How Trump Spent His Time Between Being Elected And
His Inauguration
For starters he spent a lot of time watching TV according
to his Tweets.
In Trump’s acceptance speech he promised to work hard at
uniting the country. How did that work out?
It was no big surprise that Trump couldn’t stop bragging
about his election win. If anyone thought he was going to pivot and become a
more serious politician (as in being an adult) they were wrong. He was still
using Twitter every day and ranting about petty things.
Almost immediately the guy who was supposed to head
Trump’s transition team, New Jersey governor Chris Christie, was ousted in a
coup. A decade ago Christie had sent Trump’s son in law Jared Kushner’s father
off to a federal penitentiary for criminal activities. VP Mike Pence took over
Christie’s duties.
It didn’t take long for Trump to get into some spats with
some other world leaders including the Prime Minister of Australia who Trump
hung up on during a phone call and the President of Mexico who Trump tried to
browbeat. Trump also made the US’s NATO allies nervous.
Candidates for cabinet positions filed into Trump Tower
to be interviewed by Trump. Some who had condemned Trump before the election
looked like they were begging, including Mitt Romney. It soon became pretty
obvious that Trump was going to nominate the most extreme Republicans he could
find to fill the cabinet posts.
During the transition Trump flew off to a few rallies to
get a reaffirmation of the devotion of his followers. It was like he was still
running for president.
With the inauguration coming up, Trump and the
Republicans were struggling to find grade A entertainers to perform at the
inauguration balls. The best they could do was 16 year old singer Jackie Evancho who had
competed on the TV show America’s Got Talent. The irony in her accepting the
singing job at the inaugural of the Republican president is that Ms. Evancho’s
sister is transgender. President Obama had passed a law protecting transgender
kids in schools across the US. One of the first things the Republican congress
did was kill that law and let the states decide how to treat transgender kids
in schools.
Trump bragged that more people came out to his
inauguration than ever before. Photos of Obama’s first inauguration clearly
proved that Trump was greatly mistaken.
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| Trump being sworn in. |
Trump’s Inner Circle
There have been some constants and some morphing in Trump’s
inner circle of advisors from the time he first decided to run for president.
He dismissed 2 of his campaign managers, Paul Manafort and Corey Lewandowski,
before settling on Kellyanne Conway. At the beginning of his campaign it looked
like Trump was getting a lot of advice from Newt Gingrich and former New York
mayor Rudy Guiliani.
Ivanka Trump (Scary)
Trump’s daughter Ivanka is closer to him than anyone else. They totally adore each other. Like her father, she grew up wealthy and joined the family business. She is often presented as a very smart businesswoman. Apparently her acumen wasn’t missed by her businesses in 2016 as she spent long periods of time on the campaign trail with her dad.
Trump’s daughter Ivanka is closer to him than anyone else. They totally adore each other. Like her father, she grew up wealthy and joined the family business. She is often presented as a very smart businesswoman. Apparently her acumen wasn’t missed by her businesses in 2016 as she spent long periods of time on the campaign trail with her dad.
For some strange reason (not really) Ivanka Trump is known
as Ivanka Trump even though she has been married to Jared Kushner for 8 years
and has 3 children with him.
At one point Donald Trump attacked the department store
chain Nordstrom’s for dropping Ivanka’s line of products as if people should
have to buy her stuff because he is the president. Nordstrom’s sells sneakers
for as much as 500 dollars and more and sometimes they have a person playing a
grand piano while shoppers wander about. I know this because I’ve seen it first
hand at their flagship store in Seattle. This isn’t a place most Americans can
afford to shop at.
Ivanka has White House security clearance and now has a
second floor office. She still has no official title.
Jared Kushner (Very Scary)
Jared Kushner is a wealthy Jewish NYC based real estate
developer. Like his father in-law he grew up wealthy and joined the family
business. His father often donated money to the colleges Jared attended. His
father also raised money to build Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine.
Kushner has been at Trump’s side since Trump decided to
run. One has to wonder how he managed to run his business empire while being
away for close to a year.
Kushner has no political experience at all other than
being a part of Trump’s campaign. On January 22nd he was sworn in as
Senior White House Advisor. He and his wife and kids now own a home in
Washington, DC.
Trump put Kushner in charge of brokering a
Palestinian-Israeli peace deal. Both Kushner and his wife Ivanka frequently sit
in on key meetings at the White House and private conversations with foreign
leaders.
Kushner, his wife Ivanka, and their kids are Orthodox
Jews and they don’t work on Saturdays. Recently Kushner and Ivanka took their
family on a ski vacation to Aspen during spring break. Kushner was on the
slopes while Donald Trump was trying to push through the Republican healthcare
bill.
A few days ago Trump put Kushner in charge of reinventing
the way the federal government does business and being the primary contact for
foreign leaders.
Kellyanne Conway (Very Scary)
Once Trump got elected Conway started to go off the
rails. She called the lies told by Trump and the White House “alternative
facts”. At one point she made up a story about “The Bowling Green Massacre”.
There was no such thing. She also pitched Ivanka Trump’s clothes brand on TV.
Ms. Conway told so many lies that TV networks started to refuse to have her on
as a guest.
A pro-life advocate, Ms. Conway recently confessed that
in her younger years she had driven more than one friend to a hospital to have
an abortion and in fact helped pay for the procedures.
General Mike Flynn (Extremely Scary)
In 2015 Flynn attended a gala in Moscow and gave a paid
speech. At that time Flynn and his son were running a consulting business that
included working and lobbying for foreign clients including Turkey.
Flynn’s son Michael is a total crackpot and a creator of
“fake news”. He’s the guy that created the bullshit story about Hillary Clinton
running a child prostitution ring out of a pizza parlor. Michael Flynn was so
off the wall that he was fired from the Trump transition team.
A number of times during Trump’s campaign Flynn would
lead the crowds in chanting “lock her up”, revving up their hate for Hilary
Clinton.
At the end of December 2016 President Obama had 35
Russians sent home from the US and applied other sanctions against Russia after
it was proven that Russia had interfered in the US’s election process. Russia
did not retaliate.
In early February of 2017 General Flynn denied having
talks with the Russians in December of 2016 about the removal of the sanctions
once Trump was inaugurated. Vice President Mike Pence backed him up but it was
later found out that Flynn had lied to him. Flynn’s 24 day tenure as National
Security Advisor was the shortest term in the 63 year history of the office. He
gave his resignation on February 13, 2017.
Steve Bannon (Extremely Scary)
Bannon believes that the US is going to go to war with
China in 5-10 years. This might explain why so many who are close to Trump want
to have stronger ties to Russia. He also claims that godlessness is weakening
the West. He has stated a number of times that he wants to destroy the
Republican Party. Strange as it may seem, he also claims to be against the
wealthy and Corporate America. He has told a story about when he was working
for Goldman-Sachs that he realized that those he worked with were closer to
people who live in places like Berlin and Moscow than they were to Americans
living in places like Kansas and Colorado. Actually that does make some sense.
Bannon is flat out a White Supremacist and racist. He is
somebody the world should know a lot more about because he is leading Trump
into a pretty dark future. To get a better idea of who Bannon is, I suggest
reading an overview of one of his favourite books, The Camp of the Saints.
Tier 2 In The White House
These are some of secondary people in Trump’s White
House.
Vice President Mike Pence (Extremely Scary)
It has been said that it was Kushner who convinced Trump
to go with Pence. He was kind of the perfect fit with lots of contacts to
Republicans in the Senate and House. Most important though was that he is very
loyal and could be lead about very easily.
It is doubtful that Trump ever asks for Pence’s advice.
He’s just a useful tool. Trump knew that General Flynn had lied to Pence and
didn’t let Pence know he knew for more than 2 weeks. That’s not a lot of
respect for the 2nd in command.
The optics of how little Trump thinks of Pence can often
be seen at bill signings at the White House. Once Trump has signed a bill he
takes the pen and gives it to Pence over his shoulder without looking at Pence.
It is a subtle kind of thing but it speaks volumes.
Sean Spicer (Very Scary)
Reince Priebus (Very Scary)
Stephen Miller (Very Scary)
Miller is just 31 years of age. He is Trump’s main speech
writer. At one time he was Michele Bachmann’s press secretary. If you think
Sarah Palin is looney, Bachmann is loonier still. Miller also worked for
current Attorney General Jeff Sessions. During Trump’s campaign, Miller was
often the warm-up act throwing the red meat at the crowds.
A few weeks ago Miller went on all of the Sunday morning
political TV shows and his basic message was that as president Trump can do
whatever he wants and he shouldn’t be questioned about whatever he chooses to
do or say.
Trump’s Cabinet
Appointments
The Rogues Gallery of
Billionaires, Major Political Donors, Denizens Of Wall Street, And Friends of
Russia That Trump Selected to “Drain The Swamp”.
About half of the members of Trump’s cabinet are from the
American Deep South.
Jeff Sessions-Attorney
General (Extremely Scary)
He is the ultimate Republican conservative. As a senator
he wanted to ban same sex marriage, voted for the Iraq war, was and is against
legalized pot and of course Obamacare.
In 1986 he was nominated by President Reagan to be a
district judge. 4 justice department lawyers who Sessions worked with stated
that he commonly used racially offensive remarks. Martin Luther King’s widow
wrote a letter opposing his nomination and in the end he didn’t get the job.
Over 1,400 law professors signed a letter asking the Senate
to reject his nomination. It was to no avail. Sessions was appointed Attorney
General after a vote of 52 for and 47 against in the Senate on February 9th,
2017.
During his confirmation hearings Sessions told Democratic
senator Al Franken that he did not have any communications with the Russian
government prior to his appointment. This was later learned to be a lie. He had
private meetings with Russian government officials at least twice.
On March 2, 2017 Sessions “recused” himself of being
involved in any investigations of Trump’s campaign being connected to the
Russians. Basically Sessions is now “damaged goods” in that as the person
holding the highest legal office in the US he can’t be involved in a major
legal investigation.
Rex Tillerson-Secretary of State (Very Scary)
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| Tillerson with Putin |
Before becoming US Secretary of State Tillerson was the
CEO of Exxon/Mobil. He had direct ties to Russian President Vladamir Putin and
they knew each other well. Exxon/Mobil and the Russian government were
co-investors in oil drilling in the Arctic.
Tillerson was totally opposed to the sanctions President
Obama had placed on Russia at the end of 2016 for their interfering in the US
election process.
Tillerson has donated over a half a million dollars to
the Republican Party in his lifetime.
In 2013 he was awarded “The Order of Friendship” by
Russian Premier Putin.
In NIMBY fashion he actively opposed fracking near his
home in Irvin, Texas.
Recently Tillerson stated they he never wanted to be
Secretary of State and only took the job because his wife thought he should.
He rarely talks to the American press and travels the
world with only 1 reporter, a writer for a right wing blog.
Betsy Devos-Secretary of Education (Very Scary)
Devos grew up in Michigan, the daughter of a billionaire
auto parts supplier. She married a billionaire herself who is an heir to the
Amway fortune. In her lifetime she has donated close to ½ a billion dollars to
the Republican Party. Devos’s brother, Erik Prince, is the founder of
Blackwater USA, a private military services contractor. (sometimes called mercenaries).
Almost 90% of American children attend public schools.
Neither Devos nor her children ever went to a public school. She hates public
schools and has spent years trying to redirect tax payer’s dollars away from
them towards vouchers for private and charter schools.
Poverty plays a big role in why a number of American
students, particularly minorities like blacks, have a hard time passing exams.
Most Americans wouldn’t argue with poorer kids getting more scholarships. What
Ms. Devos doesn’t address is the obvious, and that is many Americans grow up in
really stupid environments where parents often consider bright people to be
snobs and eggheads.
The US by and large is a very gullible country. The
things that many of them believe are totally shocking including a lot of
religious nonsense. Knowledge requires research and time and many Americans are
too lazy to make the effort. If you are 18 years of age and can’t name the vice
president but came name a number of the 7 dwarves you are simply not very
bright. That’s not the teachers fault.
Part of her plan in funding private schools with taxpayer’s
dollars is to have the Christian faith taught in grade schools and high
schools.
Steve Mnuchin-Secretary of The Treasury (Very
Scary)
Mnuchin was a hedge fund manager at Goldman Sachs for 17
years. In 2009, along with some partners, he bought a number of failed banks
that were in receivership for below their market values. In the next few years
his company foreclosed on over 16,000 elderly clients who had reverse
mortgages.
Ben Carson-Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) (Very Scary)
Carson is a retired neurosurgeon and amazingly dumber
than a bag of rocks. He is the lone black person in Trump’s cabinet. For a
number of years he was a pitchman for a pharmaceutical corporation that
marketed dietary supplements. The corporation was fined 7 million dollars for
claiming its products could cure autism and cancer.
In 2015 he decided to run for president and for a short
period of time was the front runner among the Republicans. It didn’t last long.
Republican voters got past his very slow talking speaking manner and realized
that he was totally Looney Tunes.
A deeply religious man and a 7th Day
Adventist, he claimed the pyramids were built to store grain. He said that
gayness must be a choice because prisoners who are raped in prisons come out
gay. He thinks that Obamacare is worse than slavery. Recently he said that
black slaves who came to America were low paid immigrants.
A while back he stated that he shouldn’t be a cabinet
member because he knows very little about politics or managing a large group of
people. It didn’t seem to change Trump’s mind about appointing him.
Wilbur Ross-Secretary of Commerce (Very Scary)
Ross is a billionaire and is known as “the king of bankruptcy”. In 2014 Ross paid 81 million dollars to settle a suit brought against him by shareholders in a merger he had engineered. In August of 2016 he was forced to reimburse investors 11.8 million dollars and fined 2.5 million dollars by the Security and Exchange Commission.
Ross is a billionaire and is known as “the king of bankruptcy”. In 2014 Ross paid 81 million dollars to settle a suit brought against him by shareholders in a merger he had engineered. In August of 2016 he was forced to reimburse investors 11.8 million dollars and fined 2.5 million dollars by the Security and Exchange Commission.
The man is basically a crook.
Tom Price-Secretary of Health and Human Services
(Extremely Scary)
Contrary to Price’s and the Republican’s opinions about
Obamacare, as of the end of February 2017, more Americans have a favourable
opinion of Obamacare than those that don’t.
The pre-existing health condition part of Obamacare and
allowing children to be part of their parent’s health care plan were never
Republican ideas.
Price is and out and out con man. When asked if anyone
who currently has Obamacare will lose their health care coverage, his answer is
that he would like to see everyone covered and have “access” to the Republicans
plan. It is like him saying that he would like everyone to have “access” to
buying a new car. It doesn’t mean much when you don’t have the money to pay for
one.
I will write more on the Republican Health Care Plan
later in this piece.
Linda McMahon-Administrator of Small Business
Administration
McMahon is the wife of Vince McMahon, and both were
owners of the World Wrestling Federation. She twice ran for public office and
lost. At one point, 10 years after they married, the couple was so broke that
they lived on food stamps and filed for bankruptcy.
The McMahons have donated over 5 million dollars to a
Trump charity.
It is widely known that almost all professional wrestlers
use steroids. More than 100 of them have died before their time in the past 20
years.
Ryan Zinke-Secretary of the Interior (Scary)
Zinke is a former Navy Seal. On his first day in office
he rescinded a law that banned the use of lead in fishing tackle or bullets on
national wildlife refuges.
Rick Perry-Secretary of
Energy (Scary)
Perry is a former governor of Texas and twice ran for
president of the US. For a number of years he owned a hunting camp called
“Niggerhead”.
In in his 1st run for president he said he
would get rid of 3 government agencies but had a brain fart and couldn’t recall
the 3rd one. It turned out to be the energy agency which he is now
the head of.
Elaine Chao-Secretary of Transport (Not Scary)
Elaine Chao is married to Senate Majority leader Mitch
McConnell. She served 8 years as George W. Bush’s Secretary of Labor. She was
born in Taiwan.
James Mattis-Secretary of Defense (Not Scary)
Mattis is a retired Marine general. His selection as
Secretary of Defense received almost unanimous approval by both the Democrats
and the Republicans. He is considered to be an intellectual by many and has
over 1000 books in his personal library.
David Shulkin-Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Not
Scary)
Shulkin was unanimously confirmed to his current
position. He has a medical background in both the private and public sectors.
John Kelly-Secretary of Homeland Security (Scary)
Kelly is a retired Marine Corps general. One of his sons,
also a marine, was killed in Afghanistan. There were only 11 Democratic
objections to his appointment in the Senate.
Mike Pompeo- Director of
the CIA (Scary)
Pompeo is a former congressman from Kansas who had
financial backing from the Koch brothers. He doesn’t believe in climate change.
32 Democratic senators voted against his appointment.
Nikky Haley-US
Ambassador to the United Nations (Not Scary)
Haley is the former governor of South Carolina. Her
parents imigrated from India to Canada before moving to the US. During the
Republican primaries she first backed Marco Rubio and after he dropped out she
changed her allegiances to Ted Cruz. She described Trump as “everything a
governor doesn’t want in a president”
Scott Pruitt-Administrator of The Environmental
Protection Agency (Very Scary)
Pruitt rejects the scientific consensus on climate
change. As Attorney General for the state of Oklahoma he was suing machine
going after anyone he felt threatened oil producers and other polluters.
Mick Mulvaney-Director
of the Office of Management and Budget ( Very Scary)
Mulvaney is a former congressman from South Carolina. In hearings on his appointment it was revealed that he failed to pay $15,000.00 in taxes for a nanny he employed. He also earned over 5 million dollars on a real estate development deal that was mostly funded by public tax dollars.
Mulvaney is a former congressman from South Carolina. In hearings on his appointment it was revealed that he failed to pay $15,000.00 in taxes for a nanny he employed. He also earned over 5 million dollars on a real estate development deal that was mostly funded by public tax dollars.
Sonny Perdue- Secretary of Agriculture (Scary)
Perdue is a former governor of the state of Georgia. For
many years he was a Democrat. While he was governor he was personally involved
in a number of land deals in Georgia which made him millions.
The Republican Controlled House and Senate
Democrats lost control of the Senate in the last election
and now the Republicans control all 3 branches of the US federal government
including The White House. The only minor restriction they have is that
sometimes 60 votes are needed in the Senate to pass bills.
Paul Ryan-Speaker of the
House
Ryan is a huge Ayn Rand fan. He is a career politician
with almost zero business experience. His main goal in life appears to be to
completely destroy every entitlement program in the US. He is the chief
architect of repealing Obamacare. Any political reform concept he has ever
presented always includes more tax breaks for the very wealthy.
During his 13 years in Congress he attempted to pass 70
bills and was successful twice, once in the renaming of a post office and the
other lowering a tax on arrow shafts.
Like other Republicans before him who claimed to be
fiscally responsible, every budget he has presented involved increasing the US
national debt considerably. He doesn’t even make an attempt to curb the US
military costs.
He has gone all in on killing Obamacare as have the rest
of his party. He clearly has no compassion for the less fortunate but what is
equally disturbing is that he doesn’t seem to have a clue what insurance is and
how it works. He doesn’t understand that healthy people, who often get sick
later in life, compensate for older people who are now sick.
Ryan could hardly control his giddiness when Trump was
elected president. Now he could do just about anything he wanted without it
being vetoed by Obama.
The first thing the Republican run Congress tried to do
in 2017 was try and gut the ethics Committee. When that proved unpopular they
moved on to trying to sell off federally owned land. This too didn’t go
anywhere when the Republicans realized that nobody wanted to buy public land
and pay taxes and buy insurance when they could use that land for free.
I will write more on Ryan in regards to the Republican
Healthcare plan later in this piece.
Mitch McConnell-Majority Leader of the Senate
Like Paul Ryan, McConnell is a career politician. His
political career goes all the way back to 1964. His main claim to fame has been
as an obstructionist to anything President Obama wanted to do. Right wing
Supreme Court Justice Anton Scalia died in February of 2016 and McConnell
blocked Obama from replacing him even though Obama had almost a year left in
his presidency.
McConnell is one of two Republican senators representing
the state of Kentucky. The other is Rand Paul who is a libertarian. Kentucky is
one of the poorer states in the US. It ranks 47th in household
incomes.
Over 400,000 Kentuckians get their health care through
something called Kynect which is basically a part of Obamacare. Kentucky is one
of the most federally subsidized states in the union.
Tobacco and coal mining are still significant parts of
Kentucky’s economy, 2 products that cause considerable health problems.
Trump’s Russian
Connection?
In July of 2015 Trump stated that he didn’t think John
McCain was a hero because he had been captured during the Viet Nam War. Trump
went on to say that he preferred heroes who weren’t captured. His statement
didn’t seem to bother Trump’s fans one iota. I believe it may have been the
turning point when Trump realized he could say just about anything negative
about America and not get any significant blow back.
Throughout his campaign Trump praised Russian Premier
Putin as a great leader. He wasn’t the first Republican president to express
admiration for Putin. Years ago Bush Jr. said he looked into Putin’s eyes and
said he saw a man who was straightforward and trustworthy.
Even after 17 American intelligence agencies asserted
that the Russians had interfered in the US election process including hacking
the Democrats, Trump wasn’t buying any of it. After NBC’s Matt Lauer stated
that Putin is a murderer Trump responded by saying “You think we don’t have our
own killers?”
In August of 2016 Trump said that Russia was not going to
go into the Ukraine. He didn’t seem to understand that the Russians were
already there.
There are several theories as to why Trump has avoided
saying anything negative about Russia. Currently the FBI, Congress, and The
Senate are investigating Trump’s connections to Russia and their interference
in the US election.
Here are a few of the theories…..
#1 It could be as simple as the Russians having
information that they can use to blackmail Trump. Perhaps there are photos of
Trump and his friend, financier and registered sexual offender, Jeffrey
Epstein, attending parties with underage girls?
#2 Trump has been influenced strongly by Steve Bannon and
his worldview. As I stated before, Bannon believes that the US and China will
go to war with each other in the next 5-10 years. It is quite possible that
Bannon believes that the US could use a powerful ally in fighting either the Chinese
or Muslim countries. Russia is a predominantly white country. Former KKK leader
David Duke also believes Russia could be a key ally in the future. Russia has
had its own internal problems with some Muslims who make up 12-15% of their
population.
Here’s some math. There are 340 million people in the US,
144 million people in Russia, 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide, and 1.4 billion
people in China. The white guys are outnumbered by a ratio of about 6 to 1.
Fighting Muslims in Afghanistan in a costly long term war
had a lot to do with the break-up of the Soviet Union.
#3 Follow the money. Years ago US banks stopped lending
Trump money after his casinos went bankrupt. He then got some financing through
the German Deutsche Bank. This bank operates in over 70 countries worldwide.
Over the years this bank has paid billions in fines for illegal business
practices including money laundering for the Russian oligarchs.
The Island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea has some
similarities to the tax haven countries in the Caribbean. For years now Cyprus
was where the Russian oligarchs laundered their money. Trump’s new Secretary of
Commerce, Wilbur Ross, was at one time the vice chairman of The Bank of Cyprus.
It is doubtful that Trump has ever met Putin in person.
He has, however, had direct dealings with the Russians. Several years ago Trump
bought a property in Florida for 40 million dollars. 2 years later he sold the
property to a Russian oligarch for 100 million dollars making a profit of 60
million dollars.
Trump’s own son, Donald Jr, claimed that at one time that
Russian money was pouring into Trump investments.
Paul Manafort is an American lobbyist who has represented
a number of foreign dictators and at least one guerilla leader. It has been
reported that he received close to 13 million dollars for his services
representing a pro-Russian Ukrainian president who later fled his country. Manafort
became Trump’s second campaign manager in April of 2016. He resigned in August
of 2016 and his duties were taken over by Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon.
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| Paul Manafort |
In August of 2016 the Republican platform was softened in
the condemnation of Russia for annexing The Crimea and the sending of Russian
troops into Ukraine. In December of 2016, then president Obama kicked 35
Russian diplomats out of the US in response to the Russians interfering in the
US election. Putin and Russia did not retaliate.
WikiLeaks was founded in 2006 by Australian born Julian
Assange who is also its chief spokesperson. He is currently living in political
asylum at the Equadorian embassy in London. England.
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| Julian Assange |
For the past 10 years WikiLeaks has hacked into various
governments and businesses in a number of countries around the world. Quite
often they have jeopardized private information about people who are not
politically active but merely ordinary citizens. It seems WikiLeaks thinking is
that the end justifies the means and collateral damage is not their concern.
What seems to have changed in the past year or two is
that WikiLeaks seems to have altered its worldview and that they are picking
winners and losers with the winners commonly being the Russians. Recently the
CIA was exposed by them with details of how they spy and gather data. There
hasn’t been any data produced by WikiLeaks on the activities of the KGB, the
Russian oligarchs, or the inner workings of the Republican Party.
There is also something called Guccifer 2.0 that seems to
have hacked the Democratic headquarters and passed along data to WikiLeaks. The
Russians claim that Guccifer 2.0 is a lone hacker while many in the West
believe it is an arm of Russian intelligence.
So far the list of Trump’s associates and advisors who
have communicated with the Russians or done business with them includes Roger
Stone, Paul Manafort, Rex Tillerson, Wilbur Ross, Jeff Sessions, Carter Page,
Michael Flynn, Jared Kushner, and Rick Gates.
Many in the US media and the left believe that the reason
Trump has never shown his tax returns he because they believe he is deeply in
debt to Russian businessmen. If Trump has lied to the IRS he could find himself
in jail. The IRS usually doesn’t mess around about taxes.
Russia has a lower per capita income than China does and
China has 10 times the population. Why all the interest in Russia by a number
of Trump’s associates? It certainly isn’t trade. Russia accounts for .2% of all
of the US’s imports annually and .1% of the US’s exports annually. Trump’s
friends have recognized that since Putin came to power there have been over 150
new billionaires created when there was none before. The oligarchs have
hundreds of billions of dollars that they need to get laundered. Any piece of
that is a nice chunk of money.
The Trump Timeline Since He Was Elected President
January 20th: Issues executive order to scale
back parts of Obamacare.
January 21st: 4 million people around the
world protest against Trump in The Women’s March. Trump claims that his
inauguration was attended by the most people ever. Facts prove him wrong. He
attacks the media.
January 23rd: Claims that Mexican illegals
cost him the popular vote. Trump withdraws the US from the Trans-Pacific
Partnership.
January 24th: OK’s the Keystone Pipeline and
the Dakota Access Pipeline.
January 25th: Issues an executive order to
start building a wall at the Mexican border.
January 26th: Suggests that import tax of 20%
will be added to Mexican goods to pay for wall. Mexican president cancels
meeting with Trump.
January 27th: Suspends the travel of people
from 6 Muslim countries to America including Iraq.
January 28th: Speaks to various world leaders
by phone, gets into fight with Australian Prime Minister.
January 29TH: Tweets about other things while
US Seals go on raid in Yemen. One Seal dies in attack.
January 30th:
Signs an executive order to reduce all federal regulations and fires acting
Attorney General, Democrat, Sally Yates.
January 31st: Nominates Neil Gorsuch to fill
empty spot on Supreme Court.
February 1st: Goes to Dover Air Force Base for the arrival of dead Seal’s body from Yemen.
February 1st: Goes to Dover Air Force Base for the arrival of dead Seal’s body from Yemen.
February 2nd: Speaks at national prayer breakfast.
He warns Israel about new settlements on West Bank.
February 3rd: Orders reviews of Dodd-Frank
Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Senior federal judge blocks
Trump’s temporary immigration ban.
February 4th: Appeals judge’s block.
February 5th: More appeals on judge’s block.
February 6th: More appeals on judge’s block.
February 7th: Betsy Devos is confirmed as
Secretary of Education 51-50. Vice President Mike Pence casts deciding vote.
February 8th: Jeff Sessions is confirmed as
Attorney General by Senate 52-47.
February 9th: Signs 3 executive orders
regarding law enforcement.
February 10th: Meets with the Japanese Prime
Minister who stays at Trump’s Florida resort for the weekend.
February 11th: Plays golf with Japanese Prime Minister.
February 11th: Plays golf with Japanese Prime Minister.
February 13th: Meets with Canadian Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau. One of Trump’s chief advisors, General Michael Flynn,
is asked to resign after lying to VP Pence.
February 14th: The Senate confirms Linda
McMahon as Administrator of the Small Business Administration.
February 15th: Meets with Israeli Prime
Minister at White House.
February 16th: Goes on a 105 minute rant at a
press conference. Calls out the press repeatedly, accusing them of being
dishonest.
February 17TH: Visits Boeing plant in South
Carolina on way to a weekend in Mar-a-Lago. Scott Pruitt is approved as
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
February 18th: Holds rally in Melbourne,
Florida, and about 9,000 attend. His crowds are getting smaller.
February 21st: Visits the National Museum of
African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. He announces 15,000 new
positions in immigration enforcement.
February 23: Meets with a dozen manufacturing CEOs. 6 of
Trump’s staff have to leave White House after failing FBI background checks.
February 24th: Bars a number of news
organizations from a press briefing.
February 26th: Trumps first choice for Secretary of
the Navy turns down Trump’s offer.
February 27th: Proposes spending an additional
10% (54 billion) on the military while cutting back on expenses for The State
Department and The EPA. 120 retired generals and admirals sign a letter
criticizing his plan.
February 28th: Trump makes his first speech to
Congress and uses a teleprompter. Avoids rambling and going off topic as he
usually does in his speeches.
March 1st: The Justice Department confirms that Attorney
General Jeff Sessions met twice with a Russian ambassador during Trump’s
campaign. Sessions had denied meeting any Russians at any time.
March 2nd: Sessions recuses himself from any
investigations into Russian interference in US election. Ben Carson and Rick
Perry confirmed. White House confirms that Trump’s son-in-law met with Russians
in December 2016.
March 4th: Trump accuses Obama of bugging
Trump Tower. Sparse crowds attend Trump rallies around the US, some with as few
as a dozen people.
March 5th: Former Director of National
Intelligence, James Clapper, says there is no evidence of Trump Tower being
wiretapped.
March 6th: In a reworked executive order to
ban Muslims coming to America, Iraq is removed from the previous list.
March 8th: Formal drafting of the repeal of
The Affordable Healthcare Act (Obamacare) begins. House Committee on Oversight
and Government Reform informs Trump that he is not allowed to erase Tweets as
they are part of government records.
March 9th: Trump meets with US bankers and
pledges to remove a number of financial restrictions that prevent recklessness
on the part of the banks. 6 US states challenge Trump’s Muslim countries travel
ban.
March 10th: Trump and Jeff Sessions order the
resignation of 46 US attorneys from the Obama administration. Trump’s friend
Roger Stone admits to communicating with hacker Guccifer 2.0.
March 13th: White House spokesperson Sean
Spicer claims Trump’s tweet about Obama wiretapping Trump was misinterpreted
and that Trump meant the Obama administration.
March 16th: Trump administration releases a
preliminary draft of the 2018 budget.
March 17th: Trump meets with German Chancellor
Angela Merkel at White House. Trump refuses to shake her hand.
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| Trump and Angela Merkel |
March 19th: German defense secretary rejects
Trumps assertion that Germany owes money to NATO.
March 20th: Trump holds a political rally in
Louisville, Kentucky.
March 21st: The repeal and replacement of
Obamacare goes down in flames and the vote on the bill is cancelled due to lack
of support from various factions within the Republican Party.
The Ryan/Trump Healthcare
Bill Failure
Health care is 20% of the US economy. The new Republican
healthcare bill (American Healthcare Act) was designed by Republican House
leader Paul Ryan with virtually no input from Donald Trump. The bill broke a
number of promises Trump had made when he was campaigning including covering
everyone with much lower premiums, avoiding Medicaid cuts, spending more money
on opioid abuse treatment, and not hurting the very poor.
The Congressional Budget Office, which is directed by a
Republican, stated that as many as 24 million people would lose health care
coverage under the Trump/Ryan plan. Part of the bill includes a 600 billion tax
cut that would only go to households with more than 200K income annually.
Ryan and The Secretary of Health and Human Resources, Tom
Price, claimed that the new bill would slash the federal budget by 134 billion
dollars, an amount that is only about 2% of the US’s national debt.
It was pretty clear that Trump had no understanding of
how America’s health care works. What was clear is that he and Ryan wanted to
kill Obamacare and replace it with their bill very quickly with hardly any
debate. They tried to jam their bill through Congress in just 17 days.
Obamacare took about 10 months to get passed.
It was pretty obvious from the outset that the bill was
going to cause a lot of grief and pain to millions of Americans, particularly
lower income types and those that are over 50 years of age. A 60 year old could
see their premiums quadruple.
Only 17% of Americans thought that the Ryan/Trump plan
was a good idea. Neither Trump nor Ryan cared a whit about what the other 83%
thought. They were determined to serve up their “shit sandwich”.
Republican politicians were getting hammered at town
halls by their constituents, including many who had voted for Trump. Their
phones were ringing off the hooks with complaints about the new bill. A number
of Republican politicians were getting nervous about losing their seats in the
2018 mid-term elections.
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| Freedom Caucus |
What is forgotten by some is that the Ryan healthcare
plan was split into 3 parts and what was being jammed through congress was just
the first part. All 3 of the parts also had to be approved by the senate where
Republicans only have a few seats as the majority.
The end result of this fiasco is that Trump doesn’t have
as much power as he thought he had. He has flopped as the great deal maker he
boasted he was. Things Trump thought would be easy like his plan to spend 1
trillion dollars on rebuilding the US infrastructure and financial reform could
be quite difficult to achieve now that it has been proven that there are some
in his party who are willing to stand up to him.
Trump’s Budget
You may or may not know what the Heritage Foundation is.
It is an American right wing think tank that was founded in 1973. At the time
they thought Nixon was far too liberal. Nixon expanded Medicare in 1972 and if
he hadn’t been thrown out of office he might have passed a healthcare bill
similar to Obamacare.
The Heritage Foundation has influenced Republican
politics for close to 40 years. In Reagan’s first year in office 60% of The
Heritage Foundation’s proposals were either implemented or initiated. Their
basic beliefs are as follows....
-Conservative public policies.
-Conservative public policies.
-Free enterprise.
-Limited government.
-Individual freedom.
-American values.
-Strong national defense.
One could argue with their basic beliefs. There is no
free enterprise when a limited number of major corporations control whole
industries like healthcare insurance. Limited government really means that
businesses can get away with almost anything without any legal jeopardy.
Individual freedom sounds good but many Americans don’t experience it. American
values really means being Christian or Jewish and believing in god.
Trump’s budget blueprint has The Heritage Foundation
written all over it.
In simple terms what Trump (and The Heritage Foundation)
is proposing is increasing the funding for the Defense Department by 10% (54
billion dollars), increasing the cost of Homeland Security by about 7% (2.8
billion dollars), and increasing the cost of Veterans Affairs by about 6%.
In order to pay for the above, Trump plans to slash
spending in a number of federal bureaus. Here is a list of some of the cuts.
-EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) -31.4%
-US Aid -28.7%
-Agriculture -20.7%
-Labor -20.7%
-Health and Human Services -17.9%
-Commerce -15.7%
-Education -13.5%
-The State Department -30%
The Republican Congress cut back on State Department expenses when Obama was in office. One of those cuts resulted in the American ambassador in Benghazi having no military protection.
-HUD (Housing and Urban Development) -13%
Hundreds and hundreds of federal programs will no longer
exist. Thousands of federal employees will lose their jobs. Here’s a brief list
of just some of the programs that will be terminated and will no longer receive
government financing.
- PBS and NPR (National Public Radio).
- The National Endowment For the Arts.
- Meals On Wheels.
- Home Energy Assistance (helps pay heating for lower
income families in the winter).
- The elimination of 400 million dollars used to pay for
nursing training.
- A program that helps poor people pay rent.
- Aid for poor college students.
- After school and summer programs.
- Nutrition for kids in developing countries.
- Emergency food assistance.
- The Legal Services Corporation which provides legal
services to low income families.
Although Trump’s budget cuts education costs for public
schools it increases government funds for private and charter schools.
If Trump gets his way millions of Americans, particularly
the poor, are in for a lot of misery.
The blueprint for Trump’s proposed budgets reflects a
deep paranoia by Trump. 54 billion more dollars would be spent on defense and
the military annually amounting to a total of about 655 billion.
Apparently Trump is oblivious to the fact that the US is
lousy at winning wars with ground troops. Iraq. Afghanistan, and Viet Nam were
all “disasters”. Spending billions on defense isn’t going to change those
losses. Yes the US has some technologically superior weapons compared to a
number of third world countries but what is the US going to do when those
countries become efficient at using drones too.
Trump really knows very little about the world. Basically
what he is planning to do is restart the arms race. It’s a blind ambition with
serious consequences.
Summation
I’m a Canadian. Some who read this story might ask why I
should care about what goes on in the US.
Like many other Canadians my age (69) I grew up with rock
and roll. We watched the same TV shows and went to the same movies as our
neighbours to the south did. Many of us have fond memories of road trips to the
US as kids.
At times we were a bit befuddled by the overfriendliness
we witnessed in American stores. Americans seemed to be more zealous
entrepreneurs than us Canadians. Would any of us create a Santa Claus Village
in Upstate New York and call the area the North Pole?
We watched America come apart in the 1960s. There were 3 assassinations in 1 decade. The Viet Nam War split the US down the middle. Racism was still prevalent particularly in the US south. Hippies and pot scared the crap out of conservative America.
We watched America come apart in the 1960s. There were 3 assassinations in 1 decade. The Viet Nam War split the US down the middle. Racism was still prevalent particularly in the US south. Hippies and pot scared the crap out of conservative America.
In the middle of the 1960s President Lyndon B. Johnson
introduced The Civil Rights Act, public broadcasting, Medicare, and Medicaid.
There were still some Republicans around like Rockefeller
and even Nixon who were open to some progressive ideas. That started to change
when Reagan became president. His trickle-down economics never worked but
Republicans today are still pushing the same bullshit.
The US seemed to flip flop about every 8 years or so from
a Republican president to a Democratic one. 9/11 was a reset in America. Air
travel became a whole new experience. The US found itself mired in wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan, two countries that had nothing to do with 9/11. In 2008, in
Bush Junior’s last year in office, the US went into the tank and America saw
its biggest decline in employment since The Great Depression. Most of the US’s
banks had to be bailed out with taxpayer’s money and it looked like the end for
GM and Chrysler.
America elected its first black president. The Republican
Party, as a whole, refused to cooperate with Obama in any way. Still the
economy was revived, the stock market soared, and steady job growth continued
in each of Obama’s 8 years. GM and Chrysler were thriving again.
For decades now the Republican Party has not hidden its bias towards corporate America and the very wealthy. America’s poor and middle class would be hard pressed to come up with anything the Republican Party has done in the last 50 years that has benefitted them.
For decades now the Republican Party has not hidden its bias towards corporate America and the very wealthy. America’s poor and middle class would be hard pressed to come up with anything the Republican Party has done in the last 50 years that has benefitted them.
Flags wave on front lawns and front porches across the
US. It’s a nationalistic thing. Indeed America is a great country but a closer
look quickly reveals that it often isn’t great for everyone. Americans are
often not in the same boat. The armed services are made up mostly of young
people who had few economically sound choices in life. Many come from small
towns where industries have departed. No politician in America is ever going to
tell a dead soldier’s family “I’m sorry your son and daughter wasted their life
in a war where we achieved nothing.”
50% of Americans live pay check to pay check and have less than $1000.00 in the bank. Over 43 million Americans live in poverty. On the other side of the ledger, the past 40 years have seen an enormous amount of wealth shift from the middle class and the poor to the top 10% earners in the US. Taxes on the rich have been slashed over and over again by Republican presidents. A reasonable person would ask why very rich people should need to become richer and richer on the backs of their fellow citizens. 1% of the population of the US owns 40% of the nation’s wealth.
50% of Americans live pay check to pay check and have less than $1000.00 in the bank. Over 43 million Americans live in poverty. On the other side of the ledger, the past 40 years have seen an enormous amount of wealth shift from the middle class and the poor to the top 10% earners in the US. Taxes on the rich have been slashed over and over again by Republican presidents. A reasonable person would ask why very rich people should need to become richer and richer on the backs of their fellow citizens. 1% of the population of the US owns 40% of the nation’s wealth.
Giving more wealth to the very rich is the Republican
way. Basically it is just greed. To distract from their greed Republicans
create fear and nobody has been better at doing that than Donald Trump, fear of
terrorists, fear of religious beliefs being under attack, fear of illegal
immigrants, fear of gays, fear of minorities, fear of guns being taken away, and
fear of legalized abortions.
In 2016 54 Americans lost their lives to Muslim American
terrorists. 49 of the 54 lost their lives in a massacre at a nightclub in
Orlando, Florida. No Americans were killed by foreign born terrorists in the
US. Of the 7 Muslim countries that Trump tried to ban people coming to America,
not one person from any of those countries had committed a terrorist act in the
US in the last 50 years. On average more than 12,000 Americans are shot to
death each year. On a per capita basis that’s about 51 times more than in
Canada.
America has enough wealth and resources for the whole
population of 330 million to live comfortably and enjoy their lives. Trump and
the Republican Party don’t think that way. As they say….the proof is in the
pudding. Here’s a partial list of what Trump and the Republicans have done to
middle class and poor Americans since Trump’s inauguration.
Trump talks about the US being ripped off in trade deals.
Why then has the stock market been soaring for years and Corporate America
making record profits? Why has everyone else’s wages remained stagnant for
years while CEOs are making far more than they ever have?
The US is living in bazaar times when it comes to their
president and the federal government.
-First president in 40 years not to show his tax returns.3
times now the Republican Congress has voted down Democrats requests that Trump
show his returns.
-Trump’s wife doesn’t live in the White House.
-Trump’s daughter Ivanka and son-in law Jared Kushner
have offices in the White House and are chief advisors although neither has any
political experience.
-Trump takes every weekend off and often spends the two
days at his Mara Lago resort in Florida where he sometimes mixes with guests.
-Has played golf 13 times in his first 9 weeks in office.
He said he wouldn’t play golf when he was president.
-Starts firestorms regularly through his tweets.
-Trump has had verbal fights with the press, foreign
leaders, and some in his own party. Nothing is too petty for him to comment on
including the ratings for The Apprentice.
-Lies every time he gives a speech.
-Said he would “drain the swamp” as president. Instead he
appointed billionaires, lobbyists, and carpet baggers.
-Broke a number of promises and tried to jam a terrible
healthcare bill through Congress without knowing everything that was in the
bill.
-Trump’s Muslim ban excluded countries he has done
business with.
-Rescinded The Clean Water Act.
-Trump administration and campaign being investigated for
ties to Russia interfering in the US election by the FBI, Congress, and the
Senate.
-EPA chief refuses to ban pesticide linked to brain
damage in children.
-States are now allowed to defund Planned Parenthood.
-Congress rescinded Obama’s executive order on overtime
pay.
-Congress voted against internet privacy allowing
internet providers to sell their customer’s traffic records to advertisers and
others.
-Congress approved coal mining on federal land.
-Trump produces blueprint for new budget. Severe cuts to
many government agencies and the elimination of others that many US citizens
rely on.
A week or so ago I saw a segment on ABC News where a
reporter visited a small coal mining town in either Kentucky or Tennessee. A
couple in their late 50s or early 60s was interviewed. The husband is a former
coal miner who now has Black Lung Decease. He can barely talk and he breaths
through an inhalator. His wife has diabetes and a heart condition. Together the
drugs keeping them alive cost over $12,000.00 per month.
Because of their low income of about 20K per year between
them, they managed to get healthcare coverage through Obamacare. They both
voted for Trump. Without Obamacare the husband would be dead in no time if
Trump’s healthcare bill got passed. It’s very likely she would follow him not
much long after.
The couple didn’t seem to have any guilt about receiving
benefits of more than a 100 times what they had paid into Obamacare. Although
Trump could have been responsible for their early deaths, both of them said
they still liked Trump and would vote for him again. Some folks just aren’t equipped
to deal with logic!
Prediction: Trump is impeached in next 6 months and some of his henchmen end up in the Crowbar Hotel.
