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You've been Trumped!

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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Wed 07 Feb , 2018 2:06 pm
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I agree with both of you. Now "the Trump campaign" has released an ad claiming the Democrats are un-American for not clapping and standing for his state of the union speech. Disturbing stuff, when the US president is openly attacking his political opponents for their right to disagree with him and not cheer his speeches.
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/37 ... -the-union
That's almost worse than his demand that the military put on a big military parade, at a cost of several million dollars to taxpayers, in his honor. Though I suppose it all fits together with the praise he's expressed for dictators.

And what the hell is Trump doing, releasing "campaign ads" 3 years before the next presidential election? Don't we get enough of that sort of hyperbolic garbage and spin during the year before an election?



btw, I don't know if it's true or not, but someone said that if Trump wants to send a bunch of tanks and heavy military equipment down Pennsylvania Ave, it will need to be repaved afterward.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Wed 07 Feb , 2018 6:53 pm
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Trump's choice for second-in-command at the EPA? A former coal industry lobbyist. You really can't make this stuff up.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... puty-chief
Quote:
Senate committee voted Wednesday to advance President Trump’s nominee to be deputy administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The 11-10 vote in the Environment and Public Works Committee, along party lines, sets up former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler for a potential vote in the full Senate once GOP leaders schedule it.

btw, Pruitt now says that it's OK if global warming happens, because we don't know the optimal temperatures for climates on Earth.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... elp-humans
Yeah, right, let's take chances on instability, rising sea levels, increased numbers of hurricanes and northward expansion of tropical disease zones just in case this all turns out to be better for us.



Trump's plans for a military parade honoring him are being widely mocked and/or condemned. This is one of the funnier responses.
http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... -parade-is
Quote:
The DC government will open on time today.
DC Public Schools will open on time today.
Sadly, the Giant Tank Parade is cancelled. Permanently. pic.twitter.com/mQmElqs3Tt
— Council of DC (@councilofdc) February 7, 2018


A warning that a banking deregulation bill is more extreme than it looks on the surface:
http://thehill.com/opinion/finance/3727 ... ojan-horse
Quote:
When members of the Senate Banking Committee struck a deal to rewrite post-financial crisis rules last fall, the compromise looked like a gift to moderate Democrats. ... Democrats should beware, however, when Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) brings the bill to the Senate floor, possibly as soon as this month. It is a Trojan Horse.

...First, S.2155 rolls back the most significant post-crisis reforms for the United States’ biggest banks. ...[It] would raise the enhanced oversight threshold to $250 billion, effectively deregulating 25 of the 38 biggest banks in the United States, accounting for nearly one-sixth of the assets in the banking sector. Freed from enhanced oversight, these institutions would go back to operating under many of the same rules that failed to prevent the financial crisis. [He suggests a threshold of $125 billion would be more appropriate]

....S.2155’s second hidden threat is that it deregulates the U.S. operations of Deutsche Bank, Barclays and other systemically important foreign banks — firms whose failure could inflict harm on the U.S. economy.

...Finally, and most troublingly, S.2155 makes it more difficult for the Federal Reserve to regulate the biggest U.S. banks, including Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs. The bill requires the Fed to tailor its enhanced oversight of the largest banks, taking into account “appropriate risk-related factors.” While tailoring is a laudable goal, “appropriate risk-related factors" is a legal landmine.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Thu 08 Feb , 2018 7:38 pm
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The story of Rob Porter, Trump's staff secretary who recently resigned from the White House, has some interesting layers, including that the allegations from his ex-wives were published by The Daily Mail, not the most reliable of sources (looks like at least one of his former wives didn't think he should lose his job, though she warned women against dating or marrying him). More importantly, it looks like he would have been unable to get a full (permanent) security clearance because of a wife's 2010 restraining order against him. Kelly knew that and let him continue working under a temporary clearance.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/ ... ves-397407



Edit: OK, a snippet in this story about Kelly seems to explain the security clearance aspects:
http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... esignation
Quote:
Shah said that Porter — who has been at the White House for more than a year — was still operating on an interim security clearance because his background check had not been completed. He said Porter’s security clearance application was still being reviewed because Porter has denied the charges against him and investigators must weigh both the allegations and the denial.
So not as obvious as it appeared at first - it seems that Porter's permanent security clearance might have been approved if the FBI found his story was more plausible. (btw, someone on a discussion group mentioned that there were 911 calls to substantiate the women's accusations, though I don't know the source of that info or whether it's reliable).

Edit: It looks like the 911 calls may have been wrong. Sorry about passing on an unsubstantiated rumor. There was apparently one police report where Porter punched a glass door, during the time he and one wife were divorcing, and a restraining order.

Last edited by aninkling on Fri 09 Feb , 2018 2:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Fri 09 Feb , 2018 2:24 am
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You can't have personal phones any more in the White House - unless it's to make political calls to the RNC:
http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... ical-calls
Quote:
The White House will allow as many as a dozen senior advisers to receive additional cell phones so that they can contact the Republican National Committee (RNC) regarding the fall midterm elections, officials said Thursday.

A White House official, who was granted anonymity to describe the plan, said the arrangement was made in order to allow certain senior advisers to “conduct political activity during core working hours,” when personal devices are not permitted inside working areas of the White House.

....The move is designed to allow top aides to coordinate political activities with the RNC without breaking federal ethics and record-keeping laws or the White House’s recent ban on personal devices in the West Wing.


http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... luter-fees
Quote:
Under President Trump, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has fined far fewer polluters for breaking emissions rules than the Obama administration.

Numbers released Thursday by the EPA in its annual enforcement report revealed that polluters were fined a total of $1.6 billion in penalties in fiscal year 2017 — about a fifth of the $5.7 billion EPA penalties collected the year prior, under President Obama.

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... e-interior
Quote:
A group of 19 governors of Western states are protesting Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's plan to overhaul the department, saying he has not sought their recommendations.The bipartisan Western Governors Association sent a letter to Zinke on Feb. 1 asking for a delay on the plan, according to The Associated Press on Thursday.

Zinke wants to reorganize the department's regional management system, shifting authority away from state boundaries toward new ecologically-determined regions across the country.

...The governors that signed the letter represent South Dakota, Hawaii, Alaska, Colorado, California, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming, Idaho, Nebraska, and North Dakota.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Sat 10 Feb , 2018 6:56 pm
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http://thehill.com/policy/national-secu ... -clearance
Quote:
The abrupt departure of White House aide Rob Porter this week has fueled questions about his security clearance and whether he should have been able to handle the classified material that reaches President Trump’s desk.

...The controversy has also spurred scrutiny of the broader handling of security clearances within the White House, with reports that dozens of employees are awaiting permanent clearances.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... emo-report
Quote:
President Trump is not ready to approve the release of a Democratic memo meant to rebut a document he declassified last week that was authored by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, the White House announced.

White House counsel Don McGahn wrote a letter to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) explaining that “although the president is inclined to declassify” the Democratic memo, the administration believes it would create “especially significant concerns” for “national security and law enforcement interests.”
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/37323 ... om-doj-fbi
Quote:
Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Friday that Democrats on the panel will review recommended redactions to a minority-authored memo after President Trump moved to block its release.


No details yet on the following announcement, which is very vague. I wouldn't be surprised if it's purposefully so. I hope it doesn't mean he's going to start to expand routine hunting in more national parks and other places you can now hike without worrying about worrying about bullets.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... stern-land
Quote:
Adding to his pro-hunter reputation, Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke issued an order Friday to expand big-game hunting access across the western U.S. Zinke signed the order while attending the Western Conservation and Hunting Expo in Salt Lake City.

...The Interior statement said "priority" states for the new measure would include Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming​.

...."We all know that animals go where animals want to go, and more often than not that's dependent​ ​upon natural features like watersheds,​ ​rather than whether land is owned by the [Bureau of Land Management], state, or private landowners. We need to manage appropriately. ​My goal is healthy herds for American hunters and wildlife watchers, and this order will he​​lp establish better migration corridors for some of North America's most iconic big game species," Zinke said in a statement.

...On his first day in office back in March, he issued an order that overturned a ban of lead ammunition and fish tackle on Fish and Wildlife Service lands and waters. In September, Zinke issued another secretarial order designed to increase access to various public lands for hunters and fishers.

I don't know whether this is a routine consolidation or the first sign of a wave of closings.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... gas-office
Quote:
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is closing its research operations in Las Vegas later this year.

Tim Watkins, the director of the EPA’s National Exposure Research Laboratory, told Office of Research and Development employees in Las Vegas this week that they would have to move to another EPA location or leave the agency by Sept. 30.


Not a big deal in the larger scheme of things, but do US officials have to be this rude?
http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... cs-opening
Quote:
Vice President Pence reportedly did not stand when the joint Korean delegation entered at the Winter Olympics opening ceremonies.

Pence, who led the U.S. delegation to the games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, was seated next to the host country’s President Moon Jae-in, as well as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Pence only stood for the U.S. team, according to The Associated Press, though others seated near Pence stood and applauded for the Korean delegation. Athletes from North and South Korea marched together under a single flag.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Mon 12 Feb , 2018 2:39 pm
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https://www.theatlantic.com/internation ... ce/553034/
Quote:
The State Department’s civilian workforce shrank more than 6 percent overall during the initial eight months of the Trump administration, but that figure masks significantly higher departure rates in critical areas of the country’s diplomatic apparatus.

In December 2016, the department employed 2,580 people under the foreign affairs occupation series, according to data from the Office of Personnel Management. By September 2017, the most recent data available, that number fell to 2,273, a decrease of roughly 11.9 percent.

Most employees under the series serve as foreign-affairs officers, a broad role that encompasses responsibilities such as advising, administering, and researching foreign policy areas like trade, drug trafficking, arms control, and the environment. Foreign-affairs officers also serve as key figures in international negotiations.

http://thehill.com/opinion/internationa ... ink-of-war
Quote:
On Feb. 10 Iran sent a drone into Israeli territory. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) promptly retaliated by ordering a raid against the command control center in Syria from which Iran sent the drone. In turn, Syrian anti-aircraft managed to shoot down an Israeli aircraft that crashed in Northern Israel. It’s the first time since 1982 that this has happened. Israel then launched a massive attack on 122 Iranian and Syrian targets in Syria from which all its planes returned unscathed. This sequence marked the first time Iran and Israel have directly clashed and duly brings the prospect of a war between them over Syria into focus.

We all know that civil war is the most terrible kind of war and that its effects are compounded when foreigners intervene. But in the U.S. case, we are also witnessing what happens when the U.S. has no viable strategy or idea of what it is trying to accomplish but commits forces nonetheless.

...both Presidents Obama and Trump have shown that they have no idea how to achieve strategic goals in Syria or to formulate the means by which to bring about those goals.

Thus we are currently witnessing what can only be described as a bipartisan failure that is fast morphing into a wholly owned Trump failure where the risks of regional war are visibly growing.

btw, it's possible the news item about a new order expanding hunting access to federal lands had a misleading title. The new order just seems to be about improving wildlife corridors, which doesn't seem controversial.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/ryan- ... le/2648702
Quote:
His order would have the Interior Department work with state and private landowners, through voluntary agreements, to study the migration habits of wildlife across the federal lands of several western states, to find ways to improve their habitats.
Zinke has already expanded hunting access to previously off-limits areas. But, unless I'm missing something, it doesn't look like this is part of that.





Edit:
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ar ... ss/553085/
Quote:
Within the thousands of pages the White House transmitted to Congress on Monday morning as part of President Trump’s second annual budget request, there is a line that pretty much sums up the whole ritual.

“Many of the eliminations and reductions in this volume reflect a continuation of policies proposed in the 2018 President’s Budget that have not yet been enacted by the Congress,” the sentence reads. ...Those are all the cuts the Trump administration is proposing, and they’re going nowhere.

Trump again wants to take a meat cleaver to the Environmental Protection Agency, chopping its budget by one-third. He’s asking Congress to scrap entirely community-development block grants and heating assistance for low-income housing. And he wants to eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the national endowments for the Arts and the Humanities, and a slew of other independent agencies.

...While the Trump administration is proposing the cuts to offset big funding increases for defense and border security, Congress has already decided to just spend more on everything.


Trump's infrastructure "plan."
http://thehill.com/policy/transportatio ... e-proposal
In a nutshell - the federal government will contribute $200 billion and doesn't have any real ideas about what to prioritize; the states and local governments can increase taxes and/ or cut programs to fund the other $1.3 trillion or let private companies help them build toll roads. I heard a government spokesperson on NPR this evening - he claimed the $200 billion would come from lots of cuts in government programs, but NPR couldn't even get him to name a single program that would be cut.

Edit: Details on the plan. Includes things like Trump's proposal to expand the use of toll roads and remove restrictions on how tolls may be spent, new limitations on legal challenges to projects, etc. $20 billion is earmarked on projects that will "lift the American spirit."
http://uk.businessinsider.com/trump-inf ... ?r=US&IR=T

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... -leak-rule
Quote:
The Trump administration is proposing to repeal most of the requirements of a 2016 rule meant to reduce wasted methane from oil and natural gas drilling on federal land.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said most of the main components of the Obama administration's rules — which require drillers to write leak-minimization plans, update equipment and detect leaks, among other actions — were overly burdensome
Wasting this methane seems especially counterproductive, given the story just below.


http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... ts-through
Quote:
President Trump's fiscal 2019 budget unveiled Monday would use energy sales on public lands to help fund infrastructure projects for the Department of the Interior (DOI).

Overall, the blueprint from the Office of Budget and Management (OMB) proposes cutting Interior's budget by 14 percent, from $13.2 billion in 2017 to $11.7 billion in 2018.


Also, it's no wonder I'm getting whiplash trying to follow the story about whether or not Rob Porter had any chance of getting a security clearance and who knew what, and when. It looks like deputy White House Press Secretary was lying in the story from The Hill (above) where he said the FBI hadn't completed the investigation and was still weighing the evidence on both sides (and presumably the risks of blackmail to Porter if someone knew the story and threatened to make it public).
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ar ... os/553073/
Quote:
The Trump team doesn’t have a chaos problem so much as it has a dishonesty problem. Of course this is not new, either—in fact, the serial dissembling of the White House has become so banal that it goes almost unremarked in this case—yet it is on particularly dramatic display here.

...The time since [Porter resigned] has seen investigation and recrimination about who knew what. Both of Porter’s ex-wives had told the FBI about their allegations during the background-check process, and White House Counsel Don McGahn reportedly knew about allegations as early as January 2017. Politico reports Kelly also knew of a 2010 protective order against Porter this fall. The White House had also learned, well before the Daily Mail stories, that the FBI would recommend Porter not be given security clearance. (The FBI’s recommendation is non-binding on the president.)

.... White House staffers are speaking to the nation’s newspaper of record to insist that the White House’s own official explanation about Porter’s departure is a lie. This would be more astounding if not for all the other times spokespeople have been made to say things the administration later acknowledges are untrue—from the size of the Inauguration crowd to the reason for FBI Director James Comey’s firing to the content of the June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower.

Last edited by aninkling on Tue 13 Feb , 2018 1:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Mon 12 Feb , 2018 11:58 pm
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And Trump continues his trade wars to please his base:
http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... on-imports
Quote:
President Trump said Monday that he will propose a tax on imports as soon as this week in an effort to crack down on what he believes are unfair trade practices.

“We’re going to be doing very much a reciprocal tax and you’ll be hearing about that during the week and the coming months,” Trump said at the White House while rolling out his infrastructure plan.



Sorry about stuffing so much into this post and the one above. But I was trying to get whatever I thought might be of interest - I'll probably be pressed for time for a few days and I'm not sure I'll even be looking at the news.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Tue 13 Feb , 2018 5:31 pm
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A brief look at the news turned these up.

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... rvice-jobs
Quote:
President Trump’s 2019 White House budget reportedly includes a proposed cut to the National Weather Service that would eliminate hundreds of jobs.

As part of an 8 percent cut to the agency’s budget, the Trump administration would nix 355 jobs, including 248 forecasters, saving an estimated $15 million, according to The Washington Post.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... ound-check
Quote:
FBI Director Christopher Wray offered a new timeline on the background check for former White House staff secretary Rob Porter, saying the investigation ended in July but that new information was then provided to the White House in November and January.

And much as I often disagree with The National Review and hate to defend Sessions, I have to agree with them on the latest twitter-storm, amplified by some lawmakers and members of the media who should know better. http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/45 ... -ignorance
Quote:
Jeff Sessions is under fire today for having used a term correctly, appropriately, and in its entirely proper context.

... It is hard to overstate just how commonly used this phrase is in this context. Within the law, “Anglo-American” does not mean “white.” It does not mean “the KKK.” It is not a “dog whistle.” It is fundamental. It is used — shock! — to refer to those institutions, ideals, structures, and customs that are common to England and the United States — that is, to the common legal heritage the two countries share. Most basically, it means “common law,” but it can also apply more broadly. There is, for example, an identifiable “Anglo-American” conception of due process, which is distinct from, say, the Napoleonic system. That some people also use the word “Anglo” to mean “white” has no bearing on this.

...Here’s Senator Obama in 2006, arguing in favor of habeas corpus on the Senate floor:

The world is watching what we do today in America. They will know what we do here today, and they will treat all of us accordingly in the future—our soldiers, our diplomats, our journalists, anybody who travels beyond these borders. I hope we remember this as we go forward. I sincerely hope we can protect what has been called the “great writ”—a writ that has been in place in the Anglo-American legal system for over 700 years.
There's plenty to criticize about the Trump administration, but this sort of manufactured outrage makes those of us who don't like what Trump's doing to the presidency look like a bunch of idiots.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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Frelga
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Tue 13 Feb , 2018 5:50 pm
A green apple painted red
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Yeah, no, they can pull the other one. He knew exactly how it would come across, and he meant it that way.

Eta: and added bonus, now the base can complain about how White people are persecuted by the libruls.

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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Thu 15 Feb , 2018 10:40 pm
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Actually, most people seem to have accepted the explanation of this terminology from experts, and acknowledged that they had overreacted.


http://thehill.com/policy/finance/37365 ... harged-950
Quote:
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has dropped a lawsuit against a lender that was allegedly charging interest rates up to 950 percent, NPR reported.

The case against Golden Valley Lending had taken CFPB staffers years to establish, but new agency Director Mick Mulvaney instructed staffers to drop the lawsuit, according to NPR.


Keeping Guantanamo Bay open is going to be costly.
http://thehill.com/policy/defense/37365 ... n-at-gitmo
Quote:
The Pentagon is requesting $69 million to replace the top-secret portion of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility that houses 15 “high-value” detainees, including the alleged mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks.


http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... ng-in-gulf
Quote:
Three environmental groups teamed up to sue the Trump administration on Tuesday for allowing oil companies to dump leftover waste from drilling and fracking into the Gulf of Mexico.

The lawsuit, filed by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), Gulf Restoration Network and Louisiana Bucket Brigade, argues officials neglected to determine the potential dangers to water quality, marine life and the environment before allowing the dumping.

Specifically, the groups are challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Water Act permit that allows companies to dump the waste into the Gulf. The permit was granted in September.

http://www.businessinsider.de/drinking- ... ?r=US&IR=T
Quote:
The Trump administration's new infrastructure plan aims to ease regulatory checks on US waterways.
The administration says this will help fast-track more building projects and reduce permit delays.
But some water experts are worried that it could put some of the country's most fragile drinking water systems at risk, and put the expensive burden of water cleanup onto cities.

http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/ ... nder-trump
Quote:
The amount of civil penalties charged to polluters by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) dropped by nearly half under President Trump, according to a new study released Thursday.

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... y-rules-it
Quote:
The Trump administration must carry out the implementation of four energy efficiency regulations that it has delayed for more than a year, a federal court ruled Thursday.

The Department of Energy (DOE) wrote the rules and made them public in December 2016, under the Obama administration. But when President Trump took office Jan. 20, 2017, his administration took advantage of a 45-day window for error corrections to review the rules and potentially scuttle them. The DOE still has not published the rules in Federal Register, the final step to implement them.

...The ruling stands as a setback in the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to delay, weaken or undo major parts of Obama’s aggressive environmental agenda.

Edit - this fits better here than below. It goes along with the Trump administration to cut projects funding research into renewable energy sources :
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... mprove-the
Quote:
Nine projects focused on coal industry development and innovation will receive $6.5 million dollars in federal funding, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced Thursday.

...Energy Department leadership under President Trump has made clear its desire to increase the exploitation of coal within the United States and prop up the fossil fuel industry.

Last edited by aninkling on Thu 15 Feb , 2018 10:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Thu 15 Feb , 2018 10:48 pm
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The "Great Negotiator" has destroyed another potential bipartisan deal.
http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... atastropheP
Quote:
President Trump on Thursday called a bipartisan Senate proposal on immigration a "catastrophe" that would undermine law enforcement and grant amnesty to "dangerous criminals."

The deal, supported by a group of centrist lawmakers, would protect "Dreamers" – young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children – in exchange for roughly $25 billion for border security.

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3740 ... ation-bill
Quote:
The Senate on Thursday rejected immigration legislation crafted by centrists in both parties after President Trump threatened to veto the bill if it made it to his desk. In a 54-45 vote, the Senate failed to advance the legislation from eight Republican, seven Democratic and one Independent senators. It needed 60 votes to overcome a procedural hurdle.

A few Democrats, including Sens. Kamala Harris (Calif.), Martin Heinrich (N.M.) and Tom Udall (N.M.), withheld their votes until it was clear the measure could not get to 60, and then voted against it

....The centrist deal, backed by Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Jeff Flake (Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and other Republicans, represented perhaps the best chance to advance legislation in the Senate

http://thehill.com/policy/national-secu ... hite-house
Quote:
Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon would only answer questions pre-approved by the White House during an interview Thursday with the House Intelligence Committee, lawmakers said.

Members from both parties were fuming after the interview, which lasted roughly three hours, saying Bannon had refused to answer any questions that touched on his work for President Trump after the 2016 election.

"The only questions he would answer were questions that had been scripted, literally scripted, for him by the White House. A set of 25 questions that had been written out for him to which the answer to each must be 'no,'" said Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), the panel's ranking Democrat.

Bannon invoked executive privilege when asked questions that extended beyond his list, an assertion the committee does not believe he has the grounds to make, the lawmakers said.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Sat 17 Feb , 2018 7:52 pm
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http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... ndictments
Quote:
Five key takeaways from the Russian indictments

New indictments of 13 Russians who allegedly meddled in the 2016 election set the political world abuzz on Friday. The charges were first posted on the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) website but were fleshed out by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein at a hastily convened news conference.

What are the key political ramifications from the new charges?


https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... ith-russia
Quote:
Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his prosecutors haven’t concluded their investigation into whether President Donald Trump or any of his associates helped Russia interfere in the 2016 election, according to a person with knowledge of the probe.

Friday’s indictment of a St. Petersburg-based “troll farm” and 13 Russian nationals should be seen as a limited slice of a comprehensive investigation, the person said. Mueller’s work is expected to continue for months and also includes examining potential obstruction of justice by Trump, said the person, who requested anonymity to discuss an investigation that is largely confidential.

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... sale-in-us
Quote:
The Interior Department is planning to hold the largest sale of oil and gas leases in the country's history. The plans, announced Friday, would auction off 77.3 million acres of offshore waters to drilling, covering coastal waters in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The auction will take place March 21.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Tue 20 Feb , 2018 10:01 pm
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Posts: 2048
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http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch ... sional-map
Quote:
Pennsylvania's Supreme Court released a new congressional map on Monday after the previous map was found to be a result of unconstitutional gerrymandering from Republicans.

...Pennsylvania's current map is considered to be one of the most gerrymandered in the U.S. President Trump captured the state with 48.6 percent of the vote in 2016, but Republicans hold 13 of the state's House seats, compared to only five for Democrats.
http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... al-map-all
Quote:
President Trump encouraged Pennsylvania Republicans on Tuesday to challenge the state's new congressional map in court, saying that the original map — deemed unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court — "was correct."

http://thehill.com/regulation/court-bat ... -tradition
Quote:
The battle between Senate Democrats and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) over the “blue-slip rule” escalated this week, after another one of President Trump’s judicial nominees advanced without the approval of both of their home-state senators

The blue-slip rule — which Democrats describe as a long-running Senate tradition Grassley has taken to ignore — has become a flashpoint for members on the Judiciary Committee....
Home-state senators have historically been able to block nominees by refusing to return a blue paper of approval to the committee. It’s a courtesy, rather than a formal Senate rule, and whether it’s followed is entirely up to whoever helms the Judiciary Committee — in this case, Grassley.

Last month, David Stras became the first appellate court nominee to be confirmed despite missing a blue slip.

...On Thursday, the committee voted 11-10, along party lines, to approve Michael Brennan to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) did not return her blue slip for Brennan because he failed to receive the requisite support from the state’s bipartisan commission that vets potential candidates for federal judgeships.

...At Thursday’s hearing, the chairman said the lack of two positive blue slips wouldn’t necessarily prevent a circuit court nominee from receiving a hearing unless the White House failed to consult with home-state senators....“In the case that’s before us, the White House consulted with both Wisconsin senators. The White House considered two candidates suggested by Sen. Baldwin, but the president opted for Judge Brennan. That’s the president’s prerogative under the Constitution.”


http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... ct-kushner
Quote:
The White House says its recent decision to clamp down on temporary security clearances will not affect senior advisor Jared Kushner, who reportedly does not have a full clearance.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... ssia-probe
Quote:
U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller intensified legal pressure on ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates, by filing a false-statements case against a lawyer who did Ukraine-related work with the two men.

Prosecutors accused the attorney, Alex van der Zwaan, of lying to the FBI and Mueller’s office about conversations related to a report supporting the legitimacy of a Ukrainian criminal prosecution of a former prime minister.

...On Oct. 27, prosecutors accused Manafort and Gates of hiding their lobbying work in Ukraine and laundering millions of dollars. The two also failed to disclose lobbying work on behalf of then-Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych and then tried to conceal that work as it came to light in August 2016, the U.S. said. Manafort left the Trump presidential campaign that month.

A month after Manafort’s departure, van der Zwaan communicated about the report with Gates and a second unidentified person, prosecutors said on Tuesday, and then lied about it when the FBI and Mueller’s office later asked about the exchanges



http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... iness-trip
Quote:
Donald Trump Jr. will deliver a foreign policy speech while on an unofficial trip to India to promote his family’s projects, The Washington Post reported Monday. Trump Jr. will speak about Indo-Pacific relations at an event on Friday, during which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also expected to speak.

The Trump Organization has also been offering those interested in buying units in Trump properties the chance to meet Trump Jr. through full-page ads about the trip, the Post reported “Trump is here — Are You Invited?” the headline of one ad reads, before offering home buyers the opportunity to pay about $38,000 to “join Mr. Donald Trump Jr. for a conversation and dinner.”

...Watchdog groups told the Post that the advertisements to meet Trump Jr. and him delivering a foreign policy speech while on a business trip creates a complicated situation.

http://thehill.com/policy/international ... dia-speech
Quote:
The State Department on Tuesday distanced itself from Donald Trump Jr.'s trip to India, assuring reporters that he is traveling as a private citizen and that the agency played no role in shaping his message during the visit.

...Trump Jr. doesn't hold a post in his father's administration.

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/37434 ... rump-moves
Quote:
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has never been more popular on Capitol Hill. The three-nation trade agreement that has long come under fire from both parties is getting a rousing defense amid a push from the Trump administration to either renegotiate or scrap the deal altogether.

...Last fall, the [U.S. Chamber of Commerce] warned that several of the U.S. proposals could torpedo the entire deal and they urged the Trump administration to “do no harm” as negotiations continue.

The seventh round of NAFTA talks are slated to begin Feb. 25 and run through March 5 in Mexico City.

https://www.theatlantic.com/internation ... 18/553727/
Quote:
A Weekend for Ignoring Signs of Doom

At the Munich Security Conference, few seemed to care about the numerous security flash points around the world.
Quote:
President Donald Trump, [Republican Senator James Risch] said, was determined to prevent Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, from developing the ability to hit American cities with nuclear weapons. And no one should doubt the president’s commitment to this goal, he said. Risch was keen to clear up a common misconception: Trump was not, in fact, considering a so-called bloody nose strike whereby the United States would use force to send a message of resolve to Pyongyang:

...While it’s unclear exactly what Risch was suggesting (you can watch the video of the exchange here to draw your own conclusions), the implication of his message was startling: The president of the United States is willing to launch a major war in the near future if North Korea does not back down.

...The Risch intervention summed up the paradox at the heart of this year’s Munich Security Conference, whose official theme was “To the Brink—and Back?” There was no overarching threat or narrative that captivated participants. There was no sense of urgency. No feeling that we were truly on the brink. But, if you looked, red lights were flashing everywhere.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Wed 21 Feb , 2018 2:13 pm
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http://thehill.com/opinion/finance/3747 ... ties-fraud
Quote:
For decades, when a corporation misled or deceived its investors after selling securities through an initial public offering (IPO), those investors could band together in a class-action lawsuit to seek accountability for this kind of fraud.

...In 2012, one major corporation — the Carlyle Group — asked the SEC for permission to issue an IPO with a forced arbitration clause that would ban investors from bringing a class action.... instead forcing them to make their case to a panel of private arbitrators selected by an industry self-regulatory body.

But Carlyle’s clause would go much further, barring investors from seeking accountability as a group for widespread violations of federal securities laws. The SEC expressed serious concerns that this move violated the securities laws, and Carlyle backed down.

Now, however, there are serious indications that the Trump administration’s new chair of the SEC, Jay Clayton, may be about to change everything. As Bloomberg has reported, the new SEC leadership might be seriously considering letting corporations use forced arbitration to ban securities class actions in their IPOs.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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Frelga
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Thu 22 Feb , 2018 11:43 pm
A green apple painted red
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New indictments in Russian probe today.
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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Fri 23 Feb , 2018 7:14 pm
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Apparently, Gates is also going to plead guilty.
http://thehill.com/policy/national-secu ... obe-report
Quote:
Two sources tell The New York Times that Gates’s guilty plea, which has been rumored for several days, could come as soon as Friday afternoon.

A plea could signal that Gates, who served as a top aide to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, is ready to provide Mueller with information.
Though, to be honest, I'm not following most of this closely. Once Mueller finishes his work, we'll know. Otherwise, it seems like a cast of thousands and mostly speculation.

But I thought this was interesting
http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... nce-report
Quote:
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia's election interference is holding up White House adviser Jared Kushner’s security clearance, CNN reported Thursday.

Sources told CNN that the process to complete the security clearance can’t be finished until Mueller’s team wraps up its probe into ties between Kushner and Russians and other foreign contacts.


http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... rd-keeping
Quote:
A pair of environmental groups representing public employees sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday, claiming officials failed to adequately take and maintain public records in violation of federal law.

...The groups charge that the Trump administration operated in "secrecy" to avoid creating a paper trail of notes that would be considered public records under the FRA. Those notes would also be open to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by the public and journalists.

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... -resources
Quote:
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Scott Pruitt said his desire to use the Earth’s resources like oil and coal is grounded in the Bible.

In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network published Thursday, Pruitt spoke about how his Christian views inform his views on the environment and environmental policy.“The biblical world view with respect to these issues is that we have a responsibility to manage and cultivate, harvest the natural resources that we've been blessed with to truly bless our fellow mankind,”

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... els-policy
Quote:
President Trump is organizing White House meetings with Cabinet officials about a federal biofuel mandate that a major refiner [Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES)] blamed for its bankruptcy, Bloomberg and Reuters report.[though Reuters apparently suggests the bankruptcy had other causes]

The first meeting on potential changes to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) will be Friday with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Bloomberg said. Trump will then meet Tuesday with those Cabinet officials and a handful of senators from both oil- and corn-heavy states who care about the policy, both news outlets report.


...Trump’s meetings may focus on changes tailored to PES or may look at larger tweaks.

Trump is considering new tariffs on steel. An opinion piece on how it backfired when Bush tried it:
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/ ... riff-redux
Quote:
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.): “I hope you will look carefully at what President George W. Bush did in 2002 when he imposed 30 percent steel tariffs… according to the auto manufacturers, they lost more jobs than exist in the steel industry.”

President Donald Trump: “Lamar, it didn’t work for Bush, but nothing worked for Bush (Laughter). It didn’t work for Bush but it worked for others.” (Feb. 13, 2018)



http://thehill.com/regulation/court-bat ... om-dossier
Quote:
A federal judge who was appointed by President Trump and who donated to Trump’s presidential campaign says he won’t recuse himself from a court case involving Fusion GPS, the research firm behind the controversial Trump-Russia dossier.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features ... ready-dead
Quote:
Trump Takes Credit for Killing Hundreds of Regulations That Were Already Dead
Overblown claims of sweeping deregulation.
(You might also find some things in this article that you'd like to keep, but Trump doesn't)


http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... days-after
Quote:
One of President Trump’s ambassador nominees reportedly committed thousands of dollars to fund a gala at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, just two weeks after he was tapped for the administration post.
The outcry over Trump Jr. giving foreign policy speeches while promoting his luxury apartment seems to have done some good.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... ws-critics
Quote:
Donald Trump Jr. dodged controversy during a speech in New Delhi alongside India’s prime minister by switching his topic from what was originally touted as a foreign policy address to less contentious topics such as family and business.

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... d-by-bears
Quote:
A group of paleontologists exploring land around Utah's Bears Ears last year say they have found a rare cache of prehistoric fossils on an "extensive" site that as of this month is no longer protected as a national monument.

...The crocodile-like phytosaur dinosaur fossils were found in what the group of paleontologists said, "may be the densest area of Triassic period fossils in the nation, maybe the world."

Edit to add:

http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... day-report
Quote:
President Trump has reportedly directed the Pentagon to plan his proposed military parade to travel from the White House to the Capitol on Nov. 11, Veterans Day. National security adviser H.R. McMaster gave the president's instructions in an unclassified memo to the Department of Defense

...White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told lawmakers last week that the event could cost between $10 million and $30 million.

...A poll released Tuesday found that a majority of Americans, 61 percent, disapprove of the idea of a military parade, compared to only 26 percent who support it. Three-quarters of respondents said the parade would not be a good use of government funds.
From what I've read on a political discussion board, even a poll in a military news source found that most military members think it's a dumb idea - logistically dreadful, expensive (and for what useful purpose?), etc.


http://thehill.com/policy/technology/37 ... or-courage
Quote:
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai received the National Rifle Association's (NRA) “Charlton Heston Courage Under Fire Award” at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday.

The NRA-sponsored award was given to Pai in recognition of months of heavy criticism over his successful push to repeal the agency’s net neutrality rules. Pai led the push to repeal the rules, which were overwhelmingly supported by the public, in December.

http://thehill.com/policy/national-secu ... ller-probe
Quote:
Former Trump campaign adviser Richard Gates pleaded guilty on Friday afternoon as part of a deal with special counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation into Russian interference in the election.

Gates pleaded guilty to two charges brought against him by Mueller’s team in federal court in Washington, D.C.: one count of conspiracy against the United States and one count of making a false a statement to the FBI agents investigating Russian interference. He has also agreed to cooperate with Mueller's investigation.

Last edited by aninkling on Fri 23 Feb , 2018 9:10 pm, edited 2 times in total.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Fri 23 Feb , 2018 7:17 pm
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Take your pick as far as what Trump actually thinks about gun control. Damned if I can figure it out:



https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ar ... nd/553943/
Quote:
What Does Trump Actually Think About Gun Control?

The president’s suggestions range from arming teachers to Obama-style background-check regulation.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... le-meeting
Quote:
President Donald Trump called for paying bonuses to teachers who carry guns in the classroom, embracing a controversial proposal to curb school shootings hours after offering a full-throated endorsement of the National Rifle Association.

Trump told state and local officials gathered at the White House on Thursday to discuss school safety that “you can’t hire enough security guards” and teachers could carry concealed weapons and “nobody would know who they are.”

...Trump said he called many lawmakers Wednesday evening to discuss background checks and that many prior opponents of toughening them have changed their minds.But the president isn’t ready to back any specific legislation yet, Shah said. Instead Trump “is proposing ideas, he’s listening right now,” Shah said.


http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/ ... list-state
Quote:
National Rifle Association (NRA) CEO Wayne LaPierre on Thursday warned conservatives that socialists are smearing gun rights advocates and seeking to eliminate their rights.

...LaPierre claimed "European socialists” are taking over the Democratic Party.

...Earlier in his speech at CPAC, LaPierre called proposals to limit the amount of weapons available to Americans “completely ridiculous,” and said more security would help prevent future school shootings.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... -amendment
Quote:
President Trump told the Conservative Political Action Committee on Friday that if Democrats come into power, they will “take away your Second Amendment.”

“They'll take away your Second Amendment,” Trump said. “Remember that.”

Speaking a little more than a week after the shooting at a Florida high school that left 17 dead one day after he offered support for modest gun control proposals, Trump offered some red meat for the conservative crowd and vowed to protect gun rights.


http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... ur-country
Quote:
President Trump took to Twitter on Thursday to praise the National Rifle Association and its leadership, calling them “Great People and Great American Patriots” who “will do the right thing.”

“What many people don’t understand, or don’t want to understand, is that Wayne, Chris and the folks who work so hard at the @NRA are Great People and Great American Patriots. They love our Country and will do the right thing. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump tweeted, referring to NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre and NRA-Institute for Legislative Action executive director Chris Cox.



http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... -same-page
Quote:
President Trump expressed optimism on Thursday that the National Rifle Association would back new restrictions on guns, despite the gun lobby declaring opposition to the president’s proposal to raise age limits on certain purchases.

...The NRA strongly opposes raising age limits for purchasing guns.

...Trump on Thursday reiterated his belief that 21 should be the age of purchase for guns.“The NRA will back it,” Trump said.



The president has also voiced his support for a ban on bump stocks, which can be affixed to a semi-automatic rifle to make it fire more rapidly.

The NRA has said it supports a federal review of bump stocks to see if new regulations are appropriate, but the group opposes an outright ban.


...Trump has said he supports “comprehensive” background checks that appear to go beyond a NRA-endorsed bill that would incentive agencies to comply with the existing background check laws.

Speaking Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the premier annual event for grass-roots conservatives, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre dismissed calls for new legislation



...Still, Trump and the NRA are on the same page on at least one new proposal. The president is advocating for school officials who have been trained in firearms safety to be armed.


http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... eapons-ban
Quote:
The White House said Thursday that President Trump does not support a ban on “assault weapons.”

...The president once supported a ban on “assault weapons,” but White House press secretary Raj Shah said it is not something the president is considering at this point.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Tue 27 Feb , 2018 3:27 pm
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Not a surprise to most of us, I suspect:
http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... gun-report
Quote:
President Trump is moving away from his original call to increase the minimum age to buy some guns in the wake of the shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla. earlier this month, according to CNN.


http://thehill.com/regulation/energy-en ... ch-program
Quote:
A federal environmental program that distributes grants to test the effects of chemical exposure on adults and children is being shuttered amidst a major organization consolidation at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The National Center for Environmental Research (NCER) will no longer exist following plans to combine three EPA offices, the agency confirmed to The Hill Monday.


Some of the things that have been happening at the USDA during the last few months, which tend to be less publicized than Trump's changes to the EPA and State Dept:

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/20 ... ganic-eggs
Quote:
The Trump administration has announced plans to withdraw a regulation that would have required organic egg producers to give their hens room to graze outdoors.The cmove was widely anticipated; the U.S. Department of Agriculture has repeatedly delayed the date on which these regulations would go into effect. But organic advocates still reacted with outrage and promised to fight the decision in court.

It's an unusual situation, because in this case the demand for regulation is coming from the very organic farmers who would need to meet those new rules.



https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/ ... ent-200905
Quote:
Morale among many of the Agriculture Department’s legal staff has plummeted since Stephen Vaden, the Trump administration’s nominee to be USDA General Counsel, assumed leadership in March, say several agency attorneys from across the country.

Vaden, who arrived at USDA in January as part of President Donald Trump’s beachhead team and was appointed principal deputy general counsel two months later, is enforcing workplace changes that have provoked unusually bitter labor negotiations, say the attorneys. He also has come under scrutiny for his past work defending state voter ID laws that critics say are discriminatory.
I believe the GOP did confirm Vaden.


https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/ ... ing-284099
Quote:
A planned change in USDA policy on working remotely has employees agonizing about their job security, scrambling to find child and elder care, and worrying about household budgets as a result of extra commuting costs.

In February, the department will start enforcing a new policy that requires employees — mostly in administrative roles — to work in a USDA office at least four days a week.

...Perdue — calling it the OneUSDA policy — said the changes would help the agency function as a single team

...The change is particularly unexpected because staff members have been strongly encouraged in recent years to work remotely and have shaped their lives around that policy, according to union representatives and employees. Some workers have been able to continue working for USDA when their local offices closed. Other, newer workers have taken jobs with USDA on the presumption they would telework. And some USDA locations have been redesigned under the assumption that there would be fewer people working in the office.

...Many Forest Service employees telework because they are living in resort areas where they can’t afford local housing, and thus have to commute long distances to reach an office. Others work in rural areas where traveling to the office can be perilous, Baumann said.


https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/20 ... eyre-suing
Quote:
An organization representing the interests of small farmers across rural America fired a legal salvo Thursday aimed at a Trump administration they feel has let them down.

The lawsuit, filed by the Organization for Competitive Markets — a small-farmers think tank based in Lincoln, Neb. — and three farmer plaintiffs, did not shake the halls of Congress. Nor will it go viral on social media. But to the 40,000 contract poultry farmers, 900,000 cattle ranchers, and 70,000 hog farmers in America's heartland whose interests it seeks to represent, the lawsuit represents the tip of an iceberg of financial and emotional despair.


https://www.eater.com/2017/10/17/164888 ... nny-purdue
Quote:
How the USDA Is Changing Under Trump
Restructuring, budget cuts, and stalled policy proposals are threatening progress

http://www.dailyyonder.com/trump-budget ... /12/23812/
Quote:
The Trump administration proposes deep cuts in funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including reductions in rural development, food stamps, and farm programs.The budget proposal calls for a $3.7 billion, or 16%, decrease in USDA spending compared to the 2017 level.

This is the first budget document released under Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, who was awaiting confirmation when President Trump’s budget outline was released last year.

While the document is vague about some proposed changes, the budget cuts appear to be targeted primarily at Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and eligibility, changes to farm subsidies and crop insurance, decreases in conservation spending, and cuts to some Rural Development programs.
Some USDA grants to universities also seem to be on the chopping block, according to the grapevine.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Wed 28 Feb , 2018 11:29 pm
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Under pressure, Kelly does seem to be doing the right thing.
http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... t-security
Quote:
More than 30 White House staffers had their “top secret” security clearance downgraded to “secret” late last week amid a crackdown on interim clearances, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday.

Those officials will operate on a “secret” interim basis while their background checks are processed.


http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... -clearance
Quote:
The White House said Tuesday that Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, will remain in his role despite having lost his top-secret security clearance.

... his clearance was downgraded as part of chief of staff John Kelly’s push to restrict access to classified information among members of the administration. Kushner previously had access to some of the nation’s most closely held secrets under an interim clearance that allowed him to see information designated top secret/SCI. He now has a secret temporary clearance, which provides a lower level of access.

Former U.S. officials have questioned how a senior adviser who plays a central role in relations with China, Mexico and the Middle East could carry out his duties without a high-level security clearance.


http://thehill.com/regulation/pending-r ... udent-loan
Quote:
The Education Department will propose a policy blocking states from overseeing student loan collectors, Politico reported Monday.

...More than a dozen states have passed or are debating legislation that would create tougher rules against student loan companies. Student loan companies have lobbied the government to shield them from the states’ actions in recent months.

This isn’t the first action the Trump administration has taken in support of the student loan industry. The Justice Department said in a court filing earlier this year that states can’t take legal action against the companies because the federal government preempts them. The Education Department also ordered companies working for the agency last year to sidestep responding directly to information requests from third parties, including state regulators, Politico reported.

Advocacy groups slammed the proposed policy, saying that states had stepped up to crack down on the collectors after the Trump administration failed to do so.


http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... imate-rule
Quote:
Energy companies and their allies want the Trump administration to give them a wide amount of leeway when writing a replacement to the Obama administration’s climate change rule for power plants.

In comments submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which were due this week, fossil fuel interests, utilities, business groups and others asked the agency to write a rule that doesn’t require any coal-fired power plants to shut down, doesn’t mandate any actions outside of the power plants themselves and that gives state leaders maximum flexibility in deciding how to comply.

...Under pressure from the industry, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt moved to replace the rule. Environmentalists and Democratic states argue that the EPA is legally obligated to limit power plants’ greenhouse gas emissions, so a new rule could head off potential litigation against the agency.

If industry has its way, the EPA would give states instructions for how to craft their own emissions goals. The EPA would have little authority to second-guess those plans, nor would the agency be able to set emissions limits.


http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/ ... ng-tariffs
Quote:
American solar company SunPower will lay off about 3 percent of its workforce in March, a decision that comes after President Trump began imposing new tariffs on imported solar materials earlier this month.

...SunPower estimates that with the new tariffs it will lose $50 million this year, about one-sixth of the company's overall operating costs. According to Werner, the company fears that next year's losses will be even more staggering, predicting the firm could lose closer to $100 million.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/37614 ... hud-office
Quote:
House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) announced on Wednesday that the committee is probing whether Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson's used "excessive spending" on the redecoration of his office.

The announced probe follows reports that HUD staff member Helen Foster claimed she was replaced in her role because she refused to find a way around a $5,000 limit for redecorating Carson’s office.

Making the news internationally as well as in the U.S. (it's also in CNN and other sources)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/02/ ... 15295.html
Quote:
White House Communications Director Hope Hicks has acknowledged to a House intelligence panel that she has occasionally told “white lies” for President Donald Trump, according to those present for Hicks’ closed-door testimony.

...In response to a question on whether she had ever lied for her boss, Hicks acknowledged to have told “white lies” for Trump on occasion, according to a person familiar with the testimony. The person, who declined to be named because the committee’s interviews are not public, said Hicks told the panel she had not lied about anything substantive.
From the Republican side:
Quote:
Republican Rep. Tom Rooney of Florida, a member of the intelligence panel who was in the interview, said Hicks’ answer was completely unrelated to the Russia investigation. “When specifically asked whether or not she was instructed to lie by the president, or the candidate, with regard to Russia, the investigation or our investigation, the answer to that question was no,” Rooney said.
From a Democrat:
Quote:
The top Democrat on the intelligence panel, California Rep. Adam Schiff, said that Hicks answered questions about her role in Trump’s campaign and answered some questions about the transition period between the election and the inauguration.

But she would not answer any questions about events since Trump took the oath of office.
CNN has more details:
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/26/poli ... index.html


She announced today that she's resigning from the Trump administration:
http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... hite-house
Quote:
The announcement of Hicks's resignation comes one day after she sat for a marathon interview with the House Intelligence Committee as part of its investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Thu 01 Mar , 2018 12:18 am
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Posts: 2048
Joined: Fri 10 Aug , 2012 4:42 pm
 
I don't want to start a new thread for this and it's too serious to put in "weird and unusual stories" so I'll just put it here as a default. Though Trump is not responsible for it, it definitely looks like an issue with government.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features ... e-recalled
Quote:
How Defective Guns Became the Only Product That Can’t Be Recalled
Taurus sold almost a million handguns that can potentially fire without anyone pulling the trigger. The government won’t fix the problem. The NRA is silent.
Quote:
The simple answer is that no government entity has the power to police defective firearms or ammunition in America—or even force gunmakers to warn consumers. The Consumer Product Safety Commission can order the recall and repair of thousands of things, from toasters to teddy bears. If a defective car needs fixing, the U.S. Department of Transportation can make it happen. The Food and Drug Administration deals with food, drugs, and cosmetics. Only one product is beyond the government’s reach when it comes to defects and safety: firearms. Not even the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives can get defective guns off the market. If a gunmaker chooses to ignore a safety concern, there’s no one to stop it.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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