Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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malchior
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by malchior »

LordMortis wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 6:52 am
"They're not interested in compromise. They're not interested in [a] dialectic exchange of views. They're interested in total victory...It's a substitute for religion."
That ship sailed within about six years into the Obama presidency. In retrospect, it should have sailed long before. Probably, once it was realized that Palin wasn't an anomaly and Boehner, McConnell, the seeds of the Freedom Caucus started dismantling the all talks. So what, in 2011?
It was the 90s. They started this train shortly after Contract with America in 1994. Here is a piece in 2007 retrospectively talking about how the GOP was trying to take over our Democracy. Karl Rove made noise about a permanent GOP majority around the election of George W. Bush in late 2000. Read what this person (who would have been called a crazy alarmist) said was happening and how the next targets were the judiciary and voter suppression. Then look at what actually happened. They did this in plain sight. They didn't hide what they were doing.

Edit: 2011 is a reasonable guess for when people really should have had a strong inclination we were off the rails. Instead anyone talking about this was an alarmist.

Some bullet points for context.
  • 2008 - McCain nominated for GOP candidate and Sarah Palin. She knew what was up with Putin because she could see Russia from her house! Obama has a huge victory with high turnout and the number of D Senators swells from 49 to 57. With Bernie and Lieberman the Democrats nearly had a filibuster proof majority.
  • 2009 - Arlen Specter abandons the Republicans and switches to the Democratic party. The Democrats have a filibuster proof majority.
  • Later 2009 - The ACA passage was in the works. The Republicans are tearing their hair out and rending their clothes. Death panels!
  • Even later 2009 - Kennedy died and the R governor of Mass appointed Scott Brown. McConnell seeing the shot across the bow to the GOP project doubles down on the GOP permanent majority and begins obstruction efforts.
  • November 2009 - ACA is passed using the reconciliation process to get around the filibuster.
  • 2010 - Republicans take back the House. They take back 6 Senate seats almost getting the Majority back. At the time this was accounted to many factors including the ACA. With time's passage and the current events we can probably start to attribute it to White backlash against a Black President.
  • Trump begins to embrace birtherism in the public. The US debt-ceiling crisis indicates that the GOP is going to use the 'full faith and credit' of the United States as a bargaining chip.
  • 2012 - Obama re-elected with high turnout again. The Democrats protect their majority in the Senate. The House remains Republican majority by a despite them getting 1% lower votes across the nation indicating a 5% advantage might be forming there.
  • 2013 - Unprecedented usage of the filibuster for obstruction is occurring. They are blocking the appointment of judges to a degree that Harry Reid employs the 'so-called' nuclear option to remove the option for a filibuster to block judges. Republicans tear their hair out and wail and gnash.
  • 2014 - Republicans take another 9 seats and the majority back. The crazy goes off the charts.
  • 2015 - Boehner sees the end approaching and throws in the towel. He announces his retirement and hands the reins to the House majority to party darling Paul Ryan (remember him!?!). The run up to Trump-time has begun.
  • 2016 and beyond - America descends into chaos.
Last edited by malchior on Mon Aug 10, 2020 2:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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El Guapo
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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McCain / Palin was in 2008. 2012 was Romney / Ryan.

But yes, there's a deep rot that's set in, which I think is primarily due to: (1) the conservative party getting captured by the Cult of Rand; (2) Republican leaders realizing that the deck is stacked in their favor under the existing constitutional order, such that they can win over time and get what they want with only the consistent support of maybe 30% - 40% of the population.

The good news is that as the problem stems from our political system, that can be fixed, and a lot could be done in 2021 if we can get Biden and a Democratic Senate in place. The bad news is that there are no easy fixes for the damn Senate.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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El Guapo wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 1:55 pm McCain / Palin was in 2008. 2012 was Romney / Ryan.
Lol. Oof. I'll fix it. That's what I get when I'm not paying attention enough to my dates.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by malchior »

El Guapo wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 1:55 pmBut yes, there's a deep rot that's set in, which I think is primarily due to: (1) the conservative party getting captured by the Cult of Rand;
I think that this really comes down to economic power. Rand was inspiring to some of the true believers but the grey eminence Chamber of Commerce types just used those guys as Cannon Fodder. The same way they use Evangelicals. They deliver them table scraps in the form of action on their pet issues.
(2) Republican leaders realizing that the deck is stacked in their favor under the existing constitutional order, such that they can win over time and get what they want with only the consistent support of maybe 30% - 40% of the population.
They didn't realize it. They created it. They had a plan that goes back 20+ years. Heck Rove laid out this plan openly. It was originally "Rand-ian" but it got out control after 2008. It probably always had a "racist' aspect but it became driven by white nationalist politics over time. Especially with Obama. In the end what mattered most was finding the right wedge issues to get power. Then they used that power to stuff their own pockets.
The good news is that as the problem stems from our political system, that can be fixed, and a lot could be done in 2021 if we can get Biden and a Democratic Senate in place. The bad news is that there are no easy fixes for the damn Senate.
A lot could be done but I think we have to expect a lot of bullshit. Biden could pass a lot...maybe...but then we'd still have to wait and see over time how much of it will survive the Federalist assault on the judiciary.
Last edited by malchior on Mon Aug 10, 2020 2:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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El Guapo
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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malchior wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 2:22 pm
El Guapo wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 1:55 pm McCain / Palin was in 2008. 2012 was Romney / Ryan.
Lol. Oof. I'll fix it. That's what I get when I'm not paying attention enough to my dates.
Also - if you want to get technical the final ACA bill wasn't passed until (early) 2010, and it wasn't passed via reconciliation. The ACA was passed in the Senate I think around Nov. 2009, using (all) 60 Democratic votes to overcome the filibuster. Scott Brown wins in Jan. 2010. Had he not won, the Democrats would have had a negotiation between House and Senate leaders over the ACA bill passed in the House (which I believe was broader / more generous) and the bill pased in the Senate. Once Scott Brown won that became impossible because nothing would pass in the Senate, so the House just passed the Senate bill, and then they made tweaks via reconciliation.

Again, not critical to the overall narrative, but that was bugging me too.
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El Guapo
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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malchior wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 2:33 pm
El Guapo wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 1:55 pm (2) Republican leaders realizing that the deck is stacked in their favor under the existing constitutional order, such that they can win over time and get what they want with only the consistent support of maybe 30% - 40% of the population.
They didn't realize it. They created it. They had a plan that goes back 20+ years. Heck Rove laid out this plan openly. It was originally "Rand-ian" but it got out control after 2008. It probably always had a "racist' aspect but it became driven by white nationalist politics over time. Especially with Obama. In the end what mattered most was finding the right wedge issues to get power. Then they used that power to stuff their own pockets.
They didn't create the structure of the Senate, nor did they create the districting process, nor the Electoral College, nor the states' control over voter registration and voting restrictions. They just became more shameless about exploiting their advantages in each of these.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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El Guapo wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 2:33 pm
malchior wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 2:22 pm
El Guapo wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 1:55 pm McCain / Palin was in 2008. 2012 was Romney / Ryan.
Lol. Oof. I'll fix it. That's what I get when I'm not paying attention enough to my dates.
Also - if you want to get technical the final ACA bill wasn't passed until (early) 2010, and it wasn't passed via reconciliation. The ACA was passed in the Senate I think around Nov. 2009, using (all) 60 Democratic votes to overcome the filibuster. Scott Brown wins in Jan. 2010. Had he not won, the Democrats would have had a negotiation between House and Senate leaders over the ACA bill passed in the House (which I believe was broader / more generous) and the bill pased in the Senate. Once Scott Brown won that became impossible because nothing would pass in the Senate, so the House just passed the Senate bill, and then they made tweaks via reconciliation.

Again, not critical to the overall narrative, but that was bugging me too.
I had pulled that part from somewhere. I was manually trying to align the time line. I don't think the original is wrong. Just that it is made of parts. :)

I just looked at it because I thought I must have cut it up wrong. However there seems to be spirited debate whether it was indeed 'reconciliation' or not. My take - it hinges on your perspective.This is like getting into the sausage factory but what is now Obamacare had 2 pieces passed in late 2009 and 2010 (which is news to me!). The ACA in November and December 2009 using the normal process and then the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 which was passed early in 2010 indeed using the reconciliation process because they had to avoid a filibuster. That 2nd bill only comprised tweaks to the budgetary aspects and not the main law. Interesting deep dive. :)
Last edited by malchior on Mon Aug 10, 2020 2:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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malchior wrote:
El Guapo wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 1:55 pm McCain / Palin was in 2008. 2012 was Romney / Ryan.
Lol. Oof. I'll fix it. That's what I get when I'm not paying attention enough to my dates.
We’re going to start calling you Ted Kennedy.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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Isgrimnur wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 2:48 pm
malchior wrote:
El Guapo wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 1:55 pm McCain / Palin was in 2008. 2012 was Romney / Ryan.
Lol. Oof. I'll fix it. That's what I get when I'm not paying attention enough to my dates.
We’re going to start calling you Ted Kennedy.
That's what I get for trying to modify something into a timeline with this stupid BBCode stuff. :)
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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Isgrimnur wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 2:48 pm
malchior wrote:
El Guapo wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 1:55 pm McCain / Palin was in 2008. 2012 was Romney / Ryan.
Lol. Oof. I'll fix it. That's what I get when I'm not paying attention enough to my dates.
We’re going to start calling you Ted Kennedy.
Damn, son.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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Holman wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 5:07 pm
Isgrimnur wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 2:48 pm
malchior wrote:
El Guapo wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 1:55 pm McCain / Palin was in 2008. 2012 was Romney / Ryan.
Lol. Oof. I'll fix it. That's what I get when I'm not paying attention enough to my dates.
We’re going to start calling you Ted Kennedy.
Damn, son.
Too soon?
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by malchior »

El Guapo wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 2:39 pm
malchior wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 2:33 pm
El Guapo wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 1:55 pm (2) Republican leaders realizing that the deck is stacked in their favor under the existing constitutional order, such that they can win over time and get what they want with only the consistent support of maybe 30% - 40% of the population.
They didn't realize it. They created it. They had a plan that goes back 20+ years. Heck Rove laid out this plan openly. It was originally "Rand-ian" but it got out control after 2008. It probably always had a "racist' aspect but it became driven by white nationalist politics over time. Especially with Obama. In the end what mattered most was finding the right wedge issues to get power. Then they used that power to stuff their own pockets.
They didn't create the structure of the Senate, nor did they create the districting process, nor the Electoral College, nor the states' control over voter registration and voting restrictions. They just became more shameless about exploiting their advantages in each of these.
Indeed. My point was that they didn't happen upon some winning strategy and lean into it. They looked at the structure of the government, saw a way to exploit it, actively created a strategy to do so, and then begin acting on it. It's worse in my opinion. And then they partially lost control of it and it has done immense amounts of unintentional harm. There is 0% chance that Karl Rove and the architects of what we see now wanted a GOP that was about weakening American power in the world or killing Americans through negligence.

To some extent I think they are hoping to ride out Trump and still reap the rewards of a judiciary that will call shots their way. They know that the Senate favors them long-term right now. And they gut instinct believe that the Democrats won't take action to halt the slide. So they wait for Trumpism to burn out and then they'll try to pick up the flag again. That is what I believe McConnell is doing. He treads the line enough to keep Trump happy but in the end he just is building a one-party state and he probably dreams that it is run by someone other than Trump but Trump will do.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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No biggie.

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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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Aren't entities that get in trouble with DHS going to argue that DHS orders lack authority since the directors are invalidly appointed? And wouldn't this provide pretty compelling evidence to a court?

Nothing that would play out before Nov. 2020, though, so I suppose it's effectively moot.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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I read an article about the GAO findings earlier this morning. This is a complete mess for a government agency, any orders, memo's, directives handed down by the head of the agency are invalid. So as a DHS employee do you follow those directives or ignore them? The head of an Agency also has to sign off on funds and appropriations for that agency, how do they fund the DHS if there is no one to approve or sign since Wolf and Cuccinelli don't legally hold those positions. For the DHS we are talking billions of dollars in yearly funding. It also means the number 3 person should most likely be running the Department since he is the highest appointee with legal standing to do so, technically he can move himself in to Wolf's office tomorrow. This is a nightmare and just more of the chaos caused by this administrations complete incompetence.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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El Guapo wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2020 6:35 pm Aren't entities that get in trouble with DHS going to argue that DHS orders lack authority since the directors are invalidly appointed? And wouldn't this provide pretty compelling evidence to a court?

Nothing that would play out before Nov. 2020, though, so I suppose it's effectively moot.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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malchior wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 8:56 am
LordMortis wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 6:52 am
"They're not interested in compromise. They're not interested in [a] dialectic exchange of views. They're interested in total victory...It's a substitute for religion."
That ship sailed within about six years into the Obama presidency. In retrospect, it should have sailed long before. Probably, once it was realized that Palin wasn't an anomaly and Boehner, McConnell, the seeds of the Freedom Caucus started dismantling the all talks. So what, in 2011?
It was the 90s. They started this train shortly after Contract with America in 1994. Here is a piece in 2007 retrospectively talking about how the GOP was trying to take over our Democracy. Karl Rove made noise about a permanent GOP majority around the election of George W. Bush in late 2000. Read what this person (who would have been called a crazy alarmist) said was happening and how the next targets were the judiciary and voter suppression. Then look at what actually happened. They did this in plain sight. They didn't hide what they were doing.

Edit: 2011 is a reasonable guess for when people really should have had a strong inclination we were off the rails. Instead anyone talking about this was an alarmist.

Some bullet points for context.
  • 2008 - McCain nominated for GOP candidate and Sarah Palin. She knew what was up with Putin because she could see Russia from her house! Obama has a huge victory with high turnout and the number of D Senators swells from 49 to 57. With Bernie and Lieberman the Democrats nearly had a filibuster proof majority.
  • 2009 - Arlen Specter abandons the Republicans and switches to the Democratic party. The Democrats have a filibuster proof majority.
  • Later 2009 - The ACA passage was in the works. The Republicans are tearing their hair out and rending their clothes. Death panels!
  • Even later 2009 - Kennedy died and the R governor of Mass appointed Scott Brown. McConnell seeing the shot across the bow to the GOP project doubles down on the GOP permanent majority and begins obstruction efforts.
  • November 2009 - ACA is passed using the reconciliation process to get around the filibuster.
  • 2010 - Republicans take back the House. They take back 6 Senate seats almost getting the Majority back. At the time this was accounted to many factors including the ACA. With time's passage and the current events we can probably start to attribute it to White backlash against a Black President.
  • Trump begins to embrace birtherism in the public. The US debt-ceiling crisis indicates that the GOP is going to use the 'full faith and credit' of the United States as a bargaining chip.
  • 2012 - Obama re-elected with high turnout again. The Democrats protect their majority in the Senate. The House remains Republican majority by a despite them getting 1% lower votes across the nation indicating a 5% advantage might be forming there.
  • 2013 - Unprecedented usage of the filibuster for obstruction is occurring. They are blocking the appointment of judges to a degree that Harry Reid employs the 'so-called' nuclear option to remove the option for a filibuster to block judges. Republicans tear their hair out and wail and gnash.
  • 2014 - Republicans take another 9 seats and the majority back. The crazy goes off the charts.
  • 2015 - Boehner sees the end approaching and throws in the towel. He announces his retirement and hands the reins to the House majority to party darling Paul Ryan (remember him!?!). The run up to Trump-time has begun.
  • 2016 and beyond - America descends into chaos.
Malchior - you forgot about the K-Street project, designed to make all Lobbyists commit to the GOP, and *also* hiring GOP politicians and staffers. While it wasn't 100% successful, it still has a huge impact on what the GOP is today.
Black Lives definitely Matter Lorini!

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malchior
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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That's a good point. There are a bunch of other schemes at the state and local level too. This was an all out attack over decades. This might not what they had in mind when they started the journey but this is the outcome of Republicans playing a long game and a Democratic party that was far too passive for too long.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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I feel like I keep saying this, but I guess this goes here?
David C. Williams, former vice chair of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors, testified before the Congressional Progressive Caucus today that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin played a direct and heavy-handed role in recent changes to postal policy that have led to a critical slowdown in mail service before the election.

“Treasury was using its responsibility to make demands that I believe would turn the Postal Service into a political tool,” Williams said in his opening statement.

According to the testimony, Mnuchin used leverage gained from a CARES Act provision that offered the Postal Service a $10 billion line of credit. Under the CARES Act, passed unanimously by the Senate and by a voice vote in the House in March, the Treasury Department may lend the $10 billion “upon terms and conditions mutually agreed upon by [Mnuchin] and the Postal Service.” Mnuchin used this opportunity, Williams said, to pressure the Board of Governors to make operational changes, including measures that the new postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, has instituted. Mnuchin was “keenly interested“ in labor agreements, postal pricing, and contractural agreements made with private shipping partners like Amazon, FedEx, and UPS.
This...seems like a big deal.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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Mnuchin is a complete tool. I’m not surprised he’s the bag boy on this shenanigans.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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I don't want to sound like Drazzil, but I'm getting closer and closer to believing we should break out the guillotines. These people are flat out trying to break basic services to give themselves an election advantage and line their pockets. There has to be a reckoning!
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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I didn't realize this factoid:


Today is the *500th* straight day that there’s no Secretary of Homeland Security—the longest Cabinet vacancy ... ever. Nor has there been a nominee.

As I wrote on Wednesday, Trump is abusing vacancies—but only because Senate Republicans are letting him
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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That's the longest vacancy but there are tons of them. The Trump administration basically pissed all over the Vacancies Act. They've lost a few cases here and there but essentially it has been fine because the Senators in the GOP don't stand against it. Which is fine for them because then they don't have to go on the record about some of the true monsters that Trump dropped in like Wolf at DHS.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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Kellyanne Conway is leaving the White House at the end of the month to spend time focusing on her family.

George Conway is going to leave Project Lincoln, take a Twitter break, and focus on his family.

Apparently their daughter's tweets made them realize what was going on and that they needed to rein it in.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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pr0ner wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 10:56 pm Kellyanne Conway is leaving the White House at the end of the month to spend time focusing on her family.

George Conway is going to leave Project Lincoln, take a Twitter break, and focus on his family.

Apparently their daughter's tweets made them realize what was going on and that they needed to rein it in.
I guess tweeting out that she wanted to get an emancipation was the wake up call. Wow. That whole family dynamic is baffling.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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Politico
A federal judge in California on Wednesday halted Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ effort to boost emergency coronavirus relief for private school students.

The court ruling blocks DeVos from implementing or enforcing her rule in at least eight states and some of the nation’s largest public school districts. The secretary's policy requires public school districts to send a greater share of their CARES Act, H.R. 748 (116), pandemic assistance funding to private school students than is typically required under federal law.

U.S. District Judge James Donato’s order prevents DeVos from carrying out her policy in a large swath of the country: Michigan, California, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, the District of Columbia as well as for public school districts in New York City, Chicago, Cleveland and San Francisco.

Last week a federal judge in Washington state similarly blocked DeVos’ rule, but there has been a dispute about whether that order applies nationwide. DeVos separately on Wednesday evening sought clarification from that judge about the order.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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Emily Miller out as FDA spokesperson.

"Effective immediately, Emily Miller will no longer serve the FDA as the assistant commissioner for media affairs and will no longer be the official spokesperson for the Agency," Hahn wrote in an email to senior leaders that was shared with POLITICO. "I will appoint someone to an acting role in that position in the interim."

....

Colleagues said that Miller, with no prior medical or science experience, was a bad fit inside an agency rushing to fight a pandemic. "There was an inability to do anything inside the agency," said one health official. "She couldn't even pronounce convalescent plasma."

No medical experience? No Agency experience? She must have had some sort of redeeming qualities, no?
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Fucking pathetic. And people still argue that we're not compromised top to bottom..
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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malchior wrote: Sat Dec 10, 2016 12:14 am The only person in the world who doesn't know that Christie's career is done is himself. I'm counting his wife and children amongst those who do. There is a lot of eyerolling as he goes on and on about his next big gig.
I went back to read the beginning of this thread to reminisce in the insanity to come. We were so innocent then. But this leaped out at me because Christie is still trying to get back in 4 years later. Pathetic chump.

New Jersey Globe
Former Gov. Chris Christie will not be among the speakers at this week’s Republican National Convention.

Christie, one of the GOP’s strongest communicators, was the keynote speaker at the 2012 convention and delivered a major address ripping Hillary Clinton four years ago.

...

Instead, the beleaguered former governor is expected to offer his analysis of the convention from his perch as a paid ABC News contributor.

The 2016 presidential candidate has enjoyed an up-and-down relationship with President Donald Trump.

He endorsed Trump shortly after the former governor’s dismal performance in the New Hampshire primary and was a finalist for the GOP vice presidential nomination. His consolation prize was to head the Trump transition team. But just days after Trump won the presidency, Christie was tossed from that role and replaced by Vice President-elect Mike Pence.

Christie wanted to be Trump’s attorney general, but the job instead went to Jeff Sessions. He claims he turned down other cabinet appointments. Later, Christie made a bid for Republican National Chairman, but Trump rebuffed him and went with Ronna McDaniel.

The former governor, who left office with approval ratings in the teens, was also short-listed for White House Chief of Staff several times. He was reportedly close in 2018, but withdrew his name from consideration.

Still, Trump and Christie reportedly remain in close contact. Christie is expected to play Joe Biden in debate preparations.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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I mentioned it in another thread, but if you haven't seen his appearance on Colbert from last week (the last night of the RNC), it really was eye-opening. Mainly because it provided direct insight as to how a card-carrying GOP figure would try to justify supporting Trump in November. I knew he was trash after what happened with the bridge, but just hearing him try to explain why Joe Biden is a bad choice and that he can't support that platform as a "conservative Republican" made my skin crawl. Once again, side stepping everything else and just focusing on the fact that a Green New Deal might be bad for businesses and more regulations are bad. Nothing else matters. No surprise he's going to spew that on a network. F him.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by malchior »

Smoove_B wrote: Sun Aug 30, 2020 1:10 pm I mentioned it in another thread, but if you haven't seen his appearance on Colbert from last week (the last night of the RNC), it really was eye-opening. Mainly because it provided direct insight as to how a card-carrying GOP figure would try to justify supporting Trump in November. I knew he was trash after what happened with the bridge, but just hearing him try to explain why Joe Biden is a bad choice and that he can't support that platform as a "conservative Republican" made my skin crawl. Once again, side stepping everything else and just focusing on the fact that a Green New Deal might be bad for businesses and more regulations are bad. Nothing else matters. No surprise he's going to spew that on a network. F him.
Yep - I just watched it! It's amazing. They've completely side lined him and still he is desperately trying to claw his way into power. That is all it means to him personally IMO. It isn't about those issues. He thinks if he kisses enough ass he'll get back in with the winners. It's disgusting. He damaged NJ playing these games - wouldn't raise taxes and instead raided the ARC project, Bridgegate, all the bullshit he did. He is morally and ethically a dumpster fire. Yep - F Him.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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Isgrimnur wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 2:08 pm Politico
A federal judge in California on Wednesday halted Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ effort to boost emergency coronavirus relief for private school students.
WaPo
For the second time in a week, a federal judge issued a blistering ruling against a controversial rule by Betsy DeVos’s Education Department that directs states to give private schools a bigger share of federal coronavirus aid than Congress intended.

U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco on Thursday granted a preliminary injunction against the rule, calling the Education Department’s argument “‘interpretive jiggery-pokery’ in the extreme.” He even seemed to mock it, saying that Congress’s intent “is plain as day,” and cited definitions in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary of basic words such as “same” as he eviscerated the department’s use of them.

The lawsuit, filed by eight states as well as D.C. and four school districts, involves a July 1 regulation about the distribution of federal funds. The money, about $13.5 billion, was included for K-12 schools in Congress’s $2 trillion aid package — known as the Cares Act — in March to mitigate economic damage from the pandemic.

(The plaintiffs are California, Michigan — DeVos’s home state — Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, as well as D.C., and the school districts in Chicago, Cleveland, New York City and San Francisco.)

U.S. legislators from both parties said that most of the Cares Act’s K-12 education funding was intended to be distributed to public and private elementary and secondary schools using a formula based on how many poor children they serve that had long been used for distributing federal aid.

Before the rule was published, DeVos had said she wanted money sent to private schools based on the total number of students in the school — not how many students from low-income families attended. That would have sent hundreds of millions of dollars more to private schools than Congress had intended.

After strong pushback, the department released the rule and said it was a compromise, though critics said it was not much better than the original plan. The department said that school districts may distribute Cares Act funding to private schools based on the number of poor students they enroll — but if they do that, they can use the funding only for the benefit of poor students. School districts say that’s unworkable for them.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Barbara J. Rothstein, in Washington, temporarily blocked the same rule in that state, slamming the Education Department for arguing that states would not suffer irreparable damage if forced to implement the rule.

Donato said in his ruling that Congress made clear its intent by incorporating Section 1117 of the K-12 Every Student Succeeds Act, which spells out how private schools should get federal funds.

“This is ‘interpretive jiggery-pokery’ in the extreme,” he wrote. “… If Congress did not mean to use the formula in Section 1117, wouldn’t it simply have omitted any reference to it in the first place? But since Congress expressly referred to Section 1117, what exactly does the department think that means?”
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by malchior »

I fear we will find out that they just sent the checks anyway. We are getting close to that stage of open lawlessness.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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Seema Verma.


KEY POINTS
Congressional Democrats are accusing Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma of “extensive abuse” of millions of taxpayers’ dollars, in part by retaining a raft of Republican-tied media consultants in an attempt to boost her “personal brand.”

Leaders from four congressional committees are now calling on Verma to “personally reimburse the taxpayers for these inappropriate expenditures.”

The Democrats say they obtained tens of thousands of documents showing dozens of questionable billing statements – including that one consultant, Pam Stevens, billed almost $3,000 for work related to setting up a “Girl’s Night to honor the Administrator.”


...

“This is just another reckless, politically timed, drive-by hit job on a reform-driven Trump Administration official and, by extension, on President Trump himself,” Caputo said. “Administrator Verma will continue the Administration’s unprecedented success transforming the American healthcare system in a manner that ensures free-market, pro-taxpayer health policy innovations and achievements drive public discussion — not partisan smears.”

The Democrats’ findings come two months after the Office of the Inspector General in the Department of Health and Human Services published a report accusing Verma of misusing more than $5 million in taxpayer money to pay politically connected contractors and subcontractors.

...

The report also touches on a two-page “Executive Visibility Proposal,” drafted by Stevens, to boost Verma’s image by targeting media outlets for potential profile pieces and placement on lists that would portray her as a powerful and influential figure.

Those media targets included “Badass Women of DC,” Glamour’s “Women of the Year Awards” and Washingtonian’s “Most Powerful Women in Washington” list, among others.

Stevens billed CMS at least $13,000 to “pitch” Verma for consideration for awards, panels and other events, according to the report.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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Administrator Verma will continue the Administration’s unprecedented success transforming the American healthcare system
Wait... What?
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by LawBeefaroni »

LordMortis wrote: Thu Sep 10, 2020 8:22 pm
Administrator Verma will continue the Administration’s unprecedented success transforming the American healthcare system
Wait... What?
You need to read her profile in Who's Who of CMS Administrators. Also, attend a Girl's Night in her honor. It's a real eye opener.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by malchior »

I wonder what position Barr is going to occupy on list of worst Attorney Generals of the United States. He has to be gunning for number 1.

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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Holman »

I remember when the right went BALLISTIC that one time Loretta Lynch met for a few minutes with Bill Clinton in the presence of aides.

Absolute corruption, they said. An attack on the rule of law, they said.
Much prefer my Nazis Nuremberged.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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Well he has gone further and ordered an investigation into the Mayor of Seattle for allowing the CHAZ thing to happen. The DOJ is a full-on Trumpist organization right now. Though to be somewhat fair to the good people resisting this absolute corruption, I'm pleasantly surprised that Durham apparently is currently resisting pressure to release the 'Russia investigation' investigation report.
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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malchior wrote: Thu Sep 17, 2020 10:55 am Well he has gone further and ordered an investigation into the Mayor of Seattle for allowing the CHAZ thing to happen. The DOJ is a full-on Trumpist organization right now. Though to be somewhat fair to the good people resisting this absolute corruption, I'm pleasantly surprised that Durham apparently is currently resisting pressure to release the 'Russia investigation' investigation report.
Barr will have it out one way or another, and it will prove that Biden was behind a scheme to undermine Donald Trump from the beginning (with help from China, Iran, Antifa, and the Caravan).
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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

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Holman wrote: Thu Sep 17, 2020 1:10 pm (with help from China, Iran, Antifa, and the Caravan).
Chiran and Caratifa. Soon to be Chifa.

Wait, can't forget COVID. Covivififa.
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