Congress pumps pork money to NASA in omnibus budget
The omnibus budget that Congress plans to pass this week for 2018 gives NASA $20.7 billion, significantly more than requested and funding almost every pork project Congress could conceive of, including a second mobile launcher for SLS.
The budget gives SLS and Orion more than $3 billion, funds all the Earth science and education projects the Trump administration wished to cut, as well as WFIRST, which the Trump administration wants to cancel because of cost overruns. In general, the NASA budget is a microcosm of the entire spending bill, which does nothing to cut any program anywhere, including Obamacare and a number of liberal programs that the Republicans have repeatedly promised to shut down, until they are in a position to do so. Then they act like leftist Democrats and fund everything.
This is posted between Tucson and Phoenix. I am heading up to the Grand Canyon for a four day cave expedition, which is why I can’t do a more thorough analysis. This really isn’t necessary however, as it is very clear that the Republican leadership in Congress are continuing their corrupt passion for spending money that does not exist. And they wonder why they may lose seats in 2018.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
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The omnibus budget that Congress plans to pass this week for 2018 gives NASA $20.7 billion, significantly more than requested and funding almost every pork project Congress could conceive of, including a second mobile launcher for SLS.
The budget gives SLS and Orion more than $3 billion, funds all the Earth science and education projects the Trump administration wished to cut, as well as WFIRST, which the Trump administration wants to cancel because of cost overruns. In general, the NASA budget is a microcosm of the entire spending bill, which does nothing to cut any program anywhere, including Obamacare and a number of liberal programs that the Republicans have repeatedly promised to shut down, until they are in a position to do so. Then they act like leftist Democrats and fund everything.
This is posted between Tucson and Phoenix. I am heading up to the Grand Canyon for a four day cave expedition, which is why I can’t do a more thorough analysis. This really isn’t necessary however, as it is very clear that the Republican leadership in Congress are continuing their corrupt passion for spending money that does not exist. And they wonder why they may lose seats in 2018.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
It seems that they have funded about everything except that which is needed most — a lunar lander large enough to be able to be human-rated. Something like the XEUS. The Terrestrial Demonstrator of that could be developed for $20 M and the launch-ready XEUS could be developed for about $200 M — easikybwithin this year’s budget. Sad!
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The republicans are between a rock and a hard place. The american people by enlarge do not want any sacrifice in perceived entitlements nor personal tax increases to pay for them, and the republicans want to increase the biggest bloated military budget in the world (by far…the total Russian military budget is ~60 billion dollars…U.S. is 600 Billion!!!)). If republicans were to introduce any significant reductions to the budget increases (a trillion dollar deficit this year), or be blamed for shutting down government again, they would be kicked out of power anyway. This is actually the best way for them to maintain control, unfortunately.
No one cares about the debt until it cannot be paid back (and it never will/can be paid back legitimately)…and then it’s too late…game over.
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@DougSpace
SLS and Orion are made for going to the Moon, repeating the Apollo experience. It is so strange to me why they so elaborately refuse to do it. The crazy LOPGeezuschrist thingy means making 95% of the effort to achieve 0% of the results. However do meetings look like that come up with such a total failure as the deliberate plan and goal? If this process has been well documented it might be important for the science of severe management failures and be used as a deterring example for business students. Did they use fake interpreters when they tried to communicate with each other?
NASA human space flight is a total failure and unless there is an unlikely revolution inside NASA just about now, NASA will for ever be completely irrelevant for human space flight. They cannot afford spending the next quarter of a century and $200 billion on using astronauts as Geiger counters orbiting nowhere exploring nothing.
@m d mill
I note that Saudi Arabia spends more on the military than Russia does. But it is very different. The Saudis import all of their weapons, they make nothing at home (except maybe for some IEDs). While the Russians on the other hand make all their weapons themselves. I don’t think they have import a single gun. They tried to buy French landing crafts, but that was sanctioned.
So military expenses in Saudi is a market. Military expenses in Russia is a competitor. It’s okay to buy and use weapons, just not to make them.
Localfluff-
good stuff.
pivoting…
Gene Autry
“The Phantom Empire” (under the Radio Ranch)
[a serial in 12 parts]
https://archive.org/details/ThePhantomEmpireTrailer
It’s Friday afternoon, trump just signed the bill….
It appears that the Democrats are still in charge, and Obama never left office after all. Where the “rubber meets the road”, the tires lost traction and have skidded off the road and crashed. Just as we thought we were going to get tired of winning, the race was lost.
The Republicans have showed there true colors and now we know that Trump has been and always will be nothing but a reality show host who was hired to give us more circuses in the attempt to divert us from what they were doing to us. That’s why the media gave him 2 billion in free recognition so that he would be the nomination against Hillary. Everything that has happened since he became president has been scripted for our entertainment.
We were hopeful because he was being affective, now we know it was just an act and this is the last budget before the next set of elections. President Trump says “it won’t happen again” I think we already know that, he will be out of office soon. He’s fired.
He kept saying we need a strong military, as if spending more than the rest of the world was not enough. Is the money needed to create a robotic automated military force which does not recognize the rights of individuals? Are we going to continue policing the world? Or is control of this overwhelming military going to be given to the hands of a larger entity?
Self driving cars and planes is easily adapted to self driving tanks and drones. Any weapon can be turned against its owner.
I just learned today that the Bill gives the authority to preform “confiscation of weapons” by claims of family members, bureaucrats, police or from anybody seeing a counselor, psychiatrist, priest, school counselor, or on any drugs (illegal or prescription), or is in “debt”. (yes, includes any family members living in the same household) There is also language of confiscation of weapons of people who are over 65 and are on Social Security. (provided that they fail the test indicating their mental awareness and are not using others in/or power of attorney to take care of them or their bills)
President Trump not only stabbed all his supporters in the back today, he’s given all of his enemies Power and dominion over him or any agenda he wishes from this point on. Some Democrats and the Republicans (except the freedom caucus) told trump to call their bluff and he folded, he’s done. He could have shut it all down, forcing them to come home from their spring break. Could have force them to do their job in which they were elected for. Drain the swamp? The swamp just won, something bad is coming.
Especially since the IRS, which has the power to destroy, got a pat on the back and a bigger budget to boot.
I just turned on the news to see what they are saying, The talking heads are completely ignoring it. Why aren’t the Liberals gloating? And where are the celebrations? (Chuck Schumer and Nancy Peloi were doing backflips just yesterday). Now that they can release their breath, I’m sure champagne bottles are popping everywhere… The moment that Trump was elected for has arrived and he let us down. His aministration is now over, and everyone knows it.
max-
good stuff.
Looks like Trump totally lost the ar15.com wing of the Party. He walked on water before he started calling for bans. Today was the last straw for many…
Trump is and always has been, a liberal Democrat.
BSJ
re : “Trump is and always has been, a liberal Democrat.”
such a comment has less than zero value, for this site , no small accomplishment…hope your next post if the worth the few seconds of life to read it., your last post sounds as though you cut and pasted from an HRC facebook site…you have no where to go but up.
Wow Orion. Setting yourself up as spokesperson for this site is quite impressive.
Trump is a RINO and always has been. No matter how much orange kool-aid you spew, that won’t change.
The language in Trump’s bump-stock ban will be used to ban all simi-autos someday. Thanks for that. Your guy has screwed us, and the Constitution.
Is it true that the proposed bump-stock ban doesn’t just forbid future sales, but actually requires owners to destroy or surrender them?
The Case Against Mitch McConnell
Mark Levin CRTV august 2017
https://youtu.be/r9aYCXUrqJk
47:07
“No one cares about the debt”
m d mill is right, alas: Too few voters really care about budget deficits. Too abstract for them. Exit polling has been pretty consistent on this question.
If the GOP base gets angry, it will be more for WHAT some of this money is being spent on (or not spent on, i.e., border walls).
And, of course, outside of a handful of key space districts, almost no voters care about what gets spent on NASA, or how.
Localfluff,
“SLS and Orion are made for going to the Moon, repeating the Apollo experience. It is so strange to me why they so elaborately refuse to do it.”
They elaborately refuse to do it because Obama was *adamant* about not going back to the Moon, and the Program of Record still reflects that impulse, because the Trump Administration has not had the time or personnel in place to revisit it in any depth.
All that said, going down to the lunar surface means a gravity well, and that traditionally costs a lot more money. (Bolden at one point estimated that Altair would have cost about $10 billion – probably more like $15 billion in today’s dollars.) Of course, aggressive use of commercial assets could change that equation.
Meanwhile, Congress does not push back on all this, because the few up there who care will be content so long as the workforces in their districts are secured.
Kirk,
Yes.
Possession after the ban comes into effect brings the same penalty as having an unregistered machine gun, or parts there of. All by way of a nonsensical definition of actuating a trigger with a finger.
Trump is doing as well as one could hope. Who else is actually trying to drain a huge, putrid, swamp populated by nefarious, backstabbing denizens that do everything they can to take him out? Who else would have taken up that mantel and run with it like he has? McCain, Romney, Kasich, Flake and their ilk have proven lack of focus and their inability to compete in today’s political environment. To me, they are the American Castratti. And should VP Pence get the nod, for whatever reason, and become President, I don’t believe he has the instincts or moves to keep up an effective counter-strategy against the Swamp.
Now, take a minute and look at the Trump judicial appointments made to date. Look how he’s refocused our enforcement agencies to actually doing their job. Look at the booming economy. Look at the lowest levels of peacetime unemployment on record across the demographic spectrum. These are all his accomplishments over only ONE (1) year in office.
Now, gaze upon the entrenched Senate majority leadership who, months ago, received a budget bill from the House but couldn’t get anything worthwhile passed. Now, with a shutdown pending, we get a putrid bill crafted mostly by Senators and, because of the lateness, had it shoved down the throat of the President, the House and we the People. Was this just another ploy from the Swamp to make The Donald look bad and try to separate him from his base? Was it a big Pork grab? No, it was both.
Next, look at our “media” and their full bore, blatant attempts to undo the 2016 election result. In my 60 plus years, I have never seen anything like this. This coordinated attack is almost too big to comprehend and is borderline criminal in my estimation.
So, if you want, just focus on the trees in front you, that’s your prerogative. For me, my focus is on the forest and that putrid, ever-expanding swamp. Mr. Trump is one of the few politicians that I am %100 sure is actually fighting for me, my family, and our common hopes for America. Others are helping but far too many are pushing back on him when they should be closing ranks instead.
My President does not stand alone. He has my full support and it would take much to make me turn away. None of the arguments against him on this thread have swayed me in the least.
Tom
m d mill wrote: “This is actually the best way for them to maintain control, unfortunately.”
With Republicans like these in control, who needs Democrats? The Republicans have a majority in both houses and in the presidency, yet the out-of-power minority, Democrats, are still the ones who get their way. Who is it that represents the membership of the Republican Party? It isn’t the elected politicians.
First we were promised that if we gave the Republicans the House, then they would do as we wanted. Next they insisted that they needed the Senate, too. When they continued to not give us what we wanted, they demanded the presidency as well. Now that we gave that to them, the Democrats still win. What The [Falcon]! (Thanks to SpaceX, the F-word is “Falcon.”)
Trump lost his supporters? Why hasn’t the Republican party lost their supporters? They are more culpable than Trump, as they are the ones who acted like Democrats and created and passed this Obama bill in the first place.
Trump promised that with him in office, we would win so much that we would get tired of all the winning. When does any of this wonderful winning start? The swamp is still full; Hillary and Lerner are still at large. He is doing far, far worse than everyone hoped. Cruz would have done far better, but it is too late now, as we are stuck with this loser of a Republican president. And loser of a Republican Party.
Why would anyone close ranks to continue to support Republicans who support the Democrat causes and haven’t taken any actions that would drain any of the swamp? (That is rhetorical, as the answer is a liberal Democrat.)
Promises made; promises broken.
I haven’t been this mad since Ronald Reagan made a deal with tip O’Neill that he would cut three dollars in spending for every dollar Ronald Reagan raised in tax.
The deal was was made but the spending cuts never happened.
Needless to say, I did not vote for Reagan in his second term.
Then came “read my hips bush”,
Do it for the children Clinton,
We have to go to war for the fatherland bush, let’s tax healthy people Obama,
Let’s spend it now and tax the children later Trump
I have lost all faith in politics.
@BSJ
“Trump is a RINO and always has been.”
He’s made no secret of that. In a rally he said that it is called the Republican party, not the Conservative party, concerning doubts that he’s a true conservative. He loves debt (of course, he’s from the real estate business) and wants tax funded infrastructure investments. He is a so called “pragmatic” because you have alot more options when you haven’t tied yourself down to any particular ideology or special interest. He has principles about how to achieve results, but what result to achieve, he keeps open for the opportunity to decide. His goal is simply to make the voters happy, because that’s the name of the game for a president.
Localfluff–
Trump isn’t the RINO we need to worry about. It’s Mitch & Ryan.
Mark Levin: Mitch McConnell’s ‘Long Game’ Sellout
https://youtu.be/zMt3Oxi992c
14:20
Many of the criticisms above are valid from the pure conservative perspective.
But, anyone who cannot see how different the situation would be with Pelosi and Schumer (and Hillary) in power has gone off the fanatical deep end. Political zealots always start threatening to tear down their own house when they find any deviation from the purist architectural plan. Get Real. This is now a center left nation (not center right). Trump only won the electoral count by 80,000 actual votes (in several key states), and lost the popular vote. The corporate/business tax reductions and deregulation are very significant, the supreme court nomination essential, the renewed support for energy production and independence great…all good stuff. And the attempt to eliminate and somewhat privatize Obamacare was only stopped by a handful of republicans and ALL democrats.
I am a free market libertarian, often disgusted/saddened by the Leftist/NeoSocialist course of the nation over the last 50 years, and consider Trump somewhat of a BS artist…but I am not willing to throw Trump or the Republicans under the bus just yet, especially considering the alternatives. If the Democrats take the house or senate in 2018 then NOTHING good can be accomplished. If Trump and the Republicans can remain in power for another 6 years, who knows? Sure, the budget should not have been so bloated, and many Republicans are liars or hypocrites.
But trump judged that this was not the time to draw a Red Line…a gov shutdown/fight to the death would have probably turned out badly . The people don’t want that conservative purism right now and the party in power would probably have been blamed. This is a center left nation now, so there are limits to what one can expect.
Get Realistic.
m d mill wrote: No one cares about the debt until it cannot be paid back (and it never will/can be paid back legitimately)…
You do understand that one of the largest holder of U.S. debt in U.S. treasury bills is China. Whom the POTUS just started a trade war with.
You do know the Chinese can not redeem those treasuries from the US before their full maturity date?
We can just refuse to honor them until they are mature.
So all they can do is sell or trade them off to other nations who will bid on them for a lower than face value price.
And as soon as they get rid of them all they have less influence on us then they do even now.
Its as hollow a threat as the petro dollar. In todays day of instant transfers and world wide banks it doesn’t matter whos dollar you by the oil in.
The selling nation ALWAYS trades it back into their own local cash. So why does it matter is the seller or buyer trades the cash for the sellers local dollar?
Everyone accepts everything. There is always a bank someplace willing to make the trade on line instantly.
Social Security holds almost 6 trillion in U.S. debt. And from https://www.thebalance.com/who-owns-the-u-s-national-debt-3306124 the runners up are:
Foreign Ownership of U.S. Debt
In December 2017, China owned $1.2 trillion of U.S. debt. It’s the largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasury securities. The second largest holder is Japan at $1.1 trillion. Both Japan and China want to keep the value of the dollar higher than the value of their currencies. That helps keep their exports affordable for the United States, which helps their economies grow. That’s why, despite China’s occasional threats to sell its holdings, both countries are happy to be America’s biggest foreign bankers. China replaced the United Kingdom as the second largest foreign holder on May 31, 2007. That’s when it increased its holdings to $699 billion, outpacing the United Kingdom’s $640 billion.
Ireland is third, holding $326 billion. The Cayman Islands is fourth, at $270 billion. The Bureau of International Settlements believes it is a front for sovereign wealth funds and hedge funds whose owners don’t want to reveal their positions. So are Luxembourg ($218 billion) and Belgium ($119 billion).
After the Cayman Islands, the next largest holders are Brazil, the UK, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, and India. They each hold between $14 4and $257 billion.
pzatchok wrote: You do know the Chinese can not redeem those treasuries from the US before their full maturity date?
You are missing the point. Someone have to buy the U.S. treasury bills for the U.S. government to borrow the money to be in debt. All the Chinese have to do is stop buying. So who is going to replace them?
m d mill wrote: “But, anyone who cannot see how different the situation would be with Pelosi and Schumer (and Hillary) in power has gone off the fanatical deep end.”
Really? It was Schumer who was spouting off how this Trump budget is better than anything that the Democrats got with Obama in the White House and the Democrats running both houses of Congress. With this Trump budget, the Democrats got everything that they wanted. You are going to have to tell me how this budget would have been better for the Democrats with Hillary, Pelosi, and Schumer at the helm, because they couldn’t pull it off the last time, and they cannot describe a better budget for them this time.
Frankly, it looks for all the world as though the Republicans are now farther to the left than even the Democrats are, impossible as that seems. This budget is not a mere deviation from the plan of the Republican’s conservative roots, it is an absolute abomination of conservative values.
“This is now a center left nation (not center right).”
This is the problem that we are complaining about. For some bizarre reason, Republicans chose a left-leaning lifelong liberal Democrat to run their party, and the members of Congress that they elected are acting even more leftist than the President. Frankly, the different situation would have been that the budget would once again not have been as favorable to the Democrats, had Pelosi, Schumer, and Hillary been in power. Even Palosi and Schumer do not think so, which is why they were so ecstatic at their unbelievably good fortune. That is the reality.
“but I am not willing to throw Trump or the Republicans under the bus just yet”
Why not? They just threw you under the bus, along with the rest of us. It is definitely time for us to get representation that actually represents us, not the Democrats who didn’t elect them.
“If the Democrats take the house or senate in 2018 then NOTHING good can be accomplished.”
Well it was far, far better the last time that the Democrats owned both houses and the presidency than it is now with the Republicans in all three positions. Now we get screwed monthly, without any argument by the Republicans — indeed, with the Republicans leading the charge — but back then the Republicans fought the Democrats tooth and nail. Who would have thunk that those were the good days?
With the Republicans in charge now, nothing good is being accomplished. If we vote for Democrats in November, we have a greater chance of a slowdown in the shift to the left, because the Republicans are taking us there faster than the Democrats dreamed of doing. In fact, it looks like the Democrats should vote for Republicans so that they can get even more of their way right away.
“But trump judged that this was not the time to draw a Red Line…a gov shutdown/fight to the death would have probably turned out badly”
If not now, then when? If not Trump, then who? And the party in power is already being blamed.
Edward: you prove my point, thank you.
Zed_Weasel
March 25, 2018 at 3:05 pm
pzatchok wrote: You do know the Chinese can not redeem those treasuries from the US before their full maturity date?
You are missing the point. Someone have to buy the U.S. treasury bills for the U.S. government to borrow the money to be in debt. All the Chinese have to do is stop buying. So who is going to replace them?
Anyone who wants to make a profit. Which is everyone.
Have you EVER heard of a US treasury not selling?
Incidentally, during the Obama 8 years the national debt increased by about $10 trillion dollars, averaging about 1.25 trillion deficit per year, being greatest in the earlier years when the democrats had the most power.
During Obama’s last 2 years it increased by $1.8 T
During trumps first 2 years it is projected to increase by 1.9 T
So this years budget deficit is terrible(and outrageous) as always, but not particularly so by recent historical standard.
I don’t see any indication that the president is particularly concerned about debt increase or that this bill was in any way forced upon him. It’s been reported that Marc Short, the president’s assistant and Director of Legislative Affairs, was directly involved in the bill’s negotiations, was in regular contact with the White House regarding its progress, and signed off on the final result, saying that it would be acceptable to the administration.
It appears that Mr. Trump got worked up over some television criticism of the bill, channeled that anger into his biggest beef — that Congress didn’t take him up on the “DACA in exchange for $25B of wall spending” deal — and tweeted out a Friday morning veto threat to the surprise of his staff. Once they talked him down he had to give his “never again” speech to justify backing down.
If he had had any real concerns he would have voiced them earlier — say, during the negotiation process — or at least threatened a veto before the bill was passed, when his threat would have held some power. I suppose it is possible that he did have grave reservations about aspects of the bill, but was so out of the loop that he wasn’t aware of them until Friday morning, but that seems unlikely — and it would be a much more disturbing scenario.
BSJ, thanks. In the abstract, I don’t think it matters greatly how bump stocks wind up being classified, but I am concerned for those who will hold on to theirs out of principle. I can easily imagine a situation where an otherwise law abiding citizen gets narced on and an overzealous federal response leads to an encounter along the lines of Ruby Ridge.
Trumps budget signing short term motivation and the Democrats cudgel?
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5912359/china-sends-massive-navy-for-south-china-sea-war-games-after-president-xi-jinping-vowed-to-wage-bloody-battle-for-world-domination/
Trumps budget signing short term motivation and the Democrats cudgel?
http://thehill.com/policy/defense/380364-china-russia-eclipse-us-in-hypersonic-missiles-prompting-fears
Maybe Trump has an angle on the wall, would having the military pay for the wall under the heading of “National Security” and it possibly being un Constitutional have stopped Obama?
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/03/trump-thinks-military-should-fund-his-wall-without-congress.html
m d mill wrote: “Edward: you prove my point, thank you.”
You’re welcome, since your point was that you support Trump no matter how leftist that he is and no matter how bad his presidency is. This is my point, too. He could have gone conservative, this time around, but he chose liberal Democrat. Actually, he chose farther left than that.
Now you have added that you support him no matter how fiscally irresponsible he is. You remind me of those who supported Bill Clinton no matter how bad he was; they were willing to sacrifice a few women in order to feel like they were getting good things in return. Plenty of people were willing to let Obama be a terrible president just so long as they got a mere Obamaphone or didn’t have to worry about paying for gas. So much for the values and principles of those people.
Selling out is a terrible thing, especially for getting so little in return. The rest of us suffer for your own sense of good feeling.
Cotour once stated that Trump supporters would pressure him into being the conservative that he pretended to be, yet by blindly supporting him, rather than schooling him on what you really want, you (and the other supporters) allow him to get away with continuing to be the liberal Democrat that he has always been. No wonder the Republican Party has gone farther to the left than even the Democratic Party.
Since Trump has decided that it is never the right time and he is not the right person to “draw a Red Line,” he has shown that he is the wrong person and in the wrong place, at this important time.
Is a lifelong liberal Democrat who betrays the conservatives what you want as a leader of the Republican Party? If not, it is time to make it politically profitable to do the right things, not the wrong things. By blindly supporting him, it remains politically profitable for him to do the wrong things.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEVI3bmN8TI (1 minute; Milton Freedman “Make It Politically Profitable For Wrong People To Do Right Thing”)
Fortunately, there are people who insist that he earn their support, or now to re-earn it, by becoming the conservative leader that he promised to be. Earning their support will be difficult for him to do, after the fiascoes that he has perpetrated upon us. The question remains, will his supporters insist that he clean up the mess that he has made, or will we suffer under Democrat rule for yet another three years?
Reread my last three posts, Trump appears to be getting there in his own way and in order to do so he justified signing based in military spending to counter these Chinese and Russian power moves and to manipulate the building of the wall. The test will be in September if he forces through the FACT that he is going to use his veto power without question. His faux threat of veto was transparently manipulative.
Trump is still the only empowered politician with the ability to do what must be done, 30 or 40 years of Congress selling us all out will not be wrangled into some sort of reason in such a short time. Like it or not.
All trump still has after 18 months are some real accomplishments and potential to execute many more, he is all we have to go with from where I view this from. You go with what you’ve got, not with what you have not got and if he goes too far South then something else will have to be done.
Trump must continue to rise to the occasion and must be ruthless with the Democrats and build the wall or strategic elements of it and more importantly must force immigration law changes that the Leftist Democrat leaderships existence depends on. I suspect this ruthlessness will ensue upon either the Horowitz report and / or a second special counsel, and or the dissolution of the fraudulent and plainly conflicted Mueller / Rosenstein investigation.
LOOKING THROUGH THE FOG from 3/25/18:
These are some of the important issues that we find ourselves gazing at in 2018:
1. Saudi Crown Prince Bin Salman tours America, meeting with many of Americas billionaires and captains of industry. After being named Crown Prince, and after meeting with president Trump, Prince Bin Salman arrests many of his royal relatives and clearly sends his message of realignment with America. They all surrender to the Princes power and pay billions in fines and restitution for the evil and corrupt ways of the past (read support of terrorism). This clearly is in concert with his meetings with president Trump and his Executive order of Dec. 21st, 2017 calling for the arrest of those operating in the human trafficking and the sex trade and other corrupt operations world wide. The Saudi princes and businessmen that were participating in these activities are all now on board with Bin Salmans new agenda, (They got the Crown Prince’s memo, if you know what I mean). Trumps enforcing of the American end of this agenda will soon become apparent, these are elements of major realignments in the structure of international power. https://pagesix.com/2018/03/24/saudi-prince-touring-us-to-meet-with-americas-moguls/
2. President Trump chooses John Bolton, former U.N. Ambassador, for National security Adviser and appoints Mike Pompeo, former head of the CIA to Secretary of State. Two very strong, aggressive and savvy operators that will move the ball positively into the future and will make many nervous, which is a good thing. Gina Haspel, who will head the CIA is a 30 year spymaster and I do not know much about her. I guess that is as it should be.
Americas domestic and international interests and relations have been systematically neglected by all presidents to say the least in the last 30 years and specifically neglected by the last president, the Obama administration, to the extreme detriment of our country. IMO to varying degrees the last four presidents should probably all be arrested and jailed for one reason or another. All four, G.H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, G.H. Bush and B.H. Obama are criminals for things that they promoted and allowed to happen and for serving this “Globalist” agenda and the creation of the so called “New World Order” / “One World Government” agenda which trades away Americas sovereignty and Constitution. (No, I said “Globalism” I did not say “Global trade” or “free trade”, I said “Globalism”, know the difference and stop confusing yourself if you do not know what I am taking about, do some research, enlighten yourself.)
3. Trumps apparent capitulation in the recent one point something $$$TRILLION$$$ dollar, six month budget manipulation that has many of his staunchest supporters in a state of extreme disgust. In my estimation Trump got major dollars to rebuild military assets and systems and he sees that as a worthwhile trade off for the moment and he sees his getting a second bite at the apple in six months with the warning to the Congress that he will “NEVER” do a thing as he did last week, signing a bill into law that no one knows what is in it. It turns out that Nancy Pelosi really did know what she was talking about when she said “You have to pass the bill before you can know whats in it”. At the time I thought she was nuts, but it turned out that in reality I was naive.
Trumps gamble about his support going into the future may be an existential one for him, especially if he in the next round of political warfare that will go on in Washington he does not get full funding for the wall and a reformulation of the immigration laws and policies. And that IMO will he a high bar to attain. Why? Because the Democrats can never agree to either the building of the wall or a reformulation of immigration policy because their entire ability to exist and function depends on exactly those two items. A wall and the reformulation of the immigration law and policy will no longer favor their fundamental business model. What does the Democrat party now stand for? 1. Forced illegal immigration. 2. The welfare state and the culture of dependency. and 3. Sanctuary cities where they put the first two together and build their future voting base. These are the three primary legs of the Democrat political stool and they just happen to be fundamentally Anti American. The leadership of the Democrat party is no longer an American oriented leadership and political party and they must have these three Un American activities listed above to exist, and I am not being hyperbolic here. So Trump must be able to force them or force the Senate to vote to support his agenda and to do that he must be willing to destroy and disrupt or to veto the next bill and let them all just stew. Does he have the stones to do so? I do not know.
So the only thing Trump can do now is put up so much positive American oriented accomplishments so that it will be hard to argue with reelecting him. But the 2018 midterms may turn against him if he can not convincingly counter balance his recent budget capitulation to his base supporters. Any time Charles Schumer and Nancy Pelosi can do their happy dance and claim victory is not a good day for America.
Edward says:
“You’re welcome, since your point was that you support Trump NO matter how leftist that he is and NO matter how bad his presidency is.”
“With the Republicans in charge now, NOTHING good is being accomplished.”
These statements, if honestly stated, would normally indicate psychosis [psychosis…a severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired that contact is lost with external reality.]
md mill and Edward: Gentlemen, you both need to step back and exercise a little more politeness. Moreover, I think both of you are overstating your positions, and you both know it. Trump and the Republicans have broken their promises and failed numerous times ( too many times for my taste), but to say they accomplished nothing good is incorrect also.
I never said The republicans have NOT “broken their promises and failed numerous times ”
In fact I said “…the budget should not have been so bloated, and many Republicans are liars or hypocrites.” and “So this years budget deficit is terrible(and outrageous) as always….” .
I am simply stating ” …I am not willing to throw Trump or the Republicans under the bus JUST YET, especially considering the alternatives. ..…a gov shutdown/fight to the death would have probably turned out badly” [just now before the 2018 off year elections , which are historically reactionary ] . One may disagree, but is is a reasonable, measured tactical argument.
Whereas Edward’s response seems to be that we conservatives [I supported Cruz for republican nominee] should LITERALLY vote for ,and return to power the likes of Obama, Holder, Pelosi, Schumer, Clinton, and Warren…ie
“Well it was far, far better the last time that the Democrats owned both houses and the presidency than it is now with the Republicans in all three positions…If we vote for Democrats in November, we have a greater chance of a slowdown in the shift to the left…” .
OK,OK my last statement about “psychosis” was a bit “snarky”. But i do get angry when Edward here and at other times GROSSLY misstates MY position as part of his response. Disagree OK , but don’t tell me what I think, , or how I feel, when I have said just the opposite.
I don’t think I have overstated my political positions at all, I am not a Trump die-hard [but i follow the Buckley rule–vote for the most conservative candidate who can win], whereas many of Edward’s statements have been strangely extreme, in my opinion.
with regards…m d mill