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The Trump Administration

Michael Moriarity
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Joined: Jul 27 2001

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Michael Moriarity
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Joined: Jul 27 2001

I hear that Rudy Giuliani will most likely be Attorney General, and Newt Gingrich may be Secretary of State. And there will surely be a place at Homeland Security for Joe Arpaio.


ikosmos
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Joined: May 8 2001

 

"This popcorn is really good. You should try some."


Michael Moriarity
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Joined: Jul 27 2001

I suspect that Putin may yet regret today's result. Trump is bringing a bunch of unpredictable fools into office again. People like John Bolton and Newt Gingrich. Who knows what these idiots will do?


ikosmos
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Joined: May 8 2001

Russia generally, and Vladimir Vladimirovich in particular, is used to dealing with American "idiots".  This would be nothing new.


Michael Moriarity
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Joined: Jul 27 2001

I intended this thread to discuss what will be happening in the Trump administration, rather than what we think of Trump and/or his supporters. Today, it became clear that the U.S. version of "medicare" which applies only to those over 65, will be one of the first "entitlements" to be "reformed." Jonathan Chait tells the story here.

Jonathan Chait wrote:
During the campaign, coverage of the issues was blotted out by coverage of Hillary Clinton’s emails and Donald Trump’s broad suite of sociopathic tendencies. And of the issues that did receive any attention, a conspicuously missing one was Paul Ryan’s plan to push Medicare beneficiaries into private health insurance. Reporters just assumed that, since Trump never talked about it, it won’t happen. But Paul Ryan still wants it to happen. And in a Fox News interview with Bret Baier, Ryan said Medicare privatization is on.


alan smithee
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Joined: Jan 7 2010

This is the thing about Trump's presidency.

Everything he said during the campaign was empty rhetoric and faux populism.

He's a Republican and the Republicans have an agenda. Trump will fall right into line. He will servbe exclusively as a figurehead that will make appointments to shit stains like Guilliani,Gingrich,Bolton,Palin,Arpaio,etc...

What Americans are going to soon realize is that all that talk about keeping jobs in America and scrapping trade deals. These things are not going to happen because the Republicans have a platform that Americans were too stupid to read. And the fact that he'll be appointing far right cronies means the 'elites' and 'establishment' is going to not only not disappear but raise up on steroids.

Those who voted for this buffoon thinking he was the anti-establishment candidate are going to be in for a very nasty surprise.


Unionist
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Joined: Dec 11 2005

alan smithee wrote:

This is the thing about Trump's presidency.

Everything he said during the campaign was empty rhetoric and faux populism.

He's a Republican and the Republicans have an agenda. Trump will fall right into line. He will servbe exclusively as a figurehead that will make appointments to shit stains like Guilliani,Gingrich,Bolton,Palin,Arpaio,etc...

What Americans are going to soon realize is that all that talk about keeping jobs in America and scrapping trade deals. These things are not going to happen because the Republicans have a platform that Americans were too stupid to read. And the fact that he'll be appointing far right cronies means the 'elites' and 'establishment' is going to not only not disappear but raise up on steroids.

Those who voted for this buffoon thinking he was the anti-establishment candidate are going to be in for a very nasty surprise.

That all sounds pretty accurate to me.


josh
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Joined: Aug 5 2002
alan smithee wrote:

This is the thing about Trump's presidency.

Everything he said during the campaign was empty rhetoric and faux populism.

He's a Republican and the Republicans have an agenda. Trump will fall right into line. He will servbe exclusively as a figurehead that will make appointments to shit stains like Guilliani,Gingrich,Bolton,Palin,Arpaio,etc...

What Americans are going to soon realize is that all that talk about keeping jobs in America and scrapping trade deals. These things are not going to happen because the Republicans have a platform that Americans were too stupid to read. And the fact that he'll be appointing far right cronies means the 'elites' and 'establishment' is going to not only not disappear but raise up on steroids.

Those who voted for this buffoon thinking he was the anti-establishment candidate are going to be in for a very nasty surprise.

He actually was a Democrat who has never bought into the Randian Republican philosophy. He said on more than one occasion during the campaign that he does not want to touch social security or Medicare. Of course he could be lying, but without additional evidence we cannot assume that his view has changed. Plus, not being philophically wedded to Republican theology, he knows it's a political loser.

Misfit
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Joined: Jun 27 2014
Allan, all I take exception to is that you did not bold and underline "nasty surprise". Otherwise, what you said is bang on.

Misfit
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Joined: Jun 27 2014
Josh, Congress will make those decisions. Both houses are Republican controlled. It is going to be one pathetic ultra right-wing shit storm.

mark_alfred
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Joined: Jan 3 2004

Quote:

Shunned during election season by many in his own party, President-elect Trump's closest advisers are a collection of crackpots and dilettantes who will make Bush's cabinet look like the Nobel committee. The head of his EPA transition team, Myron Ebell, is a noted climate-change denier. Pyramid enthusiast and stabbing expert Ben Carson is already being mentioned as a possible Health and Human Services chief. Rudy Giuliani, probably too unhinged by now for even a People's Court reboot, might be attorney general. God only knows who might end up being Supreme Court nominees; we can only hope they turn out to be lawyers, or at least people who played lawyers onscreen. And sitting behind this fun-house nightmare of executive-branch worthies (which Politico speculates will be one of the more "eclectic" cabinets ever) will be a rubber-stamping all-Republican legislature that will attract the loving admiration of tinhorn despots from Minsk to Beijing.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/president-trump-how-americ...


josh
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Joined: Aug 5 2002
Misfit wrote:
Josh, Congress will make those decisions. Both houses are Republican controlled. It is going to be one pathetic ultra right-wing shit storm.
As long as the filibuster is around they can block things like privatizing Medicare.

Doug Woodard
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Joined: Mar 30 2005

alan smithee wrote:

This is the thing about Trump's presidency.

Everything he said during the campaign was empty rhetoric and faux populism.

He's a Republican and the Republicans have an agenda. Trump will fall right into line. He will servbe exclusively as a figurehead that will make appointments to shit stains like Guilliani,Gingrich,Bolton,Palin,Arpaio,etc...

What Americans are going to soon realize is that all that talk about keeping jobs in America and scrapping trade deals. These things are not going to happen because the Republicans have a platform that Americans were too stupid to read. And the fact that he'll be appointing far right cronies means the 'elites' and 'establishment' is going to not only not disappear but raise up on steroids.

Those who voted for this buffoon thinking he was the anti-establishment candidate are going to be in for a very nasty surprise.

Agreed to a certain extent. On the other hand I don't think that Trump is entirely on the same page as the rest of the GOP. It may not have got through to him yet, as a serious megalomaniac, that the GOP sees him as an amenable tool. I'm wondering what's going to happen when Trump realizes that GOP majority in Congress want to get him on the outs with his voters/audience (assuming that the GOP in Congress can agree on a line). My guess is that as a supreme egotist with a certain shrewdness about acquiring and maintaining power, he won't take kindly to that sort of thing. On the other hand the monkey cage that is the GOP right wing may not be amenable to Harper-style discipline in the interests of power.

I recall that one John F. Kennedy had difficulties when he alarmed the establishment. However in this case I am in some doubt as to who will alarm the CIA, the other similar minions of the executive branch, and "the ruling circles of Wall Street" the most. Who will they like least to have around the red button and messing with the economy, Trump or the likes of Pence, Gingrich and Bolton? We might have a super-Watergate.

It's interesting to recall that the U.S. armed forces, CIA etc., apparently view climate change as a major threat to national security.

 


voice of the damned
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Joined: Sep 23 2004
josh wrote:
alan smithee wrote:

This is the thing about Trump's presidency.

Everything he said during the campaign was empty rhetoric and faux populism.

He's a Republican and the Republicans have an agenda. Trump will fall right into line. He will servbe exclusively as a figurehead that will make appointments to shit stains like Guilliani,Gingrich,Bolton,Palin,Arpaio,etc...

What Americans are going to soon realize is that all that talk about keeping jobs in America and scrapping trade deals. These things are not going to happen because the Republicans have a platform that Americans were too stupid to read. And the fact that he'll be appointing far right cronies means the 'elites' and 'establishment' is going to not only not disappear but raise up on steroids.

Those who voted for this buffoon thinking he was the anti-establishment candidate are going to be in for a very nasty surprise.

He actually was a Democrat who has never bought into the Randian Republican philosophy. He said on more than one occasion during the campaign that he does not want to touch social security or Medicare. Of course he could be lying, but without additional evidence we cannot assume that his view has changed. Plus, not being philophically wedded to Republican theology, he knows it's a political loser.

You know, if Trump had actually been running third-party, unbeholden to Republican personages and dogma, I would have given some serious thought to supporting(well, in my head, since I can't vote in the US) him, on both foreign-policy and social issues.

Among his early-primary foreign-policy stances were an exapressed willingness to meet with the North Koreans over their nuke program(which is exactly what the North Koreans themselves have been demanding, refused by every candidate and sitting president in recent memory), stated neutrality on the status of Jerusalem(everyone else of any signficance is pro-Israel), and an acknowledgement that the Iraq War was a blunder(he dishonestly claimed to have been against it from the start, but that's par for the course in politics).

On social issues, he bluntly told equal-marriage opponents to get over their obsession after the SCOTUS ruling, stated that people of any gender should use whatever washrooms they feel comfortable with, and said he'd continue to allow states to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana.

Unfortunately, it was always pretty apparent that, once he realized he couldn't survive without major support from the Republican establishment, he'd modify his stances accordingly, which I know he has done on Jerusalem, and, if reports of Bolton for Foggy Bottom are accurate, most other foreign-policy issues as well. Not sure where he is on social-issues, I suspect he'll play it as some sort of decentralization thing(leaving the decisions up to the states), which is actually pretty standard for Republicans of any stripe.

voice of the damned
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Joined: Sep 23 2004
botched

voice of the damned
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Joined: Sep 23 2004
Hm.

http://tinyurl.com/j28zt5a

Either Obama is the most persuasive debater in human history, or Trump is concocting a narrative as set-up for some future decision on health-care, whatever that may be.

If at least some of the Republican vote really was about economic distress, then hanging onto at least parts of Obamacare would probably be a good stretegy fot Trump. Many of those laid-off workers have almost certainly benefitted from its provisions, and they likely wouldn't be happy to see it scrapped in full.

kropotkin1951
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Joined: Jun 6 2002

Unionist wrote:

alan smithee wrote:

This is the thing about Trump's presidency.

Everything he said during the campaign was empty rhetoric and faux populism.

He's a Republican and the Republicans have an agenda. Trump will fall right into line. He will servbe exclusively as a figurehead that will make appointments to shit stains like Guilliani,Gingrich,Bolton,Palin,Arpaio,etc...

What Americans are going to soon realize is that all that talk about keeping jobs in America and scrapping trade deals. These things are not going to happen because the Republicans have a platform that Americans were too stupid to read. And the fact that he'll be appointing far right cronies means the 'elites' and 'establishment' is going to not only not disappear but raise up on steroids.

Those who voted for this buffoon thinking he was the anti-establishment candidate are going to be in for a very nasty surprise.

That all sounds pretty accurate to me.

Well said.


alan smithee
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Joined: Jan 7 2010

Trumps first 100 day action plan.

http://www.npr.org/2016/11/09/501451368/here-is-what-donald-trump-wants-...

A lot of it is laughable,some of it is impossible and Chinless Fuck..I mean Mitch McConnell has already hinted that some of these ideas (infrastructure spending for example) is not a priority or part of the Republicans main agenda.

I especially love the wall proposal. This jack ass still thinks he can make Mexico pay for it. Good luck with that,asshat.


quizzical
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Joined: Dec 8 2011

what's special interest collusion mean?

what does a currency manipulator mean?

and how will China being labelled one play out in the amount of US debt they hold?

has Obama even issued any unconstitutional amendments?

the whole list reads like smokey bs.

 

 


Doug Woodard
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Joined: Mar 30 2005

A couple of things strike me about Trump's 100 day action plan:

He doesn't say anything about recovering the jobs that have already been exported.

He doesn't say anything about the financial sector.

I don't think that the people who voted for him are going to find that their situation improves.

I'll be interested to find out how he proposes to get Mexico to pay for his wall.


alan smithee
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Joined: Jan 7 2010

Mexico is not paying for the wall. It's like building a hospital and making a foreign government pay for it,there's no chance it's going to happen.

So it is interesting how he proposes to make Mexico pay for his wall. What's he going to do? Start a war with Mexico?

On second thought,nothing would surprise me. But Mexico ain't paying for it.


Mr. Magoo
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Joined: Dec 13 2002

I've heard it suggested that things like tariffs could pay for the wall.  No idea if he can just wave his hand and impose tariffs, of course.


alan smithee
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Joined: Jan 7 2010

Mr. Magoo wrote:

I've heard it suggested that things like tariffs could pay for the wall.  No idea if he can just wave his hand and impose tariffs, of course.

That could be but it's not mentioned in his proposal.

'End Illegal Immigration Act Fully-funds the construction of a wall on our southern border with the full understanding that the country Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such wall.'

It sounds as if the US actually has a deal with Mexico to pay for the wall. We all know they don't. We all know that Mexico would never just passively pay the bill.

Tariffs? That's plausible but I find it odd that it was not mentioned in his manifesto.


bekayne
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Joined: Jan 23 2006

voice of the damned wrote:
Hm.

 

http://tinyurl.com/j28zt5a

 

Either Obama is the most persuasive debater in human history, or Trump is concocting a narrative as set-up for some future decision on health-care, whatever that may be.

It seems he's very influenced by the last person he talks to.


kropotkin1951
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Joined: Jun 6 2002

He can impose tariffs but that would allow every Mexican company to sue under NAFTA.  Since that would include a lot of American subsidiaries it would be a sight to behold. Of course he could revoke NAFTA after the notice period but I will be gobsmacked if that happens


Mr. Magoo
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Joined: Dec 13 2002

I suppose he could theoretically deduct it from the international aid that the US gives to Mexico.  Though, recently, that's only been on the order of a half billion, and I can't say for sure he could build that wall for that kind of coin, unless it's going to be eight feet high and made of chipboard.


pookie
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Joined: Dec 13 2005

bekayne wrote:

voice of the damned wrote:
Hm.

 

http://tinyurl.com/j28zt5a

 

Either Obama is the most persuasive debater in human history, or Trump is concocting a narrative as set-up for some future decision on health-care, whatever that may be.

It seems he's very influenced by the last person he talks to.

Yes, I saw that too.

Tee hee.


NDPP
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Joined: Dec 27 2008

"Remember how you let Obama 'legalize'

* Assassinating anyone

* Spying on everyone

* Prosecuting publishers and sources?

It's All Trumps

In 69 Days..."

https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/797319476949741568


NorthReport
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Joined: Jul 6 2008

The Black Swan President

Donald Trump is the biggest unknown ever to take control of the White House. What’s the worst-case scenario? The best? As the country waits to find out, Politico Magazine asked 17 experts to game out a Trump presidency.

 

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/11/donald-trump-president-wh...


Sean in Ottawa
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Joined: Jun 3 2003

Predicting what a Trump presidency will be like is more difficult than any previous one in living memory.

Trump could toe the Republican line or he may fight with them and strike out as much on his own as possible -- or he can try one for a while and then the other.

Trump policies could reflect a business person who is pragmatic and trying to provide the best presidency to flatter his own ego or it could be unhinged and irrational based on his whims and angers. Ot it could be one for a while and then the other.

Trump's foreign policy could be a step back from the worst of American imperialism or a new imperialism from a despot with anger issues. Or it could be both on after another.

You don't know what you are going to get. He is dangerous.

Of course as dangerous as he is, it is possible that he could do some good amid all else he does. That is what being unpredictable means.

He might rise above the worst expectations or confirm them all.

He is connected to some bad people and he has some very bad tendencies and biases. He is a racist and a sexist man who loves power.

What could go wrong?


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