February 23, 2017

Trump Waste Of Taxpayer Money Sets A New Record With 4th Weekend Trip To Florida

Source: PoliticusUSA, by Jason Easley

President Trump will once again spend the weekend at his Florida private club, as his 4th straight taxpayer funded trip will set a record by spending more money on travel in a month than former President Obama spent in a year.

Ken Vogel of Politico reported that Trump is heading back to Palm Beach, FL to meet with donors, “The party’s biggest donors are gathering in Palm Beach for a retreat organized by the Republican National Committee, and the president has been announced as the featured speaker, according to people with knowledge of the plans. A number of senior administration officials will also attend the retreat, the people familiar with the planning said, a key draw for the donors.”

Taxpayers will now be paying for Donald Trump and senior administration officials to meet with Republican donors in Florida. It is not a coincidence that the RNC is holding the donor retreat on the weekend in the same city as Trump’s private club.

When makes President Trump makes his fourth trip to his club in Florida, he will have spent more money on those trips alone ($13 million) than former President Obama spent during an entire year on travel ($12.1 million).

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Read the rest at: http://www.politicususa.com/2017/02/23/trump-waste-taxpayer-money-sets-record-4th-weekend-trip-florida.html

February 23, 2017

"Get Out" Trailer

Epic sign of the times?

http://www.thewrap.com/get-out-raves-9-reasons-critics-say-you-shouldnt-miss-jordan-peeles-scary-movie/

February 23, 2017

Rep. Martha Roby (R) meets face to face with her constituents!

"not that there's anything wrong with that..."



https://twitter.com/RepMarthaRoby/status/834168444350251008

February 22, 2017

"In the 34 days so far, we've counted 133 false or misleading claims."

Day 34 of pathological liar.

Source: Washington Post Fact Checker Analysis

Since his presidential campaign, Trump was asked repeatedly to address anti-Semitic incidents and other racial or religious harassment incidents. As The Fix blog found, many of his answers left something to be desired.

A brief history of Donald Trump addressing questions about racism and anti-Semitism

February 21, 2017

Donald Trumps unbroken streak of falsehoods now stands at 33 days

Source: Washington Post, by Chris Cillizza

Donald Trump has been president for all or part of 33 days. He has averaged four falsehoods or misleading statements a day(!) in that time. There hasn't been a single day of Trump's presidency in which he has said nothing false or misleading.

That data, which comes from a terrific new project from The Post's Fact Checker that seeks to document Trump's statements in the first 100 days of his presidency, is stunning. This chart, in particular, stood out to me:



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What this Fact Checker project affirms is that Trump has changed nothing in his approach to the truth since being elected president. During the course of the campaign, nearly two-thirds of his claims that The Post's fact-checking team looked into were rated Four Pinocchios — meaning that they were found to be totally and completely false. By comparison, 14 percent of Clinton's fact-checked statements received four Pinocchios.

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Read it all at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/02/21/donald-trumps-unbroken-streak-of-falsehoods-now-stands-at-33-days/?utm_term=.5e62a00ba5d1

February 20, 2017

Florida Man: Trump spends 25% of first month in SunshineState

Those who know him best...


More at: http://postonpolitics.blog.mypalmbeachpost.com/2017/02/20/florida-man-trump-spends-25-of-first-month-in-sunshine-state/

February 19, 2017

Trump is putting on a great circus, but what about his promises? (ICYMI)

Source: Washington Post, by Fareed Zakaria

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The first few weeks of President Trump’s administration have been an illustration of writer Alfred Montapert’s adage, “Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress.” We are witnessing a rocking-horse presidency in which everyone is jerking back and forth furiously, yet there is no forward movement.

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On Thursday, Trump said at a news conference, “There has never been a presidency that’s done so much in such a short period of time.” Matthew Yglesias of Vox observes that at this point in his presidency, Barack Obama had signed into law an almost-trillion-dollar stimulus bill to revive the economy, extended health insurance to 4 million children and made it easier to challenge discriminatory labor practices. In their respective first 100 days in office, FiveThirtyEight calculates, Bill Clinton had passed 24 bills; John Kennedy, 26; Harry Truman, 55; and FDR, 76.

Despite having a Republican House and Senate, Trump does not seem likely to crack 10 in his first 100 days. Yglesias notes that the Trump White House has not even begun serious discussions with Congress on major legislation. According to The Post, of the 696 positions that require Senate confirmation, the president has yet to nominate 661 of them.

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Historian Douglas Brinkley recently observed that Trump is a creature of reality television, for which the two cardinal rules are: Always keep the cameras focused on you, and always stay interesting. The president has certainly fulfilled those mandates. But what about the ones he promised his voters? What about the plans to reindustrialize the Midwest, bring back jobs, and revive the coal and steel industries? What, for that matter, of his explicit commitments that “on Day One” he would begin “removing criminal illegal immigrants” and would “label China a currency manipulator,” “push for a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress” and “get rid of gun-free zones in schools, and .?.?. military bases”? All were promised. Almost nothing has been done.

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Read it all at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-trump-circus/2017/02/16/d1bc4a86-f48c-11e6-8d72-263470bf0401_story.html?utm_term=.01d340888f80

February 19, 2017

Dems hold 80 recess events with voters. All but 18 Republicans hide out.

As Congress leaves Washington for a week-long recess, the contrast between Democrats' and Republicans' relationships with the people could not be sharper. At least 80 Democrats are hosting town halls and other events to support the Affordable Care Act, while only 18 Republicans have events planned through the entire week. Democrats listen to their constituents; Republicans hide from them.

Source: Shareblue, by Alison R. Parker

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Despite all of these demands and the clear concern from the people regarding the future of the ACA, according to Roll Call on February 15, Republicans had scheduled only 10 town halls over their week in recess. According to Legistorm, a database that tracks Congressional town halls, as of this writing, only 18 Republicans have scheduled town halls during recess week.

In sharp contrast to the GOP’s reluctance to meet with their constituents and the disrespect shown by those refusals, Democratic officials are out in force to offer their support for the ACA and to listen to the concerns and requests from the people in their districts.

In sharp contrast to the GOP’s reluctance to meet with their constituents and the disrespect shown by those refusals, Democratic officials are out in force to offer their support for the ACA and to listen to the concerns and requests from the people in their districts.

According to a statement from House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, “More than 80 House Democrats will be hosting #ProtectOurCare events across the nation in support of the Affordable Care Act, bringing the total number of ACA events hosted by House Democrats in February to more than 100.”

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Much more at: http://shareblue.com/dems-hold-80-recess-events-with-voters-all-but-18-republicans-hide-out/

February 17, 2017

Trump's Self-Care Tour Is Costing America Millions

The president is going all in on making himself great again.

Source: Vanity Fair, by Emily Jane Fox

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The three trips to Mar-a-Lago that Trump has taken since his swearing-in will cost an estimated $10 million, according to a government report from October, analyzed by The Washington Post. That’s not even including the expense to Palm Beach County. The ritzy beach town’s sheriff said Trump’s first few weeks in office have cost local taxpayers $60,000 a day, according to the Post, as they shell out money for cops working overtime to handle security and traffic issues.

Those are pennies compared to what it costs every day to secure Trump Tower, where Melania and Barron have chosen to stay despite the incredible logistical and security challenges involved in protecting them as they shuttle back and forth between one of the busiest locations in Manhattan and Barron’s school uptown. The Post reports that police officials estimate it costs $500,000 a day to do so—a fee that could reach $183 million in a year.

That is just to secure the First Lady and one First Son; Donald Trump has five children and eight grandchildren. And since he turned over the keys to the Trump Organization to his adult sons Don Jr. and Eric, taxpayers are now footing the bill to protect them as they conduct business overseas, too. The Post reported that when Eric traveled to Uruguay to promote a Trump-branded building—the proceeds of which continue to line the president’s pockets—the U.S. government paid $100,000 in hotel rooms alone to support the trip. With Don Jr. and Eric set to travel to Dubai for more business promotion this weekend, the Secret Service has reportedly already paid $16,000 in hotel bills before the brothers even left American soil.

This is the crux of what is wrong with the Trump presidency. The Trumps do what is best for them at the expense of the American people. President Trump did not divest from his business, even though it means the U.S. will now have a much harder time castigating nations around the world for their own corrupt business practices. He spent days focused on his inaugural crowd size and meetings with visiting foreign leaders, boasting about his electoral victory instead of clarifying the role Russia played in his election or reassuring Jews that he is not fostering anti-Semitic rhetoric. He is leaving the White House to go on an ego-boost tour even though it will cost taxpayers millions upon millions of dollars. For a president who built his platform on the idea of making America great again, the only one who appears to have benefited so far is President Trump himself.

Read it at: http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/02/trump-self-care-tour-costing-america-millions

February 17, 2017

Trump Completely Humiliated As His Pick To Replace Michael Flynn Turns Him Down

Source: PoliticusUSA, by Jason Easley

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After Trump’s rambling disaster of a press conference on Thursday, and with the prospect of full-blown Congressional investigation into the Russia scandal looking more likely by the day, it is not a surprise that anyone who not currently engulfed in the dumpster fire that is the current administration would run fleeing in the opposite direction when offered a job.

Donald Trump promised to bring in the best people to work in his administration, but instead, the American people have gotten a batch of completely unqualified billionaires and Trump pals in the Executive Branch of the federal government.

It isn’t shocking that anyone with any credibility or reputation to protect is reluctant to join this White House. Trump has been plagued with staffing problems since he first got into politics.

The reality is that the president that so many Republicans love is toxic. The only people that he can attract to his administration are personal friends, donors, or unqualified far right ideologues who have no idea what they are doing.

As a candidate, Trump promised never to stop winning, but as president, Donald Trump has been a consistent loser.

Read it at: http://www.politicususa.com/2017/02/16/trump-completely-humiliated-pick-replace-michael-flynn-turns.html