Summations Only

So far ALL Trump's appointees have had extensive expertise at weakening national security.

I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you!

Spoiler alert: the bad guys lied. You said that Obama forced nuns to perform abortions. That wasn't true. Why did you say that?

fuck itEdited by messenjaH of oNe, : No reason given.Edited by messenjaH of oNe, : No reason given.Edited by messenjaH of oNe, : No reason given.

This morning's column by Paul Krugman: Why Was Trumponomics a Flop?In which he points out that Trump's "signature" economic accomplishments have been a whole lot of nothing. He's pretty caustic about Republicans' continued magical belief in tax cuts even though experience shows that in the list of things that businesses take into account in their investment decisions, tax cuts are way down in the list: Finally: My favorite, though, was this comment by someone who signed themselves "M":

It's amazing they still push the trickle-down crap after so many failures, especially Brownback's Kansas fustercluck.

That's because it isn't about money actually trickling down, it's all about creating a huge deficit and putting the money in 1% pockets.Only the ignorant base believe it.DUH

Wasn't one of Hitler's first actions requiring an oath of personal loyalty to him?Trump is nothing but a loser and a wannabe.Damn Godwin! Full speed ahead!

Trump brutally mocked after his intel nominee crashes and burns in just 5 days: ‘It is called VETTING you idiot‘

quote:

---

Trump complained that the treatment of the heretofore obscure Republican, who seemed to be auditioning for the job with his harsh treatment of special counsel Robert Mueller in a congressional hearing, was unfair. But Twitter users pointed out that the lawmaker had been exposed for padding his resume.

​

Addressing Trump’s complaint that Ratcliffe would be going through months of slander and libel, the president was informed, It is called VETTING you idiot.

---

And for not having any experience in intelligence.Trump’s setting records for withdrawn nominees because of lack of vetting.*Are you unfailingly loyal to Donald J. Trump? "
" SIR YES SIR!!"
" Good enough. You're in."ABE Found It. Trump was ignoring legal requirements again. 50 U.S. Code 3023. Director of National Intelligence:

quote:

---

Any individual nominated for appointment as Director of National Intelligence shall have extensive national security expertise.

---

Edited by JonF, : No reason given.

I played with the numbers before the tax scam was passed.As I recall, the figures being put forward amounted to the top 1% or 2% getting something like $33,000 each. Now, what are they going to do with that extra money? It's such a paltry sum compare with their total income. Would they even notice it? Would they just stick it in a drawer and forget about it? Or use it to gamble in the stock market (which is what speculative trading is). For example, a multi-millionaire we did some work for remarked that he was receiving Social Security and all he used it for was to have his car serviced.I used that figure to estimate how much money was involved and it was in the billions. I then estimated how much each person would get if it was instead distributed to the entire population and it came to about $300 per person.The difference is that while the rich would not spend their $33,000, thus keeping it out of the economy, the rest of us would most definitely spend our $300 on food, bills, durable goods, etc, sending those billions of dollars straight into the economy. With all that money entering the economy, stores could stay open and hire people, new stores and businesses could open and hire people, manufacturers would have more customers for their products and be able to expand and hire more workers, and so on.Giving money to the rich starves the economy. Getting money into the hands of the middle class and the poor feeds and invigorates the economy.

The economy is the movement of money, not the possession of it. This is why the stock market is not a measure of the movement of money so much as a measure of the possession of it (it doesn't go anywhere except stock market statements).Enjoy

The Bill for America First Is Coming Due

quote:

---

In this crowded and enervating week of news, it would have been easy to miss two small but consequential signs of the damage President Donald Trump and his team have done to America’s standing in the world. Two of America’s closest treaty allies have announced military efforts explicitly designed to exclude the United States. Australia is seeking to cement its status as the security partner of choice for Pacific nations by establishing an expeditionary training force. And the United Kingdom wants to create a multinational force to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

​

It’s not a coincidence that allies are striking out on their own. Countries in the Pacific worry that the U.S. is forcing them to choose between their economic connections to China and their security relationships with the U.S. And while forcing this choice, the U.S. is also publicly calling the security guarantees into questionPresident Trump did so before arriving in Japan for the G20 summit. Meanwhile, European allies blame Trump-administration tactics for Iran’s decision to lash out at shipping in the Gulf. That’s why British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt stressed that the purpose of the multinational force was to dissociate European governments from U.S. policy toward Iran. Hunt explicitly said, It will not be part of the U.S. maximum pressure policy on Iran because we remain committed to preserving the Iran nuclear agreement.

---

"America First" has become "America Alone".

They really do want a dictatorship.

quote:

---

The survey by Pew Research Center, conducted July 10-15 among 1,502 adults, finds that Republicans’ views on this question have changed markedly since last year. About half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (51%) now say it would be too risky to give presidents more power, down from 70% last year.

​

The share of Republicans who say presidents could operate more effectively if they did not have to worry so much about Congress and the courts has increased 16 percentage points since then, from 27% to 43%.

​

Among Americans who describe themselves as conservative Republicans, the results are even more dramatic: last year, only 26% of these voters wanted to see a more powerful president, freed from having to worry so much about the co-equal branches of government. This year, among self-identified conservative Republicans, that number doubled to 52%.

​

In other words, it’s become increasingly common in GOP circles not just to support Donald Trump, but also to be hostile toward checks and balances that our system of government imposes on him.

---

Bye-bye Constitution. It was good while it lasted.

How the rest of the world sees us is reflected in recent film & TV.In the British "Years and Years" recently on HBO, Trump won a second term and a couple days before leaving office conducted a preemptive nuclear strike against a Chinese artificial island. Every other nation imposed sanctions against the US. OBTW, Pence was the next President. But the British leaders were even worse."The Wolf's Call" on Netflix is a French modern submarine thriller. In it, the EU was pretty much on its own because the US had apathetically isolated itself.I'm sure that there are many other examples.

REVEALED: DOJ blocked report showing white supremacists responsible for all race-based domestic terrorism incidents in 2018

quote:

---

The Trump administration has known since at least April that alleged white supremacists were responsible for every single act of race-based domestic terrorism in the U.S. in 2018, yet not only took no action to combat the growing right wing violent extremism, but actually substantially reduced or even eliminated funding and programs that combat white supremacist extremism, violence, and terrorism — and then blocked the data from reaching the hands of Congress.

---

Faith probably thinks that's a good thing.