This lends support to my theory that yesterdayâs presser was bad for Trump. He didnât just get caught on this issue, but also on the burden borne by federal workers, Mexico paying for the wall, his claim that he can unilaterally declare a national emergency to build the wall, his lack of concern for any of it, and his unwillingness to offer the Dems anything for âwallâ.
Where I think the post-game analysis of this presser is hurting him more is that he didnât tell the truth in any statement. It was all riddled with lies and Nielsen is already getting called out for that. You canât make a deal with someone who simply lies all the time. Trumpâs goal is not to build a wall but to keep a fight up about the wall as distraction against the investigations and also as his platform for 2020.
Drumpfâs partner in Crime is McConnell. Just thought I would mention it.
Again
So would anyone like to explain to me why top administration officials were slated to get a raise in the first place?
And, according to the WaPo, Pence has been sent to negotiate today, but without any actual authority or the ability to accept anything less than the $5.8 billion demanded by Trump. What the hell is the point of this charade? You know itâs not serious when he didnât bring âMotherâ along.
Chiselinâ Trump: âIâll explain it for you. Itâs because my administration âhad the most successful first two years of any president.ââ
Comrade Putin is much pleased. Bonus money for all!
Bingo.
It serves McConnell as well, because the GOP Senate is in investigative jeopardy. In fact, in terms of exposure to prosecution, McConnell is in even greater danger than Drumpf. There are less obstacles to prosecution of U.S. Senators.
Even reptilian ones.
âBoys, weâre going to hold off on the raises. Youâll have to get by on your ludicrously bloated salaries that you have not earned for a while longer. Optics yâknow.â
Bell boys in the Bahamas will see a decrease in their tips for the next 6 weeks.
This sounds entirely illegal, and the sort of distasteful action which we should all object to.
The law is that they get the raises. Congress hasnât overwritten the basic law, theyâve just frozen the levels each year.
That expired, therefore the raises HAVE to go ahead.
Yes, ideally they wouldnât be getting raises, but declaring that an agency will not follow Federal law is something out of Turkey or Russia. Congress makes the laws, agencies implement.
I thought it was because he hired only the best people, and they deserve more than the rest of us, obviously!
Just add it to the impeachment count, weâll deal with it laterâŚ
I have to say that I am unsure how to read the tea leaves here. Trump is clearly inhabiting an alternate universe where he has taken Pence, McCarthy, Scalise and Nielsen. He has demonstrated that he is dominated by Limbaugh and Coulter; which serves him not at all with anyone but their narrow audiences. It is interesting that Limbaughâs much vaunted audience is smaller than Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Marketplace; a point never mentioned. Many news organizations, like the Post and Times, have been clear that Trumpâs two major appearances this week (Cabinet Meeting and Rose Garden shows) were pretty wild sprays of lies, falsehoods, claims with no basis, and general meanness. Trumpâs lack of empathy is well know and was on display again about government workers; shocking, I know, but still real and disgusting. His plain lying about the border is also egregious; I was not surprised but shocked to hear Lankford claim there is a crisis at the border, knowing, I am sure, that numbers are down substantially and that overstayed visas are a larger issue. More to the point, all of them seem to have missed the economic message that at 3.8/3.9% unemployment we are in a labor demand condition that cannot be met. Companies are unable to hire the workers and talent they need to grow. Reducing or shutting off the flow of immigrants, since the American birth rate is so low, will have a long term negative effect on industries of all kinds. Most particularly, health care will be and is heavily impacted as they draw from across the talent spectrum from highly education and specialized, to manual labor and minimal training. Thus this whole fight will damage the economy. There is no question that no manufacturer wants to bring production home, or increase production because there are not sufficient workers. This is a very, very serious issue for the country, critical in the MidWest and NorthEast.
So, where does that leave Trump? Another Pyrrhic victory, like tax cuts and health care where the damage done is far, far greater than the gains for anyone save the very wealthy.
All this needs to be said clearly by strong voices in politics and the media. There are in some portion of the electorate alternate views of reality, as there will be, that sim8ply do not see these issues or are inflated from the risks. For them there is a luxury of purityâthey ca want a life that caters to their whims, or, and this is a hard one to understand, they are affected by everything so this is just one other thing and could represent a small victory for little thinkingââhurt them so its goodâ.
Where does this go? I am afraid that this issue and all of Trumpâs fantasies will have to end in severe pain for a large number of people and companies because he cannot hear anyone but himself. Until the streets are full of people saying with their bodies that they cannot take this any more I worry that we will have to absorb more pain.
LOL
Like Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, it is another âunnecessary by product of the shut downâ and totally the result of the Democrats forcing Trump to crap his pants and acquiesce to Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and the other wingnuts. The Democrats caused the raises. Get with the program. Read the Memo.
Federal agencies have been directed to hold off enacting pay raises for top administration officials during a government shutdown that has left hundreds of thousands of federal workers without pay.
The guidance was issued Friday in a memo from Margaret Weichert, the acting director of the Office of Personnel Management.
bookmarking
Someone please talk me out of this pool of vomit and off this ledge:
I just came across a video by Dinesh DâSouza called âDeath of Americaâ. The cover is a photoshopped Abraham Lincoln merged to Trumpâs face. As Iâm currently listening to Team of Rivals, Iâm just appalled that anyone, anyone, could accept this idea, commission, print job, publicity campaign, or anything involved with it.
Apparently itâs hugely successful in Trump country.
Impecunious top administration officials and Vice President? Too bad, oh so sad! 
I was wondering what was going to happen with this. Bad optics, obviously.
Why donât these bloated carcasses spend a few hours volunteering to clean up trash in the national mall or some parks? It would be a better use of their time than what they are (not) doing now.
You could RTFA.