The Rose Garden and White House happenings: Listening to voters’ concerns

some people think the president is responsible for job creation or the rise in the stock market.  So "wanting him to fail" generally means having the economy go in the tank.  I want the economy to be strong, I don't want the country to be attacked or end up in some disastrous wars. So in that sense, I suppose that would be Trump "succeeding."
But I don't want him to succeed at building his stupid wall, or destroying the health insurance market so that the ACA will "implode," or implementing his Muslim immigration ban, or in selling off national park land for mining, or opening up the coasts to oil drilling, or any of the other awful stuff he's trying to do.

ml1 said:

some people think the president is responsible for job creation or the rise in the stock market.

While the market has been helped due regulations being rolled back and increased corporate profits they are hoping for due to the tax cut, the 2017 economy ran under Obama "rules."

That is, the 2017 Federal budget was set when Obama was president. The Federal reserve chair and many members are Obama appointees.

We'll see in 2018 and onwards the results from Trump. It will be Trump's budget. Federal reserve policies will shift with Trump's appointment of a new chair and others next month.

LOST said:

Maybe it's not his mind. Maybe it's his heart. Did the Doctor find one?

Being able to pass that test is no sign of mental health.

BG9, the IMF reckons in the short term there will some global benefit from those tax cuts. Longer term, no. 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-23/trumps-company-tax-cuts-credited-with-global-growth:-imf/9352528

Apple’s billions surely will be a shot in the arm, and with other corporations lining up, the business stimulus will do just that.

mtierney said:

Apple’s billions surely will be a shot in the arm, and with other corporations lining up, the business stimulus will do just that.

Yeah, but Apple's CEO is on the record saying that they were going to do most of what they are doing even if the tax bill hadn't passed.  

You can claim that you made it rain but that doesn't mean you actually did.

David Brooks pretty much nails it today! Identity politicking is a slippery slope.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/opinion/democrats-daca-shutdown.html?ref=todayspaper

mtierney said:

David Brooks pretty much nails it today! Identity politicking is a slippery slope.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/opinion/democrats-daca-shutdown.html?ref=todayspaper

From the article: "The Republicans are led by a bigoted, incompetent president whose approval ratings are near historic lows."

As for the rest of it, Brooks is notoriously squeamish about acknowledging the effects and, indeed, even the existence of racism at the societal level.  An awful lot is going to hinge on turning out "minority voters" in the coming election and, in that cause, one of the Dem's most powerful weapon will continue to be your bigoted, incompetent president.

Klinker said:

mtierney said:

David Brooks pretty much nails it today! Identity politicking is a slippery slope.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/opinion/democrats-daca-shutdown.html?ref=todayspaper

From the article: "The Republicans are led by a bigoted, incompetent president whose approval ratings are near historic lows."

As for the rest of it, Brooks is notoriously squeamish about acknowledging the effects and, indeed, even the existence of racism at the societal level.  An awful lot is going to hinge on turning out "minority voters" in the coming election and, in that cause, one of the Dem's most powerful weapon will continue to be your bigoted, incompetent president.

If you read the whole article you would find that Brooks acknowledges the effects and the existence of racism at the societal level.

mtierney said:

David Brooks pretty much nails it today! Identity politicking is a slippery slope.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/opinion/democrats-daca-shutdown.html?ref=todayspaper

we can talk about the politics of this, and the "optics" but the reality is that it's unconscionably cruel to threaten to deport the people affected by DACA.  It's actually pretty depressing that it appears no one is discussing this in terms of the the incredible meanness on display here by Republicans.  

Maybe you should look at the qualifications for DACA and explain why you think it would be detrimental to the U.S. for these young people to stay in the country.  

https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-daca

ml1 said:
 

mtierney said:

David Brooks pretty much nails it today! Identity politicking is a slippery slope.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/opinion/democrats-daca-shutdown.html?ref=todayspaper

we can talk about the politics of this, and the "optics" but the reality is that it's unconscionably cruel to threaten to deport the people affected by DACA.  It's actually pretty depressing that it appears no one is discussing this in terms of the the incredible meanness on display here by Republicans.  

Maybe you should look at the qualifications for DACA and explain why you think it would be detrimental to the U.S. for these young people to stay in the country.  

https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-daca

Also, dismissing support for DACA as "identity politics" says a lot about anti-DACA motives.

I keep having to learn these new terms. "Identity politics".

When Lyndon Johnson pushed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was that "identity politics"? Is the "me too" movement "identity politics"? When the Republicans promise the "middle class' tax cuts is that "identity politics"? How about when Trump tells out-of-work coal miners that he will bring back coal mining jobs? 

LOST
How about when Trump tells out-of-work coal miners that he will bring back coal mining jobs? 

While destroying solar jobs.

All politics are identity politics.  It's just another empty term.

bettyd said:

All politics are identity politics.  It's just another empty term.

Right.  Isn't that the meaning of the stock phrase "all politics are local"?

I was positively shocked to read:https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/us/politics/immigration-wall-mexico-schumer-senate.html?ref=todayspaper

Schumer actually agreed to include wall building in his capitulation to Republicans over the government closing ploy. What Dems really need to do is get rid of Schumer and the incoherent Pelosi. If they ever had mojo, they’ve lost it.

mtierney said:

Schumer actually agreed to include wall building in his capitulation to Republicans over the government closing ploy. 

So it's not negotiation or bipartisanship anymore? It's "capitulation?"

dave23 said:

mtierney said:

Schumer actually agreed to include wall building in his capitulation to Republicans over the government closing ploy. 

So it's not negotiation or bipartisanship anymore? It's "capitulation?"

Bill Maher asked the other day why the Dems don't just fund the stupid wall. Because it won't get built anyway.  Maher is right, Trump's wall is now apparently going to be a wall, a fence, and in some places gaps.

BG9 said:

ml1 said:

some people think the president is responsible for job creation or the rise in the stock market.

While the market has been helped due regulations being rolled back and increased corporate profits they are hoping for due to the tax cut, the 2017 economy ran under Obama "rules."

That is, the 2017 Federal budget was set when Obama was president. The Federal reserve chair and many members are Obama appointees.

We'll see in 2018 and onwards the results from Trump. It will be Trump's budget. Federal reserve policies will shift with Trump's appointment of a new chair and others next month.

We're now seeing the Trump nomination of a proven wrong economist to the Fed.

As I said, the new Fed budget (with its consequent Fed financial priorities) and the new Trump Fed reserve will show us in from 2018 on the real effect of Trump on the economy.

And so today we have Marvin Goodfriend, nominated to the Fed board, simply refusing to answer questions about why he thought inflation was about to explode and reducing unemployment was impossible:

After the crisis, Mr. Goodfriend repeatedly criticized the Fed’s stimulus campaign as likely to generate inflation rather than economic revival. He told Bloomberg in 2012 it was “really doubtful” the Fed could reduce unemployment, which was then hovering above 8 percent, to 7 percent. Furthermore, he said, even if the Fed succeeded in doing so, “it would give rise to rising inflation in the next few years, which would be disastrous for the economy.”

Wrong, wrong, wrong. But it seems that is what it takes to be a Trump nominee.

The Durability of Inflation BS

I think what Schumer did is from "Art of the Deal".

mtierney said:

I was positively shocked to read:https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/us/politics/immigration-wall-mexico-schumer-senate.html?ref=todayspaper

Schumer actually agreed to include wall building in his capitulation to Republicans over the government closing ploy. What Dems really need to do is get rid of Schumer and the incoherent Pelosi. If they ever had mojo, they’ve lost it.

I do have to say that it is a bit rich for members of an all white party that is dedicated to promoting white supremacy to complain about identity politics.

Schumer is negotiating the wall for DACA citizenship. 

Has Schumer been negotiating with the Mexicans? They are the ones who are going to pay for the Wall.

Meanwhile, which one of these is not like the others?

Trump
Franken
Meehan
Farenthold

https://t.co/0cU1IijE2f

HRC was consistent over the decades. Seems she needed to break a few other ceilings, before the glass one.

Can someone precis this for those of us who don't have subscriptions?

Burns Strider, Hillary Clinton’s faith adviser (of course he was) on her 2008 campaign, a co-founder of the American Values Network (yup, that's right) was accused of sexual harassment by another member of the staff.  Instead of firing him, Clinton had him docked several weeks pay and made him attend counseling.  The accuser was assigned another job with the campaign.

My opinion -- today, this would be unacceptable. He would have ben fired.  Nearly a decade ago, fining someone and sending him to counseling was probably a more common response.  I'm not certain why it's an important enough story to make the NYT.  Maybe it's just -- But, Hillary!

ml1 said:

Burns Strider, Hillary Clinton’s faith adviser (of course he was) on her 2008 campaign, a co-founder of the American Values Network (yup, that's right) was accused of sexual harassment by another member of the staff.  Instead of firing him, Clinton had him docked several weeks pay and made him attend counseling.  The accuser was assigned another job with the campaign.

My opinion -- today, this would be unacceptable. He would have ben fired.  Nearly a decade ago, fining someone and sending him to counseling was probably a more common response.  I'm not certain why it's an important enough story to make the NYT.  Maybe it's just -- But, Hillary!

Thanks. He sounds like a douche. They totally should have fired him.

The article in part shows him working as recently as 2016 for Clinton...

WASHINGTON — A senior adviser to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign who was accused of repeatedly sexually harassing a young subordinate was kept on the campaign at Mrs. Clinton’s request, according to four people familiar with what took place.

Mrs. Clinton’s campaign manager at the time recommended that she fire the adviser, Burns Strider. But Mrs. Clinton did not. Instead, Mr. Strider was docked several weeks of pay and ordered to undergo counseling, and the young woman was moved to a new job.

Mr. Strider, who was Mrs. Clinton’s faith adviser, a co-founder of the American Values Network, and sent the candidate scripture readings every morning for months during the campaign, was hired five years later to lead an independent group that supported Mrs. Clinton’s 2016 candidacy, Correct the Record, which was created by a close Clinton ally, David Brock.

He was fired after several months for workplace issues, including allegations that he harassed a young female aide, according to three people close to Correct the Record’s management.

Klinker said:

I do have to say that it is a bit rich for members of an all white party that is dedicated to promoting white supremacy to complain about identity politics.

Too funny