Trumps america

[Mercurygirl]

2009 called, it wants its meme back.

 

[b.c.]

Because of Trump's action, the consumer will pay more than they were going to. I'm not sure it's a huge stretch to call this an "increase."

But people will argue semantics back and forth, with partisan spin on both sides. And so it goes . . .

Once again Jz's response goes to show the HYPOCRISY of the right. Recall how not too long ago, he and other conservatives were calling the penalty for those who didn't get or have health coverage a TAX INCREASE, even though it didn't apply to those who had coverage.

NOW they want to apply a different set of rules.

MEANWHILE, Republicans in Congress are currently working on a healthcare plan that they're trying to rush through, in SECRECY, without debate, town hall meetings, or public discussion... a plan that according to the Action Wing of the nation's most respected consumer publication, Consumer Reports, will scale back Medicare coverage, and current healthcare coverage, and result in huge INCREASES in costs to CONSUMERS (including their OWN idiot constituency).

 

[Klingsor]

2009 called, it wants its meme back.

Ditto.

 

[Klingsor]

Once again Jz's response goes to show the HYPOCRISY of the right. Recall how not too long ago, he and other conservatives were calling the penalty for those who didn't get or have health coverage a TAX INCREASE, even though it didn't apply to those who had coverage.

To be fair, though, the ACA wouldn't have got off the ground in the first place if Chief Justice Roberts hadn't called the individual mandate a tax.

 

[chicagosam]

2009 called, it wants its meme back.

It also wants that expression back. Go find someone else to troll.

 

[ozwestcoastboy]

This opinion piece from The Washington Post is well worth the read . . .

There was nothing ‘presidential’ about Trump’s speech

By Eugene Robinson By Eugene Robinson Opinions

March 2 at 8:00 PM

Dying industries will come roaring back to life,” he vowed. Gleaming new roads, bridges and airports will magically materialize. Health care will be better, cheaper and available to all. Terrorism, crime, poverty and even drug addiction will cease to plague our soon-to-be-great-again land.

What I didn’t hear was anything to reassure the nation that its fate is in competent hands.

Trump’s speech won praise for being “presidential,” but only from those grading him on an absurdly generous curve. It should not be remarkable that the highest elected official of the richest and most powerful nation on earth managed to get through an hour-long speech without foaming at the mouth. Two-bit banana republics set a higher bar.

I do give Trump credit for one laugh-out-loud funny line: “The time for small thinking is over. The time for trivial fights is behind us.” This high-minded sentiment came from a man who used his appearance at the National Prayer Breakfast to taunt Arnold Schwarzenegger about his ratings as Trump’s replacement on “The Celebrity Apprentice.”

And there was one truly genuine and unforgettable moment: the sustained ovation for Carryn Owens, the widow of Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens , who was killed in the Trump administration’s first counterterrorism operation, a raid in Yemen.

But what else could anyone take seriously? Certainly not the president’s basic premise that he inherited a nation in dire straits. Unemployment as of January was 4.8 percent. Violent crime is near historical lows nationwide, though a few cities, including Chicago, are tragic exceptions. What once was a flood of undocumented migrants coming across the border from Mexico has become a trickle. And through a combination of vigilance and good fortune, we have not suffered a major attack by a terrorist group on U.S. soil since 9/11.

Much of Trump’s speech, then, was devoted to solving problems that do not exist. He wants to give huge tax cuts to corporations as a way of creating jobs. He is forming a Justice Department task force on crime. He swore for the umpteenth time to build “a great, great wall along our southern border.” And he called for the strictest possible vetting of visa applicants from countries afflicted by terrorism — which is what already takes place.

If he wanted to, Trump could just declare victory now on all these fronts and then turn to other matters. But that would require setting actual policy rather than just talking and tweeting.

The closest the president came to substance in the speech was in discussing health care. Unless you were listening very carefully, you probably just heard Trump’s usual it’s-gonna-be-awesome description of what will replace the Affordable Care Act: “reforms that expand choice, increase access, lower costs, and at the same time provide better health care.” This imaginary program probably washes and waxes your car, too.

But House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) surely noticed that Trump used the phrases “tax credits” and “expanded health savings accounts” — both of which are elements of the framework Ryan supports as a starting point for a replacement program. The problem for Ryan is that both Democrats and conservative Republicans reject his approach, so the kind words from the president may not matter.

After reportedly suggesting in an off-the-record lunch with television anchors that he might propose a version of comprehensive immigration reform, with some sort of legal status for the millions of law-abiding undocumented immigrants, Trump did nothing of the sort. In fact, he went back to demonizing the undocumented as dangerous criminals, announcing a new victims-services office infelicitously named VOICE — Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement.

And as for sounding presidential, how about this passage? “Free nations are the best vehicle for expressing the will of the people, and America respects the right of all nations to chart their own path. My job is not to represent the world. My job is to represent the United States of America.”

All recent presidents have focused instead on the inalienable human rights of individuals and have criticized governments whose “own path” is to trample those rights. All recent presidents have believed the United States can and must play a special role in the world as a beacon of freedom.

Trump said he wants an America “not burdened by our fears” — after spending an hour stoking those fears. Even when he uses his indoor voice, he doesn’t sound much like a president.

Read more from Eugene Robinson’s archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe

 

[chrisrobin]

This reminds me very much of that great showman Barnham
Trump would have been in good hands working for that guy though in truth lots of the old showman has rubbed.
Put Trump in a medicine show and he'll woo the crowd with a load of flim flam and fake remedies, he'd pontificate pout and strut selling himself and the potions - his one concern would ne making money quickly and moving on before the folk that bought into the medications found out it was all hokum.
For if there is one good thing to say about Trump then you have to admit he's a good salesman, very much in the vein of the Fuller Brush Company door step salesman or the Avon rep, selling his vison of what is products can do for you regardless of whether you want them or he can deliver - all he wants is that cheque, that endorsement.
As long as he can strut, dazzle and please the crowd that's fine but come delivery day and poof, in a quiff of bleached hair and fake suntan will come the day of reckoning.
atSELLING HIS VISON OF WHAT HIS PRODUCTS CAN DO FOR YOU IF YOU JUST GIVE A LITTLE VIOTE BUT IN REASLIYTY HAVING NO IDEAC aND LATTERLY THE .R|fullerm

 

[chrisrobin]

Just seen POTUS has been busy with his pen
Just repealed the act requiring those with mental illness to get better checks before being able to buy guns - think that lets about 750,000 possible new gun owners on the streets, some in Washington and some down in Florida.....

Pence, not a bright man, but very Christian, also been caught out using a personal email account for business affairs that might have been hacked - after the Clint episode you'd think....
and poor old Attorney General, mis-understood, a good man who could have said things differently or so POTUS said.....

 

[deleted15807]

Just seen POTUS has been busy with his pen
Just repealed the act requiring those with mental illness to get better checks before being able to buy guns - think that lets about 750,000 possible new gun owners on the streets, some in Washington and some down in Florida....

These domestic terrorists won't have to worry about "extreme vetting". They've made killing easier than voting to no one's surprise. Unless of course you're a woman wanting an abortion then you will be forced to have a transvaginal procedure, in which a probe is inserted into the vagina, and then moved around until an ultrasound image is produced.

 

[chrisrobin]

Its Saturday and doubtless POTUS is relaxing in his Florida home protected by swarms of guards - while real Americans slog on.
So a parable
One there was a man, they called him the new messiah, folks flocked to hear him speak as he promised love and peace - he healed the sick and fed the poor but in the end, as even his friends turned their backs and the once jubilant follows chanted for his death - they hung him on a cross.
Move on 1900 years or so. An Austrian private, became a corporal, became the leader of one of the worlds biggest armies while once again he was adulated on the streets, flowers thrown at his feet and he could do no wrong as he was "leading his nation to be great again". As his actions and rhetoric got stronger fear spread, suddenly the madly enthusiastic throngs weren't so keen - but they had nowhere to go, plus they knew houses, streets and villages were being stripped, there was talk of camps, extermination and yet nothing was done and when the time came for this leader to meat his end almost as a nation the public denied knowing him or of his deeds.
Look at the other major dictators in the world, Mugabe in Zimbabwe, South Africa, North Korea, China and Russia, look at how South America, Africa treat their dictators when they get to strong - though often its not till the death of those dictators that changes come, and suddenly I see parallels.
Take a look at Charlie Chaplin's "Great Dictator" , a parody of the truth?
or
is the whole of America in some sort of
time warp?
There are those who say the best politicians are those who study history - regrettably recently that's not been the case.
So from the glittering gold multi storied palaces comes a new messiah promising to make........

 

[BULLDOG00]

Its Saturday and doubtless POTUS is relaxing in his Florida home protected by swarms of guards - while real Americans slog on.
So a parable
One there was a man, they called him the new messiah, folks flocked to hear him speak as he promised love and peace - he healed the sick and fed the poor but in the end, as even his friends turned their backs and the once jubilant follows chanted for his death - they hung him on a cross.
Move on 1900 years or so. An Austrian private, became a corporal, became the leader of one of the worlds biggest armies while once again he was adulated on the streets, flowers thrown at his feet and he could do no wrong as he was "leading his nation to be great again". As his actions and rhetoric got stronger fear spread, suddenly the madly enthusiastic throngs weren't so keen - but they had nowhere to go, plus they knew houses, streets and villages were being stripped, there was talk of camps, extermination and yet nothing was done and when the time came for this leader to meat his end almost as a nation the public denied knowing him or of his deeds.
Look at the other major dictators in the world, Mugabe in Zimbabwe, South Africa, North Korea, China and Russia, look at how South America, Africa treat their dictators when they get to strong - though often its not till the death of those dictators that changes come, and suddenly I see parallels.
Take a look at Charlie Chaplin's "Great Dictator" , a parody of the truth?
or
is the whole of America in some sort of
time warp?
There are those who say the best politicians are those who study history - regrettably recently that's not been the case.
So from the glittering gold multi storied palaces comes a new messiah promising to make........

chrisrobin,

I found a book you might like.

 

[chrisrobin]

chrisrobin,

I found a book you might like.

your bedside reading?

 

[Industrialsize]

Take Nixon in the deepest days of his Watergate paranoia, subtract 50 IQ points, add Twitter, and you have Trump today.

 

[BULLDOG00]

Take Nixon in the deepest days of his Watergate paranoia, subtract 50 IQ points, add Twitter, and you have Trump today.

Speaking of Nixon, Obama is about to have his own Nixon style scandal. He just got caught tapping Trump's phones during the election. OBAMAGATE

 

[Industrialsize]

Speaking of Nixon, Obama is about to have his own Nixon style scandal. He just got caught tapping Trump's phones during the election. OBAMAGATE

You have no idea how government works. A president cannot order a wiretap because he wants to. If President Obama was able to wiretap Trump Tower, it means he went before a judge in a secret FISA court. The judge gave the President a warrant to have Mr Trump wiretapped. The only reason a FISA court would grant a warrant is if they found probable cause that Mr Trump either committed a crime or was colluding with a foreign agent. TRUMPGATE

 

[BULLDOG00]

You have no idea how government works. A president cannot order a wiretap because he wants to. If President Obama was able to wiretap Trump Tower, it means he went before a judge in a secret FISA court. The judge gave the President a warrant to have Mr Trump wiretapped. The only reason a FISA court would grant a warrant is if they found probable cause that Mr Trump either committed a crime or was colluding with a foreign agent. TRUMPGATE

You think Obama got a warrant to tap Trump's phones? Crank up Journey, "DON'T STOP BELIEVING!" LOL

 

[LittleBuzzSaw]

Acknowledging Owens' widow was the worst kind of cynical string-pulling imaginable. Trump killed her husband by ordering a mission that had not been properly assessed for its danger. The dead man's father refused to meet Trump on the return of his son's body. This will ultimately be a dark strain on Trump's already stained moral integrity.

No sir, it was not. It was acknowledging the widow of a service member killed in combat. Trump did not kill her husband, a woman with an AK-47 did. Do you know why? Because when they approached their target, the woman was plainly seen holding the weapon, but they were not authorized to engage her because she wasn't "pointing it at them". Those ROE's were put in place by DEMOCRATIC and LIBERAL members of congress and the senate. Please, before you state a mission wasn't "properly assessed", know the entirety of the facts.

If you want to blame a President for an operation gone wrong in a mission "not properly assessed", you may want to research Operation Red Wing, where (IIRC) 20 of our most valued SO's were killed..... not long after Obunghole spoke on national TV revealing information about them.... and their mission was ordered that all of them be on the same helicopter.... which is NEVER done.

 

[LittleBuzzSaw]

You have no idea how government works. A president cannot order a wiretap because he wants to. If President Obama was able to wiretap Trump Tower, it means he went before a judge in a secret FISA court. The judge gave the President a warrant to have Mr Trump wiretapped. The only reason a FISA court would grant a warrant is if they found probable cause that Mr Trump either committed a crime or was colluding with a foreign agent. TRUMPGATE

You referenced Watergate.... yet you must not know Nixon wiretapped phones without warrants. As did JFK, Eisenhower, Hoover, Johnson, and more..... this is NOT something solely subjugated to Trump (if that's even true).

 

[Industrialsize]

You think Obama got a warrant to tap Trump's phones? Crank up Journey, "DON'T STOP BELIEVING!" LOL

The Guardian has learned that the FBI applied for a warrant from the foreign intelligence surveillance (Fisa) court over the summer in order to monitor four members of the Trump team suspected of irregular contacts with Russian officials. The Fisa court turned down the application asking FBI counter-intelligence investigators to narrow its focus. According to one report, the FBI was finally granted a warrant in October, but that has not been confirmed, and it is not clear whether any warrant led to a full investigation
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...-mccain-alleging-secret-trump-russia-contacts

 

[BULLDOG00]

The Guardian has learned that the FBI applied for a warrant from the foreign intelligence surveillance (Fisa) court over the summer in order to monitor four members of the Trump team suspected of irregular contacts with Russian officials. The Fisa court turned down the application asking FBI counter-intelligence investigators to narrow its focus. According to one report, the FBI was finally granted a warrant in October, but that has not been confirmed, and it is not clear whether any warrant led to a full investigation
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...-mccain-alleging-secret-trump-russia-contacts

So in other words, Obama applied for a warrant, was turned down and there is no evidence that he was granted a warrant to tap Trump's phones.

Then we have the other Obama scandal, funneling DOJ money to left wing groups.