Alternative Visions – Trump’s Grand Strategy – 02.03.17

Jack Rasmus describes Trump’s grand strategy that is now beginning to take shape–economic, social and foreign elements, noting how the Trump strategy reveals great similarities with Nixon in the 1970s and Reagan in 1980s. Trump is Nixon-Reagan on steroids. Rasmus reviews similarities with Nixon and Reagan in Trump’s current attack on US trading partners in Europe, Mexico, Japan, Australia, Germany, Australia and soon China—comparing them with Nixon’s New Economic Program in 1971-72 and Reagan’s 1985-86 attacks on Japan and Europe with the Plaza and Louvre accords. Trump is not against Free Trade, but for bilateral free trade instead of Clinton-Obama multilateral free trade. Trump’s protectionism is tactical. The goal is to advance US corporate interests vis a vis foreign competitors, just as Nixon and Reagan did. Rasmus describes Trump Grand Strategy to date as: Congress drives deregulation of ACA and Dodd-Frank and then focuses on corporate-investor tax cuts. Trump meantime paves the way with Executive Orders, while using EOs to attack immigrants, domestic and foreign; Trump goes slow on major foreign policy changes involving Russia, middle east and Asia, while aggressively attacking immigrants, law and order, proposing election reform and advancing religious groups’ interests. Strong similarities between Nixon, Reagan, and Trump on policies involving defense spending, social program cuts, deficits, strong dollar, attacking the liberal media, undermining unions, massive deregulation, cutting pensions and social security, promoting police and law and order attacks on protestors, and domestic spying and surveillance. (Next week: France and the Future of Europe)

Binoy Kampmark – Australia: The Fall of Tony Abbott

You could hear the knives sharpening several continents away.  Malcolm Turnbull, former communications minister, and now Australian Prime Minister, engineered a successful ambush of Tony Abbott as the evening newsfeeds started getting busy.  When the vote came in, Turnbull had garnered 54 votes to Abbott’s 44. The question was one of timing. The Coalition had been registering losses in poll …

Meet the Corporate Villains Sponsoring the COP21 Climate Talks – Sarah Lazare

Fresh revelations that yet another round of United Nations climate talks—this time the upcoming negotiations in Paris—will be sponsored by some of the very corporations driving global warming have been met with outrage and alarm that the global process continues to be “captured by big polluters.” Pierre-Henri Guignard, Secretary-General of the UN Conference of the Parties 21 (COP21), unveiled the …

Australia: Everybody Must Get Vaccinated, Except the Prime Minister’s Daughters – Jon Rappoport

Meet vaccine refuser, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott We’re talking about Tony Abbott, who just ruled from on high that there are no more exemptions from vaccines in Australia. No more conscientious objections, no more religious exemptions. Only the rare medical exemption, permitted by a doctor. And suddenly, every family who refuses vaccinations for their children will lose up to …

Australia: refuse vaccination, lose $15,000 Prime Minister Tony Abbott is a moron – Jon Rappoport

Watch what’s happening in Australia. Something like it could be coming to your front door. If you live in Australia, it’s already at your door. The Daily Telegraph (4/12) (Anti-vaccination parents face $15,000 welfare hit under ‘No Jab’ reforms) reports: “Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Social Services Minister Scott Morrison will today announce the historic reforms, which mean parents who …