The Donald Trump Score Card

I bet these Republicans never trim their nails

 

Trump: 7
Hip Forums: a dog that only likes to be pet on Sundays

 

I agree...Trump has an IQ of 7

 

Layoffs from Trump tariffs are piling up. So are calls for more bailouts.
by Heather Long
July 30, 2018

Layoffs from Trump tariffs are piling up. So are calls for more bailouts.

excerpt:

"Jane Hardy, the chief executive of a company that makes lawn-care equipment, says she had to lay off 75 employees this summer because of President Trump’s trade war. As she fights to keep her southern Indiana business going, Hardy is one of several manufacturers warning the White House that, unless they see relief from the tariffs soon, job losses will mount and factory closures are likely.

Trump has repeatedly said he would protect American farmers in the trade war, last week setting aside $12 billion to help them, but he is facing pressure to extend aid to other industries if the tariffs remain in place or get extended to more products.

Extending those bailouts would be an expensive proposition. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Monday estimated the total price tag could hit $39 billion if Trump compensated the losses across all industries. It would take $7.6 billion to help car and automobile parts manufacturers alone, the Chamber said, calling it a “slippery slope” for Trump to determine who gets help and who doesn’t. The Chamber has been a vocal critic of the tariffs."

 

What Is the Endgame for the Trump Trade Wars?
Kimberly Ann Elliott
July 10, 2018

What Is the Endgame for the Trump Trade Wars?

excerpts:

"In addition to overestimating American leverage, Trump does not appear to understand that “the art of the deal” in real estate does not apply in international relations. Real estate deals are often one-off transactions, whereas international negotiations are what political scientists call “repeated games.” That means that countries are generally reluctant to make concessions in the face of threats and bullying from another country, because that will make them vulnerable to similar behavior in future negotiations on other issues.

And, as we have seen, targeted trade partners, including allies as well as rivals, have responded to Trump’s tariffs by retaliating in kind. Those retaliatory tariffs are not random, either. Canada, Mexico, the European Union and China all targeted products that they thought would have the most political impact: agricultural exports that would hit Trump-voting areas hardest, cheese and motorcycles from House Speaker Paul Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin, and bourbon from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s home state of Kentucky.

Trump has also made it difficult for America’s trade partners by not being clear about what he really wants from them. Countries resist offering politically difficult trade concessions if they are not reasonably confident that they can get a final deal they can live with. That’s why, in the ongoing talks to update the North American Free Trade Agreement, negotiators have only closed six out of roughly 30 chapters, none of them particularly important. Canadian and Mexican negotiators are, not surprisingly, unwilling to go too far until American negotiators take certain unacceptable demands off the table. But as Richard Gowan noted in WPR recently, Trump has not, in fact, been the transactional president that many expected. America’s trading partners and allies have tried to engage and offered to compromise on Trump’s demands in a number of areas, but the president has mostly rebuffed them."


"Trump now has three options. He can back down and remove some or all of the tariffs he has imposed so far, but that seems highly unlikely. He could double down and impose even more tariffs, as he has threatened to do. Or, he could do something novel and actually try negotiating seriously. But that would require the president to recognize that trade is not a zero sum game after all, which probably means things will have to get a lot worse before they get any better."

 

A staunch supporter of Trump arrested.


GOP Rep. Chris Collins' insider trading arrest puts a deep-red seat on the House battlefield
- GOP Rep. Chris Collins' arrest on insider trading charges makes his deep-red New York district more competitive in November's House elections.
- Supporters of his Democratic opponent, Nate McMurray, have already started to raise money on Collins' indictment.
- Still, the 27th District favors Republicans, as it voted overwhelmingly for both Collins and President Donald Trump in 2016.
by Jacob Pramuk and Brian Schwartz
August 8, 2018

GOP Rep. Chris Collins' insider trading arrest puts a deep-red seat on the House battlefield

 

Another Trump Swamp Creature.

 

Donald Trump: 8

Hip Forums: a monkey named Steven

 

Melania Trump's parents are now US citizens
By Betsy Klein, Tal Kopan and Kate Bennett, CNN
Updated 2:13 PM ET, Thu August 9, 2018

Melania Trump's parents are now US citizens - CNNPolitics

excerpt:

"Wildes told CNN that as of February, the couple were living in the US on green cards -- a status that allows them to live and work in the US indefinitely and paves the way for citizenship.

But it's unclear whether their green cards were granted by a process the President has sought to end.

"I can confirm they are green card holders and legal permanent residents of the United States," he said. Wildes did not explain how they got those green cards, raising the prospect they were sponsored by Melania Trump or another family member based on what Trump has called "chain migration" or family-based migration.

There are only a handful of ways that immigrants to the US can obtain green cards, and the largest share of them each year are given out based on familial connections. A smaller number go to immigrants based on their employment, and other categories include refugees and other special cases. Advocates for restricting legal immigration have pointed to the imbalance in favor of family connections as evidence of the need for reform, calling for a "merit-based" system that would choose immigrants based on need in the US."

 

I saw that live on Maddow's show. It looked to me like hard evidence of intent to obstruct justice.

 

When you are not Mexican or Muslim or Haitian, the gates to Trump world open up graciously.

 

Before he became a U.S. citizen, public records in 2007 show that Viktor Knavs (Melania's father) was living at Trump's Mar-a-Lago mansion for a period of time. A Mercedes-Benz was registered in his name in Florida.

Records show that Melania's sister, Ines, was living in an apartment on Park Avenue in New York owned by Trump.

It sounds like Melania's relatives were living comfortably on Trump properties before becoming U.S. citizens.

Melania and her attorneys have been quiet about how her older sister and parents obtained U.S. permanent residency.

Apparently Melania was able to get her older sister and parents permanent residency through family sponsorships, the chain migration process that Trump has stated he is against. If it wasn't chain migration, Melania and her attorneys probably wouldn't be as secretive about the avenue by which they obtained it.

It would be worthwhile for Melania to disclose her own immigration documentation. To date, she hasn't. She has made statements that give the impression that there was a period when she was working in the U.S. while on a tourist visa which isn't legal.

Considering how vocal Trump has been about immigration issues, he and Melania have been unusually quiet about Melania and her relatives. It has created a murky situation.



Melania Trump’s parents are legal permanent residents, raising questions about whether they relied on ‘chain migration’
by Carol D. Leonnig, David Nakamura and Nick Miroff
February 21, 2018

Melania Trump’s parents are legal permanent residents, raising questions on ‘chain migration’

 

Nearly half of Republicans say Trump should have power to shut down media
By Bob Fredericks
Published: Aug 7, 2018 3:41 p.m. ET

Nearly half of Republicans say Trump should have power to shut down media

 

Are they the same ones bitching and moaning about Alex Jones?

 

Trump's man Kobach who led the fake commission to find three million illegal Mexican voters who he claimed had voted for Hillary has been found out messing with Kansas elections. He appears to have been working behind the scene to hide ballots so they would not be counted in their primary. Some voters are saying they were unable to find their candidate on the electronic system and were forced to fill out a provisional ballot. Some voters claim they were turned away outright. Kobach and Trump's Kansas operation must be a test run for the next national election.

 

Generally, Republicans support Alex Jones as he serves their purpose.

 

That is... really terrifying