FEATURING LINDSAY KOSHGARIAN – House Ways and Means chairman Kevin Brady on Monday unveiled three tax reform bills as part of a Republican-led effort to make permanent many of the tax cuts enshrined in the law that passed last year. The law had a number of tax savings for wealthy elites and businesses that were set to expire after 2025. Now the GOP is hoping to push them into permanence despite their unpopularity with the public.

Whether the GOP thinks tax cuts will actually help their midterm chances (despite evidence to the contrary) or whether they are rushing this effort because they expect to lose their House Majority is not clear.

Lindsay Koshgarian, Research Director at National Priorities Project

Find out more at www.nationalpriorities.org

In today’s news headlines Hurricane Florence is increasing in strength as it approaches the East Coast and particularly the Carolinas. As the storm surges through Bermuda and the Bahamas, winds have reached up to 140 mph. About 1.5 million people have been evacuated and 5.4 million are under some form of hurricane watch or warning. More than 400 flights have already been diverted or grounded. It is expected to hit the mainland US around Friday on the coast of one or both of the Carolina states. According to the New York Times, “Forecasters are warning of record-setting storm surges, along with rains heavy enough to cause catastrophic inland flooding. Some experts worry that the storm could knock out power for days or longer.”

There are thousands of pork processing farms in North Carolina with millions of hogs, whose untreated waste flows into open pits. Many fear that Hurricane Florence could cause the type of damage seen in 1999 when Hurricane Floyd hit the state just days after Hurricane Dennis, becoming the worst natural disaster in North Carolina’s history. In the aftermath of that storm the hog farms were hit hard and, Associated Press described the post-hurricane scene like this: “The bloated carcasses of hundreds of thousands of hogs, chickens and other drowned livestock bobbed in a nose-stinging soup of fecal matter, pesticides, fertilizer and gasoline so toxic that fish flopped helplessly on the surface to escape it.”

There are also dozens of huge coal ash pits in the state many of which lie near lakes and rivers and could potentially contaminate waters. Duke Energy, which operates the coal ash pits, also runs several nuclear reactors in the region, which they say will be taken off-line ahead of the storm making landfall.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said that dozens of federal agencies participated in a simulation of a Hurricane just a few months ago that impacted the same area Florence is expected to hit. According to Associated Press the results of the simulation showed, “catastrophic damage, which has some experts concerned that Hurricane Florence could produce a disaster comparable to 2005’s Hurricane Katrina and in a part of the country that is famously difficult to evacuate. The simulated hurricane knocked out power for most gas stations in the Mid-Atlantic region, damaged a nuclear power plant and sent debris into major shipping channels, among other problems.”

But President Donald Trump is extremely confident of the federal government’s preparedness and made these remarks at the White House on Tuesday. 

He also answered reporters’ questions about the federal response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico calling it an “unsung success.” Nearly 3,000 people are estimated to have died as a result of that storm, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in the US in modern history. After the White House press briefing on Hurricane Florence, Trump tweeted photos of himself at the White House getting briefed on the matter and saying, “know that WE are here for you. Be SAFE!” As usual he made no mention of climate change,

FEATURING PETER MIRON CONK – A group of activists with the San Jose Catholic Worker recently decided to convert an abandoned lot into a housing encampment for homeless people. Using large tents with toilets, showers, a community area, and a fence for safety, the activists say it is a promising transitional solution to rampant homelessness.

But city authorities seem to not agree. “Hope Village,” as it is called, has received an eviction notice.

Peter Conk Miron, Founder and Board Member of the San Jose Catholic Worker

Find out more about Hope Village and how you can support it at www.sjhv.org.

FEATURING JOHN BONIFAZ – A former chief counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee has said that Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court lied under oath about memos he received from a Senate Aide.

Lisa Graves wrote in Slate.com, “Kavanaugh should be removed because he was repeatedly asked under oath as part of his 2004 and 2006 confirmation hearings for his position on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit about whether he had received [memos from a Senate aide name Manuel Miranda], and each time he falsely denied it.”

Now Free Speech for People has echoed Graves’ call for Kavanaugh’s impeachment for repeated perjury.

John Bonifaz, Co-Founder and President of Free Speech For People. He previously served as the Executive Director and then General Counsel of the National Voting Rights Institute. He is the co-author with Ron Fein and Ben Clements of the book, The Constitution Demands It: The Case for the Impeachment of Donald Trump

Click here to sign the petition calling for Kavanaugh’s impeachment.

Website: www.freespeechforpeople.org

In today’s news headlines about 1.5 million people have evacuated their homes in North and South Carolina as the states brace for a powerful storm that is being dubbed “potentially catastrophic,” and “life-threatening.” Hurricane Florence is so far the most powerful storm this year and has developed into a Category 4 hurricane. Governors Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Henry MacMaster of South Carolina spoke at press conferences in their respective states on Monday issuing warnings to their residents. Maryland, Virginia, and other East Coast states are also warning their residents about the impact.

According to the Washington Post, “Meteorologists and government officials say the hurricane will bring powerful winds and storm surges to the coast, but the threat doesn’t stop there: Torrential rains across the broader region are likely to bring significant flooding to low-lying areas, including to communities more than 100 miles inland. Any stall as the storm heads northwest could lead to conditions reminiscent of Hurricane Harvey, which flooded Houston with more than four feet of rain in August 2017.” AP pointed out additional dangers: “The storm’s potential path also includes half a dozen nuclear power plants, pits holding coal-ash and other industrial waste, and numerous hog farms that store animal waste in massive open-air lagoons.”

On the opposite side of the nation, Tropical storm Olivia is approaching the state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, just weeks after Hurricane Lane dumped more than 50 inches of rain on the Big Island. Olivia may result in 10-20 inches of rain across the islands.

Despite evidence mounting all around us of the impacts of climate change the Trump administration remains determined to exacerbate our greenhouse gas emissions and on Monday news emerged that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would make it easier for energy companies to dump methane into the atmosphere. Methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. According to the New York Times, which reported the news, the proposal would be, “the third major step this year to roll back federal efforts to fight climate change.”

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres issued a strongly worded warning on climate change in a speech at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday. “Climate change is the defining issue of our time, and we are at a defining moment.” he said. “Scientists have been telling us for decades. Over and over again. Far too many leaders have refused to listen. If we do not change course by 2020, we risk missing the point where we can avoid runaway climate change.”

In California, one bright spot on the climate was the state’s passage and Gov. Jerry Brown’s approval of a bold new bill to transition the entire state to 100% clean renewable energy by 2045. Brown is convening a major Global Climate Summit in Northern California today. 

In other news, the white female police officer charged with manslaughter over the shooting death of a black man named Botham Jean, will face a

FEATURING KHURY PETERSEN-SMITH – The Democratic Party has been at serious odds with President Donald Trump – except when it comes to military spending. Earlier this month a majority of Democrats in the House and the Senate joined their Republican colleagues voting for a massive $716 billion military spending bill. The vote was rushed through and handed Trump a major victory.

Trump had asked for an increase to the already-bloated military budget in January. He faced almost no opposition in Congress. Despite the fact that US wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, and elsewhere have caused untold death, destruction, and an unprecedented refugee crisis, the US military continues to expand even as other social programs are chronically under-funded.

Read Khury’s latest article ‘Given What the U.S. Has Done to the World, It Should Be Letting All Refugees In’, HERE.

Khury Petersen-Smith, Middle East Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies.

This story originally aired on 08/08/2018

FEATURING LUCAS ZUCKER – Tens of thousands of people marched in San Francisco, California last Saturday as part of the Rise for Climate Jobs and Justice gathering. The powerful mobilization is considered the largest climate-related march on the West Coast. Many simultaneous mobilizations took place in cities around the world.

The San Francisco march was designed to precede the Global Climate Summit being convened by California Governor Jerry Brown and will be a major meeting of state and municipal leaders discussing solutions to climate change. But many of the activists that marched on Saturday are angry with Brown for promoting a fracking industry in California which directly contradicts his claims of being a climate champion.

Lucas Zucker, Policy and Communications Director with the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE)

Thirty thousand people marched in San Francisco, California on Saturday as part of the Rise for Climate Jobs and Justice gathering. The powerful mobilization is considered the largest climate-related march on the West Coast. The march was scheduled ahead of a Global Climate Summit where state and municipal leaders will gather to discuss solutions to climate change. Activists called on California Gov. Jerry Brown to do more to address fracking – which he has promoted – even as he has claimed to be a climate leader.

Meanwhile Hurricane Florence is heading to the East Coast with great ferocity, alarming weather experts. According to the Washington Post, “On Sunday evening, the National Hurricane Center was forecasting Florence to become a strong Category 4 just prior to making landfall somewhere on the Southeast or Mid-Atlantic coast on Thursday.” The once-unusually strong hurricanes are becoming part of a new normal in a rapidly warming climate. And, the Washington Post on Sunday reported that the toxic algae bloom plaguing Florida’s coastline had moved north toward Tampa Bay and had killed hundreds of thousands of fish along 20 miles of the coast. Scientists have blamed both water pollution and climate change for exacerbating the crisis.

In other news, a former aide to President Donald Trump when he was a candidate, George Papadopoulos, made an explosive announcement on ABC News on Sunday. He admitted that the campaign including Trump himself and then-Senator Jeff Sessions were fully aware of his efforts to broker a meeting between Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Papadopoulos was sentenced on Friday to, “14 days incarceration, one year of supervised release, 200 hours of community service and a $9,500 fine,” for lying to the FBI about his contact with Russian operatives last year.

Vice President Mike Pence gave an interview to CBS’s Face the Nation that aired on Sunday. During the interview he denied that he or anyone in his office was responsible for writing the anonymous op-ed that the New York Times published last week slamming Trump. Last Thursday the BBC did a linguistic analysis of the op-ed and concluded that it appeared likely to have been written by Mr. Pence. Later in a Fox News interview he agreed to take a lie-detector test, “in a heartbeat” to prove he didn’t write it.

A 30-year old white female police officer named Amber Guyger in Dallas, Texas has been charged with manslaughter after the shooting death of a 26-year old black man named Botham Shem Jean. Guyger shot Jean last Thursday when she walked into his apartment. She said that she thought it was her apartment and that she had encountered an intruder. Guyger has been on the force for 4 years and had shot another man last year. Jean’s mother Allison said in an inter...

FEATURING JAMES W. LOEWEN – Barely a day goes by when President Donald Trump accuses the media of being “corrupt,” “failing,” and of course, promoting “fake news.” It has been a hallmark of his Presidential campaign and his presidency. The accusations are accompanied by his own relentless spewing of lies.

Now a new edition of the best-selling book Lies My Teacher Told Me highlights how much of our current discourse is not new.

James W. Loewen, bestselling and award-winning author of Lies My Teacher Told Me, Lies Across America, Lies My Teacher Told Me About Christopher Columbus, and Sundown Towns. He also wrote Teaching What Really Happened and The Mississippi Chinese: Between Black and White and edited The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader. He has won the American Book Award, the Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship, the Spirit of America Award from the National Council for the Social Studies, and the Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award. Loewen is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Vermont and lives in Washington, DC. He now joins me to discuss the brand new edition of his famous book Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your History Textbook Got Wrong, which has a new introduction for the Donald Trump era.

This interview originally aired on 07/23/18

FEATURING PETER SCHEY – The Trump Administration on Friday introduced a new regulation to place into detention whole families that cross the US border without papers, indefinitely. The regulation would overturn the so-called Flores Settlement, a court agreement dating back to 1997. Despite the overwhelming public outcry over family separation earlier this year Trump’s White House wants to hold parents and their children in detention facilities that are essentially prisons.

It was the Flores Settlement that the Trump Administration claimed led to the separation of parents from children because Trump had deemed parents must be imprisoned but children could not be as per Flores. So rather than not imprison anyone for the civil (not criminal) violations of immigration law, Trump now wants to put kids in prison – albeit with their parents. The new regulation also aims to hold families in prisons that have not been formally licensed to hold children. A 60-day public comment period began Friday while the original plaintiffs in the Flores case have 45 days to legally challenge the regulation.

Peter Schey, President and Executive Director of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law Foundation, one of the lead attorneys representing detained children in the Flores case

Click here to submit a formal complaint to the US government on its proposed regulation to detain immigrant families indefinitely including children.

Find out more about Peter Schey’s organization at www.centerforhumanrights.org