Interesting! Week October 17

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Of course this isn't hypocritical, is it? 

Republicans are making common cause with an old enemy: Julian Assange.  In 2010, prominent figures in the GOP wanted the WikiLeaks founder jailed for releasing thousands of diplomatic cables leaked by former Pvt. Chelsea Manning. Onetime presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said the leak “put American lives at risk.” Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Assange had “blood on his hands” and should be “hunted down.” Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) called for the Australian anti-secrecy activist to be tried under the Espionage Act and asked if WikiLeaks could be designated as a terrorist organization. 

Fast-forward to 2016, when Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his supporters are extolling the release of thousands of emails stolen from Hillary Clinton campaign manager John Podesta’s personal account. “Let me be clear: Thank God for Wikileaks — doing the job that MSM WON'T! #ASSANGE #wikileaks,” Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) tweeted on Monday, using an acronym for “the mainstream media.” The emails — around 10,000 of which have already been made public so far — have contained some embarrassing revelations for Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee. But the emails have ignited controversy. While some Republicans see the documents as fair game, others fret at the prospect of Russia tampering in the U.S. election.

Republicans warm up to Assange | TheHill

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Some sensible stuff from two Republicans

Though Kasich said he had never "worshipped at the alter of free trade," he had "always" been in favor of it. Kasich contended, however, that one of the biggest reasons the discussion about free trade has turned so negative is that the US has a "lousy" system for retraining workers who have lost factory jobs. "And, you know I just don't see anybody that's particularly interested in fixing that," he said. "They think it's fixed, but it's not fixed. So, we need a dramatic improvement in the way we train people who get displaced. Furthermore, when there is cheating, the cheating needs to be called. And I see that the administration has become much more aggressive on that front."

John Kasich sounds off on trade and future of GOP - Business Insider

Trade is by no means the only capitalist force that dislocates workers, industry and communities, capitalism is a process of creative destruction. It's futile and often counterproductive to try to stop these forces, better to provide support for smooth adaption.

Sen. Marco Rubio advised his fellow Republicans on Wednesday not to use revelations unearthed by WikiLeaks as political ammunition against Hillary Clinton and other Democrats. The Florida Republican said in a statement provided to Business Insider that he would "not discuss any issue" that has come to the public's attention "solely on the basis" of hacked emails from Clinton campaign manager John Podesta or internal emails from the Democratic National Committee. "As our intelligence agencies have said, these leaks are an effort by a foreign government to interfere with our electoral process and I will not indulge it," Rubio said. Rubio, a member of the Senate Intelligence and Foreign Relations committees, added: "I want to warn my fellow Republicans who may want to capitalize politically on these leaks: Today it is the Democrats. Tomorrow it could be us."

Marco Rubio warns Republicans not to take advantage of WikiLeaks - Business Insider

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And the real winner is..

Warren's goals of passing new legislation to curb CEO pay, block corporations from storing cash offshore, force companies to make their political donations more public, and basically put for-profit colleges out of business are all stated as clear as day on her websites and social media feeds in a more effective way than Clinton, whose message is muddled by the massive money machine behind her campaign.

More importantly, Warren's relatively brief career in Washington has been singularly focused on these goals with little or no compromises or hypocrisies in sight. Yes, she has shown a softer side for medical device making companies in her home state of Massachusetts. But that's clearly been forgiven by her supporters and liberals in general as simply an example of Warren advocating for a local industry... 

And then came the Wells Fargo hearings just last month. Warren simply eviscerated now-former CEO John Stumpf over his bank's phony accounts scandal. Sure, the other Senators from both parties chimed in. But that just goes to show how powerful a force Warren can be. She's the biggest reason Stumpf is now in early retirement, and don't let anyone tell you different... 

Elizabeth Warren is the winner of election 2016—Commentary

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Paul Ryan taking on Bernie Sanders. Probably not a good idea..

In fact, as Princeton historian Matt Karp noted this week in Jacobin, Sanders has the highest favorability ratings of any major American politician. Turning the congressional elections into a referendum on Sanders himself is not, from any strategic standpoint, a good move for Ryan:



And just trying to imagine how Ryan and Sanders might try to strike a budget deal may make your head spin. Sanders has called for raising taxes on the top http://www.vox.com/2016/3/19/11265394/pr...axes-trump.1 percent by an average of $3 million. Ryan’s plans would slash the taxes paid by each member of the 1 percent by a quarter-million. Sanders proposed the most dramatic expansion of welfare programs out of every candidate in this year’s race. Ryan would decimate programs for the poor by two-thirds. Sanders wants a single-payer health care system. Ryan wants to raise the Medicare retirement age and has pushed a health care plan that risks leaving millions uninsured.