June 2017 — American Delusions

The Rule of Law, Justice, American Delusions

June 27, 2017 Comments Off

The reality is that legal representation for the indigent is worse than a charade. According to the ACLU 80% of those arrested for a crime can not afford a lawyer. But, no where in the country is a robust system of legal representation for these people in place. And as widely known, legal aid attorneys all too frequently meet their clients for a few moments before a court appearance and have no real resources to represent the client in a meaningful way. A result of this is that local, state and Federal prosecutors have enormous, compelling power to manipulate the alleged criminal into pleading guilty to a crime. —>> read more –>>

Healthcare and Markets – why don’t they work together?

June 26, 2017 Comments Off

A consistent chattering point in American discussions of healthcare is the claim that if we can only bring transparency and competition to healthcare we will drive prices down and bring sanity to healthcare. The rest —>> read more –>>

The Democratic Party and Healthcare – Preserving Obamacare Cannot Be The End Game

June 24, 2017 Comments Off

The Democratic Party must absorb the reality of our situation. We need to develop and express some outrage at the current healthcare providers. None of this will happen as long as Democrats are taking money from the rich and corporations. If there is a single lesson from the Bernie Sanders campaign it is that with messages and programs that reflect the needs of the vast majority of Americans, you can raise enough money to fight off the Republican Party and its wealthy and corporate sponsors. Time to start now. —>> read more –>>

The Republican Party – vicious at the edges

June 23, 2017 Comments Off

None of the failings of our healthcare system outrages the vicious Republicans. They hate poor and middle class people, the hate black and brown people, the hate government, the love to make the rich richer. That is the essence of the Republican Party. —>> read more –>>

Vicious Republicans Not Trump Are The Problem

June 22, 2017 Comments Off

Trump is a side show here. The problem is the Republican Party bought and sold by the wealthy and corporations. The Republicans are busy destroying families through their attacks on healthcare, education, family income, and government protections. The Republicans are busy mouthing talk about job creation while doing nothing to create jobs, just more rhetoric about job creators and government regulations. The Republicans are busy doing nothing to assure that a person working a full-time job can achieve a liveable standard of living. —>> read more –>>

Recently Noted – about healthcare

June 21, 2017 Comments Off

from the New York Times an article that covers some earlier history of the US healthcare industry. How Did Health Care Get to Be Such a Mess? By CHRISTY FORD CHAPIN “The problem with American health —>> read more –>>

racism

Slavery in Hudson and nearby – continued

June 18, 2017 Comments Off

It is clear that though slavery in the North was not the dominant economic engine that was true of the South, slavery was present and visible on a day-to-day basis. —>> read more –>>

Recently Noted – free-market capitalism

June 17, 2017 Comments Off

Companies must externalize as many costs as possible in free-market capitalism. Without adequate government protections you will end up with this kind of environment. from the New York Times: Nearly 14,000 Companies in China Violate —>> read more –>>

Slavery in Hudson and Columbia Cty NY

June 14, 2017 1

Notices of runaways slaves from the Hudson River Valley. Many were notices from slave owners in Hudson and Columbia County dating roughly from 1795 to 1840. Northerners may think that slavery was a Southern institution, but this history casts a decidedly different picture. —>> read more –>>

Trump’s Innovations in Governing – the cabinet meeting

June 12, 2017 Comments Off

Trump surprises us with another innovation in governing. He has turned his latest Cabinet meeting into a round of campaign rhetoric and sycophantic adulation and lies. —>> read more –>>

1.	↥	Stessin-Cohn, Susan, and Ashley Hurlburt-Biagini. In Defiance: Runaways from Slavery in New York’s Hudson River Valley, 1735-1831, 2016.
2.	↥	p324. Stessin-Cohn, Susan, and Ashley Hurlburt-Biagini. In Defiance: Runaways from Slavery in New York’s Hudson River Valley, 1735-1831, 2016.