JUNE 2, 2018


News and Views


I’LL BET PRESIDENT TRUMP WOULDN’T LIKE IT IF I INVENTED A CONSPIRACY THEORY ABOUT THIS, SO I WON’T. BESIDES, THERE ARE PROBABLY ALREADY 20 OR SO IN CIRCULATION. I’LL BE TRUTHFUL LIKE A GOOD DEMOCRAT OR PROGRESSIVE. NO DEMOCRAT CAN TOP A REPUBLICAN AT THE FINE ART OF LYING, ANYWAY. I AM GOING TO PUT THIS STORY AND ITS’ SISTERS AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE, THOUGH, AND REFRAIN FROM ADDING MY PERSONAL SPECULATION TO WHAT THE PRESS IS ALREADY DOING. IT WOULD ONLY TORMENT MELANIA HERSELF, IN ALL PROBABILITY. IT IS INTRIGUING TO SAY THE LEAST.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2018/jun/02/missing-melania-trump-barely-makes-news-things-are-getting-weirder
Melania Trump The week in patriarchy
Missing Melania Trump barely makes news – things are getting weirder
We’re so used to bizarre behavior from the Trump administration that a missing first lady barely registers as strange.
@JessicaValenti
Sat 2 Jun 2018 10.00 EDT

THE WEEK IN PATRIARCHY
Jessica Valenti tracks what’s happening in the world of feminism and sexism. Get this newsletter via email – sign up

PHOTOGRAPH -- Melania Trump at the White House in Washington DC on 7 May 2018. Photograph: Susan Walsh/AP

I am not one for conspiracy theories, and so I don’t find the guesses flying around the lefty internet about Melania Trump’s whereabouts particularly convincing. But I am very interested in double standards – and I find it hard to believe that if Michelle Obama disappeared from the public eye for nearly a month that there wouldn’t be some sort of sustained public inquiry.

It’s fun to imagine that Melania – who has been memed endlessly because of her apparent distaste for the president – has finally flown the coop and left her notoriously misogynist husband. And who knows, maybe she has.

But the reasons behind her lack of public appearances are less interesting to me than the fact that we’re so used to bizarre and out-of-bounds behavior from this administration that something like a missing first lady barely makes the grade for news coverage.

Things are weird, my friends. And they’re only going to get weirder.

Glass half full
Illinois just became the 37th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, and wouldn’t it just be incredible to finally get this thing passed during the Trump years?

What I’m RTing

Spencer Ackerman
✔
@attackerman
He's accused of tying a woman up in a basement to photograph her naked, making her perform oral sex on him when she tried to leave, and blackmailing her into silence. You misspelled "rape." https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/1001568302072844289 …

5:05 PM - May 29, 2018
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thomas violence
@thomas_violence
I love little cultural differences, like how Americans are super offended by the word cunt but here in Australia we're super offended by school children being slaughtered with automatic weapons

10:18 PM - May 31, 2018
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b-boy bouiebaisse
(@jbouie)
It is truly horrifying to see the collective political class shrug at the fact that thousands of Puerto Ricans are dead because of President Trump’s inaction and indifference.

May 31, 2018

NOTE: ON JASON'S LOOK AT THE IMAGE.

Jason O. Gilbert
(@gilbertjasono)
(Chanting)
WE! JUST! TOOK! AMBIEN! pic.twitter.com/esu3IMj8gu

May 30, 2018

Who I’m reading

Rebecca Traister on Samantha Bee and the war of words; Katha Pollitt on Ireland’s historic win for women and choice; and Erin Biba on the sexist mob defending Elon Musk.

What I’m listening to
Helen Rosner talking about #MeToo in the culinary world on David Chang’s podcast.

THIS STORY IS TRUE.
How outraged I am

A man who identifies himself as a rapist and pedophile is running for office in Virginia and thinks he will win because “a lot of people are tired of political correctness” and on a scale of one to ten, I’m going to take a nap.

How I’m making it through this week
Channeling this hedgehog’s chill.


THIS IS THE BEST --

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/huppke/ct-met-melania-trump-missing-huppke-20180531-story.html
Column: Melania Trump isn't missing — she's living with the Obamas!
Rex HuppkeContact Reporter
Chicago Tribune
JUNE 1, 2018 8:45 PM

Melania Trump -- First lady Melania Trump announces her Be Best anti-bullying initiative May 7 in the Rose Garden of the White House. (Jim Watson / AFP/Getty Images

et’s talk about Melania Trump.

America’s first lady was last seen in public on May 10. On Friday morning we learned she won’t join the president this weekend at Camp David. Her absence has sparked all manner of wild theorizing, from rumors of plastic surgery to suggestions she moved back to New York City.


But I’m here to tell you it’s far more scandalous than anyone imagined.

After minutes of careful conjuring and professional assumptionizing, I unraveled the truth: The Deep State helped sneak Melania out of the White House through a tunnel and she is now living with Barack and Michelle Obama.

It’s the most shocking, absolutely made up political scandal since Donald Trump proved conclusively that President Barack Obama was not born in America.

I’ll get to the details of my investigation in a moment, but first, let’s make sure everyone understands the Deep State. It’s the insidious network of government workers devoted to bringing down President Trump’s administration. We know it’s real because a bunch of people on television and the president of the United States say it’s real.

We also know the Deep State is behind another very real scandal that Trump has dubbed “SpyGate.” SpyGate — also known as SPYGATE! — involves spies Trump claims were placed inside his campaign in an effort to unfairly link him to all the secret meetings members of his campaign were innocently having with shady Russian figures.

SpyGate is 100 percent real, and we know that because the evidence is so overwhelmingly obvious that regular non-Trump humans aren’t able to see it. It’s a bit like how the president said definitively that his inauguration crowd was larger than Obama’s — our eyes clearly saw that Obama had the bigger crowd, but we were wrong because Trump has superior eyes and is right and we should know better.

OK, now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s get back to Melania and the fact that she let the Deep State extract her from the White House via a tunnel built by Eric Trump (did I mention Eric Trump is part of this?) and is now living happily with the Obamas.

This is the timeline of events:

April 21: Melania attends the funeral of former first lady Barbara Bush and is photographed sitting next to Barack and Michelle Obama. Suspiciously, Melania is smiling warmly for the first time in recorded history.

May 7: Melania introduces her anti-bullying campaign: Be Best. It’s a clear shot at her husband, who invented bullying and prides himself on being worst.

May 10: The first lady is last seen in public.

May 14: Melania has kidney surgery at Walter Reed Medical Center. It wasn’t announced publicly until the surgery was over. Few details are given.

May 19: The White House reports that the first lady has returned to the White House, though there’s no explanation for a five-day hospital stay following a surgery many doctors said is often an outpatient procedure.

May 20: A sinkhole is spotted on the North Lawn of the White House.

May 30: As questions mount about the first lady’s whereabouts, a tweet is sent from her Twitter account that reads: “I see the media is working overtime speculating where I am & what I'm doing. Rest assured, I'm here at the @WhiteHouse w my family, feeling great, & working hard on behalf of children & the American people!”

Now let me ask you this: If you’re the Trump administration and you don’t want people to know that the first lady ran off via a tunnel to live with the Obamas — President Trump’s arch-enemies — what would you do? You would write that tweet and send it from the first lady’s Twitter account.

And then you would have the first lady’s communication director draw attention to the tweet and pretend it’s proof that everything is status quo. Sure enough, Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s communication director, retweeted the May 30 tweet and wrote: “Straight from @FLOTUS!”

You’re probably wondering how I put together the specifics of Melania’s escape? Simple.

The five-night hospital stay for a minor surgical procedure was clearly a ham-handed story concocted by White House officials trying to cover something up. As the days with no public appearances dragged on, I asked myself: Where would Melania most likely be?

Then I remembered the funeral photo and thought, “She’s happiest when she’s with the Obamas.” (Who can blame her? They’re lovely people.) So that told me where she had gone.

It was also clear her accomplice was the Deep State. It’s to blame for literally everything that goes wrong in the administration.

The trickiest part was figuring out how the first lady made it off the White House grounds unnoticed. The sinkhole was the breakthrough.

We all know Eric Trump is a vampire (Google it), and as such, he must have an underground lair at the White House. That makes him the only person connected to the administration with the subterranean skills to create an escape tunnel. The sinkhole was just a minor tunnel cave-in that happened weeks after Melania fled.

And there you have it: MelaniaGate! As ironclad a conspiracy as any of President Trump’s theories on Russia, inauguration sizes, Obama’s birth certificate, tapped phones in Trump Tower or widespread voter fraud.

The unseeable evidence is all there. You just have to believe.

rhuppke@chicagotribune.com

RELATED
Unseen for weeks, Melania Trump tweets she's 'feeling great' »
Melania Trump released from hospital, returns to White House in 'high spirits' »


AND NOW, TO SNOPES FOR THE LAST WORD:

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/melania-trump-relationship-tweet/
THIS SNOPES ENTRY LEAVES THE ANSWER OPEN, WHILE FORWARDING THE QUESTION. WHERE IS MELANIA TRUMP?



FOR YOU FEMINISTS WHO HAVE BEEN LONELY SINCE THE 1970S, LOOK FROM TIME TO TIME AT THE GUARDIAN’S FEMINIST POST’S JESSICA VALENTI, THE WEEK IN PATRIARCHY:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2018/may/12/eric-schneiderman-particular-awfulness-to-using-feminist-politics-to-shield-bad-behavior
The week in patriarchy
Jessica Valenti



THIS NEXT IS AKIN TO “IT AIN’T RAPE IF SHE’S YOUR WIFE,” DESPITE THE BRUISES. THIS INFORMATION WAS REPORTED ON THE TV NEWS SEVERAL MONTHS AGO, I BELIEVE, BUT THE WRITTEN VERSION OF THE MEMO IS NEW TO ME.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-in-memo-to-mueller-trumps-lawyers-argue-he-could-not-have-obstructed-justice/
By KATHRYN WATSON CBS NEWS June 2, 2018, 3:57 PM
Report: In memo to Mueller, Trump's lawyers argue he could not have obstructed justice

A confidential letter obtained by The New York Times shows President Trump's personal lawyers making the case to special counsel Robert Mueller that the president cannot obstruct justice, and that Mueller cannot force him to testify.

A memo dated January 29, 2018, argues that the Constitution gives the president vast authority to, for instance, fire FBI Director James Comey, and even argues that the president cannot obstruct justice by terminating an investigation. The never-before-seen memo makes a broad case for the executive autonomy of the commander-in-chief, as the president's lawyers argue a sitting president cannot be subpoenaed. The memo is titled," Re: Request for testimony on alleged obstruction of justice," The New York Times reports.

"It remains our position that the president's actions here, by virtue of his position as the chief law enforcement officer, could neither constitutionally nor legally constitute obstruction because that would amount to him obstructing himself, and that he could, if he wished, terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon if he so desired," writes John Dowd, the president's former personal attorney who left the team in March.

RELATED: Read the memo obtained by the New York Times

CBS News chief White House correspondent Major Garrett reported in April that Rudy Giuliani and other members of the president's legal team met with special counsel Mueller that month to discuss a possible interview.

The White House declined to comment, referring to outside counsel. Mr. Trump's legal team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Shortly before The New York Times published its story, however, Mr. Trump accused Mueller's team or Justice Department officials of leaking information to the media. He did not question the veracity of the letter.

"There was No Collusion with Russia (except by the Democrats)," the president tweeted Saturday. "When will this very expensive Witch Hunt Hoax ever end? So bad for our Country. Is the Special Counsel/Justice Department leaking my lawyers letters to the Fake News Media? Should be looking at Dems corruption instead?"


Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
There was No Collusion with Russia (except by the Democrats). When will this very expensive Witch Hunt Hoax ever end? So bad for our Country. Is the Special Counsel/Justice Department leaking my lawyers letters to the Fake News Media? Should be looking at Dems corruption instead?

1:43 PM - Jun 2, 2018
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The memo further argued that the president can terminate any investigation without obstructing justice. It's a move that some critics might view as the legal case for ending the Mueller investigation.

"A president can also order the termination of an investigation by the Justice Department or FBI at any time and for any reason," the memo reads. "Such an action obviously has an impact on the investigation, but that is simply an effect of the president's lawful exercise of his constitutional power and cannot constitute obstruction of justice. We remind you of these facts simply because even assuming, arguendo*, that the president did order the termination of an investigation (and the president, along with Mr. Comey in his testimony and in his actions, have made it clear that he did not) this could not constitute obstruction of justice."

The memo also addresses 16 topics that, according to Dowd, Mueller's team "desired to address with the president in order to complete your investigation on the subjects of alleged collusion and obstruction of justice." Among those areas of interest is Mr. Trump's reaction to Attorney General Jeff Sessions' decision to recuse himself in the Russia investigation. Mr. Trump has berated his attorney general, as recently as this week, for recusing himself, and has suggested he would have picked someone else for the job if he had known what Sessions would do.

Special counsel's interest in Jeff Sessions' recusal has grown

The New York Times also published a June 23, 2017 memo from the president's legal team to Mueller, in which the president's lawyers suggest they are aware that Mueller might be investigating whether there was any obstruction of justice in the firing of Comey. Mr. Trump fired Comey on May 9, 2017.

"We write to address news reports, purportedly based on leaks, indicating that you may have begun a preliminary inquiry into whether the president's termination of former FBI Director James Comey constituted obstruction of justice," the June 2017 memo from Trump attorney Marc Kasowitz to Mueller reads.

According to the more recent memo, these are the topics Mueller's team is interested in discussing with the president as the team questions whether there was any obstruction of justice:

1 Former National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn — information regarding his contacts with Ambassador Kislyak about sanctions during the transition process;
2 Lt. Gen. Flynn's communications with Vice President Michael Pence regarding those contacts;
Lt. Gen. Flynn's interview with the FBI regarding the same;
3 Then-Acting Attorney General Sally Yates coming to the White House to discuss same;
4 The President's meeting on February 14, 2017, with then-Director James Comey;
5 Any other relevant information regarding former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn;
6 The President's awareness of and reaction to investigations by the FBI, the House and the Senate into possible collusion;
7 The president's reaction to Attorney General Jeff Sessions' recusal from the Russia investigation;
8 The president's reaction to Former FBI Director James Comey's testimony on March 20, 2017, before the House Intelligence Committee;
9 Information related to conversations with intelligence officials generally regarding ongoing investigations;
10 Information regarding who the president had had conversations with concerning Mr. Comey's performance;
11 Whether or not Mr. Comey's May 3, 2017, testimony lead to his termination;
12 Information regarding communications with Ambassador Kislyak, Minister Lavrov, and Lester Holt;
13 The president's reaction to the appointment of Robert Mueller as Special Counsel;
14 The president's interaction with Attorney General Sessions as it relates to the appointment of Special Counsel; and,
15 The statement of July 8, 2017, concerning Donald Trump, Jr.'s meeting in Trump Tower.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


ARGUENDO*

WHAT A GREAT NEW WORD! IT DOES MEAN “FOR THE SAKE OF ARGUMENT,” AND THE PRONUNCIATION IS “AR-GEN-DO,” RATHER THAN “AR-JEN-DO.”



SINCE WHEN ARE PRESIDENTS ALLOWED TO CONCEAL THEIR APPOINTMENT OF CANDIDATES FROM THE PUBLIC AND THE PRESS? AND WHY WOULD THEY WANT TO DO THIS? UNFORTUNATELY, IT’S FOR THE SAME REASON THAT THEY WILL PROBABLY CONCEAL THEIR SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH BOYS. AND YET, IN THIS CASE, THE APPOINTMENT WAS APPARENTLY ACCEPTED BY THE SENATE, OR MAYBE THAT WASN’T NEEDED FOR THIS POSITION. I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO HEAR MORE ABOUT THIS.

IN ADDITION TO A MUCH LONGER LIST OF REQUIREMENTS FOR A PRESIDENT THAN THE CONSTITUTION NOW HAS LISTED, TO ALLOW A PRESIDENT TO BE SEATED, I THINK WE SHOULD HAVE A LIST OF ACCEPTABLE POWERS, LIKEWISE; AND WHICH ONES HE IS ABSOLUTELY NOT ALLOWED TO DO. FOR INSTANCE, I DON’T BELIEVE EVEN THE SENATE HAS TO APPROVE THE CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT. HE SHOULD BE UNABLE TO BE CONSIDERED A CANDIDATE UNTIL HE IS THOROUGHLY AND PUBLICLY VETTED. THAT’S MY VIEW, ANYWAY. IF WE DID THAT, THERE WOULD BE MUCH FEWER IMMORAL AND IDIOTIC PEOPLE WHO MAKE IT INTO OFFICE, AND THEREFORE A NEED FOR FEWER IMPEACHMENTS.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/390393-rejected-trump-nominee-quietly-hired-by-sec-report
Rejected Trump nominee quietly hired by SEC: report
BY JOHN BOWDEN - 06/02/18 12:03 PM EDT

Photograph -- © Greg Nash

Former Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.)*, President Trump's rejected nominee to run the Export-Import Bank, has been quietly hired to a position at the Securities and Exchange Commission despite the agency's hiring freeze, Politico reported Saturday

Garrett had an "excepted service" position as an attorney created for him at the SEC’s Office of the General Counsel earlier this year, according to the report. The personnel move, which was not announced publicly by the SEC, was discovered through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Garrett's hiring to the SEC follows his failure to win enough votes last year after two Republicans joined with Democrats to oppose his nomination to lead the Export-Import Bank. Those who opposed him cited Garrett's past opposition to the bank.

The SEC implemented a hiring freeze at the beginning of fiscal year 2017, but Garrett's appointment was exempted from this as well as competitive hiring procedures - as are all attorney jobs for federal agencies - the Office of Personnel Management told Politico.

The agency's budget justification for 2019 says it expects its staffing levels to drop from about 4,600 to 4,528 by September of 2018.

The New Jersey Republican lost a bid for reelection in 2016 after Wall Street donors backed away from his campaign over his reported refusal to support gay or lesbian Republican candidates.

During his House career, Garrett chaired the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises, which oversaw a number of top financial firms.


Scott Garrett*
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ernest Scott Garrett (born July 9, 1959) is an American politician who was the U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 5th congressional district, serving from 2003 to 2017. He is a member of the Republican Party. He previously served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1990 to 2003. Garrett chaired the United States House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises.[1] He lost his 2016 reelection campaign and was succeeded by Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat.

On June 19, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Garrett to become chairman and president of the Export–Import Bank of the United States, a post that requires confirmation by the United States Senate.[2] In a 10–13 vote on December 19, 2017, the Senate Banking Committee declined to advance his nomination.[3][4] Garrett was subsequently hired into an excepted service position at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of General Counsel.[5]

Early life, education and career

Garrett earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Montclair State College in 1981 and a Juris Doctor from Rutgers School of Law–Camden in 1984.[6]

Born in Bergen County in the town of Englewood, Garrett spent much of his life living in North Jersey. He is a proponent of preserving open space and protecting the Highlands, the Musconetcong River and the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge. He was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 1991, and was re-elected five times, serving from 1992 to 2003, representing the 24th legislative district, which covered all of Sussex County and several municipalities in Morris and Hunterdon counties.

. . . . Suffrage

In 2006, Garrett was the only congressman from New Jersey to vote against the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, citing his opposition to requirements to print non-English ballots.[37]

Garrett ran for re-election in 2016 as the Republican candidate, besting Michael Cino and Peter Vallorosi in the primary. Josh Gottheimer, his opponent, was the sole Democrat to file for election.[12] According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Garrett was one of five House challengers and incumbents who relied more on the financial world to fund his 2016 election campaign than most others running for a House seat, raising $213,755 from the securities and investment industry compared to $170,752 on average.[13]

Gottheimer won the general election on November 8, 2016, with 50.5% of the vote to Garrett's 47.2%.[14]

. . . . Unlike most Republicans from New Jersey, Garrett compiled an unshakably conservative voting record. He held a lifetime rating of 99.3 from the American Conservative Union.[19] While in Congress, he founded and led the House Constitution Caucus.[20] Garrett

During his time in Congress, Garrett was a member of the Liberty Caucus.[21] He was a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, which serves as a policy alternative to the Republican Study Committee.[22]

Foreign policy

In 2007, Garrett led nineteen U.S. lawmakers to introduce a bill in the House of Representatives backing United Nations membership for Taiwan.[23]

Economic policy

In 2006, Garrett supported H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.[24] In 2008, he opposed H.R. 5767, the Payment Systems Protection Act, which was a bill that sought to place a moratorium on enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 while the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve defined "unlawful Internet gambling".[citation needed]

Garrett voted to allow oil and gas drilling off the shore of New Jersey.[25] He voted against making "price gouging" by oil companies a crime,[26] and against the Further Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Hurricane Katrina Act of 2005.[27] He was one of four members of the House of Representatives to vote against an extension of unemployment benefits.[28]

Garrett voted against the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 during the United States federal government shutdown of 2013.[29] When opponents criticized Garrett for not signing a letter urging the House to provide prompt aid to victims of Hurricane Sandy, Garrett responded by saying he had signed nine other letters seeking aid and had helped sponsor a final bill authorizing money.[30]



BERNIE SANDERS IN ACTION AT DISNEYLAND – TWO ARTICLES

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-bernie-sanders-disneyland-20180602-story.html
Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at rally to call for higher wages for Disneyland Resort workers
By HUGO MARTIN
JUN 02, 2018 | 1:30 PM

PHOTOGRAPH -- Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at rally to call for higher wages for Disneyland Resort workers
Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks Saturday at a rally in Anaheim to call for higher wages for Disneyland Resort workers. (Hugo Martin / Los Angeles Times)

At a rally attended by hundreds of Disneyland Resort workers, Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke out Saturday against wealthy corporations that fail to pay their workers a “living wage.”

Emphasizing the themes he relied on during his unsuccessful 2016 presidential campaign, Sanders told the crowd at an Anaheim church that the Walt Disney Co. should share its financial success with its employees.

“The struggle that you are waging here in Anaheim is not just for you,” he told the cheering crowd. “It is a struggle for millions of workers all across this country who are sick and tired of working longer hours for lower wages.”

The Vermont senator was accompanied on stage by members of a coalition of unions that has collected about 21,000 signatures, seeking to qualify a measure for the November municipal ballot that would require large employers accepting city subsidies to pay at least $15 an hour.

To qualify for the ballot, the unions needed to collect the signatures of 10%, or 13,150, of the voters in Anaheim. The Orange County Registrar of Voters has until June 14 to verify the signatures.

If adopted, the measure would require that workers be paid a minimum of $15 an hour starting Jan. 1, 2019, with salaries rising $1 an hour every Jan. 1 through 2022. Once the wages reach $18 an hour, annual raises would be tied to the cost of living.

During the rally for union workers, several Disneyland employees joined Sanders onstage to discuss their struggles to make ends meet on a theme park salary.

Grace Torres and her husband, Edgar Campista, of Garden Grove, said they both work at the resort but can’t afford to start a family.

“Disney prides itself on making dreams come true,” Torres said, choking back tears. “Disney, where is my dream?”

Opponents of the measure, including the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce and the Disneyland Resort, say the higher salaries will increase the cost of doing business and scare off future development.

The Disneyland Resort announced last week that it has previously offered a 36% pay increase to about 9,500 resort workers over a three-year period. The workers in that union have been in contract negotiation with the resort since March.

The pay increase offered by Disney would give staffers who work in stores, attractions, custodial, costuming, parking, transportation and other fields a minimum of $15 an hour by 2020 — a year after the ballot measure would reach that pay scale.

“We are proud of our commitment to our cast, and the fact that more people choose to work at Disneyland Resort than anywhere else in Orange County,” said Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown. “While Mr. Sanders continues to criticize Disney to keep himself in the headlines, we continue to support our cast members through investments in wages and education.”

But the Masters Services Joint Council, which represents the workers, described the Disney raise offer as a “first step, but it is not enough.” In a statement released last week, the council said the Disney offer also threatens to cut “fringe benefits that have been long standing traditions at the park.”

The offer by the Disneyland Resort does not impact ongoing salary negotiations with hotel workers who also attended Saturday’s rally.

To justify the pay increase, the Disney workers have pointed to a study released in February that found 73% of Disney employees who were questioned said they don’t earn enough to pay for such basic expenses as rent, food and gas.

The study concluded that the average wage for Disneyland Resort workers when adjusted for inflation dropped 15% from 2000 to 2017, from $15.80 to $13.36.

Disney officials rejected the study, calling it flawed.

After the rally, Sanders traveled to Carson to speak out on behalf of Los Angeles and Long Beach port workers who have been calling for higher wages and other benefits.


DO WATCH THIS VIDEO. IT'S VERY INTERESTING.

http://komonews.com/news/nation-world/live-sen-bernie-sanders-holds-roundtable-with-disney-workers
Sen. Bernie Sanders holds roundtable on wages with Disney workers
by Circa Saturday, June 2nd 2018

PHOTOGRAPH -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. smiles during during [sic] a panel discussion with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at the University Of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H., Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

(Circa) — Sen. Bernie Sanders attended a rally Saturday in Anaheim, California with Disneyland workers who are fighting for higher wages.

Speakers at the event included union leaders pushing a ballot measure that would require businesses receiving subsidies from the city to pay workers at least $15 per hour.

Disney is receiving a tax break of about $267 million over 20 years to build a luxury hotel at Disneyland, where 85 percent of employees currently receive an hourly wage of less than $15.



BILL MAHER AND BERNIE SANDERS MAKE A GOOD PAIR

SANDERS AND BILL MAHER DISCUSS THE AGENDA FOR THE FUTURE

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/390370-sanders-trump-kind-of-likes-all-of-these-authoritarian-leaders
Sanders: Trump ‘kind of likes all of these authoritarian leaders’
BY MAX GREENWOOD - 06/02/18 08:23 AM EDT

INTERVIEW VIDEO – 9:57 MIN.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Friday accused President Trump of leading with "strong authoritarian tendencies," saying that the real estate mogul "kind of likes" despots.

"We have a president who has strong authoritarian tendencies; who wants to, every day, undermine American democracy," Sanders said on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher."

"In my state and all over this country you have men and women who have fought and died to defend American democracy, and this guy looks all over the world and he kind of likes all of these authoritarian leaders."

Critics have argued that Trump has shown an unusual friendliness to autocratic leaders, like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and often fails to discuss human rights with foreign counterparts — a break from past presidents.

Trump has, at times, been accused of leading like an autocrat himself, with critics pointing to his frequent attacks on political opponents, the news media and government institutions, like the Justice Department, as evidence.