Trump 7 - Cheeto in Charge

[Howl]

Quote

In a move signaling an intention to dismantle President Obama’s climate change and environmental legacy, President-elect Trump will nominate Scott Pruitt, the attorney general of the oil and gas intensive state of Oklahoma, to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

Well, I guess this signals more fracking and earthquakes in Oklahoma. 

[JMarie]

Things that make you go hmm....

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/01/us/politics/trump-conflict-of-interests.html

[GreyhoundFan]

A couple of interesting articles. The first is a comparison of Air Force One and "Trump Force One". Gee, Agent Orange doesn't believe that a 747 is bigger, faster, and has a longer range than his 757. Surprise, surprise. Obviously "Trump Force One" is fancier, since Air Force One doesn't have gold-plated fixtures or a movie theater.

The second, is how Paul Ryan's attacks on Hillary could come back to bite him. I sincerely hope so, it couldn't happen to a more deserving bitee.

Quote

During the presidential campaign, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) was one of the most passionate and eloquent defenders of House Republicans' multipronged investigations of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's actions as secretary of state.

When some accused Republicans of clamoring for investigations of Clinton's emails and family foundation just to undermine her campaign, Ryan reframed the inquiries as a matter of principle:

“I think it goes without saying we should treat people fairly. No one should be above the rules, no one should be above the law, and that's what we're looking for, equality,” Ryan told CNN's Jake Tapper in a July interview. “So that people should be held to the same set of standards. That's the problem with Washington, is people think there's self-dealing and they think that everybody is being held to different standards. And the problem is that that's true!”

Now that Donald Trump won, those words could come back to haunt Ryan. With each passing day, Trump is tangling himself in a knot of potential business and family conflicts of interest while he runs the country. That means Republicans in Congress could soon find the tables turned: Democrats clamoring for ethics investigations of the president. And what's more, they'd be able to point to Ryan's own argument — that no one should be above the law — to make their case.

It probably won't surprise you to hear that Ryan is not nearly as bullish on investigating Trump as he was Clinton. He has been repeatedly asked over the past week or two how he feels about Trump's potential for conflicts of interest, and his answer has boiled down to: It's not my problem.

“How do you want him to address his business conflicts?” CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Ryan in an interview Wednesday.

Ryan responded: “However he wants to. You know, this is not what I'm concerned about in Congress.”

When pressed on it again, Ryan said: “I have every bit of confidence he's going to get himself right with moving from being the business guy that he is to the president he's going to become. I'm focused on getting this agenda passed so that we can turn around and tackle this country's big problems before they tackle us. That is what I'm focused on. And not the legal details of how he divorces himself from his business, which I know he will.”

In other words: As long as Trump is signing my tax reform and Obamacare repeal bills into law, and there's no legally verified conflicts of interest, no problem.

To some degree, that's politics: You hit the opposition when you can, and you duck when they're hitting you, even if it's for arguably the same thing.

What a weasel. I hope it comes back to haunt him.

[47of74]

3 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

A couple of interesting articles. The first is a comparison of Air Force One and "Trump Force One". Gee, Agent Orange doesn't believe that a 747 is bigger, faster, and has a longer range than his 757. Surprise, surprise. Obviously "Trump Force One" is fancier, since Air Force One doesn't have gold-plated fixtures or a movie theater.

The second, is how Paul Ryan's attacks on Hillary could come back to bite him. I sincerely hope so, it couldn't happen to a more deserving bitee.

What a weasel. I hope it comes back to haunt him.

That ferret faced SOB Ryan is another idiot I absolutely cannot stand.  He's always struck me as someone who doesn't care how people are hurt due to his policies as long as he and his benefactors get what they want.  I hope the Democrats fight back hard against Ryan and his fellow Branch Trumpidians in Congress.

[Cartmann99]

4 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

A couple of interesting articles. The first is a comparison of Air Force One and "Trump Force One". Gee, Agent Orange doesn't believe that a 747 is bigger, faster, and has a longer range than his 757. Surprise, surprise. Obviously "Trump Force One" is fancier, since Air Force One doesn't have gold-plated fixtures or a movie theater.

I grow weary of Trump's constant dick measuring bullshit over the size of his plane, his bank account, his tacky-ass penthouse, the beauty of his current wife, etc....

Adults who are comfortable in their own skin don't act like this. 

[Childless]

3 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

I grow weary of Trump's constant dick measuring bullshit over the size of his plane, his bank account, his tacky-ass penthouse, the beauty of his current wife, etc....

Adults who are comfortable in their own skin don't act like this. 

He's got incredibly low self-esteem.  Hell, someone made a jab at the size of his fingers 30 years ago and he's still going on about it.  I'd feel sorry for him if he wasn't such an asshole.

[Howl]

Trump characterized the Clinton Foundation as a front for pay-to-play for foreign governments.  With Trump, pay-to-play is his new foreign policy.  Trump, who still has over six weeks to go till inauguration, is already a walking ethics violation.  Ryan will use the chaos around Trump to ram through as much retrograde legislation as possible in the shortest time possible. We are all so screwed. 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

31 minutes ago, Howl said:

Trump characterized the Clinton Foundation as a front for pay-to-play for foreign governments.  With Trump, pay-to-play is his new foreign policy.  Trump, who still has over six weeks to go till inauguration, is already a walking ethics violation.  Ryan will use the chaos around Trump to ram through as much retrograde legislation as possible in the shortest time possible. We are all so screwed. 

 

That is one of my biggest concerns, that Ryan and McConnell will use Drumpf to distract the media and public from the crap they are doing.

 

The Washington Post published a good article about how Kellyanne is playing the woman card badly.  A couple of excerpts:

Quote

And now, a month after her candidate defeated the first woman ever to be a major-party presidential nominee — Trump called Clinton “shrill” and said her only asset was “the woman card” — Conway is playing the woman card herself.

“It’s a great time to be a woman in America,” Conway exulted Wednesday at the Women Rule Summit, a girl-power event in Washington hosted by designer Tory Burch’s foundation, Google and Politico. “We’re a product of our choices, not just our circumstances. We’re independent thinkers. And it’s just a very special time.”

Her message to the audience, many of them young women: Women should “go for it” and “ask for what we think we deserve.”

What Conway is asking for now, after Trump’s win, is to return to a traditional gender role. She doesn’t want a job in the administration, because she wants to have time with her four kids, to help with homework and make meals. “My children are 12, 12, 8 and 7, which is bad idea, bad idea, bad idea, bad idea for mom going inside.”

But fathers of young children? That’s a different matter, she explained. When male colleagues suggested she could have a White House job, “I did politely mention to them that the question isn’t, would you take the job? . . . The real question is, what would your wife do? And would you want the mother of your children to do it?” When she puts it that way, she said, they replied that “they wouldn’t want their wife to take that job.”

 

Quote

Outside the room at the Park Hyatt where Conway spoke, a photo booth for the Women Rule conference urged attendees to “tell us what empowers you.” What empowered Conway on Wednesday was disparaging Trump’s former opponents (Clinton’s “scandalabra” and Tim Kaine’s paltry crowds) and the media for errant predictions of a Clinton victory. By contrast, Conway, like her boss, betrayed a fondness for self-praise. She described her management style as patient, methodical, “tough and firm but gentle at the same time,” honest, candid, “very deferential and respectful,” and “with a big smile.”

But after this ugly campaign, Conway and her boss will need more than a big smile. “I was always raised to respect the office of the presidency and its current occupant,” said the woman whose boss led the campaign questioning the current president’s legitimacy as a native-born American.

Americans respect the presidency, but Trump will have to earn respect. And you don’t earn that by running a campaign that stirred up misogyny and gender-role resentment — and then proclaiming it a victory for women.

I wish Kellyanne would take her cards, all of them, and disappear from public view.

[SHERA]

On 12/4/2016 at 6:05 PM, Cartmann99 said:

For those of you on Twitter who are wanting to see a conservative Christian stand up to Trump, check out Evan McMullin. I obviously don't agree with some of his political positions, but he understands that Trump is dangerous and that people of different political beliefs are going to need to band together against Trump.

Tweet storm of his from earlier today:

https://mobile.twitter.com/Evan_McMullin/status/805473959324090368

 

I voted for Evan McMullin. You should keep up with his tweets, they are awesome!

On 12/5/2016 at 10:42 AM, 47of74 said:

I might have said this before, but George Washington must be rolling round and round in his grave right about now.  He pretty much warned us this was going to happen in his 1796 address if we let political parties have too much power;

avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp

Thank you @47of74! I remember reading this address in my AP Government class. I tried to warn people during the election and get them to vote for Evan McMullin, but only a little bit of luck. My cousin admitted to me at Thanksgiving that their side of the family voted for Evan. 

[SHERA]

On 12/5/2016 at 2:04 PM, Howl said:

Sorry, I'm on a roll (or careening over a cliff).  FJ gives me so much to think about. 

@Cartmann99, I'm convinced that Evan McMullin is going to be running for president within 8 to 12 years.  He's a rock star, physicist, test pilot AND a neurosurgeon (Buckaroo Bonzai reference), I mean not literally, but he's smart, smart, smart, conservative (with a tiny bit of a populist streak), he's devout Mormon, his mother is a lesbian and he's single, (would like to meet the right woman and start a family, but he's so gosh darn busy serving his country--sort of a Ralph Nader bachelor).  I don't think you will ever hear a thoughtless remark from that man's mouth, and not because he's a calculating personality, he's just got it going on upstairs).  He could potentially think the center and center right out of their quandary.  Although they are in power, the more centrist Republicans are like mammoths mired in the La Brea Tar Pits, waiting to be ambushed by Ice Age alt-right hunters with spears. 

And he's only 40 years old, so potentially he's got 30 or 35 more years in politics. That's my impression.  Having an op-ed in the NYT is heady stuff, and he's perfectly positioned.  He's involved in politics as chief policy director of the House Republican Conference, but not in an elected position.  I wish he was a Democrat and a lot less conservative, but that's me. Anyway, that's my take.  He could be unmasked or defrocked as a conniving and calculating psychopath, but it doesn't seem likely. Really, he is the anti-Trump. 

@Howl  I volunteered with Evan's campaign. I can tell you that we were able to find out Evan started dating someone before he ran for President, but put it on hold to campaign and didn't want her to be attacked by the Trump Trolls since they weren't married yet.  Have you been following Evan's Chief Strategist Joel Searby's blog on how they started the McMullin campaign?

https://joelsearby.wordpress.com/

[formergothardite]

McMullin said people should stop harping on gay marriage and wouldn't say he would make abortion illegal, sadly in today's Republican culture those two things means that he had no chance of getting elected. 

Maybe in the future if there is some way to shift away from the crazy that has turned into the GOP he might have a chance. 

[47of74]

2 hours ago, SHERA said:

I voted for Evan McMullin. You should keep up with his tweets, they are awesome!

Thank you @47of74! I remember reading this address in my AP Government class. I tried to warn people during the election and get them to vote for Evan McMullin, but only a little bit of luck. My cousin admitted to me at Thanksgiving that their side of the family voted for Evan. 

You're welcome @SHERA.  I wish reading and understanding the address was a requirement to graduate from 8th grade in this country.  So many problems today could've been avoided if we had paid a bit more attention to what Washington said there.  By no means am I suggesting that the Democrats are perfect.  They have some responsibility too for the state our country is in now, but by and large it's been the Republicans who have pretty much crapped all over this address and ignored what Washington said.  Both in terms of domestic and foreign policy.  They whip up all the hatred at home and have forced the US to become beholden to other countries.  

[Cartmann99]

6 hours ago, Childless said:

He's got incredibly low self-esteem.  Hell, someone made a jab at the size of his fingers 30 years ago and he's still going on about it.  I'd feel sorry for him if he wasn't such an asshole.

No amount of money, fame, or power will make his personal issues magically go away, and people are going to get hurt or killed when he lashes out.

We are in for a world of hurt. 

2 hours ago, formergothardite said:

McMullin said people should stop harping on gay marriage and wouldn't say he would make abortion illegal, sadly in today's Republican culture those two things means that he had no chance of getting elected. 

Maybe in the future if there is some way to shift away from the crazy that has turned into the GOP he might have a chance. 

I would really like for someone like McMullin to be the face of a party for sane conservative people.  

[GreyhoundFan]

Oh boy, Cheeto's choice for Secretary of Labor doesn't care about laborers. He's an opponent of a raised minimum wage and the ACA. He also is opposed to increased overtime pay. An excerpt:

Quote

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name fast-food executive Andrew Puzder, a vocal critic of substantially increasing the minimum wage and an opponent of rules that would make more workers eligible for overtime pay, as head of the Labor Department, according to a Republican briefed on the decision. 

Puzder, who runs CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., has been a harsh critic of raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, arguing that it would increase costs for consumers and lead to fewer jobs. He also opposes the recently-delayed Labor Department rule that aimed to make millions more workers eligible for overtime pay.

As the head of a fast-food company, Puzder is a supporter of the approach touted by Trump on the campaign trail that lowering taxes for corporations and the wealthy and loosening regulations for businesses can boost job creation. He is a strong opponent of the Affordable Care Act, which he claims has hurt the restaurant industry because higher health premiums have left consumers with less money to spend.

By bringing in Puzder, Trump is signaling that he may scale back some of regulations introduced by current Labor Secretary Tom Perez. He will have the potential to reverse some of the Obama administration’s most notable efforts to bolster protections for workers, families and retirement savers.

...

 

[AlwaysExcited]

At this point I would be more surprised if he had chosen a reasonable candidate. 

[Cartmann99]

8 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

That is one of my biggest concerns, that Ryan and McConnell will use Drumpf to distract the media and public from the crap they are doing.

 

The Washington Post published a good article about how Kellyanne is playing the woman card badly.  A couple of excerpts:

I wish Kellyanne would take her cards, all of them, and disappear from public view.

You and me both, my friend.

I just lost my rant about Kellyanne's comments about not wanting mothers to work in the White House because of the long hours. 

In short, I was unaware that running a campaign for president and cleaning up Trump's frequent messes was the sort of job that you could easily squeeze in around your children's schedules. Could have sworn I read a recent article where Kellyanne was joking about how her kids say she's away at summer camp because she's been working such long hours on the Trump campaign.

Must have dreamed that....

[Howl]

I wonder if Evan McMullin will actually start a 3rd party and be successful at it.  He ran as an Independent in Utah.  He's definitely not a Democrat and too many Republicans are currently in orbit around Uranus, or else rocketing off in search of a suitable Death Star.  That said, he's currently a Republican strategist, so likely he'll just sit tight with the Repubs, unless he decides they are totally hopeless.  Perhaps he'll maintain his Independent status to leverage his own position on things.  

 

 

 

 

 

[smittykins]

Owner of a fast-food company, huh?  An industry notorious for keeping workers just under 40 hours a week so they don't get benefits.  Why am I not surprised?

[JMarie]

24 minutes ago, smittykins said:

Owner of a fast-food company, huh?  An industry notorious for keeping workers just under 40 hours a week so they don't get benefits.  Why am I not surprised?

But he can afford to pay Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian to appear in commercials.  I'm sure they didn't do the ads for free (or minimum wage).

[RoseWilder]

The Republicans in the senate have backed down on their threat to shut down the government: 

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/7/1608408/-Republicans-back-off-threat-to-shut-down-government-to-undermine-civilian-control-of-the-military

Quote

On Tuesday, congressional Republicans began threatening to shut down the federal government if Democrats didn’t buckle under and allow them to ram through Donald Trump’s nomination of retired Marine Corps General James Mattis as secretary of defense. On Wednesday, though, the GOP backed down, meaning Mattis’ appointment won’t sail through the way they wanted—and that the government’s doors will stay open.

 

[Childless]

10 hours ago, smittykins said:

Owner of a fast-food company, huh?  An industry notorious for keeping workers just under 40 hours a week so they don't get benefits.  Why am I not surprised?

Quite frankly, I'm surprised corporations don't fight harder for a single payer system.  Think of the savings they'd get not having to shell out for healthcare which is one of their biggest expenses.  Corporations rule the land.  If they wanted universal healthcare, they'd get it.  It just makes no sense that they wouldn't want to eliminate our employer provided insurance system.  It's bad for them and it's bad for their employees.

[bashfulpixie]

22 minutes ago, Childless said:

Quite frankly, I'm surprised corporations don't fight harder for a single payer system.  Think of the savings they'd get not having to shell out for healthcare which is one of their biggest expenses.  Corporations rule the land.  If they wanted universal healthcare, they'd get it.  It just makes no sense that they wouldn't want to eliminate our employer provided insurance system.  It's bad for them and it's bad for their employees.

Because it makes for a less mobile workforce.  So many people stay in jobs with poor pay that makes them unhappy because it gives them affordable health insurance.  It's just a measure of control over the employees

[Howl]

Before retirement, I worked at a public university that didn't pay particularly well, but had  excellent health care benefits.  There were a surprising number of  people working there specifically for the health insurance. 

@RoseWilder, people have long memories and you'd think the Republicans would have learned that it's a horrible idea to shut down the government and to never even contemplate doing so again.  But no.  I still remember standing at the locked gate to El Morro National Monument, New Mexico, a place that you have to specifically want to go to, reading a sign that said it was closed due to government shutdown.  This was the 1970s.  

 

 

[GeoBQn]

Rachel Maddow had a segment on Puzder last night.  Our potential new Labor Secretary is not only against organized labor--he is against labor, period.  He has gone on record saying that he would like to replace fast food employees with robots.  He is also the man behind those sexist Carls Jr. ads of scantily clad models eating hamburgers (he said the commercials "reflect his personality.")  And like many of Trump's picks, he was once accused of domestic violence by his ex-wife.

[47of74]

4 hours ago, bashfulpixie said:

Because it makes for a less mobile workforce.  So many people stay in jobs with poor pay that makes them unhappy because it gives them affordable health insurance.  It's just a measure of control over the employees

I told my work to stick their insurance somewhere.  I'm going with a private plan this year.  I'll have to pay more but it'll cover some procedures I want to have. 

And you know Agent Orange fucked up when even KKKarl Rove is calling him out for his Boeing comments;

thehill.com/homenews/administration/309231-gop-strategist-trump-not-accurate-on-boeing

Quote

GOP strategist Karl Rove is criticizing President-elect Donald Trump for his recent comments about Boeing's contract for a new Air Force One plane, saying they were inaccurate and hurt innocent stockholders.

“He said something that was not accurate that had a negative impact on that stock, namely that there was a $4 billion contract,” Rove told Fox News’s Bill Hemmer on “America’s Newsroom” Wednesday.

"There is no contract for $4 billion, there’s a contract for $170 million. There is no $4 billion contract," he continued. "The impulse — that we want to save the taxpayers money — that’s admirable. But this was fire, ready, aim in my opinion.”

Rove said Trump's actions also hurt Boeing stockholders.

Getting the popcorn ready for the 3am tweet storms...