to store profits made abroad out there, because the tax in bringing that money home is unacceptably high.
#11
Ahhh, if only more people were educated at Rantburg U!
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/09/2017 11:05 Comments ||
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#12
Very good point TW.
Paul Ryan the other day said that there were on the order of $2T in assets that could be repatriated and that they were considering legislation they believed would result in a net effective tax of 5.9% on repatriated assets. But then he went on to say that it would depend on what was being repatriated and that the rate might differ if the asset were "a building or something". How, precisely, one might go about repatriating a building is something only Congresscritters and tax lawyers could comprehend.
I'm curious as to whether the one-time repatriation will be followed by the elimination of all taxes on repatriated capital. At one point it was said that the only countries that taxed repatriated capital were the US and North Korea. If there's a shred of truth in that we might wonder why it has taken so long for an argument to appear against the practice.
#13
What WS7133 said - cut taxes, slash regulations, lower the cost of capital and make it worth their while to bring businesses back to the US - problem largely solved. The first ten Democrats to insist that the government should have a direct role in any 'job retraining' or similar bullshit should be catapulted into the middle of the Potomac.
Yes, I'm talking the Potomac in January - why do you ask?
#14
As a native Washingtonian I remember the pollution and how awful the smell was on the Potomac waterfront in Georgetown until they stopped putting sewage in the river. Now you want to put crap in it again Raj? Please use a landfill, perhaps near Chapaqua or Searchlight. Those places obviously have no olfactory senses anymore!
#16
Back to GM: Those bastards lost me when they rolled over for Bambi and killed Pontiac in exchange for the loan; then the 'New GM' would not be liable for 'Old GM' warranty/liabilities, then they lied about the Cobalt ignitions.
And that even overlooks the mid-80s when they stuffed Chevy motors in Oldsmobiles thinking nobody would notice.
No 'NEW' GM vehicle in my driveway on my dime.
Posted by: USN, Ret ||
01/09/2017 15:00 Comments ||
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#17
IMO the main problem is that the USA doesn't have a GST/VAT. If did, all imports would be taxed at the point of entry at the prevailing rate. Thus putting imports on the same tax base as domestic manufactured goods (ignoring other taxes like payroll taxes).
Trump has correctly concluded the solution is a blanket import tax.
While is being labelled a 'taffif' by the media, it's more like a tax regime equalisation charge.
#18
All a tax will do is make cars more expensive for you. All GM did was the same. The first bailout put Saturn out of business. Remember Saturn cars?
#21
Why do you think the Japanese auto companies started building manufacturing plants in the US when the first Oil Embargo had Americans streaming to their cars and abandoning gas guzzling domestics? [only to find out they were build better and no nickel and diming on the sticker]. Cause Detroit and its Congressional operatives were threatening to force a tariff. Now they're in a position to weather all of this.
[DAWN] MANY in the West view Pakistain as a safe haven for transnational terrorist organizations, and India is attempting very hard to exploit this global opinion. In reality, however, terrorist violence kills more innocent civilians and security personnel in Pakistain compared to all of Europe in any given year. Regrettably, Western societies ignore the causalities of terrorism inside Pakistain and apply different standards for valuing Pak life.
India has consistently attempted to ban and blacklist the founder of Jaish-e-Mohammad ...literally Army of Mohammad, a Pak-based Deobandi terror group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in 2000, after he split with the Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin. In 2002 the government of Pervez Musharraf banned the group, which changed its name to Khaddam ul-Islam and continued doing what it had been doing before without missing a beat... (JeM) Maulana Masood Azhar ...One of the major players in Pak terrorism. In early 1994, India incarcerated him for his terrorist activities. In 1995, foreign tourists were kidnapped in Jammu and Kashmir. The kidnappers included the release of Masood Azhar among their demands. One of the hostages managed to escape but the rest were eventually killed. In 1999, he was freed by the Indian government in exchange for passengers on hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814 that had been diverted to Kandahar. The hijackers were led by Masood Azhar's brother, Ibrahim Athar. Once he was handed over to the hijackers, they fled to Pak territory despite the fact that Islamabad had earlier stated that any of the hijackers would be jugged at the border. The Pak government had also previously indicated that Azhar would be allowed to return home since he did not face any charges there. Shortly after his release, he made a public address to an estimated 10,000 people in Karachi, firing up the rubes against America and India... through a United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... Security Council sanctions committee. Such efforts have been repeatedly blocked by China which is acting in support of Pakistain as the latter views India’s attempts as politically motivated and intended in the long run to discredit the genuine Kashmiri freedom movement. Indeed, the ban seems to only serve a symbolic purpose. It would mean no more than a global travel ban and an asset freeze; in any case Azhar has been living mostly under protective custody, and JeM is already classified as a terrorist organization -- banned by both Pakistain and the sanctions committee, and subject to a strict UN sanctions regime which Pakistain is presently bound to enforce regardless of Azhar’s status.
Pakistain, however, must keep its eyes on the ball. Today, it is uncontested that terrorism is a very serious internal threat to Pakistain, and geopolitics aside, Pakistain must seriously realise that its national and international obligations for combating terrorism are not mutually exclusive. By implementing its domestic laws on combating terrorism against minority groups, while in concert respecting the fundamental human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. and freedoms of individuals enshrined in the Constitution, Pakistain can automatically comply with virtually all of its counterterrorism international legal obligations.
Even though it might be politically hard to swallow, the government must act against influential leaders of radical organisations engaged in spreading hate and terrorism — and not just against those which it classifies as involved in anti-state activities — by designating them as “proscribed persons” under Article 11EE of the Fourth Schedule of the ATA. This would allow the government to constantly monitor and keep under tight surveillance such proscribed persons and punish any violators who misuse religious institutions to provoke terrorist violence against the most venerable segments of society.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/09/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Pakistain must seriously realise that its national and international obligations for combating terrorism are not mutually exclusive.
[GP] Religion Of Peace ‐ 2017 Body Count: 314 Dead, 489 Injured, 17 Countries.
Scorecard for Week 1 of 2017. Islamic Terrorism has started 2017 with a bang (pun-intended). All the information in this report for week 1 of 2017 was gathered from The Religion Of Peace.
Jihad Report: December 31, 2016 ‐ January 06, 2017
Attacks: 53
Killed: 314
Injured: 489
Suicide Blasts: 10
Countries: 17
Number of Islamic Terror Attacks Since 9/11: 30,081+
[BostonHerald] Like Chipotle, the Cleveland Browns and the Democratic Party, the bust-out Boston Globe is trying to “reinvent” itself.
Hey! Hey! The Browns have hope!
In a memo to his decimated staff this week, editor Brian McGrory says the Globe will no longer be the “paper of record” (as if it ever was). Instead, he said, the Globe will be an “organization of interest.”
Sorry, not interested.
McGrory’s memo reads like it was composed by a recent graduate of an ESL program, or perhaps translated from another language, most likely consultantese. Everything is to be interesting, “relentlessly interesting.”
After all these years of printing dreary left wing agitprop, how will the Globe become interesting?
“We’ll set up an Audience Engagement team,” McGrory writes. “We will refine and refine again the Hubs system that was proposed by the Mission working group.”
Yeah, that should bring back the readers all right. The Registry of Motor Vehicles couldn’t have put it any better.
Check out the job titles in the memo — senior deputy managing editor for local news, deputy managing editor for audience engagement, deputy managing editor for operations, etc. More at the link
#3
... TRANSLATION: "We're doing this crap to give the senior stockholders a chance to sell before the stocks attain roughly the same value as used Kleenex. The end is near, but we're part of the Media; we don't dare admit it's over until the morning we lock the doors without telling anyone and then we'll blame it on the Deplorables."
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/09/2017 10:33 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
GM quickly denied Trump’s tweet, and in a press release that same day, the company claimed that all Cruze sedans sold in the US are “built in GM’s assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio”, and that GM builds the Cruze hatchback for global markets in Mexico, with only a small percentage being sold in the US: 
...One of the major players in Pak terrorism. In early 1994, India incarcerated him for his terrorist activities. In 1995, foreign tourists were kidnapped in Jammu and Kashmir. The kidnappers included the release of Masood Azhar among their demands. One of the hostages managed to escape but the rest were eventually killed. In 1999, he was freed by the Indian government in exchange for passengers on hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814 that had been diverted to Kandahar. The hijackers were led by Masood Azhar's brother, Ibrahim Athar. Once he was handed over to the hijackers, they fled to Pak territory despite the fact that Islamabad had earlier stated that any of the hijackers would be jugged at the border. The Pak government had also previously indicated that Azhar would be allowed to return home since he did not face any charges there. Shortly after his release, he made a public address to an estimated 10,000 people in Karachi, firing up the rubes against America and India...
