President Donald Trump’s assertion that the federal government’s response to Hurricane Maria was “an incredible, unsung success” fell flat in Puerto Rico, where islanders are still struggling to recover from the devastating storm a year later.“I was indignant,” said Gloria Rosado, a 62-year-old college professor who watched the president’s news conference on TV late Tuesday from San Juan and was still fuming the next day. “The image of my dead husband immediately came to my mind ... as well as all the lives that were lost.”
Rosado’s husband, who was hospitalized for respiratory and renal complications and ultimately suffered a heart attack, was one of the estimated 2,975 people who died in the Category 4 storm’s aftermath when medical resources were strained beyond the breaking point.
For many, Trump’s boast about “one of the best jobs that’s ever been done” was hard to square with their daily reality: Blackouts remain common; nearly 60,000 homes are covered by only a makeshift roof not capable of withstanding a Category 1 hurricane; and 13 percent of municipalities lack stable phone or internet service.Still his
Secretary Global-Test is way out of bounds here:
Former Secretary of State John Kerry is being slammed for conducting shadow diplomacy with Iran after admitting to multiple meetings with Iranian officials behind the backs of the Trump administration -- including over the scrapped nuclear deal.An administration official on Thursday told Fox News Kerry’s meetings are "shameful," pointing out what Iranian-backed militias are doing to kill and injure people in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.Other Republicans suggested it may not even be legal.“John Kerry is out giving advice to Iran about how to maneuver around what Donald Trump is doing, it's insidious,” Ari Fleischer, the former White House press secretary for George W. Bush, said Wednesday on Fox News's "Special Report." “I don't know if it's legal or illegal, I don't care about that side of it. It's wrong.”
Kerry, the former Massachusetts senator who worked as the nation’s top diplomat in the Obama administration, made the comments about his interactions with Iran as he promotes his new book, “Every Day Is Extra.”
During an appearance on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show on Wednesday, Kerry acknowledged meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif “three or four times” since leaving office, admitting to discussing the scrapped nuclear deal and other issues.
“What I have done is tried to elicit from him what Iran might be willing to do in order to change the dynamic in the Middle East for the better,” Kerry said.
Later Wednesday, during an appearance on Fox News’ “The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino,” Kerry did not deny the suggestion he’s telling the Iranians to wait out Trump until there is a Democratic president again.
“I think everybody in the world is talking about waiting out President Trump,” said Kerry, who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2004 and who has not ruled out a 2020 bid.Um, if that's what they are, why is there a problem with the terminology?
The relentless march of the climate jackboots - today's edition:Twitter rejected four tweets from a Washington-based immigration research center’s advertising campaign as “hate speech” Tuesday because they used the legal terms “illegal alien” and “criminal alien.”The rejected tweets by the Center for Immigration Studies, proposed for its Twitter Ads campaign to attract more followers, generally provided a statistic or factual statement and pressed for an immigration-related policy.One tweet included a video from The Daily Caller news organization depicting immigrants illegally crossing the border and said the video “reminds us why we need a wall” and “the best defense is always to prevent individuals from entering in the first place.”
Gov. Jerry Brown . . . signed into law a King Canute-style bill requiring California to get 100 percent of its electricity from non-carbon sources by 2045.Now, for you and me, that ought to be totalitarian enough, but the thirst for tyranny going on at a Global Climate Action Summit currently underway is such that they are coming at him with just about the level of viciousness they bring to bear against normal people:
They’re attacking him for the sin of not plunging California immediately into the dark ages . . .Seriously:
Here’s the bill of particulars, as reported in the Chronicle:
Activists point to 20,000 new oil and gas exploration permits issued on Brown’s watch, including 238 for offshore state waters. Thousands of other state and federal offshore leases that predate Brown’s administration remain on the books.Consumer Watchdog and other groups also point out that Brown has taken $9.8 million in fossil fuel industry money for his various campaigns, causes and initiatives since he began running for governor in 2009. . .About 800 environmental groups, including Friends of the Earth, Californians Against Fracking, Breast Cancer Action and Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles, have signed on in support of the “Brown’s Last Chance” website campaign. It calls on the governor to commit the state to a policy of “no new fossil fuels and … real action on climate change and healthier communities.”
My very favorite of the story is this bit about Greenpeace official Annie Leonard meeting with Brown:
Comedian Norm MacDonald is facing the ire of the Freedom-Haters for acknowledging that the #MeToo movement has run its course and is now in the witch-hunt phase:Leonard says Brown has been willing to talk. The two had a 2½-hour sit-down in April to go over their differences, but she said that “there are no answers he gave us that will satisfy us.”
Jimmy Fallon canceled Macdonald's scheduled Tonight Show appearance last night, and well he should have. Fallon remembers what happened when he tousled Trump's hair instead of screaming in his face, like he was supposed to, apparently. He's not going to make that mistake again. (And Macdonald actually defended Fallon's interview with Trump, which just makes it even worse.)MacDonald caved and apologized on Twitter.
Love to watch the originalists cry gimme some. It might be hypocrisy which of course does not matter in bloggie's world, as it's the principles involved, man.
ReplyDeleteBut, as the continual wail here goes, the money has to come from somewhere. Just don't count on corporate contributions as the wholly partisan GOP vote reduced corporate income taxes by over $70 billion this year.
ReplyDeleteAugust was the fourth straight month that total federal revenues coming in to Uncle Sam were down from a year ago, as the federal government brought in $219 billion in receipts, but sent out almost twice that in August, a total of $433 billion in spending.
The deficit for all of fiscal year 2017 was $665.8 billion – right now, the 2018 deficit is already $233 billion more than that, with one more month to go – as another deficit in September would push the federal government toward a deficit of $1 trillion, a figure not seen since 2012.
http://jamiedupree.blog.ajc.com/2018/09/13/federal-deficit-jumps-by-214-billion-in-august/
August was the fourth straight month that total federal revenues coming in to Uncle Sam were down from a year ago, as the federal government brought in $219 billion in receipts, but sent out almost twice that in August, a total of $433 billion in spending.
Then the government needs to privatize Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act.
ReplyDeleteThere should be no corporate income tax.
A newbie to this site might say, "Well, isn't that some amusing hyperbole?" but I'm serious as can be.
But I don't understand where your first comment is coming from. What is it with this business about originalists crying gimme some? From which item in the post are you riffing this?
ReplyDeleteWas federal flood and hurricane aid envisioned by the founders? And maybe you should have gotten those social insurance programs axed before you cut taxes. Corps are interested in nothing but saving their own financial asses, of course as they should. The money has to come from somewhere is what you always say. It's so obvious your ilk cut the income to smoke out the outgo they are not in agreement with. Kinda sneaky, huh? Now we're supposed to believe all the spin about the economy which can and likely will slow down or even crash as a matter of time, just as it rose.
ReplyDeleteAT&T got a 20 Bil windfall from the Republican tax cut. Layoffs and offshoring continue unabated. We can expect to find that all across the corporate spectrum as AI continues to accelerate. Only a fool would give them what they want. But, yep, your former party did
ReplyDeleteCorporate and personal income taxes should still be much, much lower. No more than seven percent for either category
ReplyDeleteRe: corporations “saving their own asses”: You know who owns them, don’t you? Teetered teachers and firefighters.
ReplyDelete“Retired”
ReplyDeleteAnd that's why we cut corporate taxes without attention to our liabilities?
ReplyDeleteSomeday soon, we might rue the days of heaven again, soon:
ReplyDeleteHow bad will the next crisis be? J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has an idea.
A decade after the collapse of Lehman Brothers sparked a plunge in markets and a raft of emergency measures, strategists at the bank have created a model aimed at gauging the timing and severity of the next financial crisis. And they reckon investors should pencil it in for 2020.
http://fortune.com/2018/09/13/jpmorgan-next-financial-crisis/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fortunemagazine&xid=soc_socialflow_facebook_FORTUNE
Yup. Severe financial downturns are an occasional inevitability. Sort of like cancer and hurricanes.
ReplyDeleteBut there is nothing in the Constitution about government assuming a mitigating role in any of those cases.
It just puts the lie to all the happy days are here again crap you hear about the economy after the big corporate tax cuts because were all screwed again and it looks like sooner rather than later and we shall have enormously increasing g deficits due to cutting income before cutting spending g. You'll have to work through the courts to overturn all that you claim is not in the Constitution because there is where they brought us to today. Its called stare decisis. Good luck and Godspeed.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the well-wishes. It’s a crucial undertaking
ReplyDeleteAlso expensive as you'll likely need a load of lawyers. We just don't go poof and we're back to square one in this nation of lawyers, not men...
ReplyDelete