Trump’s Tax Returns: 1985-1994, Show Massive $1.17 Billion Loss

Trump spent $365 million in 1989 to buy a shuttle operation from Eastern Airlines. It never turned a profit.

Sorry, but I can only find this news from a lengthy article the New York Times to be very sweet indeed.  Yes, the period involved is from years ago, but the huge losses reflected may suggest why Trump doesn't want House Democrats to see his tax returns for the last six years since they might undercut the image he has sold to his cult followers - or provide leads to illicit income.  The story strongly suggests that if there is any "fake news" it is Trump's "success" story that he has been disseminating for years. One can only imagine the Twitter storm that will ensue from the malignant narcissist -in-chief over the Times putting out some of the truth about him - including the many years he paid no taxes.  My view: Trump is a liar, fraud and con-artist who has lived by duping and screwing others financially.  Now he is screwing the entire nation and his cult followers are too stupid and/or bigoted to realize they have been conned. Here are some article highlights:

By the time his master-of-the-universe memoir “Trump: The Art of the Deal” hit bookstores in 1987, Donald J. Trump was already in deep financial distress, losing tens of millions of dollars on troubled business deals, according to previously unrevealed figures from his federal income tax returns.

Mr. Trump was propelled to the presidency, in part, by a self-spun narrative of business success and of setbacks triumphantly overcome. He has attributed his first run of reversals and bankruptcies to the recession that took hold in 1990. But 10 years of tax information obtained by The New York Times paints a different, and far bleaker, picture of his deal-making abilities and financial condition.

Though the information does not cover the tax years at the center of an escalating battle between the Trump administration and Congress, it traces the most tumultuous chapter in a long business career — an era of fevered acquisition and spectacular collapse. 

The numbers show that in 1985, Mr. Trump reported losses of $46.1 million from his core businesses — largely casinos, hotels and retail space in apartment buildings. They continued to lose money every year, totaling $1.17 billion in losses for the decade.

In fact, year after year, Mr. Trump appears to have lost more money than nearly any other individual American taxpayer, The Times found when it compared his results with detailed information the I.R.S. compiles on an annual sampling of high-income earners.

Trump lost so much money that he was able to avoid paying income taxes for eight of the 10 years. It is not known whether the I.R.S. later required changes after audits.

Since the 2016 presidential campaign, journalists at The Times and elsewhere have been trying to piece together Mr. Trump’s complex and concealed finances. While The Times did not obtain the president’s actual tax returns, it received the information contained in the returns from someone who had legal access to it. The Times was then able to find matching results in the I.R.S. information on top earners — a publicly available database that each year comprises a one-third sampling of those taxpayers, with identifying details removed. It also confirmed significant findings using other public documents, along with confidential Trump family tax and financial records from the newspaper’s 2018 investigation into the origin of the president’s wealth.

Mark J. Mazur, a former director of research, analysis and statistics at the I.R.S., said that, far from being considered unreliable, data used to create such transcripts had undergone quality control for decades and had been used to analyze economic trends and set national policy. In addition, I.R.S. auditors often refer to the transcripts as “handy” summaries of tax returns, said Mr. Mazur, now director of the nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center in Washington.

In fact, the source of The Times’s newly obtained information was able to provide several years of unpublished tax figures from the president’s father, the builder Fred C. Trump. They matched up precisely with Fred Trump’s actual returns, which had been obtained by The Times in the earlier investigation.

Mr. Trump built a business licensing his name, became a television celebrity and ran for the White House by branding himself a self-made billionaire. . . . Yet over the years, the actual extent of his wealth has been the subject of much doubt and debate. He broke with four decades of precedent in refusing to release any of his tax returns as a presidential candidate, and until now only a few pages of his returns have become public. Last year’s Times investigation found that he had received at least $413 million in 2018 dollars from his father. The new tax information does not answer questions raised by House Democrats in their pursuit of the last six years of Mr. Trump’s tax returns — about his recent business dealings and possible foreign sources of financing and influence. Nor does it offer a fundamentally new narrative of his picaresque career.

But in the granular detail of tax results, it gives a precise accounting of [Trump's] the president’s financial failures and of the constantly shifting focus that would characterize his decades in business. In contrast to his father’s stable and profitable empire of rental apartments in Brooklyn and Queens, Mr. Trump’s primary sources of income changed year after year, from big stock earnings, to a single year of more than $67.1 million in salary, to a mysterious $52.9 million windfall in interest income. But always, those gains were overwhelmed by losses on his casinos and other projects.

The new information also suggests that Mr. Trump’s 1990 collapse might have struck several years earlier if not for his brief side career posing as a corporate raider.

In New York, the attorney general’s office is investigating the financing of several major Trump Organization projects; Deutsche Bank has already begun turning over documents. The state attorney general is also examining issues raised last year by The Times’s investigation, which revealed that much of the money Mr. Trump had received from his father came from his participation in dubious tax schemes, including instances of outright fraud.

The 10-year total: $1.17 billion in losses.

Mr. Trump was able to lose all that money without facing the usual consequences — such as a steep drop in his standard of living — in part because most of it belonged to others, to the banks and bond investors who had supplied the cash to fuel his acquisitions. And as The Times’s earlier investigation showed, Mr. Trump secretly leaned on his father’s wealth to continue living like a winner and to stage a comeback.

SCOTUS Rejects Challenge to Gay Conversion Ban

In my view, raising a LGBT child in a right wing Christian home is akin to child abuse.  The only thing worse is subjecting that child to bogus gay "conversion therapy" which claims that a gay child can be "changed" and made straight.  While I was never subjected to such therapy, being raised conservative Catholic and trying to "pray away" the gay for decades, I am well aware of the harm one suffers emotionally and psychologically from trying to change the unchangeable.   Every legitimate medical and mental health association in America has condemned "conversion therapy" and, in fact labeled the practice dangerous with suicide being one of the possible outcomes.  Two things keep the practice alive: (i) parents who have brainwashed by their churches - and want to avoid the "embarrassment" of a gay child - and (ii) quakes and "ministries" out to make a buck.   Several states have finally banned the practice for minors.  A case from California challenged the ban as an improper restraint on "religious freedom" - the Christofascists' new means of attack on anything that restricts their ability to mistreat others.  In a second appeal challenging California's ban, the Supreme Court yesterday rejected the specious claims of advocates of this form of abuse.  Bloomberg looks at the defeat for the forces of ignorance and bigotry:

The U.S. Supreme Court let stand a California law that bans licensed therapists from working with children to change their sexual orientation from gay to straight, rejecting an appeal that said the measure violates religious rights.

The rebuff leaves intact a federal appeals court decision upholding California’s 2012 first-of-its-kind law. The measure prohibits the form of counseling known as “conversion therapy.”

The ban was challenged by three people, led by licensed therapist and minister Donald Welch, who said it interferes with their right to practice their religious beliefs.

California officials urged the Supreme Court not to hear the appeal, saying the law doesn’t restrict what religious leaders can say, except in the context of a state-licensed therapy session.

The law applies to licensed doctors, psychologists, family therapists and social workers, and it subjects violators to discipline by state licensing bodies. The law lets licensed providers refer minors to religious leaders.

The case is Welch v. Brown, 16-845.

The practice needs to be banned entirely nationwide, and should ban unlicensed religious groups from inflicting the abuse on both minors and adults.  No legitimate research supports the practice and many former supporters now denounce it. 

Did Mitt Romney Dye His Face to Try to Appeal to Hispanics?

Click image to enlarge

Something bizarre is going on with Mitt Romney as the images above indicate.  Some are suggesting that Mitt - who has proven himself only too willing to pander to whatever group he is a addressing at any moment in time - darkened his face before appealing to Univision viewers.  The photos definitely suggest there's been a sudden darken of Romney's face (but not his hands or apparently his ears as clearly seen above) from what it was in other recent photos.  The other hypocrisy surrounding Romney's statements is the fact that while trying to make himself sound like the son of quasi-Hispanics, he failed to mention why his grandparents were in Mexico in the first place: to escape the polygamy laws in the United States.  Of course, telling the truth about that would seriously conflict with Romney's current claim that "throughout history, marriage has always been one man and one woman."  Except, of course, in Romney's own family tree and that of most Mormons.  Gawker looks at Romney's disingenuous "brown face" appeal.  Here are highlights:

Mitt Romney currently trails President Obama among registered Latino voters by nearly 40%, and getting caught saying things like "it would be helpful to be Latino" certainly isn't helping.

But has it gotten so bad that Romney is now resorting to "brownface" in order to make himself more appealing to Univision viewers? Democratic Underground has looked at the photo above from last night's "presidential forum" and concluded that, yes, Romney definitely "dyed his face brown."

Wonkette wonders if perhaps the GOP nominee was involved in some sort of "self-tanner accident" or perhaps went out tanning with John Boehner "for a little pick-me-up."

Mitt Romney is certainly looking more crispy than usual, but is that enough to call him out for, as Gossip On This put it, trying to win "browning points"? Maybe he's just putting his Snooki love to practice.

One can only wonder what kind of fun Saturday Night Live and/or The Daily Show will have with this insanity. 

California Bill to Ban Reparative Therapy Advances in General Assembly

Today was another bad day for the charlatans and Christofascists who market the snake oil known as "reparative therapy."  Why?  Because today the California General Assembly’s Committee on Business, Professions And Consumer Protection voted 5-2 to endorse S.B. 1172, a bill to protect LGBT persons from harmful, fraudulent therapy.   Would that every state would follow California's lead and end these bogus "ministries" that prey on the ignorant and desperate and enrich themselves and their "professional ex-gays" who frankly make tawdry whores look virtuous in comparison.  Some of the testimony before the Committee was from those who had been forced into reparative therapy against their will by their parents.  Here are highlights from the New Civil Rights Movement:

California General Assembly’s Committee on Business, Professions And Consumer Protection voted 5-2 to endorse S.B. 1172, a bill to protect LGBT persons from the harmful “treatment.” The measure now heads to the full Assembly.

Senate Bill 1172 would prohibit a psychotherapist from engaging in sexual orientation change efforts with a minor patient, regardless of a parent’s willingness or desire to authorize such “treatments.” The bill passed the Senate in May and now is being considered in the Assembly.

Ryan Kendall [pictured above], a fact witness in Perry v. Schwarzenegger  .   .   .   .   testified before the California State Assembly today in support of Senate Bill 1172, a measure that would ban “sexual orientation conversion “treatment”.

 Kendall was forced into “reparative” therapy at 14 years of age by his parents when they  discovered he was gay after reading his diary. He spent about a year and half in this conversion therapy with Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, then-executive director of NARTH (National Association for Reparative Therapy of Homosexuality) and a so-called therapist, via weekly phone sessions, before he eventually ran away from home and arranged to have himself legally declared “independent” of his parents. Nicolosi asserts that persons can be successfully “cured of being gay” and can resume happy heterosexual lives.

Kendall’s testimony follows:

As a young teen, the anti-gay practice of so-called conversion therapy destroyed my life and tore apart my family. In order to stop the therapy that misled my parents into believing that I could somehow be made straight, I was forced to run away from home, surrender myself to the local department of human services, and legally separate myself from my family.

I am here today because as a young teenager I dreamed that one day adults would pass legislation to protect people like me. I am here because youth subjected to these discredited therapies deserve a voice in the room. They are the ones living the trauma and horror that conversion therapy inflicts on people for no reason, with no evidence, merely because of who they are. If any of these youth are listening, they should know that there is nothing wrong with them; they are perfect, beautiful, and deserving of love.

Today, this committee is faced with a simple choice – to side with the forces of anti-gay intolerance and junk science, or to stand up for LGBT youth who deserve our protection. These kids are worth it.

Reparative therapy needs to be banned world wide and, in my view, those who promote it need to be sued for damages by their victims.

Is Mitt Romney’s Mormonism Fair Game?

My answer to the Caption of this post is a resounding YES!  Romney has prostituted himself to the ugliest elements of the Christianist right and signed NOM's declaration of war of the rights to religious freedom of LGBT Americans and Americans who support marriage equality and to denominations like the the Conservative branch of American Judaism who have come out in support of religious same sex marriage.  And lets not forget Romney's under the table $10,000 contribution in support of Proposition 8.  Once you open the door to bringing religion into the civil laws as Romney has and is continuing seeking to do, then it is ALL on the table and open game for discussion and, if appropriate, condemnation.  And that doesn't mean that critics are necessarily anti-Mormon.  I only means that references to personal religious belief open the flood gate if those personal religious beliefs are detrimental to the civil rights of other citizens.  A column in the Washington Post looks at Romney's disingenuous attempt to pander to religion, but demand that the scope of the discussion be limited to his terms.  (Editor's note: In the interest of full disclosure, I grew up through high school in upstate New York not too far from where Joesph Smith purported to find the "golden tablets" and it is noteworthy that most locals still think that Smith was an utter nutcase).   Here are highlights:

Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign has developed a simple method to determine whether coverage of the candidate’s Mormonism has crossed a line.  “Our test to see if a similar story would be written about others’ religion is to substitute ‘Jew’ or ‘Jewish,’ ” Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul wrote in objection to a Washington Post article last fall about the candidate’s role as a church leader in Boston.

She pointed out a passage that explained a central tenet of Mormonism. It described the belief that Christ’s true church was restored after centuries of apostasy when the 19th-century prophet Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon from golden plates that he discovered in Upstate New York.
“Would you write this sentence in describing the Jewish faith?” Saul asked in a November e-mail, adding: “ ‘Jews believe their prophet Moses was delivered tablets on a mountain top directly from G-d after he appeared to him in a burning bush.’ Of course not, yet you reference a similar story in Mormonism.”
 
Jodi Kantor reported in the New York Times that Romney’s aides often ask reporters, “Would you have written this about a Jewish candidate?” The guilt trip may be motivated by political calculation, sincere concern about religious bigotry for a faith that has suffered its fair share or some combination of the two. Regardless of its impetus, the campaign’s response gets at a crucial challenge for the news media: to educate the public about an unfamiliar faith unusually central to a candidate’s formation without treating Mormonism as biographical exotica that could fuel prejudices.

Now that Romney has secured the necessary delegates to become the Republican nominee, that challenge is front and center. Obama strategist David Axelrod has suggested that Mormonism is off limits as political ammunition. Yet news outlets delve into Mormon apocrypha, and comedian and Democratic super PAC donor Bill Maher launches salvo after salvo against Romney’s faith.

Romney clearly prefers to talk about his religion on his own terms.  At an event in Wisconsin in April, a man began asking the candidate about some of the more controversial aspects of Mormonism, including its past ban on blacks in the priesthood.  “I’m sorry, we’re just not going to have a discussion about religion in my view, but if you have a question, I’ll be happy to answer your question,” Romney said.

Romney has declined to clarify whether he believed that the ban — which was still in effect as he entered the local church hierarchy in Boston — was divine doctrine or flawed teaching. He has refused to comment on the policy beyond expressing relief that it was lifted. 

But Romney has also demonstrated an aversion to talking about subjects most Mormons proudly discuss, including the religion’s founding story.  “Without the Joseph Smith story, you don’t have a Mormonism,” said Patrick Mason, a professor of Mormon studies and an expert on anti-Mormonism at Claremont Graduate University. “And there is no way, especially given Romney’s church positions, all that I can collect, that he is personally embarrassed by that story. I think what is going on is a political move.”
 
Mormonism does not enjoy the authenticating quality of antiquity. Because it came of age in a modern time, its theology and saintly visitations can strike people as stranger than those of older religions shrouded by centuries.   As for Romney, church officials said it is up to the candidate how much he divulges about his beliefs and his role within the church. “But it is a matter of public record that he served as a Mormon bishop and a stake president . . . .

Asked whether it was inappropriate to discuss Joseph Smith and the core beliefs of Mormonism in connection with Romney’s time as a leader in the church, Otterson [LDS head of worldwide public affairs]said: “We’re very excited about Joseph Smith; it is absolutely core to us. But how to do that in the context of this kind of reporting? . . . It would just seem to me that you would want to run a sidebar.”

[M]any Mormons are wary about the assault the religion might come under from the secular left. Maher, the HBO comedian — who has given $1 million to a pro-Obama super PAC — has reinforced that fear by repeatedly calling Mormonism a “cult.”  It is understandable that the Romney campaign would be sensitive to such criticism. But its guard is likewise up against biographical descriptions of the candidate’s life in the church.

Frankly, in my opinion we need to get religion 100% out of politics and certainly out of impacting the civil rights of citizens.  At the same time, all Americans need to remember how Smith is remembered in upstate New York. Wikipedia has this excerpt on how Smith was viewed in upstate New York:

Smith continued traveling to western New York and Pennsylvania as a treasure seeker and a farmhand. In 1826, he was brought before a court in Chenango County, New York, for "glass-looking," or pretending to find lost treasure.    .   .   .   .  Smith had left his treasure hunting company, his former associates believed he had double-crossed them by taking for himself what they considered joint property. They ransacked places where a competing treasure-seer said the plates were hidden, the occurrence of which caused Smith to claim he could not accomplish the translation in Palmyra.

If Romeny wants to talk religion and pander to Chritianist extremists, then EVERYTHING is on the table about his Mormon religion is on the table for open discussion - including its founder who was viewed as a fraud and fortune hunter in upstate New York..

"Marcia" Bachmann Continues to Peddle "Ex-Gay" Snake Oil

Some things don't change - including the efforts of some likely closeted gays to market the myth that gays can "pray away the gay." It may help them feel better about themselves, but it's a farce that can have serious damaging consequences to those under going the fraudulent "therapy." I've known a number of individuals who went through "ex-gay" ministries and it seriously harmed them emotionally. In my view, these bogus "therapy" ministries ought to be illegal and "ex-gay" therapy should be grounds for license revocation for therapists. But then, the extremely nelly Marcus "Marcia" Bachmann operates a "Christian counseling center" and apparently manages to skirts normal licensing requirements. Frankly, anything with the term "Christian" in it ought to raise a huge red flag to anyone seeking counseling from Bachmann & Associates in the first place. As Gay U.S.A. reports, another undercover operation has caught Bachmann & Associates again offering "ex-gay" therapy to patients in direct contradiction to the ethical guidelines adopted by the APA for reputable therapists. Here are highlights:

Bachmann & Associates had no idea that they were the target of yet another undercover gay advocate visit, and this time it was in the form of a young lesbian, a filmmaker from GAY U.S.A. the Movie. While the visit was contrived, and the character expounded upon, the reality and the seriousness of the possible harm to young gays and lesbians cannot be overstated.

Last week as co-producer on the film, I helped Kristina Lapinski set up and pursue a counseling session at one of the two Bachmann clinics in Minnesota, where she played the part of a confused 24 year old lesbian who had just moved from California to Minnesota to marry her long time male friend, Jake, all to please her Christian parents.

The purpose of Gay U.S.A. the Movie’s action was to obtain footage for a documentary, which after two years, is now in its final shooting phase, with a planned release for September 2012. www.gayusathemovie.com

We planned the visit to the Bachmann clinic with precision and clarity, at first trying to get an appointment with Marcus Bachmann himself, only to learn that he is no longer taking new clients; possibly a respite after the TWO sting.

We researched online for another counselor in the Bachmann office, and were led by the mission statements of some 26 counselors, most describing practices with distinct biblical and Christian orientation. With time constraints our limitation, the process of elimination was determined by availability and the appointment was made with a counselor by the name of Sheila J. Marker.

With six years of experience , as can be seen from the website description on the Bachmann page, Sheila J. Marker is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, State & AAMFT Approved Supervisor, and received her MA in Professional Counseling, from Argosy University, Eagan, MN, specializing in, inter alia, Pre-Marital Counseling, Relational, Marriage, Family Issues, and Women’s Issues. Her mission statement reads:

“It was easy to be me and imagine that this scenario, of being closeted and fearful of my sexuality could be true, as I have heard so many such stories through my filming,” noted Kristina, whose years belie her comfort as a lesbian.

But nothing prepared her for what was to come and, she notes, “Although I was able to intellectualize the experience, for a whole three hours after I left the office, I was nauseous. I thought that it could have been real for someone else and it made me want to throw up.”

After the appointment was over, I received another text from Kristina, and even though I had an idea about where this appointment could lead, nothing could have prepared me for that text:-

“We prayed the gay away!” Then it hit me too, like a kick in the gut, as I imagined the worst for those really in this predicament. I thought, “How could these people get away with this – they are playing with fire, with the lives of our kids!”

She told me to follow God’s road. “The bible says one man one woman… two great halves come together….” and then spoke to some extent about a woman’s duty to keep the man company… I found that oddly sexist.

She then went on to convince me about what was right and never ever explored the option that I could possibly in fact be a lesbian. She told me the commitment part was important and the love part would grow over time. She asked me if I could “pray for a miracle to happen and wake up in the morning and have it be true, what would I wish for?”

I found it interesting that I gave Ms. Marker my options – the option between being with women or being with a man. I had clearly expressed I did not have a sexual attraction to men. It was astounding to me that she pressed her personal political and religious opinion on me about which path to pursue, without even exploring my feelings of being a lesbian, which was given no consideration at all on that day of prayer, even though she invited me back to further the discussion.

I feel the need to expose this kind of practice because I really believe that if I was that character in real life and uncomfortable with my sexuality, this so called counseling could have been very harmful to me.”

These bogus counseling operations need to be shut down and health insurance carriers need to stop making payments for therapy that is no better than having a tribal witch doctor perform a magic ritual using smoke and animal entrails. It is disgusting that "Macia" and his wife continue to fleece people for this snake oil.

Throckmorton Demolishes NARTH's Anti-Gay Honoree

If you want to listen to liars if listening to Herman Cain's endless denials isn't more than enough for you, then you might check out the faux scientific organization NARTH (National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality) where lies, falsehoods and deliberate distortions of research is the norm. In fact, dishonesty - and claimed religiosity - seems to be a prerequisite for involvement in NARTH. As Warren Throckmorton points out at its recent conference NARTH honored not only a non-scientist but an individual that has a track record of distorting the research of others or hanging his hat on bogus research. While the topic is not titillating, it's important to understand the tactics used by NARTH and its allies in the Christian Right in order to e able to respond to and demolish their fake research on sexual orientation. Warren provides a great blue print on how to do this. Here are some highlights:

During the recent NARTH (National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality) conference in Phoenix, organization President Julie Hamilton gave an award to Michel Lizotte, a Canadian journalist. The award was given because Lizotte has been “clearly presenting the research and providing hope and help to those who are seeking such help” in Canada.

[W]hat says a lot about NARTH is the type of “education” Mr. Lizotte has been presenting. A look at Lizotte’s website (translated from the French via Google translation) indicates that he promotes the reparative drive theory of homosexuality. On this page, Lizotte posted videos of Joseph Nicolosi explaining the reparative theory. Lizotte claims research on homosexuality supports his views . . .

Examining the footnotes tells you a lot about his efforts and NARTH’s decision to promote Lizotte’s work. . . . . Stekel, Bieber, Rubenstein* and Ovesey were psychoanalysts who developed their theories about homosexuality, not from studies, but from a limited number of psychoanalytic cases. Bieber’s study has recently been compromised by revelations that one co-author, Cornelia Wilbur, conspired with a journalist to distort at least two case reports, including the famous case of Sybil. Bieber’s methods had been discredited because he relied on psychoanalysts who already believed homosexuality derived from deficient parenting.

Van Den Aardweg’s 1986 book reports the results of his cases treated with “Anticomplaining therapy.” He reports lots of successes but essentially these are his claims with no independent verification or peer review. Birk’s 1974 report comes the closest to a credible report of change but adds no new information about the “origins of homosexuality.” If anything, however, behavioral psychotherapist Birk would disagree with most of what is on Lizotte’s website about causes. In 1980, Birk reported that those who wanted to gain heterosexual capacity had some success but they were not free of homosexual behavior or feelings.

In short, Lizotte makes claims about homosexuality, supports the claims with old, poorly designed and/or irrelevant citations, fails to cite conflicting and/or newer research and then says that “the latest research” supports his position. No wonder NARTH gave him an award.

NARTH's award yet again underscores that there are few people less honest and deceitful that the "godly Christian" set and their gay hating allies. When all is said and done, they continue to demonize gays and disseminate fraudulent information to make a buck and to aid the political agenda of the hate groups that stand behind a good chunk of NARTH's funding.

ABC New's Nightline Covers Marcus Bachmann's Ex-Gay Therapy

UPDATED: The Ed Show on MSNBC featured a segment with John Becker of Truth Wins Out where more coverage of the Bachmann's unethical and scientifically invalid "ex-gay" therapy was broadcast to the viewing public. In addition, the Los Angeles Times had an article that focused on the fraudulent therapy being conducted at Bachmann's "Christian counseling" centers.
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As the Advocate is reporting, GOP loon Michele Bachmann is ducking questions on whether or not her husband's "Christian counseling" clinic is engaged in fraudulent and unethical "ex-gay" therapy. Meanwhile, however, ABC's Nightline has picked up on the undercover investigation conducted by Wayne Besen's Truth Wins Out. Here's a video clip from the Nightline segment:



Obviously, the pressure on both Bachmann's needs to continue and more needs to be done to widen the coverage of Marcus Bachmann's questionable credentials that were discussed on this blog and elsewhere yesterday. In my view, BOTH Bachmann's are lunatic frauds who need to be 100% exposed for their extremism and dishonesty.

What Kind of "Doctor" is Marcus Bachmann?

Just what kind of "doctor" is Marcus Bachmann? That's the question that more and more people, including Michelangelo Signorile are asking. And it looks increasingly like the answer may be that he isn't a doctor at all or that his degree is not in what he claims in his advertisements and on his clinic's web page. That's right, he may not hold the degrees claimed. As I have noted in prior posts, one of the biggest scams perpetrated by the Christianists and their "ministries" is that their supposed "experts" either don't have the degrees that they claim to possess or they have no legitimate credentials whatsoever that pertain to their supposed area of expertise (Linda Harvey mentioned in the previous post is a case in point). One can only hope that more digging is done to get to the bottom of what degrees Bachmann does hold. And GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann needs to be called out if it turns out that her husband is a fraud. Here are highlights from The Gist where Michelangelo looks at the facts surrounding Marcus Bachmann's alleged doctorate degree:
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On the web site of Bachmann and Associates, readers are invited to "meet Dr. Marcus Bachmann" who's been "a clinical therapist in the Twin Cities for more than 20 years." But what kind of "doctor" is Marcus Bachmann and where did he get his degree? In his bio Bachmann lists a masters degree from Pat Robertson's Regent University in Virginia. The bio also lists a "PhD – Clinical Psychology, Union Graduate School, OH." As blogger JARS points out in a well-researched post, the punctuation is all wrong on "PhD" which should be Ph.D."
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[I]t's important because he may or may not have a doctor of philosophy. And the Union Graduate School no longer exists. Bachmann got a doctoral degree in something from a shady university that came under scrutiny from the Ohio Board of Regents and whose graduate school was dissolved:
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The Union Institute's Ph.D. program came under scrutiny by the Ohio Board of Regents in the late 1990s early 2000s which culminated in its 2002 Reauthorization Report. The report was critical of the Union Institute's Ph.D. program, noting in particular that " ... expectations for student scholarship at the doctoral level were not as rigorous as is common for doctoral work ... " (OBR 2002 Reauthorization Report, page 13) As a result, The Union was put on probation, the Union Graduate School was dissolved and the Ph.D. program was restructured.
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JARS goes on to write that it seems highly suspect that Marcus Bachmann has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology because, if you follow the timeline, the school wasn't offering it:
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What does all this mean? On his website Dr. Bachmann states he’s had 23 years experience. Simple math brings us to the year 1988. If Dr. Bachmann’s Ph.D. was completed prior to this date, he might have graduated from The Union Graduate School which offered ONLY a Ph.D. in Arts and Sciences. If he graduated later than 1986, then he would have graduated from The Union Institute (1986), or The Union Institute and University (2001) and his Ph.D. would have been in Interdisciplinary Studies.
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If in fact Dr. Marcus Bachmann graduated from this institute, whatever it was named at the time, he would not have graduated with a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. The ONLY doctorate in Clinical Psychology was offered after 2001, and the degree is a Psy.D. (Doctor of Psychology) and not a Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy).
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Nobody lies and deceives more than the Christianists. They truly act as if the Commandment against lying and bearing false witness did not exist - even as they pretend to honor the Ten Commandments as part of their ploy to separate the ignorant, dim witted and intellectually lazy from their hard earned money. .

Marcus Bachmann's Silver Daddy's "Profile"

Someone obviously has a great sense of humor and, after hearing Michele "Crazy Eyes" Bachmann's lisping husband ranting about gays being "barbarians," it doesn't seem all that improbable that good old Marcus in his heart is lusting for some hot man on man action. The photo above is via Joe.My. God. This is the link to Bachmann's faux profile which reads in part as follows:

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Hi, I am a fun over-forty flamer who just wants to try IT ALL! I'm looking for some CRUDE BARBARIANS who will put me in my place, honey! Spank me, Spank me, and don't forget to thank me! I am just a "gal" who can't say no! Professionally I am a psychologist, which is funny because I am really into "mind games". My hobbies include doing Ethel Merman imitations, antiquing, and wearing my wife's clothes when she isn't around! If any of this interests you, please "ring my bell"! I'll have lots of time on my hands as my wife Michelle will be traveling a lot this year!

Obama Throws Gay Relationships Under the Bus Yet Again

Yesterday, Barack Obama - the Follower in Chief - addressed gay marriage at a White House press conference and then disingenuously held a Pride reception at the White House. Obama's message to LGBT citizens like me and the boyfriend in states hostile to any form of LGBT equality is basically - "o f*ck yourself, I'm fine with discrimination on a state by state basis." I find it pretty sad when the issue of whether or not one has the full rights of a United States citizen depends on what state one lives in. In Washington, D.C., or soon on July 25, 2011, in New York, LGBT citizens have far more equality than in backwater states such as Virginia. And according to Obama, we're supposed to believe it's just fine that we are 4th class citizens. Has the man heard of the U.S. Constitution and concepts such as equal protection and freedom of religion? Obama can fluff up his list of "accomplishments" for the LGBT community all he wants, but since I live in a state where LGBT citizens can be fired at will, can be openly discriminated in housing and are afforded ZERO legal recognition of their committed relationships, I am NOT impressed. Obama needs to grow a spine and get his head out of his ass. Here are highlights from The Advocate on this latest betrayal:
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President Barack Obama did not directly address a question during Wednesday’s news conference on whether marriage is a civil right, referring instead to his track record on LGBT issues and his support for states to decide the issue.
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The president enumerated LGBT accomplishments under his administration, including hate-crimes legislation, signing repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” (which remains in effect pending certification), and his decision to no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act in federal court challenges against the 1996 law. “And so we’ve said we cannot defend the federal government poking its nose" into what states decide, he said. DOMA, he reiterated, is unconstitutional, his Justice Department has concluded.
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However, the president noted, “What I’ve seen happen over the last several years, and what happened in New York last week, was a good thing. What you saw was the people of New York having a debate, talking through these issues; it was contentious, it was emotional, but ultimately they made a decision to recognize civil marriages. And I think that’s exactly how things should work. And so I think it’s important for us to work through these issues, because each community is going to be different and each state is going to be different to work through them.”
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So there you have it. If I want to be more than a 4th class citizen, I'm supposed to move to another, friendlier state. For those who cannot move, they are simply screwed. And I'm supposed to happily support this man? I don't think so!

$6.6 Billion Missing in Iraq - Where's the GOP Outrage?

From the very beginning I viewed the Iraq war as a fools errand - launched by the Chimperator, the fool then in the White House and the Darth Vader clone also known as Dick Cheney. In addition to the trillions of traceable dollars wasted and thousands of needlessly lost lives, it seems the Pentagon has managed to flat out lose $6.6 billion in cash literally air lifted to Iraq. That's right, money was air lifted in shrink wrapped bricks of $100 bills. As the Los Angeles Times notes, that's enough money to run the LA or Chicago school systems for a full year. And it's just plain missing - or "stolen" as the Pentagon has now ventured. The members of the Congressional GOP claim to be obsessed with cutting waste and dealing with what they label as foolish programs. I suspect that their silence on this issue will be deafening since it was their idiot leaders that set the debacle in motion. Here are more highlights from the LA Times story:
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After the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the George W. Bush administration flooded the conquered country with so much cash to pay for reconstruction and other projects in the first year that a new unit of measurement was born.
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Pentagon officials determined that one giant C-130 Hercules cargo plane could carry $2.4 billion in shrink-wrapped bricks of $100 bills. They sent an initial full planeload of cash, followed by 20 other flights to Iraq by May 2004 in a $12-billion haul that U.S. officials believe to be the biggest international cash airlift of all time.
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[D]espite years of audits and investigations, U.S. Defense officials still cannot say what happened to $6.6 billion in cash — enough to run the Los Angeles Unified School District or the Chicago Public Schools for a year, among many other things. For the first time, federal auditors are suggesting that some or all of the cash may have been stolen, not just mislaid in an accounting error.
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The mystery is a growing embarrassment to the Pentagon, and an irritant to Washington's relations with Baghdad. Iraqi officials are threatening to go to court to reclaim the money, which came from Iraqi oil sales, seized Iraqi assets and surplus funds from the United Nations' oil-for-food program.
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It's fair to say that Congress, which has already shelled out $61 billion of U.S. taxpayer money for similar reconstruction and development projects in Iraq, is none too thrilled either.
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The U.S. cash airlift was a desperation measure, organized when the Bush administration was eager to restore government services and a shattered economy to give Iraqis confidence that the new order would be a drastic improvement on Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
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The cash was carried by tractor-trailer trucks from the fortress-like Federal Reserve currency repository in East Rutherford, N.J., to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, then flown to Baghdad. U.S. officials there stored the hoard in a basement vault at one of Hussein's former palaces, and at U.S. military bases, and eventually distributed the money to Iraqi ministries and contractors.
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But U.S. officials often didn't have time or staff to keep strict financial controls. Millions of dollars were stuffed in gunnysacks and hauled on pickups to Iraqi agencies or contractors, officials have testified.
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The cash was carried by tractor-trailer trucks from the fortress-like Federal Reserve currency repository in East Rutherford, N.J., to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, then flown to Baghdad. U.S. officials there stored the hoard in a basement vault at one of Hussein's former palaces, and at U.S. military bases, and eventually distributed the money to Iraqi ministries and contractors.
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But U.S. officials often didn't have time or staff to keep strict financial controls. Millions of dollars were stuffed in gunnysacks and hauled on pickups to Iraqi agencies or contractors, officials have testified.
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This is yet another hair brained GOP idea that has proven that the GOP is anything but a good steward of the nation's finances. Why does anyone listen to these idiots?

More Disingenuousness from Exodus International

Exodus International and its affliates like to pretend for the mainstream media that they "love homosexuals" but hate the sin, yet when looks at the manner in which they work hand in glove with far right Christianist organizations that work incessantly to disseminate false and hurtful lies about gays and homosexuality, the lie of their lip service soon becomes most apparent. In addition, despite ludicrous claims of thouands of "former homosexuals," Exodus is always hard put to document the existence of any true "ex-gays" other than the ones on the paid staffs of Exodus and its affiliates. One would think that if such individuals existed, there would be at least some who would come forward without being a salaried employee of an ex-gay ministry or an affiliate thereof. From the dozen plus guys I know who survived ex-gay programs, none were cured and a number still carry the emotional and psychological scars from what was done to them in the "ministries. Combine that with the frauds like John Paulk and Michael Johnston, and it becomes crystal clear that Exodus and its affiliates are little more than calculating frauds serving the political agenda of the Christian Right in terms of perpetuating the choice myth and raking in money in the process. Wayne Besen has a new column that does a good job exposing the hypocrisy of Exodus. Here are some highlights:

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Sporting a fog machine for its smoke and mirrors routine and an extravagant stage that would make The Rolling Stones blush, the “ex-gay” group Exodus International held its glitzy annual conference in Asheville, North Carolina. I was in town all week to partner with regional and state organizations to oppose the meeting and its dizzying array of distortions.

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In nearby Greenville, South Carolina, Stephen Moller, an anti-gay thug who murdered 20-year-old Sean William Kennedy outside a gay bar, just learned that he would spend approximately 10 months in jail for his ferocious crime. In this gross miscarriage of justice, the message was sent that murdering gay people was tacitly acceptable, if not encouraged. While in town, I spoke to Sean’s grieving mother, Elke Kennedy, who rightfully called the sentence, “a joke and a slap on the wrist.” Meanwhile, on the opening day of the Exodus conference, an anti-bullying bill was stalled in the North Carolina legislature.

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Into this backdrop of brutality stepped the ex-gay activists Alan Chambers and Randy Thomas, who were determined to show the progressive residents of Asheville that Exodus did not stigmatize gay and lesbian people. Unfortunately, they kept tripping over reality and revealing the true nature of their duplicitous, deceptive and depraved ministry.

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For a week, western North Carolinians were dazzled with disingenuousness. The audacity of the lies was breathtaking and the sheer nerve was mind numbing. By the end of the conference, everyone who had paid attention learned that Exodus leaders are shameless charlatans who lack even a modicum of morality.

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For example, Thomas tried to distance Exodus from the controversial practice of “reparative therapy,” telling the Asheville Citizen-Times, “We get lumped into the groups that do reparative therapy, when it’s just not true.” To put it kindly, Thomas sees the truth as a political pinwheel that he can spin in his efforts to win. I personally visited the Exodus conference (before I was evicted) and found that they were selling several books that taught “reparative therapy” including one from Dr. Joseph Nicolosi who invented the term.

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With such bombastic broadsides, does one really have to wonder how . . . . the gay bashing hooligan, Stephen Moller, believed he could devalue the life of a gay man? Exodus may smile sweetly and tell the mainstream media they love homosexuals. But, judging by the recent hate crimes in the Carolinas combined with the reactionary rhetoric of Exodus, it seems that they are literally “loving” us to death.

"Family Values" Scammers

There is a great column by Wayne Besen on 365gay.com that looks at the disingenuousness of Focus on the Family, American Family Association, and similar groups that whine incessantly about "protecting the family" and "protecting the sanctity of marriage" yet are absolutely missing in action when it comes to doing anything concrete to support families and/or marriage except for conducting an anti-gay jihad. In short, they do NOTHING in terms of family friendly legislation that would help families in financial stress, facing crushing medical bills, or on the verge of losing their homes to foreclosure. That's right, absolutely NOTHING. And as for the anti-gay jihad, the whines and shrieks are ALWAYS accompanied by requests for MONEY so that millions upon millions of dollars can be used to denigrate and work to marginalize gays and, of course, pay the salaries of the "ex-gays for pay" and demagogues like Don Wildmon and Daddy Dobson. In short, these organizations are frauds that but for hiding behind the cloak of religious ministries might well be shut down by under anti-fraud laws. The truth about these fraudulent groups needs to be disseminated as widely as possible on a constant basis. Here are some highlight's from Wayne's column:

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The last few weeks have shown that so-called pro-family organizations are some of the most useless, money-sucking scams in the world. With real families suffering from economic hardship in America, a declining birthrate in Europe and Google doubling the price of daycare for employees, the only thing right wing family groups want to discuss is their bizarre and all-encompassing fagela fetish.

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Recently, The Brooklyn Paper, had a huge headline, “SPLITSVILLE: Brooklyn divorces up 30 percent.” The article cited a number of reasons including, “when the economy tanks, so do many marriages.” One would think this would alarm so-called pro-family organizations and they would be out in force repairing marriages – or at least looking for economic solutions to take the stress off couples.

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A new study by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University showed that in 2006, for the first time in U.S. history, a majority of births to women under 30 – 50.4 percent – were out of wedlock. New York Times columnist Bob Herbert points out that, “By comparison, when John F. Kennedy was elected president in 1960, just 6 percent of all births were to unmarried women under 30. One imagines that this report might have startled “pro-family” organizations and they would have put their millions of dollars towards stopping this trend. No such luck. Instead, they are investing huge piles of money and manpower to pass anti-gay marriage amendments in Florida, Arizona and California.

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Right wing organizations can be considered many things – but certainly not advocates for the family. They inhale money, exhale anti-gay pollution and have done absolutely nothing for the traditional families they claim to represent. It seems the more such groups proliferate, the more the family deteriorates.

Exodus International - Arlington Group Membership Shows Political Agenda

I have long maintained that the real purpose behind the ex-gay "ministries" is political and NOT to help "support for individuals who want to recover from homosexuality." It is absolutely critical to the Christianist agenda to deprive LGBT citizens of legal protections that sexual orientation be view and constantly marketed to the public as a choice. Once the general public understands that one's sexual orientation is not changeable, it becomes much harder to urge elected officials to vote against non-discrimination laws and the like. As Ex-gay Watch has revealed via a Boston Globe story (http://www.exgaywatch.com/wp/2008/03/exodus-will-remain-a-member-of-the-arlington-group/), Exodus International, which describes itself as "the largest Christian referral and information network dealing with homosexual issues in the world," is in fact a member of the Arlington Group, which has a clearly poltical motivation, and hasno intention of withdrawing. Here's a description of the Arlington Group (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlington_Group):

The Arlington Group is a coalition which unites the leaders of almost all of the most prominent Christian Right organizations in the United States. Founded in 2002 principally through the efforts of American Family Association President Donald Wildmon and Free Congress Foundation Chairman Paul Weyrich, the group seeks to establish consensus goals and strategy among its members and translate its combined constituency into an overwhelming force within the Republican Party, particularly at its highest levels. Its membership and purpose overlaps to a high degree with the Council for National Policy; but the group is much more narrowly focused, choosing to emphasize such issues as same-sex marriage, abortion, and confirmation of like-minded federal judges.

Obviously, if Exodus International's goal is only a charitable ministry to help individuals, why the involvement in the Arlington Group? A review of the Arlington Group's membership makes it very clear that raw political power and a policy of intimidation to further the Christianist agenda is the organization's sole purpose. Thus, was Alan Chamber’s recent announcement that Exodus has “decided to back out of policy issues,” concerned that they “might be alienating people that simply wouldn’t call [them] for help because of the perception that [they] were becoming a partisan and political organization rather than a ministry for all" a lie? It would seem so.

Combine this situation and the recently release by the American Psychological Association and co-sponsors of a booklet making it VERY clear that reparative therapy and ex-gay programs are unethical for mental health and health care professionals just underscores Alan Chambers' dishonesty. Exodus is a fradualent organization perpetrating a fraud on the uninformed and unwary. Of course, in the process Chambers makes money peddling books, receiving speaking engagements, etc.