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MEGATHREAD & NEWS WRAP-UP --- Nov/18/2020: \\ War in Artsakh (Karabakh) \\ Artsakh's international recognition \\ roadmap for future \\ opposition & pro-govt demonstrations \\ suspects charged over hooliganism \\ Kievyan bridge incident \\ videos \\ humanitarian aid \\ COVID & healthcare \\ more...

Your 12-minute Wednesday report in 2971 words.

November 18 timeline

Nevada's Clarke County (Las Vegas) has officially recognized the Artsakh Republic.
https://twitter.com/ANCA_Wstatus/1328753472565493761
9:37: 1700 Artsakh refugees have returned home so far. The population was around 145,000 before the war. Some 10-20% never left.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035190.html
10:09 PM Pashinyan presented the roadmap: It is time to talk about methods to overcome the current situation. I have already stated that I consider myself the number-one responsible for the situation. I am also responsible for overcoming the situation and establishing stability and security in the country.
1) Negotiations must resume in OSCE format, with the emphasis on Artsakh status and the return of Artsakh residents to their homeland.
2) Secure Artsakh residents' rights to return home. Fully restore daily life. Repair infrastructure.
3) Social aid for families of fallen soldiers.
4) Repairing infrastructure damaged in the Republic of Armenia.
5) Aid for wounded soldiers, obtaining prosthetics, educational training courses for changing professions if necessary.
6) Returning POWs and aid for their families. Clarification of the status of those who are missing, and aid for their families.
7) Rehabilitation system for those who participated in the war, and for the general public, too.
8) The beginning of reforms in the army.
9) Defeating COVID and overcoming its consequences.
10) Restoration of the environment for economic activity.
11) Activation of demographic programs.
12) Reforming electoral laws [opposition and the govt had agreed to lower the passing threshold to allow more opposition parties to enter Parliament, etc.]
13) Introduction of the Institute of Specialized Judges as the first step in establishing an anti-corruption courts. Launching the process to confiscate illegally embezzled property.
14) Conducting regular consultations with representatives of the Armenian political and civil community.
15) Consultations with diasporan institutes and individuals.
The goal is to ensure the democratic stability of Armenia and to create guarantees that nothing threatens the formation of power in Armenia through the free will of the people. For this, I'll make changes to the government team.
We will need 6 months to launch the aforementioned tasks. In June 2021, I will report to you the progress, and based on the public response, we will decide on what to do next.
Full: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035193.html
11:11: US Senator Bob Menendez called on the US government to impose sanctions on Turkey and Azerbaijan for the military aggression, and to end weapon supplies to them.
He called for a $100 million aid to Artsakh refugees.
https://youtu.be/JCh49hna7hA
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035203.html
11:42 COVID stats: +4,109 tested. +1,589 infected (down). +1,726 healed. +28 deaths. 38,082 active (down).
HealthMin Torosyan: the percentage of positive tests and the absolute numbers are declining, but the healthcare system is still under stress.
We still have 375 patients waiting for beds, 25 of whom are in serious condition. We will likely hospitalize them sometime today. A few days ago the waiting list was 800. The trend can change again with the resumption of schools.
Our main issue right now is oxygen supplies. Without it, the medication is ineffective. We'll soon receive more oxygen stations, followed by four large stations in December. We had purchased many oxygen stations during the first wave but today's large numbers, partly a result of the war, were outside of our predications.
We're negotiating over vaccines. There are agreements. They will likely arrive in mid-Spring.
We have no shortage of COVID test kits. New test labs are opening; two in the past week alone.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035206.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035232.html
11:43: earlier this year, a part of a residential apartment complex collapsed in Yerevan. The govt has issued free housing certificates to the affected residents.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035207.html
12:05: several soldiers returned from Artsakh and decided to organize a demonstration in support of PM Pashinyan. PM's office and QP party urged them to stay home and not to gather, citing the Martial Law that currently prohibits large gatherings and demonstrations.
A dozen prominent opposition figures were charged with ignoring the Martial Law and organizing demonstrations earlier. If found guilty, they are facing anywhere between a $415 fine to 2 months of jail.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035208.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035240.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035245.html , https://www.arlis.am/documentView.aspx?docid=69646 , https://news.am/arm/news/614215.html
12:27: Aznavour Foundation and the Armenian Foundation of France have launched a committee to coordinate the aid process from France. Earlier they met President Macron about humanitarian aid and Artsakh's recognition.
Links in the article: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035213.html
12:38: Parliament Speaker QP MP Ararat Mirzoyan was severely beaten by rioters on November 10th. Healthcare Minister says he will soon recover after one more surgery [which was done today].
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035215.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035236.html
12:45: German-Armenian pianist Margarit Hovhannisyan gave a solo performance to collect aid for Armenia Fund (www.HimnaDram.org). She donated $5,000 in proceeds. The German colleagues expressed support for Artsakh and Armenians.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035216.html
12:49: diasporan-Armenian singer Iveta Mukuchyan went to Artsakh's Dadivank church and performed "Sirt im sasani" (Սիրտ իմ սասանի) religious music.
Video: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=845836856202879
Mukushyan released a German-language video: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=782524012332940
13:50: The US will donate $5 million to Red Cross and other orgs to help those who suffered from the war.
https://factor.am/311291.html
14:02: the identification of soldiers who died in battles continues. 81 more names were published, bringing the total identified to 1586. Around 800 remain unidentified. Several hundred bodies were exchanged recently. The process continues.
MoD Tonoyan: The list of missing soldiers is shrinking; many soldiers end up being discovered alive and well. We drafted a bill to aid the families of soldiers who're missing.
Update: HealthMin Torosyan: we've examined 2425 bodies. 250 of them remain unidentified.
https://youtu.be/zrXQBUJLdK0
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035225.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035249.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035288.html
14:05 Armenia Fund (Himnadram) report: hundreds of thousands have donated. The aid was provided to Artsakh and Armenia from the first day of the war.
Diesel generators, emergency vehicles, medical products, basic consumer products, heating devices, portable gas stoves, mobile fuel stations, beds, etc. were purchased during the war. Simultaneously, 100 tons of aid was coordinated.
Himnadram will help Armenia's budget to pay for social welfare, healthcare, infrastructure repair, etc. The documents are ready. Tens of thousands of Artsakh refugees were aided.
International independent auditors will examine the finances.
 
During a Parliamentary session, the Deputy PM Mher Grigoryan confirmed that Himnadram has transferred some of the funds for humanitarian work.
In response, former regime's HHK MP Armen Ashotyan, without evidence, claimed the money is being stolen.
[Context: The former regime is mad because they were caught stealing Himnadram's donations in 2018. After the 2018 revolution, the Pashinyan administration busted HHK's Himnadram director with stealing the funds and using them on gambling. The director confessed and returned part of the stolen money. Himnadram then underwent a complete change in administration which raised the trust towards the fund. Now the former regime is sabotaging the diaspora's donation efforts for political gain.]
More: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035224.html , https://news.am/arm/news/614194.html
14:14: there are over 40 suspects charged with mass riots, attempts to forcefully seize power, and overthrowing the constitutional order, after the November 10 attack on the government buildings.
5 are arrested, 5 are told not to leave the country. 70 suspects, some of whom severely beat Parliament Speaker Mirzoyan and vandalized PM's residence, were also identified. They are on the wanted list.
Rioters who physically abused Pashinyan's spokeswoman Mane Gevorgyan, and broke into Azatutyun media outlet's office, are also wanted by police. Some were arrested.
https://youtu.be/1qA8iJ1JXmM?t=197
https://youtu.be/kSQ389vQA8U?t=3
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035226.html
14:18: Opposition LHK has its roadmap: no elections necessary, PM resigns, the ruling QP party appoints new PM, the new PM appoints ministers from various political parties. [similar to what Pashinyan did in 2018 when he appointed opposition Ministers for a brief period].
https://factor.am/311328.html
14:19: Azerbaijan earlier shot a Russian helicopter in Armenia. Two Russian pilots died and one was wounded. Armenia issued them military service medals.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035227.html
14:49: video showing more Russian peacekeepers moving to Artsakh:
https://youtu.be/o7nwWmN59d8
15:18: Italian community of Viareggio has officially recognized the Artsakh Republic.
https://factor.am/311370.html
15:55: Aurora humanitarian organization will help Artsakh residents. IDeA's first aid program will begin today. They're open to humanitarian program suggestions. Link in the article:
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035237.html
16:27: Aghdam is one of the adjacent regions that's being given/returned to Azerbaijan. Seven villages with a combined 2,000 population will be resettled elsewhere.
https://news.am/arm/news/614171.html
16:42: food prices in October YoY rose +0.6%. Consumer price index +1.3%.
https://factor.am/311385.html
16:44: the head of Military Control Service Movses Hakobyan had resigned on November 10th. It was announced today.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035242.html , https://news.am/arm/news/614169.html
17:04: will Germany follow France and ban the Turkish extremist-terrorist "Grey Wolves" organization? German Parliament will hold a discussion tomorrow. Two bills were proposed. One of them appears to be bipartisan.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035248.html
17:05 Healthcare Minister Torosyan: we need to build a new 250-bed center for wounded soldiers and their rehabilitation. We need to maximally use the existing resources; some of them require upgrades. This will cost approximately $5.2 million.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035247.html
17:09: Legatium Prosperity Index 2020 has ranked Armenia 55th in the world. That's a 23-step improvement over 2010. The strongest point was the business & investment atmosphere, with the environment being the weakest point.
Georgia 53, Armenia 55, Azerbaijan 78, Iran 120.
https://news.am/arm/news/614184.html
17:58: My Step charity foundation will double the number of wounded soldiers they help. The center will provide therapy, dental, and other services for 600 former soldiers.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035262.html
14:57: it's SNOWING in Gavar and Jermuk cities, and roads near Sevan and Aparan! Georgian roads are also snowy; the Lars transport hub with Russia is open only for large cargo trucks.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035233.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035253.html
17:38: Pashinyan was in Parliament to discuss various topics and answer questions. The opposition BHK and LHK parties boycotted and left.
Ind. MP: do you support forming a government of national accord, which could be one of the ways to find a solution out of the current situation?
Pashinyan: our task is to create an atmosphere of agreement in the country. No government can stay in power without the permission of the people. At atmosphere of agreement is not always achieved by forming [aforementioned type of govt consisted of various parties]. There is a need for agreement around two points: security and stability, and to guarantee democracy.
Ind. MP: will there be changes in the government?
Pashinyan: we are discussing it. Structural changes aren't being discussed right now.
Full: https://youtu.be/64iJuNWbk_Q
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035259.html , https://news.am/arm/news/614076.html
17:58: another video from November 4th showing battles on the outskirts of Shushi. [still believe it was "given away" without a fight? 🤔]
Hovhannes Avagyan, one of the deputy Artsakh army commanders, was killed during Shushi battles on November 7th. He received the Combat Cross medal posthumously.
https://youtu.be/yrzBbKvXFO4
https://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/287858/
18:18: the 16 opposition parties resumed their demonstrations. They demand the government's and Pashinyan's resignation. The police urged them to respect the Martial Law and not to gather.
They will also hold a demonstration on Saturday and present a document, presumably their own roadmap.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035264.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035280.html
18:21 Police: body of the 27-year-old Garnik Petrosyan was found under Kievyan Bridge on November 13th. A medical examination was carried out and an investigation was launched.
The examination revealed that Petrosyan was among the rioters who broke into the govt building and caused destruction on November 10th. A felony case was launched against him and he was arrested shortly afterward.
On November 13th he was charged with multiple felony counts. The same day, at 8 pm, his 3-day detention period had expired so he was released from the police station. The same day, prosecutors asked the court to arrest him for 2 months before his trial.
Petrosyan was questioned until 9 pm. The tragic incident happened at 10:04 pm. Social media spread rumors that he was allegedly murdered and it wasn't a suicide by jumping from the bridge.
Investigation revealed a witness who was walking nearby and saw how a man grabbed a flag pole and climbed at the center of the bridge at around 10 pm. By the time the witness picked up the phone to call 911 it was too late. Immediately afterward, two other people and the witness looked down the bridge and saw the body laying on the road below the bridge.
The police arrived. The witnesses were questioned. The victim was there alone.
CCTV footages were examined. It showed how the victim went there by himself, climbed on the edge, and jumped.
It was revealed that the victim had attempted suicide in 2010 by overdosing on medications. He was registered at a special center up until 2019, where he was taking special medication. He stopped taking them in January 2019 at his own will.
[Media outlets run by the former regime, and a Telegram channel called Mediaport, had earlier circulated rumors, without evidence, that the rioter was murdered by a ruling party member Hayk Sargsyan. The latter often finds himself the target of rumors]:
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035265.html
18:22: Ara Ayvazyan is the new Foreign Minister. He is a graduate of YSU eastern studies Arabic faculty. Served in the Soviet army. Graduated from Beirut's Haykazyan college. Worked in MFA since 1995. Served as ambassador to several states in 1996-2018.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035266.html
18:56: despite being told to stay home, Pashinyan supporters gathered in front of the govt building, urging him not to resign.
"I came from Martakert outposts. I have participated in war since 1992, and so did my family members. They [former regime] should have purchased weapons instead of private islands and mansions," said one demonstrator. "By hitting the Parliament Speaker Mirzoyan you're hitting me."
PM's aide met the demonstrators and said his resignation isn't being discussed.
Pashinyan went outside to meet them and asked them to go home, "I know that there are tens of thousands of you who are ready to gather in Public Square if necessary. Thank you. I bow to all the volunteers, fallen soldiers, and their families. Go home now. If necessary, I will invite you."
The police began telling the gathered crowd to leave, citing the Martial Law.
Pashinyan goes outside: https://youtu.be/ueXhEKJhcwA
Soldiers: https://youtu.be/vgoGD89vNeA
Soldiers: https://youtu.be/KhXFjOiERY4
Soldiers: https://youtu.be/G00E049LsdY
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035268.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035271.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035279.html
18:56: Russian humanitarian envoy will help Artsakh authorities to travel around and document the damage to civilian infrastructure.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035269.html
19:01: the army published names of soldiers who committed acts of bravery during the war.
Lt. Colonel Ryurik Semyonov blew up 2 Kamaz trucks full of ammo, 2 anti-tank equipment, 3 tanks, 8 cars, 1 TR artillery unit.
Lt. Colonel Arthur Qaramyan destroyed 3 and captured another 3 tanks. He helped to save 600 soldiers from encirclement.
Private Suren Gabrielyan shot 6 armored vehicles and 2 tanks.
Lieutenant Tigran Petrosyan shot 6 tanks.
More: https://factor.am/311564.html
19:04: a soldier uploaded a video from trenches saying the army wasn't properly prepared and that the trenches have been in poor shape for 30 years. "Not deep enough to defend against explosions."
He says this Martakert position was defended during the war despite the poor condtions.
https://youtu.be/aWPzBZwk2j4
20:54: the opposition ended today's demonstration and promised to return at 2 pm on Saturday. They called for PM's resignation again. HHK Shawarmazanov said, "we won't engage in active politics if he resigns".
Opposition Arthur Vanetsyan announced plans to participate in elections if they take place now.
https://youtu.be/ZAuGcDRJ3uk
https://news.am/arm/news/614243.html , https://news.am/arm/news/614239.html , https://factor.am/311610.html
21:05: the City Council of Paris has a resolution that urges the Paris mayor to ask the French MFA to officially recognize the independence of the Artsakh Republic.
It takes into account a recent push by 15 French mayors to recognize Artsakh, Azeri-Turkish aggression and the use of hired jihadists, war crimes against Armenian civilians, destruction of 80% of infrastructure objects in Stepanakert (including schools and clinics).
Full: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035284.html
21:11: Azerbaijan's opposition National Front criticized the govt for placing Russian peacekeepers on the borders with Artsakh. They held a demonstration and chanted "Putin, leave. Turkey, come."
https://factor.am/311609.html
21:57 photos: these boys defended the borders:
https://hetq.am/hy/article/124436
Here are the tankists: https://hetq.am/hy/article/124452
22:02: the government of Armenia and Artsakh formed a joint committee to coordinate humanitarian work. 1) Social issues 2) Education 3) Healthcare 4) Business environment 5) Infrastructure repair.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035291.html
22:50: Nations League Soccer Spoiler Alert! The Armenian team defeated Northern Macedonia 1-0, after winning the match against Georgia a few days ago.
For the first time ever, the team, led by Spanish expert Joaquin Caparros, is the leader in its group.
What does this victory mean?
This tournament has four tiered Leagues: A, B, C, D. League A contains the "best" countries who compete for the champion's cup. The teams in lower leagues compete to climb up to higher leagues, with the ultimate goal of making into League A and winning the cup.
Armenia has just advanced from League C to League B.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1035292.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%9321_UEFA_Nations_League
23:40: A1+ outlet wants to restore its TV broadcasting rights. They were suspended by the Kocharyan regime. They insisted it was politically motivated for their opposition views. The media outlet was targeted for covering the March 1st, 2008 events.
Several outlets are currently competing for public airway licenses. The winners will be known in January. The TV regulator said those with the best programming will receive the license.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/201204
23:47: The French Senate will discuss the need to recognize the Artsakh Republic. Presidents of the five largest parties supported the idea to hold a discussion.
http://www.civilnet.am/news/2020/11/18/Ֆրանսիայի-Սենատը-որոշում-է-կայացրել-քվերակության-ներկայացնել-«ԼՂՀ-ճանաչման-անհրաժեշտության-մասին»-բանաձևի-նախագիծը/408863

You can help Artsakh & Armenia

www.1000plus.am (soldiers' medical help)
www.HimnaDram.org (for Artsakh & Armenia)
www.ArmeniaFund.org (U.S. tax-deductible)
 
Prior events:
Nov 17, Nov 16, Nov 15, Nov 14, Nov 13, Nov 12, Nov 11, Nov 10, Nov 9, Nov 8, Nov 7, Nov 6, Nov 5, Nov 4, Nov 3, Nov 2, Nov 1, Oct 31, Oct 30, Oct 29, Oct 28, Oct 27, Oct 26, Oct 25, Oct 24, Oct 23, Oct 22, Oct 21, Oct 20, Oct 19, Oct 18, Oct 17, Oct 16, Oct 15, Oct 14, Oct 13, Oct 12, Oct 11 , Oct 10, Oct 9 , Oct 8, Oct 7,Oct 6, Oct 5, Oct 4, Oct 3, Oct 2, Oct 1, Sep 30, Sep 29, Sep 28, Sep 27
submitted by ar_david_hh to armenia [link] [comments]

Our Messaging: Some Suggestions For Persuasion

Introduction

I feel like Bernie and his campaign's messaging and rhetoric have some room for improvement. I know, I know. Who the hell am I to suggest anything to Bernie, who has done a phenomenal job weathering the attacks against him thanks to his laser focus on the issues. We know he can't be attacked on the issues that matter and on his record, so they resort to the same tired lines like "socialism", owning three houses, electability, "Bernie Bros", how to get things passed, how to pay for it, etc.
But it's very important to realize that many people have fundamentally very different assumptions and as such, they reach very different conclusions whenever we point out the problems we're facing.
For example, when we talk about wealth inequality, some people don't think there is anything wrong with it. They think that America is a true meritocracy and therefore, the rich have acquired that much wealth because they deserved it; moreover, the poorest people also deserve the struggles they're facing because they're not working hard enough. This is a fundamental disagreement and no amount of pointing out how "three people own more wealth than the bottom half of the country" will get to them.
So I want Bernie and us to speak in a way that challenges these underlying assumptions. I want him and us to speak in a way that points out the systemic issues that are the root causes of the problems. And I want him and us to speak in a way that points out the unfairness of the system, as people respond much more strongly to unfairness and injustice than only cold hard facts. We have both the facts and the indignation at these facts. This kind of messaging is more rousing and is more likely to get out the votes.
Here are some the ways to talk about the issues that I feel will resonate more with people:

Wealth Inequality

Bernie: The 3 wealthiest Americans own more wealth than the bottom half of the country. We're going to create an economy that works for all of, not just the 1%.
Why It Might Not Work: "The American economy is fair and everyone deserves exactly what they're getting.", "It's working for those who work hard."
Better Approach:
Over the last 30 years, the top 1 percent has seen a $21 trillion increasein its wealth, while the bottom half of American society has actually lost $900 billion in wealth. In other words, there has been a massive transfer of wealth from those who have too little to those who have too much. Moreover, since 1980, the share of the national income owned by the 1% in the USA rose from 11% to 20% in 2016, while the share owned by the bottom 50% declined from 20% to 13%. Such a trend is absent/negligible in Western Europe, as can be seen in the graph.
What does it mean when half of the country has collectively lost wealth over the decades? Does this mean that half of Americans are simply "not working hard enough" to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps"?
Maybe it's not the people who are the problem. It is the system, controlled by the rich and unfairly favors the rich, that is the problem. The "bootstraps" ideology and "trickle down economics" are merely propaganda pushed by the rich (who own the mainstream media) for decades through well-paid talking heads, including politicians, to justify tax breaks and subsidies for themselves. In reality, the numbers paint a very different picture.

Socialism

Bernie: Democratic Socialism
Why It Might Not Work: "Still a socialist/commie."
Better Approach:
I love what Bernie said in the last debate. "We are living, in many ways, in socialist society right now. Problem is, as Doctor Martin Luther King reminded us, 'we have socialism for the very rich, rugged individualism for the poor.'" This is the right idea.
Another one: Young people want "Boomer Socialism": affordable college, low housing prices, living wages, and social security that allowed our grandparents to prosper. We should enjoy the same things they did.
Another one: Bernie's ideas are not radical. They are policies tried and tested in many successful countries. The label attached to these policies doesn't matter. Call it "socialism" or call it "adopting policies that work in all other developed countries," the effect is the same: a smarter, healthier, more productive, and happier nation.
As a result of the fear of "socialism", Americans are missing out on so many things that the rest of the developed world is enjoying. While half of Americans are working paycheck to paycheck, struggling to send their kids to college, ignoring that slight headache for fear of large hospital bills, overworking themselves to depression, others are enjoying free college tuition, universal healthcare, and plenty of paid vacation days. They are actually living their lives while Americans spend countless hours at work, only to go home stressed and worried if they'll ever be able to save up for the things they want. How come the average citizen of the richest country in the history of the world is unable to live a more fulfilling life?

Taxation

Bernie: We're going to make the rich pay their fair share of taxes.
Why It Might Not Work: "They're already paying more than everyone else.", "You just want handouts.", "Taxation is theft.", "I'm not gonna be paying for those godd*mn illegals!"
Better Approach:
The general idea behind taxation is that the government needs funding to serve its people. We all need roads, law enforcement, medical services, education, water, etc. so everyone chips in. With a 0% tax rate, there would be no government. But with 100% taxation, there would be no businesses, no incentives to innovate. So obviously the ideal tax rate is somewhere in between (DUH!).
Bernie simply believes that the optimal rate is higher than the current. He is a fan of the Nordic Model, as practiced in the Nordic countries. Notably, their tax rates are much higher than yours and that's why they are able to fund social safety nets for everyone. Their system allows for much better chances to succeed and prosper even if you were born poor, or if you get an unexpected illness, fall into drug addiction, or if your house burns down, etc. The young Prime Minister of Finland said thattheir system embodies the American Dream far better than yours does.
Social programs should not be seen as an economic drain wherein "handouts" are given to the "undeserving". Seriously, that's a disgusting view. They should be seen as an investment into everyone's future. The return of said investments is a healthy, educated, prosperous populace. This is essential for a functioning democracy. Do you want to live in a country full of idiots prone to propaganda? Do you want to see more homeless people? Do you want higher crime rates caused by desperation? Of course not.
And on a more human level, everyone deserves a fair shot. Everyone deserves an opportunity to overcome the circumstances of their birth. Everyone deserves a chance to bounce back from mistakes made in the past. Bernie believes this wholeheartedly.

Trickle Down Economics/Supply-Side Economics

Bernie: Since Trump took office, billionaires have increased their wealth by $850 billion, while the workers saw an increase in real wages (adjusted for inflation) by only 1%.
Why It Might Not Work: "Tax cuts for the wealthy will stimulate the economy and everyone will be better off in the end", "The economy is booming thanks to Trump's tax cuts", "At least the real wages increased."
Better Approach:
Perhaps Trump's biggest economic policy were the tax cuts in 2017. In 2018, the top 400 families paid 23% effective tax rate vs 24.2% on average for the bottom half of American households. Thanks to Trump's tax cuts. This alone should be beyond absurd. But it gets worse. In ten years, 83% of the benefits from those tax cuts would go to the 1%, while the middle class would incur a net loss within the same period. Despite Trump promising that they would not benefit the rich at all.Unsurprisingly, he lied. In fact, two of the three richest Americans, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, opposed the bill. Buffett said "I don't need a tax cut in a society with so much inequality".
The economy did not suddenly become strong under Trump.The fact of the matter is that the economic trends in this administration have been continuations of the previous one's success. Obama inherited a recession and a subprime mortgage crisis, and he gradually led America out of it.
Trump touts some unemployment numbers that have steadily been decreasing since 2010 and would naturally decrease anyway if allowed to continue. He promised a 4% quarterly GDP growth, which he never hit but Obama hit 4 times. His greatest focus is the stock market, which is indeed great. But the average American doesn't see much benefit from that. 84% of stocks are owned by the top 10%, while the bottom 80% (~260 million people) own 6.7% of stocks between themselves.
It's very telling that the media would boast of the booming economy even though it's only the rich who see the benefits. Why is that? We'll get back to this.
Supply-side economics as promoted by Reagan since the 1980's, is literally what led to the impoverishing of the poorest Americans. Call it Reaganomics, or supply-side economics, or trickle-down economics, the central idea is that less taxes means more economic growth which leads to a bigger economy which means everyone is better off. But like we have already shown, a bigger economy doesn't mean everyone is better off -- the bottom half of Americans collectively lost $900 billion in net worth since the Reagan era, remember? And now, Trump wants to keep doing the same things, like tax breaks for the rich by cutting social security, which leads to even more losses for the average American.

The Role Of Mainstream Media

Media Narratives: "Experts are constantly warning us that our economy will collapse because of these 'socialist' policies, so they must be right!", "Bernie Bros are terrible," "Heart attack", "No one likes Bernie," Bernie has not been vetted, "He'll never get things done,"
These are all media narratives that try to paint Bernie in a bad light.
Answer:
Consider this perspective: remember that the mass media is a for-profit industry and are part of large corporations whose owners care more about profits than about us. So the media pundits are saying exactly what the rich want us to think. When they say "the economy will be ruined by these government programs", it's really just their bosses not wanting to pay their fair share of taxes. These talking heads would not be employed in these positions if they did not have the beliefs that conform with the elites' views. They may some allow dissent from their guests every now and then, but the news networks as a whole will be very prejudiced against such opinions.
It Is Difficult to Get a Man to Understand Something When His Salary Depends Upon His Not Understanding It -Upton Sinclair
So decades of supply-side economics rhetoric promoted by the rich through their mass media networks has inundated the minds of the average American and has led many to vote against their best interests. Many are resigned to thinking "that's just how things work, and we just have to work harder to succeed." As some media personalities would say, "stop being poor!"
Yes, hard work is necessary to prosper, but it is clearly not sufficient (unless you seriously want to suggest that half of Americans are not working hard enough). Things could be so much better. Take universal health care for example. "Journalists" and politicians (funded by billionaires through lobbying aka bribery) would have us believe that the economy would collapse if it's implemented. But how come all other developed countries have universal healthcare, with perfectly functioning economies? They have not devolved into "socialist wastelands", like these talking heads keep insisting would happen. "If they can do it, so can we!"
The degree to which the greed of some of the wealthiest has poisoned the American mind is nothing short of astounding. And frankly, it's terrifying how effective the media was in doing so. Anyway, this perfectly explains the media's anti-Bernie bias -- he wants to tax the wealthy and get money out of politics, that's why they censor and disparage him in every imaginable way to try to lead voters against him. So many things make sense when you realize that corporate media serves not as an instrument of finding out the truth, but as a propaganda outlet subservient to the needs and interests of the elite. Manufacturing Consent

The Powerful Elite

Bernie: We are taking on the greed and corruption of the health insurance industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the fossil fuel industry, the military-industrial complex, the prison-industrial complex, and the multinational corporations.
Why It Might Not Work: "What is he talking about?", "Why is he declaring war on everyone?", "He's going to burn everything down!", "Typical commie will ruin our economy and our country."
Better Approach:
You're beginning to see how the rich are holding the economy hostage. When they say that "the economy will be ruined if taxes increase", what they really mean is that they will deliberately sabotage it if they don't get what they want (namely tax breaks, subsidies, deregulations, and other laws that favor them heavily). They may do so by raising their prices through the roof and firing employees en masse.
They already have enough wealth to last several lifetimes of luxury so they can afford to give workers better wages. But instead of accepting smaller profits where they can only afford 5 yachts instead of 10, they will throw a hissy fit and throw the workforce under the bus. This is why Bernie plans to empower labor unions to prevent this possibility.
Corporations already exert so much leverage on the government as things stand. Doing nothing -- or worse, giving them tax cuts -- will only serve to exacerbate things. Your country will be more likely to go to war if Lockheed Martin or Raytheon deems it profitable. Your country will withdraw from global accords that promise to build a sustainable planet for future generations because the fossil fuel giants say so. The price of medicine and health insurance will continue to skyrocket because Big Pharma wants to beat last year's records. The list goes on. And if at any point their gambles and ventures fail, they will once again ask the public to bail them out like they did last decade. Privatize the gains, socialize the losses. Socialism for the rich.

Money In Politics And How To Get Things Done

Bernie: We have taken no contributions from billionaires. We are a campaign by the people for the people. We are going to pass laws that work for the people, not wealthy campaign contributors.
Why It Might Not Work: "Why is taking donations from billionaires a problem?", "Why not just accept some of their help?", "You can still pass laws even if you take their donations, can't you?"
Better Approach:
Bernie wants to limit the absolute stranglehold the wealthy has on nearly all aspects of American life. Reducing the power of money in politics would give the power back to the people, where it belongs. Take a look at this list of proposals that the majority of Americans support. They are very popular ideas, yet politicians can't seem to pass them into tangible laws? Why is that?
It's because they do not do the bidding of the American people, only their rich donors'. And these donors form lobbying groups, also known as legalized bribery, to fund the politicians. Bernie will make sure that all Americans, not just the richest, are in charge of the country's future.
Bernie will not only be Commander-in-Chief; he will also be Organizer-in-Chief. If a Senator obstructs a bill that a majority of people want, President Bernie Sanders will be in their state, talking to the people, rallying them to exert overwhelming pressure on this Senator. They will be facing plummeting support and mass protests: a reminder of how useless they are as a politician and how much of a piece of sh** they are as a person for getting in the way of people's needs. There shall be consequences for not representing the will of the people.
Watch this Bernie interview with Chris Matthews, who unwittingly admits that big money groups are getting in the way of progress. You will sense the young crowd start feeling the Bern. This is how we win: by making people realize that change never happens from the top on down. It always happens from the bottom up. It happens when millions of people stand up and demand it.

Party Unity

The most revealing part of the last Democratic debate was the question of whether the person with the most delegates/votes should win the nomination. For a party that calls itself "Democratic", the answer should be a resounding yes. But only Bernie Sanders agreed that the will of the people should prevail. Everyone else allowed for the possibility of superdelegates stealing the nomination.
With the number of candidates in the field, it seems quite likely that there will be no one with a majority of the delegates, and extremely likely that Bernie will have the plurality. And the rest of the Democratic candidates have pretty much telegraphed their intentions. This is why we must do everything we can to secure an outright majority of delegates, and we can only do that by winning in an overwhelming fashion.
We must encourage as many people as possible to participate in the democratic process and have their voices be heard. The youth vote will be key to our success.
If you look at the entrance polls of the landslide victory in Nevada, you'll see that an outright majority of people between 18 and 45 voted for Bernie. The youth, literally the future of the party, already stands behind Bernie. What else could be more convincing?
So you know what to do. Get out there and convince everyone you can find to vote. No messing around. Do not let the boomers dictate your future once again.
Am I being divisive? Why am I disparaging boomers while discussing party unity? Because the 65+ age group is the only age group Bernie didn't win (he got the plurality of voters between 45 and 65, so he still won them). If we're gonna talk about unity, we need to address those who refuse to unite.
Older folks lived a relatively privileged life with affordable education, fair wages, cheap housing, great social mobility, and secure safety nets. They were very lucky and I'm happy for them. But that has caused many of them to become quite detached from the problems facing the younger folks and now they continue to try and impose their will on you. They won't be around to experience the full brunt of the climate crisis. There is only one candidate whom we can rely on to not accept bribes from the fossil fuel companies. If for that reason alone, I hope they come around and vote for what's best for everyone.
Come mothers and fathers throughout the land
And don't criticize what you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand
For the times, they are a-changin'

American Unity

Bernie is the unity candidate, having won a wide array of demographics in the three early states, especially Nevada. He won with whites, latinos, people below 65, college-educated, no college, men, women, union, non-union, very liberal, moderates, democrats, independents, first time voters -- nearly every demographic. (Notably, he was second for black people, but we can still change that.)
He has more donations and contributors than any candidate ever (no billionaires!) and has by far the most enthusiastic voter base. Higher turnout is guaranteed if he becomes the nominee.
He has a decisive lead (+18) against Trump with independents in the Reuters head to head poll -- the largest among Democratic candidates. Note that Independents usually decide elections. They are a bigger group (45% of voters) than either Democrats or Republicans (each at about 27%). D's and R's cancel each other out. So if there's an argument for Bernie's electability, it is this.
Even Republicans like Bernie. If anyone's going to take their votes from Trump, it's him.
The reason for his appeal across the political spectrum is that he understands the struggles of the working class -- he has been fighting for them his entire life. He understands that Americans have more in common with each other than the media often portrays. He understands that the elites are very happy to divide the people up so they constantly vote against their own interests.
Bernie brings a message of unity and solidarity, not division and hatred. He is the opposite of Trump, who is the President of the Republicans at this point. Bernie will be able to bridge the divide and polarization that this administration has inflicted.
The world is watching, America. It might not be an exaggeration to say that this is the most consequential election of all time. Show us why you are the world's greatest democracy.
submitted by endthiskakistocracy to SandersForPresident [link] [comments]

Transparent Voter Suppression by GOP

Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Kansas
Maryland
Michigan
Mississippi
Nevada
New Hampshire
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Texas
Virginia
Wisconsin
National
"I don't want everybody to vote... As a matter of fact our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."
-Paul Weyrich, co-founder of Heritage Foundation and ALEC, 1980
“Look, if African Americans voted overwhelmingly Republican, they would have kept early voting right where it was,” Wrenn said. “It wasn’t about discriminating against African Americans. They just ended up in the middle of it because they vote Democrat.”
-Carter Wrenn, Republican consultant in North Carolina
“There's a lot of liberal folks in those other schools who that maybe we don't want to vote. Maybe we want to make it just a little more difficult. And I think that's a great idea.”
-Cindy Hyde-Smith, Republican Senator of Mississippi, 2003
Seeking more examples, if you have them.
Get out and vote. https://www.vote.org/
submitted by Kakamile to Keep_Track [link] [comments]

Ralph Nader and Jeremy Scahill on Dangerous Donald and the Democratic Primary | 2/16/20

RALPH NADER ON BLOOMBERG’S PLOT TO STOP BERNIE, THE ROT WITHIN THE DNC, AND HIS RECENT CALL WITH PELOSI
Jeremy Scahill 2/16/20
LAST FALL, the third most powerful figure in the U.S. government, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, had a phone call with a man who is undoubtedly one of the most hated people among her base of Democratic Party supporters: the famed consumer advocate and former independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader.
Their phone call took place as the Democrats were preparing to launch a narrowly focused impeachment case against Donald Trump. On the call, Nader laid out a strategy for attacking Trump that he believed could have resulted in his actual removal from office. Nader, who has spent his life working to implement a wide range of consumer and environmental protections, argued that it would be a mistake to focus solely on the Ukraine phone call. Instead, Nader suggested that Pelosi orchestrate a public prosecution of Trump’s crimes against ordinary Americans — what he called “kitchen table issues.” Nader beseeched Pelosi to go after Trump on issues far more pressing than Ukraine to millions of Americans, regardless of their political affiliation. He suggested subpoenaing witnesses who could testify to Trump’s “destruction of life-saving consumer protections, environmental protections, workplace safety protections, in his destruction of social safety net protections for children.” Pelosi, Nader says, did not take any of his advice.
Trump’s popularity has risen in the aftermath of his “acquittal,” as he continues his victory tour and purges dissidents from his administration. As the Democratic presidential primary process intensifies, the institutional Democratic Party appears once again to be doing everything in its power to hurt the effort to unseat Trump. The attempt to purchase the Democratic nomination by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is being aided by a Democratic National Committee that ran a dirty operation against Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2016. Nader also believes that the Bloomberg candidacy has at its core an effort to block Sanders from winning the nomination, perhaps by forcing a brokered convention. “It’s Armageddon time for the Democratic Party,” Nader said. “If Bernie wins the election against Trump, should he get the nomination, it has to be a massive surge of voter turnout which will sweep out a lot of the Republicans in the Congress. So he will have a much more receptive Congress. It will sweep out the corporate Democrats in the Democratic National Committee, and it will reorient the Democratic Party to where it should be which is a party of, by, and for the people. That’s why they want to fight him.”
Nader joined Intercepted to discuss the failed impeachment move against Trump and the state of the Democratic primary. Nader ran for president in 2000, 2004, and 2008, and throughout his career has been one of the most important voices for justice, as well as environment and consumer protections, in U.S. history. His latest book, written with the consumer advocate Mark Green, is called “Fake President: Decoding Trump’s Gaslighting, Corruption, and General Bullsh*t.” What follows is the extended transcript of the excerpt of the conversation broadcast on Intercepted.
Jeremy Scahill: Ralph Nader, welcome back to Intercepted.
Ralph Nader: Thank you, Jeremy.
JS: So I want to begin with the big picture of this impeachment fiasco that we’ve just gone through, and while we have Trump on his victory tour talking about his acquittal, we also have this other phenomenon which is that the corporate elite Democratic Party is trying to crush Bernie Sanders’s candidacy. Let’s begin with the impeachment and your assessment of the strategy that Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats employed in going after Trump.
RN: Well, I and others beseeched her months ago to go with a strong full hand of impeachable offenses and send it to McConnell and have them reflect kitchen table issues because she always used to say we need kitchen table issues to increase the polls from 50 or 52 percent for impeachment and removal up higher. Well, that didn’t happen. We did see that major committee chairs wanted to put a bribery provision in. She turned that down. They wanted to expand the obstruction in defiance of subpoenas, a critical impeachable offense beyond the Ukraine matter. She turned that down. We had congressman John Larson put in the congressional record on December 18, 12 impeachable offenses of which Ukraine was one.
And the Democrats were basically subjected to one person’s decision, Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker. Well, she gambled and lost badly. Not only, obviously, he was acquitted, but polls went up for Trump, which was astounding. Nobody’s really explained that yet. So now the question is, will the committee chairs whose expanded recommendation to her was rejected, will they now come back to her and say round two? Now round two is quite explicit and quite effective. She has stated repeatedly that she thinks Trump “is a liar, a crook, a thief, and he should be in prison.” It’s a pretty good start. She also stated she wants the five committee chairs to continue their investigations into the corruption and wrongdoing and refusal to enforce the laws on behalf of the health safety and economic well being of the people. That’s the Banking Committee, the Oversight Committee, Judiciary Committee, etc. And if they do that, they are going to run up against a Trump stonewall for further information witnesses, which means they’re going to be obligated to issue subpoenas, which will be defied. That is a per se impeachable offense.
The House, went against Nixon, the third article of impeachment was he defied one subpoena. So when Trump defies these subpoenas for witnesses and documents, Speaker Pelosi will have to face up to the Constitution. The Constitution does not require her to go to court. That’s a tutorial that a lot of Democrats need to be taught. Congress’s power is plenary. They can enforce their own subpoenas, even by use of an antiquated tradition of a sheriff and a prison. They can enforce their own subpoenas. So they can go to the floor, no witnesses are needed, clean cut. Trump, you defied the subpoenas. You defied the essential power of Congress without which all other authorities are debilitated.
If they cannot get information under the Constitution from the executive branch, how debilitated will be the war power, the appropriations power, the tax power, the confirmation power? You defied it. You’re going to be impeached. These subpoenas would be associated with all kinds of kitchen table issues where people have a stake in these impeachments, didn’t have a stake much in Ukraine important as that is. It’s too remote. But they do have a stake in, for example, his destruction of life-saving consumer protections, environmental protections, workplace safety protections, in his destruction of social safety net protections for children.
JS: But are those impeachable offenses?
RN: Yes, they are when they’re associated with corruption, and treading. In other words, this isn’t just normal deregulation, what they’re doing now to the EPA is stripping it of its capacity to enforce the law. They’re pushing out scientists. They’re downgrading other professionals. They’re cutting budgets without congressional authority, and they’re run by people who have conflicts of interest and are corrupt, some of them have already left like Scott Pruitt. It’s the failure to execute the laws. That’s one of the impeachable offenses in the Constitution. Now, if Nancy Pelosi doesn’t do that, Trump will go all over the country, all over his tweets, all over the obsequious media with his disparaging nicknames and taunting and gloating. I told her in a conversation I had with her three months ago. I said, “Nancy, you know what he’s gonna do? He’s gonna say, ‘Nancy Pelosi had the majority in the House and she had all these crazy charges and she didn’t want to get them through. You know why she couldn’t get them through? Because they’re all lies. They’re all fake. I did nothing wrong.'”
JS: What did she say to you when you said that?
RN: When you have the president of the United States doing this with essentially no rebuttal. The reason why Trump stays where he is in the polls is he’s a soliloquist. He’s a slanderist soliloquist with no rebuttal. Look at the nicknames he gives all these people and they never give many nicknames back. The only way you deal with a bully who gives you nicknames like Crazy Bernie and Low IQ Maxine Waters is to give him his own medicine: Decadent Donald, Draft-Dodging Donald, Dangerous Donald, Dumb Donald, Low IQ Donald, Illiterate Donald. That’s the only way. Some say, well, we don’t want to get in the mud with him. Well, that’s an interesting comment. But not when the New York Times, Washington Post, and all the main media repeat verbatim his nicknames without giving the target of the nicknames any right of reply? That’s unethical journalism.
JS: Ralph, what did Pelosi say to you when you were laying all of this out?
RN: She said several things. She said that “I want an airtight case,” and she thinks Ukraine is an airtight case. Number two, she thought the public attention span couldn’t endure multiple impeachment charges. And number three, I think she cut a deal with her 12 Blue Dog Democrats who are in swing districts that that was the only thing she was going to bring forward. They could have had a national security, military sheen about it that insulated them.
JS: Why did Nancy Pelosi meet with you, given the way that you’re, to this day, vilified by the establishment Democratic Party for daring to run for president multiple times?
RN: Well, it wasn’t a meeting. It was a telephone conversation. I think because they’re interested in what I have to say. I mean, I could give them all kinds of strategies to landslide, Donald Trump, if they would listen. I could show them how to argue their case. I’m just giving you an example, Jeremy: You’ve got some currency in the Democratic Party now for universal basic income. I mean Andrew Yang, most prominently, and it’s viewed as a giveaway and simply, pandering to the people. How do you argue universal basic income in addition to alleviating dire poverty, in addition to increasing consumer demand for goods and services which stimulates the economy far better than a corporate tax cut? Well, one way is you say, hey, these corporations have already had universal basic income. What do you mean? Yeah, what do you think massive corporate subsidies, handouts, giveaways and bailouts are? They’re massive universal basic income giveaways. They are not only getting all these taxpayer freebies, but they also get trillions of dollars in the last decade of free government research and development which built Silicon Valley and built the biotech, nanotech, a lot of the aerospace and pharmaceutical industries. That’s pretty good, universal basic income.
Apart from the tax credits they get for doing the research that companies should be doing anyway in a so-called capitalist society. So, they don’t know how to argue full Medicare for All. I put out 25 ways life in Canada — because they have single payer full health care — compared to life in the United States. It isn’t just you know, a matter of un-affordable health insurance. It’s the removal of anxiety, dread and fear. It’s the situation in Canada where you’re not afraid to change your jobs because you might lose your health insurance. It’s a situation where you’re not ripped off by inscrutable sheets of computerized billing which total about 350 billion dollars according to Professor Malcolm Sparrow, an applied mathematician at Harvard. Imagine one-tenth of the entire health expenditure is corporate crime, it’s crime on Medicare, crime on Medicaid, crime on insurance companies because of the billing frauds that they’re paying for, crime on individual patients and payers. They don’t know how to argue it. That’s why once in a while I get through on a phone call.
JS: You know, you’re laying out a much broader strategy for what charges should have been brought against Trump and of course, criticizing the strategy that they ended up employing, but at the same time, Mitch McConnell, runs that Senate with an iron fist. It seemed clear from the jump that only Romney and maybe one or two others would have jumped ship. And in the end, it was just Romney. So, is the strategy you’re advocating putting forth those charges, getting an impeachment on those charges, sending it to the Senate for trial as a way of educating the public or revealing these crimes? Because it seems very unlikely in this day and age that more than one or two Republicans, no matter how much evidence was out there would have jumped ship on Trump over the issues you’re describing. They love that form of deregulation and they seem to not really care at all about the overt corruption that we’re witnessing.
RN: Not when they’re preceded by dozens of highly televised House committee hearings on the misuse of presidential power that is harming in kitchen table manners where people live, work, and raise their families, the American people.
JS: But these people aren’t watching MSNBC, C-SPAN, or CNN. I mean, Fox News is the single most powerful news entity as well as social media. And as Trump has said, he’s his own media outlet. I mean, I see it, Ralph, as part of the problem is there is such low trust in media, such low approval ratings of the Democrats in Congress, that it doesn’t matter if you hold those hearings, given the media landscape today. This is not like the 70s where it’s every single night on the news. It’s people are seeking out information they want, not seeking out the truth.
RN: Wrong analysis.
JS: All right. Correct me.
RN: When you see the kind of witnesses that the House could have brought, the kind of empathy, that kind of resonance, just the way they did when they brought some of those civil servants. You have to admit their testimony reached a lot of people. Fox has its own constituency. So the other networks, the other cable, the social media, the newspapers, the word of mouth. These are very easy abuses by Trump to understand unlike the more arcane diplomatic situation with Ukraine.
JS: Right.
RN: And what’s really important here is she wanted to tie up the Republicans in knots in the Senate and she only used one knot. She used one finger out of ten that could have been curled into a tough fist with very perceived abuses of the Constitution, of protective statutes, of income preservation and of turning over by Trump, turning over the U.S. government to Wall Street. You know how Wall Street polls, Jeremy? 90 percent of the people when they were asked two, three years ago, wanted to break up the big banks. That’s a lot of conservatives. Wall Street over Main Street. It’s an unbeatable presentation to get to the American people. You get left-right combination here. Let’s not subsume our factual imaginations to this polarization. It’s exaggerated because it’s a divide and rule strategy with any broader rebuttal where people work, live and raise their families where they all bleed alike from rip offs, from being denied health care, from usurious interest rates, payday loan rackets, installment, loan rackets, rental abuses, all that will come out because they’re not enforcing the law.
Now remember, the committee hearings do not have to be impeachment hearings at all. They’re just regular investigations so they can range broad far and deep and to watch what Trump is doing to make America fail. And then when the subpoenas are defied, that’s when it turns into an impeachable offense after the hearings. Also, they won’t be able to in the Senate, block witnesses. They blocked witnesses because people like Dershowitz gave them the plausible argument. Well, everything that the Democrats say is true about what Trump did. If it was all true, it didn’t reach an impeachable offense status. So that gave them an out. They can’t get an out when it deals with all these other impeachable offenses which are violations of different clauses of the U.S. Constitution.
JS: Ralph, how has this strategy that you’ve been describing that Nancy Pelosi did end up implementing in just going very narrowly over the Ukraine issue, and then Trump now on his victory lap, how does this impact the broader move at the ballot box to try to defeat Donald Trump?
RN: It produces slippage by the Democrats. They’ve already acknowledged it in the last two weeks. You see, the Democrats cannot defeat Donald Trump by themselves because they don’t use all the arguments and all the issues. There has to be a parallel get out the vote civic initiative in every precinct, in every place in those key six or seven swing states. Now there’s a group in Kentucky which you may know about called Ditch Mitch and it started about six months ago. It’s a PAC. It is not affiliated with the Democratic Party. Its sole purpose is to elaborate Mitch McConnell’s horrific record against Kentucky interests and Kentuckians and get out the vote. Get out the vote, OK. So that’s the formula. There has to be a parallel movement to get out the vote against Trump because the Democrats are not listening.
It’s almost impossible to get through to Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. I’ve had people who’ve run for major office, they can’t even get his ear, much less sit in his office to give them advice. When Mark Green and I just came out with this book, “Fake President” which is more than a book to be read. It’s a book to be used like a resource book by field organizers, by activists and Mark who you know, who’s [an] upstanding Democrat went to try to see him. He couldn’t see him, couldn’t even get an appointment, couldn’t even get him on the phone. I mean, you know, Mark is, you know, was almost mayor of New York. Bloomberg beat him with huge money in the last few weeks. He’s written the two major policy tracks two giant volumes for the Democratic party in prior elections. And he can’t even get through. Congressman John Larson tells me he can’t even get through to Perez.
It’s very hard to get through to any of these people. They think they know it all and what kind of know-it-all? The caution of Nancy Pelosi has brought her defeat in four out of the five congressional elections 2010, ’12, ’14, ’16, squeezed through in 2018 with the help of progressive candidates, but it’s not exactly confirmation that her cautious approach is winning for her. It illustrated itself in the Senate debate recently over the Ukraine impeachment articles.
JS: You know, we have this, and it’s ongoing, this debacle in Iowa. And it does seem like there was some dirty pool at play there. You just talked about Tom Perez. At the same time, you have the sort of establishment Democratic Party and figures like you know, he’s not so significant in many ways right now, but his history is worth reminding people of James Carville, who was one of the brains behind Clinton’s ascent to the presidency, basically having an aneurysm over the notion that Bernie Sanders could be the Democratic nominee. Your current assessment of how Tom Perez, the establishment elite of the Democratic Party, are mobilizing against Bernie Sanders in particular but also against anyone with a truly progressive policy platform.
RN: Well, the Democratic corporate establishment deep in the Democratic National Committee and the super delegate fiasco, imagine, nobody elects them, but they can tip the balance, undermined Bernie in 2016. There are strong arguments to say that he did really win Iowa and Nevada before he landslided Hillary in New Hampshire, but that’s the past, but they’re at it again. They have to stop Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren because their hegemony is over if one of those people gets elected, and they want to continue dialing for corporate dollars. They want to continue Obama’s record setting fundraising from Wall Street which exceeded his Republican opponents. Imagine, he got more money from Wall Street than John McCain in 2008. He even got more money from Romney’s venture capital firm. So, that’s the internal struggle. This business about socialism, that’s just a cover but they’re willing to emulate themselves this year, and let Trump win by basically stereotyping any kind of progressive legislation as socialism.
Now, for example, the argument should be by the progressive Democrats, “Look, here’s what we mean by socialism. It’s what led the Western European countries and Canada to a higher standard of living, higher equality. It means full health insurance. It means a living wage. It means retirement security. It means protecting people from serious erosions of their rights as workers. It means the ability to repeal the Taft Hartley Act and reflect majority desires in the retail trades like Walmart to join unions and so on.” But if you want more examples, people, well, let’s see the post office. That’s socialism. Public drinking water departments all over the country, I guess that’s social and public libraries. I guess that’s socialism, public electric utilities, over 1,000 of them around the country, including Jacksonville, Florida. How about the Tennessee Valley Authority deep in red state territory? You think you can repeal that? By conservative voters in Tennessee and Alabama, they’d run you out of town. So they don’t know how to argue this.
And here’s the umbrella argument, Jeremy. Look, it’s a choice between Trump’s corporate socialism which you cannot dis-elect and throw the rascals out because it’s Wall Street controlling Washington, or democratic socialism where if you don’t like it, if you don’t like law and order to corporate domination of your lives, and the corporate state, which Franklin Delano Roosevelt called fascism in a message to Congress in 1938, you can always throw the rascals out. That’s the difference. And what is corporate socialism? It’s seizing your tax money and bailing out the crooks in Wall Street in 2008 with trillions of dollars. Corporate socialism is shoveling out your hard earned dollars to company subsidies, handouts, giveaways, etc, anti-market quotas. And above all, it’s taking your money away by giving it to tax breaks for the rich and powerful which creates huge deficits that are going to be paid by your children and your grandchildren instead of putting the trillion and a half dollars of Trump’s tax cut, including cutting his own family’s taxes into rebuilding America, into rebuilding schools and public transit and water and sewage systems and bridges and highway and airports and ports. That’s the way you argue it, Jeremy.
JS: What is, given your history in electoral politics and the way that you’ve been treated by the Democratic party establishment, if you take that history that you’ve lived, and then you look at Hillary Clinton’s interventions in this current electoral cycle where they, you know, the hagiography on Hulu just premiered at Sundance and she you know, this line gets floated that “nobody likes Bernie,” you take that and then you look at Pete Buttigieg coming out of the McKinsey world, the sort of consiglieres of capitalism and then you have Michael Bloomberg just pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into ads. I was just recently in Puerto Rico and watched ad after ad after ad of Bloomberg saying he’s already rebuilding Puerto Rico. But what is the emerging elite Democratic corporate wing of the Democratic Party strategy in this primary? What are they trying to do? Who are they going to get behind in your assessment?
RN: They have to block as I said, Bernie Sanders. They have to block Elizabeth Warren. They have to block universal basic income proposals like Andrew Yang. And basically, they like people like Joe Biden, you know, he comes out of the corporate state, out of the Obama world, out of the Clarence Thomas, enabler chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, mistreating Anita Hill and, and he comes out of that. They like him and if he falters, they’ll go for Bloomberg, because they know he’s got a lot of money to go up against the Republicans. It’s just redux. It’s corporate state Democrat redux. That is they’re almost identical in military and foreign policy with the Republicans. They’re almost identical and booming, bigger military budgets and lathering the military industrial complex with whatever they want. They’re almost identical with avoiding applying law enforcement to Wall Street.
Their rhetoric is a little different, but we talk about the rhetoric in realistic terms, rhetoric doesn’t really matter politically. So what their record is they have never introduced into Congress any comprehensive corporate crime enforcement. The corporate crime laws are absurd. They’re obsolete. Their fines are, you know, nickels and dimes, and they cut the enforcement budgets of all these agencies to begin with. So, they can’t even enforce against fraud on Medicare, for example, $60 billion a year, billion with a B. They bring back about two, three billion. That’s all. They don’t have enough prosecutors.
All that is deliberate. All that is part of the Rep/Dem consensus, the two party duopoly that stereotypes third parties, and when they start seeing an insurgence in their own party, they go to work on it behind the scenes, tipping close primary elections. They go to work on them, by slandering them, by stereotyping them. And the most interesting person emerging here is Pete Buttigieg because he’s coming on almost like a new Obama or a new Clinton, this kind of smooth moderation. He’s signaling with his fundraising parties with billionaires and millionaires that he’s going to be acceptable to them.
JS: Oh, that’s my favorite line is when Pete Buttigieg says “Hey, we have to include the billionaires. Let’s not exclude people. Let’s include people.” He has the audacity to make that argument and very, I don’t recall any pushback against that particular line that he keeps deploying when people ask him about the 40 odd billionaires who are financing his campaign?
RN: Well, Bernie, obviously pushed back in the recent debates. I don’t mind billionaires, if they support universal basic income, or I don’t mind billionaires who support the stronger enforcement of corporate crime. But his billionaires are basically Clinton-type billionaires, Wall Street billionaires. Remember he came out of McKinsey and Company. That’s the essence of the Wall Street establishment. This giant consulting firm.
JS: You know, at the same time you have — I mentioned Hillary Clinton earlier, but Hillary Clinton also really early on in Tulsi Gabbard’s candidacy for the Democratic nomination, smearing her as essentially a Russian agent. Tulsi Gabbard is of course, suing her for defamation. Now, I have a lot of problems with some aspects of Tulsi Gabbard’s history, her record, her relationship with some very frightening individuals in India, some of her positions on gay marriage, gay rights that have now shifted, and I think she has some questions to answer about some of her positions on Syria but it reminds me also of how you were treated and I’m wondering what your assessment is of that preemptive strike against Tulsi Gabbard by Hillary Clinton to say, “Hey, this is the new Jill Stein. This is who the Russians have chosen.”
RN: Well, you know, she’s not gonna do very well at all in the New Hampshire primary. I think, Hillary Clinton if she continues berating Tulsi Gabbard’s afraid that she’ll go independent and so-called, take away some votes in key states. I don’t think that’s going to happen.
JS: She says she won’t you know, she says she’s not going to do that. In fact, she even —
RN: The more serious attack is the use of the word electability. If they can’t use the word democratic socialism, they use the word electability to marginalize main progressive candidates in the Democratic primary. Now, this is basically a symptom of the defeatism of the Democratic Party. How can anybody running for president against this relentless savage sexual predator, this constant liar on matters of serious import to the American people, separating millions of people from reality into his commercialized fantasy, this person who’s a bigot and a racist and he follows up with actions reflecting that — how can the Democrats even raise the issue of trying to find a candidate who’s electable against this person?
That’s just a technique to marginalize progressive candidates, and they use the words moderate and centrist and leftist and extremist to pursue the same strategy, to mainstream their corporate Democratic primary candidates. For example, Joe Biden is called a moderate. Joe Biden, for example, has supported wars abroad that are unconstitutional. Why is that a moderate? Joe Biden has been to toady the big banks. Why is that a moderate? Joe Biden has supported corporate-type policies on consumer bankruptcy limiting them, and credit card insurance gouging. Why is that considered moderate or centrist? Why is it considered leftist to support universal health insurance and a living wage and cracking down on corporate crime? Those received enormous results in the polls. Left, right support, 65, 70, 75, 80, 90 percent. Why is that considered extreme or leftist? Because the progressive Democrats don’t know how to argue their case, Jeremy. They don’t know how to argue.
And now they’re so tired, going five events a day in the primary, flying in that they can’t think anymore. I’ve been through that kind of pressure. They can’t think anymore. Their wind up speeches are getting stale. They are repeated. They’re not infused with the kind of new facts and new ranges. To open it up, they’ve got to raise the issue of 300 billion dollars a year from a tiny less than 1 percent tax, sales tax on Wall Street transactions. They can say, look, people, you go into a store and you got to pay 6, 7 percent on necessities of life. How come someone buys 100 million dollars of Exxon options or stock and doesn’t have to pay a cent? See, and then you take that 300 billion and you put it back into dealing with student loans. Wall Street basically disenfranchised a whole generation of young Americans by collapsing the economy in 2008. And these people are owed that kind of transfer of sales tax for their technical training, their student loans. They don’t open it up.
As a result, the media which follows them, it gets jaded. They hear the same wind up. It’s a good wind up, but it’s too repetitive. And it excludes a whole range of factual conditions on the ground that will alert more and more millions of people to say to themselves, she’s on my side, he’s on my side and they don’t do that. Therefore, they don’t generate any news, even though they’re in the eye of the media during the primary season, day after day.
JS: We know that there were very dirty tricks played in the 2016 primary by Hillary Clinton and the DNC against Bernie Sanders. I think, Iowa, the Iowa Caucus, made a lot of Sanders supporters believe that that already is happening right now. Not just the overt kind of war against the Sanders and to a lesser extent, but still there Warren candidacy, but if you have a DNC that is willing to rig its own primary, what is Bernie Sanders’ path not just to winning that nomination, but then running a national campaign against a humongous war chest that Trump already is amassing?
RN: Well, he’s doing pretty well without our advice, huh, Jeremy? It’s really quite remarkable.
JS: He is but we’re only you know, we’re only at the very beginning of this and I’m referencing what they did in 2016. I mean, he basically has to fight the DNC and Trump simultaneously.
RN: Well, Bernie doesn’t like to appear like a sore loser. So he doesn’t complain in 2016 about what happened in the casinos where votes were counted, can you imagine? In Nevada, and in Iowa. First of all, he has to attack the caucus system. The caucus system is a form of voter suppression. Let’s face it. I mean, how many people can take out four or five hours, travel to a location, stay there at night, leave their kids? So it’s a form of voter suppression.
JS: We can barely get people to just go and vote in a poll, you know, in a normal one person, one vote.
RN: Just a normal primary, like New Hampshire. So, he lost an opportunity after 2016 to go after them. Although he did change some rules. He reduced the number of super delegates which is a way the corporate Democrats jab in at the end to tip the close race between their candidates and progressive candidates. And now the super delegates only kick in at the Democratic National Convention on the second round, but still, they can be decisive. And you know, the super delegates are members of Congress who are Democrats and former Democratic governors, etc. They haven’t been elected to anything as far as this election is concerned, but they can decide the outcome.
JS: If Sanders does get the nomination, what will that mean for the Democratic Party? I mean, would it be akin to, you know, to sort of what the Tea Party and ultimately Trump did to the Republican Party? I’m not drawing a comparison between their individual policies or their morality in terms of Bernie and Trump. But in terms of what it does to the party, it seems to me like Bernie winning would effectively shatter parts of the Democratic Party for the better, like get rid of some of these toxic elements that dominate that party.
RN: I think you’re right. If Bernie wins the election against Trump, should he get the nomination, it has to be a massive surge of voter turnout which will sweep out a lot of the Republicans in the Congress. So he will have a much more receptive Congress. It will sweep out the corporate Democrats in the Democratic National Committee, and it will reorient the Democratic Party to where it should be which is a party of, by and for the people. That’s why they want to fight him.
JS: Finally, Ralph, what about the state of third-party organizing in this country. I mean, the last truly successful runs were your runs. I mean, I think that the, you know, the Green Party has been just decimated and I think has made some strategically very unwise decisions in recent campaigns. But is there a future for third party organizing in this country given what is happening right now with the ascent of Donald Trump and the threat of an even more authoritarian second term if the Democrats lose?
RN: Well, two responses and by the way, your listeners, if they want more of what they’ve been hearing and my background, they can go to my website nader.org. If they want to see how a progressive campaign on issues that both parties take off the table, they can go to my still-open votenader.org from the 2008 campaign to see what issues we espoused to have majority support that were taken off the table for even discussion by the Democrats and Republicans. I see two scenarios here for third parties: One, they proceed as they are proceeding, maybe get some more votes to nudge the major party that’s closest to their views in the right direction. That happened in the 19th century when some of the smaller parties never won a national election, but they push the two parties on things like anti-slavery, the 1840 run by the Liberty party and women’s suffrage, industrial labor, farmer parties, People’s Party. So that’s one scenario.
A second scenario if the Democrats lose to the worst president in history, the crudest, the most overt disgusting, foul-mouthed corporate toady who’s destroyed the rule of law and constitutional observance, if they lose to him, I can see the Republican Party breaking open. I can see some reminiscence of the Republican Party being created in 1850s, splitting and replacing the Whig Party. In an era of billionaires who are willing to fund new parties, that is not out of range. They will call it a new centrist party something the way Bloomberg has been talking about. And then the third and this is the one the Democrats got to be really afraid of — a progressive third party with hundreds of millions of dollars in their war chest, enough to get five to 10, 12, 15 percent. So this is really Armageddon time for the Democratic Party. They’ve been losing and losing to the worst Republican Party in history. I mean, Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Senator Robert Taft would have been aghast at the extreme nature of this Republican Party, the stupidity, the ignorance, the bigotry, the corporatism, the self-serving enrichments, etc. They’re a mirror of Trump which is why they clap for him in the White House. And I can see, if the Democrats lose this one, there’s going to be a lot of fissure and a lot of splits.
The civic community in this country, environmental, consumer workers, civil rights, civil liberties, housing, tenant groups are excluded from the electoral arena. All you gotta do is look at Judy Woodruff on PBS, the News Hour. She interviews reporters. She doesn’t interview leaders who know what you’re talking about of civic groups. The civic community has got to stop being passive and demand that they have a role in the deliberations and in the media coverage of these campaigns, because they know a lot that the candidates don’t know. They know even a lot more that the reporters don’t know. And they are the seed corn for American democracy since day one in the 18th century.
JS: Ralph Nader, thank you very much for being with us.
RN: Thank you, Jeremy.
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Trip Report - A former Las Vegas local returns to vacation in Las Vegas for a week.

I am a former local(moved away from Las Vegas, not by choice) and I go back to Las Vegas at least twice a year, for Labor Day week for the first week of College Football and for March Madness. Stayed for a week, Sunday-Sunday.
Transportation
Flew in on Delta Airlines, and rented a car. I strongly recommend renting a car if you fly in. Las Vegas is bigger than you think, and cab rides/Ubers can rack up quickly. A car is great for convienience. It's better to have a car and not need it, than to need a car and not have one. Makes it easier to get around to places and expand your options of things to do. I did a lot of driving and only had to get gas once, which was $23 to fill up the tank. I paid $110 for the Rent Car for the Week, so I think $135 is a great price to have a car at your disposal to use for an entire week.
Hotel
I stayed at the Palms Place. When I was a local, the Palms was my favorite casino to hang out at. It's off the strip and away from the hustle and bustle and traffic, yet close enough to still feel a part of the action. They have a good, clean casino, a younger clientelle, a great sportsbook, and a pool that has the perfect ratio of quality to crowd. It's a big clean pool, but its not busy and crowded with dozens of kids running around like you find at the strip pools. This pool does get crowded on Fridays for Ditch Fridays, so I went to the Palms Place pool that day.
Palms Place is a great hotel for the price. It's a 4.5 star hotel according to the website I booked it on, Hotwire. You can get this hotel for cheap on Hotwire. It's the only 4.5 star hotel listed in the "West of Strip" zone, so its not difficult to get this one at a discount in the Hotwire Hot Rate section. When all was said and done, after taxes and resort fee, I spent about $700 for the 7 nights, so roughly $100 a night. That's not bad at all, especially for a holiday weekend. My room was on the 23rd floor with great panoramic views of the entire strip, from downtown to Stratosphere to Mandalay Bay. It's a large studio/condo style room with 2 flat screen TVs, a kitchenette, and a jacuzzi tub amongst other things.
Please realize resort fees are a thing and no, you can not negotiate your way out of them(unless you do some heavy gambling I am assuming). Both when I was checking in and checking out there was someone bitching about the resort fee to the front desk agent and trying to get it waived as if they didn't know about them. Every hotel in Las Vegas has them, deal with it or don't stay in a Las Vegas hotel.
Pic of hotel room: http://i.imgur.com/UGwF9Rf.jpg
Pic of the view from hotel room, day: http://i.imgur.com/hp7AKvD.jpg
Pic of view from hotel room, night: http://i.imgur.com/VOeLZoV.jpg
Pic of Palms Pool, Monday: http://i.imgur.com/otSaorR.jpg
Food
As a former local, I pretty much stuck to my go-to local spots when I lived there. There is no need to spend a fortune on food while you are here, you can find good eats for cheap. Most places on and around the strip are tourist traps. I spent no more than $100 on food when I was here.
Sunday I went to a place I loved when I lived here, a burger place called Original Tommy's. They serve burgers, with chili. It's a concept that works very well. I think this place is only in Nevada and Southern California. But it was the first place I went. I ordered a double cheeseburger and chili cheese fries. Cost about $10. Pic: http://i.imgur.com/tbDUyru.jpg
Monday I went to the Studio B Buffet at The M. I am not a big fan of buffets. I feel like if I am going to eat a lot of food, I'd rather eat a lot of one genre of food item that is above average, than a lot of mass produced average food. I went anyway since I still had a complimentary buffet from my last visit. This is still one of the better buffets in Las Vegas, and I'd say the best bang for your buck. It was $24.99 for dinner the night I went. The carved tri tip roast was really good. The other food I ate was average at best, but its buffet food. Still a lot better than places like Golden Corral. But the real highlight of this place is the dessert bar. One of the better buffet dessert bars in Las Vegas. Really good Gelato, and every dessert you can think of. I'd say its worth it for the desserts alone. Pic: http://i.imgur.com/ZDtw8I4.jpg
Tuesday I went to a local pizza place called Napoli. This place has great NY style pizza. What is great about this place is they have a special, which is a 16 inch one topping for $8.99 for pickup. That's a great deal. I bought a 6oz cup of their house made ranch dressing for a dollar so all together it was $11. You can also get free garlic balls if you text a number on the menu. Great value. Pic: http://i.imgur.com/vt6iVCh.jpg
Wednesday I went to a place that everyone should be familiar with, In N Out Burger. This place is on the west coast and in Texas only. It doesn't exist where I live, so I make sure to hit up this place each time I go. I ordered a 3x3 animal style, a double double animal style and animal fries. $13 total. Before you call me a pig, realize when I was here I only ate once a day to keep my calories down. It was good, as usual. Pic: http://i.imgur.com/SWO2eII.jpg
Thursday and Saturday I went to perhaps my overall favorite place to eat in Las Vegas. I love it so much I went twice. It's a hole in the wall wing place on Sunset Blvd called The Chicken Shack. They have the best wings and the best fries. I don't know how they do it but it can not be replicated anywhere. The wings are big and juicy, instead of small and slimy like the ones you get at places like Buffalo Wild Wings. They are also breaded and fried, something you don't see often with wings. The fries are close to shoestring size, but they taste so good. I don't know if its the seasoning, or the batter, or what, but the fries are heavenly.
It's a hole in the wall place thats small and always busy, not much seating. I went on Thursday around 2:30pm or so and the line was nearly out the door. I ordered the #1 Combo which is 6 wings(which are so big its like 12 wings anywhere else), fries and a drink for $9. Pic: http://i.imgur.com/mjmdY6j.jpg
Friday I went to a place I haven't been to before but heard good things. It is a place called Skinnyfats that is off I-15 between Mandalay Bay and South Point. It has two menus - a "healthy" menu which is food that would be considered healthy, and a "happy" menu which is food that tastes good but probably isn't healthy. Me being on vacation, I went with the happy side. Got the Patty Melt with Truffle Fries and the "Buff Chix", which is fried buffalo chicken tenders on top of truffle fries in a bowl topped with ranch dressing. The patty melt was probably the best patty melt I have ever had. It was great. The buffalo chicken tenders were average. I wasn't a big fan of the buffalo sauce they used. I am a sucker for anything buffalo, so this style of buffalo sauce was different. The truffle fries were average, I've had better.
Overall it was worth it for the patty melt alone. Their soda is really good too. It's house made sweetened with cane sugar. I got black cherry cola and it was excellent. Overall cost me $25. The place was very "hipster" in my opinion. The clientelle coming in was young, and if I had to describe them, I would say "Bernie Sanders supporters". Younger, millenial, hipster-ish, dyed hair, thick frame glasses, etc. I felt out of place with my button down pressed shirt and blue jeans. Almost everyone ahead of me and behind me in line, as well as those eating next to me, seemed to be eating off the healthy side of the menu. I am guessing that is the main draw of this place. Pic: http://i.imgur.com/G55y3Vt.jpg
Activities
I am a big sports fan so my week revolved around the sports books mainly. I spent a lot of time watching for college football line moves, and traveling to the certain book that was dealing the line I was looking for. Made wagers at 11 different books. Which was a pain on Saturday Night when I had to go to all those casinos to cash my winning tickets. I made a bet at Treasure Island(because they were the only book dealing a certain line), and I didn't mind if it didn't win because that meant I would have to navigate my way through the strip traffic and parking garage mess to cash it. The ticket won and I had to go to Treasure Island at midnight on Saturday to cash it. With the strip and parking garage traffic, took me a good 45 minutes. Now you know why locals avoid the strip when possible.
As far as watching sports there is no better place to do it than Westgate. This is my first time there since it got renovated and they did a good job. You should easily find a seat at this book during the week, but be careful on College Football Saturdays, NFL Sundays and March Madness. You have to show up early if you don't want to stand. On Saturday I got there at 7:45am, an hour 15 minutes before the 9am kickoffs and the place was already 75% full. If you want to bet, get your bets in the night before. The betting window lines were 75 people deep about 30 minutes before the 9am kickoffs.
Westgate Book, Thursday: http://i.imgur.com/1KA5ffL.jpg
South Point Book, Friday: http://i.imgur.com/xLwArwL.jpg
Westgate Book, Saturday around 9am: http://i.imgur.com/sjDpouv.jpg
I went downtown on Tuesday Night. If you haven't been downtown, I strongly recommend going to check it out at least once just to do it. It's different. If you have been, I only recommend going downtown if you are going with a purpose, i.e. to gamble, drink, watch the free concerts and street acts, do the zipline, etc. Unfortunately, I just went downtown just to go, and so I felt like it was a waste of time since I didn't do anything other than just walk around a bit and see what was new. It was my first time going downtown in 4 years, but it was mostly the same.
Pic of Downtown: http://i.imgur.com/NQN4CQO.jpg
On Wednesday Night I went bowling. Surprisingly this was one of the highlights of my trip. I went to the Red Rock Lanes at around 11am and bowled until it closed and had an absolute blast. On Sunday-Thursday After 11am, the games are only $1.50. So I must have bowled at least 10 games. 3 hours of fun for less than $20. South Point also has a bowling alley, and $1 per game bowling from 12am-8am Su-Th. So if you like bowling, there are good values to be had in the after hours.
Pic of Bowling Alley: http://i.imgur.com/fa2mGrl.jpg
DRINKING & GAMBLING
I didn't do any gambling apart from wagering on sports. I am a professional mathmetician, so I know how the deck is stacked against you on slot machines and table games. I prefer to put my mathematical ability into finding an edge betting on sports. Which I did well. Ended up winning about 10 units betting on college football when all is said and done. This is why renting a car helps, you can more easily travel across the different books to get the best lines.
I only drank once. Bought a bottle of Malibu and drank way too much of it. Since I was pouring it in my hotel room in the dark, I had no idea how much I was using. Ended up blacking out and spent all Wednesday hungover. It sucked. I swore off drinking the rest of the trip after that, it was miserable.
ADVICE
The biggest piece of advice I can give if you are traveling to Las Vegas is to rent a car and then the first place you go should be to Wal Mart or a grocery store and to buy gallon jugs of water. It's hot and you can get thirsty quickly. It's always good to have water on hand(unless you like drinking out of the tap).
If you want to walk the strip I recommend getting up early and doing it in the morning before it gets too hot. This way you can get around without the crowds and the clickers. You won't get the nighttime views and vibes but its easier to get around. The clickers are really annoying and its not just silent Mexicans clicking anymore. I was briefly on the strip Tuesday Night to go from Flamingo to the Linq. The short trek I made from the Linq to the Flamingo I encountered non-hispanic clickers and strip club promoters that were all up in my face and one of them screamed at me and called me a fag when I said I was not interested in the strip club he was aggressively promoting. I never recall them being so aggressive. I think strip clubs are trash that are run by trash and cater to trash, so its no surprise they have trash promoting them.
It seems like there are more panhandlers in Las Vegas since when I lived there, which is weird because I was in Las Vegas during the recession. They are everywhere and its annoying.
Avoid MGM Properties. I ended up doing so this trip to protest their charging for parking. I think its bullshit. Don't reward them. Which is a shame because I have a soft spot for Luxor and go there each time I am in Las Vegas to pay tribute to the first Las Vegas hotel I ever stayed at, back when Luxor was in its prime and one of the better strip properties.
CONCLUSION
Overall it was a great trip. Las Vegas is still my favorite place. I never wanted to move away, and will move back when I get the chance.
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The Future of MLB: Part 1- Where?

This is the inaugural part of a series of posts I will be making over the next week or so. This is based off of a previous post I've made (actually it's the reason I'm on reddit, it was my first post). This is also in response to the recent controversy that sprung up following my posting of the results from a small poll I made here (the poll had 4 upvotes and <150 views, the results received over 100 upvotes and was viewed nearly 8,000 times).
Anyways, the whole point of this series is about the future of Major League Baseball. For a while now we've been reaching a crossroads for baseball. For years people have been clamoring for one thing: expansion. Expansion is, obviously, the growth of a professional sports league. It has happened so many times in the history of Major League Baseball, but it has not happened in the 21st Century. The last time expansion in baseball took place, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now the Rays) were created. The Diamondbacks quickly became the youngest team (age of the franchise) to win a World Series, whereas the Rays had only a few years of success and those years were never too close together. No team, with maybe the Washington Nationals as the exception, can call itself a 21st Century team. With that in mind, as well as the drive of many fans, as well as the Commissioner's Office of both the past and present commissioner, we look at the potential for MLB expansion and where it can happen.
A quick note for the naysayers out there (and I know you're out there) while there may be an argument for contraction, it's not going to happen. No Major League team has shut down operations without a new team taking over since the 1890's, giving it the longest such streak in professional North American sports. Also, if a team is struggling and showing signs of a team with contraction impending, it would be relocated before it's shut down outright. With that said, let's get started with Part 1- Where MLB will expand.
San Juan, Puerto Rico
This is a bit of an obscure choice for the list, but it must be included for a very simple reason; it's hosted MLB before. Sure that can be said for a city like Sydney, Australia, but San Juan is a bit different. For the last 22 home games of the 2003 season and the first 22 of the 2004, the Montreal Expos called Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan home. A smaller ballpark that hasn't aged well to today, San Juan did nearly become the new home of the Expos. When MLB took over the Expos in 2002, the ownership team knew its tenure would end in the moving of the team. This was after the failure in 2000 for the team to receive funding for Labbat Park, a planned stadium to replace Olympic Stadium as the Expo's home. With that now a distant dream, relocation was on the mind, and there were three cities in mind for them. They were Portland (which has been trying to get an MLB team for a few decades, more on that later), Washington DC (former home of 2 different MLB teams and the eventual winner) and San Juan. At the point where the Expos played their home games at the Bit, Puerto Rico was the frontrunner (according to some reports) to receive the team as the league was looking to expand its foothold in Latin America (remember, this was still in the shadow of the 1994-95 strike). However, after poor showings in San Juan and a stark realization that funding to upgrade the ballpark were not coming. With that, the dream of Puerto Rico calling a team its own died out. Even today some cling to those dreams, but with Puerto Rico struggling to keep itself afloat as its debt piles up, those dreams seem to be moving even farther away than 2004.
Chances of receiving a team: 1/5
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Vancouver has been hunting for a team for many years too. With the death of the Expos in 2004, the fuel that powered forward the Vancouver baseball cause grew larger. Hoping to be not just the second Canadian team but the western Canadian team, Vancouver sees itself as one of the better candidates for expansion. It has the desire for it, being one of Canada's 3 cities where baseball is either the #1 or #2 most popular sport (the others being Toronto and Montreal), it has the infrastructure, all it needs is the support from the league. Unfortunately for Vancouver, that's where it falls short. While the league does see Canada as an emerging market, it does not see Vancouver as its best option to tap that market. There are other Canadian options that are much more viable (more on that later) and there are local, more American options that are much more viable (more on that later), thus eliminating the argument that it would be the perfect geographic rival for Seattle. While still a good option, it just doesn't have the support from the rest of baseball that it would need to get a team.
Chances of getting a team: 2/5
Mexico City, Mexico
Here's the fun option. The capital city of Mexico, one of the largest untapped reserves in the baseball reserve. MLB has been looking for years to push into Latin America, a historical stronghold for soccefutbol. According to major names inside of Major League Baseball, especially one named Rob Manfred, Mexico City seems to be a prime target for them to move in. There are, however, some issues here. For starters, the infrastructure just isn't there. The city is already extremely developed, leaving few, if any, locations for an MLB-sized park within the city limits. There's also the issue of geography, which is two-fold. The city itself is 2,000 feet... ABOVE DENVER! If you think things are bad now in Colorado, just wait until Stanton and Judge get out to Mexico. Maybe there they really could hit a ball 600 feet, or, you know, a mile. Also related to geography is the location of the nearest team, being Houston. With that said, doing a quick Google search for the distance between Houston and Mexico City, you'd find it to be a nice comfortable distance of just under 1,000 miles. That is THE LONGEST distance between a team and its nearest neighbor. To put that in perspective, that'd be like the Angels flying to Seattle...JUST TO GET TO THEIR NEAREST OPPONENT! Imagine if they had to go to Minnesota for a game! That's over 2,000 miles of travel for what at most would be a four-game series. It's just not feasible. A better option for Mexico would instead be the next entry in the list.
Chances of getting a team: 2/5 (only because Manfred seems to want it so much)
Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico
Many people in the poll pointed out my accidental omission of this option from my poll. Unlike Mexico City, Monterrey is NOT a few thousand feet in the air, is NOT a thousand miles from its nearest opponent, is NOT lacking in room for a ballpark, and is NOT Mexico City. All in all, Monterrey is a better version of Mexico City for the purposes of this thought experiment. However, I don' know if MLB is ready for a Mexican team, and by MLB, I mean America. With things the way they are in today's society, it's a shame but it's reality. There is a contingent of people that will feel that if a Mexican city gets a team and MLB passes on an American one, they'd feel cheated. There was a population like that following the establishment of the Expos, and it persisted following the creation of the Blue Jays. I'm not saying they're right, nor am I saying I agree with them. If you ask me, Monterrey is a fantastic location for a team. There are just so few arguments against it that this was what I could find in my research.
Chances of getting a team: 3.5/5
San Antonio, Texas
As things currently stand, San Antonio is the largest city in the US that doesn't have an MLB team. It has the infrastructure to support a team in the form of its stadium, the Alamodome. It has hosted Rangers preseason games over the past few years, and while its dimensions are extremely wonky compared to other modern ballparks, it could serve as a temporary home until a baseball-specific one is built or it could be renovated. San Antonio is also far enough away from either Arlington or Houston to fill the argument that it creates a fanbase for people that had to pick between the Rangers and the Astros, both of which are over 200 miles away. The Rangers represent the northeast, the Astros the southeast, and San Antonio, the west. It is, however, a bit closer to its Texan rivals than other teams are to their rivals. While California does have this same issue with the Padres, Dodgers, Angels, Giants, and Athletics, Texas is no California (it is second in population, though). Some may say San Antonio is too close to the other teams' homes, and two that might say that are the other teams. They'd have a say in whether or not more Texas baseball came in, which would cut their fanbase down significantly, not to mention television viewership. While San Antonio fits for baseball, it'll have to get through Texas and Houston first.
Chances of getting a team: 2.5 (if the other 28 vote unanimously for it, they may have the votes to overturn, but this is a pretty big "if")
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is a beautiful city rich in history and culture and known for its big baseball (Charlotte Knights). Sounds fitting for expansion, doesn't it? Let's put some more icing on the cake; Charlotte was the focus for relocation when the Twins were looking to leave Minneapolis, as well as a potential home for the relocated Expos (see above). On top of that, it'd fill a massive geographical void in baseball's map. Before the Nationals moved in for 2005, the nearest team to the north was the Baltimore Orioles and the nearest to the south was the Atlanta Braves. Even now with the Nats in the picture, there is a 640 mile gap spanning three states (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina). However, this territory has long been claimed by the Nationals as a stronghold of theirs. It won't be easy to wrangle this away from the newest MLB market to be developed. Plus, despite its population, rate of growth, and tourism, there are plenty of other options that might suit MLB better than ANOTHER East Coast team (of the 30 teams, 9 are on the eastern seaboard, in contrast to the 6 on the West Coast and the 17 stuck between sea and shining sea). Charlotte works, but just not well enough to make it worthwhile.
Chances of getting a team: 2/5
Indianapolis, Indiana
One of the major Great Lake cities along with Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, and Cleveland. But look at the trends in those cities; what do they all have in common? Higher poverty rates, higher crime rates, shrinking population, growing number of people unemployed, and municipal bankruptcies. No arguing here, no amount of deals with Ford or Whirlpool is going to reverse the trend of these once glorious metropolises (metropolises, metropoleze, metropoli, I don't know). Indianapolis is in a bad place right now, and sure you can always argue that an MLB presence could turn things around, but you gotta spend money to make it. Right now the only viable home is a 12,000-seat minor league park that can be expanded to a whopping 15,000 seats if they take out the picnic area. With that said, I don't think the city will be able to foot the bill necessary to build a ballpark. Maybe if some major corporation or some wealthy entrepreneur who absolutely loves Indianapolis so much they're willing to pay the franchising fee, pay for the television rights from the Indians and Tigers, AND pay for the entirety of a BRAND NEW MLB STADIUM steps in it'll happen. Let me know when you find someone willing.
Chances of getting a team: 2.5
Please note: I don't hate Indianapolis, nor are things as dire as they seem to be in the above statement; I'm just putting things in perspective. The trends are getting worse, not better, and even if they were getting good again things wouldn't be in a stable situation for quite some time. Maybe if the city turns things around they'll eventually get some big league ball, just not right now.
Las Vegas, Nevada
Ah, Sin City. This is one of the ones you guys have been waiting for, now, isn't it? Well, let me start by saying Las Vegas as an MLB city will, and listen closely, NEVER happen. That's just not an image the league wants; having a WHOLE TEAM in the heart of the gambling capital of America while banning the best hitter in the history of the game for doing what a team is LITERALLY SURROUNDED BY! This all isn't even mentioning that Vegas is purely a tourist city. Once you take away all of the people running away to get married, the people running away just after they get married, the guys trying to reenact The Hangover, the people there on vacation, and all of the Elvis impersonators, you're left with Rick Harrison and his pawn shop, not to mention only about 200,000 people. Football will do well there because that's only 8 home games a year; when the Raiders are in town, it's an event. Even hockey can buy in on the novelty thing ("Hockey in the desert? Oh boy!" as every Coyotes fan begins having their own PTSD flashbacks), but baseball is plagued by two things; the time of year and the number of games on the schedule. On April 3 of this year, the temperature in Las Vegas was 70. To compare, it was 53. Build a dome, you say. How much money you got, I say. Domes aren't cheap; that's why New York City went from building 2 in 2009 to building a balloon on top of a tennis stadium just last year. Also, with an 81 game slate to play at home, the novelty of a Las Vegas ballgame would wear off pretty quickly, even when big name teams like the Yankees or Cubs are in town. It would work for a little while, which by that I mean game 2 of the season. Then it'll die. Hard.
Chances of getting a team: 2/5
Portland, Oregon
Here we go, the heavy hitters. These are the ones I actually see as frontrunners for our next homes for baseball. Number 2 has been looking to get baseball since the Twins were still called the Senators, then again when the Orioles were still called the Browns, then again when the Rangers were called the Senators, then again when the Nationals were called the Expos. Long story short, Portland's been getting the short end of the stick for a long time now. Even when it has come to expansion, they've come up just a bit short as they were the city that received the third-most votes for expansion in 1996 when Phoenix and Saint Petersburg got their franchises awarded. They remain undeterred, though, with many in the city refusing to root for the Mariners while they wait for a team to call their own. In fact, just a few years ago, the city council set aside a parcel of land to hold a ballpark should they be granted a franchise. They've wanted it for so long, they fit it perfectly, and they'd make it so Seattle doesn't have to fly the distance of Boston to DC AND BACK every time they go for a three-game set with their nearest opponent. Plus the city has gotten some leaked support from the Commissioner's office, so it looks like those decades of waiting may soon pay off.
Chances of getting a team: 4/5
And the #1 most likely city to get an MLB expansion team is...
Pyongyang, North Korea
Just kidding. This was a write-in on the ballot I did, and it was so absurd I just had to include it. Do I even need to explain why it doesn't fit? It doesn't even fit for expansion in the Korean Baseball Organization. Then again, if we put a team there it may prevent nuclear armageddon. Hmm...
Chances of getting a team: -1953/5
And now, the real #1 is...
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Was there ever any doubt? Montreal and, well, Canada as a whole, has been wanting another team since the Expos said adios to our northern neighbors. The US, a nation of 320 million people has 29 teams, whereas Canada has only 1. There is one team for approximately every 11 million Americans, while more than three times that are represented by one team in one city that represents really only one province. Montreal was the birthplace of baseball in Canada, and sure it was also almost its location of death, but since then the people of Montreal have been clamoring for a second chance. We all know the Nats aren't looking to come back home any time soon, and since I have the distinct feeling Mr. Stu Sternburg isn't developing plans to abandon Central Florida anytime soon for Quebec, I think it's safe to say the Expos will live again in the form of an expansion team. The fanbase is (still) there, the stadium is (still) there, and the culture is (still) there. Just as a side note, Montreal is the only city in the live ball era forward to have been home to a team long term (thus keeping San Juan and Sydney off the list) to no longer have a team. It's time to retourner to Quebec and jeter la balle (jeter is French for "to throw") once again. Plus, it has been all but confirmed by some sly remarks from Manfreddy in Manhattan, so it think it's safe to say that...
Chances of getting a team: 5/5
There are plenty of other cities that could have been included on this list, including but not limited to:
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Buffalo, New York
San Jose, California
Austin, Texas
Des Moines, Iowa
Memphis, Tennessee
Louisville, Kentucky
New Orleans, Louisiana
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Mexico City, Canada (self-referential humor)
and many, many others. They were omitted just for the sake of time (and my sanity; it's already taxing enough doing all of this, plus the rest of the series) but if you have any cities that you think deserved to be on this list or reasons I left off that would make one of the cities I mentioned better or worse than I said, please, feel free to tear my soul to shreds in the comments below.
I hope you enjoyed part one of my Future of MLB Series. Keep up as I release the next few parts in the series...
Part 2- How (A/B)
Part 3- When
Part 4- Why
Part 5 (grand finale)- What if
I hope you enjoyed part 1. Stay tuned for part 2!
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do you pay taxes on gambling winnings in nevada video

Gambling, The IRS and Taxes: How to Deduct Your Gambling ... Gambling and Taxes with Gambling Author Jean Scott - YouTube Guide to IRS Form W-2G Certain Gambling Winnings ... How to Pay The IRS Taxes on Sports Betting Silver Tax ... Video 25 - Taxes on Gambling Income - YouTube

How Much Tax Do You Pay on Gambling Winnings? Interestingly, the gambling tax may vary a little depending on the situation. The federal gambling winnings tax is fixed at 24%. However, if for some reason, you have failed to provide an ID, you may have to pay 28%. Now, this rate may vary slightly based on some recent changes in legislation. Without knowing the states involved, the general rule is that some states will require you to claim the gambling winnings in the state where they were won. Most states tax all income earned in their state, regardless of your residency. In addition, your resident state will require you to report the winnings, but will offer a credit or deduction for the taxes already paid to a non-resident state. Note: If the other state happens to be Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, or Wyoming, you won't be able to file a nonresident return because those states don't collect income tax. However, you'll still need to report that income on your resident state return (assuming your resident state collects income tax) as well as If you win a non-cash prize like a car or a vacation, you pay taxes on the fair market value of the item you win. By law, you must report all your winnings on your federal income tax return Whether you win $1,500 at the slot machine or $1 million at the poker table, the tax rate you owe on your gambling winnings is 24% (previously 25%). Play for fun and the “possibility” that you might win. NEVER take Las Vegas gambling seriously. Gambling laws in Nevada. Las Vegas gambling was legalized in 1931. The Nevada Gaming Commission and Control Board develops and administers all gaming regulations. Their website can make interesting reading. Casinos with more than 15 slot machines pay an annual tax of $250 on each one. Your gambling winnings are generally subject to a flat 24% tax. However, for the following sources listed below, gambling winnings over $5,000 will be subject to income tax withholding: Any sweepstakes, lottery, or wagering pool (this can include payments made to the winner (s) of poker tournaments). Gambling income plus your job income (and any other income) equals your total income. Fortunately, you do not necessarily have to pay taxes on all your winnings. Instead, if you itemize your deductions, you can claim your losses up to the amount of your winnings. Although sports betting is prohibited in some states, states like Oregon, Montana, Nevada, and Delaware has made it legal. This has made any winnings gotten from illicit gambling activities taxable. Keeping Gambling Records. The IRS requires you to keep comprehensive records of your bets, returns, and losses. Frequently Asked Gambling Taxes Questions Do I Have To Pay Taxes On Gambling Winnings From A Casino? Yes, you must pay taxes on gambling winnings from a casino. A more detailed explanation of how gambling winnings are taxed can be found above. You are legally required to report your income from all types of gambling activities.

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Gambling, The IRS and Taxes: How to Deduct Your Gambling ...

Steve Bourie, author of the American Casino Guide, interviews noted gambling author, Jean Scott, for her insight on gambling and taxes. Jean is the author of... https://turbotax.intuit.com Have you recently won big at the poker table? Before you go spending your winnings, you should watch this video and determine how... Today I would like to talk to you about Gambling Income and Losses as modified by the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2018. This is an area of the tax reform that is... Millions of Americans enjoy sports betting, and love the thrill of earning money as they watch their favorite teams win. But... did you know that gambling mo... It might seem like gambling is one of those activities that the IRS has nothing to do with. But according to the US tax laws, the IRS considers gambling inco...

do you pay taxes on gambling winnings in nevada

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