Michael1942's Blog

This title was stated in the Atlantic. Retired Marine General Mattis gave several interviews recently but kept silent on several questions about TOTUS. The title line of this post was particularly telling about our current leader. During the interview a question concerning TOTUS’s ability to understand the politics of the world and the scope of his job. Mattis’ reply was that his aides essentially made the decisions and told the President what to say or do. This falls in line with the scripted interviews but not the ongoing tweets which apparently come straight out the president’s rear end with the aid of misunderstanding and ignorance. TOTUS is no more than a wanna be Grownup with a lot of wealth, power and respect. At this point he has none of those and sorely wants them. He has never had control of the office and cannot gain it now yet as con men will do he continues to lie hoping for a win. His closest aides do what they want in pursuit of their own interests not TOTUS’ or the voters. Making America great again requires a different person in the Whitehouse and a Senate leader. No matter what you may think the party politics no longer works but educated voting does.

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The more he thinks the dumber he gets, then the lies flow.MA

By HOPE YEN, SETH BORENSTEIN and DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press 4 hrs ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing another deadly mass shooting, President Donald Trump is deflecting on gun control.

Over the weekend, he pointed to mental illness as a likely culprit behind recent shootings in Odessa, Texas and elsewhere, even though criminologists routinely point to gun ownership as a far better predictor of public mass shootings than indicators of mental illness. There were no immediate indications Sunday that mental illness contributed to the shootings that killed 7 and injured 22 others in Texas , a state with one of the most lenient gun control laws.
Trump also repeatedly marveled over Hurricane Dorian’s size, incorrectly telling the public about its potential path and suggesting he’s never heard of a “category 5” storm before. Dorian, in fact, is the fourth category 5 storm to happen under his watch.
The claims capped a week of distortion by Trump on various fronts, from the economy to Iran and North Korea.

A review:
HURRICANE DORIAN
TRUMP: “In addition to Florida – South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated.” — tweet Sunday.
TRUMP: “The original course was dead into Florida. Now it seems to be going up toward South Carolina, toward North Carolina. Georgia’s going to be hit. Alabama’s going to get a piece of it, it looks like.” — remarks to reporters Sunday.
THE FACTS: Trump goes astray in warning of trouble for Alabama, which is expected to be spared. As of Sunday, the National Hurricane Center forecast Dorian to be 40 to 50 miles off the Florida coast on Tuesday and Wednesday, with hurricane-force wind speeds extending about 35 miles to the west.
“Alabama will NOT see any impacts from #Dorian,” tweeted the National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama. “We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane #Dorian will be felt across Alabama. The system will remain too far east.”
Few, if any, meteorologists put Alabama in its path.
Asked if Trump had been briefed about the impact to Alabama, Christopher Vaccaro, a spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, wrote in an email: “The current forecast path of Dorian does not include Alabama.”
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TRUMP: “I’m not sure that I’ve ever even heard of a category 5. I knew it existed and I’ve seen some category 4’s. You don’t even see them that much. But a category 5 is something that I don’t know that I’ve ever even heard the term other than I know it’s there.” — remarks Sunday at FEMA headquarters.

THE FACTS: In his third hurricane season as president, Trump has had plenty of exposure to category 5 storms.
He made the same claim two years ago, saying he wasn’t aware of category 5 storms until Hurricane Irma. “In Florida, you got hit with the strongest winds ever recorded. It actually hit the Keys with a_it was a Category 5. I never even knew a Category 5 existed,” Trump said in September 2017.
Since then, he’s repeatedly marveled about the size of the storms — and by extension, his administration’s response to it — including category 5 hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, Michael in 2018 and now Dorian.
Having four category 5 hurricanes in three years is actually more than any other president in history. George W. Bush had eight such hurricanes in eight years. Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan only had one during their two terms in office, while George H.W. Bush had two in four years and Carter had three in four years.
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TRUMP, on hurricane aid: “Will it ever end? Congress approved 92 Billion Dollars for Puerto Rico last year, an all time record of its kind for ‘anywhere.'” — tweet Tuesday.
TRUMP, on Puerto Rico: “Congress approved Billions of Dollars last time, more than anyplace else has ever gotten.” — tweet Wednesday.
THE FACTS: His figure of $92 billion is wrong, as is his assertion that the U.S. territory has set some record for federal disaster aid. Congress has so far distributed only about $14 billion for Puerto Rico.
It’s a false claim he’s made repeatedly. The White House has said the estimate includes about $50 billion in expected future disaster disbursements that could span decades, along with $42.7 billion approved.
That $50 billion in additional money, however, is speculative. It is based on Puerto Rico’s eligibility for federal emergency disaster funds for years ahead, involving calamities that haven’t happened.
That money would require future appropriations by Congress.
Even if correct, $92 billion would not be the most ever provided for hurricane rebuilding efforts. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 cost the U.S government more than $120 billion — the bulk of it going to Louisiana.
Trump frequently inflates and complains about the amount of disaster aid that Congress “foolishly gave” Puerto Rico after the deadly destruction from Hurricane Maria in 2017. He has talked as if he doesn’t recognize the U.S. territory as American and, in an April tweet, said Puerto Rico officials “only take from USA.”
Hurricane Dorian inflicted limited damage in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands before intensifying on its track toward the U.S. mainland.

GUN VIOLENCE
TRUMP, addressing the mass shooting in Odessa, Texas: “For the most part, sadly, if you look at the last four or five going back … five or six or seven years for the most part, as strong as you make your background checks, they would not have stopped any of it. So it’s a big problem. It’s a mental problem.” — remarks Sunday.
TRUMP: “Our goal must be to identify severely disturbed individuals and disrupt their plans before they strike.” — remarks Sunday at FEMA headquarters.
THE FACTS: He’s oversimplifying the role of mental illness in public mass shootings and minimizing the ease with which Americans can get firearms. There was no immediate indication Sunday that mental illness was a factor in shootings in Texas.
Most people with mental illness in fact are not violent, and they are far more likely to be victims of violent crime than perpetrators.
A country’s rate of gun ownership is a far better predictor of public mass shootings than indicators of mental illness, said Adam Lankford, a University of Alabama criminologist who published a 2016 analysis of data from 171 countries.
“The key of what’s going on here is access to guns for people who are dangerous or disturbed,” Lankford said. Red flag laws make it easier to disarm people believed to be a danger to themselves or others, “but sometimes there are not clear warning signs or those signs are not reported to the authorities until after an attack,” he said.
Last month, the U.S. Secret Service released a report on mass public attacks in 2018, finding that “no single profile” can be used “to predict who will engage in targeted violence” and “mental illness, alone, is not a risk factor.”
Trump has offered contradictory messages in reacting to recent mass shootings. Days after the El Paso shooting last month, he said he was eager to implement “very meaningful background checks” on guns and told reporters there was “tremendous support” for action. He later backed away, saying the current system of background checks was “very, very strong.”
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ECONOMY
TRUMP: “On this very day — I just saw a number — almost 160 million people are working. The most ever in the history of our country. I mean, we have incredible numbers.” — remarks to reporters Friday.
THE FACTS: He’s correct, but that’s only because of population growth.
A more relevant measure is the proportion of Americans with jobs, and that is still far below record highs.
According to Labor Department data, 60.7% of people in the United States 16 years and older were working in July. That’s below the all-time high of 64.7% in April 2000, though higher than the 59.9% when Trump was inaugurated in January 2017.
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TRUMP: “General Motors, which was once the Giant of Detroit, is now one of the smallest auto manufacturers there. They moved major plants to China, BEFORE I CAME INTO OFFICE. This was done despite the saving help given them by the USA. Now they should start moving back to America again?” — tweet Friday.
THE FACTS: That’s inaccurate on several counts.
Still a giant, GM did not close factories in the U.S. and move them to China. It set up and expanded operations in China primarily to serve that market.
And by many measures, it is the largest U.S. automaker. The company made more money last year than crosstown rivals Fiat Chrysler and Ford, and GM sold more vehicles in the U.S. than the other two.
It remains the largest Michigan-headquartered employer in the state, with a workforce of 52,000 outpacing that of Ford, the state government and Fiat Chrysler, according to an analysis this year by Crain’s Detroit Business. In southeast Michigan, it was No. 2, behind Ford, and ahead of Fiat Chrysler.
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NORTH KOREA
VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: “Watching those 55 small, flag-draped caskets come off the plane was an extraordinary experience. We brought back — we brought back our heroes, and there’s more to come.” — remarks Wednesday to the American Legion veterans group.
THE FACTS: No remains of U.S. service members have been returned since last summer and the U.S. suspended efforts in May to get negotiations on the remains back on track in time to have more repatriated this year. The U.S. hopes more remains may be brought home next year.
The Pentagon’s Defense POW-MIA Accounting Agency, which is responsible for recovering U.S. war remains and returning them to families, “has not received any new information from (North Korean) officials regarding the turn over or recovery of remains,” spokesman Charles Prichard said last month.
He said his agency is “still working to communicate” with the North Korean army “as it is our intent to find common ground on resuming recovery missions” in 2020.
Last year, in line with the first summit between Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un that June, the North turned over 55 boxes of what it said were the remains of an undetermined number of U.S. service members killed in the North during the 1950-53 war. So far, six Americans have been identified from the 55 boxes.
U.S. officials have said the North has suggested in recent years that it holds perhaps 200 sets of American war remains. Thousands more are unrecovered from battlefields and former POW camps.
The Pentagon estimates that 5,300 Americans were lost in North Korea.
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TRUMP on North Korea’s leader: “With respect to North Korea — Kim Jong-un, who I’ve got to know extremely well, the first lady has gotten to know Kim Jong-un and I think she’d agree with me, he is a man with a country that has tremendous potential.” — news conference on Aug. 26 with French President Emmanuel Macron.
THE FACTS: Melania Trump doesn’t know Kim. They have never met.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham clarified the president’s comment, saying Trump confides in his wife on his relationship with Kim and “feels like she’s gotten to know him, too.”
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IRAN
TRUMP on Iran: “We gave them $150 billion and $1.8 billion and we got nothing. … Look at what they did to John Kerry and to President Obama. Look what happened, where they’re bringing planeloads of cash, planeloads, big planes, 757s, Boeing 757s coming in loaded up with cash. What kind of a deal is that?” — news conference with Macron.
THE FACTS: It’s the kind of deal that did not actually take place.
When Iran signed the multinational deal to restrain its nuclear development in return for being freed from sanctions, it regained access to its own assets, which had been frozen abroad. There was no $150 billion gift from the U.S. treasury or other countries. Iran was allowed to get its money back.
The $1.8 billion refers to a separate matter, also misstated by Trump going back to before the 2016 election.
A payout of roughly that amount did come from the U.S. treasury. It was to pay an old IOU.
In the 1970s, Iran paid the U.S. $400 million for military equipment that was never delivered because the government was overthrown and diplomatic relations ruptured. After the nuclear deal, the U.S. and Iran announced they had settled the matter, with the U.S. agreeing to pay the $400 million principal along with about $1.3 billion in interest.
The $400 million was paid in cash and flown to Tehran on a cargo plane. The arrangement provided for the interest to be paid later.
In Trump’s telling, one cargo plane with $400 million that was owed to Iran has become “big planes, 757s, Boeing 757s,” loaded with a $1.8 billion giveaway. Kerry was then secretary of state.
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CLEAN AIR
TRUMP: “We’re, right now, having the cleanest air and cleanest water on the planet.” — remarks on Aug. 26 with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
THE FACTS: That’s not true. Air quality hasn’t improved under the Trump administration and dozens of nations have less smoggy air than the U.S.
Water? One measure, Yale University’s global Environmental Performance Index, finds the U.S. tied with nine other countries as having the cleanest drinking water.
But after decades of improvement, progress in air quality has stalled. Over the last two years the U.S. had more polluted air days than just a few years earlier, federal data show.
There were 15% more days with unhealthy air in America both last year and the year before than there were on average from 2013 through 2016, the four years when the U.S had its fewest number of those days since at least 1980.
The Obama administration set records for the fewest air-polluted days.
The nonprofit Health Effects Institute’s State of Global Air 2019 report ranked the United States 37th dirtiest out of 195 countries for ozone, also known as smog, worse than the global average for population-weighted pollution. Countries such as Britain, Japan, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Albania, Cuba, Russia, Vietnam, New Zealand and Canada have less smoggy air.
The U.S. ranks eighth cleanest on the more deadly category of fine particles in the air.
On environmental quality overall, the Yale index put the U.S. 27th, behind a variety of European countries, Canada, Japan, Australia and more. Switzerland was No. 1.
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ENERGY
TRUMP: “I feel that the United States has tremendous wealth. The wealth is under its feet. I’ve made that wealth come alive. … We are now the number one energy producer in the world.” — news conference with Macron.
THE FACTS: Sole credit to himself is not accurate. The greatest energy revolution of the past half-century happened on Obama’s watch as U.S. petroleum and natural gas production achieved preeminence.
In 2013, the U.S. became the world’s top producer both of natural gas and petroleum hydrocarbons, says the government’s U.S. Energy Information Administration. As for crude oil specifically, the agency says the U.S. became the world’s top crude oil producer last year. That is largely attributed to the shale oil boom that began late in George W. Bush’s administration and proceeded apace during the Obama years.
The boom came because of fracking and other technology, such as horizontal drilling, that made it possible to find much more oil and gas without drilling more holes. As well, Obama lifted a decades-long ban on shipping U.S. oil overseas in 2015, helping increase demand for U.S. crude.
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TRUMP, on addressing climate change: “I feel that the United States has tremendous wealth. The wealth is under its feet. … I’m not going to lose it on dreams, on windmills, which frankly aren’t working too well.” — news conference with Macron.
THE FACTS: In criticizing wind power, Trump misidentified his target. Wind turbines produce energy. Windmills mill grain and flummox Don Quixote.
Trump has ascribed a variety of evils to wind power over the years, usually with scant evidence, while praising coal, a well-documented cause of health problems.
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Associated Press writers Cal Woodward, Robert Burns, Jill Colvin, Josh Boak and Michael Biesecker in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this report.

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Will Tariffbackers rejoice over this? MA

Rick Newman, Senior Columnist, Yahoo Finance August 31, 2019, 0:38 6:42
USTR locks in 15% tariffs on Chinese goods starting Sept. 1, Trump targets Fed over its rate cut policy
With far less fanfare than the tax cuts President Donald Trump signed into law in 2017, a series of tax hikes goes into effect today on thousands of everyday items imported from China.
A new tariff of 15% will be added to the cost of more than 40% of all consumer products imported from China on Sept. 1. That amounts to about $109 billion worth of annual imports, according to research firm Panjiva. On Dec.15, the 15% tariff will be assessed on another $155 billion worth of consumer goods from China. At that point, there will be new Trump tariffs on virtually everything imported from China.
Trump has already imposed 25% tariffs on about $250 billion worth of Chinese imports, but those are mostly component products consumers never see. Those tariffs have led to some price increases, with some importers also taking a hit through lower profits. In some cases, Chinese suppliers have lowered their own prices to offset the tariff. Importers have also begun seeking new suppliers outside China, to avoid the tax.
A $1,000 annual tax on the typical US household
The Sept. 1 tariffs would take about $16 billion out of Americans’ pockets over the course of a year, if Chinese import levels remain the same. Add in the Dec. 15 tariffs and the cost of the tax would rise to $40 billion. That’s not a huge hit in a $21 trillion economy, but it does add up. JPMorgan Chase estimates the tariffs already in place and scheduled to go into effect will cost the typical American household more than $1,000 per year.
The tariffs hitting today will apply to thousands of products sold at Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT), Best Buy (BBY), Home Depot (HD), Ikea, Amazon (AMZN) and other retailers. Here are some of the main product categories subject to the new tax, according to Panjiva:
Clothing and footwear such as sneakers, sweaters and baby clothes — $39 billion worth of annual imports
Electronics such as TVs, monitors, and audio equipment — $24 billion
Machinery such as printers, desktop computers, hand tools, and air-conditioner parts — $15 billion
Plastic products such as tableware, buckets, and school supplies — $5 billion
Leisure products such as NordicTrack fitness machines — $5 billion
Furniture such as bedding — $1 billion
Price hikes won’t hit consumers right away on every product. Some importers have been stockpiling Chinese imports ahead of the new tariffs, so they’ll be able to sell from non-tariffed inventories for a while. But retailers have been griping about the tariffs nonetheless. A group of more than 200 shoe companies, for instance, recently sent a letter to Trump calling the tariffs a “hidden tax … driving up costs for hardworking American families.”
Most economists say the Trump tariffs alone aren’t enough to cause a recession. But they’re probably slowing overall economic growth. And the latest consumer-sentiment survey by the University of Michigan showed a big drop, largely due to the escalating trade war.
China, in response to Trump’s tariffs, has raised its own tariffs on some U.S. imports, and simply stopped buying some American products, such as soybeans and pork. The trade war is hurting both sides. Trump needs a deal with China to bolster his reelection odds 14 months from now, before the trade war does too much damage to the U.S. economy. But China may wait him out, as American consumers adapt to paying more—and decide whether it will affect their vote in 2020.

Rick Newman is the author of four books, including “Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success.” Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman
Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com.

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No reason for alarm TOTUS is projecting his actions or at least telling his minions to prepare for it. MA

Seung Min Kim, Mike DeBonis 2 hrs ago, The Washington Post

Dems alarmed about Trump’s ‘joke’ on wall

Through his pardons of political allies, conservative defenders and others convicted of federal crimes, President Trump throughout his term has sent indirect signals of his willingness to help those close to him escape punishment.

And now, the president has entwined that message with his chief campaign promise — by privately assuring aides that he would pardon them of any potential illegality as the administration rushes to build his vaunted border wall before he returns to the ballot next November.
The notion has alarmed congressional Democrats, who had been investigating potential obstruction of justice on Trump’s part as the House continues to weigh whether to launch impeachment proceedings once lawmakers return to Washington next month.

Rep. David N. Cicilline (R.I.), a member of the House Democratic leadership and the House Judiciary Committee, said any suggestion that Trump would encourage subordinates to break the law by promising pardons is “appalling” and worthy of further investigation by the panel.
“Sadly, this is just one more instance of a president who undermines the rule of law and behaves as if he’s a king and not governed by the laws of this country,” Cicilline said in an interview Wednesday. “He is not a king, he is accountable … I think it just adds to the ongoing proceeding before the Judiciary Committee as we consider whether to recommend articles of impeachment against the president.”
Trump on Wednesday denied that he had made those private assurances, first reported Tuesday evening by The Washington Post. Yet a White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in advance of the report did not deny it and said Trump is joking when he makes such statements about pardons.
“Another totally Fake story in the Amazon Washington Post (lobbyist) which states that if my Aides broke the law to build the Wall (which is going up rapidly), I would give them a Pardon,” Trump tweeted Wednesday afternoon. “This was made up by The Washington Post only in order to demean and disparage — FAKE NEWS!”
The Post is owned by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, although it is run independently from the online retail enterprise.
The wall discussions are not the first time that Trump has reportedly promised a pardon to a subordinate for doing something potentially illegal.
In April, the New York Times reported that Trump told acting Homeland Security secretary Kevin McAleenan that he would pardon him if he directed his personnel to illegally deny asylum to migrants who request it at the southern border. Trump later denied doing so in a tweet, calling it “Another Fake Story.”
Members of the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to McAleenan requesting information and documents on the incident; a panel spokesman did not respond to a question about whether McAleenan ever responded. The committee said in a statement at the time that “offering a pardon to encourage an officer of the U.S. government to undertake an illegal action appears on its face to be an unconstitutional abuse of power.”
Several Democrats said Trump’s pardon comments were fair game for investigation as they continue to delve into details of potential obstruction of justice on the part of Trump that emerged from former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation.
“The fall is a period is when we are expanding the scope of our investigation beyond the Mueller report,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who like Cicilline is a member of the Judiciary Committee. “The abuse of the pardon power fits in with our broader investigation into the abuse of the powers of the presidency.”
Raskin added: “It’s similar to the president ordering the executive branch not to cooperate with congressional investigations. That is an abuse of power and an assault on the separation of powers.”
Cicilline said it did not matter whether Trump’s subordinates ultimately carried out his illegal directives.
“It’s an abuse of the pardon power, it’s an abuse of the president’s authority, and it’s very likely illegal,” he said. “So whether anyone actually does it or not — that idea that the president of the United States, responsible for enforcing and upholding the rule of law in this country, is making a statement like that is just appalling.”
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Judiciary panel, did not comment on the issue Wednesday.
Several of the 15 pardons that Trump has issued during his presidency — a power that is nearly unchecked and that Trump has relished — have carried with them an overtly political tone.
The first pardon Trump issued as president went to Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz., whose controversial tactics on immigration enforcement garnered legal challenges and a conviction on a criminal contempt of court charge. Trump pardoned him of that crime in August 2017 — less than a month after the conviction and weeks before he was set to be sentenced.
In April 2018, Trump pardoned I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the former chief of staff to former vice president Richard B. Cheney, who had been convicted on perjury and obstruction of justice charges. Trump suggested Libby had been treated unfairly by the prosecution as it probed the leak of the identity of Valerie Plame, a CIA officer.
Trump said at the time that he did not personally know Libby, but the pardon came as several former Trump associates had pleaded guilty to similar charges amid Mueller’s Russia probe.
The following month, Trump gave a full pardon to Dinesh D’Souza, a conservative commentator who had pleaded guilty to illegally using straw donors for a Republican Senate candidate in New York.
As with Libby, Trump concluded that D’Souza had been mistreated and said at the time that he was also considering clemency for former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich (D) and lifestyle guru Martha Stewart. The three had been convicted of crimes similar to charges faced by former Trump associates as part of the Mueller probe.
In May of this year, Trump pardoned Conrad Black, who in 2007 was convicted on fraud and obstruction of justice charges. The billionaire last year penned a flattering biography of the president, “Donald J. Trump: A president like no other,” that defended him against accusations of racism and praised him for the “optimism to persevere and succeed, the confidence to affront tradition and convention, a genius for spectacle, and a firm belief in common sense and the common man.”
Trump has even pondered pardoning himself — tweeting in June 2018 amid the Mueller probe that he has the “absolute right” to do so and that his argument was bolstered by “numerous legal scholars.” (Whether Trump can actually do so is up for debate.)
“More than one isolated remark, it’s the pattern that’s concerning,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said of Trump’s pardon tendencies. “As much as what he may do, or not, is the message that it sends to the American people about his view of the importance of law and law enforcement.”
seung-min.kim@washpost.com
mike.debonis@washpost.com

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Today I heard a news item regarding Joe Walsh’s ( former Illinois legislator, turned conservative talk show host) announcement to challenge Donald Trump for the Presidential nomination. While it is the American way to allow anyone to make this choice, it also allows for radical candidates of all types and stripes. That being said we now have the weakest link in our chain of Illinois representatives assailing the candidacy of Joe Walsh with the name of “windbag”. Mr. Rodney Davis who has sided with the current “windbag” of the White House 94% of the time has little room to criticize anyone with the poor track record he carries. When Mr. Davis can honestly say he is working for the people of  Illinois, that is when he can call someone a windbag. Mr. Davis’s unflagging devotion to this leader against the interests of the people of his State is an insult to ALL of us. “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone” is appropriate here.

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TOTUS is correct the problem with gun issues is Mental Health, the problem is that the mental health issue is in the White house. With a waffling, race-baiting, prattling, misogynist incompetent at the helm of government, we have a mental health issue that requires attention. Corrective action: VOTE!!

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