Friday, August 24, 2018

TRUMP'S CULT OF PERSONALITY

Unless you are one of Trump's billionaire buddies, there is no rational reason to support him.  He is one of the worst presidents in history.  Why all the support?  It's based on emotion and Trump's cult of personality.




"After Donald Trump’s bombastic performance in last week’s debate, it’s clear that the key to his appeal is not his policy positions, which are all over the map. No, it’s all about his personality, and the paradox is that the more unpleasant his personality is revealed to be, the greater his appeal to his core group of supporters.

For example, one of my readers responded to my article criticizing the new EPA rules on power plants by touting Trump as the only candidate with “the balls” to dismantle the EPA. In reality, there is no basis in Trump’s background, his ideology (if he had one), or his public statements to think he would do anything in particular with the EPA. But that’s how Trump is regarded: as a cure for what ails you, as an all-purpose tonic for whatever somebody thinks is wrong with our current system.

People are projecting onto Trump what they want to see.

People are projecting onto Trump what they want to see. They are pouring into him their fantasies about what could be accomplished by a strong leader who doesn’t care about making people angry. But that’s a dangerous fantasy to indulge.

To be sure, every presidential election is about personality. We are electing a leader who is going to make important decisions and will have to stick to them in the face of opposition. So when we look at a candidate, we’re not just looking at the values he endorses, the ideas he claims to believe, or the specific platform he has announced. We’re also asking whether he’s the sort of person who really means what he says, whether he has the guts to stand up to opposition, whether he has the charisma to rally other people to his cause, and whether he has the negotiating skills to broker deals without getting taken for a ride.

But there’s a difference between this kind of judgment about character and a cult of personality. The cult of personality is a general faith in the leader—whereas a considered judgment about a candidate is based on specific facts about the candidate’s record and past performance. So we might look to a candidate’s record in the Senate. Did he stand up against legislative cave-ins? Has he shown a willingness to buck the establishment? Or we might look to his term as governor. Did he accomplish something important? Has he faced down opposition without folding?

The GOP has plenty of people with pretty good records on this. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul have shown they’re not afraid to lock horns with the GOP establishment. Scott Walker and Chris Christie have pushed through state-level reforms against vicious opposition. You may not like the specific positions of some of these candidates—the overlaps between Chris Christie supporters and Rand Paul sympathizers has got to be pretty much nil. But there’s almost certainly someone other than Trump in this race who has a longer, more consistent track record for promoting any particular policy preferences.

Support for Trump is about how loudly and recklessly he’s willing to break things

That’s not what support for Trump is about. Support for Trump is not about what a candidate has actually done. It’s about how loudly and recklessly he’s willing to break things. Support for Trump is a protest vote, but not a rationally considered protest vote in favor of a specific cause. It’s an expression of general, unfocused rage. Trump supporters just want someone who’s willing to turn over the tables and call people names and burn the place down. And that’s why the more unpleasant Trump is—the more he insults lady reporters and boasts about how rich he is, the more he thumps his chest about how sexy he is and calls everybody else a loser—the more they love him.

The result is a disturbing kind of cult of personality. I asked earlier about precedents for unpleasant personalities as the basis of a cult. Well, consider the original editions of the “cult of personality,” the ones built up around Stalin and Mao. Or more recently, the one built around Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. All of these men had a certain blustering charisma, much like The Donald, but they could be even more abrasive, boastful, thoughtless, insulting, and crude. And each benefited from the same paradox: the less he adhered to any standards of responsible behavior the more he thrilled his true believers with what a tough guy he was, with how much he was supposedly a strong leader who would face down the capitalist running dog imperialist fascists and deliver for “the people.”"


 

TRUMP DOESN'T CARE ABOUT TRUTH--HE'S A FAKE NEWS PROBLEM

From a reliable fact check site.

"The first time we've used the word 'lie'
The Fact Checker had never used the word “lie” to describe a statement from a politician. But there’s a first time for everything, and we’re breaking the emergency glass for President Trump.

There’s no question Trump lied — repeatedly, intentionally, over more than a year, enlisting top aides and advisers to further the deception — to cover up the hush money he arranged during the 2016 campaign for porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, who say they had separate affairs with Trump.
The president had made a staggering 4,229 false or misleading claims since taking office to the end of July, according to our database. In many of those cases, it’s not possible to tell whether Trump was intentionally fibbing or simply careless or wrong.

But Michael Cohen’s guilty plea in Manhattan federal court this week provides indisputable evidence that Trump lied when the story about his payoffs broke in November 2016, that he lied in April 2018 when reporters asked him about the Daniels payment, that he tweeted a lie in May about having reimbursed Cohen through a monthly retainer (he was actually repaid through falsely documented payments from the Trump Organization), and that he was still not telling the truth in a Fox News interview in which he reacted to the guilty plea. . . . "
Source and more info at.
 

Thursday, August 23, 2018

TRUMP AND NIXON--HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF


“As I’ve said before, if Trump was innocent he’d be saying “I feel sure that a full and fair investigation will clear my name.”  Instead he’s trying to get the investigation stopped.  His claims of bias against him are not supported by facts. Mueller is a conservative Republican.  The fact that most of the people on his staff are democrats proves nothing.  There is no evidence of bias.

History repeats itself.  In part because human nature rarely changes.  Trump may turn out to be Nixon II.

“Reporters and political commentators often express frustrated surprise at the steadfast support of President Donald Trump from most Republicans in the House and Senate. But they shouldn't — it has happened before.

In fact, when these critics refer back to the Watergate era as a time of bipartisan commitment to the rule of law over politics, they get it exactly wrong. Defending the president at all costs, blaming investigators and demonizing journalists were all part of the Republican playbook during the political crisis leading up to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

Despite the fact that 32 people and three companies have been indicted so far by the special counsel, Robert Mueller, only four of 11 Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee joined Senate Democrats earlier this year in an effort to protect Mueller's investigation. The House majority leader, Kevin McCarthy of California, said in June that he thinks "the Mueller investigation has got to stop." Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and the House Intelligence Committee chairman, Devin Nunes of California, have joined Trump in calling the investigation a "witch hunt."

Dispiriting, perhaps, but not shocking or unprecedented. In late 1972, when a Democratic congressman, Wright Patman of Texas, began to investigate connections between Nixon's aides and the Watergate burglary, the House Republican leader, Gerald Ford of Michigan (who later succeeded Nixon as president), called it a "political witch hunt," according to historian Stanley I. Kutler in his book "The Wars of Watergate."

Ford wasn't alone, and the countercharges didn't end even as the evidence piled up. After reporters revealed close ties between the Watergate burglars and Nixon's administration and re-election campaign, Sen. Robert Dole of Kansas jumped to the president's defense. He labeled the media accounts "a barrage of unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations by George McGovern" — whom Nixon defeated in the 1972 election — "and his partner in mud-slinging, The Washington Post."


 

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

SUPPORT TRUMP AND YOU SUPPORT PUTIN


The Russians hacked and posted fake news in 2016 to help Trump.  Now they are going after sites that criticized Trump since his election. Trump recently cuddled up with, and defended Russia’s leader Putin  He’s been defending Putin since his campaign. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that Russian wants to see Trump stay in power.  In effect, A vote for Trump, or a Trump supporter is a vote for Putin.   When did Russia become an ally of the U.S.?  Also note that Trump has deliberately strained our relationships with our European allies.  Putin loves to see his competitors, the U.S. and Europe divided. 

 

“BOSTON — The Russian military intelligence unit that sought to influence the 2016 election appears to have a new target: conservative American think tanks that have broken with President Trump and are seeking continued sanctions against Moscow, exposing oligarchs or pressing for human rights.

In a report scheduled for release on Tuesday, Microsoft Corporation said that it detected and seized websites that were created in recent weeks by hackers linked to the Russian unit formerly known as the G.R.U. The sites appeared meant to trick people into thinking they were clicking through links managed by the Hudson Institute and the International Republican Institute, but were secretly redirected to web pages created by the hackers to steal passwords and other credentials. . . .

 “The International Republican Institute’s board of directors includes several Republican leaders who have been highly critical of Mr. Trump’s interactions with Mr. Putin, including a summit meeting last month between the two leaders in Helsinki, Finland.

Among them are Senator John McCain of Arizona; Mitt Romney, a former presidential candidate; and — though he was silent on Mr. Trump’s appearance in Helsinki — Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, who was replaced in the spring as the White House national security adviser. General McMaster, who is now retired, had been the author of the national security strategy that called for treating Russia as a “revisionist power” and confronting it around the world. . . .

Manafort and Cohen go Down!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/08/21/manaforts-verdict-cohens-plea-gave-trump-his-worst-day-russia-investigation-so-far/?utm_term=.235a59d69494
After these, how long before Trump's number comes up?

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

BUSINESS ECONOMISTS SAY TRUMP HURTING U.S. ECONOMY

Real (as compared to Trumpite) conservative Republicans and business economists, don't think Trump's policies are good, overall, for the economy and short-term gains will not last.  They are very concerned about Trump's ballooning deficits and the national debt.


By . Published:

“Business economists are sounding sour notes about Trump administration policies, from trade to immigration to the budget, while expecting the short-term boost to growth from Republican tax cuts to lessen over time.

The National Association for Business Economics survey showed 91 percent of respondents said current tariffs and threats of more to come were having “unfavorable consequential impacts” on the U.S. economy, according to a report released Monday. About two-thirds saw negative effects if the U.S. withdraws from the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada.

In the wake of large tax cuts enacted in late 2017, the share of those saying fiscal policy is too stimulative rose to 71 percent from 52 percent in February, according to the responses of 251 members collected from July 19 to Aug. 2. And 81 percent said the federal deficit’s share of gross domestic product should be reduced.

“In general, the panel expects the federal deficit, as a percentage of the economy, to grow in the longer term, with eight out of 10 panelists indicating that fiscal policy should help shrink the deficit as a share of the economy,” said survey chair Jim Diffley, an economist at IHS Markit Ltd.

The cautious views are at odds with the President Donald Trump’s upbeat assessment in tweets last week saying the U.S. economy is “better than ever.” Trump has also touted low rates of youth unemployment and, recently, falling joblessness among African-American and Hispanic workers.

While survey respondents continued to see deregulation and tax cuts giving a boost to growth in the short term, they also saw the effects diminishing over time as government debt continues to rise.

Almost two-thirds said the U.S. corporate tax system following the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was an improvement over the previous regime in terms of equity and efficiency, while 25 percent viewed it as “somewhat worse” or “far worse” than before.

Changes to personal income taxes fared worse, with only 31 percent considering the new system better in terms of equity and efficiency and about 54 percent judging it “somewhat worse” or “far worse.” 


 

 

 

Thursday, August 16, 2018

U.S. REP DON HUFFINES (TX) IN LA LA LAND RE RUSSIAN MEDDLING


A small group of congressmen went to meet with the Russians a few weeks ago.  One of the participants was Rep. Don Huffines of Texas.  Parts of his interview are below.

 Bloggers comments in [ ].

I know there are a lot of uninformed and dim-witted people in Congress.  Some are just naïve.  Some just follow the President’s line and spout gibberish.  Don Huffines seems to meet at least one of these qualifications.  Huffines is an embarrassment to Texas.

Q.  Then why do you believe them when they say they won't [meddle in American politics] in the future? What value is their promise if you don't believe their denials?

A.  There is a lot of value, because they need to hear from someone. The more people they hear from about this issue, the more powerfully we communicate that this is a big problem, the more they are going to listen.

I told them, if Texas were its own country, our GDP would be 10th in the world, larger than Russia's GDP. They were quite surprised. At our next census, we'll have a population of 30 million, and we are a world player. What happens in Texas is extremely important to the world. 

[Just dumb!  Doesn't this guy follow current political events.  All the heads of U.S. intelligence agencies say the meddling is continuing at the present time.  A small group of congressmen went to meet with the Russians a few weeks ago.  One of the participants was Rep. Don Huffines of Texas.  Parts of his interview are below.
 Bloggers comments in [ ].

I know there are a lot of uninformed and dim-witted people in Congress.  Some are just naïve.  Some just follow the President’s line and spout gibberish.  Don Huffines seems to meet at least one of these qualifications.  Huffines is an embarrassment to Texas.

Then why do you believe them when they say they won't [meddle in American politics] in the future? What value is their promise if you don't believe their denials?

There is a lot of value, because they need to hear from someone. The more people they hear from about this issue, the more powerfully we communicate that this is a big problem, the more they are going to listen.

I told them, if Texas were its own country, our GDP would be 10th in the world, larger than Russia's GDP. They were quite surprised. At our next census, we'll have a population of 30 million, and we are a world player. What happens in Texas is extremely important to the world. 

[Just dumb!  Doesn't Huffines follow political news.  The heads of all U.S. major intelligence agencies publicly stated that the meddling is continuous. 
https://www.zdnet.com/article/russian-election-meddling-continues-says-us-so-why-cant-it-be-stopped/

Where did Huffines come up with this delusion?  Further, Texas cannot carry out foreign policy.  Only the federal government can do that.  The Russians already heard from American officials.  I guess Russians don’t check U.S. news media. Do you really think the Kremlin cares about what Texans and it’s officials Think? Gimme a break!]

Some have criticized Paul's decision to go to Russia, arguing that it softens the U.S. response to the Russian aggression, ranging from its annexation of Crimea, which triggered the sanctions, to its interference in the election. Did you have concerns with going on the trip?

I disagree with that. I think we were very successful in communicating the seriousness of meddling in this election. They seemed to be concerned — very concerned — about the current state of relations between our nation and Russia. They feel there is not enough communication. They said they have not seen communication so low before, even in the height of the Cold War. They have not heard from Senate Foreign Relations Committee, for instance.

[We needed this group to alert the Russians to our unhappiness? The “seemed concerned”  How naïve!  They really care. Sort of like crocodile tears.It's primarily the President speaks for, and acts for the country regarding foreign relations.  Other than impose sanctions ordered by Congress, what has Trump done beside courting Putin. Who cares about the Senate Foreign Relations Committee?  The can’t impose sanctions of do anything meaningful by themselves]

 Where did Huffines come up with this delusion?  Further,Texas cannot carry out foreign policy.  Only the federal government can do that.  The Russians already heard from American officials.  I guess Russians don’t check U.S. news media. Do you really think the Kremlin cares about what Texans and it’s officials Think? Gimme a break!]


Some have criticized Paul's decision to go to Russia, arguing that it softens the U.S. response to the Russian aggression, ranging from its annexation of Crimea, which triggered the sanctions, to its interference in the election. Did you have concerns with going on the trip?

I disagree with that. I think we were very successful in communicating the seriousness of meddling in this election. They seemed to be concerned — very concerned — about the current state of relations between our nation and Russia. They feel there is not enough communication. They said they have not seen communication so low before, even in the height of the Cold War. They have not heard from Senate Foreign Relations Committee, for instance.

[We needed this group to alert the Russians to our unhappiness? The “seemed concerned”  How naïve!  They really care. Sort of like crocodile tears.It's primarily the President speaks for, and acts for the country regarding foreign relations.  Other than impose sanctions ordered by Congress, what has Trump done beside courting Putin. Who cares about the Senate Foreign Relations Committee?  The can’t impose sanctions of do anything meaningful by themselves]

 

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

IF YOU THINK BORDER SEPARATION OF CHILDREN IS O.K., VOTE FOR CRUZ


ODESSA — Rep. Beto O’Rourke [Democrat  running against Ted Cruz for Cruz's U.S. Senate seat from Texas] has been barnstorming Texas, denouncing the border wall and the president’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies.

Sen. Ted Cruz has also made immigration a top issue, warning about liberals creating sanctuary cities to thwart federal enforcement efforts and joining the chorus demanding a wall.

Their views differ dramatically. . . .

“Let’s stop taking little kids away from their parents,” O’Rourke told a cheering crowd recently in Odessa, where the El Paso Democrat called for a more welcoming attitude toward migrants — people willing to take on “backbreaking work ... that no one here in the state or the country is going to do.” . . .

“A candidate for the highest office in the land ... described Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals,” O’Rourke said. “And now that he’s in the White House, describes those young asylum seekers who have traveled 2,000 miles, fleeing the deadliest, the most brutal, the most violent places on the planet ... as animals, as an infestation, as a threat against which we must build a 2,000-mile wall and send the United States military.”

Cruz  initially defended the enforcement policy that prompted the separations, blaming migrants for putting their children at risk by violating U.S. law.

[later]In San Angelo on Wednesday, Cruz was asked to explain his immigration policy.

“I can sum it up in four words,” he said. “Legal, good. Illegal, bad. We need to secure the border and stop illegal immigration.”

[Texans view family separation as bad policy by a 4-1 ratio, and as a violation of human rights by nearly 3 to 1, according to Quinnipiac’s latest poll.]

He also falsely accused O’Rourke as wanting open borders and amnesty.  Cruz supports the wall (that Trump said the Mexicans would pay for).  O’Rourke opposes it.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2018/06/11/ted-cruz-defends-family-separation-complaints-trump-border-crackdown-persist

After a hurricane of protests, Trump and Cruz changed their views  and opposed separations. 

Their original positions show what they really felt. [cold-hearted, authoritarian and bigoted]  They cared nothing about these children.  Is this what America stands for?  VOTE FOR O’ROURKE VOTE AGAINST CRUZ.

MEAN-SPIRITED SUIT AGAINST INNOCENT, HONEST DREAMERS



The President has authority to save the “Dreamers,” (beneficiaries of DACA) but refuses to use it.  Congress has not acted.   The Dreamers do not deserve to be deported.   Those who want them deported are tribalists, without compassion. They were young people brought into the U.S. illegally by their parents.  Many are in college or working.  Deporting them is heartless and cruel and bad policy.  It will hurt employers.  For 6 reasons not to deport them see


 

The lawsuit  [filed by Texas and later jjoined by Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia — asserts that the Obama administration overstepped its authority when it created the DACA program, which allows individuals who were brought to the United States illegally as children to remain in the country, without congressional approval.


 

Only six states want it killed.  44 don’t. 

 

President Trump said Thursday he believes Texas and other states will be successful in their lawsuit challenging the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

In a meeting with state officials on prison reform, Mr. Trump noted the presence of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose court challenge to DACA came before a federal judge a day earlier.

“Ken just filed a very interesting lawsuit….that I hope is going to be successful,” Mr. Trump said.

 


 

TRUMP'S ADDICTION TO INSULTS


You don’t have to rely on the media (Trump’s enemy of the people”) to give you news of what the President is saying.  Just go to his Twitter account.


His tweets are full of lies, misinformation, and insults to many including international allies and other respectable, powerful people.


You will see that he attacks his opponents, including U.S. Senators (incl John McCain} and the heads of allied countries with ferocity.  His latest victim is Omarosa M. Newman a former member of his staff.  He referred to her as a ‘dog,’ and  ‘a crazed crying lowlife.’   H   didn’t know this before he hired her? There are others, including a U.S. Rep. and Le Bron James.



 

Trump acts more like a spoiled, narcissistic teenager than an adult.  Is that the kind of  person we want in the White House?

IS TRUMP NIXON II?--It's deja vu all over again.


As I’ve said before, if Trump was innocent he’d be saying “I feel sure that a full and fair investigation will clear my name.”  Instead he’s trying to get the investigation stopped.  His claims of bias against him are not supported by facts. Mueller is a conservative Republican.  The fact that most of the people on his staff are democrats proves nothing.  There is no evidence of bias.

History repeats itself.  In part because human nature rarely changes.  Trump may turn out to be Nixon II.

“Reporters and political commentators often express frustrated surprise at the steadfast support of President Donald Trump from most Republicans in the House and Senate. But they shouldn't — it has happened before.

In fact, when these critics refer back to the Watergate era as a time of bipartisan commitment to the rule of law over politics, they get it exactly wrong. Defending the president at all costs, blaming investigators and demonizing journalists were all part of the Republican playbook during the political crisis leading up to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

Despite the fact that 32 people and three companies have been indicted so far by the special counsel, Robert Mueller, only four of 11 Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee joined Senate Democrats earlier this year in an effort to protect Mueller's investigation. The House majority leader, Kevin McCarthy of California, said in June that he thinks "the Mueller investigation has got to stop." Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and the House Intelligence Committee chairman, Devin Nunes of California, have joined Trump in calling the investigation a "witch hunt."

Dispiriting, perhaps, but not shocking or unprecedented. In late 1972, when a Democratic congressman, Wright Patman of Texas, began to investigate connections between Nixon's aides and the Watergate burglary, the House Republican leader, Gerald Ford of Michigan (who later succeeded Nixon as president), called it a "political witch hunt," according to historian Stanley I. Kutler in his book "The Wars of Watergate."

Ford wasn't alone, and the countercharges didn't end even as the evidence piled up. After reporters revealed close ties between the Watergate burglars and Nixon's administration and re-election campaign, Sen. Robert Dole of Kansas jumped to the president's defense. He labeled the media accounts "a barrage of unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations by George McGovern" — whom Nixon defeated in the 1972 election — "and his partner in mud-slinging, The Washington Post."


 

INTOLERANT ADULTS THREATEN 12-YEAR OLD


Ugly Americans in Okla.

“Just 90 miles north of Dallas is a small south Oklahoma school district with only a few hundred students.

One of them is 12-year-old Maddie. Although she was assigned male at birth, Maddie is transgender and has been living as a girl for two years. But last week, for the first time, her mother says she mistakenly used the girls restroom at her new middle school.

Little did she know that within a few days, her gender identity would become nationwide news and her mother would go on television to defend her. Just her second week into seventh grade, Maddie has faced death threats from adults many times her age; classes were canceled over security concerns.

"You know we have open hunting seasons on them kind. Aint no bag limit in them either," one person posted online, according to the local Fox affiliate, KXII-TV (Channel 12). Another said, "If he wants to be female make him a female.

"A good sharp knife will do the job real quick."

The adults took to a private Facebook group for parents at Achille Independent School District to write their threats, spurred by an angry post from a mother who found out about Maddie's bathroom use. There, behind the relative safety of a social media account, they urged their children to beat their classmate and lobbed crude names at her.

"Lil half baked maggot," they called her, and "thing." . . .


Welcome to Trump’s America.  Violence prone bigots have come out of the woodwork after the election of Trump.  Did we see anything like the mass march of Nazis and Klan (and murder of an unarmed female protestor) at Charlottesville in recent years?

Saturday, August 11, 2018

TRUMP HURTS ORDINARY CONSUMERS AND WORKERS



If it was working-class voters who swung the election to Trump, he is doing little to help and a lot to hurt them.  Trump's primary concern are the rich and big business.  For example no ordinary American got a tax cut percentage as big as corporate America.  When are Trump's working class supporters going to see they've been had?
While campaigning, “Donald Trump promised regular people, “I will be your voice,” and attacked the drug industry for “getting away with murder” in setting high prices for lifesaving medications. But as president, he has declared war on regulatory programs protecting the health, safety and economic rights of consumers. He has done so in disregard of evidence that such protections help the economy and financial well-being of the working-class voters he claims to champion. . . .

Though Mr. Trump is brazen in his opposition to consumer protections, many of his most damaging attacks are occurring in corners of the bureaucracy that receive minimal news coverage. His administration, for instance, wants to strip the elderly of their right to challenge nursing home abuses in court by allowing arbitration clauses in nursing home contracts. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has announced that it is canceling a proposed rule intended to reduce the risk of sleep apnea-related accidents among truck drivers and railway workers.

And the Environmental Protection Agency is busy weakening, repealing and under-enforcing protections, including for children, from toxic exposure. Scott Pruitt, the director, went against his agency’s scientists to jettison an imminent ban on the use of chlorpyrifos, an insecticide widely used on vegetables and fruits. Long-accumulated evidence shows that the chemical is poisoning the drinking water of farm workers and their families.

 
This assault began with Mr. Trump choosing agency chiefs who are tested corporate loyalists driven to undermine the lifesaving, income-protecting institutions whose laws they have sworn to uphold.

At the Food and Drug Administration, Mr. Trump has installed Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former pharmaceutical industry consultant, who supports weakening drug and medical device safety standards and has shown no real commitment to reducing sky-high drug prices. At the Department of Education, Betsy DeVos, a billionaire investor in for-profit colleges, has weakened enforcement policy on that predatory industry, hiring industry insiders and abandoning protections for students and taxpayers.

Mr. Pruitt, as the attorney general of Oklahoma, filed suits against the E.P.A. He has hired former lobbyists for the fossil fuel and chemical industries. Mr. Trump’s aides and Republicans in Congress are pushing to restrict access to state courts by plaintiffs who seek to hold polluters accountable.

The administration is even threatening to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and fire its director, Richard Cordray, who was installed after Wall Street’s 2008 crash. Their sins: They returned over $12 billion to defrauded consumers and plan to issue regulations dealing with payday debt traps and compulsory arbitration clauses that deny aggrieved consumers their day in court. (The Senate is now considering legislation to gut the arbitration rule.)

Draconian budget cuts, new restrictions on health insurance, diminished privacy protections and denying climate change while putting off fuel-efficiency deadlines and auto safety standards will hurt all Americans, including Mr. Trump’s most die-hard supporters.

Mr. Trump’s deregulation crowd argues that they are freeing markets to grow. But preventing casualties and protecting consumers are, in fact, good for the economy. Nicholas Ashford, a professor of technology at M.I.T., has shown how safety regulation has fostered innovation. Markets grow in humane and efficient ways when workers make airbags, products to detect contaminants in food and water, and recycling equipment. Fraud prosecutions leave consumers with more money, generating sales, jobs and a higher standard of living.

When courts grant compensation for wrongful injuries, they not only help victims pay their bills but also lessen the burden on public insurance programs like Medicare. Fuel-efficiency standards save consumers money, improve air quality and reduce dependence on foreign oil. The Department of Energy itself says that over five years, a 30-m.p.g. vehicle will save $3,125 if driven 15,000 miles annually.  . . .

Labor, consumer and environmental groups are mobilizing to fight efforts to sap health and safety protections. Citizens are rediscovering the benefits of focusing on members of Congress at town halls and other gatherings.

Smashing safety and consumer safeguards will lead to deaths, injuries and diseases that provoke intense news coverage. Demands to hold the profit-obsessed Trump team accountable for conflicts of interest will intensify. And civil servants, blocked from enforcing laws, will respect established procedures or become whistle-blowers, with legal protections.”


Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate and the author of “Breaking Through Power: It’s Easier Than We Think.”

See post below for another example.

TRUMP ADMIN V. STUDENTS, REMOVING FRAUD PROTECTIONS



President Trumps campaign to lessen the federal regulation burden of the private sector has hurt consumers. That perhaps was the real reason for the campaign.  Its obvious that Trump cares about corporate profits, but little about fairness and protection for average American consumers. 

Here’s the latest White House move to hurt consumers through “deregulation

Trump’s Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos “ formally moved Friday to scrap a regulation that would have forced for-profit colleges to prove that the students they enroll are able to attain decent-paying jobs, the most drastic in a series of policy shifts that will free the scandal-scarred, for-profit sector from safeguards put in effect during the Obama era.

In a written announcement posted on its website, the Education Department laid out its plans to eliminate the so-called gainful employment rule, which sought to hold for-profit and career college programs accountable for graduating students with poor job prospects and overwhelming debt. The Obama-era rule would have revoked federal funding and access to financial aid for poor-performing schools. . . .

But in rescinding the rule, the department is eradicating the most fearsome accountability measures — the loss of federal aid — for schools that promise to prepare students for specific careers but fail to prepare them for the job market, leaving taxpayers on the hook to pay back their taxpayer-backed loans.

The DeVos approach is reversing nearly a decade of efforts to create a tough accountability system for the largely unregulated for-profit sector of higher education. In recent years, large for-profit chains, which offer training for everything from automotive mechanics to cosmetology to cybersecurity, have collapsed under mountains of complaints and lawsuits for employing misleading and deceptive practices.

The implosions of ITT Technical Institute and Corinthian Colleges generated tens of thousands of complaints from student borrowers who said they were left with worthless degrees. The Obama administration encouraged the expansion of public community colleges as it forgave at least $450 million in taxpayer-funded student debt for for-profit graduates who could not find decent jobs with the degrees or certificates they had earned.

The regulations passed in the wake of those scandals remade the industry. Since 2010, when the Obama administration began deliberating the rules, more than 2,000 for-profit and career programs — nearly half — have closed, and the industry’s student population has dropped by more than 1.6 million, said Steve Gunderson, the president of Career Education Colleges and Universities, the for-profit industry’s trade association.”


 

 

White House lied about Trump Tower meeting.


Trump Jr.’s and Sr.’s and other White House staff’s stories surrounding the  June 16 meeting at the Trump tower has changed as new facts come out.  People can only lie about things for so long until the attempt to deceive becomes apparent.

On July 8, 2017, Jr.  said the meeting was primarily about adoption of Russian children.

On July 9, after finding out that the New York Times knew about the hunt for dirt on Clinton, Donald Jr. said the purpose of the meeting was  to get information that “might be helpful to the campaign.”

On July 12th the White House released a statement by Donald Jr. about the meeting.  One of Trump’s lawyers said the President was not involved in writing the memo.

On Aug. 1, White House Press. Sec. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the President ‘weighed in’ on the content of the statement.

On Jan 29, 2018 two of the President’s lawyers said Trump dictated the statement.

Of course, others also lied about the incident.

See timeline at



https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/06/us/politics/trump-tower-russia-meeting.html

Thursday, August 02, 2018

TRUMP'S TWEET OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE?

"WASHINGTON — President Trump called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday to end the special counsel’s inquiry into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, issuing an unambiguous directive on Twitter to shut down an investigation that even now is scrutinizing his tweets for evidence of obstruction.
The White House and Mr. Trump’s lawyers moved quickly to minimize the president’s statement, dismissing it as merely a case of venting by a president who has grown increasingly angry with an investigation that he considers illegitimate — and not a direct order to a cabinet secretary to interfere with a continuing federal law enforcement matter.
But in saying that Mr. Sessions, the United States’ top law enforcement official, should take specific action to terminate the investigation, the tweet crossed a line that Mr. Trump has never explicitly crossed — until now. It immediately raised more questions about whether Mr. Trump was attempting to obstruct justice, already an issue being examined extensively by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel leading the investigation.
The trial of Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s former campaign chairman, which entered its second day Tuesday, has made the stakes of Mr. Mueller’s investigation increasingly clear."
 
 
The key, of course, is Trump's intent in making the statement.  If he is using his office with the intent of stopping the investigation it is a crime.  See post below on collusion.  Further the actions do not have to actually obstruct justice.  Even an attempt is obstruction.
 
 

COLLUSION CAN BE A CRIME--TRUMP CAMPAIGN COULD BE GUILTY

Trump, Giulian,i and the Trump White House are masters of trying to take advantage of the average person's lack of information, disinformation and naivete about law, politics and political corruption.  This is such an example.

"Like some legal zombie that can't be killed, the argument that "collusion is not a crime" is back and walks among us. And it's still nonsense.
There were reports last week that former Trump attorney Michael Cohen would testify, contrary to repeated White House denials, that President Donald Trump knew of and approved the infamous Trump Tower meeting in June 2016, when Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and other campaign officials met with Russians offering damaging information about Hillary Clinton.
Faced with this new evidence of what looks remarkably like colluding with the Russians, the president's defense has returned to the claim that any such collusion, even if it happened, would not be a crime. On Fox & Friends, Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani recently said: "I have been sitting here looking in the federal code trying to find collusion as a crime. Collusion is not a crime." The president himself picked up on the theme, tweeting: "Collusion is not a crime, but that doesn't matter because there was No Collusion (except by Crooked Hillary and the Democrats)"
It's unclear how the term "collusion" became so embedded in the public narrative about the Russian attacks on our election. But what is clear is that the unfortunate prevalence of the term has given the president's legal team another tool with which to sow confusion and mistrust about special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. After all, if collusion is not a crime, why is Mueller spending all this time and money investigating it? It must be a witch hunt!
It's true there is no crime called "collusion." It's also irrelevant. What matters in criminal law is the facts, not the precise terms used to describe what happened. Saying the president is off the hook because there is no crime called "collusion" is akin to claiming the president could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and escape prosecution because the criminal statutes prohibit "homicide" not "shooting."

Please read the rest of the article for an explanation.  Collusion can be a crime and there is evidence that a crime was committed. https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2018/08/02/collusion-not-crime-not-fast,  Also note that a conspiracy does not have to achieve its goal for it to be a crime. All there has to be one act of any kind by a coconspirator in furtherance of the conspirach.

For some of the evidence see
https://www.vox.com/2018/6/11/17438386/trump-russia-collusion

KOCH BROTHERS AND TRUMP FEUDING.

Most of the conservative Republicans in Congress kiss Trump's butt and go along with his craziness which is contrary to conservative Republican doctrine.  Trump is not a conservative Republican.  He is constantly criticizing and feuding with real conservative Republicans.  The  billionaire Koch brothers are major power players in conservative Republican circles.  They and Trump are now in a feud.
 
"NEW YORK — The war of words intensified between two titans in Republican politics on Tuesday as President Donald Trump trashed the conservative billionaire Koch brothers as a “total joke in real Republican circles.”
The presidential insult followed a weekend gathering of Koch officials who repeatedly condemned Trump’s trade policies, the explosion of government spending under his watch and his divisive tone."
 

Saturday, July 28, 2018

GDP & UNEMPLOYMENT LOOK GOOD! WAGES DO NOT


“The United States labor market is closing in on full employment in an economic expansion that just began its 10th year, and yet the real hourly wage for the working class has been essentially flat for two years running. Why is that?

Economists ask this question every month when the government reports labor statistics. We repeatedly get solid job growth and lower unemployment, but not much to show for wages. Part of that has to do with inflation, productivity and remaining slack in the labor market.

But stagnant wages for factory workers and non-managers in the service sector — together they represent 82 percent of the labor force — is mainly the outcome of a long power struggle that workers are losing. Even at a time of low unemployment, their bargaining power is feeble, the weakest I’ve seen in decades. Hostile institutions — the Trump administration, the courts, the corporate sector — are limiting their avenues for demanding higher pay.”


 

“The United States labor market is closing in on full employment in an economic expansion that just began its 10th year, and yet the real hourly wage for the working class has been essentially flat for two years running. Why is that?

"Economists ask this question every month when the government reports labor statistics. We repeatedly get solid job growth and lower unemployment, but not much to show for wages. Part of that has to do with inflation, productivity and remaining slack in the labor market.

But stagnant wages for factory workers and non-managers in the service sector — together they represent 82 percent of the labor force — is mainly the outcome of a long power struggle that workers are losing. Even at a time of low unemployment, their bargaining power is feeble, the weakest I’ve seen in decades. Hostile institutions — the Trump administration, the courts, the corporate sector — are limiting their avenues for demanding higher pay.”

 
If you are a working class American, Trump is not the man for you!

 

FOLLOW THE $ TRAIL



The shell company used by President Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen to pay off porn actress Stormy Daniels received about $500,000 last year from a business linked to a Russian billionaire who is close to President Vladimir Putin.

Cohen's company, Essential Consultants LLC, received the money from a U.S. offshoot of the business empire of Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-cohen-russia-vekselberg-20180508-story.html#

THERE IS NO REUBLICAN PARTY, IT'S TRUMP'S AUTHORITARIAN POPULIST PARTY NOW


 
And lots of solid Republicans,
Say Trump is not a conservative Republican.
 
"There is no Republican Party. There's a Trump party," John Boehner [former Republican House Speaker] told a Mackinac, Michigan, gathering of the GOP faithful last week. "The Republican Party is kind of taking a nap somewhere."
Longtime conservative columnist George Will is making a case against voting for Republicans in November’s 2018 midterm elections, arguing that House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and other GOP members of Congress “have become the president’s poodles.”
In a column published Friday in The Washington Post, Will lamented “Republican misrule,” and criticized lawmakers for “hav[ing] no higher ambition than to placate the president.”
“The Republican-controlled Congress, which waited for Trump to undo by unilateral decree the border folly they could have prevented by actually legislating, is an advertisement for the unimportance of Republican control,” Will wrote.
 
“Forget policy. Forget ideology. Forget hating Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama or Nancy Pelosi. From Indiana to Arizona to Ohio, the name of the game for Republican candidates this primary cycle has been to flaunt their Trump love. And woe unto anyone deemed insufficiently smitten.
This week’s primary elections underscored the striking degree to which President Trump has transformed the Republican Party from a political organization into a cult of personality. By contrast, Democrats show signs of taking a more pluralistic approach, fielding candidates who are willing and even eager to break with their national leaders — the House minority leader, Ms. Pelosi, in particular.”