board77

Jude wrote:

I wonder how this will affect his credibility with the people who voted for him?

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/h ... n-lawsuits

Quote:

The House passed legislation Thursday to put new restrictions on class-action lawsuits.
The Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act was approved 220-201. It requires proof that each proposed member of a class-action suit has the same extent of injuries before a federal court can certify it.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) argued the overriding purpose of the bill is to make it virtually impossible for class-action lawsuits to be brought by groups of people who have been injured by a consumer rip-off, pharmaceutical drug mistake, faulty product design, sex discrimination or sexual harassment in the workplace, or lead and asbestos poisoning.
...
Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) claimed the legislation is needed to curb overly broad class-action lawsuits that hurt companies and force consumers into lawsuits they don’t want to be in.

Congressional Republicans and the White House don't seem very interested in investigating Trump's campaign, but Sessions is quite interested in investigating the Justice Department for decisions it made under a previous administration:
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing- ... prosecutor

Quote:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday that he wouldn't rule out appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the Justice Department under former President Barack Obama.

...[conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt] had asked Sessions about whether outside counsel was need to probe a series of Obama-era controversies that sparked criticism from conservatives. Under Obama, the department was attacked by Republicans for, among other issues, its handling of the probe into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server and investigations into local police departments.

Of particular concern, Sessions said, was Justice Department's handling of an investigation into whether the Internal Revenue Service improperly targeted conservative groups for investigation. The Justice Department closed the probe without filing any charges against the agency, citing a lack of evidence of intended wrongdoing.

Meanwhile at the White House...
http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... ing-conway

Quote:

The government’s ethics watchdog on Thursday hammered the White House’s decision not to discipline counselor Kellyanne Conway for promoting Ivanka Trump's merchandise in a TV interview.

In a letter sent to deputy White House counsel Stefan Passantino, Office of Governmental Ethics Director Walter Shaub voiced grave concern over the Trump administration’s decision to forgo punishment for Conway's "free commercial," saying the move “risks undermining the ethics program.”

Of more concern, Shaub said, is the White House’s repeated claim that officials in the president’s office are not subject to the same ethics rules that apply to other government officials.

Let me guess... the ethics watchdog committee is likely to be the next target of Sessions' investigations or Trump's rants.



http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... ad-resigns

Quote:

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency program aimed at protecting minority populations from pollution has resigned.
Mustafa Ali, who has worked at the EPA for 24 years, is leaving as the Trump administration is proposing to completely defund environmental justice efforts at the EPA.

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... cking-rule

Quote:

A federal appeals court is asking the Trump administration if it plans to defend an Obama administration rule regulating hydraulic fracturing on federal land.
...

Trump promised on the campaign trail to repeal any policies that “impose unwarranted restrictions on new drilling technologies,” a category that likely includes fracking.

But since Inauguration Day in January, the Trump administration has told neither the court nor the public how it plans to deal with the fracking rule.

...
The regulation at issue sets standards in three areas for federal-land fracking: disclosure of the chemicals used to frack, integrity of the well casing and protection of waste materials.

Judge Scott Skavdahl of the federal District Court for the District of Wyoming struck the rule down last year in a lawsuit brought by industry and some states, saying Congress specifically prohibited Interior from regulating fracking.

The Obama administration appealed, saying Skavdahl erred in his ruling.

Trump shows how much he cares about people who are struggling to afford healthcare:
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/32 ... -expansion

Quote:

President Trump's administration is privately supporting an earlier rollback of ObamaCare's Medicaid expansion than what is outlined in GOP leadership's healthcare plan, CNN reported Thursday.

A senior House conservative aide and two senior administration officials told the news source that the White House, while publicly supporting the House GOP bill, is privately backing a call from conservatives to reverse the expansion before the bill's 2020 phase-out date.

And given Trump's behavior so far, I can see how Chinese media fell for a satirical story about this and reported it as true.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pac ... bout-Trump

Quote:

Riffing on the president’s Twitter allegations that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower phones before the election, The New Yorker article depicted a paranoid commander-in-chief insisting aids Obama-proof all White House phones with a layer of tinfoil.

“The President, still wearing his bathrobe after what was reportedly a sleepless night, personally supervised the tin-foil installation, sources said,” read a line from the piece, which bears the label “Satire from the Borowitz Report.”

But that didn’t stop Reference News, a Chinese website run by state media Xinhua that translates international coverage, from reporting the joke as serious on Tuesday. Publications that fell for the misreporting included respected outlets such as the business magazine Caijing, as well as news portal Sina.

Some news that seems useful to know, from The Hill:


Another set of lies from the Trump administration:
http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... egister-as

Quote:

President Trump’s transition team was reportedly told that former national security adviser Michael Flynn would likely have to register as a foreign agent before stepping into the job despite White House claims that Trump was unaware of his lobbying work.

Flynn filed paperwork on Wednesday to officially register as a foreign agent, and admitted that he may have done work that benefited the Turkish government. The retired Army lieutenant general was previously paid more than half a million dollars for work for a Turkish company.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Thursday said Trump was unaware that Flynn had lobbied in the interest of a foreign government, and Vice President Pence called Flynn’s registration as a foreign agent “an affirmation of the president's decision to ask Gen. Flynn to resign."

Bush's ethics lawyer has strong words about Trump:
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing- ... a-ties-kgb

Quote:

Richard Painter, President George W. Bush's former ethics lawyer, said late Friday he has major concerns over the Trump administration's ties to Russia....

“It makes no sense to run a government this way,” Painter said. "This is a completely chaotic situation, and then Gen. Flynn lied about his contacts with the Russians, lied to the vice president, and we’ve had the attorney general in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee say he did not contact the Russians when he had contacts with the Russians."

“People are not being honest about their foreign contacts, and talk about this ‘deep state theory’ as if there are somehow Obama moles in the government under the Trump administration,” Painter continued. “It’s the KGB agents running around the West Wing or the national security council."

Another move by Sessions:
http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... -to-resign

Quote:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has asked dozens of U.S. attorneys appointed by former President Obama to submit their resignations, the Department of Justice announced Friday.
U.S. attorneys are normally replaced at the beginning of new administrations. Of the 93 U.S. attorneys, 46 remain from the past administration, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ)....

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement that he was "troubled to learn of reports of requests for resignations from the remaining U.S. Attorneys, particularly that of Preet Bharara

"While it’s true that presidents from both parties made their own choices for U.S. Attorney positions across the country, they have always done so in an orderly fashion that doesn’t put ongoing investigations at risk. They ask for letters of resignation but the attorneys are allowed to stay on the job until their successor is confirmed," he said.

"By asking for the immediate resignation of every remaining U.S. Attorney before their replacements have been confirmed or even nominated, the President is interrupting ongoing cases and investigations and hindering the administration of justice."

An apparently reasonable choice to head the FDA:
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/32 ... -fda-chief

Quote:

President Trump plans to nominate Scott Gottlieb to be commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a more mainstream choice than some expected. Gottlieb is a former FDA official under President George W. Bush, and seen as a qualified choice within the normal bounds for a Republican administration.

Amazing that the second sentence even needs to be said. And yet it does, under Trump.


Probably useful to know:
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/32290 ... epeal-plan

Quote:

Here's a list of how Republican lawmakers stand on the ObamaCare repeal and replace legislation. The Hill will update this list. Please send updates to mmali@thehill.com.

Signs/ effects of political activism:
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... g-doubt-on

Quote:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) faced a massive influx of phone calls Friday after EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt questioned the scientific consensus on climate change, The Washington Post reported on Saturday.

http://thehill.com/latino/323448-dreame ... orney-says

Quote:

A so-called Dreamer that was detained after publicly speaking out against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations has been released, her attorney said Friday. Daniela Vargas, a 22-year-old Argentinian, was detained last week shortly after criticizing ICE during an immigration press conference in Jackson, Miss.

Vargas's attorney Nathan Elmore said Friday that neither he nor Vargas "have received an explicit explanation of why DHS released her," and that they are not sure whether they will receive one.

Despite her release, Vargas still has a removal order, which means that federal authorities could initiate removal proceedings at any time.

Vargas's lawyers said that a key factor in securing her release was public pressure from traditional and social media.

And lastly,
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing- ... an-stay-to

Quote:

A U.S. federal court on on Friday refused to apply the emergency stay that halted President Trump's first travel ban to his revised executive order, Reuters reported. Seattle U.S. District Court Judge James Robart... ruled Friday against a request from several Democratic attorneys general to have the block on the original order carry over to the new version.

....While the former halt to the travel ban was not upheld, the revised travel ban will surely still face legal challenges.

Maryland became the latest state Friday to join in on the challenge agains the executive order.
Hawaii has filed a separate lawsuit claiming that the ban would hurt its tourism industry, businesses and educational institutions.

The CS Monitor has picked up the story on the Dept of Justice requesting immediate resignations, and firing one who refused, with some speculations:
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2017/0312/ ... et-Bharara

Quote:

The Manhattan US Attorney, who refused to leave his position as part of a sweeping resignation request was fired by the President Trump’s administration Saturday.

... the sudden move could stem from pressure to oust Obama-era holdouts. Some believe that people who served under the Obama administration could be leaking information about Trump’s office to the press, and have raised concerns about continued extreme political divisions that are could stall the Trump agenda.

... During his seven years as US attorney for the southern New York district, Bharara earned a reputation for being tough on corruption, bringing charges against suspected inside traders and more than a dozen state lawmakers.

Michigan Rep. John Conyers (D) of the House Judiciary Committee speculated that Bharara’s office “could be reviewing a range of potential improper activity emanating from Trump Tower and the Trump campaign, as well as entities with financial ties to the president or the Trump organization.”

Bharara’s office is currently investigating the settlements made in the sexual-harassment allegations against Fox News by its employees, which were brought by Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson, two big-name previous hosts.

Annemarie McAvoy, a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, echoed Mr.. Conyers concerns. She noted that any subpoenas seeking information on Trump’s campaigns ties to Russian officials would likely make its way through Bharara’s office

Another story is very disturbing, regarding both privacy and the still-uncertain nature of much genetic testing:
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2017/0312/ ... nformation

Quote:

Since 2008, Americans have been protected from being penalized for refusing a genetic test in the workplace or having to share the results with their employer.

That could change under legislation the House Committee on Education and the Workforce approved on Wednesday. Passed along party lines, the bill, put forward by chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx (R) of North Carolina, is now under review by other House committees.

If enacted, the legislation would mean that employees who refuse to submit to a genetic test as part of their office’s voluntary wellness program could lose out on up to a 30 percent reduction in health insurance costs. That could add up to $5,433 more a year in premiums, according to the average annual premium for employer-sponsored family health coverage in 2016.

Some genetic links, such as BRCA and breast cancer, are solid, but a lot of is still more-or-less speculative, resting on one or two studies - which could be overturned by further research. Even when the links are solid, we're talking increased probability of getting a disease, not certainty. There are probably multiple genes involved, not to mention environmental and other factors. Not to mention the factor that's no longer fashionable to mention - simple bad luck.

And what are employers going to do with this information?

That's all very depressing.

And this is barely scratching the surface.

I agree, a lot of government news these days is depressing. But at least activism made a real difference in one person's life. And people are paying attention and reacting when Pruitt spouts nonsense. I've heard it said that this is one silver lining of Trump - more people are engaged and aware. Not that it isn't tiring paying attention to politics. It's definitely not my favorite thing to do - but Trump isn't a normal president.

btw, the Congressional Budget Office has analyzed the Republican healthcare plan:
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/32 ... hcare-plan

Quote:

CBO ignites firestorm with ObamaCare repeal score
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Monday projected that the number of people without health insurance would grow by 14 million in 2018 under the Republican ­ObamaCare replacement bill, with that number rising to 24 million in a decade.

The bombshell estimate was larger than even many analysts had predicted, stirring fresh doubts about whether the legislation can pass ahead of a possible vote in the House next week.

And Gingrich seems to be channeling Trump. Don't like what you hear? Shut down the office that gave you unwelcome news.
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/32 ... -abolished

Quote:

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) slammed the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) scoring of Republican health care legislation, calling it "disgustingly wrong" and recommending that the office be abolished.

"They should abolish the Congressional Budget Office. It is corrupt. It is dishonest. It was totally wrong on ObamaCare by huge, huge margins," Gingrich said to Fox's Martha MacCallum on "The First 100 Days.

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/32380 ... kes-report

Quote:

The CIA has reportedly been given the power by President Trump to launch drone strikes against suspected terrorists. The new authority is a change in drone policy from the Obama administration, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday citing U.S. officials.

Under the Obama administration, the CIA used drones to find suspected terrorists. But the military then launched the strikes. That policy lent itself to more transparency, because the Pentagon is required to publicly report most airstrikes.

http://thehill.com/policy/international ... ent-report

Quote:

President Trump’s administration has told the State Department to cut more than 50 percent of U.S. funding to United Nations programs, Foreign Policy reported.

The push for the drastic reductions comes as the White House is scheduled to release its 2018 topline budget proposal Thursday, which is expected to include a 37 percent cut to the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development budgets.
...
The U.S. spends roughly $10 billion annually on the U.N., and the cuts could have the greatest impact on peacekeeping, the U.N. development program and UNICEF, which are funded by State's Bureau of International Organization Affairs.

The fate of other popular programs, like the World Food Programme and U.N. refugee operations, are less clear. The World Food Programme's funding comes from the Department of Agriculture.

...Administration officials said last month that Trump’s budget would contain $54 billion in domestic non-discretionary spending cuts to pay for an equal increase in defense spending.

More on the UN programs Trump wants to cut:
https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/03/13/wh ... d-nations/

Quote:

State Department staffers have been instructed to seek cuts in excess of 50 percent in U.S. funding for U.N. programs, signaling an unprecedented retreat by President Donald Trump’s administration from international operations that keep the peace, provide vaccines for children, monitor rogue nuclear weapons programs, and promote peace talks from Syria to Yemen, according to three sources.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... ment-waste

Quote:

President Trump signed an executive order Monday aimed at cutting waste in the federal government. ...

The order does not seek a set amount of cuts, but it could result in a push to eliminate entire federal agencies or dramatically cut the size of the federal workforce.

I'm guessing that the order itself might be largely symbolic. But it's clearly showing Trump's/ Bannon's intention of tearing down as many agencies as possible, other than the military. Let me guess - EPA enforcement would be one of the first to go. The State Dept and diplomacy are already facing big cuts. The Coast Guard. FEMA. And it wouldn't surprise me to see the Dept. of Justice cut.
I'm betting Trump won't forego his weekend Mar-a-Lago trips on Air Force One, though.

Edit, to clarify: I'm sure there is waste to be found. At one time - before military spending became a sacred cow for the legislature - you regularly heard about inflated prices to procure ordinary items (hammers, toilets, etc.). But I don't have any faith that this is an exercise to actually reduce waste. If it was, Trump certainly wouldn't be spending money on feasibility studies for his new wall (as if no presidency before his would have considered it, if it was practical and useful) or implementing studies and rule-making for "new" vetting for immigrants, when there were already good vetting procedures in place. Or adding more layers of bureaucracy, with things like his offices to make sure departments are following his orders. He's looking for excuses to cut programs and items his business cronies don't like. And meanwhile Trump is living like a king at taxpayers' expense.

http://uk.businessinsider.com/air-force ... ?r=US&IR=T

Quote:

It costs about $200,000 an hour to operate Air Force One — here's why it's so expensive

Over the past couple of weeks, the exorbitant cost of presidential travel has made its way into the spotlight.

In fact, President Donald Trump's travel itinerary cost US taxpayers more than $10 million during his first month in office, according to The Washington Post.

And I don't give this bill much chance of passing, given the Republicans' blind support for Trump, but it would be nice to be surprised.
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/ ... presidency

Quote:

The presidency should not be a get-rich-quick scheme. No president or presidential family should be able to exploit the Oval Office to become wealthier.

... One step would be to stop Trump from profiting off taxpayer dollars. Donald Trump continues to summon White House staff, U.S. officials, and even foreign leaders to his Palm Beach club Mar-a-Lago – or as he calls it, the “Winter White House.” He is making money as these officials eat food (especially Trump water and steaks), stay overnight, or play rounds of golf at his properties.

That’s why I introduced the No TRUMP Act—the No Taxpayer Revenue Used to Monetize the Presidency Act. This legislation would prohibit the use of any taxpayer funds to pay for food, lodging, or other expenses at hotels owned or operated by a president or his or her relatives. In the interest of safety, the bill allows the Secret Service to continue guarding the residences of the First Family – Trump Tower in New York and Mar-a-Lago.

We need to make sure there is no personal financial incentive for Donald Trump or any future president and family to stay or hold official meetings or events at certain properties across the United States or abroad. There are several appropriate venues used by presidents-past to hold meetings that do not benefit the Trump Organization. (The actual White House or Camp David come to mind.)

With so many unresolved concerns about White House business conflicts, this is a responsible first step to make sure that the public doesn’t subsidize a president’s private interests.

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/ ... in-reality

Quote:

While President Trump has kept the public busy with his latest theories about President Obama’s wire-taps, the “deep state” and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ratings, the Republican Congress has been quietly pushing forward a legislative agenda that will have an all too real impact on the public. The President's tweets are dangerously distracting us from a flurry of new laws passed by Congress to inhibit federal safety standards for everything from hamburgers to helicopters.

This week a Senate committee will consider several bills under the auspices of “regulatory reform.”

Trump's budget:
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2 ... priorities

Quote:

Budget increases:

Defense: 9 percent funding increase. Uses include boosting the size of the Army and Marines, more Navy ships, increased readiness of Air Force combat planes.
Homeland Security: 7 percent funding increase, including money for additional border, customs, and immigration agents, and a border wall.
Veterans Affairs: 6 percent increase, to expand health services and modernize systems.

Budget cuts:

Environmental Protection Agency: 31 percent budget cut. Fifty programs would be eliminated, including funding for international climate-change programs and scientific research. Drinking water infrastructure would gain priority.
State: 29 percent budget cut. Reductions in foreign aid and payments to UN and other international agencies.
Agriculture: 21 percent cut. Most cuts as yet unspecified, but food stamps and crop subsidies remain.
Labor: 21 percent cut, including reduced funding for some job-training programs.
Health and Human Services: 18 percent cut, including cuts to the National Institutes of Health.
Commerce: 16 percent cut, including cuts to climate-change research.
Education: 14 percent cut, including cuts to teacher training and after-school programs. The department would add $1.4 billion to promote school choice, including charter schools and vouchers for private school.
Housing and Urban Development: 13 percent cut, including community development block grants, a $3 billion program.
Transportation: 13 percent cut, including privatization of air traffic control.
Cultural agencies: National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund PBS and NPR, are all targeted for elimination.

It might be worth noting that anything where Republicans or Trump and Bannon want to "return power to the states" basically means that the states have to find funding for them. And many states are already struggling with their budgets.


http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2 ... ny-worried

Quote:

Why GOP plan's 'historic' reform of Medicaid has many worried
Under the plan, states would lose $880 billion in Medicaid funding over the next decade as the federal government shifted more of the system's cost and responsibility to the states.

Additional proposed budget cut details:

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... ts-to-usda

Quote:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is facing a $4.7 billion budget cut under President Trump's federal spending blueprint.

His proposed budget slashes USDA funding by 21 percent, to $17.9 billion.

The programs targeted for cuts are in the "discretionary" spending category. That includes food safety, rural development and conservation funding, and international food aid, The Washington Post reported.

It also says the National Forest System will face cuts, with the budget instead focusing on "maintaining existing forests and grasslands."

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/32424 ... ing-to-nih

Quote:

President Trump's proposed federal budget cuts nearly $6 billion from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) despite his promises on the campaign trail that a Trump administration would work to cure diseases.

http://thehill.com/policy/transportatio ... sportation

Quote:

The Department of Transportation (DOT) faces a $2.4 billion cut under President Trump's proposed federal budget blueprint — a surprising figure given Trump's pledges to improve U.S. infrastructure.

The department's funding would be cut by 13 percent, to $16.2 billion, according to the proposal released early Thursday.

The budget limits funding for the Federal Transit Administration's Capital Investment program, eliminates funding for the Essential Air Service program and ends federal support for long-distance Amtrak trains.

The blueprint also eliminates funding for the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program, which was set up by the Obama administration’s 2009 economic stimulus package to provide an extra injection of cash for surface transportation projects.

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... te-funding

Quote:

President Trump’s first budget proposal includes a 31 percent cut to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of an administration effort to slash federal climate change funding.

The budget blueprint, released on Thursday, provides $5.7 billion for the EPA, down from $8.3 billion. The budget “discontinues” $100 million in funding for several climate change programs within the agency, including enforcement for a major Obama-era climate regulation, climate change research and international climate change support.

Trump’s budget slashes funding for industrial waste cleanup through the Superfund program. It also passes along deep cuts to research and development work, the EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance Office, and state grant programs, and it eliminates funding for region-specific environmental work for areas such as the Great Lakes and the Chesapeake Bay.

all, the budget “eliminates more than 50 EPA programs... and would end 3,200 of the agency’s 15,000 jobs.

The Department of Energy absorbs a $1.7 billion cut, or 5.6 percent, as it eliminates funding for advanced energy and vehicle research. It “focuses” funding for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and other energy research agencies.

The Interior Department, which sees a 12 percent cut in the budget, receives higher funding for energy development on public lands. [in other words, money to promote fracking and coal mines] Cuts to the agency focus on abandoned mine cleanup grants and land acquisition programs.

Trump proposes trimming the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Earth science budget by $102 million, ending missions that observe the Earth’s oceans and carbon dioxide levels.

Even Republicans have said that this budget is dead on arrival. In my opinion, this budget is, quite simply, the work of people bent on the destruction of everything else to promote military might.

Also worth knowing about:
https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/03/14/do ... ds-europe/

Quote:

Lilianne Ploumen didn’t intend to be the face of the European resistance to Donald Trump. But the headlines she triggered by her efforts to counter one of Trump’s first decisions in the White House have thrust her into that role. On social media, in meetings, on the street, and in local and international media, the Dutch minister of foreign trade and development cooperation has been showered with thanks from supporters heartened by her work to counteract the effects of Trump’s reinstatement of the Mexico City rule, which bans funding for any international NGO that performs or provides information about abortion as part of family planning.

btw, this article also discusses the upcoming political elections (at the time) in The Netherlands - for those who hadn't heard, Wilders was roundly defeated. From what I hear, his views just went too far for most people.


Link to site for contributions:
https://www.shedecides.com/the-initiative.html

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/20 ... expression

Quote:

Republican lawmakers in at least 18 states have proposed a spate of bills, including ones to make blocking streets a felony in North Carolina, to allow businesses to sue people protesting them in Michigan, and to force Minnesota protesters pay the costs of policing.

I must admit, this surprised me (in a good way).
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing- ... nment-camp

Quote:

Conservative commentator Glenn Beck is mounting a defense of American Muslims, warning that failure to differentiate them from "Islamists" could lead to an "internment camp situation." Muslims in the U.S. are “no different than Catholics or Mormons,” Beck explained in an interview with CBS's Alex Wagner when asked about President Trump's revised travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries....

Beck also criticized Trump for his accusations that former President Barack Obama wiretapped the Trump Tower during the election.

“We’re losing our faith in everything. It’s concerning to me that we’re now going down this road of ‘deep state.’ We have to logically come together — people on the right and the left that are fair minded — let’s fix reason firmly in her seat and question everything honestly and look at all of it, and disprove this or prove this,” Beck said.

“We can’t go another year, let alone another four years with someone claiming that the government is somehow or another run by shadow people,” he added.

Glenn Beck continues to go up in my estimation. While I still don't agree with him on many things, I have seen him make some very sensible pleas for sanity, and he has apologized for his part in creating division in this country. I think he finally saw the error of his ways in regards to his rhetoric polarizing his listeners. He did not support Trump, and I'm glad to hear he's still speaking some sanity into the void. Maybe his listener base will actually listen.

Stephen King tweeted last March:

"Conservatives who for 8 years sowed the dragon's teeth of partisan politics are horrified to discover they have grown an actual dragon."

I suppose it's better to say something now than to pretend that Trump constitutes their victory.

Man. That's fairly shocking. And I can see getting into the cynical mode of Frelga's post about that but to me, my first thought is that this is somebody a hardcore Trump supporter might actually listen to. Nobody is going to accuse him of being a liberal shill. I am very glad to see him speak up.

That's not cynical, that's infuriated. There's a subtle difference.

But, to quote a Russian proverb, from a mangy sheep, even a handful of wool is profit.

Turns out I was wrong. There's tons of Trump supporters in the comment section now calling him a crazy idiot.

Don't read the comments.

Especially from nameless internet accounts who may or may not be doing this for free. A few times, I came across a comment where the grammar was ever so slightly off, and it occurred to me that it makes perfect sense if I read it as a word-by-word translation from Russian. Or when there was a protest on the President's Day. and there were all those comments about who can afford to protest on a work day.

Trump Seeks Proposals for ‘Physically Imposing’ Wall With Mexico

Quote:

“Offerers should consider this height, but designs with heights of at least 18 feet may be acceptable,” the proposal documents said. “Designs with heights of less than 18 feet are not acceptable.”

The request from Customs and Border Protection also said that vendors should submit wall designs that make it essentially impossible for a person to climb or gain access with a ladder.

Have these people heard of tunnels? "Physically imposing" seems likely to be the only purpose of this wall - all bluff, no purpose. I even heard a news story, a while back, about a drug catapult found near the existing border fence. I have to admit, I laughed at the medieval-style ingenuity. Couldn't help thinking of Monty Python cow catapults.

On thing I found interesting, in an NPR special report on South American migrants, is the counterproductive effects of stricter border controls. Apparently, people who had been coming into the country to work during the growing season (without work visas), and returning home between jobs, now found it more difficult to come and go, and stayed permanently. The whole historical perspective was pretty interesting, and goes back a lot farther than people probably realize - several generations. I don't know if it's still available somewhere. I heard it on the radio, but they sometimes put things online, too.


I agree with Frelga about not reading the comments sections on most sites. I made the mistake of reading some comments on "The Hill," expecting a discussion among adults. Instead, the comments were pretty disgusting, and sounded like trolling by stereotypical teenage idiots.

aninkling wrote:

Have these people heard of tunnels?

To be fair, it's also supposed to be tunnel-proof to 6 feet down. Because clearly it is impossible to dig a tunnel to 6 1/2 feet.

This video covers lots of points about the uselessness of a wall.