The Trump Presidency – 2016

[Arles]

It's an interesting thought, but I if the rampant idiocy from Trump could actually be a factor in some kind of economic slowdown. He is such a buffoon and a vast part of the economy is perception - that it seems like if people have no confidence in Trump and see signs of the economy slowing down, that it could actually cause a small recession. I don't think it would happen until late 2020 or 2021, but I think it actually is possible. And that's something I never would have considered until Trump.

[albionmoonlight]

I hate the "What if Another President had . . ." game.

But if Bush or Obama had just favorably quoted someone calling them the King of Israel, it would be the only thing people talked about for a week.

We'll have completely moved on by Friday.

[QuikSand]

"we have great mental illness"

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

We'll have completely moved on by Friday.

By then he will have declared himself King of the First Men and Lord of the Andals.

[cyclone44]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Both sides, put your partisan feelings aside for a moment and imagine you went into a coma 10 years ago and woke up today to this headline:


"President Donald Trump Indefinitely Postpones Scheduled Meeting With Denmark's Prime Minister Because She Refused To Discuss Selling Greenland To U.S."

This is kind of the thing though. For many years people who were accurate in pointing out the aims of the Republican party were accused of either "playing the race card" or grossly exaggerating things, but it turns out that the reality of things is even more absurd than any parody from a few years back could've been.

[RainMaker]

He's also bashing the PM of Denmark today over this. Such a bizarre time in history.

[albionmoonlight]

Someone noted that Obama has a Denmark visit planned for September, so Trump's handlers probably convinced him to cancel the meeting so he wouldn't rage over the optics of Obama's visit getting a better reception than his.

[Edward64]

Not sure if a $1K additional would help that much but I'll take it. It may be better to spend it on new infrastructure projects.

This is exactly how much a payroll-tax cut would help the average American - MarketWatch

One simulation from the center sheds light on the likely effects of such a cut. A 2% payroll-tax cut would benefit 121 million workers, giving each household an additional annual sum of $1,043 in 2019 dollars. However, nearly three quarters of a 2% cut in the payroll tax would benefit households in the fourth and fifth quintile of earners,.

180-185K average per month is still fairly decent but obviously not as good as 223K. I guess this increases the likelihood of the Fed reducing rates more.

U.S. created 500,000 fewer jobs since 2018 than previously reported, new figures show - MarketWatch

The economy had about 501,000 fewer jobs as of March 2019 than the Bureau of Labor Statistics initially calculated in its survey of business establishments. That’s the largest revision since the waning stages of the Great Recession in 2009.

The newly revised figures indicate the economy didn’t get a huge boost last year from President Trump’s tax cuts and higher federal spending. They also signal the economy is a bit weaker than previously believed and could give the Federal Reserve even greater reason to cut interest rates in September.

“This makes some sense, as the 223,000 average monthly increase in 2018 seemed too good to be true in light of how tight the labor market has become and how much trouble firms are said to be having finding qualified workers,” said chief economist Stephen Stanley of Amherst Pierpont Securities.

The average 223,000 monthly increase in employment in 2018 — the strongest in three years — could be trimmed to 180,000 to 185,000, economists estimate.

[JPhillips]

The GOP is lined up behind lower interest rates, high deficit spending, and a payroll tax cut because they will all, "boost the economy."

And yet when Obama called for the same things, there was near-universal opposition from the GOP.

Everything's a con.

[QuikSand]

it continues...

Donald J. Trump on Twitter: "For the record, Denmark is only at 1.35% of GDP for NATO spending. They are a wealthy country and should be at 2%. We protect Europe and yet, only 8 of the 28 NATO countries are at the 2% mark. The United States is at a much, much higher level than that...."

[RainMaker]

Payroll tax cut would make sense if we weren't running up huge debt during the times when the economy is good. It's just going to tack on a ton more debt that will burden the next generation.

They could make it revenue neutral but that would require taxing wealthy people and that will definitely not happen.

[Ben E Lou]

Michelle Goldberg on Twitter: "The front page of the NYT right now looks like one of those pre-election parodies about what a Trump administration would be like.… https://t.co/2C3ZSYFROX"

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Payroll tax cut would make sense if we weren't running up huge debt during the times when the economy is good. It's just going to tack on a ton more debt that will burden the next generation.

They could make it revenue neutral but that would require taxing wealthy people and that will definitely not happen.

Well, we don't have to worry about anymore for now ...

[Thomkal]

So internal discussions were already being planned for acquiring Greenland:


Damian Paletta

@damianpaletta

· 19h

Internal planning was so far along they had begun to even think about the financial cost. White House officials had discussed taking over Denmark’s $600 million annual payment to Greenland, and also giving Denmark some sort of financial sweetener. https://washingtonpost.com/politics/trump


So is the whole white house staff is insane now?

[RainMaker]

I'm lost. Can someone explain to me what this is about?

My proposal to the politically correct Automobile Companies would lower the average price of a car to consumers by more than $3000, while at the same time making the cars substantially safer. Engines would run smoother. Very little impact on the environment! Foolish executives!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 21, 2019

The Legendary Henry Ford and Alfred P. Sloan, the Founders of Ford Motor Company and General Motors, are “rolling over” at the weakness of current car company executives willing to spend more money on a car that is not as safe or good, and cost $3,000 more to consumers. Crazy!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 21, 2019

[JPhillips]

I think this is about California environmental standards. Trump wants to overrule, but the auto companies are fine with the standards.

[PilotMan]

I RETIRED FROM PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL 3 YEARS AGO AND THE MSM DIDN'T COVER IT! IT'S A DISGRACE THAT THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THE REAL TRUE NEWS OF THE US IS.



Where was all the good attention that I should be receiving at? Everything I'm doing is super important and my baseball career should be getting the same attention as RUSSIA!

[RainMaker]

So he is mad that car companies are making fuel efficient cars that their customers want? I know he's bad at business, but come on.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

So he is mad that car companies are making fuel efficient cars that their customers want? I know he's bad at business, but come on.

Yeah but voluntarily regulating yourself to help the environment goes against core republican beliefs.

[Atocep]

So in the past couple of days Trump has:

*Tried to buy a country
*Got mad when said country turned down his offer to buy it and canceled a visit to country that oversees said country
*Told Jewish people if they don't vote for him they're not loyal
*Retweeted someone praising him as the 2nd coming of Christ
*Referred to himself as "The Chosen One"
*Said he was looking into cutting payroll taxes
*Said he wasn't looking into cutting payroll taxes
*Decided detaining children indefinitely is the cool thing to do
*Stated he's strongly considering eliminating birthright citizenship
*Attacked Auto Manufacturers for self regulating themselves for the good of the environment.

Am I missing something?

[RainMaker]

The Denmark things feels like a way to get out of a trip he doesn't want to go on. Remember that he likes sitting around watching TV.

There is talk that because Obama is going at the end of September, it would be embarrassing to him to see the difference in receptions.

[JPhillips]

Maybe, but it's also being reported that White House staff had gotten far enough to plan how to take possession and had started working out a price.

[Edward64]

No I don't Trump can do it with an Executive order. It is being abuse. Wish we could do something about it.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/21/polit...ent/index.html

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he is "seriously" considering ending US birthright citizenship despite the fact that such a move would face immediate legal challenge and is at odds with Supreme Court precedent.

"We're looking at that very seriously, birthright citizenship," Trump told reporters outside the White House, echoing his administration's previous vow to unilaterally end the process by which babies born in the country automatically become citizens.
:
:
"We're the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States for 85 years with all of those benefits," he said. "It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. And it has to end." In fact, more than 30 countries around the world have birthright citizenship

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

The Denmark things feels like a way to get out of a trip he doesn't want to go on. Remember that he likes sitting around watching TV.

There is talk that because Obama is going at the end of September, it would be embarrassing to him to see the difference in receptions.

I don't buy it. I think the possibility of the economy weakening heading into the election has him looking for something he can can sell as a major accomplishment with broad support.

[NobodyHere]

Trump says he wanted to give himself Medal of Honor

Well why not? He is the Chosen One after all.

[Kodos]

I had a boss who wanted to win an award where others have to submit a nomination. She tried to get an underling to submit a nomination that she wrote herself. Maybe she should have run for President...

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Atocep

I don't buy it. I think the possibility of the economy weakening heading into the election has him looking for something he can can sell as a major accomplishment with broad support.

Tom Cotton said this morning that he had talked to the President about Greenland a while ago.

I think the much more likely explanation is that Trump wanted to buy Greenland and lashed out when a woman mocked him. That fits with everything we know about him.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Trump says he wanted to give himself Medal of Honor

Well why not? He is the Chosen One after all.

Avoiding gonorrhea has to be one of the qualifying actions.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Avoiding gonorrhea has to be one of the qualifying actions.

Dodging STDs was his personal Vietnam after all.

[albionmoonlight]

Hmmm. GOP politicians starting to lie about caring about the debt/deficit again. Makes me wonder if they are seeing some really bad internal polls for Trump.

CBO confirmed our deficit is on a dangerous trajectory. But right now, neither party seems to be focused on our debt. Inaction is beyond irresponsible. In the coming weeks, I’ll be introducing a bill to force Congress to address the drivers of our spending to avoid a debt crisis. https://t.co/QGGS91VNoP

— Senator Mitt Romney (@SenatorRomney) August 21, 2019

[JPhillips]

Are they really going to run on a promise to cut Social Security and Medicare?

At least Trump was smart enough to realize people really like Social Security and Medicare and promising to cut them is a dumb thing to do before an election.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Are they really going to run on a promise to cut Social Security and Medicare?

At least Trump was smart enough to realize people really like Social Security and Medicare and promising to cut them is a dumb thing to do before an election.

Romney and Ryan did run on a platform of cutting future benefits for people who were under 55 at the time.

[JPhillips]

This story about the resignation of the Overstock CEO after claiming to be in the middle of the Russia/Trump investigation is nuts.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/o...p-russia-story

[GrantDawg]

Joe Walsh is threatening to run in a primary against Trump. It will probably go nowhere, but I hope he does.

[Lathum]

The faux outrage that is going to come from the GOP in the coming months and years is going to be something to behold.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

This story about the resignation of the Overstock CEO after claiming to be in the middle of the Russia/Trump investigation is nuts.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/o...p-russia-story

Crazy is 3 Mar-a-Lago members getting involved in the VA's transition to a new EHR for no reason other than they're friends with Trump.

Emails show Veterans Affairs officials' scorn for 'Mar-a-Lago 3' - POLITICO

[Thomkal]

So the National Republican Congressional Committee is fund-raising by offering this shirt for a donation:


Got Greenland? - National Republican Congressional Committee

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

So the National Republican Congressional Committee is fund-raising by offering this shirt for a donation:


Got Greenland? - National Republican Congressional Committee

I'm one of the most far-left people on this board and I'd consider getting that shirt. That's hilarious and awesome.

[ISiddiqui]

Yeah, it seems more like making fun of Trump than supporting him. NRCC has no clue.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

So the National Republican Congressional Committee is fund-raising by offering this shirt for a donation:


Got Greenland? - National Republican Congressional Committee

As I mentioned to someone else, of course there is no Puerto Rico.

[JPhillips]

Ramon Torres had been a U.S. citizen for nearly ten years when he was detained for four days on an immigration hold – despite having a U.S. passport, a Louisiana driver’s license, and a Social Security card, and despite that fact that a court ordered his release.

Torres’ ordeal began in August 2018, when he was pulled over and arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Torres, a naturalized U.S. citizen since 2009, was carrying multiple forms of identification, including his driver’s license and other security credentials. Torres was booked at the Ascension Parish Jail, and the next day the Parish Court ordered his release.

But Torres wasn’t released. Instead, the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office placed an “immigration hold” on Torres on the suspicion that he was unlawfully present in the United States.

The basis for this suspicion? He had a Latinx name and brown skin. Staff at the sheriff’s office explained that they had a policy of detaining all Latinx people for immigration review.

I bet nobody gets punished for this.

[Thomkal]

To the surprise of no one Sarah Huckabee Sanders takes a job as a contributer on Fox News and her first apperance will of course be on Fox and Friends in September.

[molson]

"Staff at the sheriff’s office explained that they had a policy of detaining all Latinx people for immigration review."

I didn't quite believe that, so I looked at the complaint. Torres claims that an unidentified administrator made that statement, but the administrator is just referred to as "Jane Doe" in the complaint. In their write-up about the complaint, the ACLU hides that fact that it's an allegation, and tries to make it sound like it's an on-the-record official policy statement or something.

Maybe someone said it, maybe that person had any authority or knowledge of detention procedures in that county, maybe they didn't. Maybe the detention was constitutional, maybe it wasn't, but this is just allegations in a complaint, the state hasn't even responded yet. But I'm skeptical that the sheriff's office in this area not only just rounds up all Hispanics and automatically puts immigration holds on them, but states this as their policy.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by molson

But I'm skeptical that the sheriff's office in this area not only just rounds up all Hispanics and automatically puts immigration holds on them, but states this as their policy.

To be fair, it's already be precedent in the 80's during the drug wars with black men being rounded up on the streets 'just to see if they were criminals or not'.

It's not exactly a new tactic.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

So the National Republican Congressional Committee is fund-raising by offering this shirt for a donation:


Got Greenland? - National Republican Congressional Committee

Maybe if it wasn’t 35$ and proceeds weren’t sponsoring the white nationalist party...

[stevew]

We all agree Trump wants Greenland cause of how bigot it looks on a Mercator projection, right?

[stevew]

I meant bigly, but spellcheck hilarious.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by stevew

We all agree Trump wants Greenland cause of how bigot looks on a Mercator projection, right?

I would've gone with this.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

To be fair, it's already be precedent in the 80's during the drug wars with black men being rounded up on the streets 'just to see if they were criminals or not'.

It's not exactly a new tactic.

Times, they be a changing. Back then the Browns could make conference champion game.

If any local or state government rounded op people based on the color of their skin as official policy then their asses would be sued off.

[molson]

My point is that the ACLU isn't even really alleging that this is this agency's official policy. They just want you to assume that from the write-up. But the only person who allegedly said this is an unidentified "staff member" who isn't alleged to have any authority to actually create, state or enforce such a policy. And this person can't be investigated, deposed, etc, because they're just a Jane Doe.

And complaint allegations shouldn't be reported as fact. Just like allegations in a criminal complaint shouldn't be reported as fact. The ACLU gets around this with these write-ups that get passed around as if they're news articles.

The ACLU prefers dramatic language in their legal filings and write-ups. Including appeals to emotion, hiding the ball, invitations to make incorrect inferences. Stuff that would be considered unprofessional or unethical for most attorneys to engage in.