This is how would-be dictators work after they achieve office w. the veneer of democratic respectability:
Advisers to President-elect Donald Trump are developing plans to reshape Energy Department programs, help keep aging nuclear plants online and identify staff who played a role in promoting President Barack Obama’s climate agenda.
The transition team has asked the agency to list employees and contractors who attended United Nations climate meetings, along with those who helped develop the Obama administration’s social cost of carbon metrics, used to estimate and justify the climate benefits of new rules. [h/t TPM]
Step 1: identify expertise and any possible source of civil-service resistance to the illegitimate power grab.
Step 2: harass the key figures into resignation, or, failing that, post them to sheep-flatulance monitoring posts in the Dakotas.
Step 3: replace with loyalists. Consolidate long term holds over policy in the agencies. Capture government statistical reporting and the representation of reality.
Step 4: Rince. Repeat.
ETA: The Washington Post has more detail on the probe/purge-in-waiting at DOE:
The Trump transition team has issued a list of 74 questions for the Energy Department, asking officials there to identify which department employees and contractors have worked on forging an international climate pact as well as domestic efforts to cut the nation’s carbon output.
The memo provides the clearest indication yet of how Trump’s administration would begin to dismantle specific aspects of President Obama’s ambitious climate policies. …
One question zeroed in on the issue of the “social cost of carbon,” a way of calculating the consequences of greenhouse gas emissions. The transition team asked for a list of department employees or contractors who attended inter-agency meetings, the dates of the meetings, and emails and other materials associated with them.
The social cost of carbon is a metric that calculates the cost to society of emitting a ton of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. The Obama administration has used this tool to try to calculate the benefits of regulations and initiatives that lead to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Another question appeared to delve deeply into the mechanisms behind scientific tools called “integrated assessment models,” which scientists use to forecast future changes to the climate and energy system. It even asked what the Energy Department considers to be “the proper equilibrium climate sensitivity,” which is a way that climate researchers calculate how much the planet will eventually warm, depending upon the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere.
“My guess is that they’re trying to undermine the credibility of the science that DOE has produced, particularly in the field of climate science,” said Rob Jackson, a Stanford climate and energy researcher, in response to the question about the Integrated Assessment Models.
There’s lots more at the link. None of it good. These are f**king dangerous people.
Meanwhile, public protest too is under pressure from the Trump junta:
For the thousands hoping to echo the civil rights and anti-Vietnam rallies at Lincoln Memorial by joining the women’s march on Washington the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration: time to readjust your expectations….
The NPS filed a “massive omnibus blocking permit” for many of Washington DC’s most famous political locations for days and weeks before and after the inauguration on 20 January, said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, a constitutional rights litigator and the executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund.
The National Park Service applied for the blocking permit on behalf of the Presidential Inauguration Committee — i.e., Trump’s donors and apparatus.
Again: this is how would-be dictators work, taking control of the bureaucracy and squeezing civil space.
We’ve a long road ahead. My small act of resistance today is to call my representatives (Warren, Markey, Kennedy) to urge them to publicly condemn the emerging civil service witch hunt. Whatever y’all can do, please have at it.
Image: Nicholas Poussin, The Destruction of Jerusalem, 1637.
RSR
hmmm. my wife and her friend are heading to the women’s march
JPL
@RSR: There will be a march, and it’s doubtful they can arrest 100,000 for protesting on public property. Make sure that you are near a phone though, in case they need to be bailed out of jail.
There are several buses traveling from the Atlanta area to bring participants to the protest.
Chris
This already happened under Bush, IIRC. The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division especially was retooled from protecting the civil rights of minorities to promoting the evangelizing rights of fundie churches.
It’s going to keep getting worse.
bobbo
At least it makes the choice of whether to stay and work from within vs. get out and spare oneself a lot easier.
rikyrah
Definitely a long road ahead…:(
wenchacha
It seems like Rev. Wright was right.
Yarrow
Donald Trump wants to destroy the country. From a 2014 interview .
Bannon has said the same. Believe them when they tell you who they are.
Oatler.
The Emperor has the support of the police/military and the FBI. How will it end if the emperor is Caligula?
kindness
It’s my hope they will fill a stadium with all the people arrested at that march.
Corner Stone
@Chris: I wonder if all those lovely Liberty U grads are still percolating at DOJ? W and Cheney did the same to the CIA as well when they did not get what they wanted.
amygdala
Is step 4 “Reince, repeat” or “Rinse, repeat”…?
Seriously, this is frightening. First the journalists and activists, then the scholars…
Tom Levenson
@Oatler.: Not clear that he has the support of the military, or at least a significant portion of its officer corps.
schrodinger's cat
@amygdala: Journalists? You mean the stenographers of the MSM?
Elizabelle
Great to hear this:
President Obama has ordered an intelligence review of Russian hacks that interfered in the 2016 election.
To be completed before he leaves office. Whether it’s released or not, there will be leaks.
Take that, dubiously elected fake news president elect Forrest Trump.
Elizabelle
@schrodinger’s cat: I love that you’re calling them the Vichy press. They deserve that, and more.
danielx
This, this maggot and his minions grow more loathsome by the day.
RaflW
If Europe wasn’t also headed for clusterf**kery, I’d expect them to agressively go after US exports post-Trump inauguration for anti-competitive carbon dumping by our industries. At least try to make business think twice about going along with abrogating everything that has been worked on for the past couple decades to address catastrophic change.
But they also can’t seem to find their asses with both hands. It seems the westernized nations are gonna cook the golden goose, and we’re all gonna be in the broth.
daverave
Goldman and generals, Gold men and Generals….
Does his base even care?
Timurid
@Elizabelle:
That review really needed to be completed by December 19.
amygdala
@schrodinger’s cat: I’m worried about the few remaining who are committing acts of journalism. As you point out, not the MSM.
Major Major Major Major
@RaflW: Let’s be honest, we weren’t really using the vast network of tacit agreements that ensured order in the world from the end of the 20th century until 2016 anyway.
Timurid
@amygdala:
trollhattan
Possibly accidental journalism occurs as Labor Secretary nominee is questioned whether Trump’s aggression with women would be in violation of the nominee’s restaurant policies. He somehow pivots to how awful Hillary is; does that indicate Hillary is actually the president?
Corner Stone
@RaflW: Merkel is desperately swinging right in a bid to save her arse.
NotMax
Like unto a Bizarro eating disorder.
Purge and binge.
Major Major Major Major
@Corner Stone: I’ve not seen this, link?
Kryptik
@Corner Stone:
With the same predictable result that happens with folks who try to placate the ‘populists’ by swinging rightward, more than likely.
D58826
I really wonder if all the people who complain about ‘big’ government understand what it takes to keep the societal networks running. One example is the number of teachers in the US. There are about 3.5 million to deal with about 70 million school kids. When the constitution was signed there were only about 3 million white men/women in the entire 13 states. A favorite target for abuse is the state highway department. Most folks consider them totally useless, until there is a foot and a half of snow covering the roads. Then of course the highway workers are useless because they didn’t plow my street FIRST>
or ‘
(Patrick Semansky/AP)
Unlike his fellow Republicans, President-elect Donald Trump has pledged not to reduce Social Security benefits.
From his vantage point in Trump Tower, however, he might not realize that Social Security service has already been cut, significantly.
A new report from the Social Security Administration’s inspector general (IG) confirms what beneficiaries already know – service isn’t what it used to be. Neither is the wait to see a Social Security staffer. Service is down, and waits are up.
“The IG’s report is not surprising to us,” said Cristina Martin Firvida, AARP’s director of economic security. “We do hear from members … and our own loved ones. We hear from everyone that this is increasingly becoming an issue.”
Consider these telling statistics from the IG’s report: “for all regions, the number of field office visitors who waited longer than 1 hour for service increased from 2.3 million in FY 2010 to 4.5 million in FY 2015 – a 95 percent increase.”
Social Security officials acknowledge the bad service.
“Our service budget has been underfunded since FY 2010,” an agency statement said. “The number of Social Security beneficiaries and Supplemental Security Income recipients has already risen by 12 percent since 2010, resulting in service deterioration since we simultaneously have had less funding to serve them. … Additionally, Social Security’s enacted budgets for service have not kept pace with inflation.”
Social Security affects almost everyone’s life, or will. Nearly 41 million people visited some 1,220 SSA field offices employing about 28,000 employees in fiscal 2015.
For Witold Skwierczynski, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Social Security Council, it comes down to a simple mathematical equation: “We have fewer staff to do more work.”
Although the number of visitors is falling, field office work is increasing because staffers also handle online and telephone inquiries. “Over 59 million retirees, disabled workers, survivors, and their families receive these benefits each year — a number that has grown by 6 million in just the past five years,” according to a June report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.’
Enhanced Voting Techniques
The real question is wil Trump use Putin’s Bible to swear the oath office on?
trollhattan
Drill baby possible pick to helm Interior Dept, surprising nobody. Worse, worser, worsest now comprise Trump cabinet. We’re relying on a Republican congress to save our asses? Lotsa luck with that.
Mike in dc
I look forward to the debate with “Florida isn’t really submerged under 10 feet of water” deniers in 20 years or so.
trollhattan
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
If by “Bible” you mean Vlad’s swingin’ Russian dick then yes, I suspect so.
Corner Stone
@Major Major Major Major: Along this line:
Angela Merkel’s promise to ban the niqab is a mistake
hovercraft
Oh look what repealing Obamacare would do, never mind the 20 plus million who will lose their health insurance coverage, the repeal will mean those poor people maknig over 200K will get a much needed tax cut.
hovercraft
@daverave:
No.
Corner Stone
@trollhattan: But will it be his hand he puts on it, or…?
jurassicpork
Sorry for the OT comment but necessity prevails.
Mrs. JP and I are really in a bad way this holiday season. If it’s at all possible, please make a donation to Welcome Back to Pottersville. Details are here.
Yutsano
Need to look up who the union representation is at DOE. Something tells me there’s gonna be a LOT of squaking about this.
Chris
@D58826:
They don’t. At all.
I’ve long said that the real “Atlas Shrugged” scenario in the U.S. would be to suddenly no longer have any of those ignored, despised, unappreciated federal bureaucrats (i.e. every public employee who’s not a soldier or a cop) to keep society running in all the unglamorous ways that they’ll never make Michael Bay movies about, but that make the society we have now possible.
hovercraft
@trollhattan:
You mean the man whose ex wife accused of domestic violence? Real journalism would have also asked the nominee about his own history of “aggression” with this woman in particular.
Major Major Major Major
@Corner Stone: Ahha. Thanks.
napoleon
So TPM now reporting the Republicans plan to gut Social Security and not even protect current beneficiaries.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@trollhattan: Something to ask the Trumpbots, I would think hehe
JPL
Will they change the ending in It’s A Wonderful Life? The studio will probably burn the original.
D58826
@Chris:Heck just pull the cops off the street and see what happens. There are legitimate issues with police accountability but they still are essential
D58826
@napoleon: The funny thing is they want to repeal the Obamacare mandate and the exchanges/subsidies which allow folks to buy health insurance on the open market while changing medicare to a system where folks buy insurance on the open market with subsidies for those who can’t accord the premiums. The medicare ‘reform’ uses the exact same mechanism as the much gated Obamacare and the GOP stands there with a straight face and gets away with the bait and switch.
Helen
@JPL: Really. This shit is tiresome.
Politically Lost
My wife and I booked our tickets yesterday to DC for the inaugural protests. Fortunately, we have some extended family in Virginia that are sympathetic so we have a place to stay.
At the outset of the Iraq war, I was standing comfortably in my garage listening to the initial broadcasts as the first bombs began to fall and was hearing simultaneous reports about the massive protests that were closing down the Golden Gate Bridge. I was thinking that I really should be at the bridge with everyone who’s against this stupid invasion of a country that had nothing to do with 9/11. But, then what stopped me from going was the thought that the Bush administration must truly know that Iraq had WMD and if that were the case then maybe the war was the right choice.
I will never be on the wrong side of history like that again.
Major Major Major Major
@napoleon: Bring it.
Это курам на смех
Well, we’re fucked. If you don’t study the effects of climate change, you lose the ability to mitigate its effects on the economy. What will happen to agriculture? What will happen to urban water supplies? What will warmer temperatures mean in terms of energy requirements? Who gives a shit?
All that bullshit that President-elect Negan served up to his base (build the wall, etc.) is not the issue; it’s not going to happen. The real damage will be the effective destruction of a functional executive branch of government.
hovercraft
For Federal Civil Servants: A Hostile Invasion
by Nancy LeTourneau
December 9, 2016 11:18 AM
Marin Cogan has written a story I was hoping someone would cover about the dilemma faced by federal civil servants with the election of Donald Trump. Here is how Cogan introduces the subject:
I came to Washington four months before the election of Barack Obama in 2008, and over the last eight years I’ve had a front-row view of the generation of civil servants who were drawn to Washington to work under his administration. By and large, they are smart, young, and idealistic about the role that government can play in the greater good. They are gay, racially and ethnically diverse, and socially progressive — even some of the more conservative among them. They were, apparently, the “Establishment” that Trump was promising to drain from the Washington swamp. Now, they’re watching as Trump appoints plutocrats with little or no relevant work experience to lead their agencies. It’s hard not to feel like Washington is about to be taken over by hostile invaders.
It is important to keep in mind that there are two types of federal employees: political appointments and civil servants. Traditionally, the latter serve through changes that result from presidential elections.
All federal employees have to prepare themselves psychologically to serve under an administration they disagree with, says Michael, who works at the Department of Justice. But the assumption most of them have always had is that their next president would respect most of the basic democratic norms. “Basically, when you are in the civil service you know that at some point you might end up serving under an administration that you didn’t vote for and don’t agree with,” he says.
Cogan talked to civil servants about this transition and their concerns varied from the very personal to larger questions of morals and values. For example:
Will I retain the protections provided by the Obama administration on things like same-sex benefits?
If I leave, will I be replaced by someone who is worse?
Trump and Republicans have promised to reduce the federal workforce by 10%, mostly through a hiring freeze. If I leave, will I be replaced at all?
Considering Trump’s remarks and the widely held views of the Republican Party, I’m not sure if my work will be seen as valuable.
I wonder if the incoming political appointees will have a harmful agenda and if they will lack the necessary background and knowledge of what we do.
I can’t work in an administration that is contrary to my values and beliefs.
While we would expect a certain amount of this when a president is elected from another party, the level of concern is amplified by the extremism demonstrated by Republicans and Trump during this election. It is also a direct result of the unprecedented way in which the president-elect’s Cabinet nominees have a history that indicates they will undermine the very mission of the departments in which these employees have been hired to work.
As Cogan says, a woman she calls Hannah (who works on international environmental issues) summed up a lot of what she heard.
“If I leave, I am creating a vacuum that may stay unfilled given hiring freezes, or may get filled by someone without the passion, understanding, or commitment to the cause. Either way, the work — the absolutely necessary and essential work — won’t get done,” she says. “This is all without even considering my own moral dilemma. The new administration, all the way to the top, is contrary to who I am as a person. I have no doubt, that what we will see is the purge of good, committed, and competent talent out of federal service.”
For those who have touted the idea of reducing the government to the size where it can be drowned in the bathtub, that will not be a concern. But for those of us who depend on the competent service of people like Hannah, it is cause for alarm.
raven
@Politically Lost: I was in the same boat except I should have known better.
Shalimar
There is always more profit in emergencies than there is in rationally addressing a problem over time. By accelerating the rate of climate change, energy companies make more profit now and also set themselves up to make more profit in the future when we have to quickly fight against catastrophes.
Sure, possibly billions of people could die and society will radically change, but that won’t affect life for the families of those at the very top of the corporate structures who make the decisions. Their gated communities will become domed communities.
Yoda Dog
Yoda’s Law
Fuck everyone and fuck everything. Revised daily.
(most of you peeps are cool though..)
Mary G
Today’s five minute action (from My Civic Workout):
Darrell Issa’s office is getting tired of me. Today I was informed that until the inauguration, he won’t be doing much. Yes, that’s what they said.
Raven Onthill
Oh, and Josh Marshall is reporting rumors that Social Security cuts will be proposed next year, apparently via default on the Treasury securities held by the SSA.
Have called Senator Murray, can’t even get through. Sen. Cantwell’s office listened politely.
Stan
@kindness: If they do I’ll be in that stadium with my wife and several of my (adult) children.
Miss Bianca
@napoleon: Wow, they’re that committed to cutting throats, that they’ll slash their own along with ours?
gene108
@Chris:
As screwed up as Bush & Co were they had some sort of coherent-ish philosophy underpinning what they wanted to do.
They wanted to prove tax cuts stimulate the economy, toppling Saddam would bring democracy to the Middle East and make them all love us, a bit of the old time religion can be used to help with social services (Faith Based initiatives), etc.
Outside of personal enrichment, I have no earthly idea WTF is underpinning the upcoming Administration.
JPL
@Helen: You need to send Anne some pics she can post on Sunday. That would improve my mood.
Major Major Major Major
@Raven Onthill:
Is it just me or is one of these things not like the other?
jl
@Major Major Major Major: I recall the times I saw Trump on youtube, or on the tweeter, expressing either directly or indirectly complete contempt for his supporters. If Trump goes along with this, he is a vile liar, which has been an obvious likelihood given all his contradictory promises and statements.
The voter suppression effort that will go along with this will be massive. Gotta be, since the proposed Medicare and Social Security cuts will kill off Trump’s base pretty quickly.
Tom Levenson
@gene108:
I think a big motivator is to say “Fuck you, smart people.”
rikyrah
@trollhattan:
Is he the nominee on record for beating his wife?
JPL
@jl: Trump will say it was Obama’s fault and the it’s not MSM to correct him.
Mary G
Proud of my state:
That is really high turnout. People say the rest of the blue and purple states will follow after its administration has revealed their true colors. I hope so.
jl
@JPL: People won’t give a shit if their lives are on the line and they will ‘vote wrong’ (from the GOP perspective) no matter what Trump or Ryan say, or no matter how many fluff jobs and corporate media give Ryan and Pence. I am sure of that. So, voter suppression efforts will be needed.
Edit: though these slime might decide a bogus national security scare before the midterms and next pres election might work. We will see. Will be either one or the other.
dr. luba
@JPL: “Make sure that you are near a phone though….”
Spoken like an old……like me. Are there many people out there any more who aren’t constantly on or in very close proximity to their phones? ;)
Major Major Major Major
@dr. luba: Cell phones don’t work too good in crowds of 100,000.
dr. luba
@Mary G:
That is what you get when you have a state that encourages voting, and makes it easy (mail in voting). The opposite of red states, where voter suppression and jumping through hoops are the name of the game.
Our problem is that there are formerly blue states which have been voter suppressed into purple…….
rikyrah
Am I wrong, but isn’t this the same scam that they used to destroy the solvency of the United States Post Office?
…………………………….
GOP Plans Major Social Security Cuts
By JOSH MARSHALL
Published DECEMBER 9, 2016, 2:13 PM EDT
We’ll have a story coming shortly on what I just mentioned a short time ago: that Republicans are now planning to pass major cuts to Social Security this year.
Until then let me cover the broad details of the plan.
Unlike the Bush-era plan to partially phase out Social Security and replace it with private investment accounts, this plan takes a different approach. Through a variety of mechanisms, this plan simply cuts benefits and introduces means testing. To look at specific cuts, changes in eligibility and so forth look at pages 2 and 3 on this official Social Security Administration scoring document analyzing the plan. The benefit cuts appear to hit everyone but are weighted toward more affluent recipients.
The big picture is that the current Social Security Trust Fund is predicted to be exhausted in the mid-late 2030s. So roughly in 20 years. People often refer to this as ‘bankruptcy’. But that’s not really accurate. At that point Social Security would only be able to pay 79% of benefits recipients will be entitled to in those years.
By 2090, that percentage falls to 74%. So it’s fairly stable after that drop-off in the 2030s.
Now there are a number of ways to cover that shortfall – the most obvious is to remove or alter the so-called ‘cap’ on Social Security taxes. Once you get over $118,500 of income per year you stop paying Social Security taxes. So your Social Security tax rate is much higher if you make $50,000 a year than if you make $500,000 a year. Change that and most of the problem disappears.
The plan with this new GOP bill is to proactively solve this problem entirely with cuts and really big cuts. Out over 75 years, the GOP proposal has the Trust Fund growing substantially out into the infinite horizon. In other words, a lot of the cuts are more than are necessary to pay for all benefits.
Philbert
Re The Purges. As planned. Chris Christie mentioned during the GOP convention that they were drawing up lists of thousands of people who could be fired immediately. They also seek to have Congress change the Civil Service laws to make it easier to fire at will, the goal being to remove ‘anyone hired during the Obama Administration’. I believe he did use the word ‘purge’. Also he mentioned wanting to allow businessmen to serve in government while retaining their positions in their private enterprise.
I am starting to sort out my feelings a bit: The election was the earthquake, and the tsunamis will start in January.
D58826
@Philbert:
Feature not a bug.
debit
@jurassicpork: And here you are again with your hand held out.
D58826
@rikyrah: And just think, if you turn this trust fund over to those kind folks on Wall Street to administer. There will have to us log tables to calculate the bonuses.
Helen
@JPL: pics of Eire?
jl
@rikyrah: No, not quite the same. The post office scam was to use problems caused by underfunding of various public and private pensions to insist that the post-office ridiculously overfund their pension, and in a way that immediately strapped them for cash. From GOP perspective, probably a wise move, since their purpose was not to destroy the post office. The public, particularly their white rural dupes, would insist private carriers offer unprofitable or low profit replacement services, and they don’t want that business, too much headache any way you look at it, even from a price gouging perspective. But it did cripple post office ability to compete in various new service niches.
This is just a massive cut. Assuming the GOP plans to sell it all, it will be through scare mongering with the damned lie that Social Security is ‘going broke’ and nothing can be done to fix it. So the best fix is to cut it right now now now, as bigly as possible, rather than waiting to see if, or how much, we need cut it later (ignoring that even under current funding, cuts may not be needed). I guess they will play up the smaller cuts for lower income people, while trying to hide the massive upper income tax cuts that will be funded by the theft of the trust fund. Not sure that is the exact con, since details are sketchy now, but probably something like that.
trollhattan
@Mary G: Yup, a big turnout and a thorough thrashing of the Trumpster. Good. Local paper has a flurry of conservative op-eds on how state Dems should play nice with the incoming administration and to them I say, look at what the damn voters said to do. We’re in for a lot of big battles with the administration and it’s all hands on deck.
The good news: big turnout also sets the number of petition signatures required to get a proposition onto the ballot. Look for a LOT fewer in ’18 than in ’16. ’18 should have a good turnout for an off-year election, as governor and probably a senate seat will be in play. (DiFi utterly jumped the shark this week. Retire now, lady.)
rikyrah
@jl:
thanks for the explanation
Major Major Major Major
I feel like there’s going to be a pattern of suggesting completely unrealistic and outlandish things like this protest blockage so that:
– activists feel like they’ve scored a victory when they don’t happen
– nobody pays attention to the actually bad things
Helen
@JPL: Pics from Eire?
PS to mods: just tried to answer this on my phone. Went to moderation and I tried to delete. All went kerfluey. Feel to delete the first one.
jl
@rikyrah: I am surprised that Trump and the GOP could not even wait until inauguration day to reveal their plans to completely betray their white bigot dupes. Really, to gut them like a trout before gently laying them in the frying plan. Really brazen.
This crap will be very unpopular. Make me wonder if Sessions, if he is still to be AG, will be eyeing minorities, or oldsters, in his first efforts at mass denial of franchise. Both are on the list, just a question of most pressing electoral priorities.
Another Scott
As mentioned in an earlier thread, The Guardian is fear-mongering about the Womens March. From the FAQ:
Also, too.
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
PIGL
@hovercraft: People like Hannah need to leave if they can do so without suffering economic pain. Or stay and take the money with a clear conscience as long as it suits or as circumstances allow/require. The public voted them off the island. They owe the USA no further duty PERIOD. All bet’s are off.
The lineaments of the disintegration are visible….it won’t take long.
hovercraft
This is so sad. This poor schmuck allowed himself to be humiliated on national TV, he became the fetch it guy for the shitgibbon, and after all that, first he was denied a cabinet job, and now he’s not even going to get the consolation prize of RNC chair.
Christie won’t be Republican National Committee chair under Trump, sources say
TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie will not be named chairman of the Republican National Committee as President-elect Donald Trump takes over the White House, two sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to NJ Advance Media on Thursday morning.
Christie had been lobbying for the position over the last week, but he and Trump decided mutually that he would not assume the job, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss the scenario candidly.
One source close to Christie said Trump’s team is continuing to talk to the New Jersey governor, a longtime Trump friend and adviser, about various other positions in the incoming administration.
But, the source noted, Christie wants to serve out his second and final term as governor — which ends Jan. 18, 2018.
The source added that Christie is close to Trump and will “certainly remain as an informal adviser.”
So SAD!
JPL
@jl: The post office model, is a good start. They will want to make sure that not only your benefits are safe, but those of your great, great, great grandchildren are also. All the while, the extra savings will be used to cut taxes for the wealthy among us.
PIGL
@Philbert: Yup.
JPL
@Helen: Yes!
rikyrah
@trollhattan:
Good
schrodinger's cat
@Another Scott:@Major Major Major Major: True and Balloon Juice and blogs like this are serving to amplify the panic by saying the sky is falling. Things are bad enough without the exaggerated panic.
Major Major Major Major
@hovercraft: Trump just enjoys humiliating him. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
JPL
@schrodinger’s cat: The sky might not fall, but our democracy will fail, under this administration.
burnspbesq
@RaflW:
They’ll get their chance to launch a trade war if they want one. The “border-adjustable cash flow tax” that is the centerpiece of the House Ways & Means “blueprint” for international tax “reform” is a clear violation of the WTO treaty.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@rikyrah: @jl: I hope this is the overreach we’ve been hoping for. Maybe the Randian Sweet Paulie Blue Eyes’ rediscovery of religion led him to believe he is the Ayn Rand messiah and he forgot to be dishonest of the first time in years.
rikyrah
How Trump and the GOP will try to turn the entire country into Dixie
By Paul Waldman
December 9 at 12:56 PM
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in Mississippi or Alabama? Well if the GOP has its way, you’ll get the chance to find out.
That’s because Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, through the executive branch leadership now being assembled and the legislative priorities they have laid out, are preparing to take the economic, political, and social arrangements of the South and spread them across the country.
The desire to southernize the entire United States is not new, and in some ways it’s been happening for a while, at least where Republicans have control of government. But now that Republicans have complete control in Washington, they’re going to try to accelerate and deepen that process. Let’s look at it piece by piece:
The Southern economic model. The first and most far-reaching component of this project is to take the Southern economic model national. The foundation of that model is the elimination of collective bargaining and the destruction of the labor unions that are able to negotiate higher wages and better benefits for workers. The Southern model replaces the North’s high-wage, unionized manufacturing with a low-wage, low-benefit version that has succeeded in drawing many factories southward. Southern states have lured companies with gigantic tax breaks and the promise of a powerless and desperate workforce. The result is often more jobs in those Southern states, but worse jobs. And what those states give up in taxes means poorer schools and fewer social services.
This is a story with roots that go back before the Civil War, but in recent years it has taken on a new character as even foreign firms look to the American South as a source of cheap labor. And as Harold Meyerson explained last year in this terrific article, multiple forces including the crippling of unions and the emergence of Walmart as the nation’s largest retailer have acted to pull wages and benefits across the country down toward the South’s level.
jl
@JPL: The difference is that, for now, they don’t want to destroy the post office, just keep it in a place that is convenient for their donors. I think that they want to destroy Medicare and Social Security. The basic outlines out now don’t include the Bush II gimmicks that eliminated Social Security to virtually nothing at all over several decades. I suspect that they are working on those now, keeping in mind that the Bush II version did not disguise them well enough. Need to keep a careful eye on the details as they emerge. I’d bet a gimmick to effectively phase it out as a real program, if not explicitly end it through legislation, will be in a more detailed proposal that is floated later. Bush II contained gimmicks that would make average benefits a few pennies by the time Millennials retired. I expect same thing for this one. Just a question of how, and how well hidden.
Major Major Major Major
@JPL: We need to keep our eyes on the things that are actually important, actually corrosive, and actually happening, though.
ETA: @jl: I don’t think the post office is going anywhere. Their goal with the pension BS, partial privatization, etc. was twofold: one, to loot something they knew would always be there; and two, to weaken government employees.
JPL
@Major Major Major Major: That’s a good point, because the model of his campaign was to toss so much out, that the media couldn’t focus on one thing. His twitter use was great at masking the real crimes.
It worked!
burnspbesq
@Mary G:
Wait’ll you see the turnout in 2018 if a secession referendum is on the ballot.
germy
Shell
As always theres always a good line from”The Simpsons” to cover any subject.
“Eggheads? Pfffft. What do they know!” is now the Republicans slogan.
jl
@Major Major Major Major:
OK, thanks RE post office. That more or less was what I was trying to say.
But now that they are saying, basically, ‘FU suckers!’ to their base of support, I wonder if they will decide to dump the post office after all, and make their rural idiot supporters cough up a dollar or more for every stinking letter, and tell their disbelieving idiot voters to shove it up their asses if they don’t like it. Well, the fools voted for change and they might get a lot of it, if we loser liberals don’t stand up and try to stop it.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Mary G: Wonder if it was the early results rolling in and the ensuing panic from them that pushed CA’s turnout so high?
schrodinger's cat
@JPL: It will fail if we scare ourselves into inaction.
schrodinger's cat
@burnspbesq: Coastal states of America? Quick googling told me that the turnout was 75% over here too.
Mary G
@JPL: Over my dead body. It will be a bitch to take it back, but we will. Americans are ornery and the Republicans are incompetent. Take some action.
@burnspbesq:We could break 90%! CalExit FTW!
schrodinger's cat
@burnspbesq: Coastal states of America? Quick googling told me that the turnout was 75% over here in MA too.
Yutsano
@PIGL: I’m a federal civil servant. I ain’t going anywhere unless they drag me out of my office. The last thing civil servants should do is pack up and leave. Bureaucracy can be grindingly slow to change, especially with union representation.
And yes I know our unions have big targets on them.
hovercraft
@schrodinger’s cat:
Keep track of and commenting on the things that the GOP and their leader are trying to slide by us while everyone is still in mourning, denial, and simply tuned out, is not being chicken little, burying our head in the sand while they try to unravel the entire social contract of the 20th century would be stupid. The blizzard of policy proposals and unqualified appointments all coming a mile a minute are being done on purpose, if we can’t keep up with this endless stream of shit coming at us, most of it will get through, and that’s the plan. We don’t have the luxury of calmly sitting back to wait and see how bad it’s going to be, the damage is being done right now before the inauguration. The newly emboldened GOP is sticking all sorts of terrible policies into the lame duck bills that are must pass before the end of the year. If you want a more positive spin on what the trumpocalypse will bring, check out Jon Stewart how is also scoffing and saying everything will be okay. Personally I’d rather be prepared for the worst and be proven wrong than expect/hope for the best and get slammed, but that’s just me.
schrodinger's cat
Its time for blue states to put their foot down. We don’t want to be dragged into the 18th century. Give them a taste of their own medicine.
Major Major Major Major
@hovercraft: The OP here is about two things. Only one of them is particularly real.
schrodinger's cat
@hovercraft: I am not advocating sitting down. But the constant refrain of we are all doomed doesn’t exactly strengthen the resolve to fight back.
Helen
@JPL: All I have right now are pics of the apt. Gonna take some Christmas pics soon. This city is dead serious about Christmas. It’s gorgeous.
lo
@hovercraft: I agree. There is no reason to wait. For example, the main lines of the Ryan and GOP Medicare and Social Security plans are public. Trump ran on preserving the New Deal social safety net. Need to make a fuss now and ask Trump if he is going to go along with geritricide (not sure that is a word, but that is what the plans amount to). And call him a damned liar if he does not, in very politically incorrect terms, tell Ryan and his fellow GOP white collar criminals, to go stuff their plans.
I think about 99% chance Trump is a liar. His horrible nominations for positions that run social insurance programs indicate that he is. Need to find out now, and start raising hell.
germy
Here’s a letter to the editor of a small town paper. I present it without comment.
Yutsano
@schrodinger’s cat: Turnout in Washington was almost 79%. Mail in ballots are an amazing thing.
@burnspbesq: I really should see if the Franchise Tax Board is hiring, although if secession does happen my experience will help the new Republic get a tax system established.
jl
@hovercraft:
I agree. There is no reason to wait. For example, the main lines of the Ryan and GOP Medicare and Social Security plans are public. Trump ran on preserving the New Deal social safety net. Need to make a fuss now and ask Trump if he is going to go along with geriatricide (not sure that is a word, but that is what the plans amount to). And call him a damned liar if he does not, in very politically incorrect terms, tell Ryan and his fellow GOP white collar criminals, to go stuff their plans.
I think about 99% chance Trump is a liar. His horrible nominations for positions that run social insurance programs indicate that he is. Need to find out now, and start raising hell.
trollhattan
@Yutsano:
A good friend is a toxicologist with EPA Region 10 and I await her telling me she’s received orders to drop everything else and determine crude oil is actually a critical nutrient and that CO2 builds healthy teeth.
germy
WaPo: Obama orders review of Russian hacking during elections
President Obama said he wanted the report before he left office, according to homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco
Bob Schooley: “Timing this so Trump is forced to react his first day in office is some expert gamesmanship.”
Shell
Its said the NPS has filed the blocking permit. Is that the same as it being granted? Is it a done deal?
jl
@germy: Obama should ask for a number of reports to be completed before he leaves office. Trump has started down a number of very bad, and very dishonest given his campaign promises, roads. Trump should be forced to react to a large number of issues on his first day in office.
Yarrow
@Major Major Major Major:
Yes. Trump has been doing this all along. The pattern is, Trump does something outlandish to get everyone to look where he wants them to look and no one pays attention to the looting or other terrible action.
Some people are catching on, even the occasional media person. Don’t get caught up in the drama. If he’s tweeting insults, look around and see what his people are doing. What they don’t want you to pay attention to. Then go investigate that.
Stan
@Major Major Major Major: Three, to prop up Fed Ex and UPS. Donors.
schrodinger's cat
@germy:
This is bullshit. Even legal immigrants are not eligible for food stamps unless they have been here for 5 years. Only exceptions are if you either too young or too old to work.
hovercraft
@schrodinger’s cat:
To the first sentence I say good.
I can only speak for myself. but I post links and make comments so that we can be aware of what they are doing. My hope being that forewarned is forearmed. I’m thinking that if we let all these things happen without even trying to fight them, then we are doomed. Explaining what will happen if these things are allowed to occur is not giving up, it’s part of making the argument of why we need to fight what they are doing. Yes there are some people simply voicing despair at times, myself included, but mostly these are calls to action, we know that the results of the election cannot be overturned, but this is a safe place for many of us to vent and encourage one another to make calls, volunteer and support worthy causes. Being realistic about our chances of preventing real damage doesn’t preclude still fighting to mitigate the damage that will be done.
If the tone is bothering you that much, perhaps you should drop an e-mail to one of the FP posters, and reiterate a suggestion from a few days ago that they adopt a two post strategy for a while, one where those who want to can kvetch about politics can, and one where those who don’t can discuss everything else.
germy
@schrodinger’s cat: Letters to the editor in my local paper are always full of bullshit. At this point I’d be surprised if I saw anything fact-based.
Chris
@germy:
I say this with nothing but sincerity: thanks, Obama.
Major Major Major Major
@germy:
…I see.
@hovercraft: @Yarrow: Well, there are two kinds of tweets, right? Stuff like the Hamilton dust-up are pointless and stupid and distractions not worthy of our attention. Things like going after a private citizen who dares to criticize him (like the union president at Carrier) are actually really dangerous.
I’m just saying we should focus on the real things. Being realistic about preventing or mitigating the damage means being realistic about the actual dangers.
ETA: And, again, as indicated above by the march/protest’s organizers, the permit issue mentioned in the original post is not a real thing to be worried about.
Scamp Dog
@jl: I half remember seeing gerontocide, but I’m getting less sure the more I think about it. No matter, we’ll be needing one of those before too long.
Steve in the ATL
I’m at the unfortunately named Sky Harbor airport. Ready to leave this red state and get back home to…uh…never mind!
Social security fix is so easy. Just lift or raise the cap. We can afford it.
schrodinger's cat
@Major Major Major Major:
Yes, let the other side traffic in innumerate and made-up nightmare scenarios. Truth does win in the end, even though it looks like it lost a major battle here.
schrodinger's cat
@germy: It seems very DougJesque.
Major Major Major Major
@schrodinger’s cat: Poe’s Law.
EDIT: Where’d your post go?
Mai.naem.mobile
@hovercraft: I wouldn’t be surprised if Christie ends up being the Republican who brings Lumpy down. He was hanging around him a lot after he endorsed him. I am guessing he knows some stuff about Kushner and Lumpy. If this is Kushners doing, he’s being stupid. You’ve humiliated Christie enough. Give him a position a nd keep him in the tent. Christie was a USA ffs. I’m guessing even he has friends in US Attorney’s offices and the FBI and he seems just as petty and reckless as Lumpy.
Yutsano
@trollhattan: I hope they understand that even with a flat tax people are still gonna cheat the system. Tax enforcement agencies exist for a reason, and my agency (thank you 16th Amendment!) is constitutional. I’m okay with my work radically changing, as long as I don’t lose the money stick.
Oh and the shrinking the federal workforce 10%? You think the complaints about services are bad now?
Yarrow
@Major Major Major Major: Yes, agreed. The ones Trump himself seems to tweet in the middle of the night are a good tell into the issues that really bother him and where he can be attacked. Like the Carrier union guy. That whole thing has worked out well because he stood up to Trump. Clearly Trump doesn’t like it when someone dims his spotlight – in this case showing his claim of saving jobs was mostly not true.
The Hamilton stuff is definitely a distraction. That’s when it pays to look around. Don’t look at Hamilton and Pence. Look what he’s doing.
Same with Ivanka meeting with Al Gore. They wanted everyone talking about that and no one talking about his EPA nominee. It worked somewhat.
PaulWartenberg2016
Spread the word, get this emailed in to the GAO!
If you want to support Senator Warren’s request to audit President-Elect Trump’s finances for conflicts of interest, the woman who answered the phone at the Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office said the most effective way to be sure your support counts is to email two administrators, Katherine Siggerud and Timothy Minnelli. Their email addresses are [email protected], [email protected]. There is a third email, [email protected], through which they are tracking people who were urging support for an audit.
You can send one email addressed to:
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Subject line: Re: Audit for President-Elect Trump’s financial concerns
Dear Ms. Siggerud and Mr. Minnelli,
I’m writing in support of Senator Elizabeth Warren’s request for an audit of our incoming President-Elect Trump’s finances, to prohibit conflicts of interest that would prevent him from carrying out the responsibilities of the office without corrupt influence.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
schrodinger's cat
@Major Major Major Major: I edited it and now its in moderation. I can’t seem to moderate my own comments since the redesign/reboot.
raven
@Steve in the ATL: If you’re lucky you’ll be able to see Weaver’s Needle if the Superstions when you take off!
hovercraft
@Major Major Major Major:
Agree, the memorial site would have been nice because of it’s historical significance, but the important thing is that there will be a protest in DC the day after the inauguration, ensuring that it is HUGE and peaceful is the most important thing, the media will be forced to cover it, and we can share it on social media.
Yarrow
@Mai.naem.mobile: Kushner’s also….Jewish. When it comes to who’s got the influence in the Trump administration will it be Kushner or will it be Bannon who doesn’t seem to like people who are Jewish very much. Certainly doesn’t want his kids going to school with them. I see there could be some tension there. And some leverage for Bannon, maybe working with/using Christie.
raven
Every where is freaks and hairies, dykes and fairies;
Tell me where is sanity?
Tax the rich, feed the poor, till there are no rich no more.
I’d love to change the world – but I don’t know what to do,
So I’ll leave it up to you.
germy
@Yarrow: Nobody who helped lock up Kushner’s dad is getting appointments. He can stay unofficial, meaning he can fetch KFC.
Mary G
Mai.naem.mobile
@Steve in the ATL: hey,this time around ,AZ was less red than JawJah. Just sayin’ . Also Sky Harbor is really not a bad airport – partly because it’s relatively young.
Miss Bianca
@hovercraft: Color me a little skeptical that a protest after the fact will do a whole hell of a lot, but…better this than nothing, I guess.
germy
@raven: This world would be a better place with more freaks and hairies, dykes and fairies.
raven
@germy: I’m coming home
Another Scott
@Raven Onthill: Of course, the USA can’t selectively default. “That’s not how it works. That’s not how any of this works…”
Social Security FAQ:
(Emphasis added.)
Just like the T-Bills owned by Goldman Sachs and Apple and China, the Social Security bonds are backed by the FFAC of the USA. There is no selective default possible.
Don’t accept the framing that the Teabaggers and Donnie can simply wave their tiny hands and make Social Security and Medicare go away. They can’t. We must fight them every day. Make them own their reactionary proposals, and all the consequences that go with them.
“Donnie and Paulie want to take away benefits that I’ve paid for for 30+ years before I can get them. It’s not fair. I’m not going to let him do that.”
Cheers,
Scott.
Major Major Major Major
@hovercraft: Right, and I’m using “worrying about the site being unavailable/evil park service blocking the permit” as an example of something we shouldn’t be talking about, that is counterproductive and might do two things:
– let the activists think they’ve won a victory after the protest is allowed, thus dampening enthusiasm for doing other stuff
– distract from organizing the protest.
hovercraft
@Yarrow:
At the end of the day it will be Kushner, he is family, and that’s all the shitgibbons got. Bannon has his own agenda, to destroy the GOP and the federal government and return us to the days when white rich men controlled everything. The Shitgibbon wants to get really rich, be loved and admired, and he’ll stick with anyone who will help him get those three things, Bannon is disposable, Kushner is married to the only person other than himself that the Shitgibbon seems to have true feelings for Ivanka. What those feeling are is another story, but everyone else is important only to whatever extent they make it look good/better.
Another Scott
@Major Major Major Major: SMS isn’t too bandwidth-intensive. It should be the standard recommended communications method at big rallies.
Cheers,
Scott.
Kay
They’re running Trump Dear Leader rallies on cable. Millions of dollars of free advertising for Donald Trump.
It’s bizarre that he’s still leading chants about locking his opponent up. He should lead the chant at the inaugeration. Justice Roberts can join in. Let’s just go full-bore developing country and get it over with.
Major Major Major Major
@Another Scott: Depends on the crowd size, but yes, it’s a good go-to, better than voice. I was at Obama’s inauguration and it was worthless, but that was eight years ago.
hovercraft
@Miss Bianca:
It doesn’t/won’t change a thing, but it registers to the public that there is a large resistance, and it helps to keep our side motivated. I agree with schrodinger’s cat that we must not surrender to despair. Anything that rallies our side is worthwhile. It will also have the added bonus of really pissing the Shitgibbon off, such a public display of dissatisfaction with the start of it’s reign will probably spark a tweetstorm.
satby
@rikyrah: hey, sorry to go OT, but can you contact me at my website? Not seeing an order from you?
germy
@hovercraft: But in his own way Kushner is as much of a shit as Bannon.
raven
@satby: Fuck a topic!
hovercraft
@Kay:
But it’s not president yet, so TIME was very dishonest calling it divisive, any division is Obama’s fault.
Another Scott
@schrodinger’s cat: The apostrophe in your ‘nym might be part of the problem. My former ‘nym (I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet) seemed to be associated with lots of weirdness that Alain couldn’t figure out causes for…
Just a thought.
Good luck.
Cheers,
Scott.
Iowa Old Lady
Mr IOL did research on emissions and fuel economy in diesel engines. He’s worked with people from EPA over the years, and says he expects them to be looking for other jobs.
jl
@Kay:
” It’s bizarre that he’s still leading chants about locking his opponent up. ”
Stupid demagoguery and dishonest PR is all he has, really. That won’t get him through the complete and devastating betrayal of his own supporters that he seems to have in mind. Until his appointees start cracking down on protest and voting.
schrodinger's cat
@satby: So I never got the answer to the most important question. Did you dance at the wedding?
Come on let’s do the bhangra, everybody. The mood here is too glum.
Yarrow
@hovercraft: I think that’s how it will go too. But if Bannon feels like they’re turning on him, I would think he’d turn on Kushner. Trump would always have Ivanka and if it turns out her husband is a bad guy, well, Daddy will be there to comfort her (retch).
schrodinger's cat
@Another Scott: Did you find that using Green’s functions? Thanks for the tip!
Major Major Major Major
@jl: You’re assuming his supporters will care that he fucks them over economically. They won’t mind as long as he has show trials and cracks down on brown people and they can say the n-word in public. All easily within reach as the executive.
Another Scott
@schrodinger’s cat: :-)
A guy at work does lots of weird math with Green’s functions. He loves them – they’re a floor polish and a dessert topping!
Cheers,
Scott.
schrodinger's cat
@Kay: Which developing country do you have in mind? Even, they have standards, you know. I can’t think of less qualified candidate chosen to be the PM in India, for example. Indian politics is pretty dirty but T like candidate would not have been elected to Loksabha (like the Congress, here)
daverave
On my recent cross country trip we were constantly amazed at the number of tiny, tiny towns in the South that still managed to have a US post office. A location that often seemed to be the center of the town’s life based on the number of vehicles always in front of them.
Miss Bianca
@hovercraft: Oh, well, if it will spark an intemperate shitgibbon tweet storm, it’s worth it for that alone! //
Major Major Major Major
@Another Scott: @schrodinger’s cat: Apostrophes can indeed wreak havoc on text parsers, though I doubt that’s the issue here. I can’t always edit my comments either, it’s probably just a FYWP thing.
jl
@Major Major Major Major: I’ll bet you an email beer that will change as soon as he cuts his supporters retirement income in half. A White apartheid welfare state needs to deliver the welfare for the Whites. If Trump keeps on the way he is going, it will not do that, it will take away what meager life lines his white bigot dupes have now. And all hell will break loose. Question is if enough people still have enough of the vote to make a difference.
But if Trump is planning a stab-in-the-back for his supporters, which I think he is, we will find out which of us is right.
schrodinger's cat
@Another Scott: FWIW I hate Green’s functions, one of the hardest ways to solve differential equations.
Raven Onthill
@Another Scott: later reports have not mentioned the defaults. I am still waiting for the analysis of the draft of the bill.
But why not? Trump paid debts to one creditor and not another; he is known for it.
Major Major Major Major
@jl: If it’s that drastic, I agree with you. But look at how much the economic impression has shifted already in the polls since the election–these people don’t live in reality, and it really will take something like “cutting it in half” to pierce that bubble. Even going so far as to, say, put in place something that would eventually eliminate it for their grandchildren or TBH even their children probably wouldn’t be enough.
ETA: I think if not him than somebody close enough to him (Bannon, Gingrich) knows enough to know they need to keep the Herrenvolk happy.
Chris
@daverave:
And it’ll never occur to most of the residents that this is what the allegedly useless federal government does for you. With money redistributed from those awful fucking Yankees and Californians that you just know are plotting to screw you because they hate you so, so much.
burnspbesq
@Yutsano:
You’re not a good candidate for a FTB job. You’re not mean enough.
IRS is morally neutral. FTB is nothing but evil.
jl
@Major Major Major Major: Early proposals would cut it in half right away for everyone, even those very close to retirement, perhaps even current recipients (though reports I’ve read not really clear about that). I guess the GOP has the idea that a shock doctrine PR campaign of some kind, plus distractions of other Trump nonsense and vandalism, will allow them to pass it without intolerable public outrage. The Bush II gimmick was to keep benefits mostly whole for time being, but whittle them away to pennies after a few decades.
If public outrage does not scare GOPers off, I think Trump will go along with it. Look who he’s nominated to run those programs.
Major Major Major Major
@jl: I think Paul Ryan is trying to take advantage of the situation to ram through Paul Ryan’s ideas because Paul Ryan is insane. He has no higher aspirations than Speaker–he’s right where he wants to be, orchestrating the dismantling of the welfare state. I imagine these proposals will have the rough edges filed off by January.
That, or we’ll see an epic clash between Ryan and Trump. I have no doubt that Trump will win, should this happen, nor do I have any doubt that Trump is prepared for such a situation and is relishing the idea of ending Ryan.
ETA: The thing Cole just posted upstairs shows something with rough edges filed off.
Botsplainer
@Shell:
Fuck the blocking permit. Claim the space anyway.
The gray adder
@Chris: Or John Carpenter. Where’s Snake Plissken when you need him?
Chris
@Major Major Major Major:
If there’s an epic clash between Ryan and Trump on the safety net, I for one say we back Trump all the way.
I simply don’t see it happening. Trump is a union-buster. He’s a chiseler. He’s a vulture capitalist. He’s Bain Capital without the pretense. He’s a Republican. He has never once in his entire life stood up for the little guy and has taken every possible opportunity he has to screw him. I can’t imagine him standing up to Ryan on this. Nothing in the history or present behavior of white supremacist parties suggests I should be optimistic, either; UKIP ran on a platform of promising to return money to the NHS, and almost immediately, as good as said “of course we were never serious.” That’s what I expect from Trump.
I could see some sort of personality clash, given Trump’s legendarily petty and abusive personality, leading to a fight between him and Paul Ryan or between him and Republicans in Congress. But Ryan being the good little ideologue he is will be doing everything he can to stay on his good side and to shut up and take any abuse Trump throws at him, For The Greater Good.
opiejeanne
@debit: What is with this guy?
Lurking Canadian
@jl: Don’t you mean “after he tells them Obama cut their benefits in half to feed a bunch of Mexican terrorists?”
These people seem to believe whatever he tells them. All bets are off
PIGL
@Yutsano: And I support your decision, for the \epsilon that’s worth. I just hope you and all your colleagues will keep a sharp eye on your own interests in what follows. I speak out of sympathy for colleagues and more distant connections in the USFWS and USGS who have just cruelly had the rug pulled out from under years of work, and probably their careers; also my career as it happens, even though I’m a Canadian academic.
grumpy realist
@jurassicpork: Shot $150 your way.
SFBayAreaGal
@Politically Lost: I of the Democratic Party did the exact same thing. It lasted for a couple of months. After that, never, never again. I never voted for him, but I believed him for that short time to my shame.
Jeffro
@Shalimar:
Yup. Not just the profit motive at work there, either – see also Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine.
Jeffro
@Major Major Major Major:
Jared Kushner enjoys humiliating Christie…the guy who put his dad in jail.
Aleta
It’s as though they are after “confessions” or weak links that will help them fabricate a justification to break laws, withdraw from agreements, argue against environmentalists in court.
Perhaps a blacklist will be forced on the NSF and DOE employees who’re in charge of choosing who gets how much to study what.
NotMax
@grumpy realist
Don’t get suckered. jp has been using this same begging stunt across multiple blogs for well over a decade.
henqiguai
@Major Major Major Major(#69):
Especially if signal blockers are being deployed.
Lizzy L
@NotMax: Too late. Appreciate the heads up, though.
Barry
@daverave: “Goldman and generals, Gold men and Generals….
Does his base even care?”
Somebody said once that the right had stopped promising that things would be better, and only promised a chance to f*ck over n*ggers, sp*cs, queers, etc.
Trump *did* promise that he’d make things better, but he’s reneged on that even before entering office.
I have a feeling that he’ll double down on the ‘f*ck over’ part.
Barry
@gene108: “Outside of personal enrichment, I have no earthly idea WTF is underpinning the upcoming Administration.”
Clue – look for who said ‘What is best in life?’