President Trump: The NEW one and only politics thread

She may be someone's idea of the face of the Democratic party but Pelosi has still slapped her down when necessary.

 

Also, AOC is getting blamed for helping deep-six the Amazon facility proposed for Long Beach City:

Cuomo slams Ocasio-Cortez, others, as Amazon ditches New York

AOC also was way too happy with her tweets gloating over Amazon's decision. But she may have pissed off some taxpayers and voters who might have needed a job.

 

Back in the day, they said messing with Social Security was the third rail of politics, you touch it - you die. This administration - and their accomplices in Congress have completely jumped the tracks, there is zero restraint whether it is the courts, the media (they listen to and actually think is factual), or the voters. As bad as Trump is - don't think for a second that the next Republican - indeed scores of future Republican members of Congress - won't think that THIS is how it is done. When common sense, facts, legal authority or wisdom don't seem to get in the way - the potential for mayhem is wide open. I'm thinking the big takeaway from the Trump Presidency is that he was great - he just tweeted too much.

 

Karma. This is the twat who described Michelle Obama as "an ape in heels".

UPDATE: Former Clay Co. development director pleads guilty to embezzling more than $18K in FEMA flood benefits

 

Burr's "We found no evidence of collusion" may come back and bite him. While the Senate Committee has been better than the House under Nunes, it looks like Burr has very selective vision and memory. The Senate Committee has been ducking evidence and refusing to ask questions under Burr as well.


"Some Democratic aides were also confused by Burr’s recent claim that a key witness in the probe, the former British spy Christopher Steele, had not responded to the committee’s attempts to engage with him. In fact, Steele submitted written answers to the panel last August, two people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss the investigation told me.

The Senate’s subpoena for his testimony was dropped shortly thereafter—indicating that the senators were satisfied enough with his responses that they weren’t planning to compel further testimony."

Solid article.

Russia Investigation: Senate Probe Faces Critical Point - The Atlantic

 

Homelessness is a national emergency. Therefore, the president can seize assets from the wealthy 1 % and give it to the homeless.

Healthcare is a national emergency. Therefore, the president can order insurance companies to cover any treatment.

Overcrowding is a national emergency. Therefore, the president can order pregnant women to have abortions.

Hey, this is fun.

 

Sort of.

She was one of many local lawmakers and activists who thought the city and the state were giving away too many concessions trying to lure Amazon to Queens.

The negotiating process for which took place largely in secret, outside the normal channels for large development debates in the city. Cuomo and de Blasio tried to end-run the usual process arguments locally and up in Albany.

Saying 'jobs' oversimplifies what was at stake. Housing, tax revenue, infrastructure, environmental consequences, union/nonunion labor questions.

Cities like San Francisco and the San Jose / Palo Alto work corridor are a favorite target for conservative criticism when it comes to things like quality of life and expense and crowding, but when New York says no to a big corporate giveaway, all anyone can seem to say is 'jobs.'

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...witter_impression=true&utm_term=.51756f220c44

Amazon’s Retreat on New York City Headquarters Followed Unexpected Backlash

 

It's almost like the right wing doesn't actually have any principles except MONEY GOOD! (but only my money) and ABORTION BAD! (but not when politicians or my rich kid need them).

 

Nothing happens, has ever happened, or will happen in New York City without an accompanying political brouhaha. Amazon had to know this. My suspicion is that plain old economic factors emerged that deep-sixed the deal (no idea what they might be, but how do we get 25,000 employees on the goddamn 7 train might be one) with the company happy to let pols take the blame.

 

Interesting take:

"Who is Richard Burr, Really? Why the Public Can't Trust His Voice on the Russia Probe"

https://www.justsecurity.org/62573/...ip-senates-russia-investigation-disintegrate/

 

I'm not sure Amazon did. Or does.

It's one of those postmodern internet giants who pictures itself standing outside the laws of political physics. Certainly anything as parochial and Byzantine as NYC business development requires an extraordinary level of local awareness and some plugged-in fixers, and I'm not sure Amazon ever really did its homework.

In fact this whole process, in which Bezos drags his $100 bill through a series of trailer parks to see who jumps, is pretty indicative of his billionaire belief that no one nowhere could refuse a huge headache like Amazon "HQ" sub-2a.

Lotta hubris there.

I'd be happy to see them go someplace that really needs the jobs and the development. Ferguson, Mo. East St. Louis. Detroit. Buffalo. Cleveland.