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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
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That's because he isn't folksy or particularly endearing.
I swear to God, never in my life I've seen someone with such an enfuriatingly smug smile. It doesn't even has anything to do with himself or his ideals, he could be the second coming of Abraham Lincoln and I still would want to punch him in the face.
“I AM DISGUSTED”: BEHIND THE SCENES OF TRUMP’S INCREASINGLY SCRUTINIZED $107 MILLION INAUGURATION
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff was the mastermind event producer behind Trump’s inaugural celebration, which has since come under S.D.N.Y. investigation. Now, taped conversations reveal Wolkoff’s concerns with how money was being spent, the general chaos of the process, the involvement of the Trump family, and the people in charge, namely Rick Gates and Tom Barrack.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/02/behind-the-scenes-of-trumps-107-million-inauguration
I piece I found on https://currentstatus.io
about the woman who helped plan Trump's inauguration, and who was effectively Melania's equivalent to Micheal Cohen.
Edited by sgamer82 on Feb 8th 2019 at 12:09:00 PM
Fuck this piece of shit. This is not the kind of person we should be defending in the name of party purity. Let him hang.
Billionaire liberal threatens to unload on Dems if they don't impeach Trump Tom Steyer is cranking up his pressure campaign to oust the president — and he has top Democrats in his sights.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/07/trump-impeachment-tom-steyer-house-democrats-1157592
Steyer’s first targets are three powerful committee chairmen, Richard Neal (D-Mass.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Elijah Cummings (D-Md.). But the liberal megadonor isn’t stopping there: He will soon turn his attention to rank-and-file members seated on the committees that would be involved in impeachment proceedings, including freshmen.
And Steyer’s Need to Impeach PAC is considering going after the top three Democratic leaders, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.).
The previously unreported plans to single out additional members on the Ways and Means, Judiciary and Oversight Committees, detailed by Steyer and his advisers, represent the latest turn in Steyer’s multimillion-dollar campaign to impeach Trump. And the thinly veiled threat against the Democratic upper brass puts the former hedge fund manager turned activist squarely at odds with leaders of the party.
“There’s a gigantic cost to not listening to your constituents,” Steyer said in an interview with POLITICO. "There’s a gigantic cost to thumbing your nose at democracy."
Kevin Mack, Steyer’s lead strategist on Need to Impeach, said the PAC has virtually unlimited resources to spend in targeted districts. The group has committed $40 million to the campaign for 2019 so far. The offensive includes TV and digital ad buys, paid staff in key districts and volunteers to organize canvassing.
The article goes on to say some of the targets aren't feeling rushed, since they're in safe districts and have previously warned about the risks of seeking impeachment too early.
Edited by sgamer82 on Feb 8th 2019 at 12:26:07 PM
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Personally, I am 100% in favor of eating the rich. They go great with barbecue sauce!
Is all of that legal? It feels rather underhanded.
BTW, what does this billionare activist stands to gain with this whole campaign?
Edited by HailMuffins on Feb 8th 2019 at 4:26:39 PM
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He should take a basic refresher course in US government, the Senate is what is required to remove Trump and if he thinks Senate Republicans are going to do that right now then he's just delusional.
The only time such a thing is even slightly possible is when Mueller provides his report. And even then there are long odds, it's far more plausible that Trump will leave in 2020 or 2024.
Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Feb 8th 2019 at 2:26:19 PM
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangTrump Shows Flexibility on Wall as Border Deal Comes into View – President Trump shows new flexibility on his wall as House and Senate negotiators near a border security deal that would keep the government funded past Feb. 15.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/08/us/politics/government-shutdown-deal.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/08/us/politics/government-shutdown-deal.html
Almost like Trump is a coward who was clearly beaten the last time he pursued the wall (which was quite recently).
Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Feb 8th 2019 at 2:31:53 PM
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang"To be fair, the California rail project is behind schedule and over budget, so..."
By 2014, the F35 program was "$163 billion over budget [and] seven years behind schedule".
So, you know, the money and patience is there for the things that are a priority.
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Jeff Bezos could single handedly end homelessness in the USA with his annual earnings alone, and have billions upon billions to spare.
Edited by Oruka on Feb 8th 2019 at 12:15:40 PM
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That's an oversimplification of the problem; Bezos throwing money (even a fuckton of it) at a given social issue will not "solve" it. As was mentioned earlier, once large enough amounts of cash come into play, spending it effectively is really difficult. This was discussed last week or so in this thread, IIRC.
California highspeed rail is a disaster because they chose to make it one. SNCF offered to build and operate it, with their own financing, but the people in charge told them to bugger off in the most insulting way possible. Also, wonderful ideas like developing their own signalling system. You might want to check the personal finances of the people in charge of that project because either they are very dim, or..
To actually solve homelessness, Bezos would have to... (not a comprehensive list, just off the top of my head):
- Identify all the people in the country who are homeless.
- Develop a mechanism for them to apply/qualify for his housing program, keeping in mind the risk of fraud/abuse, and including marketing to present his program attractively.
- Locate, purchase, and/or develop the necessary real estate to house them.
- Aid them with transitioning into their new housing, becoming self-sufficient, etc. Many of them may have medical, psychological, or even legal issues that keep them from being able to thrive in their new situation.
- Deal with all the regulations, permits, and bureaucracy involved in the above.
- Figure out the tax liabilities and gift laws applicable to this program.
I'm just spitballing here. For one person to attempt this, no matter how wealthy he is, would be a labor of decades, most likely, and involve the hiring of tens of thousands of people at a minimum. You can't just give every poor person $200,000 and say, "Go buy a house."
There would also be an enormous social backlash against the giving of "free stuff" to people, and I'm not even talking about the wealthy. Let's say I'm a poor citizen who rents a run-down apartment for $1000/mo and can barely feed my kids. I'm going to be resentful as hell when a guy who got evicted from next door for losing his job gets a better home than mine for free.
Edited by Fighteer on Feb 8th 2019 at 4:30:02 AM
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Really, if there's anything to get on Bezos' case for it's helping to establish better working conditions and higher wages for his employees, things that he has more direct control over, not him snapping his fingers and tossing his money out to solve larger societal issues. Just doling out material goods to the most impoverished does little good as opposed to establishing systematic change, which requires time and nuance.

"Uh, sir, you do know abolition means to get rid of, right?"
"Of course I do. You just heard me wrong. Fake news."