Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Santti]

So taking advantage of the distraction, the Trump administration has made the move they have been threatening for 3 years now.

They just gutted the Obama Era vehicle emission standards.

So that is fun. It isn't like clean air is something that benefits everyone. It is also worth noting that Ford, Honda, BMW and Volkswagen have all loudly lobbied against gutting these regulations, because they say the regulations are totally achievable, and they don't want to have to compete with people making dirtier cars then theirs.

So I am really unclear who this is actually supposed to benefit. This seems like one of those things they did just because it is evil, and doing evil things makes them giggle.

I have a feeling you mentioned the reasoning. Because Obama. And that is it.

Trump is weirdly obsessed with his predecessor.

[Edge-]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opini...es/2937302001/

Republican Senator Ron Johnson is calling for the country to be re-opened for the sake of the economy in a USA Today op-ed.

Let's look at a few bits -

Each year, approximately 48,000 Americans commit suicide and an estimated 67,000 die of a drug overdose. That level of individual despair has occurred in a strong economy with near-record low levels of unemployment in virtually every demographic.

Yeah Ron, and that's a national shame. Maybe Congress should like...do something about that rather than say, "Yeah, this is fine and a fine point of comparison."

In addition to the current human toll, future generations will be required to pick up that tab.

Dealing with the human toll of climate change that future generations will be required to pick up that tab on? Nah, that's inconvenient and we won't have to deal with it because we're old and will be dead.
Dealing with the human toll of this temporary inconvenience so that figure generations will be required to pick up the tab? YES, THIS TEMPORARY INCONVENIENCE IS THE WORST.

Every premature death is a tragedy, but death is an unavoidable part of life.

In case there were any questions about this mans capability for empathy. He's incapable, apparently.

The 2017-18 flu season was exceptionally bad, with 61,000 deaths attributed to it. Can you imagine the panic if those mortality statistics were attributed to a new virus and reported nonstop?

I'll take, "Bad comparisons that aren't remotely accurate for "Go fuck yourself", Alex."

Nonetheless, much of our economy must stay open to provide life’s basic necessities. Rather than announcing general shutdowns and drawing up lists of “essential” business that can remain open, let’s draw up lists of “nonessential” businesses that pose a risk for coronavirus spread.

"Saying that you can only stand on the white squares on a chessboard doesn't work! However saying you CAN'T stand on black squares will work!"

With every passing day I wonder if killing human empathy is a feature of being a Republican official. Because it's sure seeming more and more like it.

[Paranoid Android]

So, $2 trillion more now for infrastructure. Not criticizing it, it's just that we sure are spending. I know fiscal conservatism died a cartoon death years ago, but these kinds of spending numbers make me grimace.

Another $2 trillion? WoW this guy sure knows how to spend money. People of your ilk should have just voted for a rock star, who blew through all their tens of millions. About as fiscally conservative as Trump.

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Oh, he just wants to tack that $2T onto one of the stimulus bills.

Haven't Republicans been complaining about that kind of behavior? Why does this need to be tacked onto a bill like this? Why hasn't Trump figured out "Infrastructure Week" over the past 3+ years?

Oh this also. Hey since we are spending $2 trillion, why not throw another $2 trillion. Can't believe people voted for this joke.

Actually the Republicans are the ones who may stop Trump. They are not conservative but this doesn't help the reach (yes enriches some businesses) and then they can't attack cutting social programs and war on the poor and working class barely making it. The Dems on the other hand may vote for Trumps spending bill.

[alexw]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52108162

According to the Trump administration: Gun stores are "essential" businesses and should remain open.

I'm sure we're gonna beat the coronavirus by...shooting it, yes.

Gonna need a lot of bullets.

[Breccia]

Yeah Ron, and that's a national shame.

I see the Senator is parroting Trump's fictional concerns that, if the self-quarantine continues, there will be unPresidented levels of suicide and drug overdose.

Based on nothing.

Also, "The 2017-18 flu season was exceptionally bad" well yeah, you elected an anti-vaxxer. What did you think would happen?

[Edge-]

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020...a-ceo-showcase

There isn't a lot of time for the government to take a lot of swift action.

But do you know what there is time for?

Trump to have a train of people felating him at every briefing because his ego is apparently the single most important national resource.

[Rasulis]

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020...a-ceo-showcase

There isn't a lot of time for the government to take a lot of swift action.

But do you know what there is time for?

Trump to have a train of people felating him at every briefing because his ego is apparently the single most important national resource.

At times like this, we need somebody who is a good manager and bureaucrat. Unfortunately for the US, we ended up with a game show host.

Newsom has not been on the news much. However, take a look at what he has done for California.

First shelter in place state.

Doubled the # of ICU beds.

Refurbished the 170 non-working ventilators that CA received from the Feds.

Refurbished over 500 ventilators from CA stock pile dating back to the H1N1.

The State has so far added 4,200 ventilators to the pre-existing (around) 10,000 ventilators. The State expects to have 20,000 ventilators by the time the State COVID-19 peaked in mid to late April.

Fixed 21M face masks in CA H1N1 stockpile that was out-of-date. Basically, they just need to replace the elastics that hold the mask in place.

Chartered flights from China to bring additional PPEs and ventilators. The State is planning to have 200M sets of PPE by the time the virus peaked.

Not get into mud slinging war with Trump which is a waste of his time and resources.

[Edge-]

Also, I thought that team Trump has handled this "perfectly"? They've been saying so, with Republicans echoing them, for weeks now.

Why the sudden excuses for a "perfect" handling?

[Thekri]

At times like this, we need somebody who is a good manager and bureaucrat. Unfortunately for the US, we ended up with a game show host.

Newsom has not been on the news much. However, take a look at what he has done for California.

First shelter in place state.

Doubled the # of ICU beds.

Refurbished the 170 non-working ventilators that CA received from the Feds.

Refurbished over 500 ventilators from CA stock pile dating back to the H1N1.

The State has so far added 4,200 ventilators to the pre-existing (around) 10,000 ventilators. The State expects to have 20,000 ventilators by the time the State COVID-19 peaked in mid to late April.

Fixed 21M face masks in CA H1N1 stockpile that was out-of-date. Basically, they just need to replace the elastics that hold the mask in place.

Chartered flights from China to bring additional PPEs and ventilators. The State is planning to have 200M sets of PPE by the time the virus peaked.

Not get into mud slinging war with Trump which is a waste of his time and resources.

California is on its second straight governor that is a extremely results driven, low drama, efficient executive leader. I have been amazed by how rapidly they have been able to get their pollution and financial situations back into something manageable, and they are being very impressive on modernizing their energy grid as well now. They still need to rake their forests more though.

It seems like about time for California to elect a Porn Star or something though. This sort of efficiency just doesn't seem sustainable.

[Edge-]

https://lawandcrime.com/2020-electio...-vote-in-2020/

Not directly Trump related, but Republicans may have a harder chance in Florida if ex-felons are allowed to vote without forcing them to pay a poll tax.

https://www.keloland.com/news/capito...wait-covid-19/

And Republicans in South Dakota, while working remotely to avoid spreading the virus, voted to not expand absentee voting.

Because, as Trump said, enfranchising more people and making it easier to vote would make it so that Republicans never win another election. They need voter suppression. The party can't survive without it.

- - - Updated - - -

It seems like about time for California to elect a Porn Star or something though. This sort of efficiency just doesn't seem sustainable.

Hey now. We've given the US its first celebrity president in Reagan.

And we had Schwarzenegger (wow, I spelled that correctly apparently!) before Moonbeam came back. He...wasn't bad either if memory served.

[Thekri]

Hey now. We've given the US its first celebrity president in Reagan.

And we had Schwarzenegger (wow, I spelled that correctly apparently!) before Moonbeam came back. He...wasn't bad either if memory served.

My impression of Schwarzenegger was that he is one of the worst governors in nation. He is a nice enough guy as a person (When he isn't banging his maid), but an absolutely horrible executive. Don't you remember him driving the state so bankrupt they couldn't pay their teachers? Brown got that shit sorted in like a year.

[Draco-Onis]

Secretary Of Interior Orders Mashpee Wampanoag Reservation 'Disestablished,' Tribe Says

Basically they were trying to build a casino that would threaten the businesses of Trump's buddies now they are losing their tribal status.

[Rasulis]

California is on its second straight governor that is a extremely results driven, low drama, efficient executive leader. I have been amazed by how rapidly they have been able to get their pollution and financial situations back into something manageable, and they are being very impressive on modernizing their energy grid as well now. They still need to rake their forests more though.

It seems like about time for California to elect a Porn Star or something though. This sort of efficiency just doesn't seem sustainable.

He knows how to stroke Trump's ego too. CA, WA and NY asked for a Naval hospital ship. Guess who got it first. NY got theirs much later. WA still hasn't gotten one. Even Republicans in CA don't have anything bad to say about his performance.

His daily straight-to-camera briefings on Facebook Live are rapid-fire facts. Almost stream-of-consciousness deluges of the latest facts and figures coming in, as he puts it, “in real time.” He is a "no drama" governor. All transparency. Not hiding any facts.

[Edge-]

My impression of Schwarzenegger was that he is one of the worst governors in nation. He is a nice enough guy as a person (When he isn't banging his maid), but an absolutely horrible executive. Don't you remember him driving the state so bankrupt they couldn't pay their teachers? Brown got that shit sorted in like a year.

He was governor when the recession hit hard and for the first few years afterwards. So I don't know how much of that can be directly attributed to him vs. the national issues at the time out of his control.

I recall he actually did a decent job of mitigating the overall damage compared to many other states, and Brown came back in and was able to right the ship pretty quickly as a result.

He wasn't amazing, but he wasn't bad given the circumstances.

- - - Updated - - -

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/u...tap-trump.html

Relevant given the earlier IG report - FBI apparently has much broader issues when it comes to their surveillance efforts, confirming that the issues with Page and the Trump campaign weren't politically motivated.

The follow-up audit of unrelated cases by the Justice Department’s independent watchdog, Michael E. Horowitz, revealed a broader pattern of sloppiness by the F.B.I. in seeking permission to use powerful tools to eavesdrop on American soil in national security cases. It comes at a time when Congress is debating new limits on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA.

But the findings of systemic failures also help the F.B.I. politically because they undercut the narrative fostered by President Trump and his supporters that the bureau’s botching of applications to surveil his campaign adviser Carter Page shows that the broader Russia investigation was a conspiracy motivated by political bias.

Mr. Horowitz’s investigators reviewed so-called Woods files, where the F.B.I. is supposed to catalog supporting documentation for factual claims in a FISA application, in a random sample of 29 requests to wiretap someone as part of a terrorism or espionage investigation under FISA. They found problems with all 29.

“We do not have confidence that the F.B.I. has executed its Woods Procedures in compliance with F.B.I. policy, or that the process is working as it was intended to help achieve the ‘scrupulously accurate’ standard for FISA applications,” the inspector general report said.

The FBI has some explaining to do, and not to the Trump campaign.

[Lenonis]

Secretary Of Interior Orders Mashpee Wampanoag Reservation 'Disestablished,' Tribe Says

Basically they were trying to build a casino that would threaten the businesses of Trump's buddies now they are losing their tribal status.

To be fair this appears to have been going on since before Trump was elected. That being said it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if this was somehow tied to Trump's fragile ego or pocketbook.

[Thekri]

He knows how to stroke Trump's ego too. CA, WA and NY asked for a Naval hospital ship. Guess who got it first. NY got theirs much later. WA still hasn't gotten one. Even Republicans in CA don't have anything bad to say about his performance.

His daily straight-to-camera briefings on Facebook Live are rapid-fire facts. Almost stream-of-consciousness deluges of the latest facts and figures coming in, as he puts it, “in real time.” He is a "no drama" governor. All transparency. Not hiding any facts.

All true except the Hospital ship part, that really isn't relevant. NY had to wait for the USNS Comfort, because it was 3 weeks into a 4 month refit when this thing started, and the Navy did some crazy superheroic shit to get it ready. Meanwhile the USNS Mercy was already operational, and already on the West Coast, because the Navy wouldn't have both its Hospital ships in for maintenance at the same time (We only have two). As far as to why it went to California instead of Washington, it is because it can't handle Coronavirus patients, and Southern California has a larger caseload of day to day trauma cases.

I don't think Trump actually directed either of those Hospital ships, it would be pretty weird if he had. More likely the Pentagon did it, and passed Trump a note that said if he bragged about it then everyone would be happy with him. Which is true, nobody is upset about what those Hospital ships are doing, and they are very attention grabbing and symbolic.

[DarkTZeratul]

He wasn't amazing, but he wasn't bad given the circumstances.

I seem to recall him being spectacularly average, overall. Very little that was particularly good or bad.

[Rasulis]

All true except the Hospital ship part, that really isn't relevant. NY had to wait for the USNS Comfort, because it was 3 weeks into a 4 month refit when this thing started, and the Navy did some crazy superheroic shit to get it ready. Meanwhile the USNS Mercy was already operational, and already on the West Coast, because the Navy wouldn't have both its Hospital ships in for maintenance at the same time (We only have two). As far as to why it went to California instead of Washington, it is because it can't handle Coronavirus patients, and Southern California has a larger caseload of day to day trauma cases.

I don't think Trump actually directed either of those Hospital ships, it would be pretty weird if he had. More likely the Pentagon did it, and passed Trump a note that said if he bragged about it then everyone would be happy with him. Which is true, nobody is upset about what those Hospital ships are doing, and they are very attention grabbing and symbolic.

Thanks for the clarification.

Another notch to add to Newsom belt. Virgin Atlantic loaned their 747 aircrafts to fly in 1 billion medical gloves, 500 million N95 masks, and 200 million face shields that were procured by the State from China and other Asian countries.

The guy definitely know how to network. Heck he got all the ventilators that Elon Musk obtained from China. Around 1,300 or so.

[Redwyrm]

I seem to recall him being spectacularly average, overall. Very little that was particularly good or bad.

God how I wish we could back to the days spectacularly average. Trump is single handedly destroying the bell curve.

[Acidbaron]

All true except the Hospital ship part, that really isn't relevant. NY had to wait for the USNS Comfort, because it was 3 weeks into a 4 month refit when this thing started, and the Navy did some crazy superheroic shit to get it ready. Meanwhile the USNS Mercy was already operational, and already on the West Coast, because the Navy wouldn't have both its Hospital ships in for maintenance at the same time (We only have two). As far as to why it went to California instead of Washington, it is because it can't handle Coronavirus patients, and Southern California has a larger caseload of day to day trauma cases.

I don't think Trump actually directed either of those Hospital ships, it would be pretty weird if he had. More likely the Pentagon did it, and passed Trump a note that said if he bragged about it then everyone would be happy with him. Which is true, nobody is upset about what those Hospital ships are doing, and they are very attention grabbing and symbolic.

Same reason why i think now aid is being promised to European nations it is to counter China's effort for their balkan road trade dream. It's not coming from Trump it is coming from others.