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July 31, 2018 07:01 AM UTC

Tuesday Open Thread

  • 44 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“The principal act of courage is to endure and withstand dangers doggedly rather than to attack them.”

–Thomas Aquinas

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44 thoughts on “Tuesday Open Thread”

    1. Six of one, half a dozen of the other. Either way, it's fear of change. And rebellion against what they see as the shifting of social mores to liberal ideals of tolerance, diversity, community-mindedness over private profit.

       

    2. It isn't "economic anxiety" or "racism." It is a loss of whatever privilege they care about — economy, race, religion, heterosexual marriage privilege, patriarchy, property, even climate positions.

      Intersectionality of guarding one another's preferred "gotta have it."

        1. Cook: I gotta call at least partial, and polite, b.s. on that jealousy comment. I got mine by hard work; if someone else gets same or similar by hard work, why would I care? Good for them. And their success doesn't devalue what I got.

          Aren't envy and jealousy basically the same thing?

          1. Not quite, C.H.B. Envy is wanting yours. Jealousy is fear of losing mine. In this case, "mine" is the privilege given to people just for being male or white or Christian or whatever makes me think I'm superior.

            If someone else gets a leg up because they're female, or a person of color or LGBT, the male, white Christian, etc., seems to believe that their standing has been devalued. 

            It never occurs to him that that boost given to the other guy might be trying to make up for Mr. Privilege stepping over those people to get where he is.

          2. Everybody works, CHB. Some harder and for less gain and more pain than others,  necessitating things like grudging government payments for food , subsistence housing, and medical care. 

            Cue the “free stuff!” complaining chorus.

            1. Sounds some class warfare here; "Mr. Privilege stepping over those people……."  Old adage: "be nice to people on your way up as they will be nice to you on your way down."

              As for MJ, you forget that my primary working career was in social services, including the "seamy underside" of society. Let me tell you about the client who had it in his head that he would go to heaven if he was a eunuch…….   Or maybe I won't.

              2. I grant that there are nutcases and people who abuse the system, CHB. I've seen that, too. But the overwhelming majority of people who receive "free stuff", i.e. food , housing, health care, and cash aid are the working poor. and a majority of those are working class white folks. 

                You know that as well as I do. And no, I didn't forget that you were a social worker. I don't forget much, except maybe where I left my phone or car keys.

                In my current summer gig, I'm teaching English to (non-white) legal refugees and immigrants. These people work HARD. Slicing meat up, cleaning businesses, repetitive assembly work.

                And they get injured in their work. And then they need services to treat injuries, or they can't work. And they need food and housing help because wages are still too low to feed and house a family,  and people exploit refugees and pay them less, even though that's illegal.

                Yet your party consistently votes to cut the safety net, for the same working class white folks who voted for Trump, and for the non-white working class folks who didn't or couldn't. It makes no sense.

                 

                1. As I remember my various caseloads, I had a solid percentage of minorities, perhaps more than 50%. Those caseloads were here in Colorado and in a midwestern state. I'd be cautious in talking about an "overwhelming majority." I didn't see that.

                  What doesn't make sense to me is why those lower class white folks keep voting against their own interests and for the guy who screws them every time he gets the chance, in favor of his fellow billionaires and Putin. 

    1. Cory is going to be shifting some money around, I think. Koch network apparently is going to limit their support of Republican Senators — VOX this morning had this:

      The Koch network has argued that Cramer is “inconsistent” on issues that matter to them, including free trade. A Cramer win would help Republicans keep control of the Senate, but Cramer has voiced some support for Trump’s planned tariffs aimed at Chinese goods — tariffs to which the network is highly opposed.

      And it’s not just North Dakota. In fact, the network is only taking an active part in four Senate races this election cycle: Wisconsin, Missouri, Tennessee, and Florida.

      Seems to me that will make West Virginia, Indiana, Nevada and Arizona more likely to stay or go Democrat. Cory may join Mike Bennet as being Senate campaign leaders who lose seats in their cycle of leadership of the party's Senate campaign efforts.

    2. The Koch ménage à trois failed to meet its expectations?  After all Donnie and Cory did to get the pipeline in place for the boys you'd think they'd show the party a little more love?  It's poetic the birth of today's Tea Party was a direct result of Koch dollars; now they've grown into a gaggle of horny teenagers unable to govern and they just don't know what to do with their spawn.

      Some parental tough love is in order.

      Does this mean Cory is no longer bound by his signature on 'The Pledge"? 

  3. Did I mention that Trump stinks?

    Great God Almighty, Trump Stinks.

    Turn state's evidence, Manafort.

    It’s the only way you can get upwind.

          1. Touche. Probably before he started boinking Judith Nathan circa mid 1990's. But he was always something of a drama queen (to wit: the broadcast perp walks when he was US Attorney).

            Some of my favorite Rudy stories are:

            1.  The time the divorce court judge awarded temporary use and occupancy of Gracie Mansion (mayor's residence) to Donna Hanover (ex-wife # 2) because he was too busy banging Judith (ex-wife # 3).

            2.   The time the divorce court judge issued an injunction prohibiting him from bringing Judith to Gracie Mansion as his companion for official functions because ex-wife # 2 and children with ex-wife # 2 still lived there.

            3.  The dueling press conferences when he announced his plans to divorce ex-wife # 2 without telling her first. A friend alerted her to his press conference and within minutes, she had the media on her doorstep giving her own tearful press conference.

            4.  The time he did drag.

            5.  The time he was a house guest of that gay couple in NYC after he was evicted from Gracie Mansion.

            2. You mean like today: ‘Never happened’: Giuliani walks back confusing claim of secret Trump Tower meeting

              In a day of confusing statements, President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani first startled observers with a public claim of a previously unknown meeting involving top Trump associates and Kremlin-linked Russians — then recanted the claim and said the meeting "never happened."

              More than once since he became Trump's counsel, Giuliani has raised more questions while trying to defend Trump and his personal dealings.

              Giuliani said in May said that Trump had reimbursed Cohen for a sum of money he allegedly paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to stay quiet about her alleged affair with Trump. But Giuliani quickly walked back that statement as well.

            3. Especially when you have Stephen Colbert to parse his words.

              What boggles the mind for me though:

              1. who would hire him as their lawyer at this point if he's just going to be all over the place like this?  This just underscores how much of an idiot Benedict Donald is.

              2.  A bit of a stretch, in a relatively normal situation, wouldn't an attorney get disbarred for that kind of behavior?

              1. Who else is The Yam gonna get? No lawyer who cares a fig for their reputation will touch him with a ten-foot pole. Rudy's rep is already shot to hell, but if Yammy-pie keeps him on retainer, he can retire comfortably and pop up for occasional Fox News gigs and maybe "write" a book about the whole, sordid mess.

  4. Ouch. 

    Trump, once a hero in China, is now seen as erratic and unreliable

    Remarks about Trump on Chinese social media — one of the only gauges of public sentiment in a country with limited opinion polling — have taken a sharply negative turn. A recent sampling: “A rogue villain with no credibility.” “A dishonest and greedy merchant, and an unpopular senile politician.” “An erratic and unreliable leader like a clown.”

    During the U.S. presidential race, Chinese policymakers tended to favor Trump over his opponent Hillary Clinton, because he was seen as less likely to press China on its human rights violations or its controversial construction of military facilities near critical shipping routes through the South China Sea, according to Merriden Varrall, a China analyst at Lowy Institute think tank in Sydney.

    “They thought, ‘OK, this is going to be our big break because Trump obviously doesn’t care about these issues. He’s just out to make deals. He’s not worried about what we’re doing over here or what we’re doing internally so we’ll get a bit of a break from the U.S…"

    “He carries himself like he’s king of the universe,” said Li Daoqi, a 35-year-old food deliveryman from Hunan province. “Trump is always bullying but actually it’s a sign of weakness. In Chinese culture, we appreciate people who are humble. You shouldn’t show off.”

  5. The slippery slope of protectionism.  From Politico

    TRUE TARIFF BAILOUT WOULD COST $39 BILLION: The full cost of a government aid package to help U.S. all manufacturers, farmers and fishermen negatively affected by President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on steel and aluminum from around the world and a host of products from China could reach $39 billion, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports this morning. That works out to be another $27 billion on top of the $12 billion the Trump administration announced last week to help U.S. farmers.

    “While America’s agricultural industry has been hit extremely hard by escalating tariffs, it’s not alone,” Neil Bradley, U.S. Chamber executive vice president and chief policy officer, wrote in a blog post. “Thousands of U.S. companies – including manufacturers, input suppliers, fisherman, and businesses from numerous other industries – are finding it more difficult to sell American made products abroad amid the growing trade war.”

    Other sectors are feeling the pain: The business group estimates that U.S. automobile, motorcycle and parts manufacturers would need up to $7.6 billion in federal aid if the assistance promised for farmers is extended to other sectors. Chemical manufacturers would need $960 million; prepared food manufacturers, $884 million; fishermen and crabbers, $811 million; soap manufacturers, $725 million; beverage manufacturers, $765 million; shipbuilders, $632 million; and furniture makers, $567 million.

    1. But even that won't make our economy whole since the accompanying recession and permanently lost markets will be a drag on the GDP and personal income for years. Much less the ever greater debt burden in an era of rising interest rates.

    2. Sorry for all those companies and farmers needing handouts. Get in line. The country needs $25 billion first to build Trump's wall so he won't shut the government down.

  6. Well as they teach in Nutter's Prosperity Jesus Bible class, "If you aren't stealing the financial security from your parent's retirement and your kids' future, you just aren't thinking hard enough!"

    Trump Administration Mulls a Unilateral Tax Cut for the Rich

    The Trump administration is considering bypassing Congress to grant a $100 billion tax cut mainly to the wealthy, a legally tenuous maneuver that would cut capital gains taxation and fulfill a long-held ambition of many investors and conservatives.

      1. It's all about priorities man!

        And with McConnell’s rise into the GOP leadership, his continuous search for tactical advantage with limited regard for policy consequences has overrun Washington. McConnell has more than doubled the previous high-water mark for the number of filibusters deployed to block legislation, infamously declaring that his “top political priority“ was to make President Barack Obama a one-term president. This obstruction has had serious consequences, as the Great Recession grinds on and large-scale problems like climate change march inexorably forward. Congress has failed to address the nation’s most pressing challenges, and America has come to look more and more like McConnell’s Kentucky.

              1. Wow!  That is a stunning realization:

                Our observation: The less-than-500 counties that Hillary Clinton carried nationwide encompassed a massive 64 percent of America’s economic activity as measured by total output in 2015.  By contrast, the more-than-2,600 counties that Donald Trump won generated just 36 percent of the country’s output—just a little more than one-third of the nation’s economic activity.

                No wonder Red states tend to receive more tax dollars than they contribute.

                    1. Thanks for that great article.  It does pose a knotty problem that has no quick or easy solution:

                      Another lesson is that the United States is coming to resemble two separate countries, one rural and one urban.

                      Only one of them, at present, appears entitled to self-determination.

                    2. It's flipped now but I remember the grumbling from Denver about the way the Legislature regarded it as a red-headed step-child. I grew up watching Bev Bledsoe run the leg to serve the farmers and ranchers and leaving the city (Denver was really the only large city) to solve its own problems.  

    2. Because a trillion dollar deficit isn't enough — Trump & co. want indexing of capital gains, taking an annual deficit to around $1.2 trillion. 

      Congress had some discussion before the House break on the tax cut 2.0 plan, including "making the individual tax cuts permanent" at a cost of "about $600 billion." Other parts of their ideas (which could be turned into plans, which would then turn into legislation) would further cut tax revenue.

  7. This has got to be a major relief for Trump to discover:

    Donald Trump moves to the 'collusion is not a crime' camp

    Oh wait!

    Since it became clear that Michael Cohen was willing to testify that Trump had advance knowledge of the meeting between his top campaign staff and Russian operatives, the strategy of Trump’s legal defense has been shifting. Not only did Rudy Giuliani appear on television to provide names, dates, and details of a pre-meeting meeting before he returned to the air to say that the meeting he described “never happened,” he also spread the gospel of “Collusion is not a crime.”

    And both Trump and Rudy are right … to the extent that there is no federal crime called “collusion.” However, if they reference just under half of the 132 federal indictments handed down by Robert Mueller’s investigation, they’ll spot something that is a crime: Conspiracy. Specifically “Conspiracy to Commit an Offense Against the United States” in charges against Russian intelligence agents, “Conspiracy against the United States” in charges against Paul Manafort and Konstantin Kilimnik, “Conspiracy to defraud the United States” in charges against Russian nationals and three Russian front companies, and just plain “Conspiracy” in charges against Rick Gates.

    Conspiracy. It’s what collusion is called when it comes to court.

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