Saturday, June 30, 2018

TRUMP-EUROPE SPLIT



BRUSSELS — Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, said on Wednesday that the policies of President Trump had put trans-Atlantic relations “under tremendous pressure” and that Europeans should prepare for darker times.

As a trade war looms between the United States and the European Union, with retaliation for American tariffs on steel and aluminum and threats of further tariffs on imported cars, Mr. Tusk said in a letter to the heads of government of the European Union that “unfortunately the divisions go beyond trade.”

Mr. Tusk, in his letter, took note of a rancorous meeting this month of the Group of 7 industrialized countries, when Mr. Trump mocked European leaders and criticized their trade policies and military spending.

“It is my belief that, while hoping for the best, we must be ready to prepare our Union for worst-case scenarios,” Mr. Tusk said.
Without calling out the American president by name, Mr. Tusk also criticized Mr. Trump and his immigration policies, using Twitter to denounce those who support “anti-European & anti-liberal” views.

European leaders have been openly critical of Mr. Trump at times, and Mr. Tusk’s letter echoed a sentiment he expressed last month, when he scolded the president on Twitter in sarcastic terms.

“Looking at latest decisions of @realDonaldTrump someone could even think: with friends like that who needs enemies,” he wrote. “But frankly, EU should be grateful. Thanks to him we got rid of all illusions. We realize that if you need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of your arm.”


 

 
The Republican leadership, even with Trump's last-minute approval, failed to get an immigration reform bill through the House before the holiday recess.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/house-rejects-republican-compromise-immigration-bill/story?id=56200199

Is there such a thing as Republican "leadership" in D.C.?

WOMENS' CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO ABORTION IN JEOPARDKY


"Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement announcement on Wednesday sparked immediate questions about the future of abortion rights in the United States.
Kennedy, who was a pivotal swing vote in some of the most controversial rulings of the past 30 years, consistently upheld abortion rights during his tenure. But President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to select Supreme Court nominees who would “automatically” overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that established the constitutional right to an abortion."

http://time.com/5325124/justice-anthony-kennedy-supreme-court-roe-v-wade-overturned/

Trump may not have enough votes  to kill Roe v. Wade with just one appointment, but another appointment could have that effect.

TRUMP TOO SOFT ON PUTIN--


“It’s good for American presidents to meet with adversaries, to clarify differences and resolve disputes. But when President Trump sits down with President Vladimir Putin of Russia in Finland next month, it will be a meeting of kindred spirits, and that’s a problem.

One would think that at a tête-à-tête with the Russian autocrat, the president of the United States would take on some of the major concerns of America and its closest allies. Say, for instance, Mr. Putin’s seizure of Crimea and attack on Ukraine, which led to punishing international sanctions. But at the Group of 7 meeting in Quebec this month, Mr. Trump reportedly told his fellow heads of state that Crimea is Russian because everyone there speaks that language. And, of course, Trump aides talked to Russian officials about lifting some sanctions even before he took office.

One would hope that the president of the United States would let Mr. Putin know that he faces a united front of Mr. Trump and his fellow NATO leaders, with whom he would have met days before the summit in Helsinki. But Axios reported that during the meeting in Quebec, Mr. Trump said, “NATO is as bad as Nafta,” the North American Free Trade Agreement, which is one of Mr. Trump’s favorite boogeymen.

Certainly the president would mention that even the people he appointed to run America’s intelligence services believe unequivocally that Mr. Putin interfered in the 2016 election to put him in office and is continuing to undermine American democracy. Right? But on Thursday morning, Mr. Trump tweeted, “Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election!”

More likely, Mr. Trump will congratulate Mr. Putin, once again, for winning another term in a sham election, as he did in March, even though his aides explicitly warned him not to. And he has already proposed readmitting Russia to the Group of 7, from which it was ousted after the Ukraine invasion.

Summits once tended to be carefully scripted, and presidents were attended by senior advisers and American interpreters. At dinner during a Group of 20 meeting last July, Mr. Trump walked over to Mr. Putin and had a casual conversation with no other American representative present. He later said they discussed adoptions — the same issue that he falsely claimed was the subject of a meeting at Trump Tower in 2016 between his representatives and Russian operatives who said they had dirt on Hillary Clinton.

It’s clear that Mr. Trump isn’t a conventional president, but instead one intent on eroding institutions that undergird democracy and peace. Mr. Trump “doesn’t believe that the U.S. should be part of any alliance at all” and believes that “permanent destabilization creates American advantage,” according to unnamed administration officials quoted by Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic.

Such thinking goes further than most Americans have been led to believe were Mr. Trump’s views on issues central to allied security. He has often given grudging lip service to supporting NATO, even while complaining frequently about allies’ military spending and unfair trade policies.

The tensions Mr. Trump has sharpened with our allies should please Mr. Putin, whose goal is to fracture the West and assert Russian influence in places where the Americans and Europeans have played big roles, like the Middle East, the Balkans and the Baltic States.

Yet despite growing anxieties among European allies, Mr. Trump is relying on his advisers less than ever because, “He now thinks he’s mastered this,” one senior member of Congress said in an interview. That’s a chilling thought given his inability, so far, to show serious progress on any major security issue. Despite Mr. Trump’s talk of quick denuclearization after his headline-grabbing meeting with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, experts say satellite imagery shows the North is actually improving its nuclear capability.

While the White House hasn’t disclosed an agenda for the Putin meeting, there’s a lot the two leaders should be discussing, starting with Russian cyberintrusions. Mr. Trump, though, has implied that Mr. Putin could help the United States guard against election hacking. And although Congress last year mandated sweeping sanctions against Russia to deter such behavior, Mr. Trump has failed to implement many of them.

In a similar vein, should Mr. Trump agree to unilaterally lift sanctions imposed after Moscow invaded Ukraine and started a war, it would further upset alliance members, which joined the United States in imposing sanctions at some cost to themselves. Moreover, what would deter Mr. Putin from pursuing future land grabs?

Mr. Trump could compound that by canceling military exercises, as he did with South Korea after the meeting with Mr. Kim, and by withdrawing American troops that are intended to keep Russia from aggressive action in the Baltics.

Another fraught topic is Syria. Mr. Trump has signaled his desire to withdraw American troops from Syria, a move that would leave the country more firmly in the hands of President Bashar al-Assad and his two allies, Russia and Iran. Russia, in particular, is calling the shots on the battlefield and in drafting a political settlement that could end the fighting, presumably after opposition forces are routed.

What progress could be made at this summit, then? Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin may find it easier to cooperate in preventing a new nuclear arms race by extending New Start, a treaty limiting strategic nuclear weapons that expires in 2021.

Another priority: bringing Russia back into compliance with the I.N.F. treaty, which eliminated all U.S. and Soviet ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers, until Russia tested and deployed a prohibited cruise missile.

Mr. Trump’s top national security advisers are more cleareyed about the Russian threat than he is. So are the Republicans who control the Senate.  [The latter are true  conservative Republicans.] They have more responsibility than ever to try to persuade Mr. Trump that the country’s security is at stake when he meets Mr. Putin, and that he should prepare carefully for the encounter.”


 

TRUMP CALLS U.S. INTELLIGENCE LEADERS 'POLITICAL HACKS.' BELIEVES PUTIN


TRUMP CALLS U.S.INTELLIGENCE LEADERSHIP “POLITICAL HACKS,” DEFENDS PUTIN.
HANOI, Vietnam — Days before returning home from a whirlwind trip to Asia, President Donald Trump was back on the defensive over Russian election meddling, saying he considers President Vladimir Putin's denials sincere, dismissing former U.S. intelligence officials as "political hacks" [who are claiming these is lots of evidence that  Russia did try to influence the last Presidential election]nd accusing Democrats of trying to sabotage relations between the two countries.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said Putin had again vehemently insisted — this time on the sidelines of an economic summit in Vietnam — that Moscow had not interfered in the 2016 U.S. elections. . . .
"He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did," Trump said as he traveled to Hanoi, the second-to-last stop of his Asia trip.
"Every time he sees me, he said: 'I didn't do that.' And I believe — I really believe — that when he tells me that, he means it," Trump said. He called the accusation an "artificial barrier" erected by Democrats — once again casting doubt on the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia tried to interfere in the election to help the Republican Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/donald-trump-1/2017/11/11/trump-calls-putin-sincere-labels-us-intelligence-chiefs-political-hacks
 

TRUMP IS MORE ATTACHED TO PUTIN THAN TO OUR ALLIES


American relations with Canada, Mexico and many of our allies have soured because of Trumps tariffs and other statements.  He called Canada’s leader weak and showed disdain for our allies at the G-7 summit and in remarks about NATO.  Yet, Trump makes sure his relationship with Russia is maintained and strengthened.  No conservative Republican would do this.  Is Trump in some kind of bromance with Putin?  Does he feel an affinity for dictators?  Does Putin have some ‘dirt’ on Trump (Perhaps video of  Trump and a prostitute in a Moscow hotel room)?

WASHINGTON -- One of the enduring mystery off Donald Trump's presidency is his soft spot for Vladimir Putin and Russia. Over and over, he has rejected the consensus of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia meddled in the 2016 election. He's lauded Putin as a strong and effective leader.

Sen. John Cornyn, for one, isn't sure that Trump is sufficiently clear-eyed about the former KGB colonel ahead of a summit set for July 16 in Finland.

"Honestly I'm a little confused by the reports I see," said the Texas Republican, the No. 2 Senate majority leader. "On one occasion the president concedes that Russians tried to meddle in the election. And then I've read reports where he says they did not. I'm confident that they did."

Cornyn has no objection to the summit in Helsinki. The two nations have plenty to discuss, and a variety of areas in which they cooperate, including in the fight against ISIS and on space endeavors. 

But he said, "I'm hopeful that the president goes into this understanding what he's dealing with and who he's dealing with. It's somebody who I would not trust any further than I can see him."

From Cornyn, that's a fairly tough statement. He's not one of those bomb throwers who typically chides members of his own party. He rarely voices any criticism of Trump.

Trump has repeatedly downplayed Russian misdeeds, from its meddling in the 2016 election to its aggression against Ukraine and others.

On Thursday, shortly before the White House and the Kremlin announced the summit, the president again soft-pedaled concerns about Russia's actions in 2016.

"Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election!" he tweeted.

Trump had long refused to affirm the universal judgment of U.S. intelligence agencies regarding the 2016 meddling by Russia, often deflecting the allegations by speculating that any such interference more likely was meant to help Hillary Clinton than him.

On Friday, he told reporters flying with him to New Jersey aboard Air Force One that election interference will be among the many topics he raises with Putin. 

"We're going to be talking about Ukraine, we're going to be talking about Syria, we're going to be talking about elections. We don't want anybody tampering with elections," he said. But he also shrugged aside the idea of confronting Russia over Crimea. "President Obama allowed that to happen. ... It could've been handled much differently."

In the last few weeks alone, as The New York Times noted, Trump has called for readmitting Russia to the Group of 7 -- the club of western industrial democracies that ejected Russia after it invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea. That was especially remarkable given how far Trump went to antagonize fellow G-7 leaders over trade policy at their recent summit in Canada.

He's suggested that Russia had a legitimate claim in Crimea because of the many Russian speakers there.

The Trump administration has provided lethal aide to Ukraine. And it has imposed financial sanctions on many in Putin's inner circle. The State Department has condemned Russia for cyberattacks. And at times Trump himself has aimed stern rhetoric at Russia. But mostly, he has refrained from any public lashing of even the most egregious behavior by Putin, leaving national security experts concerned about how he'll approach the summit.

It's a concern that Cornyn shares.

"Make no mistake, President Trump agrees Russia interfering in our election is something they simply cannot do," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said this week.  "When the president meets with Vladimir Putin, he will make clear that meddling in our elections is completely unacceptable."

Vice President Mike Pence, traveling in South America, predicted that Trump would raise the issue in Helsinki. "He's discussed that with President Putin before. I would anticipate that he will discuss that with him again," he told Bloomberg.

But Trump himself has projected more eagerness to butter up Putin than to lay down markers or draw red lines -- whether in Crimea or Syria, or in the American social media battle space and electoral tug of war. And he'll be the one sitting with Putin in Helsinki.

At a rally in Fargo, N.D., on Wednesday night, Trump repeated his complaint about special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, which began with allegations of collusion between his campaign and Russians.

"They go after us for a Russian hoax. It's a witch hunt hoax," he said.

As for his outward friendliness toward the likes of North Korea's Kim Jong Un and Putin, he told the crowd, "Getting along with countries, getting along with China, getting along with Russia, getting along with these countries is a good thing. It's not a bad thing. Not a bad thing."

Cornyn readily agreed that keeping good relations with adversaries can be helpful. He speculated that when the president downplays Russia's meddling in the election, he's focused on the conclusion that Russia's actions, whatever they were, didn't affect the outcome or undermine the legitimacy of his win.

"I'm also confident that it did not change the outcome of the election, which may be what he's referring to," the senator said.

And he agrees that a summit with Putin could be useful.

"There are items of common interest between us and the Russians. Clearly they are an adversary of the United States. They're an existential threat to us, according to Gen. Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff," he said. "They're aggressive, as we've seen in Crimea and Ukraine and now in Syria, and are allied with some of the worst actors in the planet, like Iran, along with groups like Hezbollah."

He noted that Russia has backed Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian autocrat and "butcher ... who's killed hundreds of thousands of his own people in that terrible civil war, aided and abetted by the Russians."

Trump does not refer to Russia as an adversary or an aggressor.

"I do think there are some items of common interest, for example ISIS," Cornyn said. "So I do think that there are things that the president and Putin can talk about."

But he said, "They are not our friends."”

Cornyn is a true conservative Republican—Trump is not.

U.S. TO ROLL BACK TROOP LEVELS IN GERMANY?


The Pentagon is analyzing the cost and impact of a large-scale withdrawal or transfer of American troops stationed in Germany, amid growing tensions between President Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, according to people familiar with the work.

The effort follows Trump’s expression of interest in removing the troops, made during a meeting earlier this year with White House and military aides, U.S. officials said. Trump was said to have been taken aback by the size of the U.S. presence, which includes about 35,000 active-duty troops, and complained that other countries were not contributing fairly to joint security or paying enough to NATO.

Word of the assessment has alarmed European officials, who are scrambling to determine whether Trump actually intends to reposition U.S. forces or whether it is merely a negotiating tactic ahead of a NATO summit in Brussels, where Trump is again likely to criticize U.S. allies for what he deems insufficient defense spending. . . .


 

Large number of American troop have been stationed in Germany since the end of WWII in an attempt to deter Russian aggression.  Putin is certainly happy about a possible large scale reduction by the U.S.

CANADA MEXICO AND CHINA IN TRADE WARS WITH U.S.

China-U.S. trade war started by Trump's tariffs

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/trade/2018/04/03/trumps-trade-war-hits-home-chinas-retaliatory-tariffs-target-texas-pecans-grapefruit

Canada and Mexico v. U.S. Trade War
http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tariffs-trade-war-with-canada-mexico-misses-2018-6

Conservative Republicans don't start trade wars with big trading partners.

ABBOTT, CORNYN REPUBS WORRIED ABOUT TRUMP'S TARIFFS


 

 

Texas governor Greg Abbot is worried that Trump’s trade and tariff policies will badly hurt Texas.


"The president has great confidence that it will end well," Cornyn, the Senate's No. 2 Republican, said on a call with Texas reporters. "But in the meantime, there is a lot of disruption and anxiety over its impacts on the economy and on jobs and on consumer prices."

That nudge capped off a day in which senators in both parties once again urged the Trump administration to reconsider its snarling trade agenda.

Members of the Senate Finance Committee did the heavy lifting by unloading on Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross at a hearing on Capitol Hill, using the occasion to leave no doubt about the ongoing policy divide between Congress and the White House over trade.

The panel's GOP chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, led the charge by saying that the trade tiff was "taxing American families," "putting American jobs at risk" and "destroying markets."

But Cornyn also used a White House meeting Wednesday — which focused on the issue of child separations on the border but covered other ground — as another chance to push Trump, Ross and others to approach trade "in a way that is not harmful to Texas and the U.S. economy."

If recent history is any guide, those efforts are unlikely to make a difference.

The White House just this week threatened to impose hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of tariffs on Chinese goods, even after lawmakers in both parties have urged the president to move with caution in a trade war that's now enveloped close U.S. allies including Canada and Mexico. . . .

And lawmakers appear content to talk, rather than act, when it comes to Trump's trade tenor.

GOP leaders in the Senate have blocked legislation that would give Congress the ability to veto certain tariffs imposed by the president. That dynamic caused Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., to mock Cornyn on the Senate floor last week for not doing enough to stand up to Trump.

 

The blistering criticism on Wednesday nevertheless stood out.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the White House was promoting a "government-run mercantilist economy as opposed to a free-market economy." Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said Trump's approach was about "economic nationalism" rather than national security.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said bluntly that "this thing seems to be escalating out of control fairly quickly."

Hatch lamented that Trump's actions have provoked retaliatory tariffs that are hurting American industries, ranging from manufacturing to agriculture. He said he doesn't "see how the damage posed on all of these sectors could possibly advance our national security."


Trump’s policies are not those of these conservative Republicans.  When are Trump supporters going to be honest and  stop calling themselves ‘conservative Republicans.”

 

 

GM fears job and $ losses from Trump tariff threat


General Motors Co. issued a stern warning to the Trump administration that it could shrink U.S. operations and cut jobs if tariffs are broadly applied to imported vehicles and auto parts.

"Increased import tariffs could lead to a smaller GM, a reduced presence at home and risk less -- not more -- U.S. jobs," the nation's largest automaker said in comments submitted Friday to the Commerce Department.

That such a blunt statement came from GM -- a company run by a CEO, Mary Barra, whose normal tack is to avoid the political fray and let trade groups address the president's policies -- was surprising to industry observers. And it underscored how high she, and many industrial leaders, believe the stakes are as the president sinks the U.S. into tit-for-tat trade squabbles across the globe. GM's public pronouncement follows similar moves by Harley-Davidson Inc., Toyota Motor Corp. and Daimler AG


 

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Surprisingly tight race between Rep. Senator Ted Cruz & Beto O'Rourke

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2018-elections/2018/06/25/poll-ted-cruz-beto-orourke-locked-tight-senate-race-greg-abbott-wide-lead-lupe-valdez

Supreme Court Upholds Trump's Travel Ban

https://www.msnbc.com/brian-williams/watch/trump-declares-victory-after-supreme-court-upholds-his-travel-ban-1264900163690

TRUMP ATTACKS HARLEY DAVIDSON. He's not a Conservative Republican President

More evidence that Trump is not a conservative Republican.  No such person would attack a long-standing American business. Trump is acting like some kind of  bully or dictatorial strongman, not a President.  Only Congress can levy taxes.


A Harley-Davidson should never be built in another country-never! Their employees and customers are already very angry at them. If they move, watch, it will be the beginning of the end - they surrendered, they quit! The Aura will be gone and they will be taxed like never before!
 
 

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

A CALL FOR MORE CIVILITY IN POLITICS


“We'll give the owner of the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Va., this grace: She certainly engendered a national discussion about civility in our overly acrimonious world.

We aren't going to run down the motives that led the owner to ask Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, to leave the establishment before her party could have dinner. But there's a larger point we'd like to draw about the continuing coarsening of our civil discourse. In short, it's not very civil.

The issues and the passions among the people of this country are only more heightened with each passing episode.

At this moment, we are just coming off of a news cycle where Americans were treated to the facts of a very tough story about President Donald Trump's policy of separating children from parents who attempt to illegally enter the country. Now filling the news are reports of parents who are unable to locate children who have been whisked off to far-off facilities.

Nor is this the first issue that has elicited a visceral reaction from Americans concerned about, on basic humanitarian grounds, how people are treated rhetorically or through policies promulgated by the chief executive. In fact, looking over the past 18 months of the Trump administration, it is easy to find comments that appear to castigate people of color, people from other countries, or just people who oppose the president.”

From that escalator Trump used to descend onto the scene and launch his bid for the presidency to this month's still-unfolding border tragedy, there are more examples than one can reasonably list in a short article that drew widespread condemnation. This doesn't serve the president or the country well.

To us, this is an issue that stands apart from the president's policies, many of which we support and others we'll oppose vigorously. Rather it is an issue about public leadership. When the president of the United States uses words that assail the personal character of others or that cast large groups of people into a negative light, he is similarly giving license to others to engage in rhetorical roughness. He is making it more likely that others treat their fellow Americans with a level of incivility that's unbecoming of a great nation.”


 

2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV

Energy Sec. Rick Perry cautions about Trump's trade war.




“WASHINGTON — Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Monday that he's trying to "raise some warning flags" about President Donald Trump's aggressive trade agenda to make sure "we don't shoot a bullet that goes through the intended target and hits whoever is standing behind it."

The former Texas governor, long a proponent of free trade, highlighted particular concern over how Trump's tariffs on imported steel and aluminum could affect the American energy industry.

Perry said the U.S. must "make sure we don't put a tariff in place that is so broad that, yeah, we may try to bring China back in line to be a fair trader, but in doing that, we affect folks who are really important to the domestic steel production capability" for pipelines and other infrastructure.”

Glad to see someone in the cabint speaking up.  I?m not  a fan of Rick Perry, but I applaud his courage in speaking up. Too bad the others are not so courageous about this and a multitude of issues.

 

Trump's tariffs backfire to hurt an American company and workers


Trump bragged about keeping jobs in America.  Harley Davidson is moving some of it's jobs to Europe because of Trump's tariffs. Trump started this trade war.  How else will American's be hurt in the upcoming days?


"MILWAUKEE — Harley-Davidson, up against spiraling costs from tariffs, will begin to shift the production of motorcycles headed for Europe from the U.S. to factories overseas.

The European Union on Friday began rolling out tariffs on American imports like bourbon, peanut butter and orange juice. The EU tariffs on $3.4 billion worth of U.S. products are retaliation for duties the Trump administration is imposing on European steel and aluminum.

President Donald Trump has used Harley-Davidson as an example of a U.S. business that is being harmed by trade barriers. Yet Harley has warned consistently against tariffs, saying they would negatively impact sales.

Harley-Davidson Inc. sold almost 40,000 motorcycles in the Europe Union last year, generating revenue second only to the United States, according to the Milwaukee company.


 

Leaker arrested, reporter's files seized


“The story of what happened next — of a three-year affair that unfolded between a young reporter and a government official with access to top-secret information — is now part of a federal investigation that has rattled the world of Washington journalists and the sources they rely on.

Mr. Wolfe, 57, was arrested on June 7 and charged with lying to investigators about his contacts with Ms. Watkins and three other journalists. Ms. Watkins, a Washington-based reporter for The New York Times, had her email and phone records seized by federal prosecutors.

Now 26, Ms. Watkins was hired by The Times to cover federal law enforcement in December, about four months after she has said her relationship with Mr. Wolfe ended. Times officials are currently examining her work history and what influence the relationship may have had on her reporting. The Times is also reviewing her decision, on advice of her personal lawyer, not to immediately tell her editors about a letter she received in February informing her that her records had been seized.

The seizure of Ms. Watkins’s records was alarming to First Amendment advocates. With no allegation that classified information was disclosed, they said such a rare and aggressive tactic was unjustified and could undermine journalists’ ability to report on government misconduct.”

 

 

 

 

Saturday, June 23, 2018

Majority still disapprove of Trump Presidency, 40% want Impeachment

Trump's approval rating is staying under 50% according to a number of polls.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/

Four in ten (40%) Americans say that, based on what they have heard or read, President Trump should be impeached and removed from office. A majority (56%) of the public disagrees. Support for impeachment has been stable since the summer, when an identical number of Americans (40%) expressed the view that Trump should be impeached.

https://www.prri.org/research/american-values-survey-2017/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw37fZBRD3ARIsAJihSr2ncAqkGNPZzyBb0-rtsYEcjw9YiRaeprU01OphfRgtAV1_vABN2A4aAgRYEALw_wcB

TRUMP'S TRADE WAR HEATING UP, MAY HURT U.S. IN LONG RUN


“”WASHINGTON — The effects of President Trump’s trade war are beginning to ripple through the United States economy as steel tariffs disrupt domestic supply chains and global trading partners retaliate against a wide variety of American products, such as peanut butter, whiskey and lobster.

The cascade of tit-for-tat tariffs has spooked corporate executives, potentially slowing investment, and the Federal Reserve suggested this week that it might have to rethink its economic forecasts if the trade wars continue. . .

Mr. Trump, who campaigned on a get-tough approach to trade, has said his tariffs would make trade pacts more fair and ultimately help American workers, farmers, manufacturers and other. But the situation could soon become politically perilous to Mr. Trump, whose trade policies are starting to inflict economic pain across the country, including in areas that are home to the voters who helped him win election.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/22/us/politics/donald-trump-tariffs-trade-war.html

"WASHINGTON — A Florida boat builder absorbs $4 million in lost business and expects more pain. An Ohio pork producer is losing access to a vital export market and fears the damage will last years. A motorcycle shop near Cologne, Germany, wonders if it even has a future.
A brawl that the United States provoked with its closest trading partners is starting to draw blood. On Friday, the European Union began imposing tariffs on $3.4 billion in American goods — from whiskey and motorcycles to peanuts and cranberries — to retaliate for President Donald Trump's own tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. China, India and Turkey had earlier begun penalizing American products in response to the U.S. tariffs on metals.
"We're bleeding pretty bad right now," said Jim Heimerl, a pork producer in Johnstown, Ohio.
Pork producers like Heimerl are already suffering from plunging prices and reduced income since China's move to impose a 25 percent tariff on American pork in retaliation for Trump's tariffs on imported steel and aluminum."
 
 



 

 

Warrant needed for cellphone locatxin


“In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that police must obtain a search warrant to access an individual's cellphone location information. The 5-4 decision imposes new limits on law enforcement's ability to get at the increasing amount of data that private companies amass in the modern technological age.

Cellphone providers routinely keep location information for customers to help improve service. And until now, the prevailing legal theory was that if an individual voluntarily shares his information with a third party — for instance, by signing up for cellphone service — police can get that information without a search warrant.”

As government's snooping powers grow, we need the 4th Amendment to grow with it.
 
 

 

 

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

TRUMP LIES ABOUT CHILD SEPARATION POLICY


TRUMP LIES ABOUT SOURCE OF CHILD SEPARATION POLICY

President Donald Trump wrongly blamed Democrats for a Trump administration policy that will separate parents and their young children caught entering the U.S. illegally.

“We have to break up families,” Trump claimed, because of “bad laws that the Democrats gave us.” But there is no such law. Instead, it’s the administration’s decision to criminally prosecute all immigrants who cross the border illegally that will cause children to be separated from their parents.

In early May, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen directed her department to refer all unauthorized immigrants who cross the U.S. border to federal prosecutors. It’s in accordance with the Department of Justice’s new “zero tolerance” policy on illegal immigration at the Southwest border.

Parents would be sent to federal court under the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and then placed in a detention center, according to a DHS spokesperson. Their children, minors who cannot be housed in a detention center for adults, would be transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services for placement in a juvenile facility or foster care if they have no other adult relative in the U.S. who can take them in.


Trump’s wife, Melania has show concern about the policy.


A number of Republican leaders are starting to speak out against the policy.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/17/us/politics/melania-trump-family-separation.html

See post below where Trump signs executive order ending policy of separation.

 

 

Trump signs order to end child separation. Showing that he lied.


"First it was a deterrent. Then it wasn’t.
It was a new Justice Department policy. Then it wasn’t.
The Trump administration was simply following the law. Then it said separations weren’t required by law.
It could not be reversed by executive order. Then it was.
President Trump’s political gambit to force an immigration bill through Congress backfired Wednesday amid a series of wildly contradictory statements — which you can see for yourself in the video above — from a White House that has been without a communications director since Hope Hicks left in March."
 
The President's use of an executive order to stop separation proves that he lied when he said he couldn't do anything because of a law passed by the Democrats.

Monday, June 18, 2018

Trump's ex-campaign manager back in jail

Witness tampering alleged.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/manafort-ordered-to-jail-after-witness-tampering-charges/2018/06/15/ccc526cc-6e68-11e8-afd5-778aca903bbe_story.html?utm_term=.c1589d599c47

See also the post below re Trump lying about how long Manafort was his campaign manager.

Trump trying to deny ACA coverage for pre-existing conditions


Trump’s assault on ACA care for pre-existing conditions is underway.   Millions  could lose coverage.  This wont effect America’s affluent, but will be a cruel  blow for working class people.



 

Report on the Clinton e-mail case

The federal DOJ Inspector General's report on the investigation of Hillary Clinton's misuse of e-mails found that there was no evidence of political bias in former Director Comey's conclusion.  Comey was deemed to having been insubordinate in not following policies.  Contrary to what Trump and his supporters say,  The report says nothing about Trump and the collusion and obstruction of justice issues.  It does NOT clear Trump..



https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/us/politics/fbi-inspector-general-comey-trump-clinton-report.html?emc=edit_na_20180614&nl=breaking-news&nlid=68897083ing-news&ref=cta

TRUMPS WAR ON THE POOR


It is obvious the Trump administration has a lack of concern about Americas’ poor.  Work requirements make no sense where there are few if any jobs for the poor—which is lots of places.



Just recently,

“Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson proposed far-reaching changes to federal housing subsidies Wednesday, tripling rent for the poorest households and making it easier for housing authorities to impose work requirements.”