I think Bannon and Trump both have the same economic policy instincts that are in agreement with the educated conclusion that you've reached on the topic. Massive redistribution of wealth by ultimately deadly force. I think your beliefs are more pure in that you believe it's the ultimately moral thing to do, which I respect and maybe you are right. Bannon and Trump are both driven by their desire to win more than anything else.Originally Posted by jpx7
You would love Bannon then. This is what he's been pushing the whole time. National socialist party.
Trump proposes end to heating aid for low-income Americans
The summer air is sizzling as the Fourth of July approaches, yet 86-year-old Richard Perkins already worries about how he's going to stay warm this winter.
President Donald Trump has proposed eliminating heating aid for low-income Americans, claiming it's no longer necessary and rife with fraud. People needn't worry about being left in the cold, he says, because utilities cannot cut off customers in the dead of winter.
But he is wrong on all counts.
The heating program provides a critical lifeline for people like Perkins, and officials close to the program don't see any widespread fraud. Guidelines for winter shutoffs by utilities vary from state to state and don't apply to heating oil, a key energy source in the bitter New England winter.
"It's beyond my thinking that anyone could be that cruel," said Perkins, a retired restaurateur who relies on the program to keep warm in Ogunquit, Maine.
The proposal to kill the program, which has distributed $3.4 billion to about 6 million households this fiscal year, will face strong opposition in Congress.
Forty-three senators from mostly cold-weather states already signed a letter urging the Republican chairman and ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee to ensure funding for the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program, known in many states by its acronym, LIHEAP.
In Maine, the poorest state in New England, the program helped nearly 77,000 people over the past winter, and those numbers represented less than a quarter of eligible households, said Deborah Turcotte of MaineHousing, which helps to run the program.
Perkins is a typical recipient.
His income was fine 10-12 years ago when he retired, but gasoline, food and other expenses grew faster than he anticipated. In the winter, he keeps an eye on his oil storage tank, and the local community action agency sends 100 gallons when it gets low.
It's difficult for him to keep warm because he's on a blood thinner, and he shudders at the thought of being cold. But he doesn't want to move south, either.
"I was born and raised here," he said. "Maine is part of me. I can't imagine living anywhere else."
Mark Wolfe, of the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association, said that the Trump administration is relying on an old General Accounting Office report on the fraud claim, and that improvements have been made since then. In Maine, for example, only 100 cases - 0.3 percent of all submitted applications - are being investigated for potential fraud, according to MaineHousing.
And programs aimed at preventing utilities from being turned off wouldn't protect everyone. Utility regulations vary, with some states preventing shutoffs during the entire winter and others doing so only on exceptionally cold days.
And there's absolutely no requirement for heating oil and propane dealers, which are not regulated like electric and natural gas utilities, to make deliveries to customers who cannot pay. That's a big problem in the Northeast, which accounts for more than 80 percent of the nation's residential heating oil consumption.
Health and Human Services Secretary Thomas Price, who contends the LIHEAP program doesn't demonstrate "strong performance outcomes," said difficult decisions are necessary to streamline the government to focus on the administration's goals of defense and public safety.
The LIHEAP program already has undergone substantial cuts.
The average benefit has been reduced by $100 from 2010 to 2015 as funding was slashed during the Obama administration. That coincides with Venezuela's Citgo Petroleum Corp. ending participation in a free-oil program run by a Massachusetts-based nonprofit.
Nationwide, the average home heating cost last winter was $1,448 for propane, $1,227 for heating oil, $902 for electricity and $577 for natural gas.
Many observers refuse to accept that the program will be eliminated altogether.
It's just too popular in Congress, and it also distributes aid to poor people in states like Florida and Arizona to keep cool on blazing hot summer days.
Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, said he and other senators, including fellow Mainer Susan Collins, a Republican, will fight for the program, which he said ensures that needy people "aren't forced to make the impossible choice between heat and food, medications, or other necessities."
"For there is always light, if only we are brave enough to see it. If only we are brave enough to be it." Amanda Gorman
"When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross"
This one is a real head-scratcher. Wouldn't less demand decrease jobs and heating fuel sales?
He seems even more unhinged than usual lately.
FFF - BB, BB, 2B, HR, 2B, HR, 1B, BB, BB, 1B, BB, BB, HR
They won't need it now that we pulled out of the Paris deal.
"Donald Trump will serve a second term as president of the United States.
It’s over."
Little Thethe Nov 19, 2020.
brilliantDOE Rick Perry at coal plant:"Here’s a little economics lesson: supply and demand. You put the supply out there and the demand will follow."
it's totally not true how economics works
but hey, facts don't matter anymore
"For there is always light, if only we are brave enough to see it. If only we are brave enough to be it." Amanda Gorman
"When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross"
I mean, the Presidential Seal was on the door. Good grief. I hope he just wanted to crop dust that photographer.
That idiot didn't book a room for the g20 summit. Lol
Well oiled professional machine
"For there is always light, if only we are brave enough to see it. If only we are brave enough to be it." Amanda Gorman
"When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross"
"For there is always light, if only we are brave enough to see it. If only we are brave enough to be it." Amanda Gorman
"When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross"
What will Trump say to Putin?
A. Well, now what?
B. Did you bring any girls?
C. Do we have a plan in place for my defection?
FFF - BB, BB, 2B, HR, 2B, HR, 1B, BB, BB, 1B, BB, BB, HR
Hope the dems continue to focus on russia. Voters vote their wallet more than anything else.
There is a zero percent chance this is true. ZERO
what a stupid ****ing lie
"For there is always light, if only we are brave enough to see it. If only we are brave enough to be it." Amanda Gorman
"When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross"
Great idea agent orange
"For there is always light, if only we are brave enough to see it. If only we are brave enough to be it." Amanda Gorman
"When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross"
Hey, this is going so well that we should really send his wife in there to see if she can stop it … is a thing no one ever said. Just what was it that set off the “go find Melania” alarm?
According to Tillerson, Trump did talk to Putin about hacking of the US election … but Trump and Putin agreed that this subject was “a hindrance” to US/Russian relations. So, according to Lavrov, Trump accepted Putin’s statements that Russia had not been involved.
Tillerson says that Trump made no effort to produce evidence supporting Russian hacking. In fact, he did the opposite. According to Lavrov, “Trump told Putin that some circles in the US are exaggerating the topic of Russian cyber meddling.” Circles that apparently include the CIA, FBI, and NSA. Again, Trump and Putin agreed that what was really important was “moving forward.”
...............
" honey I promise I'll never hit you again"
Last edited by 57Brave; 07-07-2017 at 06:04 PM.
The best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is to make sure he doesn’t get a gun.
The amount of wasted energy on Trump/Russian collusion is astounding
Funny thing, the only people using the "C" word are Trump defenders.
A working familiarity of Shakespeare would go a long way
Russian hackers attacking the power grid and not a peep out of the GOP. Better not upset their new boss.
The hypocrisy and selfishness of these people is permanently damaging the country.
FFF - BB, BB, 2B, HR, 2B, HR, 1B, BB, BB, 1B, BB, BB, HR
I'm sure the Chinese, Russians, and North Koreans spend 24/7 trying to hack into American infrastructure and commerce
so much winning
Once Dominant, the United States Finds Itself Isolated at G-20
HAMBURG, Germany — For years the United States was the dominant force and set the agenda at the annual gathering of the leaders of the world’s largest economies.
But on Friday, when President Trump met with 19 other leaders at the Group of 20 conference, he found the United States isolated on everything from trade to climate change, and faced with the prospect of the group’s issuing a statement on Saturday that lays bare how the United States stands alone.
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, the host of the meeting, opened it by acknowledging the differences between the United States and the rest of the countries. While “compromise can only be found if we accommodate each other’s views,” she said, “we can also say, we differ.”
Ms. Merkel also pointed out that most of the countries supported the Paris accord on climate change, while Mr. Trump has abandoned it. “It will be very interesting to see how we formulate the communiqué tomorrow and make clear that, of course, there are different opinions in this area because the United States of America regrettably” wants to withdraw from the pact, she said.
Mr. Trump seemed to relish his isolation. For him, the critical moment of Friday was his long meeting with the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, which seemed to mark the reset in relations that Mr. Trump has been desiring for some time. It also provided Mr. Putin the respect and importance he has long demanded as a global partner to Washington.
Where previous American leaders saw their power as a benevolent force, and were intent on spreading prosperity through open markets and multilateral cooperation, Mr. Trump has portrayed himself as a nationalist, a unilateralist and a protectionist, eager to save American jobs.
What recent events have underscored, though — and especially at the G-20 — is that no nation is today large or powerful enough to impose rules on everyone else. In advancing his views, Mr. Trump has alienated allies and made the United States seem like its own private island.
Nowhere was Mr. Trump’s isolation more evident than on the issue of trade.
Mr. Trump thinks the United States has been unfairly disadvantaged by sweeping free-trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement or the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He believes the steel industry in particular has been savaged by globalization.
Within days, he could impose restrictions and new tariffs on steel imports. Doing so would be a provocative move that could affect trade with more than a dozen major countries even while lifting the spirits of his most ardent supporters.
The tariffs could very well provoke a global trade war.
European officials here reacted astringently, threatening to retaliate. “We will respond with countermeasures if need be, hoping that this is not actually necessary,” the European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, said on Friday. “We are prepared to take up arms if need be.”
Targets could include American whiskey imports. “I don’t want to tell you in detail what we’re doing,” Mr. Juncker said. “But what I would like to tell you is that within a few days — we won’t need two months for that — we could react with countermeasures.”
The Italian prime minister, Paolo Gentiloni, warned that new protectionist trade measures could bring “contagion” that would slow the growth of the world economy. “We cannot waste this moment of recovery, giving signals of protectionism or of incorrect trade behavior,” he said.
But as Mr. Trump contemplates protectionism, Europe and Japan reached a landmark free trade agreement this week. Mexico and China, two of the United States’ largest trading partners, have been mulling their own deal. The world is moving ahead regardless.
Mr. Trump and his economic team have been delaying the decision on steel in recent weeks because of disagreement among his advisers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/07/w...smtyp=cur&_r=0
"For there is always light, if only we are brave enough to see it. If only we are brave enough to be it." Amanda Gorman
"When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross"
Globalists are mad at the president. Shocking.
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