Donald Trump and the Fellowship of the Alternative Facts (Part 14)

[suglo]

Another Trumpster learns that betrayal is the way of the Orange Fuck
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/21/health/opioid-trump-supporter-medicaid-health-care-reform/index.html

Last year, Kraig Moss sold the equipment for his construction business in upstate New York and stopped making mortgage payments so he could follow Donald Trump on the campaign trail.
The amateur country crooner sang pro-Trump ditties while strumming a guitar emblazoned with Trump campaign stickers, earning him the moniker "Trump Troubadour."
International media dubbed him "the voice of unheard America."
But now, Moss refuses to play the guitar with the Trump decorations. He's soured on the President because of the newly proposed Republican health care bill.

 

He obviously sold his brain when he sold his construction business. Imbecile.

[Penny]

9 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

I wish he'd build his "big beautiful wall" around an island and put himself and all his minions inside.

I would rather we send them to Mars, less access to the outside world!

[GreyhoundFan]

8 minutes ago, Penny said:

I would rather we send them to Mars, less access to the outside world!

That works too!

 

Here's a compendium of Agent Orange's biggest alternative facts lies about the Affordable Care Act.

Quote

President Trump is like a broken record of Pinocchios, incessantly repeating false and misleading claims that have been debunked. As Congress debates the Republican replacement bill for the Affordable Care Act, Trump has been on a greatest-hits tour of his favorite, and questionable, claims about Obamacare. We compiled a round-up of his most notable claims from the past week.

...

 

[47of74]

20 minutes ago, suglo said:

 

He obviously sold his brain when he sold his construction business. Imbecile.

Well he did lose his son to a heroin overdose so I have a little bit more sympathy for him than the average Branch Trumpvidian. 

Yeah, Herr Orange surrounds himself with the finest people.

thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/house-arrest-in-trump-tower-378095

MARCH 22--A longtime resident of Trump Tower whose contacts include Russian oligarchs and underworld figures has returned to the upper reaches of the Fifth Avenue tower, where his ostentatious aerie boasts finishes like 24k gold faucets, alabaster stone walls crafted by Portugese artisans, and a $350,000 bathroom floor made of amethyst imported from Tanzania.

No, Donald Trump is not back in Manhattan.

After nearly three years in federal custody, a racketeer who was convicted of running an international gambling and money laundering ring in partnership with a notorious Moscow crimelord is now living under house arrest on the 63rd floor of Trump Tower, three floors down from Trump’s penthouse, which is still home to First Lady Melania Trump and the couple’s 11-year-old son.

[47of74]

19 minutes ago, Penny said:

I would rather we send them to Mars, less access to the outside world!

No, I think Trump or any one else we want to exile should stay right here on Earth.

It's kind of like what Spock said in Space Seed,  "Your Earth was on the verge of a dark ages. Whole populations were being bombed out of existence. A group of criminals could have been dealt with far more efficiently than wasting one of their most advanced spaceships."

Instead of polluting Mars with Herr Orange and his groupies we should be sending our best, which we would not be doing if we sent Herr Orange.  We'd be sending an actual rapist to Mars if we sent him there.

[GreyhoundFan]

Oh goody, the tangerine toddler is going to offend our allies in person!

Quote

The White House on Tuesday night confirmed that President Trump will attend a gathering of NATO leaders in Brussels in May, a move that could help reassure U.S. allies about his administration's commitment to Europe's security.

Trump will participate in the meetings on May 25, press secretary Sean Spicer said in a statement, adding that the president "looks forward to meeting with his NATO counterparts to reaffirm our strong commitment to NATO, and to discuss issues critical to the alliance, especially allied responsibility-sharing and NATO’s role in the fight against terrorism."

Spicer also said that Trump will welcome NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to the White House on April 12 to "talk about how to strengthen the alliance to cope with challenges to national and international security."

The Belgian government had first announced last month that Trump would attend the summit, which usually takes place every two years for the heads of state and government.

During his campaign, Trump had called NATO "obsolete" and suggested that his administration might reevaluate U.S. support for the organization.

...

 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Secret Service asked for $60 million extra for Trump-era travel and protection, documents show"

Quote

The U.S. Secret Service requested $60 million in additional funding for the next year, offering the most precise estimate yet of the escalating costs for travel and protection resulting from the unusually complicated lifestyle of the Trump family, according to internal agency documents reviewed by The Washington Post.

Nearly half of the additional money, $26.8 million, would pay to protect President Trump’s family and private home in New York’s Trump Tower, the documents show, while $33 million would be spent on travel costs incurred by “the president, vice president and other visiting heads of state.”

The documents, part of the Secret Service’s request for the fiscal 2018 budget, reflect the costly surprise facing Secret Service agents tasked with guarding the president’s large and far-flung family, accommodating their ambitious travel schedules and fortifying the three-floor Manhattan penthouse where first lady Melania Trump and her son, Barron, live.

Trump has spent most of his weekends since inauguration at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, and his sons have traveled the world to promote Trump properties with Secret Service agents in tow.

...

Mar-a-Lago has quickly become a capital of Trump’s presidency and will play host to Chinese President Xi Jinping next month. On Friday night, the president surprised attendees when he popped into a club charity event to congratulate Patrick Park, a Palm Beach philanthropist who has said he hopes to be named U.S. ambassador to Austria.

The Secret Service’s protection costs are only a fraction of the total public spending devoted to safeguarding Trump properties. New York police spent roughly $24 million toward security costs at Trump Tower between the election and inauguration, according to police figures provided to The Post.

...

The Secret Service has struggled through years of budget short­ages and low morale. Former Secret Service agents said tightening budgets have hit agents hard and that, unlike other agencies, the Secret Service can’t travel less or staff fewer people to keep costs down because full protection for the first family is guaranteed.

“Everything will get done,” said Wackrow, the former agent who served in Obama’s protective detail. “But at what pain point does it get done?”

 

 

"Donald Trump is going to be livid if his health-care bill fails in the House"

Quote

Donald Trump doesn't handle setbacks all that well.

Take that time when he lost the Iowa caucuses to Ted Cruz in the 2016 presidential campaign. The next  day, Trump insisted that something nefarious had taken place.

"Ted Cruz didn't win Iowa, he illegally stole it," Trump tweeted. "That is why all of the polls were so wrong and why he got more votes than anticipated. Bad!"

...

The most likely reaction from Trump if the Republican-controlled House votes down the health-care proposal Thursday night then is anger — and payback.  Trump is vengeful as a politician — his ouster of Chris Christie, his shabby treatment of Mitt Romney post-election — and believes it's central to his brand and his effectiveness.  People need to know that when they act in ways he doesn't approve of, there are real consequences.  Not like "hey, I wish you hadn't done that" consequences either. Like, beat-you-in-an-election consequences.

If Trump goes full napalm on Republicans in the event of a failed health-care vote, it probably dooms any chance of taking another bite at that apple.  Which means that Republicans will head into the midterm elections having not done the one thing they promised to do for the past decade if they somehow got control of all levers of power in Washington.

I'm not sure Trump would care. He would likely view those members as getting what they deserved for refusing to be for something he wanted. And he might even conclude that an election bashing in 2018 would help convince congressional Republicans that being for him is the only way for them to survive.

There is, of course, the much smaller possibility that Trump plays good cop in the wake of a failed vote and works with Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to cobble together some other health-care proposal that would give Republicans on the ballot in 2018 something to take to their constituents.

But everything we know about Trump suggests the former option is WAY more likely than the latter. Would it create chaos for Republicans if Trump took that path? Yes. But he likes chaos

Full napalm, yeah, I can see that happening if the tangerine toddler doesn't get his way.

[JMarie]

2 hours ago, 47of74 said:

Well he did lose his son to a heroin overdose so I have a little bit more sympathy for him than the average Branch Trumpvidian. 

Yeah, Herr Orange surrounds himself with the finest people.

thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/house-arrest-in-trump-tower-378095

 

 

See, that's why I think so many people hate Trump -- because there are so many offensive things he's doing.  The former Trump supporter is concerned about the future availability of rehab resources.  Me, not so much, but I have an elderly father with multiple health issues.  I'm worried about what might happen to Medicare and Social Security.  For others, it might be education or the environment or immigration.  Lots of important topics, and Trump is stomping all over all of them.

[47of74]

11 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"Secret Service asked for $60 million extra for Trump-era travel and protection, documents show"

 

 

"Donald Trump is going to be livid if his health-care bill fails in the House"

Full napalm, yeah, I can see that happening if the tangerine toddler doesn't get his way.

Yeah Agent Orange is just as destructive as a bunch of napalm.

[fraurosena]

Hmmmm, I wonder what this signifies?

[GreyhoundFan]

"Trump asked blacks, ‘What do you have to lose?’ He’s about to find out."

Quote

Candidate Donald Trump loved to ask African Americans (in front of overwhelmingly white audiences), “What do you have to lose?” President Trump will find out the answer Wednesday. That’s when he will meet with the Congressional Black Caucus at the White House for the first time. He’s so not going to like their answer.

Not all 49 members of the CBC will be present. Just Cedric L. Richmond (D-La.), chair of the CBC, and five members of the executive committee. They include André Carson (D-Ind.), Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.) and Anthony G. Brown (D-Md.). And they will be walking in the door with proposals and legislation.

Each chapter of the 130-page book the CBC will present to the president will cover areas of major concern. Voting rights, education, criminal-justice reform and economic justice are among them. None of what will be proposed should take the president by surprise. The CBC has been trying to get Trump’s attention on all of this for months. The “New Deal for Black America” he issued in October was dismissed in a letter to him in January by the lawmakers as not serious in addressing issues important to African Americans. So, think of the Wednesday meeting with the president as a reset.

...

“We will give him the benefit of us letting him know what the conscience of the Congress thinks of what he’s doing and ways to improve underserved communities throughout the country,” Richmond said.

We can only pray Trump actually listens. But forgive me for not holding my breath.

Wow, they're giving him a 130-page book? The man is incapable of reading anything more than 140 characters at a time.

[fraurosena]

Over an hour and a half ago, the ever-quick to tweet tangerine toddler was briefed about the attacks in London. Guess what? The parasitic presidunce reacted with radio silence. Not a tweet. Not a peep.

So much for standing by your allies, huh?

[GreyhoundFan]

12 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

Over an hour and a half ago, the ever-quick to tweet tangerine toddler was briefed about the attacks in London. Guess what? The parasitic presidunce reacted with radio silence. Not a tweet. Not a peep.

So much for standing by your allies, huh?

He's not going to send out anything unless it advances his agenda. Personally, I was horrified at the reports and feel terrible for the people of London.

 

I'm sure this will upset him, though, of course, he doesn't read the NYT: "Eyeing Trump’s Budget Plan, Republican Governors Say ‘No, Thanks’"

Quote

Gov. Matt Bevin of Kentucky was unrestrained in his praise for President Trump: Opening for him at a rally on Monday, Mr. Bevin, a conservative Republican, echoed Mr. Trump’s “America First” slogan and only gently noted the nagging divisions in their party.

“We now have a president and a Congress that are united in party, and yet we still have disagreements among us,” Mr. Bevin said, insisting, “This is healthy and good.”

In private, Mr. Bevin has been blunter about the party’s disagreements. Just days before appearing with Mr. Trump in Louisville, he joined a conference call with the president’s budget director, Mick Mulvaney, to protest a White House proposal to defund the Appalachian Regional Commission, an economic development agency that spans 13 states and steers millions of dollars in federal money to Kentucky.

Mr. Bevin was not alone in his dismay.

As Mr. Trump and his advisers press for bone-deep cuts to the federal budget, Republican governors have rapidly emerged as an influential bloc of opposition. They have complained to the White House about reductions they see as harmful or arbitrary, and they plan to pressure members of Congress from their states to oppose them.

...

 

[47of74]

19 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

Over an hour and a half ago, the ever-quick to tweet tangerine toddler was briefed about the attacks in London. Guess what? The parasitic presidunce reacted with radio silence. Not a tweet. Not a peep.

So much for standing by your allies, huh?

Like I said in the post about these attacks is I sure hope Orange Fuck doesn't get stupid.  Especially if it turns out to be someone with non-white and/or non-Christian behind the attack.  I could see the Orange Fuck deciding to use these attacks as an excuse to oppress people.

[sawasdee]

I'm quite glad he's staying quiet - I cannot imagine him saying anything inoffensive.

[candygirl200413]

He will definitely make it about him whenever he makes these said comments!

Also, I have this fear that when I come back from Taiwan next weekend that Trump will say something stupid and cause me and my friends to be stuck (we have a layover in China).

Also do we know if Tillerson is taking a salary? I forget where I read the article, either huffpo or wsj but it was saying how most of his cabinet isn't taking a salary because they're getting paid via Russia.

[GreyhoundFan]

1 hour ago, candygirl200413 said:

He will definitely make it about him whenever he makes these said comments!

Also, I have this fear that when I come back from Taiwan next weekend that Trump will say something stupid and cause me and my friends to be stuck (we have a layover in China).

Also do we know if Tillerson is taking a salary? I forget where I read the article, either huffpo or wsj but it was saying how most of his cabinet isn't taking a salary because they're getting paid via Russia.

I don't believe there is a mechanism for them to not receive a salary. Of course, they would be free to donate any/all of their salaries after receiving them. I just seriously doubt any of them would work for free.

 

Not directly about Agent Orange, but can you imagine that germophobe allowing a puppy to lick him? These pictures of Joe Biden meeting his four-legged namesake are precious.

[Cartmann99]

6 hours ago, 47of74 said:

Well he did lose his son to a heroin overdose so I have a little bit more sympathy for him than the average Branch Trumpvidian. 

Moss was incredibly foolish, but people can make some really, really bad decisions while they are grieving. Trump took advantage of this man, he called Moss out in the crowd, talked about Moss's son, and then promised everybody there that he was going to help those who are struggling with addiction. 

Quote

 

But last week, Moss read about the proposed American Health Care Act. The Republican bill would end the Obamacare requirement that addiction services and mental health treatment be covered under Medicaid in the 31 states that expanded the health care program -- which include Moss' home state of New York.

 

Most of us, upon hearing Trump's various promises on these and other issues, knew that unless it was something that could be accomplished by an Executive Order, Trump would have to get Congress to go along with his plans. Since a good number of Republicans think addiction and mental illness are moral failings that can be cured by bootstraps!!! and frequent applications of religion, this was going be a hard sell.

That said, I'm not convinced that Trump ever even intended to try and do something about increasing access to addiction treatment services. I think someone just told him it would sound good to communities who have been hit hard by opioid addiction. 

I am glad to see that Mr. Moss is now connecting with other people who have lost someone to addiction. Only those who have walked in his shoes can truly understand his pain. I hope he's able to find healing, and comes out stronger and wiser from his painful experience of putting his trust in someone who exploits that trust for their own gain. 

[onekidanddone]

3 hours ago, fraurosena said:

Hmmmm, I wonder what this signifies?

Deflection time! Trump will tweet that Hillary Clinton is listening to him through his cuff links.

18 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"Reality is creeping into the Trump show"

 

 

"Susan Rice: When the White House twists the truth, we are all less safe"

Susan Rice is a former national security adviser and representative to the UN. Her article is long, but interesting and valid.

On the guy who sold everything to go on the road with the white hooded orange shit stain....Dumb Fuck!  Like some grown up Dead Head. However, all the Dead Heads I ever knew were mellow (no kidding) harmless people.  I really don't want to hear the orange zombies crying into there water downed beer. They helped fuck up t he entire country, they can go fuck themselves now.

Oh okay, I'm getting all stabby.  Yet another example of why my dad used to call me "Her Grand Serenity" ..He had a biting sarcastic wit, my dad.

[Cartmann99]

5 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

The documents, part of the Secret Service’s request for the fiscal 2018 budget, reflect the costly surprise facing Secret Service agents tasked with guarding the president’s large and far-flung family, accommodating their ambitious travel schedules and fortifying the three-floor Manhattan penthouse where first lady Melania Trump and her son, Barron, live

Shouldn't it cost less to secure Trump Tower in 2018, since Melania and Barron are moving into the White House at the end of this school year? 

[GreyhoundFan]

6 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

Shouldn't it cost less to secure Trump Tower in 2018, since Melania and Barron are moving into the White House at the end of this school year? 

Suuuuuuuuuure...and I have a lovely bridge for sale!

 

"The Wall Street Journal editorial board just went off on Donald Trump"

Quote

The Wall Street Journal, accused by some journalists of going soft on President Trump, printed a stinging editorial Wednesday that likened the falsehood-addicted commander in chief to an alcoholic.

Trump doesn't even drink.

The Journal editorial board ripped the president for what it described as his “seemingly endless stream of exaggerations, evidence-free accusations, implausible denials and other falsehoods,” and reserved special criticism for his unsubstantiated charge that President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower during the campaign. Even after FBI Director James B. Comey testified before Congress this week that his agency does not have “any information that supports” the claim, Trump has not relented.

“The president clings to his assertion like a drunk to an empty gin bottle, rolling out his press spokesman to make more dubious claims,” the Journal wrote. Ouch.

...

 

[onekidanddone]

11 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Suuuuuuuuuure...and I have a lovely bridge for sale!

 

"The Wall Street Journal editorial board just went off on Donald Trump"

 

Where are they going to send the boy to school?  Not Sidwell Friends School as Obama did.  Oh I hope not. I mean I know Nixon was a Quaker, but oh hell can you imagine a Trump in that school?  Maybe they will send him away to boarding school.  I mean orange man really can't be bothered to spend any time with his kids as children.  I'm also surprised the current Mrs. is moving.  I would have figured he would have been working on wife number four by now. Or at least have a revolving bedroom door of ladies. Ewww.

[RoseWilder]

This is infuriating: 

 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Why Trump’s N.I.H. Cuts Should Worry Us"

Quote

Last week I was in London to participate in a scientific symposium. During coffee breaks, many British colleagues asked me and other American visitors to explain the bewildering news that President Trump had announced his intention to cut the budget for the National Institutes of Health by 18.3 percent, about $5.8 billion.

My answer to “What is going on?” did include some consoling reminders. A presidential budget request is a proposal, not a done deal. The actual fiscal year 2018 appropriation for the N.I.H. will be determined by Congress, which has historically provided enthusiastic bipartisan support for biomedical research. Although the N.I.H. has lost a substantial amount of its spending power gradually over the past decade, it has only rarely experienced a sharp decline in actual dollars and never of this magnitude. Furthermore, strong nonpartisan opposition to Mr. Trump’s proposal will come from many quarters, including advocates of research on specific diseases.

But it would be a mistake to be complacent about the president’s proposal, because it is likely to have real consequences. Yes, some have said that the proposed cut to the N.I.H. will be dead on arrival in Congress. But the president’s budget proposal is still important: The administration’s representatives will need to defend it at hearings, and it could be the starting point for negotiations among appropriators. It is not difficult to imagine a compromise in which the N.I.H. suffers a steep reduction.

To understand just how devastating a cut of less than 20 percent of an agency’s budget would be requires some understanding of how the N.I.H. operates. Very little of its typical annual budget is spent on the agency’s administration: The industrious, underpaid government scientists who manage the funding of the N.I.H.’s research programs consume less than 5 percent of its budget. Only a bit more, about 10 percent, supports the work of government scientists. In sharp contrast, over 80 percent of its resources are devoted to competitively reviewed biomedical research projects, training programs and science centers, affecting nearly every district in the country.

...

The article goes on to talk about how NIH money is allocated. It's an interesting read.

[Penny]

My sister was at the NIH a year and a half ago. I was able to go with her and was thoroughly impressed. Very knowledgeable people nice facility and great doctors and nurses. These people are doing great work and I cannot believe they are cutting funding.  I a very pissed.