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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Interestingly, the guy she interviews points out that it may well have been Trump who leaked these documents. Now, the first time I heard about the fact that Trump played those games I thought it was one, extremely weird, two, actually kind of pathetic. Trump may be trying to play some kind of a game here, but if he is I don't think he's doing it very well. I think it's really just going to make the people who care about him showing us his taxes much more eager to see way more information.
Like, this is just a case where giving a little bit of information is just going to make people look harder.
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And if what I saw was correct, aside from it he paid a tax rate of 4%. There was probably some good stuff in there, but minor, and was very much overhyped both by MSNBC for ratings, and by other news outlets desperate for a silver bullet for Trump.
But here's our real doozy I just learned about: Trump signed an executive order the other day which calls for the department head of every agency under the jurisdiction of the executive branch to submit a plan within 6 months to reduce or eliminate their agencies.
Direct link to text of executive order
The key points:
(d) In developing the proposed plan described in subsection (c) of this section, the Director shall consider, in addition to any other relevant factors:
(i) whether some or all of the functions of an agency, a component, or a program are appropriate for the Federal Government or would be better left to State or local governments or to the private sector through free enterprise;
(ii) whether some or all of the functions of an agency, a component, or a program are redundant, including with those of another agency, component, or program;
(iii) whether certain administrative capabilities necessary for operating an agency, a component, or a program are redundant with those of another agency, component, or program;
(iv) whether the costs of continuing to operate an agency, a component, or a program are justified by the public benefits it provides; and
(v) the costs of shutting down or merging agencies, components, or programs, including the costs of addressing the equities of affected agency staff.
Now consider who are the various heads of these departments. Betsy DeVos, who doesn't believe in public education, is Secretary of Education.
Justice is currently headed by Sessions, who could care less about justice for anyone who isn't a white man.
Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs alum who has every financial reason to want to tear down financial regulation is Head of Treasury.
Pruitt is in charge of EPA after years of battling it and recently disputing the existence or basic facts of climate change.
Rex Tillerson, officially given an Order of Friendship medal by Putin, is leading a State Department that is already incredibly depleted and has morale that's in the gutter.
Prepare for all of those departments, and many more, to be gutted and have every service that doesn't personally benefit rich white conservatives slashed to pieces or eliminated entirely.
Bannon may not get to live out his masturbatory fantasies of burning down the country, but he's going to be doing tons of damage and certainly doing his best to burn down the Executive branch.
| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |![]()
I doubt it's going to last for very long, because that's the kind of thing that people will notice very quickly. Jesus H Christ.
Then again, are we really surprised this is a thing? They were deliberately putting people in charge that have been fighting against the things they've been put in charge of, and Bannon stated this was his particular purpose. This sort of thing isn't going to go unnoticed in the long run, and I can't imagine very much in the short run, either, because once those plans are submitted the GOP and the White House are probably going to trumpet those.
And even the return for this one year revealed that he paid less than someone in his bracket would normally pay. And his new tax plan would remove the provision that forced him to pay even that much.
I still think the main reason he's not releasing more of his returns is because it would reveal that he's not as rich as he claims he is as opposed to anything genuinely incriminating. In other words, it's just a matter of ego.
edited 15th Mar '17 12:24:31 AM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprisedNot sure if this is necessary but, what do you guys think of this future scenario of the USA?
http://future.wikia.com/wiki/United_States_of_America_(3000)
There is one thing I've seen pointed out about the return. In 2005, Trump reported about 150 million dollars income. When you look at what happened with him in that year, he had a big real estate windfall, possibly the biggest he's ever had. Since then, he's had financial failure after failure.
This basically proves that he can't possibly be a billionaire. Because when his most successful year isn't (relatively speaking) all that successful and it's surrounded by failures, well, do the math.
I know people have pointed out before that the majority of Trump's worth is in the "value of his name", which really shouldn't be counted, because it's impossible to monetize in any direct way, but in terms of liquid assets? If Trump's lucky, he's got around 200 million.
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I'll be honest, I'm not really a fan of Canada-US merging in fiction. The cultures are too different, and if the population divide is anything like today, a merge ends up with an unusually liberal region of the US that doesn't really have much of a say.
But the list of presidents was pretty interesting. I would suggest putting a Latinx president much earlier in the timeline, if only because both parties are currently trying to pander to different groups of Latinx people. The Republicans are probably going to put forward a Cuban candidate at some point, for example.
Too bad releasing them is simply a tradition and a courtesy as opposed to an actual rule. That's probably something that should change. Ain't No Rule and Loophole Abuse: Trump's guiding philosophies.
edited 15th Mar '17 5:43:46 AM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprisedA lot of rules in government are "traditions" — the assumption is that everyone will respect the office enough to comply. That's never the case, but the government generally doesn't micromanage.
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."Only In America [/Don King] is $150 million considered not a lot of money.
But yes, I do agree that any candidate should release their returns. It's the principle of the thing. And preferably years more recent than 2005. In tax terms, that's ancient history.
"Here ya go, liberal whiners, here are my tax returns."
"Mr. Trump, these are from 1983."
"Too late, no givesees-backsees! And that's all you're getting!"
edited 15th Mar '17 6:35:10 AM by speedyboris
Good News! Someone in the GOP finds his spine and Trump is taking the kid gloves off...
Texas congressman tells town hall attendee to ‘shut up’
Trump administration reviewing ways to make it easier to launch drone strikes
The changes to the Obama-era Presidential Policy Guidance would empower the Pentagon to make decisions on targets without approval from the White House and potentially scrap the “near-certainty” standard of no civilian deaths for strikes outside war zones. The Trump plans are also likely to relax the requirement that potential terror targets pose a “continuing and imminent threat” to U.S. personnel, officials said.
“We are seeking ways to accelerate our operations against terror groups, and be more nimble and agile in our speed of response,” said Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis. “But we always will maintain a commitment to minimizing, avoiding civilian casualties.”

Too bad Maddow fucked it up.
CNN is blasting her for hyping it up saying it's not even a headline worthy story.
Donald Jr. is gloating and thanking her for proving that his dad pays millions in taxes.
Trump supporters are laughing at the media and Dems right now.
Maddow looked like a conspiracy theorist out to get Trump without any real evidence. And it's hurting the media's credibility.
Basically she played into Trump/Bannon's hands.
edited 14th Mar '17 9:28:52 PM by MadSkillz