Donald J. Trump lies three time in one sentance, Steve Scalise, Steph Curry, Tax Plan, Puerto Rico, Tom Price, NFL, Richard Sherman, deconstructing the Conservation State
This is just another god awful week for President Donald J. Trump and for his entire administration. This is coming off many bad week's that this POTUS has had since January 19th this year.
So many things have happened this week.
I think it started way back when the POTUS picked fights with Jimmy Kimmel, Steph Curry, that ESPN broadcaster and the NFL and/or because of Colin Kaepernick.
(Jimmy) Kimmel made mince of the entire situation which not necessarily surprised me but it could have gone either way considering this POTUS' bully pulpit skills (aka as diverting the attention of us dumb ass'ed Americans from any real issues). He has this knack to get everyone to look at that so called 'shiny object' and away from the hard nosed issues of him failing at this job in every way.
At first with regard to Jimmy Kimmel, because Trump and his people are so persuasive towards his 1/3rd of the country which is essentially his base (it has varied lately from 31% to 39%), I thought they would moniker him as the quintessential Hollywood liberal trying to do whatever Liberals are trying to do to help humans, wildlife and the world. You know what I mean and at the same time, Kimmel cranked because I guess he is real which is the main thing about why I love the guy and honestly, I forgot. I took that for granted.
Remember that he did Crank Yankers and he was guy on the Man Show but for me, I know him from Howard (Stern). I like him on Howard. I like his humor when I see the blurbs on Morning Joe or whenever I see them, I like it alot. He cracks me. He seems way cool. His wife seems over the top great.
I just never watch the Tonight Show.
Trump is also acting in such reckless ways which he has been doing for a couple years (he has always acted recklessly in his personal life and with his business for decades) now since entering into politics. His lies have lies within it and in today's case, there are three lies within one statement.
That has got to be hard to do. Someone has to fall into that because there is no way at all to bundle three separate lies into one sentence and/or into one statement.
Now mind you that this our POTUS we are speaking about here and not some old roadie from the film 'Wayne's World' exaggerating stories about being on the road.
There should be a high standard set and hell, there should be the highest level of standards set being the leader of the entire free world.
He first said that they (Senate) had the votes to pass Graham/Cassidy. He mentions the need to rid of the filibuster 60 vote rule when they did not even have the majority 50 votes to even give VP Pence the chance to vote it through in the event of that tie. He also blamed the one supposed vote which again, I am not even sure what he is talking about gaining here but there I go again, I am taking him for his word. Setting that aside for the sake the point is that he says that a Senator is currently hospitalized. Therefore, he supposedly could not vote for the bill, hence the reason why it did not even get a vote, let alone not pass through the Senate.
He also had a fight with Steph Curry that backfired because if anything at all, Lebron James put the smack down on this POTUS leaving him speechless quite frankly.
"U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain't going! So therefore ain't no invite," James tweeted. "Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!"
Initially on Twitter, he criticized Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry, who intends to skip the traditional NBA champs celebration at the White House. "Stephen Curry is hesitating,therefore invitation is withdrawn!" Trump wrote twenty minutes after "Fox & Friends" mentioned the issue.
LeBron James responded by calling the president a "bum" who misled his followers.
Add to that when the ESPN anchor Jemele Hill stated that Trump "is a white supremacist."
But then on Tuesday at another campaign style rally, Trump threw more 'red meat' at that crowd and to his base while diverting the attention of all humans with brains away from things like him not getting a vote on Health care. Or that his people are flying around on taxpayers dime using expensive means and that he had done nothing with regard to Puerto Rico until after the media raised that awareness to everyone.
Even my dad started calling it (whatever it is at this point) being disrespectful to the flag which is Trump at his best because remember please, any anthem protest begun when Colin Kaepernick kneeled during the national anthem last year because of the amounts of black people killed by cops (this year alone through September, there have been over 830 people killed by cops while only 2 of them have been brought up for a hearing).
I just remembered that Trump was rallying in Alabama to support Luther Strange in that primary election which he lost to that crazy guy Judge Roy Moore. That guy BTW, is like Todd Aiken on steroids. I do not see it but the Dem's or an Indy candidate that could feasibly win needs to go against him. I am not even sure what is up with that election.
And to add insult to injury, his Luther Strange guy that he rallied for lost that race. He lost by a whopping 10% so it was not even close. And while rallying for the guy, in doing so he created an even larger mess.
Trump deleted every Tweet after the results came in by Wednesday morning which showed him pushing for this candidate while backing him. He then proceeded to call Judge Roy Moore congratulating him on that win evidently on the phone and by way of a Tweet.
Also by mid week, it became quite clear that nothing was getting done down in Puerto Rico. The breakdown is everywhere from FEMA to our POTUS. He finally lifted the routing law allowing whatever country's ships to drop off and deliver items to the island. However, that took more than 8 days to lift.
Listen to what he said about an island.
"The response and recovery effort probably has never been seen for something like this," Trump said. "This is an island surrounded by water, big water, ocean water."
Who the hell is this guy talking to?
I assume he knows that we have ships and planes to get to what is an island now, doesn't he? How is he getting there on Tuesday next week? How does he think he is getting there next week and fundamentally, why is he going? Is he just going to fly around the island getting that typical photo op of him looking down over the destruction?
He then stated that Puerto Rico would have to rebuild its infrastructure which hello? Duh. "The electrical grid and other infrastructure were already in very, very poor shape, they were at their life's end prior to the hurricanes, and now virtually everything has been wiped out," Trump said. "We're literally starting from scratch." Trump said the government will work with Puerto Rico to figure out how to fund the rebuilding effort and "what we will do with the tremendous amount of existing debt already on the island."
Besides, is that the right time to bring up the economy in Puerto Rico and to ask how they will pay us back for that aid?
Trump of course is calling it very unfair and is even lying now saying that his relief effort has been excellent ('if you believe it, it is not a lie').
Anyway, Trump said that the NFL owners should get rid of players like Kaepernick. "Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he's fired. He's fired,'" Trump said. "You know, some owner is going to do that. He's going to say, 'That guy that disrespects our flag, he's fired.' And that owner, they don't know it [but] they'll be the most popular person in this country."
The president then doubles down on Twitter saying that "if a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL,or other leagues, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect. ... our Great American Flag (or Country) and should stand for the National Anthem. If not, YOU'RE FIRED. Find something else to do!"
Trump also said NFL ratings are down "massively" (that's not true -- the ratings are only down a little bit) and criticized the NFL's efforts to make the game safer for athletes. "There's a more important issue about the health of young, American athletes. And obviously the president wasn't too concerned about that," CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan said after the rally.
He finishes his diatribe going off about the NFL by saying it hurts the game "when people like yourselves turn on television and you see those people taking the knee when they're playing our great national anthem."
Roger Goodell (commissioner of the NFL) replied to the POTUS calling him or it as "divisive" comments but he did not utter the name Trump to this minute. The players union spoke out big time and Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, responded on Twitter with the following tweet:
"The behavior of the President is unacceptable and needs to be addressed. If you do not Condemn this divisive Rhetoric you are Condoning it!!"
The contradictions are ridiculous if again, you take him for his words.
Even though it is a diversion tactic, making claims that whomever is not patriotic or not all about the spirit of our U.S. flag, while not allowing them to act on their first amendment rights is not even normal to say out loud.
But again, that is if think he does not lie every minute of every day.
That is what the people in that GOP do BTW. They speak forcibly with the greatest of opinions about something right up until that very point where it affects them or contradicts what they just said. They have done that for years (remember how they would say George Bush Jr. and Dick Cheney kept Americans safe without saying the end of that sentence which should have been "after September 12th, 2001").
Trump and his admin that spoke on behalf of him got mushed on that issue this week too.
He will get down there the second any of his cabinet members are done using all of the government issued planes.
I am about to do it again which is taking Trump for his word on the campaign trail, the hypocrisy considering his platform to mutilate Hillary Clinton's reputation is not close to being even normal. I am not even sure how one can look at themselves in the mirror because the hypocrisy's are out of control.
Forget about the constant Russian probes that are stretching out every which way getting very close to the people in this admin, how about his cabinet members spending hundreds of K and tens of K accordingly to travel on taxpayers dimes?
That is ballzy. These guys are beyond arrogant. They are ballzy.
They als have no clue about the concept of being elected to a position to serve the people in America. Conversely, I think in some warped way that they think we should all be thankful for all of the things they have done and therefore we should pay for it (also setting aside that they gained monies in very suspect and corrupt ways again, accordingly).
President Trump expressed his dissatisfaction Wednesday with the Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price for what are now many inquiries about his use of chartered aircraft for government travel. "I'm not happy about it, and I will let him know it," said Trump. Asked by reporters if he would fire Price, Trump answered, "We'll see."
There are four (Price, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke) Trump administration officials that have been investigated as of late for their use of private planes at taxpayer expense. It has been maybe 7 months and they act this way. Just think if ot would continue. It would get worse over the years.
Tom Price actually got fired or he turned in his resignation but I maintain that he was singled out because of the health care debacle. Evidently, Trump is pissed about it not getting a fighting a chance this year and he has been pissed for allowing Price to deal with it out of the box. That is the problem hiring someone vehemently against something like Price is with regard to Obamacare.
Kind of like our head of the EPA being the same guy suing the very department he runs now.
Also kind of like appointing a Betsy DeRoss to run Education after doing much harm to our education system for years.
He has hired wolves to guard the hen houses so to speak many times over and you know why? It is all that he knows. He is NOT smart and not worldly enough and most of all, he had no clue that he would win. He was in no way ready to hire people to staff up.
This hypocrisy is like 5 folded if you take his 'draining of the swamp' platform as being real and not rhetoric to help him an election.
Speaking of staffers hired in the Trump administration, how many people have been fired this year? I think it is 9. More than one firing on the average every month. Remember how it started off this year?
More hypocrisy's uncovered this week is how Jared Kushner along with other people in the administration have used private email accounts (granted it was not a private ever in any case but even still).
Was that even this week? I guess so. The stock graphic they placed above here has the date of that article on the 25th. I feel like that broke 8 weeks ago.
They also unveiled hints of a tax plan. Trump touted it as being the 'middle class miracle' even though the only increase in taxes is at about 2% which is to the middle class people in America.
There a few things to know about this tax plan. It does nothing to help individual tax payers. It does do a lot for business. It will increase the national debt. It is also very bad for states that vote Democratic like Connecticut, California, etc., and that in essence have high state and local taxes.
It is a 5.8 trillion dollar tax cut at the top line with 3 trillion aimed at Individuals and 2.8 trillion aimed at Business. However it is deceiving because they eliminate many important itemized deductions for individuals particularly with state and local taxes.
Therefore when all is said and done, there will be a small tax increase (in no way is there any decrease to individual filers) for individuals while Business has over 2.7 trillion dollars worth of tax cuts.
All tax cuts are going to Business.
You can then figure out what that would do to the deficit.
Currently in our tax law, the deficit would raise 91% if it stayed the same whereas with the new enacted law using these rough numbers would increase 10% more to 101%. That would then be up from like 75% at this moment today.
That also does not include anything else not spelled out yet which could make that number even higher. For the first time since World War II, we would have a debt larger than the size of our economy.
The middle class will get nothing on balance to any give or take.
And, eliminating state and local taxes in States like California and Connecticut to me is taking money from the states that do well economically, and feeding it to the Federal Government. That is how I see it because look at Jerry Brown and the State of California. It is cranking today. Trump and his people want a piece of it which is a total lazy cop out.
And, individuals in those states would see a tax hike of about 4K a year. It would be devastating for individuals that live in those states and it would be bad for those states.
I am not one for throwing the 'i' term (impeachment) around but man, this is honestly getting scary. It has been scary but look at this week alone. It is not normal. It is exhausting. It is not fair.
Most of all, Donald J. Trump has failed to faithfully execute his duties as President. He violates the Constitution all of the time.
He has attempted to obstruct an investigation into potential wrongdoing by his campaign.
He has eroded America’s leadership in the world.
He cannot get any legislation done and what is really scary is how this guy needs a win so badly that he will sign anything no matter what is in it.
The problem is that the legal case only matters if the House of Representatives has the political will to deal with the issue and they will not as of now. Besides, only a couple of Democrats, and no Republicans, have publicly called for impeachment.
By refusing to divest from his businesses, he has violated both the Domestic Emoluments clause and the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which prevent the president from receiving payments from state or foreign governments due to the conflicts of interest those payments create.(1, 2)
Trump has also attempted to obstruct justice by interfering in former FBI Director James Comey’s investigations into the Trump campaign’s potential ties to Russia. First, he tried to demand Comey’s loyalty and asked Comey inappropriate questions about the investigation.(3) Then Trump openly admitted to NBC News’ Lester Holt that he fired Comey because he was unhappy that the Russia investigation continued.(4)
According to Rep. Brad Sherman, who has filed articles of impeachment against Trump, "A finding of ‘High Crimes and Misdemeanors’ does not require the violation of any particular criminal statute.... However, many Members will feel more comfortable if it is shown that President Trump violated a particular criminal statute. I believe that Trump’s use of threats to obstruct the ongoing criminal investigations of Michael Flynn clearly violate 18 U.S.C. 1512(b)(3); Violations of that section are a felony. Trump’s efforts to obstruct the investigation of his campaign’s possible collusion with Russia violated the same statute.... The evidence we have is enough to move forward now."(5)
He is systematically deconstructing the Conservation State. The Trump administration’s dismantling of agencies and policies.
Early in the current presidential administration, then-strategist Steve Bannon laid out an agenda for what he called “the deconstruction of the administrative state.” It’s a radical ideology driven by the notion that government is not just too big and too expensive, but that it does too much to help people. Whether those are people in need of health insurance, or live downwind of a noxious chemical plant, or have been left behind by technological change, the Trump administration’s philosophy is that the government should be doing less for people. We know this because the budget and legislative proposals the president supports would uninsure millions, slash job retraining programs, and eliminate the Chemical Safety Board, among other things. Mr. Trump had even proposed cutting the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s budget before two Category 4 hurricanes crashed into Texas and the Southeast, rendering that idea preposterous.
The administration’s view towards protecting people pales in comparison to its outward animosity to our wildlife, lands, water and climate. While President Trump’s agenda to reduce or eliminate programs for people has been stalled, in part, due to executive incompetence, his aggressive efforts to roll back environmental protections are barreling forward.
Readers of this blog may recall Defenders sounding the alarm on the president’s nominees to lead the Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) months ago, and that his “first 100 days” gave us ample cause to be concerned about this administration’s environmental agenda. In fact, the administration has been just as dreadful as we feared on matters like wolf recovery, climate change, and public lands.
But it’s actually worse than that. Bad policies are one thing, but the leadership at Interior and the EPA, Secretary Ryan Zinke and Administrator Scott Pruitt, are pursuing an even more dangerous goal: completely unmaking the framework of regulations that protect our wildlife, land, air and water and even beginning to dismantle the agencies themselves. And since the top echelons of both entities have thus far been unhindered by the vacancies, novices, and turnover that have plagued other departments and agencies, we might not be able to count on ineffectualness to save us from their odious designs.
As we have discussed before, the Trump administration has an unhealthy (pun intended) obsession with weakening the rules and the agencies that protect us from everything from dangerous pesticides to financial fraud. The umbrella directive for their most sweeping effort is an executive order that President Trump signed back in February – E.O. 13777, Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda. The order calls on all federal departments and agencies to identify and repeal or modify regulations that, in their view, hinder job creation or cost too much.
The executive branch has responded to the order with varying degrees of zeal. A search of the Federal Register, where all government notices are posted, shows that quite a few departments, including State, Agriculture, and Treasury have each published a single notice that references E.O. 13777. Several others (the Internal Revenue Service, Federal Aviation Administration, and the Department of Energy) have responded with just two notices of potential regulatory revision. By comparison, the Interior Department has posted eleven, and the EPA has issued seven. Obviously, these guys are serious about eliminating environmental protections.
And getting rid of the rules may not be enough for these folks. Both Zinke and Pruitt are looking to take a sledgehammer to entire agencies: the EPA has announced that they hope to get rid of 1,200 employees (eight percent of that agency’s workforce) this year; for his part, Zinke supports cutting 4,000 Interior staff by next year. Both have spoken in support of the president’s proposed budget cuts of thirteen percent at Interior and nearly thirty percent at the EPA. A recent short-term budget deal in Congress has given employees at Interior and EPA a few months’ reprieve, but we expect that both Zinke and Pruitt will continue to pursue reducing their own ranks. You may be wondering, “Even if they do succeed in getting rid of some rules under E.O. 13777, won’t these budget cuts make it harder for them to enforce the protections for wildlife, air and water that remain?” The answer of course is YES. The fact of the matter is that federal conservation efforts are facing a trio of existential threats in the form of regulatory rollbacks, slashed budgets, and legislative assaults from Congress.
Defenders of Wildlife isn’t taking this lying down. In May, when the EPA first asked the public what public health and environmental regulations it should cut, our members joined the resounding chorus of “NONE OF THEM!” Last week we submitted a formal letter to the Interior Department in response to its request for public input on implementing E.O. 13777. In that letter, we called on Secretary Zinke to bring transparency to Interior’s review of supposed “burdensome” regulations, and warned him against rolling back conservation regulations and policies, such as those designed to protect the National Wildlife Refuge System or implement the Endangered Species Act. This week, we are asking our members and supporters to contact the Department to continue to press home the message that the regulations, rules and programs that protect our land, water and wildlife are NOT up for negotiation and must not be repealed, replaced or modified.
So far, there seems to checks and balances but at the same time and once again, it is exhausting.
I have also never seen anyone get a pass for what are just flagrant violations of the constitution and our laws that constantly just go unchecked (until an uproar).
Then again, the Republicans are in office. They control it. As of a few months ago, they would let all of that go so long as they can get some of their legislation's signed.
That is not even happening.
But this Tax Plan is them having their backs against the wall. They have nothing to run on next year. If they pass it, they will have anything to talk about during those campaigns. If not, they will have done nothing for a couple years.
You know what else went down this week that is overshadowed by Trumps antics? Steve Scalise is back and he looks great. He also spoke amazingly praising everyone involved in his rescue and his rehabilitation process. He named the Doctors that took care of him at the hospital. He pointed out the two officers on duty that day he was shot and he gave praise to Senator Fred Winstrom whom was at his side at that moment he got shot.
It was a great moment.
There is so much else to talk about but I totally forget what they are.
I think Phish New years was announced this week although that seems like it was also announced like 18 years ago.
I have the Jewish Holiday today and last night.
I dropped an entire bottle of Maple Syrup in the lobby of some place and man did that suck. I do Yoga five days a week. I do kickboxing 2 days a week while I work out daily. And, I drop shit like I am so unentered and so off. It is awful. I used to be so graceful and I used to be a great athlete but man am I screwing up easy things like holding onto something while having a conversation.
Anyway, stay in touch please and thanks for the ear...
The Rams play the Cowboys tomorrow at 1PM. I am on egg shells waiting for that game. I cannot get a gauge on how I think they will do. I am not sure what team will show up tomorrow but no matter what, they need to deal. They need to get up to that next level. If they win, that will be a step towards it even after that second week loss. Which is what gives me hesitation to get 150% pumped that we will win that game. I just have no clue what will show up tomorrow but at the same time, I can't wait for that game. It will be Phun...
Footnotes:
1. https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2017-03-21/president-donald-trump-has-also-got-a-domestic-emoluments-clause-problem
2. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/trumps-ethics-train-wreck/513446
3. http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/trump-contradicts-aides-comey-firing
4. http://www.npr.org/2017/06/10/532321287/is-trump-guilty-of-obstruction-of-justice-comey-laid-out-the-case
5. https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/07/27/case-impeachment.
So many things have happened this week.
I think it started way back when the POTUS picked fights with Jimmy Kimmel, Steph Curry, that ESPN broadcaster and the NFL and/or because of Colin Kaepernick.
(Jimmy) Kimmel made mince of the entire situation which not necessarily surprised me but it could have gone either way considering this POTUS' bully pulpit skills (aka as diverting the attention of us dumb ass'ed Americans from any real issues). He has this knack to get everyone to look at that so called 'shiny object' and away from the hard nosed issues of him failing at this job in every way.
At first with regard to Jimmy Kimmel, because Trump and his people are so persuasive towards his 1/3rd of the country which is essentially his base (it has varied lately from 31% to 39%), I thought they would moniker him as the quintessential Hollywood liberal trying to do whatever Liberals are trying to do to help humans, wildlife and the world. You know what I mean and at the same time, Kimmel cranked because I guess he is real which is the main thing about why I love the guy and honestly, I forgot. I took that for granted.
Remember that he did Crank Yankers and he was guy on the Man Show but for me, I know him from Howard (Stern). I like him on Howard. I like his humor when I see the blurbs on Morning Joe or whenever I see them, I like it alot. He cracks me. He seems way cool. His wife seems over the top great.
I just never watch the Tonight Show.
Trump is also acting in such reckless ways which he has been doing for a couple years (he has always acted recklessly in his personal life and with his business for decades) now since entering into politics. His lies have lies within it and in today's case, there are three lies within one statement.
That has got to be hard to do. Someone has to fall into that because there is no way at all to bundle three separate lies into one sentence and/or into one statement.
Now mind you that this our POTUS we are speaking about here and not some old roadie from the film 'Wayne's World' exaggerating stories about being on the road.
There should be a high standard set and hell, there should be the highest level of standards set being the leader of the entire free world.
He first said that they (Senate) had the votes to pass Graham/Cassidy. He mentions the need to rid of the filibuster 60 vote rule when they did not even have the majority 50 votes to even give VP Pence the chance to vote it through in the event of that tie. He also blamed the one supposed vote which again, I am not even sure what he is talking about gaining here but there I go again, I am taking him for his word. Setting that aside for the sake the point is that he says that a Senator is currently hospitalized. Therefore, he supposedly could not vote for the bill, hence the reason why it did not even get a vote, let alone not pass through the Senate.
U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain't going! So therefore ain't no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!
Initially on Twitter, he criticized Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry, who intends to skip the traditional NBA champs celebration at the White House. "Stephen Curry is hesitating,therefore invitation is withdrawn!" Trump wrote twenty minutes after "Fox & Friends" mentioned the issue.
LeBron James responded by calling the president a "bum" who misled his followers.
Add to that when the ESPN anchor Jemele Hill stated that Trump "is a white supremacist."
But then on Tuesday at another campaign style rally, Trump threw more 'red meat' at that crowd and to his base while diverting the attention of all humans with brains away from things like him not getting a vote on Health care. Or that his people are flying around on taxpayers dime using expensive means and that he had done nothing with regard to Puerto Rico until after the media raised that awareness to everyone.
Even my dad started calling it (whatever it is at this point) being disrespectful to the flag which is Trump at his best because remember please, any anthem protest begun when Colin Kaepernick kneeled during the national anthem last year because of the amounts of black people killed by cops (this year alone through September, there have been over 830 people killed by cops while only 2 of them have been brought up for a hearing).
I just remembered that Trump was rallying in Alabama to support Luther Strange in that primary election which he lost to that crazy guy Judge Roy Moore. That guy BTW, is like Todd Aiken on steroids. I do not see it but the Dem's or an Indy candidate that could feasibly win needs to go against him. I am not even sure what is up with that election.
And to add insult to injury, his Luther Strange guy that he rallied for lost that race. He lost by a whopping 10% so it was not even close. And while rallying for the guy, in doing so he created an even larger mess.
Trump deleted every Tweet after the results came in by Wednesday morning which showed him pushing for this candidate while backing him. He then proceeded to call Judge Roy Moore congratulating him on that win evidently on the phone and by way of a Tweet.
Also by mid week, it became quite clear that nothing was getting done down in Puerto Rico. The breakdown is everywhere from FEMA to our POTUS. He finally lifted the routing law allowing whatever country's ships to drop off and deliver items to the island. However, that took more than 8 days to lift.
Listen to what he said about an island.
"The response and recovery effort probably has never been seen for something like this," Trump said. "This is an island surrounded by water, big water, ocean water."
Who the hell is this guy talking to?
I assume he knows that we have ships and planes to get to what is an island now, doesn't he? How is he getting there on Tuesday next week? How does he think he is getting there next week and fundamentally, why is he going? Is he just going to fly around the island getting that typical photo op of him looking down over the destruction?
He then stated that Puerto Rico would have to rebuild its infrastructure which hello? Duh. "The electrical grid and other infrastructure were already in very, very poor shape, they were at their life's end prior to the hurricanes, and now virtually everything has been wiped out," Trump said. "We're literally starting from scratch." Trump said the government will work with Puerto Rico to figure out how to fund the rebuilding effort and "what we will do with the tremendous amount of existing debt already on the island."
Besides, is that the right time to bring up the economy in Puerto Rico and to ask how they will pay us back for that aid?
Trump of course is calling it very unfair and is even lying now saying that his relief effort has been excellent ('if you believe it, it is not a lie').
Anyway, Trump said that the NFL owners should get rid of players like Kaepernick. "Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he's fired. He's fired,'" Trump said. "You know, some owner is going to do that. He's going to say, 'That guy that disrespects our flag, he's fired.' And that owner, they don't know it [but] they'll be the most popular person in this country."
The president then doubles down on Twitter saying that "if a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL,or other leagues, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect. ... our Great American Flag (or Country) and should stand for the National Anthem. If not, YOU'RE FIRED. Find something else to do!"
Trump also said NFL ratings are down "massively" (that's not true -- the ratings are only down a little bit) and criticized the NFL's efforts to make the game safer for athletes. "There's a more important issue about the health of young, American athletes. And obviously the president wasn't too concerned about that," CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan said after the rally.
He finishes his diatribe going off about the NFL by saying it hurts the game "when people like yourselves turn on television and you see those people taking the knee when they're playing our great national anthem."
Roger Goodell (commissioner of the NFL) replied to the POTUS calling him or it as "divisive" comments but he did not utter the name Trump to this minute. The players union spoke out big time and Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, responded on Twitter with the following tweet:
The contradictions are ridiculous if again, you take him for his words.
Even though it is a diversion tactic, making claims that whomever is not patriotic or not all about the spirit of our U.S. flag, while not allowing them to act on their first amendment rights is not even normal to say out loud.
But again, that is if think he does not lie every minute of every day.
That is what the people in that GOP do BTW. They speak forcibly with the greatest of opinions about something right up until that very point where it affects them or contradicts what they just said. They have done that for years (remember how they would say George Bush Jr. and Dick Cheney kept Americans safe without saying the end of that sentence which should have been "after September 12th, 2001").
Trump and his admin that spoke on behalf of him got mushed on that issue this week too.
He will get down there the second any of his cabinet members are done using all of the government issued planes.
I am about to do it again which is taking Trump for his word on the campaign trail, the hypocrisy considering his platform to mutilate Hillary Clinton's reputation is not close to being even normal. I am not even sure how one can look at themselves in the mirror because the hypocrisy's are out of control.
Forget about the constant Russian probes that are stretching out every which way getting very close to the people in this admin, how about his cabinet members spending hundreds of K and tens of K accordingly to travel on taxpayers dimes?
That is ballzy. These guys are beyond arrogant. They are ballzy.
They als have no clue about the concept of being elected to a position to serve the people in America. Conversely, I think in some warped way that they think we should all be thankful for all of the things they have done and therefore we should pay for it (also setting aside that they gained monies in very suspect and corrupt ways again, accordingly).
President Trump expressed his dissatisfaction Wednesday with the Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price for what are now many inquiries about his use of chartered aircraft for government travel. "I'm not happy about it, and I will let him know it," said Trump. Asked by reporters if he would fire Price, Trump answered, "We'll see."
There are four (Price, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke) Trump administration officials that have been investigated as of late for their use of private planes at taxpayer expense. It has been maybe 7 months and they act this way. Just think if ot would continue. It would get worse over the years.
Tom Price actually got fired or he turned in his resignation but I maintain that he was singled out because of the health care debacle. Evidently, Trump is pissed about it not getting a fighting a chance this year and he has been pissed for allowing Price to deal with it out of the box. That is the problem hiring someone vehemently against something like Price is with regard to Obamacare.
Kind of like our head of the EPA being the same guy suing the very department he runs now.
Also kind of like appointing a Betsy DeRoss to run Education after doing much harm to our education system for years.
He has hired wolves to guard the hen houses so to speak many times over and you know why? It is all that he knows. He is NOT smart and not worldly enough and most of all, he had no clue that he would win. He was in no way ready to hire people to staff up.
This hypocrisy is like 5 folded if you take his 'draining of the swamp' platform as being real and not rhetoric to help him an election.
Speaking of staffers hired in the Trump administration, how many people have been fired this year? I think it is 9. More than one firing on the average every month. Remember how it started off this year?
They also unveiled hints of a tax plan. Trump touted it as being the 'middle class miracle' even though the only increase in taxes is at about 2% which is to the middle class people in America.
There a few things to know about this tax plan. It does nothing to help individual tax payers. It does do a lot for business. It will increase the national debt. It is also very bad for states that vote Democratic like Connecticut, California, etc., and that in essence have high state and local taxes.
It is a 5.8 trillion dollar tax cut at the top line with 3 trillion aimed at Individuals and 2.8 trillion aimed at Business. However it is deceiving because they eliminate many important itemized deductions for individuals particularly with state and local taxes.
Therefore when all is said and done, there will be a small tax increase (in no way is there any decrease to individual filers) for individuals while Business has over 2.7 trillion dollars worth of tax cuts.
All tax cuts are going to Business.
You can then figure out what that would do to the deficit.
Currently in our tax law, the deficit would raise 91% if it stayed the same whereas with the new enacted law using these rough numbers would increase 10% more to 101%. That would then be up from like 75% at this moment today.
That also does not include anything else not spelled out yet which could make that number even higher. For the first time since World War II, we would have a debt larger than the size of our economy.
The middle class will get nothing on balance to any give or take.
And, eliminating state and local taxes in States like California and Connecticut to me is taking money from the states that do well economically, and feeding it to the Federal Government. That is how I see it because look at Jerry Brown and the State of California. It is cranking today. Trump and his people want a piece of it which is a total lazy cop out.
And, individuals in those states would see a tax hike of about 4K a year. It would be devastating for individuals that live in those states and it would be bad for those states.
I am not one for throwing the 'i' term (impeachment) around but man, this is honestly getting scary. It has been scary but look at this week alone. It is not normal. It is exhausting. It is not fair.
Most of all, Donald J. Trump has failed to faithfully execute his duties as President. He violates the Constitution all of the time.
He has attempted to obstruct an investigation into potential wrongdoing by his campaign.
He has eroded America’s leadership in the world.
He cannot get any legislation done and what is really scary is how this guy needs a win so badly that he will sign anything no matter what is in it.
The problem is that the legal case only matters if the House of Representatives has the political will to deal with the issue and they will not as of now. Besides, only a couple of Democrats, and no Republicans, have publicly called for impeachment.
By refusing to divest from his businesses, he has violated both the Domestic Emoluments clause and the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which prevent the president from receiving payments from state or foreign governments due to the conflicts of interest those payments create.(1, 2)
Trump has also attempted to obstruct justice by interfering in former FBI Director James Comey’s investigations into the Trump campaign’s potential ties to Russia. First, he tried to demand Comey’s loyalty and asked Comey inappropriate questions about the investigation.(3) Then Trump openly admitted to NBC News’ Lester Holt that he fired Comey because he was unhappy that the Russia investigation continued.(4)
According to Rep. Brad Sherman, who has filed articles of impeachment against Trump, "A finding of ‘High Crimes and Misdemeanors’ does not require the violation of any particular criminal statute.... However, many Members will feel more comfortable if it is shown that President Trump violated a particular criminal statute. I believe that Trump’s use of threats to obstruct the ongoing criminal investigations of Michael Flynn clearly violate 18 U.S.C. 1512(b)(3); Violations of that section are a felony. Trump’s efforts to obstruct the investigation of his campaign’s possible collusion with Russia violated the same statute.... The evidence we have is enough to move forward now."(5)
He is systematically deconstructing the Conservation State. The Trump administration’s dismantling of agencies and policies.
Early in the current presidential administration, then-strategist Steve Bannon laid out an agenda for what he called “the deconstruction of the administrative state.” It’s a radical ideology driven by the notion that government is not just too big and too expensive, but that it does too much to help people. Whether those are people in need of health insurance, or live downwind of a noxious chemical plant, or have been left behind by technological change, the Trump administration’s philosophy is that the government should be doing less for people. We know this because the budget and legislative proposals the president supports would uninsure millions, slash job retraining programs, and eliminate the Chemical Safety Board, among other things. Mr. Trump had even proposed cutting the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s budget before two Category 4 hurricanes crashed into Texas and the Southeast, rendering that idea preposterous.
The administration’s view towards protecting people pales in comparison to its outward animosity to our wildlife, lands, water and climate. While President Trump’s agenda to reduce or eliminate programs for people has been stalled, in part, due to executive incompetence, his aggressive efforts to roll back environmental protections are barreling forward.
Readers of this blog may recall Defenders sounding the alarm on the president’s nominees to lead the Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) months ago, and that his “first 100 days” gave us ample cause to be concerned about this administration’s environmental agenda. In fact, the administration has been just as dreadful as we feared on matters like wolf recovery, climate change, and public lands.
But it’s actually worse than that. Bad policies are one thing, but the leadership at Interior and the EPA, Secretary Ryan Zinke and Administrator Scott Pruitt, are pursuing an even more dangerous goal: completely unmaking the framework of regulations that protect our wildlife, land, air and water and even beginning to dismantle the agencies themselves. And since the top echelons of both entities have thus far been unhindered by the vacancies, novices, and turnover that have plagued other departments and agencies, we might not be able to count on ineffectualness to save us from their odious designs.
As we have discussed before, the Trump administration has an unhealthy (pun intended) obsession with weakening the rules and the agencies that protect us from everything from dangerous pesticides to financial fraud. The umbrella directive for their most sweeping effort is an executive order that President Trump signed back in February – E.O. 13777, Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda. The order calls on all federal departments and agencies to identify and repeal or modify regulations that, in their view, hinder job creation or cost too much.
The executive branch has responded to the order with varying degrees of zeal. A search of the Federal Register, where all government notices are posted, shows that quite a few departments, including State, Agriculture, and Treasury have each published a single notice that references E.O. 13777. Several others (the Internal Revenue Service, Federal Aviation Administration, and the Department of Energy) have responded with just two notices of potential regulatory revision. By comparison, the Interior Department has posted eleven, and the EPA has issued seven. Obviously, these guys are serious about eliminating environmental protections.
And getting rid of the rules may not be enough for these folks. Both Zinke and Pruitt are looking to take a sledgehammer to entire agencies: the EPA has announced that they hope to get rid of 1,200 employees (eight percent of that agency’s workforce) this year; for his part, Zinke supports cutting 4,000 Interior staff by next year. Both have spoken in support of the president’s proposed budget cuts of thirteen percent at Interior and nearly thirty percent at the EPA. A recent short-term budget deal in Congress has given employees at Interior and EPA a few months’ reprieve, but we expect that both Zinke and Pruitt will continue to pursue reducing their own ranks. You may be wondering, “Even if they do succeed in getting rid of some rules under E.O. 13777, won’t these budget cuts make it harder for them to enforce the protections for wildlife, air and water that remain?” The answer of course is YES. The fact of the matter is that federal conservation efforts are facing a trio of existential threats in the form of regulatory rollbacks, slashed budgets, and legislative assaults from Congress.
Defenders of Wildlife isn’t taking this lying down. In May, when the EPA first asked the public what public health and environmental regulations it should cut, our members joined the resounding chorus of “NONE OF THEM!” Last week we submitted a formal letter to the Interior Department in response to its request for public input on implementing E.O. 13777. In that letter, we called on Secretary Zinke to bring transparency to Interior’s review of supposed “burdensome” regulations, and warned him against rolling back conservation regulations and policies, such as those designed to protect the National Wildlife Refuge System or implement the Endangered Species Act. This week, we are asking our members and supporters to contact the Department to continue to press home the message that the regulations, rules and programs that protect our land, water and wildlife are NOT up for negotiation and must not be repealed, replaced or modified.
So far, there seems to checks and balances but at the same time and once again, it is exhausting.
I have also never seen anyone get a pass for what are just flagrant violations of the constitution and our laws that constantly just go unchecked (until an uproar).
Then again, the Republicans are in office. They control it. As of a few months ago, they would let all of that go so long as they can get some of their legislation's signed.
That is not even happening.
But this Tax Plan is them having their backs against the wall. They have nothing to run on next year. If they pass it, they will have anything to talk about during those campaigns. If not, they will have done nothing for a couple years.
You know what else went down this week that is overshadowed by Trumps antics? Steve Scalise is back and he looks great. He also spoke amazingly praising everyone involved in his rescue and his rehabilitation process. He named the Doctors that took care of him at the hospital. He pointed out the two officers on duty that day he was shot and he gave praise to Senator Fred Winstrom whom was at his side at that moment he got shot.
It was a great moment.
There is so much else to talk about but I totally forget what they are.
I think Phish New years was announced this week although that seems like it was also announced like 18 years ago.
I have the Jewish Holiday today and last night.
I dropped an entire bottle of Maple Syrup in the lobby of some place and man did that suck. I do Yoga five days a week. I do kickboxing 2 days a week while I work out daily. And, I drop shit like I am so unentered and so off. It is awful. I used to be so graceful and I used to be a great athlete but man am I screwing up easy things like holding onto something while having a conversation.
Anyway, stay in touch please and thanks for the ear...
The Rams play the Cowboys tomorrow at 1PM. I am on egg shells waiting for that game. I cannot get a gauge on how I think they will do. I am not sure what team will show up tomorrow but no matter what, they need to deal. They need to get up to that next level. If they win, that will be a step towards it even after that second week loss. Which is what gives me hesitation to get 150% pumped that we will win that game. I just have no clue what will show up tomorrow but at the same time, I can't wait for that game. It will be Phun...
Footnotes:
1. https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2017-03-21/president-donald-trump-has-also-got-a-domestic-emoluments-clause-problem
2. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/trumps-ethics-train-wreck/513446
3. http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/trump-contradicts-aides-comey-firing
4. http://www.npr.org/2017/06/10/532321287/is-trump-guilty-of-obstruction-of-justice-comey-laid-out-the-case
5. https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/07/27/case-impeachment.
