In business, Donald Trump loved to use bankruptcy as a means to loot workers of their income and shares of stock. Now, he proposes to apply that same skill to the public with Medicare. Welcome to Trump News Today, the Looting of the Middle Class Edition. We attempt to bring you all the information you need to know to be an effective member of the resistance. We do not sit around in a circular firing squad. We do not relitigate the primaries. We do not attack Bernie or Hillary. The primaries are over. The general election is over. I plan to support a nominee with a strong positive approval rating who is trusted by progressives and mainstream Democrats alike. I support Keith Ellison as the DNC Chair. Having said that, please do not bring your Bernie / Hillary pie fights here. Trump News Today aims to direct our fire at Donald Trump to help us resist him most effectively.
We begin noting that we are clear that Donald Trump is a misogynist, a racist, a bigot, and so are all of his voters. For they voted for him and knew of all of the evidence of his misogyny, racism, and bigotry and still voted for him. Therefore, for them his misogyny, racism, and bigotry was relatively acceptable. Those who can tolerate misogyny, racism, and bigotry are themselves misogynists, racists, and bigots. We have been clear about this. His followers are already unleashing a torrent of hate towards those who are not Straight White Anglo Saxon Protestants Males. What we are not as clear about is his ideology. He focused more on expressions of bigotry rather than specific policy plans. We must use his personnel as our guide to determine where he will be ideologically. However, Nate Silver notes that we have never known less about the ideology of an incoming president elect. That is scary.
Trying to figure out President-elect Donald Trump’s ideology, on the other hand, is like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall. He released few detailed policy positions during the campaign, and his actions and statements in the few weeks since the election have been anything but clarifying. We probably know less about what the Trump administration will be like than any incoming administration in modern American history. Trump could end up being one of the most moderate presidents in a generation, or he could be one of the most extreme. He might be both
He points out that personnel is a good indicator of policy. This is likely to be especially true in this case given Donald Trump’s lack of knowledge and experience of government.
Well, not really. Trump’s transition appointments have signaled an instinct to go hard right, particularly if you believe “personnel is policy.” He nominated Sen. Jeff Sessions, an uber conservative anti-immigration hawk, to be his attorney general. Sessions, of Alabama, was previously denied a federal judgeship because of racist statements he was alleged to have made as a U.S. attorney. Democrats continue to oppose his nomination. Trump also named Steve Bannon as his chief strategist. Bannon was the executive chairman of Breitbart News, a website that published articles with headlines including“Bill Kristol: Republican Spoiler, Renegade Jew” and “The Solution to Online ‘Harassment’ Is Simple: Women Should Log Off.” Bannon, like Sessions, has been vigorously protested by Democratic groups. Trump has also made more mainstream picks — South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley as United Nations ambassador and Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus as chief of staff — but his staffing decisions so far have skewed far right and, in the case of Bannon, fringe.
Now, Nate also supports a recount/audit even though he does not believe (like I don’t) that it will change the results. Donald Trump announced today that he proposes to jail or denaturalize any citizens who burn the flag. The Supreme Court has already ruled that this is unconstitutional which is why he must go the amendment route.
We learned more of his opposition to the first amendment today. He really cannot stand dissent. A person like this cannot be trusted with power. It is a disaster waiting to happen. His vindictiveness towards dissenters and rash decisions based upon loyalty will do material damage to the country.
Trump has contradicted the U.S. Constitution before. He’s promised to crack down on the press (a possible violation of the First Amendment), vowed to ban Muslims from entering the country (which could go against the Equal Protection Clause), and suggested we should torture people because they deserve it (cruel and unusual punishment)
This is another attack on the first amendment. He previously has attacked it by deciding to not allow any Muslims to enter the country, by trying to delegitimize protesters, and by threatening to have surveillance of mosques. He feels the need to go on the attack whenever anybody does not worship himself. However, this weakness can be taken advantage of.
He’s an emotional weakling, and his recent interviews give us models for dealing with it
1. He’s all about reciprocal love. In the campaign, Trump often played on fear and hate. His reflexes are vindictive. His ego is fragile.He craves approval.He’s easily soothed by flattery.His emotional softness makes him morally weak.Trump is a patsy for Russian President Vladimir Putin, too.He substitutes popularity for standards of conduct.He confuses controversy with mystery.He’s obtuse to the pain he inflicts.Trump is virtually lobotomized. He’s easily manipulated.
You don’t talk about ethics. You play the toughness card. You appeal to the art of the deal.
Here is one example of someone who successfully played him .
In the group session at Times headquarters on Nov. 22, Friedman worked Trump like a horndog in a bar, trying to get him into bed on climate change. “You own some of the most beautiful links golf courses in the world,” Friedman told Trump. “I’d hate to see Royal Aberdeen underwater,” the columnist added. When Trump ragged on windmills, Friedman whispered sweet nothings: “General Electric has a big wind turbine factory in South Carolina.” Trump, eager for approval, told the Timesstaffers about his “many environmental awards” and bragged, “I’m actually an environmentalist.” By the end of the session, Friedman had Trump eating out of his hand.
Another model is to agree with him while pointing out the dangers of what he proposes.
But in his meeting with the Times, Trump said someone had later warned him, “It’s a great idea, softening up those laws, but you may get sued a lot more.”“You’re right, I never thought about that,” Trump recalled telling this person. And that reflection led Trump to assure the Times that on the question of libel laws, “You’re going to be fine.”
One other example was :
Trump asked Mattis about waterboarding, which Trump supported. “I’ve never found it to be useful,” said Mattis, according to Trump’s account of their conversation. “Give me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers, and I do better with that than I do with torture,” the general told him. Trump told the Times that he was “very impressed by that answer,” especially because it came from “the toughest guy.” Waterboarding, Trump concluded, was “not going to make the kind of a difference that maybe a lot of people think.”
That’s how you move Trump. You don’t talk about ethics. You play the toughness card. You appeal to the art of the deal. You make him feel smart, powerful, and loved. You don’t forget how unmoored and volatile he is, but you set aside your fear and your anger. You thank God that you’re dealing with a narcissist, not a cold-blooded killer.
So, praise him, praise his ideas, appear to be loyal to him, agree wholeheartedly with his ideas while pointing major dangers to his proposal, and make him think that everything was his idea.
One of his leading picks for DHS wanted to suspend habeas corpus David Clarke is scary
One of Clarke’s ideas about how the nation should achieve this goal is by suspending habeas corpus for up to one million he suspects of being terrorist sympathizers and detaining them indefinitely in Guantanamo Bay Prison.
So, yeah, the guy whose job it might be to defend the homeland essentially wants martial law declared with he and Trump put in charge
Of course, Kris Kobach of anti immigration fame is no better.
Kris Kobach reveals Homeland Security plans, including Muslim registry, extreme vetting and border wall, because he didn’t cover his papers
His pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services is frightening. Tom Price, M.D. is another extremist. He not only wants to remove the Affordable Care Act, but he also wants to replace Medicare with vouchers, ending Medicare as we know it.
President-elect Donald Trump will name an ultra-conservative surgeon, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), to run the Department of Health and Human Services.That may help explain why Price has emerged one of Washington’s most vocal and persistent critics of the Affordable Care Act.
Democrats reacted to the news harshly, noting Price’s history of criticizing major federal health programs ― as well as his strong opposition to abortion rights.
“Congressman Price has proven to be far out of the mainstream of what Americans want when it comes to Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, and Planned Parenthood,” said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), the incoming minority leader. “Nominating Congressman Price to be the HHS secretary is akin to asking the fox to guard the hen house.”
Here are his ideas for destroying Medicare :
And Price has said he wouldn’t stop with Obamacare. In mid-November, not long after the presidential election, Price said that Republicans could also use reconciliation to change Medicare, as well.Price has also endorsed transforming Medicaid into a “block grant”― in other words, giving states a fixed sum of money with which to run the program and then reducing the federal government’s spending on it.But language on his new transition website says that he will “modernize” Medicare and give states more “flexibility” over Medicaid. In Washington, those terms are typically euphemisms for privatizing Medicare and transforming Medicaid into a block grant.
This guy is just bad news for the American people.
First, the incoming White House is dead serious about scrapping the Affordable Care Act. Second, it may well be open to ending Medicare as we know it.As health and human services secretary, Price would ultimately be in charge of administering programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act—and presumably serve as Trump’s point man on health policy. Given that the president-elect is by all accounts a deeply impressionable man with little to no policy expertise, Price is almost certainly set to play an extremely influential role in any negotiations over health-care legislation.
Price is similarly keen on Ryan’s plan to transform Medicare by turning it into a voucher system, where the government would give seniors money that they could use to purchase private insurance. He included those changes in his 2015 budget, and recently told reporters that he expected Republicans to tackle Medicare “reform” some time in 2017, echoing Ryan’s own post-election comments
We also have legitimate reasons to be fearful that our democracy is in jeopardy.
Yes it is in jeopardy. Consider that voter suppression is already happening and his nominee will make it worse, his tirades against the media, his conflicts of interest, his lack of transparency, his threat to jail his political opponent even though it would be illegal, his support for unconstitutional actions, his love of war using nuclear weapons, the fact that the russians hacked DNC computers on his behalf, the fact that he said the election would be rigged, his targeting of minorities, his white male supremacist beliefs, his statement that millions of people cast their ballot illegally for Hillary Clinton, and the fact that he refused to say he would concede if he lost. With all of this evidence, it is more likely than not that Trump will attempt to make sure he cannot lose by making a free fair transparent election impossible in 2020. I just presented a large amount of solid evidence in support of this thesis.And let's not forget Comey's dramatic 11th hour decisive intervention on Trump's behalf.
Add to this his opposition to protests and his new amendment to make it illegal to burn the flag. Add all of that together and tell me what you get.
He did pick a George W Bush Secretary for Department of Transportation. The fact that she is so conservative and yet we celebrate her relative sanity says a lot about how bad his other choices are.
These appointments make us wish that we were only dealing with the incompetence of the George W Bush administration. Here, we won’t be getting any more competence. However, we are adding a strong man who acts based upon loyalty and emotion without considering the consequences to others.
President-elect Donald Trump has selected Elaine Chao to be his transportation secretary, according to two transition officials.
Ms. Chao, who is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, would join South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley,tapped for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and charter-school advocate Betsy DeVos, picked for education secretary, as women named to top roles in the Trump administration.
THIS MAY BE DEVIOUSLY CLEVER
Is Trump bolstering his infrastructure push?
President-elect Trump’s decision to tap Ms. Chao to be his secretary of transportation could prove to be a deviously shrewd mobilization of domesticity as he pushes to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild the nation’s highways, bridges, airports and transit systems.
The biggest opposition to the plan could come from Republicans, mindful of rising budget deficits and skeptical of the economic benefits of federal jobs programs. Enter Ms. Chao, the wife of the Senate majority leader. As secretary of transportation, she would lead the infrastructure push, possibly against her husband.
# I am with him .
So it’s up to Democrats to do NOTHING to legitimize the loser of the popular vote. Absolutely nothing. They oppose, they block, they filibuster, they delay.
Remember all those stupid holds blocking approval of President Barack Obama’s judicial nominees? We do the same. Block everything, block everyone. That includes Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee. Block that guy. Block him for four fucking years if we must. Force Republicans to either 1) keep that seat empty, or 2) eliminate the filibuster—which they don’t want to do. Mitch McConnell doesn’t actually want to accomplish anything. It’s easier to do nothing and keep blaming Democrats for everything than to have to explain to Trump why Senate Republicans won’t rubberstamp his entire agenda
This a million times. If we do anything together with him, they will escape from bearing the responsibility for this fiasco. Trump will become an albatross around our necks too. His infrastructure “plan” is simply tax cuts and private investment. What he offers is a mirage. If we bite, then he will reveal that his proposals are what would have been nonstarters. Then, we will have offered to sell ourselves and will simply be balking at the price. Working with him means normalizing him. That is irresponsible. We could have worked with or accepted the decent ideas of Mitt Romney because he was not a threat to the republic, not a misogynist, not a bigot, or a racist. This guy is. Working with him on anything would be the worst mistake we could possibly make. It would be the single best way to lose power.