Trump’s Bureaucratic Arson
The real threat to democracy comes not from an imagined deep state, but from a weak state of hollowed-out institutions and battered and belittled public servants.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...k-state/602131/

Science Under Attack: How Trump Is Sidelining Researchers and Their Work
In just three years, the Trump administration has diminished the role of science in federal policymaking while halting or disrupting research projects nationwide, marking a transformation of the federal government whose effects, experts say, could reverberate for years.

Political appointees have shut down government studies, reduced the influence of scientists over regulatory decisions and in some cases pressured researchers not to speak publicly. The administration has particularly challenged scientific findings related to the environment and public health opposed by industries such as oil drilling and coal mining. It has also impeded research around human-caused climate change, which President Trump has dismissed despite a global scientific consensus.

But the erosion of science reaches well beyond the environment and climate: In San Francisco, a study of the effects of chemicals on pregnant women has stalled after federal funding abruptly ended. In Washington, D.C., a scientific committee that provided expertise in defending against invasive insects has been disbanded. In Kansas City, Mo., the hasty relocation of two agricultural agencies that fund crop science and study the economics of farming has led to an exodus of employees and delayed hundreds of millions of dollars in research.

“The disregard for expertise in the federal government is worse than it’s ever been,” said Michael Gerrard, director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, which has tracked more than 200 reports of Trump administration efforts to restrict or misuse science since 2017. “It’s pervasive.”

Hundreds of scientists, many of whom say they are dismayed at seeing their work undone, are departing. ...

An Exodus of Expertise
“In the past, when we had an administration that was not very pro-environment, we could still just lay low and do our work,” said Betsy Smith, a climate scientist with more than 20 years of experience at the E.P.A. who in 2017 saw her long-running study of the effects of climate change on major ports get canceled.

“Now we feel like the E.P.A. is being run by the fossil fuel industry,” she said. “It feels like a wholesale attack.”

After her project was killed, Dr. Smith resigned.

The loss of experienced scientists can erase years or decades of “institutional memory,” said Robert J. Kavlock, a toxicologist who retired in October 2017 after working at the E.P.A. for 40 years, most recently as acting assistant administrator for the agency’s Office of Research and Development. ...
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/28/clima...on-science.html

Team Trump’s Furious Hunt to Find Out Who ‘Liked’ a Chelsea Clinton Tweet
At least 10 Trump administration staffers were interviewed about whether they had dared to hit the “like” button.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumpworld...a-clinton-tweet

😂😂😂

A month-by-month look at Donald Trump's top lies of 2019
A defining feature of the Donald Trump presidency is the bombardment of lies -- Trump's unceasing campaign to convince people of things that aren't true.

Trump made more than 2,700 false claims this year. (We're still calculating the final total.) Some of them were innocent slips, some of them little exaggerations. But a large number of them were whoppers: deliberate, significant attempts to deceive and manipulate.

The breadth of the dishonesty was as striking as the frequency. Trump was inaccurate this year about every conceivable topic, from his dealings with Ukraine to the size of his crowds to, literally, the time of day.
He told too many lies for us to confidently pick a single most notable lie of the year. So we've picked our 12 most notable, one for every month. (We're defining notable as some combination of egregious, important and bizarre.)
https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/31/politics/...dale/index.html

Endlich ein tatkräftiger US-Präsi !

Bravo Trump.

Manufacturing economy weakest in a decade as December ISM index comes in at 47.2
Manufacturing activity in the U.S. contracted to its lowest level in more than a decade last month even as China and the U.S. showed progress on the trade front.

The Institute for Supply Management said Friday its manufacturing index fell in December to 47.2. That’s its lowest level since June 2009, whet it hit 46.3. Economists polled by Reuters expected a reading of 49 for December. Anything below 50 represents sector contraction.

December also marked the fifth straight month of contraction for the U.S. manufacturing sector.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/03/ism-manu...ember-2019.html

Zitat von Hans Bergman im Beitrag #9006

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Zitat von nahal im Beitrag #9005

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Endlich ein tatkräftiger US-Präsi !

Bravo Trump.

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So viel an Tatkraft hatten wir auch schon mal.

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‘Trump Money’ Is Buying Silence as Unprecedented Payments Go to Farmers
The amount sent to farmers tops the auto-industry bailout by billions, and was delivered without congressional approval

... Farm subsidies have now hit a 14-year high after the USDA sent out payments of approximately $16 billion in aid in 2019 and $12 billion in 2018. The two-year total of $28 billion paid to American farmers tops the auto-industry bailout following the 2008 financial crisis by billions. ...

... The unprecedented payments are mostly compensation for losses incurred from Trump’s tariff war with China, which has triggered crops to fall in value.

But Trump is paying off those affected by his decisions, effectively buying their silence. “The sector that is hurt the most, and which would normally complain, all of a sudden it’s assuaged by these payments. ...
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/po...0Msq2w14d9leusQ

Trump supporters LOVE their FREE STUFF. They just don't want BLACK and BROWN people to get any.

Aufgeschnappt:

This is excellent. The ABCs of a demagogue. Good to have on hand in case of a debate with a Trumper friend/relative.

Why people oppose Dump:

“Before you pass my answer off as “Another Liberal Snowflake” consider that
1.) I'm an independent centrist who has voted Republican way more often in my life than Democrat, and
2.) If you want to call someone who spent the entire decade of his 20’s serving in the Marine Corps a snowflake, I’d be ready to answer the question what did you do with your 20’s?

Why Liberals (And not-so liberals) are against President Trump.

A.) He lies. A LOT. Politifact rates 69% of the words he speaks as “Mostly False or worse” Only 17% of the things he says get a “Mostly True” or better rating. That is an absolutely unbelievable number. How he doesn’t speak more truth by mistake is beyond me. To put it in context, Obama’s rating was 26% mostly false or worse, and I had a problem with that. Many of Trump’s former business associates report that he has always been a compulsive liar, but now he’s the President of the United States, and that’s a problem. And this is a man who expects you to believe him when he points at other people and says “They’re lying”

B.) He’s an authoritarian populist, not a conservative. He advances regressive social policy while proposing to expand federal spending and federalist authority over states, both of which conservatives are supposed to hate.

C.) He pretends at Christianity to court the Religious Right but fails to live anything resembling a Christ-Like Life.

D.) His nationalist “America First” message effectively alienates us and removes us from our place as leaders in the international community.

E.) His ideas on “Keeping us safe” are all thinly veiled ideas to remove our freedoms, he is, after all, an authoritarian first. They also are simply bad ideas.

F.) He couldn’t pass a 3rd-grade civics exam. He doesn't’ know what he’s doing. He doesn't understand how international relations work, he doesn’t understand how federal state or local governments work, and every time someone tries to “Run it like a business” it’s a spectacular failure. See Colorado Springs’ recent history as an example. The Short, Unhappy Life of a Libertarian Paradise And that was a businessman with a MUCH better business track record than Trump. We are talking about a man who lost money owning a freaking gambling casino.

G.) He behaves unethicaly and always has. As a businessman, he constantly left in his wake unpaid contractors and invoices, litigation, broken promises, whatever he could get away with.

H.) He is damaging our relationships with our best international friends while kissing up to nations that do not have our best interests in mind. To his question “Wouldn't’ it be great to have better relations with Russia?” The answer is Yes. But it is RUSSIA who needs to earn that, who must stop doing the things that are damaging to that relationship, or we are simply weaker for it.

I.) He has never seen a shortcut he didn't like, and you can’t take shortcuts in government. “Nuclear Option, Remove the Filibuster, I’ll change the Constitution by Executive Order…Don…what happens when you remove the filibuster and the other side retakes the majority in the Senate? Suddenly want that filibuster back? What happens if you manage to change the Constitution by Executive Order and an Anti-2A President wins the next election?

J.) He behaves and has always behaved as an unabashed racist. Yes, I’ve seen your favorite meme that claims he was never accused of racism before the Democrats…Absolutely false. Donald Trump’s long history of racism, from the 1970s to 2019 See the Central Park 5, the lawsuits and fines resulting from his refusal to lease to black tenants, the 1992 lost appeal trying to overturn penalties for removing black dealers from tables, his remarks to the house native American affairs subcommittee in 1993. The man sees and treats racial groups of people as monoliths.

K.) He is systematically steamrolling regulations specifically designed to keep a disaster like the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis from happening again.

L.) He speaks and acts like a demagogue. He sees the Legislative and Judicial branches of government as inconveniences, blows up at criticism no matter how deserved and actively tries to countermand constitutional processes, not to mention attempts to blackmail and coerce people who are saying negative things about him

M.) His choices for top positions, with the exception of Gen. Mattis, who is a gem, have been horrendous. A secretary of Education without a resume that would get her hired as a small town grammar school principal, A secretary of Energy who didn't know the Department of Energy was responsible for nuclear reserves, an EPA head whose biggest accomplishments to date had been suing the EPA on multiple occasions, an FCC head who while working for Verizon actively lobbied to kill net neutrality, and an Attorney General who thinks pot is “nearly as bad as heroin” and asked Congress for permission to go after legal pot businesses in states where it is legal. (There goes that great Republican States rights rally cry again, right? *Crickets*) An Interim AG after Firing his First AG who’s appointment is probably unconstitutional.

N.) He denies scientific fact. Ever notice that the only people you hear denying climate change are politicians and lobbyists? 99% of actual scientists studying the issue agree that it’s real, man-made and caused by greenhouse gasses. Ever notice that every big disaster movie starts with a bunch of politicians in a room ignoring a scientist's warning?

0.) He does not have the temperament to lead this nation. He is Thin Skinned, childish, and a bully, never mind misogynistic, boorish, rude, and incapable of civil discourse.

P.) He still does not understand that the words he speaks, or tweets, are the official position of 1/3 of the US government, and so does not govern his words. He still thinks when he speaks it’s good ol’ Donald Trump. It’s not. It’s the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. You have probably spread a meme or two around talking about how no president’s every word has ever been dissected before…YES, THEY ALWAYS HAVE. It’s just that every other president in our lifetime has understood the importance of his words and took great care to govern his speech. Trump blurts out whatever comes to his mind then complains when people talk about what a dumb thing that was to say.

Q.) He’s unqualified. If you owned a small business and were looking for someone to manage it, and an unnamed resume came across your desk and you saw 6 bankruptcies, showing a man who had failed to make money running CASINOS, would you hire him? He is a very poor businessman. This is a man it has been estimated would have been worth $10 BILLION more if he’d just taken what his father had given him, invested it in Index Funds and left it alone.

R.) He is President. But he refuses to take a leadership position and understand that he is everyone’s President. Conservatives complain about liberals chanting “Not my President” while Trump himself behaves as if no one but his supporters matter.

S.) He’s a blatant hypocrite. He spent 8 years bitching Obama out for his family trips, or golfing, or any time he took for himself, and what does he do? He was already on his 20th golf outing in APRIL of his 1st year in office. He constantly rants about respect for the military, yet can’t be bothered to attend the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day because of a little rain. (And that excuse about Marine One not being able to fly in the rain is HILARIOUS.)

T.) He’s a misogynist. It's not really ok in this day and age to be a misogynist, but it’s not a huge deal if you’re a private citizen. It’s a pretty big deal if you hate half the people you’re elected to lead. The disdain for women seeps out of his …whatever…. and he just can’t hide it.

U.) Face it. In any other election “Grab Em’ By the Pussy” would have been the end of that candidate’s chances. Back in the 90’s I used to marvel about how Teflon Bill Clinton was. I no longer do. The fact that he managed to slip by on that is as much a statement about how much people hate Hillary Clinton as it is about what is wrong with politics in this country right now.

V.) He has one response to a differing opinion. Attack. A good leader listens to criticism, to different points of view, is capable of self-reflection, tries to guide people to his point of view, and when necessary stands his ground and defends his convictions. Any of that sound like Trump? His default is not to Lead, its’ to attack. Scorched Earth. The Jim Acosta reaction is a good example. There was no defense of his convictions when Acosta was asking him repeated questions about his rhetoric on the caravan. His response was to attack Acosta.

W.) He takes credit for everything positive while deflecting blame for everything negative. Look at him with the Stock Market. He’s been bragging about it since day one, and to give credit where credit is due, speculation on coming deregulation early in his presidency did fuel some rapid growth, but to pretend that it’s all him, that we’re not in the 9th year of the longest bull market in history and THEN, when the standard market volatility that deregulation inevitably brings about starts to show up? Yeah. Look at yesterday. Hey! Stock Markets losing because the Democrats won! Do I need to bring out the Stock market chart for the last 10 Years again?

X.) He emboldens the worst among us. Counter-protesters are slammed into by a car while countering actual Nazi rally, and the response is there’s fault on “Both Sides” The media is at fault for a nut job sending them and Donald’s favorite targets pipe bombs. The truth is not all Republicans, not all Trump Supporters are racist, fascist lunatics. Many are just taken in by the bombastic personality and are living in an information bubble made worse by the fact that they unfollow anyone and ignore any source of information that makes them feel uncomfortable. People on the left do that too. The Biggest problem the right has right now is that the worst of the Right is the loudest and the most in your face, and the actual right, especially the Freaking PRESIDENT needs to be standing up and saying No. Those are not our values.

Y.) He seems to think the Constitution of The United States, the document that IS who we are, the document he took an oath to support and defend is some sort of inconvenience. He demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of Constitution, from believing he can alter the 14th through executive order, to thinking The free exercise clause in the first amendment somehow supersedes the establishment clause (not that he really understands either) or that the free exercise clause only applies to Christians. Or his attacks on freedom of expression and the press. He repeatedly makes it clear that if he’s read them, he does not understand Articles 1–3, and that’s something he really should have before he took the job, because they’re not going away.

Z.) I’ll use Z for something I do blame him for, but the rest of us have to carry the blame too. Polarization. This country is more politically polarized than I can remember in my lifetime. Some of you who are a few years older than I may remember how it was in the late 60’s when construction workers in New York were being applauded for beating up hippies, I think it’s pretty close to that right now, but that was before my time. And he is the cause of much of the current level polarization, but also the result. It didn't’ start with Trump. We’ve been going down this road I think since the eruption of the Tea Party in the early years of the Obama Administration. I do hope the tide turns before it gets much worse because the thing that scares me more than anything is what if that keeps going the way it has been? "

*snagged from a friends wall

'He was sent to us': at church rally, evangelicals worship God and Trump
They came to pray with their president, though in truth many came just to worship him.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020...ally-king-jesus

Job market ends 2019 with disappointing 145,000 growth in payrolls
The U.S. jobs market ended 2019 on a sour note, with December’s payroll and wage growth missing expectations, according to Labor Department figures released Friday.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by just 145,000 while the unemployment rate held steady at 3.5%. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for job growth of 160,000. The jobless rate met expectations for staying at a 50-year low.

In addition to the slow payroll growth, average hourly earnings rose by just 2.9%, below the 3.1% projection. December marked the first time that wage gains were below 3% on a year-over-year basis since July 2018.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/10/us-nonfa...ember-2019.html

US manufacturing plunges deeper into recession
America's manufacturing downturn isn't letting up. Factory activity contracted for the fifth consecutive month in December, registering a worse drop than expected.

The Institute of Supply Management's manufacturing purchasing managers' index logged its lowest level since June 2009 at 47.2, compared with the consensus forecast of 49. It stood at 48.1 in November. Any number below 50 denotes a contraction.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/03/econo...turn/index.html

Trump Must Face Rape Accuser Carroll’s Defamation Lawsuit
A judge rejected President Donald Trump’s argument that living in Washington means he can’t be sued in New York by an advice columnist who claims he raped her two decades ago and then lied about it.

The decision denying Trump’s bid to dismiss the case, revealed on Thursday, is an early victory for E. Jean Carroll, who went public with her allegations in a June magazine article and sued in November. The judge also denied Trump’s request to delay the exchange of evidence between the parties.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...d?sref=n2cudAla

Zitat von Willie im Beitrag #9012

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'He was sent to us': at church rally, evangelicals worship God and Trump
They came to pray with their president, though in truth many came just to worship him.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020...ally-king-jesus

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Zitat von Leto_II. im Beitrag #9016

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Zitat von Willie im Beitrag #9012

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'He was sent to us': at church rally, evangelicals worship God and Trump
They came to pray with their president, though in truth many came just to worship him.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020...ally-king-jesus

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Die Sieben Plagen waren auch gesandt.

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Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka knowingly defrauded condo buyers — and wriggled out of prosecution: New book
President Donald Trump’s two eldest children knowingly took part in a fraud scheme to sell luxury condominiums, according to a new book about the family’s business.

The family’s dealings around the Trump SoHo project fell under criminal investigation, which was dropped in 2011, but the new book American Oligarchs: The Kushners, The Trumps And The Marriage Of Money And Power reveals email correspondence that appears to show Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump engaged in fraud, reported The Guardian.

“(Email evidence) showed a coordinated, deliberate and knowing effort to deceive buyers,” wrote journalist and author Andrea Bernstein. “In one email, the Trumps discussed how to coordinate false information they had given to prospective buyers. Because the sales levels had been overstated at the beginning of the sales process, any statement showing a lower level could reveal the untruths.”
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/01/donald-...ution-new-book/

The evangelical belief that Trump is the messiah is more rampant than you think — and dangerous
Psychologists have explained quite a lot about Donald Trump ’s political invincibility and the unconditional allegiance of his followers. One well-supported explanation is that the president keeps his base loyal by keeping them fearful. Through persistent fear-mongering, with scary messages like, “Illegal immigrants are murderers and rapists,” and “Islam hates us,” Trump gets to play the role of the great protector.

But there is another major reason why Trump loyalists do not waver no matter how he behaves or what scandals come to light. For most evangelicals, it is not only fear that keeps them in line, but it is also faith. As a cognitive psychology researcher who has been writing about the science underlying Trump’s unshakable support since he began his presidential campaign, I have learned—through comments, emails, and discussion forums—that a significant portion of his supporters literally believe the president was an answer to their prayers. He is regarded as something of a messiah, sent by God to protect a Christian nation. ...
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/01/the-eva...-and-dangerous/

Dow erstmalig über 29.000.
Obamas Genie wirkt weiter.

‘Confused’ Trump thinks he should have gotten the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Ethiopia’s prime minister
During his rally in Ohio this Thursday, President Trump suggested to his audience that the recent Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed should have gone to him.

“I made a deal, I saved a country, and I just heard that the head of that country is now getting the Nobel Peace Prize for saving the country. I said, ‘What, did I have something do with it?'” Trump said. “Yeah. But that’s the way it is. As long as we know, that’s all that matters.”

The “deal” Trump referred to is his offer to help negotiate an agreement between Ahmed and Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly over a dam on the Nile river. But as Business Insider points out, Ahmed was awarded the prize for negotiating a peace deal between Ethiopia and Eritrea in the wake of 20 years of war.

According to a tweet from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Trump is “confused.”

“[PM Ahmed] was awarded the [Nobel Prize] for his efforts to bring peace to the Horn of Africa, not stalled negotiations about a new dam on the Nile, the tweet read. “If they gave the Nobel for deals that didn’t happen, the Pres. would have a shelf full of them.”
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/01/confuse...prime-minister/

Tea Pain@TeaPainUSA
In the past few months Trump has betrayed our Kurdish allies, given our military bases to Russia and got our military kicked out of Iraq.

Name one thing Trump has done that hasn't benefited Vladimir Putin.
12:24 PM · Jan 10, 2020·

Zitat von nahal im Beitrag #9020

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Dow erstmalig über 29.000.
Obamas Genie wirkt weiter.

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Zitat von Willie im Beitrag #9023

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Zitat von nahal im Beitrag #9020

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Dow erstmalig über 29.000.
Obamas Genie wirkt weiter.

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https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t...015&oe=5E934024

https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t...90d&oe=5E931398

https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t...eef&oe=5EA1BC81

https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t...5c0&oe=5E9C3E7D

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