usa Trump Presidency

[Lamiara ole]

^was he talking about the 8 years of grid lock that the obamia legacy left..?

[Lazarus]

1 hour ago, Lamiara ole said:

^was he talking about the 8 years of grid lock that the obamia legacy left..?

And what grid lock might that be? Would you care to elaborate? We don't all necessarily espouse your distaste for Obama, so when you make statements like that please enlighten us as to why you want us to take your opinion seriously. Is it the economy that the Obama administration failed at? Jobs? Human Rights? The Environment? Providing Healthcare to an additional 20 million Americans that did not have any sort of healthcare before? Please enlighten us.

No more 'drive-by shooting.' Unless you have a full formulated argument, or can back up statements like the above using coherent English, don't bother throwing 'smoke-bombs' like that. They will be deleted.

[Tzatziki]

1 hour ago, Lamiara ole said:

^was he talking about the 8 years of grid lock that the obamia legacy left..?

Did the lizard in the top hat tell you this?

 

[Lazarus]

CNN has a page dedicated to "Tracking Trump's promises."   - Donald Trump made hundreds of promises, pledges and threats on his road to the White House. This continuously updated interactive feature tracks his progress in delivering on that agenda at the beginning of his term. Explore Trump's issues and progress...

For some it's a measurement of accomplishment, for others the counting of steps for the USA jumping off the cliff.

It would be interesting to revisit that page at the end of Trump's first 6 months.

[athinaios]

The times have changed. Drive-by shootings and uniformed comments should not be allowed here. Enough of this b.s., fake news, and promoting idiocy. I thought we went over that...

So, here what historically happened:

When the Dems had control of Congress in Obama's first 2 years, we got the new health care that insured tens of millions of uninsured, covered pre -existing conditions, removed coverage lifetime caps, etc. Flawed by sensible system. Oh, and not forget the stimulus package that took us out of the great recession. He also saved the auto industry, made Wall Street pay back the bailout money, killed Osama, etc.

This all in the face of the "party of no" that sabotaged Obama every single step of the way. When the Repubs were in the minority in the Senate they filibustered all the way, and when they got the majority they were even worse.

So, what happened to "I have a terrific plan that will cover everyone, for lower cost and better coverage" than the Obamacare? Well, what happened is that he said, "no one knew healthcare would be so complicated" [shows how unprepared and ignorant he is] ...and "I'm best in making deals" to not being able to sell Trumpcare to his own party that controls Congress.  

Are we great yet?.... 

[Epicurus]

When I hear, "give the guy a chance", I say, why give a chance to a buffoon, a charlatan, a bullsh*t and con artist?..... On these grounds alone, it's idiotic to argue for giving the car keys to a toddler!

But, let's say the debate was within the margins of a political disagreement (this is not, because of the man-child in the driver's seat)... why would I give him a chance?

I will not forget how badly he and so many others treated former President Barack Obama for 8 years... challenging O's legitimacy (birthism)

I will not "work together" to privatize Medicare, cut Social Security and Medicaid.

I will not "work together" to build a wall.

I will not "work together" to persecute Muslims, put them on a national registry

I will not "work together" to lower taxes on the 1% and increase taxes on the middle class and poor.

I will not "work together" to help Trump use the Presidency to use the office for nepotism and for promoting Trump business

I will not "work together" to weaken and demolish environmental protection.

I will not "work together" to sell American lands, especially National Parks, to companies which then despoil those lands.

I will not "work together" to remove civil rights from anyone.

I will not "work together" to slash funding for education, the arts, humanities, and public broadcasting.

I will not "work together" to take basic assistance from people who are at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder.

I will not "work together" to get rid of common sense regulations on guns.

I will not "work together" to eliminate the minimum wage.

I will not "work together" to suppress scientific research, be it on climate change or anything else where there's a scientific consensus

I will not "work together" to criminalize abortion or restrict health care for women, and defund Planned Parenthood.

I will not "work together" to increase the number of nations that have nuclear weapons.

I will not "work together" to put even more "big money" into politics.

I will not "work together" to violate the Geneva Conventions.

I will not "work together" to give the Ku Klux Klan, the Nazi Party, the Alt-Right and white supremacists a seat at the table, or to normalize their hatred.

I will not "work together" to increase voter suppression.

I will not "work together" to normalize autocratic rule, and to disrespect for our democratic institutions, while expressing admiration for dictators.

I will not work together to undermine consumer protection and the safety of products

I do not want to see the Supreme Court and federal judiciary populated by Trump judges that think corporations are people and "original intent" (of slave owners) should supersede common sense in the 21st c.

 

Obviously these positions are progressive and conservatives are for all the above, hence my disagreement. But, with Trump, we're talking about the most unqualified person to occupy the White House in the last 100 years (possibly ever).   He's been a fraud all his life. The only interesting thing left (for me) is to see at which point, if ever, the Repubs will figure out they've been duped.

[athinaios]

OK, let's say I wanted to give Trump a chance, but I'm afraid he doesn't really know anything about government, because he never thought about anything in depth.  I thought he was making up stuff as he campaigned, and either he didn't he'd win or if he won he'd think of something. 

He kept saying that he'd repeal and replace Obamacare on the first day of his term, perhaps the first hour..... Then he recently said, no one knew health care would be so complicated....

But, I thought he claimed, no one knows the system so well.... so he alone can fix it...

 

[Lazarus]

The U.S. House of Representatives just voted 215 - 205 to gut the FCC’s Internet privacy rules that prevent Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like Comcast and Verizon from selling their customer’s personal information to advertisers without their consent. The measure already passed the Senate last week, so it will now head to the President’s desk for signing.

US  lawmakers voted to allow ISPs to:

• Monitor and sell customer’s location data, search history, app usage, and browsing habits to advertisers without your permission
• Hijack customer’s search results, redirecting their traffic to paying third parties
• Insert ads into web pages that would otherwise not have them

This is the list of the 50 Senate members that voted for gutting Internet privacy rules.

 

BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39427026

[Blackhawk]

It took longer than George Orwell predicted it, but it is here now.

 

[athinaios]

Slavery if freedom; ignorance is strength; war is peace!

 

[Lazarus]

Trump in 2006: 'I like nepotism'

Not much has changed. Ivanka now gets security clearance and a post in the White House.

[athinaios]

 There are lots of secrets that he keeps, but nothing is a mystery! He is who we thought he was. Oh, and he speaks his mind...

[Tzatziki]

On 29/03/2017 at 7:32 PM, athinaios said:

Slavery if freedom; ignorance is strength; war is peace!

 

Do you reckon it might be wise to stock up on these foolishly harmful delights? Or am I jumping the gun?

 

[athinaios]

10 hours ago, Tzatziki said:

Do you reckon it might be wise to stock up on these foolishly harmful delights? Or am I jumping the gun?

 

Choose your poison well.... 

Remember, what doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger!

[Tzatziki]

 

[Lazarus]

This strike leaves more questions unanswered than issues it addresses.

• Does the Trump administration (and the US) have a coherent foreign policy in place?
• Does the Trump administration really care about Syria and Syrian people or is this 180-degree turn just another machination of Trump to change the narrative and distract from investigations looking into his campaign's collusion with Russians?

Here's an interesting clip with Fareed Zacharia." Did the US missile strike against Syria signal an end to 'America First'? Fareed Zakaria looks at foreign policy and the Trump administration."

 

[athinaios]

If I were advising Trump to score political points, I'd say drop a few bombs here and there, because it polishes the commander-in chief credentials, and many American respect strong presidents. Many Dems came out supporting punishing Assad. This action can be used to show that Trump can oppose Putin (for show of course), and it takes the focus away (even if temporary) from other problems this administration is having.

As to Trump, he never had a serious understanding of world affairs; he just spoke in great platitudes and generalities, most criticizing Obama and Clinton. He changes his views as he goes. NATO was obsolete until a couple weeks ago, now it is not. Trying to remove dictators was a bad idea, now?... 

Fareed Z is right by the way.

 

[Lazarus]

And this ladies and gentlemen is what an a**hole looks like:

I know my post doesn't make much for a constructive conversation, but as long as this orange orangutan is President there is not much of a quality conversation to be done.

[Tzatziki]

 

[Lamiara ole]

Funny that you never mentioned the 350 billion business deal he scored with Saudi Arabia!(By the way this is a fact and not some…smoke bomb)!

I suppose ex-presidents have scored bigger!...

[Lazarus]

1 hour ago, Lamiara ole said:

(By the way this is a fact and not some…smoke bomb)!

Of course it is! Maybe not thrown by you, but by Trump himself. In Trump’s world, the only thing that matters is that the sound bytes are  good — a deal, and one that he personally made, on behalf of the American people. Will the deal materialize? According to an industry observer,  “Most of the time,” Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said to McClatchy, the enormous worth of packages such as the Saudi deal “isn’t reached.” Will it create any jobs in the US? Nobody knows!  Some of the deals are memorandums of understanding that would require further agreements to materialize. A spokesman for Raytheon, one of the companies that along with Lockheed Martin, Boeing and General Dynamics signed memorandums of understanding with Saudi Arabia as part of the deal, was unable to even speculate as to whether or how many jobs the arms package will add.

This is what the White House statement reads like: "This package demonstrates the United States’ commitment to our partnership with Saudi Arabia, while also expanding opportunities for American companies in the region, potentially supporting tens of thousands of new jobs in the United States.” Notice the word 'potentially.'  Sean Spicer took things a step further next day, saying that the deal would create “hundreds of thousands of jobs.”  So, in a day we go from "tens of thousands" to "hundreds of thousands." Does this sound to you like a government that has evaluated real numbers?

The Trump government is about distractions. "Look here, no look here! We're making America great again. Jobs, jobs, jobs. Money, money money."  And there are a lot of gullible people that believe that these flashes and smoke bombs thrown by Trump is what governing is about.  Trump is a danger to the US, Trump is a menace to the world.

[Tzatziki]

10 hours ago, Lazarus said:

Will the deal materialize?

As'ad AbuKhalil is a Lebanese-American professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus, according to him:

"What Trump wants is basically to transfer the cash reserves of Gulf regimes, especially Saudi Arabia, something to the tune of 500 billion dollars, to the United States (...) that’s not gonna happen for many reasons. One, it is based on an unpredictable price of oil, which it fluctuates. The Saudis won’t be able to fulfill their promises. And second, the Saudis are notorious for making financial commitments that they never fulfill. And thirdly, how are they going to reconcile the exorbitant expenditure on arms and U.S. pleasure, and at the same time, keeping their population content to the minimum level that would prevent an uprising or mutiny by the people who are living under the most austere and severe political conditions imaginable?

On the other hand, the Saudis also wants the United States to do for them things that the United States won’t be able to do. I mean, they want the United States to basically overthrow the Iranian regime, overthrow the Yemeni regime, overthrow the Syrian regime, and deliver for them peace and normalization with Israel by fulfilling the very minimum demands of the Palestinian collaborationist authority, something the Israeli government is not willing to do."

 

link

[Bananas]

Worse than that, he's following his own advice.

[Bananas]

On 7/5/2017 at 9:31 AM, tantra129 said:

i thought you were hopeful the trumpster can do no harm

I'm still of the opinion that if he is going to do truly serious damage, his own party will do a Caesar on him.  For the moment, he's excelling in embarrassing himself.

Incidentally, because I don't follow U.S. politics closely enough, what has Trump done in terms of actual meaningful legislation and policy ?

[Tzatziki]

Repealed Obamacare, bared a number of nations citizens from flying to the US, not sure what else...