Honeycombe8
Honeycombe8's JournalCongress started investigations into Trump back in February.
In reading posts, I've run across some who don't realize that Congress started investigations into Trump back in February, related to abuse of power, obstruction of justice and corruption. And anything else they run across.
They have requested documents from over 81 people or organizations. They've officially requested Trump's tax returns from the IRS. They had Michael Cohen in for a hearing. Mueller is scheduled for May, I read.
After the new Congress took office in January, they didn't waste time. Once the committees were put together, they immediately went to work planning out the investigations.
Impeachment has not been on the table because, as Pelosi said, they need to see what the Mueller Report says. It would be premature. Nadler has filed a request w/a Court, asking to get an unredacted version of the Mueller Report.
https://www.vox.com/vox-sentences/2019/3/4/18250682/vox-sentences-congress-investigation-documents-trump
And Congressional committees are not limited as Mueller's team was by its mandate to look at Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
House Democrats plan to use the oversight powers of Congress to look into Trump's finances and other aspects of his presidency.
The House Judiciary Committee recently launched an investigation into whether Trump sought to obstruct justice or misuse his powers, requesting documents from 81 "agencies, entities, and individuals" connected to the administration and Trump's private businesses.
The House Intelligence Committee announced it will look into Russian interference in the 2016 election as well as Trump’s foreign financial interests.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/03/22/mueller-report-congress-oversight-investigations-trump/3061526002/
Which candidate is the scrappiest, toughest, put the screws to 'em, kinda politician?
I'm wondering if a particularly tough, scrappy President might be needed in dealing with the Republican Senate, since they've gone so far out of the light. If so, which candidate does that describe?
Which candidate is the toughest...gets on the phone to get votes for bills in Congress, and won't stop until s/he gets those votes. Not easily talked out of something, or into something.
The scrappiest...if you wanna fight, you've got one. (won't back down)
Puts the screws to 'em....if you won't vote for the Democratic Party health care bill that has been carefully crafted, or the new tax cut bill, or the budget that restores funding to Meals on Wheels....s/he won't forget. And by the way, I said I'd consider your sister for that ambassadorship, but now.....
People skills. Honey does catch flies, when the time is right.
I have a couple in mind that MIGHT be that way. Or could be, if s/he chose to be. But I'm not sure. They all seem so....nice. Smart, good at communicating, good plans for issues. Dealing with McConnell will be a trip, though. Extreme confidence and toughness may be required.
Cory Booker's direct link to a searchable version of The Mueller Report.
Cory Booker had the pdf (which was in an unsearchable format) re-scanned and saved as a searchable version, making it easier to locate terms.
https://www.scribd.com/document/406729844/Mueller-Report
Word is that truckers got hit with higher taxes for 2018
The word is out that many truckers got hit with higher taxes for 2018, sometimes owing thousands of dollars instead of getting a refund. This is in part related to the removal of an exemption of a per diem expense for meals and travel expenses.
I feel for them, as I would for anyone. Some won't have the money to pay the tax bill. BUT...let's remember:
Businessman and Republican nominee Donald Trump has been elected the 45th president of the United States, defying polling numbers and securing the White House in part due to support from the trucking industry.
Not only did Trump garner broad support from truck drivers, he also secured more in financial campaign contributions from the trucking industry, whose political spending is largely made up of bigger carriers and fleet-backed lobbyists.
https://www.ccjdigital.com/trucking-industry-support-helps-propel-donald-trump-to-victory-in-2016-presidential-race/
Among the 29 states where truck driver is the most common job, all but three — California, Oregon, and Vermont — voted to elect Donald Trump president.
That’s an industry that may soon be decimated by automation, as self-driving vehicles are becoming more and more common.
https://www.vocativ.com/376182/trump-states-truckers-automation/index.html
With the fate of the House Republican health-care legislation hanging in the balance Thursday, President Trump turned to a group of truckers for help with moving the bill along.
Trump welcomed drivers and executives from the American Trucking Association to the White House with a little stagecraft. As he greeted them, two large trucks were parked in front of the White House. After shaking hands of ATA members positioned in front of the trucks, the president hopped into the rig of one of the 18-wheelers and tooted the horn a couple of times, then closed the door and waved to the news media through the window.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/03/23/trump-turns-to-truckers-for-help-in-moving-the-republican-health-care-bill/?utm_term=.7bcd97046c6a
Here he is, driving away with trucker's tax refunds in a Big Mack truck:
Fewer millennials are making it into the middle class
The report considers households earning between 75% and 200% of the median national income as middle class.
Higher costs, less income
Rising income inequality is part of the reason for the trend. Over the past 30 years, median incomes in OECD countries increased a third less than the average income of the richest 10%, the report found.
At the same time, costs are going up faster than inflation in the world's richest economies — making it harder for the middle class to keep up. Home prices, in particular, have been growing more than a third faster than median household income in recent decades. The middle class spent 32% of their budgets on housing in 2015, compared to 25% in 1985.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/11/business/middle-class-oecd-report/index.html
If this trend continues, the middle class will disappear. There will be the monarchy (executive branch), the aristocracy (the wealthiest, including the oligarchy), and the peasants. Just like in medieval England. The monarchy & aristocracy will say the peasants are to blame for being peasants; they made poor choices.
The system is increasingly rigged against The American Dream. If you're born poor in the U.S., it's increasingly difficult to rise above humble beginnings. This is happening in other countries, too, to a lesser degree.
What it would be like falling into a black hole.
Scary.
https://www.businessinsider.com/fall-into-black-hole-2016-11?jwsource=cl
Different video:
Scientists have been able to get the first picture of a black hole.
[img]
[/img]
https://www.businessinsider.com/supermassive-black-hole-first-photo-event-horizon-telescope-m87-2019-4
Despicable: Conserv. Commentator Candace Owens at hrg says someone called her despicable.
Hearing on "White Nationalism." Rep Lieu played to Conservative Commentator Candace Owens (Trumper) statements she had made about Hitler and Germany. She then snapped that someone referred to her as despicable (she doesn't mention that was in response to her calling someone despicable).
Speaking of despicable, what a motley crew of despicable characters the Trump family and friends make.
Que...1, 2, 3: "Despicable" from Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol:
Remember this? Bill Maher in his previous career?
A glimpse of this, and you can see why he ventured into talk shows (besides his gift for brilliant spontaneous timely jokes, and a mind that holds all sorts of facts, and his gift for comedy):
Start watching at about 34:45. It's not long. But this is his "climax" in the show, and bless his heart, he gives it his all:
Does ANYONE think a Mueller report "redacted" by Barr will reflect what's really in the report?
Since Barr is hell pent on purifying Trump's image for the 2020 election and for history, to the point that he misled the public when he "summarized" the Mueller report, does ANYONE really think he's going to supposedly redact it fairly, so that what's left reflects the thrust of all of Mueller's conclusions, and lays out what happened?
Is Barr really going to let people read that Mueller concluded that Trump and his team had been stupid dupes, used and manipulated by the Russians? That's a step up from actively and knowingly conspiring with the Russians, but I doubt Barr wants the world to know how stupid Trump and his family really are. Sure, WE know. But Trumpers don't. Trump keeps telling them he's really smart, the smartest guy in any room.
If that's what Mueller concluded...that Trump was duped. Frankly, I don't see how Trump could be that naive, since he's dealth with mobsters and the fringe of the mob for years, and he himself behaves like he's a mob boss. Not stupid in that way. He took care to protect himself, not say self-incriminating things outright, even to Cohen. He's street smart.
But BARR is going to redact the report. Aren't some of the committee chairs cleared for classified intel? Can't they read the whole report?
If the Democrats can take the W.H. & the Senate in 2020, we need to make the income tax thing a law.
It needs to be a law of the land that anyone seeking the Presidency of the U.S. must produce federal and state tax returns for "x" number of years, for the most recent years.
If they don't, then they can't be placed on the ballot or something along those lines.
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Member since: Sat Feb 10, 2007, 01:29 PM
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