The Trump Presidency – 2016

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Trying to remember which Republican it was who bragged that they had years' worth of investigations against Clinton lined up in the event she became President.

But do as I say, not as I do, right?

Also, fuck Scott Walker.

It was Jason Chaffetz of Utah, who gladly no longer serves in Congress. But sadly works for Fox now.

[Thomkal]

Mueller's office responds to Flynn's sentencing memo where he was asking for no prison term, and made it pretty clear when Flynn was lying and how someone with his experience should have ever met the FBI without a lawyer present, or known not to lie to the FBI at all:


Special counsel Robert Mueller's team: FBI interview did not lead Michael Flynn to 'make false statements' - ABC News

[Thomkal]

Well add another job to Mike Mulvaney's Trump resume-Acting Chief of Staff:


I am pleased to announce that Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management & Budget, will be named Acting White House Chief of Staff, replacing General John Kelly, who has served our Country with distinction. Mick has done an outstanding job while in the Administration....

[Thomkal]

This after Chris Christie, Rick Santorum, Mark Meadows, and almost any Republican out there turned him down.

[digamma]

How will he have time to get his Learned League answers in?

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by digamma

How will he have time to get his Learned League answers in?

Staffers

[NobodyHere]

It seems to me that this has potential to be big (or huuuuuuuuuuge) news

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/14/h...xas-judge.html

[Shkspr]

You shop around enough, eventually someone offers you a good deal.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

It seems to me that this has potential to be big (or huuuuuuuuuuge) news

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/14/h...xas-judge.html

Maybe, but the someone at the WH understands the shit show this would lead to both in terms of the health care system and the political future of the GOP.

*WHITE HOUSE: OBAMACARE LAW REMAINS IN PLACE PENDING APPEAL

[Edward64]

Oh great. Another 2 years of this at least. Surprised this didn't happen before in the past 2 years.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/14/polit...uit/index.html

A federal judge in Texas said on Friday that the Affordable Care Act's individual coverage mandate is unconstitutional and that the rest of the law therefore cannot stand.

Legal experts say the ruling won't immediately affect Americans' health coverage, and a group of states led by California is already vowing to appeal. But the invalidation of the landmark health care law popularly known as Obamacare throws into doubt the future of health coverage for millions of Americans on the Obamacare exchanges and in Medicaid expansion.

The ruling and expected appeal sets up another cliffhanger in which the fate of the law, which Republicans have unsuccessfully tried to repeal for years, will likely once again ultimately lie with the Supreme Court.

Chief Justice John Roberts cast the deciding vote leaving the law intact in 2012, but it's unclear how the justices will view this challenge, which centers on changes to the individual mandate that were baked into the 2017 tax reform.

President Donald Trump, who campaigned in 2016 on a promise to undo Obamacare, was thwarted in Congress last year by a lone vote from the late Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain.

Trump immediately tweeted in celebration on Friday and called on Congress to act.

"As I predicted all along, Obamacare has been struck down as an UNCONSTITUTIONAL disaster! Now Congress must pass a STRONG law that provides GREAT healthcare and protects pre-existing conditions. Mitch and Nancy, get it done!" Trump wrote.

[PilotMan]

To be fair, it's only ruled unconstitutional because the administration took away the provisions that protect people, and stopped enforcing the individual mandate.

Kind of hard to drive a car when you take the air out of the tires and put a hole in the gas tank.

[PilotMan]

Zinke is gone under the cloud of another scandal.

Only the very best people.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Zinke is gone under the cloud of another scandal.

Only the very best people.

Very glad to see this. He rivaled Scott Pruitt in corruption, but will have surpassed him in terms of legacy-his/Trump's policies towards things like land use is beyond frightening.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

To be fair, it's only ruled unconstitutional because the administration took away the provisions that protect people, and stopped enforcing the individual mandate.

Kind of hard to drive a car when you take the air out of the tires and put a hole in the gas tank.

Yeah the reporting on this is not very good.

[miami_fan]

Ryan pushes for thousands of Irish visas before leaving office - POLITICO

[Thomkal]

NY Times saying Mick Mulvaney openly lobbied for the job and used this as his convincer-only person leading an agency who hasn't been mired in scandal. Which is just a pathetic way to lobby for a job.

[JPhillips]

“Did Roger Stone ever give the President a heads up on Wikileaks leaks concerning Hillary Clinton and the DNC?” ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos asked Giuliani in an interview Sunday.

“No he didn’t,” Giuliani said. “I don’t believe so.”

“But again,” he continued, “if Roger Stone gave anybody a heads up about Wikileaks leaks, that’s not a crime. It would be like giving him a heads up that the Times is going to print something.”

I'm so old I remember when the idea of this was a ridiculous conspiracy theory. How long until Giuliani says working with Wikileaks and the GRU isn't a crime?

[JPhillips]

dola

The biggest religious schism in centuries just happened. The Russian Orthodox Church has split from global orthodoxy after Ukraine's split from the Russian patriarch.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

dola

The biggest religious schism in centuries just happened. The Russian Orthodox Church has split from global orthodoxy after Ukraine's split from the Russian patriarch.

Didn't that happen in October? I'm not I understand all the technical distinctions, but it does seem like tensions are rising again in Eastern Ukraine. The world already showed it's colors when the Crimea annexation happened, so I'm more surprised Russia hadn't just kept pushing earlier.

[bbgunn]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Honestly though, what exactly are you expecting from "free" media? I think people are starting to feel entitled to quality reporting but don't actually want to pay for it. I admit I'm as much part of the problem as anyone.

Not expecting anything from "free" media, just kind of lamenting what has happened here. You see long-time, reputable, subscription newspapers go the free media route based on ad clicks. That's what I'm sad about. And most people get their news from such sites these days, instead of really thinking about their news sources.

[Thomkal]

A good reason Michael Flynn deserves some jail time-his role in lobbying for Turkey-including getting enemies of the Turkish State extradited back to Turkey:


https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...=.d54eb9b0e7bb


kind of being forgotten in all of his plea deals with Mueller

[ISiddiqui]

A lot of the reputable subscription newspapers have gone pay to read though - New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Boston Globe, LA Times, etc.

[BillJasper]

Holy shit! This place is still going?

[RainMaker]

Another day of big losses in the market. Down for the year now.

Also we're borrowing money from China to pay farmers that got screwed over by the trade war with China.

Today I am making good on my promise to defend our Farmers & Ranchers from unjustified trade retaliation by foreign nations. I have authorized Secretary Perdue to implement the 2nd round of Market Facilitation Payments. Our economy is stronger than ever–we stand with our Farmers!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 17, 2018

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by BillJasper

Holy shit! This place is still going?

Trump's good for business around here )

[BillJasper]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Trump's good for business around here )

I'd guess so. Hopefully everyone is living the dream in Trumptopia!

[Drake]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

A lot of the reputable subscription newspapers have gone pay to read though - New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Boston Globe, LA Times, etc.

I forget this all the time. My work (university) has subscriptions to all of the major newspapers that automatically pass IPs in our range, so pretty much any article I want to read, I'm just silently passed through to read it. It's only when I'm at home that I go, "Oh, that's not free?"

[Thomkal]

So something happened with the Flynn sentencing today-whole lot of legal stuff that I don't know much about, but the judge ordered some documents released, mostly unredacted as the judge feels the public deserves to know what's in them.



This got the legal minds on twitter in an uproar, mostly against Flynn and his lawyers, and many think the judge may go above Mueller's recommendations tomorrow and give Flynn more jail time than expected. Here's one guy's thoughts:


Mike Flynn Steps in It: In a Bid to Feed the Frothy Right, He Leads to Release of Damning New Details Showing He Lied to Protect Trump | emptywheel

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

So something happened with the Flynn sentencing today-whole lot of legal stuff that I don't know much about, but the judge ordered some documents released, mostly unredacted as the judge feels the public deserves to know what's in them.



This got the legal minds on twitter in an uproar, mostly against Flynn and his lawyers, and many think the judge may go above Mueller's recommendations tomorrow and give Flynn more jail time than expected. Here's one guy's thoughts:


Mike Flynn Steps in It: In a Bid to Feed the Frothy Right, He Leads to Release of Damning New Details Showing He Lied to Protect Trump | emptywheel

I don't think we're going to end our long standing tradition of rich, powerful men being immune from going to prison.

[JPhillips]

I hope the people over at the Fed will read today’s Wall Street Journal Editorial before they make yet another mistake. Also, don’t let the market become any more illiquid than it already is. Stop with the 50 B’s. Feel the market, don’t just go by meaningless numbers. Good luck!

Just the kind of advice you expect from a guy that couldn't turn a profit with a casino.

[PilotMan]

The stock market is on pace for the worst December since 1931, during the Great Depression.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Another day of big losses in the market. Down for the year now.

Also we're borrowing money from China to pay farmers that got screwed over by the trade war with China.

Today I am making good on my promise to defend our Farmers & Ranchers from unjustified trade retaliation by foreign nations. I have authorized Secretary Perdue to implement the 2nd round of Market Facilitation Payments. Our economy is stronger than ever–we stand with our Farmers!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 17, 2018

The guy that shows up with a fire hose to extinguish the blaze he started then demands a heroes reception.

[lungs]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

The guy that shows up with a fire hose to extinguish the blaze he started then demands a heroes reception.

He doesn't need to demand it. Farmers are singing his praises for coming through on his promises. And when somebody points out that it's a problem he started, they are labeled unpatriotic. Russia good, China bad.

[Thomkal]

So we didn't even talk about this yesterday-the Senate Intelligence Committee did their job and reported in a bipartisan way on Russian inflence in the 2016 election and after-targeting Mueller. Shouldn't really be a surprise at what they found:


https://www.washingtonpost.com/techn...=.277d4eb24336


https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...=.ca20107a9794

[Thomkal]

Flynn sentencing around 11 am today

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

So we didn't even talk about this yesterday-the Senate Intelligence Committee did their job and reported in a bipartisan way on Russian inflence in the 2016 election and after-targeting Mueller. Shouldn't really be a surprise at what they found:


https://www.washingtonpost.com/techn...=.277d4eb24336


https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...=.ca20107a9794

Funny thing that it dovetails with Trump's approach all along. Hmmmm?

[Thomkal]

Trump Admin signals its backing down on its shutdowm threat and Sarah Sanders says they have found other ways to fund the wall. I'm sure all of which are legal and not ethics violations.

[Thomkal]

New York AG announces That Trump has agreed to shut down its charity:


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.1f5dcbf50e02

[Thomkal]

And as Flynn is getting sentenced, the White House releases its Christmas portrait.

[Thomkal]

Flynn admits to judge that he knew lying to the FBI was a crime and he does not want to challenge the means by which the FBI questioned him. Flynn's attorney forced to do so as well.

[Thomkal]

Judge asks Mueller's lawyers if Flynn could have been sentenced under the indictment unsealed yesterday against Flynn's business partners-they say yes-looks like the judge is not happy with either side here

[Thomkal]

Trump Admin moving to ban bump stocks-boy he's really trying to take away coverage of the Flynn sentencing

[cartman]

"Arguably, you sold your country out," Sullivan said. "The court's going to consider all that. I cannot assure you that if you proceed today you will not receive a sentence of incarceration."

He went on:

"I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense."

[Thomkal]

Judge really going after Flynn hard, arguably "you sold out your country"

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Trump Admin moving to ban bump stocks-boy he's really trying to take away coverage of the Flynn sentencing

Must be destroyed or surrendered to the government?

Well, there's another lawsuit Trump will lose.

And I'm sure the NRA will be out with their jackbooted government thugs rhetoric soon.

[Thomkal]

Judge asks Mueller's team if there was any other laws like the Logan Act he could have been charged with and be charged with treason for interfering with Obama's sanctions against Russia-Mueller's team didn't want to go there...and now they are in recess until 12:30 at Flynn's lawyers request. Good I can go eat lunch now

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Must be destroyed or surrendered to the government?

Well, there's another lawsuit Trump will lose.

And I'm sure the NRA will be out with their jackbooted government thugs rhetoric soon.

Don't know-I didn't get distracted by the Flynn sentencing to see

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

New York AG announces That Trump has agreed to shut down its charity:


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.1f5dcbf50e02

The DJT Foundation, unlike most foundations, never paid fees, rent, salaries or any expenses. 100% of money goes to wonderful charities!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 27, 2016

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by cartman

"Arguably, you sold your country out," Sullivan said. "The court's going to consider all that. I cannot assure you that if you proceed today you will not receive a sentence of incarceration."

He went on:

"I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense."

I think someone here is lobbying for a higher job...

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Judge really going after Flynn hard, arguably "you sold out your country"

Gave him a stern lecture and then sent him home. Justice served!