“Independence has underpinned financial markets’ trust in central banks for half a century and has provided much of the basis for the U.S.-led international economic order.
Across the Atlantic, Cook’s counterparts at the European Central Bank are alarmed that Trump’s moves could not only set a dangerous precedent — but also have a tangible impact on their own policymaking, which is inexorably influenced by the course charted by the Fed.
“Attacking the independence of the Fed, the Trump administration inflicts a serious damage to the American economy,” said Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras in emailed comments to POLITICO. “The implications will come sooner rather than later.”
When independence is threatened, monetary policy “becomes dysfunctional, it starts doing things that it shouldn’t do,” European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde told Fox News in an interview Sunday before Trump’s move to oust Cook, but after he had already signaled he wanted her out.
“The next step is disruption. It is instability, if not worse. So I think that this should not be debated,” Lagarde added.
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Others expressed a similar wariness, with one Governing Council member, granted anonymity to candidly discuss the sensitive subject, fretting that a breach of the Fed’s independence could have “enormous repercussions on the financial world,” while also stressing the basic principle of due legal process that’s not been afforded to Cook.”
““Deals with the Trump administration simply do not create the kind of lasting certainty everyone is desperate for, because certainty, predictability and strict fidelity to treaties are not White House objectives,” said Dmitry Grozoubinski, a former trade diplomat and author of the book “Why Politicians Lie About Trade.””
The Chinese government didn’t like that a New York state resident had a meeting with Taiwanese officials. They found someone to run against her, supported the opponent, and she lost the election. The Chinese government intervened in this election and successfully changed who represents Americans. The Chinese government has done this to multiple people in multiple elections in multiple countries.
Chinese groups in America have people pledge to achieving Chinese Communist Party specific goals. Chinese Americans in these groups have business interest in China, and the Chinese government can control them by threatening these business interests.
“Pharmacists’ authority to vaccinate individuals varies across state lines. In some places, it’s dependent upon a federal advisory process that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has upended.
At the same time, the Food and Drug Administration has signaled that it will only approve updated Covid vaccines for individuals 65 and older and for younger people considered to be at high risk for severe disease. People, regardless of where they live, may need to prove that they need the shot.
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If the FDA narrows eligibility, people between 6 months and 65 years old who want a Covid vaccine this fall likely will have to navigate some roadblocks.
They, or their parents, may need to convince pharmacies and doctors that they have at least one of the underlying conditions that the FDA has suggested makes them eligible for a dose. The list includes asthma, diabetes, cancer, mood disorders and obesity. It’s unclear at this point what would serve as adequate proof.
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Further complicating vaccination efforts for children this year: the FDA may pull Covid vaccine-maker Pfizer’s emergency use authorization for its shots for children under 5.”
The big city libs want to fund rural hospitals in flyover country. Trump does not.
“President Donald Trump pressed Congress in July to pass his big tax and spending law, which slashed more than $1 trillion from health care programs and could lead to an estimated 11.8 million people losing their health insurance. It also included cuts to what’s known as the provider tax, which nearly all states use to increase Medicaid payments to hospitals, in part to help them fund services in rural communities where providing care may not otherwise be financially possible.
By one estimate, the law’s tax cuts could force more than 300 rural hospitals to close. In Erwin, Tennessee, it may mean Unicoi Hospital never reopens, leaving the county without any hospitals or emergency rooms.”
Trump administration makes legal immigration more difficult.
“The Trump administration said Tuesday it will begin to interview neighbors and colleagues of some immigrants applying for U.S. citizenship, restoring a practice that hasn’t been used since the George H.W. Bush administration.
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While the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act requires these neighborhood checks, the U.S. government hasn’t enforced that since the 1990s. Instead, U.S. officials have relied on the FBI to conduct background checks.
The change is the latest move by the Trump administration to add requirements or steps to the legal immigration process. In recent months, the administration has reduced the amount of time foreign nationals can stay in the United States on student visas and imposed new requirements on the diversity visa lottery requiring applicants to have valid passports at the time they submit their documentation. The administration has said its goal is to limit visa overstays and conduct proper scrutiny of migrants.
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The agency added that it may also begin requiring applicants for U.S. citizenship to submit letters of recommendation from “neighbors, employers, co-workers, and business associates who know the alien and can provide substantiated information about the alien, including any of the requirements for naturalization.”
The memorandum said the agency will encourage applicants to submit these letters proactively and will consider the testimonials as part of its decision whether to conduct in-person checks of the applicant’s workplace and the surroundings of their home.”
“In tossing out the lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Thomas Cullen — an appointee of Donald Trump — lamented what he described as the White House’s months-long “smear” of the federal judiciary.”
“The nation’s top public health agency was left reeling Thursday as the White House worked to expel the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director and replace her with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ‘s current deputy.
The turmoil triggered rare bipartisan alarm as Kennedy tries to advance anti-vaccine policies that are contradicted by decades of scientific research.
Two administration officials said Jim O’Neill, the second-in-command at the Department of Health and Human Services, would supplant Susan Monarez, a longtime government scientist. O’Neill, a former investment executive who also served at the federal health department under President George W. Bush, does not have a medical background.”
Trump ran on mass deportation. Mass deportation inherently requires removing a lot of hard working good people against their will because they crossed a geographic line they weren’t supposed to. If you voted for him thinking he would only remove criminals, then you didn’t pay enough objective attention.
But, Trump is doing more than that. He is violating due process–a basic right to all people. He is forcing a mass of people into detention centers where it is difficult for their family and lawyers to reach them, and where conditions are sometimes abysmal. Trump is using troops and law enforcement to do demonstrations to strike fear.
The militarization of criminal justice can lead to the end of democracy and basic rights.
The administration is actively making it more difficult for those accused of immigration violations to get a lawyer. They are sending police to lawyers’ houses apparently to intimidate them. They are making student loan repayment more difficult for lawyers who defend immigrants.
Masked men who don’t identify themselves and force you into custody is not how democracies do law enforcement.
Trump has purged parts of the military and replaced them with unqualified sycophants. Instead of lawyers telling Trump that what he wants to do is illegal so he can’t do it, this term he has people finding excuses for him to do undemocratic things.