President Donald J. Trump

[The King of Kings]

Iconic American actor Clint Eastwood endorses Donald Trump.

[onan]

Actually, my father worshiped Eisenhower for liberating him from a Nazi prison camp.  Everyone else I knew was either a Stevenson Democrat (Eisenhower was a Nazi, Nixon wanted to restore the Holocaust) or a Bircher (Eisenhower and especially Roosevelt were Commies).

I was more worried about walking to school by myself, at the time.

[albrecht]

I was more worried about walking to school by myself, at the time.

these days)- you were allowed to walk to school! A nightmare with all the potential terrorists and pedophiles- not to mention the bullying! 

[SciFiAuthor]

So conservative policies are so bad for the nation, Republicans have had no choice but to adopt liberal economic strategies, and pretend they are their own.  That would mean that, fiscally speaking, the Democrats and Republicans are largely the same - on this we agree. The only difference would seem to be things like gay marriage, school prayer, fear of non-white people, and science denial.   I assume Hilary can expect your vote in November?

The reason for that is pretty simple: the GOP leadership are neoconservatives, not conservatives. Neoconservatives are liberal in every way except on social issues and the fact that they like starting wars. It was widely pointed out during the 2008 election that Hillary actually did have a more conservative voting record in the senate than John McCain did. Even arch-conservative Ann Coulter pointed that out. The problem with Hillary is that she's a crook and a free trader.

[SciFiAuthor]

Look, if your doorstep has shit on it, it kind of comes with the territory. The problem is very complicated. It seems no matter what is offered to explain why somethings are as they are, instead of attempting a compromise, another complaint is thrown. It is a shame that some that come here are criminals. But the vast majority are not. And from what I read crime is down, including crime from illegal aliens. We are dealing with millions of people, there will always be something to bitch about. It is simple, whether you want to accept it or not, the US is not going to deport 11 million people. It isn't going to happen. Be as angry as you like, don't sleep tonight, if that helps. But we have 11 million, maybe more that are here and we need to find a solution that is pragmatic.

I'd be content with the police handing them over to ICE whenever found for deportation along with serious penalties for anyone caught employing an illegal. No profiling, just enforcement of the law. What I would oppose is amnesty and citizenship for them. And we must at all costs secure the border.     

[albrecht]

The reason for that is pretty simple: the GOP leadership are neoconservatives, not conservatives. Neoconservatives are liberal in every way except on social issues and the fact that they like starting wars. It was widely pointed out during the 2008 election that Hillary actually did have a more conservative voting record in the senate than John McCain did. Even arch-conservative Ann Coulter pointed that out. The problem with Hillary is that she's a crook and a free trader.

I won't touch, and leave more inflammatory posters to comment about, at least some potential motives, of the neo-conservatives. Free trade is great. Between people and businesses without other actors forcing, and, I will say, a concern for national security. Trade is awesome (like most easily understood economic fundamentals.) But not the BS agreements, and international treaties, that are called "free" trade. And, oddly, until now I guess, but both Parties won't acknowledge it but ones in near future that could "take your guns" or "take your pirating movies" "take your union" and worse.)

[PKaiser]

The reason for that is pretty simple: the GOP leadership are neoconservatives, not conservatives. Neoconservatives are liberal in every way except on social issues and the fact that they like starting wars. It was widely pointed out during the 2008 election that Hillary actually did have a more conservative voting record in the senate than John McCain did. Even arch-conservative Ann Coulter pointed that out. The problem with Hillary is that she's a crook and a free trader.

SciFy, we need to remind the seemingly uneducated (on this point at least) Daddio that SLASHING TAXES ACROSS THE BOARD is NOT liberal economic or liberal fiscal policy. THAT'S what Reagan did and that's what got our economy on a 20 year roll. He didn't just cut them, he SLASHED them!

Let's not try to be nice here, let's educate where we can....

[RealCool Daddio]

Still waiting. You still on board with my idea to open I-35 for a direct route from Mexico to your Great White North and using merchant vessels for that Calais or Libya route for some "refugees?"

Well, it wouldn't be first time that we welcomed dark skinned refugees from oppression in the USA:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_Railroad#Arrival_in_Canada

[RealCool Daddio]

SciFy, we need to remind the seemingly uneducated (on this point at least) Daddio that SLASHING TAXES ACROSS THE BOARD is NOT liberal economic or liberal fiscal policy. THAT'S what Reagan did and that's what got our economy on a 20 year roll. He didn't just cut them, he SLASHED them!

Let's not try to be nice here, let's educate where we can....

How about all you confused conservatives have a little huddle to agree on what conservative policies are actually conservative policies, which are conservative policies borrowed from liberal policy, which have always been conservative policies that you are now pretending to be liberal policies because they failed, and which are now conservative policies because Trump tells you they are.  Get back to us when you have some semblance of agreement.

[MV/Liberace!]

Trump is a disgusting pig and should withdraw from this election cycle immediately after he apologizes to the American people for being such a national  embarrassment.

you should withdraw from life.

[MV/Liberace!]

Social justice warrior white liberals dressing up as members of the KKK getting knocked the fuck out by black followers of the Republican Presidential front runner at a Republican rally while white cucks outside scream how they want their own genocide.



In the year 2016.

heh heh

[MV/Liberace!]

I just got a new phone so this is a test. I hate politics and the best reason I can give is when I commented on a trump post MV did. I gave my opinion and his response was that he had nothing to say to me. Politics is the great divider.

i expressed concern over illegals driving down wages in manual labor occupations, and you responded by saying, essentially, "fuck 'em.  i don't care about anyone who makes a living through manual labor.  they should have gone to college."  so, yeah, there's not really anything more for me to say to you on the matter if that's your thought process.  why bother?  i know futility when i see it.

[nooryisawesome]

So Mexico is trying to get as many Mexicans, American citizenship to vote in the American election because they know Trump would put a stop to them screwing America over.

[ItsOver]

Undocumented immigrants, Hillary Clinton being above the law, etc.  We're either a country of law or a soon-to-be third world country.

[nooryisawesome]

Undocumented immigrants, Hillary Clinton being above the law, etc.  We're either a country of law or a soon-to-be third world country.

100% right. It's time to take a stand.

[PKaiser]

How about all you confused conservatives have a little huddle to agree on what conservative policies are actually conservative policies, which are conservative policies borrowed from liberal policy, which have always been conservative policies that you are now pretending to be liberal policies because they failed, and which are now conservative policies because Trump tells you they are.  Get back to us when you have some semblance of agreement.

Duddio, I voted for Ron in 1980; I lived this stuff, didn't read about it in some liberal history book wherever you come from, so don't try and tell me I don't know what conservative politics are or aren't. Why don't you show me chapter and verse where a liberal EVER cut taxes as president of my country. Because you CAN'T, it has never happened.

Where in the hell do you think the phrase "tax and spend" comes from? L I B E R A L S! NOT conservatives.

[nooryisawesome]

you should withdraw from life.

The fisticuffs is starting to grow on me.

[GuerrillaUnReal]

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2016/03/20/grand-junction-apartment-donald-trump/

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (CBS4) â€" A landlord in Grand Junction is not breaking the law by refusing to lease an apartment to anyone who supports Donald Trump for president.

According to The Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction, Mark Holmes is renting out a two-bedroom apartment on Main Street, but he refuses to rent to anyone who supports Trump.

The ad prompted people who don’t agree with his tactic to leave hate messages on Holmes’ voicemail. “I don’t know what to do anymore about what’s going on in this country,” he told The Daily Sentinel. “It’s just a mess.”

Some thought Holmes was violating federal housing rules by discriminating against political affiliations, but that’s not the case, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“That has nothing to do with the Fair Housing Act,” HUD spokesman Jerry Brown told The Daily Sentinel. “But that seems to be a first, and it’s original.”

[RealCool Daddio]

Duddio, I voted for Ron in 1980; I lived this stuff, didn't read about it in some liberal history book wherever you come from, so don't try and tell me I don't know what conservative politics are or aren't. Why don't you show me chapter and verse where a liberal EVER cut taxes as president of my country. Because you CAN'T, it has never happened.

Where in the hell do you think the phrase "tax and spend" comes from? L I B E R A L S! NOT conservatives.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxpayer_Relief_Act_of_1997

https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2012/10/07/president-obama-won-significant-tax-cuts-during-his-first-term-but-voters-mostly-unaware-benefits/psf33Vy87XC9OgRX1oj8JN/story.html

[VtaGeezer]

Why don't you show me chapter and verse where a liberal EVER cut taxes as president of my country. Because you CAN'T, it has never happened.

JFK proposed a 20% tax cut but was killed before it passed Congress in '64 so LBJ, being the asshole that he was, took the credit.  Lower taxes are good, but there's a limit.  There's a difference between eating healthy and being anorexic.

[Mind Flayer Monk]

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (CBS4) â€" A landlord in Grand Junction is not breaking the law by refusing to lease an apartment to anyone who supports Donald Trump for president.

According to The Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction, Mark Holmes is renting out a two-bedroom apartment on Main Street, but he refuses to rent to anyone who supports Trump.

That's a dick move.
It can't be that hard to find another apartment in GJ.

[onan]

A couple years ago the total income of the US was 35 trillion dollars. That would level out to every American earning 100,000 dollars in that year. Obviously that isn't reality. Over the last couple of decades the amount of wealth has concentrated more and more to the very rich. Average wages for American have stagnated for more than 20 years even as productivity has skyrocketed. Yet fewer and fewer jobs are available.

In today's US of A, over 17% of full time workers make minimum wage. About 36% of those are 40 years or older. Our wages are stagnating because there is a great deal of downward pressure to keep wages low.

What is disheartening is how many want to blame those that have the least ability to change the problem. Some here have made the point that minimum wage jobs are meant to train new employees so they can get better jobs. The problem is there are not anywhere near enough jobs for those people to step into. Not everyone that works two jobs to get by really wants to do that, no matter how "American" that is.

Anyone that has no concern for those less fortunate than them... well, they suck.

[GuerrillaUnReal]

A couple years ago the total income of the US was 35 trillion dollars. That would level out to every American earning 100,000 dollars in that year. Obviously that isn't reality. Over the last couple of decades the amount of wealth has concentrated more and more to the very rich. Average wages for American have stagnated for more than 20 years even as productivity has skyrocketed. Yet fewer and fewer jobs are available.

In today's US of A, over 17% of full time workers make minimum wage. About 36% of those are 40 years or older. Our wages are stagnating because there is a great deal of downward pressure to keep wages low.

What is disheartening is how many want to blame those that have the least ability to change the problem. Some here have made the point that minimum wage jobs are meant to train new employees so they can get better jobs. The problem is there are not anywhere near enough jobs for those people to step into. Not everyone that works two jobs to get by really wants to do that, no matter how "American" that is.

Anyone that has no concern for those less fortunate than them... well, they suck.

So... Tariffs?

[MV/Liberace!]

The fisticuffs is starting to grow on me.

it's a good way to pass the time.

[VtaGeezer]

So... Tariffs?

Tariffs and far more strident measures work at keeping US-made goods out of Europe and Asia.  Regardless of the BS the pols from both sides spout about trade, only about 6% of US GDP is exported manufactured goods. The trade-related jobs they brag about are mostly tied to IMPORTS.  We export little more than good jobs and American technology to be sold back to us by Asia and Mexico.  We've been pathetic trade patsies since Nixon decided to trade US prosperity for relations with China. We gave S Korea a big piece of the American pie too; now the West Coast is becoming a nuclear hostage for Hyundai and Samsung. Washington would rather see a N Korean nuke fall on Seattle than upset the Korean economy.

[onan]

So... Tariffs?

You would have a stroke responding to my ideas regarding our economy.

[SredniVashtar]

You would have a stroke responding to my ideas regarding our economy.

I think they are trying the "guaranteed income" idea in Europe somewhere, perhaps Holland. Are you someone who thinks that has any validity? I have heard that one cropping up more and more. In the middle part of this century in the UK there was talk about having a "National Dividend", where everyone would get a basic income to live on, and it pops up from time to time in the discourse. With more and more jobs being taken over by machines, I wonder whether there will have to be something like that  one day, despite the harrumphing of the right, otherwise there will be social chaos.

[pyewacket]

The middle class and low income workers have been devastated by both parties. Who actually represents them?

You may not like Trump and he may not accomplish all that is needed to change this destructive trend, but he's a start. If the people can take back their place in the political system, it will open the door for others. Something this huge will not be corrected overnight.

I posted this in another thread, but I think it's worth reading.

http://nypost.com/2016/03/19/why-its-time-for-a-trump-revolution/

[SciFiAuthor]

With more and more jobs being taken over by machines, I wonder whether there will have to be something like that  one day, despite the harrumphing of the right, otherwise there will be social chaos.

There will be no choice. Actually, there already isn't. Capitalism compels the corporations to save money in order to increase profits. That means they will be compelled to automate to cut costs. The development of increasingly capable AI will mean that a wider variety jobs can be automated. Eventually, almost all jobs will be automated as computers become better at doing a job than their human counterpart. Job creation will become a thing of the past as new jobs are automated from the outset. As people lose jobs, markets will contract because no one can buy anything, the corporations fail as a result, and government then has no choice but to nationalize the failing corporations and put everyone on a guaranteed income. The end result of capitalism is a form of communist utopia.


http://www.fastcompany.com/3058060/this-is-what-it-feels-like-when-a-robot-takes-your-job

[Value Of Pi]

Tariffs and far more strident measures work at keeping US-made goods out of Europe and Asia.  Regardless of the BS the pols from both sides spout about trade, only about 6% of US GDP is exported manufactured goods. The trade-related jobs they brag about are mostly tied to IMPORTS.  We export little more than good jobs and American technology to be sold back to us by Asia and Mexico.  We've been pathetic trade patsies since Nixon decided to trade US prosperity for relations with China. We gave S Korea a big piece of the American pie too; now the West Coast is becoming a nuclear hostage for Hyundai and Samsung. Washington would rather see a N Korean nuke fall on Seattle than upset the Korean economy.

I can see the limited use of tariffs in certain industries to level the playing field against cheaper goods coming in. I can see limited pressure on other countries to ease their tariffs on some American goods. I can't see tariffs being the magic bullet, as long as there is much cheaper labor and fewer regulations elsewhere in the world.

Corporations will always shift their manufacturing where they need to go to increase profits -- and penalties for doing so will influence some but not others. Most of these tough-guy tactics on trade are swimming against the tide. You can fight the trend this way but you can't beat it, unless you also want to build a wall around all of our borders.

The trade problem and the economic damage at home are much too complex to be solved by any of the simplistic solutions I've heard over the decades. A direct frontal attack on globalization might be appealing but it won't work by itself. Technological change is the other force driving economics and we need to figure out how to make that work for everyone's economic good, not just corporations.