Pr*sident Trump’s tone in his Tuesday night address to Congress was a bit gentler than it’s been for the past six weeks, but the content was the same as ever, a truck-load of lies, both of commission and omission. Nowhere was this more evident than in his discussion of energy and environment.
Take, for instance, this bit:
We have undertaken a historic effort to massively reduce job‑crushing regulations, creating a deregulation task force inside of every government agency; imposing a new rule which mandates that for every one new regulation, two old regulations must be eliminated; and stopping a regulation that threatens the future and livelihoods of our great coal miners.
The 2-for-1 plan is absurd and illegal since agencies undertake rule-making because they are required to do so by congressional statutes. But it sure sounds good to those who agree with Trump and other elected Republicans that the nation is being ruined by “burdensome regulations.”
The regulation he boasted about stopping is the Stream Protection Rule drawn up by the Office of Surface Mining. He signed a bill on Feb. 16 eliminating it, noting that getting rid of this rule that was approved in December would save thousands of mining jobs. The rule was meant to keep coal-mining waste out of streams, but it was considerably watered down thanks to industry lobbying. The rule did not ban mountain top removal that is used to get at coal seams, with the overburden of soil and rock dumped in stream valleys.
Even though the rule was far weaker than it needed to be, now instead of making companies stop dumping their coal waste in those valleys, the consequences will continue to fall as it has for more than a century on the people who live where the companies befoul the water and land with their leavings.
Remember when popular vote loser Donald Trump promised "insurance for everybody"? You should, it was just several weeks ago. Seems like one of the things Trump has found so mind-bogglingly complicated in healthcare is navigating the chaotic waters of the Republican Congress.
Because it's no longer insurance for everybody, it's "expand choice, increase access, lower costs."Access is not insurance. But access is the now Trump's low bar for a plan, meaning he's pretty much entirely capitulated to Paul Ryan. Here's the rest of his "vision":
First, we should ensure that Americans with pre-existing conditions have access to coverage, and that we have a stable transition for Americans currently enrolled in the healthcare exchanges.
Once again, access to coverage is no guarantee of coverage for this population, all all 52 million of them living with everything from cancer to acne. That's one in four Americans who no longer have a guarantee that they can indeed keep their health insurance.
Secondly, we should help Americans purchase their own coverage, through the use of tax credits and expanded Health Savings Accounts—but it must be the plan they want, not the plan forced on them by the Government.
First, a huge chunk of the House Republican maniac caucus has rejected tax credits. Not going to happen. Second, Health Savings Accounts are just another tax break for the wealthy. Most of the people who have to worry about how to afford medical care don't have a lot of free money hanging around to put into an HSA, and certainly not enough to pay for a major emergency. It's not insurance.
In a stunning repeat of every other time Donald Trump opened his mouth to emit words, a great number of those words failed to match up with events in the real world. With the help of speechwriters, Trump managed to elevate his speech from the level of a third grader, to that of a third grader blandly mocking past presidential speeches. But even if the framing changed, the content was most the same.
For example, Trump once again bragged about the millions he’d saved on military programs … which is nothing but Trump taking credit for savings that were built into the program.
The next stage in the F-35 program’s low-rate initial production … comes out to a cost reduction of between $6.1 million and $7.1 million per plane, or between $549 million and $630 million for a full lot of 90 planes.
Taking credit for other’s work is a Donald Trump specialty, but then, so is distortion, misstatement, leading arguments, and every other variant of what people generally know as telling a big fat lie.
Trump said that “94 million Americans are out of the labor force” which is also truish … if you include every retiree, every college student, every stay-at-home parent, and everyone who simply chooses not to work. Of Donald Trump’s 94 million, fewer than 6 million actually represent someone looking for work. In similar statements, Trump also raised the number of Americans in poverty or using food stamps as if they were shocking highs, even though both numbers have been declining.
Trump spent some time blasting Obamacare, cherry picking the highest rate increases and mouthing the new Republican talking point that “Obamacare is collapsing,” which they’re hoping will act as a buffer when their hardliners drive them to destroy an increasingly popular law.
In sheer numeric terms, the biggest whopper may have been this one.
Trump said the U.S. has spent $6 trillion in the Middle East and “with this $6 trillion we could have rebuilt our country.” The amount spent so far is $1.7 trillion, according to the Defense Department.
Too many in the media are still—after all this time—waiting for Donald Trump to “pivot” and become “presidential,” and they think maybe Tuesday night’s speech was the moment. But the only way to think that is to allow yourself to be fooled by Trump reading from his script, and ignore his words. Take it from White House sources:
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Some sources in WH are frankly surprised at how pundits are warming to the speech. Say Trump has not changed, no big shift in policy coming.
Trump’s staff just tacked on some cornball language about optimism and dreams and the American Spirit and got him to lay off ranting and raving and attacking the media for once. And a lot of media figures showed just how weak they are by buying it as something new.
If you had the stomach to taken in even a morsel of the latest smörgåsbord of invidious bullshit Donald Trump unveiled before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, then you, like me, went to bed feeling ill. And like me, you woke up wondering, what in the seven hells do we do about this abusive maniac who wants to destroy America, freedom, and maybe the world?
Well, here’s something you can do, right this very minute: Donate to investigative filmmaker Jon Ossoff, the Daily Kos-endorsed Democrat running in the special election to replace Trump’s new health secretary, Tom Price. Ossoff is seeking Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, which is a traditionally conservative seat but one that only voted for Trump by a single point last November: 48 to 47.
That makes it winnable for our side—and a victory here would send shockwaves through the GOP. Any Republican who sits in a district like this one—and there are quite a few—would suddenly have to be very, very worried about his or her re-election prospects for 2018. That in turn means the House would be in play. We pick that up, and the Trump-Republican agenda grinds to a screeching halt.
But don't sit there and fantasize. Give today. Winning this race is going to be very difficult, and taking back the House even harder. So when Trump makes you want to hurl, click that “donate” button instead.
●OH-Gov: Surprise, surprise, surprise. For the umpteenth time, Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan has announced that he will not run for statewide office and will instead stay in the House. A number of Ohio Democrats were waiting to see if Ryan would run for governor and now that he's said no, we're likely to see a lot of movement.
And we didn't need to wait long for the first Buckeye State Democrat to enter the race to succeed termed-out GOP Gov. John Kasich. On Tuesday, almost immediately after Ryan made his plans known, state Senate Minority Leader Joe Schiavoni, who like Ryan hails from the Youngstown area, announced he was running. Schiavoni has reportedly been preparing to get in for a while and was waiting to see what Ryan would do.
However, Schiavoni may have some primary opposition very soon. Also on Tuesday, ex-Rep. Betty Sutton confirmed that she was seriously considering and "will have an announcement next week." Sutton was last on the ballot in 2012, after redistricting threw her into the same northeastern seat as Republican Rep. Jim Renacci. Sutton lost 52-48, running ahead of Obama's 53-45 deficit here. After that, Sutton received a federal appointment to serve as administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp., a position she resigned as the Obama administration ended.
A number of other Ohio Democrats have made noises about running for governor. The Cleveland Plain Dealer Henry Gomez reports that, Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley and ex-Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams, who just left the U.S. Commerce Department, are more likely to run in a Ryan-less field. However, Whaley is also up for re-election this year, and unless she wants to try and run for both jobs at once, she may need to make up her mind quickly. Ex-state Rep. Connie Pillich, who was Team Blue's treasurer nominee, also is reportedly interested, though Gomez says she may decide to go for a different statewide office.
Well, Trump made mouth noises last night, and Republicans made hand noises back. So that’s good.
I’ll probably respond with some armpit noises, just to round things out a little bit.
Greg Dworkin and Joan McCarter will probably take a different tack. (But if you’ve got the skills and if the spirit moves you, by all means, go for it!)
The Kagro in the Morning show is growing by leaps & bounds! Probably because more and more of you are finding that some morning political chatter among friends is the only way to face the day.
Give it a try and see if it doesn’t make your day a little easier to take. And if you’re already sold on it, well, our Patreon account is a great way to let us know! (And let us eat!)
Say, how about a free listen to our most recent show, just to seal the deal?
By a show of hand, do you agree with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that the best way to educate black Americans is to expand on the Jim Crow-style education model?
By a show of hand, do you agree with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that the best way to educate black Americans is to expand on the Jim Crow-style education model?
The Need for a Select Committee on the Russia Connection
In short, there seems to be quite a bit going on in term of investigation, very little of it visible to the public. But none of it is a substitute for a serious congressional examination of the subject.
This is not chiefly because of any concerns about the integrity of the executive branch investigations, though those concerns do exist. They were heightened over the past week with revelations that the White House had inappropriate contacts with the FBI, in apparent violation of Department of Justice policies, and tried to direct the Bureau to kill recent press stories. While the FBI declined to do so, CIA Director Mike Pompeo and SSCI Chairman Richard Burr reportedly did participate in those calls with the press.
That said, the questions of whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions should recuse himself from the current matters and whether the Justice Department should step aside entirely and appoint a Special Counsel to conduct the investigation are largely distinct from the question of congressional investigations.
While the subject matter overlaps, the executive branch and the legislative branch are conducting different investigations for different purposes. Namely, the executive branch is conducting a set of foreign intelligence and counterintelligence investigations that may (or may not) have criminal investigative elements. Its goal is not to answer public questions about what happened or what may still be happening.
By contrast, Congress is charged with ascertaining information related to legislative purposes—including the imposition of sanctions in response to the activity of a hostile foreign power, the discharging of its oversight function with regard to fraud, abuse, or corruption in the executive branch, and legislative measures that might be necessary to protect the American electoral system. It also has a duty to publicly address major questions the political system is struggling with now in a fashion the public can absorb and process: What is the President’s relationship with Russia? And is there reason to be concerned about it?
This is the story. This, and that Steve Bannon, a white nationalist and Jeff Sessions, another white nationalist, are in positions of power. Both issues need addressing.
An Arizona bill that sought to prosecute protest organizers like racketeers is officially dead after widespread outcry forced state lawmakers to put that effort to rest, marking a victory for the national resistance movement currently facing a rash of legislation aimed at stifling dissent.
Arizona House Speaker J.D. Mesnard announced late Monday that the bill,SB 1142, would not move forward in the legislature. [...]
The so-called "Plan a Protest, Lose Your House Bill" was the most recent state-level attempt to crackdown on the growing protest movement and opponents celebrated its defeat. [...]
The laws as well as the impulse to label protesters as "paid" or "professional" agitators are simply "standard operating procedure for movement opponents," according to Douglas McAdam, a Stanford sociology professor who studies protest movements.
"For instance, southern legislatures—especially in the Deep South—responded to the Montgomery Bus Boycott (and the Supreme Court's decision inBrown v. Board of Education) with dozens and dozens of new bills outlawing civil rights groups, limiting the rights of assembly, etc. all in an effort to make civil rights organizing more difficult," he wrote in an email to thePost. "Similarly, laws designed to limit or outlaw labor organizing or limit labor rights were common in the late 19th/early 20th century."
”The fundamentalists deny that evolution has taken place; they deny that the earth and the universe as a whole are more than a few thousand years old, and so on. There is ample scientific evidence that the fundamentalists are wrong in these matters, and that their notions of cosmogony have about as much basis in fact as the Tooth Fairy has.” ~ Isaac Asimov, quoted in2000 Years of Disbelief, Famous People with the Courage to Doubt, by James A. Haught, 1996
At Daily Kos on this date in 2011—What are the neoconservatives up to in Libya? The usual:
As Muammar Gaddafi spouts delusional nonsense about how "all my people love me," his 41-year dictatorial reign over Libya appears to be crumbling all around him. Opposition fighters in the cities of Zawiyah to the west of Tripoli and in Misurata to its east have scored defensive victories against Gaddafi's armed forces, much of the army in the east has gone over to the side of the opposition, humanitarian aid is starting to flow into the country in large amounts, and ad hoc councils of Libyans have begun governing areas under anti-government control. Even in Tripoli, still solidly held by the regime and reportedly blockaded against entry by Libyans from liberated areas of the country, public protests continue to take place, albeit at considerable risk to the participants.
Amid what appears to be a ring closing around Gaddafi and his bitter-enders, calls for military intervention have intensified. At one end of a range of options is the creation of a no-fly zone to keep Gaddafi's air force from killing civilians from the air and from moving mercenaries quickly from staging areas around Sabha, a central Libya city and military base where they have been landed in large numbers.
Although logistically difficult, a no-fly zone has significant backing, including support from some anti-government Libyans in and out of the country. But other Libyans have opposed the idea, saying they can beat Gaddafi without such assistance. They seek only medical and other humanitarian aid. Some Americans, Europeans and other non-Libyans oppose the no-fly approach for fear that it will be a wedge for further military action and possibly lead to the establishment of long-term military bases in the country and control over Libya's vast deposits of low-sulfur oil, the largest on the African continent, with much of the country's potential reserves still unexplored.
Ontoday’sKagro in the Morningshow, Trump preps for his non-SOTU by claiming all credit & denying all blame.Armandocalls in to vent. Still more of the cabinet turn out to be damaged goods. DOJ flips on its first voting rights case. Has Bannon ever done anything the Mercers didn’t pay for?
Here's a brief primer on what you missed if you boycotted Donald Trump's first address to Congress: "I won. I've done great things. Here's other things I'll do. That's that."
Trump delivered a meandering 60-plus minute speech with no cohesive theme other than "I'm really great and America will be too." As journalist Robert Costa aptly noted of its disjointed policy overtures: "That's what makes the speech somewhat jarring. A bleak, populist Bannon vision laced with elements of Ivanka-ism on social policy."
Mere minutes after greeting the crowd, Trump kicked off his address by reminding everyone of his ahhmazing electoral win. "The earth shifted beneath our feet," he said (no joke), "quiet voices became a loud chorus [...] the chorus became an earthquake and the people turned out by the tens of millions."
In fact, his entire speech had that certain puerile quality of something written by a fifth grader trying to sound big and important.
Dying industries will come roaring back to life.[...]Our military will be given the resources its brave warriors so richly deserve.Crumbling infrastructure will be replaced [...] Our terrible drug epidemic will slow down and ultimately, stop.And our neglected inner cities will see a rebirth of hope, safety, and opportunity.
In short, it's all happening, and it's all because of Trump: The stock market has spiked, billions are being invested in the economy, the swamp is draining, regulations are being rolled back, and the TPP is toast.
