May 10, 2016


News and Views


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/tsa-airport-security-lines-long-wait-time-port-authority-of-new-york-new-jersey/

TSA warned flyers' patience at "breaking point" over long lines
CBS NEWS
May 10, 2016, 7:19 AM

Play VIDEO -- Longer airport security lines could mean TSA shake-up


It's the irony of flying. Planes are the fastest way to travel, but wait times just to get on board keep getting longer, reports CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller.

Now airports in New York and New Jersey are joining a growing chorus of complaints about the long wait times at airport security, saying TSA staffing isn't keeping up with increased passenger traffic.

"The flight only took two hours, but you had to get to the airport two hours early, you know, to get through the security line, which is kind of unfortunate," traveler Heidi Kerns said.

Not only unfortunate, but unacceptable, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. In a letter to the Transportation Security Administration, it said: "the patience of the flying public has reached a breaking point...we can no longer tolerate the continuing inadequacy of TSA passenger screening services."

"Because the lines are so long, I missed my flight, so they put me on the next flight," traveler Sarai Chicas said.

The Port Authority says it might implement a plan already under consideration in Atlanta and Seattle, where officials could hire outside help, contracting with private security companies.

"We're looking at all the options, including, we're going to investigate what it would take to privatize. We're looking at other airports that have privatized," said Seattle-Tacoma International Airport director Lance Lyttle.

The TSA said it's working to decrease passenger wait times by using canines to expedite screenings, asking Congress to approve more overtime pay, and speeding up the hiring process to bring on new officers.

"We're working very hard to dramatically improve our ability to move people through... training more people than we've ever trained before on a weekly basis... but the travel volumes that we're seeing are still going to make airports crowded at peak periods this summer," TSA administrator Peter Neffenger said.

Even if these airports do follow through with plans to hire outside security screeners, they wouldn't be in place in time for the busy summer travel season. This problem isn't going away on its own. The Port Authority says between mid-March and mid-April, the daily average of maximum wait times at John F. Kennedy International Airport was up 82 percent.



"We're looking at all the options, including, we're going to investigate what it would take to privatize. We're looking at other airports that have privatized," said Seattle-Tacoma International Airport director Lance Lyttle. The TSA said it's working to decrease passenger wait times by using canines to expedite screenings, asking Congress to approve more overtime pay, and speeding up the hiring process to bring on new officers. "We're working very hard to dramatically improve our ability to move people through... training more people than we've ever trained before on a weekly basis... but the travel volumes that we're seeing are still going to make airports crowded at peak periods this summer," TSA administrator Peter Neffenger said. Even if these airports do follow through with plans to hire outside security screeners, they wouldn't be in place in time for the busy summer travel season. This problem isn't going away on its own. The Port Authority says between mid-March and mid-April, the daily average of maximum wait times at John F. Kennedy International Airport was up 82 percent.”


Government operations have a tendency to be slow. In this article the problem is said to be that Congress has to approve the extra cost of upgrades in personnel, which is the main problem. If uniformity is needed or if it’s a really huge job that has to be handled for millions of people, then the government is the way to go. If, however, privatization does improve speed without losing quality that seems fine to me. In addition, I can’t remember the exact details, but there were a couple of stories over the last five to ten years about a TSA guy sexually molesting a woman who was being checked. On the other hand, in Iraq the rent-a-soldiers were involved in the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, so they’re no better than our government at overseeing what their people manage to get away with. The fact that the wait time is up by 82% does show that something needs to be done. Maybe some reporters will look into the success rate at those airports which have already instituted hiring their one scanners. We can’t just give up on security at airports because hijackers doing their worst is unacceptable.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bernie-sanders-economic-plan-would-add-18t-in-debt/

Bernie Sanders' economic plan would add $18T in debt
AP May 10, 2016, 10:10 AM


WASHINGTON -- Sen. Bernie Sanders' tax and spending proposals would provide new levels of health and education benefits for American families, but they'd also blow an $18-trillion hole in federal deficits, piling on so much debt they would damage the economy.

That sobering assessment comes from a joint analysis released Monday by the nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and the Urban Institute Health Policy Center, well-known Washington think tanks.

Democratic presidential candidate Sanders would raise taxes by more than $15 trillion over 10 years, with most of that paid by upper-income earners.

But that wouldn't be enough to cover the cost of his proposed government-run health care system, along with free undergraduate college, enhanced Social Security, family and medical leave, among other new programs. The cost of the health care plan alone is more than $30 trillion, according to the study.

The bottom line: Sanders would add $18 trillion to federal debt over a decade. That's about double the current total government debt of $19 trillion.

"The dramatic increase in government borrowing would crowd out private investment, raise interest rates, further increase government borrowing costs and retard economic growth," the analysis concluded.

In a statement, the Sanders campaign said the analysis "wildly overestimates" the cost of the Vermont senator's health care proposal.

The campaign also said the analysis "significantly underestimates" health care savings through less bureaucracy, simplified paperwork and lower prescription drug prices, similar to what other countries with government-run systems have achieved.

"If every other major country can spend less on health care and insure all of their people, so can the U.S.," the campaign said.

But economist John Holahan of the Health Policy Center said those countries put their systems in place decades ago, and he doubts modern-day America could easily achieve comparable savings.

If the critics are right, a President Sanders may be forced to raise taxes even more to pay for considerably richer social benefits. Running as a democratic socialist, Sanders envisions making the United States more like European countries that cover a much broader set of services.

Because the Sanders plan already maximizes tax increases on upper-income earners, any additional levies to pay for the shortfall would like fall on middle- and lower-income families, the study authors said. A leading possibility would be a new national sales tax, a revenue-raising scheme used by other economically advanced countries with more extensive social benefits.

"President Sanders would have to rely on much more broad-based taxes," said economist Len Burman, director of the Tax Policy Center.

The studies try to give a sense of winners and losers under Sanders' proposals. All but the richest would come out ahead.

Those in the middle of the income ladder - averaging about $41,000 in annual income - would gain nearly $8,700 on average because the new benefits would be worth more than the taxes they would pay.

But households in the upper rungs - the top 5 percent averaging about $650,000 in annual income - would lose about $110,000 on average because the new taxes levied on them would exceed the value of benefits they would receive under the plan.

Health care is the most ambitious and costliest part of Sanders' plan. His new "single-payer" government-run health care system would incorporate all private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, and President Barack Obama's health coverage expansion into a new program. Everyone would be covered. There would be no insurance premiums, deductibles or copayments. Long-term care would be covered, as would most dental, vision and hearing care.

"It would be significantly more generous than current-law Medicare or typical private insurance," the analysis said.

With more generous benefits, and without copayments and deductibles, the analysis projects that individuals would use more health care services, growing the nation's overall health care tab.

All told, the Sanders health care plan would cost about $32 trillion over 10 years.

"Sanders would change what the government does for people in a very big way," said economist Roberton Williams, a Tax Policy Center expert.



“In a statement, the Sanders campaign said the analysis "wildly overestimates" the cost of the Vermont senator's health care proposal. The campaign also said the analysis "significantly underestimates" health care savings through less bureaucracy, simplified paperwork and lower prescription drug prices, similar to what other countries with government-run systems have achieved. "If every other major country can spend less on health care and insure all of their people, so can the U.S.," the campaign said. …. Those in the middle of the income ladder - averaging about $41,000 in annual income - would gain nearly $8,700 on average because the new benefits would be worth more than the taxes they would pay. But households in the upper rungs - the top 5 percent averaging about $650,000 in annual income - would lose about $110,000 on average because the new taxes levied on them would exceed the value of benefits they would receive under the plan. …. His new "single-payer" government-run health care system would incorporate all private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, and President Barack Obama's health coverage expansion into a new program. Everyone would be covered. There would be no insurance premiums, deductibles or copayments. Long-term care would be covered, as would most dental, vision and hearing care. "It would be significantly more generous than current-law Medicare or typical private insurance," the analysis said.”


Food aid, subsidized housing, unemployment insurance would, presumably continue into the future, but would they also be covered by the Federal government? If the high rate of unemployment, especially among ethnic/racial minorities, continues as it is now that will have to be subsidized somehow or people may starve. If the minimum wage were to be raised to $15.00 an hour the housing, dental, food situation could be partly covered by that unless inflation or depression destroyed the balance of the economy. For some reason in the description of his plan given above dental and eye care were not listed as being paid in full. Those things can be extremely expensive.

If we were to become a truly socialist country, however, the significant lowering of those (and other medical costs) could be mandated. Doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies that raise the cost of their services by several hundred percent, as recently happened, could be fined heavily enough to get their attention or even lose their business licenses. The whole profit based, unregulated business plan is the cause of much of our problem in this country. A Free Market economy doesn’t serve the public – just the business owners. Even Sanders’ plan as described in the article wouldn’t really cover living costs, as it is.

We should study those countries that do have successful socialist economies of this type to see what they are doing and how they manage to make it work. Also, I hate to mention this, but as well-paying jobs become more and more scarce there will have to be more support for our citizens. Starvation here should be unacceptable. Of course if our conservative citizens should graduate into full-blown Fascists and manage to take over our government, maybe they would like to eliminate a sizable portion of our “unproductive”citizens, perhaps by euthanasia. That would save government costs. Of course, I have little hope of a Sanders revolution occurring without a “conservative” revolution to counter it. The percentage of voters, according to polls, who are actually in favor of a Trump victory is really pretty scary.




http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/arkansas-judge-resigns-after1000s-photos-nude-male-defendants-found-his-n570896

Arkansas Judge Resigns After Thousands of Nude Photos of Defendants Found
by TIM STELLOH
NEWS MAY 10 2016, 6:22 AM ET
FIRST PUBLISHED MAY 9 2016, 7:45 PM ET

Video -- Arkansas Judge Resigns After Thousands of Nude Photos of Defendants Found 1:53
Video -- Arkansas Judge Resigns After Thousands of Nude Photos of Defendants Found 1:53


An Arkansas judge accused of swapping sex for reduced sentences resigned Monday after a state commission said it discovered thousands of photographs from his computer that depicted nude male defendants.

In a letter to the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, Cross County District Judge Joseph Boeckmann said that his resignation was effective immediately, and that he would never again seek a job as a local, county or state employee.

Boeckmann's resignation came after the commission said in a May 5 letter to his lawyer that it was in the process of recovering as many as 4,500 photos.

"They all depict young men, many naked who are in various poses inside the judge's home and outside in his yard," the letter states, adding that many of the men had received checks from the judge and had appeared before him as defendants.

"There are numerous photos of naked young men bending over after an apparent paddling," the letter reads. "Please accept this as notice to not destroy [or] otherwise dispose of this paddle."

Image: Cross County District Judge Joe Boeckmann
Joe Boeckmann is the judge for the Cross County District Court in Arkansas. KARK 4 News

In documents filed earlier this year, the commission detailed the allegations of several men — including one under 18 — who described appearing in Boeckmann's court for minor violations. The judge would often give defendants his hand-written phone number and have them serve what he described as "community service" at his home.

In one case, a man described having a "sexual relationship" with the judge while he paid off fines that for which Boeckmann granted him extensions.

In another case, Boeckmann reduced a misdemeanor traffic violation and asked the defendant, identified in court documents as W.M., to bring three bags of cans to his home. After the judge offered him a drink — which he declined — "Boeckmann informed W.M. that he needed W.M. to pull 2 cans from the bags and bend over as if he were picking up the cans."

The judge then instructed him "on how to pose and spread his legs farther apart," the document states.

In documents filed in February, Boeckmann denied the allegations — saying that the photographs were used "to corroborate participation in community service."


This article is really disgusting. The people we respect in an emotionally involuntary way – our trusted family members, senators, judges, ministers, teachers—are sometimes hiding their evilest natures behind the almost impenetrable cloak of societal faith in our system. This is really a shame. While we hold out hope for good at all times, we need to be aware of the possibility of evil so that innocent individuals are not victimized in such ways as this.



http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/white-house-sends-scotus-nominee-s-questionnaire-senate-n571276

White House Sends Supreme Court Nominee Merrick Garland's Questionnaire to Senate
by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEWS MAY 10 2016, 12:42 PM ET

Play -- Flake: GOP 'Justified in Waiting' For After Election to Vote on SCOTUS Nominee 0:56
Related: Conservative Site Calls for Confirmation of SCOTUS Nominee Merrick Garland
Play -- Pres. Obama Makes Push for Supreme Court Nominee Merrick Garland 1:25


Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland submitted a questionnaire detailing his experience to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, taking another step in the White House's effort to break a Senate blockade on his nomination.

Although the committee chairman, GOP Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, has said he won't consider the nomination, the White House had Garland fill out the questionnaire anyway. The committee posted the document online, as is routine with all nominations.

Garland is currently the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In the document, Garland lists details of his work experience, his biographical background, his memberships and associations, his most significant cases, pro bono work and financial information.

His account of his most significant opinions includes one that upheld a ban on campaign contributions from federal contractors. Another affirmed the application of the Endangered Species Act to a commercial real estate project that threatened a protected toad. Two others sided with people mounting job discrimination lawsuits.

In his long career on the bench and as a Justice Department official before that, Garland developed a reputation for being pro-prosecutor and pro-government.

But in his listing of significant opinions, he includes one case in which he vote to throw out a criminal conviction for a drug trafficking conspiracy, a second dissenting opinion in which he would have allowed lawsuits to continue against private contractors over allegations of abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and a third that sided with a Uighur detainee at Guantanamo Bay who challenged his status as an "enemy combatant."

Garland reported that he was first called by the White House about the Supreme Court vacancy on Feb. 29 — 16 days after Justice Antonin Scalia's death.

The White House said the questionnaire is intended to present "an exhaustive picture" of Garland's service on the bench and of his "impeccable credentials."

The questionnaire is a standard early step in the vetting of any judicial nominee. The lengthy survey typically is drafted by the committee, completed by the nominee, and then reviewed and made public by the committee in advance of committee hearings.

But in Garland's atypical nomination, the questionnaire has become another tool in the White House pressure campaign. Senate Republicans have maintained that the next president should choose the Scalia's replacement.

Garland has been meeting privately with senators on so-called courtesy visits and conducted some prep sessions with the White House.

As he sends up his questionnaire, he's slated to meet Tuesday with Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, the White House said.

"We expect that upon receiving the questionnaire, Senate Judiciary Committee members will do their jobs by reviewing the information, scheduling a hearing so that the American people can hear directly from Chief Judge Garland as he answers questions under oath, and giving him a fair up or down vote," Hoffine said.

Garland plans to continue his meetings with lawmakers this week. Garland is slated to meet with Sens. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Tom Carper, D-Del., on Wednesday and Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., on Thursday, the White House said.



“Although the committee chairman, GOP Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, has said he won't consider the nomination, the White House had Garland fill out the questionnaire anyway. The committee posted the document online, as is routine with all nominations. …. Garland is currently the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In the document, Garland lists details of his work experience, his biographical background, his memberships and associations, his most significant cases, pro bono work and financial information. …. "We expect that upon receiving the questionnaire, Senate Judiciary Committee members will do their jobs by reviewing the information, scheduling a hearing so that the American people can hear directly from Chief Judge Garland as he answers questions under oath, and giving him a fair up or down vote," Hoffine said.”


I do hope the Republicans will allow this nomination to go through because their literally abusive treatment of Obama has been shameful and it saddens me. I really like Obama as a person and as a deliberate and logical decision maker. I also don’t want any chance that Mr. Drumpf will make the Supreme Court pick.