Excerpt: "To paraphrase the words of that Scottish master Robert Burns, the
best laid plans of mice, men - and women - go often astray, or 'gang aft
agley,' as they say in the Highlands. No one knows this better than Hillary
Rodham Clinton."
DNC Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz speaking in Washington, D.C.
(photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Democrats Can't Unite Unless Wasserman Schultz Goes!
By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship, Moyers & Company
21 May 16
The Democratic National Committee chair has thrown fuel on the flames of
infighting just as the party faces a critical November election
To paraphrase the words of that Scottish master Robert Burns, the best laid
plans of mice, men - and women - go often astray, or "gang aft agley," as
they say in the Highlands. No one knows this better than Hillary Rodham
Clinton.
Twice now, the flight of her presidential aspirations has been forced to
circle the airport as other contenders put up an unexpected fight: In 2008,
Barack Obama emerged to grab the Democratic nomination away and this year,
although all signs point to her finally grabbing the brass ring, unexpected
and powerful progressive resistance came from the mighty wind of the Bernie
Sanders campaign.
Certainly, Hillary Clinton is angered by all of this, but the one seemingly
more aggrieved - if public comments and private actions are any indication -
is Democratic National Committee chair and Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman
Schultz, a Hillary surrogate who takes umbrage like ordinary folks pop their
vitamins in the morning.
As we recently wrote, ". She embodies the tactics that have eroded the
ability of Democrats to once again be the party of the working class. As
Democratic National Committee chair she has opened the floodgates for Big
Money, brought lobbyists into the inner circle and oiled all the moving
parts of the revolving door that twirls between government service and cushy
jobs in the world of corporate influence."
And that ain't all. As a member of Congress, particularly egregious has been
her support of the payday loan business, defying new regulations from the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that would rein in an industry
that soaks desperate borrowers. As President Obama said, "While payday loans
might seem like easy money, folks often end up trapped in a cycle of debt."
In fact, according to an article by Bethany McLean in the May issue of The
Atlantic, "After studying millions of payday loans, the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau found that 67 percent went to borrowers with seven or more
transactions a year, and the majority of borrowers paid more in fees than
the amount of their initial loan."
A recent editorial in the Orlando Sentinel notes that 7 percent of Florida's
population "must resort to this predatory form of small-dollar credit -
nearly the highest rate in the nation." What's more, "Based on a 14-day loan
term, the typical payday loan. had an annual percentage rate of 278 percent.
Many lenders advertise rates of more than 300 percent." Let us repeat that
slowly. 300 percent!
So why has Wasserman Schultz been so opposed to the CFPB's proposed rules?
She has said, "Payday lending is unfortunately a necessary component of how
people get access to capital, [people] that are the working poor." But maybe
it has something more to do with the $2.5 million or so the payday loan
industry has donated to Florida politicians from both parties since 2009.
That's according to a new report by the liberal group Allied Progress. More
than $50,000 of that cash has gone to Rep. Wasserman Schultz.
But we digress. It's the skullduggery going on within the Democratic Party
establishment that's our current concern and as we wrote in March, Rep.
Wasserman Schultz "has played games with the party's voter database, been
accused of restricting the number of Democratic candidate debates and
scheduling them at odd days and times to favor Hillary Clinton, and recently
told CNN's Jake Tapper that superdelegates - strongly establishment and
pro-Clinton - are necessary at the party's convention so deserving incumbent
officials and party leaders don't have to run for delegate slots 'against
grassroots activists.' Let that sink in, but hold your nose against the
aroma of entitlement."
Now Wasserman Schultz has waded into the controversy over what happened or
didn't happen last weekend when Sanders supporters loudly and vehemently
objected to the rules at the Nevada State Democratic Convention. In truth,
some behaved badly at the event and others made trollish, violent and
obscene threats to Democratic state chair Roberta Lange via phone, email and
social media. There's no excuse for such aggressive, creepy conduct, and
Sanders was quick and direct in apologizing for the behavior of the rowdies
and bullies.
But there is a double standard at play here. Why, pray tell, shouldn't the
peaceful majority of Sanders people be angry at the slow-motion, largely
invisible rigging of the political process by Wasserman Schultz and the
Clinton machine - all for the benefit of Secretary Clinton?
Wasserman Schultz claims the party rules over which she has presided (and
manipulated) are "eminently fair." She told CNN on Wednesday morning, "It is
critical that we as candidates, we as Democratic Party leaders, everyone
involved needs to make sure that we can take all the steps that we need to,
to ensure that the process is not only run smoothly but that the response
from the supporters of both candidates is appropriate and civil."
In response to the DNC chair's remarks, Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver
talked to CNN, too, and said Wasserman Schultz had been "throwing shade on
the Sanders campaign since the very beginning. Debbie Wasserman Schultz has
really been a divider and not really provided the kind of leadership that
the Democratic Party needs."
The Nation's Joan Walsh, a Clinton supporter critical of the Sanders
campaign, concurs: "Once again, Democratic National Committee chair Debbie
Wasserman Schultz escalated a conflict that she should have worked to
defuse," she writes. ". Wasserman Schultz is not helping her friend Hillary
Clinton with her attacks on Sanders. Just the appearance of fairness can go
a long way in assuaging worries about fairness. Wasserman Schultz's defiant
rebuke to the Sanders camp has made it worse."
So, too, has her abolition of the restraints that had been placed on
corporate lobbyists and big money - now they can write checks bankrolling
what doubtless will be swank and profligate parties during this summer's
Democratic National Convention. At The Intercept, Lee Fang and Zaid Jilani
report that a number of the members of the Philadelphia host committee "are
actively working to undermine progressive policies achieved by President
Barack Obama, including health care reform and net neutrality. Some. are
hardly even Democratic Party stalwarts, given that many have donated and
raised thousands of dollars for Republican presidential and congressional
candidates this cycle."
This is a slap in the face to progressives calling for a halt to big money
and allowing lobbyists to buy our elected officials. And it's contrary to
what Hillary Clinton herself has said about money and politics on the
campaign trail. The Sanders movement has shown that lots of cash can be
raised from everyday people making small donations. His supporters and all
of us should be outraged that Debbie Wasserman Schultz and convention
officials have kowtowed not only to the corporate wing of their own party
but also to those high rollers who back the opposition and ideas
antithetical to a democracy.
Rep. Wasserman Schultz is facing a primary challenge for the first time this
year, her opponent a law professor, activist and progressive Sanders
supporter named Tim Canova. But the primary's not until late August, long
after the Democratic National Convention. Unless she steps down now or
Hillary Clinton has her removed, Philadelphia will be dominated by someone
who represents everything that has gone wrong with the Democratic Party and
Washington. At the convention's opening session, Debbie Wasserman Schultz
will be bringing the gavel down squarely on progressive hopes of returning
the party to its legacy as champion of working people and the dispossessed.
We've said it before and we'll say it again: Time for her to go.
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DNC Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz speaking in Washington, D.C.
(photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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Democrats Can't Unite Unless Wasserman Schultz Goes!
By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship, Moyers & Company
21 May 16
The Democratic National Committee chair has thrown fuel on the flames of
infighting just as the party faces a critical November election
o paraphrase the words of that Scottish master Robert Burns, the best laid
plans of mice, men - and women - go often astray, or "gang aft agley," as
they say in the Highlands. No one knows this better than Hillary Rodham
Clinton.
Twice now, the flight of her presidential aspirations has been forced to
circle the airport as other contenders put up an unexpected fight: In 2008,
Barack Obama emerged to grab the Democratic nomination away and this year,
although all signs point to her finally grabbing the brass ring, unexpected
and powerful progressive resistance came from the mighty wind of the Bernie
Sanders campaign.
Certainly, Hillary Clinton is angered by all of this, but the one seemingly
more aggrieved - if public comments and private actions are any indication -
is Democratic National Committee chair and Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman
Schultz, a Hillary surrogate who takes umbrage like ordinary folks pop their
vitamins in the morning.
As we recently wrote, ". She embodies the tactics that have eroded the
ability of Democrats to once again be the party of the working class. As
Democratic National Committee chair she has opened the floodgates for Big
Money, brought lobbyists into the inner circle and oiled all the moving
parts of the revolving door that twirls between government service and cushy
jobs in the world of corporate influence."
And that ain't all. As a member of Congress, particularly egregious has been
her support of the payday loan business, defying new regulations from the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that would rein in an industry
that soaks desperate borrowers. As President Obama said, "While payday loans
might seem like easy money, folks often end up trapped in a cycle of debt."
In fact, according to an article by Bethany McLean in the May issue of The
Atlantic, "After studying millions of payday loans, the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau found that 67 percent went to borrowers with seven or more
transactions a year, and the majority of borrowers paid more in fees than
the amount of their initial loan."
A recent editorial in the Orlando Sentinel notes that 7 percent of Florida's
population "must resort to this predatory form of small-dollar credit -
nearly the highest rate in the nation." What's more, "Based on a 14-day loan
term, the typical payday loan. had an annual percentage rate of 278 percent.
Many lenders advertise rates of more than 300 percent." Let us repeat that
slowly. 300 percent!
So why has Wasserman Schultz been so opposed to the CFPB's proposed rules?
She has said, "Payday lending is unfortunately a necessary component of how
people get access to capital, [people] that are the working poor." But maybe
it has something more to do with the $2.5 million or so the payday loan
industry has donated to Florida politicians from both parties since 2009.
That's according to a new report by the liberal group Allied Progress. More
than $50,000 of that cash has gone to Rep. Wasserman Schultz.
But we digress. It's the skullduggery going on within the Democratic Party
establishment that's our current concern and as we wrote in March, Rep.
Wasserman Schultz "has played games with the party's voter database, been
accused of restricting the number of Democratic candidate debates and
scheduling them at odd days and times to favor Hillary Clinton, and recently
told CNN's Jake Tapper that superdelegates - strongly establishment and
pro-Clinton - are necessary at the party's convention so deserving incumbent
officials and party leaders don't have to run for delegate slots 'against
grassroots activists.' Let that sink in, but hold your nose against the
aroma of entitlement."
Now Wasserman Schultz has waded into the controversy over what happened or
didn't happen last weekend when Sanders supporters loudly and vehemently
objected to the rules at the Nevada State Democratic Convention. In truth,
some behaved badly at the event and others made trollish, violent and
obscene threats to Democratic state chair Roberta Lange via phone, email and
social media. There's no excuse for such aggressive, creepy conduct, and
Sanders was quick and direct in apologizing for the behavior of the rowdies
and bullies.
But there is a double standard at play here. Why, pray tell, shouldn't the
peaceful majority of Sanders people be angry at the slow-motion, largely
invisible rigging of the political process by Wasserman Schultz and the
Clinton machine - all for the benefit of Secretary Clinton?
Wasserman Schultz claims the party rules over which she has presided (and
manipulated) are "eminently fair." She told CNN on Wednesday morning, "It is
critical that we as candidates, we as Democratic Party leaders, everyone
involved needs to make sure that we can take all the steps that we need to,
to ensure that the process is not only run smoothly but that the response
from the supporters of both candidates is appropriate and civil."
In response to the DNC chair's remarks, Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver
talked to CNN, too, and said Wasserman Schultz had been "throwing shade on
the Sanders campaign since the very beginning. Debbie Wasserman Schultz has
really been a divider and not really provided the kind of leadership that
the Democratic Party needs."
The Nation's Joan Walsh, a Clinton supporter critical of the Sanders
campaign, concurs: "Once again, Democratic National Committee chair Debbie
Wasserman Schultz escalated a conflict that she should have worked to
defuse," she writes. ". Wasserman Schultz is not helping her friend Hillary
Clinton with her attacks on Sanders. Just the appearance of fairness can go
a long way in assuaging worries about fairness. Wasserman Schultz's defiant
rebuke to the Sanders camp has made it worse."
So, too, has her abolition of the restraints that had been placed on
corporate lobbyists and big money - now they can write checks bankrolling
what doubtless will be swank and profligate parties during this summer's
Democratic National Convention. At The Intercept, Lee Fang and Zaid Jilani
report that a number of the members of the Philadelphia host committee "are
actively working to undermine progressive policies achieved by President
Barack Obama, including health care reform and net neutrality. Some. are
hardly even Democratic Party stalwarts, given that many have donated and
raised thousands of dollars for Republican presidential and congressional
candidates this cycle."
This is a slap in the face to progressives calling for a halt to big money
and allowing lobbyists to buy our elected officials. And it's contrary to
what Hillary Clinton herself has said about money and politics on the
campaign trail. The Sanders movement has shown that lots of cash can be
raised from everyday people making small donations. His supporters and all
of us should be outraged that Debbie Wasserman Schultz and convention
officials have kowtowed not only to the corporate wing of their own party
but also to those high rollers who back the opposition and ideas
antithetical to a democracy.
Rep. Wasserman Schultz is facing a primary challenge for the first time this
year, her opponent a law professor, activist and progressive Sanders
supporter named Tim Canova. But the primary's not until late August, long
after the Democratic National Convention. Unless she steps down now or
Hillary Clinton has her removed, Philadelphia will be dominated by someone
who represents everything that has gone wrong with the Democratic Party and
Washington. At the convention's opening session, Debbie Wasserman Schultz
will be bringing the gavel down squarely on progressive hopes of returning
the party to its legacy as champion of working people and the dispossessed.
We've said it before and we'll say it again: Time for her to go.
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http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
