Executive Departments Part 2

[GreyhoundFan]

9 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

 Honestly, if you put Pruitt in a line up with a bunch of other middle-aged white guys with grey hair, I freely admit I'd probably pick out the wrong guy. 

Well, he's the one with the security entourage. Apparently, according to Politico, the confrontation that caused him to become all upset happened in the Atlanta airport, when a person came up to him and told him he was fucking up the environment. I guess the truth hurts.

[GrumpyGran]

3 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Well, he's the one with the security entourage. Apparently, according to Politico, the confrontation that caused him to become all upset happened in the Atlanta airport, when a person came up to him and told him he was fucking up the environment. I guess the truth hurts.

Yeah, maybe if you weren't such a douche, Scott. Whatever happened to people facing the consequences of their actions?

[GreyhoundFan]

31 minutes ago, GrumpyGran said:

Yeah, maybe if you weren't such a douche, Scott. Whatever happened to people facing the consequences of their actions?

You forgot that only the poor and minorities are required to face the consequences of their actions. Wealthy white men are exempt.

[GreyhoundFan]

"More than 40 percent of Trump’s first Cabinet-level picks have faced ethical or other controversies"

Spoiler

President Trump came to Washington promising to “drain the swamp.” But after less than 13 months, more than 40 percent of the people he originally picked for Cabinet-level jobs have faced ethical or other controversies. The list has grown quickly in recent weeks.

Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt are that latest to have their questionable travel practices probed. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that an inspector general's report determined Shulkin and top aides doctored an email and otherwise misled it about expenses for a controversial 10-day European trip Shulkin took with his wife. The Post also reported Sunday that Pruitt has spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on first-class travel; since then his agency has said it obtained a waiver for him to fly first-class for security reasons.

The two of them join three other Cabinet-level officials who have faced ethical questions over their travels. Four other initial Cabinet-level picks have also been confronted with ethical or personal controversies — including in recent weeks now-Chief of Staff John F. Kelly (an original Cabinet pick) and Health and Human Services Secretary Ben Carson.

In total now, nine out of the 22 people Trump initially picked for Cabinet-level posts have found themselves facing scrutiny over their actions.

Here's a quick summary:

Travel (5):

• Shulkin
• Pruitt
• Former Health and Human Services secretary Tom Price: Resigned over frequent use of charter flights
• Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke: Mixing official travel with political events
• Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin: Requesting a military jet to fly him and his wife to Europe for their honeymoon, a trip to Fort Knox where the couple viewed the solar eclipse

False statements (2):

• Kelly (who was initially Trump's Homeland Security secretary): His handling of the Rob Porter scandal including reportedly telling staff to spread falsehoods, making false statements about a congresswoman
• Attorney General Jeff Sessions: Recused himself from the Russia investigation amid controversy over whether he lied about contacts with Russians during the 2016 campaign

Personal controversies (2):

• Labor secretary nominee Andrew Puzder: Withdrew over concerns about past employment of an undocumented housekeeper and later-recanted domestic violence accusations from an ex-wife
• Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson: Disregarded department lawyers' warnings about letting his son organize a “listening tour,” which officials warned might have been used to advance his children's business dealings
• Not all of these are created equal — nor are they all scandal-level situations. But they do highlight what has been a pretty rocky first year-plus for the Trump Cabinet. The repeated travel controversies, in particular, suggest the administration isn't running a particularly tight ethical ship or that there is a ton of overcompensation for Trump's promise to “drain the swamp.”

... < graphic >

While President Barack Obama's claims to have run a scandal-free administration are over-the-top, most of the problems within his administration stemmed from alleged incompetence rather than impropriety. The two biggest ethical issues to come from that administration would seem to be Hillary Clinton's use of private email as secretary of state and then-Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch's ill-advised tarmac meeting with Bill Clinton even as the Justice Department was investigating his wife. (Lynch later said she would accept the FBI's recommendation in that case rather than make her own determination.)

Hillary Clinton also had the deadly attack in Benghazi, but that was more about an alleged failure. So too were the Veterans Affairs scandal that led to Eric Shinseki's resignation and the botched Obamacare rollout that did in then-HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The worst travel ethics problems faced by Obama's administration involved a top deputy in the Commerce Department rather than the secretary.

There are certainly other ways for Trump to drain the swamp. But his Cabinet picks are proving a particularly stark example of where that effort has come up short.

This whole group is nothing but a living, breathing ethics violation.

[GrumpyGran]

22 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"More than 40 percent of Trump’s first Cabinet-level picks have faced ethical or other controversies"

  Reveal hidden contents

President Trump came to Washington promising to “drain the swamp.” But after less than 13 months, more than 40 percent of the people he originally picked for Cabinet-level jobs have faced ethical or other controversies. The list has grown quickly in recent weeks.

Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt are that latest to have their questionable travel practices probed. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that an inspector general's report determined Shulkin and top aides doctored an email and otherwise misled it about expenses for a controversial 10-day European trip Shulkin took with his wife. The Post also reported Sunday that Pruitt has spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on first-class travel; since then his agency has said it obtained a waiver for him to fly first-class for security reasons.

The two of them join three other Cabinet-level officials who have faced ethical questions over their travels. Four other initial Cabinet-level picks have also been confronted with ethical or personal controversies — including in recent weeks now-Chief of Staff John F. Kelly (an original Cabinet pick) and Health and Human Services Secretary Ben Carson.

In total now, nine out of the 22 people Trump initially picked for Cabinet-level posts have found themselves facing scrutiny over their actions.

Here's a quick summary:

Travel (5):

• Shulkin
• Pruitt
• Former Health and Human Services secretary Tom Price: Resigned over frequent use of charter flights
• Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke: Mixing official travel with political events
• Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin: Requesting a military jet to fly him and his wife to Europe for their honeymoon, a trip to Fort Knox where the couple viewed the solar eclipse

False statements (2):

• Kelly (who was initially Trump's Homeland Security secretary): His handling of the Rob Porter scandal including reportedly telling staff to spread falsehoods, making false statements about a congresswoman
• Attorney General Jeff Sessions: Recused himself from the Russia investigation amid controversy over whether he lied about contacts with Russians during the 2016 campaign

Personal controversies (2):

• Labor secretary nominee Andrew Puzder: Withdrew over concerns about past employment of an undocumented housekeeper and later-recanted domestic violence accusations from an ex-wife
• Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson: Disregarded department lawyers' warnings about letting his son organize a “listening tour,” which officials warned might have been used to advance his children's business dealings
• Not all of these are created equal — nor are they all scandal-level situations. But they do highlight what has been a pretty rocky first year-plus for the Trump Cabinet. The repeated travel controversies, in particular, suggest the administration isn't running a particularly tight ethical ship or that there is a ton of overcompensation for Trump's promise to “drain the swamp.”

... < graphic >

While President Barack Obama's claims to have run a scandal-free administration are over-the-top, most of the problems within his administration stemmed from alleged incompetence rather than impropriety. The two biggest ethical issues to come from that administration would seem to be Hillary Clinton's use of private email as secretary of state and then-Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch's ill-advised tarmac meeting with Bill Clinton even as the Justice Department was investigating his wife. (Lynch later said she would accept the FBI's recommendation in that case rather than make her own determination.)

Hillary Clinton also had the deadly attack in Benghazi, but that was more about an alleged failure. So too were the Veterans Affairs scandal that led to Eric Shinseki's resignation and the botched Obamacare rollout that did in then-HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The worst travel ethics problems faced by Obama's administration involved a top deputy in the Commerce Department rather than the secretary.

There are certainly other ways for Trump to drain the swamp. But his Cabinet picks are proving a particularly stark example of where that effort has come up short.

This whole group is nothing but a living, breathing ethics violation.

He said he was going to drain the swamp. He didn't say he was going to remove the scum that we'd see after the water was gone.

[GreyhoundFan]

Awww, poor Scotty. I bet he's crying in his taxpayer-funded soundproof booth: "Under fire for travel expenses, Pruitt cancels trip to Israel"

Spoiler

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has canceled a nearly week-long trip to Israel, agency officials confirmed Sunday.

Pruitt, who had been scheduled to leave this weekend for an extensive tour of the Mideast ally, has come under fire over the past week for the cost of his domestic and international travel. In May, the head of Pruitt’s security detail recommended he travel either business or first class whenever possible to avoid public confrontations with critics.

“We decided to postpone; the administrator looks forward to going in the future,” EPA spokeswoman Liz Bowman said in an email Sunday. She did not provide a reason for the postponement.

Pruitt was to arrive in Israel on Sunday and would have stayed at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem from the time of his arrival until Thursday, according to people in Israel briefed on his plans. Support staff from the U.S. Embassy, which is located in Tel Aviv, were supposed to accompany him on his trip, standard protocol for any visiting cabinet members.

Israeli officials confirmed that Pruitt’s trip was official state business but could not say if the usual visits had been scheduled. He had been slated to meet with Israel’s Environment Minister Ze’ev Elkin, but the office of the Israeli minister, a senior member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, confirmed that the meeting had been canceled.

Neither the U.S. embassy in Israel nor the Israeli Foreign Ministry would comment on Pruitt’s change in plans.

A week ago, an EPA official said the administrator intended to meet with government officials as well as private-sector representatives and visit multiple sites in Israel “to gain an understanding of Israel’s unique infrastructure and environmental challenges.” Those stops included a water recycling plant, a meeting with officials from Israeli water technology companies and a tour of a toxic land remediation site. Pruitt also planned to travel to the port of Haifa to see sustainability efforts there, the official said.

Pruitt had also explored the idea of meeting with political activists in Israel. Officials at the Yesha Council, an umbrella group representing Jewish settlers in the West Bank, said they had discussed with U.S. government officials the idea of Pruitt meeting with Oded Revivi, the council’s chief foreign envoy. But nothing had been locked into place, they added.

During a trip to New Hampshire on Tuesday, Pruitt emphasized he did not make the choice himself to switch to more expensive flights.

“I’m not involved in any of those decisions,” he told the New Hampshire Union Leader. “Those are all made by the [security] detail, the security assessment, in addition to the chief of staff.”

 

[GrumpyGran]

12 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

the administrator intended to meet with government officials as well as private-sector representatives

Uh-huh. No, I don't understand why Israel is going to help us with environmental issues. First, this guy doesn't care about that. And second, and maybe I'm just stupid, but wouldn't it be more informative to look at an environment that is similar to ours?

I'm calling bullshit.

[AmazonGrace]

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Senior HHS official placed on leave for promoting unfounded claims and conspiracy theories on social media"

Spoiler

(CNN) A top official at the Department of Health and Human Services has been placed on administrative leave after a CNN KFile inquiry while the agency investigates social media postings in which he pushed unfounded smears on social media.

Jon Cordova serves as the principal deputy assistant secretary for administration at HHS. A KFile review of Cordova's social media accounts found that he pushed stories filled with baseless claims and conspiracy theories, including stories that claimed Gold Star father Khizr Khan is a "Muslim Brotherhood agent" and made baseless claims about Sen. Ted Cruz's personal life.

"Mr. Cordova is currently on administrative leave while we look into this issue further," a HHS spokesperson said in a statement.

Cordova did not respond to a request for comment.

Cordova joined HHS in February of 2017, initially as part of the Office of the White House Liaison. In his current role, Cordova oversees day-to-day operations for the Office of Human Relations, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Office of Security and Strategic Information, Equal Employment Opportunity Compliance and Operations Office and the Program Support Center, according to his biography posted on the HHS website.

Prior to joining HHS, Cordova served as a Trump delegate from California to the Republican National Convention and worked in communications for Donald Trump's campaign in California.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Cordova routinely promoted stories on social media that pushed fringe claims about Trump's opponents that have no basis in fact.

In July 2016, Cordova shared a story that asserted without evidence that Khan, who spoke out against Trump at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, was a "Muslim Brotherhood agent" and "a Muslim plant working with the Hillary Clinton campaign." He also shared another story that falsely claimed the Clinton Foundation paid Khan.

... < tweet >

Cordova also shared unfounded and false stories that claimed Cruz, a Texas Republican frequented prostitutes, was involved in a sex scandal and was hiding various public records related to his birth and education.

... < another tweet >

n a post in 2013, Cordova called Democrats "the real racists" and said that 95% of blacks would not have voted for President Barack Obama if he were white.

In a December 2016 comment on Facebook on an article about a nonprofit selling access to President Trump during the inauguration, Cordova called Clinton "a slimy trailer trash huckster."

Cordova also repeatedly shared fake or conspiratorial stories, including one that claimed that Clinton was photoshopping her rallies to make them look bigger, one with a fake quote from Clinton about Democratic voters, one that claimed NBA star Dwyane Wade endorsed Trump and one with a photoshopped picture of a black man holding a sign that read, "No mother should have to fear for her son's life every time he robs a store."

... < yet another >

Cordova also struck a conspiratorial tone on his since-scrubbed Twitter account, of which only a few tweets are archived on several websites.

In one tweet, Cordova called for a boycott of Budweiser because the company supported "jihadis" over white immigration.

In another tweet, Cordova speculated the reason the identity of the shooter at Umpqua Community College in 2015 hadn't been made public was because he was a Muslim. The shooter was not a Muslim.

In another tweet, Cordova compared MoveOn.org and the Black Lives Matter movement to Nazis.

... < a nauseating one about Hitler >

The cabinet members get most of the attention, but cretins like this are bubbling right under the surface.

[GreyhoundFan]

"Interior Secretary Zinke asked for confidential energy data. So two scientists left."

Spoiler

Two senior U.S. Geological Survey officials have stepped down after Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke asked that they provide his office with confidential data on the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska before it was released to the general public.

Murray W. Hitzman and Larry Meinert — who had served as the agency’s associate director for energy and minerals and acting deputy associate director for energy and minerals mission area, respectively — charge that the request violated the USGS’s scientific integrity policy because such commercially valuable data should not be shared in advance. Section 3c of the policy states, “Particularly sensitive results, however, such as energy and mineral resource assessments and mineral commodity reports that typically have significant economic implications are not disclosed or shared in advance of public release because pre-release in these cases could result in unfair advantage or the perception of unfair advantage.”

Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift, however, said Wednesday that the solicitor’s office had determined that Zinke and his deputy, David Bernhardt, have to right to “review data, draft reports, or other information as it deems necessary” under the department’s 1950 reorganization plan.

The dispute, which was first reported Wednesday by Mother Jones magazine, represents the latest clash between career federal scientists and the Trump administration. Scientists at Interior, as well as at the Environmental Protection Agency and elsewhere in the government, have raised objections over issues ranging from the scrubbing of data from government websites to limits imposed on what federal scientists can say in public about their work.

Hitzman offered his resignation letter on Dec. 17, saying that he objected to the idea of providing the results of an assessment of the energy reserve’s potential “several days in advance of the information’s public release, in contradiction of my interpretation of U.S.G.S. fundamental science policy.”

Meinert, who retired on Jan. 31, said in a phone interview that he had planned to retire anyway, but the incident “certainly increased my desire to step out the door.” He emphasized that there was no indication that either Zinke or any of his deputies intended to use the information for personal gain. But he cited a long-standing practice of withholding the information until it is made widely available because when it is released, “that directly affects markets and who’s interested in investing in a geographical area.”

“This is the first time we’ve had anyone insist we want that number,” said Meinert, who joined USGS in 2012. “This is simply a matter of them wanting to control information.”

USGS Deputy Director William Werkheiser, who serves as Interior’s scientific integrity officer, said in a statement that this principle is violated “when there is a significant departure from the accepted standards, professional values, and practices of the relevant scientific community,” which he said did not happen in this case.

“I do not believe that current or proposed practices for the notification of DOI leadership constitute a loss of scientific integrity,” Werkheiser said. “In fact, at no time was USGS asked to change or alter any of the findings for the assessment.”

The Obama administration put half of the 22.8 million-acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, known by the abbreviation NPR-A, off limits to drilling in 2012 but allowed energy exploration in the rest of the area.

Zinke, who signed orders in March 2017 aimed at jump-starting energy exploration on federal and tribal lands, hailed the USGS assessment when it was released on Dec. 22 as proof that more leasing could take place there. Recalling an earlier visit that year to Alaska’s North Slope, Zinke said that when he asked Alaskans what they were seeking in terms of energy policy, “The response was overwhelmingly positive and the message was clear: the path to American Energy Dominance starts in Alaska,” according to an Interior press release.

“Today’s updated assessment is a big step toward that goal,” Zinke added.

Zinke noted in his statement that USGS estimated Alaska’s federal reserves onshore offer a mean of 8.7 billion barrels of oil and 25 trillion cubic feet of gas. “This is a significant increase from the 2010 resource assessment which estimated a mean of 1.5 billion barrels of oil,” the statement added.

In December, Interior’s Bureau of Land Management auctioned off 900 tracts in the reserve spanning a total of 10.3 million acres, but the sale attracted few bidders.

Is there going to be enough good employees left to run these agencies once the Dumpy administration is done?

[onekidanddone]

17 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Is there going to be enough good employees left to run these agencies once the Dumpy administration is done?

My husband tries to cheer me up by saying my Agency [name redacted] is going to need me to build help build it back up again once the Trump reign of terror ends. I know Mr. One Kid means well, but it is still hard to face it every day. For those of us here in the trenches life is hell.

[fraurosena]

Remember how the presidunce is always touting 'clean' coal? 

Black Lung Disease Comes Storming Back in Coal Country

Quote

Federal investigators this month identified the largest cluster of advanced black lung cases ever officially recorded.

More than 400 coal miners frequenting three clinics in southwestern Virginia between 2013 and 2017 were found to have complicated black lung disease, an extreme form characterized by dense masses of scar tissue in the lungs.

[graphic pics of healthy vs diseased lungs]

The cluster, identified following an investigation by National Public Radio, adds to a growing body of evidence that a new black lung epidemic is emerging in central Appalachia, even as the Trump administration begins to review Obama-era coal dust limits.

The severity of the disease among miners at the Virginia clinics “knocked us back on our heels,” said David J. Blackley, an epidemiologist at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, who led the research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It was equally troubling, he said, that nearly a quarter of the miners with complicated black lung disease had been on the job fewer than 20 years.

Across the coal belt in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia, “there’s an unacceptably large number of younger miners who have end-stage disease and the only choice is to get a lung transplant or wait it out and die,” Dr. Blackley said.

Scientists have linked the new wave of lung disease to miners breathing in more silica dust, the likely result of a decades-long shift toward mining thinner coal seams that require cutting into the surrounding rock. Silica dust from pulverized rock can damage lungs faster than coal dust alone.

Modern machinery, insufficient training for workers, and longer work hours may also contribute to increased dust exposure, experts say.

A Sharp Rise in Complicated Black Lung Disease

Black lung, a chronic disease caused by breathing in coal mine dust, declined precipitously between the early 1970s and late 1990s, following new health and safety rules put in place by the 1969 Coal Act. The legislation for the first time established airborne dust limits in coal mines and set up a health monitoring program for working miners, offering free chest x-rays every five years.

But by 2000, black lung was on the rise again. An advanced form of the disease, rarely seen in the mid-1990s, made an especially dramatic comeback.

[graph]

The upward trend in severe black lung disease has been clear for some time, but “what we’re really learning now is the magnitude of the problem,” said Carl Werntz, an associate professor of occupational medicine at West Virginia University, who treats miners in Morgantown.

In addition to the Virginia cluster, Dr. Blackley’s team previously found 60 miners with complicated black lung at a single clinic in eastern Kentucky. Overall, investigators have confirmed nearly 500 cases in just four clinics over the past four years. NPR, which began a wider survey of clinics in 2016, has unofficially recorded nearly 2,000 cases over a similar time period.

Those figures are far higher than the federal government’s voluntary screening program for working miners, which recorded fewer than 100 cases of complicated black lung disease nationwide between 2011 and 2016. Researchers note that the true extent of black lung disease among current and former coal miners remains unclear.

New Rules for Coal Dust Under Review

To combat black lung disease, the Obama administration in 2014 issued a new coal dust rule. It lowered dust exposure limits for the first time in four decades, increased sampling frequency and required the use of real-time personal dust monitoring devices.

The rule was challenged by coal industry groups as costly and overly burdensome. A federal appeals court upheld it in 2016.

Last December, the Trump administration announced a retrospective review of the four-year-old regulation as part of a broader rule-cutting agenda, a move that alarmed mine safety advocates and medical experts.

“In light of these trends showing more debilitating disease, we need more protection, not less,” said Judith Graber, an assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health.

A Mine Safety and Health Administration spokesperson said that the agency’s review was required and “will be used to determine if the 2014 rule is achieving its desired result.” David Zatezalo, a former miner and coal industry executive who now leads the agency, told Congress on Feb. 6 that he has no current plans to roll back the updated dust limits.

Phil Smith, director of communications and governmental affairs for the United Mine Workers of America, said that if the rule isn’t working, “then we need to beef it up even more.”

But of course, according to this administration's logic, in order to combat this deadly disease, the Obama era coal dust restriction rules need to be rolled back. 

[GrumpyGran]

5 hours ago, fraurosena said:

Remember how the presidunce is always touting 'clean' coal? 

Black Lung Disease Comes Storming Back in Coal Country

But of course, according to this administration's logic, in order to combat this deadly disease, the Obama era coal dust restriction rules need to be rolled back. 

DumpsterHead's response to this: "Why are they mining clean coal? Can't we rinse their lungs out?"

[Howl]

On 2/19/2018 at 8:13 AM, GrumpyGran said:

but wouldn't it be more informative to look at an environment that is similar to ours?

Actually, many parts of the arid American west and southwest could use some insight from Israel on how to function/grow crops/manage water supply in a desert environment.  However,  you don't need to actually go to Israel to get that information; it's been well studied. 

From my readings, I'm not getting that Zinke is a religious zealot (he's Lutheran), but a trip to Israel will always have layered meanings for any American politician of this era.   Glad he had to cancel.  Also, he's a Navy SEAL.  Wouldn't a Navy SEAL be able to defend himself against unwanted interactions with his fellow citizens?

[GrumpyGran]

On 2/18/2018 at 8:27 PM, GreyhoundFan said:

Pruitt had also explored the idea of meeting with political activists in Israel. Officials at the Yesha Council, an umbrella group representing Jewish settlers in the West Bank, said they had discussed with U.S. government officials the idea of Pruitt meeting with Oded Revivi, the council’s chief foreign envoy. But nothing had been locked into place, they added.

Actually, @Howl, it was Pruitt going on the trip to Israel. And he's no Navy Seal. Nope, he's the paranoid guy who couldn't care less about the environment so I'm guessing the above info was the real reason he was going but something on the other end was what ended the trip. Maybe this Revivi wanted a low-key meeting and with the massive protection team Pruitt takes with him, that was going to be impossible.

He's a bullshitting Evangelical who knows just enough Bible verses to do a poor job of justifying his actions.

[fraurosena]

I cannot put into words how angry this makes me. 

[formergothardite]

Quote

During a recent interview, EPA Chief Scott Pruitt said that the Christian Bible commands him to exploit all of the planets natural resources.

To quote Billy Graham who seemed to have studied the Bible:

Quote

 

Why should we be concerned about the environment? It isn’t just because of the dangers we face from pollution, climate change, or other environmental problems—although these are serious. For Christians, the issue is much deeper: We know that God created the world, and it belongs to Him, not us. Because of this, we are only stewards or trustees of God’s creation, and we aren’t to abuse or neglect it. The Bible says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1).

When we fail to see the world as God’s creation, we will end up abusing it. Selfishness and greed take over, and we end up not caring about the environment or the problems we’re creating for future generations

 

 

[fraurosena]

Just another example of how deep the weapons industry has got its claws into the American government. The NRA is just the tip of the iceberg. I'm willing to bet there are plenty more like Zinke.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Four Commerce Department appointees lose their posts after problems in background checks"

Spoiler

Four Commerce Department political appointees working on interim security clearances lost their jobs Tuesday because of problems in their background checks, the latest fallout from the intensifying public scrutiny on administration officials working without permanent clearances.

The department determined that the four appointees — including one who worked for the agency for nearly a year and served for several months as a senior adviser to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross — should not be given access to classified information, according to multiple officials who requested anonymity to discuss personnel matters.

A Commerce Department spokesman declined to comment on any terminations or resignations related to security clearance problems.

“The Department is prohibited by the Privacy Act from discussing personal information about employees,” spokesman James Rockas said in a statement. “The standard background and hiring practices are followed by the Department and, whenever concerns are raised during that process, the Department acts immediately.”

The Commerce Department departures comes as the White House has scrambled to answer why dozens of staffers — including senior adviser Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law — still lack permanent security clearances. Kushner’s top-secret interim clearance was downgraded Friday.

The Commerce Department made the decision to oust the four appointees, according to a White House official.

Among the Commerce appointees who lost their jobs Tuesday was Fred Volcansek, who served as a senior adviser to Ross for several months last year. Since last April, he has worked as executive director of SelectUSA, a program that promotes foreign investment in the United States.

Volcansek, who served in the Commerce Department in the George H.W. Bush administration, is a former mayor of Clifton, Tex. He worked as an advance staffer organizing events for Trump’s campaign, according to his LinkedIn page.

Volcansek said in an interview that agency officials would not tell him why they were terminating him.

“What’s interesting is that my investigation went on for 13 months,” he said. “If they found something . . . why didn’t they bring it up before?”

Three other Commerce appointees also left their posts after they were denied permanent security clearances: Chris Garcia, acting head of the department’s minority business development agency; Edgar Mkrtchian, senior adviser to the International Trade Administration; and Justin Arlett, adviser to the director for the Economic Development Administration, according to multiple officials.

Mkrtchian and Arlett declined to comment. Garcia said in a brief interview that he had been planning to leave the agency for several weeks and decided to resign on Tuesday.

In general, people can be denied a security clearance for a wide variety of reasons. Among the most common: withholding information from a government disclosure form, past criminal convictions, compromising contacts or being the subject of an investigation.

Wow.

[fraurosena]

Here's another shameless example of the unqualified, wasteful, ego-tripping big spenders in this administration.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

4 hours ago, fraurosena said:

Here's another shameless example of the unqualified, wasteful, ego-tripping big spenders in this administration.

I love the "$5,000 will not even buy a decent chair." Good grief.

[Cartmann99]

From the article @fraurosena referred to above:

Quote

The pressure began in January 2017, before Mr. Carson was even confirmed, when HUD’s interim secretary, Craig Clemmensen, told Mrs. Foster to help secure redecorating funds for Mrs. Carson, a frequent visitor to the department’s Washington headquarters who serves as an informal adviser to her husband, the complaint said.

Mr. Clemmensen, acting on Mrs. Carson’s behalf, told Mrs. Foster to “find money” to purchase better furniture for the office — and he quipped that “$5,000 will not even buy a decent chair,” according to the complaint, which was reported by The Guardian newspaper.

Why is Mrs. Carson so obsessed with the decor in her husband's office? Shouldn't she be busy with her own life and interests? 

[GrumpyGran]

2 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

From the article @fraurosena referred to above:

Why is Mrs. Carson so obsessed with the decor in her husband's office? Shouldn't she be busy with her own life and interests? 

But this is her interest.

[GreyhoundFan]

"A video Steven Mnuchin doesn’t want you to see"

Spoiler

On Monday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin participated in a discussion at the University of California at Los Angeles with “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal. The event was open to the public, and some of the attendees heckled and hissed at him. Demonstrators outside dressed up as Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, serving cake.

As the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, Mnuchin subsequently asked the university not to post its official video or audio. UCLA spokeswoman Peggy McInerny emailed the Journal that Mnuchin “has retracted his permission for the Burkle Center to post its video and podcast of yesterday’s event on its website, so we are unable to share either recording with you.”

This is an interesting move for a Cabinet member who (at least occasionally) claims to value transparency, given that this event was — once again — open to the public.

Because it was open to the public, however, some of the other people present also captured video. One sent me a short clip from the event, showing a sixth-grader asking the secretary a tough question about taxes. Here it is:

As you can hear, the audience hissed and interjected throughout. The person who sent this video, who wishes to remain anonymous, also shared these observations via email:

The hissing was surprisingly uncomfortable but a great example of subtle, navigable protest – the event was billed as an opp to hear a point of view and to engage – which was my experience.

It was very embarrassing for the Secretary.  It sent a message that even though we are in bel air, these are NOT your people.  He tried hard to engage the room (show of hands, how many of you like higher wages, etc).  Room was not having it.

At one point an attendee was physically picked up and removed by police, as you can see in this footage shared on Twitter by a reporter at the local ABC affiliate:

“Marketplace” has also posted excerpted audio of the event, as well as an edited transcript.

Wow

[fraurosena]

Huh, whaaah? (said in my best Orcish grunt voice)

White House preparing for McMaster exit as early as next month

Quote

The White House is preparing to replace H.R. McMaster as national security adviser as early as next month in a move orchestrated by chief of staff John Kelly and Defense Secretary James Mattis, according to five people familiar with the discussions.

The move would be the latest in a long string of staff shakeups at the White House over the past year and comes after months of strained relations between the president and McMaster.

A leading candidate to become President Donald Trump’s third national security adviser is the auto industry executive Stephen Biegun, according to the officials.

[video]

Biegun, who currently serves as vice president of international governmental affairs for the Ford Motor Company, is no stranger to the White House. He served on the National Security Council staff from 2001 to 2003, including as a senior staffer for then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.

Rice introduced Biegun to Mattis, recommending him for a position in the administration, according to a close associate of Rice. After Mattis met with Biegun at a think tank event he was convinced Biegun would be a good fit for the national security adviser role, the associate said.

Two people close to Biegun said he would need several weeks to get his financial affairs in order to be able to join the administration this spring.

Mr. Biegun did not respond himself to a request for comment, but Ford Motor Company spokesperson Christin Baker said, "Steve has no plans to leave Ford."

The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

McMaster joined the White House last year to replace Michael Flynn, who resigned after just 24 days in office amid revelations that he had lied to Vice President Pence about his dealings with Russian officials. Flynn, who was a target of the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign and potential ties to Russia, has since pleaded guilty to perjury and is cooperating with the special counsel.

McMaster had no ties to the Trump campaign and was serving as director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center in Virginia when he was named national security adviser on Feb. 20, 2017, choosing to remain an active duty Army lieutenant general rather than retire from military service.

But his tenure has been rocky. There have been staff shake-ups, questions about McMaster’s decision to voice political positions while still in uniform, and public disagreements with Trump.

Most recently, McMaster told a forum in Germany that Russian meddling in the election was "incontrovertible," a comment that drew a quick rebuke from the president.

“General McMaster forgot to say that the results of the 2016 election were not impacted or changed by the Russians and that the only Collusion was between Russia and Crooked H, the DNC and the Dems,” Trump wrote on Twitter.

McMaster is a widely respected military general with a storied career.

As an Army major, he turned his Ph.D. dissertation into a best-selling book that became mandatory reading inside the halls of the Pentagon and on military bases around the world. “Dereliction of Duty” held military leaders responsible for the U.S. defeat in Vietnam, arguing that they quietly acquiesced to the demands of President Lyndon S. Johnson rather than providing their best counsel.

He earned a Silver Star as a tank commander during the Gulf War. During McMaster's promotion to lieutenant general, retired Lt. Gen. David Barno called him “the rarest of soldiers,” admiring his ability to repeatedly “buck the system and survive to join its senior ranks.”

McMaster took over command of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command in 2012 and was planning to retire last summer until he got a surprise call from the White House in February 2017.

Now, a year later, a source close to Mattis said the Pentagon chief assured Kelly that he would offer McMaster a graceful landing, either another three-star job in the Army or even a promotion to a four-star general.

Defense officials would not speculate on what job McMaster could take in the Army, but two possible options are taking over for Gen. Vincent Brooks at U.S. Forces Korea or becoming the first commander of the new U.S. Army Future’s Command, which will focus on modernizing the force. 

The chaos in the WH continues.