Trump/GOP Policy Thread

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It's a fair criticism that I don't cite enough of the actual garbage Trump or the GOP do. While I can't guarantee it, I'll try to post at least one article a day showing how corrupt and anti-American this admin/GOP is.

Rules I'll attempt to follow:

1) It won't be from an overtly biased source (Huffington Post, Vox, MotherJones, etc.).
2) The article won't be more than a few days old and it'll deal with policy issues.
3) Nothing will relate to the Mueller investigation unless it's policy news (ex. firing Mueller).
4) I'll simply post the article link and a brief summary. No opinions from me; you be the judge.
5) I won't spam the thread with an insane amount of articles. I'll try to keep it at two or less per day.

You're also welcome to post your own articles.

First off:

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is expected to issue a proposal in coming weeks that would make it harder for legal immigrants to become citizens or get green cards if they have ever used a range of popular public welfare programs, including Obamacare, four sources with knowledge of the plan told NBC News.

The move, which would not need congressional approval, is part of White House senior adviser Stephen Miller's plan to limit the number of migrants who obtain legal status in the U.S. each year.

Details of the rulemaking proposal are still being finalized, but based on a recent draft seen last week and described to NBC News, immigrants living legally in the U.S. who have ever used or whose household members have ever used Obamacare, children's health insurance, food stamps and other benefits could be hindered from obtaining legal status in the U.S.

Immigration lawyers and advocates and public health researchers say it would be the biggest change to the legal immigration system in decades and estimate that more than 20 million immigrants could be affected. They say it would fall particularly hard on immigrants working jobs that don't pay enough to support their families.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigr ... d_nn_tw_ma

[AZGrizFan]

IF true, I don’t support it. Legal immigrants need a FASTER way to citizenship, not more red tape.

[Skjellyfetti]

Wife got her green card two weeks ago.

And, yeah - this would be pretty shitty. Sounds like Stephen Miller's high from the family separation fiasco is wearing off and he's looking for a new fix.

[∞∞∞]

Wife got her green card two weeks ago.

Congratulations to her!

[AZGrizFan]

Wife got her green card two weeks ago.

And, yeah - this would be pretty shitty. Sounds like Stephen Miller's high from the family separation fiasco is wearing off and he's looking for a new fix.

How long did it take, Skelly?

[Skjellyfetti]

A little less than two years. And a wad of cash and too many trips to Chicago.

[AZGrizFan]

A little less than two years. And a wad of cash and too many trips to Chicago.

I don’t know, but that seems fast?

[CID1990]

It's a fair criticism that I don't cite enough of the actual garbage Trump or the GOP do. While I can't guarantee it, I'll try to post at least one article a day showing how corrupt and anti-American this admin/GOP is.

Rules I'll attempt to follow:

1) It won't be from an overtly biased source (Huffington Post, Vox, MotherJones, etc.).
2) The article won't be more than a few days old and it'll deal with policy issues.
3) Nothing will relate to the Mueller investigation unless it's policy news (ex. firing Mueller).
4) I'll simply post the article link and a brief summary. No opinions from me; you be the judge.
5) I won't spam the thread with an insane amount of articles. I'll try to keep it at two or less per day.

You're also welcome to post your own articles.

First off:

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is expected to issue a proposal in coming weeks that would make it harder for legal immigrants to become citizens or get green cards if they have ever used a range of popular public welfare programs, including Obamacare, four sources with knowledge of the plan told NBC News.

The move, which would not need congressional approval, is part of White House senior adviser Stephen Miller's plan to limit the number of migrants who obtain legal status in the U.S. each year.

Details of the rulemaking proposal are still being finalized, but based on a recent draft seen last week and described to NBC News, immigrants living legally in the U.S. who have ever used or whose household members have ever used Obamacare, children's health insurance, food stamps and other benefits could be hindered from obtaining legal status in the U.S.

Immigration lawyers and advocates and public health researchers say it would be the biggest change to the legal immigration system in decades and estimate that more than 20 million immigrants could be affected. They say it would fall particularly hard on immigrants working jobs that don't pay enough to support their families.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigr ... d_nn_tw_ma

This article leaves a lot unsaid

We already force repayment for immigrants who already attended public schools and used other public services while in the US. We also refuse immigrant visas based on section 212(a)(4) of the INA which is the section that basically states that if a person in likely to need need-based assistance while a LPR, they are ineligible to receive a visa.

We've been doing it on the front end so I'm not so sure how this should be a major deal on the back end. Or put another way - nobody has had a problem with the part of the INA that already allows this (which is why there's no act of Congress needed for it....)

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Last February, shortly after Peter O’Rourke became chief of staff for the Department of Veterans Affairs, he received an email from Bruce Moskowitz with his input on a new mental health initiative for the VA. “Received,” O’Rourke replied. “I will begin a project plan and develop a timeline for action.”

O’Rourke treated the email as an order, but Moskowitz is not his boss. In fact, he is not even a government official. Moskowitz is a Palm Beach doctor who helps wealthy people obtain high-service “concierge” medical care.

More to the point, he is one-third of an informal council that is exerting sweeping influence on the VA from Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Florida. The troika is led by Ike Perlmutter, the reclusive chairman of Marvel Entertainment, who is a longtime acquaintance of President Trump’s. The third member is a lawyer named Marc Sherman. None of them has ever served in the U.S. military or government.

Yet from a thousand miles away, they have leaned on VA officials and steered policies affecting millions of Americans. They have remained hidden except to a few VA insiders, who have come to call them “the Mar-a-Lago Crowd.”

Perlmutter, Moskowitz and Sherman declined to be interviewed and fielded questions through a crisis-communications consultant. In a statement, they downplayed their influence, insisting that nobody is obligated to act on their counsel. “At all times, we offered our help and advice on a voluntary basis, seeking nothing at all in return,” they said. “While we were always willing to share our thoughts, we did not make or implement any type of policy, possess any authority over agency decisions, or direct government officials to take any actions… To the extent anyone thought our role was anything other than that, we don’t believe it was the result of anything we said or did.”

VA spokesman Curt Cashour did not answer specific questions but said a “broad range of input from individuals both inside and outside VA has helped us immensely over the last year and a half.” White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters also did not answer specific questions and said Perlmutter, Sherman and Moskowitz “have no direct influence over the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

But hundreds of documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and interviews with former administration officials tell a different story — of a previously unknown triumvirate that hovered over public servants without any transparency, accountability or oversight. The Mar-a-Lago Crowd spoke with VA officials daily, the documents show, reviewing all manner of policy and personnel decisions. They prodded the VA to start new programs, and officials travelled to Mar-a-Lago at taxpayer expense to hear their views. “Everyone has to go down and kiss the ring,” a former administration official said.

https://www.propublica.org/article/ike- ... -of-the-va
More: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/shado ... eport-says

[Ibanez]

Wife got her green card two weeks ago.

And, yeah - this would be pretty shitty. Sounds like Stephen Miller's high from the family separation fiasco is wearing off and he's looking for a new fix.

Good for her. I'm sure that brings a huge relief to your family. Now you can save all that money for Stoli.

[houndawg]

Last February, shortly after Peter O’Rourke became chief of staff for the Department of Veterans Affairs, he received an email from Bruce Moskowitz with his input on a new mental health initiative for the VA. “Received,” O’Rourke replied. “I will begin a project plan and develop a timeline for action.”

O’Rourke treated the email as an order, but Moskowitz is not his boss. In fact, he is not even a government official. Moskowitz is a Palm Beach doctor who helps wealthy people obtain high-service “concierge” medical care.

More to the point, he is one-third of an informal council that is exerting sweeping influence on the VA from Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Florida. The troika is led by Ike Perlmutter, the reclusive chairman of Marvel Entertainment, who is a longtime acquaintance of President Trump’s. The third member is a lawyer named Marc Sherman. None of them has ever served in the U.S. military or government.

Yet from a thousand miles away, they have leaned on VA officials and steered policies affecting millions of Americans. They have remained hidden except to a few VA insiders, who have come to call them “the Mar-a-Lago Crowd.”

Perlmutter, Moskowitz and Sherman declined to be interviewed and fielded questions through a crisis-communications consultant. In a statement, they downplayed their influence, insisting that nobody is obligated to act on their counsel. “At all times, we offered our help and advice on a voluntary basis, seeking nothing at all in return,” they said. “While we were always willing to share our thoughts, we did not make or implement any type of policy, possess any authority over agency decisions, or direct government officials to take any actions… To the extent anyone thought our role was anything other than that, we don’t believe it was the result of anything we said or did.”

VA spokesman Curt Cashour did not answer specific questions but said a “broad range of input from individuals both inside and outside VA has helped us immensely over the last year and a half.” White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters also did not answer specific questions and said Perlmutter, Sherman and Moskowitz “have no direct influence over the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

But hundreds of documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and interviews with former administration officials tell a different story — of a previously unknown triumvirate that hovered over public servants without any transparency, accountability or oversight. The Mar-a-Lago Crowd spoke with VA officials daily, the documents show, reviewing all manner of policy and personnel decisions. They prodded the VA to start new programs, and officials travelled to Mar-a-Lago at taxpayer expense to hear their views. “Everyone has to go down and kiss the ring,” a former administration official said.

https://www.propublica.org/article/ike- ... -of-the-va
More: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/shado ... eport-says

These fucks will all be dead in ten years, they don't need to be making long-term decisions for anybody.

[AZGrizFan]

Last February, shortly after Peter O’Rourke became chief of staff for the Department of Veterans Affairs, he received an email from Bruce Moskowitz with his input on a new mental health initiative for the VA. “Received,” O’Rourke replied. “I will begin a project plan and develop a timeline for action.”

O’Rourke treated the email as an order, but Moskowitz is not his boss. In fact, he is not even a government official. Moskowitz is a Palm Beach doctor who helps wealthy people obtain high-service “concierge” medical care.

More to the point, he is one-third of an informal council that is exerting sweeping influence on the VA from Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Florida. The troika is led by Ike Perlmutter, the reclusive chairman of Marvel Entertainment, who is a longtime acquaintance of President Trump’s. The third member is a lawyer named Marc Sherman. None of them has ever served in the U.S. military or government.

Yet from a thousand miles away, they have leaned on VA officials and steered policies affecting millions of Americans. They have remained hidden except to a few VA insiders, who have come to call them “the Mar-a-Lago Crowd.”

Perlmutter, Moskowitz and Sherman declined to be interviewed and fielded questions through a crisis-communications consultant. In a statement, they downplayed their influence, insisting that nobody is obligated to act on their counsel. “At all times, we offered our help and advice on a voluntary basis, seeking nothing at all in return,” they said. “While we were always willing to share our thoughts, we did not make or implement any type of policy, possess any authority over agency decisions, or direct government officials to take any actions… To the extent anyone thought our role was anything other than that, we don’t believe it was the result of anything we said or did.”

VA spokesman Curt Cashour did not answer specific questions but said a “broad range of input from individuals both inside and outside VA has helped us immensely over the last year and a half.” White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters also did not answer specific questions and said Perlmutter, Sherman and Moskowitz “have no direct influence over the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

But hundreds of documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and interviews with former administration officials tell a different story — of a previously unknown triumvirate that hovered over public servants without any transparency, accountability or oversight. The Mar-a-Lago Crowd spoke with VA officials daily, the documents show, reviewing all manner of policy and personnel decisions. They prodded the VA to start new programs, and officials travelled to Mar-a-Lago at taxpayer expense to hear their views. “Everyone has to go down and kiss the ring,” a former administration official said.

https://www.propublica.org/article/ike- ... -of-the-va
More: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/shado ... eport-says

Huh. "Shadow rulers" you say? Maybe Trump should just anoint them all Czars and the lefties wouldn't have a problem with it then.

[∞∞∞]

The federal deficit jumped 20 percent in the first 10 months of the 2018 fiscal year, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported Wednesday.

Spending outpaced revenue between the beginning of the fiscal year, on Oct. 1, and July by $682 billion, $116 billion more than over the same period in the last fiscal year.

The rising deficit is largely the result of the tax cuts President Trump signed into law at the end of last year, as well as a bipartisan agreement to boost spending, according to CBO.
Tax revenues from individuals rose, even as revenues from corporate taxes dropped.

The Trump administration has argued that the tax cuts would bring down the deficit, as economic growth led to higher tax revenue. The economy did expand in the second quarter by 4.1 percent.

But economists have argued the growth would have to be much larger to reduce the deficit.

The CBO projects that the deficit will reach $793 billion by the end of the year and approach $1 trillion next year. White House estimates have the deficit surpassing $1 trillion in 2019.

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/40087 ... nding-bill

---

Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Thursday said Pentagon officials do not yet know how much it will cost to establish President Trump’s desired "Space Force" but assume it would cost "billions."

“We have not done cost estimation yet,” Shanahan told reporters at the Pentagon, adding that he expects he won’t have a more concrete number until November.

Trump in March first announced his desire to create a Space Force, and in June directed the Pentagon to begin creating the new military branch.

Vice President Pence followed up by announcing Thursday at the Pentagon that the administration will seek to create the Space Force as the sixth branch of the military, to be established by 2020.

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/40117 ... t-billions

[CAA Flagship]

First off:

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is expected to issue a proposal in coming weeks

Way to start off with a double maybe.

[CID1990]

First off:

Way to start off with a double maybe.

Yeah in State Dept parlance we call that “carefully parsed”

[∞∞∞]

The Trump administration plans to roll back another major Obama-era rule that was created to police the for-profit college industry, according to a proposal issued by the Education Department on Friday.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said the gainful employment regulation should be scrapped entirely, arguing that it wasn’t backed up by research and created burdensome reporting requirements for schools. The rule sought to punish for-profit college programs that left graduates with heavy debt compared to their incomes

DeVos’ proposal represents the Education Department’s second planned rollback of a major Obama-era rule in a matter of weeks.

On July 25, DeVos proposed changes to the so-called borrower defense rule to toughen the process by which defrauded students can get their loans erased, saying it had become too easy for students to skip out on their debt.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/dev ... llege-rule

[kalm]

The Trump administration plans to roll back another major Obama-era rule that was created to police the for-profit college industry, according to a proposal issued by the Education Department on Friday.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said the gainful employment regulation should be scrapped entirely, arguing that it wasn’t backed up by research and created burdensome reporting requirements for schools. The rule sought to punish for-profit college programs that left graduates with heavy debt compared to their incomes

DeVos’ proposal represents the Education Department’s second planned rollback of a major Obama-era rule in a matter of weeks.

On July 25, DeVos proposed changes to the so-called borrower defense rule to toughen the process by which defrauded students can get their loans erased, saying it had become too easy for students to skip out on their debt.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/dev ... llege-rule

Lower employment rates, increased number of loan defaults which are subsidized by the government. Yeah...what we need is less regulation so they can spend our money more competitively in the free market.

[UNI88]

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/dev ... llege-rule

Lower employment rates, increased number of loan defaults which are subsidized by the government. Yeah...what we need is less regulation so they can spend our money more competitively in the free market.

We also need parents who raise their kids to think about and make better financial decisions. And HS guidance counselors who assist with those decisions as well.

Do we want a government that protects us from every snake oil salesperson or a system where we learn to make good decisions?

[HI54UNI]

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/dev ... llege-rule

Lower employment rates, increased number of loan defaults which are subsidized by the government. Yeah...what we need is less regulation so they can spend our money more competitively in the free market.

How about we take the federal govt out of higher education? Make people go through a real loan process to get a college loan just like they would to get a car loan or house loan. Make the loans relative to their future earning potential. No more loaning $200,000 for a degree in cello.

and +1 on what UNI88 said.

[kalm]

Lower employment rates, increased number of loan defaults which are subsidized by the government. Yeah...what we need is less regulation so they can spend our money more competitively in the free market.

How about we take the federal govt out of higher education? Make people go through a real loan process to get a college loan just like they would to get a car loan or house loan. Make the loans relative to their future earning potential. No more loaning $200,000 for a degree in cello.

and +1 on what UNI88 said.

I know I’m in trouble when I’ve awakened Panther Nation!

I think both of you’re points have merit. But I also recognize the success of the GI Bill.

[TheDancinMonarch]

Lower employment rates, increased number of loan defaults which are subsidized by the government. Yeah...what we need is less regulation so they can spend our money more competitively in the free market.

We also need parents who raise their kids to think about and make better financial decisions. And HS guidance counselors who assist with those decisions as well.

Do we want a government that protects us from every snake oil salesperson or a system where we learn to make good decisions?

What this country needs is more thinking like this. Kudos!

[CID1990]

The rule was treating the symptom but not the disease.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[∞∞∞]

U.S. workers' paychecks are worth less than they were a year ago, the Labor Department reported Friday, as modest wage gains have failed to keep pace with inflation.

Inflation rose 2.9 percent from July 2017 to July 2018, the Labor Department said, while average hourly pay increased 2.7 percent.

The lack of real wage gains comes despite a strong economy, with sustained growth and an unemployment rate of 3.9 percent — one of the lowest levels in decades.

The Labor Department tracks average hourly pay adjusted for inflation, which is known as the "real wage." According to the federal government, the real average hourly wage was $10.78 in July 2017 and $10.76 in July 2018. Real wages have been on a sharp decline since the start of the year.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... 98e9854dce

For reference (from Dept. of Labor): https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/realer.pdf

[kalm]

U.S. workers' paychecks are worth less than they were a year ago, the Labor Department reported Friday, as modest wage gains have failed to keep pace with inflation.

Inflation rose 2.9 percent from July 2017 to July 2018, the Labor Department said, while average hourly pay increased 2.7 percent.

The lack of real wage gains comes despite a strong economy, with sustained growth and an unemployment rate of 3.9 percent — one of the lowest levels in decades.

The Labor Department tracks average hourly pay adjusted for inflation, which is known as the "real wage." According to the federal government, the real average hourly wage was $10.78 in July 2017 and $10.76 in July 2018. Real wages have been on a sharp decline since the start of the year.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... 98e9854dce

For reference (from Dept. of Labor): https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/realer.pdf

Yeah but that’s just because more people are looking for work. In a free labor market, demand for jobs drives wages down. It’s really a good thing.

[∞∞∞]

Yeah but that’s just because more people are looking for work. In a free labor market, demand for jobs drives wages down. It’s really a good thing.

Trickle-up economics?