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Tag Archives: politricks

The White House Child


There have been many movies and stories about child heroes and perhaps our TOTUS relates to those stories. I must point out that these stories for the most part are fiction or fictionalized accounts. With that being said what is the driving force behind  TOTUS (aside from poor advice from his advisors)? The adoration train is leaving the station with  fewer riders by the day. The Neer do wells are doing less and less while their work goes undone. Mr. McConnell is doing his usual stand back and speak occasionally when it will impact him the least and have the most impact on the situation. This has always been his style if you look back on his record as a member of the Senate. Paul Ryan has all but been left out to dry and has had severe feed back at home like so many other members of the Congress. The love affair with Congress is definitely over and it is about time. Our political system is in disarray since the age of Statesmen is seemingly over. As a reminder : Statesmen were public servants who once elected  made sincere efforts to do the work of the people, that work was to enact laws that benefit the people (all not perfect) but these laws were enacted with a consensus from both major parties and some of the outliers. Those days are over with the advent of angry politicians who do not seem to understand their purpose in the office. Is it possible that these “public Servants” are overpaid for the work they do? As an example: Paul Ryan earns $200,000. annually as speaker with a limousine at his disposal and will earn over $70,000 upon retirement. I believe people should earn a living wage with the possibility of a livable pension amount upon retirement but our legislator’s payouts are obscene compared to the voters who support them and barely trust them. The “child” is so focused on the short-range goals that he cannot see where his end game needs to be. Tweeting does no more than gain short-term attention and more distrust except for the real “fake” news of the Fox network. It is reasonable to question information from the W.H. but the spokespeople giving out the information appear to be ill-equipped to explain or answer any questions without becoming angry and abusive to the questioners. With all of this we are still in election mode and not on governing mode, the near future points toward an ongoing campaign style governance. The indication that the WH administration is inept is revealed by the undoing of as many Obama era executive orders as possible since these do not require Congressional action, this undoing is more harmful than many can imagine and the Congress does not care. This administration is all about show not substance, most recently a press conference showing TOTUS donating his salary to the National Park Service which will cover 0.005% of the Proposed budget cut for the Service and the show goes on. The message is clear our Government is in trouble and we (voters) are the only cure. Do not be swayed by any politician who has been in office more than 10 years, pay close attention to what they say and do. No matter how much you like the person, their actions are what count not their personality (this is how Trump became President), pay attention to the Chyrons.

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Republicans Eye Cutting More Obama Era Regulations


 

Kerry Picket

Reporter

10:11 PM 02/16/2017
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed two of the three pieces of legislation this week passed by Congress that roll back Obama-era regulations.
Republicans are repealing the regulations through the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The president’s signature on such legislation Tuesday is the first time the CRA has been used to repeal regulation in 16 years, when Trump signed legislation to roll back a Securities and Exchange Commission rule that would mandate energy companies to show their payments to foreign governments.
The coal industry cheered on another CRA piece of legislation Thursday that came to Trump’s desk for his signature that repealed an Obama-era Department of the Interior rule on coal mine discharge into nearby streams. (RELATED: Trump Signs Repeal Of Obama Coal Mining Regulations)
The CRA allows for Congress to review and repeal federal government department regulation within a 60-day window after the rule has been established. Legislation under the CRA cannot be filibustered in the Senate.

Congress initially proposed 37 resolutions under the CRA as a means to repeal the Obama-era rules.
“Congressional Review Act legislation provides relief for Americans hurt by regulations rushed through at the last minute by the Obama administration. This means freeing up American entrepreneurs, creating jobs, and jump-starting our economy,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement of the numerous bills passed under CRA.
One piece of legislation waiting for Trump’s signature that passed the Senate Wednesday under the CRA repealed a Social Security Administration rule established in December. The regulation mandated that the agency would submit Social Security recipients’ information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) with the intent of showing those who may not be eligible to purchase a firearm.
Democrats say the rule would keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill, but Republicans argue the rule cast way too large of a net around social security recipients.
“Over the last several weeks we’ve been using a Congressional Review Act or what is known as CRA’s to take action on the explosion of Obamacare regulations. Hundreds and hundreds of pages of regulations that we’ve seen hurting families destroying jobs all across the country and here’s why our work is so historic. Up until now only six of those bills have ever reached the president’s desk in 21 years and only one was ever signed into law by the end of this week. We will have passed 13 in the last three weeks,” House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers said at a press conference Thursday.
The Senate is expected to take up two more resolutions passed by the House in the coming days, one of which repeals a regulation established by the Bureau of Land Management as well as a rule put forth by the Department of Labor.
The House passed three resolutions under the CRA last week and by the end of Friday, the Senate will be on track to consider 10 resolutions that repeal Obama administration regulations in the next legislative period.
Follow Kerry on Twitter

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To Continue


There will possibly be an end to the Trump saga but to what end? The current non-resident of the White House is no more than a child who has toy store and cannot decide what to play with first. The ownership has become boring since the details area not as important as the headlines. The adoration of the crowds is more important than the actual job of running the store. Having always been in the position of ruling by fiat, it is apparently difficult to consult with the legislators and even his own cabinet. The tweetstorm is apparently the easiest way for him to communicate since he is limited to 140 characters. This is fine if you are a child. His advisors and spokespeople are no more than a group of loose cannons who have no other purpose than talking points with little or no facts. Meanwhile back in the real world, executive orders rolling back Obama era orders are causing harm to ALL Americans, some of whom do not realize what effect it has and will continue to have on them personally. The constant weekends off and the outlying protective services for his children and spouse are costing Americans millions of dollars for protection (wasteful?). The acceptance of these types of outrages are at once un-American as well as expensive when so many folks are out of work, have no healthcare due to government inability to reconcile payments to states. With all of this our Congressional neer do wells are still doing nothing to help and we continue to keep them in office. All of the Trumpers who latched on to the idea that Government should be run like a business are ill-informed as Government cannot be run as a business due to the multitude of differences and  needs of the people. The only correlation of business to Government is that they have a chart of  organization with the government being more extensive than most businesses. This administration is already up to its waist in problems with no rope available and too many voters are unwilling or unable to see the inevitable downside. The damage that is beginning now will resonate for years and extend to our world partners. We are at the beginning of similar actions that began in the 1930’s in Germany. While we may not get to the outright Nationwide burning of books and the associated atrocities , the effects of these irrational actions has and will cause  harm for a long time. We have the salvation of the vote if our Congress fails to act and we have that salvation to use for the Congressional member who will also be up for reelection. For our own protection as voters we need to broaden and lengthen our view of the legislation coming out of Washington as the people who are making and enacting these laws do not have the same worries as the voters. It is easy to make decisions for other people when those decisions do not have an effect on them. Forget term limits as there will never be such a law, the only term limits are provided by the voters. Our (voters) remedy for all of this is to become informed and understand what is being done in our names.

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Anyone??


Is there anyone in the Trump Administration who knows what they are talking about or can tell the truth? His surrogates shoot from the lip pretty much like their boss and continue to lie as if it’s the truth. This is exactly what Pre world war II Hitler did to convince ordinary Germans that he was doing good things for them-until the bombs rained down on them and they were shown the concentration camps. Unfortunately too many Trump supporters are too angry to see the truth and will be shocked when the wall goes up and the jobs still do not come back. Then there’s health care and taxes, once these are addressed (or not) and more people do not have or can’t afford healthcare, the administration will blame someone else. As much as I would like to talk about something positive coming out of the Whitehouse, there is not much there. Jeff “the knife” Sessions is moving ahead like the racist he is, Steve “the hammer” Bannon is pulling the strings behind the scenes and Reince “figurehead” Priebus appears to be missing. The cost to secure this President rises daily with his children being everywhere, his trips to Mar A Lago along with the cost to scramble the Air force if a private aircraft appears in the no fly zone near the President(resident?). The Governing of the United States is not supposed to play out in the media yet this appears to be the situation the country is in. Many of the people who voted for Trump now have reservations but we are in this until at least 2018 unless the President does something worse than he is doing now. The Congress seems to be rudderless after all of the negative rhetoric about the previous administration and with a blank check attitude have confirmed unsuitable people for the cabinet. The President makes a big show of signing executive orders yet seems to have no idea what these executive orders will affect. I am of the opinion that our TOTUS is not well versed in the details (the real details) of his executive order rollback. It appears that he gets snapshots and acts on those. This is not governing, this is playing in the sand box without paying attention to the lumps. It is my opinion that we as voters should prepare for the worst as it is still coming and we will receive no help from our neer do well Congress.

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Talking Points Versus Reality


Donald Trump has promised to make America Great Again, this statement resonated with enough people to get him elected. Since that time he has tweeted himself in a corner that we will certainly suffer because of. Taking one major campaign promise: ” The Great Wall”. Estimated cost of the wall is 326 Million to a Billion(?) dollars. Would this amount of money be better used for infrastructure? Clearly the border security is necessary however infrastructure (roads, bridges, dams and levees) is a much higher priority. The wall would provide jobs for a short period of time and would not significantly affect the economy in the long term(except for possible trade issues with Mexico). The security issue is not as awful as Mr. Trump would have us believe but having good relations with Mexico would certainly help with that. If the money for the wall was used for infrastructure then you gain jobs (long term), save lives as the effects of natural disasters would be  reduced, traffic accidents would be reduced. What is involved in infrastructure repair? You have to have the following: Engineers, architects, construction companies, material suppliers and finally workers. All of these jobs and carriers require education and training. The additional benefit is the health and safety of Americans using these roads and bridges. It will take many more years to address the infrastructure repairs and building than it will take to build the “Great Wall” which will possibly be more of an eyesore and eventually a non factor in immigration. Taking a look at the Health care fiasco, the proposed AHCA (Ryancare or TrumpCare) failed due to the lack of support within the Dupublican party, not because of  the Scamocrats blocking it. This tall tale and others will continue to play out while our neer do well Congress continues on a path of destruction which will affect the voters and not the Elected pimps in Congress. If as voters you think your elected representatives are working for you then I challenge you to investigate what they are actually doing rather than what they tell you they are doing. We are in a situation now where the misinformation mills are running at full capacity and our (the voters) ability to tell truth from fiction is strained. This misinformation is why Mr. Trump was elected. The Dupublicans are not happy with him but they are using him to further their own anti-American agenda. Rallies and high sounding speeches are not how governing is done, the quicker we understand that, the better we will be able to try to elect the right people for the job of representing us correctly.

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The Swamp Undrained


The Trump promise to drain the swamp apparently has lost its momentum. The Alt right, far right and other Trump supporters are using this hapless leader to further their agenda and that does not bode well for America. These short sighted extremists have emboldened the fringe elements of America and could have dire consequences going forward. The repeal of the ACA (Obamacare) has gotten the attention of many more Americans than our lack luster Congress realized yet they continue on as if these people do not exist. This ignoring of the facts goes beyond the medical coverage, there is activity in the area of prison reform, the Trump administration is seeking to maintain the privately run system which has proven to be expensive and poorly run. It seems that each item in Trumps agenda is contrary to what He stated he would do. The string of Executive orders is not governing, it is more of a show of action while the neer do well Congress is selling us down the river or more appropriately leading us back into the swamp. All of the civility and propriety of the past administrations has disappeared but has shown us all who and what our elected officials are really are about. We have among the “fringers”: Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Bill O’Reilly and the inside “fringers” Steve Bannon, Mike Pence to name a few. The TOTUS has assumed the post of President as a sideline to his ego which apparently requires regular feedings of adoration at any cost. Our (the voters) big task is to remember that our elected officials are not on our side and have proven that year after year and invoking our approval without our approval. The “American people” in many statements is used as a buzzword to infer that we (the Real American People) are in agreement with their actions or sometimes lack of action. Since there are no term limits to Congressional terms , it is up the voters (the American People) to terminate the services of any Legislator who is not doing their job. This assessment of duty should not be done in a vacuum since what these neer do wells do (or not) affects each and every one of us no matter what spin they (the Legislators) try to put on what they say. Simply put: No matter who sits in the White House – the 535 seat fillers should always be our focus since they are the Criminals in suits who make life changing decisions on our behalf whether we agree or not.

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Failure To Communicate


The title line of this post is from a Paul Newman movie. It certainly describes the current political climate. It appears that the majority party and it’s associated agents will say what ever they want with impunity and hope they can get away with it. The cue is taken from their leader President Trump. Mr Trump has told the truth probably, how many times? The Majority party has taken up that method of dealing with their constituents. There have been several town halls where the firmly entrenched Congress members faces hostile crowds but they continue to follow the Nazi method of communication: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”-Joseph Goebbels. The citizens of America while certainly seeking good government have been and still are bombarded by a steady stream of unabashed and from the hip falsehoods that the speakers hope we are not smart enough to see through. It does not take a wizard to know that the majority party does not have the interest of the public in mind as they continue the process of rolling back protections put in place by the previous administration. The mid year elections is the opportunity for all of us to shift the political landscape to our advantage. The current politicians are all less than trustworthy in one way or another. There are at least a dozen ways to say: “you can tell if a politician is lying because his mouth is moving”!

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Lyin’ Ted is Not Your Friend


Ted Cruz is attempting to get a bill passed that will repeal or neuter the protections from predatory lending in banks. This is the same Ted Cruz who was running to be President. This appears to show that we have some real issues coming from existing members of Congress. This is the same Congress that blocked many of President Obama’s initiatives’ and is now saddled with Donald Trump whom they are not quite sure what to do with. In the background of this the Congress of themselves (instead of the people) are busily making disastrous changes in laws that protect us all while attempting to tell us that they are working for us. It is important that we the people pay close attention to these folks who have no good intentions for us but like most bunco artists try to persuade us that what they are doing is good for us as we choke on what we are being fed. The proposed bill below is just one example.MA

Legislation > 115th Congress > S.370

Text: S.370 — 115th Congress (2017-2018)All Bill Information

As of 02/20/2017 text has not been received for S.370 – A bill to eliminate the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection by repealing title X of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, commonly known as the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010.

Bills are generally sent to the Library of Congress from GPO, the Government Publishing Office, a day or two after they are introduced on the floor of the House or Senate. Delays can occur when there are a large number of bills to prepare or when a very large bill has to be printed.

S.370 – A bill to eliminate the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection by repealing title X of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, commonly known as the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010.

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The Petulant Child


In the weeks since taking the oath of office, the oaf of office has governed on Twitter. It is apparent to most that we have a petulant child as leader. The GOP with its tacit ok on his actions so far seems to think they can do what they want with his help however they have forgotten about “draining the swamp”. They have approved and installed his cabinet as a way to make to make the “child” happy but to the detriment of the United States (this includes ALL of us). The 2018 elections will see more changes than the Dupublicans can imagine since many crossover voters will cross over again. There will be no fake, ghost or illegal votes as alleged , just citizens who realize the error of re electing the same Congress time after time and getting nothing for it. The big issue will be the Trumps taxes if they ever become public but even without them his actions will put the US in serious and dangerous situations worldwide. One cannot govern via tweet or by using superlatives, there has to meetings with longtime government workers including the “cabinet?”. The GOP seems to  have the hope of a “Mike Pence” Presidency if the current child is impeached, should that occur will the damage will already have been done and will affect the GOP for years to came as well as setting the United States back for many years with its allies.

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The Show Begins


Many of us know or have heard the theme to a cartoon show called “The Bugs Bunny Road Runner Hour” but as a reminder  the Lyrics are listed below:

ARTIST: Jerry Livingston and Mack David
TITLE: Bugs Bunny Overture (This Is It)
Lyrics

[From Television Theme Song]

Overture, curtain, lights
This is it, the night o’ nights
No more rehearsing and nursing our parts
We know every part by heart

Overture, curtain, lights
This is it, to hit the heights
And, oh what heights we’ll hit
On with the show, this is it

Tonight what heights we’ll hit
On with the show, this is it.

This is just an introduction what the next 4 years will bring. The current flap is over how many people were in the National mall, this was contested on air by the Trump talking heads in spite of photographic proof to the contrary. It appears that we will now have a wave of superlatives instead of facts on what the administration is doing, will do or has done. Looking at what is happening right now and what has gone before we need to prepare for talking points instead of facts. I fully understand that Trumps’ rise is due to his “telling it like it is” but the reality is that “telling it like it is” can come back to haunt you as it seems to be doing even now. The true reason for Mr. Trump’s  ascension is the dissatisfaction with the Government over the past 10-20 years. The “Government “as a lot of folks see it is the President, wrong, the Government is the Congress ,those people we vote for election after election who do very little on our behalf no matter what they tell us. Our elected officials for the most part take the idea of ” when we want your opinion. we will give it to you” to a new level and continue to offer obfuscated information that strokes the public ego while continuing their poor governing ways. No matter what party you associate with , it is wise to push your representative to do what is correct but first you must decide what you want as opposed to what is needed for us all and what is possible. Remember that what you ask for can bring unseen issues that will adversely affect you later with the blessing of your representative. Keep in mind that the people who represent us in Government do not have job issues (save our vote),medical coverage issues or retirement (pension) issues thus it is in our (voter’s) best interest to research the person who represents you now before the next election cycle, you may be surprised what you’ll learn.

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