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Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2019 3:41 pm
by Pyperkub
Newsflash! Kris Kobach is still an idiot!
Kris Kobach’s U.S. Senate campaign is off to an inauspicious start.

The former Kansas secretary of state, a Republican, officially declared his candidacy in a filing with the Federal Election Commission on Monday. But the filing misspelled his first name. The campaign amended the error an hour later.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 2:39 pm
by Isgrimnur
CNN
The American Federation of Teachers union sued Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Thursday, alleging that the department has mismanaged a federal program that grants teachers and other public service workers loan forgiveness after they make 10 years of payments.

About 1% of the more than 73,000 borrowers who have applied for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program have been granted relief since the program was created in 2007, according to department data.

The lawsuit blames the Department of Education for denying applicants "on arbitrary and capricious grounds" and failing to put a process in place to review erroneous decisions or ensure loan servicing companies provide accurate guidance to borrowers about their eligibility.
...
Many borrowers have complained that the program's rules are hard to navigate, and some have found out they don't qualify only after the 10 years is up. About half of the applicants that have been rejected did not have enough qualifying payments, while a quarter had missing information, and 16% didn't have eligible loans, according to department data.

DeVos has blamed Congress for creating a confusing program, but some Democratic lawmakers have accused the department of holding up the process.

The American Federation of Teachers previously sued the loan servicing company Navient over problems with the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, and other borrowers have filed lawsuits against the company and other servicers.

But the new lawsuit is different, putting blame on the Department of Education.

DeVos has proposed ending Public Service Loan Forgiveness for three years in a row in the budget request she makes to Congress, but lawmakers have continued to fund the program.
At what point in our history did, "fuck the teachers," become a policy position? It it because they're unionized or that they're public servants?

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 4:02 pm
by LordMortis
Holy bean,

After all the Ivanka photos that have been making me laugh, I assumed this was doctored... It isn't.

Enlarge Image

https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/fir ... ary-labor/

(those poor kids)

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 4:05 pm
by gilraen
That child...does not look healthy.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 4:25 pm
by LawBeefaroni
Not going to rip on the kids themselves but their clothes and haircuts are undoubtedly the choice of the parents. That is creepy as fuck.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 4:35 pm
by LordMortis
LawBeefaroni wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2019 4:25 pm Not going to rip on the kids themselves but their clothes and haircuts are undoubtedly the choice of the parents. That is creepy as fuck.
As are their gaunt faces and their body language. His wife has a choice. That don't. :cry:

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 4:49 pm
by LawBeefaroni
America's future ruling class, ladies and gentlemen.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 4:55 pm
by Holman
Isgrimnur wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2019 2:39 pm At what point in our history did, "fuck the teachers," become a policy position? It it because they're unionized or that they're public servants?
It's both. But on top of that is the unholy union of private schools and Christian Culture War alterna-culture that allows conservatives to think of public schooling itself as something to ignore or oppose.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 9:56 am
by pr0ner
Acosta is resigning as Labor Secretary.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 9:57 am
by msteelers
Acosta is resigning as Labor Secretary.

Learning about the plea deal he orchestrated is mind boggling. Yeah, Epstein spent some time in jail and had to register as a sex offender. But he was able to still leave jail during the day to go to work, and pleaded to a charge of soliciting prostitution. Which indirectly calls his teenage rape victim a prostitute.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 10:02 am
by pr0ner
BAM!

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 10:06 am
by El Guapo
msteelers wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2019 9:57 am Acosta is resigning as Labor Secretary.

Learning about the plea deal he orchestrated is mind boggling. Yeah, Epstein spent some time in jail and had to register as a sex offender. But he was able to still leave jail during the day to go to work, and pleaded to a charge of soliciting prostitution. Which indirectly calls his teenage rape victim a prostitute.
There's a ton about this (as Popehat has been posting about) that really makes the whole thing look flagrantly corrupt instead of just incompetent or cowardly. According to the state authorities, S.D. Fl. had drafted a 53 page indictment of Epstein, which they wouldn't do if they had significant doubts about their ability to win a case. Then Acosta himself meets Epstein's lawyer at his hotel (unusual 10 times over) and the deal is worked out. There is pretty standard language in these agreements which explicitly says that the deal only promises non-prosecution from the office signing the deal (e.g., S.D. Fl.) which this does not have, which creates an ambiguity that Epstein's lawyers can and will try to use. Then there's the part of the deal where they agree not only to not prosecute Epstein, but to not prosecute co-conspirators as well.

It's hard to explain all this away with anything other than a corrupt bargain.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 10:09 am
by $iljanus
What's Acosta's payoff, I wonder? Favor to be collected later or was he pressured by a big influential player?

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 10:36 am
by msteelers
El Guapo wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2019 10:06 am
msteelers wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2019 9:57 am Acosta is resigning as Labor Secretary.

Learning about the plea deal he orchestrated is mind boggling. Yeah, Epstein spent some time in jail and had to register as a sex offender. But he was able to still leave jail during the day to go to work, and pleaded to a charge of soliciting prostitution. Which indirectly calls his teenage rape victim a prostitute.
There's a ton about this (as Popehat has been posting about) that really makes the whole thing look flagrantly corrupt instead of just incompetent or cowardly. According to the state authorities, S.D. Fl. had drafted a 53 page indictment of Epstein, which they wouldn't do if they had significant doubts about their ability to win a case. Then Acosta himself meets Epstein's lawyer at his hotel (unusual 10 times over) and the deal is worked out. There is pretty standard language in these agreements which explicitly says that the deal only promises non-prosecution from the office signing the deal (e.g., S.D. Fl.) which this does not have, which creates an ambiguity that Epstein's lawyers can and will try to use. Then there's the part of the deal where they agree not only to not prosecute Epstein, but to not prosecute co-conspirators as well.

It's hard to explain all this away with anything other than a corrupt bargain.
I was listening to The Daily podcast, and they mentioned that the local PD were afraid a State Attorney would be steamrolled by Epstein and his high priced lawyers. So they called in the feds specifically to prevent him from getting a sweetheart deal, and were completely pissed when that's exactly what happened anyway. Then Acosta goes on to blame the local guys for not doing their jobs during one of his press conferences... good riddance to bad garbage.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 10:46 am
by LordMortis
is there a point where it's OK to think Aerys Targarean wasn't so wrong? Burn them all doesn't feel wrong right now.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 10:54 am
by Smoove_B
Voltaire wrote:‘And why kill this admiral?’
‘Because,’ came the reply, ‘he did not get enough people killed when he had the chance: he gave battle to a French admiral, and was said not to have engaged closely enough with the enemy.’
‘In which case,’ said Candide, ‘surely the French admiral was just as far from the English admiral as the English admiral was from the French admiral?’
‘Unquestionably so,’ came the reply, ‘but in this country it is considered useful now and again to shoot an admiral, to encourage the others.'

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 10:59 am
by LawBeefaroni
$iljanus wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2019 10:09 am What's Acosta's payoff, I wonder? Favor to be collected later or was he pressured by a big influential player?
Free trip to Pedoisland and gauranteed future high-level job. Also maybe we don't kill your family.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:35 am
by GungHo
msteelers wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2019 9:57 am Acosta is resigning as Labor Secretary.

Learning about the plea deal he orchestrated is mind boggling. Yeah, Epstein spent some time in jail and had to register as a sex offender. But he was able to still leave jail during the day to go to work, and pleaded to a charge of soliciting prostitution. Which indirectly calls his teenage rape victim a prostitute.
I love the optics of a former federal prosecutor, who wasn't prosecutorial enough on a sexual predator, losing his current job working for a sexual predator.

I'm not even sure what emoticon goes here now.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 12:55 pm
by Freyland
GungHo wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:35 am
msteelers wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2019 9:57 am Acosta is resigning as Labor Secretary.

Learning about the plea deal he orchestrated is mind boggling. Yeah, Epstein spent some time in jail and had to register as a sex offender. But he was able to still leave jail during the day to go to work, and pleaded to a charge of soliciting prostitution. Which indirectly calls his teenage rape victim a prostitute.
I love the optics of a former federal prosecutor, who wasn't prosecutorial enough on a sexual predator, losing his current job working for a sexual predator.

I'm not even sure what emoticon goes here now.
:teasing-dunce: :sad-roulette:

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 1:07 pm
by Kraken
You know you're at rock bottom when you're too immoral for the Trump administration.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 1:16 pm
by Isgrimnur
He likes people that don't get caught.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 1:39 pm
by Jeff V
Kraken wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2019 1:07 pm You know you're at rock bottom when you're too immoral for the Trump administration.
I doubt that's the case. He simply has to focus on his other job, recruiting a new entertainment director for the "Jeffy E" suite at Mar-a-lago.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 2:49 pm
by Pyperkub
Only the best people!
Republican operative Jason Miller, the former communications chief for the Trump campaign and transition team, said he hired numerous prostitutes and visited “hand job” massage parlors as recently as a few months ago in a new videotaped deposition...

...The May deposition details Miller’s multiple extramarital affairs, including his sexual relationships with two subordinates during the 2016 presidential campaign. His relationship with one of these women, former Trump campaign advisor A.J. Delgado, has been public knowledge since late 2016. But Miller provided new information on a second affair with Catherine Frazier, who worked as a press secretary for Sen. Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign during Miller’s time leading the candidate’s communications operation. The affairs occurred while his wife, Kelly Miller, was pregnant and the two were not legally separated.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 3:13 pm
by LawBeefaroni
"Never heard of him. I don't know him. It's a shame, I love women but it's a shame."

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 5:00 pm
by Isgrimnur
Isgrimnur wrote: Thu Jul 06, 2017 3:16 pm Politico
Eighteen states and the District of Columbia filed suit against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Thursday over her delay of regulations meant to protect federal student loan borrowers defrauded by their schools.

The lawsuit filed in Federal District Court in D.C., led by Massachusetts and joined by 18 other Democratic attorneys general, accuses DeVos of illegally delaying the regulations aimed at predatory colleges, which were finalized by the Obama administration and had been set to take effect on July 1.

The rules, known as “borrower defense to repayment,” sought to make it easier for defrauded student loan borrowers to seek debt forgiveness. They also prohibit colleges from requiring students to resolve complaints against their school through arbitration rather than in court.

The Trump administration last month delayed implementation of the rules, citing a legal challenge by a California association representing for-profit colleges. DeVos said at the time the rule created “a muddled process that's unfair to students and schools, and puts taxpayers on the hook for significant costs.” The Education Department has said it will begin a process to rewrite the rules later this year.
WaPo
The Obama administration updated the regulation to shift more of the cost of forgiveness onto schools, after the closure of for-profit giant Corinthian College ushered in a flood of claims.

The Trump administration Friday finalized its rewrite of the Obama-era rules, after two years of trying to delay and then scuttle the regulations. Those efforts have spawned lawsuits, with the courts forcing the Trump administration to implement the 2016 rules and process a backlog of applications for debt relief. Still, more than 180,000 borrowers await answers.

The new rules represent a win for conservatives worried about the fiscal effect of the federal government making it easier for student loan borrowers to have their debts erased. The Trump administration estimates the rules will save the federal government $11 billion over 10 years — loan payments that would have gone uncollected under existing rules.

The regulations also hand a victory to for-profit colleges that derided the Obama rules as harmful to their programs. Most borrowers who seek relief from debt attended for-profit campuses.
...
The Trump administration is asking students to jump through more hoops than under existing rules. Borrowers will have to show their school engaged in actions or made statements “with knowledge of its false, misleading, or deceptive nature or with a reckless disregard for the truth.” Even if students convince the department they were defrauded, they must still prove financial harm before loans are canceled.

The department held its ground on refusing to grant relief to an entire group of students when they are defrauded or their school closes. Students must apply individually for relief, with the rationale that everyone in the group may not have suffered the same harm.

Borrowers will have less time to apply for relief — three years from graduation or withdrawal from college. There is currently no statute of limitation on claims filed by borrowers who have loan balances. The new rules also kill an Obama provision that barred colleges from requiring students to sign agreements during enrollment forcing them into arbitration if there is a dispute.
...
Still, in some respects, the rules, which take effect in July, don’t go as far as the Trump administration initially proposed.

Students who file a claim will not have to be in default on their loans. Nor will they have to meet a higher burden of proof: The department will continue to let students prove their case with a “preponderance of evidence.”

In addition to addressing student debt relief claims involving fraud, the Education Department’s rules include guidelines for handling loan forgiveness if a school closes. Currently, students are eligible for the discharge if they were enrolled when a school closed or if they had withdrawn within four months of closure. That timeline has been extended to six months. But the department will no longer automatically cancel the debts if the students did not enroll elsewhere within three years.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2019 3:34 pm
by Isgrimnur
gbasden wrote: Wed Mar 14, 2018 10:47 pm
Smoove_B wrote: Wed Mar 14, 2018 10:33 am
Isgrimnur wrote: Thu Mar 01, 2018 1:04 pm "I was as surprised as anyone to find out that a $31,000 dining set had been ordered," Carson said in a statement.
I guess he didn't remember sending the email. I'm sure he's been busy and it slipped his mind.
I'm to the point that I assume everything is a lie. Their followers don't care and nothing matters, so why not lie even about easily verifiable things?
Cleared
The Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban Development found no evidence of misconduct against Secretary Ben Carson in a $31,000 furniture order to replace a dining room set in his secretarial suite, according to a copy of the investigation obtained by The Washington Post.
...
The investigation concluded that the purchase order was initiated after HUD staff determined that the 30-year-old furniture in Carson’s suite was in poor condition and should be replaced. Staff also told Carson that departmental funds were available and that the money would be lost if not spent by a certain date, the report said. The evidence showed that Carson was “fine” with replacing the furniture but left the details to his staff and his wife, Candy Carson, who provided “stylistic input.”
...
The inspector general’s investigation blamed department officials for the oversight.

"Given that the plain language of governing appropriations law expressly prohibits obligating in excess of $5,000 to purchase ‘furniture’ for use in the ‘suite of offices’” controlled by the department head, the report said, “we believe that department officials involved in this process should have been aware that notification to Congress was required here. The fact that evidently no one involved in this procurement had such awareness indicates a systemic failure.”

The agency has since reviewed its procurement procedures and established better controls, the report said.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2019 4:33 pm
by Isgrimnur
LA Times
James F. McDonnell – a presidential appointee who over the last two years downsized the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to prevent terrorism involving weapons of mass destruction – has agreed to resign, sources said.

McDonnell’s resignation, they said, comes at the request of Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan and would become effective at Thursday, according to an e-mail McDonnell sent his staff at 12:57 p.m. EDT on Wednesday. McDonnell’s seven-sentence memo did not provide a reason for his resignation, saying only it was “time for a new leadership team to take things to the next level.” When reached Monday morning by telephone, McDonnell said only, “I don’t have any comment. Thanks for calling.”
...
McDonnell has faced scrutiny from Republicans and Democrats in Congress in response to reports this year by the Los Angeles Times that brought to light his decisions – including his promotion of a scientifically disputed system for detecting airborne anthrax and other infectious agents that could be wielded in a biological attack.

McDonnell announced in November 2018 that he was aiming to install the new detection system nationwide within two years, even though the fluorescent “trigger” technology underlying it had failed repeatedly in testing sponsored by Homeland Security’s scientific staff.
...
The annual government-wide Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, or “FEVS,” sponsored by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, found last year that the McDonnell-led Domestic Nuclear Detection Office ranked last – No. 415 – among similar “subcomponent” offices.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Thu Oct 03, 2019 10:41 pm
by gilraen
Politico:
Energy Secretary Rick Perry is expected to announce his resignation next month, Politico reported Thursday night.

Three sources close to Perry told the newspaper that the Energy secretary was planning an announcement in November. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Sat Oct 05, 2019 10:40 pm
by Isgrimnur
BI
President Donald Trump told House Republicans on Friday that he hadn't even wanted to call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — and that he had only done so at the urging of Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Axios reported Saturday.
...
"Not a lot of people know this but, I didn't even want to make the call," Trump reportedly said, according to one source who recalled the comments. "The only reason I made the call was because Rick asked me to. Something about an LNG [liquified natural gas] plant."

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2019 4:30 pm
by Skinypupy
I'm sure this had nothing at all to do with her husband (Moscow Mitch) being the rep for Kentucky, right?

25% of Transportation Sec Elaine Chao's meetings last year were with Kentucky, a state which makes up 1.3% of the US population.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2019 1:48 pm
by Isgrimnur
Newsweek
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has been threatened with the possibility of jail after a judge deemed she was violating a court order for continuing to collect student debts on a now-defunct school.

That ruling, handed down in June of 2018, was made by U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim and prevented DeVos and her Department of Education for going after former students at the bankrupt Corinthian Colleges Inc.

However, Kim said she was "astounded" to discover that DeVos was violating the court order at a hearing in San Francisco on Monday after a filing by the Education Department earlier disclosed that more than 16,000 former students at Corinthian College "were incorrectly informed at one time or another ... that they had payments due on their federal student loans."

At least 1,800 people reportedly lost wages or tax refunds according to the filing.

"At best it is gross negligence, at worst it's an intentional flouting of my order," Kim said, reported Bloomberg.

"I'm not sure if this is contempt or sanctions," she added. "I'm not sending anyone to jail yet but it's good to know I have that ability."

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2019 2:04 pm
by Remus West
:pray: Lock her up :pray:
:ninja:
Finally that phrase means something positive.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2019 4:13 pm
by Daehawk
Isgrimnur wrote: Sat Oct 05, 2019 10:40 pm BI
President Donald Trump told House Republicans on Friday that he hadn't even wanted to call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — and that he had only done so at the urging of Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Axios reported Saturday.
...
"Not a lot of people know this but, I didn't even want to make the call," Trump reportedly said, according to one source who recalled the comments. "The only reason I made the call was because Rick asked me to. Something about an LNG [liquified natural gas] plant."
Hahaha just like a little child. "I didn't want to do it but he made me! Its his fault! Look there he is over there...*points then ducks out of room*.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 11:24 pm
by malchior
Not surprising since the WaPo piece a little under two weeks ago. FWIW he seemed like a halfway earnest person working in a shit storm. Apparently he wasn't Trump-y enough.


Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2019 4:25 pm
by Skinypupy
Just got a breaking news alert that Rick Perry is stepping down at Energy.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2019 4:39 pm
by Jaymann
I smell a rat.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2019 4:40 pm
by Alefroth
Skinypupy wrote: Thu Oct 17, 2019 4:25 pm Just got a breaking news alert that Rick Perry is stepping down at Energy.
Funny that this could also easily go into the impeachment thread.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2019 4:51 pm
by malchior
Alefroth wrote: Thu Oct 17, 2019 4:40 pm
Skinypupy wrote: Thu Oct 17, 2019 4:25 pm Just got a breaking news alert that Rick Perry is stepping down at Energy.
Funny that this could also easily go into the impeachment thread.
It probably will. I'd bet that he is going to testify.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2019 5:24 pm
by Smoove_B
Jaymann wrote: Thu Oct 17, 2019 4:39 pm I smell a rat.
Enlarge Image

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2019 5:31 pm
by Ralph-Wiggum
Skinypupy wrote: Thu Oct 17, 2019 4:25 pm Just got a breaking news alert that Rick Perry is stepping down at Energy.
Didn't he announce that a week or two ago? Or has the date been moved up?