The US Presidency 2019

[Remius]

>I will have Mexico pay for that wall.

Rumour has it he will rename "DoD" to "Mexico" by executive action.  Et voila.

Ha!  That works too.

 

[brihard]

That is a tired old canard. There's lot's of way of making people pay and there is absolutely no doubt Mexico has been paying big time.

Yes there is.

The US had a $63b trade deficit with Mexico at the end of 2016. That increased to a $69b trade deficit by the end of 2017, and an $80b trade deficit by the end of 2018. So far every month in 2019 for which there is data shows that the US trade deficit with Mexico continues to grow quickly, and as of the end of May America has $10b more trade deficit than it did in the first five months of 2018. So not only is the trade deficit increasing, but the rate of trade deficit growth is accelerating.

Source: https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c2010.html

In addition to trade in goods and services, Rrmittances from the US to Mexico also hit a record high of $33b in 2018, up more than 10% from the year before. You’ll recall, I’m sure, that Trump threatened taxation of remittances to strongarm the Mexican government into paying for his wall. Doesn’t look like he followed through on that any more than his claim he could tackle the trade deficit to fund it.

Source: https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/remittances-hit-a-new-record-high/

So it looks like Mexico continues to come out very much ahead over the US in both trade and non-trade cash flows. Facts do not appear to be in your favour on this one.

“I’m gonna build a wall and Mexico will pay for it” was not a sound byte; it was a core position of his platform. The only part you got right is that such pledges are now ‘stale and debunked’. Failing to achieve something doesn’t make the promises made suddenly not count.

 

[tomahawk6]

Most people care that a wall is built no matter what it takes. If Congress stonewalls the public will know the cause. If it were me I would have levied a tax on remittances and that could still happen. That alone wont pay for the wall but it would help. Getting more US companies to move plants back to the US would also help.

 

[PPCLI Guy]

Most people care that a wall is built no matter what it takes. If Congress stonewalls the public will know the cause. If it were me I would have levied a tax on remittances and that could still happen. That alone wont pay for the wall but it would help. Getting more US companies to move plants back to the US would also help.

Let's unpack this:

Most people

 

As in a majority?  Ascertained in some sort of verifiable manner?  Or the Trumpian "most people / a lot of people" manner?  The Spicer counting method?

If Congress stonewalls the public will know the cause

 

They have already stonewalled (only wall they like) multiple times.....with A republican House as well with a Democratic House.  And the public already knows that.  The public voted for those representatives.....

If it were me I would have levied a tax on remittances and that could still happen

 

Why not a Head Tax.  That would work too - indeed it has in the past.

Getting more US companies to move plants back to the US would also help

I thought Republicans were all about small government and less intervention in markets.  That smacks of interventionist if not socialist (albeit nationalist socialist) policies to me.  Can't have it both ways. 

 

[mariomike]

Most people care that a wall is built no matter what it takes.

Most people did not vote for him even when he promised, "I will have Mexico pay for that wall."

What he described as a concrete wall during his election campaign is now simply "a barrier".

Throughout his campaign he described his vision of a concrete wall, 30 to 50 feet high and covering 1,000 miles of the 1,900 mile border, with the rest of the border being secured by natural barriers. After taking office he suggested a "steel wall with openings"; starting in 2018 he referred to it as a "steel slat barrier".

In today's news. Regarding the young man in the MAGA hat,

A federal judge on Friday dismissed a multi-million dollar defamation lawsuit against The Washington Post over its coverage of an interaction between a Kentucky high school student and a Native American activist on the National Mall, which gained national attention after the video went viral.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/26/washington-post-covington-high-school-student-defamation-case-dismissed-1437881

 

[Journeyman]

Let's unpack this:

Getting more US companies to move plants back to the US would also help

Many of these companies moved operations out of the US because Trump arbitrarily applied sanctions against many of the US' allies and trading partners;  these countries responded with counter-tariffs and -sanctions.  In order to stay in business, companies moved to more economically rational countries.

People with their MAGA hats on sideways can claim that Bernie Sanders is some crazy socialist, but believing that businesses owe  American workers jobs IS socialism.

 

[FJAG]

"The American people like to be humbugged." P.T. Barnum.

;D

 

[FJAG]

Sorry for the double post but this needed telling:

Dan Coats to leave post as director of national intelligence as Trump selects Rep. John Ratcliffe as replacement
By Gregg Re | Fox News

President Trump on Sunday announced that Texas GOP Rep. John Ratcliffe, a staunch White House ally, will replace Dan Coats as director of national intelligence (DNI), following months of speculation and public spats between the president and the intelligence community.

"I am pleased to announce that highly respected Congressman John Ratcliffe of Texas will be nominated by me to be the Director of National Intelligence," Trump wrote.

...

See rest of article here:

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dan-coats-dni-director-national-intelligence-expected-resign

and also here:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/28/politics/dan-coats-national-intelligence-director/index.html

:cheers:

 

[Retired AF Guy]

    Dan Coats to leave post as director of national intelligence as Trump selects Rep. John Ratcliffe as replacement
    By Gregg Re | Fox News

    President Trump on Sunday announced that Texas GOP Rep. John Ratcliffe, a staunch White House ally, will replace Dan Coats as director of national intelligence (DNI), following months of speculation and public spats between the president and the intelligence community.

    "I am pleased to announce that highly respected Congressman John Ratcliffe of Texas will be nominated by me to be the Director of National Intelligence," Trump wrote.

So another Trump lapdog as the head intelligence guru. What could go wrong?

 

[brihard]

So another Trump lapdog as the head intelligence guru. What could go wrong?

Drain that swamp!

 

[Remius]

Drain that swamp!

He own land in a swamp in Florida.  Maybe he just wants to add to it.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/25/donald-trump-florida-property-sebring

 

[Fishbone Jones]

He own land in a swamp in Florida.  Maybe he just wants to add to it.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/25/donald-trump-florida-property-sebring

More than two years old, from 2017.
It could go under the heading 'How to keep people with nothing better to do, busy"

 

[tomahawk6]

The real SWAMP creature is Christopher Wray. There has to be someone decent to be FBI Director.

 

[Journeyman]

The real SWAMP creature is Christopher Wray. There has to be someone decent to be FBI Director.

Don't worry, since the FBI has had EIGHT Directors since 2017 so far, I'm sure plenty of people will get a chance until they get to the bottom of the barrel.

… you know, like appointing someone completely unqualified to be the Director of National Intelligence.  :

 

[Remius]

Don't worry, since the FBI has had EIGHT Directors since 2017 so far, I'm sure plenty of people will get a chance until they get to the bottom of the barrel.

… you know, like appointing someone completely unqualified to be the Director of National Intelligence.  :

Simple.  Just change the qualification requirements.  Seems to work for this POTUS right now.  Jared is bringing peace to the middle east, Ivanka is, well, Ivanking.

Basically if you are actually qualified you will just get in the way so qualified pers need not apply.

 

[Journeyman]

Simple.

Don't forget the "sarcasm" emoji;  otherwise some people will take it as endorsing the current 'thinking.'

 

[FJAG]

:not-again:

Trump directs Navy to rescind medals for Eddie Gallagher's prosecutors
By Andrew O'Reilly | Fox News

President Trump on Wednesday directed the Navy to rescind medals that had been awarded to the lawyers who prosecuted Edward "Eddie" Gallagher, just weeks after a jury in San Diego found the Navy SEAL not guilty on six of seven charges for his connection to the killing of a teenage Islamic State member in Iraq.

“The Prosecutors who lost the case against SEAL Eddie Gallagher (who I released from solitary confinement so he could fight his case properly), were ridiculously given a Navy Achievement Medal,” Trump tweeted. “Not only did they lose the case, they had difficulty with respect to information that may have been obtained from opposing lawyers and for giving immunity in a totally incompetent fashion."

The president added: “I have directed the Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer & Chief of Naval Operations John Richardson to immediately withdraw and rescind the awards.”

Navy officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the case, said the Navy secretary is authorized to pull such awards and would be doing so.

Three lieutenants -- George O. Hageman, Brian P. John and Scott I. McDonald -- and a female officer whose name and rank were redacted by the Navy received Navy Achievement Medals just eight days after Gallagher was found not guilty on all but one charge.
...

See rest of article here:

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-calls-for-navy-to-rescind-medals-for-eddie-gallaghers-prosecutors

:brickwall:

 

[Cloud Cover]

The sad thing is, if the Democrats do not get their crap together and come up with a candidate less crazy, he could win again. 

 

[mariomike]

The sad thing is, if the Democrats do not get their crap together and come up with a candidate less crazy, he could win again.

That's a pretty low bar. He's ranked at the absolute bottom of the list of every man who ever got the job since George Washington.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_presidents_of_the_United_States#Scholar_survey_results

Simple.  Just change the qualification requirements.  Seems to work for this POTUS right now.  Jared is bringing peace to the middle east, Ivanka is, well, Ivanking.

Basically if you are actually qualified you will just get in the way so qualified pers need not apply.

They are the only ones with guaranteed job security. Well, maybe Jared not so much. 

 

[kkwd]

That's a pretty low bar. He's ranked at the absolute bottom of the list of every man who ever got the job since George Washington.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_presidents_of_the_United_States#Scholar_survey_results

The tables in this wiki page are done from number 1 to 45, by time in office. Most of the polls at the end are old and don't even include Trump.