President Donald J. Trump

[theONE]

I'm glad that I don't have to deal with Canadian tree eating beavers.Gross.

WOTR 

[attachment deleted by admin]

[WOTR]

WOTR 

What'st the new ettiquite around these parts reagarding user names?  Would it be improper for me to become "theONE" before posting? 

Too bad you didn't get a screen capture of my other two failed attempts at humour that I had deleted.  One included the following picture...

[malachi.martini]

Have a rare pepe MVChan, you've earned it.

[mikuthing01]

Have a rare pepe MVChan, you've earned it.

I am saving that rare pepe

[norland2424]

Have a rare pepe MVChan, you've earned it.

lol is this an art bell pepe LOl ?

[Value Of Pi]

So you are for lobbyists in our government?  Really?  I'm sure they can find people that want to be part of Trump's administration that have no connection to lobbying.  I can assure you it will not be a problem so don't be worried about that.  This is one of the reasons Trump was elected.  To put an end to this crap.

No, I'm not in favor of people taking these jobs so that they can later become lobbyists. That's actually what the five-year rule is about. It's not about hiring people who are currently lobbyists. That's what the ethics guidelines I mentioned are about.

At the same time, it concerns me that the chief basis for filling these positions seems to be loyalty to Trump rather than merit, based on what we know so far. I would be looking to hire good, experienced people who know how to get things done in these agencies, Republicans or Democrats. The lobbying system is one problem, patronage is another, and incompetence might be worst of all, especially in places like the Defense Department.

[malachi.martini]

lol is this an art bell pepe LOl ?

didn't seem like anyone else was going to do it, lol.

[WOTR]

At the same time, it concerns me that the chief basis for filling these positions seems to be loyalty to Trump rather than merit, based on what we know so far. I would be looking to hire good, experienced people who know how to get things done in these agencies, Republicans or Democrats. The lobbying system is one problem, patronage is another, and incompetence might be worst of all, especially in places like the Defense Department.

Back up just one moment.  You are trying to say that party politics should not be the first consideration when making appointments of various types?  As I recall, Obama followed that logic with the appointment of James Comey... And just look how that turned out. 

[Dr. MD MD]

Have a rare pepe MVChan, you've earned it.

Best Pepe EVAR! 

[Value Of Pi]

Back up just one moment.  You are trying to say that party politics should not be the first consideration when making appointments of various types?  As I recall, Obama followed that logic with the appointment of James Comey... And just look how that turned out. 

Yeah, uh huh  Actually, I'd settle for party politics if we could just get competent people. But what we're getting is personal politics, where it doesn't even help to be a Republican unless you also supported Trump and endorse his worldview. Look at the picks so far, all from Trump's inner circle.

[malachi.martini]

Best Pepe EVAR! 

Thank yeeeew. Have a rare cover of Baker Street.

http://mydickband.bandcamp.com/track/baker-dick

[mikuthing01]

Thank yeeeew. Have a rare cover of Baker Street.

http://mydickband.bandcamp.com/track/baker-dick

lol wtf

[malachi.martini]

lol wtf

amazin rite? lol

[mikuthing01]

amazin rite? lol

[Lt.Uhura]

Finally something that I can honestly get behind and a concrete measure to support.  However, it makes me wonder how all of the outgoing officials will earn a living now that their plans have been destroyed. 

Easy.  It's already being done.  They simply don't register as lobbyists, instead calling themselves "consultants".  Of course Trump knows this, paints himself an altruist, people fall for it! haha

...Ms. Cunningham is part of a growing industry of strategic consultants who do not register as lobbyists yet nonetheless have close ties with New York politicians and represent clients (including elected officials) with interests before the government. These nonlobbyistsâ€"at firms such as SKDKnickerbocker, or SKDK, and BerlinRosenâ€"get many of the lucrative paychecks accorded their registered peers without the hassles and scrutiny that come with having to disclose their frequent interactions.
And it's legal...

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140907/POLITICS/140909888/just-dont-call-these-consultants-lobbyists


...The lobbying disclosure does not say how much Inovo BV is paying Flynn’s firm. It lists former congressional aide Robert Kelley as the lobbyist who is handling the contract and says that he is working on “organizational consulting” for Inovo BV....

http://dailycaller.com/2016/11/11/trumps-top-military-adviser-is-lobbying-for-obscure-company-with-ties-to-turkish-government/#ixzz4QFOMDPve

[Humilia Lepus Foramen]

Considering Citigroup's alleged huge influence on Obama's cabinet picks, planning legislation, and receiving the biggest bailouts, I think these lobbyist reforms are a step in the right direction, even if there is more work to be done.  Hilary wouldn't even have tried.

http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/photo_of_the_week_president_who_let_citigroup_20161029

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/12/spending-bill-992-derivatives-citigroup-lobbyists

http://www.cnbc.com/id/42099554

[mikuthing01]

Another song Art used to play

http://mydickband.bandcamp.com/track/orinoco-dick-bonus-track

[PB the Deplorable]

Millions deported in a short period of time, say a couple of years or less, would require a massive effort to identify, locate and take into custody people who don't want to be found. They will be living or working among people who don't want to give them up, like friends and relatives. So the scenario is many more raids by ICE and the use of other methods like traffic stops in order to get results.

For every person taken into custody and legitimately deported, there are going to be a bunch who are in some way harassed or have their day-to-day lives disrupted or have their rights violated. Some of this may be inevitable given the size of the task (2.5 million illegal immigrants with criminal records?) and that alone should argue for the people in charge not screwing it up by abusing the power they'll have. That's going to be hard to do.

It's really too bad the Libs never gave a shit about the crime, about sucking the welfare system dry, about taking the low wage and entry level jobs our own people need. 

How did you think was going to end, with real Americans out-voted in their own country and kicked to the curb?  Maybe the noble 'undocumented' folks the Ds are so willing to use for their own purposes shouldn't have been invited here and coddled in the first place.

But like I said, take a breath and stop listening to the people who've been lying to you all along.  This isn't the Holocaust.

[PB the Deplorable]

This will make those 4,000 appointee jobs even harder to fill and it's already a problem. As a side note, Obama agency officials are still waiting to get the Trump transition team's ethics rules about things like current conflicts of interest. The transition can't proceed without that.

Oh that's so terrible, sniff, sniff.

It wasn't a problem when Al Gore spent weeks trying to steal the 2000 election, and Bush couldn't really get going on his transition team.  I wonder if his slow start because of that had anything to do with our general preparation for the 9/11 attack that first year in office? 

[PB the Deplorable]

So you are for lobbyists in our government?  Really?  I'm sure they can find people that want to be part of Trump's administration that have no connection to lobbying.  I can assure you it will not be a problem so don't be worried about that.  This is one of the reasons Trump was elected.  To put an end to this crap.

He's for anything to bring up about Trump.  Yesterday they were besides themselves because he ditched to media to go out to dinner

It's called grasping at straws. 

[PB the Deplorable]

... it concerns me that the chief basis for filling these positions seems to be loyalty to Trump...

As opposed to how the Clintons operate?

[bateman]

Before/after

[Lt.Uhura]

It's really too bad the Libs never gave a shit about the crime, about sucking the welfare system dry, about taking the low wage and entry level jobs our own people need. 

How did you think was going to end, with real Americans out-voted in their own country and kicked to the curb?  Maybe the noble 'undocumented' folks the Ds are so willing to use for their own purposes shouldn't have been invited here in the first place.

But like I said, take a breath and stop listening to the people who've been lying to you all along.  This isn't the Holocaust.

"Our own people" might need these jobs, problem is--they don't want them. 

I've worked in various hospitals for decades and as for as long as I can remember, the entire housekeeping staff has been Latinos. As one might imagine, housekeeping is a vital job in a hospital environment, one that can't be done half-assed without risking hospital-wide infectious disease outbreaks.  Cleaning blood and body fluids off floors, bathrooms, gurneys, walls, etc; sterilization of operating rooms and equipment...It's hard work, and not without risks. Check your local hospital, you'll likely find there are job openings on various shits. So where are "our own people" who need these jobs?

[mikuthing01]

Before/after

[WOTR]

Easy.  It's already being done.  They simply don't register as lobbyists, instead calling themselves "consultants".  Of course Trump knows this, paints himself an altruist, people fall for it! haha

I'm not a Trump fan- but at least he made this change.  He could not say that "consultants are banned", but if all of the lobbyists become "consultants" it will become pretty obvious very quickly.

I guess I can say it is a start. 

[malachi.martini]

Before/after

It's sad when the only thing that humanizes you is rapidly deteriorating health.

[Dr. MD MD]

Screechy barn owl! 

[PB the Deplorable]

"Our own people" might need these jobs, problem is--they don't want them...

No Americans wanted ANY entry level jobs?  Even in 2008-2009?  That's strange, because students used to have just about all the fast food jobs, plenty of young people and legal immigrants were wait staff, cashiers, mechanics, gardeners, factory workers, construction, around here it's nearly all Latino now. 

I'm all for immigration.  We should have seasonal visas for agriculture workers, and they should be paid properly and well treated.  What we're all fed up with is unvetted people - many of them criminals - just flowing in when there are not enough jobs available for them too support themselves, and too many government handouts as an enticement.  No one is trying to take away your housekeeping staff.

[Lt.Uhura]

I'm not a Trump fan- but at least he made this change.  He could not say that "consultants are banned", but if all of the lobbyists become "consultants" it will become pretty obvious very quickly.

I guess I can say it is a start.

Ahh, if it were that easy to end corruption in DC. Lobbyists or no, politicians from both major parties have been greasing palms for ages and getting away with it.  For example, Paul Ryan is in deep with the insurance/big pharma lobby, they are $alivating at his plan to privatize Medicare.

http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cycle=2016&cid=N00004357&type=I

[PB the Deplorable]

Ahh, if it were that easy to end corruption in DC. Lobbyists or no, politicians from both major parties have been greasing palms for ages and getting away with it.  For example, Paul Ryan is in deep with the insurance/big pharma lobby, they are $alivating at his plan to privatize Medicare.

And let's say Hilary had been elected.  Taking all that money from Wall St, from the big banks, from some pretty lousy foreign governments.   You know, influence peddling and laundering through their phony 'foundation', the Clinton 'library', and $250k speeches.  It only cost Loral $300k in 'campaign contributions' to get their advanced rocketry technology off the restricted list and sold to the Chinese Red Army during Bill's term.

Please keep in mind no matter what Trump does or doesn't do, that was the alternative.  We were very fortunate