The Donald Trump Score Card

I agree Okie. To me it looks like the Trump organization is just scrambling from day to day, problem to problem. They will say anything to push back on press questions, knowing people will forget what was said 4 weeks ago. The big deal is going to happen when people start getting paperwork to come to court.

 

In a court of law, Cohen's testimony is called Prima Facia evidence and consequently it establishes Trump collusion with the Russians. What that means is we have Cohen saying (evidence at face value) and Trump denying, a condition in law requiring resolution in court. Under normal circumstances it would go to a jury and I don't think Trump wants that. Moreover, there is not going to be an out of court settlement this time. This is going to be a criminal case, and the evidence from the Manafort case and the McDougal case will be admitted on relevancy. In my Truck-stop mind, it's not looking good for the stable genius.

 

That talking horse might be Trump's next press spokesperson after Sarah Huckabee Sanders leaves.

 

Here’s Rudy Giuliani Calling Michael Cohen ‘An Honest, Honorable Lawyer’ Just 8 Weeks Ago
by Ken Meyer
Jul 27th, 2018, 10:46 am

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/heres-r...-an-honest-honorable-lawyer-just-8-weeks-ago/

excerpts:

The crown jewel of this tête-à-tête was the moment when Giuliani called Cohen jealous and bitter said “he’s lied all his life.”

“I expect that he is going to cooperate with him. I don’t think they’ll be happy with him because he doesn’t have any incriminating evidence about the president or himself,” Giuliani said. “The man is an honest, honorable lawyer.”

 

Week 62: Trump’s Losing a Tabloid War to His Own Lawyer
Michael Cohen and company are running circles around the president. But to what end?
By JACK SHAFER
July 27, 2018

Week 62: Trump’s Losing a Tabloid War to His Own Lawyer

excerpt:

"As the tabloid war between Cohen-Davis and Trump-Giuliani escalates, the president’s ex-fixer will hold the advantage for several reasons. With his reputation already in ruins, Cohen has nothing lose from Giuliani’s attacks and everything to gain by pleasing the SDNY; he also has more offensive weapons at his immediate disposal—tapes, documents and recollections—than does Giuliani, and, should he go public with them, Giuliani will be forced to play defense; as a former prosecutor, Giuliani is unfamiliar with playing defense; and Giuliani’s client is one of the best-documented liars on the planet. Why should anybody believe anything a liar’s lawyer says in his defense?"

 

People might not be able to tell the difference.

 

Personally I feel like the horse is facing the wrong way if it is meant to be a representation of Trump.

 

I don't think a president has told so many lies in the history of this country. First Cohen is honorable then he's a liar? Really? Who is the liar? Everyday, Giuliani sounds more like a street corner bull shitter from Brooklyn. I wish Mueller brings criminal charges soon!

 

How China's tariffs on soybeans fueled the US GDP bump
Krystal Hu
Reporter, Yahoo Finance
July 27, 2018

How China's tariffs on soybeans fueled the US GDP bump

excerpt:

"The U.S. economy grew 4.1% in the second quarter, partly due to a burst in soybean and corn exports, according to economists. In May, the latest data available, soybean exports nearly doubled compared to in April. Producers were in a rush to beat tit-for-tat sanctions, soybean exports are up 26% for the year compared to 2017.

In the second quarter, the U.S. recorded an 80% annualized jump in food, feed and beverage exports, mainly from soybeans and corn. Without that surge, exports would have increased 5.3% instead of 9.3%, which means the GDP growth would have been around 3.6%, according to Paul Ashworth, the chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics.

David Rosenberg, the chief economist of Gluskin Sheff, argues trade disputes may play an even bigger role in inflating GDP. “At least half the growth is coming from two trade-related issues — a soybean-led export burst and inventory accumulation. Net these out and we remain near 2%”, he tweeted on Thursday."

 

Satirical Russians guard Trump's Hollywood star.

https://nypost.com/2018/07/28/russian-soldiers-stand-guard-at-trumps-walk-of-fame-star/

 

In Tennessee, Trump's tariffs become a political issue
AP
July 9, 2018, 7:18 AM

In Tennessee, Trump's tariffs become a political issue

 

President Trump’s money-making power is as unprecedented as his words
John Harwood
Published 3:31 PM ET Fri, 29 June 2018 Updated 7:00 PM ET Fri, 29 June 2018

President Trump’s money-making power is as unprecedented as his words

excerpt:

"No modern president has profited this way during his time in office.

Predecessors like Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush put their assets in blind trusts to avoid conflicts between their financial interests and the public interest. Trump did not.

He announced in January 2017 that he would step away from his businesses by putting his sons Donald Jr. and Eric in charge of them. But he stepped away only from their management, not their profits.

As president, Trump has promoted those businesses with his presence relentlessly. During his first 514 days in office, he visited Trump properties on 159 of them.

At least two American embassies abroad have promoted Mar-a-Lago, the president’s private club, on their websites. A national park in Virginia has offered Trump wine for sale.

Trump aide Kellyanne Conway publicly urged Americans to buy Ivanka Trump’s products in a television appearance on Fox News. Explaining the popularity of Trump’s Washington hotel, Conway told Politico that customers “look at it as a piece of the president.”"

 

I can't help but wonder first, how much of the "profit" is actually illegal or unethical. One way he shields himself from some of this is not taking a salary. So the claim that he's making more "profit" than any "modern" (whatever that means) president is meaningless without a proper accounting of the laws he is breaking. The Obama's left the white house as millionaires, I'd have been disappointed if they hadn't.

But in both cases I'd like to know where taxpayer money went into their pockets, both Trump and the Obamas. And what the hell, the Bush family and the Clintons as well. How do they become millionaires on $400K salary? But if the money was not from taxpayers, how does it matter?

 

That picture is close. In real life that I see in the Midwest the teeth would be rotten from meth smoke.

 

cartoon: An inconvenient truthl; a reassuring lie

 

GOP senators cave to Trump, drop attempt to punish telecom giant ZTE
by Erica Werner - The Washington Post
July 20, 2018

GOP senators cave to Trump, drop attempt to punish telecom giant ZTE

excerpt:

"Senate Republicans have dropped their attempt to reimpose U.S. sanctions on the Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE, lawmakers said Friday, a victory for President Donald Trump as congressional Republicans abandoned a rare effort to thwart his agenda.

The retreat means ZTE, a company found guilty of selling U.S. goods to Iran in violation of sanctions, will duck Commerce Department penalties that bar U.S. companies from doing business with it.

U.S. and Chinese officials had said those penalties would effectively put ZTE out of business.

Trump had ordered his own Commerce Department to lift the penalties as part of a broader negotiating strategy with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but senators voted to reimpose them as part of a sweeping defense policy bill they passed last month.

But the House version of the defense bill did not include the same provision. And senators have now decided to leave it out of the final compromise bill, agreeing to language advanced by the House instead. The House language bars U.S. government agencies and contractors from doing business with ZTE, but allows the company to continue doing business with private U.S. firms."

 

Trump has twice tried to virtually eliminate the Great Lakes restoration funding. In the second budget proposal the plan was buried in a section with the hopes that it wouldn't be noticed.

States like Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania would be significantly affected, the swing states that gave Trump his victory in 2016.


Donald Trump pushes deep cut to Great Lakes funding — again
Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press
Published 3:23 p.m. ET Feb. 12, 2018 | Updated 5:20 p.m. ET Feb. 12, 2018

Donald Trump pushes deep cut to Great Lakes funding — again

excerpts:

"Like the budget proposal made about this time last year, Trump is looking to nearly eliminate funding for a $300-million program that helps restore Great Lakes water quality by improving fish habitat, cleaning up polluted waterways and protecting wetlands. Trump's earlier efforts to defund it have so far been rejected, as the program enjoys the support of Republicans as well as Democrats in the Upper Midwest.

Unlike last year, however, Trump's White House did not make the proposed cut — from $300 million this year to $30 million in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 — clear in its budget message or its list of major reductions and reforms, burying it in a line in a 96-page budget explanation by the Environmental Protection Agency without explanation."


"Trump's budget also calls again for eliminating the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program — which helped more than 440,000 Michiganders pay home energy bills last year — and the Community Development Block Grant program, administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The program helps pay for home shelters, transportation services, housing rehabilitation and more. In 2017, Michigan communities received more than $111 million in CDBG funds, including $31 million for Detroit."