Trump II

[Schewe]

Not very good image of Putin (deleted to save space).

Really, Obama was the first to use social media effectively in his 2008 campaign. The GOP didn't have a clue.

It was tighter in 2012 but even then neither Twitter nor Facebook were in a situation to create such loud echo chambers.

With the addition of fake news (real fake news–you know like Podesta was running a child porn ring from a pizza place) and the hack of the DNC computers and Podesta's emails, Russia turned the tables on us very effectively. Putin however wasn't as effective in ruining the French election...almost but it was too late and the world was catching on to the Russian tricks. We'll see how thing shake out in Germany next year.

But really, if you think about it, while Putin won some aspects, he lost others. Flynn got fired so he lost an agent in place in the WH. The Russian investigation is chewing up to much air time there's no way Trump would dare bring up easing sanctions. So, in the grand scheme I don't think Putin got all he wanted...but he sure did impact our election and cast doubt on the democratic system. So, he made out ok...

Unless you still doubt Putin and the Russians were behind the shenanigans...do you?

[Farmer]

Oh, I don't know - he didn't have the capacity 8 or 4 years ago, or hadn't thought of doing it in the way he may have this time?

Of course logic isn't a strong suite for many Trumpeters.

[Otto Phocus]

Now, about that glowing orb...



WHY DONALD TRUMP TOUCHED A GLOWING ORB IN SAUDI ARABIA

For some reason I am reminded of the movie Sleeper

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... Of course logic isn't a strong suite for many Trumpeters.

Nor is humor for many anti-Trumpeters.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... Unless you still doubt Putin and the Russians were behind the shenanigans...do you?

I do, of course. As far as Putin is concerned. I am pretty positive some Russians could have been involved as individuals, it was too easy and too tempting not to. And some Aussies, Norwegians, Mongolians kids, etc., as the history shows prior penetrations into much more secure systems of NASA, Dept. of Defense, and similar.

[Alan Goldhammer]

And while we are hairsplitting about Islamist vs. Islamic extremism, another attack on the West:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-40007886

As I write this post, the suicide bomber has not been identified.  Do you have any special knowledge about his/her identity and/or affiliation with any terrorist group?

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

As I write this post, the suicide bomber has not been identified.  Do you have any special knowledge about his/her identity and/or affiliation with any terrorist group?

At the time of posting, he was just guessing, insinuating. I assume he had no insider knowledge of the event.

By now, the police say they have identified the perpetrator, but at this stage of the investigation, they will not yet disclose more information about identity, and motives, and accomplices. IS have claimed the activity.

Cheers,
Bart

[Peter McLennan]

Nor is humor for many anti-Trumpeters.

That's because there's absolutely nothing funny about him.

[Schewe]

Steeling one from Jeff; here's article I just read on CNN. 

You mean "stealing"?  :~)

I have no doubt that the whole issue of the private email server, Hillary's poor handling of the issue and Comey's flailing about in public was clearly a major, perhaps the most important issue, surrounding her campaign as indicated by this CNN article.

No question...no doubt about it.

But a weird thing just popped into my head, while the email issue came out as the single most important issue against Hillary, there is no single negative issue against Trump because, well, there were so MANY negative issues against Trump that no single issue ever burbled up to the top.

I meant, go back and look at all the things Trump said and did that were seriously egregious yet they bounced off Trump like he was made of Teflon. None of the stuff that would have killed a typical politician seemed to make a dent.

Personally, I don't think there was one single defining reason why Hillary lost and Trump won other than the fact that just over 92 million people didn't vote in 2016. Why? Lots and lots of reasons but the fact that so many didn't vote meant that the winner was guarantied to be voted in by a minority, which I think is a sad commentary on our democracy these days.

[Schewe]

It's funny, but it's kinda sad because it's funny...

THE ONION LEAKS A TROVE OF TRUMP DOCS


The Onion has been tormenting Donald Trump for years. But, for a President Trump, it needed something “much bigger, much broader,” Cole Bolton, the editor-in-chief, said.
COURTESY THE ONION

The staff of the Onion, a satirical online newspaper that’s been a reliable antidote to reality for nearly three decades, was not thrilled by the prospect of a Trump Presidency. The paper’s longtime writer Chad Nackers told me in March that the thought of having to frequently satirize Trump and the bit players in his Administration for four years—or more—filled many of the publication’s staffers with “comedic dread.” The Onion has been tormenting Trump for close to twenty years, beginning back when he was a mere citizen-object of scorn, with headlines like 2012’s “Donald Trump Stares Forlornly at Tiny, Aged Penis in Mirror Before Putting On Clothes, Beginning Day” and, from 2013, “When You’re Feeling Low, Just Remember I’ll Be Dead in About 15 or 20 Years” (The latter provoked Trump’s general counsel, Michael Cohen, to demand an apology to his client. The Onion ignored this request.) But, for a President Trump, Cole Bolton, the Onion’s editor-in-chief, told me last week, “We needed something much bigger, much broader, which can hit all the themes we want to hit in a single stroke.”

More than a dozen writers and eight graphics editors have been assembling that something over the past four months: seven hundred pages of Trump-related documents that have been “leaked” to the Onion. The first batch was revealed at noon on Monday on the Onion’s Facebook page, as well as on a special Web site. “Document dumps,” Bolton said, “are the vogue way to talk about major breaking news in the world, whether it’s WikiLeaks or the Panama Papers. Leaks seemed like the perfect means to get at Trump and his inner circle, as well as his decision-making.”

More than a dozen writers and eight graphics editors have been assembling that something over the past four months: seven hundred pages of Trump-related documents that have been “leaked” to the Onion. The first batch was revealed at noon on Monday on the Onion’s Facebook page, as well as on a special Web site. “Document dumps,” Bolton said, “are the vogue way to talk about major breaking news in the world, whether it’s WikiLeaks or the Panama Papers. Leaks seemed like the perfect means to get at Trump and his inner circle, as well as his decision-making.”

Gotta tell ya, they did a LOT of work to do this special web site and even Trump supporters can appreciate the effort (if not the humor).

Thanks ONION!

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... speach...

You mean "speech"?

P.S. Sorry, wanted to let this one slide, but since you opened the door, couldn't resist. I didn't want to denigrate you, you know

[Otto Phocus]

Personally, I don't think there was one single defining reason why Hillary lost and Trump won....

I agree and I think that is an important consideration.  People seldom make decisions based solely on only one factor.

[Farmer]

That's because there's absolutely nothing funny about him.

/nod

[Alan Klein]

So while the liberal left goes on and on about unproven collusions, Trump is in the Mideast taking care of America's business, both security and economic.  He's re-cemented our pre-Obama strong relationship with most Muslim nations over there and reaffirmed our commitment to keep Iran in its place to the great applause of all the Sunni Muslims and Israelis.  Our allies there were getting very queasy about that relationship because of Obama's waffling and weakness, even sending signals to Russia.  Even the Chinese were sticking their nose in the Arab tent because of Obama's fecklessness.  So it seems we're all buddy, buddy again.  The reversal started with Trump's missile attack on the Syrian airbase. 

In the Pacific, Mattis and the aircraft carrier group re-cemented our strong relationship with our Pacific friends.  No more militarized islands for the Chinese as they built up during the Obama years.  In Europe, NATO seems pretty happy we're still holding their hands.  Are they paying up yet?   And the Brits are thinking that Brexit is starting to look like a great idea considering the terrorist explosion in Manchester.  PM May is expecting  another explosion which will really reverse the Brexit doubters.

Meanwhile the Dems and the biased fake news media are quarrelling over the reason Melania "slapped away" Donald's hand.  Who's the joke?

[Schewe]

Who's the joke?

Well, Trump is of course...now that you ask. Add to that the legions of Trump voters who voted for him and against their own self interests...


Trump’s Own Voters Would Be Among Hardest Hit by His Budget

In his June 2015 presidential announcement speech, Donald Trump focused on two issues that ultimately helped him win the general election, especially the Midwest battlegrounds — and made him different than Mitt Romney in 2012, or Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio in 2016. The first was his explicit condemnation of immigration and Mexico. "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best… They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people." The second issue was his call to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. "Save Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security without cuts. Have to do it," he said.

Those two subjects — seizing on immigration/race and protecting entitlements — eventually made him the first Republican since 1988 to carry Pennsylvania and Michigan, and the first since 1984 to win Wisconsin. So it's striking that President Trump's first budget cuts Medicaid and a part of Social Security, arguably hurting many of the voters who helped him win in 2016.

Trump's Cuts to SNAP and Social Security Would Hit the Rust Belt Hard

The president’s full budget includes reductions in income-support programs that core Republican voters rely on—more so than other groups do.

In the key Rustbelt states that tipped the 2016 election to President Trump, blue-collar white voters at the core of his constituency represent a majority of those receiving benefits from the federal income-support programs he has targeted for large cutbacks in his budget, according a new analysis conducted for The Atlantic.

Whites without a four-year college degree constitute most of those receiving assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Social Security’s Supplemental Security Income program, and Social Security’s disability program in each of the five Rustbelt states that flipped from Barack Obama in 2012 to Trump in 2016: Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. They also represent a majority of the programs’ beneficiaries in other heavily working-class interior states—from Arkansas and Kentucky through Missouri and Montana—that are central to GOP fortunes in upcoming elections.

Trumpcare Is Already Hurting Trump Country

The mere threat that Obamacare will be dismantled or radically changed — either by Congress or by President Trump himself — has persuaded several big insurance companies to stop selling policies or significantly raise premiums. The practical effect is that some lower-income and middle-class families may have no good options for insurance and will have to spend more on health care.

There’s no new Affordable Care Act yet; the House passed a very bad bill, but the Senate has yet to act. Still, in places like Iowa, Nebraska and Tennessee, companies such as Aetna and Wellmark are so spooked by the uncertainty that they are considering abandoning the market. Other insurers are asking state regulators for permission to raise premiums by as much as 53 percent. This should trouble not just the 12.2 million people who have bought insurance on federal and state exchanges, but also policy makers, since Washington may have to spend more on subsidies if premiums go up.

Mr. Trump, not surprisingly, describes things differently. He claims that uncertainty in the insurance industry is evidence that Obamacare is collapsing and needs repeal, not that he and his allies have created the uncertainty. This is disingenuous nonsense. On the whole, insurance markets in much of the country are on stable footing and will remain so if Congress doesn’t do things to undermine Obamacare, according to a March report by the Congressional Budget Office. And insurers selling policies under the A.C.A. actually did better financially in 2016 than in the year before, according to an April report by Standard & Poor’s.

So, why are insurers fearful and threatening to quit Obamacare or jack up premiums? There are a few big reasons. First, the House passed a bill this month that would take insurance away from at least 24 million people by slashing spending on Medicaid and cutting the subsidies the government uses to help people buy insurance. Second, Mr. Trump has threatened to stop making about $7 billion in payments to insurance companies to help lower the cost of co-pays, deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs for lower-income and middle-class families. If the administration carries out that threat, insurers would raise premiums by about 19 percent, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Third, insurers are worried that the Trump administration will stop enforcing the A.C.A. provision that requires people to buy health insurance or pay a penalty. That could hurt them by reducing the number of younger and healthier people who sign up.

It can be hard to feel sympathy for bureaucratic and faceless insurance companies. After all, they often deny people access to medical procedures and drugs. But Mr. Trump and his Republicans in Congress have left them with little choice. They can stay with the exchanges and risk large losses if elected leaders blow them up, or they can pull out now, or raise rates, in parts of the country where it is harder to make money.

What’s bizarre about the Republican strategy is that it is likely to cause the most damage where many of Mr. Trump’s supporters live. Rural and suburban areas are more likely to lose insurers and see big premium increases if Obamacare goes down, because companies have less incentive to stay in markets where there are fewer potential customers and where it is harder to put together networks of hospitals and doctors.

Republicans might hope that blame for any future problems with Obamacare will fall on former President Barack Obama and the Democrats. A Kaiser poll, however, shows that 61 percent of Americans already know where the fault should lie: with the Republicans who are now in charge. Another poll from Gallup found that Obamacare became more popular than ever after Republicans began trying to destroy it. Senate Republicans ought to keep these polls in mind as they come up with their version of Trumpcare.

Of course, the above is all from that evil "biased fake news media" so certain Trump supports will take comfort that it can't possibly be true, right? But then there's this from Fox News...

Fox News Poll: Trump approval down, voters support special counsel on Russia

American voters disagree with President Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey, think the dismissal was for self-serving reasons, and approve of a special counsel being appointed to investigate Russian government efforts to influence the election and the Trump campaign.  In addition, a majority opposes the Republican plan to replace Obamacare.

That’s according to a new Fox News Poll of registered voters nationwide.

The last month took a toll on the president’s ratings.  The poll finds 40 percent of voters approve of the job Trump is doing, down from 45 percent last month.  Disapproval is up 5 points to 53 percent. 

Some of the drop in approval comes from Republicans, as just 81 percent approve of the president.  GOP approval had been between 84-87 percent during Trump’s first three months in office.  Plus, his approval among whites without a college degree went from 62 percent last month to 53 percent now.  Working-class whites were a key voting bloc for him in the election (66 percent backed Trump according to the Fox News Exit Poll).

READ THE FULL FOX NEWS POLL.

And that's from a Fox Poll...I repeat, THAT'S FROM A FOX NEWS POLL

#Ruhroh

Looks like the joke is on us, huh?
and, I ain't laughing...

[Schewe]

Ooooops...

President Trump's Budget Includes a $2 Trillion Math Mistake

President Trump's budget includes what critics charge is a simple accounting error that adds up to a $2 trillion oversight, though the White House said it stands by the numbers.

Under the proposed budget released Tuesday, the Trump Administration's proposed tax cuts would boost economic growth enough to pay for $2 trillion in spending by 2027. But the tax cuts are also supposed to be revenue-neutral, meaning that money is already supposed to pay for the revenue lost from the tax cuts.

Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers called the oversight an "elementary double count" and "a logical error of the kind that would justify failing a student in an introductory economics course" in an op-ed in the Washington Post.

But it's Trump so they always double down...



Trump Team Stands by Budget’s $2 Trillion Math Error

Critics are charging that President Trump's proposed budget, entitled "A New Foundation for American Greatness," rests on some shaky math.

President Donald Trump's newly unveiled budget contains a massive accounting error that uses the same money twice for two different purposes. Based on its supersized projections of 3 percent GDP, the president's budget forecasts about $2 trillion in extra federal revenue growth over the next 10 years, which it then uses to pay for Trump's "biggest tax cut in history."

But then it also uses that very same $2 trillion to balance the budget.

White House budget director Mick Mulvaney didn't deny the math, saying it was done "on purpose," during a press briefing Tuesday.

"I'm aware of the criticisms and would simply come back and say there's other places where we were probably overly conservative in our accounting," he said. "We stand by the numbers."

"We thought that the assumption that the tax reform would be deficit-neutral was the most reasonable of the three options that we had," he said.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, asked about the fiscal fumble during an economics conference the same day, replied, "This is a preliminary document that will be refined."

Hum...
#StayInSchool

[Alan Klein]

Well, Trump is of course...now that you ask. Add to that the legions of Trump voters who voted for him and against their own self interests...


Of course, the above is all from that evil "biased fake news media" so certain Trump supports will take comfort that it can't possibly be true, right? But then there's this from Fox News...



And that's from a Fox Poll...I repeat, THAT'S FROM A FOX NEWS POLL

#Ruhroh

Looks like the joke is on us, huh?
and, I ain't laughing...

  Trump will continue to get attacked because the biased media hates him.  Ok I get it.  Meanwhile he is doing things the country needs in my opinion.  He put Gorsuch on the court.  He has made allies and adversaries begin to respect us again after 8 years of Obama weakness.  That will help us internationally with trade, security, and other relations with foreign countries.  They may not like him, but that's ok.   He's still commander-in-chief of the armed forces and President/CEO.  Today, he again called for NATO to pay up to their faces.  And he sailed a destroyer within 12 miles right past the militarized islands China built in the South China Sea.  Finally a president with balls.

[Schewe]

Meanwhile he is doing things the country needs in my opinion.

Like that "Travel Ban"?

Oooops, seems like the appeals court upheld the ban of the ban...



Appeals Court Upholds Ban on Enforcing Trump Travel Restrictions

A federal appeals court Thursday upheld one of two bans on enforcing President Donald Trump's executive order restricting travel from six predominately Muslim countries.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Virginia, voted 10-3 to uphold a ruling by a federal judge in Maryland who declared in March that the president's revised travel order amounted to unconstitutional religious discrimination.

Campaign statements by Donald Trump, who originally called for a ban on Muslim immigration, "provide direct, specific evidence" of what motivated his executive orders — "President Trump's desire to exclude Muslims from the United States," the appeals court said.

Well, maybe Trump will get a hand from his good friend Gorsuch when the ban gets to the Supreme Court. Course, Trump's batting average in the courts has pretty much sucked of late huh?

#MAGA

[Schewe]

America First!
(well maybe this is what Trump was thinking of)

Trump appears to push NATO's newest leader as he makes his way to the front of the pack at a summit

President Donald Trump's push to get in front of the pack at the NATO summit in Belgium is getting attention on social media.

Footage from the gathering shows Trump putting his right hand on the right arm of Dusko Markovic, the prime minister of Montenegro, and pushing himself ahead as NATO leaders walked inside the alliance's new headquarters in Brussels.

Trump then stands near Markovic and speaks to Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite.

Montenegro is scheduled to become NATO's 29th member in early June.

Watch the moment:
Donald Trump PUSHES The Prime Minister Dusko Markovic Of Montenegro To Be In Front of Group (VIDEO)

#TheUglyAmerican

[Farmer]

I was amazed by this today, not what he said, it was a long time coming, but to find out that we cover 72% of the total funding for NATO.  That is ridiculous!

Now I am for fairness, and I know the USA has the largest economy in the world plus the agreement states that all countries are to pay 2% of their GDP, but I doubt the GDP of the USA is 161% larger then all of the other countries of NATO combined. 

Thats right, we pay 2.61 times more into NATO then all of the other countries combined. 

That's not true.

The US contributes 22.1446 of direct NATO costs as at January this year (the latest report I could find).

You are looking at total military expenditure - the US does not allocate all of its military expenditure to NATO, obviously.

This is a common bit of "fake news" peddled about this subject.