The Former Trump Presidency Thread

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Tue Nov 29, 2016 7:15 pm

In the tradition of draining the swamp - Trump is going to put forward an ex-Goldman Exec for Treasury. What a refreshing change. Trump knows the people he scammed won't know what's up.

Fun fact: If confirmed 3 out of the last 7 (confirmed) Treasury Secretary's will have been Execs at Goldman. I wonder if Alex Jones will talk about that?

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Tue Nov 29, 2016 8:43 pm

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Tue Nov 29, 2016 9:25 pm

Trump is meeting with an ex-bank CEO who wants to abolish the Federal Reserve and return to the gold standard

Captain Caveman · Post by **Captain Caveman** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 12:15 am

Embarrassing. But if it gets a reasonable person an important cabinet position, I'm okay with it.

Trump must be loving this public humiliation.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 6:36 am

Don't know if that qualifies as an apology but he is definitely strapping on his water carrying buckets.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 6:50 am

The Great Leader has tweeted he will be in Indiana on Thursday. The rumor is thst he negotiated to save 1000 jobs out of 2000 going to Mexico. There is word a massive tax break was involved. Hopefully we will get the details to understand the deal. The open question will be whether Carrier will just pocket some cash for now and ship the jobs in 2 years anyway.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 6:54 am

Christ. Did he have to supply the lube, or did Trump bring it?

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 6:58 am

Mormons don't believe in lube.

Make it hurt the way god intended.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 8:50 am

Mitt's walk of shame...

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 8:52 am

Caption

Trump: "This thumb right here? It slid up his ass like it was covered in butter."

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 8:54 am

hepcat wrote:Caption

Trump: "This thumb right here? It slid up his ass like it was covered in butter."

Mitt: Oh God, the thumb. THE THUMB.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 8:57 am

Mitt: Thank god his hands are smaller than my proctologists index finger.

Captain Caveman · Post by **Captain Caveman** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 9:06 am

malchior wrote:The Great Leader has tweeted he will be in Indiana on Thursday. The rumor is thst he negotiated to save 1000 jobs out of 2000 going to Mexico. There is word a massive tax break was involved. Hopefully we will get the details to understand the deal. The open question will be whether Carrier will just pocket some cash for now and ship the jobs in 2 years anyway.

Republicans love interferences in the free market. They love having the government pick winners and losers. They love taxpayers enriching private companies. Cats love dogs now, apparently.

Jeez, this is a bad precedent. Wouldn't any CEO now try to extract tax breaks by threatening outsourcing?

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 9:35 am

Right - this is odd behavior for a "Republican". I just read an article (trying to remember so I could link it) that pretty much said that if Obama even hinted at this type of interference it would have been a socialist experiment (Solyndra!) that was preventing free market capitalism. Now that there are tax breaks involved it is will probably be all kosher. Because hypocrites.

That aside it is still band aid economics. The President can't swoop in and solve every case of outsourcing. Even putting aside the case that they'll somehow alter the tax environment in a way to "solve" outsourcing - there is still a vast amount of automation occurring. Right now they are trialing self-driving trucks in Ohio. What happens when they automate away another 1-2 *million* jobs over the next 10 to 15 years in *one* industry? We don't have time to worry about 1000 jobs at Carrier - we need a plan for what happens down the road (har har).

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 9:35 am

It's like taxpayer funded stadiums. Everyone wants them, as long as someone else pays. Indiana is supposed to be "business friendly" with all of its loose regulation and low taxes. And Gov. Pence STILL has to bribe business to stay.

Apparently the way to "drain the swamp" is to provide tax cuts to the alligators.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 9:56 am

malchior wrote:Right - this is odd behavior for a "Republican". I just read an article (trying to remember so I could link it) that pretty much said that if Obama even hinted at this type of interference it would have been a socialist experiment (Solyndra!) that was preventing free market capitalism. Now that there are tax breaks involved it is will probably be all kosher. Because hypocrites.

That aside it is still band aid economics. The President can't swoop in and solve every case of outsourcing. Even putting aside the case that they'll somehow alter the tax environment in a way to "solve" outsourcing - there is still a vast amount of automation occurring. Right now they are trialing self-driving trucks in Ohio. What happens when they automate away another 1-2 *million* jobs over the next 10 to 15 years in *one* industry? We don't have time to worry about 1000 jobs at Carrier - we need a plan for what happens down the road (har har).

Trump only needs a few stories like this ("Trump prevents American company from moving jobs overseas!"), which he can of course make dominant stories in the media, in order to shore up his base by demonstrating that "Trump is fighting for our jobs!"

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 10:01 am

malchior wrote:The Great Leader has tweeted he will be in Indiana on Thursday. The rumor is thst he negotiated to save 1000 jobs out of 2000 going to Mexico. There is word a massive tax break was involved. Hopefully we will get the details to understand the deal. The open question will be whether Carrier will just pocket some cash for now and ship the jobs in 2 years anyway.

This isn't what I have read. From what I've read the "deal" such as it is, consists of several things:

1) Trump will stop bashing Carrier

2) Trump will push for reform of the corporate tax code (which was already in the Republican platform). This will probably result in lower rates but also a reduction in a a number of corporate tax breaks. Both Democrats and Republicans have acknowledged this needs to be done, though they have differing approaches. A deal probably could have been hammered out this year except for the election.

3) Indiana is promising some tax incentives, typical for many states in situations like this.

4) There has been some talk of Trump rethinking his Mexican tariffs but that's not clear yet.

So Trump saves some jobs by promising what is probably already going to happen anyway. I wish Obama (since he's such a "socialist") had put some pressure on Carrier since their parent company has tons of military contracts that could be used for leverage. I'll give Trump credit, if a liberal had intervened to save jobs, he'd be praised.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 10:11 am

Grifman wrote: I'll give Trump credit, if a liberal had intervened to save jobs, he'd be praised.

Sort of. This is normal politics - if Obama had done this, he would be criticized by the conservatives who are applauding Trump ("sellout to business!"), but praised by liberals who are attacking him.

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 10:28 am

malchior wrote:There is word a massive tax break was involved.

Is someone going to tell Trump that he has no authority to extend tax breaks to anyone?

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 10:51 am

El Guapo wrote:
Grifman wrote: I'll give Trump credit, if a liberal had intervened to save jobs, he'd be praised.
Sort of. This is normal politics - if Obama had done this, he would be criticized by the conservatives who are applauding Trump ("sellout to business!"), but praised by liberals who are attacking him.

Right - but just shrugging wasn't helpful. His passivity at times is my biggest problem with Obama. He had the bully pulpit and he didn't use it very effectively. Something I imagine Trump will do much more effectively and constantly. And for whatever shiny object catches his attention at the moment. Flag burning! Fire! Fire Baaaaaaadddd!!!

Grifman wrote:This isn't what I have read.

Conflicting rumors probably or the 'massive' tax breaks could have been the local Indiana ones.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 3:30 pm

Trump should propose amnesty.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 3:39 pm

I thought Obama had intervened to save jobs. You know, the whole auto industry bailout?

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 3:45 pm

Defiant wrote:I thought Obama had intervened to save jobs. You know, the whole auto industry bailout?

No one's saying he didn't but a bailout during a recession is different than taking companies to task for closing factories and offshoring jobs.

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 4:06 pm

Grifman wrote:No one's saying he didn't but a bailout during a recession is different than taking companies to task for closing factories and offshoring jobs.

Yes, but perhaps not in the ways that some people understand (i.e. bailout was *far* more critical to the health of the economy than saving 1000 Cat jobs in Indiana).

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 4:10 pm

malchior wrote:Reports now are that he is meeting with Patraeus this morning - possible Sec. of Defense. That totally makes sense. I mean the man is competent as a military commander but WTF. He was convicted of mishandling classified information - actually convicted. Can he hold a clearance any longer even? Serious question.

but yet, Hillary should be in jail for allegedly doing the same thing... Hypocrisy at it's finest

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 4:11 pm

He was also sleeping with the recipient, his "biographer".

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 4:14 pm

RunningMn9 wrote:
Grifman wrote:No one's saying he didn't but a bailout during a recession is different than taking companies to task for closing factories and offshoring jobs.
Yes, but perhaps not in the ways that some people understand (i.e. bailout was *far* more critical to the health of the economy than saving 1000 Cat jobs in Indiana).

I wasn't a fan of the bailouts but weren't the major non junk mortgage bailouts all loans rather than on going tax subsidies and even the bailouts of people, which I really wasn't a fan of, were all temporary tax subsidies, weren't they?

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 4:27 pm

naednek wrote:
malchior wrote:Reports now are that he is meeting with Patraeus this morning - possible Sec. of Defense. That totally makes sense. I mean the man is competent as a military commander but WTF. He was convicted of mishandling classified information - actually convicted. Can he hold a clearance any longer even? Serious question.
but yet, Hillary should be in jail for allegedly doing the same thing... Hypocrisy at it's finest

To be fair, Patraeus did write a bigger check than the others to the Trump charity.

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 4:31 pm

Captain Caveman wrote:Embarrassing. But if it gets a reasonable person an important cabinet position, I'm okay with it.
Trump must be loving this public humiliation.

after all he said 6 months ago I have no idea why he even wants to be part of the administration. No backbone at all.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 4:36 pm

naednek wrote:after all he said 6 months ago I have no idea why he even wants to be part of the administration. No backbone at all.

To help keep it from running out of control? Be the change you want to see?

That said, it's likely either he's part of the swamp or he'll be sacrificed on the alter of Trump for trying to do the right. I hope I'm wrong on both counts but my faith is running low.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 4:43 pm

naednek wrote: after all he said 6 months ago I have no idea why he even wants to be part of the administration.

Because someone needs to be a grownup in the room, and so far none of the others likely to be in the room appear to be good candidates for being grownups?

For better or worse, we are now all on a plane flown by Trump. Would you rather he have a rational person as one of his copilots, or would you rather they all be Flat Earthers?

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 4:49 pm

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 5:04 pm

Re-deregulation of Wall Street by a former insider? Bring out the fainting couch. We don't need a guard on the hen house says the wolf.

Archinerd · Post by **Archinerd** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 5:10 pm

Defiant wrote:
naednek wrote: after all he said 6 months ago I have no idea why he even wants to be part of the administration.
Because someone needs to be a grownup in the room, and so far none of the others likely to be in the room appear to be good candidates for being grownups?

For better or worse, we are now all on a plane flown by Trump. Would you rather he have a rational person as one of his copilots, or would you rather they all be Flat Earthers?

Don't worry. There is a MiG-29 just off our right wing, it'll get us where we are going. Trust me.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 5:21 pm

malchior wrote:Re-deregulation of Wall Street by a former insider? Bring out the fainting couch. We don't need a guard on the hen house says the wolf.

Yuck. But, hey, at least he doesn't want to go back to the gold standard, so that's a plus.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 5:22 pm

Defiant wrote:
naednek wrote: after all he said 6 months ago I have no idea why he even wants to be part of the administration.
Because someone needs to be a grownup in the room, and so far none of the others likely to be in the room appear to be good candidates for being grownups?

For better or worse, we are now all on a plane flown by Trump. Would you rather he have a rational person as one of his copilots, or would you rather they all be Flat Earthers?

I agree that Romney's probably motivated by service to country to take on a thankless job in a contentious administration. The possibility for personal satisfaction seems slim.

Careerism is the other possibility. The R Party has not had the trifecta in a long time and is unlikely to hold it for long or regain it soon. Now is the chance of a lifetime for a Republican to be maximally influential. I don't think Romney had envisioned returning to politics, but it's not hard to imagine him as a white knight in 2020 if Trump crashes and burns before then.

Still, I think it's probably service rather than careerism that motivates Mitt right now.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 5:54 pm

RunningMn9 wrote:
Grifman wrote:No one's saying he didn't but a bailout during a recession is different than taking companies to task for closing factories and offshoring jobs.
Yes, but perhaps not in the ways that some people understand (i.e. bailout was *far* more critical to the health of the economy than saving 1000 Cat jobs in Indiana).

and cost *far* *far* more money.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 6:23 pm

I told my boss that I was going to hold off on trainings until sometime next year, once I see what securities laws are left.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 9:04 pm

And the US Office of Government Ethics responds:

I think we've figured out what's need to be done in order to get Trump to do what every normal President does. Give him lots of applause whenever he does it. Well, assuming this is more than just giving it to his children.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 9:38 pm

Can we just somehow take Twitter away from anyone involved in government in any capacity?