Some days, I completely tune out political news. It’s a coping mechanism, but it’s also a general feeling of… I can only maintain a sense of anger and rage and disgust for so long. Thursday was one of those days. Thursday should have been about how Donald Trump’s dumb, racist Muslim Ban 2.0 was blocked. But the day morphed into everyone freaking out about Trump’s immoral budget proposal, and then the day’s news morphed even further into more bulls–t about Trump’s claim that President Obama wiretapped him. I’m all for leaning into the “investigation” into Trump’s wiretapping claims because I think Trump is opening a can of worms (Russian worms). But all of this is just a gigantic mess. So here are some of the big headlines from the past 24 hours:
The British intelligence service slammed Trump. The GCHQ is like our American NSA, and the GCHQ thinks Donald Trump is an idiot (no lies told). Trump and his people keep insisting that Trump said what he said about Obama wiretapping him except maybe he was joking and maybe you misheard him but wait there’s evidence of the wiretap but you can’t see it and look, over there. One claim made by Fox News commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano was that Obama asked the GCHQ to wiretap Trump. Well, the GCHQ released a statement about it: “Recent allegations made by media commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano about GCHQ being asked to conduct ‘wire tapping’ against the then President Elect are nonsense. They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored.”
Meals on Wheels. As I mentioned yesterday, Meals on Wheels is one of the many programs which Trump wants to defund in his proposed budget. Meals on Wheels simply provides hand-delivered food to elderly people all around the country. It’s that simple. It’s a great program and its yearly budget costs as much as one of Trump’s weekend trips to Florida. When pressed about the cruelty of the Trump budget, the White House’s budget director Mick Mulvaney said it was actually “compassionate.” You know, compassionate to taxpayers who don’t want to see elderly people fed on a regular basis. Compassionate to taxpayers who would rather pour more money into endless defense spending.
Trumpcare is close to dead. Yay, I guess? Speaker Ryan is trying to whip votes in the House, but Trumpcare seems D.O.A. (much like the millions of Americans who would lose their healthcare in the coming years) in the Senate. It’s just one vote shy of dead.
Mike Flynn was as crooked as they come. Lock him up. I’m absolutely serious. That motherf–ker needs to be in jail.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
Frail elders who don’t get the nutrition they need through Meals on Wheels end up in nursing facilities at a cost of about $3,000-$5,000 a month to the Medicaid program. So, this is an act of compassion for for-profit nursing home owners , apparently.
Mulvaney looked like he was on the verge of collapse and total disgust as he begrudgingly took questions from the press, in particular on questions such as these regarding MOW. He almost dismissed the question, stating if programs were found not to be useful, they would be cut, then stated it was a state by state issue. A large majority of recipients of these meals are shut-ins, and this is the only form of nutrition they receive. Further, it is an excellent source of these honorable volunteers who deliver the food to check in on those who in some instances are forgotten and the volunteers are the only faces they see for a few minutes five days of the week. Where has the compassion gone that once was America. Our elders should be respected and cared for, not put on the back burner to die alone and hungry. Shame.
Mulvaney is disgusting. How he could stand there and defend the indefensible was truly sickening. He is the lowest form of life.
I hope that everyone who has publicly defended trump and his garbage policies is remembered when the tide turns. I don’t want them to slink into the private sector, no consequences. They all need to be grouped together with this loser.
And here’s Mulvaney defending cutting after school food programs.
http://twitter.com/axios/status/842461464631885824
Of course, the usuals chimed in with “During the depression my grandmother was able to feed, blah, blah, blah” and “In the fifties my mother fed eight of us blah, blah, blah.”
The understanding and compassion is just overwhelming. Ha!
SuzanneToo: I watched this dick in real time and I’m looking forward to seeing him parodied on SNL, foaming at the mouth whining he’s been up since 4 am. When he spoke about how there was no proof the after school programs were helping, I threw my dog’s squeaky toy at the television. What proof do you need. How did “they” get this information. I know of inner city and suburban children who stay at the school after the whistle blows, some until their parents are out of work, and others to continue to learn, interact with the other students and EAT. For some of the children, the meals they receive at the school programs is the only the only food they eat. I know I’m preaching to the choir on this site, but there are so many people in the country who just don’t get it. They think all grandmas are cared for and all children are safe. If nothing else, these press conferences throw in your face just how ratchet this administration is and what they want to take away from our grandparents and children.
I watched that heartless Mulvaney live yesterday and thought my head would explode. How can anyone be so cruel? It’s okay to ask the “coal miner in WV and the single mom in Michigan” to pay for an unnecessary increase in the defense budget but not for social programs like Sesame Street & Meals on Wheels? What a fucking disconnect. And the sad thing is there are imbeciles who buy into that BS. Obviously, not very Christlike to not have compassion for those who are the least amongst us.
@ Nancy. I’ve mentioned before that I spent 40 years as a H.S. librarian. Well, I spent all those years at a low income Title I school where 85-88% of our students qualified for free or reduced meals based on family income. We aren’t living in an idealized, Leave It to Beaver nuclear family time anymore. Many of our students were being raised by a slightly older sibling or by a grandparent. Some were classified as homeless. The breakfast, lunch and after school snack are vital to many of these kids.
trump, devoss, mulvaney-none of these people have the slightest awareness that there’s a world outside their insulated bubbles and they don’t care to learn about it.
There is a special election for Mulvaney’s old seat- the SC 5th Congressional district. All the rethuglican candidates are tying themselves to Trump- one was even giving away an Ivanka Trump handbag. The seat is considered “safely republican,” but wouldn’t it be an amazing message to the administration if it could swing left? I don’t think they could elect a real liberal, but there may be a chance with a centrist Democrat. Less than half of the eligible voters came out to vote last time and turn out will probably be lower for a special election. Usually that means it’s mostly the conservative elderly who turn out. I’m not in SC, but I’m hoping any Cele-bitches that are turn out to vote!
Kudos to you @SuzanneToo: 40 years as a HS Librarian. Oh the stories you could tell. I applaud you and those like you who dedicate their lives to a noble cause, which I consider your profession to be. Congrats and keep posting the facts you share and teaching us all.
He is a total and complete a-hole.
Mulvaney also tried to argue that feeding poor and healthy hungry children at school was a bad idea because it didn’t improve test scores.
“They’re supposed to help kids who don’t get fed at home get fed so they do better in school,” Mulvaney said. “Guess what? There’s no demonstrable evidence they’re actually doing that. There’s no demonstrable evidence they’re actually helping results, helping kids do better in school…”
He’s really making the argument that we should not feed kids who do not get fed at home. WTF!?!?!
To carry forward a comment above, the guy kept mentioning ‘results’. To justify the expense, there must be direct results.
So, do all these costly vacation weekends produce results? Are we getting results from paying for all the family members in various cities? Let’s start at the top and consider these all-important ‘results’ versus expense.
I am the president of my daughters PTO she goes to a Title 1 school. I can tell you exactly how much the after school programs help. For most kids it is their only exposure to dance, sports (those outside of gym class) like tennis, soccer, yoga, homework help. Gives children especially those struggling to make friends the social skills they need. Plus the much need “snack” which is a dinner, it is a sandwich, fruit, vegetable, milk and yogurt. Enough so when that child goes home and there is no food, they do not have to worry.
The PTO paid for the school to have a washer and dryer and the service coordinators make sure kids have clean clothes. Because forget iphones and health insurance some don’t even have the 10.00 a trip to the laundromat would cost.
So yes lets send children ages 5-9 home, where they will sit for hours unattended and hungry so this fucking administration can build a fucking wall, keep his wife from having to deal with him and play golf every weekend.
@Tiffany :), What they don’t understand is the immediate effects of not having a meal. The kiddos can’t concentrate if they have empty, growling tummies. Guess none of them have ever experienced that. How many times has it been said that breakfast is one of the most important meal of the day. I can’t anymore. And Trump said he was going to make day care more affordable, yet is cutting one of the programs that is affordable.
I think my family was one of the few that didn’t qualify for free meals at school growing up. I know for some of my friends, it was the only meal they got each day and they struggled in the summer months, which is when Food Stamp allotments were also reduced. Kids need proper nutrition to learn.
@blu_moon The only special Dems are seriously contesting is GA 6 with Tom Ossoff.
Van Jones visited one of these elderly people on his programme last night and the old lady said she hadnt left her house in seven years and the meals on wheel was very important for her to get nutrious food, and actually someone to check that she is ok, these people in Trumps administration are heartless just like he is, they also want to take away money on studying cancer research and the enviroment, its just ridiculous what is happening, when are they going to get him removed before he completly ruins everything, its shameful.
swak, so true. Hunger has devastating effects on the ability to learn. I can’t believe he acknowledges that these kids would otherwise NOT BE ABLE TO EAT, but then argues about results. Even if it did nothing for learning, there is no logical reason to let children starve.
@Megan- Well, here in NC we’re still hoping to swing district 13. Plus it’s really bothering me that Democrats are just writing off certain races. SC district 5 may be a long shot but it’s right outside metro Charlotte, which is democratic.
I taught kindergarten and first grade at a Title I school. Our children were all on free breakfast and lunch and many were in the after school program. The area is so economically depressed that in the summer there is a lunch program at the school. If their parents or elder siblings want to eat lunch also they are welcome. When the children leave they are given a sack with a couple of sandwiches, a juice box, and some fruit. The cafeteria workers were always trying to add special items, like baking fresh cookies. The local church picked up the slack on the weekends. These programs save lives. As for MoW, I’ve always thought of those volunteers as angels among us. They bring sustenance, company, and are aware of changes in their clients. Only someone truly vile would look at these programs as dispensable.
Dude’s got a real ‘Innsmouth’ look about him. Fitting.
Perfect reference!
Oh yes he does. Do you think he bribes human women with gold jewellery to let him breed with them as well?
… never mind. Silly question.
Along with everything else he wants to defund Meals on Wheels. Meals. On. Wheels. A program that aids and comforts the vulnerable elderly.
I know there are some who say that Trump voters need to be engaged and understood…but I’m sorry after this budget proposal if you are still supporting him you are a monster. Plain and simple; a monster.
According to White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney Trump voters are getting exactly what they voted for.
I’m nearly to the point that I would be okay with Trump voters getting what they voted for. I will never be okay with the rest of us suffering through this.
I’m very okay with Trump voters getting what they voted for. I’m also very okay with third-party- and non-voters getting what they did not vote for. For everyone this is just tragic. I hope in the course of those four years people wake up and make a better decision in the next election.
How greedy and evil *are* these people? Crikey.
Cartoonishly.
A new low for a President and elected officials. Kill or make your voting base suffer.
A new low for a President and elected officials. Kill or make your voting base suffer.
I was reading FB CNN comments again (ugh), and some guy on an article? he said, about the woman they had featured, to get a job. seriously, that was what he said. That’s the level we are dealing with, the lowest form of it. And elderly ill lady was being judged and told to get a job.
I wasn’t surprised yet I was. 🙁
Has anybody heard from Trumpsters about this? The silence from Trump-supporting friends is deafening right now. Just curious as to how they justify this one…
ETA: found this Reddit thread https://www.reddit.com/r/AskTrumpSupporters/comments/5zrai0/donald_trump_will_be_cutting_meals_on_wheels/
I doubt most of his supporters know it, they watch Fox News only and they never report Trump’s horrible deeds. Even if they knew about it they might still ignore it. It is horrible.
@kitten Trump supporters on that sub are insane. I tried to engage with them during the “its a leak but its also fake news” crap and they still found a way to excuse it. The thought that these are the “rational” faction of that bunch is scary.
I read some comments re how the budget helps with the wall, i.e. helps keep the immigrants out that will mooch of the USA. That the programs that are being cut actually affect US citizens like the elderly, school kids or veterans does not seem to faze them.
I think i read it either on twitter or the NY Times comment section – as long as it keeps ‘brown’ people away, they are ok with everything the government is doing.
I have no hopes whatsorever, especially with the continious rallies he is holding, that there will be a learning curve.
Oh my god, Cherish seriously? I just peruse the threads briefly and I thought they sounded at least *somewhat* more rational than the average Trump loon.
Maybe I just need to accept that there is no such thing as a rational Trump supporter.
They will defend him until the bitter end no matter what. I was at my inlaws last weekend and my FIL was all about how he’s doing such a great job and it’s the media that makes up stories and lies to make him look bad. I just walked away when I heard conversation starting to happen because I know he wants me to head because he knows I’m not a trump supporter.
Maybe last year there was such a thing as a Trump supporter who considered themselves rational. But at this point, there is no such thing as a rational Trump supporter.
Most Trumpsters I know are either too embarrassed or delusional to admit how foolish they were to support this monster. I heard some Trumpsters again last night while I was out saying what a good job he was doing at getting things done. These people must not know that only awful things are happening. I tried to tell them some facts, but they wouldn’t listen. I read @Trumpbigregrets again when I got home, and again wondered how these people could be conned so easily by this guy
Kitten, when I feel like raising my blood pressure I engage on Twitter. One Trumpster said “I never got help to raise my kids, why should others” to the after school meal policy… so I replied “are you ok then with $3M weekend trips to Mar-a-Lago, paying 4 Melania’s NYC protection and Ivanka’s SS detail”. Please sit down for her reply” “after what the black muslim did in office, yes I am”.
THAT is why he was elected. I don’t care who tries to portray a picture of frustrated, hopeless poor people – the reason they voted for him was hatred for someone else – whether it was blacks, women, LGBTQ , immigrants – it was the freedom to finally indulge in blaming out loud a group (or several) they hate.
PS. every once in a while I go “wait, I’m Canadian. I should disconnect and ignore because MY healthcare is fine, MY schools are fine, etc.” (well, I mean we could always use improvement, of course). But that is not the right approach – regardless of borders or nationalities.
If those of us not affected by his policies can crawl into our shell going “not affecting me, not my problem”, this cancer spreads. Of course, I can’t help vote any of these idiots out of office – but i can donate, I can be vocal, I can skip traveling to the US and advocate same while telling people why that is (tourism jobs, does he care about those???) and so on. And of course, I can act in Canada where if we’re not careful we could easily end up with a similar moron. No democracy is safe. We should work as hard to protect it as those on the other side are trying to dismantle it.
On FB the Trump fans are sharing click bait articles from fake news sites that declare “Trump’s budget will make you richer” and crap like that. Nobody’s getting rich here, except the people who already rich. This presidency has one goal – to redistribute taxpayer dollars from social programs to the corporate elite.
Trump fans have been told that illegal immigrants are costing us $90 – 120 billion a year. It’s untrue, of course, and he has no data to even back up those claims, but he said it so now it’s true to them. The wall that we are slashing budgets to pay for is $20 billion. So…if he’s president for 4 years we’ll save sooooooo many billions during his presidency. And they buy this shit hook, line, and sinker and refuse to consider anything else (like, the fact that they’re racist and hate poor kids and the elderly). And then I guess we use the savings to provide health care and after school programs? Unless Trump’s rich friends get in on the meal delivery business, I doubt it. And, on top of that, anyone who doesn’t see it that way is the idiot. The whole situation is so screwed up I have no clue how any of it will ever be undone.
his face looks seriously weird now. it was comical before, now downright haggardy and cray cray.
Because he IS cray.
This is a man who laid a wreath on Jackson’s tomb and promised to continue his legacy. I mean hey, if he’s gonna start a new trail of tears, why not start with hungry kids and seniors?
Of course good, compassionate people protest and he has a tantrum. So now the admin is thinking about tangling with N. Korea.
And apparently a first briefing from FBI director shook up Senators Feinstein and Grassley. More to come next week.
This person is beyond crazy. He’s endangering everyone.
We must RESIST, persist, and insist.
Apparently both McMaster and Spicer have issued formal diplomatic apologies to the UK over the GCHQ thing.
I hold no more of a candle for GCHQ than I do for the NSA but blimey. It really does show Trump’s gross ignorance, doesn’t it? I bet he had no idea that the Five Eyes Alliance even existed during the course of the presidential campaign and he doesn’t seem to have much more idea about it now.
Spicey was still spouting that sh!t about GCHQ yesterday during his press briefing where he spent 10 mins giving a journalist a dressing down about it. I think the apologies were given privately – they should be public with a retraction as there will be some people who will still believe it. Not that I’m defending GCHQ.
Video clips: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sean-spicer-trump-obama-wiretapping_us_58cafdd5e4b0ec9d29da4627?crr&
and
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/donald-trumps-gchq-wiretap-claims_uk_58cbc82fe4b0ec9d29daf41c?utm_hp_ref=uk
Its bad enough he’s p!ssing his own spooks off but to p!ss off the ones from an ally – i don’t have the words.
I hope he keeps pissing off more and more spooks. They can pool their information and destroy him.
It’s just the gross ignorance of the spook arrangements that gets me. Five Eyes spy on their own individually and on others collectively, but not on each other’s domestics. Even I know that and I hate all things spook.
I know you’re British and the word has a totally different meaning there, but I have to say as an American it’s weird to see the term “spooks.” In the US it was a slang term for African-Americans years ago. I know that’s totally not how you are using it, but it’s just… odd as a Yank.
I thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiink, although am not entirely sure, it may have had a similar connotation years ago here but long enough ago for everyone to have forgotten? Certainly forgotten enough for the BBC to have a hit show about spying spooks actually called Spooks without worrying about other meanings.
I’m just talking about transatlantic vocab on the LEGS thread. Unless it’s for humour, I generally try and avoid particularly Britisher terms hereabouts as they’re often misunderstood. Will avoid this one in future!
Blue – maybe it depends on where you live in the US. I’ve never heard “spooks” in reference to African-Americans but have frequently heard it in reference to spies/CIA types at least since the 1950s. I’ve lived in the Midwest and Pennsylvania and in the D.C. area.
@Sixer- I think I read somewhere that was why they changed the name of the British show to “MI6” when it played here.
@Jwoolman- It may be regional and is definitely older, but was still in use when I was a kid. I am on the other side of 40 though. 😉
I’ve lived in PA all my life and Maryland for four years in college. I have only ever heard spooks/spook used as a racial slur for black people. It was always old people using it though.
Shark Bait, same here. I grew up in East Texas. I’ve never heard those type of slurs from anyone under the age of 50 or so. Still, it’s messed up hearing it.
I have heard the term spooks used a few times (in movies) as a slur against Black people. But I have heard it far more often in the US (also often in films) as a term for CIA people and spies.
Really because Spicey was foaming at the mouth and arguing at the press conference. I wonder how he can live with himself. The money isn’t worth it.
I’m convinced MOSAD has a copy of the Golden Showers video and more. When MOSAD decides Trump is a danger to Israel, that damn video will probably air on every giant screen in Times Square. And MOSAD’s idea of a threat is not the same as Netanyahu’s.
From your lips to God’s ears.
Wouldn’t that be something. From your lips (keyboard) to G-d’s ears.
Agreed. Mossad has ZERO f**cks.
my bet is on MOSSAD, too. I watched an interview with a former agent who said in mid february that trump will be impeached on the grounds of treason because of the russian connection. I sleept much better after that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNARIrqQ9oE
What would Jesus do? Why he’d take away grandpa’s lunch, cancel after school programs and stop assisting the poor with heating bills! Then he’d build a big wall to keep people out and beef up the military to prepare for war.
Oh…wait.
If this passes the GOP will have to give up its mantle as the “Christian family values” party.
The GOP has become the proud standard-bearers for greed and cruelty. I’m pretty sure there’s some sort of biblical parallel there.
Jeremiah 6: 13-15 fits about right! 🙂
Not what I was thinking of, but it certainly fits!
Actually, if you study evangelical Christianity, there is a fairly defined thread that suggest poor people are poor because they are immoral. This is something that is clearly ingrained in Ryan, who seems to genuinely believe the poor should be punished. In his mind, Jesus has given everyone exactly what they deserve.
Then you have the so-called Christian Conservatives who apparently read the New New Testament where Jesus advocates for free markets and gun ownership.
Christianity has been so perverted and politicized. I’m not really sure what it stands for anymore.
Wow – I’m a history buff, particularly religious history. The type of evangelical Christianity fascinates and scares me at the same time but i had not realised that they thought poor people deserved to be poor because they are sinners. That is so so wrong – I just don’t have the words.
Religious determinism and predestination has always been a thing and the US did get a lot of extremists who were persecuted in Europe so traces of that probably still remain?
But even accommodating denominations like the CofE have spent centuries indoctrinating people that poverty is their fault (in an effort to preserve and maintain an elite). Think of that verse in All Things Bright And Beautiful that all the CofE primary schools have their five-year-olds singing:
The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
God made them high and lowly,
And ordered their estate.
Talk about making sure they learn it young!
This is true. I am an atheist myself but grew up among these people. They live by a verse in Thessalonians that goes “he who does not work shall not eat”, among others. They also believe that cutting government “entitlements” opens up opportunities for Christians to get into Heaven because they then have an opportunity to “help the wretched”.
@Sixer Yes, predestination was also used with great effect to keep slaves and colonised populations from questioning their status. It was “God made you but he made others above you, accept your status and serve God and me”
As a former christian I have to agree that evangelicals are a strange politicized mutation of Christianity. However, I had a discussion with a very devout Catholic about why she was opposed to government programs like WIC, welfare, etc. She said “charity” is suppose to be their choice to “give freely with an open hand.” Because they cannot refuse to pay the portion of their taxes that are used to help the poor and have no choice who uses the funds, it is not charity. She felt that was grossly unfair. She also believed that without government programs people would willingly step up to help and this should all be handled on a private level. I was pretty much flabbergasted. Such bizarre mental gymnastics to mask greed and a need to exert power over the vulnerable. If private charity worked years ago, we wouldn’t have had to start the government programs.
Ryan’s background is Catholic, and he sure didn’t get that idea from them. Of course, Pence’s family is Catholic also but he got in with ultra conservative Protestant fundamentalists early in college (exasperating his family…) and attends some megachurch in Indy.
Anyway, it sounds like the prosperity gospel beloved by Protestant tv preachers. Nothing like the Sermon on the Mount and similar parts of the Jesus story.
@jwoolman Gospel of Prosperity is a scam to get congregants to donate to massively enrich church leaders by promising them the wealth will come back to them.
The Catholic church’s long-running opposition to reproductive rights and LGBT rights has allowed far right evangelic language and thinking to seep into the American Catholic church.
I’ve never really understood this, because some fundamentalist basically take the old testament where an eye for an eye was more the word of the day and use that as their mantra, but that was pre-Christ and Christianity. Just not sure how they convolute the bible and Christianity and come up with that idea. Really is a pick the parts you like religion and very hypocritical. To the non-religious on here, just my thinking that people really find and pick what they like ignoring everything else. If it wasn’t religion it would be something else. Kind of explains at least some of the Trumpsters and our current predicament. As a nation and people, we need to be a lot more consistent in our thinking. Although I disagree, I respect the truly pro-life people who believe life is sacred in all forms and they believe in not only no abortions, but no capital punishment, gun controls to prevent deaths, no war, health care to help people live, etc. At least they are consistent in thought.
My superficial, weak understanding of history is that after the British Puritans of the 16th and 17th century annoyed their own people so much they got kicked out of their own country and eventually ended up in New England. Since then, there has always been a strain of Calvinism (God rewards the righteous with worldly possessions, therefore poverty is an outward show of unrighteousness) in American thought along with the periodic attempt to create the “city upon a hill” promised by those early settlers. This selfish and cruel restructuring of Amerian society is the GOP’s latest attempt to resurrect that old vision. It’s all Cromwell’s fault.
Christianity scares me.
I’ve seen it be a force for hatred more than it being a force for good.
Donald “fat ass” Drumpf wants to cut fundings for Meals on Wheels so he can have all the meals for himself.
How can he eat? His foot is always in his mouth lately
hahaha…HA!
He’s always been at risk for athlete’s tongue, hasn’t he?
Maybe he’ll start a meal delivery service for elderly and charge them a ‘bargain’ price for a gold styrofoam container of mushy junk food.
They are all clueless about real life challenges some of our neighbors face every day.
I hope he gorges on so much food that his body will shut down literally.
Unless they are delivering endless meatloaf, Taco Bell and KFC, I don’t see Agent Orange showing much interesting in their food…
Cheeto Mussolini’s idea of Meals on Wheels was that bucket of KFC he was photographed eating on his private jet. He is completely devoid of compassion.
That he eats on golden plates, at his gilded table, on his tax payer funded trips to Mar a Lago.
This is doubleplus ungood. That’s all I’ve got.
Did you guys also see N.Korea is threatening us? I mean if this administration doesn’t kill us Korea will. Joy.
Also the US is sending anti-LGBTQIA and anti-women groups to a UN conference about equality for women. So yea at this point I don’t even know anymore.
yes 🙁
I have been reading as much as I can understand about war things, sorry to say I can get a little lost in the details. US is sending drones? Japan is also sending crafts? to shore up borders, like that?
S Korea is somewhat less than stable, they just ousted their PM?
Yea Japan is preparing due to demonstrations from N. Korea. Tillerson went there for diplomacy and now all of the sudden war is so close at hand. And of course we have to take his word for it because he brought no press.
He took one right wing news outlet. I can’t believe he is allowed to do that.
He’s not but who’s going to stop him? The GOP? They are willing to let us drown to pass all the bills evil Obama blocked for 8 years.
Yep, Tillerdon’s threatening action now. Good God. These morons are so inept and Kim Jong Un knows it.
And Tillerson is taking a nap as well. He just told the one press agency that was allowed that he is cutting the trip short because he is tired. Jeez, Louise.
I cannot imagine John Kerry or Hillary Clinton cutting such a trip short because of fatigue. These morons are playing at government and are clueless as to the stakes involved. Putin wants this war. It will take the US and probably China out of his way
Yes and once again I bet it’s being used to distract us from the horrible budget. Well, I can worry about both because unlike the Orange. I have an attention span.
He’s worse than Nixon.
I’m exhausted.
I’m numb.
I feel helpless.
I love you guys.
*hugs*
We can and we must soldier on.
Oh I’m hoping Flynn is too much of a rat to go to jail and snitches on everyone else. Impeach that F-er.
Amen!
Yeah, I think he’s shifty enough to turn on everyone if he can cut a deal. Let’s hope.
Here’s hoping!
Fingers crossed
From your mouth to the ears of every deity.
“Compassionate “? Really? Do any of them have a heart or care about anyone?
No, they believe if bad things happen to them, it’s just rotten luck. If bad things happen to you, it’s your fault. You made poor choices and probably didn’t pray hard enough.
The hungry kids should’ve picked better parents, like 45 did.
The answer is No.
His budget plan was so much worse than I thought it would be.
The MOW is particularly angering to me-my dad has Parkinson’s and simply isn’t able to cook for himself like he used to. It sucks because not only was he a good cook, he always ate super healthy. With the advance of the disease, those options have pretty much disappeared and the MOW deliveries are the only way we know he is getting any kind of dependable balance in his diet.
He’s fortunate-he can afford to make the payments on those meals and we try to make sure we are paying back for them as quickly as possible because many others rely on them solely and CANNOT afford to pay.
That this man could stand up before the press and with a straight face declare that denying meals to the elderly, or sick , or poor is “compassionate” since defies logic. Anyone justifying this is a really, really bad person. To have suggested such a thing is EVIL. May God have mercy on his soul, for I do not.
That’s the thing, isn’t it? Meals on Wheels – here in the UK, too, where it’s also been at least partially defunded in many areas – bridges that gap between the frail with at least partially manageable health conditions and those who need round-the-clock care. It’s a phenomenally cost effective plank of social care. Eliminating it will cost more than it saves. It’s just deliberate cruelty.
I am amazed that they cannot recognize how crucial a prepared, nutritious meal can be to keeping someone in their own home. It may seem too simple or unimportant to some, but as you put it so well, it’s a bridge and a very cost-effective plank.
And with the elderly, good nutrition is so important not just for the physical health but mental health and memory too. They need protein to help their brains work properly and at some point, they lose the sense of hunger, they don’t know they need to eat. We were having this issue with my great aunt. I put her on Meals on Wheels and within about two weeks, I saw marked improvement. She gets it three days a week, a different delivery person each day and she enjoys her brief little chats with them.
Glad your great aunt is doing better. Other than getting the nutrition that they need, you make a point when mentioning the brief little chats. Many of the elderly have no one looking in on them and have little contact with the outside world. So these deliveries are also important socially for the elderly.
It is also so important for safety. My great aunt is a fall risk. She has an alert button on her but I’m not sure she would be calm enough to use it if she fell and was panicking and, of course, she can’t activate it if unconscious. If she doesn’t answer the door for MOW, they have a whole procedure to follow that will culminate in the police taking down my door.
I’m disabled myself, and there are bad days when I would rather not eat than to have to go in the kitchen, even for a bologna sandwich. For those days, I keep things like rice cakes and bags of popcorn in my room. But I know that a lot of people would just go hungry if not for Meals on Wheels. The human contact is probably as important, if not more so, than the food. Recently my son-in-law’s father, a big healthy-except-for-diabetes man, in good physical condition, died because he fell and could not get to his insulin or water, and nobody checked in on him for three days. Those volunteers save lives in many ways, and enrich lives as well. And the federal funding for MoW is $3 million a year, less than the cost of one of 45’s Florida weekends. They sicken me.
My mother, who I miss terribly, worked for MOW. I’m so glad she doesn’t have to live through this colossal mess. She once knocked at a client’s door and the woman didn’t answer. She had fallen between her bed and the wall. If my mom hadn’t made someone open the door, this woman probably would have died. As it was she needed to be in the hospital to recover from the dehydration and kidney shutdown. My tears are not “poor me” tears of a special snowflake. I work with vulnerable populations. They are tears of absolute rage.
I know that when I’ve had pain issues, my appetite and especially the energy to prepare food and clean up went down to zero. I actually started tracking my food again to try to boost it up, the totals were pathetic and I was losing weight. Many people on MOW may very well be having similar problems.
Also the idea if someone physically checking on people who live alone is a good safety plan. I try to keep my cell phone charged up and with me at all times (have chargers set up around the house…) because during an illness pre-cell I had some “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” incidents. In one case, I was stuck upstairs for more than 24 hours before I could manage to get up. Fortunately, I had a water bottle handy (another safety precaution…). This is the downside to being a happy hermit. If only I could teach the cats to call 911! Wait, thatcwould cost me $1000 if they send an ambulance. Never mind.
My Dad had PD as well, and preparing meals just becomes impossible as the disease progresses. Unfortunately, MOW only reaches our city, not the rural areas.
My MIL started receiving meals, but took it upon herself to unenroll herself (which I said at the time was a HUGE mistake). She thought she could sign back up easily, but has found out there is a large waiting list. She’s been on the list a year or longer, and is definitely regretting that error on her part.
Meanwhile Sec. Tillerson has stated that millitary action is an”option” in regards to dealing with North Korea(as reported on CNN this morning)
I have to wonder if these deep budget cuts to programs, are just a diversion tactic from what this administration is really planning? They always seem to throw some story to the media that gets everyone up in arms and then other stories seem to get little coverage.
I think Trump will start a war before the next election. Remember “Don’t change horses in mid-stream?”
Wag the Dog reference ftw! Love that movie and it’s sooooo relevant, even almost 20 yrs. later.
I’ve been saying this since the dumb Taiwan angered China the day after the election. I said he’s going to provoke us straight into a war with two countries that have enough arsenal to do a ton of damage. Those long range missiles can easily reach the west coast.
This is why we f*cking have diplomats not business men taking lead on diplomacy. Not everyone will bow to pressure from the US and their grand standing.
That is what I am thinking too. With all these proposed budget cuts, but at the same time increasing the budget for the millitary. Scary times
I so agree with all of you. Russian Blue Cat – I see connections amongst the dismantling of the ACA, the Dickensian-like budget, and the ramping up of the military. They want people so desperate they’ll sign up to fight just so their families can eat. Good to know I can put my tinfoil hat away now, since I’m not alone in this.
@Rapunzel- I was thinking Abraham Lincoln, but maybe “Wag the Dog” works? I haven’t seen that movie in so long- maybe it’s time to re-watch.
I’d like to think that he’s replacing the “Meals on Wheels” scheme with something else. I hope this is has just been taken out of context and he has another idea. This just seems heartless otherwise.
Millenials didn’t vote for him, so I’d like to think that he wasn’t screwing over the majority of his voters within his first 6 months of presidency.
He’s not replacing. And, yes, he’s heartless. All you have to do is look at his lifelong history of blatant discrimination in housing, cheating small businesses out of payment and ruining many of them in the process, bilking investors in his casinos, and stealing money from his so-called charity. He’s the same old me, me, me, I don’t give a sh1t about anyone else donny.
Yes. The thing that gets me is that I always regarded him as too self absorbed to even have any real political ideology. It still baffles me how he’s gotten himself so tangled up with the extremists. I guess all he cared about was the title of POTUS and didn’t care how he got it.
If there was some type of replacement, it would have been in the budget. There wasn’t.
First this stinks, and this budget is horrible and shows no moral compass, but it most likely won’t get through Congress either. Still call your congressmen.
Meals on Wheels will not be eliminated as most of the funds for Meals on Wheels comes from the state you are in, but it will receive less money so less people served. Still stinks, but if your state has compassion you might still have a decent program.
We may not be able to do a lot, but we can let our congressmen know what we want and then vote and make all our friends vote. Convince some of the I only voted for Trump because I didn’t like Hillary people that they need to vote for people to counter his dumb moves and then get him out. I know there is a portion of crazy Trumpsters, but there are some who just wanted to shake things up. Yes I am mad at them, but we need some of them especially if they live in Penn, Michigan and Wisconsin. He cannot win four more years, and hopefully we can get him impeached before that. Honestly, he has already done enough dumb things to be impeached and I believe we are only on day 50 something. Oh please help us!!!1
These crooks must have never been loved as kids…that’s the only explanation I have. Oh and anti social personality disorder aka sociopathy.
Lots and lots of people grow up without being loved as kids, the orphanages are full of them. It’s a severe flaw in Trump that makes him act the way he does.
So America had to make a formal apology to Britain because of Trump’s tweet. This was first incident caused by the president and Twitter. And it hasn’t even been 100 days yet.
Mulvaney gave us a word salad and Spicey provided the diarrhea dressing.
Or, as Harward put it, a sh#t sandwich
That is some highly disgusting but extremely spot on imagery, lol.
Trump wants to take away our healthcare, our public schools, our public broadcasting, our art and music, the diplomacy of the state department and invest in an untenable military buildup; the question should be for all of us. Who does this affect and who do you want to be? If we as Americans lose our ability to care for the less fortunate, we no longer can offer a free education system and we no longer have access to the arts we have lost an incalculable quality. We all loose to be better humans.
Who raised these people?
Parents and Grandparents who didn’t love them enough apparently. 🙂
a culture based on pyramid thinking.
Hired help probably.
Probably nannies from Mexico or other nationalities that they don’t want in America. How ironic.
That’s an insult to nannies everywhere. Some of them have taught kids better than their parents would. Seriously. Sometimes, an asshole is just an asshole-
I don’t think that’s meant as an insult to nannies. More like, he must not have been raised by his parents, otherwise he would have more compassion towards old people. And not cut off Meals on Wheels.
According to the NYPD commissioner, funding is also being cut to the NYPD counter terrorism squad/force.
If I heard correctly, there are about 60 programs at risk, and it’s more than just social services category items (which are getting the most press attention). Our domestic well-being and safety is getting the shaft in this budget draft.
But you get a great big beautiful wall on the Mexican border. Oh wait a minute that wall will cost in the trillions and he is only putting a few billion to it. So, you get a great big beautiful wall maybe for a few miles or so. That should really work, but it will because it’s not really an issue as that isn’t the way the bad hombres as Trump puts it are coming in. Such stupidity and not to mention old school. Honestly in this day and age even if you believed in this, which I don’t, wouldn’t you want something more modern than a wall.
Oh yes, must cut great programs to find $$$ to guard Melania!
Trump and his administration are evil and incompetent. I don’t if that’s a good or bad thing in the long run.
Would be worst if they were evil and competent? Could their incompetence and general stupidity prove to be their downfall?
I lost hope on the decent people of the Republican party to stop them, they just dont care
And Sen. Jim Inofe from Oklahoma was ranting about the EPA “brainwashing” kids with climate change facts. Another deplorable Republican. All these creeps,need voting out. And fast.
Well, there’s at least one OK politician who’s interested in kids.
http://deadstate.org/senator-who-voted-to-protect-bathrooms-from-trans-people-caught-in-hotel-with-underage-boy/
Jaysus. That’s just new levels of disturbing.
Oklahoma, which is about to collapse into the ground, thanks to fracking
On St. Paddy’s day no less, it makes me SMDH to see all these Irish Americans who have sold their souls for power to the fat orange pig: Bannon, Spicer, Pence, Ryan, Mulvaney, Conway, etc. I guess they forget how their immigrant ancestors were treated, but then trumpism and compassion are mutually exclusive
Greed tends to rob one’s compassion and empathy.
A few of them are raging alcoholics (Bannon). I pray every day their bodies give out from sloth and excess.
The depths they will go continues to amaze me.
Humans shouldn’t feel singled out. They hate animals too. GOP is pushing a bill through the Senate to allow for killing of hibernating bear and wolf pups in their dens.
http://twitter.com/senbookeroffice/status/842091090178134017
These people are horrible, how could they do this to innocent animals, they make me sick every last one of them.
Beyond disgusting.
The Democrats better not cave when the revised proposal gives them crumbs. I’ll be disgusted If they fall for it and acquiesce. This whole thing is set up to make them grateful for the “consessions” in the revised proposal.
Here’s a concise synopsis of the budget harm and a petition.
http://m.dailykos.com/stories/1644028
Thanks for that link you posted yesterday about political polarization. Shared on social media and sent to my mom.
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Yes, thanks so much for that. It was really interesting.
I hate him and his whole administration, and anyone who enables them.
I’ll add “and anyone who voted for and continues to support them.”
I had a heated conversation with my teens in the car today about a couple people we know who are Trump supporters. I found myself slamming them harder than I would ever do in their presence, as I’ve tried to teach them to find the good in people. I didn’t feel good about myself and found myself resenting the Trump supporters for putting me in that situation. Sigh.
Yep. I have a couple of them in my family that I am ok never seeing again (we were never close and they’re assholes anyways…) but I have to deal with my grandma who voted for this idiot just because she hates women who have any sort of power over men. It makes me sick. And I also have to tolerate my mom’s friend who strictly voted for this Orange abomination b/c she thinks he will make her richer (as if he gives a damn about anyone who isn’t a billionaire). She constantly eludes to the fact she is able to remain friends with her neighbors (its MD so most are Democrats or Liberals) b/c they don’t discuss politics and I want to say its not about politics…its about common decency. And this is someone who came over as a refugee about 25 yrs ago b/c of religious persecution in the former Soviet Union. Meanwhile she is the most racist person I have ever met – openly dislikes black people to a certain extent and despises Muslims, It appears you can’t fix stupid.
I know. It’s a horrible feeling. There are about 5 people in my extended friends network that still occasionally post positive things about Trump, or I know voted for him. I feel like cutting them completely out because I’m so disgusted. I have always been so careful with what I say to my kids about politics, “Everyone has a different vision for helping our country.” or “I don’t agree with xyz.” But I have ZERO ability to do that now. I flat out say Trump is gross.
Yes, anyone who voted and continues to support this administration is deplorable. anyone who says “they can’t be ALL bad” or tries in any way to normalize, legitimize.
We can see where this is going, we’ve been here before. People are willfully ignoring the warning signs. It’s is morally reprehensible.
Totally with you, never thought I could hate people so much.
Kaiser you synthesize and analyse and explain everything simply and beautifully. I come here for your political posts. I hope you never stop!
Here here. Kaiser is a voice for a lot of us right now.
Yes, many thanks to Kaiser for keen analysis! And especially for understanding how the power of celebrity, when used maliciously, can become a threat to us all.
Some of my earliest memories are of me going with my grandmother & her dearest friend to deliver Meals on Wheels. I’ve said that this administration can’t shock me anymore, yet they still manage to do so. How disgusting.
My hatred continues to grow daily.
Taking away from the elderly? Why not cut one of your vacations? He is disgusting
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump 9 minutes ago
North Korea is behaving very badly. They have been “playing” the United States for years. China has done little to help!
I think we are f*cked…
JFC our government is trying to kill all of us.
It was sprinkled b/w a St. Patty’s day tweet to all his great Irish friends and his retweets of conspiracy theories via fox and friends. 🙁
Yeah I was just looking at his Twitter for the latest baby tantrums. I don’t even know what to say at this point. I still have moments where I simply cannot believe that this country elected him, Angela.
And all this time I thought it was going to the Middle East that war was going to start. I completely forgot about N. Korea. Tillerson needs to go before a committee to discuss this ASAP. He has been quiet too damn long. I cannot believe there is a Secretary of State that does not provide regular briefings. I just cannot believe it.
Oh FFS…. why America, why????
Interesting you say “I think we are f-ked” Because Depeche Mode dropped their album Spirit today. I stayed up until 12 a.m. last night, waiting for the digital drop, to listen to it. I was so disappointed at first. It felt boring.
But, man, on re-listens, it’s so powerful. It’s bleak. Most songs are about the state of our world, how numb we’ve become in ways,. It’s political. It’s dark, bleak, and strangely beautiful, and cathartic. An album has never been so timely. The first song is Going Backwards. It sure feels like we are.
The last song has the phrase “We’re fucked” in it.
Oh wow that’s Interesting. I remember I used to listen to them in college – circa 2006. Didn’t realize they came out with a new album. That’s cool! 🙂
I’m going to enjoy my life and spend time with my loved ones. Nuclear War is inevitable I’m afraid and I think it’s going to be soon 🙁
First of all, I hate that I read all his tweets in his voice. Secondly, does Trump not know how to use quotation marks? Obviously I already know the answer, but it makes his tweets even weirder.
Also, we are screwed.
Let’s stay on our Comgressional reps to ensure this “budget outline” is DOA. Just like healthcare, we need to raise our voices louder than the Trumpeteers to ensure Congress doesn’t make these draconian cuts reality.
I have never, ever In my entire life witnessed such lunacy in how our government is managed. Even Ronald Reagan wasn’t this heartless and contemptuous of the American people.
I’m honestly getting closer to writing my representatives – along with the democratic leadership – and asking, in all seriousness, how many people have to die before they realize this is not politics as usual and extraordinary leadership is required.
@ilsalumd- Actually, Reagan was this bad. He cut off funding for all Federally subsidized mental health facilities, whereby creating a huge population of homeless citizens, and he watched thousands die from AIDS, before even recognizing that Americans and the rest of the world had a pandemic problem that needed to be addressed urgently.
Ronald Reagan was not a warm and fuzzy guy. He just had a better ability to speak and present himself than Trump.
Cuts during the Reagan Administration resulted in kids showing signs of protein deficiency (yes, kwashiorkor) in the middle of Chicago for the first time … The Chicago Tribune had a story on it at the time. The charities just couldn’t keep up after government programs providing food were slashed. In DC, soup kitchens were overloaded. There was even one dedicated entirely to children because the kids were so hungry. They “charged” the kids a penny for the food because they figured the kids could always find a penny on the street or get it from an adult and it would make them feel more normal about it all.
How do they, with a straight face, say they don’t want to burden the taxpayer with MOW, after school meals and programs, Arts funding, PBS, NPR, etc., but meanwhile, I’m paying for fatass’s trips to Florida every week, paying to protect melania from his flaccid d1ck, paying for ivanka to stalk Justin, paying for SS security for uday and qusay while they make their money grubbing excursions(no other adult children of presidents accepted SS coverage), paying the salaries of probably a half dozen Nazis as well as the hack conjob, but I shouldn’t worry about Granny starving or breaking a hip and lying alone for days. I have never hated a group of people so much.
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
On MSNBC last night, a Republican Congressman said with a straight face, he couldn’t comment on the President’s estimated yearly costs to the American taxpayer (projected at this point to be $150 million for travel, security, etc). But he didn’t have a problem with those costs and couldn’t justify why those costs were acceptable but funding social programs (such as MOW, NPR, PBS, etc) wasn’t. Basically he said it was okay to do away with those social programs even though their cost was less than Trump’s expenses.
+1
Unfortunately, with all the collateral damage, it’s going to be a Pyrrhic victory when the Trumpsters get screwed over. I’ll puke if the consessions made in the revised proposal save their grants, exemptions, etc.
I really want to see all Trump supporters screwed over. I’d love to see their faces when reality sinks in.
I despise Trump and his motley crew. Every day it keeps getting worse. His budget has me livid and depressed.
That bit about not “burdening” the tax payer when so-called president and p*ssygrabber in chief Trump spends millions of tax payer dollars traveling to Florida every weekend was sickening. He also wasn’t helping anyone but himself when he never paid any taxes whatsoever apparently for years and years. This recent list of cuts by Trump is making me more than ever believe he released the 2005 tax returns so he could at least show he was forced to pay some money and helped society at some point in time. He just keeps proving what an awful human being he is over and over again. I continue to blame every single person who cast a vote for this jerk and that still defend him and are tickled pink at his policies which eventually will come to roost on them.
Most recently I was disgusted by someone I once kind of admired, Nikki Haley, When asked if she thought Donald was a truth teller who could be trusted she said “Trump would never knowingly lie”. WHAT!!!???? HAS SHE BEEN LIVING UNDER A ROCK THIS PAST COUPLE OF YEARS?????
Supposedly it’s ‘compassionate’ to the lower wage earning single moms, to cut programs. Yeah, let’s give more tax breaks to a wealthy person whose income is 100+ times that of the single mother.
And this 5th trip to the country club (buy your $200K membership now!) could fund a lot of meals. Probably a mid-size city’s worth, for a year.
Compassion my a$$. The miner and single mother probably uses those programs this dick and his cronies are proposing to cut. Congress do your job!
A clean environment so we don’t all choke to death eventually, the necessary kindness of Meals on Wheels, the PBS calm voice of reason in the face of cable madness, the arts that feed the soul (and that Ivanka enjoyed when she recently went to see a play with Justin Trudeau). All complete hypocrites and mean people now run the American government. Would be nice if someone would lock them all up.
And these asshats are doing their best to wordsmith and justify their wretchedness by using code words about cost and ROI, and social programs not being effective so they don’t need funding, etc, But spending billions on useless military contracts that always have cost overruns and delays and problems are justifiable.
Can’t see why people are surprised by the budget. Didn’t Bannon say he wanted to destroy the state? Well, this is how is done, by defunding programmes and departments that have a real impact on people’s lives as a first step to divert that funds to private sector, i.e., making some friends earn a lot of money.
This is just the beginning of the USA turning into a full social darwinism society, you are worth as much as you have, and the poor, the sick and the misfortuned are left behind to die.
Russia has successfully imo staged a coup in America. Bannon will proceed to dismantle everything.
It sure feels that way, doesn’t it? I’m sick.
My town’s local government, infiltrated by a tea party faction several years ago, has been doing or trying to do a lot of the same things Trump is doing now. Using the same language about “sparing the lowly taxpayer” from burdens like funding the library or the local food pantry. Slowly, thankfully, the progressives have been chipping away to try and swing the pendulum back again. It’s surreal to me that this fringe ideology has reached our highest office.
Yes. This whole thing has Bannon’s fingerprints all over this. I’m not totally convinced that Trump knew some of these things were going to get cut. I think they just told him the outline, “Redundant social programs are going to be cut and we’re going to increase defense spending.” This doesn’t excuse him AT ALL-he’s the president (sigh) and the buck stops with him. But I don’t think he has the bandwidth to go over all the details and he trusts Bannon completely.
And Gingrich has been trying to eliminate these programs since he started his Contact on America in the mid 1990s. In Gingrich’s view, the biggest threat to the US is poverty-level women and their kids.
My take is that Tr*mp/Bannon said “cut everything to zero and get them fighting about it to distract from the Russian investigation.” This is routine”art of the deal” stuff here, which though horrifying to us is just another day for mobster Tr*mp. He has to be stopped, and in my view the way to do that is by exposing his ties to Putin. This isn’t even a proxy war we’re in anymore. These Russian cyber attacks are akin to 9/11 and going to end up much worse if we don’t force him and his cronies out of office and get a leadership in place that respects rule of law.
You’re probably right about the distractions. I also think I see how his game called “art of the deal” works. First, he says he’ll take away 40% of everything that’s right, good and decent. Then upon hearing the inevitable cries from the targets of his mean game … he ends up taking away a mere 30% leaving the losers to cheer his “kindness” in shock and relief. Then he goes to Florida on the taxpayers millions of dollars.
My cynical view is Trump and Bannon are destroying America so that Putin and Russia can again be the only superpower.
I’m continually shocked by the number of people still supporting this madness.
When this came up on the news this morning here in the Uk I almost cried laughing. We are supposed to be an ally to the US. He can’t have believed this was true, so why try and upset the Uk government and Gchq. Who advised him this was a good idea! Its madness. Absolute madness. My God I feel bad for America, because this is nothing short of completely amateur and insane. Like,these guys are supposed to be experts in diplomacy.
I think the worst part is even if he gets impeached, everyone he picked around him is also so batshit crazy that I have little faith we’d be any better off. Maybe only on the twitter front. 🙁
He knows nothing of people who are not rich, Hes an asshat just like his boss!!!
i am literally disgusted by this. i work as a caregiver and i cant tell you how many times meals on wheels has helped my client out. he gets it every monday and its a lifesaver for him and for his daughter who works all crazy. i hate this despicable orange cheeto face. i can say at this point, hes not gonna make it to four years.
Just wait until mid-terms…these f’ers are gonna be dead in the water and then onto 2020!!
If only Donald Trump were trying to save the government money by not living in a different city from his wife and child or by traveling (almost every weekend) to his resort residence in Florida with multiple members of his cabinet and a full security and press contingent. The money we are spending on Trump’s indulgent golf travel would buy a lot of Meals on Wheels meals or help to fund public arts programming available to people all across the United States. Instead, we are lining Trump’s own pockets by reimbursing him for the cost of upscale rooms and meals for the members of his staff and secret service agents who must accompany him.
Trump’s Florida home is NOT “The Winter White House.” It is a ridiculously expensive private club which he happens to own. He is making a profit from his presidency while blithely taking real services away from people who actually need and depend on them. Enough already.
Just one Trump weekend in Mar-a-Lago costs the US taxpayers the same as a full year of Meals on Wheels.
Calling my reps today to point this out, thanks.
What’s even scarier is that evil overlord’s plan in case Congress does block him: http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a53848/trump-executive-order-reorganization/
Does anyone know if executive orders can be overridden? I fear for our country.
Courts can strike them down, as they have done with his travel ban.
Anyone who wants to run for any political office should not be considered if they have collected foreign dollars for “speaking fees”, “consulting fees” etc. No exceptions. And if they do go that route, as Flynn did during his time as a private citizen (and apparently now NOT so private) they should never be appointed to any political position again. They are compromised, in my opinion. That goes for any party, of course.
That’s a bit extreme. It would mean that translators or interpreters like me could never run for President because we have clients in other countries.
There is nothing wrong with getting speaker fees or consulting with anybody – just not while you are in certain government jobs such as President. Not a bad idea to cut off candidates also and to set limits on campaign staff and advisers. Certainly require disclosure of any foreign attachments. I would extend that to all corporate attachments. But a permanent ban? No.
Go after real corruption rather than assuming anybody who makes money outside the USA is automatically corrupt. There is nothing about American clients that is so special that making money from them guarantees lack of corruption and undue influence on public policy. We have problems with this all the time in Congress.
Can you imagine a whole generation raised with the mentality these people seem to think we should have? And I’m sure there are some out there who don’t want their taxes to go to anything that doesn’t benefit them directly, but a State needs to be above that, be better, and it’s supposed to know what’s good for its people, even if the people themselves don’t know it. I honestly can’t understand this kind of thinking, it’s disgusting.
We do have that mentality right now, unfortunately. A lot of helicopter “what about me” parents exist in today’s society. Their overloved kids grow up to be entitled dicks. The play Hamilton is currently playing in my city and they sponsored a few matinee free shows for some local high schools. Obviously they can’t give it all away for free so not every school got it but the amount of butt hurt comments over at Facebook is astounding. Why can’t we be happy that some kids got to enjoy a Broadway play for free? Why turn a happy thing into something bad?
Start tweeting the potus account and his personal accounts that you’d rather see his protection dollars from Florida weekends and separate households go to MOW and school snacks. He understands dollars.
We are officially The Soviet Union. Make America Great Again my ass, he’s destroying America. The defense budget needs to be cut in half; maybe more. If only people had listened to Eisenhower.
He keeps using that word. I don’t think he knows what it means.
The Nazis believed the sick, disabled and elderly who could no longer contribute or do for themselves should be executed.
I’ll leave you all to draw your own conclusions.
Personally, I don’t think this is ignorance, a mistake or oversight of any kind by the Trump administration.
They keep showing us who they are. When will America believe them?
bannon probably has this poster on his wall in a place of pride.
http://twitter.com/stevesilberman/status/842041901192683520
One of the twitter responses on that link said that at the press conference a German reporter “shocked American reporters when she asked Trump, why do you say things that you know are untrue?” lmao
So just got into it with some jerks on twitter over what I considered a very strange and almost dangerous headline. Like it basically said ” Good Samaritan with gun helped save cop”. I admit have strong feelings about pro-gun stories b/c I truly think guns used for protection do more harm than good according to stats. That being said I am not 100% against 2nd amendment either. So instead of having a civil argument Trumpsters responded with “you’re mentally unstable”. As if their sole purpose in life is to cause low self esteem in others to prove they’re right and others are wrong.
Anyways I think I am officially at the point where I can say there are a good portion of people in this country who truly love guns more than they love the seniors, children and women folk in this country. I am extremely disillusioned and distressed. 🙁
Although obviously a gun for protection can be useful, there are degrees to everything. The spirit of generosity, goodwill AND thoughtful reasoning, past one’s own navel that is, is waning in America. Make America Great Again harkens back to the old Westerns where everyone had a rootin shootin gun, except now even the mentally unstable can get a hold of a AK47. At the same time, no one wants to spend for prevention or mental health and prefer spending on Donald’s Florida trips. Reminds me of that movie Dumb and Dumber.
But thanks to Trump and Paul Ryan, the “mentally unstable” can now buy guns.
Yep exactly Lightpurple, so even the whole” guns dont kill, people kill” at this point astounds me b/c Republicans are fine w/literally any crazed person having a gun so long as they’re white I’m sure.
@robyn: And there is a huge difference b/w guns used back in the frontier age and everyone having access to a handgun in their purse or something like AK-15s and AK-47s and things like open carry but with concealing guns somehow. I am very much ok with guns used for hunting. I am not a hunter myself but it doesn’t bug me so long as the animal isn’t endangered. And even handguns I can see the argument. The problem is Americans aren’t always the most responsible when it comes to locking them away and just the cases of domestic violence disturb me knowing that a husband or wife could lose it one day and instead or coming away with bruises you are shot in the head. 🙁 And AK varieties I just have no tolerance for unless you are at a safe gun range or in the military. There is literally no need for something that dangerous and a small penis is not a valid reason, sorry.
I think what is most baffling to me is how some of these people refuse to accept that guns can be very dangerous for our society.
Of course, they make the argument that the purpose of the Second Amendment is to protect ourselves from an overzealous tyrannical government but that argument loses ground when you realize our government has intercontinental missiles and nuclear submarines and such against which an AK47 is rather useless
About “protection from an overzealous government”: looks like Trump, Bannon and Russia are destroying the US government without any bullets needed. All you need is propaganda and stupid people who believe it.
Actually, this is kind of what I have been thinking about- if trump stops all anyone from entering your country, why would you need guns? to protect you from whom?
What does the NRA think of this? make the US safe, since trump refuses to acknowledge his own citizens are capable of extreme violence, safe against whom? he will have stopped it all, right?
*shrugs*
Ugh I just imagine the rednecks saying they need them in case the “browns” come back. *rolls eyes*
Original Kay, what you’ve just displayed is critical 🤔 thinking. But this is too much to ask for most Trump voters and those gun toting NRA psychos (they might as well be one and the same).
Okay, advocacy time. Of course, many of these budget cuts affect women disproportionately, as the GOP war on women continues. Women outlive men so the majority of MOW recipients are women. The children of low-income women are affected in cuts in school programs.
So, of course, call your reps & senators, especially the Republican ones, to urge a smackdown of this budget. Put pressure on your governors too to speak up for their constituents.
Some resources for information for elder advocacy:
Justice in Aging (formerly National Senior Citizens Law Center) – litigates & handles advocacy for elders in cases involving benefits programs like Social Security, Medicaid, Nutrition & transportation programs
AARP, of course
The Gray Panthers. They organize on the state level
OWL or Older Women’s League – the national organization just announced its closure but state chapters will remain active
Families USA for excellent information & talking points on healthcare reform.
NHELP – National Health Law Project
Some of these resources get funding from Legal Services Corp, which is also facing annihilation in the Drumpf budget so they could probably use some help. I donated to NHELP in Ryan’s name.
I hope his microwave starts talking soon.
Maybe we should ask Congress to subpoena Trump’s microwave, TV set, phone, and toilet for good measure.
A brand new moment of aggravation that made me want to pull my hair out from this so-called president and p*ssygrabber Trump. This peckish rude little man had the audacity to refuse to shake Merkel’s hand at a photo op. She has more wisdom and goodness in the tip of her little finger than he does in his entire bloated body.
OMG. That’s so horrifying. This is more proof of why I don’t think she should have come in the first place. I don’t care about diplomacy at this point, its a disservice to the world to pay this Orange sh*it gibbon any attention.
I wish every world leader would ghost him.
Yes I just watched the video. He totally ignored her.
Well, Angela is only a two or at best a three in Mr. Universe’s eyes. Good thing Carla Bruni is no longer FL of France. She’d need an iron clad chastity belt to protect herself.
@SusanneToo: oh god I just had a terrible mental image of Trump trying to grab Carla’s p*ssy. 🙁
Honestly, if I were Trump I wouldn’t have either. NOT because I wouldn’t want to shake Angela’s hand, but because the press wanted him to do it to mock him, probably expecting him to pull Angela out of her chair. And because he’s so socially awkward he couldn’t handle it with grace and ended up looking like the ass that he is.
As a librarian(or any thinking person, really), these quotes really tell me something about the quality of the speakers.
http://twitter.com/arappeport/status/842585503065034752
ok that press conference was unbelievable.
anyone else watch?
Here’s a bit of feel good for us all.
http://twitter.com/goldengateblond/status/842572846685605888
Jeeeezus, these trumpies are so stupid. They sent out an official email of endorsements and praises and included a parody account simply because the headline said “trump’s budget makes perfect sense …”. They didn’t even read it. They haven’t responded to inquiries about their stupidity, of course.
http://thinkprogress.org/white-house-newsletter-parody-lampooning-cruel-budget-64ce43a341ff#.dmr9k1ija
Killing off Meals on Wheels, programs to keep low-income kids from being fed, etc. made me think back to Nazi Germany, survival of the fittest kind of stuff. Let’s get rid of the elderly people who can’t feed themselves, starve the kids who can’t afford food…survival of the fittest (aka the privileged). I know it’s not the same thing, but my brain couldn’t help making the connection. On a side note, I’m Jewish. I’ve studied all of the bits and pieces that all ultimately led to the Holocaust, and it’s sad how many small bits of (oh well, that’s bad, but we as the people won’t take major action) added up to an unspeakable stain on human history.
It is terrifying. I read Hans Keilson’s Life Goes On a few years ago, and I’m disturbed by how much 2017 America is paralleling his fictional account of 1930s Germany.
One of my brother’s good friends is Jewish and a longtime Republican. He crossed party lines to vote Democrat in the last election, and the last time he and my brother talked, the friend commented that he wonders if Republican Party realizes how much Trump’s administration has damaged the party with the conservative Jewish community. His opinion is that there are a fair number of formerly Jewish Republicans who will never again vote for the GOP.
This is so Fricking unbelievable. It made me angry and sad. Comments with people defending the cuts were unbelievable, meanwhile costeoporosis for protection of his family continues to sky rise.
Disgusting!
So 2 months in, I’m wondering what it will take to stop Trump? Why hasn’t he or anyone of his family or close associates not been assassinated yet?
New York Times is now covering those Americans who’ll
Be the most negatively impacted by this clown’s budget. And many we O rural areas, had voted for Trump and are now crying to Trump for mercy through the failing NYT and other “fake news” channels. Good! Let them suffer I say. That is their punishment or being hateful, evil people and voting for someone who’d make their “Make America all white again” dreams come true. I feel sorry for those that’ll also suffer but didn’t vote for Trump. They knew what was going to happen with Trump as POTUS and they still have to suffer due to someone else’s decision.
It’s St. Paddys Day and I’m not Irish but I’m into my third glass of Bailys so forgive my drunk comments. My mom got meals on wheels the last year of her life. She insisted she would stay living independently and she could no longer cook for herself so that program kept her alive, and let her live in her home. She paid for her meals they were not free. She could afford it. What it did was allowed her to live with dignity in her own home until she passed on. How on earth could you call that program a failure? Trump and his minions just open their mouths and a torrent of sh*t comes out. Lies. Fear-mongering. Misstatements. Bullying. Nonsense. 😑 I just can’t with these people.
Pence is coming to a business in my town today, Jacksonville FL. He is going to talk about the replace and repeal but it is not open to the public. But they will air it. So in other words, an opportunity to talk about the “virtues” of the plan but not have to answer questions about it. Just how they like it!
I hope a lot of people show up outside the event and get covered by the news.
Me too!
My beloved grandad did Meals on Wheels in my country for decades, even up into his 80’s until he was physically too unwell to deliver meals any more. Shame on that asshole administration.
If these budget cuts are viewed as OK, then why not throw in a limit on travel and security costs for the first family? Since this one and the last prez supposedly spent too much on vacations, that should be supported by both parties, right? Apparently there is no cap right now, or else we wouldn’t be paying for every weekend trips and funding security for wife, adult kids, etc. Set a reasonable budget and anything over that amount must be personally funded by the usually wealthy person in office.
If the idea is to clamp down on costs, set an example at the top.
I watched part of the press conference with Angela Merkel – he did not look happy and at some points actually looked bored. I was mortified for all Americans when he refused to shake her hand. His tweets were even more awful – he basically demanded money from Germany and poked North Korea and China.
I don’t even want to read his tweets about the Paris airport attack if and when he comments.
Please don’t stop posting these! I love that I can come here and read intelligent commentary on things that, while depressing, we need to know. I try to keep up with all the news coming out every day, but it’s nice to come here and see it spiced with some intelligent and sarcastic humor (and commentary from the writer) and then followed with intelligent and well thought comments. I don’t comment often, but I enjoy reading them. I get confused about how people can still support trump. I have a couple of family members that are really good and caring people that still support him.
I don’t have anything to add that hasn’t already been said here by everyone. Bannon has been open about wanting to destroy the government and bring on the demise of democracy. I guess this is part of his effort. (Because let’s be honest, does anyone think Cheeto Hitler is anything other than an idiotic puppet)? My only hope is that, if we can survive this evil regime without everything being completely dismantled, then there will be a lasting move in the direction of progressivism.
Yes, the cruelty is on purpose. Of course they realize what all their cuts mean. They don’t care. Putin wants America weak and he’s paid for this to happen.
Trump is a dangerous man. The US needs to be isolated. World leaders need to push back and refuse to work, trade or visit him. Plus move investments out of the US. Congress will do nothing to stop this idiot.