Tag Archives: Steve Bannon

Trump’s Midnight Dump of Ethics Waivers Should End “Drain the Swamp Illusion”

Former lobbyists from some of the most contentious industries under Trump are given the freedom to influence policy making in those very same arenas

By Lauren McCauley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 6-1-2017

Candidate Donald Trump’s pledge to “drain the swamp” was apparently made with a slew of caveats, which were exposed late Wednesday when the White House posted details of ethics waivers granted to at least 16 senior staff members.

Among the notice (pdf), which detailed 14 different waived ethics rules, are provisions granting lobbyists from some of the most contentious industries the freedom to influence policy making in those very same arenas. Continue reading

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World Worries as Trump Set to Dump Paris Climate Deal

Trump has called climate change a “hoax.” Tweeted: “This very expensive GLOBAL WARMING bullshit has got to stop.”

By Common Dreams. Published 5-7-2017

Heads of state cheer after the Paris Climate Change Agreement was signed at COP21, 2015, by 197 parties. (cc/Wikipedia)

The world is worried as Decision Day nears.

At a April 29th rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Trump said he would make a “big decision” on Paris within the next two weeks and vowed to end “a broken system of global plunder at American expense.”

Now the Trump administration has a meeting scheduled this Tuesday to decide whether to drop out of the Paris Agreement. Continue reading

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Trump “Not Fully Briefed” on Order Elevating Bannon to Security Council

New York Times reports the lapse was a ‘greater source of frustration to the president than the fallout from the travel ban’

By Nadia Prupis, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 2-6-2017

Steve Bannon. Photo: Paladin Justice/flickr/cc

President Donald Trump reportedly did not realize he was promoting chief strategist Steve Bannon to the National Security Council (NSC) Principals Committee when he signed the executive order dropping intelligence and defense officials from the top government panel and elevating the former Breitbart News chair in their place.

The New York Times reported over the weekend that Trump had not been fully briefed on his own executive order, which became “a greater source of frustration to the president” than the protests and legal actions over his travel ban blocking immigrants from seven majority-Muslim countries. Continue reading

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‘Spectacular Betrayal’ as Trump Hands Economy ‘Back Over to Wall Street’

‘The Wall Street bankers against whom Trump ran are making policy now,’ says Public Citizen

By Deirdre Fulton, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 2-3-2017

Executive orders seen as “a cave-in to the power of Wall Street and the financial lobby.” (Photo: Dave Center/flickr/cc)

President Donald Trump is handing the U.S. economy “back over to Wall Street” on Friday, with a regulatory rollback that critics say could put consumers and the financial system at risk.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump signed executive orders Friday “establish[ing] a framework for scaling back the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial-overhaul law” and rolling back an Obama-era regulation requiring advisers on retirement accounts to work in the best interests of their clients. That rule was set to go into effect in April. Continue reading

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Fears Grow that Rule of Trump Will Suppress Rule of Law Under Sessions

After Trump fires acting attorney general over refusal to enforce Muslim ban, Sessions described as “intellectual godfather…of Trump’s hard-line actions”

By Lauren McCauley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 1-31-2017

Jeff Sessions. Photo: Screenshot (CNN)

Updated 2pm EDT:

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee invoked a procedural move called the two-hour rule—which, according to The Hill, prevents “holding committee meetings beyond the first two hours of the Senate’s day”—to push the attorney general vote until Wednesday.

The move stalls the controversial confirmation of Sen. Jeff Sessions and came at the same time that Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee boycotted hearings for Treasury Secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin and Rep. Tom Price’s nomination to be secretary of health and human services, forcing Republicans to reschedule both votes. Continue reading

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‘Media Is the Opposition’: Trump Backs Bannon in Ongoing War on Press

Comments come just after press freedom group warns president’s attacks against media are “reminiscent of an authoritarian government”

By Nadia Prupis, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 1-28-2017

The president’s comments signal that his administration will continue its war against the media, which Trump declared on his first full day in office. (Photo: Lorie Shaull/flickr/cc)

In an interview Friday with a Christian radio show, President Donald Trump backed his chief strategist Steve Bannon in calling the media “the opposition party.”

“I think the media is the opposition party in many ways,” the president said on “The Brody File,” a program on the Christian Radio Network. “I’m not talking about everybody, but a big portion of the media, the dishonesty, total deceit, and deception. It makes them certainly partially the opposition party, absolutely.” Continue reading

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Actually, Goldman Sachs ‘Hacked’ the Presidential Election

By Carey Wedler. Published 1-13-2017 by The Anti-Media

As the media continues to parrot American intelligence agencies’ as-of-yet unsubstantiated claims that Russia hacked the U.S. election, there is far more evidence to implicate an equally dangerous infiltrator: Goldman Sachs.

The infamous banking company, which was widely implicated in the 2008 economic crash, appears to have come out on top in the most recent U.S. presidential election.

On one hand, Goldman Sachs was hedging its bets on a Hillary Clinton victory. Considering the banking monolith was one of her top donors — and that she received harsh criticism for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees from the firm — it’s clear the powerful financiers had every intent of influencing the election and politics in general. Continue reading

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