I firmly believe if Trump fails it will be because he followed conservative policy orthodoxy.
I could be dead wrong about this. It could be that the accumulation of of stories like Sessions will destroy his Trump’s credibility, and his favorable ratings will collapse.
Maybe. I doubt it.
So, while everyone chases the Russian rabbit:
The EPA looks to about to be slashed
A wide slew of Environmental Protection Agency programs could be under the knife to meet President Donald Trump’s budget proposal requirements, a source told CNN Wednesday night.
The source spelled out details of an Office of Management and Budget proposal that would cut the EPA’s budget by 24% and reduce its staffing by 20%.
The Clean Energy Plan: dead.
But who really cares, that was about the only real effort to combat global warming and it’s just the fate of the planet.
Nah, lets write 10 articles about weather Sessions perjured himself.
Oh, methane limits: repealed. Mileage requirements about to be undone.
But Sessions!!
Let’s see: oh this woman is going to be deported. She came to the United States, and ICE picked her up.
She wrote this rather heartbreaking passage from her cell, where this dangerous woman is being held.
I don’t understand why they don’t want me. I’m doing the best I can. I mean I can’t help that I was brought here but I don’t know anything else besides being here and I didn’t realize that until I was in a holding cell last night for 5 hours. I was brought here. I didn’t choose to be here. And when I was brought here, I had to learn a whole new country and leave behind the one that I did know. And I barely knew that one. I feel, I strongly feel that I belong here and I strongly feel that I should be given a chance to be here and do something good and work in this economy. There’s so much that I can bring to the table, so much, like I can even teach music, I’m an excellent trumpet player you can ask my mom about any of that. I’m great with math, I speak Spanish. You know, there’s a lot of stuff that I can do for this country that they’re not allowing me to do. I’ve even tried to join the military, and I can’t do that. But, I mean that’s not the point, the whole point is that I would do anything for this country.
The good news is the people don’t want to deport her. The latest CBS Poll shows just how much opposition there is to deporting immigrants. Most Republicans don’t want to deport her. Less than 25% of all Americans want people like her deported.
So a pretty easy political case. A sympathetic girl, strong public opposition. And the polling on the dreamers has always been stronger than the numbers I just cited.
Wait, Trump said wiretaps?
Wiretaps??
What were we talking about again?
Meanwhile all manner of regulations in other industries are being rolled back. Pharma and the big banks are just getting everything their heart desires.
The NIH – every heard of them? The do shit like basic cancer research. They are looking at a 10% cut. I think that is pretty unpopular.
Wait, Comey said what?
Hey, this is unfair I hear people saying. We can keep two thoughts in our heads at once you know!
On what evidence do you believe that, I wonder?
Trump’s IRS Budget Cut, Explained
I suppose paying attention to his numbers in his budget items gives us an idea of his commitments, but everyone knows what those commitments are.
I think you dramatically underestimate the extent to which the GOP wants these budget cuts, and the importance that public opinion will play in whether they are realized.
It’s kind of a stupid argument anyway. Proposing cuts makes you vulnerable to those who might be effected, while doing little to gather additional support.
There will be cuts. Drastic cuts, and even some eliminations of whole line items. The discretionary budget regime we currently live under is already leaner than the budget originally introduced by Ryan when Pelosi was Speaker. But they’re not going to have the votes for this nonsense, or anything close to it — and at best, the more radical things will be “delayed” to never happen. I doubt they even have 40 in the Senate for the current House health care bill, and if the Senate passes anything different it isn’t coming out of conference committee with enough votes in the House. They have a debt ceiling coming up in April. They don’t have the votes without Democrats. On and on. What to watch for is the immigration agenda given the wide latitude the president has.
I firmly believe if Trump fails it will be because he followed conservative policy orthodoxy.
Is there a difference between “conservative policy orthodoxy” and GOP policy? If not, that’s not, at least not in the past hundred years, how presidents fail and then go down. There’s the Nixon way, self-immolation, and the other way that was last seen in 1992 and which political parties appear to have learned how to quash.
Chronicle of a future told: Lloyd Dangle — 2009
The only thing left out was the decimation of Democrats after eight years.
And Democrats marching as joyfully as the Valleydale pigs to become the sausage that you watch being made in Congress.
Valleydale Pigs (requires Quicktime)
I guess this is somehow relevant to the original thread topic, namely, Trump’s agenda, but I haven’t made the connection yet.
Also, your cartoon failed to invoke the eleven-dimensional chess metaphor.
In an old fable by Aesop, a hungry fox noticed a bunch of juicy grapes hanging from a vine.
After several failed attempts to reach the grapes, the fox gave up and insisted that he
didn't want them anyway because they were probably sour.
Surprise me once in a while Joel, you have become so … predictable. 🙂
Excellent!
Militarily, the rabbit doesn’t stand a chance with the American Eagle.
I was thinking of the rabbit they use in dog racing….
Yes, the rabbit that never gets caught.
Should have gone with the turkey as the national bird.
Instead they chose a viscous carrion eater. Mmmm, further deponent sayeth not.
Maybe they should have chosen the Robin. A large, brightly colored bird that chases away smaller birds, but is otherwise harmless.
A robin symbolized nothing about the character of this new country. They had to choose between two that partially apt: dumb as a bag of hammers or vicious. Perfect would have been a mythical bird, a turgle.
Right now budget details are being leaked, I think as a way to try and stop them. Certainly the cuts at the EPA are all over the press. My understanding is the President’s skinny budget is due about March 21st.
There is a later and larger document that is the President’s budget request.
It is interesting: will Trump send troops to the Middle East. I have no idea what he will decide.
I completely agree with 7 or 8.
“6. Post-Brexit there is a lot of political ferment in Europe. The centrist neoliberal parties are failing with the main gainers being the Greens and the anti-immigrant nationalists. None of it looks good for the continuance of the European Union or the European Central Bank.”
The populist parties are coming under direct attack during the election cycle in Holland and Germany. The daily flow of Trump incited news is becoming a factor of liability. Geert Wilders is running a poor campaign and will most likely lose out to governing party of Liberal Conservatives (VVD) of PM Mark Rutte. Latest polls with 20% of voters still undecided – here. The Labour party PvdA are the BIG losers from a coalition partner of 38 seats to 12 in poll. Dutch parliament needs a coalition of 76 seats to form a majority.
In Germany, Socialist leader Martin Schultz has jumped over Angela Merkel in the polls from a distant second just weeks ago. Schultz must watch out not to peak too early as the election is in six months time.
The election in France is a total mess and up for grabs. Anyone who manages to stay out of a scandal may find him/her leading for the presidency.
Meanwhile …
The European nations are getting bored with the endemic corruption of newly won territory of the Ukraine. The oligarchs are still having their field day as before, except each one has its own mercenary military force fighting for … unity????
○ ICJ – Ukraine vs Russia and terrorism
That’s worth two fours.
Could you please explain what you mean by “newly won territory of the Ukraine”?
In an old fable by Aesop, a hungry fox noticed a bunch of juicy grapes hanging from a vine. After several failed attempts to reach the grapes, the fox gave up and insisted that he didn't want them anyway because they were probably sour.
Surprise me once in a while Joel, you have become so … predictable. 🙂
[linked to wrong post above]
I don’t understand it either. The Ukraine lost territory, not gained it.
Read it again:
The US has often become bored with nations that moved into the US sphere of influence when continuing aid, including military, exceeded the expected return to US individuals or corporations and the local elites were getting all the loot.
Boredom part I understand. “Newly won territory” is what I don’t understand.
I think Oui meant that the EU gained dominance over western Ukraine (dependent on loans and willing to hand over much of its legislative powers in the EU-Ukraine trade deal) so it is the EU’s newly won territory.
Or that is how I read it.
I don’t get it either. Plus it’s not “the” Ukraine. It’s just “Ukraine.”
True. Ukranians as I seem to recall take umbrage to their country being referred to as The Ukraine.
When I was a boy “the Ukraine” was proper and umbrage was taken at the common term “Ukrainia”.
Sort of like Negro->black->Afro-American->Africian-American->???
or Mexican->Chicano->Latino->???
I’m usually polite and will call you by whatever name you prefer, but PLEASE, make up your mind.
I think this is it:
Name of Ukraine – Wikipedia
Thanks for the detail. So, before 1991, it was not insulting and after it is. OK So “The United states” is also insulting, I suppose. So much insult over trivia in the world.
I’m curious. Is referring to “Holland” instead of “the Netherlands” insulting? Or is using “the Netherlands” instead of “Netherlands” insulting? According to my imperfect knowledge of etymology, both Holland and Netherlands (Niederland in German) mean “Low Land(s)”
Netherlands (or the Netherlands) is the name of the country, Holland is the name of an important and from time to time dominant part of it. So I think it is a bit like calling a citizen of USA a yankee, to the rest of the world it is obvious we are talking about a citizen of USA but to citizens of USA it might sound like you are refering to someone from New England. That is, if I understand the correct use of both these terms.
I don’t think it is viewed as insulting though. The Netherlands or just Netherlands I don’t think matters at all. Perhaps Oui can enlighten us more.
Thanks for expanding my knowledge. Like, I’m sure, most Americans, I assumed the two names were synonymous.
Of course, we also tend to assume that countries are homogenous, not realizing that there are ancient rifts between North and South Germany, East and West Germany, North and South Italy, South Italy and Sicily and I’m sure many more countries have internal rifts. i.e. Scotland, Wales, England and I’m sure France and Spain have their own. Greece must have divisions thousands of years old, et cetera. So while we decry North/South East/West/Midwest divisions in the USA, they are quite normal. Oh yes, isn’t there a language division in Belgium? Not to mention High German/Low German, Official Italian/regional dialects (cf Languages of Italy). My grandfather’s home town has (had?) a web page that features local proverbs, these are given in the original, translated into English, and translated into Italian (official). I was always amused by the translation from Italian to Italian. BTW, I can attest to some of those proverbs, such as “If you have an unmarried woman over 15 in your house you have trouble”. They seem to have some sort of teenage fetish, such as “Bread of a day, wine of a year, woman of 15 years).
Why you call China China instead of the China.
A kind of similar transformation happened with the US. Before the Civil War some would say the United States ARE. This ended after the War – we say the United States IS.
The idiot savant HUD Secretary speaks:
Is he really a white man in blackface?
Just a really good student at the white man’s K-12 schools circa 1950-60. IOW he learned a lot of crap and clings to them right along with his religion.
He’s like many — memorize it once and retain that without updating, correcting, modifying, etc. as an adult. Like the politician that recently referred to the Soviet Union and he was speaking as of today and not historically when the Soviet Union existed.
That relates somewhat to the comments about Ukraine in this thread. For USians that learned their geography before 1991, it was always the (or The) Ukraine. That education was incomplete because we weren’t taught that before the USSR, it had always been Ukraine and only the Ukraine when it was part of the USSR. So, to our ears and the Ukraine not only sounds correct but was also considered polite. Substituting Ukraine for the Ukraine isn’t as easy as those that have never known anything other than Ukraine seem to think. It would be like trying to drop the article from “the United States” or “the United Kingdom.” (writing hint – only use “the Ukraine” in sentences when “the Great Britain” would be correct which is probably never.)
Going apeshit when someone doesn’t use the current or PC term or word is also rude or uncalled for. As when Harry Reid said something complimentary about Obama and referred to him as a negro. Fortunately in that instance, Obama demonstrated a much higher level of communication skills than the “apeshitters.”
Well the Soviet Union existed long before you or I was born. Unless you are 100 or older.