• You must be logged in to see or use the Shoutbox. Besides, if you haven't registered, you really should. It's quick and it will make your life a little better. Trust me. So just register and make yourself at home with like-minded individuals who share either your morbid curiousity or sense of gallows humor.
Wyden Slams Republican FEC Commissioners for Blocking Probe of NRA, Possible Campaign Finance Violations

Senator Ron Wyden blasted the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Friday after the agency's Republican commissioners blocked an attempt to fully investigate the National Rifle Association (NRA) over reports that Russia may have used the gun-rights group as a conduit for its election interference efforts, and possibly in contravention of campaign finance law.

"A foreign adversary interfered in the 2016 presidential election and the response from Republicans at every level, whether it be President Trump, congressional Republicans, or now the Republican appointees on the Federal Election Commission, has been to bury their heads in the sand or actively obstruct getting to the bottom of what happened," Wyden said in a written statement.

"It's inexcusable that Republican commissioners would block an investigation into whether Russian money was funneled through the National Rifle Association to help President Trump. The blatant partisanship is appalling, undermines our democracy and leaves us vulnerable to continued interference in 2020," he continued.

In particular, the FEC was considering whether to further probe if Alexander Torshin, a senior official at the Central Bank of Russia, and Maria Butina, his former assistant, may have violated the ban on election contributions from foreign nationals by funneling money through the NRA.

Wyden had previously written to the FEC in May after news reports documented links between Torshin and the NRA. Those reports spurred Wyden, as ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, which has oversight of non-profit organizations such as the NRA, to conduct a correspondence with the gun-rights group.

In a statement coinciding with his May letter to the FEC, Wyden said the NRA failed to fully comply with his oversight efforts and so he was referring the matter to the federal election watchdog.

In July, two weeks after the Department of Justice unsealed a criminal complaint against Butina on related charges of conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of Russia, Wyden sent another letter to the FEC urging them once more to take up the matter.

"In light of the additional facts that have surfaced as a result of these recent indictments, I urge the FEC to move quickly to determine whether a formal investigation is warranted," the July letter read. "If the Commission were to authorize an investigation, it could enforce its inquiries through the use of compulsory process in federal court, including through the issuance of subpoenas."

Ellen Weintraub, chairwoman of the FEC, excoriated her Republican colleagues for their contrary votes which resulted in a 2-2 tie on Friday, preventing the inquiry from moving forward.

"For the Republican commissioners to apply [this] approach to a matter of such national importance, and in doing so turn a blind eye to the possibility that a foreign adversary secretly funneled tens of millions of dollars into a presidential campaign, is to bring their obstruction to a new and breathtakingly damaging level," she said in a statement.

1566007830928.png https://www.newsweek.com/nra-fec-butina-torshin-campaign-finance-trump-1454836
 
AP Interview: Pelosi assails 'weakness' of Trump, Netanyahu

1566051843221.png


WASHINGTON House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday the U.S.-Israel relationship can withstand the "weakness" of President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who shook diplomatic norms this week in barring two members of Congress from visiting the country.


Pelosi told The Associated Press that the "weakness of Netanyahu and the weakness of Donald Trump combined" into a policy that's "a no."

"We have a deep relationship and long-standing relationship with Israel that can withstand Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu," Pelosi said. "We cannot let their weaknesses stand in the way of our ongoing relationship."

She said the U.S. commitment to Israel isn't dependent on either leader, a sign there may not be lasting fallout from this week's incident, particularly in terms of foreign aid, which must be approved by Congress.

In an extraordinary move, Netanyahu, with a push from Trump, barred entry for Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota ahead of their planned visit. Tlaib was later granted a humanitarian exception to visit her grandmother in the West Bank, but ultimately decided against the trip .

… article continues

Associated Press
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...of-trump-netanyahu/ar-AAFUjZ5?ocid=spartanntp
 
FEC chair challenges Trump to provide evidence of voter fraud in New Hampshire

The Democratic chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission on Friday challenged President Donald Trump to provide evidence of the voter fraud he insists cost him New Hampshire in 2016 or quit talking about it.

In a letter to Trump, Ellen Weintraub said the country's democracy depends on "the American people's faith in our elections. Your voter-fraud allegations run the risk of undermining that faith."

Weintraub's missive came a day after Trump complained to reporters — and to his supporters at a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire — that he had narrowly lost the Granite State because of fraudulent voting, a claim for which there is no evidence.

"New Hampshire should have been won last time, except we had a lot of people come in at the last moment, which was a rather strange situation," Trump told journalists. "Thousands and thousands of people, coming in from locations unknown."

At the rally, he told the crowd that New Hampshire was "taken away from us."

... article continues

1566086051813.png
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...d-in-new-hampshire/ar-AAFUlgK?ocid=spartanntp
 
ME: Praise Jesus!!!! I'm not the only one that this Trump speak drives right round.

Analysis: The third-person-in-chief: How Trump talks about himself

President Trump kicked off his Thursday rally in New Hampshire by returning to an oft-used rhetorical quirk.

“Remember what happened during the [2016 New Hampshire primary]?” Trump said. “Trump should come in third or fourth, and we came in easily at number one.”

Of Trump’s many rhetorical habits, perhaps none is more bizarre than his tendency to refer to himself in the third person when discussing seemingly anything.

On Russia: “Nobody’s been tougher on Russia then Donald Trump.”

On passing gun legislation: “There’s never been a president like President Trump.”

On television ratings for “The Apprentice”: “Congratulations Donald!”

Officially defined as an illeism, it dates to the 1st century B.C., when Julius Caesar wrote about the Gallic Wars in the third person. It has been used by politicians including Bernie Sanders, Barack Obama and Bob Dole (a 1996 Los Angeles Times column asked Dole what he had against the pronouns “I and me”).

Athletes including Bo Jackson, LeBron James and Floyd Mayweather Jr. have used it, as has “Sesame Street” character Elmo. Toddlers may refer to themselves in the third person before they learn pronouns. “Seinfeld” centered an entire episode on a man who only refers to himself in the third person.

Even Microsoft founder Bill Gates and author J.K. Rowling have poked fun at Trump’s reliance on the third person.

On the campaign trail, Trump often referred to himself in the third person to compare himself to his opponents. As president, Trump often refers to himself in the third person to deflect criticism. And years earlier, he bragged about himself to reporters while acting as a publicist for himself.

During Trump’s first month of tweeting in 2009, 17 of his first 21 tweets referred to himself in the third person. Trump has also congratulated himself and given himself advice at rallies in the third person.

During Trump’s first month of tweeting in 2009, 17 of his first 21 tweets referred to himself in the third person. Trump has also congratulated himself and given himself advice at rallies in the third person.

“Stay on point, Donald, stay on point. No sidetracks Donald, nice and easy,” Trump said in November 2016, kicking off a Florida rally six days before the election.

The Washington Post
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...alks-about-himself/ar-AAFWjjQ?ocid=spartanntp
 
ME: Praise Jesus!!!! I'm not the only one that this Trump speak drives right round.

Analysis: The third-person-in-chief: How Trump talks about himself

President Trump kicked off his Thursday rally in New Hampshire by returning to an oft-used rhetorical quirk.

“Remember what happened during the [2016 New Hampshire primary]?” Trump said. “Trump should come in third or fourth, and we came in easily at number one.”

Of Trump’s many rhetorical habits, perhaps none is more bizarre than his tendency to refer to himself in the third person when discussing seemingly anything.

On Russia: “Nobody’s been tougher on Russia then Donald Trump.”

On passing gun legislation: “There’s never been a president like President Trump.”

On television ratings for “The Apprentice”: “Congratulations Donald!”

Officially defined as an illeism, it dates to the 1st century B.C., when Julius Caesar wrote about the Gallic Wars in the third person. It has been used by politicians including Bernie Sanders, Barack Obama and Bob Dole (a 1996 Los Angeles Times column asked Dole what he had against the pronouns “I and me”).

Athletes including Bo Jackson, LeBron James and Floyd Mayweather Jr. have used it, as has “Sesame Street” character Elmo. Toddlers may refer to themselves in the third person before they learn pronouns. “Seinfeld” centered an entire episode on a man who only refers to himself in the third person.

Even Microsoft founder Bill Gates and author J.K. Rowling have poked fun at Trump’s reliance on the third person.

On the campaign trail, Trump often referred to himself in the third person to compare himself to his opponents. As president, Trump often refers to himself in the third person to deflect criticism. And years earlier, he bragged about himself to reporters while acting as a publicist for himself.

During Trump’s first month of tweeting in 2009, 17 of his first 21 tweets referred to himself in the third person. Trump has also congratulated himself and given himself advice at rallies in the third person.

During Trump’s first month of tweeting in 2009, 17 of his first 21 tweets referred to himself in the third person. Trump has also congratulated himself and given himself advice at rallies in the third person.

“Stay on point, Donald, stay on point. No sidetracks Donald, nice and easy,” Trump said in November 2016, kicking off a Florida rally six days before the election.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...alks-about-himself/ar-AAFWjjQ?ocid=spartanntp
He is a fucking disgrace.
 
N.R.A. Gets Results in One Phone Call With the President

The call ended the way that Mr. LaPierre had hoped it would: with Mr. Trump espousing N.R.A. talking points in the Oval Office and warning of the radical steps he said Democrats wanted to take in violation of the Second Amendment.

“We have very, very strong background checks right now, but we have sort of missing areas and areas that don’t complete the whole circle,” the president told reporters Tuesday afternoon, adding, “I have to tell you that it’s a mental problem.”

“Democrats would, I believe, give up the Second Amendment,” Mr. Trump said. “A lot of the people that put me where I am are strong believers in the Second Amendment, and I am also.”

For Mr. Trump, his dealings with Mr. LaPierre and other gun rights advocates in recent weeks have been a reminder that even if his initial instinct after the mass shootings this month was to say he would press for aggressive gun legislation, any such push would be seen as a betrayal of the N.R.A. members who helped elect him.

At the N.R.A.’s annual convention in 2017, Mr. Trump assured the group’s members, “You came through for me, and I am going to come through for you.” And that is what he was doing on his call with Mr. LaPierre, according to two people familiar with their conversation, assuring Mr. LaPierre that even after another round of mass shootings, he was not interested in legislation establishing universal background checks and that his focus would be on the mental health of the gunmen, not their guns.

... article continues

The New York Times
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...with-the-president/ar-AAG5cjR?ocid=spartanntp
 
Last edited:
Not Shrugging It Off Here.



I'm The Chosen One



Chosen? No Delusional? Yes

Post automatically merged:

Adam Schiff predicts American Jews will reject Trump in 'record numbers'

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff predicts Jewish Americans will reject President Trump in "record numbers" because of his embrace of an anti-Semitic trope.

The California Democrat said Trump's assertion that American Jews who vote Democrat are disloyal to Israel was "deeply offensive" and not consistent with Jewish values.

"As a Jew, I find the idea that the president of the United States would suggest that if I don’t support him, that somehow I’m either being disloyal to Israel, disloyal to the United States. It's a longstanding trope — anti-Semitic trope that Jews have to prove their loyalty to our country or Jews are really loyal to a foreign country, that is to Israel," Schiff said on MSNBC's Morning Joe on Thursday.

"More than that, though, the president is severely misguided if he thinks that his demonstration of such a profound lack of morals, his disdain for the stranger among us, is somehow consistent with Jewish values, or the Jews are a monolithic voting bloc. We’re not. And I think you’re going to find Jews rejecting this president and all he stands for in record numbers," he added.

… article continues

1566494019009.png
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...-in-record-numbers/ar-AAGb8iC?ocid=spartanntp
 
Last edited:
Trump's Whiplash Week

President Donald Trump offered a head-spinning range of policy positions this week, contradicting aides and even himself multiple times on gun control, tax cuts and his interest in buying Greenland.


Trump is no stranger to whiplash-inducing policy shifts that leave his aides and congressional allies flat-footed. And it’s well-known that he often parrots the talking points of the last person he talked to on any hot-button issue.

But Trump’s recent reversals were notable for their breakneck pace and their far-reaching impact, as they left lawmakers, foreign leaders and voters scratching their heads.

Below are the most notable comments from Trump and his aides on the evolving views from the White House:

TAX CUTS

Aug. 18:
National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow, pressed on Trump’s left-field promise during the midterms to enact another round of tax cuts for the middle class, says on “Fox News Sunday,” they’re on the table: “We are looking at it. Tax cuts 2.0. We are looking at all that.”

Aug. 19: The Washington Post reports that there is chatter among some in the White House about pursuing a temporary payroll tax cut as a means of juicing the economy. Officially, the White House rejects that suggestion in a statement: “As [National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow] said yesterday, more tax cuts for the American people are certainly on the table, but cutting payroll taxes is not something under consideration at this time.”

Aug. 20: Trump contradicts his aides, confirming to reporters in the Oval Office that he is considering a payroll tax cut, among other things.

“We’ve been talking about indexing for a long time. And many people like indexing, and it can be done very simply, it can be done directly by me. We’ve been looking at that,” he says. “So we’re talking about indexing, and we’re always looking at the capital gains tax, payroll tax. We’re looking at — I would love to do something on capital gains, we’re talking about that, that's a big deal, goes through Congress. Payroll tax is something we think about, and a lot of people would like to see that.”

Aug. 21: Trump reverses himself, telling reporters outside the White House, “I'm not looking at a tax cut now. We don't need it, we have a strong economy. Certainly a payroll tax cut. President Obama did that in order to artificially jack up the economy.”

GUNS

Aug. 5:
A day after back-to-back massacres in Texas and Ohio killed 31 and wounded dozens others, Trump expresses support for “strong background checks,” writing on Twitter that “we cannot let those killed in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, die in vain.”

Aug. 7: Trump reiterates his support for advancing some kind of background check legislation.

“I’m looking to do background checks. I think background checks are important,” he tells reporters, stopping short of calling on Congress to return from its August recess. “I don’t want to put guns into the hands of mentally unstable people or people with rage or hate, sick people. I don’t want to — I’m all in favor of it."

Aug. 9: The president predicts the NRA will fall in line with his call for background checks, telling reporters, “We have tremendous support for really commonsense, sensible, important background checks.”

Aug. 13: Despite his resistance to taking up House-passed background check bills, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell supports strengthening them, Trump claims.

“I believe that Mitch — and I can tell you, from my standpoint, I would like to see meaningful background checks. And I think something will happen.”

Aug. 15: The president begins to retreat from the issue of background checks, pivoting to mental health when asked for a progress update.

“I’ve been speaking to everybody about it. And we don’t want to see crazy people owning guns,” he tells reporters ahead of a campaign rally. “But I also want to remember that mental illness is something nobody wants to talk about. These people are mentally ill and we have to study that also.”

Still, in response to a question about whether he supports universal background checks, Trump says he backs “strong, meaningful background checks.”

Aug. 18: Trump backpedals even more when speaking with reporters on his way back to Washington after an extended stay at his club in Bedminster, N.J.

“Congress is looking at it very strongly. Bipartisan,” he says. However, he adds, “I’m also very, very concerned with the Second Amendment, more so than most presidents would be. People don’t realize we have very strong background checks right now.”

Aug. 20: Trump suggests he would support a more incremental background check bill, stepping back from the sweeping language he’d used even a week earlier and beginning to caution against going down a “slippery slope” of gun control.

“We have very strong background checks now, but we have sort of missing areas, areas that don’t complete the whole circle,” he tells reporters. “And we’re looking at different things. I have to tell you that it is a mental problem — and I’ve said it a hundred times, it is not the gun that pulls the trigger, it is the person that pulls the trigger.”

At some point in the afternoon, according to The Atlantic, Trump calls NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre to inform him that universal background checks are off the table.

Aug. 21: Trump again moderates his background check rhetoric, insisting he still has “an appetite for background checks” and pledging that “we'll be doing background checks. We're working with Democrats. We're working with Republicans. And we already have very strong background checks. But we’re going to be filling in some of the loopholes.”

The president denies telling LaPierre that he no longer plans to pursue the issue, and pushes back against reporters pointing out that his “slippery slope” language echoes the gun lobby’s talking points.

“We have background checks, but there are loopholes in the background checks. That’s what I spoke to the NRA about yesterday,” he argued. “They want to get rid of the loopholes as well as I do. At the same time, I don’t want to take away people’s Second Amendment rights.”

… and throw in Greenland for good measure

POLITICO
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trumps-whiplash-week/ar-AAG8o1t?ocid=spartanntp
Post automatically merged:

What ya got @BuffetGirl????
 
Last edited:
U.S.

Trump's 'Chosen One' Comment and Spat with Denmark Shows His 'Psychotic-Like State' Says Doctor Who First Warned About President's Mental Condition


One of the first psychiatrists who sounded the alarm over Donald Trump's state of mind has expressed renewed concern that the president's recent pronouncements show his cognitive abilities are deteriorating.

This week, Trump canceled a planned state visit to Denmark after the country's prime minister refused to countenance his idea of the U.S. purchasing Greenland, the European nation's autonomous territory. He later described Mette Frederiksen's statement as "nasty."

In addition, under fire for saying Jewish-Americans who vote for Democrats showed a "total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty," a comment criticized as an anti-Semitic trope, Trump shared a message from conspiracy theorist Wayne Allyn Root, who said Israeli Jews love the president like he is "the second coming of God."

Later on Wednesday, Trump appeared to repeat the theme on the south lawn of the White House, where he said he was the "chosen one" in his trade spat with China.

Dr. Lance Dodes, former assistant psychiatry professor at Harvard Medical School, contributed to the book The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump.

When Trump looked toward the heavens and bragged about being "the chosen one," Dodes said it was another example of Trump's grandiosity.

"There's something fundamentally different about him from normal people. It's a psychotic-like state. The more you press him, the more you see how disorganized and empty he is. The more he flies into a disorganized rage.

… full article and videos @link

1566503764308.png
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-mental-illness-king-israel-msnbc-1455644
Post automatically merged:

Trump's contradictions hit a fever pitch

Washington - Something is eating at President Donald Trump.


Another exhausting day of the indefatigable commander in chief's compulsive seizing of the spotlight showed how what once would have been considered outrageous has become Washington routine.

The President had a tantrum at NATO ally Denmark only because it wouldn't sell him Greenland, doubled down on an anti-Semitic trope, basked in the praise of a right-wing conspiracy theorist, helped advance Russian foreign policy, joked he'd like to award himself a Medal of Honor, endorsed a comparison of him to a King and deified himself as a "chosen one."

And in a half hour encounter with the press he lashed out at his favorite target, his predecessor Barack Obama, who has now been in retirement for two-and-half years, more than 20 times -- an outburst of vitriol impressive even for Trump.

Taken together with a barrage of tweets, Trump's day reflected the sheer oddness of his approach to the presidency and his apparent insecurities nearly three years after being elected.

He could have spoken about historically low unemployment and the election promises he has kept to his loyal supporters on conservative judicial nominations, or sought to ease the summer's mood of fear and discord he has done much to foment.

Or if he had nothing to say, he could have said nothing at all.Instead, his bullying, erratic performance suggested a state of mind that is unsettled -- and it may be no coincidence that it follows days of talk about the possibility of a recession that could eject him from office and ebbing poll numbers.

1566506622423.png
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/22/poli...my-guns-republicans-foreign-policy/index.html
 
Last edited:
1566556483152.png


For the first time since the summit began in 1975, world leaders are not expected to issue a joint statement.

Though mostly symbolic in nature, joint communiques had become staples of G-7 gatherings, which over the years have allowed leaders from the U.S., Italy, Japan, France, Germany, Canada and the U.K. to convene in the same room to discuss commerce, climate and foreign policy.

But French President Emmanuel Macron, who hosts this year's session in France beginning on Saturday, announced this week he would not pursue the traditional statement of unity, citing "a very deep crisis of democracy," according to the Financial Times.

Highlighting President Donald Trump, in particular, Macron said at a news conference in Paris this week that the task of issuing a statement has been made more difficult by a lack of agreement on fundamental issues, such as climate change. It would be "pointless" to pursue such a communique because "President Trump won't agree," he said.

The news comes as relationships continue to strain between some of the world's most influential economies. The U.S. has thrown the international trade landscape into disarray by taking on the Chinese economy alone, shaking up the North American Free Trade Agreement and threatening to implement tariffs on European and Canadian goods, among others.

It also comes on the heels of two particularly tense years of meetings between Trump and his international counterparts. In 2017, Trump signaled his intention to walk away from the Paris climate accord. Last year, he balked at signing the G-7 joint communique before tweeting insults at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

"There's no question that there has been a complete realization on the world stage that the U.S. is not playing its traditional role – may never again play the role it's played for 75 years," Jon Alterman, a senior vice president, chairman of global security and geostrategy and director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said on a conference call earlier this week. "But it's unclear what role the United States will play and what the consequences of that might be. And it feels to me like this is a summit where leaders will be trying to work that out."

1566558114201.png
https://www.usnews.com/news/economy...ays-g-7-to-nix-communique-amid-global-tension
 
~ @FrayedKnot ~ … giggle … giggle … giggle But BuffettGirl is highly entertaining. I've never encountered an individual who communicates almost entirely by shit-stain.
Guffaw... Guffaw... Guffaw... So your mirrors are all hung backwards then? Figures. I've never encountered someone so desperate for attention that they spend all day trolling one person with their pent up hate, rage, bitterness and utter inability to cope. Chortle... Chortle... Chortle. :kiss:
 
Everyone who "debates" anything in this thread, is extremely unwell. Glaringly so. It's pretty bad. I don't even agree with either side anymore because they're all extremist views that really have no place in today's society.

Fuck politics. The world needs to reset again. Every day I pray for a giant asteroid the size of Texas.

Okay that might be a little extreme.
 
Judges surprise attorneys for1566669760196.png Trump’s1566669760196.png bankers by asking about his tax returns

Attorneys for Deutsche Bank and Capital One repeatedly refused to tell a federal appeals court Friday whether the banks have President Trump’s tax returns, citing “contractual obligations” for rebuffing the court’s questions.

Trump is appealing a district court ruling that cleared the way for the banks to hand over years of financial records from the president, his three eldest children and the president’s companies to two House committees.

Toward the end of Friday’s hearing, the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit considering the appeal asked the banks’ attorneys whether the documents subject to the subpoenas could potentially include the president’s tax returns.

“I am not asking you for the content" of the returns, Judge Jon O. Newman said.

“We’re not in a position to answer that question,” said Raphael Prober, the attorney for Deutsche Bank, the president’s largest creditor.

“It is a fairly important question in this case,” Newman said.

Prober and Capital One’s attorney, James Murphy, both said “contractual obligations" prevented the banks from answering the judges’ questions.

As the judges appeared to grow frustrated by the attorneys’ resistance, Judge Peter Hall added: “Should we go to court and seek an order? I’m serious. We need to know.”

The banks, which have not publicly taken a position on Trump’s efforts to block the subpoenas, agreed to provide the appeals court a letter within 48 hours addressing the matter, but it was unclear what the letters would specify or whether they would be made public.

The case is part of an escalating fight between Trump and congressional Democrats over the president’s financial records. Trump has broken with decades of precedent by refusing to release his tax returns and has launched a multi-court effort to keep the details of his finances secret.

The House Financial Services and Intelligence committees are pushing the boundaries of their powers to target and embarrass the president, Trump’s attorney Patrick Strawbridge told the court. The subpoenas would sweep up every debit card transaction and check written by Trump, his children and even his grandchildren, he said.

... article continues

The Washington Post
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...ut-his-tax-returns/ar-AAGeBqQ?ocid=spartanntp
Post automatically merged:


Trump ‘hereby’ orders U.S. business out of China. Can he do that?

President
1566677415012.png
Trump’s
1566677421427.png
extraordinary edict demanding U.S. companies move out of China — delivered in a series of angry tweets Friday — left industries of every stripe scrambling to understand how seriously to take the order, and how the White House might enforce it.


Businesses from retail to electronics to home goods, many already under pressure from a months-long U.S.-China trade war, were contacting their industry associations for guidance and awaiting more substantive announcements from the White House.

“I’m trying to keep my cool and not get worried and upset, but it’s becoming hard,” said Magi Raible, founder of LiteGear Bags, a luggage maker based in Vallejo, Calif.

She has a meeting next week with an industry colleague to discuss moving more of her manufacturing from China to India or South Africa, she said.

Congress could terminate the declaration if it wishes, she said.

“Moreover, even if all this happened, it would not provide authority over all of the U.S. investments that have already been made in China,” Hillman said.

Other trade experts said Trump does have powerful tools at his disposal to encourage companies to leave.

They include continuing to hike tariffs on imports from China, as Trump did again on Friday. The White House could also try to punish companies by cutting them out of federal procurement deals, economists said.

... article continues

The Washington Post
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...ina-can-he-do-that/ar-AAGeJra?ocid=spartanntp
Post automatically merged:

Biden says 1566669760196.pngTrump1566669760196.png making America less secure, less respected

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Vice President Joe Biden is criticizing Donald Trump ahead of the president's visit to the Group of Seven summit in France, saying Trump is engaged in an "irrational and self-defeating campaign to make America less secure and less respected in the world."

Biden says Trump's criticism of Denmark and other NATO allies is not only embarrassing but is "making the American people less safe."

The scathing statement from the president's would-be Democratic rival comes hours before Trump's departure for the G7 summit in Biarritz.

Biden is also criticizing Trump for saying he'd be open to re-admitting Russia to the group after its 2014 expulsion over its invasion of Ukraine.

Biden says Trump's "incompetence threatens to permanently reduce America's standing in the world.

Associated Press
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...ure-less-respected/ar-AAGeJBd?ocid=spartanntp

TRUMP
1566669760196.png


 
Last edited:


Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
11:58 PM - Aug 23, 2019



For all of the Fake News Reporters that don’t have a clue as to what the law is relative to Presidential powers, China, etc., try looking at the Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. Case closed!
1566679108713.png
Trump
1566679117284.png
says he can order US firms out of China because of this law


Grab your gavel. The case is closed. Or so said Donald Trump in a tweet last night, ahead of today’s G7 summit in France, explaining what gives him power to order US companies to “start looking for an alternative to China,” as he did yesterday in an earlier tweet.

The law he cites is designed for pariah states, not trade partners. US Code Title 50, chapter 35, addresses “war and national defense” and it “may only be exercised to deal with an unusual and extraordinary threat with respect to which a national emergency has been declared.” The law also provides that the president must consult with Congress “in every possible instance…before exercising any of the authorities granted by this chapter and shall consult regularly with the Congress so long as such authorities are exercised.”

In other words, the case isn’t quite closed for at least a couple of reasons. First, Trump would have to consult with Congress, which he doesn’t appear to have done, and representatives may not see the need for declaring a national emergency. While the president has made it clear that he believes in expansive executive powers, it’s not yet evident that Trump can be the plaintiff, prosecutor, judge, and jury when deciding legal issues with severe economic and geopolitical implications.

Second, if the president wasn’t so quick to tweet national policy, the situation wouldn’t be so severe, giving rise to the question—is he the national emergency? Yesterday, for example, Trump fired off a series of tweets announcing that he was hiking tariffs on Chinese products (even after his aides had just saved Christmas from the president’s policies by delaying increases to ensure a merry American holiday).
Post automatically merged:
 
Last edited:
Mon dieu! Donald Trump arrives at G7 summit in France amid tensions and threats

BIARRITZ, France – Fears of a global recession and a mélange of other troubling issues awaited President Donald Trump and other leaders of the world’s most industrialized economies as they arrived on Saturday at a seaside resort village in southwest France for their annual G-7 summit.

Economists are warning that the world’s biggest economies, including the U.S., Britain and Germany, are in danger of falling into recession. Tensions are high in the Middle East amid Iran’s seizure of foreign ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz. Disputes over trade and climate change continue to test the G-7 leaders’ desire for unity.

And then there’s Trump, who has stoked divisions within the group.

Just last month, Trump touched off a transcontinental contretemps with French President Emmanuel Macron over France’s new digital services tax that has angered American tech giants such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft. Trump threatened to retaliate by – mon dieu! – slapping tariffs on imported French wines. He repeated the threat Friday night before departing the White House for France.

The tariff threat prompted a response from European Union Council President Donald Tusk, who told reporters Saturday “If the U.S. imposes tariffs on France, the E.U. will respond in kind."

USA Today https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...riff-threats-follow-president-g-7/2066397001/

1566737036401.png


When the Russian bear has you by the scruff of the neck because he already has your balls.
 
Last edited:
The Russia Collusion hoax is over. The Mueller Report a bust. Be Elsa, let it go.... or don't, this rank desperation is amusing too.
 
Trump's aides are reportedly seething over the French president's handling of the G7 summit

President Donald Trump publicly lavished praise on French President Emmanuel Macron, even as his aides fumed over France's handling of the G7 Summit, according to multiple reports.

Though Trump boasted of his and Macron's "special relationship" during a private lunch at the start of the summit, his aides reportedly believe that the French organized the event in such a way as to antagonize the United States by focusing on "niche issues" at the expense of economic ones.

Bloomberg News reported that US officials have privately accused Macron of trying to isolate Trump by focusing much of the discussions on climate change, a topic over which Trump is at odds with his fellow world leaders.

The New York Times similarly reported that senior administration officials believe that Macron was appeasing his domestic audience by focusing on climate change, income and gender equality, and African development.

The Americans, on the other hand, had anticipated focusing more on national security and a potential economic slowdown.

US officials told Bloomberg they believed the French were tying to embarrass Trump on issues like climate change, though a French official also told the news outlet that ignoring climate change was not an option.

Business Insider


1566748178664.png



Mirror, Mirror on the wall... Whose the most Kingly of them all?
 
Last edited:
Back
Top