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| Tom Priice |
"...it's expected that they will delay putting an actual end to the law for two or three years while they come up with a replacement plan."Price is connected to the Tea Party and that always spells trouble when you are talking about social programs. He's a former chairman of the conservative Republican study committee, with his website describing him as “devoted to limited government and lower spending.” The new Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, claims that Tom Price is way out of the mainstream of what the American public wants. But, then, that describes whole Tea Party, an organization that has caused more damage to this country that all of its wars. Here's a quote from Scumer:
"Nominating Congressman Price to be the HHS secretary is akin to asking the fox to guard the hen house."Old but very appropriate!
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| Donald Trump talking to Electors/How true |
“The Electors require to know from the intelligence community whether there are ongoing investigations into ties between Donald Trump, his campaign or associates, and Russian government interference in the election, the scope of those investigations, how far those investigations may have reached, and who was involved in those investigations. We further require a briefing on all investigative findings, as these matters directly impact the core factors in our deliberations of whether Mr. Trump is fit to serve as President of the United States.”The first 10 electors include nine democrats and one Republican. The additional electors joining the original 10 were all Democrats. Today is Thursday and with one more business day available what's the likelihood of getting the intel? Law Newz says...
"Legal experts tell LawNewz.com it will be tough for the electors to get what they are seeking. However, there is a way that it could possibly happen, but it involves an often arduous process of receiving an interim security clearance. A process that President Obama could even help expedite, if he wanted to."The next question is can you delay the electors' decisions? The Huff Post has a solution you can read here.
"...Flynn linked to a story on TruePundit.com that falsely claimed the FBI investigation into Anthony Weiner had turned up evidence 'to put Hillary (Clinton) and her crew away for life.'"Here's the tweet...
"U decide - NYPD Blows Whistle on New Hillary Emails: Money Laundering, Sex Crimes w Children, etc...MUST READ!" Flynn's tweet read.CNN reports...
"The tweet received renewed scrutiny in recent weeks after a different fake news story about Clinton's connection to a underage sex ring at a DC pizzeria led a man to show up at the restaurant with a gun. Flynn's son, also named Michael Flynn, was dismissed from Donald Trump's transition team after peddling the pizzeria conspiracy on his Twitter account."So we've got Flynn's son on the Trump transition team--couldn't get a job on his own?--who was fired because his taste is in the sewer like his father's. There is something that could be considered a plus, at least to Twitter, that the social media should pay Donald Trump for all the free promotion it is getting. The crux of the whole thing is really that a man with this kind of judgment should not be in the position of having access to top secret information, even though that was the case when he was Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
What a joke,the market is breaking records every day since we elected a real President, your buckwheat nigger "president" was and is the biggest failure of all timeYou can see the post this refers to: "Donald Trump becomes President-elect...Stocks take a dive" I have to admit that stocks in general have soared back--primarily because it looks like Trump will favor the business world over consumers--but my point in the diving stocks referred to in the above post, were those concerned with globalization, which isn't something Donald Trump favors. At least today.
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| Sen. Harry Reid |
"It's obvious he was a partisan in all this. There's information out there. He had it, I'm confident. And he ignored it."In referring to James Comey's letter to Congress, another attack on Hillary Clinton's emails less than two weeks from the election, Reid commented...
"In fact, to show how awful this situation is, this man ignored precedent that had been going on for decade after decade after decade. The FBI does not get involved in politics -- except Comey did."Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, has now said he supports a Senate investigation into Russian hacking, which right away makes me think he has an ulterior motive. That's how much I trust him. Donald Trump has downplayed the accusations of Russian hacking and the fact that, if so, had nothing to do with his winning the election. The President-elect has said all along that Hillary Clinton has received favoritism during her campaign for president and commented just after the election, she is, "... being shielded by the 'totally rigged system.'”
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| Rep. Joe Barton |
"...you can buy them without a background check at gun shows or from neighbours in many American states. Background checks through the FBI’s database are only required for in-store purchases. Customers are asked if they’ve ever been committed to a mental institution and their criminal history before the store calls the FBI. Denials are rare, amounting to less than 1 per cent."We've all known that for years with past events like when an AR-15 was used in an Orlando, Florida gay nightclub to kill 50 people. Weapons like that are restricted in Canada. More on this...
Handguns are generally classified as restricted weapons, while rifles and shotguns are usually non-restricted. The AR-15 rifles used by the San Bernardino suspects is classified as restricted. Anyone wishing to buy a gun in Canada and/or ammunition must have a valid licence under the Firearms Act. Dec 4, 2015, which is only given after you’re trained on how to safely handle firearms, and must consent to criminal record and background checks before being given a license.Most states in the U.S. do not require any training to get a gun, although I give the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) credit for holding regular classes, after the fact. And let's get this straight right now re. "Americans killing 51 times more people with guns than Canadians," and the differences between the two populations. The U.S. population is only nine times the size of Canada's. Associate professor of sociology at the University of Toronto Jooyoung Lee says, Canada has a more robust set of policies that make gun violence much less likely than in the U.S. Further...
"Canada creates an infrastructure that somewhat levels the playing field, trying to address poverty — the underlying driver of gun violence in communities. Canada has a more robust healthcare system, there’s more money being funneled into public education, there’s a much more progressive approach to ensuring that gun violence doesn’t happen here.”The United States could learn a lot from Canada when it comes to guns. But it probably won't.
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| Rep. Tim Murphy |
"...a hostile government uses covert measures and secret agents in an elaborate plot to get its favored candidate elected president of the United States. The scenario seemed fanciful even at the height of the Cold War."But if you delve deeper into the plot of the movie, "The Manchurian Candidate concerns the brainwashing of the son of a prominent right-wing political family, who becomes an unwitting assassin in an international communist conspiracy," thanks to Wikipedia. The assassin, played by Frank Sinatra in the film, is supposed to kill the President-elect. And this is where the similarity to the current situation ends but still with some serious questions unanswered. Like did the hacking into the Clinton campaign and the DNC originate from Russia?
"While the Republican presidential nominee has denied any ties to Russia, his connections to the country and its president go back years. Trump has talked about Russia being a hot business climate, and he has been trying to bring his brand to Moscow for decades, reports CBS News correspondent Julianna Goldman."Okay, we know that Donald Trump is in the White House for the purpose of promoting his businesses. He's already alienated the Chinese government and that could cause damaging repercussions to the U.S. in both trade and diplomacy, especially with China as one of our biggest trade partners. I see Vladimir Putin as a harmless old crony of Donald Trump who plans to use the President-elect like he has used so many people. What the watchdogs must do is make sure that Trump doesn't give away any state secrets, that is if he ever goes to a briefing.
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| Yeah...sure |
Constellation bought U.S. distribution rights to Corona and other Mexican brews in June 2013. Mexican beers now account for 90% of Constellation's beer business, which is more than half the company's revenue, Ramey says.Constellation is a top maker of wine and beer including brands like Robert Mondavi and Black Velvet. Here's another quote from USA Today...
"His tough talk on larger, unregulated companies (and) industries has many spooked that he’ll do something negative, or that he’ll be friendlier to competition," says Daniel Kurnos, analyst at Benchmark Capital.Bernie Sanders had said if Donald Trump planned to fight the outsourcing of many U.S. companies, he was with him all the way. Then the Carrier Indiana plant situation arose with Trump demanding the company change its position on sending jobs to Mexico. As it turns out more than half of the Carrier jobs still went south. Just another Trump deception.
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| Rep. Ed Whitfield |
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| Rep. David Vitter |
"Chuck Jones, who is President of United Steelworkers 1999, has done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies flee country!"Following that, Jones received death threats.
"Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!"The outset was that Boeing took an immediate hit, then we found out that Boeing did not even have this $4 billion order.
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| Sen. Richard Burr |
The new President-elect is skipping intelligence briefings, blowing them off as if the security of the United States is not a priority to him. And maybe it isn't, as he continues to plan new Trump hotels in Taiwan; Russia is probably next. I've said from the beginning of Donald Trump's rise in the polls that he was doing it for one thing...Donald Trump. President Obama has ordered his daily intelligence to be given to Trump and Mike Pence to keep them abreast of the current status of our security and what the global situation is. Trump has schluffed off most, attending at best one a week."Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the ranking members on the Senate Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committees, respectively, noted they find it 'particularly troubling' that the president-elect 'has mostly declined to take the daily intelligence briefing' – breaking with what other presidents-elect have done for decades."Former CIA Director Leon Panetta is concerned with the situation and when you consider Donald Trump's lack of experience in governing--zilch/nada--it should send up warning signs to everyone, especially those in the Pentagon, that this president might be AOL when those important decisions need to be made. Of course, the man has never been presidential and never will. Here's another MSNBC statement worth quoting...
".. it’s hard not to feel uncomfortable with these circumstances. The least experienced, least knowledgeable presidential candidate in American history – prone to believe weird conspiracy theories and disregard facts he finds inconvenient – is preparing to take office soon, and at this point, he seems passively indifferent towards security information."The whole thing is alarming but what is even more alarming is that these uneducated rednecks that elected him knew he was not presidential material before they voted.
"The Electoral College is an abomination: an antidemocratic relic of the unconscionable compromises made during America’s founding that should never have been allowed to linger into the 21st century."Now I'll get to the Electoral College in a later post but this one is devoted to just how much Nichols' article applies to the 2nd Amendment. Read it again, but this time substitutiing the 2nd Amendment for Electoral College...
The 2nd Amendment is an abomination: an antidemocratic relic of the unconscionable compromises made during America’s founding that should never have been allowed to linger into the 21st century.I hear the gun nuts coming out from under their rocks now but even the "antidemocratic" portion, above, can be defended. It is against my democracy to have to be in a public place with some guy or gal who feels it necessary to walk around with an assault rifle on their shoulder, a weapon that belongs only in law enforcement and the military. Yes, they have a right, but that should extend no further than their front door. But even the right to defend yourself in the home shouldn't include assault rifles. Individual rights go just so far and can be limited, as agreed by the Supreme Court.
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| Rep. Paul Ryan |
"Collectively, the wealth of his Cabinet choices so far is roughly four times greater than President Obama’s Cabinet and nearly 30 times greater than the one George W. Bush led at the end of his presidency."And this is just half of the Cabinet so far. Bernie points out that, not only is Trump not criticizing Wall Street, he is appointing its insiders to help him run the country. The Bern deemed it sheer hypocrisy and laughable in the following video...
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| President -elect Donald Trump |
"Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the US doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!"CNN reports there has been no reaction from Beijing yet on either issue as I reported earlier. But according "...to the People's Daily -- the Communist Party's official mouthpiece --"the call set a bad precedent." The spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lu Kang, says China is only interested in U.S. policy, not Donald Trump's style. The People's Daily also said, "China will not take it lightly.
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| Rep. Sam Graves |
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| Nancy Pelosi |
"the mayor of Taoyuan, Cheng Wen-tsan, one of the senior politicians involved in the Aerotropolis project, a large urban development being planned around the renovation of Taiwan’s main airport, Taoyuan International."The above in September, and then in November, Nicola Smith of the Guardian reports...
..."a Chen Si-Ting, a US citizen of Taiwanese origin, had given a speech at a Friends of Trump banquet in central Taipei. Chen claimed at the event on 1 November that Trump’s company was interested in investing in Taiwan and that his son, Eric, would visit the island before the end of the year."Coincidence, or strategic planning by the Trump family? Of course the man isn't yet President, his promise to leave the Trump organization behind was after he became President, but this looks like a clear use of the American Presidency, even significantly breaking diplomatic protocol to do it, to further Donald Trump business interests. Separately...
"...Anne-Marie Donoghue, who describes herself as the global head of transient sales and Asia at Trump Hotels, was confirmed to have been in Taiwan in October."C'mon now, where are all the Republicans asking for an investigation of this possible egregious conflict of interest?
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| Rep. Greg Walden |
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| China Pres, Xi Jinping |
"Breaking decades of American diplomatic practice, he caught the Chinese government off guard by lunging into the most sensitive of its so-called core interests, the 'One China' policy agreed to by President Richard M. Nixon more than four decades ago."So much for diplomacy with a nation that we need to keep on the good side of not only for trade, but in the interest of a more stable world. But the real story here is the fact that political pundits question whether a major reason he took that call from Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, was to firm up their relationship in order to obtain more favorable arrangements for building a hotel in the country. That would of course be a major conflict of interest which is my next post today.
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| Rep. Ken Calvert |
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| Rep. Sanford Bishop |
President-elect Donald Trump said that Barack Obama has been very cooperative with him and his transition team, scary as it is, in turning over a government that was rescued from George W. Bush's calamitous eight years as President. Bush almost put the country in the toilet, but Obama has brought things back to a stability that can be built on. All the time with a GOP Congress that resisted virtually every move the President made."Anyone claiming that America's economy is in decline is peddling fiction."Wages are stagnant, have been for some time, not responding to a cycle where they usually rise when unemployment goes down. One of the reasons is, rather than pay higher wages, companies are going overseas for cheaper labor. But with no inflation, workers at least keep a status-quo, which could change soon if the feds up the interest rates. What matters is that the economy is going in the right direction under Pres. Obama. We'll see where it's going a year from now.
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| Sarah Palin |
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| Rep. John Kline |
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| Is Donald Trump neurotic? |
"The transportation secretary-to-be, Elaine Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, had a solid, anti-union record when she was secretary of labor under President George W. Bush. Chao is well-networked in the most "establishment" Republican circles of Washington."God help us!
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| Donald Trump harried |
"In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally."To begin with, he didn't win the Electoral College in a landslide (306 to 232). Barack Obama won in a landslide in 2008, 365 to McCain's 173. And there is absolutely no evidence the 2016 popular vote was "illegal," although Jill Stein has embarked on a crusade if there were mistakes made or anything intentional favoring Trump in her state recounts. In 2012 Trump made this statement:
"The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy."Then, a week after the election:
"The Electoral College is actually genius in that it brings all states, including the smaller ones, into play. Campaigning is much different!"Unstable on the one hand and indecisive on the other. Excellent qualities for a president.
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| Rep. Hal Rogers |
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| Daisy Girl |
"...a little berserk, publishing a series of bizarre tweets pushing back against accurate reporting the president-elect found inconvenient.
This. Is. Not. Normal."The above, an observation from Steve Benen on MSNBC, who continues with his concern that Donald Trump has yet to mature for the presidency, with his inauguration fast approaching. Benen adds:
"If the pressures of the transition are causing Trump to flip out in response to accurate reporting, I shudder to think how unhinged he’ll be once he bears the burdens of an actual president."Barry Goldwater would be aghast at the thought of Donald Trump as the next President of the U.S., wondering if his beloved Republican Party had gone mad. In 2016 Hillary used Monique Luiz, who did the original "Daisy Girl" ad and now living in Arizona at age 52, in a version of the original. It pointed out the same possibilities but apparently with no results. I can hardly wait until No. Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, pisses off Trump.
THAT'S TODAY... Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has brought the case to this point, now looking at a possible indictment. Trum...
