Trump 12: Nevertheless, She Persisted (Let's do the same!)

[Ali]

I think this is a fake tweet. I tried googling it because the media would report on this even if it was quickly deleted and I can't find any stories about it.

[fraurosena]

Well, if it's a fake tweet, then there's a distinct possibility he's been hacked.  Lot's of people have been warning that this could happen if he kept on tweeting from his personal android which is NOT secure. 

 

 

[47of74]

Does it make me a bad person if I hope this does some good?

someecards.com/news/weird-news/witches-donald-trump-spell-curse-hex-ritual/

Quote

Want to cast a spell on Donald Trump?

A document detailing how to cast a spell that would bind Trump to all who abet him has been circulating the web in both private and public witchcraft groups, and even those who don't regularly practice the craft are seizing the opportunity to use magic to stop the President. There have been marches, petitions, and demonstrations against the Donald Trump, but this is definitely the most magical way to #resist.

Update: To clarify, the original document states that this is a binding spell, which seeks to restrain someone from doing harm instead of harming the targeted individual themselves. Binding does not generate the potential negative blowback to the caster’s karma.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Trump will likely sell out his working-class white base. Here’s how."

Quote

For many months on the campaign trail, Donald Trump sent a clear message about his fellow Republicans: Ideologically, I’m not one of them. This wasn’t just true on trade, but also on safety-net programs that protect, among others, low-income whites. President Trump, he said, won’t let people die in the streets and will protect Medicare and Social Security from those heartless Paul Ryan types who are forever salivating at the chance to slash them to ribbons.

But now the New York Times reports that congressional Republicans believe they will be able to get around this niggling problem. Republicans have seen Trump appoint people who want to downsize the safety net — like Tom Price to oversee health care and Mick Mulvaney to shepherd the budget — and they think Trump can be persuaded to forget about all that inconvenient campaign talk:

On Capitol Hill, some Republicans are hoping Mr. Mulvaney and others will change the president’s mind on far bigger targets and convince him that structural changes to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — the biggest drivers of deficits that are projected to rise over the next decade — are needed to control the national debt and to preserve the programs without substantial tax increases….

House Republican allies see no real contradiction in Mr. Trump’s campaign promises and what they say he must now do….Republicans have assured retirees and those nearing retirement that any changes or cuts to entitlement programs for older adults would not affect them.

Now, Republicans are retroactively applying those caveats to Mr. Trump’s promises, saying the president understands that programs like Social Security and Medicare must be maintained for Americans who are currently receiving benefits but must be changed for younger Americans who may have to work longer before retiring and getting benefits.

It’s true that Republicans have long sold their reforms to such programs by vowing to protect those at or near retirement age. But as this video compilation of Trump promising to protect entitlements shows, Trump told audiences of all ages he would not cut their Medicare and suggested an intention to leave Medicare in its current form. (The reforms championed by Ryan and Price would result in cuts over time and would transform the program’s core mission.) Trump went to great lengths to cast himself as ideologically different from his fellow Republicans on these matters.

Of course, as the Times reports, congressional Republicans believe Trump will have little trouble adopting their rhetorical approach, which combines protecting current beneficiaries (older Americans make up the GOP base) with pieties about the need to “strengthen” the programs over time. And indeed, it’s not hard to imagine Trump getting easily rolled by Republicans in this regard — or easily persuaded, because he might shrug at the details.

This dynamic will also be at play in the debates over Obamacare and other government programs that help lower-income Americans. Trump strongly signaled to working-class white voters that, while he’d repeal the Affordable Care Act, he isn’t like those other mean old Republicans when it comes to government’s role in expanding health care to the poor and sick. He and his advisers recently insisted that under the GOP replacement, no one will lose coverage. But they’ve already backed off that promise, instead signaling that they may embrace the block-granting of Medicaid, which would probably lead to cuts over time. The bottom line: The Trump/GOP replacement is likely to end Obamacare’s effort to create a universal coverage guarantee.

What’s more, when it comes to the future of government programs for lower-income people, note that the Trump/GOP tax plan will likely feature huge tax cuts for the rich. That may lead to cuts to safety-net programs (or an explosion of the deficit, or perhaps even both). But a recent study by the liberal-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that safety-net programs — the kind often targeted for big cuts by Ryanesque Republicans — lift large numbers of non-college whites out of poverty.

Here a major caveat is in order: Trump promised lower-income whites safety-net help, yes, but ultimately, his biggest economic promise to them was to deliver  jobs. Trump’s narrative was built around the seductive vow to ensure that blue-collar jobs — the manufacturing and coal jobs of the Rust Belt and Appalachia — will come roaring back and restore an old economic order in which such jobs are Great Again, or at least good enough to form the basis for a prosperous future.

Trump has vowed to renegotiate our trade deals, but the mere act of making that promise doesn’t guarantee that he will do so in the interests of workers — you’ll be shocked to hear this, but the opposite might happen. Trump has promised an infrastructure plan, but we have no idea what that will look like. Major cuts to energy regulations are in the works, but the idea that those will restore the coal industry to its former glory — never mind the setbacks they’ll deliver on climate change and the environment — is a cruel hoax. What happens if Trump’s promised jobs fail to materialize, and he goes along with congressional GOP cuts to the safety-net programs that are designed to help all those who have been — and will be — economically stranded?

...

No surprise here.

[fraurosena]

He.Must.Go.

Keith Olbermann rocks!

[GreyhoundFan]

I was going to put this in the Bannon thread, but since it involved multiple horrible people in the administration, I went with the main Agent Orange thread: "Bannon: Trump administration is in unending battle for ‘deconstruction of the administrative state’". A couple of lowlights:

Quote

Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump’s reclusive chief strategist and the intellectual force behind his nationalist agenda, said Thursday that the new administration is locked in an unending battle against the media and other globalist forces to “deconstruct” an outdated system of governance.

In his first public speaking appearance since Trump took office, Bannon made his comments alongside White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus at a gathering of conservative activists. They sought to prove that they are not rivals but partners in fighting on Trump’s behalf to transform Washington and the world order.

“They’re going to continue to fight,” Bannon said of the media, which he repeatedly described as “the opposition party,” and other forces he sees as standing in the president’s way. “If you think they are giving you your country back without a fight, you are sadly mistaken.”

Atop Trump’s agenda, Bannon said, was the “deconstruction of the administrative state” — meaning a system of taxes, regulations and trade pacts that the president and his advisers believe stymie economic growth and infringe upon one’s sovereignty.

“If you look at these Cabinet nominees, they were selected for a reason, and that is deconstruction,” Bannon said. He posited that Trump’s announcement withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership was “one of the most pivotal moments in modern American history.”

...

Bannon also said, “If you look at the opposition party and how they portrayed the campaign and how they portrayed the transition and how they portray the administration, it’s always wrong.”

Priebus agreed, saying that he thinks the biggest misconception about the Trump administration in its first month is “everything that you’re reading.” He and Bannon were defiant about the way they have been represented in the media, insisting that they were close friends and partners and that reports of power struggles were flat wrong.

Priebus said that after “attacking” Trump during the campaign, journalists “now feed ridiculous stories, and all we do every day — and all President Trump does every day — is hit his agenda, every single day.”

Bannon added, “Just like they were dead wrong on the chaos of the campaign and just like they were dead wrong on the chaos of the transition, they are absolutely dead wrong on what they’re reporting today.” He said “all” of Trump’s campaign promises would be implemented in short order.

Schlapp asked Priebus and Bannon what each likes most about the other. Looking at Bannon, who was wearing a dark jacket and open-collared shirt with no tie, Priebus quipped: “I love how many collars he wears. Interesting look.” Then he got serious, saying Bannon is “very dogged” and “incredibly loyal” — and called him “a very dear friend.”

Bannon commended Priebus on being a “steady” force inside the West Wing.

“I can run a little hot on occasions, but Reince is indefatigable,” Bannon said. “Reince is indefatigable in saying, ‘We’ve got to drive this forward.’ ”

He scares the crap out of me. And Rancid Penis is such a sycophant. That is all.

[JMarie]

He must have his name on everything.  He absolutely must.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/02/23/conway_to_cpac_donald_trump_went_to_the_grassroots_and_brought_you_along.html

Quote

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway speaks at the annual CPAC convention in National Harbor, MD.

She said: "I think by tomorrow this will be TPAC when he’s here. No doubt."
 

(well, she actually gave a much longer kinda-swirly answer, with "revelation of electricity" and "ideological minorities" and other puffy-sounding phrases)

[Cartmann99]

42 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Atop Trump’s agenda, Bannon said, was the “deconstruction of the administrative state” — meaning a system of taxes, regulations and trade pacts that the president and his advisers believe stymie economic growth and infringe upon one’s sovereignty.

It's bad manners to discuss your plans for turning the USA into an Ayn Rand hellscape, and not invite Paul Ryan. 

[onekidanddone]

2 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

I'm going to wait and see on this one. Like you said, people can create fake tweets in order to fool people. 

I googled it, but didn't find anything. 

1 hour ago, GreyhoundFan said:

I was going to put this in the Bannon thread, but since it involved multiple horrible people in the administration, I went with the main Agent Orange thread: "Bannon: Trump administration is in unending battle for ‘deconstruction of the administrative state’". A couple of lowlights:

He scares the crap out of me. And Rancid Penis is such a sycophant. That is all.

Sycophant and congestive dissonance are words I used often to describe agent orange's zombies

2 hours ago, fraurosena said:

He.Must.Go.

Keith Olbermann rocks!

My future husband.  Current husband will just have to deal.

Rancid and Bannon would poison each others wine for their own gain. All of the staff would. Like Rome all over again, and we know what  happened there. 

[Cartmann99]

Team Trump asked the FBI to tell everyone that there's no links between the administration and Russia.

 

[onekidanddone]

1 hour ago, JMarie said:

He must have his name on everything.  He absolutely must.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/02/23/conway_to_cpac_donald_trump_went_to_the_grassroots_and_brought_you_along.html

(well, she actually gave a much longer kinda-swirly answer, with "revelation of electricity" and "ideological minorities" and other puffy-sounding phrases)

Either she must be stoned, or being stoned the the only way to listen to her.

[Flossie]

Read through, it gets relevant

Quote

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed the first known system of seven Earth-size planets around a single star. Three of these planets are firmly located in the habitable zone, the area around the parent star where a rocky planet is most likely to have liquid water.

The discovery sets a new record for greatest number of habitable-zone planets found around a single star outside our solar system. All of these seven planets could have liquid water – key to life as we know it – under the right atmospheric conditions, but the chances are highest with the three in the habitable zone.

“This discovery could be a significant piece in the puzzle of finding habitable environments, places that are conducive to life,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “Answering the question ‘are we alone’ is a top science priority and finding so many planets like these for the first time in the habitable zone is a remarkable step forward toward that goal.”

At about 40 light-years (235 trillion miles) from Earth, the system of planets is relatively close to us, in the constellation Aquarius. Because they are located outside of our solar system, these planets are scientifically known as exoplanets.

This exoplanet system is called TRAPPIST-1...

President Trump, after being notified of the find, immediately ordered his minions to find out why neither NASA, the NSA, the FBI, or the CIA didn't tell him about this sooner.  After being informed that none of the previously mentioned entities considered this an immediate threat to national security or to the security to the planet in general, Trump called a closed door meeting with his closest advisors.  Attending were Steve Bannon, Sen. Jeff Sessions, Walid Phares, Ivanka Trump, and Vladimir Puton (via snapchat).

Leaks from the White House indicates that Trump's revised Immigration Ban Bill will include any life forms from TRAPPIST-1.  Trump is also expected to announce that the USAF has been charged with building a 'wall' of lasers in space to prevent any unwanted incursions from TRAPPIST-1, and the president fully expects any inhabitants in the TRAPPIST-1 system to pay for the wall.

#alternitavefacts

[Audrey2]

@Flossie, I figured when you posted that article you'd say something like, "Look! They finally found what planet Trump is from!"

[RoseWilder]

2 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

Team Trump asked the FBI to tell everyone that there's no links between the administration and Russia.

 

If I'm not mistaken, that's an impeachable offense. Not to mention practically an admission of guilt. But the Republicans in Congress aren't going to do a damn think about it, even though Trump's guilt is staring us all in the face. 

[Cartmann99]

1 hour ago, RoseWilder said:

If I'm not mistaken, that's an impeachable offense. Not to mention practically an admission of guilt. But the Republicans in Congress aren't going to do a damn think about it, even though Trump's guilt is staring us all in the face. 

For what it's worth, Laurence Tribe agrees with you.

For those unfamiliar with Professor Tribe, he teaches Constitutional law at Harvard.

Edited to add second tweet:

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Fuck you very much, Pence: "VP Pence: ‘America’s Obamacare nightmare is about to end’". A couple of key quotes:

Quote

Vice President Pence forcefully defended on Thursday night the Trump administration's plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, saying the law known as Obamacare is a “nightmare” and that the administration is committed to “an orderly transition” to a new health-care system.

Addressing a gathering of conservative activists in the Washington area, Pence sought to minimize the voices of the hundreds of people who have demonstrated against changes to the law at congressional town hall meetings across the country.

“America's Obamacare nightmare is about to end,” Pence said at the Conservative Political Action Conference. “Despite the best efforts of liberal activists around the country, the American people know better. Obamacare has failed, and Obamacare must go.”

Pence said he and President Trump are committed to giving every American “access to quality, affordable health insurance,” and want to replace the current system with one that allows people to purchase health coverage across state lines as they would insurance for their automobiles.

“We'll have an orderly transition to a better health-care system that finally puts the American people first,” Pence said.

...

Pence spoke of Trump as a historic figure in American politics, saying he is a modern-day Ronald Reagan. “Men and women of the conservative movement, this is our time,” Pence said.

Like the president, Pence voiced disdain for the media and sought to portray news organizations as the administration's political opponent.

“The media, the elites, the insiders, everybody else who profits off preserving the status quo, they dismissed our president,” Pence said. “They're still trying to dismiss all of us.”

He added, “This is not a government of the elites, by the media or for the establishment. What Nov. 8 showed, even if they didn’t listen, is this is still a government of the people, by the people and for the people.”

No, our nightmare is beginning...people are going to lose insurance and possibly die.

And, excuse me, the only "people" this government under Agent Orange is for are billionaires.  He is such an ass.

[RoseWilder]

Russian Round-up Time: 

1. Trump aide scrutinized for Russian business ties: 

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/donald-trump-aide-paul-manafort-scrutinized-russian-business-ties-n631241

Quote

Donald Trump's campaign chairman was a key player in multi-million-dollar business propositions with Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs — one of them a close Putin ally with alleged ties to organized crime — which foreign policy experts say raises questions about the pro-Russian bent of the Trump candidacy.

"The relationships that Trump's advisors have had with pro-Russian forces are deeply disturbing," said David Kramer, a former senior State Department official in the George W. Bush administration and a former adviser to Marco Rubio's presidential campaign. "Trump's attitude on Russia is not in line with most Republican foreign-policy thinking. Trump has staked out views that are really on the fringe."

2. Russian money is flowing into the U.S. and escaping scrutiny: 

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article133879684.html

Quote

Hundreds of thousands of dollars flow every month from Russia to its former soldiers living in the United States, usually unseen and unchecked.

But now U.S. investigators are examining whether this river of pension benefits intended for Russian military veterans is somehow mixed up in efforts to undermine last fall’s U.S. election and and put President Donald Trump in the White House.

3. GQ has an article that explains some things in the Trump-Russia dossier. It's a long article, but very informative: 

http://www.gq.com/story/trump-russia-dossier-matryoshka

Quote

One such conversation is the reported July meeting between Sechin and then–Trump adviser Carter Page, as summed up in the dossier on October 18, 2016. According to the dossier, the Russian oil tsar allegedly offered the Trump administration a 19 percent stake in Rosneft, on the condition that Trump lift the aforementioned U.S. sanctions on Russia upon his taking office. Carter Page, a shade of a figure who was described by Russian energy officials as unremarkable, incompetent, and “a gray spot,” was granted a leave of absence from Trump’s campaign team in September, after the media kicked up a storm about his repeated visits to Russia. 

 

[Howl]

7 hours ago, RoseWilder said:

the Russian oil tsar allegedly offered the Trump administration a 19 percent stake in Rosneft, on the condition that Trump lift the aforementioned U.S. sanctions on Russia upon his taking office.

I was wondering when the 19% stake in Rosneft would make an appearance. Could also explain the sudden ascent of Rex "ExxonMobile" Tillerson to Sec. of State.  My sense is that the Russia connection is going to bring down some seriously high-level people, IF the Republicans can find the cajones to follow through.  However, my sense is that the Republicans will  push through their agenda scorched earth policy and then leave Trump to swing in the wind when he is no longer useful.  The timing is tricky and will involve serious impression management.   When millions of jobs don't materialize at the same time the social safety net is destroyed and health care turns feral, the fault has to be apportioned to Trump and not the Republicans.  

But back to Russian oil and Trump and Friends and let me indulge in a little off-piste conspiracy thinking:  What if the long con is to control global oil prices?

This is also surfacing: Trump lawyer pushed pro-Russia deal for Ukraine, politician claims

[formergothardite]

42 minutes ago, Howl said:

When millions of jobs don't materialize at the same time the social safety net is destroyed and health care turns feral, the fault has to be apportioned to Trump and not the Republicans.  

Exactly, while I wouldn't be surprised if some of the GOP have ties to Russia too, I'm guessing they are wanting to use Trump as their get out of jail free card. They know there will be a backlash to stripping insurance from people and that the factory jobs of the olden days aren't coming back, so they are probably trying to figure out a way to push through their policies and then blame Trump when everyone hates the results.

Trump it dumb enough not to realize this. 

[47of74]

11 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Fuck you very much, Pence: "VP Pence: ‘America’s Obamacare nightmare is about to end’". A couple of key quotes:

No, our nightmare is beginning...people are going to lose insurance and possibly die.

And, excuse me, the only "people" this government under Agent Orange is for are billionaires.  He is such an ass.

Yeah Pence is such a fucking asshole.  I can't stand Pence or Agent Orange.  Or those fucknut Branch Trumpvidian supporters of theirs.  If any Branch Trumpvidians lose their health insurance and find themselves up shit creek because of that as far as I'm concerned they brought it on themselves and they can deal with the consequences themselves.

[CTRLZero]

ACA - sickest regions would take biggest hit if repealed

In this article in the Seattle Times, it shows how the more sparsely populated regions (in Washington state this is generally farm and timber industry land) would lose health coverage if the Affordable Care Act is repealed.  In our blue state, these counties are usually mostly red.  Just another example of people possibly voting against their own interest in regard to health care. 

It will be interesting to see how Obamacare is "fixed" by the Republicans.  I read elsewhere that they are starting to refer to "fixing" the ACA as opposed to their earlier term "replace." 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"The Trump White House just inflicted a serious wound on itself". Some excerpts:

Quote

President Trump just unleashed another fearsome fusillade of tweets, this time blasting the FBI directly for failing to control leaks.

“The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security ‘leakers’ that have permeated our government for a long time,” Trump said. “They can’t even find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S.” Trump closed with a demand that the leakers be caught: “FIND NOW.”

As CNN first reported, White House chief of staff Reince Priebus personally asked the FBI to publicly debunk recent media reports of contacts between Russia and Trump campaign aides during the campaign:

The FBI rejected a recent White House request to publicly knock down media reports about communications between Donald Trump’s associates and Russians known to US intelligence during the 2016 presidential campaign, multiple U.S. officials briefed on the matter tell CNN.

But a White House official said late Thursday that the request was only made after the FBI indicated to the White House it did not believe the reporting to be accurate. White House officials had sought the help of the bureau and other agencies investigating the Russia matter to say that the reports were wrong and that there had been no contacts, the officials said…

The direct communications between the White House and the FBI were unusual because of decade-old restrictions on such contacts. Such a request from the White House is a violation of procedures that limit communications with the FBI on pending investigations.

The White House has explained this by offering an account that goes this way: FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe told Priebus at a recent meeting that the New York Times report on those contacts between Russia and the Trump campaign was “overblown.” Priebus then asked McCabe to assist in getting the real story out. After mulling the request, McCabe declined, the White House says, because “the FBI did not want to get in the business of calling balls and strikes on reporting.”

By the way, we don’t know whether the FBI actually told Priebus that the Times story was overblown, or even whether the FBI actually concluded this in the first place. All we know is that Priebus says the FBI did these things.

But what is not in dispute is that the Trump White House asked the FBI to go public about an ongoing investigation in which the targets appear to be members of the Trump campaign. In particular, Priebus asked the FBI to go public with its supposed belief that the Times’s description of investigators’ determinations was overblown.

According to Rep. John Conyers (Mich.), the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, that’s potentially a problem: “The White House is simply not permitted to pressure the FBI to make public statements about a pending investigation of the president and his advisers.” Or, as as NBC News’s First Read crew notes, it’s questionable that the White House is now “asking the FBI to publicly knock down a story.”

...

Former Justice Department spokesman Matt Miller argued to Chris Hayes last night that Priebus should step down over his conduct, because it was “absolutely inappropriate” and “crosses every line.”

...

It is just amazing that this crap is going on.

[formergothardite]

Trump caught in an obvious lie again. 

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/320988-trump-falsely-claims-lines-go-back-6-blocks-for-cpac-speech#.WLBaz4OCZ8s.twitter

 

Quote

There are lines that go back six blocks. I tell you that because you won’t read about it," Trump said during his address.

Quote

There were no lines getting into the Gaylord within the hour before Trump began speaking Friday morning.

 

 

[JMarie]

12 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Fuck you very much, Pence: "VP Pence: ‘America’s Obamacare nightmare is about to end’". A couple of key quotes:

No, our nightmare is beginning...people are going to lose insurance and possibly die.

And, excuse me, the only "people" this government under Agent Orange is for are billionaires.  He is such an ass.

Are there any FJers working in insurance?  Will being able to buy insurance across state lines really be cheaper than how things are done now?  Because I keep hearing how coverage for pre-existing conditions and kids being able to stay on their parents' insurance until age 26 will be part of the new and improved health plan.  The crossing state line thing seems to be the only original idea.

[fraurosena]

Best.Trolls.Ever.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-cpac-russian-flags-speech-republicans-support-president-latest-a7598276.html

Quote

Audience members at the Conservative Political Action Conference have been pictured waving what appear to be Russian flags as they listened to Donald Trump's speech. 

In photos that emerged from the crowded conference hall in Washington, people in the crowd can be seen waving the flags emblazoned with the word “Trump”, next to supporters wearing Make America Great Again hats. 

According to one attendee, the flags were handed out to college students in the audience who may not have been aware of the fact they bore Russia’s national colours.

It was unclear who handed out the flags or whether they were distributed in protest or support of the Republican leader. 

The mini flags were reportedly confiscated shortly after by White House officials working at the event. 

       

I wonder who came up with this great idea. I kinda hope it's from the Resistance. Infiltrating CPAC and handing these out is simply genius. On the other hand, it would not surprise me in the least if some stupid repub thought this would be a good idea, not knowing these are the Russian colors.

No matter who came up with it though, it does the trick of showing just how moronic, uneducated and sheep-like the Branch Trumpvidians truly are.