Trump

[WaspInWales]

Inside the addled mind of the POTUS:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/us/p ... cript.html

Worth a read.

[WaspInWales]

He's having a full on Twitter strop today:





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[WaspInWales]

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[Digby]

The Senate and Congress have reached agreement on a new bill which seemingly may add to the sanctions against Russia, and also prevent the Whitehouse taking measures to remove some of the sanctions in place. Got to wonder what the Orange one does when that lands on his desk.

Whether or not the Orange boy took any Russian money he's seemingly wanted to move towards removing sanctions, both with a view to his relationship with Russia and also (in fairness) as part of a pro business agenda, and there's little doubt the sanctions placed on Russia have hurt the global economy. So does he veto the bill? And if he were to veto the bill would he face a risk of the two houses overriding him? If he were to veto and lose he'd look awfully weak, and for a president with an approval rating below 40% it might just see the swamp start to ignore him and move on to the next political cycle.

[WaspInWales]

I think that's the first time I have seen Kushner speak in front of the camera.

Comes across as very calculated.

[morepork]

He'd need someone to read the bill to him before he could understand it.

Trump has yet to host a single informed debate on health care policy. He has never presented the details of "his" alternative to anyone. He understands nothing of what he says. Just a spineless, pig ignorant cowardly serial bullshit artist of limited intellect.

Kushner will only speak publicly because the heat is on him to put a face on his security clearance. Everything that cunt does is passed through lawyers first. Maybe some animal cunning as long as he doesn't have to do any heavy lifting, but not the most sophisticated individual to ever have been tasked with initiating world peace, addressing an opioid epidemic, and establishing a new world order of trade and international diplomacy.

An astoundingly worthless bunch of cunts.

[Digby]

The Senate and Congress have reached agreement on a new bill which seemingly may add to the sanctions against Russia, and also prevent the Whitehouse taking measures to remove some of the sanctions in place. Got to wonder what the Orange one does when that lands on his desk.

They've just had the vote on this and 419-3 they just said on Newsnight, so it would seem it's going to land on Trump's desk with some momentum

[SerjeantWildgoose]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40729996

Hmmm. OK, Don. What if someone who has completed all the expensive trans-gender stuff and then appies to join the military? How does your argument stack up then? No wonder the Pentagon is referring any questions on this issue to the WH.

Aaron Belkin, director of the Palm Centre, a leading think-tank which studies gender and sexuality in the military, told the BBC that Mr Trump's decision would force transgender troops to in effect live as gays and lesbians did under "Don't ask, don't tell".

And that will be bollocks because if the British Army's experience is anything to go by, all of the former blokes will will be about as convincingly feminine as Alastair Sim's headmistress with hands the size of bin lids, while all the former lumpy-jumers will still be trailing their arses in on 14-minute+ BPFAs.

[Digby]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... ar-AAoP5Iv

There must be so many in the Republican party thinking it, so what on earth are they holding out hope for that can be accomplished before he's gone?

[morepork]

What a petty, lying, tiny little man he is.

Screen shot 2017-07-26 at 12.01.00 PM.png

[SerjeantWildgoose]

To be fair, he didn't say that he would let them fight for him.

[Digby]

Rex Tillerson is it's being reported is increasingly like to resign, or enact a Rexit.

Why he'd have concerns he can't get into detail over any issue as his boss doesn't do details I don't know. Equally why would he worry that Trump disagrees with himself so often no one knows whether they can trust him, and of course there's having Kushner do part of his job.

I've limited sympathy given he took the job

[OptimisticJock]

What a petty, lying, tiny little man he is.

Screen shot 2017-07-26 at 12.01.00 PM.png

I've just taken a screen shot of this on Twitter. Still at least I now know how to take a screen shot on my new phone.

[morepork]

What a petty, lying, tiny little man he is.

Screen shot 2017-07-26 at 12.01.00 PM.png

I've just taken a screen shot of this on Twitter. Still at least I now know how to take a screen shot on my new phone.

You have Jared Kushner-level technical know how and will advance the cause to make Scotland great again! #MSGA!

[WaspInWales]

[morepork]

What a fucking dingus.

[kk67]

I hadn't realized that Jared is a perfect hybrid of John Redwood, Jeremy Knut, Michael Gove and Jacob Rees-Mogg. That is odd.

I reckon they share a common diagnosis. Being dicks,.....not sure about the Latin term but decline it with suck my fat one.

[Digby]

I hadn't realized that Jared is a perfect hybrid of John Redwood, Jeremy Knut, Michael Gove and Jacob Rees-Mogg. That is odd.

I reckon they share a common diagnosis. Being dicks,.....not sure about the Latin term but decline it with suck my fat one.

Just sayin'

[Sandydragon]

Inside the addled mind of the POTUS:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/us/p ... cript.html

Worth a read.

He ability to mangle English is incredible.

[Donny osmond]

Genuine question: after last nights mess, can anyone explain what the actual fuck is going on with healthcare in America?



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[Donny osmond]

Genuine question: after last nights mess, can anyone explain what the actual fuck is going on with healthcare in America?



Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-L31 using Tapatalk

The so-called Trump-care is struggling to gain traction because there's now an apparent split within the Republican ranks - the McConnell-led crew voting to "repeal and replace" and the minority faction that have either A) been yelled at by their constituents enough or B) are in "ah, fuck that orange cunt" mode like McCain.

As I understand it tho, they dont actually have anything to replace obamacare with?

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[WaspInWales]

The so-called Trump-care is struggling to gain traction because there's now an apparent split within the Republican ranks - the McConnell-led crew voting to "repeal and replace" and the minority faction that have either A) been yelled at by their constituents enough or B) are in "ah, fuck that orange cunt" mode like McCain.

As I understand it tho, they dont actually have anything to replace obamacare with?

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Of course not. It's gonna be the best healthcare package ever! It'll be bigly great! Yuuuuuuuge! Details? Fuck details. Who the fuck needs details? You want details? What, are you some sort of trannyfag?

In the end, enough of the spineless republicunts realised that hey, maybe fucking over a huge number of their constituents in order to toady to a hugely unpopular, even to the point of toxicity, may be fatal to their future ambitions.

Wasn't some in the republican party unsure as they felt some of the changes didn't go far enough into fucking over some people?

However, it's great that a few have developed a conscious and perhaps a little empathy. It's another blow to the orange tyrant's plans and that can only be a good thing.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with the Russia sanctions though. Considering Russia have put their own sanctions in place, I think he'll sign it as a show of strength to the 'mericans. U-S-A, U-S-A! MAGA. I expect his announcement Tweet will go something like that and then the world will enter into another cold war and the atomic clock will move another minute closer to midnight.

Happy Friday thoughts

[WaspInWales]

I'm trying to work out if I'll miss Spicer's confused ramblings and utterances.

As alternatives go, the Mooch delivers.

What a poisoned atmosphere the WH must be to work in.

[morepork]

Genuine question: after last nights mess, can anyone explain what the actual fuck is going on with healthcare in America?



Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-L31 using Tapatalk

They are proposing a series of sweeping tax breaks to certain groups whist triaging current subsidies for medicare (federal health insurance for over 65s). A capital gains tax on 250K/year-plus households will also be repealed. So creating a loophole that drives a large ambulance through/over low income earners. Current taxes on insurance companies will also be repealed (at the moment based on market share), including an annual prescription fee for drug companies and a couple of other things. This will please shareholders immensely but the success of the tax cuts relies on good old trickle down theory. Yes. Someone orange caved in to industry heads after one 30 minute meeting at the beginning of the year. Specific details of how this would all be regulated (reigning in bonuses for execs, how much will be available for medicare and medicaid, and providing for pre-existing conditions in the transition) have not been made available.


For profit health. What a great idea.

[Sandydragon]

I'm trying to work out if I'll miss Spicer's confused ramblings and utterances.

As alternatives go, the Mooch delivers.

What a poisoned atmosphere the WH must be to work in.

This is pure class, by which I mean violent face palming not actual class by the subject who appears incapable of managing a level even broadly close.

Surely a chief spokesman should be able to manage a veneer of professionalism whilst dealing with the media?

July 28 2017, 12:00pm,
The Times
Anthony Scaramucci accused Reince Priebus of leaking stories about his finances to the media
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press


Anthony Scaramucci, Donald Trump’s new PR chief, has launched a fresh, profanity-laced, attack on his new White House colleagues deepening the civil war between the president’s senior staff.

Accusing Reince Priebus of leaking stories to the press, Mr Scaramucci, a former Wall Street financier, told a reporter from The New Yorker magazine that the White House chief of staff was a “f***ing paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac”.

He went on to say that he would sack anyone in the White House who he found giving stories to the media.

According to The New Yorker article, it was Mr Scaramucci that approached one of the magazine’s political reporters to press him to reveal the source of story. “I ask these guys not to leak anything and they can’t help themselves,” he said of his colleagues in the administration.

“You’re an American citizen,” he said to Ryan Lizza, a journalist on the magazine, “this is a major catastrophe for the American country. So I’m asking you as an American patriot to give me a sense of who leaked it.”

Mr Scaramucci and Mr Priebus have been at loggerheads since a report published in Politico which gave details of the new White House director of communications’ finances. Mr Scaramucci, who reasserted that his colleague would soon resign, blamed Mr Preibus for the story, accusing him of leaking the material.

He appeared unaware that the details of his financial disclosure were publicly available. US government rules call for them to be released when journalists request them.

Mr Scaramucci was brought into the White House despite the protests of Mr Priebus, who sees him as a rival. Mr Scaramucci’s financial disclosure forms showed that he earned $4.9 million from his stake in Sky Bridge Capital, a hedge fund he helped to found, and earned a salary of more than $5 million between January 2016 and June this year.

President Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, also came under attack in the article. Accusing Mr Bannon of enjoying media attention, Mr Scaramucci said, “I’m not Steve Bannon, I’m not trying to suck my own c**k. I’m not trying to build my own brand off the f***ing strength of the president. I’m here to serve the country.”

Addressing the storm caused by the article, Mr Scaramucci took to twitter. “I sometimes use colorful language. I will refrain in this arena but not give up the passionate fight for @realDonaldTrump’s agenda. #MAGA”

He later added: “I made a mistake in trusting in a reporter. It won’t happen again.” Mr Lizza said he published the comments after Mr Scaramucci phoned him without requesting that the conversation be off the record.

Earlier in the day, Mr Scaramucci went on live television to attack Mr Priebus. He called CNN yesterday morning to suggest that the Trump administration was mired in “paranoia and backstabbing”. Leaks to the press had reached intolerable levels, he said, before issuing a remarkable challenge to Reince Priebus, the chief of staff. “If Reince wants to explain he’s not a leaker, let him do that.”

He added: “As you know from the Italian expression, the fish stinks from the head down. But I can tell you two fish that don’t stink, OK, and that’s me and the president.

“Some brothers are like Cain and Abel. Other brothers can fight with each other and get along. I don’t know if this is repairable or not. That will be up to the president.”

The biblical reference may not bode well for the relationship between the two men. In the book of Genesis, Cain murders Abel.

Hours before his impromptu TV interview Mr Scaramucci had seemed to indicate on Twitter that he wanted the FBI to investigate Mr Priebus for leaking. He was asked by The Washington Post whether Mr Trump had authorised him to go on television to talk about leaks and Mr Priebus. “He did, yes,” Mr Scaramucci replied.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, deflected the question when she was asked last night whether Mr Trump had confidence in Mr Priebus. “We all serve at the pleasure of the president,” she said.

The comments capped a turbulent week — even by recent standards — during which Mr Trump has made a series of attacks on Jeff Sessions, his attorney-general. Mr Sessions said yesterday that he would continue to serve as long as Mr Trump wanted him to.

Asked by Fox News whether he thought Mr Trump’s criticisms of him were fair, Mr Sessions said: “Well, it kind of is hurtful. But the president of the United States is a strong leader.”

Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina senator, was one of several Republicans to warn Mr Trump not to try to remove the attorney-general. “If Jeff Sessions is fired, there will be holy hell to pay,” he said.

Mr Graham also warned Mr Trump not to try to sack Robert Mueller, the former FBI director leading a special counsel investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. “Any effort to go after Mueller could be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency,” he said.

On Capitol Hill Mr Trump’s party is struggling to make headway in its seven-year quest to reform Obamacare. A fraught night on Capitol Hill ended with senators rejecting scaled-dwon plans to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Republicans failed to push through an already significantly watered down version of the president’s proposals, with three of their own senators helping Democrats land a 51-49 victory.

Senator John McCain, the former presidential candidate, still scarred from a major operation linked to brain cancer last week, was among three Republicans to defy their party and effectively kill off the changes to the Affordable Care Act. The defeat leaves the president still without a signature legislative victory more than seven months since his inauguration.

On Wednesday the Republicans in the Senate failed to pass a measure that would have repealed large parts of the act without providing a replacement. Mr Trump has urged them to push forward but has given little clear guidance on his preferences.

That there was bad blood between Mr Scaramucci and Mr Priebus was no secret; Mr Priebus stopped Mr Scaramucci being offered a White House job for months. Even so, the media feud still left Washington agog.

Mr Scaramucci had vented on Twitter overnight after government forms detailing his income were relayed to the press, quoting the Twitter address “@Reince45” used by Mr Priebus. “In light of the leak of my financial disclosure info which is a felony. I will be contacting @FBI and the @TheJusticeDept #swamp @Reince45,” he wrote.

He later deleted the tweet and denied that it had been an attack on Mr Priebus. Yesterday morning, however, in his interview with CNN, Mr Scaramucci all but blamed Mr Priebus for leaking to the media. “When I put out a tweet and I put Reince’s name in a tweet, they’re all making the assumption that it’s him, because journalists know who the leakers are. So if Reince wants to explain he’s not a leaker, let him do that,” he said. “The president and I would like to tell everybody we have a very, very good idea of who the leakers are, who the senior leakers are in the White House.”

The remarks appeared to be part of a broader turf battle that has raged since Mr Trump’s inauguration. Mr Priebus hails from the establishment wing of the Republican Party. He has long been viewed with suspicion by the nationalist “America First” wing of Mr Trump’s base, led by Mr Bannon.

•The US Senate voted overwhelmingly last night for new sanctions against Russia over its alleged meddling in the presidential election. President Putin had threatened to retaliate.