EXCLUSIVE: Trump's Treasury pick says he wants to slash taxes across the board: "EXCLUSIVE: Trump's Treasury pick says he wants to slash taxes across the board"
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Steve Mnuchin Treasury Secretary nominee Steve Mnuchin: We can sustain 3-4% economic growth
1 Hour Ago | 02:09
In line with President-elect Donald Trump's proposals, Steve Mnuchin told CNBC on Wednesday his focus as Treasury secretary will be stimulating economic growth and creating jobs through tax reform.
"By cutting corporate taxes, we're going to create huge economic growth and we'll have huge personal income," Mnuchin told "Squawk Box," confirming he has been tapped for Treasury secretary.
Reducing the corporate tax rate from 30 percent to 15 percent will be a major goal for the Trump administration, the former Wall Street executive said.
Mnuchin said he was confident the new administration would be able to expand gross domestic product growth from the current 3.2 percent.
"Our most important priority is sustained economic growth, and I think we can absolutely get to sustained 3 to 4 percent GDP, and that is absolutely critical for the country," Mnuchin said. "To get there, our number one priority is tax reform. This will be the largest tax change since [President Ronald] Reagan."
In addition, he said he wants to simplify taxes for the average citizen. "Taxes are way too complicated, and people spend way too much time worrying about ways to get them lower," he said.
Mnuchin was Trump's campaign finance chairman during the election. Previously, he was chairman of Dune Capital Management and worked at Goldman Sachs and the Soros Fund Management. He also co-founded OneWest Bank Group.
Dune Capital funded Hollywood films including "Avatar."
Key words- Munchin Trump taxes
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Donald Trump Has Broken the Constitution - The Atlantic
Donald Trump Has Broken the Constitution - The Atlantic: "The election of Donald Trump was, in procedural terms, scrupulously fair. I hold no dark suspicions of altered vote counts or intimidation at the polls. We may wish the Voting Rights Act had not been gutted by the Court; but the election of 2016 followed the law of 2016. Clearly a large proportion of American citizens—not as many as voted for Hillary Clinton, but still, under our strange system, enough—wanted Trump as their president and now hope that he fulfills the loud promises he repeatedly made to the country.
But those promises are the problem. Donald Trump ran on a platform of relentless, thoroughgoing rejection of the Constitution itself, and its underlying principle of democratic self-government and individual rights. True, he never endorsed quartering of troops in private homes in time of peace, but aside from that there is hardly a provision of the Bill of Rights or later amendments he did not explicitly promise to override, from First Amendment freedom of the press and of religion to Fourth Amendment freedom from “unreasonable searches and seizures” to Sixth Amendment right to counsel to Fourteenth Amendment birthright citizenship and Equal Protection and Fifteenth Amendment voting rights.
Like an admissions officer at Trump University, he offered Americans a bag of magic beans and asked them in exchange to hand over their rights and their form of government.
Smiling, nearly 60 million complied.
I deny their right to give Trump my rights or those of others who cannot defend themselves. No result is legitimate that threatens the Constitution its very promise of the “blessings of liberty.” No transient plurality, no matter how angry, has the power to strip minorities of equal status and protection; no mass of voters, no matter how frightened, has the power to vote away the democratic future of their children and their children’s children.
American national leaders gain their legitimacy by competing in compliance with not merely the outward forms but the clear values of our Constitution—equal dignity, religious freedom and tolerance, open deliberation, and the rule of law. These values don’t bind Donald Trump; norms of decency do not apply; he shrugs off the very burden of fact itself. Like dictators of the Old World, he uses his mass media power to lie, to insult, to strip individuals of their dignity, to commit the grossest libels of religious and national groups, and to encourage persecution, torture, and public violence. He actively campaigns against any notions of racial, religious, and sexual equality. He threatens those who oppose him with the unchecked power of the state."
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But those promises are the problem. Donald Trump ran on a platform of relentless, thoroughgoing rejection of the Constitution itself, and its underlying principle of democratic self-government and individual rights. True, he never endorsed quartering of troops in private homes in time of peace, but aside from that there is hardly a provision of the Bill of Rights or later amendments he did not explicitly promise to override, from First Amendment freedom of the press and of religion to Fourth Amendment freedom from “unreasonable searches and seizures” to Sixth Amendment right to counsel to Fourteenth Amendment birthright citizenship and Equal Protection and Fifteenth Amendment voting rights.
Like an admissions officer at Trump University, he offered Americans a bag of magic beans and asked them in exchange to hand over their rights and their form of government.
Smiling, nearly 60 million complied.
I deny their right to give Trump my rights or those of others who cannot defend themselves. No result is legitimate that threatens the Constitution its very promise of the “blessings of liberty.” No transient plurality, no matter how angry, has the power to strip minorities of equal status and protection; no mass of voters, no matter how frightened, has the power to vote away the democratic future of their children and their children’s children.
American national leaders gain their legitimacy by competing in compliance with not merely the outward forms but the clear values of our Constitution—equal dignity, religious freedom and tolerance, open deliberation, and the rule of law. These values don’t bind Donald Trump; norms of decency do not apply; he shrugs off the very burden of fact itself. Like dictators of the Old World, he uses his mass media power to lie, to insult, to strip individuals of their dignity, to commit the grossest libels of religious and national groups, and to encourage persecution, torture, and public violence. He actively campaigns against any notions of racial, religious, and sexual equality. He threatens those who oppose him with the unchecked power of the state."
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Tuesday, November 22, 2016
A scramble to assess the dangers of President-elect Donald Trump’s global business empire - The Washington Post
A scramble to assess the dangers of President-elect Donald Trump’s global business empire - The Washington Post: "Trump has said he plans to give control of the Trump companies to his children, and the company has said the final arrangement “will comply with all applicable rules and regulations.” Alan Garten, the Trump Organization’s executive vice president and general counsel, said in an interview in September, “His focus is going to be solely on improving the country.”
But congressional researchers and ethics advisers say leaving the company’s management to Trump’s children would not truly separate Trump’s private and public work. Even Trump has voiced confusion on the point: At a January debate, he said: “I don’t know if it’s a blind trust if Ivanka, Don and Eric run it but — is that a blind trust? I don’t know.”"
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But congressional researchers and ethics advisers say leaving the company’s management to Trump’s children would not truly separate Trump’s private and public work. Even Trump has voiced confusion on the point: At a January debate, he said: “I don’t know if it’s a blind trust if Ivanka, Don and Eric run it but — is that a blind trust? I don’t know.”"
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The worst-case scenario for the economy under Trump just happened in another country - The Washington Post
The worst-case scenario for the economy under Trump just happened in another country - The Washington Post: "“The challenges are pretty massive,” said Monica de Bolle, an economist and Roett's colleague at Johns Hopkins, who has written about the similarities between Trump and Rousseff.
“It was a combination of protectionism and fiscal expansion,” said de Bolle, who is also a fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “Now the day of reckoning has come.”"
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“It was a combination of protectionism and fiscal expansion,” said de Bolle, who is also a fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “Now the day of reckoning has come.”"
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Trump sinks Asia trade pact, opening the way for China to lead | Reuters
Trump sinks Asia trade pact, opening the way for China to lead | Reuters: "An ambitious Asia-Pacific trade pact linking the United States and 11 countries lay in tatters on Tuesday after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said he would kill the deal on his first day in office on Jan. 20.
Trump's statement appeared to open the way for China to assume the United States' leadership mantle on trade and diplomacy in Asia. The Republican termed the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) "a potential disaster for our country."
China, Japan and South Korea are already in the initial stages of discussing a trilateral trade deal, and Beijing has been pushing its own limited Asian regional trade pact that excludes Washington for the past five years.
Japan and Australia, Washington's closest allies in Asia, pledged after Trump's announcement to push ahead without the United States, although removing the largest market for goods and services would shrink it dramatically.
"Pushing them forward is the idea that, if they don't act, it will look like China's very weak trade deals are the only game in town," said Derek Scissors, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on Asian economies and trade.
Trump has pledged to redraw trade deals to win back American jobs, and has threatened Mexico and China with punitive tariffs in a move that some economists have warned could spark a trade war that threatens to roll back decades of liberalization."
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Trump's statement appeared to open the way for China to assume the United States' leadership mantle on trade and diplomacy in Asia. The Republican termed the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) "a potential disaster for our country."
China, Japan and South Korea are already in the initial stages of discussing a trilateral trade deal, and Beijing has been pushing its own limited Asian regional trade pact that excludes Washington for the past five years.
Japan and Australia, Washington's closest allies in Asia, pledged after Trump's announcement to push ahead without the United States, although removing the largest market for goods and services would shrink it dramatically.
"Pushing them forward is the idea that, if they don't act, it will look like China's very weak trade deals are the only game in town," said Derek Scissors, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on Asian economies and trade.
Trump has pledged to redraw trade deals to win back American jobs, and has threatened Mexico and China with punitive tariffs in a move that some economists have warned could spark a trade war that threatens to roll back decades of liberalization."
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Trump Foundation admits to violating ban on ‘self-dealing,’ new filing to IRS shows - The Washington Post
Trump Foundation admits to violating ban on ‘self-dealing,’ new filing to IRS shows - The Washington Post: "President-elect Donald Trump’s charitable foundation has admitted to the IRS that it violated a legal prohibition against “self-dealing,” which bars nonprofit leaders from using their charity’s money to help themselves, their businesses or their families.
That admission was contained in the Donald J. Trump Foundation’s IRS tax filings for 2015, which were recently posted online at the nonprofit-tracking site GuideStar. A GuideStar spokesman said the forms were uploaded by the Trump Foundation’s law firm, Morgan, Lewis and Bockius."
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That admission was contained in the Donald J. Trump Foundation’s IRS tax filings for 2015, which were recently posted online at the nonprofit-tracking site GuideStar. A GuideStar spokesman said the forms were uploaded by the Trump Foundation’s law firm, Morgan, Lewis and Bockius."
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Thursday, November 10, 2016
Five Reasons for Liberals to Have Hope - POLITICO Magazine
Five Reasons for Liberals to Have Hope - POLITICO Magazine: "5. Winning In 2020 Is More Important Than Winning In 2016
No one wishes for the global economy to crumble or for the world to be embroiled in deadly international crises. But it’s not that hard to imagine a Trump presidency going off the rails without any Democratic assistance. And that would cause enormous political consequences.
If Trump manages to drag down the entire Republican Party with him over the next four years, Democrats might be able to snag the biggest political prize of all in the 2020 elections: majority control of state legislative chambers — just in time for the congressional redistricting process that will follow the 2020 Census."
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No one wishes for the global economy to crumble or for the world to be embroiled in deadly international crises. But it’s not that hard to imagine a Trump presidency going off the rails without any Democratic assistance. And that would cause enormous political consequences.
If Trump manages to drag down the entire Republican Party with him over the next four years, Democrats might be able to snag the biggest political prize of all in the 2020 elections: majority control of state legislative chambers — just in time for the congressional redistricting process that will follow the 2020 Census."
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"The Will Of The People" Is A Myth | Zero Hedge
"The Will Of The People" Is A Myth | Zero Hedge: "In fact, if we look at the history of American presidential elections, we find that, not only does the victor fail to achieve a majority, but he or she often can't even get a majority of votes from those who cast a vote. "
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Monday, November 7, 2016
List of Reagan administration convictions.
List of Reagan administration convictions.: ""By the end of his term, 138 Reagan administration officials had been convicted, had been indicted, or had been the subject of official investigations for official misconduct and/or criminal violations. In terms of number of officials involved, the record of his administration was the worst ever."
1. Lyn Nofziger--White House Press Secretary - Convicted on charges of illegal lobbying of White House in Wedtech scandal. The lobbying would not have been illegal had he not been White House Press Secretary.
2. Michael Deaver, Reagan's Chief of Staff, received three years' probation and was fined one hundred thousand dollars after being convicted for lying to a congressional subcommittee and a federal grand jury about his lobbying activities after leaving the White House. Same as with Lyn Nofziger.
3. James Watt, Reagan's Secretary of the Interior was indicted on 41 felony counts for using connections at the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help his private clients seek federal funds for housing projects in Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Watt conceded that he had received $500,000 from clients who were granted very favorable housing contracts after he had intervened on their behalf. Watt was eventually sentenced to five years in prison and 500 hours of community service.
4. John Poindexter, Reagan's national security advisor, guilty of five criminal counts involving conspiracy to mislead Congress, obstructing congressional inquiries, lying to lawmakers, used "high national security" to mask deceit and wrong-doing...
5. Richard Secord pleaded guilty to a felony charge of lying to Congress over Iran-Contra. Appointed by William Casey to assist Oliver North.
6. Elliott Abrams was appointed by President Reagan in 1985 to head the State Department's Latin American Bureau. He was closely linked with ex-White House aide Lt. Col. Oliver North's covert movement to aid the Contras. Working for North, Abrams coordinated inter-agency support for the contras and helped solicit illegal funding from foreign powers as well as domestic contributors. Abrams agreed to cooperate with Iran-Contra investigators and pled guilty to two charges reduced to misdemeanors. He was sentenced in 1991 to two years probation and 100 hours of community service but was pardoned by President George Bush...
7. Robert C. McFarlane, Reagan's National Security Advisor, pled guilty to four misdemeanors and was sentenced to two years probation and 200 hours of community service. He was also fined $20,000. He received a blanket pardon from President George Bush...
8. Alan D. Fiers was the Chief of the Central Intelligence Agency's Central American Task Force. Fiers pled guilty in 1991 to two counts of withholding information from congress about Oliver North's activities and the diversion of Iran arms sale money to aid the Contras. He was sentenced to one year of probation and 100 hours of community service. Alan Fiers received a blanket pardon for his crimes from President Bush...
Thomas G. Clines: convicted of four counts of tax-related offenses for failing to report income from the operations;
Carl R. Channel - Office of Public Diplomacy , partner in International Business- first person convicted in the Iran/Contra scandal, pleaded guilty of one count of defrauding the United States
Richard R. Miller - Partner with Oliver North in IBC, a Office of Public Diplomacy front group, convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Frank Gomez
13.. Donald Fortier
Clair George was Chief of the CIA's Division of Covert Operations under President Reagan. George was convicted of lying to two congressional committees in 1986. George faced a maximum five year federal prison sentence and a $20,000 fine for each of the two convictions. Jurors cleared George of five other charges including two counts of lying to a federal grand jury. Clair George received a blanket pardon for his crimes from President George Bush...
Rita Lavelle was indicted, tried and convicted of lying to Congress and served three months of a six-month prison sentence.
Philip Winn - Assistant HUD Secretary. Pleaded guilty to one count of scheming to give illegal gratuities.
Thomas Demery - Assistand HUD Secretary - pleaded guilty to steering HUD subsidies to politically connected donors.
Deborah Gore Dean - executive assistant to Samuel Pierce - indicted on thirteen counts, three counts of conspiracy, one count of accepting an illegal gratuity, four counts of perjury, and five counts of concealing articles. She was convicted on twelve accounts. She appealed and prevailed on several accounts but the convictions for conspiracy remained.
Catalina Villaponda - Former US Treasurer
Joseph A. Strauss - Accepting kickbacks from developers
Oliver North - He was indicted on sixteen felony counts and on May 4, 1989, he was convicted of three: accepting an illegal gratuity, aiding and abetting in the obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and destruction of documents (by his secretary, Fawn Hall, on his instructions). He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell on July 5, 1989, to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines, and 1,200 hours community service. His conviction was later overturned. "
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1. Lyn Nofziger--White House Press Secretary - Convicted on charges of illegal lobbying of White House in Wedtech scandal. The lobbying would not have been illegal had he not been White House Press Secretary.
2. Michael Deaver, Reagan's Chief of Staff, received three years' probation and was fined one hundred thousand dollars after being convicted for lying to a congressional subcommittee and a federal grand jury about his lobbying activities after leaving the White House. Same as with Lyn Nofziger.
3. James Watt, Reagan's Secretary of the Interior was indicted on 41 felony counts for using connections at the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help his private clients seek federal funds for housing projects in Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Watt conceded that he had received $500,000 from clients who were granted very favorable housing contracts after he had intervened on their behalf. Watt was eventually sentenced to five years in prison and 500 hours of community service.
4. John Poindexter, Reagan's national security advisor, guilty of five criminal counts involving conspiracy to mislead Congress, obstructing congressional inquiries, lying to lawmakers, used "high national security" to mask deceit and wrong-doing...
5. Richard Secord pleaded guilty to a felony charge of lying to Congress over Iran-Contra. Appointed by William Casey to assist Oliver North.
6. Elliott Abrams was appointed by President Reagan in 1985 to head the State Department's Latin American Bureau. He was closely linked with ex-White House aide Lt. Col. Oliver North's covert movement to aid the Contras. Working for North, Abrams coordinated inter-agency support for the contras and helped solicit illegal funding from foreign powers as well as domestic contributors. Abrams agreed to cooperate with Iran-Contra investigators and pled guilty to two charges reduced to misdemeanors. He was sentenced in 1991 to two years probation and 100 hours of community service but was pardoned by President George Bush...
7. Robert C. McFarlane, Reagan's National Security Advisor, pled guilty to four misdemeanors and was sentenced to two years probation and 200 hours of community service. He was also fined $20,000. He received a blanket pardon from President George Bush...
8. Alan D. Fiers was the Chief of the Central Intelligence Agency's Central American Task Force. Fiers pled guilty in 1991 to two counts of withholding information from congress about Oliver North's activities and the diversion of Iran arms sale money to aid the Contras. He was sentenced to one year of probation and 100 hours of community service. Alan Fiers received a blanket pardon for his crimes from President Bush...
Thomas G. Clines: convicted of four counts of tax-related offenses for failing to report income from the operations;
Carl R. Channel - Office of Public Diplomacy , partner in International Business- first person convicted in the Iran/Contra scandal, pleaded guilty of one count of defrauding the United States
Richard R. Miller - Partner with Oliver North in IBC, a Office of Public Diplomacy front group, convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Frank Gomez
13.. Donald Fortier
Clair George was Chief of the CIA's Division of Covert Operations under President Reagan. George was convicted of lying to two congressional committees in 1986. George faced a maximum five year federal prison sentence and a $20,000 fine for each of the two convictions. Jurors cleared George of five other charges including two counts of lying to a federal grand jury. Clair George received a blanket pardon for his crimes from President George Bush...
Rita Lavelle was indicted, tried and convicted of lying to Congress and served three months of a six-month prison sentence.
Philip Winn - Assistant HUD Secretary. Pleaded guilty to one count of scheming to give illegal gratuities.
Thomas Demery - Assistand HUD Secretary - pleaded guilty to steering HUD subsidies to politically connected donors.
Deborah Gore Dean - executive assistant to Samuel Pierce - indicted on thirteen counts, three counts of conspiracy, one count of accepting an illegal gratuity, four counts of perjury, and five counts of concealing articles. She was convicted on twelve accounts. She appealed and prevailed on several accounts but the convictions for conspiracy remained.
Catalina Villaponda - Former US Treasurer
Joseph A. Strauss - Accepting kickbacks from developers
Oliver North - He was indicted on sixteen felony counts and on May 4, 1989, he was convicted of three: accepting an illegal gratuity, aiding and abetting in the obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and destruction of documents (by his secretary, Fawn Hall, on his instructions). He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell on July 5, 1989, to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines, and 1,200 hours community service. His conviction was later overturned. "
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