The Trump Presidency

[57Brave]

don't know or remember.
Doesn't change the WaPo story

[sturg33]

I too am hoping for a shutdown. I'll congratulate Dems if they make it happen

[thethe]

I too am hoping for a shutdown. I'll congratulate Dems if they make it happen

The more people realize they don't need the government the better we are.

[Julio3000]

L. Graham: “We cannot do this with people in charge at the White House who have an irrational view on how to fix immigration”

[mqt]

In excerpts provided by his office, he is poised to blast Trump’s “unrelenting daily assault on the constitutionally-protected free press” that he will call “as unprecedented as it is unwarranted.”

“It is a testament to the condition of our democracy that our own president uses words infamously spoken by Josef Stalin to describe his enemies,” Flake will say, according to the excerpts. “It bears noting that so fraught with malice was the phrase ‘enemy of the people,’ that even Nikita Khrushchev forbade its use, telling the Soviet Communist Party that the phrase had been introduced by Stalin for the purpose of ‘annihilating such individuals’ who disagreed with the supreme leader.”

Flake will add that Trump “has it precisely backward — despotism is the enemy of the people. The free press is the despot’s enemy, which makes the free press the guardian of democracy. When a figure in power reflexively calls any press that doesn’t suit him ‘fake news,’ it is that person who should be the figure of suspicion, not the press.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.474111f21b77

This story is two days old --
and frankly i am not surprised the usual suspects have given editorial blow back.
By even stating how far wrong the (D) are for making such a comparison
Keep up people

Unless - loyalty to all things Trump now decides who is and isn't ...
which furthers Sen Flake assertion.

Of course I could be mistaken thinking people actually understand what Stalin was and what Stalinism represents

I'm unclear on your commentary, but if you're suggesting I'm misstating Jeff Flake's opinion due to loyalty to Trump, I'll refer you to my posting history.

Jeff Flake himself has come out and said he's not actively comparing Tump to Stalin, simply that he's attacking the Free Press in a way that Stalin would.

[thethe]

[thethe]

L. Graham: “We cannot do this with people in charge at the White House who have an irrational view on how to fix immigration”

Or maybe those that aren't listening to the American people have an irrational view of how to fix immigration. Like it or not a large portion of this country want a harder stance against it just like there is a large portion that want to be more welcoming. But when you win an election then those views should be more prevalent in future policy discussion.

[sturg33]

I'm unclear on your commentary, but if you're suggesting I'm misstating Jeff Flake's opinion due to loyalty to Trump, I'll refer you to my posting history.

Jeff Flake himself has come out and said he's not actively comparing Tump to Stalin, simply that he's attacking the Free Press in a way that Stalin would.

57 is mentally incapable of being in a world where one can defend Trump while still opposing him overall

[sturg33]

Rich from you, considering you have very often refused to directly or satisfactorily answer questions from me.



The point is man is a political animal; we must live socially. Participating in socialized contexts ("society") is going to involve coercion, in some formulation. So your grand "aha!" that socialism is basically invalid because it "involves coercion" is even less a "meaningful or good point".

As for "ideal"—and broad strokes, taking "ideal" to mean "workable optimistic alternative" and not what it really should connote ("optimal; perfect; imaginary")—I'd like to see, in the near-term, with no means-testing: single-payer healthcare, fully subsidized college, abolition of blanket sales tax, fully subsidized local public transportation, partially subsidized (and much better funded/run) national rail system, pervasive public wifi à la Estonia, net neutrality, something an every-citizen food and utilities stipend, and/or possibly even a UBI if measures are in place to ensure costs don't dramatically rise alongside the UBI. These measures would be accompanied by more progressive income and windfall taxation; greater corporate tax rates—but also greater tax-based carrots for legitimate, non-greenwashing environmental/conservation and labor protections, as well as protections for startup and smaller businesses; and a sovereign wealth fund, for starters.

But I'm a flexible guy. I'm willing consider various avenues to ensure basic necessities and dignities to every member of our population. And I want a reasonable, firm floor more than a rigid, draconian ceiling.

As for real ideal, long-term, utopian ****: hope that **** like fusion and advanced hydroponic arcologies work out, and we become a resource-unlimited arts&sciences species.

On mobile so. Can't reply in detail, but, how on earth could you possibly pay for all that without businesses and individuals greedily pursuing profitable ventures?

[57Brave]

I'm unclear on your commentary, but if you're suggesting I'm misstating Jeff Flake's opinion due to loyalty to Trump, I'll refer you to my posting history.

Jeff Flake himself has come out and said he's not actively comparing Tump to Stalin, simply that he's attacking the Free Press in a way that Stalin would.

there were 2 or 3 comments on what I considered a throw away post.
the loyalty nod was intended to other posters
Yes, to your history.

What I saw pointed out , Flake after voting for all of Trumps agenda shakes his fist after for all intent and purposes acting the rubber stamp.

However a (R) bringing up Stalin in this context is new

Depending on the meaning of "compared" I guess

[Jaw]

L. Graham: “We cannot do this with people in charge at the White House who have an irrational view on how to fix immigration”

Too bad, Senator. That irrational view on how to fix immigration got the people in charge at the White House elected.

[Jaw]

http://beta.latimes.com/opinion/op-e...114-story.html



Guess which state has the highest poverty rate in the country? Not Mississippi, New Mexico, or West Virginia, but California, where nearly one out of five residents is poor. That's according to the Census Bureau's Supplemental Poverty Measure, which factors in the cost of housing, food, utilities and clothing, and which includes noncash government assistance as a form of income.

Given robust job growth and the prosperity generated by several industries, it's worth asking why California has fallen behind, especially when the state's per-capita GDP increased approximately twice as much as the U.S. average over the five years ending in 2016 (12.5%, compared with 6.27%).

It's not as though California policymakers have neglected to wage war on poverty. Sacramento and local governments have spent massive amounts in the cause. Several state and municipal benefit programs overlap with one another; in some cases, individuals with incomes 200% above the poverty line receive benefits. California state and local governments spent nearly $958 billion from 1992 through 2015 on public welfare programs, including cash-assistance payments, vendor payments and "other public welfare," according to the Census Bureau. California, with 12% of the American population, is home today to about one in three of the nation's welfare recipients.

The generous spending, then, has not only failed to decrease poverty; it actually seems to have made it worse.
...
Apparently content with futile poverty policies, Sacramento lawmakers can turn their attention to what historian Victor Davis Hanson aptly describes as a fixation on "remaking the world." The political class wants to build a costly and needless high-speed rail system; talks of secession from a United States presided over by Donald Trump; hired former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. to "resist" Trump's agenda; enacted the first state-level cap-and-trade regime; established California as a "sanctuary state" for illegal immigrants; banned plastic bags, threatening the jobs of thousands of workers involved in their manufacture; and is consumed by its dedication to "California values." All this only reinforces the rest of America's perception of an out-of-touch Left Coast, to the disservice of millions of Californians whose values are more traditional, including many of the state's poor residents.

With a permanent majority in the state Senate and the Assembly, a prolonged dominance in the executive branch and a weak opposition, California Democrats have long been free to indulge blue-state ideology while paying little or no political price. The state's poverty problem is unlikely to improve while policymakers remain unwilling to unleash the engines of economic prosperity that drove California to its golden years.




I found his points about self-interest particularly apt. That is something I encounter daily in the non-profit customers I work with.

[Julio3000]

Too bad, Senator. That irrational view on how to fix immigration got the people in charge at the White House elected.

The "irrational view" is the one with bipartisan support.

And claiming the popular mandate seems a stretch for a WH that lost the popular vote.

[Hawk]

Perfect cognition with a 'unique' ability to wake up in the morning and reset.

[Hawk]

BUT HE CRAY

[57Brave]

Paul Krugman
‏Verified account @paulkrugman
7h7 hours ago

So two members of the world's greatest deliberative body claim

that the president of the world's greatest nation isn't a racist because he said

"****house", not "****hole".

The descent of the GOP is now beyond parody.



3-2-1

Hawk chimes in not refuting what was said but with a nonsensical comment about the writer.
This is how we get Donald Trump's in positions of authority

[57Brave]

Trump lied on his "physical" about his height.
If you doubt it, go look it up yourself.
In response
Can't wait for someone to slam Nancy Pelosi about having a house , successful family and probably a dog. That she leaves in Cali

Ronny or Ronnie ?

[Hawk]

lol

[sturg33]

http://beta.latimes.com/opinion/op-e...114-story.html



Guess which state has the highest poverty rate in the country? Not Mississippi, New Mexico, or West Virginia, but California, where nearly one out of five residents is poor. That's according to the Census Bureau's Supplemental Poverty Measure, which factors in the cost of housing, food, utilities and clothing, and which includes noncash government assistance as a form of income.

Given robust job growth and the prosperity generated by several industries, it's worth asking why California has fallen behind, especially when the state's per-capita GDP increased approximately twice as much as the U.S. average over the five years ending in 2016 (12.5%, compared with 6.27%).

It's not as though California policymakers have neglected to wage war on poverty. Sacramento and local governments have spent massive amounts in the cause. Several state and municipal benefit programs overlap with one another; in some cases, individuals with incomes 200% above the poverty line receive benefits. California state and local governments spent nearly $958 billion from 1992 through 2015 on public welfare programs, including cash-assistance payments, vendor payments and "other public welfare," according to the Census Bureau. California, with 12% of the American population, is home today to about one in three of the nation's welfare recipients.

The generous spending, then, has not only failed to decrease poverty; it actually seems to have made it worse.
...
Apparently content with futile poverty policies, Sacramento lawmakers can turn their attention to what historian Victor Davis Hanson aptly describes as a fixation on "remaking the world." The political class wants to build a costly and needless high-speed rail system; talks of secession from a United States presided over by Donald Trump; hired former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. to "resist" Trump's agenda; enacted the first state-level cap-and-trade regime; established California as a "sanctuary state" for illegal immigrants; banned plastic bags, threatening the jobs of thousands of workers involved in their manufacture; and is consumed by its dedication to "California values." All this only reinforces the rest of America's perception of an out-of-touch Left Coast, to the disservice of millions of Californians whose values are more traditional, including many of the state's poor residents.

With a permanent majority in the state Senate and the Assembly, a prolonged dominance in the executive branch and a weak opposition, California Democrats have long been free to indulge blue-state ideology while paying little or no political price. The state's poverty problem is unlikely to improve while policymakers remain unwilling to unleash the engines of economic prosperity that drove California to its golden years.




I found his points about self-interest particularly apt. That is something I encounter daily in the non-profit customers I work with.

I'll bet this doesn't get much response

[thethe]

I'll bet this doesn't get much response

But immigration is such a positive for Americans! Everything the left stands for just defies any reason and logic. That is what happens when you build your platform on strictly emotion and identify politics.

I'm still waiting for responses on how polling data that are used to evaluate things like DJT approval ratings and American feelings on DACA that greatly oversamples Democrats.