What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[Eddie Teach]

Why are you all against accountability? 

[LaCroix]

also trump nominating devos and getting her in suggests it's very possible calvinism is legit and G-d destined devos to lead education

[garbon]

 

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/318385-report-trump-regrets-hiring-spicer-blames-priebus

Report: Trump regrets hiring Spicer, blames Priebus

President Trump reportedly regrets choosing Sean Spicer to serve as White House secretary.

The president is disappointed in Spicer's performance thus far, CNN reported, according to a source familiar with internal communications.

The president also puts blame on White House chief of staff Reince Priebus for pushing for Spicer for the job.

"Priebus vouched for Spicer and against Trump's instincts," a source told CNN.

The president "regrets it every day and blames Priebus," the source added.

A senior administration official though said the president is behind Spicer "100 percent."

Still, Spicer was reportedly not the president's first choice to serve as the White House press secretary, according to CNN.

Spicer has faced backlash since assuming his role in the White House. During his first appearance in the briefing room, Spicer blasted the media for its reports on the crowd sizes at the president's inauguration and declined to take any questions from the media.

Spicer has struggled to build a relationship with reporters after a contentious first few days behind the lectern

He was mocked over the weekend for his "rocky start" with the media during a skit on "Saturday Night Live." In the skit, Melissa McCarthy played an aggressive Spicer, firing insults at journalists, chowing down on gum and busting out a super soaker during a press briefing.

The skit reportedly hit a nerve with the White House spokesman and the president. Trump was most bothered by the fact that Spicer was portrayed by a woman, according to a Politico report.

Spicer laughed off the report, telling Extra over the weekend that he thought the show was "funny" but felt McCarthy "could dial back."

Spicer is currently serving the role of both press secretary and communications director, as the second role has yet to be filled. The White House is reportedly ramping up its search for a communications director.

"Needs to be filled more than ever," a source told CNN.

[celedhring]

Apparently the Trumpster thinks that trade relations between Spain and the US are "balanced" so it looks like we're off the hook.

I was expecting he would ask us to pay for the wall 

[DontSayBanana]

Don't answer questions like that - you are just playing right into their hands.

If they think that the DOE should be gotten rid of - fine, that is a policy position that is defensible on its merits.

But putting someone as completely incompetent as Davos in charge of it because she gave you cash is NOT defensible, regardless of what you think about the long term future of the DoE.

The issue here with her nomination and approval has nothing to do with what anyone thinks the federal governments role in public education ought to be, and the support Republicans are showing for her betrays the basic lack of principle that informs them.

Disagree. This is a conversation that people should have been having before DeVos was nominated.  The fact that we're having it now just tells me that people like LaCroix are completely uninformed on the role of federal funding in "state-controlled" public education, and probably don't know how badly they're about to damage things.

For example, one buzzword in politics last year and the year before was the "school-to-prison pipeline."  What was completely missed was the "school-to-work pipeline."  The US is already ranked abysmally among developed countries in terms of education, and it's about to get worse on both ends- shrinking the pool of qualified skilled workers will dampen foreign investment in US companies, and US-led companies will lose out in favor of products and services provided by foreign firms with better quality coming from more highly skilled workers.

Most school districts do, in fact, itemize their budgets.  Most of the federal receivables are Title I ("Education for the Disadvantaged"), and Title II ("Preparing, Training, and Recruiting High Quality Teachers and Principals" funds.

Both funds would be specifically targeted by DeVos in favor of a voucher program, and both already exist because local taxpayers never want to pay another dime in property taxes to cover the cost of the schools the kids are attending.

What the voucher people aren't realizing is that the vast majority of the cost is materials provided by third parties, which protect their contracts by getting their materials mandated by the state or local education authorities or school boards.  Blaming the Dept. of Ed. for education costs is like blaming a person whose leg was cut off for bleeding all over your carpet.

[garbon]

blaming a person whose leg was cut off for bleeding all over your carpet.

Pretty tacky behavior.

[grumbler]

There are not enough functions in the departments I mentioned to justify an independent department.  There never was.  They were all created as political sops of one kind or another.

You want to swing their Office of Civil Rights under Justice, let's do this shit.  I'm all about going full Waco on shitty red state schools that don't put in wheelchair ramps.

Exactly.  Let education civil rights violations be handled by people who major in civil rights violations and minor in education, not people who major in education and minor in civil rights violations.

[The Larch]

Melania Trump's Mail suit suggests desire to monetise first lady role
Suit refiled in New York claims Trump had 'once in a lifetime opportunity' to launch multimillion-dollar businesses

Melania Trump has refiled a $150m (£120m) lawsuit against the corporation that publishes the Daily Mail's website for reporting rumours that she worked as a high-end escort in the 1990s.

Charles Harder, the California attorney who is representing the first lady, argued in the new filing against Mail Media Inc that the article had hurt Trump's chances of establishing "multimillion-dollar business relationships" during the years in which she would be "one of the most photographed women in the world".
(...)
The updated filing said the article published in August caused Trump's brand to lose significant value as well as major business opportunities that were otherwise available to her.

It stated: "The economic damage to the plaintiff's brand, and licensing, marketing and endorsement opportunities caused by the publication of Mail Online's defamatory article, is multiple millions of dollars.

"[The] plaintiff had the unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as an extremely famous and well-known person, as well as a former professional model, brand spokesperson and successful businesswoman, to launch a broad-based commercial brand in multiple product categories, each of which could have garnered multimillion-dollar business relationships for a multi-year term during which plaintiff is one of the most photographed women in the world."

Those product categories, it goes on to say, could have included apparel, accessories, jewellery, cosmetics, hair care and fragrance, among others. When asked for comment, Harder told the Guardian the filing was being "misinterpreted".

"The first lady has no intention of using her position for profit and will not do so. It is not a possibility. Any statements to the contrary are being misinterpreted," he said.

Is the scenario they describe plausible? Could she stand to profit so blatantly from her position as First Lady?

[LaCroix]

spicer didn't have to report the administration was behind him 100%, did he? 

[LaCroix]

Don't answer questions like that - you are just playing right into their hands.

If they think that the DOE should be gotten rid of - fine, that is a policy position that is defensible on its merits.

But putting someone as completely incompetent as Davos in charge of it because she gave you cash is NOT defensible, regardless of what you think about the long term future of the DoE.

The issue here with her nomination and approval has nothing to do with what anyone thinks the federal governments role in public education ought to be, and the support Republicans are showing for her betrays the basic lack of principle that informs them.

Disagree. This is a conversation that people should have been having before DeVos was nominated.  The fact that we're having it now just tells me that people like LaCroix are completely uninformed on the role of federal funding in "state-controlled" public education, and probably don't know how badly they're about to damage things.

For example, one buzzword in politics last year and the year before was the "school-to-prison pipeline."  What was completely missed was the "school-to-work pipeline."  The US is already ranked abysmally among developed countries in terms of education, and it's about to get worse on both ends- shrinking the pool of qualified skilled workers will dampen foreign investment in US companies, and US-led companies will lose out in favor of products and services provided by foreign firms with better quality coming from more highly skilled workers.

Most school districts do, in fact, itemize their budgets.  Most of the federal receivables are Title I ("Education for the Disadvantaged"), and Title II ("Preparing, Training, and Recruiting High Quality Teachers and Principals" funds.

Both funds would be specifically targeted by DeVos in favor of a voucher program, and both already exist because local taxpayers never want to pay another dime in property taxes to cover the cost of the schools the kids are attending.

What the voucher people aren't realizing is that the vast majority of the cost is materials provided by third parties, which protect their contracts by getting their materials mandated by the state or local education authorities or school boards.  Blaming the Dept. of Ed. for education costs is like blaming a person whose leg was cut off for bleeding all over your carpet.

education for the disadvantaged sounds like it can go. but what does the "preparing, training, and recruiting high quality teachers and principals" fund do? more $$$ to hire people with better resumes?

[The Minsky Moment]

has devos suggested she wants to hurt state and community colleges? if so, in what way?

Because they aren't for Jesus.  And she just learned they exist.

[The Minsky Moment]

Apparently the Trumpster thinks that trade relations between Spain and the US are "balanced" so it looks like we're off the hook.

I was expecting he would ask us to pay for the wall 

Just wait till he figures out what language Mexicans speak.

[jimmy olsen]

This is definitely going to the Supreme Court

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/07/politics/travel-ban-oral-arguments/

(CNN) — A federal appeals court is hearing oral arguments Tuesday evening to determine whether to lift a nationwide injunction against President Donald Trump's travel ban against citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries.

The hearing conducted by telephone contains high drama, as one of Trump's signature policies is challenged by two states and backed by numerous advocacy groups. Trump has also repeatedly attacked the federal judge who blocked the ruling last Friday.



The Trump administration says the courts have improperly inserted itself into the national security sphere.

"This is a traditional national security judgment that is assigned to the political branches and the President," August Flentje, special counsel to the assistant attorney general at the Justice Department, told the panel.

Flentje faced skeptical questioning from the judges, who pressed the DOJ lawyer about what evidence the government is presenting that the travel ban is necessary.

Judge Michelle T. Friedland out of the gate asked if the government could point to any evidence "connecting these countries with terrorism."

And Judge Richard R. Clifton seemed sympathetic to the fact that the states have the standing, or ability, to bring the suit against the administration.

Clifton called the government's argument "abstract," noting there are existing procedures to vet individuals for visas.

Friday, Judge James Robart of the US District Court for the Western District of Washington suspended key parts of the executive order nationwide Friday, clearing the way for resumed travel from the seven countries. The executive order bars citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the US for 90 days, all refugees for 120 days and indefinitely halts refugees from Syria.

In response, Trump fired off two tweets in response attacking the judge. In one he referred to Robart as a "so called" judge. In another, he said, "Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!"

Tuesday's hearing is only on the question of the injunction, not on the constitutionality of the executive order. A ruling is expected later this week, according to the court.

And no matter what its ruling here, the loser is likely to appeal to a larger panel of judges on the Ninth Circuit or go straight to the Supreme Court.


Hearing by phone

Three judges of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals -- two appointed by Democratic presidents, one by a Republican -- are conducting the hearing by telephone.

Solicitor General Noah Purcell will present the arguments of two states, Washington and Minnesota, and urge the court to leave the injunction in place. In court papers Purcell has argued that the executive order "unleashed chaos" when it was signed January 27.

The Justice Department says Trump's order "is a lawful exercise of the President's authority over the entry of aliens into the United States and the admission of refugees." August Flentje, special counsel to the assistant attorney general at the Justice Department, will argue for the government.

The judges are: William C. Canby Jr., an appointee of President Jimmy Carter; Friedland; who was appointed by President Barack Obama; and Clifton, an appointee of President George W. Bush.

The Ninth Circuit has a reputation as one of the most liberal in the nation to the point where some Republican lawmakers have even pushed to split it up in an effort to limit its impact.

Kari Hong, an assistant professor at Boston College Law School, said Tuesday's hearing is likely to be more technical in nature than philosophical.

"The Ninth Circuit is often called a liberal court, but the issues they have to figure out today are dry and technical ones relating to standards of review and the deference owed to the lower court," Hong said. "Those issues will be resolved without regard to political preferences."

[The Minsky Moment]

education for the disadvantaged sounds like it can go. but what does the "preparing, training, and recruiting high quality teachers and principals" fund do? more $$$ to hire people with better resumes?

I'm starting to be past the point of caring.  Let Trump wreck the Federal government.  Just means less for me to pay, and the civilized states, where I live and spend almost all my time, will fill the gap.  True, the Trumplandia states will sink into the third world barbarism they are so keen to embrace but if that what makes them happy, knock themselves out. 

If only Steve Lets Start a Nuclear War with China Bannon wasn't running foreign policy . . .

[Oexmelin]

Hey! Some of us live in Trumplandia