US politics general thread

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cerebus

cerebus

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rietrot said:
People that don't understand basic economics shouldn't be able serve in public office.
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The_Assimilator

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House Speaker Paul Ryan won't seek re-election

Washington (CNN)House Speaker Paul Ryan is not seeking re-election and will retire from Congress after this year, the Wisconsin Republican announced Wednesday.

"You realize something when you take this job," Ryan told reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday morning. "It's a big job with a lot riding on you ... but you also know this is not a job that does not last forever. ... You realize you hold the office for just a small part of our history. So you better make the most of it."

He reminded reporters that he took the job "reluctantly" in 2015, when he took over from John Boehner, but Ryan also said he has no "regrets."

"I like to think I've done my part, my little part in history to set us on a better course," Ryan said.

Ryan's departure is a blow to GOP members who saw the Wisconsin Republican as a stable and policy-oriented leader in a party shaken by the tumultuous Donald Trump presidency. He has been a fundraising juggernaut ahead of the midterms this fall, and helped translate GOP agenda items into legislation such as a series of tax cuts and rolling back banking legislation put in place under Democrats.
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While Ryan is a contemptuous twit, he was at least one of the few relatively moderate voices left in the clown car that is the GOP.
 
RanzB

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Trump nominee won’t say if Brown v. Board of Education was decided correctly

Wendy Vitter, President Trump’s nominee to serve as a federal judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, on Wednesday declined to say whether she believes a Supreme Court ruling ending school segregation was “correctly decided.”

As Vitter testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) asked her if she thought Brown v. Board of Education “was correctly decided.”

“Senator, I don’t mean to be coy, but I think I get into a difficult area when I start commenting on Supreme Court decisions — which are correctly decided and which I may disagree with,” Vitter responded.

“Again, my personal, political or religious views I would set aside. That is Supreme Court precedent. It is binding. If I were honored to be confirmed, I would be bound by it and of course I would uphold it.”
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RanzB

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A New Bombshell Letter Alleges “Unethical And Potentially Illegal” Acts By EPA Head Scott Pruitt

Chmielewski provided a long list of allegations to Congress. Here are some of the most notable:

— He said the decision to give two aides big raises was “100% Pruitt himself,” contradicting Pruitt’s own words on the issue in an interview last week with Fox News. EPA’s Jackson has since taken credit for the raises, and said they were reversed, according to The Atlantic.

— He told members that Pruitt blew past a $5,000 limit for decorating his office, including refinishing an antique desk, leasing art from the Smithsonian, and framing an 8x10 foot US flag.

— He provided many examples of expensive security spending beyond Pruitt having a large detail and traveling first class, which the agency’s internal watchdog is already looking into, such as the purchase of bulletproof vests and weapons, biometric locks, a security sweep of Pruitt's office, and one or more new SUVs for Pruitt's travel rather than using vehicles from the General Services Administration.

— He said that the agency signed a $30,000 contract with private Italian security during Pruitt’s trip last summer to Italy for the G-7. For this trip, and other ones planned, Chmielewski said Pruitt refused to stay at hotels recommended by US Embassy in favor of “more expensive hotels with fewer standard security resources.”

— He said Pruitt “insisted” on using lights and sirens to go to “the airport, meetings, and social events on numerous occasions.” He also is alleged to have “permitted” his drivers to “speed through residential neighborhoods and red lights, far in excess of posted speed limits.” This confirms previous reporting from CBS News.

— He confirmed reporting by the Washington Post that EPA’s Millan Hupp acted as Pruitt's "personal real estate representative,” finding housing for him during work hours.

— He said Pruitt's travel was "often dictated by [Pruitt's] desire to visit particular cities or countries rather than official business,” and staff were directed to book Pruitt’s flights on Delta so he could grow his frequent flyer miles. He also confirmed Washington Post reporting that the agency looked into a $100,000-per-month contract to rent a private jet for Pruitt’s use.

— He confirmed New York Times reporting that staff, including himself, who spoke up about Pruitt’s spending were reshuffled or demoted. After EPA’s Ryan Jackson voiced concerns about Pruitt’s travel, according to Chmielewski, Pruitt told his chief of staff via text not to come to future scheduling meetings related to travel.

— He provided new details about Pruitt’s controversial housing deal, challenging the idea that energy lobbyist J. Steven Hart was not a landlord and that the Hart family didn’t know Pruitt’s daughter shared the condo. Chmielewski said he overheard J. Steven Hart on the phone, “complaining that [Pruitt] had never paid any rent to him, and that [Pruitt’s] daughter damaged his hardwood floors by repeatedly rolling her luggage across the unit when she was staying there.” The Hart family has not immediately responded to a request for comment.

Before joining the EPA, Chmielewski worked as an advance staffer on Trump’s campaign. “I do everything from making sure there are enough port-o-johns for the events to being a direct liaison to the Secret Service detail,” he told the Maryland Coast Dispatch of his campaign job in the summer of 2016.
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The best people, folks...
 
OrbitalDawn

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The_Assimilator said:
House Speaker Paul Ryan won't seek re-election



While Ryan is a contemptuous twit, he was at least one of the few relatively moderate voices left in the clown car that is the GOP.
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Nope. He was one of the main reasons for Trumpism's rise, and I concur with the following analysis of his career. In addition to being a complete phony, he's also an incredibly cruel person (with how he handled Dreamers).

House Speaker Paul Ryan was the biggest fraud in American politics

cerebus said:
He was a spineless twerp who did more long term damage to the US economy than any number of clown cars
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Yep. And he'll be handsomely rewarded by his plutocratic buddies that he's helped enrich at the expense of everyone else. He's the embodiment of pulling the ladder up behind you so no one else can get up.
 
OrbitalDawn

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More dodgy payments.

National Enquirer paid doorman $30,000 to keep quiet about Trump affair rumor

Eight months before the company that owns the National Enquirer paid $150,000 to a former Playboy model who claimed she’d had an affair with Donald Trump, the tabloid’s parent made a $30,000 payment to a less famous individual: a former doorman at one of Trump’s New York buildings.

As it did with the model, the Enquirer signed the ex-doorman to a contract that effectively prevented him from going public with a tale that might hurt Trump’s campaign for president.

The payout to Karen McDougal remained secret until the Wall Street Journal published a story days before the election. Curiosity about that deal has since spawned intense media coverage and, this week, helped prompt the FBI to raid the offices of Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.

The story of the ex-doorman, Dino Sajudin, has not been told until now.
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cerebus

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The Comey memoir has some tasty golden nuggets...

https://slate.com/news-and-politics...emoir-says-about-trump-pee-tape-included.html

“Comey describes Trump as having been obsessed with the prostitutes portion of the infamous dossier compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, raising it at least four times with the FBI head,” the Post writes. “Trump offered varying explanations to convince Comey it was not true.”
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“I’m a germaphobe,” Trump told him in a follow-up call on Jan. 11, 2017, according to Comey’s account. “There’s no way I would let people pee on each other around me. No way.”
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“I decided not to tell him that the activity alleged did not seem to require either an overnight stay or even being in proximity to the participants,” Comey writes. “In fact, though I didn’t know for sure, I imagined the presidential suite of the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow was large enough for a germaphobe to be at a safe distance from the activity.”
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OrbitalDawn

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The_Assimilator

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The GOP seems to believe that by destroying education, they can win back the youth vote.

Revealed: Secret rightwing strategy to discredit teacher strikes

A nationwide network of rightwing thinktanks is launching a PR counteroffensive against the teachers’ strikes that are sweeping the country, circulating a “messaging guide” for anti-union activists that portrays the walkouts as harmful to low-income parents and their children.

The new rightwing strategy to discredit the strikes that have erupted in protest against cuts in education funding and poor teacher pay is contained in a three-page document obtained by the Guardian. Titled “How to talk about teacher strikes”, it provides a “dos and don’ts” manual for how to smear the strikers.

Top of the list of talking points is the claim that “teacher strikes hurt kids and low-income families”. It advises anti-union campaigners to argue that “it’s unfortunate that teachers are protesting low wages by punishing other low-wage parents and their children.”

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The guide, written by SPN senior policy advisers, is revealingly candid about the difficult position that conservatives find themselves in within states that have aggressively cut taxes at the same time as slashing education budgets. “For those of you who are in states where you’ve cut taxes recently, that is sure to be a theme in coverage. That is obviously a challenging message to counter.”
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Cray

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rietrot said:
Dilutional as always. So preventing teachers from striking is destroying education. Makes perfect sense.
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Preventing teachers from protesting education cuts and teacher wage levels, yup pretty much.
 
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