Disqus - Latest Comments for NER

Re: 3 Truths of Dodd-Frank regulatory rollback

NER — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 11:45:08 -0000

It does the exact opposite of that: those unscrupulous practices are what it regulates. Here's some reading for you:

https://www.washingtonpost....

Re: 3 Truths of Dodd-Frank regulatory rollback

NER — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 11:41:44 -0000

That is actually not true: the situation you've described is addressed by Dodd-Frank, which explicitly prohibits the Federal Reserve from bailing out failing banks. It also requires big banks to be robustly capitalized and provides greater transparency in derivatives trading.

https://www.washingtonpost....

Moreover, now that banks have invested in adapting to Dodd-Frank's regulations, many in the financial sector believe an effort to repeal it would destabilize the industry.

http://www.reuters.com/arti...

Re: Sen. Donnelly, vote for Dr. Price for HHS secretary

NER — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 11:28:39 -0000

Don't vote for Price, Senator Donnelly!

Re: Warren slams Tillerson on Senate floor

NER — Thu, 02 Feb 2017 22:39:44 -0000

Contact your Senators and tell them to oppose revoking the SEC transparency rule on payments to foreign governments by oil, gas, and mineral extraction companies.

Re: Senate committee — chaired by Orrin Hatch — changes rules to allow Cabinet vote with no Dems present

NER — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 17:55:08 -0000

Why couldn't Hatch have agreed to committee Democrats' requests to question Price (who misrepresented his insider trading during his hearing) and Mnuchin (who misrepresented his bank's robo-signings, a factor in the housing crash, during his hearing)? Why does these nominees' dishonesty not matter to him? And why is it so important to ram through their nominations, when the fact is that further testimony probably wouldn't have affected any committee votes?

It was shameful of Hatch and his Republican colleagues to change the rules in order to vote out these nominees. But I urge Hatch's Utah constituents to contact him and Mike Lee by postcard to tell them you oppose the Mnuchin and Price nominations.

Re: Utahns frustrated at full voicemail boxes in congressional offices

NER — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 16:24:22 -0000

I've used the free fax tool noted above. But I also encourage people to write a postcard to your representative and senators regularly and simply drop them in the mail. You don't have to write more than a few sentences. Let's deluge them with hard-copy evidence that we care and want to be heard.

Re: Utahns frustrated at full voicemail boxes in congressional offices

NER — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 16:20:01 -0000

Trying to contact an elected official to express a position on an issue is what democracy is all about.

Re: Utahns frustrated at full voicemail boxes in congressional offices

NER — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 13:42:22 -0000

As an out-of-stater, I'd just like to note that Senator Hatch's actions today to suspend the rules for voting out the nominations of Steve Mnuchin and Tom Price without a quorum affect me (and all Americans). Likewise, Congressman Chaffetz's Benghazi hearings and failure to investigate President Trump's financial conflicts of interest have a profound effect on the nation. Therefore, I think it's only fair that we out-of-staters have a way to contact them as well.

Re: Trump and DeVos add momentum as school choice marches on

NER — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 23:46:34 -0000

Gail Collins, of the NY Times, explains why DeVos' brand of charter schools is problematic: "DeVos seems to be a particularly big fan of for-profit schools. There’s nothing more disturbing about the school-choice movement than its infatuation with private enterprise. Running schools like a business (and, of course, driving away the teachers unions) is supposed to create more efficiency. But mainly, it creates more income for management. About 80 percent of the charters in the Michigan system are for-profit, and The Free Press investigation found that the charters were generally spending more on administration and less on the classroom than traditional districts."

And, in a telling moment from the Senate hearing on her nomination, DeVos was asked by Senator Tim Kaine whether all schools that receive taxpayer funding should be equally accountable.

"'Well, no,' she replied."

https://mobile.nytimes.com/...

Re: Trump and DeVos add momentum as school choice marches on

NER — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 18:32:15 -0000

The vast majority of public schools are not failing. The fact that you assert it doesn't make it true. Some public schools are failing, but we have regulations and policies to address them, and they are having an impact. That's precisely why Betsy DeVos' opposition to accountability for charter schools makes her so unsuited to head the Department of Education (besides the fact that she has no experience whatsoever with public schools, either as a teacher, an administrator, a board member, or a legislator). She doesn't know or understand education law, and she doesn't care because she is a religious and free-market zealot bent on undermining public schools. As our President would say, "Sad!"

Re: Trump and DeVos add momentum as school choice marches on

NER — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 18:26:18 -0000

You are incredibly rude. Please stop your name-calling.

Re: Trump and DeVos add momentum as school choice marches on

NER — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 18:02:41 -0000

Stop the name-calling.

Re: Trump and DeVos add momentum as school choice marches on

NER — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 18:01:52 -0000

That is appalling.

Re: Trump and DeVos add momentum as school choice marches on

NER — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 18:00:50 -0000

Some charters are excellent and others are not. Wouldn't you want the state to be able to close failing charter schools? Betsy DeVos opposed legislation that would have made it easier to close failing charter schools in Michigan.

Re: Trump and DeVos add momentum as school choice marches on

NER — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 17:50:37 -0000

"In contrast to some other states with big charter sectors—notably Michigan, where DeVos just helped kill a proposed state law that would have made it easier to close failing charter schools—Louisiana has been relatively aggressive in shaping the available options, repeatedly closing charters that underperform." http://www.politico.com/mag...

Re: Trump and DeVos add momentum as school choice marches on

NER — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 17:47:58 -0000

The charter schools pushed by Betsy DeVos in Michigan, especially but not limited to the ones in Detroit, have not been successful in improving student achievement, although other charter schools elsewhere in the country have been. That's because she and the people pushing her "choice" movement believe that the free market is all that's needed-- not accountability standards or regulation. http://www.politico.com/mag...

Re: Spicer: 'Negative' Trump coverage is 'demoralizing'

NER — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 21:08:17 -0000

5 years.

Re: Trump attacks Time report for mistake about MLK bust

NER — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 20:02:45 -0000

Does anyone see any irony in the fact that Donald Trump, the birther-in-chief, is complaining that a reporter didn't correct his mistake quickly enough? It took Trump 5 YEARS to correct his hateful and fraudulent claims, and when he did, he not only refused to apologize to President Obama, he falsely blamed Hillary Clinton for originating the claim:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/...

https://www.nytimes.com/201...

Re: Trump Promised to Resign From His Companies — But There’s No Record He’s Done So

NER — Sun, 22 Jan 2017 11:25:07 -0000

Great reporting-- thank you!

Re: Fake News from CNN: Legal Expert Says Schumer’s Attacks on Trump’s Pick to Head HHS ‘Are Entirely About Politics’

NER — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 15:46:53 -0000

https://www.washingtonpost....

Re: Trump told of unsubstantiated Russian effort to compromise him

NER — Tue, 10 Jan 2017 23:08:24 -0000

No, your parents' citizenship is only relevant if you're born outside the U.S., like John McCain was. But as everyone but birthers knows, Barack Obama was born in the U.S. state of Hawaii.

Re: Donald Trump and the GOP, I want my part back

NER — Thu, 29 Dec 2016 13:49:44 -0000

Thank you, Patrick Tomlinson.

Re: Trump NY co-chair wishes death on Obama

NER — Fri, 23 Dec 2016 20:05:34 -0000

Contact Carl Paladino: http://www.carlpaladino.com...

Re: Trump NY co-chair wishes death on Obama

NER — Fri, 23 Dec 2016 16:11:57 -0000

Contact Carl Paladino: http://www.carlpaladino.com...

Re: Gingrich Says Trump Wants To Drop Draining The Swamp

NER — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 09:10:59 -0000

https://www.buzzfeed.com/je...