turbinetree
turbinetree's JournalTrump's finances appear shaky, opening up more opportunities to buy presidential 'favors'
Hunter for Daily Kos
Daily Kos Staff
Saturday January 18, 2020 · 4:00 PM EST
Reporter David Fahrenthold is responsible for perhaps 80% of everything we know about Donald Trump's ongoing business operations. In a start-of-year summary of where things stand, Fahrenthold and other Washington Post reporters wrote up a terse rundown of the state of the presidential grift-o-matic; they question, among other things, whether the Trump family purging their businesses of undocumented workers (only after being caught, of course) will raise labor costs and whether the hit Donald's companies have been taking due to their association with, you know, him will compel Trump to sell off assets or take other, similarly drastic measures.
Donald Trump only months ago sincerely, truly ordered the next G7 Summit be held at one of his own golf resorts, for example, and had the White House defending that obviously crooked money grab before backing down again. He has gotten bolder in his attempts to funnel money into his properties, and his family has become less interested in keeping up pretenses of basic propriety, each year of his "term."
It's the news that Trump has begun to explore a possible half-billion dollar sale of his Washington D.C. hotel that stands out. The hotel has for three years been a hub of in-the-open petty bribery, with foreign and domestic political officials, corporate heads, and lobbying groups all booking time and rooms at the property in straightforward attempts to be seen and be noticed by the grifter in chief.
Some of the profits generated by foreign supplicants are allegedly donated away again by the hotel in an opaque and unprovable company promise to mitigate the brazen unconstitutionality of this profit-taking; all of the profits from domestic government, lobbyist, and industry groups goes to Trump and family. It has remained one of the easiest and most plausibly legal ways of buying presidential goodwill short of Mar-a-Lago membership itself, and has no doubt boosted the hotel's otherwise-disappointing performance in ways that President Me finds especially pleasing and compelling.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/1/18/1911517/-Trump-s-finances-appear-shaky-opening-up-more-opportunities-to-buy-presidential-favors
-snip-
The short version is that Trump's properties here and abroad continue to not do well, the supplications of supporters are still not nearly enough to match the damage done as the rest of the nation cringes away from them, we continue to know almost nothing about the true nature of Trump's finances but all investigation suggests he is again burdened by massive debts, and in the pressure cooker of impeachment, campaigning, and potential war the television pitchman with nuclear weapons is likely to become even more overt in squeezing whatever cash he can get from this nation, its wealthiest request-havers, and anyone else in the world needing a big government favor and willing to pay for one.
If you think the man can handle that sort of pressure without doing something astonishingly crooked and/or stupid, you haven't been paying attention.
Trump, who wanted a TV legal team, is 'distracted' by impeachment trial, source says
By Jim Acosta, CNN
Updated 5:30 PM ET, Sat January 18, 2020
(CNN)A source close to the White House who speaks to Donald Trump regularly said the President has appeared "distracted" by the impeachment trial that begins on Tuesday, telling people around him Friday night at Mar-a-Lago that he "can't understand why he is impeached."
"Why are they doing this to me," the source quoted Trump as saying repeatedly.
Trump has been telling associates and allies around him that he wanted a "high profile" legal team that can perform on television, the source said. It's simply who Trump is, the source continued, adding Trump loves having people who are on television working for him.
This in part may explain why Kenneth Starr and Alan Dershowitz were added to the legal team representing the President.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/18/politics/trump-impeachment-team/index.html
Economist Joseph Stiglitz: Trump's economy is an absolute disaster for people and the planet
Written by Joseph Stiglitz / Common Dreams January 18, 2020
It is becoming conventional wisdom that US President Donald Trump will be tough to beat in November, because, whatever reservations about him voters may have, he has been good for the American economy. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Neither GDP nor the Dow is a good measure of economic performance. Neither tells us what’s happening to ordinary citizens’ living standards or anything about sustainability. (Photo: Johannes Eisle/AFP/Getty Images)
As the world’s business elites trek to Davos for their annual gathering, people should be asking a simple question: Have they overcome their infatuation with US President Donald Trump?
Two years ago, a few rare corporate leaders were concerned about climate change, or upset at Trump’s misogyny and bigotry. Most, however, were celebrating the president’s tax cuts for billionaires and corporations and looking forward to his efforts to deregulate the economy. That would allow businesses to pollute the air more, get more Americans hooked on opioids, entice more children to eat their diabetes-inducing foods, and engage in the sort of financial shenanigans that brought on the 2008 crisis.
https://www.alternet.org/2020/01/economist-joseph-stiglitz-trumps-economy-is-an-absolute-disaster-for-people-and-the-planet/
'Take your letter and shove it': Rep. Ted Lieu sends fiery response after Devin Nunes threatened to
Written by Cody Fenwick January 17, 2020
Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California fired a salvo at Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, also of California, on Friday by posting a letter responding to his colleague’s threat of a lawsuit.
Lieu said that Nunes had threatened to sue him, a fact he first made public on Wednesday. In a tweet on Friday, Lieu shared a picture of a letter from Nunes’ attorney, with the subject line “RE: Nunes v. Lieu.” Though Lieu only shared the first of what he said was five pages of the letter, the visible text made clear that Nunes’ complaint almost certainly involved defamation, for which the Republican has been suing many of his critics in recent months.
In addition to the page from Nunes’ lawyer, Lieu also shared his response. His letter, addressed to Nunes lawyer Steve Bliss, was scathing:
Dear Mr. Biss,
I received your letter dated December 31, 2019 in which you state your client Congressman Devin Nunes will sue me if I don’t, among other actions, issue a public apology to Devin Nunes. It is true that I stated Congressman Nunes worked with Lev Parnas and conspired to undermine our own government. As you know, truth is a defense. So go read the documents and text messages provided by Lev Parnas to the House of Representatives, and watch his interview on the Rachel Maddow Show, which aired on January 15, 2020, that directly implicates Rep Nunes.
I welcome any lawsuit from your client and look forward to taking discovery of Congressman Nunes. Or, you can take your letter and shove it.
https://www.alternet.org/2020/01/take-your-letter-and-shove-it-rep-ted-lieu-sends-fiery-response-after-devin-nunes-threatened-to-sue-him/
Congressman Ted Lieu.....................
Where does Astros cheating rank in scandals? Ask Pete Rose
By TIM DAHLBERG
2 hours ago
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Pete Rose was taking a break from signing autographs at the MGM Grand hotel when asked a question he’s uniquely qualified to address.
What’s worse, betting on baseball or cheating at baseball?
“I don’t know,’’ Rose tells The Associated Press. “All I know is I’ve been suspended for 30 years now. I don’t know anybody that’s been suspended for 30 years.”
It’s a fair point, especially when compared to the punishments handed out so far in the worst scandal to hit baseball since the steroid era. What Rose did was wrong — according to baseball rules — but there’s still a lot of people who believe he should be adding a Hall of Fame designation when he signs memorabilia in his adopted hometown of Las Vegas.
Still, 30 years away from the game he was so great at seems like an awful long time, especially when Major League Baseball and other sports leagues have made their peace — and are doing business — with the bookies who post lines on their games.
https://apnews.com/c0dbca3fde9af8f9e93e6ff3f8ff0701
2020′s first big test? Not Iowa, but a tiny Texas House race
By PAUL J. WEBER
an hour ago
KATY, Texas (AP) — Beto O’Rourke is livestreaming again. Joe Biden and Julián Castro are making their presence felt. Mike Bloomberg has knocked on doors and outside groups are running TV attack ads. On the brink of 2020?s first big contest, it all screams high stakes.
Not in Iowa. This is just for a single Texas House seat.
“This is one of the most important elections taking place in the country right now,” said O’Rourke, who since ending his own presidential run in November has campaigned for the Democrat in the race, Eliz Markowitz, including again Saturday with Castro.
The outcome of the Jan. 28 special election runoff near Houston — a week before the Iowa caucuses — in an ethnically diverse district of 220,000 people won’t change the balance of power in the GOP-controlled Texas Capitol. But like other special elections since President Donald Trump took office, this one is seen as brimming with broader significance: the year’s first bellwether that could signal bigger trends to come in November.
https://apnews.com/f6c742c64b7517fc49551764a406a820
I think the GOP are in for rude awakening.........................
2020′s first big test? Not Iowa, but a tiny Texas House race
By PAUL J. WEBER
an hour ago
KATY, Texas (AP) — Beto O’Rourke is livestreaming again. Joe Biden and Julián Castro are making their presence felt. Mike Bloomberg has knocked on doors and outside groups are running TV attack ads. On the brink of 2020?s first big contest, it all screams high stakes.
Not in Iowa. This is just for a single Texas House seat.
“This is one of the most important elections taking place in the country right now,” said O’Rourke, who since ending his own presidential run in November has campaigned for the Democrat in the race, Eliz Markowitz, including again Saturday with Castro.
The outcome of the Jan. 28 special election runoff near Houston — a week before the Iowa caucuses — in an ethnically diverse district of 220,000 people won’t change the balance of power in the GOP-controlled Texas Capitol. But like other special elections since President Donald Trump took office, this one is seen as brimming with broader significance: the year’s first bellwether that could signal bigger trends to come in November.
https://apnews.com/f6c742c64b7517fc49551764a406a820
Rough seas delay escape test for SpaceX crew capsule
Source: Associated Press
By MARCIA DUNN
2 hours ago
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Rough seas prompted SpaceX on Saturday to delay the emergency escape test of its new crew capsule by a day.
Liftoff is now set for Sunday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The Falcon rocket was supposed to blast off Saturday on a 10-minute flight to demonstrate the capsule’s emergency escape system before astronauts climb aboard in a few months. But the wind and waves were too high in the recovery area out in the Atlantic.
Once launched, the capsule will catapult off the rocket and, if all goes well, parachute into the ocean with a pair of mannequins. The rocket - being recycled after three previous flights - will end up being destroyed.
Read more: https://apnews.com/1a544a48d9e84d03503df75d2a396e36
Reservations brace for winter storms amid slow recovery
By STEPHEN GROVES
40 minutes ago
PINE RIDGE, S.D. (AP) — Snow blanketed the living room of Erna Shepard’s home the morning after a storm on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
“I’m going to freeze,” she said.
It’s been 10 months since the “bomb cyclone” that dumped the snow and rain that Shepard, 48, says caused the roof of her mobile home to cave in. While she’s managed to find a temporary home with her sister, like many people living in several Native American communities in South Dakota, she has struggled to recover from a storm and flooding that swelled rivers, swallowed roads and stranded thousands of people.
“The harsh thing about these climate-related events is that when they happen to these communities, we don’t recover really,” said Chase Iron Eyes, a spokesman for the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s elected leadership.
It’s a compounding problem: Year after year, storms batter roads and homes, but federal recovery funding is restricted to damage from a single disaster and a specific timeframe. Unable to prove that the damage they’ve experienced was caused by just one event, residents and officials are left without the help they need to fix their homes and roads.
https://apnews.com/b307199acc16df3034413af20ced3588
-snip-
She applied for assistance from FEMA, but was denied.
FEMA spokesman Phil Wernisch said he can’t talk about individual cases, but he noted that previous disasters have occurred on the reservation and this help was only for damage from March and April flooding.
Hey Wernsisch................resign, your a disgrace................. maybe you and your orange hair buddy can go to the reservation and throw paper towels........................
November 3, 2020 cannot get here fast enough................
Impeachment lands Sen. Collins in familiar spot: crosshairs
By ALAN FRAM
an hour ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing perhaps her toughest reelection fight, veteran Sen. Susan Collins has parachuted into familiar terrain — the heart of a hot-button issue, this time President Donald Trump’s impeachment.
With Senate trial proceedings starting Tuesday, the moderate Maine Republican says she’ll probably support a motion to call witnesses, aligning herself with Democrats. But she says she’ll do that only after each side has argued its case and she says she’s not decided whether she’ll back seeking “any particular witness.”
It’s carefully parsed stances like that — and her track record of seeking bipartisan deals that sometimes fly and sometimes flounder on major issues such as immigration — that have won her respect and scorn.
Collins, 67, has embraced that approach for nearly 24 years in the Senate, even as compromise has grown increasingly scarce and politically perilous in the age of the retaliation-prone Trump. She did it again last week, saying she and three fellow Republicans had won a commitment from GOP leaders for a vote on whether to call witnesses.
https://apnews.com/353154c8b3e189a9e83b615bf59db1fa
No matter how this article tries to make her into a moderate........................she is not a moderate....................she has no principles.....................and yes I am bias..............and proud of it.....................
November 3, 2020 cannot get here fast enough.....................
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