Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[some guy]

Trumps's little idea of China trading tariffs for dirt on Biden isn't going to happen.
I won't be surprised if China waits the whole thing out until next election.

I mean, what is his bargaining chip? Give me dirt and the tariffs get removed? Something that is probably happening day one if Democrat gets elected. I would think China would ask for more than tariff removal.

[Edge-]

I mean, what is his bargaining chip? Give me dirt and the tariffs get removed? Something that is probably happening day one if Democrat gets elected. I would think China would ask for more than tariff removal.

He doesn't have a bargaining chip, that's the thing. Their strategy continues to seem to be, "Wait out his administration.", and Trump has no leverage as he has nothing to offer them short of removing tariffs and that's not gonna happen without a way to spin it as a victory on trade.

We're a year and a half+ into the "very easy to win" trade war now!

[Breccia]

I mean, what is his bargaining chip? Give me dirt and the tariffs get removed?

That might have been the implication, but China would have required the tariffs cut first. Because Trump can't be promise to pay what he contractually owes.

Which means Trump would have gotten a trade deal even worse than he got with Japan, which in turn was even worse than the TPP that Trump left. He would have literally sold America out, which I think we can agree Trump would totally do, but he'd also get called out on it, which is another matter.

There were also rumors of "and we'll stay silent on Hong Kong" but that got NBA'd even if it was actually supposed to happen.

[Shadowferal]

I'm beginning to think that using tariffs to get a "better deal" meant something less than getting a good deal for Americans, and meant more about Trump getting a good personal deal.

[Edge-]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/08/polit...ile/index.html

In a lecture to the Heritage Foundation in 1992, a copy of which is available online, Pendley compared the environmental movement to communism and denied the existence of the hole in the ozone layer -- which had been scientifically well established by then.

"'Environmentalism' is indeed the last refuge of the left, the last safe haven for those who trust, not the people, but big government, those who seek to place the power in the hands of federal bureaucrats," Pendley said. "No wonder the environmental message has became the cause of choice for the elitists of Hollywood. It should not surprise us that they have embraced environmentalism with the same self-righteous fervor as they once embraced socialism and communism."

...

"Who knew? Islam's war with America started just up the road in Greeley, Colorado!," Pendley tweeted. In the article, Spencer floats unfounded conspiracies about "leftists" allying with "Islamic hardliners who adhere to Sharia, a system of laws that would have many of them executed."

Writing in a 2010 blog post, Pendley railed against a Department of Homeland Security report that labeled right-wing extremism as a threat, arguing instead the focus should be on "those who embrace radical Islam."

"(New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and President Barack Obama) think -- if one can call it thinking or anything more than wishful thinking—that Americans should be afraid of terrorist attacks, not from all those who embrace radical Islam, but from their countrymen who hold very strong views on important issues of the day?," Pendley wrote.

...

"You see, the problems Hazleton or Valley Park faces could be in your community next because illegal immigration is spreading like a cancer," Pendley wrote. "Partly this is because Mexico and some other governments promote and encourage illegal immigration into our country."

Pendley went on to say if "massive immigration" continued "you and I will permanently lose the country we love"

Pendley used similar rhetoric in a press release by his legal fund the same year -- faulting undocumented immigrants for "violent crime" and "crowded schools" and praising the mayor of Hazleton for adopting legislation "to deal with these problems."

Nothing much going on, just a senior Trump appointee in charge of the Interior having a long history of claiming that the hole in the ozone layer didn't exist (it did), making bigoted comments about Muslims, and comparing immigrants to cancer.

Only. The. Best. People.

[Breccia]

I'm beginning to think that using tariffs to get a "better deal" meant something less than getting a good deal for Americans, and meant more about Trump getting a good personal deal.

Now now, I'm sure Trump will get a better deal any second now. Aaaaaaaany sec--

U.S. announces visa restrictions on Chinese officials for Uighur abuses

The State Department on Tuesday announced that it would impose visa restrictions on Chinese government officials who are believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, the mass detention and surveillance of Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang province.

Huh. State Department jumped up and acted on that, from the time of this thread Sept 26 to China refusing to investigate Biden 5 hours ago.

Yeah...that's not going to help the trade talks, at all.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday that it “strongly urges” the U.S. to stay clear of the country’s domestic issues, after the White House blacklisted a slew of Chinese companies due to alleged human rights violations against Muslim minorities in China’s far-western region of Xinjiang.

“We strongly urge the U.S. to immediately stop making irresponsible remarks on the issue of Xinjiang” and to “stop interfering” in “China’s internal affairs, and remove relevant Chinese entities from the list of entities as soon as possible,” a spokesperson from the ministry said Tuesday in a statement, according to a Google translation.

“China will also take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard China’s own interests,” the spokesperson said.

"You quoted this CNBC article. While doing so, did you see anything else on, say, Breaking News at the top of the page?"

That's a strangely specific question, but, yes I did.

Dow drops 300 points as optimism around US-China trade talks dims

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 313.98 points lower, or 1.2% at 26164.04. The S&P 500 slid 1.6% to 2,893.06 while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.7% to 7,823.78.

On the data front, U.S. producer prices posted their biggest drop in eight months in September, dragged down by lower costs for goods and services. Producer prices are an indicator of inflation and a decline could give the Federal Reserve more room to ease monetary policy.

“The China pressure is pivoting from being a one-issue situation to multiple pressures,” he said, noting companies are figuring out how much trade will impact them, but now have to contend with slower economic growth worries.

The South China Morning Post reported China is toning down its expectations ahead of trade negotiations with the United States. The report said Chinese Vice Premier Liu He — who will lead the country’s trade delegation — will not carry the title of “special envoy,” signaling he has not received any specific instructions by President Xi Jinping. U.S.-China trade talks are set to start Thursday.

If there's a good deal to be found for Americans, it's not in today's headlines.

[kaelleria]

The mayor of Minneapolis 2 - Trump 0.

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-brief...t-have-time-to

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) responded to President Trump’s attacks on him Tuesday about security fees for Trump’s upcoming rally in the city.

“I’m not one that gets overly excited about Twitter back-and-forth,” Frey said Tuesday, saying that Trump’s tweets blasting him were a “little bit of a surprise.”

“I wake up every single morning with not a lot of time on my hands because I’m doing things like filling potholes and making sure our city has enough affordable housing,” Frey said.

“I don't have time with a city of 430,000 people to be tweeting garbage out, so it's kind of surprising when the president of the United States, a country with 327 million people, has the time to do this himself, so I don’t know where the guy gets the time,” he added.


Trump and his re-election campaign attacked Frey and the city this week for the $530,000 price tag assessed for the Thursday rally, with the president calling him a "lightweight mayor" who is "hurting the great police and other wonderful supporters.”

Frey responded to Trump’s tweet on Twitter earlier Tuesday, tweeting "Yawn... Welcome to Minneapolis where we pay our bills, we govern with integrity, and we love all of our neighbors," in reference to numerous cities that have said the campaign never reimbursed them for rallies.

“It’s not extortion to expect someone to pay their bills,” Frey later said at the Tuesday news conference, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

This is the perfect response to Trump. More people need to do the same.

[Shadowferal]

Judge warns DeVos: 'I'm not sending anyone to jail yet' but it's an option

A federal judge in San Francisco rebuked Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for continuing to collect debt payments from students after she had been ordered to stop by a court order, Bloomberg reports.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim was far from happy with DeVos in a hearing that took place Monday in San Francisco.

“At best, it is gross negligence,” Kim told lawyers representing the department at the hearing. “At worst, it’s intentional flouting of my order.”

“I'm not sending anyone to jail yet, but it's good to know I have that ability," she noted. "There have to be some consequences for the violation of my order 16,000 times."

The number 16,000 refers to the total count of students from the now-defunct for-profit Corinthian College that were contacted about repaying federal loans that were supposed to be forgiven.

She said she would order both the Trump administration and plaintiffs to file briefs about the issue of contempt or sanctions within the next several weeks.

“I’m not trying to be punitive,” she said. “I just want to make sure that the students are helped.”

Most of the case, which is in the federal district court in San Francisco, has been on hold since the Trump administration appealed Kim’s preliminary ruling to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in July 2018.

But on Monday, Kim granted the Corinthian students’ requests to end the pause in the case.

The Education Department had opposed moving ahead with the case during the appeal.

"I'm so concerned about this violation of the order that I think the stay is gone,” Kim said. “And also because the 9th Circuit hasn't ruled, and I'm not going to wait around for them any longer.”

“We're going to do everything full speed ahead from this point forward,” she added.

-------------------

I'd love to hear that jail time was doled out for once.

[Zan15]

NA. I am not convinced a crime was committed which falls under the articles of impeachment set forth by the Constitution. Right along with as a min, half of the nation. Only about half support impeaching Trump according to the latest poll. Not that it matters however. it is mainly the haters of Trump that feel it is. And even Kasich, ( no friend of Trump ) is not convinced a crime was committed based solely on the transcript. let that sink in.

^^^
One of those people that would vote for trump if he killed someone right in front of them....just like Trump said they would.....

Sad just sad

[Breccia]

It’s not extortion to expect someone to pay their bills

This is the perfect response to Trump.

That line most certainly is.

[Draco-Onis]

I'm beginning to think that using tariffs to get a "better deal" meant something less than getting a good deal for Americans, and meant more about Trump getting a good personal deal.

There will be a last minute deal depending on how the re-election is going and it will be scant on details but Trump will tout it as a win the stock market will shoot up only we will later find out we got screwed.

- - - Updated - - -

^^^
One of those people that would vote for trump if he killed someone right in front of them....just like Trump said they would.....

Sad just sad

He supported Trump ripping babies from their mother's arm and putting people in concentration camps there really isn't any crime he wouldn't support for Trump.

[Edge-]

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/1...d-bills-039631

Donald Trump has raised record amounts of money as a presidential candidate. But he’s still left a slew of unpaid bills in his wake.

In city after city, across the nation, Trump has failed to pay local officials who provide thousands of dollars’ worth of security assistance to the president’s campaign during his Make America Great Again rallies.

In total, at least 10 cities have complained that the campaign has not reimbursed them for services provided by local police and fire departments, totaling more than $840,000, according to a study by the Center for Public Integrity in June.

[Khaza-R]

The only thing Trump could ever do to make me even consider voting for him would be to "totally obliterate Turkey's economy". And maybe after that's done, he shells their cities for a good 12 months.

[Kiri]

The only thing Trump could ever do to make me even consider voting for him would be to "totally obliterate Turkey's economy". And maybe after that's done, he shells their cities for a good 12 months.

Shelling cities should never be the answer to anything. There are always innocents that got hurt who don't deserve that kind of stuff.

[Shadowferal]

Turkey is a NATO member.
Just saying.

[Khaza-R]

Turkey is a NATO member.
Just saying.

I doubt for much longer.

[Shadowferal]

I doubt for much longer.

I don't believe that there are any provisions in the treaty to dismiss a member nation.
Which is one hell of a mistake. But it's never happened before.

[Khaza-R]

I don't believe that there are any provisions in the treaty to dismiss a member nation.
Which is one hell of a mistake. But it's never happened before.

Its entirely possible if all others members of NATO support it. But that is unlikely, although not impossible. What is more likely to happen is that Turkey will become an vestigial part of NATO that gets no more support from other member nations. A "just for show" title of being NATO.

Turkey has pretty much proven itself a horrible ally. They are enemies with pretty much all of their natural neighbors and continue to proceed down a path of fanatical nationalism that will isolate them from last of their few remaining allies in the west.

[Thekri]

Its entirely possible if all others members of NATO support it. But that is unlikely, although not impossible. What is more likely to happen is that Turkey will become an vestigial part of NATO that gets no more support from other member nations. A "just for show" title of being NATO.

Turkey has pretty much proven itself a horrible ally. They are enemies with pretty much all of their natural neighbors and continue to proceed down a path of fanatical nationalism that will isolate them from last of their few remaining allies in the west.

Specifically Erdogan is a terrible ally. Prior to his ascendency, Turkey was a pretty reliable and valuable ally. NATO didn't really anticipate any of its member states falling to authoritarianism, and it retrospect, they definitely should have had a plan for that.

[Edge-]

https://thehill.com/policy/finance/d...lass-for-first

Billionaires paid less in taxes than the working class last year for the first time in U.S. history, a study found.

Economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman found in their book-length study "The Triumph of Injustice" that the average tax rate paid by the richest 400 families in the country was lower than the rate paid by the bottom half of American households in 2018, The Washington Post reported.

The wealthiest 400 families had a 23 percent tax rate, compared to the bottom half of households, which had a 24.2 percent tax rate.

The richest 400 families had a 47 percent tax rate in 1980 and a 56 percent tax rate in 1960, while the working class's tax rate has remained relatively stable, according to the Post.

So the Trump/Republican tax cut seems to be...working as intended. I'm thrilled that my tax-rate is largely the same as someone making 100x or more of what I make!