The Former Trump Presidency Thread

[LordMortis]

I've just been informed that the weak dollar is a fiscal goal right now. I try. I keep getting burned. I don't learn.

[Paingod]

You take all your best monies and put them into another economy, then you burn yours to the ground. Once you can get more of your original dollars than you had before, put your monies back into your economy and rebuild it.

That's a thing, right?

[Isgrimnur]

CNBC

The weak U.S. dollar policy as advocated this week by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin would stop the economic boom in its tracks, noted banking analyst Dick Bove said.

Since Mnuchin made comments Wednesday indicating that the White House prefers a softer greenback, the currency has plunged. Efforts Mnuchin made Thursday to backtrack failed, with the dollar off another 0.5 percent or so against its global competitors in morning trade.

That comes along with a 14 percent or so decline since President Donald Trump took office in early 2017. Trump himself is on record as preferring the weakness as it gives exporters an edge on the global trading stage.

Though the stock market has enjoyed the declining dollar, Bove said the policy over the long term is misguided.

"Foreigners will not fund U.S. debt if the policy of the United States is to degrade the stability of the dollar," Bove, of the Vertical Group, said in a report. "The United States depends on the dollar being regarded as the world's reserve currency."
...
Continuing to degrade the currency would put the reserve status at risk, Bove said. Should that happen, foreign governments would demand higher yields to hold U.S. debt, which in turn would boost borrowing rates and throttle the administration's hopes for a continued economic recovery and at least 3 percent growth.
...
Mnuchin spent Thursday seeking to clarify his remarks the day before that "a weaker dollar is good for us as it relates to trade and opportunities." The comment was made at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as reported by Bloomberg.

He also said, "Longer term, the strength of the dollar is a reflection of the strength of the U.S. economy and the fact that it is and will continue to be the primary currency in terms of the reserve currency," and it was that portion of his remarks he chose to focus on Thursday

During a CNBC-moderated panel in Davos, Mnuchin said that dollar weakness in the short term was "not a concern of mine," before adding, "In the longer term, we fundamentally believe in the strength of the dollar." He later added, during an interview with Fox Business News, that his comments were misrepresented by the media.

[LordMortis]

That's actually Trump's recommendation during the Obama years. BTW, the greatest site ever when it comes to responding to nutjobs

http://www.trumptwitterarchive.com/archive

It's having your own private Izzy into Trump.

[Archinerd]

bike sharing is a big huge giant failure.

No, it's not. It's true that several bike-sharing companies in China ended up a 'bubble" of sorts, some went bankrupt, others are still trying to carve out a better business model. But they'll figure it out, they always do. But people mostly love it, so they'll keep using it. As long as there's demand for the product, the industry has a promising future. There are other challenges in markets such as the U.S. (not the least of which being that too many assholes vandalize the bikes). But again, there will continue to be a demand for such service, since "last mile" commuting is the biggest problem with even the best transit systems.

There was a story on the news this morning that the city of Oak Park (suburban Chicago) is jettisoning their bike sharing program.

I was surprised to learn that Oak Park even had one. They don't seem to have the population density to support it. Divvy bikes are all over Chicago (and even seem to get used quite a bit during the winter), but I don't know how profitable they are.

I haven't seen data for the last two years but before that it was a financial disaster. The wife was working on an article and I was helping with the database for the FOIA date.
It's not self sustaining and gets a ton of subsidies from taxpayers.
I'd actually be interested in doing the last 2 years.

I'm not well-versed in this topic, but do any of the studies consider the benefit of less traffic congestion? Assuming there is actually a less traffic congestion.

[LawBeefaroni]

There were some traffic congestion numbers but they were quite varried. None of them showed a big reduction. I think mostly because they don't replace cars as much as expected.

Funny enough the divvy vans redistributing the bikes offset a lot of the fossil fuel reductions too.

[Enough]

For folks that have truly been bullied and suffer from it, I can only imagine that the Trump presidency is a unique hurt that probably reignites some pretty awful feelings. As someone pretty heavily bullied in late elementary school through junior high, I definitely feel it and it wears me the fuck right out.

[Max Peck]

Stephen Miller has a plan to save the Dreamers!

The White House has outlined an immigration plan that would allow 1.8 million people to become US citizens in exchange for funding for a border wall.

The framework was described by a senior Trump aide in a conference call to Republicans ahead of legislative negotiations with Democrats.

The proposed bill, to be unveiled on Monday, requests $25bn (£17.6bn) in funds for a wall on the Mexican border.

Democratic leader Chuck Schumer this week vowed to oppose funding the wall.

Under the White House proposal, US residents would only be able to sponsor the visas of spouses and children, rather than extended family members.

And the diversity visa lottery, under which 50,000 people win Green Cards annually, would be scrapped entirely. Mr Trump has frequently criticised that programme.

The details emerged in a conference call on Thursday between White House policy chief Stephen Miller and Republican congressional aides and journalists, report US media.

Mr Miller is quoted as saying the 1.8 million figure includes some 700,000 people who illegally entered the US as children.

These people were protected from deportation under the the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca).

Mr Miller reportedly said the rest would be immigrants who did not apply for Daca but otherwise met its requirements.

[Zaxxon]

Alternate summary of 'Give us $13,888.88 for each person you want to stay' didn't poll as well.

[Rip]

Alternate summary of 'Give us $13,888.88 for each person you want to stay' didn't poll as well.

Sounds fair, what is that about the price of health insurance for a year? You could easily find more people than that willing to pony up more than twice that much for citizenship.

[em2nought]

"Pay to stay!" has a nice ring to it.

[raydude]

Alternate summary of 'Give us $13,888.88 for each person you want to stay' didn't poll as well.

Sounds fair, what is that about the price of health insurance for a year? You could easily find more people than that willing to pony up more than twice that much for citizenship.

Except it's not just the money is it? The deal also includes an anti-immigrant racist's laundry list of ways to close or restrict US borders to future immigration.

It figures that the mindset of the people offering it "You'll get to say 'I got mine, screw the future generations'" renders them incapable of wondering why someone would turn down being able to screw others out of a future?

[Rip]

Alternate summary of 'Give us $13,888.88 for each person you want to stay' didn't poll as well.

Sounds fair, what is that about the price of health insurance for a year? You could easily find more people than that willing to pony up more than twice that much for citizenship.

Except it's not just the money is it? The deal also includes an anti-immigrant racist's laundry list of ways to close or restrict US borders to future immigration.

It figures that the mindset of the people offering it "You'll get to say 'I got mine, screw the future generations'" renders them incapable of wondering why someone would turn down being able to screw others out of a future?

So now guarding against illegal immigration is racist? Got it. I guess we will have to stick to letting them stay for awhile and then tossing them out on their asses. Good thing we have you warning us against screwing people.

[Chaz]

In other news, apparently the US President now suggests that protests should be banned so he doesn't get his feelings hurt on a visit.

Donald Trump tells Theresa May he won't visit the UK unless she bans protests

But it's the liberals who are snowflakes who need safe spaces and trigger warnings, right?

[Isgrimnur]

Do not taunt the orange snowflake.

[Smoove_B]

Stormy Daniels will be on Jimmy Kimmel next week to discuss Trump's State of the Union address, the same night he delivers it (1/30). I hope she also takes the time to announce her candidacy for some local or state office, because that's where I think this is all heading.

[Moliere]

Chinese mother pays price for labor activist husband's probe into Ivanka's lifetsyle brand

Ivanka Trump has sought to bring an aura of female empowerment to her lifestyle brand and spoken out for women's rights from her post at the White House. But her legacy has been less than empowering for at least one woman in China.

In May, Deng's husband, Hua Haifeng, and two of his colleagues were accused of illegally using secret recording devices and thrown in jail while investigating factories that made shoes for Ivanka Trump's brand. The group they were working for, a New York non-profit called China Labor Watch, obtained evidence of forced overtime and pay as low as $1 an hour, as well as a video of a manager berating a worker for apparently arranging shoes in the wrong order.

[pr0ner]

Stormy Daniels will be on Jimmy Kimmel next week to discuss Trump's State of the Union address, the same night he delivers it (1/30). I hope she also takes the time to announce her candidacy for some local or state office, because that's where I think this is all heading.

Well it's not like she hasn't tried running for office before.

[Isgrimnur]

Chinese mother pays price for labor activist husband's probe into Ivanka's lifetsyle brand

Ivanka Trump has sought to bring an aura of female empowerment to her lifestyle brand and spoken out for women's rights from her post at the White House. But her legacy has been less than empowering for at least one woman in China.

In May, Deng's husband, Hua Haifeng, and two of his colleagues were accused of illegally using secret recording devices and thrown in jail while investigating factories that made shoes for Ivanka Trump's brand. The group they were working for, a New York non-profit called China Labor Watch, obtained evidence of forced overtime and pay as low as $1 an hour, as well as a video of a manager berating a worker for apparently arranging shoes in the wrong order.

And that price isn't much different from what someone breaking the law in most other countries would 'suffer':

With two young children, Deng Guilian hadn't planned on going back to work. That changed after her husband was arrested while investigating labor abuses at Chinese suppliers for Ivanka Trump's brand.

Now the 36-year-old mom works the overnight shift at a karaoke parlor and stays in a dorm nearby. She gets just three days off a month to see her kids.
...
The investigators were released after 30 days, but the bail conditions - restrictions on travel, regular meetings with the police - have made it hard for Hua to find work.

Where is the support of China Labor Watch for an individual that suffered arrest and loss of earning for following their orders?

[Fitzy]

Where is the support of China Labor Watch for an individual that suffered arrest and loss of earning for following their orders?

How easy do you suppose it is for an American group to support/reward the family of "criminals" in China?

[Zarathud]

With Kimmel unreservedly bashing Trump and the Republicans, that really leaves only Fallon on the Tonight Show handling them with kid gloves.

Pretty damn telling.

[Defiant]

Remember how after the election, there was anecdotal evidence of hate crimes rising? More evidence:

Murders By U.S. White Supremacists More Than Doubled In 2017, New Report Shows

White supremacists in the United States killed more than twice as many people in 2017 as they did the year before, and were responsible for far more murders than domestic Islamic extremists, helping make 2017 the fifth deadliest year on record for extremist violence in America, a new report states.

[Alefroth]

With Kimmel unreservedly bashing Trump and the Republicans, that really leaves only Fallon on the Tonight Show handling them with kid gloves.

Pretty damn telling.

Because it's NBC?

[ImLawBoy]

With Kimmel unreservedly bashing Trump and the Republicans, that really leaves only Fallon on the Tonight Show handling them with kid gloves.

Pretty damn telling.

Because it's NBC?

Seth Meyers follows Fallon on NBC, and he's one of Trump's most vocal critics. SNL has also said a bad thing or two about him.

[El Guapo]

With Kimmel unreservedly bashing Trump and the Republicans, that really leaves only Fallon on the Tonight Show handling them with kid gloves.

Pretty damn telling.

Because it's NBC?

Seth Meyers follows Fallon on NBC, and he's one of Trump's most vocal critics. SNL has also said a bad thing or two about him.

Yeah, it's more that Fallon's schtick is "playful goofball", and I'm not sure he knows much about politics anyway. The Trump era just doesn't mesh with him super well.

Kimmel's not super political either in general, but he's clearly smarter and more politically plugged in than Fallon, and he's wound up getting drawn in because of his baby's health problems and how that intersected with the attempted ACA repeal.

[ImLawBoy]

And if I can take a side track on Jimmy Fallon for a moment, Almost Famous has been getting a lot of play again for some reason lately, and I like to tune in just for the shock of seeing Jimmy Fallon as the label's super manager. It's weird no matter how many times I've seen it, and I always get a kick out of that.

[Alefroth]

With Kimmel unreservedly bashing Trump and the Republicans, that really leaves only Fallon on the Tonight Show handling them with kid gloves.

Pretty damn telling.

Because it's NBC?

Seth Meyers follows Fallon on NBC, and he's one of Trump's most vocal critics. SNL has also said a bad thing or two about him.

Yeah, it's more that Fallon's schtick is "playful goofball", and I'm not sure he knows much about politics anyway. The Trump era just doesn't mesh with him super well.

Kimmel's not super political either in general, but he's clearly smarter and more politically plugged in than Fallon, and he's wound up getting drawn in because of his baby's health problems and how that intersected with the attempted ACA repeal.

I watched him on that Jerry Seinfeld thing with cars and coffee, and came to the conclusion he's not really funny himself, but is good at making others funny, or at least laughing at their jokes.

[hepcat]

And if I can take a side track on Jimmy Fallon for a moment, Almost Famous has been getting a lot of play again for some reason lately, and I like to tune in just for the shock of seeing Jimmy Fallon as the label's super manager. It's weird no matter how many times I've seen it, and I always get a kick out of that.

Do you get the same feeling when you're watching your copy of his hit film, Taxi?

[ImLawBoy]

Don't get me started on Fever Pitch.

[stessier]

Remember how after the election, there was anecdotal evidence of hate crimes rising? More evidence:

Murders By U.S. White Supremacists More Than Doubled In 2017, New Report Shows

White supremacists in the United States killed more than twice as many people in 2017 as they did the year before, and were responsible for far more murders than domestic Islamic extremists, helping make 2017 the fifth deadliest year on record for extremist violence in America, a new report states.

I always find percentages a bit misleading without the count data. There were 34 people killed by what that study labels as extremists.

[Zaxxon]

None of this is particularly new, but the quote/data layout continues to be striking. Donald Trump is Not Really the President.

[YellowKing]

The new Netflix documentary DIRTY MONEY has a final episode focused on Donald Trump and his terrible business practices. Required viewing for Trump voters. Shows (via interviews with former employees and friends) what a shitty human being and terrible business person he is and was.

[Kraken]

He probably wasn't really a billionaire going into this -- I've seen his net worth estimated at around $600m, although nobody knows for sure -- but you can be sure that he will be one by the time it's over.

[Holman]

He probably could have escaped attention for money laundering and passed along his empire intact if he hadn't gone into politics.

Hopefully the price of his arrogance will be everything he has.

[GreenGoo]

He probably could have escaped attention for money laundering and passed along his empire intact if he hadn't gone into politics.

Hopefully the price of his arrogance will be everything he has.

I hope he lives to see it.

[malchior]

Trump administration considering nationalizing 5G networks.

It sounds like pure operational planning; it very well might not be a serious effort yet but this should be a strong hell no.

[Paingod]

Pining for Bush as President?

[Moliere]

That was painfully unfunny, rehashing the same jokes about W.

[Moliere]

Trump administration considering nationalizing 5G networks.

It sounds like pure operational planning; it very well might not be a serious effort yet but this should be a strong hell no.

FCC Chair Throws Water on Crazy Plan for Feds to Seize Control of Our 5G WiFi

I oppose any proposal for the federal government to build and operate a nationwide 5G network. The main lesson to draw from the wireless sector's development over the past three decades—including American leadership in 4G—is that the market, not government, is best positioned to drive innovation and investment. What government can and should do is to push spectrum into the commercial marketplace and set rules that encourage the private sector to develop and deploy next-generation infrastructure. Any federal effort to construct a nationalized 5G network would be a costly and counterproductive distraction from the policies we need to help the United States win the 5G future.

[Paingod]

That was painfully unfunny, rehashing the same jokes about W.

I'm pretty sure that was the whole point. Painfully rehashed bad jokes are a better choice than Trump.

I would rather put food on my family for the next three years than see one more outrageous BS Trump move ignored and swept aside by his party.