Thread was frozen as I was typing this response to mgh888 in the other thread:
In fairness to arch, when Biden was questioned during the debates on inflation, he blamed Trump when he should have mentioned what you did about it being worldwide and how the US weathered the storm better than the rest of the world. That was one thing in a littany of things that had things start to go downhill.
However, I have two things. One, in line with what arch is saying, when are we going to start getting off this wheel? Where bad things happen and then we start blaming previous administrations. At what point will constituents collectively say that there has to be accountability. I think it's pretty inarguable to say that there has been little accountability by the Democrats to take ownership of when things go wrong and zero accountability on the part of the Trump administration when things go wrong.
Two, at what point would Trump supporters say that this will become his economy? Like I mentioned before, most of the metrics I remember seeing touted how the US was ahead of other countries economically during the pandemic, and the US markets outperformed international markets. Now we are starting to see the flipside of that with US markets beginning to underperform international, coinciding with the fact that international markets are beginning to de-couple from the U.S. I mean, for crying out loud, we saw Japan, South Korea and China all shaking hands a few weeks ago in response to the tariffs. From both an economic - and a DoD perspective - that is a BIG problem.
Also, the economic impacts currently being experienced with everything being implemented, from DOGE to tariffs, are on the complete opposite end of the spectrum from what the current administration pitched to its constituents. If I had been a supporter or a voter of this administration, I'd be pretty p***ed off.
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
I agree with you on Biden (and Kamala) blaming Trump for inflation - and the other most obvious area of zero accountability is the numbers crossing the southern border ... yes, the Republicans stopped a bill that would have helped. That does not excuse the extrodinary numbers that we saw.
That said - and regarding today's economy. It is 100% Trumps. All indicators were positive and had been for a while. The US was doing better than about 95% of the rest of the industrialized world reagrding inflation and getting back on track to pre-covid economy..... it has all been undone by Trump and his instability and his tariffs.
Also - interesting on DOGE - I saw you mentioned in a post that spending has INCREASED despite all these fantastical (and unsubstantiated and often proven to be lies) claims that DOGE has cut spending. Do you have some source of validating this claim?
Last edited by mgh888; 05/01/2510:13 AM.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
I have my opinions on who's responsible for which parts of the economy....
but at this point, I'll just accept consistency. If you want to claim good news about the economy in the first 100 days in your first term, then you gotta take this 100 days on the chin. That's where Trump loses me, and his followers lose me when they accept his "... and I'm going to blame him again in Q2".
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
There is no doubt that Biden should never have blamed trump for the post Covid economy. I've stated many times they missed the message on that one. No president decided to start a pandemic. The consequences on the global economy was brutal. No developed nation on the globe avoided or prevented that. That's the message the Dems should have drove home to voters.
The only thing that could be controlled was how your nation recovered from it. And we recovered quicker than almost any nation in the world.
What we are seeing with the economy now are self inflicted wounds. Decisions being made and carried out that are purposefully hurting the economy. And the forensic team has gathered fingerprints to prove it.
Is there a possibility that "manufacturing will come back to America!"? Yes it is possible. But even then let's be realistic about that. And I'm not talking reality for some of us but for almost half of the Americans who live paycheck to paycheck. And let's look at pay.
How much do you think an American manufacturer can pay an employee to make shoes? How about clothes or jeans? Toys? How much can they charge consumers for those products and keep the cost of those goods at an affordable rate? How many of those jobs are still even done by "people"?
The real issue voters are facing now is how will they make it during and after this "temporary pain" trump talks about? It's going to take years for most manufacturing to return. It's not as if it can be done with a snap of the fingers. And even then many goods produced can't and won't be "good paying jobs".
As is often the case the wealthy are out of touch with many voters. With almost half of all workers living paycheck to paycheck they can't afford this "temporary pain". They can't afford these tariffs. They won't be able to afford many of the products that would be produced here even if manufacturing come back to the U.S. Does anyone really believe that wages will keep pace with these tariffs or the far more expensive goods that will be manufactured here if manufacturing does come back? If you do I ask you to please stop fooling yourself. Almost half of workers can barely make it now buying cheap foreign products.
But by saying the wealthy are out of touch, maybe some don't believe that. I can show you that the one who leads most of them is. Many are predicting a toy shortage over the tariffs. Here's a comment by trump yesterday that helps point out the disconnect..........
Trump on possible toy shortage: "Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30"
"Somebody said, 'oh, the shelves are gonna be open,'" Trump told reporters Wednesday. "Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more."
Trump hates the military men and women of this country. He has made that quite clear. To hell with vets, billionaires need that money… good luck with your future wars America. I wouldn’t tell anyone the military is a good idea again after this BS. As a matter of fact, anyone who enlist under Trump or a fascist MAGA regime is an idiot in my book. And anyone who obeys his illegal orders is a traitor.
I agree with you on Biden (and Kamala) blaming Trump for inflation - and the other most obvious area of zero accountability is the numbers crossing the southern border ... yes, the Republicans stopped a bill that would have helped. That does not excuse the extrodinary numbers that we saw.
That said - and regarding today's economy. It is 100% Trumps. All indicators were positive and had been for a while. The US was doing better than about 95% of the rest of the industrialized world reagrding inflation and getting back on track to pre-covid economy..... it has all been undone by Trump and his instability and his tariffs.
Also - interesting on DOGE - I saw you mentioned in a post that spending has INCREASED despite all these fantastical (and unsubstantiated and often proven to be lies) claims that DOGE has cut spending. Do you have some source of validating this claim?
Good post - as usual. Here is a link to the article:
One thing that really irks me about all this, too, on top of how dismally we federal employees have been treated, the House Oversight committee just voted to significantly reduce our benefits further. My paycheck would/will see a notable decrease and my retirement benefits would be gashed. A lot of people say "Why should we make billionaires pay for anything!? That's not fair to them" while we keep insisting that the middle class shoulder everything. This is just further proof. So, we just pay more as a country, lie about DOGE savings, focus on cutting around 0.1% of the budget, and still somehow to continue spending more than previously?
One potential out that the administration has is to say that we are operating on a CR instead of a formal budget, basically that spending levels are higher because we are going off previous spending levels + escalation. 1) That doesn't take into account the "supposed" DOGE cuts that happened. We should already be spending less than before because of the DOGE cuts. We aren't. So either DOGE lied, or we somehow increased our spending beyond what DOGE actually cut. Pick your poison. 2) Any budget that gets passed eventually by the dominant party better damn well meet campaign promises.
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
I have my opinions on who's responsible for which parts of the economy....
but at this point, I'll just accept consistency. If you want to claim good news about the economy in the first 100 days in your first term, then you gotta take this 100 days on the chin. That's where Trump loses me, and his followers lose me when they accept his "... and I'm going to blame him again in Q2".
That's a good way to phrase it. How were the first 100 days in 2017 the results of Trump and the first 100 days in 2025 the results of Biden?
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
Trump nominates ousted adviser Waltz as UN ambassador
President Trump confirmed he was removing Mike Waltz as national security adviser on Thursday but added the surprise announcement that he would be nominating him for the vacant UN ambassador post.
Why it matters: Waltz's removal is a dramatic shake up in the White House and will likely lead to more firings or resignations inside the National Security Council.
Trump announced that until a new national security adviser is appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio will also hold this job.
Driving the news: Trump's statement on Truth Social came after weeks of rumors that Waltz was about to be fired or to resign.
His status inside the administration had diminished as a result of the "Signalgate" affair and friction with other members of Trump's team.
Trump seems to have found a graceful way to remove Waltz.
Instead of firing him, he nominated him to fill the vacancy left when he asked Rep. Elise Stefanik to withdraw her nomination for UN ambassador so as not to further shrink the slim GOP majority in the House.
The intrigue: Waltz's confirmation process could be contentious, given his role in Signalgate and other Trump administration controversies.
What he's saying: "From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation's Interests first. I know he will do the same in his new role," Trump wrote.
I couldn't possibly agree with you more about Biden and the Dems missing the message on the post Covid economy. Trying to point the finger at trump for the post Covid economy was foolish at best. I've stated many times on this board the Dems should have pounded the point home that it was a global economic issue post Covid.
Neither trump nor Biden had anything to do with the pandemic spreading to North America. I don't think anyone can say with a shred of honesty that anyone wanted that to happen. I won't get into the response because that really has nothing to do with this discussion. But the economic ramifications of Covid wasn't the fault of any president. How it was handled and how we recovered from it was certainly in part the work of a president. And we recovered quicker than almost any other nation.
What we are seeing now is due to factors that have been inflicted on our economy by the direct actions of a president. The forensic team has gathered the fingerprints.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
I have my opinions on who's responsible for which parts of the economy....
but at this point, I'll just accept consistency. If you want to claim good news about the economy in the first 100 days in your first term, then you gotta take this 100 days on the chin. That's where Trump loses me, and his followers lose me when they accept his "... and I'm going to blame him again in Q2".
That's a good way to phrase it. How were the first 100 days in 2017 the results of Trump and the first 100 days in 2025 the results of Biden?
Did everyone see his smug remarks about Xmas barbie dolls? Kids will have to make do with two instead of thirty, and you’ll pay a few bucks more. Winning in his book.
Within the year we’ll get to see what 1929 was like…
In fairness to arch, when Biden was questioned during the debates on inflation, he blamed Trump when he should have mentioned what you did about it being worldwide and how the US weathered the storm better than the rest of the world. That was one thing in a littany of things that had things start to go downhill.
Biden and Trump signed significant policy in their first 100 days. Biden with the 2.5 trillion spending bill that contributed to inflation. Trump with tariffs and creating chaos for the economy. Both should own it.
It's supposed to be hard! If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great!
In fairness to arch, when Biden was questioned during the debates on inflation, he blamed Trump when he should have mentioned what you did about it being worldwide and how the US weathered the storm better than the rest of the world. That was one thing in a littany of things that had things start to go downhill.
Biden and Trump signed significant policy in their first 100 days. Biden with the 2.5 trillion spending bill that contributed to inflation. Trump with tariffs and creating chaos for the economy. Both should own it.
And I don't have a problem in the world with what you said. My issue is people that think biden blaming trump, for 4 years on the economy?????? People blaming trump for the covid response? Keep in mind, it was a brand new epidemic that NO one had ever dealt with. I mean, people from every country (other than China) died from it, or rather, WITH it. Yet they blame trump.
I would love to have an adult conversation with people that are unbiased. Sadly, that cant and doesn't happen here. Even in the 4 years trump wasn't president, everything got blamed on him. It gets old. I just let the lib's/democrats speak their mind. Hell, we even have one that works for the government griping about not being able to work from home, griping about the temperature in the building, etc.
Yet, he's still posting on here daily, during work hours. when he's working on OUR dime. Sorry dawg. Just gotta call it like I see it..
Everyone that poo poo's away biden and his ineptness? You're just dumb. Anyone that thinks biden's son is innocent of using his daddy to make money? Even stupider.
And soon we'll see pit, and ocd defending biden and blaming trump.
And, go ahead, pit, ocd, Daman always late, correct me. Make stuff up to think you proved yourself right.
Well at least I finally see your true colors. Man, what a trash post. I had often stuck up for you in these threads because I thought you to be a decent person, and I frequently checked in with you and offered you support both via PMs and in the EE threads and now you just spew this utter, backstabbing nonsense. Hell, I just sided with an observation of your in this thread.
Here’s the thing, you displace your frustrations with other people’s politics and then attack them personally, and inaccurately mind you. But then when they respond in kind, you throw a hissy fit.
Let me truth tell you some here. Yes, I am employed by the Government. Yes, I do favor telework. Why? Because my command’s performance was at an all time high during the telework era. I’m also on the record saying I wouldn’t mind RTO if it made sense and there was rational flexibility built in. Do you think Elon did that? Do you think 47 did that? Hell no. We lost a lot of good people who were hired on remote packages.
“Call it like you see it” well, you better get bifocals my friend because you see it wrong. You’re just mad and lashing out. Let me enumerate the truth:
1. YOUR dime doesn’t pay me. Right now I cost you nothing, zero, zilch, nada. There are a host of current foreign allies that procure our systems that have to go through the USG. I am currently negotiating on their behalf. My salary and benefits come out of a bucket they pay into. I cost you nothing. I also say “current” allies because I don’t know how much longer they’ll stick around with 47.
2. Again, I would be fine with RTO if it wasn’t to a building put on the demo list, it had an inside temp below 82 degrees, the bathrooms were cleaned more than once a week and there were things like soap and paper towels. You get after me for complaining about that, while other posters tell me I should reach out to the press about it. What would you have me do, arch? Write a letter to the administration thanking them for my working conditions, and for akso proposing to cut my benefits to the detriment of ke and my family?
3. Posting daily..during work hours. Let me paint a picture for you, arch. Like I said I work for a lot of foreign allies. They don’t start their work day at the same time. I used to get up very early in the morning to support status calls with them during THEIR normal business hours. Now, I have to do it in person because nO TeLeWoRk!!! After those are done, I fire up three desk monitors and usually have my email/IM up in my right screen, current project up on the middle/main screen and DT up in my small left screen. Whether it’s taking a break, checking on things during a status call, getting away from crunching numbers/reviewing contracts/drafting provisions/etc, yes I do refresh the DT screen. It’s my one outlet. Like I said, I also begin my day before normal working hours and end after normal working hours. Some weeks are slower and some are insane. Face to face negotiations with contractors can exceed 70 work hours.
4. Here’s another thing. I’m good at what I do. If I reverted back to going on “YOUR dime” the amount of money I have saved you vs what you theoretically invested in me would be your greatest return. Contractors HATE me. I wear it like a badge of honor. Several years ago, one of the public company’s CEOs mentioned a program I was working during a shareholder quarterly call. The program was presented as a significant cost risk to them because of “aggressive efforts” the Government was setting forth to decrease pricing in negotiations. I got named Employee of the Year for that effort. But yeah, go ahead and bag on me because I post here during what you think of as the “work day” and I’m “wasting your money.” No clue whatsoever.
But hey “we’re just dumb.”
Honestly, man…
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
In fairness to arch, when Biden was questioned during the debates on inflation, he blamed Trump when he should have mentioned what you did about it being worldwide and how the US weathered the storm better than the rest of the world. That was one thing in a littany of things that had things start to go downhill.
Biden and Trump signed significant policy in their first 100 days. Biden with the 2.5 trillion spending bill that contributed to inflation. Trump with tariffs and creating chaos for the economy. Both should own it.
I don’t really disagree with the caveat that both issued stimmies when it wasn’t necessary and both contributed to inflation.
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
In fairness to arch, when Biden was questioned during the debates on inflation, he blamed Trump when he should have mentioned what you did about it being worldwide and how the US weathered the storm better than the rest of the world. That was one thing in a littany of things that had things start to go downhill.
Biden and Trump signed significant policy in their first 100 days. Biden with the 2.5 trillion spending bill that contributed to inflation. Trump with tariffs and creating chaos for the economy. Both should own it.
And I don't have a problem in the world with what you said. My issue is people that think biden blaming trump, for 4 years on the economy?????? People blaming trump for the covid response? Keep in mind, it was a brand new epidemic that NO one had ever dealt with. I mean, people from every country (other than China) died from it, or rather, WITH it. Yet they blame trump.
I would love to have an adult conversation with people that are unbiased. Sadly, that cant and doesn't happen here. Even in the 4 years trump wasn't president, everything got blamed on him. It gets old. I just let the lib's/democrats speak their mind. Hell, we even have one that works for the government griping about not being able to work from home, griping about the temperature in the building, etc.
Yet, he's still posting on here daily, during work hours. when he's working on OUR dime. Sorry dawg. Just gotta call it like I see it..
Everyone that poo poo's away biden and his ineptness? You're just dumb. Anyone that thinks biden's son is innocent of using his daddy to make money? Even stupider.
And soon we'll see pit, and ocd defending biden and blaming trump.
And, go ahead, pit, ocd, Daman always late, correct me. Make stuff up to think you proved yourself right.
Here's the deal: This country is sunk.
Here's the real deal, Trump was responsible for the way we reacted to COVID. He Blew it. Remember, "it will just go away" and then a Million americans died. Brilliant.
You can try to change the narrative if you like, facts don't change.. The guy was a self serving Dufus and still is.
#GMSTRONG
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.” Daniel Patrick Moynahan
"Alternative facts hurt us all. Think before you blindly believe." Damanshot
Don't mind Arch. He's been complaining about government employees for well over a decade now, at least since i've been on this board. His brother also works for the government, so when he's trashing you, he's really just taking more unprovoked shots at his brother
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Ttrumps response to covid killed many many americans. Bidens spending bill put america on a coarse to economic recovery faster than any other country. If trump had to orchestrate us out of the economy caused by covid I am sure he would have failed miserably.
I would love to have an adult conversation with people that are unbiased. Sadly, that cant and doesn't happen here. Even in the 4 years trump wasn't president, everything got blamed on him. It gets old. I just let the lib's/democrats speak their mind. Hell, we even have one that works for the government griping about not being able to work from home, griping about the temperature in the building, etc.
You sound like Trump... and I mean that in the worst way. Twisting words and ignoring context while throwing a temper tantrum complaining about people twisting words and ignoring context.
Yes, it is hard to have adult conversations in PP. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that was actually part of the intention of opening up this part of the forum (keeping the political bickering in one place, away from the others). If it's not worth your while, then don't post in here... ESPECIALLY if your response is just going to be more of what you're complaining about... with the cherry on top of attacking another poster. That makes you just as bad as the folks you complain about.
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
It's a positive, but you may want to hold off on the victory dance. This month is a very slight dip from March, and some are saying that the true impact might not be felt for a little while. IMO, it's also possible that jobs aren't impacted at all with all the back-and-forth regarding the tariff dance going on.
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
Well at least I finally see your true colors. Man, what a trash post. I had often stuck up for you in these threads because I thought you to be a decent person, and I frequently checked in with you and offered you support both via PMs and in the EE threads and now you just spew this utter, backstabbing nonsense. Hell, I just sided with an observation of your in this thread.
Here’s the thing, you displace your frustrations with other people’s politics and then attack them personally, and inaccurately mind you. But then when they respond in kind, you throw a hissy fit.
Hopefully you learned your lesson.
Quote
But hey “we’re just dumb.”
That's how a blind man sees it.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Why would that ruin anyone's parade? Nobody actually wants the economy to sink. Nobody wants to see a recession. A recession would hurt us all.
But Trump is bragging about it on social media which is to be expected. So in essence what it means is when reports are bad and people complain about the current economy it's "Biden's economy". When something good happens with the economy it's "Trump's economy". I guess we'll have to wait and see whose economy it is tomorrow.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
It's a positive, but you may want to hold off on the victory dance. This month is a very slight dip from March, and some are saying that the true impact might not be felt for a little while. IMO, it's also possible that jobs aren't impacted at all with all the back-and-forth regarding the tariff dance going on.
Yeah, all snark aside, I will never complain about more jobs. I think it’s important to take a step back and see how the bigger picture trends over time. There have been a lot of short term peaks, valleys, and reactions. It makes us take our eye off the overarching trends and I think that’s where the focus should be, because true impact takes time, whether positive or negative.
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
Trump budget proposes $1 trillion for defense, slashes education, foreign aid, environment, health and public assistance
(CNN) — The White House unveiled a budget blueprint Friday that would pump more money into defense and homeland security, while taking an ax to programs the Trump administration has already targeted, including education, foreign aid, environment, health and public assistance programs.
The proposal outlines President Donald Trump’s vision and provides recommendations to Congress for fiscal year 2026 spending, but lawmakers are not required to follow it. The blueprint released Friday is an outline, otherwise known as a “skinny budget,” with a more comprehensive plan expected to be released in coming weeks.
The proposal follows Trump’s priorities of beefing up the nation’s defense and immigration enforcement capabilities. It would increase defense spending by 13% to $1 trillion. It would also provide a “historic” $175 billion investment to “fully secure the border,” according to an Office of Management and Budget letter sent to Sen. Susan Collins, who chairs the Appropriations Committee, which was obtained by CNN.
The administration is pushing to have these increases included in the budget reconciliation bill Congress is currently assembling, which would allow it to be approved without Democratic votes in the Senate. Democrats have typically objected to raising defense funding without corresponding increases to certain non-defense spending.
The blueprint also calls for sweeping cuts to a multitude of discretionary programs that the Trump administration has been dismantling since it took office in January. It would slash $163 billion from non-defense, discretionary spending, a nearly 23% reduction, bringing it down to roughly $557 billion.
The administration “protected” Transportation, Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs and “numerous other priorities,” a senior administration official told reporters on Friday. The proposal also preserves funding for Title 1 funding for schools with many low-income students, special education funding, as well as Pell Grants.
But that means that other agencies and programs will bear the brunt of the cuts.
“This is a pretty historic effort to deal with the bureaucracy … that we believe has grown up over many years to be entrenched against the interests of the American people,” the official said, noting that the administration worked closely with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to prepare the outline. “We feel this is a joint project.”
The proposal calls for eliminating multiple diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, environmental justice efforts and other “woke” programs, according to the OMB letter.
Among the agencies and programs recommended for cuts are the National Park Service, climate science research, foreign economic and disaster assistance, UN peacekeepers, certain education funding to schools, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and rental assistance.
Overall, the discretionary budget would be $1.7 trillion, a 7.6% cut from the current fiscal year. The proposal does not make recommendations for so-called mandatory spending programs, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps.
The problem with DoD budgetary increases is that we don’t get more with more money. The contractors get more margin. Don’t believe me? Check their stock filings and share buyback metrics. Look at LMT and RTX for starters.
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
Judge strikes down 'unprecedented' Trump order targeting Perkins Coie law firm
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, who called the executive order an attack on the American judicial system, said Trump’s directive “violates the Constitution and is thus null and void.”
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Friday struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting the law firm Perkins Coie in a blistering opinion calling the president’s efforts “an unprecedented attack” on the U.S. judicial system.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, an Obama appointee, issued a permanent injunction barring the enforcement of any part of Trump’s order from March, which focused on the firm’s representation of 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and its work with billionaire donor George Soros.
“No American President has ever before issued executive orders like the one at issue in this lawsuit targeting a prominent law firm with adverse actions to be executed by all Executive branch agencies but, in purpose and effect, this action draws from a playbook as old as Shakespeare, who penned the phrase: ‘The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers,’” Howell wrote.
“The importance of independent lawyers to ensuring the American judicial system’s fair and impartial administration of justice has been recognized in this country since its founding era,” Howell wrote, referencing John Adams’ decision to represent eight British soldiers charged with murder in connection with the Boston Massacre.
She said Trump’s order “violates the Constitution and is thus null and void.”
A spokesperson for Perkins Coie said in a statement that the judge's ruling "affirms core constitutional freedoms all Americans hold dear, including free speech, due process, and the right to select counsel without the fear of retribution."
"We are pleased with this decision and are immensely grateful to those who spoke up in support of our positions. As we move forward, we remain guided by the same commitments that first compelled us to bring this challenge: to protect our firm, safeguard the interests of our clients, and uphold the rule of law,” the spokesperson said.
The Justice Department did not immediately provide a comment Friday night.
Trump’s executive order limited Perkins Coie employees’ access to government buildings, revoked security clearances at the firm, and ordered the heads of all federal agencies to terminate contracts with the firm and refrain from hiring employees who worked there.
"We are pleased with this decision and are immensely grateful to those who spoke up in support of our positions. As we move forward, we remain guided by the same commitments that first compelled us to bring this challenge: to protect our firm, safeguard the interests of our clients, and uphold the rule of law,” the spokesperson said.
The Justice Department did not immediately provide a comment Friday night.
Trump’s executive order limited Perkins Coie employees’ access to government buildings, revoked security clearances at the firm, and ordered the heads of all federal agencies to terminate contracts with the firm and refrain from hiring employees who worked there.
Howell had grilled Justice Department lawyer Richard Lawson at a hearing over the measure last week, and Lawson was unable to answer basic questions about the other firms that had reached deals with the White House to avoid their own executive orders.
Howell also used a footnote in Friday’s order to criticize firms that took deals with the White House, writing that “some clients may harbor reservations about the implications of such deals for the vigorous and zealous representation to which they are entitled from ethically responsible counsel, since at least the publicized deal terms appear only to forestall, rather than eliminate, the threat of being targeted in an Executive Order.”
Trump has targeted numerous law firms via executive order, prompting some to strike deals with the White House that include committing millions of dollars in pro bono representation for clients and causes supported by the Trump administration and getting rid of internal DEI policies.
Concessions by firms such as Paul Weiss and Skadden Arps have generated backlash within the legal community, including a protest letter signed by dozens of Skadden alumni who were outraged by the firm’s deal with Trump.
In Friday's order, Howell wrote that Trump’s “multi-year history of lodging public attacks” on Perkins Coie and “his promises during the 2024 campaign to act on his displeasure” toward the firm if he won further demonstrates that the executive order “was issued to seek retribution against plaintiff for the Firm’s representation of clients in political campaigns or litigation, about which President Trump expressed disapproval, dating back to 2017.”
“This purpose amounts to no more than unconstitutional retaliation for plaintiff’s First Amendment protected activity,” she added.
They love a parade: President Trump and US Army to celebrate their June 14 birthdays
WASHINGTON — The Army is planning a major parade at the urging of the White House on June 14 — the day the service shares a birthday with President Donald Trump, according to a U.S. official.
Plans for the parade include 6,000 soldiers, helicopters, and armored vehicles, including Strykers, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, and possibly Abrams M-1 tanks, said the official who was not authorized to speak publicly.
The Army had been planning a major celebration for its 250th anniversary on June 14 when White House officials suggested a parade. Soldiers march in presidential inaugural events, but it’s unclear if they have participated in a presidential birthday celebration. The official cautioned that plans for the parade remain tentative, but the event appears likely to happen.
The Associated Press first reported the parade plans. It is likely to cost millions of dollars, and the parade route is planned to go through the heart of Washington, DC, along Constitution Avenue, the official said.
During his first term, Trump appeared at the July 4 celebration in Washington. And the military supplied equipment, including Bradleys, at his request, as well as flyovers. He was criticized for politicizing the Independence Day event. There was also concern about damage caused to city streets by heavy armor, so the vehicles remained immobile, on display, so as not to chew up pavement.
The Army is planning a number of other events to celebrate its anniversary apart from the parade.
The law firm EOs are insane. I can’t find anyone who can objectively justify them. Even my Trump-supporting family takes a “yeah but everything else is still great” tone when discussing the EOs. Add in the fact that this admin is essentially ruling by a flurry of EOs in general. At the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves if this is what had been contemplated by the founding fathers. Can anyone objectively say “yes”?
Edit - wanted to add that EOs have been rampant over several administrations but this is next level.
Last edited by dawglover05; 05/03/2501:15 PM.
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
And that's the thing. This will be far from the only EO he has signed that courts will find unconstitutional. Once that line is crossed and continues to be crossed, our nation is in grave danger. Only kings and dictators have more power than the law itself. I still find it amazing that it seems the only amendment to the constitution trumpians seem to care about is the second amendment. Some people seem to be saying to hell with the law as long as they get what they want. But while they said this wouldn't happen and trump is just "trolling you", we warned them things like this would happen.
But they're in too deep now. They've backed this guy since he first came down that escalator in 2015. It would be far too embarrassing for them to admit how wrong they were now.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Here is another one they will ignore. And remember, they're the crowd claiming schools are indoctrinating our children..........................
New Oklahoma curriculum includes pro-Trump conspiracy theories
The Oklahoma Board of Education has approved new curriculum standards that include a Republican conspiracy theory touted by President Donald Trump.
The new standards mandate that teachers instruct kids that the 2020 presidential election was fraught with fraud or discrepancies, despite numerous court rulings and audits confirming that Donald Trump lost fair and square.
This lesson won't be part of a conspiracy theories course, but an official element of the new social studies curriculum developed by Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters. In March, Walters said this lesson aimed to get 'students to think for themselves' and 'not be spoon-fed left-wing propaganda.'
Trump Admin Scraps Plan to Limit Salmonella in Poultry
The Trump administration is rolling back a Biden-era proposal that would have required poultry companies to limit salmonella bacteria in their products to prevent food poisoning.
After receiving what the Agriculture Department said were 7,000 comments about the proposed rule — from stakeholders that included the poultry and meat industry, members of Congress, and a risk assessment firm — the USDA withdrew the plan “to further assess its approach for addressing Salmonella illnesses associated with poultry product.”
The Biden Administration effort had aimed to reduce salmonella illnesses by 25 percent, per a Federal Register notice, by requiring poultry companies selling chicken or turkey products to keep levels of salmonella bacteria under a certain threshold and test for six dangerous salmonella strains. If the threshold was exceeded or any of the strains were identified, the poultry product would be pulled and subject to recall.
Every year, there are over 1.3 million salmonella infections in the United States, the notice stated, adding that rate had not changed in the past two decades.
On Friday, food officials claimed that the proposed plan would impose an “overwhelming burden” on small poultry producers and processors and said the USDA would “evaluate whether it should update” current salmonella regulations.
President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee received a record amount of cash, with a significant portion coming from Pilgrim’s Pride. The poultry company was the largest donor to Trump’s inaugural committee, donating $5 million. Two of the company’s executives — CEO Fabio Sandri and Kendra Waldbusser, the company’s head of food safety and quality assurance — serve alongside many other execs on the board of the National Chicken Council, a lobbying group that called on the USDA to rescind the proposed plan and “consider alternative approaches for addressing Salmonella in raw poultry products.” The company agreed last year to pay a $100 million antitrust settlement for scheming with other food companies to keep chicken farmers underpaid.
Trump will eventually release another pandemic on US.
I have not heard about that particular conspiracy theory.
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
Idk about that, but Trump has already unleashed an economic pandemic of sorts… forcing our economy to drink bleach and shove a light up it’s ass, thinking he has solved all our problrms. So, little girl, you will just have to do with two dolls instead of 30… YCMATSU.
Second judge blocks Trump administration's use of Alien Enemies Act to remove certain migrants
Washington — A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from deporting noncitizens detained in the Southern District of New York under President Trump's proclamation invoking the wartime Alien Enemies Act.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said in a 22-page decision that the president's March proclamation ordering the summary removal of Venezuelan migrants exceeded the scope of the Alien Enemies Act, an 1798 law that the Trump administration has relied on to deport noncitizens that his administration claims are part of the gang Tren de Aragua.
The Alien Enemies Act gives the president the power to detain and deport migrants when there is a declared war between the U.S. and a foreign nation, or when there is an "invasion" or "predatory inclusion" against the U.S. by a foreign nation or government.
But Hellerstein, appointed by President Bill Clinton, said that the Trump administration failed to demonstrate the existence of a war, invasion or predatory incursion. Because of that, the Alien Enemies Act "was not validly invoked by the presidential proclamation," he wrote.
The judge said noncitizens in his judicial district can still be removed under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Lee Gelernt, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union who argued on behalf of the plaintiffs, said in a statement that the district court "joined several others in correctly recognizing the president cannot simply declare that there's been an invasion and then invoke a wartime authority during peacetime to send individuals to a Gulag-type prison in El Salvador without even giving them due process."
Hellerstein is the second federal judge to bar Trump administration officials from using the proclamation invoking the 1798 law to remove certain Venezuelan migrants at risk of deportation. U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, appointed by Mr. Trump in his first term, ruled last week that Mr. Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act is unlawful and blocked administration officials from using the law and the president's proclamation to detain, transfer or remove Venezuelan migrants who either live or are detained in southern Texas.
Challenges to Mr. Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act have been filed throughout the country in response to a Supreme Court decision last month that allowed removals under the law. But the high court said that Venezuelan migrants covered by the declaration are entitled to notice and the opportunity to challenge their confinement and removal under the Alien Enemies Act through habeas corpus proceedings brought in the district where they are being detained.
The two-century-old law has only been employed previously during three periods of declared wars. But in March, Mr. Trump issued a proclamation claiming that the gang Tren de Aragua "is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States." Mr. Trump's proclamation said that all Venezuelan citizens who are at least 14 years old and in the U.S. unlawfully were subject to apprehension and removal as "alien enemies."
The declaration claimed that the gang is undertaking "hostile actions and conducting irregular warfare" against the U.S. directly and at the direction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's regime. But an April assessment from the National Intelligence Council obtained by the Freedom of the Press Foundation through a public records request found that "while Venezuela's permissive environment enables TDA to operate, the Maduro regime probably does not have a policy of cooperating with TDA and is not directing TDA movement to and operations in the United States."
The declassified assessment said that most of the intelligence community "judges that intelligence indicating that regime leaders are directing or enabling TDA migration to the United States is not credible."
The case before Hellerstein was brought by two plaintiffs — identified in filings as G.F.F. and J.G.O. — who were initially detained at the Orange County Jail in New York and were transferred to an immigration facility in Texas to be deported to El Salvador. But they were removed from a plane in response to temporary orders issued by a federal district judge in Washington, D.C., as part of a challenge to Mr. Trump's efforts to deport migrants under the Alien Enemies Act. That case ultimately landed before the Supreme Court.
The two plaintiffs were returned to the jail, where they remain confined and "under threat of imminent removal," according to Hellerstein's opinion. The migrants brought a challenge under habeas corpus in early April in the Southern District of New York on behalf of themselves and other noncitizens in the region at risk of deportation under the Alien Enemies Act, and Hellerstein agreed to temporarily block the Trump administration from removing them from the U.S. under the president's proclamation unless they received a notice in English and Spanish and a hearing.
His temporary order was to remain in place while he considered the Venezuelan migrants request for a preliminary injunction, which he granted Tuesday after finding that absent such relief, they would be deported to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT. Hellerstein said that once there, "they would endure abuse and inhumane treatment with no recourse to bring them back."
In his opinion, Hellerstein first called the notice provided by immigration officers to those subject to removal under the Alien Enemies Act a "fleeting affair" and a "bare bones form letter."
"Petitioners have not been given notice of what they allegedly did to join TdA, when they joined, and what they did in the United States, or anywhere else, to share or further the illicit objectives of the TdA," Hellerstein wrote. "Without such proof, petitioners are subject to removal by the executive's dictate alone, in contravention of the AEA and the constitutional requirements of due process."
The judge said that the procedures used by the Trump administration have already led to the wrongful removal of at least two migrants to CECOT. One of those migrants is Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who the Trump administration admitted was mistakenly removed to El Salvador as a result of an "administrative error." A federal judge, U.S. appeals court and the Supreme Court have said the U.S. has to facilitate his release from Salvadoran custody, but the Trump administration has claimed it's up to El Salvador to return him.
Hellerstein also said that the grounds for Mr. Trump's proclamation — that Tren de Aragua has engaged in either a war, invasion or predatory incursion of the U.S. — "do not exist."
"There is nothing in the AEA that justifies a finding that refugees migrating from Venezuela, or TdA gangsters who infiltrate the migrants, are engaged in an 'invasion' or 'predatory incursion,'" he wrote. "They do not seek to occupy territory, to oust American jurisdiction from any territory, or to ravage territory. TdA may well be engaged in narcotics trafficking, but that is a criminal matter, not an invasion or predatory incursion."
Only people such as yourself would call a president limiting free speech a win. Maybe now he'll crack down on KKK rallies and white supremacists? We both understand that would be a no.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Trump appoints Fox News host Jeanine Pirro as top prosecutor in DC
Pirro will serve as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
President Donald Trump says he will appoint Fox News host and former prosecutor Jeanine Pirro as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
Trump announced the pick in a post on Truth Social.
The selection comes as Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Thursday that Ed Martin, who is currently serving as D.C.'s interim top prosecutor, would not be taking the position permanently after losing support among top Republicans in the Senate.
ABC News had reported earlier that Trump was eyeing Pirro for the position.
The White House did not immediately respond to request for comment from ABC News. A representative for Fox News press relations did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment, nor did Pirro.
Pirro has been a longtime ally of Trump, dating back to her time as a prominent prosecutor in New York. She was an early supporter of his 2016 campaign and publicly defended him during the "Access Hollywood" tape scandal.
Following Trump's loss in the 2020 election, Pirro pushed false allegations of election fraud involving voting machines and was later among the Fox News employees named in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit for broadcasting false claims about the company. Fox News eventually settled for $787.5 million and admitted the statements were false.
In 2019, Pirro was reportedly suspended by Fox News after she questioned the loyalty of Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar to the U.S. Constitution, citing Omar's Muslim faith.
Martin, who had been vying to become the top prosecutor in one of the nation's most important U.S. attorney's offices, has served as the interim U.S. attorney since the start of the administration, but his interim term expires on May 20.
Martin promoted Donald Trump's "Stop the Steal" campaign in 2021 and was himself seen on Capitol grounds during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Trump said Thursday that Martin could serve in another capacity at the Department of Justice.
One of Trump's final acts before leaving office in 2021 was issuing a last-minute pardon to Pirro's ex-husband, a longtime GOP donor.
With less than an hour before his term ended, Trump granted one final pardon to Albert Pirro, who was convicted more than two decades ago on 34 counts of conspiracy and tax evasion after he was found to have improperly deducted over $1 million in lavish personal expenses as a tax write-off for his businesses.
Only people such as yourself would call a president limiting free speech a win. Maybe now he'll crack down on KKK rallies and white supremacists? We both understand that would be a no.
Free speech does not cause damage, hurt other people, infringe on other people's rights. That is what is being limited here.
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money." Margarat Thatcher
So you don't think that promoting hate against the Jewish people as well as minorities by groups like the KKK and white supremacists hurts anyone but when it's done on college campuses it does?
'It’s not right at all': Neo-Nazis caught on camera hurling racial slurs at young Black children
Then there's that free speech that led to over 100 police officers being assaulted and the damage done to the Capital building. And they were all pardoned. That doesn't count either?
It's odd how some pick and choose when those things matter and when they don't. The spread of hate, no matter who is spreading it hurts us all.
And can you show me the evidence of where those who were detained promoted Hamas? Or were they simply protesting the slaughter of innocent Palestinian civilians? I'm not talking about all of the protestors, just the ones that were detained. Sometimes people are being misled exactly what most of these protests are really about.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
So you don't think that promoting hate against the Jewish people as well as minorities by groups like the KKK and white supremacists hurts anyone but when it's done on college campuses it does?
'It’s not right at all': Neo-Nazis caught on camera hurling racial slurs at young Black children
Then there's that free speech that led to over 100 police officers being assaulted and the damage done to the Capital building. And they were all pardoned. That doesn't count either?
It's odd how some pick and choose when those things matter and when they don't. The spread of hate, no matter who is spreading it hurts us all.
And can you show me the evidence of where those who were detained promoted Hamas? Or were they simply protesting the slaughter of innocent Palestinian civilians? I'm not talking about all of the protestors, just the ones that were detained. Sometimes people are being misled exactly what most of these protests are really about.
There have been many cases across college campuses where building, statues, etc... were damaged and destroyed. If these college kids could protest peacefully, they have every right to their opinion no matter how twisted that opinion is. When people or property get hurt then it is not a protest any longer and must be shutdown. There is a huge difference walking around chanting and holding signs promoting a point of view and causing destruction. That was the main issue when terrorist groups like BLM and Antifa rioted in 2020 also. Same thing here.
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money." Margarat Thatcher
There have been many cases across college campuses where building, statues, etc... were damaged and destroyed. If these college kids could protest peacefully, they have every right to their opinion no matter how twisted that opinion is. When people or property get hurt then it is not a protest any longer and must be shutdown. There is a huge difference walking around chanting and holding signs promoting a point of view and causing destruction. That was the main issue when terrorist groups like BLM and Antifa rioted in 2020 also. Same thing here.
So you promote shutting down free speech and the right to peacefully protest by those not committing crimes to punish them for the crimes others are committing?
Here's a novel concept. Arrest those committing crimes and don't use it as an excuse to infringe on the "constitutional rights" of others.
Same thing in 2020? As has been pointed out time and time again, most all of the violence committed then was at night AFTER the BLM protests had officially ended. And about 93% of those protests were non violent. But when you focus on the law breakers and lump them with the people simply exercising their rights it's an inaccurate yet easy picture to paint. So do you consider the KKK and White Supremacist groups terrorists too?
About 93% of racial justice protests in the US have been peaceful, a new report finds
Judge orders Tufts student Rumeysa Öztürk to be released 'immediately' from ICE custody
“Ozturk is free to return to her home in Massachusetts ... because, frankly, I don’t find that she poses any risk of flight,” the judge ruled.
A federal judge in Vermont on Friday ordered that Rumeysa Öztürk, the Tufts University student detained by immigration agents in March, be released from ICE custody.
"Öztürk is free to return to her home in Massachusetts. She’s also free to travel to Massachusetts and Vermont as she sees fit, and I am not going to put a travel restriction on her, because, frankly, I don’t find that she poses any risk of flight," Judge William K. Sessions III said.
The government was ordered to immediately release her, pending further proceedings on the merits of her habeas petition, the judge said.
Öztürk appeared virtually, with her attorney Mahsa Khanbabai, from the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center.
Khanbabai said she was "relieved and ecstatic" by the news.
"Unfortunately, it is 45 days too late. She has been imprisoned all these days for simply writing an op-ed that called for human rights and dignity for the people in Palestine," she said in a statement. "When did speaking up against oppression become a crime? When did speaking up against genocide become something to be imprisoned for?"
Öztürk was detained on the streets of a Boston suburb on March 25. Video of her arrest showed officers with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and immigration authorities surrounding her on a sidewalk and grabbing her wrists. She screamed as she was led to a nearby SUV.
The Trump administration revoked Öztürk’s student visa in late March based on an assessment from the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement that she "had been involved in associations that 'may undermine U.S. foreign policy by creating a hostile environment for Jewish students and indicating support for a designated terrorist organization.'"
It included her co-writing an op-ed "that found common cause with an organization that was later temporarily banned from campus, the Bureau of Consular Affairs approved revocation, effectively immediately," according to a State Department memo.
Öztürk wrote an op-ed last year in her student newspaper that was critical of Tufts’ response to the war in Gaza.
Earlier in her bail hearing, Öztürk had an asthma attack.
She had testified that the frequency, length, and intensity of her asthma attacks have increased since her detainment.
She told the judge that it has been negatively affecting her.
The doctoral student from Turkey had previously detailed her attacks in a declaration filed with the court. Attorney Jessie Rossman, who appeared in person for the hearing, told the judge that her client has had more attacks beyond the eight documented in the declaration.
Rossman said she was "relieved" her client would soon be able to return to Massachusetts.
"For 45 days, Rümeysa has been detained in Louisiana — over 1300 miles from her friends, her community, and her lawyers. During that time, she has suffered regular and escalating asthma attacks," she said in a statement. "And at the same time, the government has failed to produce any justification for her detention."
During her testimony, Öztürk said that she was diagnosed with asthma in 2023 in her hometown in Turkey and had experienced attacks before her detainment.
During an episode, she said she experiences anxiety, exhaustion, chest tightness and coughing. They are usually brought on by environmental triggers as well as stress.
Tufts University medical center has helped her maintain her asthma, she said, noting that she has two inhalers, one for daily maintenance and another she uses when she has an attack.
Öztürk appeared to get upset as she testified about an attack at the Atlanta airport after she was detained. She was seen putting her hands over her chest and taking a deep breath.
"I was afraid, and I was crying," she told the court about the Atlanta incident.
After her testimony, Dr. Jessica McCannon, who has expertise in treating asthma, was called to the stand. While McCannon was speaking, Öztürk began coughing uncontrollably and appeared out of breath. Attorney Khanbabai, who was with Öztürk, said her client was having an asthma attack.
New FEMA head tells staff: "Don't get in my way… I will run right over you"
During his first all-hands meeting with agency personnel, acting Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator David Richardson issued a striking warning: "Don't get in my way," the former United States Marine Corps ground combat officer told staff, according to a recording of the speech obtained by CBS News.
"Obfuscation, delay, undermining," Richardson continued, referencing tactics he believed a fraction of FEMA staff might try to subvert his agenda. "If you're one of those 20% of the people and you think those tactics and techniques are going to help you, they will not, because I will run right over you. I will achieve the president's intent."
Richardson's formal title is Senior Official Performing the Duties of FEMA Administrator. He was named to the role Thursday and has not been formally nominated nor confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
"I can't recall the full title, but essentially, I'm acting," Richardson told staff on Friday, "I don't need the full title. All I need is the authority from the president to put me in here as some degree of acting and I will make sure that his intent gets completed. I don't stop at yield signs," he continued.
"I, and I alone in FEMA, speak for FEMA," Richardson said.
FEMA did not reply to a request for comment. When told about Richardsdon's meeting, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin responded, "sounds like a productive first meeting."
Richardson was appointed to lead FEMA after Cameron Hamilton, the former acting administrator, was fired Thursday morning, one day after publicly breaking with the Trump administration's expressed intent to eliminate the nation's disaster relief agency.
"I do not believe it is in the best interests of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency," Hamilton testified Tuesday before a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill. His dismissal comes roughly three weeks before the start of the Atlantic hurricane season.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Friday that Hamilton was fired for testifying "contrary to the president," presumably when he advocated for the nation's disaster relief agency not to be eliminated.
President Trump said shortly after taking office that he planned to "begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA," criticizing the agency for allegedly responding slowly to natural disasters.
In his first address as acting head of the agency, Richardson doubled down on the president's promise to reduce its scope and carry out the will of Mr. Trump.
"I am as bent on achieving the President's intent as I was on making sure that I did my duty, where I took my Marines to Iraq, eleven of them," Richardson was recorded as telling FEMA employees.
According to his official biography posted by the Department of Homeland Security, the former Marine commanded artillery units, serving in Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa. Richardson also taught history at George Washington University, strategy at the U.S. Army Field Artillery School, and Marine Corps Martial Arts.
During his roughly 17-minute speech to FEMA employees, he recalled sending home a member of the Second Marine Division from Iraq. "I had too important of a mission for anybody to undermine me or to make things difficult," Richardson said.
"We're going to find out how to push things down to the states," the acting leader later added. "That should be done at the state level. Also going to find out how we can do more cost sharing with the states."
During his address to FEMA employees, Richardson described his leadership style at length, noting that coworkers will rarely see him sitting behind his desk. "Most of this time I will sit at the table drinking tea while I'm working out something with a stubby pencil," Richardson said, pointing a sharpened pencil into the air from behind a FEMA podium, according to the video of the recording.
Richardson told FEMA employees, "I have never read a book on leadership," but contended that, "I'm fine operating in chaos and a very ambiguous environment."
Toward the end of his remarks, the acting FEMA head referred all staff to two memos he authored in recent weeks, and distributed Friday morning. "They're very short, but they will require almost all of you in this room input to some degree or another," Richardson said.
According to the memos, obtained by CBS News, Richardson has directed staff to provide a slew of internal memos to him assessing FEMA's preparedness for 2025, as well as organization charts, watchdog reports and a list of all known gaps in the agency's preparedness or core capabilities.
Richardson declined to take any questions from employees during his day one remarks, instead promising to host a town hall in the coming weeks so that employees could play, "stump the chump."
"It's not that I'm afraid of questions, but I want you to read the memos," said Richardson.
FEMA's new acting administrator said that he will begin his first day by "looking at all the laws and statutes that guide FEMA and making sure that we are only doing the things that are within the law." He added, "If we're not doing that, we are wasting the American taxpayer dollars."
Reflecting on his time in the Marine Corps, Richardson paused for a moment. "I've had friends who are either dead, physically or very damaged emotionally because they ran into trouble doing things that were not within their mission during combat. It's the same thing for a mission like FEMA."
"We're going to find out how to push things down to the states," the acting leader later added.
So states like California, and NY who have the funds can take care of themselves and won’t need to contribute to the fed anymore. And states like Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, FL, KY, and TN will need to suck it up when it comes to Hurricanes, Floods and Tornadoes because they take from the federal government. Sounds fair to me. About time.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Thomas Jefferson.
so is everyone just numb to the fact that our POTUS is committing massive crypto schemes to personally profit while in office?
we really do live in a trash timeline.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Here's a quote from that "looney lefty" Laura Loomer:
Laura Loomer, a conservative activist and Trump supporter, wrote on X: "I love President Trump. I would take a bullet for him. But, I have to call a spade a spade. We cannot accept a $400 million 'gift' from jihadists in suits. The Qataris fund the same Iranian proxies in Hamas and Hezbollah who have murdered US Service Members. The same proxies that have worked with the Mexican cartels to get jihadists across our border. This is really going to be such a stain on the admin if this is true. And I say that as someone who would take a bullet for Trump. I'm so disappointed."
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
A little more about the Air Force One plane being donated by Qatar which may help explain the reasoning for their donation of the aircraft.....................
Trump company strikes Qatari golf resort deal in a sign it’s not holding back from foreign business
House trying to pass a bill that includes 700 billiion in medicaid cuts.
i swear republican politicians and voters hate their own fellow Americans.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
I really do not care about the Jet. Did not cost me a penny so what does that matter. I do not like the optics it sends to Isreal.
so its cool for elected officials to accept gifts now?
imma remember this post if a Dem ever accepts a gift moving forward.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
I really do not care about the Jet. Did not cost me a penny so what does that matter. I do not like the optics it sends to Isreal.
so its cool for elected officials to accept gifts now?
imma remember this post if a Dem ever accepts a gift moving forward.
Yeah, and I am also cool about passing the bill to cut 700 billion in Medicaid. I am tired of the government getting into my pockets. There is quite a bit more spending cuts they could do.
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money." Margarat Thatcher
I really do not care about the Jet. Did not cost me a penny so what does that matter. I do not like the optics it sends to Isreal.
It's clearly a bribe. "Drain the swamp", amiright?
How hard and how long do you have to bash yourself in the head to be ok with that?
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
I really do not care about the Jet. Did not cost me a penny so what does that matter. I do not like the optics it sends to Isreal.
so its cool for elected officials to accept gifts now?
imma remember this post if a Dem ever accepts a gift moving forward.
Yeah, and I am also cool about passing the bill to cut 700 billion in Medicaid. I am tired of the government getting into my pockets. There is quite a bit more spending cuts they could do.
Do you expect cuts to Medicare to directly/positively impact your tax bill?
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
I really do not care about the Jet. Did not cost me a penny so what does that matter. I do not like the optics it sends to Isreal.
so its cool for elected officials to accept gifts now?
imma remember this post if a Dem ever accepts a gift moving forward.
Yeah, and I am also cool about passing the bill to cut 700 billion in Medicaid. I am tired of the government getting into my pockets. There is quite a bit more spending cuts they could do.
Do you expect cuts to Medicare to directly/positively impact your tax bill?
No but got to start somewhere.
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money." Margarat Thatcher
I really do not care about the Jet. Did not cost me a penny so what does that matter. I do not like the optics it sends to Isreal.
so its cool for elected officials to accept gifts now?
imma remember this post if a Dem ever accepts a gift moving forward.
Yeah, and I am also cool about passing the bill to cut 700 billion in Medicaid. I am tired of the government getting into my pockets. There is quite a bit more spending cuts they could do.
Do you expect cuts to Medicare to directly/positively impact your tax bill?
No but got to start somewhere.
Last I heard from the admin, DOGE has been cutting like crazy and now they're cutting Medicaid... but they're still having to raise the debt ceiling (by a pretty significant amount). As a supporter, how do you reconcile those 2 things?
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
I really do not care about the Jet. Did not cost me a penny so what does that matter. I do not like the optics it sends to Isreal.
so its cool for elected officials to accept gifts now?
imma remember this post if a Dem ever accepts a gift moving forward.
Yeah, and I am also cool about passing the bill to cut 700 billion in Medicaid. I am tired of the government getting into my pockets. There is quite a bit more spending cuts they could do.
Do you expect cuts to Medicare to directly/positively impact your tax bill?
No but got to start somewhere.
Last I heard from the admin, DOGE has been cutting like crazy and now they're cutting Medicaid... but they're still having to raise the debt ceiling (by a pretty significant amount). As a supporter, how do you reconcile those 2 things?
Wait and see when it is finished. Hoping it ends in a huge tax cut.
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money." Margarat Thatcher
So you don't care that your tax dollars would pay to retrofit the jet into Air Force One and then trump gets to keep it when he leaves office? That sounds like something you should want to call Musk about. So trump gets a jet your tax dollars get to help pay to make into Air force and keep it no problem but children and disabled people getting healthcare you take an issue with? And then you wonder why some people call that Murica and Freedumb.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Wait and see when it is finished. Hoping it ends in a huge tax cut.
So moves that definitely hurt lots of people... and we hope it ends up helping.
Stuff like this blows my mind. How much does someone have to suck executing a plan to leave people arguing about things like deporting illegals and govt spending?
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Anyone who pays taxes. If you don't pay taxes, you don't get a cut. The more you make the more you get back that is how it works.
that's not how they are designing the bill.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Buyers of $TRUMP meme spent $148 million to win dinner with president Trump
Buyers of US president Donald Trump's $TRUMP meme coin spent an estimated $148 million in the contest to win the opportunity to dine with the president at his private golf club outside of Washington, D.C. on May 22, according to crypto intelligence firm Inca Digital.
The event, which the president promoted on social media as the "most EXCLUSIVE INVITATION in the world," promised the top 220 holders of the $TRUMP meme coin an invite to a gala dinner with the president, while the top 25 will also enjoy "an ultra-exclusive private VIP reception" with the president as well as a "Special VIP Tour." The GetTrumpMemes.com website posted on Monday: "Congratulations, if you're in the top 220 on the leaderboard... President Trump will see YOU on May 22 at the Gala Din ..
The coins surged to $75 after Trump announced them over his Inauguration weekend before falling to a low of $7.50. On Monday, as the contest ended, $TRUMP was trading around $14.
Since the coin launched in January, 592,962 wallets have lost a combined $3.9 billion Inca said.
The top holder of $TRUMP meme coins on the leaderboard was a wallet called "SUN" with nearly $18.5 million worth of the coin in time weighted holdings. The wallet is owned by Seychelles-based crypto exchange HTX, according to blockchain analysis firm Arkham.
Other holders in the top 25 included companies based in Singapore and Hong Kong.
After Trump won the presidency, Sun said he invested a total of $75 million into the family's new cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial. In addition to being the single-largest known investor, Sun also became an advisor to the project.
In February, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it paused its 2023 fraud case against Sun, citing public interest.
The SEC declined to comment.
Coming in last place, at number 220 on the leaderboard on was an anonymous wallet simply known as "ces," which held about $59,000 worth of time-weighted coins. The terms and conditions of the event noted that Trump may not attend and it could be "cancelled for any reason."
In January, the Trump Organization announced that the president's investments, assets and business interests would be held in a trust managed by his children and he would play no role in day-to-day operations or decision making. The family named a prominent attorney, William Burck, as an ethics adviser to "avoid any perceived conflicts of interest."
On April 24, the Trump Organization subsequently fired Burck, citing his representation of Harvard University in its funding battle with the Trump administration. The company has not named a replacement. Burck did not offer comment.
The White House and the Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment. In an earlier response to Reuters regarding criticisms by Democratic lawmakers that the meme coin dinner poses conflicts of interest, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said: "President Trump's assets are in a trust managed by his children. There are no conflicts of interest."
The current market value of all $TRUMP coins is $2.74 billion. A company controlled by the Trump family and a second firm together hold 80% of the remaining supply of the meme coins, which are advertised with an image of the president raising his fist in reference to his July assassination attempt.
So far, the entities behind the Trump coin have earned $320.19 million in fees, including at least $1.35 million after the dinner announcement, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.
Some government ethics experts say the $TRUMP meme coin allows anonymous foreign individuals to personally purchase access to Trump, triggering a volley of complaints from Democratic lawmakers to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, ranking member of the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, has opened an inquiry into whether Trump's crypto enterprises violate government ethics requirements.
Both Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy and Oregon Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley have each introduced bills aimed at ending the ability of presidents and members of Congress to profit off crypto assets. California Democratic Congressman Sam Liccardo introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House.
"The Trump meme coin is the single most corrupt act ever committed by a president," said Sen. Murphy in a statement to Reuters on Friday. "Donald Trump is essentially posting his Venmo for any billionaire CEO or foreign oligarch to cash in some favors by secretly sending him millions of dollars."
Of particular concern, the lawmakers say, is the way Trump has moved to curb crypto enforcement and ease regulation at the same time as his family stands to benefit financially from the sector. In April, the DOJ dismantled its crypto enforcement unit.
A spokesperson for the DOJ told Reuters: "This Department of Justice will continue to prosecute those who victimize digital asset investors or those who use digital assets in furtherance of crimes."
Since the $TRUMP meme coin launch three days before the president's inauguration, returns have favored large investors. More than 60 large wallets have profited close to $1.5 billion, with $48 million in profits occurring after the April dinner announcement, according to reviews by Inca Digital and crypto analytics tracker Bubblemaps as of May 8.
At least two of the largest investors in the $TRUMP contest have made profits in excess of $10 million each, Inca Digital found, while 15 investors have made more than $1 million.
Meanwhile, about 600,000 other wallets have lost $3.87 billion so far, with $117 million of losses occurring after Trump announced the dinner on social media, Inca and Bubblemaps found. The purchases were of coins that have already been issued, meaning Trump's family collected relatively small amounts of fees.
One of those is Kali, a 27-year-old in Hawaii who plans luxury vacations for high net worth individuals and asked that her last name not be used due to fear of being harassed by others in the crypto industry. She said she spent about $10,000 on the coin, at an average of $15 per coin.
In the days leading up to the contest, as the coin's price began to climb again, she was holding her breath and hoping to break even by the time the contest ends today.
The $TRUMP meme coin is part of the Trump family's growing array of crypto ventures including the trading platform World Liberty Financial, Trump Media & Technology Group's new crypto ETFs, a crypto mining operation, American Bitcoin, and a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar called USD1.
The trickle down job creators… aka the 1%… aka the elite. DotD roots for team never worked a day in their lives. He aspires to join them “when his ship comes in”… You know, the very definition of voting against your own interests. A true card carrying member of the “Rah Rah” take the rest of my wealth crowd.
The trickle down job creators… aka the 1%… aka the elite. DotD roots for team never worked a day in their lives. He aspires to join them “when his ship comes in”… You know, the very definition of voting against your own interests. A true card carrying member of the “Rah Rah” take the rest of my wealth crowd.
Only 1 party taking my wealth and it is not Republicans. Democrats raise taxes, Democrats cause inflation (see Jimmy C and Joe B), Democrats are run by the "Elite" and foster a class of people into needing them and waiting for government handouts. Do nothing for them really except keeping them needy. I want smaller government, more of my money to stay in my pockets, and a government that stays out of my business. You can keep your needy hands out waiting for your handouts!!!
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money." Margarat Thatcher
Meanwhile the trump brigade has commercials on all the TV networks still campaigning and false advertising how his administration has already cut taxes for the middle class and reduced inflation, brought jobs back to US with increasing tariffs. Say it enough and their minions believe it. SMFH these people are bat s crazy.
Nothing but crickets about anything substantial. And their favorite two words. “We’ll see” because that’s all they have.
Last edited by PerfectSpiral; 05/14/2510:15 AM.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Thomas Jefferson.
Your problem is you have been fooled into thinking trump, who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth is not an "elite". You have been convinced to help them line their pockets with millions upon millions as they give you a few leftover peanuts. You have been conned and can't seem to figure it out yet.
You have a billionaire president with a billionaire going around cutting government jobs with no rhyme or reason so randomly they have to keep going back and rehiring the very same people they fired.
And you still think they give a damn about you?
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
The trickle down job creators… aka the 1%… aka the elite. DotD roots for team never worked a day in their lives. He aspires to join them “when his ship comes in”… You know, the very definition of voting against your own interests. A true card carrying member of the “Rah Rah” take the rest of my wealth crowd.
Only 1 party taking my wealth and it is not Republicans. Democrats raise taxes, Democrats cause inflation (see Jimmy C and Joe B), Democrats are run by the "Elite" and foster a class of people into needing them and waiting for government handouts. Do nothing for them really except keeping them needy. I want smaller government, more of my money to stay in my pockets, and a government that stays out of my business. You can keep your needy hands out waiting for your handouts!!!
You’ve drown in the kool-aid pal. But hey, you get a year of pennies off your taxes before reality hits! So, good on you.
Here is a list if people with trump in Saudi Arabia.................
Tech:
Elon Musk: CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and a top advisor to Trump. Sam Altman: CEO of OpenAI, a leading artificial intelligence research company. Andy Jassy: CEO of Amazon. Ruth Porat: President and Chief Investment Officer of Alphabet (Google). Jensen Huang: CEO of Nvidia, a major chip manufacturer. Arvind Krishna: CEO of IBM. Alex Karp: CEO of Palantir Technologies, a data analytics company.
Finance:
Stephen Schwarzman: CEO of the Blackstone Group, a private equity firm. Larry Fink: CEO of BlackRock, a global investment management corporation. Jane Fraser: CEO of Citigroup.
Other Industries:
Kelly Ortberg: CEO of Boeing. James Quincey: CEO of Coca-Cola. Jeff Miller: CEO of Halliburton. Dara Khosrowshahi: CEO of Ube
This wasn't a foreign visit representing the United States. This was a business venture representing crony Capitalists. But hey, we paid for it and the end isn't that what trump cares about?
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Here is a list if people with trump in Saudi Arabia.................
Tech:
Elon Musk: CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and a top advisor to Trump. Sam Altman: CEO of OpenAI, a leading artificial intelligence research company. Andy Jassy: CEO of Amazon. Ruth Porat: President and Chief Investment Officer of Alphabet (Google). Jensen Huang: CEO of Nvidia, a major chip manufacturer. Arvind Krishna: CEO of IBM. Alex Karp: CEO of Palantir Technologies, a data analytics company.
Finance:
Stephen Schwarzman: CEO of the Blackstone Group, a private equity firm. Larry Fink: CEO of BlackRock, a global investment management corporation. Jane Fraser: CEO of Citigroup.
Other Industries:
Kelly Ortberg: CEO of Boeing. James Quincey: CEO of Coca-Cola. Jeff Miller: CEO of Halliburton. Dara Khosrowshahi: CEO of Ube
This wasn't a foreign visit representing the United States. This was a business venture representing crony Capitalists. But hey, we paid for it and the end isn't that what trump cares about?
Yeah, shame on Trump trying to expand US business ventures. Bringing possible job opportunities to our citizens, helping the US economy!!!
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money." Margarat Thatcher
I see you love paying the cost of a trip for billionaires. I understand how financially draining you must think it would be for them to pay their own way for huge investments being put into their businesses. Trump just made you help pay the expenses for billionaires and you support it. No wonder the poor can never get ahead. They want Saudi Arabia to sign huge business deals to line their own pockets. Let them pay for it. Unless of course you think we have more money to pay their expenses than they do?
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Your problem is you have been fooled into thinking trump, who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth is not an "elite". You have been convinced to help them line their pockets with millions upon millions as they give you a few leftover peanuts. You have been conned and can't seem to figure it out yet.
You have a billionaire president with a billionaire going around cutting government jobs with no rhyme or reason so randomly they have to keep going back and rehiring the very same people they fired.
And you still think they give a damn about you?
I do not want Trump or the government to give me anything. I just want them to not take so much. I see the government as taking and not giving. I do not need them to give me anything just stop taking so much. Smaller government, less taxes, less handouts, and more people working for what they have.
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money." Margarat Thatcher
I do not want Trump or the government to give me anything. I just want them to not take so much. I see the government as taking and not giving. I do not need them to give me anything just stop taking so much. Smaller government, less taxes, less handouts, and more people working for what they have.
Millions of people that work full time make so little they too get handouts. Millions of people on Social Security have benefits so low they too receive handouts.I think you're too brainwashed to see what's really going on here. People getting food assistance isn't what's draining our economy. It's billionaires and millionaires not paying their fair share of taxes. You know, the same billionaires you think tax payers should pay their travel expenses to Saudi Arabia to line their pockets with business deals. Because Lord knows they can't afford to pay for their own travel.
You advocate they take less while trumps budget includes spending much, much more. Who runs the budget at your house?
I notice you didn't say a word about Musk cutting off food and medicine around the globe to starving and malnourished children by ending USAID. Then I see you advocating that taxpayers foot the bill for Musk's travel. Then I see you use a Bible verse in your signature. That math doesn't add up for me.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
I do always find it interesting how welfare and taking often gets aimed at poorer people, and surely there are people on that end of the spectrum who milk the system. However, with all the bailouts we've seen, campaign contributions, etc. how people do not understand the concept of corporate or elite "welfare" is beyond me. Megadonors and PACs don't funnel billions of dollars into these campaign contributions out of the goodness of their hearts. Same with foreign governments transferring "assets."
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
There are several large American corporations and businesses that pay wages so low that many of their workers qualify for food assistance, medicaid for their children and even housing assistance. Somehow the ire of many are thrust upon those workers more so than the companies. What it boils down to is that American tax payers are subsidizing these businesses workers instead of the companies paying a living wage and decent benefits. These companies are raking in profits as tax payers foot the bill for their workers. How people can't see that is pure corporate welfare is beyond me.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
I do not want Trump or the government to give me anything. I just want them to not take so much. I see the government as taking and not giving. I do not need them to give me anything just stop taking so much. Smaller government, less taxes, less handouts, and more people working for what they have.
Millions of people that work full time make so little they too get handouts. Millions of people on Social Security have benefits so low they too receive handouts.I think you're too brainwashed to see what's really going on here. People getting food assistance isn't what's draining our economy. It's billionaires and millionaires not paying their fair share of taxes. You know, the same billionaires you think tax payers should pay their travel expenses to Saudi Arabia to line their pockets with business deals. Because Lord knows they can't afford to pay for their own travel.
You advocate they take less while trumps budget includes spending much, much more. Who runs the budget at your house?
I notice you didn't say a word about Musk cutting off food and medicine around the globe to starving and malnourished children by ending USAID. Then I see you advocating that taxpayers foot the bill for Musk's travel. Then I see you use a Bible verse in your signature. That math doesn't add up for me.
I advocate that taxes should be low. There are plenty of good wage jobs out there and folks are not willing to work. Almost every business these days are hurt by employees not showing up to work. These same people not showing to work get government assistance. That is wrong. I do not believe in hand outs. Social security is a system designed for workers and their employers to pay into so workers can be better assisted in their retirement, but we have people draining the system of funds that did not pay in so instead of cutting that funding we want other to pay more. That is wrong. There are other means for these people to get assistance. The government handouts funded by taxpayers is not the proper system.
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money." Margarat Thatcher
Where are all of these "good wage jobs" that people are unwilling to work? Can you give any sources to show that people who work don't show up so they qualify for government assistance or is that your "feelings"?
I have shown you how millions of Americans that work full time still qualify for government assistance and you have nothing to say about that. It's not that they aren't showing up for work. It's that the pay places them below the poverty level. I have shown you that millions of people on social security draw so little they too qualify for your tax dollars and you have nothing to say about any of that. And just as a reminder......
Matt. 25:33-45
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
But you know, "No handouts!" Because lower taxes means more to you than the words of Christ.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Just a general comment, The President is killing it.
If by 'it', you mean certain portions of the Constitution that make up the core of our democracy, then you'd be right.
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
Where are all of these "good wage jobs" that people are unwilling to work? Can you give any sources to show that people who work don't show up so they qualify for government assistance or is that your "feelings"?
I have shown you how millions of Americans that work full time still qualify for government assistance and you have nothing to say about that. It's not that they aren't showing up for work. It's that the pay places them below the poverty level. I have shown you that millions of people on social security draw so little they too qualify for your tax dollars and you have nothing to say about any of that. And just as a reminder......
Matt. 25:33-45
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
But you know, "No handouts!" Because lower taxes means more to you than the words of Christ.
That is our individual plight to feed to hungery, cloth the pooor etc... It does not say give handouts to those that don't work. It does not say to take from the rich and give to the poor. That is not biblical at all. Actually the Bible states in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 King James Version 10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
So spare me your miss interprupted Bible verses. Do you give to your church? Do you pay tithes and offernings. If not the Bible says you rob God. When you rob God you are not performing the bible verses you quotes above.
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money." Margarat Thatcher
Even when the word of Christ puts it into plain English you make excuses as to why you advocate the opposite. He even talks about people in prison. As you might put it "common criminals". Are those people he speaks of "working"? I had no idea that people in prison worked.
I'm not the one who has a Bible verse in my signature and then makes excuses to ignore what it says. You have totally sidestepped the millions of those who work full time and qualify for government assistance. You totally ignored the millions on Social Security that have to depend on government assistance.
And let me explain to you what you are referring to when you talk about people who "Do not work". You're actually talking about their children for the most part. Most of the benefits are given out to the mothers who have children, not healthy men. Do you also advocate we punish these children because they have deadbeat dads? What would Jesus do?
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Even when the word of Christ puts it into plain English you make excuses as to why you advocate the opposite. He even talks about people in prison. As you might put it "common criminals". Are those people he speaks of "working"? I had no idea that people in prison worked.
I'm not the one who has a Bible verse in my signature and then makes excuses to ignore what it says. You have totally sidestepped the millions of those who work full time and qualify for government assistance. You totally ignored the millions on Social Security that have to depend on government assistance.
And let me explain to you what you are referring to when you talk about people who "Do not work". You're actually talking about their children for the most part. Most of the benefits are given out to the mothers who have children, not healthy men. Do you also advocate we punish these children because they have deadbeat dads? What would Jesus do?
Why are we punishing them? Why are you advocating that the government takes care of them with other people's money? They should seek assistance in other ways local churches, charitable organizations. One person's hard-earned money taken from them and spent on others. If someone chooses with their free will to help assist families in need and many of us do and would do more if we could keep more of what we earn. The government should not take from one and give to another. That is wrong in every sense.
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money." Margarat Thatcher
"When you look at what's happening with Russia and Ukraine the drone is killing tremendous numbers of people," Trump said during a press conference in Doha, Qatar. "You hide behind a tree and the drone comes down and it circles you with fire. You don't have a chance and the tree comes down also by the way."
"It's so intense the— I mean you see these trees being knocked down like..." he continued. "Like they're being sawed down by a top of the line, uhh, timberman like... Like... You know who? Sean... Duffy."
"Do you know that Sean Duffy, the head of the Transportation Department, who's working right now on the airports and getting a system because Biden didn't do a thing for four years and Pete Buttigieg was the head and he goes bicycling to work," said Trump.
"He takes a bicycle to work, can you believe it? He's head— He's running the biggest air system in the world and he takes a bicycle to work. What a— And they say he's going to run for president, I don't see it." Trump went on. "Who knows right? But I don't see it."
"But, uh, when I look at what they've done uh, it's so horrible what they've done and the work they did do they wasted billions of dollars," Trump went on. "They tried to hook up air systems to... To copper. They tried to hook up copper to glass and the glass doesn't work with the copper and..."
"Uh they had 30,000 different contractors doing 30,000 jobs and when they put it all together they spent billions of dollars. It didn't even come close to working and we're going to be giving out a brand new system," said Trump.
"It's very important. We'll have the best system. And we think we know who that system is but we have a lot of bidding," he went on.
"But we want one check," he continued. "We want a unified system. We don't have, uh, 5,000 contractors and all different places, some digging ditches and some not doing ditches because they want to go by satellite. Satellite seems to be the way to go. We're going to be giving that out pretty soon."
"But what people don't know about Sean cause I mentioned lumberjacks that Sean — you probably didn't know this that uh — I'm not talking about this Sean, this Sean no, not, this is not... This is a different Sean," Trump said.
"Sean Duffy, the head of Transportation. He's a great Sean though, I have to tell you but Sean Duffy was the world champion for five years climbing trees and down, up and down, world champion!" Trump said, struggling to string together his thoughts. "So that's what you call a serious a lumberjack."
"And he's doing a fantastic job too, a really respected guy and terrific guy and I mentioned the champion because when somebody's the champion — he's the world champion for a long time — he came down, when you come down those trees, coming down at a rapid... He said that started getting your back. You will often break your back! You... You miss... You miss a shot and you're coming down a lot faster than the human body was meant to come down. But he's doing a fantastic job at Transportation. But this has been a very, uh, historic trip."
He could have said that Musk's Starlink was going to get yet another multi billion dollar contract to upgrade the air system without sounding like an idiot at the same time. But then that wouldn't have been very trump like.
Last edited by PitDAWG; 05/15/2503:01 PM.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Somehow you think that churches and charities can address all of these people's needs. That's so far out of whack it's no longer worthy of trying to discuss this topic with you.
The last time I checked a lot of them were too busy building megachurches and buying jets to have a lot left over to solve that problem.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Somehow you think that churches and charities can address all of these people's needs. That's so far out of whack it's no longer worthy of trying to discuss this topic with you.
The last time I checked a lot of them were too busy building megachurches and buying jets to have a lot left over to solve that problem.
What does not work the way it is done in our country today is government handouts causes lifestyle of dependency and bad culture. See slums in all cities. Generational poverty is a product of government handouts. People that need assistance should go thru churches and other charitable programs that promote getting the needy back on their feet and into a productive lifestyle. Also saves taxpayers money. Throwing money at problems does not fix problems. Lief style changes fix problems and can change generational poverty. Although liberal socialist really does not want to change the system and lose people dependent on them.
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money." Margarat Thatcher
The only thing missing from this mess is your choice of dressing. If this came from the mouth of an elderly relative, we'd be seeking help from a memory care facility.
Compare this string of disjointed words to anything he said just a few years ago, and the truth couldn't be any clearer.
And before anyone tries to knee jerk the pitifully predictable response: Biden.
Beat you to it, saved you some typing. You're welcome.
GD Culture Group, a small technology company with ties to China, announced its plans to buy as much as $300 million of $TRUMP — President Donald Trump’s memecoin.
The firm, which employs eight people, produces short videos for the Chinese-owned social media app, TikTok. While the company recorded no revenue last year, it announced this week that a mysterious stock sale would allow it to invest in Trump’s memecoin, The New York Times reported.
Trump, who has recently planned two lavish cryptocurrency-focused dinners — one of which cost a whopping $1.5 million to attend— has raised the alarm of ethicists who caution that his endeavors with his memecoin and crypto company, World Liberty Financial, could pose a conflict of interest.
GD Culture Group, which is traded on the Nasdaq, said that it would spend $300 million on a stockpile of Bitcoin and $TRUMP. It would be paid for using funds from a mysterious stock sale to an unnamed entity in the British Virgin Islands, a popular tax haven.
The purchase would directly fill the pockets of Trump’s family, as around 80 percent of the memecoin supply is controlled by the Trump Organization and its affiliates.
Trump, who has pushed to integrate crypto more with the U.S. since taking office in January, will “likely profit from the very policies he is pursuing,” State Democracy Defenders Action, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting election sabotage and autocracy, said in a recent report.
“The regulation of digital assets is in its nascency, but rather than divest his crypto assets to avoid any possible conflict of interest, President Trump seems to have positioned himself to maximize profiting from them by adopting a less aggressive regulatory and enforcement program than his predecessor,” the group wrote.
The morally questionable purchase also comes at a time when Trump is trying to reach a deal that would allow TikTok to continue operating in the country.
GD Culture Group, for its part, said it hoped the purchase would “enhance its balance sheet with high-performance, scalable digital assets,” according to a press release from the company.
Any purchase by the group, however, would be the first known instance of a China-linked firm buying Trump’s memecoin, per the Times report.
“The Chinese government may intervene or influence its operations at any time,” the company said in an annual report filed in March.
The firm, which employs eight people, produces short videos for the Chinese-owned social media app, TikTok. While the company recorded no revenue last year, it announced this week that a mysterious stock sale would allow it to invest in Trump’s memecoin, The New York Times reported.
Trump, who has recently planned two lavish cryptocurrency-focused dinners — one of which cost a whopping $1.5 million to attend— has raised the alarm of ethicists who caution that his endeavors with his memecoin and crypto company, World Liberty Financial, could pose a conflict of interest.
GD Culture Group, which is traded on the Nasdaq, said that it would spend $300 million on a stockpile of Bitcoin and $TRUMP. It would be paid for using funds from a mysterious stock sale to an unnamed entity in the British Virgin Islands, a popular tax haven.
The purchase would directly fill the pockets of Trump’s family, as around 80 percent of the memecoin supply is controlled by the Trump Organization and its affiliates.
Trump, who has pushed to integrate crypto more with the U.S. since taking office in January, will “likely profit from the very policies he is pursuing,” State Democracy Defenders Action, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting election sabotage and autocracy, said in a recent report.
“The regulation of digital assets is in its nascency, but rather than divest his crypto assets to avoid any possible conflict of interest, President Trump seems to have positioned himself to maximize profiting from them by adopting a less aggressive regulatory and enforcement program than his predecessor,” the group wrote.
The morally questionable purchase also comes at a time when Trump is trying to reach a deal that would allow TikTok to continue operating in the country.
GD Culture Group, for its part, said it hoped the purchase would “enhance its balance sheet with high-performance, scalable digital assets,” according to a press release from the company.
Any purchase by the group, however, would be the first known instance of a China-linked firm buying Trump’s memecoin, per the Times report.
“The Chinese government may intervene or influence its operations at any time,” the company said in an annual report filed in March.
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
Churches can NOT cover it. Do you want to know why?
Rent assistance program
HEAP
Food stamps
Welfare
There's no way churches can cover all of those costs.
Your issue is you concentrate on a portion of society while forgetting about all of the people who legitimately need these programs. You have been programmed to think a certain kind of way and seem to forget about the millions upon millions of children that depend on these programs to keep a roof over their heads, food in their bellies and heat in their homes. You ignore the millions on social security who also depend on these programs. Instead you focus on the parts the most negative and ignore the rest. Shame on you.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Trump family crypto venture tapped as part of $2B Emirati-backed investment deal
The deal is expected to utilize World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin.
An Abu Dhabi state-backed investment firm is making a major $2 billion investment in a crypto business deal that could serve as a major boost for Trump family crypto venture World Liberty Financial, according to Zach Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Financial.
USD1, World Liberty Financial's so-called "stablecoin" -- a digital asset designed to maintain a stable value -- is expected to be used to complete Emirati investment firm MGX's $2 billion investment transaction in crypto exchange Binance, Witkoff said during an appearance with President Donald Trump's son Eric Trump at a crypto convention in Dubai this week.
"We are excited to announce today that USD1 has been selected as the official stablecoin to close MGX's $2 billion investment in Binance," Witkoff announced in a video recording of the event posted on X. "We thank MGX and Binance for their trust in us, and I think it's only the beginning."
After once deriding cryptocurrency as a "scam," President Donald Trump last September announced he and his sons Eric and Don Jr. were throwing their support behind World Liberty Financial, though its business model was largely unclear. This week's development is the latest example of a foreign entity making a major investment that could boost a Trump family business.
Cryptocurrency and ethics experts told ABC News that the timing and scope of the Trump family's foray into cryptocurrencies raise questions about whether investors -- including those from overseas -- could try to leverage their investments to curry favor with the administration. Critics have raised issues with the Trump administration's regulatory role over cryptocurrencies while he stands to personally benefit from cryptocurrency ventures.
"Essentially, the president is taking the weakness in our current ethics laws that allow a president to continue to hold financial interests in businesses while he's in a position of presidency to just a whole new level in this administration," said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan government watchdog.
Trump has yet to release his financial disclosures as president, so it's unclear what arrangements he has made to ensure a firewall between his personal businesses and his presidency. Last month a White House spokesperson told Reuters in a statement that "President Trump's assets are in a trust managed by his children. There are no conflicts of interest."
The USD1 announcement was made during what the organizers described as a "fireside chat" between Eric Trump and Zach Witkoff, a son of Trump's Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, which was moderated by Justin Sun, a Chinese-born crypto mogul who became one of World Liberty Financials' biggest investors the day before Trump's inauguration by purchasing $75 million worth of its other coin, WLFI.
A month after that investment, SEC lawyers under the Trump administration moved to halt an alleged fraud case against Sun.
Zach Witkoff during the event also announced that World Liberty Financial will be "natively integrating" its USD1 coin with Tron, a cryptocurrency founded by Sun, boasting that they will be "minting" hundreds of millions of dollars to billions of dollars of coins from the arrangement.
Much of World Liberty Financial's operation is still shrouded in mystery, but its founders have touted its ambitious goal of integrating their venture into the everyday traditional retail system.
During the event, Zach Wikoff said he wants to walk into a deli in New York City or the Four Seasons in Abu Dhabi and freely use World Liberty Financial's tokens. Eric Trump, in response, jokingly admonished Zach Witkoff for using Four Seasons Abu Dhabi as an example, and not Trump Tower.
Zach Witkoff claimed World Liberty Financial's USD1 coin, backed "one-to-one by short-term treasuries and cash equivalents," will become "the most transparent, the most regulated, stablecoin in the world."
The Trumps and the Witkoffs have together raised at least $550 million for World Liberty Financial coins, according to the New York Times.
During this week's event, Eric Trump also discussed additional Trump business ventures in the UAE, saying that the Trump Organization was able to speed through a permit for a new skyscraper with the highest swimming pool in the world -- expected to be in the Guinness Book of World Records -- just within the last month.
Churches can NOT cover it. Do you want to know why?
Rent assistance program
HEAP
Food stamps
Welfare
There's no way churches can cover all of those costs.
Your issue is you concentrate on a portion of society while forgetting about all of the people who legitimately need these programs. You have been programmed to think a certain kind of way and seem to forget about the millions upon millions of children that depend on these programs to keep a roof over their heads, food in their bellies and heat in their homes. You ignore the millions on social security who also depend on these programs. Instead you focus on the parts the most negative and ignore the rest. Shame on you.
You seem to think the government is responsible to take from some to give to others and that is right and fair. I do not. I think those in need should seek help and not rely on government assistance from the backs workers.
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money." Margarat Thatcher
Yet you have said nothing about billionaires and corporations paying little to no taxes. Nothing about how American companies shipped their jobs overseas. Nothing about how government contractors are ripping off the defense department. It seems as though you've been convinced that it's the poor in America that is your enemy. That's just what they want you to think. If making children homeless and depriving those on Security Security these benefits that will surely leave them out in the cold is your goal, the things you are espousing will help you achieve that goal. May God have mercy on your soul.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
And now from Noem and the land of the weird. Suddenly they are trying to twist supporting trump get removed from the presidency is a threat on his life. Only in Trumplandia. This is the length they will go to in order to silence someone. Murica!..........................
James Comey under investigation for posting — and deleting — "86 47" on Instagram, Noem says
Former FBI Director James Comey has provoked an outcry from the Trump administration after he briefly posted a photo to Instagram that federal officials alleged was a call for violence against President Trump — a claim Comey pushed back on.
The image shared by Comey — a longtime Trump foe — showed seashells in sand arranged to form the numbers "86 47," according to screenshots shared by Trump administration officials.
He did not make his meaning clear, but administration officials and some of his supporters interpreted the numbers as referring to Mr. Trump's status as the 47th president and the slang term "eighty-six," which has often been used to mean "eject" or "remove."
Comey later deleted the image. In a follow-up Instagram post Thursday night, Comey wrote that he "posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message. I didn't realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down."
CBS News has reached out to Comey's attorneys for comment.
Noem says post is under investigation
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on X that the issue is under investigation. She said Comey "just called for the assassination" of Mr. Trump, and added her agency and the Secret Service are "investigating this threat and will respond appropriately."
Current FBI Director Kash Patel said in a separate statement that, "We are aware of the recent tweet by former FBI Director James Comey, directed at President Trump. We are in communication with the Secret Service and Director (Sean) Curran. Primary jurisdiction is with SS on these matters and we, the FBI, will provide all necessary support."
A Secret Service spokesperson told CBS News in a statement it "vigorously investigates anything that can be taken as a potential threat against our protectees. We are aware of the social media posts by the former FBI Director and we take rhetoric like this very seriously. Beyond that, we do not comment on protective intelligence matters."
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich wrote in his own social media post Comey's message "can clearly be interpreted as 'a hit' on the sitting President of the United States," and said it is "being taken seriously."
Comey and Trump have sparred for years. Comey served as FBI director from 2013 until he was fired by Mr. Trump in 2017, during the president's first White House term.
That firing ultimately set into motion Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation into allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and that the Trump campaign coordinated with the Kremlin. Mr. Trump has repeatedly denounced those allegations as a "hoax."
For his part, Comey has been a vocal critic of Mr. Trump since his firing, calling him "morally unfit" to be president in a 2018 interview.
Mr. Trump was the target of two assassination attempts during his presidential campaign last year. During a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a 20-year-old gunman opened fire on Mr. Trump, grazing his ear with a bullet. One rally attendee was killed and two more were wounded.
On Sept. 14, a man was arrested on allegations he attempted to assassinate Mr. Trump at his golf course in West Palm Beach by aiming a rifle through shrubbery.
What does "86 47" mean?
It's unclear what Comey meant with his Instagram post, but according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, to "eighty-six" means to "throw out" or "get rid of" something.
It originates from 1930s soda counter slang, which meant that an item was sold out, Merriam-Webster says. The term can also refer to people: To "Eighty-six" an inebriated bar patron is to kick them out or refuse service to them, the dictionary said.
I would normally agree with you when it comes to a merit-based economy...but what we have seen compounding on itself since Reagan is the robber-baron class enriching itself at the expense of the tax payers and the Government. All the data demonstrates this. Just look at the wealth gap trend over that time. You can't look at a widening wealth gap with treasure constantly being absorbed by the uber wealthy and blame the poor for it.
If anything, our trend mirrors late 18th Century France. "Let them eat cake" I suppose...
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
Yet you have said nothing about billionaires and corporations paying little to no taxes. Nothing about how American companies shipped their jobs overseas. Nothing about how government contractors are ripping off the defense department. It seems as though you've been convinced that it's the poor in America that is your enemy. That's just what they want you to think. If making children homeless and depriving those on Security Security these benefits that will surely leave them out in the cold is your goal, the things you are espousing will help you achieve that goal. May God have mercy on your soul.
You act like being rich is something bad. There is nothing wrong with being rich. The rich own the business that pay the salaries of the workers. I regularly donate to food shelters. Volunteer to make and hand out food at town events. It is not like I despise the poor. I feel sorry for poor people. That does not mean I believe the government should take from some and give to others. That is wrong. People earn a living and earn what success they have achieved others should inspire to do the same. I understand people need assistance to get back on their feet, but they also need to provide for themselves and stop playing the victim.
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money." Margarat Thatcher
I would normally agree with you when it comes to a merit-based economy...but what we have seen compounding on itself since Reagan is the robber-baron class enriching itself at the expense of the tax payers and the Government. All the data demonstrates this. Just look at the wealth gap trend over that time. You can't look at a widening wealth gap with treasure constantly being absorbed by the uber wealthy and blame the poor for it.
If anything, our trend mirrors late 18th Century France. "Let them eat cake" I suppose...
Sorry I disagree. In today's society there are good paying jobs to be had. Work hard and play by the rules and you can have a good living in this country. It is that simple.
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money." Margarat Thatcher
That's not the point. Yes, I agree that hard work can pay off, but the upward mobility is not what it was at this country's apex. Just look at the financial data. Everything I said was true. Many of the wealth class now represent those who were born into wealth and did not have to work for it, yet want to hoard it, and place very protective measures to do so, while maintaining maximal control over politicians. Campaign contributions and PACs are one huge sign. It isn't the poor who are controlling politicians.
It is much harder now to rise through the ranks. Need examples? Check out the price of housing, education, automobiles, etc. The generation who had it the easiest to earn wealth and upward mobility simply think everyone should just be able to do it like they did, even though the game has significantly changed. From FDR through Nixon, we had Democratic and Republican administrations who understood one thing: we have to invest in ourselves. Now, all data points to the fact that we are investing in our billionnaires, who take that money to grow their own coffers and influence. It's a common theme in the downfall of many a great empire, from Rome to Russia.
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
Saying you feel sorry for the poor on one hand and think advocating to take away benefits like subsidized housing and HEAP benefits to heat their homes doesn't add up. Making them homeless and cold isn't caring. For some reason you seem to think as long as they have food all is right with the world.
There's nothing wrong with being rich. It's how you conduct yourself and how you gain that wealth that matters. It's how you decide to either scam the system or not that matters. The only people it seems you hold to that standard are the poor.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
House Budget Committee rejects Trump agenda bill in major setback for GOP leaders
A group of conservative holdouts voted against the massive party-line package, citing concerns over the level of spending cuts and impact to the U.S. deficit.
WASHINGTON — The GOP-led House Budget Committee voted to reject a sweeping package for President Donald Trump's agenda on Friday, dealing an embarrassing setback for Republican leaders.
The vote in the Budget Committee was 16-21, with five conservative hard-liners joining all Democrats in voting against the multitrillion-dollar legislation. After the vote tally was read, Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, the committee chair, adjourned the hearing and told members they would not be meeting again this weekend.
Negotiations with the GOP holdouts will continue in the coming days and Republicans on the panel will try to regroup as soon as Monday.
Republican leaders concede the massive bill isn't ready for prime time, and that critical changes will need to be made in the coming days to tax and Medicaid provisions to win over recalcitrant members.
In an office near the hearing, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., huddled privately with some of the Freedom Caucus members who serve on the budget panel — Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, and Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma. Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., who is not on the panel, also joined them.
In the hearing, Roy fired a warning shot at Republican leaders, saying he opposes the bill as written because it will increase the deficit.
“I have to now admonish my colleagues on this side of the aisle. This bill falls profoundly short. It does not do what we say it does with respect to deficits," Roy said. "That’s the truth. Deficits will go up in the first half of the 10-year budget window and we all know it’s true. And we shouldn’t do that. We shouldn’t say that we’re doing something we’re not doing.”
“This bill has back-loaded savings and has front-loaded spending," Roy added. “I am a no on this bill unless serious reforms are made today, tomorrow, Sunday," he said. “Something needs to change or you’re not gonna get my support.”
He was joined by Norman, who also said the bill needed changes before it could earn his vote.
Across the aisle, Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., previewed the Republican divisions at the outset of the hearing, vowing that all Democrats oppose it.
“You will hear over the course of this hearing a vigorous debate. And frankly there is a strong divide between Republicans and some other Republicans. There is also a divide between both sets of Republicans and this side of the dais,” said Boyle, the top Democrat on the Budget panel. “I can speak at least as to why it is every Democratic member will be voting no on the bill for billionaires.”
Saying you feel sorry for the poor on one hand and think advocating to take away benefits like subsidized housing and HEAP benefits to heat their homes doesn't add up. Making them homeless and cold isn't caring. For some reason you seem to think as long as they have food all is right with the world.
There's nothing wrong with being rich. It's how you conduct yourself and how you gain that wealth that matters. It's how you decide to either scam the system or not that matters. The only people it seems you hold to that standard are the poor.
My question again is why you feel the government is justified to take from one and give to another? I do not disagree that we as a people should help our poor in our communities. Where I differ with you is government mandating it thru taxes. Creating a dependent class of people. You demonize the rich but nothing a government does can hurt the rich person. Raise their taxes and they in turn raise the prices on their good. Let's raise minimum wage and the business owner has to pay more in salary then they raise the price of goods again. Nothing will hurt the rich like you want. Who gets hurt in every scenario the middle class. All of the wealth distribution attempted by Biden just caused the inflation we have today. Bernie Sanders can scream the 1% all he wants. All his actions do is hurt the middle class. What made America great as a society is the middle class. It had never happened before in the history of time. All of the social programs that try to even a playing field hurt 1 thing the middle class. The government needs to stay out of our pockets and let communities deal with issues in their communities.
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money." Margarat Thatcher
Because we should all help those less fortunate than ourselves. We should all contribute to that. It's no different than any other duty we as a society should be willing to see our tax dollars going to. The only way to insure that everyone does their part is through taxes. You somehow seem to think that everyone donates to these causes like yourself. They do not. You think that those only willing to give should pay the cost but everyone else should be exempt. But that will not pay for these programs. Your theory would only punish the poor to the point many would lose housing and heat for their dwellings. We just saw how the trump administration cut food going to food pantries. I don't know about where you live but where I live food banks are having a hard time feeding the same amount of people they did before those cuts. They're having a very hard time now.
These programs were in existence long before "Biden". So that's a non starter. He didn't create HEAP nor subsidized housing nor food benefits. Not everything you consider a societal ill can be blamed on Biden. The money that goes to these programs is a drop in the bucket compared to many other things.
You claim I demonize the rich but that's not true. Stating factual things isn't demonizing anyone. The tax code is written to favor them. In some cases they pay a lower tax rate than their employees. Lobbyists for major businesses and economic sectors pump billions to politicians to gain favor. 05's job is to review and audit government defense contracts. He has shown over and over again how these contractors overcharge our government to the tune of billions upon billions of dollars. We have even witnessed politicians approve new weapons programs the military didn't even want.
So yes, I'm far more concerned that those who have no need keep either ripping off taxpayers or continue to have the system rigged in their favor than I am those who need so much being blamed for the problem.
There is no way that the people "willing to donate" to the poor can pay for the problems facing the poor. And out of all the things that seem to bother you so much this is what you are focusing on.
It takes the collective effort of everyone to support helping the poor to accomplish the mission of keeping the bulk of them fed, housed and warm. Taxes are the only method by which that can be accomplished. Stop begrudging the poor the help they so desperately need . Maybe you would be better served focusing on those who need nothing taking advantage of your tax dollars.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
LMFAO. MAGA GOPers are incapable of governing. The big beautiful budget bill bought the bullet today in the budget committee with 5 MAGA Reps voting hell no. Trump is posting Saudi royalty dancing while more foreign leaders look to gift him trinkets to manipulate him. GOPers in the senate are losing their minds over the Jet, the Budget bill,POTUS ignoring SCOTUS rulings, and the general sh*t-show from the Trump administration. There are even murmurs of losing badly in 26 and Trump not only being impeached but removed…
So this is what winning looks like? I’d hate like hell to see what them losing looks like.
Have a good weekend all you MAGA idiots out there. And thanks for the gift of incompetence once again.
Yes they turned down his budget proposal because it just wasn't cruel enough.
To be fair, most cited adding 5 trillion to the deficit and no real progress on cuts that save. General consensus, this is lunacy. And unless Trump can muster a miracle, I’d say those mega-donor tax breaks are going to expire, compounded by the tariff hunger games being played by Trump and the ruling elite… spells pain for the world and a lot more political drama coming to us here at home.
MAGA Congress: How do we own the libs in 24? Trump: F everything up beyond recognition, fail at everything, lie a lot more to our base, and blame it all on Biden. MAGA Congress: Daddy’s home!
BTW- Has anyone else noticed the L’s Marge (Neanderthal brow) TG is stacking and how her corruption has her being hated even by MAGA in her home state? Bye-bye MTG, glad to see you go, you ignoramus ass-clown.
House Republicans stall spending package for steeper cuts to Medicaid and green energy
The hard-right lawmakers are insisting on steeper spending cuts to Medicaid and the Biden-era green energy tax breaks, among other changes, before they will give their support to President Donald Trump’s “beautiful” bill. They warn the tax cuts alone would pile onto the nation’s $36 trillion debt.
More FAFO-Can't wait for hurricane season- 28 dead from yesterdays tornados-18 in Kentucky-the worst of the Kentucky tornadoes happened after 9 pm eastern. People from the area were on social media saying they had so little time that either they didn't get the warnings from the local weather office or there wasn't enough time for local emergency management to sound the sirens.
And from a blog today Cuts to weather staffing in a place prone to sudden, violent weather:
A National Weather Service office in eastern Kentucky was scrambling to cover the overnight forecast on Friday as severe storms were moving through much of the eastern United States, according to the union that represents the department’s meteorologists.
Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the union that represents Weather Service employees, said the office in Jackson, Ky., was one of four that no longer had a permanent overnight forecaster after hundreds of people left the agency as a result of cuts ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency, the initiative led by Elon Musk that is reshaping the federal bureaucracy.
Mr. Fahy said on Friday that because of the threat for flooding, hail and tornadoes facing eastern Kentucky, the Weather Service had to find forecasting help for the office.
And:
As Kentucky braces for another round of severe weather, the three National Weather Service offices in Kentucky have been hobbled by low staffing levels, according to media reports and union officials. The Jackson office in Breathitt County no longer has enough staff to cover overnight shifts, according to the Washington Post and people familiar with National Weather Service operations. The office is responsible for forecasts in Eastern Kentucky, which has been hit hard the past two years with severe flooding, including a devastating 2022 flood that killed 45 people and two rounds of flooding this year that left several people dead. There is no meteorologist supervisor at any of the three Kentucky offices — Jackson, Paducah and Louisville. Instead, there are acting meteorologists in charge who often have multiple job duties, said Tom Fahy, legislative director for the National Weather Service Employee Service Organization, the union that represents National Weather Service staff.
One of trump's advisors told him that the way Biden hid his mental decline and cancer diagnosis a secret was to keep people distracted by making America respected around the world.
Trump replied to his advisor, "I would never do that."
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
I’m confused on the whole tariff thing. At first it was “other countries will eat the tariffs” and now it’s “Walmart and China should eat the tariffs.”
I don’t know if it will come down to price controls. Hopefully not. If it did, that would be awfully hypocritical since he threw shade at Harris (somewhat justifiably) for making that inference.
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
still havent seen a conservative explain why we're raising the debt ceiling if we're supposedly doing all these cuts.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
They're explaining it without explaining it if you look at the bill. They'll cut healthcare to the poor to help pay for a tax cut that will mainly benefit the rich. Murica!
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
They're also trying to give me an effective 3.6% pay cut and reduce my retirement benefits, with healthcare benefit reductions also on the horizon. Won't help the deficit really at all, but every penny counts when you're trying to benefit the uber-wealthy.
By the way, that scenario with fed workers is a prima facie example of further enriching the wealthy at the expense of what is one of the last stalwarts of a shrinking middle class.
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
Lot to dig in in here. I'm going to reply later when I have a little more time to type out a larger post.
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
Trump hosting dinner for his top meme coin holders at pivotal moment for crypto world
President Trump will host an exclusive dinner Thursday night for the 220 biggest buyers of his $TRUMP (TRUMP-OFFICIAL-USD) memecoin, an event that is stirring controversy in the nation's capital during a pivotal moment for the crypto world.
The highly publicized event at his private Virginia golf club is the source of widespread unease among Democrats, who are holding a press conference Thursday to highlight their conflict of interest concerns, and even some GOP lawmakers.
"This is my president that we’re talking about, but I am willing to say that this gives me pause," Wyoming Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis said of the dinner in a NBC interview earlier this month. Lummis has been a staunch supporter of both Trump and the Republican-led push to usher in more crypto-friendly regulation for the industry.
Invitees to the gala won their invitations by participating in a form of auction that identified the 220 with the largest holdings of Trump's coin, based on their average holdings between April 23 and May 12.
These investors spent an estimated $148 million on the $TRUMP coin to secure their seats at the dinner, with the 25 largest spending over $111 million, according to an analysis from crypto firm Inca Digital.
An even more exclusive set of the 25 biggest holders will also get a "special tour” and "private VIP reception with the President,” according to the coin’s website, which is owned by Fight Fight Fight LLC.
That Delaware-registered organization and another Trump Organization affiliate called CIC Digital LLC own a combined 80% of the memecoin’s tokens. A share of revenue earned from the coin’s trading volume also goes to these Trump family affiliates.
Between January and the end of April, more than $320 million in trading fees have flowed to wallets tied to the token’s creator, according to an analysis from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. That includes some $1.3 million between the dinner announcement and May 1.
Some crypto investors have publicly shared that they are attending, including crypto billionaire Justin Sun, who said he won first place in the dinner competition.
Founder of the blockchain network Tron, the 34-year-old Sun already has at least one link to the president’s affairs. He is known as the biggest backer of World Liberty Financial, a crypto business run by CEO Zach Witkoff, son of Steve Witkoff, the president’s envoy to the Middle East.
Sun invested $75 million into World Liberty and helped bootstrap the project’s initial token launch by buying $30 million worth of the token (WLF). He's since appeared on stage at two separate conferences with World Liberty executives.
“Justin, you've been instrumental in our success, so thank you,” Witkoff told Sun while onstage at a Dubai conference earlier this month that also included the president’s son Eric Trump.
The SEC previously sued Sun and his crypto companies for alleged fraud in 2023, but the case was paused in February.
Democrat lawmakers — including Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) — are pointing to the dinner and Trump's other crypto ties as examples of what they view to be the president's corruption.
“Through his crypto businesses, Trump has turned the office of the presidency into a personal money-making machine,” Waters said at a Democrat House hearing that focused on the president and his family’s crypto ventures.
In late April, while speaking during a town hall in his home state of Georgia, another Democrat senator, said he "strongly" supported impeachment proceedings in light of Trump's memecoin dinner.
The White House has consistently maintained that there are no conflicts of interest, noting that Trump's assets are managed in a trust overseen by his children and he has no role in operations, and his press secretary repeated that point Thursday.
"I have also stated previously from this podium that the president is abiding by all conflict of interest laws that are applicable to the president, and I think everybody, the American public believe it's absurd for anyone to insinuate that this president is profiting off of this," Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
The Trump family has gone even deeper into crypto since the 2024 election. The president and first lady Melania Trump each have official meme coins and his namesake, Trump Media (DJT), also offers crypto ETFs through its financial services brand Truth.Fi.
The president’s son Eric is also co-founder of a bitcoin mining firm set to go public through an all-stock merger that’s expected to close as early as the third quarter.
World Liberty is also launching a stablecoin at a time when the Senate is considering legislation to regulate those digital assets. A vote on that bill could happen next week.
“Net, net, I think this administration has been great for crypto,” Galaxy Digital (GLXY) CEO Mike Novogratz told Yahoo Finance last Friday.
As long as they don’t break a law, the president and his family have a right to participate in crypto, Novogratz, an outspoken Democrat who has nonetheless been critical of the Biden administration’s handling of crypto regulation, said.
“Do I wish we didn’t have a Trump coin and Melania coin? Yeah, I do. But you know, we're going to live with it,” Novogratz added.
Can a trump republican tell us what if any campaign promises has Trump truly accomplished? Extra points for trump republicans who respond.
They were looking to enact project 2025 hook line and sinker thru executive orders and then have the congress codify it thru bills before the courts could stop them. Didn't completely happen but they are sure trying
This one ranks up there with "They're eating the dogs! They're eating the cats!"
2 Professional golfers from South Africa brought to the meeting with the South African President confirmed what Trump brought up during the meeting. He just showed a formation crosses and the media wanted to see the bodies. What is happening in South Africa is factual.
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money." Margarat Thatcher
This one ranks up there with "They're eating the dogs! They're eating the cats!"
2 Professional golfers from South Africa brought to the meeting with the South African President confirmed what Trump brought up during the meeting. He just showed a formation crosses and the media wanted to see the bodies. What is happening in South Africa is factual.
Trump's image of dead 'white farmers' came from Reuters footage in Congo, not South Africa By Reuters May 22, 20256:58 PM EDTUpdated an hour ago
Summary In meeting with South Africa's president, Trump showed article with picture of body bags Trump said bodies were those of white South Africans killed in the country Picture was a screenshot of a Reuters video taken in Democratic Republic of Congo in February
JOHANNESBURG, May 22 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump showed a screenshot of Reuters video taken in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of what he falsely presented on Wednesday as evidence of mass killings of white South Africans. "These are all white farmers that are being buried," said Trump, holding up a print-out of an article accompanied by the picture during a contentious Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
In fact, the video, published by Reuters on February 3 and subsequently verified by the news agency's fact check team, showed humanitarian workers lifting body bags in the Congolese city of Goma. The image was pulled from Reuters footage shot following deadly battles with Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. The blog post showed to Ramaphosa by Trump during the White House meeting was published by American Thinker, a conservative online magazine, about conflict and racial tensions in South Africa and Congo. The post did not caption the image but identified it as a "YouTube screen grab" with a link to a video news report about Congo on YouTube, which credited Reuters. Advertisement · Scroll to continue
The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Andrea Widburg, managing editor at American Thinker and the author of the post in question, wrote in reply to a Reuters query that Trump had "misidentified the image." She added, however, that the post, which referred to what it called Ramaphosa's "dysfunctional, race-obsessed Marxist government", had "pointed out the increasing pressure placed on white South Africans." The footage from which the picture was taken shows a mass burial following an M23 assault on Goma, filmed by Reuters video journalist Djaffar Al Katanty. "That day, it was extremely difficult for journalists to get in ... I had to negotiate directly with M23 and coordinate with the ICRC to be allowed to film," Al Katanty said. "Only Reuters has video." FILE PHOTO - Screen grab of file video footage of humanitarian workers lifting body bags in Goma Humanitarian workers lift body bags containing the remains of victims killed in clashes between M23 rebels and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), in this frame grab of file video taken in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, February 3, 2025. REUTERS/Reuters TV Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab Al Katanty said seeing Trump holding the article with the screengrab of his video came as a shock.
"In view of all the world, President Trump used my image, used what I filmed in DRC to try to convince President Ramaphosa that in his country, white people are being killed by Black people," Al Katanty said. Ramaphosa visited Washington this week to try to mend ties with the United States after persistent criticism from Trump in recent months over South Africa's land laws, foreign policy, and alleged bad treatment of its white minority, which South Africa denies. Trump interrupted the televised meeting with Ramaphosa to play a video, which he said showed evidence of genocide of white farmers in South Africa. This conspiracy theory, which has circulated in far-right chat rooms for years, is based on false claims. Trump then proceeded to flip through printed copies of articles that he said detailed murders of white South Africans, saying "death, death, death, horrible death". (This story has been refiled to fix a typo in paragraph 3)
still havent seen a conservative explain why we're raising the debt ceiling if we're supposedly doing all these cuts.
I heard on the way home a couple days ago that the repubs were going to start coming out en masse and saying the CBO score was not true-It was going to pay for itself-you know, its all gonna trickle down-
I also looked a little deeper and I have seen estimates that if this is enacted the way it is proposed-the WORST case for the deficit in like the next 10-15 years would balloon from 36 trillion to almost 55-60 trillion and by 2055 would come close to 100 trillion dollars.
The problem is that people have knee jerk beliefs.
Side note - the tariff situation...he's spouting off again. How long are we going to be going on this merry-go-round...add to that all the "dump and pump" it's creating where we basically have insider trading?
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
On the tariffs-this is going to go for the duration- The tariff pause is half over-how many of those tariff deals with the 160-200 countries have been turned into a actual agreement and not concepts of a deal?
If this keeps going the way it has-companies will not issue future guidance on earnings calls-because they can't-and it is very hard to plan for the next 1-5 years in this environment.
I also looked a little deeper and I have seen estimates that if this is enacted the way it is proposed-the WORST case for the deficit in like the next 10-15 years would balloon from 36 trillion to almost 55-60 trillion and by 2055 would come close to 100 trillion dollars.
Check out David Walker, comptroller general during several presidents going back to Bush.
With unfunded liabilities, like social security, etc. our debt has been in the 100 trillion range. Again, going back to possibly even clinton. And people think I worry about debt too much. (oh, this isn't an R or D thing. It's real, and both have done it)
The problem is that people have knee jerk beliefs.
Side note - the tariff situation...he's spouting off again. How long are we going to be going on this merry-go-round...add to that all the "dump and pump" it's creating where we basically have insider trading?
My guess is there are two possibilities.
1. If the Dems take over the House and Senate in 2026.
2. When trump finally leaves office in 2028
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
You are correct that neither party has done anything to help reduce the budget deficit. One difference is right now the party in power tells the people it cares while ballooning the budget deficit even further.
The last administration that seemed to care anything about the budget was Bill Clinton.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Federal judge blocks Trump administration from barring foreign student enrollment at Harvard
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from cutting off Harvard’s enrollment of foreign students, an action the Ivy League school decried as unconstitutional retaliation for defying the White House’s political demands.
In its lawsuit filed earlier Friday in federal court in Boston, Harvard said the government’s action violates the First Amendment and will have an “immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders.”
“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the University and its mission,” Harvard said in its suit. “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.”
The temporary restraining order was granted by U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs.
The Trump administration move has thrown campus into disarray days before graduation. Harvard said in the suit. International students who run labs, teach courses, assist professors and participate in Harvard sports are now left deciding whether to transfer or risk losing legal status to stay in the country, according to the filing.
The impact is heaviest at graduate schools such as the Harvard Kennedy School, where almost half the student body comes from abroad, and Harvard Business School, which is about one-third international.
Along with its impact on current students, the move blocks thousands of students who were planning to come for summer and fall classes.
Harvard said it immediately puts the school at a disadvantage as it competes for the world’s top students. Even if it regains the ability to host students, “future applicants may shy away from applying out of fear of further reprisals from the government,” the suit said.
If the government’s action stands, Harvard said, the university would be unable to offer admission to new international students for at least the next two academic years. Schools that have that certification withdrawn by the federal government are ineligible to reapply until one year afterward, Harvard said.
Harvard enrolls almost 6,800 foreign students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Most are graduate students and they come from more than 100 countries.
The Department of Homeland Security announced the action Thursday, accusing Harvard of creating an unsafe campus environment by allowing “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” to assault Jewish students on campus. It also accused Harvard of coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party, contending the school had hosted and trained members of a Chinese paramilitary group as recently as 2024.
Harvard President Alan Garber earlier this month said the university has made changes to its governance over the past year and a half, including a broad strategy to combat antisemitism, He said Harvard would not budge on its “its core, legally-protected principles” over fears of retaliation. Harvard has said it will respond at a later time to allegations first raised by House Republicans about coordination with the Chinese Communist Party.
The threat to Harvard’s international enrollment stems from an April 16 request from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who demanded that Harvard provide information about foreign students that might implicate them in violence or protests that could lead to their deportation.
Harvard says it provided “thousands of data points” in response to Noem’s April 16 demand. Her letter on Thursday said Harvard failed to satisfy her request, but the school said she failed to provide any further explanation.
“It makes generalized statements about campus environment and ‘anti-Americanism,’ again without articulating any rational link between those statements and the decision to retaliate against international students,” the suit said.
Harvard’s lawsuit said the administration violated the government’s own regulations for withdrawing a school’s certification.
The government can and does remove colleges from the Student Exchange and Visitor Program, making them ineligible to host foreign students on their campus. However, it’s usually for administrative reasons outlined in law, such as failing to maintain accreditation, lacking proper facilities for classes, or failing to employ qualified professional personnel.
Noem said Harvard can regain its ability to host foreign students if it produces a trove of records on foreign students within 72 hours. Her updated request demands all records, including audio or video footage, of foreign students participating in protests or dangerous activity on campus.
The lawsuit is separate from the university’s earlier one challenging more than $2 billion in federal cuts imposed by the Republican administration.
You are correct that neither party has done anything to help reduce the budget deficit. One difference is right now the party in power tells the people it cares while ballooning the budget deficit even further.
The last administration that seemed to care anything about the budget was Bill Clinton.
The guy was and is a complete sleazebag, but looking at all things objectively, Clinton was a Democrat by party, but also the most fiscally conservative president in my lifetime (Reagan through 47).
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
Yeah, I liked him as a president but was ashamed he represented my country as a man. But then I also have to consider that it's not the democrats who claimed to be the moral majority or stand waving the flag preaching about family values while electing a man like trump.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Federal judge strikes down Trump executive order targeting law firm WilmerHale, calling it "unconstitutional"
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday struck down President Trump's executive order targeting D.C.-based law firm WilmerHale, declaring the order "unconstitutional" and permanently blocking the administration from enforcing it.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon issued his opinion Tuesday afternoon, blocking the president's efforts to restrict Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP as a part of the Trump administration's crusade against large law firms that have provoked the ire of the president and his allies.
"For the reasons set forth below, I have concluded that this order must be struck down in its entirety as unconstitutional," Leon wrote in the beginning of his order. "Indeed, to rule otherwise would be unfaithful to the judgment and vision of the Founding Fathers!"
WilmerHale is the law firm where Robert Mueller worked both before and after he was special counsel.
Mr. Trump's executive order urges agencies to take steps to suspend the security clearances of WilmerHale employees, terminate contracts with the law firm and limit federal employees from engaging with WilmerHale employees, among other things. WilmerHale sued the administration, arguing the president's executive order violates the First, Fifth and Sixth Amendments, as well as the Constitution's separation of powers clause.
Leon had firm words for the administration, including when he addressed the firm's First Amendment concerns. "If you take on causes disfavored by President Trump, you will be punished!" Leon wrote. "Other firms facing similar executive orders have capitulated to President Trump."
The executive orders the president has signed have targeted law firms including Perkins Coie, Paul Weiss, and Jenner & Block. So far, the firms have been winning their cases against the administration in court.
Trump temporarily backs down on Harvard student ban as judge sides with college
A Boston federal judge said at a hearing May 29 that she planned to issue a preliminary injunction that blocks the Department of Homeland Security from revoking Harvard's ability to enroll foreign exchange students.
The comments from U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs came as the Trump administration attempted to walk back its May 22 directive that immediately revoked Harvard's participation in a federal exchange student program.
The administration sent a letter directly to Harvard on May 22 letter revoking its ability to enroll international students on the grounds that it was "perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ policies."
Harvard sued the Trump administration in Massachusetts, and U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs temporarily blocked the administration from revoking the university's participation in the program. Harvard then moved forward seeking longer-term injunction on the Trump administration's actions as the lawsuit moves forward.
The Trump administration filed a document in court shortly before the May 29 hearing, saying it would provide Harvard with a 30-day process to contest its removal from the international student program.
Barack Obama graduated from Harvard Law School in 1991 with a Juris Doctor degree, achieving the distinction of magna [censored] laude. He subsequently took a position as a Visiting Law and Government Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School and was elected the first black president of the Harvard Law Review in the spring of 1990.
I'm not saying this has anything to do with his war on Harvard but he has fixated on things even more trivial than this.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
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