The Donald Trump Score Card

6

Thing is that we have here before through this in the ‘Being a libertarian’ thread

And as I’ve explained many times there are many shades of the left and the right, you can go from left leaning liberals to Stalinists on the left and on the right its goes from liberals that lean right to the loony tunes of the mad, bad and dangerous to know far righters.

And I’m often critical of some things and some ideas said by some people of the left and the right, I see things on their merit and for me the benchmark for me holding an idea if ‘can I defend it from criticism’

The thing that I’ve often found here is that many people seem to hold to ideas but can’t defend in any rational or reasonable way, the thing is that the majority of those have been of the right.

As I said to you in post 12 of the ‘Being a libertarian’ thread

I’m of the left and proudly say I’m a leftie but the left takes everything in from hard line Stalinists to suck up to the rich Blairites, niether of which I'd associate myself with. I’ve described myself in the past as - a pragmatic socialists with strong Keynesian and green leanings - but know that doesn’t cover everything. Labels can be useful tools but they are not definitive.

*


As to the neocon’s they were a strong political faction within the Republican Party they were not a separate political philosophy as such and they had a lot of overlap with others on the right wing, the Christian right, the conservative right, the free market right etc etc to say neocon is too simplistic you would have to say specifically what issues you mean?

 

I have seen Balbus criticize neo liberacism policies often enough

Not that I would really consider a neo liberal to be left leaning

Neo liberalism is what most establishment Democrats subscribe to in the US, they may lean left on social issues but lean right economically

 

Trump to take another step at trying to cripple the ACA.


Trump to sign order to eliminate ACA insurance rules, undermine marketplaces
By Amy Goldstein
October 12, 2017

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-to-sign-executive-order-to-gut-aca-insurance-rules-and-undermine-marketplaces/2017/10/11/40abf774-ae97-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html

 

Ok again the insanity carries on - Trump seems to be suggesting that Puerto Rico’s problems are its own fault and that FEMA might be pulled while wondering if he can close down any media that he doesn’t like.

But hey I’m sure that will go down ok with Trump supporters I mean why should they have to be helping those Puerto Rico citizens not like they’re Americans or anything and as Trump says America and Americans First.

As to the First Amendment well that just gets abused by lefties and liberals and anyway it’s not a cool as the Second.

 

Of course its their fault----have you ever been there? It's like every Hurricane--"Ha ha you missed us!" Or "Ha ha, didn't feel a thing!" And then they don't even get out of the way. Not like Florida--have you ever seen Florida get hit? Come on now!

I know exactly what you mean---those damn lefties and their Breitbart News and their InfoWars!

 

In addition to his recent executive order, a report predicts more action by Trump to dismantle the ACA by cutting off ACA payments.

Trump described his executive order on Thursday as the "first steps to providing millions of Americans with ObamaCare relief."


Trump to cut off key ObamaCare payments
By Rebecca Savransky - 10/12/17 09:37 PM EDT

http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/355258-trump-to-cut-off-key-obamacare-payments-report

 

Trump is trying desperately to dismantle the ACA as best he can in the wake of failed effort to get the Senate to continue a repeal amendment. Recall that the effort fell a few votes shy. McCain was one of three Republican senators who voted against a repeal. Trump might have had more traction if he hadn't personally insulted McCain many times leading up to the vote. It's a textbook example of Trump's approach of talking into the wrong end of a horse.

 

Instead of being a real leader and working with Congress using a rational, methodical approach, Trump is fond of throwing hand grenades that generate crises which end up hurting the most vulnerable. He thinks this will coerce Congress to act on an issue that will produce the outcome that he wants.


The Daily 202: Throwing a bomb into the insurance markets, Trump now owns the broken health-care system
By James Hohmann
October 13 at 7:55 AM

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/10/13/daily-202-throwing-a-bomb-into-the-insurance-markets-trump-now-owns-the-broken-health-care-system/59dff67a30fb041a74e75d48/

From the article:

"“We are going to pressure Congress very strongly to finish the repeal and replace of Obamacare,” he said yesterday at the signing ceremony for his executive order.

“Trump has privately told at least one lawmaker that the payments may continue if a bipartisan deal is reached on health care,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

-- In this way, cutting off cost-sharing payments is reminiscent of Trump’s decision to end DACA last month. He has just created an artificial political crisis by ending another Obama-era program. He believes that Congress will swing into action so that millions of vulnerable people are not harmed by his decision. Instead of undocumented immigrants who were brought to this country as children, this time it’s the poor and chronically ill who are pawns."

 

The hand grenade approach of Trump has been seen in his private real estate business. When he was interested in purchasing Mar-a-Lago, he claimed that he had purchased nearby land and threatened to erect a building next to it that would block the view of the ocean. It depressed the value of Mar-a-Lago and he ended up getting it for a small fraction of the original price. He got what he wanted.


How Donald Trump Beat Palm Beach Society and Won the Fight for Mar-a-Lago
by Mark Seal
December 27, 2016 10:00 am

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2016/12/how-donald-trump-beat-palm-beach-society-and-won-the-fight-for-mar-a-lago

From the article:

"Trump offered $2 million for a beachfront lot in front of Mar-a-Lago—which Post’s foundation had sold earlier for $346,000. While Trump didn’t buy the property until he closed on Mar-a-Lago, The Washington Post reported, “he decided to play hardball. He said he bought the beachfront property directly in front of it through a third party and threatened to put up a hideous home to block Mar-a-Lago’s ocean view.” “That was my first wall,” he told the Post. “That drove everybody nuts. They couldn’t sell the big house because I owned the beach, so the price kept going down and down.”"

 

Many states, consumers alarmed by Trump's health care order
By geoff mulvihill and kelli kennedy, associated press
Oct 13, 2017, 4:45 PM ET

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/states-sue-trump-end-health-insurance-subsidy-50466987

From the article:

"Attorneys general in nearly 20 states said they planned to sue the Trump administration to keep the money flowing, contending that the president is not following a legal requirement to pay the subsidies.

"This is a president who seems set on enacting reckless, unlawful campaign promises no matter the harm to families in America," Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said during a conference call.

At issue is a federal subsidy for deductibles and co-pays that helps lower costs for consumers with modest incomes. The Trump administration and many Republicans say the government cannot legally continue to make the so-called cost-sharing payments.

State officials say ending the subsidies will make insurance premiums skyrocket, forcing some consumers to give up having coverage at all."

 

Apparently, Trump meant that he met with the governor of Puerto Rico.

As Rumsfeld and others would say, cut Trump some slack. He's new to all of this.


President Trump Doesn’t Know He’s the President of the U.S. Virgin Islands
By John Haltiwanger On 10/13/17 at 11:45 AM

Trump says he talked to the president of the U.S. Virgin Islands, which, hate to break the news, is himself

excerpt:

"In a speech Friday, Trump said he'd recently "met with the president of the Virgin Islands" to discuss the recent hurricanes that have devastated Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the island.

But Trump could not have spoken to the "president of the Virgin Islands" because, of course, he is the president of the U.S. Virgin Islands, whose residents are U.S. citizens.

The president also revealed that he doesn't really know the location of Puerto Rico, describing it in a talk with reporters as "an island sitting in the middle of an ocean — and it's a big ocean, a really, really big ocean.""

 

The distance from Washington, DC to Trump's mansion in Mar-a-Lago is about 850 miles. The distance from Mar-a-Lago to Puerto Rico is about 1000 miles.

Trump thinks Puerto Rico is out in the middle of a huge (yoooge) ocean somewhere. He uses it as an excuse for the lax U.S. response to the hurricane, as if the U.S. military has great difficulty making a 1000 mile trip.

 

^DAMN! that pisses me off more than anything...and i was ina good mood...DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!

I am cursing these bastards to no end at the air right now......HOW DUMB CAN PEOPLE BE????????!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SHIT!

 

Washington fishermen are on front lines in fight against proposed Alaska mine
Originally published October 12, 2017 at 6:00 am Updated October 13, 2017 at 12:10 pm
By Hal Bernton

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/trumps-epa-decision-on-alaska-mining-project-reignites-battle-over-protecting-wild-salmon/

 

A subsidiary of the Canadian company Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd is behind the proposed mine in Alaska. Other foreign businesses have been invovled in the past including Mitsubishi.


Controversial Alaskan gold mine could be revived under Trump’s EPA
By Brady Dennis July 11, 2017

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/07/11/epa-seeks-to-reverse-its-opposition-to-controversial-alaskan-gold-mine/


Giant Alaska mine proposal gets new chance under Trump administration
William YardleyWilliam Yardley
May 12, 2017

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-epa-mine-alaskan-bay-20170512-story.html

 

Michele Bachmann is still off her rocker. With Trump asking for help and wisdom, God has a very big order to fill. Bachmann also needs some help and wisdom.


Michele Bachmann Offers Her Thoughts On Donald Trump Being A 'Man Of Faith'
HuffPost Michelangelo Signorile, 9 hours ago

https://www.yahoo.com/news/michele-bachmann-offers-her-thoughts-155343498.html

excerpt:

"At the annual Values Voter Summit (VVS) in Washington this weekend, former congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who serves on Donald Trump’s evangelical advisory board, said in an interview with me on SiriusXM Progress that Donald Trump is now a “committed believer” of Jesus Christ and a “man of faith” who has “asked God for help and wisdom.”"

 

Memorable Michele moments from her campaign stops as she ran for President of the U.S.:

She had the crowd cheering Happy Birthday Elvis! when it was the anniversary of his death day.

She stated that the town she was in was that of movie star John Wayne when it was that of the serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

Bachmann mistakenly and repeatedly stated New Hampshire as being the cradle of the U.S. Revolution, a bad error for someone who speaks for the Tea Party movement.

She mentioned the threat of the rise of the Soviet Union in 2011 which is about two decades after it fell apart.

She claimed that CO2 (which she considers to have no effect on the climate) makes up 3% of the atmosphere when in fact it comprises about 0.04%. She was off by a factor of about a hundred.