You Will Anyway: There'll be some fireworks on this one

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

There'll be some fireworks on this one

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Tuesday signed a bill requiring President Trump to release his tax returns before he can appear on the state's 2020 primary ballot.

Under S.B. 27, called the "Presidential Tax Transparency and Accountability Act," any candidate running for president or governor of California will be required to file copies of the last five years of their tax returns to the California secretary of State.

"As one of the largest economies in the world and home to one in nine Americans eligible to vote, California has a special responsibility to require this information of presidential and gubernatorial candidates," Newsom said in a statement.

"These are extraordinary times and states have a legal and moral duty to do everything in their power to ensure leaders seeking the highest offices meet minimal standards, and to restore public confidence. The disclosure required by this bill will shed light on conflicts of interest, self-dealing, or influence from domestic and foreign business interest."

[...]

The bill was overwhelmingly approved by the State Assembly and Senate earlier this month.

It includes an “urgency clause,” meaning it would take effect immediately and force the candidates running for president in 2020 to disclose their financial statements.

[...]

In a statement, Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh called the move "unconstitutional."

[...]

"The Constitution is clear on the qualifications for someone to serve as president and states cannot add additional requirements on their own," he said. "The bill also violates the 1st Amendment right of association since California can't tell political parties which candidates their members can or cannot vote for in a primary election."

[...]

The president isn't likely to have a problem securing the GOP presidential nomination regardless of California's move.

Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld is the only Republican candidate to formally announce a primary challenge to Trump so far in the 2020 presidential race.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) has already voted to express its “undivided support” for Trump as its 2020 nominee, and Trump's reelection campaign has staffed up with party insiders to line up its delegate strategy well ahead of the party's nominating convention.

The Hill

Still, it's the message.

UPDATE 9/20:

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"America: just a nation of two hundred million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns and no qualms about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable." ~ Hunter S. Thompson

"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws." ~ Mayer Rothschild

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"What matters in journalism isn't politics, which are as universal and inescapable as breathing. What matters -- along with a fundamentally adversarial attitude toward government, without which "journalism" is simply public relations -- is integrity, transparency, evidence, coherence, and principle. These are the principles on which we should evaluate the quality of journalism, and their absence is why some journalists are so desperate to get you to focus on something else." ~ Barry Eisler

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Life, as Explained in "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead"

GUILDENSTERN: What a fine persecution---to be kept intrigued without ever quite being enlightened.

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ROSENCRANTZ : The only thing that makes it bearable is the irrational belief that somebody interesting will come on in a minute.

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GUILDENSTERN: But for God's sake what are we supposed to do?!

PLAYER: Relax. Respond. That's what people do. You can't go through life questioning your situation at every turn.

GUILDENSTERN: But we don't know what's going on, or what to do with ourselves. We don't know how to act.

PLAYER: Act natural. You know why you're here at least.

GUILDENSTERN: We only know what we're told, and that's little enough. And for all we know it isn't even true.

PLAYER: For all anyone knows, nothing is. Everything has to be taken on trust; truth is only that which is taken to be true. It's the currency of living. There may be nothing behind it, but it doesn't make any difference so long as it is honoured. One acts on assumptions.

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GUILDENSTERN : We act on scraps of information... sifting half-remembered directions that we can hardly separate from instinct.

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PLAYER: Life is a gamble, at terrible odds-if it was a bet you wouldn't take it.