The Former Trump Presidency Thread

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Reports are coming out about Trump's first budget. Looks like it'll be a serious ramp up in defense spending while slashing (tens of billions of dollars) the budget of the EPA and social welfare programs. Hopefully most of that crap gets changed in the house and Senate, but considering this congress I don't have much hope...

[malchior]

A man of the *people*. And the people obviously want and need a bigger military. Maybe they'll be the ones building the wall and fixing the airports like he promised?

[Max Peck]

He did promise to create jobs, and the last I heard there was no hiring freeze for the military.

Besides, Oceania isn't going to consolidate itself.

[Holman]

Another day, another anti-Semitic attack.

I emailed tlr's brothers (she's in training for a new position) and her family is buried somewhere else, thankfully.

The only good to come of this is the large interfaith effort being made to restore the site and denounce the hatred. Philly people I know across the whole spectrum are donating and talking about it.

[hepcat]

Waiting on inevitable tweet from the man-gerine in which he revels in the Oscar flub and uses it to insult Hollywood...then cnn for no reason.

[Holman]

Waiting on inevitable tweet from the man-gerine in which he revels in the Oscar flub and uses it to insult Hollywood...then cnn for no reason.

There was already a hugely popular "Boycott the Oscars!!1!" re-post making the rounds of right-wing Facebook this weekend. It featured Meryl Streep as the face of the enemy.

[Remus West]

They know they can't really control information. This is about de-legitimizing the mainstream press, making it look weak or unnecessary.

It's dominance politics. It's all Trump knows.

I don't believe this. I think it is absolutely about controlling the narrative.if the information gets out the way they want it out it becomes much easier to control their sheeples. At first I only jokingly thought of him as the end of America as a nation of the free. More and more I view his government to be the end of freedom and equality. Controlling how the steps forward get presented to the public eases their path to step on.

There's no way this controls any information *today*. Whatever Spicer says will get out regardless of who's in the room, and it's not like Spicer is going to say anything valuable (or call on a "hostile" reporter for questions) anyway.

Right now this is a stunt about embarrassing the targeted organizations. But it's also a test of the long-term strategy of making them seem irrelevant, which is where I share exactly your concern.

Sorry, was not on OO much the last few days but I wanted to come back to this. The entire thing to me is that this is the first step. Nobody cares that much about this particular briefing so you exclude a few "undesirables" in order to acclimate the group to the exclusions. You don't strip the rights from the people in one big move without causing alarm and likely uprisings. You strip them of their rights a little at a time so nobody really pays attention until they are gone. Then they only say "Remember when....."

[RunningMn9]

Did I see correctly that his budget proposal also contains substantial cuts to the State Department?

[Smoove_B]

Did I see correctly that his budget proposal also contains substantial cuts to the State Department?

From Reuters:

A second official said the State Department's budget could be cut by as much as 30 percent, which would force a major restructuring of the department and elimination of programs.

[Zarathud]

Why would his Orangeness need diplomacy when he clearly gives no fucks about the world or global influence? He has outsourced those roles to FOX News and Putin.

[malchior]

Who needs foreign relations anyway? We'll have a bigger military to just push them around. Also I'm guessing off the cuff but the cut programs will probably be the ones that help brown people.

[Octavious]

Repubs are eating it up from what I can see. We need a stronger military and we're sick of the poor people eating lobster on my dime! USA USA USA.

[Remus West]

I swear to God we are the single most cowardly nation (as a group, not as individuals) on the planet. We consistently outspend everyone else on our military, outclass them technologically, and basically could wipe out the world single handedly. Yet we never feel like our military is big enough. We are so scared of everything that we arm ourselves to the teeth and then some. It is ridiculous and saddening.

[Paingod]

I swear to God we are the single most cowardly nation (as a group, not as individuals) on the planet.

I think we're the most worried about our own interests abroad. Somewhere along the way, we decided that having our freedom meant protecting other people's freedom elsewhere, making us opponents of other large nations who would just as happily take over the world. If the US had a tiny standing military and a isolationist policy of neutrality, how well would some of our allies fare against the likes of China and Russia? It's a tangled web with a lot of sides to it, but I think a lot of "free" places are allowed to get on with life a little better with what we've done.

I'm not saying we should ramp up spending, though. It's already pretty damn absurd, and cutting social programs to increase military spending will only yield something like a 0.6% gain. They'll have to slash and burn a lot more than Planned Parenthood and other funded social programs to afford what they want - they'll have to start burning down things like social security and medicaid.

[malchior]

I swear to God we are the single most cowardly nation (as a group, not as individuals) on the planet. We consistently outspend everyone else on our military, outclass them technologically, and basically could wipe out the world single handedly. Yet we never feel like our military is big enough. We are so scared of everything that we arm ourselves to the teeth and then some. It is ridiculous and saddening.

It has little to do with cowardice IMO - it is all about empire and protecting the interests of the wealthy. We don't need to invest in America anymore - the wealthy have become transnational and don't generally need the American worker to be educated or healthy anymore. They do need to be protected abroad and domestically. Plus Trump is a fucking moron and will follow anything Bannon says will make Trump more popular and "stronger". Bannon's particular brand of white nationalism needs more jingoism. This is budget policy if true lines up pretty nicely to that.

[Paingod]

The "Hot Mic" report from Fox News, where Trump ends an interview, ignores a reporter asking about an investigation into Russia, and then mutters to the guy next to him "I haven't called Russia in 10 years" - which, if he's staying true to form, means he's trying to make his own realities again.

I look forward to his Congressional address. It should be delightful. We should make bingo cards. I say his address will play out like this:

• Such a big Electoral win
• Such large crowd numbers
• Democrats are being unfair
• Attacked from all sides
• Press is the enemy
• Build that wall
• We need more nukes
• Keep out the terrorists
• End of speech

[Rip]

I swear to God we are the single most cowardly nation (as a group, not as individuals) on the planet.

I think we're the most worried about our own interests abroad. Somewhere along the way, we decided that having our freedom meant protecting other people's freedom elsewhere, making us opponents of other large nations who would just as happily take over the world. If the US had a tiny standing military and a isolationist policy of neutrality, how well would some of our allies fare against the likes of China and Russia? It's a tangled web with a lot of sides to it, but I think a lot of "free" places are allowed to get on with life a little better with what we've done.

I'm not saying we should ramp up spending, though. It's already pretty damn absurd, and cutting social programs to increase military spending will only yield something like a 0.6% gain. They'll have to slash and burn a lot more than Planned Parenthood and other funded social programs to afford what they want - they'll have to start burning down things like social security and medicaid.

Pretty sure that somewhere along the way was sometime in the winter of 1941.

Also it has been reported that they aren't looking for entitlement cuts, so it will more than likely just be more IOUs. On the bright side he couldn't possibly grow the debt/deficit as much as Obama did, so there is that.

[Fitzy]

Also it has been reported that they aren't looking for entitlement cuts, so it will more than likely just be more IOUs. On the bright side he couldn't possibly grow the debt/deficit as much as Obama did, so there is that.

[Isgrimnur]

Something something Power of the Purse. The Republicans in the House have had control of the purse for ten of the past twelve Congresses, including six of the eight Obama years.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Also it has been reported that they aren't looking for entitlement cuts, so it will more than likely just be more IOUs.

They aren't going to cut Social Security or Medicaid because Trump promised he wouldn't. But the proposed budget slashes foreign aid and the budget for the EPA, and I would be surprised if it didn't propose to cut funding for social welfare programs, the NEA, and other sciences (NSF, NIH) as well.

[Remus West]

I swear to God we are the single most cowardly nation (as a group, not as individuals) on the planet. We consistently outspend everyone else on our military, outclass them technologically, and basically could wipe out the world single handedly. Yet we never feel like our military is big enough. We are so scared of everything that we arm ourselves to the teeth and then some. It is ridiculous and saddening.

It has little to do with cowardice IMO - it is all about empire and protecting the interests of the wealthy. We don't need to invest in America anymore - the wealthy have become transnational and don't generally need the American worker to be educated or healthy anymore. They do need to be protected abroad and domestically. Plus Trump is a fucking moron and will follow anything Bannon says will make Trump more popular and "stronger". Bannon's particular brand of white nationalism needs more jingoism. This is budget policy if true lines up pretty nicely to that.

We, as the majority of Americans, get led around be our fear of "other" all the time though. It is what is used time and time again to push through those programs and ideas that benefit the wealthy much more than the middle. I'm not advocating isolationism. That said, we have more than enough military spending to address our needs now given how much we spend in comparison to those "others" yet still we cheer the idea of spending even more at a cost to our own well being.

[Zarathud]

Obama's deficit wasn't self-inflicted, but rather the result of President W Bush's deregulation policies. How quickly we forget, and repeat our mistakes.

[LordMortis]

http://ijr.com/2017/02/810965-trump-dit ... -watching/

Is IJR fake news? because

“The President ordered a well-done steak. An aged New York strip. He ate it with catsup as he always does. The sides and appetizers on the table were shared. Three jumbo shrimp cocktails were delivered before the meal. At one point, the President looked at his watch and remarked ”They are filming 'Saturday Night Live' right now. Can't wait to see what they are gonna do to me this week.“ It was hard to serve him because he is so funny and relaxed, it makes you laugh.”

1) I don't trust any source that spells it catsup but
2) Well done with ketchup? I... No... Can't....

[Defiant]

Bush speaks out

[wonderpug]

2) Well done with ketchup? I... No... Can't....

At least we finally have grounds for impeachment.

[El Guapo]

2) Well done with ketchup? I... No... Can't....

At least we finally have grounds for impeachment.

What's worse, remember that he started a line of steaks predicated on his own ability to pick out fine steaks.

[pr0ner]

http://ijr.com/2017/02/810965-trump-dit ... -watching/

Is IJR fake news? because

“The President ordered a well-done steak. An aged New York strip. He ate it with catsup as he always does. The sides and appetizers on the table were shared. Three jumbo shrimp cocktails were delivered before the meal. At one point, the President looked at his watch and remarked ”They are filming 'Saturday Night Live' right now. Can't wait to see what they are gonna do to me this week.“ It was hard to serve him because he is so funny and relaxed, it makes you laugh.”

1) I don't trust any source that spells it catsup but
2) Well done with ketchup? I... No... Can't....

I went to a fancypants steakhouse a couple weekends ago. My waitress thanked my entire table for ordering our steaks medium rare.

[Carpet_pissr]

because Trump promised he wouldn't.

Meaning, what, exactly, from the mouth of a pathological liar?

[Archinerd]

because Trump promised he wouldn't.

Meaning, what, exactly, from the mouth of a pathological liar?

Trump actually does do a pretty good job of doing what he says he's going to do. His policies are just based on lies.

[LordMortis]

because Trump promised he wouldn't.

Meaning, what, exactly, from the mouth of a pathological liar?

Trump actually does do a pretty good job of doing what he says he's going to do. His policies are just based on lies.

Which things? He said he was going leverage medicaid as a single source competitive for medical suppliers and pffft that was gone. I'm awaiting to see how he covers everyone cheaper and better with repeal and replace. And I'm hoping he doesn't use tactical nuclear solutions in the middle east to clean up ISIS within 30 days of taking office.

[Isgrimnur]

IJR

The Independent Journal Review is an American news and opinion website based in Alexandria, Virginia. The publication was founded in 2012 by former Republican party staffers Alex Skatell and Phil Musser. The publication is owned by Media Group of America, with Skatell serving as its CEO. The site covers general interest topics including politics, culture, entertainment, and viral news content.

[Kraken]

A man of the *people*. And the people obviously want and need a bigger military. Maybe they'll be the ones building the wall and fixing the airports like he promised?

Goes hand-in-hand with keeping us scared of the terrorists.

I swear to God we are the single most cowardly nation (as a group, not as individuals) on the planet. We consistently outspend everyone else on our military, outclass them technologically, and basically could wipe out the world single handedly. Yet we never feel like our military is big enough. We are so scared of everything that we arm ourselves to the teeth and then some. It is ridiculous and saddening.

It's really the last arena in which we're the undisputed leader, so it kind of makes sense to double down on that.

Also it has been reported that they aren't looking for entitlement cuts, so it will more than likely just be more IOUs.

They aren't going to cut Social Security or Medicaid because Trump promised he wouldn't. But the proposed budget slashes foreign aid and the budget for the EPA, and I would be surprised if it didn't propose to cut funding for social welfare programs, the NEA, and other sciences (NSF, NIH) as well.

At least NASA should be safe, if the rumors about Trump's (literal) moonshot are true. NASA has been directed to explore making the first flight of Orion crewed, essentially duplicating Apollo 8, and Trump would like to see that happen before the 2020 election. If NASA wants to protect their budget I'm sure they'll find that it's feasible.

(Space being the other arena in which one could argue that America still leads; we may not be able to put humans in orbit anymore, but our robots are awesome.)

[Archinerd]

because Trump promised he wouldn't.

Meaning, what, exactly, from the mouth of a pathological liar?

Trump actually does do a pretty good job of doing what he says he's going to do. His policies are just based on lies.

Which things? He said he was going leverage medicaid as a single source competitive for medical suppliers and pffft that was gone. I'm awaiting to see how he covers everyone cheaper and better with repeal and replace. And I'm hoping he doesn't use tactical nuclear solutions in the middle east to clean up ISIS within 30 days of taking office.

-He imposed a hiring freeze on federal employees (w/ exceptions for military & public safety).
-For each new regulation, must repeal 2. (this has at least been proposed, I don't know if it's official yet)
-Withdraw from TTP, attempting to renegotiate NAFTA
-Re-start construction on oil pipelines
-Cancel as many of Obama's executive actions as he can
-Remove illegal immigrants
-Suspend immigration from "terrorist countries" (didn't work first time, second attempt due this week)
-"Rebuild" our military (getting started on this now)
-Build the wall (he's actually trying to build a wall)

You can argue on his success with them, but he is carrying through with his threats trying to do what he said he would do.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

At least NASA should be safe, if the rumors about Trump's (literal) moonshot are true. NASA has been directed to explore making the first flight of Orion crewed, essentially duplicating Apollo 8, and Trump would like to see that happen before the 2020 election. If NASA wants to protect their budget I'm sure they'll find that it's feasible.

I hadn't heard about this. So the plan is to do what we did 50 years ago or is there something more that I'm missing? I'm all for space flight, but that seems a pretty big waste of money when we could be using it for other things (manned mission to Mars?).

[Max Peck]

At least NASA should be safe, if the rumors about Trump's (literal) moonshot are true. NASA has been directed to explore making the first flight of Orion crewed, essentially duplicating Apollo 8, and Trump would like to see that happen before the 2020 election. If NASA wants to protect their budget I'm sure they'll find that it's feasible.

I hadn't heard about this. So the plan is to do what we did 50 years ago or is there something more that I'm missing? I'm all for space flight, but that seems a pretty big waste of money when we could be using it for other things (manned mission to Mars?).

Trump wants to get his Kennedy on.

President Trump has indicated that he wants to make a splash in space. During his transition, he spoke with historian Douglas Brinkley about John F. Kennedy's famous 1961 vow to go to the moon before the decade was out. Now Trump and his aides may do something very similar: demand that NASA send astronauts to orbit the moon before the end of Trump's first term — a move that one Trump adviser said would be a clear signal to the Chinese that the U.S. intends to retain dominance in space.

NASA already has a plan to launch its new, jumbo Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with an Orion capsule on top in late 2018, a mission known as EM-1. No one would be aboard. The capsule would orbit the moon and return to Earth, splashing down in the ocean.

This is intended as the first test flight of SLS and part of the integration of the new rocket and new capsule. Significantly, the SLS and Orion are both still under construction.

According to current plans, a crewed mission, EM-2, would not be launched until several years later under the NASA timeline — certainly not during Trump's current term. That crewed mission would also orbit the moon.

But on Wednesday, NASA's acting administrator, Robert Lightfoot, sent a letter to employees saying he'd instructed the top NASA official for human spaceflight, associate administrator William Gerstenmaier, to explore the feasibility of adding astronauts to the EM-1 flight.

Lightfoot wrote: “I know the challenges associated with such a proposition, like reviewing the technical feasibility, additional resources needed, and clearly the extra work would require a different launch date. That said, I also want to hear about the opportunities it could present to accelerate the effort of the first crewed flight and what it would take to accomplish that first step of pushing humans farther into space.”

This is, by NASA standards, a bombshell announcement, because major missions involving new hardware and astronauts are typically planned many years in advance. Rush jobs are not NASA's way.

[tgb]

Lost amongst the budget stories was this little tidbit:

Bomb threats against Jewish schools and community centers in 11 different states today.

I'm moving to Israel where it's safe.

[Holman]

Oh for fuck's sake.

There have been literally dozens of threats this year, and it's already treated as normal. What country is this?

[Max Peck]

I'm glad to see that this unpleasant business has been put to rest.

House Intelligence chairman denies evidence of Trump team’s ties to Russia

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes denied on Monday morning that there was any evidence from the intelligence community of contacts between Trump campaign officials and Russian operatives.

“As of right now, I don’t have any evidence of any phone calls. It doesn’t mean they don’t exist. . . . What I’ve been told by many folks is that there’s nothing there,” Nunes (R-Calif.) said.

Nunes contended there was no need at this time for a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of contact between Russian officials and Trump campaign aides. Instead, the Republican said that the “major crimes” that have been committed are leaking to the news media on the subject of Russia, as well as other accounts of what should be confidential dealings with the Trump White House, including calls with foreign leaders like the Australian prime minister.

“There’s been major crimes committed,” Nunes said, referring to the leaks. “What I’m concerned about is no one is focusing on major leaks that have occurred here. . . . We can’t run a government like this. A government can’t function with massive leaks at the highest level.”

Although I'm puzzled that leaking information about things that didn't happen constitutes a major crime...

[Holman]

The "Hot Mic" report from Fox News, where Trump ends an interview, ignores a reporter asking about an investigation into Russia, and then mutters to the guy next to him "I haven't called Russia in 10 years" - which, if he's staying true to form, means he's trying to make his own realities again.

Easy to miss this detail. "10 years"? Really?

Didn't Trump manage the Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow in November 2013, and didn't he do it in partnership with various Russian oligarchs, and didn't he brag about the deals he made there?

That's three years ago at most, and only if he had *no* further dealings with the Russian contacts he put so much effort into winning.

Fucking liar.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

And of course he talked with Putin on the phone a few weeks ago.