What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[The Minsky Moment]

This is definitely going to the Supreme Court

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

Eventually, probably, but there is a key strategic decision about timing that needs to be made.

Part of the reason Flentje struggled is that he is seeking emergency relief in the form of a stay but there are no facts in the record to suggest there is such immediate need.  They are going to have the same problem if they go up to the Supreme Court.

Admin might be advised to push for a quick PI hearing at the district court level and then push the appeal process from there if they still lose; that allows them to get *something* in the record and take advantage of the deference owed the President.

[CountDeMoney]

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.

It is by far the smallest of all the Cabinet positions--hell, it's about the same size as the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Dept of Education is fine, Mr. Private School in the Commonwealth of Public School-Hating Virginia.

[Berkut]

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.

But that is my point - these conversations are lost on the audience, and the objection to Devos is not because she doesn't agree with any of this, it is because she is a moron who bought the position.

You are making the mistake of thinking there is some kind of basic, rational argument to be had with a simpleton. They don't care what you think, and pretending like you are having an adult conversation with them while they slick matches around the room just plays into their game plan.

[LaCroix]

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 . . .

if department X implements a policy that immediately screws over large segments of US citizens, and its harm is appreciated in a non-partisan way, I have trouble believing the department wouldn't care but instead laugh its way to dismantling the program further.

[The Minsky Moment]

Funny thing about the 9th circuit argument is how the admin's PR argument is undermining the legal argument.

Trump specifically picked the countries Obama singled out earlier, apparently so his people could go on talk shows and smirk and say "but Obamadidit".

Problem is that punches the legal rationale in the solar plexus.  Because Obamadidit, people from those countries are already subject to screening pre-arrival so there is no clear need for temp ban on those countries.  It would have made more sense to pick a bunch of "dangerous" countries that Obama didn't pick and say a temp ban was needed to give time to evaluate a proper visa regime for those countries.

[CountDeMoney]

But that is my point - these conversations are lost on the audience, and the objection to Devos is not because she doesn't agree with any of this, it is because she is a moron who bought the position.

I don't understand how they couldn't find one more Republican.  I mean, it's not like he wouldn't nominate another conservative appointment;  hell, chances are they would've been much smarter.  They could've gotten conservative and competent. 

DeVos was simply stunningly ignorant, on an entirely new level of stunning ignorance.   I don't think there's ever been a nominee for anything that embarrassed themselves so much by not knowing anything about the position.

[LaCroix]

the only reason the vote was close was because two R moderates voted against her. devos shares some pretty widely held republican views

[grumbler]

It is by far the smallest of all the Cabinet positions--hell, it's about the same size as the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Dept of Education is fine, Mr. Private School in the Commonwealth of Public School-Hating Virginia.

The point is that cabinet secretaries for every tiny little post are a waste of time and money.  If we have a cabinet level position for education, why not NASA, and  OSHA and NHSTA, and F--35 Procurement, and Service Life Extension Program?  The Dept of Eeducation is a waste, Mr. I Could Been A Contender If I'd Only Done My Math Homework.

[CountDeMoney]

the only reason the vote was close was because two R moderates voted against her. devos shares some pretty widely held republican views

Yeah, we know, asshole.  I'm talking about Republicans that couldn't let their testicles descend long enough to shitcan somebody who demonstrated how fucking stupid she actually is. 

And no, she doesn't share some pretty widely held Republican views, it's that most Republicans share some elements of her views;  she's the stone-cold one-issue ideologue, not them.

[CountDeMoney]

It is by far the smallest of all the Cabinet positions--hell, it's about the same size as the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Dept of Education is fine, Mr. Private School in the Commonwealth of Public School-Hating Virginia.

The point is that cabinet secretaries for every tiny little post are a waste of time and money.  If we have a cabinet level position for education, why not NASA, and  OSHA and NHSTA, and F--35 Procurement, and Service Life Extension Program?  The Dept of Eeducation is a waste, Mr. I Could Been A Contender If I'd Only Done My Math Homework.

Stop hating kids who ride yellow buses, elitist grumbler DeVos.  Does your hoity-toity non-nigger private school pay you directly in vouchers?  How do you cash those anyway, do you have to swap them out at the bank, or are they like bearer bonds?

[grumbler]

Funny thing about the 9th circuit argument is how the admin's PR argument is undermining the legal argument.

Trump specifically picked the countries Obama singled out earlier, apparently so his people could go on talk shows and smirk and say "but Obamadidit".

Problem is that punches the legal rationale in the solar plexus.  Because Obamadidit, people from those countries are already subject to screening pre-arrival so there is no clear need for temp ban on those countries.  It would have made more sense to pick a bunch of "dangerous" countries that Obama didn't pick and say a temp ban was needed to give time to evaluate a proper visa regime for those countries.

But, if Spicer or whoever can convince the judges on the 9th Circuit that Obama did THE EXACT SAME THING after the Bowling Green Massacre, they will lift the stay.  That's the value of the Obamadidit strategy - it is much simpler than arguing the law.

[grumbler]

Stop hating kids who ride yellow buses, elitist grumbler DeVos.  Does your hoity-toity non-nigger private school pay you directly in vouchers?  How do you cash those anyway, do you have to swap them out at the bank, or are they like bearer bonds?

Oooh!  Nice non-sequitur!  Assume I replied with a non sequitur about your cats, and respond appropriately.

[CountDeMoney]

Nobody ever reported the Michigan Massacre of 2007.   



OH THE HUMANITY

[LaCroix]

the only reason the vote was close was because two R moderates voted against her. devos shares some pretty widely held republican views

Yeah, we know, asshole.  I'm talking about Republicans that couldn't let their testicles descend long enough to shitcan somebody who demonstrated how fucking stupid she actually is. 

And no, she doesn't share some pretty widely held Republican views, it's that most Republicans share some elements of her views;  she's the stone-cold one-issue ideologue, not them.

they probably agreed with her views or had constituents who agreed with her views. a lot of the attack on her are fun soundbites, but she's been involved in her reform movement for a long time. I haven't read much about her, but I doubt she's as bad as what lots of democtats have said. (I say democtats because I have literally not read a single complaint from a republican on social media, etc)

[CountDeMoney]

Oooh!  Nice non-sequitur!  Assume I replied with a non sequitur about your cats, and respond appropriately.

Is that Latin?