The Trump Presidency

[Jaw]

As liberal as I may be on some things, I am all about reducing the deficit and that takes both a sensible tax system that delivers revenue for budget outlays and budget outlays that adhere to realistic limits over the long term. I fear that both sides have become clueless. For the record, I thought Paul Tsongas would have made one helluva President.

Both sides have trapped themselves into an unbalanced budget.

Republicans have made tax cuts so integral to their platform that they have to produce some even when it will be bad for the economy. At the same time, they know they'll be accused of throwing granny from the cliff if they try to cut entitlements and they just don't have the guts to do it.

Democrats campaign on making the rich and corporations paying "their fair share" and providing more entitlements, so they have to produce even when they know that the former will reduce tax receipts and the latter is unsustainable.


I think it's 2023 when we will spend more annually on interest than we do on the military. Someone needs to step up and be an adult or we'll end up minting a few of those trillion dollar coins that were rumored a few years ago to pay off our debts.

 

[Jaw]

Booker is awful and would get exposed for trying to be something he’s not.

He wants to be Obama 2.0 so bad and he just isn’t. His oratory skills and charisma look so rehearsed that he can’t even hold Obama’s strap.

Plus one of the Dems in primaries will expose him for being a shill for big pharma in NJ.

I am surprised that my opinion of Booker seems to be higher than that of most Democrats, but you aren't the first to be lukewarm on Booker.

Who would you pick as the most likely to win the nomination?

 

[The Tariff King]

I am surprised that my opinion of Booker seems to be higher than that of most Democrats, but you aren't the first to be lukewarm on Booker.

Who would you pick as the most likely to win the nomination?

Biden has best chance to beat Trump in General.

Avenatti would be the one I think could take down Trump and pull off the upset outside of Biden.

Warren isn't strong enough IMO to be top of a ticket yet. Harris is still too green and unproven. No on Kaine.

I think Bullock would be a great running mate for whomever is at the top of the ticket.

 

[mqt]

Biden seems like the perfect counter to Trump. Folksy enough to be nearly universally liked, but still willing and able to get rough when it's needed. I'll be surprised if he or any other white male is the nominee. I agree with Sav about Warren seeming like she's talking down to people, and even the Ds I know don't find Harris likeable. If I had to make a prediction now I would pick Booker, but we're still a long way out. I thought Booker looked formidable during the Kavanaugh hearings.

I largely agree with the idea of those being the front runners right now, but I’d easily get behind Merkley, and if Beto somehow beats Cruz and thus has some Senate experience by 2020 I can see him blasting off.

 

[mqt]

Biden has best chance to beat Trump in General.

Avenatti would be the one I think could take down Trump and pull off the upset outside of Biden.

Warren isn't strong enough IMO to be top of a ticket yet. Harris is still too green and unproven. No on Kaine.

I think Bullock would be a great running mate for whomever is at the top of the ticket.

I don’t necessarily disagree with this, but if my options are Trump or Avenatti I might just actually **** off to Canada.

 

[Super]

@Acosta
5h5 hours ago
More
The disturbing part of Trump’s jokes about Gianforte was the effect on the crowd. I saw one young man in the crowd making body slam gestures. He looked at me and ran his thumb across his throat. I talked to him after the rally was over. He couldn’t stop laughing.

these people are dumb af and deranged. this is like the average trump voter. you gotta be a moron to fall for that guy tho.

 

[Julio3000]

Both sides have trapped themselves into an unbalanced budget.

Republicans have made tax cuts so integral to their platform that they have to produce some even when it will be bad for the economy. At the same time, they know they'll be accused of throwing granny from the cliff if they try to cut entitlements and they just don't have the guts to do it.

Democrats campaign on making the rich and corporations paying "their fair share" and providing more entitlements, so they have to produce even when they know that the former will reduce tax receipts and the latter is unsustainable.


I think it's 2023 when we will spend more annually on interest than we do on the military. Someone needs to step up and be an adult or we'll end up minting a few of those trillion dollar coins that were rumored a few years ago to pay off our debts.

I don’t disagree with your thesis but this part

“they know that the former will reduce tax receipts”

I just don’t get. It’s some sturg-level Laffer Curve action. Like, how would returning marginal rates on income (and hell, cap gains) to recent levels reduce tax receipts? How did we balance the budget the last time?

 

[Julio3000]

I am surprised that my opinion of Booker seems to be higher than that of most Democrats, but you aren't the first to be lukewarm on Booker.

Who would you pick as the most likely to win the nomination?

I’m one of those who’s lukewarm, at the very least, on Booker. That said, he’s got a shot.

I’m a big fan of Elizabeth Warren and would have loved to support her in ‘16, but I admit to being ageist af where the leadership of the party is concerned. I want new blood across the board. That said, she may be my sentimental favorite… I’ve been a fan since before she was even involved in poltics. Check out her MacArthur lectures from the mid-aughts.

I’m not a huge fan of Booker, likewise Harris, mostly because I don’t like fetishizing prosecutors. I’ve never been a big fan of Gillibrand’s politics, either, but she’s probably done more to position herself well than anyone else, and she’s got a ruthless streak a mile wide. She’s going to be a surprise to a lot of folks. Amy Klobuchar is smart and relatable and exudes that upper-Midwest decency (also a former prosecutor, which is about the only strike against her in my book). Merkley’s politics are good w/ me but I don’t see him breaking out. I want Biden to hit the links and stay there. Avenatti is a sick joke, but probably what we deserve. Not because he punches hard, which is probably necessary now, but because (IMO) he’s a thirsty grifter. Everybody and their dog is going to run in ‘20, and I’m confident that whoever survives will be a significant upgrade over Trump.

 

[nsacpi]

I’m one of those who’s lukewarm, at the very least, on Booker. That said, he’s got a shot.

I’m a big fan of Elizabeth Warren and would have loved to support her in ‘16, but I admit to being ageist af where the leadership of the party is concerned. I want new blood across the board. That said, she may be my sentimental favorite… I’ve been a fan since before she was even involved in poltics. Check out her MacArthur lectures from the mid-aughts.

I’m not a huge fan of Booker, likewise Harris, mostly because I don’t like fetishizing prosecutors. I’ve never been a big fan of Gillibrand’s politics, either, but she’s probably done more to position herself well than anyone else, and she’s got a ruthless streak a mile wide. She’s going to be a surprise to a lot of folks. Amy Klobuchar is smart and relatable and exudes that upper-Midwest decency (also a former prosecutor, which is about the only strike against her in my book). Merkley’s politics are good w/ me but I don’t see him breaking out. I want Biden to hit the links and stay there. Avenatti is a sick joke, but probably what we deserve. Not because he punches hard, which is probably necessary now, but because (IMO) he’s a thirsty grifter. Everybody and their dog is going to run in ‘20, and I’m confident that whoever survives will be a significant upgrade over Trump.

What about Oprah.

Btw I once watched an interview with both Menendez and Booker. Menendez is so much smarter, tougher, more poised, more genuine and more savvy. Too bad he is also a crook.

 

[Julio3000]

What about Oprah.

Btw I once watched an interview with both Menendez and Booker. Menendez is so much smarter, tougher, more poised, more genuine and more savvy. Too bad he is also a crook.

Totally a crook, and a boardwalk three-card-Monte hustler compared to the current POTUS. Crazy ****ing world we live in.

It’s an interesting tangent, though—the extent to which people can be talented and capable...and also crooks.

Another interesting tangent is how we process our visceral reaction to public figures. How sometimes our personal reaction to someone outweighs politics. Like, for me, Booker just doesn’t connect. Fine-grain political stuff aside (he’s not my cup of tea there) I still just don’t quite buy it. Like, he ticks all the biographical boxes but the whole is somehow less than the sum of the parts. I think Marco Rubio is like that, too. Read his press clippings and he’s formidable. See him in action and he’s just wanting somehow. Some people carry the weight of expectations and ambition and responsibility better than others.

 

[57Brave]

apt comparison

little too much ambition for ambitions sake
.............................

they say every senator see's him/herself as President. I thought HRC had the stuff to be a really good effective senator.
Ambition is some funny stuff-
and not ha-ha funny

 

[Jaw]

I don’t disagree with your thesis but this part

“they know that the former will reduce tax receipts”

I just don’t get. It’s some sturg-level Laffer Curve action. Like, how would returning marginal rates on income (and hell, cap gains) to recent levels reduce tax receipts? How did we balance the budget the last time?

Instead of "even when," I should have put "even during times when they know that the former will reduce tax receipts." My point was not that higher taxes are never sensible, but that the fiscal effectiveness of higher taxes is sometimes less important than the political optics of higher taxes.

 

[Jaw]

Totally a crook, and a boardwalk three-card-Monte hustler compared to the current POTUS. Crazy ****ing world we live in.

It’s an interesting tangent, though—the extent to which people can be talented and capable...and also crooks.

Another interesting tangent is how we process our visceral reaction to public figures. How sometimes our personal reaction to someone outweighs politics. Like, for me, Booker just doesn’t connect. Fine-grain political stuff aside (he’s not my cup of tea there) I still just don’t quite buy it. Like, he ticks all the biographical boxes but the whole is somehow less than the sum of the parts. I think Marco Rubio is like that, too. Read his press clippings and he’s formidable. See him in action and he’s just wanting somehow. Some people carry the weight of expectations and ambition and responsibility better than others.

The Rubio comparison is solid. Your feelings on Booker mirror mine on Rubio. A young, "conservative" (I guess), intelligent, minority senator with experience should be the perfect candidate for the GOP. But I've never believed for a minute that he could either win or do the job.

 

[Oklahomahawk]

The Rubio comparison is solid. Your feelings on Booker mirror mine on Rubio. A young, "conservative" (I guess), intelligent, minority senator with experience should be the perfect candidate for the GOP. But I've never believed for a minute that he could either win or do the job.

I have to agree on both counts. To use a football analogy the old Dallas Cowboys of the Gil Brandt and their famous "computer" in which they input all the qualities that a "really good NFL player" at each position should have, at least those that could be measured (and herein lies the problem) helped them become and remain a real contender for the playoffs and Super Bowl on a consistent basis. In fact this method was actually copied by many NFL teams.

Of course even a computer can have a "glitch" now and then. Here are 2 really BIG examples of NFL examples of Booker and "Little Marco".
1.) Steve Pelluer - QB -He had ALL the things an NFL QB should need to be successful. He was 6' 4", cannon of an arm, good program and all the other intangibles EXCEPT a clue how to play QB in the NFL. In other words he looked the part on the surface but in the end he was just an "empty suit". Booker and Rubio scream that to me.
2.) Mike Singletary - LB - He was really good in college, lots of talent, fierce competitor, great instincts, played at Baylor, just down the interstate from Dallas, grew up a Cowboys fan, wanted to play for Dallas, but the Cowboys didn't draft him that year because HE WAS ONE INCH TOO SHORT according to their computer. So they passed on a hall of fame player who desperately wanted to play for them because he was one inch too short.

We need as a country to start seeing the empty suits for what they are and stop overlooking the Mike Singletarys because of the little things. Just my opinion.

 

[goldfly]

 

[The Tariff King]

Good call on Booker-Rubio.

Both young and ambitious. I could easily see Booker having a Rubio debate moment where he gets caught repeating the same rehearsed line several times. Most of his soundbytes in video clips are already sounding rehearsed as it is.

Rubio in a way tried to be the conservative counter to Obama. Young face, with charisma to lead the party into the future. He failed at that obviously. He could try again in a few election cycles depending on how the political winds shift.

Booker has really tried to take the mantle from Obama and be Obama 2.0. And he just doesn't connect. As Julio said, checks the biographical checkmarks but just doesn't have that genuine connection.

 

[Runnin]

Doesn't Trump pulling out of the nuclear treaty greatly help Russia?

 

[57Brave]

Jemele Hill
‏Verified account @jemelehill
9m9 minutes ago

Jemele Hill Retweeted Daniel Dale

The president is Leslie Nielsen from Airplane
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


who voted for this buffoon

 

[57Brave]

Michael Avenatti
‏Verified account @MichaelAvenatti
Oct 20

.@realDonaldTrump talks tough and makes big threats. Especially at rallies and on TV.

But then when it really comes down to it, he does nothing (i.e. Putin and the Saudis).

The truth is Trump is weak at his core. We need a strong POTUS that walks the walk

- no more paper tigers.

what happened to our Trump defenders ?
snowflakes ?
SafePlaces ?
Did they need a Right Wing hug ?
Did they come to Jesus (rhetorical) ?

 

[cajunrevenge]

Bomb sent to Clintons. Democrats should be all over news slamming Trump and Republicans about civility but 8nstead they will let Trump control the narrative. Trump is going to say the Clintons and Soros sent bombs to themselves. Just wait.