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US Politics The 2020 Trump Presidency Thread

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Well Obama pulled us back from the great recession to unprecedented levels in the market, so that's a pretty big win. It would be hard to assert with any feasibility that that was not the result of his administtration. I think the same problems with our government having been bought by corporations and the ultra wealthy existed before Obama and during Obama, and during Trump, and neither Obama nor Trump have fixed that. Trump's legacy remains to be seen but I strongly oppose his campaign to deregulate environmental regulations which, side from carbon emissions which I know you don't believe matters, affects so much more (water supply, ocean health, pollution, destruction of nature including nature preserves, etc).
 
thoughts on the administration's handling of the coronavirus situation?

in the last week or so, trump seemed to be downplaying the seriousness of the situation, often straight out lying or contradicting health experts in his own administration:
  • trump lied, in late february, when he said the number of u.s .cases was "going very substantially down, not up". the cdc contradicted that claim.
  • larry kudlow said "We have contained this...pretty close to airtight" when that is demonstrably not the case.
  • trump stated that the u.s. is "rapidly developing a vaccine" and "will essentially have a flu shot for this in a fairly quick manner". that was contradicted by the director of the niaid (dr. anthony fauci) who stated a vaccine is "a year to a year-and-a-half" out.
  • trump lied on friday that there were enough coronavirus tests for every american. that claim was contradicted by a statement mike pence made a day earlier: "we don’t have enough tests today to meet what we anticipate will be the demand going forward"
  • trump has implied that the coronavirus is no more serious than the common flu: “Just stay calm. It will go away...”; “It’s really working out.” trump's downplaying of the severity has been contradicted by, among others, dr. fauci,
  • et. al.
at a time when we need leadership based on clear, fact-based information, it's a shambolic, potentially dangerous response from a shambolic administration.

alasdair
 
The entire global response has been shambolic but you hate Trump so much that you'd love to pin the entire blame onto him. The WHO were praising China for their handling of the corona situation. It's the fault of China, Iran and Italy that this has become a potential pandemic. I agree it's not good for Trump to talk shit but it's better to keep people calm than instill a sense of panic (which is what the MSM seem to be trying to do).

He did just restrict air travel from Europe for 30 days.

And btw what else would you have him do personally to handle this situation?
 
I don't think he's handled it well given his bravado and natural tendency to speak out of his ass.

But as reality sets in, I see him putting in motion the things I'd want any president to do - he's not holding back funding, not infringing on people unnecessarily (leaving that still to individual choice, primarily, or deferring to state and local gov'ts or employers). He's not our babysitter, and most of us are adults (and those that are kids are under the responsibility of adults) = let us choose how much to panic and what to do about it. But for situations that endanger the nation, that's his responsibility = trying to calm fears, closing borders to travelers from particular countries (:gasp: RACIST!!!), and getting federal aid and institutions in motion.

He had his estimate for gov't aid needed, and Congress said MOAR! so he took it and is directing it accordingly. I've not seen anyone's plan that justifies what the spend ought to be, and nobody wants to be caught spending too little, even if we're not sure where to spend it or how. So, I'm somewhat relieved both Trump and Congress moved quickly pass differences of estimates and didn't linger on who was right, just move forward.



As a leader, he remains irresponsible with his mouth, even if he's trying to do the right thing. When are his words sounding ridiculous a new thing? But if I watch his actions, he's doing it right. Anyone can say it's not enough, an easy position when you aren't in the oval office. I'd rather hear such voices advise what more should be done, with logical justification, and then see if it isn't done. ie, don't waste breath screaming Trump is wrong, spend that breath helping all of us do what is right.
 
the trump administration's response to the coronavirus outbreak has come in for its fair share of criticism and this item, in particular, caused many to shake their heads: I ran the White House pandemic office. Trump closed it.

at a press conference in friday president trump denied knowing anything about it :

yamiche alcindor (pbs): "You said that you don’t take responsibility, but you did disband the White House pandemic office, and the officials that were working in that office left this administration abruptly. So what responsibility do you take to that? "
president trump: "Well, I just think it’s a nasty question ...You say we did that, I don’t know anything about it."

well, that's just yet another lie...

Video emerges showing Trump talking about cutting pandemic team in 2018, despite saying last week 'I didn't know about it'

alasdair
 
No, the White House didn’t ‘dissolve’ its pandemic response office. I was there.

It has been alleged by multiple officials of the Obama administration, including in The Post, that the president and his then-national security adviser, John Bolton, “dissolved the office” at the White House in charge of pandemic preparedness. Because I led the very directorate assigned that mission, the counterproliferation and biodefense office, for a year and then handed it off to another official who still holds the post, I know the charge is specious.
...
It is true that the Trump administration has seen fit to shrink the NSC staff. But the bloat that occurred under the previous administration clearly needed a correction. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, congressional oversight committees and members of the Obama administration itself all agreed the NSC was too large and too operationally focused (a departure from its traditional role coordinating executive branch activity). As The Post reported in 2015, from the Clinton administration to the Obama administration’s second term, the NSC’s staff “had quadrupled in size, to nearly 400 people.” That is why Trump began streamlining the NSC staff in 2017.

One such move at the NSC was to create the counterproliferation and biodefense directorate, which was the result of consolidating three directorates into one, given the obvious overlap between arms control and nonproliferation, weapons of mass destruction terrorism, and global health and biodefense. It is this reorganization that critics have misconstrued or intentionally misrepresented. If anything, the combined directorate was stronger because related expertise could be commingled.

The reduction of force in the NSC has continued since I departed the White House. But it has left the biodefense staff unaffected — perhaps a recognition of the importance of that mission to the president, who, after all, in 2018 issued a presidential memorandum to finally create real accountability in the federal government’s expansive biodefense system.
The NSC is really the only place in government where there is a staff that ensures the commander in chief gets all the options he needs to make a decision, and then makes sure that decision is actually implemented. I worry that further reductions at the NSC could impair its capabilities, but the current staffing level is fully up to the job.

You might ask: Why does all this matter? Won’t it just be a historical footnote?
It matters because when people play politics in the middle of a crisis, we are all less safe.
We are less safe because public servants are distracted when they are dragged into politics.
We’re less safe because the American people have been recklessly scared into doubting the competence of their government to help keep them safe, secure and healthy.
And we’re less safe because when we’re focused on political gamesmanship, we’re not paying enough attention to the real issues. For example, we should be united behind ensuring that, in a future congressional appropriations package, U.S. companies are encouraged to return to our shores from China the production of everything from medical face masks and personal protective equipment to vitamin C and penicillin.
 
"It is true that the Trump administration has seen fit to shrink the NSC staff."
"That is why Trump began streamlining the NSC staff in 2017."

one person's "shrink" and "streamlining" is another's...

"...the bloat that occurred under the previous administration clearly needed a correction."

that's a matter of opinion.

i'm having trouble viewing the full text of both pieces but it looks like 'the truth' may be somewhere in the middle of those two pieces.

"We’re less safe because the American people have been recklessly scared into doubting the competence of their government to help keep them safe, secure and healthy."

another opinion. i do doubt the competence of the current administration to keep us safe, secure and healthy, especially when you view the virus response in the context of their 'management' of other agencies entrusted with the public good e.g. the EPA

he claimed he didn't know anything about it. that is demonstrably a lie at a time when clear communication, facts and truth are important.

alasdair
 
I see this article that is getting lots of tweets and likes and whatever about President Trump's response to the virus meaning that the Dow Jones 30 Industrials Average going to 15 000 is a possibility -- fork that, bungholes, try 3250! 700 maybe? And stop screwing with the markets anyways -- the Federal Reserve system has just proved it is 100 per cent worthless in addition to being a tool of Satan . . . some apologists for the system like to say "Well, it is good as a cheque clearing house" Bushwa! The American Bankers' Association founded the clearing house that the Fed took over three years later in 1910. Even being part of the same evil that led to income taxes and the First World War and Wilson later using the US Constitution for toilet paper, The Fed wasn't designed for what it has been abused for especially in the last 12 years or so and they deserve no credit for anything but helping some bankers get away with shit that they should be stamping licence tags for automobiles and making little rocks into big ones over.

Both Presidents Obama and Trump thought the public was gullible enough to think it was really important to screw around with the markets and they didn't form a natural bottom in 2009, even though another few months and 3000 points or so on the DJIA and 275 or so on the S&P 500 would have done the trick . . . my full disclosure is that as hard as I worked for citizenship back in the day, I have zero intent to return because of what is being done to chronic pain patients, doctors, pharmacists and others in the US and I was too busy in 2008, 2012, and 2016 trying to start my own local version of the CDU there to have been involved with the campaigns of either of the above two folks, though I think both of them have both good and evil as part of whatever legacy they will have.

and I knew to start squirreling away gold and silver and platinum and Swiss Francs and shit 25 years ago but the Fuckery & Witchcaft That U Give the NYSE and Nasdaq Composite Fucks Frankfurt, Toronto, Montréal, Osaka, Paris, Zagreb, London, Vienna & everyone else why doesn't Mnuchin get Thug Life tattooed on his belly and/or arse?
 
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I really dont understand why people call Trump a businessman. Hasnt he lost most of his money that he got in the 80s? Simply by having invested those in the stock back then hed be the richest living person now. Maybe not but you get the point.
 
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I really dont understand why people call Trump a businessman. Hasnt he lost most of his money that he got in the 80s? Simply by having invested those in the stock back then hed be the richest living person now. Maybe not but you get the point.

They call him that, because while trump the man is an incompetent fraud. Trump the brand has historically been very valuable.

And a lot of people have made money hyping up that brand. His reality tv show, art of the deal, various construction and real estate projects.

And that's created this impression of him as a brilliant businessman and negotiator. But he's not. His father was. But he's not.

People think he is because of his brand. Or more specifically, the book he didn't write, the buildings with his name on them and the reality TV show. Which have all been managed by lots of much smarter people who saw the opportunity it provided.
 
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They call him that, because while trump the man is an incompetent fraud. Trump the brand has historically been very valuable.

And a lot of people have made money hyping up that brand. His reality tv show, art of the deal, various construction and real estate projects.

And that's created this impression of him as a brilliant businessman and negotiator. But he's not. His father was. But he's not.

People think he is because of his brand. Or more specifically, the book he didn't write, the buildings with his name on them and the reality TV show. Which have all been managed by lots of much smarter people who saw the opportunity it provided.
I completely agree. To me though the worst is not his incompetent abilities but his personality.

I read somewhere today that Trump aint gonna call governors for aid who arent grateous. That is pretty much the absolute lowest a person could ever hope to sink.
 
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yeah he's a raging narcissist. Denying help to states in need because their governors badmouthed him is pretty fucking deplorable.

I really dont understand why people call Trump a businessman. Hasnt he lost most of his money that he got in the 80s? Simply by having invested those in the stock back then hed be the richest living person now. Maybe not but you get the point.

He has declared bankruptcy 7 times (? I think that's the right number). His father gave him at least $413 million over the course of his career (according to wiki). If he had invested all of the money modestly, he'd be worth way more now. His lift of failed business ventures is long.

He's self-made! 8)
 
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