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Tag Archives: current-events

Haley: Trump believes ‘climate is changing’


JILL COLVIN and JACK GILLUM,
Associated Press 16 hours ago

President Trump’s climate agreement announcement
WASHINGTON (AP) — Does he or doesn’t he? Believe in climate change, that is.
You’d think that would be an easy enough question the day after President Donald Trump announced he was pulling the U.S. out of the landmark global accord aimed at combatting global warming.
But don’t bother asking at the White House.
“I have not had an opportunity to have that discussion” with the president, responded press secretary Sean Spicer on Friday.
“You should ask him that,” offered White House counselor Kellyanne Conway.
Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt dodged the question, too.
The president also ignored it during an unrelated bill-signing.
But his U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, answered the question in a new way this weekend.
“President Trump believes the climate is changing,” she said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” ”And he believes pollutants are part of that equation. So that is the fact.”
If so, it’s quite a reversal for Trump, who spent years publicly bashing the idea of global warming as a “hoax” and “total con job” in books, interviews and tweets. He openly challenged the scientific consensus that the climate is changing and man-made carbon emissions are largely to blame.
“Global warming is an expensive hoax!” he tweeted in 2014.
But Trump has been largely silent on the issue since his election last fall. On Thursday, he made scarce mention of it in his lengthy remarks announcing America’s exit from the Paris accord. Instead, he framed his decision as based on economics.
Here’s what he’s said before:
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TRUMP’S TWEETS:
The president’s twitter feed once was filled with references to “so-called” global warming being a “total con job” based on “faulty science and manipulated data.”
An Associated Press search of his twitter archives revealed at least 90 instances in which he has referred to “global warming” and “climate change” since 2011. In nearly every instance, he expressed skepticism or mockery.
“This very expensive GLOBAL WARMING bulls— has got to stop,” he wrote in January 2014, spelling out the vulgarity.
Often the president has pointed to cold weather as evidence the climate scientists are wrong.
“It’s 46 (really cold) and snowing in New York on Memorial Day — tell the so-called “scientists” that we want global warming right now!” he wrote in May 2013 — one of several instances in which he said that warming would be welcome.
“Where the hell is global warming when you need it?” he asked in January 2015.
The same message was echoed in the president’s books.
In “Great Again: How to Fix Our Crippled America,” Trump made a reference to “the mistaken belief that global climate change is being caused by carbon emissions.”
“If you don’t buy that — and I don’t — then what we have is really just an expensive way of making the tree-huggers feel good about themselves,” he wrote.
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CANDIDATE AND SKEPTIC:
“I’m not a believer in man-made global warming,” Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in September 2015, after launching his bid for the White House. He bemoaned the fact that the U.S. was investing money and doing things “to solve a problem that I don’t think in any major fashion exists.”
“I am not a believer,” he added, “Unless somebody can prove something to me … I am not a believer and we have much bigger problems.”
By March 2016, the president appeared to allow that the climate was changing — but continued to doubt humans were to blame.
“I think there’s a change in weather. I am not a great believer in man-made climate change. I’m not a great believer,” he told The Washington Post. “There is certainly a change in weather,” he said.
Then-campaign manager, Conway explained Trump’s view this way: “He believes that global warming is naturally occurring. That there are shifts naturally occurring.”
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EVOLVING PRESIDENT:
In an interview with The New York Times in November, after the election, Trump was asked repeatedly whether he intended to leave the Paris accord and appeared to have a new open-mindedness.
“I’m looking at it very closely,” Trump told the newspaper. “I have an open mind to it. We’re going to look very carefully.”
He went on to say that he thought “there is some connectivity” between human activity and the changing climate, but that, “It depends on how much.”
Asked about the comment several days later, Trump’s now-chief of staff Reince Priebus told Fox News that Trump “has his default position, which is that most of it is a bunch of bunk.”
“But he’ll have an open mind and listen to people,” he said.
Stay tuned.

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Own it or change it.


We have all heard people say what they are not, in reality they usually are. If you have to say you are not Racist, sexist or any other disparagement, then you are. Your beliefs right or wrong are your beliefs, own them or change them. It is unfortunate that many of our high profile people in government and private industry have mastered ( or attempted to) the art of “double speak”. Double speak is the way a person will say one thing to your face and something else in private. This type of person is why we have Donald Trump as President. No matter if you voted for Mr. Trump or not, it is important for  each person to be as honest with themselves before they (we) can be honest with anyone else.  This lack of moral compass has brought us our Current Congress which is steeped in rhetoric that sounds like the truth but is fueled by lies that serve the liars not the people who elected them. Right now we have an incompetent National leader who is on a path of creating a split country that surpasses the pre and post civil war divide which still has not completely healed. To add to the already  downward spiral , there is the withdrawal from the International climate accord which will allow China to assume a leadership position. This coupled with the recent European visit which netted nothing more than a sale of arms to a known sponsor of terror and pushed  other European leaders away. The Neer do well Congress has taken a “let it ride” attitude that needs to be addressed in the voting booth. The combination of  Administrative Naiveté and incompetence will cause many years of problems for us at home and abroad. The actions of this administration seem to be reversing anything done in the Obama years no matter what effect it has on ALL of us. The trump supporters are lauding his actions but do not realize these actions will have no effect on job loss, will not bring back lost coal jobs and will not move us ahead as a Nation. The lies issued during the campaign have no basis in fact and will ultimately create larger problems for us all.

Disadministration


Today the news is new but tomorrow it will be old but revised to reflect the events that have occurred today and tonight. The worst thing about news is that it evolves so quick, that is also the best thing about it. With that statement I have been following the “antics” of the Trump administration. His picks for his cabinet all appear to be anti anything Obama. Every action they take is against whatever Mr. Obama has done. This is a simple way to “fix” things but a detriment to progress. All actions made by Executive orders do not go into effect immediately so what is the point of doing it haphazardly with no investigation of the long range effect on all of us. An example of this type of action is the push for repeal of “Obamacare”. The proposed replacement has been shown to be lacking and worse than the “Affordable Care Act” with all of its issues. Now some of the legislators are looking into fixing the ACA as they should have done at its inception! The newly minted Attorney General whose track record as a Senator was less than stellar on Human rights has risen to a new low in issuing orders on sentencing regardless of severity of crimes(talk about human right violations). The education secretary is so steeped in “Rich Bitch” as to have no idea of what education is or what is required. These two appointees coupled with Dr. Ben Carson serve show that our TOTUS seems to be in a wonderland of his own and is in the process of building walls between the USA and our closet Allies. The recent European trip was more like a tourist than a world leader  in that he appeared to have no clue about protocol and procedure. All of this with the swirl of Russian interference still in the air, where will we be by the end of the year? Is disarray the order of the day for this administration?

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Failure To Thrive


100 plus days into his term the President is looking more like someone who is looking to be impeached or someone who is clueless about governing. Our neer do well Congress appears to be unable to do anything about it unless they just want a cover for their personal agendas. The anti Trump messages from radicals like Ann Coulter is a sure clue that we are heading for a potential disaster at home and abroad. The President has the idea it seems that he is the smartest person in the room however when you  ignore the counsel of seasoned diplomats, you are not the smartest and are bound to board the mistake train which does not have many stops. It is a sure sign of distress when the neediest of us all vote for whoever can promise the most and crow the loudest while ignoring the underlying character flaws that could surely bring the government to a stop at home and abroad. Our allies are in a state of awe after the recent Presidential visit as they have not figured out what his agenda is (perhaps Trump hasn’t either). If we look at the current administration as a medical condition we would consider it as being  in Hospice care, just being made comfortable with no medical treatment. Many times this results in a cause of death as “failure to thrive”, along with any other medical causes leading up to the demise. The “aftershock” will be years of unraveling the mess locally and abroad while the country’s progress slows to a snails pace. The opportunity we have now is to pay close attention to our current elected officials especially the long serving ones as they have ridden to victory on promises (not kept) and innuendo.

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Why Now!


Recently and in the recent past fired TV personalities have stated that their demise was due to pressure from the Liberal left rather than their own improper actions and statements. If these once closely followed opinion providers  were really honest about their situations then they would realize that those situations were of their own making during the years they were making their way to the top. Their poor judgement is part of their character and not something that just arose when they became celebrities. There are many of us who have what could be called quirks in their character however more of us realize the difference  between what is correct and what is not. These celebrated people have no special dispensation to do their wrongs just because of that celebrity. To protest their plight and blame that plight on someone else is what children do, not supposedly grown up responsible adults. This brings up the question of how much of their on air offerings can we believe? I would offer another question of Why now? Why didn’t these folks attempt to change their ways before, considering their status and the idea that their followers have a high regard for their opinion and would believe what they say on air? There was a time when the people you viewed on TV were people of character and their personal opinions did not enter into what ever information they were giving us. It appears now that the opinion rather than the facts are more important which amounts to misinformation and often outright lies. Why now look at someone else for your failures when you alone could have done better?

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How To Push Back


The current and administration is depending on the public to be upset but to take no action. The appointed cabinet members and their boss have nothing good in mind for us. Trump appointed people who he thinks will do a good job based on what he is told and not always on what he knows. Where we stand as a country is hotly debated due to the many and varied opinions of reliable or unreliable sources. So many of us rely on sources that grab our attention with headlines that are not always backed up by facts. This shading of the facts is what has led us to the current administration and the “tweet storm”. We currently have a group of cabinet members whose legacy will undo years of progress and lower the health and education standards we have achieved over the years. What can we do about it? The first thing as voters that we can do is to examine the track record of the people we have voted for regularly and see how they have represented us. Keep in mind that what they say is not always what they actually do. To roll back what has been done previously sounds and looks good in print but in reality can be devastating. If your circumstances are not as good as someone else’s, do not blame that person look at what caused the difference and you will usually find that it’s the existing laws and the people who passed them (the people we voted for on a regular basis). The pushback is simple: Listen to what the candidates say then research their records. Listen and view several news sources. You will find that there are differences and somewhere among those differences lies the truth and that is what you are seeking. Finally politics is no more than theater, entertaining but not serious enough  base an opinion on.

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A Tax on Remittances Won’t Pay for a Border Wall


One of Donald Trump’s campaign promises was to build a wall and Mexico will pay for it. The article below explains a proposal as to how that will be accomplished.MA

January 24, 2017 2:04PM

By Alex Nowrasteh
President Donald Trump has not yet signed an executive order about his proposed border wall.  An executive order would only do so much as Congress would have to appropriate funds to actually construct the wall.  A wall built to the dimensions and specifications promised by Trump would cost about $25 billion to $31.2 billion and run 1000 miles along the border with Mexico.
Since the Mexican government won’t pay for the wall and holding up all remittances in order to get the Mexican government to pay for it runs into constitutional problems, some like Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies have proposed a nation-wide refundable fee (a tax with another name) on wire remittances to fund the wall.  Taxing remittances of illegal immigrants will not raise enough funds for a huge new border wall.
A remittances tax would have to be very high to raise enough revenue to pay for a wall, even assuming there is no fall off in revenue at higher rates.  The state of Oklahoma has a wire transmitter fee equal to about one percent of the funds transmitted.  In 2016, the tax raised $12,696,879.25 or $133.65 per illegal immigrant in the state.  Back of the envelope, a nationwide version of the wire transmitter fee would only raise about $1.6 billion annually.  If the nationwide wire transmitter fee tax was 5 times as high as in Oklahoma then it would raise enough money to pay for the wall in three to four years assuming there is no fall off in revenue at such a high rate or other disruptions don’t occur.
Oklahoma labels this tax a fee because it’s a fully refunded tax credit.  A full 96 percent of those who pay the fees don’t claim the credit.  David North of the Center for Immigration Studies argues that illegal immigrants pay virtually the entire tax because most of the credits aren’t claimed.  That’s probably right but North overstates his case.  The IRS estimates that about one in five folks eligible for the EITC do not claim it although there are many improper payments made too.  Furthermore, between 55 percent and 75 percent of illegal immigrants file tax returns, have money withheld from their paychecks, or both.  That being said, most of the people paying the tax are likely illegal immigrants but many Americans also pay directly.
Another reason that a nationwide wire transfer tax won’t pay for a wall is that a high rate will simply force remittances onto non-wire systems.  The most obvious alternative is sending remittances through banks or credit unions that are exempt from Oklahoma’s Wire Transmitter Fee.  Congress could try to impose a transfer fee for those funds but that would penalize millions of Americans transferring money abroad – including those of us who paid for college abroad.  The government could set up another tax credit scheme but that would be more bureaucracy and time added on top of an already overly complex tax system.  Using Bitcoin or sending  gift cards are also viable ways to remit large amounts of cash outside of the wire system
Illegal immigrant remitters will also be able to rely on their American citizen or legal immigrant friends and family members to transfer funds through wire services.  About 16.6 million people live in households with the 11 to 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States.  Many of those legal immigrants or U.S.-natives would be happy to remit money for their illegal immigrants family members.
As a last resort, remitters could use the black market.  Many unlawful immigrants entered the country illegally and some of them use fraudulent documents to work in the United States.  Surely they will find a way to illegally remit funds if the tax is large enough.  Expanding the size of the black market is not the point of a tax on remittances.
Trump’s proposed border wall is expensive and the Mexican government will not pay for it.  Taxing remittances by illegal immigrants is a proposed way of funding such a wall but it is unlikely to raise enough funds and will also directly tax many Americans.  Either the tax will have to raise much more revenue than I anticipate, the border wall will have to be a lot cheaper,  or both for a tax on remittances to raise enough money for this project.  If this wall ever gets built then American taxpayers will foot the bill – as usual.

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Using The Child


The many people who voted for Donald J. Trump scored a minor victory in his election. As in many touted wins there is a downside. The in power Congress has a different agenda than Mr. Trump and it does not bode well for any of us. Mr. Trump is gleefully attempting to be Presidential while the Congress is busily planning an agenda that will reduce healthcare and freedoms many of us currently enjoy. The labelled groups all have different ideas than most of us as to how the country should be run. No matter what side you are on it is wise to remember what affects one eventually affects all. Trump’s cabinet is a collective that will affect everything we do from education to security. As voters all of us want the best leadership but we seem to have relied on sources of information that subvert the truth. We are in essence being lied to on a daily basis by the government. The “government” at this time is current majority party who no matter what you think (or hope) are not working for you. It has been this way for years and these anti voter representatives  strive to convince you that they are on your side. It is the duty of every citizen to forget parties and look at what is actually being done and said in your name! The current White House resident was elected  due to low voter turnout rather than an overwhelming  majority. If you were disappointed in the election results then you need to educate yourself in what is and what isn’t in politics. Remember that under our Constitution the right to voice an opinion  is protected and that includes lies. We current have a minor serving as titular head of the nation and being diapered by  a host of unscrupulous people including many members of Congress.

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The Labels


The labels arise again, no matter what your politics, religious or leaning may be to allow yourself to be labelled is close to being called names. The current political climate in America is in a downward spiral. The media (all of them) report what they learn, hear or suspect and not always the total truth. No matter what your beliefs are you tend to read or listen to information that supports your beliefs. This is not the way to be come informed and narrow focus allows the powers that be to create narratives that push their agendas under the guise of supporting yours. Anyone who adheres to the idea that their belief is the only way is open to the machinations of the true manipulators, our Politicians. If you believe that the current cabinet ministers are working for you, you are mistaken, if you still believe your elected Congressional rep is working for you, you are in error and if you believe that your vote doesn’t count, again you are mistaken. Using whatever label you operate under, the powerful manipulators use your beliefs against you. It is your duty to follow as many media offerings as you can to become informed and stop being a victim of the manipulative forces. If you follow one source for convenience then you are already lost.

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Brabble!


Brabble, Trumpspeak and crappenspiel! These are the attributes of the information coming from the Trump White House. In my opinion this administration is in a death spiral caused by the election of a Narcissistic child. There appear to no stops on this path and our less than stellar Congress is complicit. The Congress (Paul Ruyan and Bitch McConnell) have only their own interests in mind whenever they speak and with all actions they take. If the statement about liars pants being a blaze were true then we would have a fire in the Executive and legislative  branches that would be hard to control. With what we now know and have suspected , our government is broken. During the past 8 years when Obama was President, many attempts were made to correct the ship but the evil was so pervasive as to be an insurmountable wall. These evils are capable of creating a long lasting poorly functioning Government. With all of the last 20 years plus of see sawing we have become a segmented nation with the good wishes of our Congress and other influences. The election of Mr. Trump seems to be a stroke of good luck for the baser elements of our government. They are using Mr. trump as  “hat” to cover their own misdeeds and anti citizen schemes. It is unfortunate that too many voters do not realize what the election of Mr. Trump means and it is not good. It is not so much about Mr. Trump but more about the harm that can come from his “allowed” actions. Our neer do well Congress is content to “allow” events to unfold and step in with their own self serving agendas that have  nothing to do with the public good. Our solution to all of this improper and irregular Governance is to become “woke” and informed voters. Do not rely on your elected officials as they will just repeat what you as a voter asked for even thought they know it is not what is needed.

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