Trump II

[Alan Klein]

True! But in the Wernher von Braun's era nobody thought that one day Americans will be buying cars made in Korea and computers made in Taiwan. And using Russian rockets to commute to ISS.

Yes using Russian rockets is really a sad state of affairs.  If we really get into a fight with them, our Astronauts will be stranded.  It reminds of living through the Sputnik era before we got into space.  Beep...Beep...Beep  on our radios, looking up, straining our eyes to see the Russkies.

Of course, our commercial space companies seem to be coming along.   I wouldn't buy a Korean car;  I drive reliable Japanese Acuras.   And speaking of cars, Germany shouldn't be so proud of that diesel fiasco from VW.  Talk about polluting the atmosphere and global warming.  Well, I guess no one's perfect.

[LesPalenik]

Yes using Russian rockets is really a sad state of affairs.  If we really get into a fight with them, our Astronauts will be stranded.  It reminds of living through the Sputnik era before we got into space.  Beep...Beep...Beep  on our radios, looking up, straining our eyes to see the Russkies.

Of course, our commercial space companies seem to be coming along.   I wouldn't buy a Korean car;  I drive reliable Japanese Acuras.   And speaking of cars, Germany shouldn't be so proud of that diesel fiasco from VW.  Talk about polluting the atmosphere and global warming.  Well, I guess no one's perfect.

Well, engineering of the engine and exhaust system are two different things. When driving on Autobahn at 200kmh, you'll leave all fumes behind.

[Alan Klein]

He's selectively defunding satellites that look at Earth.  Good luck defending this.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trump-budget-cuts-ldquo-critical-rdquo-nasa-climate-missions/

He wants NASA to spend resources in dark space and not looking at the earth to check for global warming. He's not interested in the latter so why spend money on those satellites?  But I do agree with you in one respect.  Basic science can be used for different purposes regardless of their original intent.   I just hope he's not throwing out the baby with the bath water.

[Alan Klein]

Well, engineering of the engine and exhaust system are two different things. When driving on Autobahn at 200kmh, you'll leave all fumes behind.

Cough...Cough...Yes that's pretty fast...Cough...

[LesPalenik]

Cough...Cough...Yes that's pretty fast...Cough...

I wouldn't do it today.

[Schewe]

So we only want to elect poor folks who haven't accomplished anything or know much to make major decisions about the running of our economy and government.

Hum, so Trump is "accomplished" all right...accomplished at screwing people and stepping on them to advance...Ivanka is successful, uh, maybe because of daddy? Jared Kushner accomplished? Well, he got a jumpstart in business from his father Charles who, wait for it, was convicted of illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering, and served time in federal prison. So, the Trumps and Kushners are, uh, maybe not the right people making "major decisions about the running of our economy and government", ya know?

Steven Mnuchin? Your idea of accomplished business leader? After leaving  Goldman Sachs a wealthy man, he along with others (including George Soros-yeah the same evil democrat supporting Sorros) bought residential lender IndyMac renamed it OneWest and made a killing out of aggressively foreclosing on homeowners. The high foreclosure rate may have been a result of the loss sharing agreement with the FDIC, whereby the FDIC had to reimburse OneWest for losses. So, the more foreclosures, the more money from the FDIC. According to The New York Times, OneWest "was involved in a string of lawsuits over questionable foreclosures, and settled several cases for millions of dollars." Then he went to Hollywood to make movies...So, Mnuchin is a great choice for Secretary of the Treasury right? The phrase fox in charge of the hen house comes to mind.

Bannon? Was in the Navy, so good for him and his service, but then he left and worked at Goldman Sachs as an investment banker in the Mergers and Acquisitions Department. But he left Wall Street for Hollywood where he bankrolled wing nut movies like including Fire from the Heartland: The Awakening of the Conservative Woman, The Undefeated, and Occupy Unmasked. But he did invest in Seinfeld. :~) Then he was a founding member of the board of Breitbart News. So, "accomplished"? I supposed he's "accomplished" if you want a rich-boy hate mongered who want to destroy the American government so he can rebuild it to his own liking...Good choice huh?

I won't bother mentioning Steve Miller other than to say he might be the scariest of the scary guys...

Wilber Ross? Hum...he  joined with a Russian oligarch and a former KGB official to run a troubled bank in Cyprus. Say, isn't that the same bank that Paul Manafort used handle all his illicit Russian funding needs? Why, yes, I think it is...

Scott Pruit for EPA, well why not select a guy who has sued the EPA 12 times and wants to dismantle the agency to run the agency. After all, climate change is a hoax by the Chinese to make our companies less competitive!

Department of Energy? Why not select the guy who couldn't remember the name of the agency he said he wanted to close. Rick Perry didn't even know he was in charge of the nation's nuclear weapons program. He replaced a PHD scientist.

Dept of HHS? Why not hire a guy who makes money off of stock trades because of laws he enabled to pass? HUD? Why not hire a Dr who has zero administration experience? Secretary of Education a woman who had never stepped into a public school until she tried to visit a school and was barred from entering by protesters. Jeff Sessions isn't a racist, right? Rex Tillerson will be tough on his good friend Putin who gave him the Russian Order of Friendship...

And how about that Flynn guy for National Security Adviser? Oh, sorry, he got fired...hum, in the Whitehouse report I guess he forgot to report all his Russian speaking fees but that's ok, he now wants immunity for his testimony...

The only people Trump has gotten rightish are the former military people, well except for Flynn.

But if you think this group of people are anything other than a keystone cop routine, just look at the news since Trump's inauguration...oh, yeah, sorry, all those #FAKENEWS stories, right?

So, no, let's not hire "poor folks who haven't accomplished anything" even though the likelihood is they would have more honor and dedication than Trump's Rogues.

Edited for typos

[Alan Goldhammer]

So we only want to elect poor folks who haven't accomplished anything or know much to make major decisions about the running of our economy and government. Sure won't be any conflict there. Maybe we have to take a chance and hire rich, bright, creative and effective people who know how to execute and then hold their feet to the fire to make sure there are no conflicts.
 
All this gnashing of teeth from liberals and the elite about Trump when the Clintons were selling their souls for speaking engagements to give rich people, companies, and sovereigns access to their power.

That is not what is at issue here.  Real estate companies are terribly complicated with lots of LLC.  Jared Kushner is reported to have resigned from direct oversight of 200 of these family controlled LLCs but is still associated with others.   Kushner also has current lines of credit from two Israeli banks and a couple of European banks.   Ivanka is deriving income from the Trump hotel in Washington DC. Her clothing line is manufactured overseas and will be subject to the proposed border adjustment tax. Contrast this to Rex Tillerson who sold off all his Exxon stock (I would not want to have his tax bill next year!!) and put the returns into Treasure bonds and diversified mutual funds.  I believe that Sec of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, did the same thing.  Anyone who only has stock holdings can do this quite easily, real estate developers cannot.  Because of the complexities of real estate tax law, there will be potential conflicts of interest when tax reform comes up.

[LesPalenik]

Ivanka is successful, uh, maybe because of daddy? Jared Kushner accomplished?

Could be that the young couple are looking at their stints in the White House as apprenticeship, with an eye to become the next president and first lady following Trump's presidential term(s).

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Could be that the young couple are looking at their stints in the White House as apprenticeship, with an eye to become the next president and first lady following Trump's presidential term(s).

Ouch!

[LesPalenik]

Well, maybe we are witnessing the birth of a new dynasty.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

About them, fake news...

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Could be that the young couple are looking at their stints in the White House as apprenticeship, with an eye to become the next president and first lady following Trump's presidential term(s).

And all this despite the Federal Anti-Nepotism Statute:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/3110

Unfortunately the President has powers directly vested by the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.  Article II, Section 2, provides that some officials need to be approved by the Senate, while other “inferior” officers may be appointed directly by the President.

Cheers,
Bart

[Alan Klein]

Hum, so Trump is "accomplished" all right...accomplished at screwing people and stepping on them to advance......

Why are you so angry at all these people?  "Bannon worked for Goldman Sachs as an investment banker in Mergers and Acquisitions"  So?

Anyway, all these people are going to follow Trump.  He makes policy whether you agree or not with it.  His Secretaries have the experience to execute the president's policies because they've run things whether as governor, CEO, general, entrepreneur, etc.  That's my point.   Also, you didn't address my comment about Hillary who  proved she was a corrupt politician by selling access to get rich.  At least Trump's people have not shown any corruption politically yet except for Flynn who was fired.  They may at some point in the future, but you've already tried and convicted them.  You forget that voters had a choice and selected Trump.  Maybe you should have run an honest democrat.  If you want to be angry at someone or something, how about the DNC, Chairperson Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Podesta, and Donna Brazille. And of course Hillary.

[Alan Klein]

Could be that the young couple are looking at their stints in the White House as apprenticeship, with an eye to become the next president and first lady following Trump's presidential term(s).

Maybe President and first man. 

[Alan Klein]

That is not what is at issue here.  Real estate companies are terribly complicated with lots of LLC.  Jared Kushner is reported to have resigned from direct oversight of 200 of these family controlled LLCs but is still associated with others.   Kushner also has current lines of credit from two Israeli banks and a couple of European banks.   Ivanka is deriving income from the Trump hotel in Washington DC. Her clothing line is manufactured overseas and will be subject to the proposed border adjustment tax. Contrast this to Rex Tillerson who sold off all his Exxon stock (I would not want to have his tax bill next year!!) and put the returns into Treasure bonds and diversified mutual funds.  I believe that Sec of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, did the same thing.  Anyone who only has stock holdings can do this quite easily, real estate developers cannot.  Because of the complexities of real estate tax law, there will be potential conflicts of interest when tax reform comes up.

I agree that real estate is hard to get rid of.  If you try to sell, it will become a fire sale and you'll never get what it's really worth.  Sure, Tillerson basically owned only stock.  So it's easy to sell.  The main point is we should not as a democracy make it too hard for rich people to go into politics.  "Sorry, you don't qualify to work in government.  You're too rich."  Of course you don't want conflicts.  But people like Trump have very complicated ownership issues.  But all classes of Americans should have the opportunity to serve the country, not just poor people and professors.

This reminds me when I lived in NYC when rich businessman Bloomberg became mayor.  He put his business in a blind trust.  He says he never discussed his business with the trust.  Well, OK.  In any case, he was worth $5 billion when he became mayor.  Two terms and 8 years later he convinced the NYC council to allow him to run for a third term, something that was forbidden at the time.  The voters still liked him so gave him another 4 years.  So after three terms and 12 years in a blind trust he left the mayoralty worth $35 billion, a 7 fold increase in his wealth.  But he never took a dime for being mayor.  What a guy!  But if you ask New Yorkers, I bet he'll get pretty good marks as mayor despite becoming one of the richest people in the world during his mayoralty.  Maybe Trump should hire Bloomberg.

[Peter McLennan]

Why are you so angry at all these people?

By my reading, Schewe's not angry at those people, he's angry at their track record.

[Alan Goldhammer]

And all this despite the Federal Anti-Nepotism Statute:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/3110

Neither Jared or Ivanka are drawing salaries so the nepotism statute unfortunately does not apply.  The ethics declarations may trip them up at some point.

[Rob C]

That is not what is at issue here.  Real estate companies are terribly complicated with lots of LLC.  Jared Kushner is reported to have resigned from direct oversight of 200 of these family controlled LLCs but is still associated with others.  Kushner also has current lines of credit from two Israeli banks and a couple of European banks.   Ivanka is deriving income from the Trump hotel in Washington DC. Her clothing line is manufactured overseas and will be subject to the proposed border adjustment tax. Contrast this to Rex Tillerson who sold off all his Exxon stock (I would not want to have his tax bill next year!!) and put the returns into Treasure bonds and diversified mutual funds.  I believe that Sec of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, did the same thing.  Anyone who only has stock holdings can do this quite easily, real estate developers cannot.  Because of the complexities of real estate tax law, there will be potential conflicts of interest when tax reform comes up.

Oh well, at least that means the Palestians really are up there with a good chance of fairness regarding the "settlements"!

Right.

Rob

[Alan Klein]

Neither Jared or Ivanka are drawing salaries so the nepotism statute unfortunately does not apply.  The ethics declarations may trip them up at some point.

Presidents have used their wives as powerful allies and advisors.  Hillary comes to mind with Bill Clinton. In fact, she was pushing national health care on her own as first lady.  Since Melania has chosen to take a back seat, even staying in NYC to raise their son for much of the time, the President wants another family member and her husband, who've both been close advisors before the presidency.  So he's making it official by actually giving them unpaid jobs.  I don't see why a wife can be a confident and adviser but not a adult child and son-in-law who's advised you in the past.  The law was to prevent people from getting relatives jobs, especially "no show" positions,  that actually pay a salary.

[LesPalenik]

Maybe President and first man. 

Alan, you are raising an intriguing possibility.
Who knows, maybe after all, Hillary will get her wish fulfilled - a woman breaking glass ceiling and becoming first female president.