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Rich People Applauding Billionaires at Grand Rapids Econ Club event: Betsy and Dick DeVos share a moment
by Jeff Smith (GRIID)
Yesterday, MLive ran the following headline, Shinola leader’s comments about Detroit education draws applause for Betsy DeVos.copy-econgr_logoThe article was based upon a talk given by billionaire businessman Jacques Panis, founder of Shinola, a manufacturer based in Detroit.
After his lecture, Panis was joined on stage by Dick DeVos, since this was an Econ Club of Grand Rapids event. However, MLive doesn’t bother to mention it was an Econ Club event until about half way through the article.
Panis was critical of the Detroit Public School system, which is why he got such an applause. The very same people who support the privatization of public education and the Great Lakes Education Project are the same people who have endorsed Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary. So, of course the people who make up the capitalist class in Grand Rapids (those who are members of the Econ Club) applauded the Detroit businessman for making critical comments about Detroit’s Public Education system.
The MLive reporter did fail to mention that Betsy DeVos through her Great Lakes Education Project was the leader behind the campaign to get the Michigan Legislature to further influence public education in Detroit, based on solid reporting by the Michigan Campaign Finance Network.
However, the MLive story goes on to quote Dick DeVos:
“I dare say you have a partner in your quest for a better education for all Americans right here in the room with us,” he said in a nod to his wife, Betsy DeVos, who was sitting in audience.
READ THE FULL BLOG POST HERE –
https://griid.org/2017/01/24/rich-people-applauding-billionaires-at-grand-rapids-econ-club-event-betsy-and-dick-devos-share-a-moment/
Yesterday, MLive ran the following headline, Shinola leader’s comments about Detroit education draws applause for Betsy DeVos.
The article was based upon a talk given by billionaire businessman Jacques Panis, founder of Shinola, a manufacturer based in Detroit.
After his lecture, Panis was joined on stage by Dick DeVos, since this was an Econ Club of Grand Rapids event. However, MLive doesn’t bother to mention it was an Econ Club event until about half way through the article.
Panis was critical of the Detroit Public School system, which is why he got such an applause. The very same people who support the privatization of public education and the Great Lakes Education Project are the same people who have endorsed Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary. So, of course the people who make up the capitalist class in Grand Rapids (those who are members of the Econ Club) applauded the Detroit businessman…
View original post 185 more words
Seven years later: Blurred boundaries, more money
Among the inaugural festivities and protests (inauguration) weekend, Saturday marked the Supreme Court’s landmark Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee ruling — a decision that has left a deeper footprint with every election cycle.
After the 5-4 decision, which freed corporations and unions to make unlimited independent political expenditures, the super PAC was born. And that creature has gone forth and multiplied…
… read more.
A Senate vote on prescription drug price legislation calls loyalties into question
We looked at the numbers to see how special interest spending may have influenced the vote.
Source: A Senate vote on prescription drug price legislation calls loyalties into question
Last week, the Senate voted down an amendment to allow importation of cheaper prescription drugs from Canada.
Most Republicans voted no; most Democrats voted yes.
One who bucked his party, was New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker (D). As a result, multiple outlets have commented on the contributions that Booker, who represents the state that is the traditional manufacturing hub for drugmakers, and other no-voting Democrats have received from pharmaceutical companies.
… read more… https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2017/01/a-senate-vote-on-prescription-drug-price/
Mnuchin had deeper ties to nonprofits that praised his bank in lucrative merger
The deal was helped by supportive letters from 14 nonprofits that received a combined $5.95 million from OneWest’s charitable arm.
Steven Mnuchin, Donald Trump’s Treasury nominee, became a far wealthier man in 2015 when CIT Group spent $3.4 billion to buy up OneWest, a bank Mnuchin chaired.
The deal was helped along by supportive letters written by 14 nonprofits that had received a combined $5.95 million from OneWest’s charitable arm in the years before and after the sale. That helped counter opposition to the merger from advocacy groups. … read more.Source: Mnuchin had deeper ties to nonprofits that praised his bank in lucrative merger
Read more here: https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2017/01/mnuchin-ties-to-nonprofits/
American Liberty [a cartoon from Jordan] – Truthdig
– 2017/01/24
Wonder how the rest of the world is feeling about American “liberty and justice for all”? Check out our cartoons page, featuring an array of political cartoons from around the world.
See the cartoons here: American Liberty [a cartoon from Jordan] – Truthdig http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/american_liberty_a_cartoon_from_jordan_20170124
CFPB’s Cordray Used Private Device, Didn’t Create Records | The Daily Caller
Records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) used a personal mobile device for public business without creating records of the messages.
Read more here: CFPB’s Cordray Used Private Device, Didn’t Create Records | The Daily Caller
From Truthdig: Donald Trump Issues Media Blackout at Multiple Federal Agencies
The moves come amid growing concern that Trump and his appointees will suppress scientific innovation and research to advance their own ideological agenda.
Source: Donald Trump Issues Media Blackout at Multiple Federal Agencies – Truthdig
REMINDER: No one knows how to beat Donald Trump — yet | Eclectablog
‘REMINDER: No one knows how to beat Donald Trump– yet’, at Eclectablog…
You may view the latest post at
http://www.eclectablog.com/2017/01/reminder-no-one-knows-how-to-beat-donald-trump-yet.html
Source: REMINDER: No one knows how to beat Donald Trump — yet | Eclectablog
Betsy DeVos’s Institutional Racism Problem
As you have no doubt heard, the State School Reform Office of Michigan has released the names of the 38 schools that are slated for possible closure. These are schools that have been determined to be among the “lowest performing” schools in the state as measured by “achievement data” for the past 3 years. These are schools that Betsy DeVos, soon to be cleared as Secretary of Education, calls “failing.”
I call B.S.
And, more importantly, I call institutional racism.
Let’s be clear and name this- Betsy DeVos is a huge proponent of institutional racism.
How do you spot institutional racism? It’s pretty easy.
First, here is what you don’t do. You don’t go looking for individual racists. I honestly don’t know DeVos’s personal ideas on race. I am certainly not naming her as a racist. Her intentions are beyond by my ability to determine. More so I don’t see her…
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