The Former Trump Presidency Thread

[tgb]

Fortunately we have the one thing that he can't stop.

Spoiler:

[Rip]

Actually, and while I doubt I'll get a straight answer, I would love Rip to defend Trump's statement on Hannity last night that the national debt is going DOWN because the stock markets have gone up so much since he was elected.

He actually said on Hannity last night that the stock market increase has been enough to wipe out all of the deficits the Obama administration racked up in 8 years.

I have no interest in defending his political spinning and fabricating, as I have said I am only interested in policy. As long as the right things get done I don't care if he thinks he does it because some magical all powerful supreme being said he should.

I am going to guess you also don't give a hoot what process he uses for said policy. Unilateral fiat action by the executive to kill ACA subsidies would be executive branch over reach if Obama did it, but no bad taste now as long as he kills Obamacare, am I right?

Overreach begat overreach. I can't get too upset about something we all know I was totally against from jump street.

The courts helped make this mess now they can help clean it up.

[Rip]

Is the calm over already?

[hepcat]

Too bad dumbass only deals in sound bites. He'll promise everyone a hover car if he thinks it will make even one person love him more. It's up to his underlings to invent them though.

...and the way they're currently going, I don't trust them to invent a paper airplane.

[LordMortis]

Too bad dumbass only deals in sound bites. He'll promise everyone a hover car if he thinks it will make even one person love him more. It's up to his underlings to invent them though.

...and the way they're currently going, I don't trust them to invent a paper airplane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

[Max Peck]

Is the calm over already?

I wouldn't get my hopes up for a one-sided nuclear war just yet. Decertification just means that Der Drumpf is punting the issue to Congress instead of actually doing something himself. Shocking, I know, right? It's up to The Swamp® as to whether or not there's any actual change to the status quo. But who knows, maybe they'll give you your bloodbath.

[Enough]

Actually, and while I doubt I'll get a straight answer, I would love Rip to defend Trump's statement on Hannity last night that the national debt is going DOWN because the stock markets have gone up so much since he was elected.

He actually said on Hannity last night that the stock market increase has been enough to wipe out all of the deficits the Obama administration racked up in 8 years.

I have no interest in defending his political spinning and fabricating, as I have said I am only interested in policy. As long as the right things get done I don't care if he thinks he does it because some magical all powerful supreme being said he should.

I am going to guess you also don't give a hoot what process he uses for said policy. Unilateral fiat action by the executive to kill ACA subsidies would be executive branch over reach if Obama did it, but no bad taste now as long as he kills Obamacare, am I right?

Overreach begat overreach. I can't get too upset about something we all know I was totally against from jump street.

The courts helped make this mess now they can help clean it up.

Eye for an eye and world goes blind and all of that.

[LawBeefaroni]

Actually, and while I doubt I'll get a straight answer, I would love Rip to defend Trump's statement on Hannity last night that the national debt is going DOWN because the stock markets have gone up so much since he was elected.

He actually said on Hannity last night that the stock market increase has been enough to wipe out all of the deficits the Obama administration racked up in 8 years.

I have no interest in defending his political spinning and fabricating, as I have said I am only interested in policy. As long as the right things get done I don't care if he thinks he does it because some magical all powerful supreme being said he should.

I am going to guess you also don't give a hoot what process he uses for said policy. Unilateral fiat action by the executive to kill ACA subsidies would be executive branch over reach if Obama did it, but no bad taste now as long as he kills Obamacare, am I right?

Overreach begat overreach. I can't get too upset about something we all know I was totally against from jump street.

The courts helped make this mess now they can help clean it up.

Eye for an eye and world goes blind and all of that.

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

[Unagi]

zipper fish.


just sayin.'

[Holman]

link

[Skinypupy]

He literally has no clue what he's doing...and yet that's somehow ok for the majority of his supporters. It's baffling.

[Max Peck]

Trump administration reduces support for prisoner halfway houses

The administration of President Donald Trump has been quietly cutting support for halfway houses for federal prisoners, severing contracts with as many as 16 facilities in recent months, prompting concern that some inmates are being forced to stay behind bars longer than necessary.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman Justin Long confirmed the cuts in response to an email inquiry from Reuters, and said they only affect areas with small populations or underutilized centers.

“The Bureau remains firmly committed to these practices, but has had to make some modifications to our programs due to our fiscal environment,” Long said.

Halfway houses have been a part of the justice system since the 1960s, with thousands of people moving through them each year. For-profit prison companies such as Geo Group Inc have moved into the halfway house market, though many houses are run directly by government agencies or non-profit organizations.

A Geo spokeswoman declined to comment for this article.

The bureau, which falls under the U.S. Department of Justice, last year had about 180 competitive contracts with “residential reentry centers” run by non-profit and for-profit companies, such as Geo.

The International Community Corrections Association says on its website there were about 249 separate halfway houses in communities nationwide that are covered by the 180 contracts.

Federal judges who spoke to Reuters said the cuts are having an impact in their districts, particularly in states with fewer facilities or larger geographic areas where the nearest center might be several hundred miles away.

Judge Edmund Sargus of the Southern District of Ohio said it was a real “stumper” when in July the government ended its contract with the Alvis facility serving the Dayton area.

[Smoove_B]

He literally has no clue what he's doing...and yet that's somehow ok for the majority of his supporters. It's baffling.

It's because they likely haven't felt any widespread repercussions yet - and maybe they won't ever. Up until it impacts their health or their finances or something or someone that they care about, it's all just entertainment and stiggin it to the libs....which also provides entertainment because they care about things.

[Max Peck]

At least nobody can say that Trump's supporters aren't putting their money where their mouths are.

President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign raised more than $10.1 million in the third quarter of 2017 and spent $4 million, including $1.1 million on legal fees.

Trump’s campaign paid $237,924 to lawyer Alan Futerfas, who is representing Donald Trump Jr. in matters related to the campaign’s involvement with Russian interference in the U.S. election.

That payment came in addition to $50,000 paid the previous quarter to the same lawyer. Futerfas has not responded to repeated requests for comment about the payment.

The campaign also paid $30,000 to Williams and Jensen, the law firm where Karina Lynch, who is also representing Trump Jr., works. Lynch did not respond to request for comment about the payment.

During the third quarter, Trump’s campaign paid more than $25,000 to his own company for “legal consulting,” as well as $800,000 to law firm Jones Day, which provides routine legal assistance to the campaign.

Trump filed for re-election the day he took office - allowing his campaign to continue to raise and spend money while he is in office. Traditionally, presidents have waited two years to officially file for reelection, providing no historic comparisons to his level of fundraising and spending.

His campaign has raised more than $36 million since January.

He has used that money to keep a small campaign staff, to fund campaign rallies and to pay legal fees associated with some of the investigations into his 2016 campaign.

Trump’s campaign spent about $4 million in that same time period. In the second quarter of 2017, Trump’s re-election campaign raised about $8 million and spent $4.4 million.

Of the donations, $1.2 million consisted of unitemized contributions, meaning money from donors who gave less than $200. Trump frequently touts the level of unitemized donations as proof that voters still support his campaign. He raised about $1.9 million in unitemized contributions during the previous quarter.

Suckers...

[hepcat]

A lot of Americans were tired of corrupt politicians and wanted to see what a corrupt businessman could do.



Trump: Well Bob, may I call you Dave? Anyway Dan, I was at an IAEA last night, and I think they just make shoddy cabinets. I have a Trump store in El Paso, the capital of Alabama, where we make fantastic cabinets. Cabinets that can hold...things. And...well...stuff.

[Moliere]

Give the guy a break. If it wasn't for Trump I wouldn't know that an island is surrounded by the ocean. With lots of water. All the way around it.

[Carpet_pissr]

an island is surrounded by the ocean. With lots of water. All the way around it.

It's true, believe me. Not a lot of people know that.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

@kylegriffin1

"When the conversation turned to gay rights, Trump motioned toward Pence and joked, 'Don't ask that guy—he wants to hang them all!'"

[malchior]

About why he has been silent about soldiers killed in Niger -- the dog ate the homework. Also past President's apparently didn't call family's of fallen soliders.

Four Green Berets were killed earlier this month in an ambush in Niger. But Trump has stayed publicly silent on the issue until Monday, when he was asked during a Rose Garden news conference why the American people hadn’t heard the president speak about the deaths related to the Oct. 4 attack.

“I’ve written them personal letters. They’ve been sent, or they’re going out tonight,” the president told reporters. “But they were written during the weekend. I will at some point during the period of time call the parents and the families, because I have done that traditionally.”

...

But he also suggested that past presidents responded to slain soldiers in a “traditional” way that didn’t include phone calls to family members.

“So the traditional way, if you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls,” Trump alleged. “A lot of them didn’t make calls. I like to call when it’s appropriate, when I think I’m able to do it.”

[Smoove_B]

He's not calling people because his handlers know he sounds like a moron (Spoiler: He is a moron) when he's off script. So instead, staffers are writing letters for him and he just needs to provide the signature.

[Holman]

Seeing him say it is infuriating. You're watching him make up the lie right in front of you.

He's like a a school kid who's been caught.

(Then he goes on to claim that Obama didn't call... and other presidents didn't call... and anyway that's what he has been told... his generals have told him that anyway. He just blathers out what he thinks makes him look good and others look bad.)

[Alefroth]

He doesn't even know who they are.

[hepcat]

I truly believe he thinks we're all misspelling Niger.

[Archinerd]

I can't remember, is Niger next to Brooklyn or in Detroit? But I bet it's the bad neighborhood in Chicago. Frankly we should send in more soldiers. There would be less trouble with Bad Hombres and gangs, drug dealers... you know, it's really unfair how I've been treated by these inner cities. You'd think they'd be really happy for all that I've done for them. The tax cuts I want for them and manufacturing. Good jobs. Sad.

[Archinerd]

To be fair, Sarah Huckabee Sanders hasn't had a chance to sit down with these comments and her Trump decoder ring yet. We'll have to wait until then to know what he really said.

[Moliere]

To be fair, Sarah Huckabee Sanders hasn't had a chance to sit down with these comments and her Trump decoder ring yet. We'll have to wait until then to know what he really said.

1) The President was obviously joking.
2) He was taken out of context.
3) Fake News!

[Holman]

Reporters and ex-WH officials are confirming that it was Obama's practice to call families the day they received notification, and he many times met personally with them.

In the ten days since the soldiers' deaths in Niger, Trump has contacted none and has made five golf trips.

[tjg_marantz]

I wish that reporter would have made a "mistake" and said Congo or Benin or something and see Trump roll right with it.

[Smoove_B]

Apparently all you have to do is send a check and tell President Trump that you'd like him to repeal something that Obama set up:

Citing President Donald Trump's calls for deregulation, Republican lawmakers and the chicken industry are aggressively lobbying to speed up poultry inspection lines — a change the Obama administration had rejected after warnings it would endanger workers and increase food contamination.

...

The Obama-era cap is an "arbitrary" limit that is holding back the industry's ability to compete in the global marketplace, the National Chicken Council stated in its petition.

Granting waivers would help the Trump administration achieve its goals of "reducing regulatory burdens on the industry," the council said, adding that it would help poultry plants cut costs and expand production to meet rising demand.

...

Celeste Monforton, a public health expert at George Washington University, opposes a line speed increase, but anticipates that the industry will ultimately get its way.

"The fact that we had to fight the Obama administration to do this makes it hard for me to foresee success in beating this back," she said. "The benefits are to the industry, and costs are borne by the workers."

Enjoy your dirty birds and hurt workers, I guess.

[Moliere]

Sounds like a cowspiracy.

[Rip]

I believe the phrase you are looking for is Bovine Conspiracy.

[tjg_marantz]

Can you even fathom Trump bring half the man Bush was.

Policies aside, Bush was not a fucking asshole.

[hepcat]

Even his supporters have to admit he lies...a lot. But the fear of minorities and gay marriage is more frightening to them.

[Zaxxon]

I believe the phrase you are looking for is Bovine Conspiracy.

I see what you did there.

[Skinypupy]

Looking past the flat out lie about Obama not contacting families, let's not gloss over the fact that today the President of the United States talked about how difficult it is for HIM to make calls to the families of fallen soldiers. Difficult for HIM.

These people have died in service to our country, their families are receiving the most horrific news they could imagine and Trump is focused on how difficult it is for HIM to make these calls between golf outings and finding ways he can try to make himself look better by denigrating past Presidents.

Ever the narcissist asshole.

[El Guapo]

But Popovich, what do you really think about Trump?

I’ve been amazed and disappointed by so much of what this President had said, and his approach to running this country, which seems to be one of just a never ending divisiveness. But his comments today about those who have lost loved ones in times of war and his lies that previous presidents Obama and Bush never contacted their families, is so beyond the pale, I almost don’t have the words.

At this point, Coach Pop paused, and I thought for a moment that perhaps he didn’t have the words and the conversation would end. Then he took a breath and said:

This man in the Oval Office is a soulless coward who thinks that he can only become large by belittling others. This has of course been a common practice of his, but to do it in this manner–and to lie about how previous Presidents responded to the deaths of soldiers–is as low as it gets. We have a pathological liar in the White House: unfit intellectually, emotionally, and psychologically to hold this office and the whole world knows it, especially those around him every day. The people who work with this President should be ashamed because they know it better than anyone just how unfit he is, and yet they choose to do nothing about it. This is their shame most of all.

Then he said, “Bye, Dave.” And that was it. Should be one hell of an NBA season.

[Kraken]

Looking past the flat out lie about Obama not contacting families, let's not gloss over the fact that today the President of the United States talked about how difficult it is for HIM to make calls to the families of fallen soldiers. Difficult for HIM.

These people have died in service to our country, their families are receiving the most horrific news they could imagine and Trump is focused on how difficult it is for HIM to make these calls between golf outings and finding ways he can try to make himself look better by denigrating past Presidents.

Ever the narcissist asshole.

It's all about the optics -- what he's expected to do and what earns him praise. Not a single thought for doing what's right, because for Trump "what's right" means what looks right.

[Moliere]

But Popovich, what do you really think about Trump?

I’ve been amazed and disappointed by so much of what this President had said, and his approach to running this country, which seems to be one of just a never ending divisiveness. But his comments today about those who have lost loved ones in times of war and his lies that previous presidents Obama and Bush never contacted their families, is so beyond the pale, I almost don’t have the words.

At this point, Coach Pop paused, and I thought for a moment that perhaps he didn’t have the words and the conversation would end. Then he took a breath and said:

This man in the Oval Office is a soulless coward who thinks that he can only become large by belittling others. This has of course been a common practice of his, but to do it in this manner–and to lie about how previous Presidents responded to the deaths of soldiers–is as low as it gets. We have a pathological liar in the White House: unfit intellectually, emotionally, and psychologically to hold this office and the whole world knows it, especially those around him every day. The people who work with this President should be ashamed because they know it better than anyone just how unfit he is, and yet they choose to do nothing about it. This is their shame most of all.

Then he said, “Bye, Dave.” And that was it. Should be one hell of an NBA season.

Who cares what some loser coach on a failing team thinks. In fact the entire NBA is on the verge of bankruptcy. #FAKENEWS!

[Fretmute]

Can you even fathom Trump bring half the man Bush was.
Policies aside, Bush was not a fucking asshole.

I've always said that I would have elected Clinton king, but given what we have now, I'd probably elect him king, too.

[Alefroth]

To be fair, Sarah Huckabee Sanders hasn't had a chance to sit down with these comments and her Trump decoder ring yet. We'll have to wait until then to know what he really said.

1) The President was obviously joking.
2) He was taken out of context.
3) Fake News!

None of the above this time.

4) The people calling Trump a liar are liars.

"The President wasn't criticizing predecessors, but stating a fact," Sanders said in a statement. "When American heroes make the ultimate sacrifice, Presidents pay their respects. Sometimes they call, sometimes they send a letter, other times they have the opportunity to meet family members in person."
"This President, like his predecessors, has done each of these," Sanders went on. "Individuals claiming former Presidents, such as their bosses, called each family of the fallen, are mistaken."