TGiF 6/26/20

Well, looky here -- another Friday already!

Let's take a peek at just a slice of what's going on out there, shall we?

For starters, the Federal Reserve did some foot-putting-down this week. According to an article in the New York Times,  the country's biggest banks are barred from buying back their own stocks or increasing dividend payments in the 3rd quarter.

The decision to limit payouts is an admission by the Fed that large financial institutions, while far better off than they were in the financial crisis, remain vulnerable to an economic downturn unlike any other in modern history. With virus cases across the United States still surging and business activity subdued, it remains unclear when and how robustly the economy will recover.

There's some other stuff in there, too - more thinking and planning from the banks, some additional stress testing, and whatnot.

Are you a dead person? If so, you might want to look for your stimulus payment - it could be waiting for you!  That's right - around $1.4B was sent to 1.1M people who are no longer with us. We learned this from a GAO report, which said, in part

Treasury and IRS did not use the death records to stop payments to deceased individuals for the first three batches of payments because of the legal interpretation under which IRS was operating. 

I suspect that'll be fixed before any other direct payments go out to people again.

The European Union has gone and done it, they did: most travelers from the US will be barred from entering the bloc when they reopen next week.  The article highlights that Europe will allow outsiders to begin entering again on July 1, but the US and Russia are now among the nations considered too risky because they have not controlled the coronavirus outbreak.

By contrast, travelers from more than a dozen countries that are not overwhelmed by the coronavirus are set to be welcomed when the bloc reopens after months of lockdown on July 1. The acceptable countries include China - but only if China allows European Union travelers to visit as well, the officials said. 

It's some kind of interesting karma, don't you think, after we shut down travel from Europe back in March?

What brought Walmart and the Mississippi Baptist Convention together? The Mississippi state flag, that's what. The retailer says it will no longer display it and that not doing so is "consistent with Walmart's position not to sell merchandise with the confederate flag," while the Baptists said

While some may see the current flag as a symbol of heritage, a significant portion of our state sees it as a relic of racism and a symbol of hatred. The racial overtones of the flag's appearance make this a moral issue. 

And Vice President and vote-by-mail fraudster Mike Pence, at the first White House Coronavirus Task Force press conference in a nearly two months, said that holding rallies in the middle of a pandemic, and not wearing masks when you do that, is freedom of speech and peaceable assemblage and oh, by the way, there's an election coming up. This is one of those cases where the last should be first, I think.

On to some good news:

• A 90-year-old woman named Margaret Payne from Sutherland, Scotland, climbed 2,398 feet - the height of Suilven mountain, which she climbed as a child - by walking up her stairs 282 times. Over the 73 days it took her to complete the climb, she raised $521,000 for the National Health Service.
• Ashanti Palmer, who was the valedictorian of her class, graduated this year having had perfect attendance forever. Seriously, she never missed a day of school from pre-K through 12th grade. She figured it out in 10th grade that she hadn't missed a single day, and then worked to keep her streak alive.  Headed to RPI to study biomedical engineering and medicine, she's gotten more than $430,000 in scholarships to pay for college.
• In an amazing case of generosity and DNA, Terri Herrington donated one of her kidneys to a man who had received Herrington's husband's pancreas and kidney 16 years earlier. Their story is heartwarming, for sure. 
• Mary Trump, niece of the president, might be allowed to publish her book after all. Seems her father, Robert, tried to block it, but Judge Peter J. Kelly said he had no jurisdiction over the family feud. Her father's lawyer has said he'll shop around for a different court to file a new lawsuit. The book, if you want to put it on your to-read list in the event Ms. Trump is successful in fighting off her father, is 'Too Much and Never Enough.'

TGIF, everyone. 

Trump's Travel Ban

A whole lot of shaking going on, going on today,what with the SCOTUS decision on the president's Muslim ban, or Travel ban, or whatever you want to call it. The Supreme Court allowed the ban to go forward, with some exceptions. As we learned today,

The government's interest in enforcing (the ban), and the executive's authority to do so, are undoubtedly at their peak when there is no tie between the foreign national and the United States.

 What constitutes a 'tie' between the traveler and the US?

The facts of these cases illustrate the sort of relationship that qualifies. For individuals, a close familial relationship is required. A foreign national who wishes to enter the Unites States to live with or visit a family member, like Doe's wife or Dr. Elshikh's mother-in-law clearly has such a relationship. As for entities, the relationship must be formal, documented, and formed in the ordinary course, rather than for the purpose of evading EO-2. The students from the designated countries who have been admitted to the University of Hawaii have such a relationship with an American entity. So too would a worker who accepted an offer of employment from an American company or a lecturer invited to address an American audience. Not so someone who enters into a relationship simply to avoid (the ban). For example, a nonprofit groups devoted to immigrant issues may not contact foreign nationals from the designated countries, add them to client lists, and then secure their entry by claiming injury from their exclusion.

The intent of the 'close relationship' part was to help eliminate much of the churn that happened when the original ban was implemented, which included keeping people in America as well as keeping people out of America.

In a statement issued by the White House, we were advised that

Today's unanimous Supreme Court decision is a clear victory for our national security. It allows the travel suspension for the six terror-prone countries and the refugee suspension to become largely effective. 

As president, I cannot allow people into our country who want to do us harm. I want people who can love the United States and all of its citizens, and who will be hardworking and productive.

My number one responsibility as Commander in Chief is to keep the American people safe. Today's ruling allows me to use an important tool for protecting our Nation's homeland. I am also particularly gratified that the Supreme Court's decision was 9-0. 

The Department of Homeland Security promised to think outside the box this time, and to consult with other agencies, including the Departments of  Justice and State, to come up with a plan.

The implementation of the Executive Order will be done professional, with clear and sufficient public notice, particularly to potentially affected travelers, and in coordination with partners in the travel industry. 

Still, concerns abound. What constitutes a 'close familial relationship' for example; would a cousin count? A Joseph Greenwald and Laake civil rights attorney, Jay Holland, notes

There is absolutely a gray area. The issue of who has a bona fide relationship or familial relationship certainly appears to be an open and confusing question. 

The head of corporate communications for the International Air Transport Association,Perry Flint noted in the same article linked above,

It is absolutely imperative that airlines receive clear and concise information, as well as sufficient time, to enable them to comply with those portions of the executive order for which the injunction was stayed.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a dissenting opinion, which Justices Alito and Gorsuch joined, largely on the point of trying to define rules that meet the Court's requirement of a relationship.

Moreover, I fear that the Court's remedy will prove unworkable. Today's compromise will burden executive officials with the task of deciding - on peril of contempt - whether individuals from the six affected nations who wish to enter the United States have a sufficient connection to a person or entity in this country... The compromise will also invite a flood of litigation until this case is finally resolved on the merits, as parties and courts struggle to determine exactly what constitutes a "bona fide relationship," who precisely has a "credible claim" to that relationship, and whether the claimed relationship was formed "simply to avoid (section) 2C of Executive Order No. 13780...

It would be hard to imagine that the implementation could be worse this time around, but this is the government, after all (and no, that's not a comment on this particular administration). At least the people who have to make this work are talking to experts for assistance.

Now that a decision has been made, we should all hope for the best - and perhaps more importantly, hope that the efforts to "figure out what the hell is going on" which started earlier this month, are completed timely.

A Weekday Trifecta 5/26/17

A trifecta is generally described as a type of bet where, in order to win, the bettor must pick the top three finishers in the correct order. Here are my three picks for the day.

Donald Trump's big foreign adventure. We heard for years from Republicans and pundits that President Obama was an embarrassment as he travelled around the world on his 'apology tours.' For example, there's this list from the Heritage Foundation, the bastion of conservative thinking, back in 2009, in the early days of the Obama administration. Note the attention-grabbing headline: Barack Obama's Top 10 Apologies: How the President Has Humiliated a Superpower. 

Fast forward to president Trump's first trip abroad. He may not be apologizing (and, frankly, one could argue that Obama didn't, either) but it sure looks like he's mastered the humiliation part - got that down pat, based on these clips. Heck, even the Trump News Network turned on him on; perhaps an apology or two might be in order?

(The Sun, a News UK Company)

(Uproxx.com)

(Financial Times)

Now, don't get me wrong -- I certainly understand how creative editing and catchy headlines don't always tell the full story -- but I would think that even a reasonable person of the Republican persuasion could see that perhaps a little better behavior, or perhaps a little more careful language, or perhaps a little more appreciation for traditions between allies, might be helpful here on the #MAGA tour.

Donald Trump and the travel ban. It was not a good day for the Trump Travel Ban:

In a stinging rebuke to president Donald Trump, a US appeals court refused on Thursday to reinstate his travel ban on people from six Muslim-majority nations, calling it discriminatory and setting the state for a showdown in the Supreme Court. 

The decision, written by Chief Judge Roger Gregory, described Trump's executive order in forceful terms, saying it uses "vague words of national security, but in context drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination.

In its 10-3 ruling, the US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals said those challenging the ban, including refugee groups and individuals, were likely to succeed on their claim that the order violates the US constitution's bar against favoring one religion over another. 

Those were similar findings to what the 9th Circuit said about the initial ban, which was rewritten to pass muster in the courts, or so we were told.  Importantly, we were told about how awful the 9th circuit judges are, with their horrible overturn rate of 80% or something. Here's what Trump said:

There are many people that want to break up the 9th circuit. It's outrageous... Everybody immediately runs to the 9th Circuit. And we have a big country. We have lots of other locations. But they immediately run to the 9th Circuit. Because they know that's like, semi-automatic.

The 4th circuit on the other hand, has an overturn rate of 43%. So they must be way more better, right?  And way more trustworthy, and their decisions way more believable and easy to abide?

Yeah, not so much. Trump, when the first Executive Order was struck down sneered that he would see them at the Supreme Court. With this decision, it was Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III who noted, in a statement,

...that the government, which says the temporary travel ban is needed to guard against terrorist attacks, would seek a review of the case at the Supreme Court. 

"These clearly are very dangerous times and we need every available tool at our disposal to prevent terrorist from entering the United States and committing acts of bloodshed and violence," said Michael Short, a White House spokesman. 

I maintain that part of these dangerous times stems from the current administration's constant attacks on everyone and everything that doesn't agree with him, and on its refusal to look at things through a broad lens, rather than the very narrow one defined by bumper stickers and baseball hat slogans.

There's got to be a way to vet people - all people - coming into America from other countries, right? I mean, we ask our own sweet American old ladies and sweet little American children to bare their soles, and their bodies, to get on a plane to fly across the state or across the country to visit each other, don't we?

If we treat all Americans that way because of a few bad actors (including the ones from a country with whom we just made another several-hundred-billion-dollar arms deal), we should be able to come up with a plan that will protect us from everyone, and treat everyone the same, regardless of their religion.

That's the American way, whether or not our myopic president understands that.

Donald Trump and the FBI director. Poor Donald.  The whole mess with the FBI is just not getting better.

• First, he assails James Comey for not recommending charges against Hillary Clinton last July, 
• then he hails Comey as a hero when he reopened his investigation of her just days before the presidential election, 
• then he blows a kiss from across the room and awkwardly hugs Comey in January, 
• then he asks him to lay off the Russia investigation, to no avail 
• then he decides to fire him, 
• then he gets people to come up with deep and thoughtful reasons for firing him, 
• which he does, in a self-congratulatory and probably lie-filled memo delivered to Comey's office when Comey was across the country meeting with FBI staff who saw it on the news - as Comey was speaking to them. 
• Then he immediately tells us he had the entire White House and Justice Department apparatus tell lie after lie about why Comey was fired, because 
• Trump admitted he was going to fire him no matter what, and the memo? Yeah, that had nothing to do with it. 

You would think, at some point along that journey, he would listen to people, but no -- no reason to do that. He tries to pull politicians to be the new FBI director - Texas Senator Bob Cornyn, and South Carolina Trey Benghazi! Gowdy, who both said no, and maybe a couple of others, when everyone - everyone -- was telling him to get an experienced FBI person, not a politician.

On his short list, as a leading candidate until late this week? Former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, who was a Dem when he was Al Gore's running mate, became an Independent after losing a primary, and who eventually supported John McCain's failed presidential bid. He's also a lawyer in the same firm as Trump's new attorney for the Russia investigations.

Even before Trump hired the guy from Lieberman's firm, Democrats were not excited about their former colleague being tapped to fill Comey's shoes, because they wanted the appointment to be non-political, and they wanted an experienced law enforcement person.  Lieberman, to his credit, noted in an interview after withdrawing from consideration

With everything swirling in Washington, you can't have a director of the FBI coming from the same law firm as the president's private lawyer.

He also noted, referring to the lack of support from Senate Dems

I was disappointed but you know, I guess when I step back from it I wasn't surprised because everything is so partisan in Washington. There's still a group, probably in the far left of the Democratic Party who still doesn't forgive me.

And that, to me, was a page out of the Trump handbook. Whenever you can deflect away from the right reason for doing something by turning it into a personal attack, I guess it's a good day.