This essay is an insightful topical discussion spanning the climate, education, health, socioeconomic inequality, poverty reduction, social justice, diplomacy, international collaboration, development economi ... read full comment
HOW STUPID!!!
This essay is an insightful topical discussion spanning the climate, education, health, socioeconomic inequality, poverty reduction, social justice, diplomacy, international collaboration, development economics (economic industrialization), war and pacifism, economic interventionism, price mechanism, governance, etc. Simply, it is an interview we believe holds a great body of lessons for Ghanaian technocrats.
LET'S WAIT AND SEE HOW MANY IDIOTIC TECNOCRATS WILL ACTUALLY REACT TO THIS COPIED & PASTED RUBBISH.
Susy 8 years ago
https://youtu.be/rZ5G_iWStds
https://youtu.be/rZ5G_iWStds
Prof Lungu 8 years ago
Challenge to all high officials!
It is very good reading this interview with Mr. Bernie Sanders, by Ezra Klein.
Mr. Klein is a storied reporter and Mr. Sanders is a democratic socialist politician in capitalist Americ ... read full comment
Challenge to all high officials!
It is very good reading this interview with Mr. Bernie Sanders, by Ezra Klein.
Mr. Klein is a storied reporter and Mr. Sanders is a democratic socialist politician in capitalist America who never lost an election, from City Hall, to the US House of Representatives, to the US Senate.
READ: "...In terms of education, I don't know how you have the United States being competitive in a global economy if we do not have the best-educated workforce in the world. What does that mean? It means that everybody should be able to get all of the education they need, regardless of the income of their families. What does that mean? It means we should go back to where we were 50 years ago and what Germany and many other countries are doing...You have the desire to go to college? Public colleges and universities will be tuition-free," because education must be a right of all people..."
WE SAY: So it goes!
Yes, in capitalist Germany education is tuition free. In fact, we heard the other day on the radio that Germans in particular frown on the idea that one has to pay college tuition in any economy.
So, the last we heard, many Americans are actually going overseas (e.g. Germany) to get quality education.
And it is more than for the education!
it also goes for quality of life!
francis kwarteng 8 years ago
By David Cay Johnston
I have covered Donald Trump off and on for 27 years — including breaking the story that in 1990, when he claimed to be worth $3 billion but could not pay interest on loans coming due, his bankers pu ... read full comment
By David Cay Johnston
I have covered Donald Trump off and on for 27 years — including breaking the story that in 1990, when he claimed to be worth $3 billion but could not pay interest on loans coming due, his bankers put his net worth at minus $295 million. And so I have closely watched what Trump does and what government documents reveal about his conduct.
Reporters, competing Republican candidates, and voters would learn a lot about Trump if they asked for complete answers to these 21 questions.
So, Mr. Trump…
1. You call yourself an “ardent philanthropist,” but have not donated a dollar to The Donald J. Trump Foundation since 2006. You’re not even the biggest donor to the foundation, having given about $3.7 million in the previous two decades while businesses associated with Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Entertainment gave the Trump Foundation $5 million. All the money since 2006 has come from those doing business with you.
How does giving away other people’s money, in what could be seen as a kickback scheme, make you a philanthropist?
2. New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman successfully sued you, alleging your Trump University was an “illegal educational institution” that charged up to $35,000 for “Trump Elite” mentorships promising personal advice from you, but you never showed up and your “special” list of lenders was photocopied from Scotsman Guide, a magazine found at any bookstore.
Why did you not show up?
3. You claimed The Learning Annex paid you a $1 million speaking fee, but on Larry King Live, you acknowledged the fee was $400,000 and the rest was the promotional value.
Since you have testified under oath that your public statements inflate the value of your assets, can voters use this as a guide, so whenever you say $1, in reality it is only 40 cents?
4. The one-page financial statement handed out at Trump Tower when you announced your candidacy says you’ve given away $102 million worth of land.
Will you supply a list of each of these gifts, with the values you assigned to them?
5. The biggest gift you have talked about appears to be an easement at the Palos Verdes, California, golf course bearing your name on land you wanted to build houses on, but that land is subject to landslides and is now the golf course driving range.
Did you or one of your businesses take a tax deduction for this land that you could not build on and do you think anyone should get a $25 million tax deduction for a similar self-serving gift?
6. Trump Tower is not a steel girder high rise, but 58 stories of concrete.
Why did you use concrete instead of traditional steel girders?
7. Trump Tower was built by S&A Concrete, whose owners were “Fat” Tony Salerno, head of the Genovese crime family, and Paul “Big Paul” Castellano, head of the Gambinos, another well-known crime family.
If you did not know of their ownership, what does that tell voters about your management skills?
8. You later used S&A Concrete on other Manhattan buildings bearing your name.
Why?
9. In demolishing the Bonwit Teller building to make way for Trump Tower, you had no labor troubles, even though only about 15 unionists worked at the site alongside 150 Polish men, most of whom entered the country illegally, lacked hard hats, and slept on the site.
How did you manage to avoid labor troubles, like picketing and strikes, and job safety inspections while using mostly non-union labor at a union worksite — without hard hats for the Polish workers?
10. A federal judge later found you conspired to cheat both the Polish workers, who were paid less than $5 an hour cash with no benefits, and the union health and welfare fund. You testified that you did not notice the Polish workers, whom the judge noted were easy to spot because they were the only ones on the work site without hard hats.
What should voters make of your failure or inability to notice 150 men demolishing a multi-story building without hard hats?
11. You sent your top lieutenant, lawyer Harvey I. Freeman, to negotiate with Ken Shapiro, the “investment banker” for Nicky Scarfo, the especially vicious killer who was Atlantic City’s mob boss, according to federal prosecutors and the New Jersey State Commission on Investigation.
Since you emphasize your negotiating skills, why didn’t you negotiate yourself?
12. You later paid a Scarfo associate twice the value of a lot, officials determined.
Since you boast that you always negotiate the best prices, why did you pay double the value of this real estate?
13. You were the first person recommended for a casino license by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Division of Gaming Enforcement, which opposed all other applicants or was neutral. Later it came out in official proceedings that you had persuaded the state to limit its investigation of your background.
Why did you ask that the investigation into your background be limited?
14. You were the target of a 1979 bribery investigation. No charges were filed, but New Jersey law mandates denial of a license to anyone omitting any salient fact from their casino application.
Why did you omit the 1979 bribery investigation?
15. The prevailing legal case on license denials involved a woman, seeking a blackjack dealer license, who failed to disclose that as a retail store clerk she had given unauthorized discounts to friends.
In light of the standard set for low-level license holders like blackjack dealers, how did you manage to keep your casino license?
16. In 1986 you wrote a letter seeking lenient sentencing for Joseph Weichselbaum, a convicted marijuana and cocaine trafficker who lived in Trump Tower and in a case that came before your older sister, Judge Maryanne Trump Barry of U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey, who recused herself because Weichselbaum was the Trump casinos and Trump family helicopter consultant and pilot.
Why did you do business with Weichselbaum, both before and after his conviction?
17. Your first major deal was converting the decrepit Commodore Hotel next to Grand Central Station into a Grand Hyatt. Mayor Abe Beame, a close ally of your father Fred, gave you the first-ever property tax abatement on a New York City hotel, worth at least $400 million over 40 years.
Since you boast that you are a self-made billionaire, how do you rationalize soliciting and accepting $400 million of welfare from the taxpayers?
18. You say that your experience as a manager will allow you to run the federal government much better than President Obama or Hillary Clinton. On Fortune Magazine’s 1999 list of the 496 most admired companies, your casino company ranked at the bottom – worst or almost worst in management, use of assets, employee talent, long-term investment value, and social responsibility. Your casino company later went bankrupt.
Why should voters believe your claims that you are a competent manager?
19. Your Trump Plaza casino was fined $200,000 for discriminating against women and minority blackjack dealers to curry favor with gambler Robert Libutti, who lost $12 million, and who insisted he never asked that blacks and women be replaced.
Why should we believe you “love” what you call “the blacks” and the enterprise you seek to lead would not discriminate again in the future if doing so appeared to be lucrative?
20. Public records (cited in my book Temples of Chance) show that as your career took off, you legally reported a negative income and paid no income taxes as summarized below:
1975
Income: $76,210
Tax Paid: $18,714
1976
Income: $24,594
Tax Paid: $10,832
1977
Income: $118,530
Tax Paid: $42,386
1978
Income: ($406,379)
Tax Paid: $0
1979
Income: ($3,443,560)
Tax Paid: $0
Will you release your tax returns? And if not, why not?
21. In your first bestselling book, The Art of the Deal, you told how you had not gotten much work done on your first casino, so you had crews dig and fill holes to create a show. You said one director of your partner, Holiday Inns, asked what was going on. “This was difficult for me to answer, but fortunately this board member was more curious than he was skeptical,” you wrote.
Given your admission that you used deception to hide your failure to accomplish the work, why should we believe you now?
All of them are lick-spittle zionist sychophants. Trump is saying things to weaken the republican party. The republicans are so full of hate so it is quite easy for him. The only serious candidate was Ron Paul but just bec ... read full comment
All of them are lick-spittle zionist sychophants. Trump is saying things to weaken the republican party. The republicans are so full of hate so it is quite easy for him. The only serious candidate was Ron Paul but just because he spoke against U.S militarism and Israeli atrocities, he was not even allowed to debate. This whole thing is a circus.
Balderash 8 years ago
Tweaa! He supports Israeli brutality of the Palestinians. What kind of socialist is this? No serious socialist will be allowed to compete is american capitalist democracy. He is a fraud. He will not get the nomination any ... read full comment
Tweaa! He supports Israeli brutality of the Palestinians. What kind of socialist is this? No serious socialist will be allowed to compete is american capitalist democracy. He is a fraud. He will not get the nomination anyway. The man cannot even defend blacks against police brutality. He claims socialist is about defending the middle class? What a hog wash. You see he can't even name the poor. Some socialist indeed.
francis kwarteng 8 years ago
Balderash,
Ei Ghanaweb! Obviously you seem not to have read the article. Some commentators don't read certain articles and still want to pontificate about them (Please go back and read "Bernie Sanders Is Not A 'Socialist.' ... read full comment
Balderash,
Ei Ghanaweb! Obviously you seem not to have read the article. Some commentators don't read certain articles and still want to pontificate about them (Please go back and read "Bernie Sanders Is Not A 'Socialist.'That Title Belings To George W. Bush." Huffington Post. Author: H. A. Goodman. Some Ghanaweb readers nag and nag and nag that so and so that an article is this and that, yet they still want culumnists to read the articles and interpret them for them).
I am saying this because all your comments about Sanders are exactly the opposite of what the article actualy says about him and his politics:
1) Bernie Sanders says he is not a "socialist." He says he is a "democratic-socialist." There is a world of technical difference between socialism and democratic socialism (and he has explained this difference in almost all his public interviews). And he made this clarification at the beginning of the article (BERNIE SANDERS SAYS HE IS NOT A SOCIALIST BUT A DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST).
2) Bernie Sanders supports both Palestinians and Israelis. He made this clear in the interview (Please go back and read the article).
3) You claim "he claims socialist is about defending the middle class." Did you really read the article? The man is concerned about both the middle class and the working class and therefore uses the model of "democratic socialism" successfully aplied in the Nordic countries to illustrate how they have propped up these two classes (something America has failed to do in recent years), thus making their societies stronger and fairer.
4) You also said "the man cannot even defend blacks against police brutality." Even if you did not read this article and the one that came before it, you can have done a little research about his political career as a seasoned politician before making your comments.
5) Please go here and listen to what he has to say about police brutality against African Americans and others in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer (Link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjV4NniZyfA). Go to the link (www.commondreams.org/views/2015/07/28/bernie-sanders-strong-words-structural-racism-and-inequality). You should read more about his active participation in the Civil Rights Movement.
Have you heard or read anything about Bernie Sanders and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Commitee (SNCC) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)? Please go here to this link (www.berniesanders.com/issues/racial-justice/) and read "Issues; Racial Justice)...
I don't have to tell you everything about Sanders. Make time and read more about his political career. It is all in the public domain. You need to go back and read this article and the one before it to see where your confusions are in order to remove them.
6) Obama, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and other Democratic presidents can arguably be described as democratic-socialists. Therefore, a democratic-socialist like Bernie Sanders can be elected president 9you can watch many of his interviews online).
Finally, this is what Sanders' position on police brutality against African Americans (and others):
........................................................................................................................................................
Title: "Bernie Sanders becomes the first candidate to speak out on Sandra Bland: “We need real police reform”
Author: Sophia Tesfaye (July 22, 2015)
Bernie Sanders released a forceful statement blasting the conduct of Sandra Bland’s arresting officer as “police abuse” and calling for “real police reform.” So far, Sanders is the only presidential candidate to speak publicly about the death of Bland while in police custody.
The arrest and subsequent death of the 28-year-old African American woman in a small Texas town set-off a national outcry last week after local officials ruled her death in a jell cell a suicide. Witness cell phone footage later released revealed Bland yelling during the arrest that the officer had slammed her head on the ground. Authorities said she hung herself with a plastic bag in a jail cell three days later on July 13.
Following Sanders’ tense confrontation with #BlackLivesMatters activists at the progressive Netroots Nation conference in Phoenix on Saturday, the independent Vermont senator added a passage to his stump speech in Houston on Sunday referencing Bland’s death, a reference the Texas Tribune said drew the longest and loudest applause from the crowd. “It is unacceptable that police officers beat up people or kill people,” Sanders told the audience in Houston. “If they do that, they have got to be held accountable.”
After dashcam video of Bland’s arrest was released last night showing the officer, who had pulled Bland over for what he described as failing to signal a turn, open Bland’s driver side door and threaten to “light her up” with his taser if she didn’t stop smoking a cigarette and exit the vehicle, Sanders was quick to release a statement Tuesday condemning the arrest:
"This video of the arrest of Sandra Bland shows totally outrageous police behavior. No one should be yanked from her car, thrown to the ground, assaulted and arrested for a minor traffic stop. The result is that three days later she is dead in her jail cell. This video highlights once again why we need real police reform. People should not die for a minor traffic infraction. This type of police abuse has become an all-too-common occurrence for people of color and it must stop."
...Sanders is the only presidential candidate to mention Bland on the campaign trail, so far. Activists have utilized the #SayHerName hashtag on social media to garner attention to the Bland case.
........................................................................................................................................................
Thanks.
Kwame 8 years ago
Francis Kwarteng the dog slipped out of bag. Bierne Sanders is a social democrat, to us communist social democrats are not the friends of the people, they are not friends of colonial people, people suffering under racial segr ... read full comment
Francis Kwarteng the dog slipped out of bag. Bierne Sanders is a social democrat, to us communist social democrats are not the friends of the people, they are not friends of colonial people, people suffering under racial segregation policies and neocolonialism. You wrote that they represent the middle class in society, however to us communist the class we know and defend against all forms of exploitation without regard to race is the proletariat. To us communist so long as there exist classes that exploit other classes, then there is no social justice. Communist are not there to defend capitalism to see to its fall because it is only the elimination of exploitation of man by man that will bring true freedom and justice to mankind.
In terms of technological development I am not sure that we can compare those Northern European countries to China, which is a socialist state with a communist party in power in terms of even socioeconomic development, though they are part and parcel of the capitalist socioeconomic system and never did they had sanctions applied against them by their fellow imperialists. I am not sure if those countries offer more scholarships to developing countries than Cuba which does not attach those assistance to any form of socioeconomic orientation.
Fascism, racial segregation and Zionism are parts and parcel of capitalist way of life, a system that create enemies that must be feared thus dividing the rank of the proletariat so that it will be able to sustain its exploitation by hiding the inadequacy of the system of exploitation behind the veal of those inhuman systems.
All presidents of the U.S. imperialist and other capitalist countries are just puppets in the hands of the monopolies, and Barack Obama is not an exception.
francis kwarteng 8 years ago
Dear Kwame,
How are you?
I have some interesting remarks for you, but you first have to tell me what "COMMUNIST SOCIAL DEMOCRATS" before I can proceed (the phrase sounds oxymoronic to me, no insult or disrespect intende ... read full comment
Dear Kwame,
How are you?
I have some interesting remarks for you, but you first have to tell me what "COMMUNIST SOCIAL DEMOCRATS" before I can proceed (the phrase sounds oxymoronic to me, no insult or disrespect intended. It sounds as oxymoronic as "CIVIL LIBERTARIAN."
I look forward to your response.
Thanks.
MARCUS AMPADU 8 years ago
There is not much this "insightful topical discussion..." has to offer as lessons for Ghanaian technocrats.
Francis the world's geopolitics has changed.
The once bipolar world, divided between the rival superpowers of US ... read full comment
There is not much this "insightful topical discussion..." has to offer as lessons for Ghanaian technocrats.
Francis the world's geopolitics has changed.
The once bipolar world, divided between the rival superpowers of US & USSR, is now a multipolar world of about 200 countries - many of them new like Ghana and other Afrcan nations.
Identifying pathways forward in this new age should be our primary focus to help us assist our technocrats. I don't think this interview between Ezra Klein & Bernie Sanders has much to offer our technocrats in the new vital field of thought and action.
Please convince me that I'm wrong.
francis kwarteng 8 years ago
Dear Marcus,
Please read the article closely again (For instance, you are talking about US & USSR (bipolarity) but as you can see Sanders is talking about multi-polarity, namely, international collaboration in terms of com ... read full comment
Dear Marcus,
Please read the article closely again (For instance, you are talking about US & USSR (bipolarity) but as you can see Sanders is talking about multi-polarity, namely, international collaboration in terms of combating environmental challenges, poverty, etc..thus your comments are way off track).
Read again and come back. Our technocrats have so much to learn from this interview.
Thanks.
MARCUS AMPADU 8 years ago
Mr. Kwarteng, you need to go back to reread my comments. Nowhere did I talk about the bipolar rivalry between US & USSR. In fact, if you read my remarks carefully, I did mention the complex multipolar world of more than 200 c ... read full comment
Mr. Kwarteng, you need to go back to reread my comments. Nowhere did I talk about the bipolar rivalry between US & USSR. In fact, if you read my remarks carefully, I did mention the complex multipolar world of more than 200 countries; I alluded to Ghana and other African nations, with fragile institutions that would need guidance from African intellectuals to assist our technocrats to traverse this new age.
My point is this the interview with Senator Sanders does practically nothing to guide the future course of economic & social
development and environmental protection for Ghanains & African people. I am referring to the WSSD Plan. In 2002, at the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, the WSSD Plan of Implementation spoke of "the integration of the three components of sustainable development - economic development, social development and environmental protection.
Maybe Ezra Klein should have directed the interview questions to WSSD.
Our technocrats have to be live long learners, in my opinion.
francis kwarteng 8 years ago
Dear Marcus,
This is what you wrote:
"Francis the world's geopolitics has changed.The once bipolar world, divided between the rival superpowers of US & USSR, is now a multipolar world of about 200 countries - many of th ... read full comment
Dear Marcus,
This is what you wrote:
"Francis the world's geopolitics has changed.The once bipolar world, divided between the rival superpowers of US & USSR, is now a multipolar world of about 200 countries - many of them new like Ghana and other Afrcan nations..."
What does "DIVIDED BETWEEN THE RIVAL SUPERPOWERS OF US & USSR" mean? Besides, the word "bipolar" used in a political sense, as you did, in reference to the US and the USSR connotes "ideological rivalry" between the two superpowers.
Finally and ironically, 2002 WSSD Plan you mentioned and its integration of economic development, social development, and environmetal protection (and more) are exactly what this interview is about.
Anyway, you still have not given me any summary of the article for me to respond to. And if you go back to the article again you will see "the integration of the three components of sustainable development-economic development, social development and environmental protection." In fact this essentially what the article is about. With this answer you may forgo the summary.
All the answers you seek are all there in the article as per your WSSD Plan (202)(forget the summary). Your quote perfectly summarizes the article's central message. The only difference is that Bernie Sanders did not give his interview in those six phrases: Economic Development, Social Development, Environmental Protection. These six phrases best summarize the Sanders-Klein interview!
THANKS FOR MAKING IT EASIER FOR ME AND FOR YOURSELF. NO NEED TO SUMMARIZE THE ARTICLE FOR ME. YOU HAVE THE ANSWERS IN THE 2002 WSSD PLAN OF IMPLEMENTATION. MY WORK IS DONE.
Thanks.
francis kwarteng 8 years ago
Dear Marcus,
I think I did not frame my initial response to you very well. In other words for me to tell you what Ghanaian technocrats can learn from this article, you need to give me a summary of what you think the articl ... read full comment
Dear Marcus,
I think I did not frame my initial response to you very well. In other words for me to tell you what Ghanaian technocrats can learn from this article, you need to give me a summary of what you think the article is about and from there I can provide some useful answers to your question.
But as you read the article again, please look closely at Ghana, West Africa, Africa and the world. I will only say this for now.
I look forward to reading your summary of the article.
Thanks.
C.Y. ANDY-K 8 years ago
Another good stuff but it is unfortunately lost on the savages of Ghanaweb! What a shame!
Andy-K
Another good stuff but it is unfortunately lost on the savages of Ghanaweb! What a shame!
Andy-K
francis kwarteng 8 years ago
Dear Bro,
Say it again!
Thanks.
Dear Bro,
Say it again!
Thanks.
MARCUS AMPADU 8 years ago
Andy-K, you have no right to call those who don't share your view, "the savages of Ghanaweb". It is not right, sir.
Andy-K, you have no right to call those who don't share your view, "the savages of Ghanaweb". It is not right, sir.
HOW STUPID!!!
This essay is an insightful topical discussion spanning the climate, education, health, socioeconomic inequality, poverty reduction, social justice, diplomacy, international collaboration, development economi ...
read full comment
https://youtu.be/rZ5G_iWStds
Challenge to all high officials!
It is very good reading this interview with Mr. Bernie Sanders, by Ezra Klein.
Mr. Klein is a storied reporter and Mr. Sanders is a democratic socialist politician in capitalist Americ ...
read full comment
By David Cay Johnston
I have covered Donald Trump off and on for 27 years — including breaking the story that in 1990, when he claimed to be worth $3 billion but could not pay interest on loans coming due, his bankers pu ...
read full comment
All of them are lick-spittle zionist sychophants. Trump is saying things to weaken the republican party. The republicans are so full of hate so it is quite easy for him. The only serious candidate was Ron Paul but just bec ...
read full comment
Tweaa! He supports Israeli brutality of the Palestinians. What kind of socialist is this? No serious socialist will be allowed to compete is american capitalist democracy. He is a fraud. He will not get the nomination any ...
read full comment
Balderash,
Ei Ghanaweb! Obviously you seem not to have read the article. Some commentators don't read certain articles and still want to pontificate about them (Please go back and read "Bernie Sanders Is Not A 'Socialist.' ...
read full comment
Francis Kwarteng the dog slipped out of bag. Bierne Sanders is a social democrat, to us communist social democrats are not the friends of the people, they are not friends of colonial people, people suffering under racial segr ...
read full comment
Dear Kwame,
How are you?
I have some interesting remarks for you, but you first have to tell me what "COMMUNIST SOCIAL DEMOCRATS" before I can proceed (the phrase sounds oxymoronic to me, no insult or disrespect intende ...
read full comment
There is not much this "insightful topical discussion..." has to offer as lessons for Ghanaian technocrats.
Francis the world's geopolitics has changed.
The once bipolar world, divided between the rival superpowers of US ...
read full comment
Dear Marcus,
Please read the article closely again (For instance, you are talking about US & USSR (bipolarity) but as you can see Sanders is talking about multi-polarity, namely, international collaboration in terms of com ...
read full comment
Mr. Kwarteng, you need to go back to reread my comments. Nowhere did I talk about the bipolar rivalry between US & USSR. In fact, if you read my remarks carefully, I did mention the complex multipolar world of more than 200 c ...
read full comment
Dear Marcus,
This is what you wrote:
"Francis the world's geopolitics has changed.The once bipolar world, divided between the rival superpowers of US & USSR, is now a multipolar world of about 200 countries - many of th ...
read full comment
Dear Marcus,
I think I did not frame my initial response to you very well. In other words for me to tell you what Ghanaian technocrats can learn from this article, you need to give me a summary of what you think the articl ...
read full comment
Another good stuff but it is unfortunately lost on the savages of Ghanaweb! What a shame!
Andy-K
Dear Bro,
Say it again!
Thanks.
Andy-K, you have no right to call those who don't share your view, "the savages of Ghanaweb". It is not right, sir.