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MORNING MESSAGE
Tom Conway
Trump is fond of surrounding himself with union members and asserting that they love him. But he doesn’t really like unions, especially ones that challenge him or dare to question his lies. This isn’t a glitch. It’s a pattern. The most recent example is Trump’s Twitter appointment of Eugene Scalia, the son of the late, anti-worker Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia, as Secretary of Labor. This is who Trump chose to protect wage earners – a corporatist so egregious that when former President George W. Bush wanted Scalia as Labor Department solicitor, Bush had to give him a recess appointment because Republicans in the Senate balked at approving him. This is the guy who stopped the fiduciary rule that would have required brokers to act in clients’ best interest rather than brokers’ personal financial benefit by forbidding brokers from recommending investments that paid brokers big commissions but provided clients with low returns. This corrupt practice costs workers and retirees about $17 billion a year. Scalia is a corporate shill. And he’d be reporting to Trump, whose slavish support of corporate bosses over working Americans has revealed he’s nothing more than a poser in a red MAGA baseball cap.
Stocks Plunge As Trade War Deepens
stocks plunge on US-China trade war worries. USA Today:: “stock markets plunged Friday after President Donald Trump’s surprise threat of tariff hikes on additional Chinese imports.
In early trading, London’s main index lost 2% and Frankfurt fell 2.5%. Tokyo’s benchmark was off 2.1% and Hong Kong retreated 2.5%. Markets in Shanghai, Sydney and Paris also fell. Trump’s announcement of 10% tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese goods, due to take effect Sept. 1, surprised investors after the White House said Beijing promised to buy more farm goods. That came as their latest round of trade talks ended in Shanghai. China’s government added to investor unease by threatening unspecified retaliation if Trump’s tariff hike goes ahead. That came after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell disappointed traders Wednesday by suggesting the U.S. central bank had no plans for an extended cycle of interest rate cuts.”
Trump Doubles Down On Attacks At OH Rally
‘Rage-filled Democrat Party’: Trump jabs at progressives. Politico: “In a state he hopes to capture again next November, President Donald Trump on Thursday accused his “extremist left-wing” opponents of ruining America’s inner cities — escalating his attacks against influential progressive voices and painting the Democratic presidential primary as a referendum on Barack Obama’s legacy. “I was watching the Democrats’ debate last night … and the Democrats spent more time attacking Barack Obama than they did attacking me,” Trump said at a crowded rally here. It was Trump’s first trip to Cincinnati for a campaign event since he warned voters on the eve of the 2018 midterm elections that Democrats would “take a wrecking ball” to the U.S. economy if they won control of the House of Representatives. He painted the same bleak picture for his supporters on Thursday, claiming that a Democratic victory next fall would subject Ohioans to higher taxes, fewer jobs and “socialist” policies that could make the U.S. unrecognizable.”
Unpaid Coal Miners Protest After Bankruptcy
Blackjewel miners protest after abrupt bankruptcy leaves workers without pay. CBS: “It's day four of a protest by coal miners in Kentucky. They're blocking a train loaded with coal from leaving the mine after its owner, Blackjewel, the sixth largest coal mining company in the country just two years ago, abruptly filed for bankruptcy last month. Although mining jobs have increased 4% during the Trump administration, more than 35% have been lost in the last decade.
Hundreds of non-union workers were left with no severance or health benefits. The company even stopped payment on the last paychecks. The protest started Monday when Willig and other miners heard trains were about to haul $1 million worth of coal out of the mine where they used to work. He called fellow miners to stop the load in its tracks. "We're not out here trying to get more than what we've earned," said Chris Rowe. "We're just out here to get what we've earned."”
Mauna Protests Escalate
Jason Momoa, Bruno Mars join chorus of protesters fighting Hawaii telescope. HuffPost: “Actor Jason Momoa and pop star Bruno Mars are returning to their island roots by showing their support for Native Hawaiian activists protesting a massive telescope project planned for the Mauna Kea mountain on Hawaii’s Big Island. Draped in traditional garb and lei, or a wreath made of ti leaves, Momoa and his 10-year-old son joined activists on the mountain on Wednesday to make an offering to Mauna Kea and encourage protesters. For a group of Native Hawaiians, known as protectors, the protest is about defending Mauna Kea as a sacred space in Hawaiian tradition and preventing a massive construction project in an ecologically fragile site. 'I love my heritage both sides, Hawaiian and Iowan,' Momoa said in an Instagram post last week. 'With all due respect to the pursuit of scientific knowledge, we must always protect what is sacred to our people.'”
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