POTUS Donald Trump

[drjim]

The economy is not slowing yet. Good job growth in October and lowest unemployment in 17 years. As long as this is the case, Trump will have a foundation of support.

[Mike Sixel]

The economy is not slowing yet. Good job growth in October and lowest unemployment in 17 years. As long as this is the case, Trump will have a foundation of support.

Correct.

[D. Hocking]

 

In what may be the stupidest string of words ever spoken, Energy Secretary Rick Perry is suggesting that burning more fossil fuels will prevent sexual assaults.

 

Combine this with Pence's philosophy of never being alone with a woman (and calling his wife Mother) you have a group of enlightened leaders who are going to really move things forward.

 

If any other person called someone Pocahontas it would cause an outrage.  Trump barely even gets called out on it.   The bar is set so low for him he could probably have trick or treated in black face and it would be moved on from two days later (unless he kept reviving it in his twitter feed).  He called Warren Pocahontas again today, three days after proclaiming November 2017 National Native American Heritage Month. 

 

Also, there is something unsettling about the President of the United States wanting use the DOJ and FBI as if they were his personal task force.

[Badsmerf]

The economy is not slowing yet. Good job growth in October and lowest unemployment in 17 years. As long as this is the case, Trump will have a foundation of support.

This has nothing to do with Trump. He inherited a strong economy that had been heading in this direction for a long time. The only thing that could have an impact on jobs going forward is the castration of the epa and big business regulations. However, I don't see these as large growth moves and more towards bigger profits for businesses.

[drjim]

This has nothing to do with Trump. He inherited a strong economy that had been heading in this direction for a long time. The only thing that could have an impact on jobs going forward is the castration of the epa and big business regulations. However, I don't see these as large growth moves and more towards bigger profits for businesses.

I certainly agree, but that doesn't really matter politically. It is a testament to what a terrible President that is he to be in the 30s with a solid economy.

 

My bigger point is that a good economy is the only thing keeping him in the high 30s. If the economy has a slowdown he's going to plummet even further.

 

This current tax plan also isn't going to help. It's big R donors looting the country while they still can.

[biggentleben]

This is tremendously well-done, and also a concern to anyone hoping for sweeping changes in 2018:

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/08/donald-trump-johnstown-pennsylvania-supporters-215800 

[Mr. Brooks]

In the "credit where credit is due" department: Trump is supposedly looking into revoking Scientology's tax exempt status.

Might be the first thing he's said or done that I agree with.

[Badsmerf]

This is tremendously well-done, and also a concern to anyone hoping for sweeping changes in 2018:

 

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/08/donald-trump-johnstown-pennsylvania-supporters-215800

Ben, I moved your quote to thus thread since it really deals with Trump. I'm not surprised about the attitude in that area. I've sent some time there while in Wind and also met people from that area. It isn't pretty. They hate wind turbines, even though they have brought new jobs and tax money to the area. There have been bullet holes through turbines and signs.

 

Facts don't matter to those type of people. They are living in their own ****, and won't do anything to clean it out. Those communities are living a slow, painful death. I'm not sure what can be done to help them, a new manufacturing plant would, but you can't put a new plant in every struggling town.

[D. Hocking]

Technically not Trump - but reflects the golden age of politics that he represents.  (Unfortunately, Trump is more of a symptom of the state of affairs, and his eventual exit will not magically solve the broken state of our politics).

 

On why it is ok for a Senate candidate Roy Moore to be with a teen:

 

"Take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus.”@jimzeigler, Republican State Auditor of Alabama

 

Sadly, Moore has such a sorted history besides, that it should not have taken this to have people question him.

 

Also, putting aside we should have different standards than 2000 years ago, Mary did not exactly become a parent because of Joseph.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Ben, I moved your quote to thus thread since it really deals with Trump. I'm not surprised about the attitude in that area. I've sent some time there while in Wind and also met people from that area. It isn't pretty. They hate wind turbines, even though they have brought new jobs and tax money to the area. There have been bullet holes through turbines and signs.

Facts don't matter to those type of people. They are living in their own ****, and won't do anything to clean it out. Those communities are living a slow, painful death. I'm not sure what can be done to help them, a new manufacturing plant would, but you can't put a new plant in every struggling town.

with all due respect, I think your response is a swing and a miss

 

I agree with you in some ways, but this area in the article could be many, many areas anywhere else.

 

I don't know what The Answer is, but I do know that party politicians do not give a sh*t what happens to that town, but at least Republicans pretend to care or know the cause. That's my own opinion and that's what came through to me from the people interviewed in the story. Another thing that occurred to me was if a cost analysis could be done on subsidizing that cafe, versus opening a social security benefits office across the street.

[Badsmerf]

with all due respect, I think your response is a swing and a miss

I agree with you in some ways, but this area in the article could be many, many areas anywhere else.

I don't know what The Answer is, but I do know that party politicians do not give a sh*t what happens to that town, but at least Republicans pretend to care or know the cause. That's my own opinion and that's what came through to me from the people interviewed in the story. Another thing that occurred to me was if a cost analysis could be done on subsidizing that cafe, versus opening a social security benefits office across the street.

What did I miss on? I've been to this area, and many like it. Ironically, wind turbines trend to be I these types of places around the country. They certainly aren't in vibrant economically strong cities.

 

Part of the reason these people don't like wind, is they would require retraining. That business owner emphasized he would hire 150 people right now if they could pass drug tests and work hard. That is why the message of bringing coal and steel mills back was so important, it gave a boost of nostalgia to the goods old days. Even though they know it will never happen, it doesn't matter when they're already in denial.

 

My political outlook has changed dramatically the more I am exposed to new places. I've seen people cut off their nose to spite their face to keep out business. The economic stability that once happened there is never coming back. Like places that had a gold rush in the 1900s, without a means there is no way. Try communicating that. They knew Trump was lying and they didn't care. That's why I still believe, facts don't matter to this segment of the population. There are towns like this all over the US that just want someone to talk to them like they care. Trump doesn't, and democrats would be smart to prop up people that do.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

What did I miss on? I've been to this area, and many like it. Ironically, wind turbines trend to be I these types of places around the country. They certainly aren't in vibrant economically strong cities.

Part of the reason these people don't like wind, is they would require retraining. That business owner emphasized he would hire 150 people right now if they could pass drug tests and work hard. That is why the message of bringing coal and steel mills back was so important, it gave a boost of nostalgia to the goods old days. Even though they know it will never happen, it doesn't matter when they're already in denial.

My political outlook has changed dramatically the more I am exposed to new places. I've seen people cut off their nose to spite their face to keep out business. The economic stability that once happened there is never coming back. Like places that had a gold rush in the 1900s, without a means there is no way. Try communicating that. They knew Trump was lying and they didn't care. That's why I still believe, facts don't matter to this segment of the population. There are towns like this all over the US that just want someone to talk to them like they care. Trump doesn't, and democrats would be smart to prop up people that do.

I don't know much wind, how it came to that area, or if this is about wind. I don't know what Murtha did exactly for that particular area. I don't even really disagree with you, I just think it's the wrong approach. Basically older people like that have been left out there to die, in a not-so-figurative sense. Republicans have at least identified the problem for them, even though it's a lie.

[Badsmerf]

What is the solution though? False promises don't fix it. Cutting access to healthcare certainly doesn't fix it. A new factory would help, but that was my point, there aren't enough new factories to put up. Coal is dying, and never coming back.

 

This has a lot to do with the wind industry, or energy as a whole. Coal jobs are a huge reason Trump is refusing climate change (l hope for his sake instead of stupidity). If it is out of stupidity, at least coal is the reason it gets traction. Those rural area reject wind farms in local votes. Sioux Falls just did the same.

 

Mining is a tough economy to be tied to. Prices rise and fall with the market, so jobs come and go. The resource isn't infinite, so one day they will be gone completely. And, it is dirty. The booming community of years past is gone, and the same communities can't support the same amount of people.

 

You don't see Amazon looking to move their new headquarters to northwest Kansas. The new jobs are opening in cities, thus, the current consolidation of our country. Small towns are losing people and big cities are gaining them. Some mining communities (like the iron range) are doing alright and opening new mines and adding jobs. Others, like in southeast Alaska, are holding steady and have reached an equilibrium with the rest of the economy. The big loser is, and will be until the industry is completely obsolete, is coal.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I don't think the bigger story is about coal v. wind any more than it is about auto manufacturing or mining or whatever. I am reading this as an abandonment of rural America. Part of the solution IMO is for the Democratic Party to close up shop and all the big Democratic names to quietly disappear. More realistically, better people need to run for these offices, like you said. Maybe run as independents.

[Doomtints]

Why should the Democrats blow everything up when they won the popular vote?  The GOP is imploding, all the Democrats have to do is work and keep their mouths shut for the next year.

[Champuckett]

More realistically, better people need to run for these offices, like you said. Maybe run as independents.

You may be onto something. How do we get better people to run for office?

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

It's just a matter of opinion, doomtints. I hope they really are working hard on important issues and I hope you are right.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

You may be onto something. How do we get better people to run for office?

Good question. What are your thoughts? For starters, I think the old guard needs to swallow their pride and step aside, no more campaigning, endorsements, nothing. (Looking at you, Biden. Is he still lingering?) as for 2020, I think the Democratic Party needs someone young and from the south, like Bill in 1992. Completely new people.

[Mr. Brooks]

You may be onto something. How do we get better people to run for office?

Drastic campaign finance reform, for starters.

[Craig Arko]

The first thing is to figure out who ‘better people’ are. I’ll go with 50% women for starters.

[Badsmerf]

Does anyone else feel like Trump has his tail between his legs this trip? Getting played by Putin, shrinking in China.... He's getting walked all over internationally. The TPP is continuing without us, and the major beneficiary is going to be Canada.

[jimmer]

Trump nominates a guy for the Federal bench who has only practiced law for three years and has never even tried a case or presented a motion.

[D. Hocking]

 

Trump nominates a guy for the Federal bench who has only practiced law for three years and has never even tried a case or presented a motion.

 

He does have experience as a right-wing blogger, which will help him write his opinions.

 

He somehow forgot to disclose that he is the husband of the chief of staff to Trump's White House counsel:

 

The pictures of Trump laughing at Duterte and looking like they are best buds is also a little sickening.  Trump does like leaders who rule with an iron fist.

[drjim]

So Don Jr and Wikileaks were in direct contact last summer/fall. Seems like a big deal.

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/11/the-secret-correspondence-between-donald-trump-jr-and-wikileaks/545738/

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

So Don Jr and Wikileaks were in direct contact last summer/fall. Seems like a big deal.

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/11/the-secret-correspondence-between-donald-trump-jr-and-wikileaks/545738/

Trump could be found in the Oval Office eating the corpse of a baby and it wouldn't surprise me at this point.

[Mike Sixel]

Trump could be found in the Oval Office eating the corpse of a baby and it wouldn't surprise me at this point.

But he wouldn't be a Democrat, so the GOP voters would still vote for him.

[Badsmerf]

That isn't a huge deal. It would be one thing if he was collaborating, but it seems fairly petty. Wikileaks are dicks. The Trumps are idiots. He released these all to social prosecutor so we'll see if anything comes out of it.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Wikileaks could have been good. Somehow it turned into an anti-Clinton thing, unfortunately.

[PseudoSABR]

 

That isn't a huge deal. It would be one thing if he was collaborating, but it seems fairly petty. Wikileaks are dicks. The Trumps are idiots. He released these all to social prosecutor so we'll see if anything comes out of it.

It's yet one more conduit with which Trump could trade information with Russia.  Smoking gun, no? But Jr. also forwarded some of these discussions to nearly everyone in Trump's inner circle.  This disclosure provides more leverage for Mueller, if these seem people have been interviewed and didn't disclose knowing about the wikileak contacts.  In any case, it likely breaks campaign financing laws, which no form help/contribution can be garnered from a foreign power.   

 

The whole "let us release your tax returns, so we don't look biased, and its not like its only coming from Russia for the benefit of Trump" seems pretty damning, whether Jr. responded to that email or not...

 

[drjim]

Wikileaks could have been good. Somehow it turned into an anti-Clinton thing, unfortunately.

It's much worse than just anti-Clinton. It is an active extension of the intelligence services of autocratic and anti-democratic countries.