House Republicans Set to Repeal Dodd-Frank Act

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan of Wis., speaks with reporters during his weekly news conference on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Thursday, June 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Republican members of Congress are gearing up to pass legislation to roll back the Dodd-Frank Act.
The legislation aims to eliminate taxpayer bailouts, simplify regulation, and hold financial regulators accountable.
On Wednesday, House Speaker Paul Ryan referred to the bill as the “crown jewel” of republicans’ de-regulatory agenda.
Ryan said the “choice act” allows small businesses across the U.S. to stop struggling, and start hiring.
The House is expected to vote on the measure Thursday.

House Republicans voted Thursday to deliver on their promise to repeal Dodd-Frank — the massive set of Wall Street regulations President Barack Obama signed into law after the 2008 financial crisis.
In a near party-line vote, the House approved a bill, dubbed the Financial Choice Act, , which scales back or eliminates many of the post-crisis banking rules.
The legislation is the brainchild of House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas.
"Dodd-Frank represents the greatest regulatory burden on our economy, more so than all the other Obama-era regulations combined," Hensarling told reporters Wednesday. "There is a better way: economic growth for all; bank bailouts for none."

Hawaii Obama Cartoons

Least we forget.

Least we forget.

Least we forget.

Least we forget.

Hawaii ignores Trump, is first state to pass law committing to Paris Climate Accord

 Boycott Hawaii, the average American can't afford to go there on vacation anyway.

The governor of Hawaii on Tuesday signed a bill that aligns the state’s carbon emissions with the Paris climate accord.
Gov. David Ige signed the bill that calls on documenting sea level rise and set strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“Many of the greatest challenges of our day hit us first, and that means that we also need to be first when it comes to creating solutions,” Mr. Ige, a Democrat, said, according to The New York Times. “We are the testing grounds — as an island state, we are especially aware of the limits of our natural environment.”
“Climate change is real, regardless of what others may say,” he said.
President Trump withdrew the U.S. from that agreement last week.
Ige says Hawaii is the first state to enact legislation implementing parts of the Paris climate agreement.
Ige says the islands are seeing the impacts of climate change first-hand. He says tides are getting higher, biodiversity is shrinking, coral is bleaching and coastlines are eroding.
At least a dozen states including Hawaii have signed pledges to continue reducing fossil-fuel emissions despite Trump’s decision.
Ige also signed a bill Tuesday to reduce carbon emissions in the agriculture sector.

afford to go there on vacation anyway.

Comey testimony: Trump has constitutional authority to stop investigation of any person, Dershowitz says

Alan M. Dershowitz, a law professor at Harvard, wrote on FoxNews.com Wednesday that President Trump has the constitutional right to direct his FBI director to stop an investigation of anyone “by simply pardoning that person.”
“Throughout American history-- from Adams to Jefferson to Lincoln to Roosevelt to Kennedy to Obama-- presidents have directed (not merely requested) the Justice Department to investigate, prosecute (or not prosecute) specific individuals or categories of individuals,” Dershowitz wrote. “It is only recently that the tradition of an independent Justice Department and FBI has emerged. But traditions, even salutary ones, cannot form the basis of a criminal charge.”
READ PREPARED COMMENTS
Dershowitz wrote the column after fomer-FBI Director James Comey's prepared remarks were released ahead of his appearance on Capitol Hill on Thursday.
Comey is set to testify that Trump sought his “loyalty” and asked what could be done to “lift the cloud” of investigation shadowing his administration. The prepared remarks detail a series of conversations between Trump and Comey about the investigation into contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia, and Comey's discomfort with the interactions.
Other legal experts say the most damning statement in Comey's written testimony concerns former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn, who was under investigation for making false statements about contacts with Russian officials.
Trump asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions and other top government officials to leave the Oval Office on Feb. 14 before urging Comey to drop the investigation of Flynn. "I hope you can let this go," Trump said, according to Comey's testimony.
Dershowitz, however, wrote that the written statement “does not provide evidence that President Trump committed obstruction of justice or any other crime.”
Obstruction of justice is a federal crime, though it's an open question whether a sitting president can be prosecuted. It's also an impeachable offense, though Republicans who control Congress are extremely unlikely to go after a president of their own party.
Dershowitz wrote, “Assume, for argument’s sake, that the president had said the following to Comey: “You are no longer authorized to investigate Flynn because I have decided to pardon him." Would that exercise of the president's constitutional power to pardon constitute a criminal obstruction of justice? Of course not. Presidents do that all the time.”
Other legal experts see the statement differently.
Julie O'Sullivan, a former federal prosecutor who teaches at Georgetown University's law school, told the Associated Press Trump's decision to clear the room before talking to Comey is evidence that suggests that Trump "was aware that what he was doing was a problem."
Trump has previously denied that he told Comey to end the investigation.
A former FBI official and a prominent Washington, D.C., law professor told the AP that they don't see a crime in what Comey reported that Trump said. Instead, the document reveals a president woefully ignorant of standard protocol and of the historic wall of independence between the FBI and the White House, an inexperience that could work in his favor and make his actions simply improper instead of actually illegal.
"I think the request is inappropriate," said Andrew Arena, a retired senior FBI official. "Whether it crosses that threshold to being criminal, I'm not there yet."

President Trump: Dems are Destroying Health Care in the U.S.

President Trump says the GOP is working hard on its health care plan, and now it’s the Senate’s turn to act.
Speaking at the Cincinnati Airport on Wednesday, the President said Obamacare is in a total death spiral, and democrats have destroyed health care in the U.S.
He said premiums are 150 percent higher under Obamacare, and the problems will only get worse if Congress fails to act.
The President went on to speak at Rivertown Marina about improving U.S. infrastructure, saying we need to rebuild our country and bring back our jobs.
He also touted last week’s jobs report showing the unemployment rate had fallen to its lowest level in 16 years.

Lawsuit Against Comey Claims FBI Illegally Spied on Govt, Trump

Former FBI Director James Comey will testify Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee and speculation about his testimony is already circulating.
On Wednesday his opening statement was released to the public.
It outlines several meetings Comey had with President Trump, but these are admittedly not corroborated.
One America News has reviewed these statements and found several inconsistencies in his remarks and actions.
Meantime, Comey is facing a lawsuit filed by an ex-intel contractor… claiming the FBI illegally spied on millions of Americans.

Iran Nuclear Cartoons

UN agency says Iran in compliance of landmark nuclear deal

Ocean Front Property in Arizona for Sale :-)

The U.N. nuclear agency says that Iran has taken its heavy water producing plant offline for maintenance, a move that keeps it from violating a landmark nuclear agreement by keeping the amount of the reactor coolant under the limits proscribed by the deal.
A confidential report by the International Atomic Energy Agency seen by The Associated Press said Friday that a May 27 inspection showed "the plant ... shut down" for maintenance. It says Tehran's heavy water stockpile then was 128.2 metric tons, just under the limit of 130 metric tons (over 143 tons.)
Heavy water cools reactors that can produce plutonium used to make the core of nuclear warheads. The IAEA last year said that Tehran had slightly exceeded the limit, but later said it was again in compliance.