America - The Official Thread

[McLaren]

I think the man's comments and actions are utterly despicable, and warrant utterly despicable comments in return.

Then keep them to yourself. Hopefully the staff doesn’t allow your comment as an opening to make more of the same.

This forum is better than that.

 

[TexRex]

This forum is better than that.

Fair enough.

 

[huskeR32]

So, He's the Prez, you don't like him, the country IS better off and you are more worried about the ball than the game.......

For whom? And by what measure?

 

[ryzno]

For whom? And by what measure?

Everyone.

Let's see, gas has been stable, stock market, unemployment...

 

[Joey D]

Everyone.

Let's see, gas has been stable, stock market, unemployment...

Those things all have little to do with the president though. And when they do have something to do with the president, they are long term. So likely any boost we are seeing now is a result of Obama. If Trump is in office next term and the market is still doing well, then Trump is probably part of the cause.

However, regarding foreign relations, he is responsible for that, and they're horrible.

 

[TexRex]

However, regarding foreign relations, he is responsible for that, and they're horrible.

And there's reason to believe they will be long term as well. Something else long-term is all the stuff Trump minions Zinke and Pruitt have already enacted and are surely toiling away at.

 

[Imari]

While it invites a whole host of problems, I'm inclined to believe The Constitution should never been so hard-lined, and should act more as a living document.

It does have quite a lot of amendments to it. It's hardly set in stone, it simply requires good reason and support to change it. There have been ten in the last hundred years, the last in 1992. It can be changed.

Everyone.

Well, I rather suspect that people who were brought to America illegally as children and have grown up here as Americans would not agree. Commonly they get referred to as "dreamers".

But don't worry, I know that when you said "everyone" you actually meant "all legally American citizens", and that you don't consider people who happened to spend the vast majority of their lives in America through no choice of their own to be citizens or part of "everyone" because while they may be fervent supporters of America and it's values they don't have the right piece of paper. That's what you get for being born in the wrong place and having parents that drag you along when sneaking into a foreign country.

 

[Dotini]

Oh boy, a nice juicy feud between Republican congressmen and the FBI. This is gonna be almost as good as Game of Thrones when the knives come out.

The knives are out for the FBI on Capitol Hill.

Conservative lawmakers from four separate committees are raising alarm bells about a tranche of missing text messages between two FBI agents assigned to the investigation into Russia and President Trump’s campaign, saying it calls into “further question the credibility and objectivity of certain officials at the FBI.”

Meanwhile, House Intelligence Committee lawmakers are refusing to allow the FBI to view a classified four-page memo that GOP members say shows abuse by the bureau of government surveillance powers.

“Well, yeah, they’re the ones that had the problem,” Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) said Tuesday, when asked why the bureau’s request to see the document is being denied.

In another sign of tension, Axios reported Monday night that FBI Director Christopher Wray threatened to resign over pressure from the White House to dismiss Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, a longtime GOP target.

It all comes amid signs that special counsel Robert Mueller is moving closer to interviewing Trump as he continues his probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, including possible collusion with members of Trump’s campaign.

© Greg Nash

The five months of missing messages between senior counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page has thrown gasoline on the fire. The messages begin again on May 17, the day that Mueller was appointed.

It “is harder and harder for us to explain one strange coincidence after another,” Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) told Fox News on Tuesday.

Gowdy, Ratcliffe and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) have revealed selective excerpts from the texts the bureau did turn over on Friday, arguing that they display “stunning” bias against Trump.

Page and Strzok were having an extramarital affair and frequently discussed the news of the day over texts, according to previously released messages. In those missives, they often criticized then-candidate Trump as unfit for office, with Page at one point writing “this man cannot be president.” The two also criticized the Obama administration, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s team and other Democrats.

The messages were uncovered during the course of an inspector general investigation into the bureau’s handling of the investigation into Clinton’s email practices while secretary of State. Page had already left the team at that point, and Mueller removed Strzok when he was made aware of the texts.

The latest set of messages has not yet been viewed by reporters in full. In one excerpt published by Johnson on Tuesday, Strzok and Page discuss becoming a part of Mueller’s team, weighing both their own relationship and the likely outcome of that investigation.

“You and I both know the odds are nothing. If I thought it was likely, I’d be there no question. I hesitate in part because of my gut sense and concerned there’s no big there there,” Strzok wrote to Page.

Johnson provided his own interpretation of that text, telling a radio show in Milwaukee, “In other words, Peter Strzok was the FBI deputy assistant director of the counterintelligence division, and the man had a plan to do something, because he just couldn’t abide Donald Trump being president.”

http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/370412-gop-feud-with-fbi-ratchets-up

 

[TexRex]

It does have quite a lot of amendments to it. It's hardly set in stone, it simply requires good reason and support to change it. There have been ten in the last hundred years, the last in 1992. It can be changed.

Oh, no, I'm aware:

I realize the country may not be what it is if the document were more easily changed.

I'm also aware that the time since the last ratified amendment in 1992 represents the longest period without such a change in over 100 years--the 16th came 43 years after the 15th--and given the current state of affairs, it's probably a good thing it's been 26 years.

 

[CodeRedR51]

gas has been stable

Gas came way down under Obama and was stable when he left. Let's not give credit to Trump for that.

 

[Johnnypenso]

Gas came way down under Obama and was stable when he left. Let's not give credit to Trump for that.

You can thank OPEC for that.

 

[ryzno]

Those things all have little to do with the president though. And when they do have something to do with the president, they are long term. So likely any boost we are seeing now is a result of Obama. If Trump is in office next term and the market is still doing well, then Trump is probably part of the cause.

However, regarding foreign relations, he is responsible for that, and they're horrible.

Y'all can think what you want.
All these returning jobs and new employee bonuses are thanks to Trump.
Y'all won't give up hating the man...

 

[Johnnypenso]

Y'all can think what you want.
All these returning jobs and new employee bonuses are thanks to Trump.
Y'all won't give up hating the man...

https://www.thestar.com/business/ec...ises-stock-grants-due-to-tax-law-changes.html

Starbucks is giving its U.S. workers pay raises and stock grants this year, citing recent changes to the tax law. All employees will soon be able to earn paid sick time off, and the company’s parental leave benefits will include all non-birth parents. Starbucks Corp. said Wednesday that the changes affect about 150,000 full-time, part-time, hourly and salaried employees, most of whom work as baristas or shop managers. The new benefits apply to workers at more than 8,200 company-owned stores but not at the 5,700 licensed shops like those found inside supermarkets. Starbucks is the latest to say it’s boosting pay or benefits due to the passage of the Republican tax plan, which slashed the corporate tax rate from 35 per cent to 21 per cent. Walmart, for example, raised its starting hourly salary from $9 to $11 earlier this month, and also expanded its parental leave benefits.

 

[CodeRedR51]

All these returning jobs

Walmart stores closing. Sams Club stores closing. Toys R Us stores closing, KMart & Sears stores closing, etc, etc.

Wow, look at all those returning jobs.

 

[Northstar]

Walmart stores closing. Sams Club stores closing. Toys R Us stores closing, KMart & Sears stores closing, etc, etc.

Wow, look at all those returning jobs.

Because none of those have anything to do with them being ran by idiots.

Sams Club loses to Costco in pretty much every category so it’s no surprise they are closing.

Toys R’ Us and Kmart/Sears have both done terrible jobs adapting to the modern market so it’s no surprise they are failing either. Really it’s surprising they lasted this long considering both have been struggling since W. was in office.

 

[Johnnypenso]

Walmart stores closing. Sams Club stores closing. Toys R Us stores closing, KMart & Sears stores closing, etc, etc.

Wow, look at all those returning jobs.

So they should just leave their money losing, inefficient stores open? Or do you believe that they are closing the stores for some nefarious reason, just to be dicks with their employees maybe? Or maybe they should leave the poorly performing stores open and use the money they would have paid to the remaining employees to prop them up? What is your solution?

 

[CodeRedR51]

What is your solution?

Stop fluffing up cheeto's numbers.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

Wage increases, store closures, it's really beside the original point:

Everyone.

 

[ryzno]

Walmart stores closing. Sams Club stores closing. Toys R Us stores closing, KMart & Sears stores closing, etc, etc.

Wow, look at all those returning jobs.

To be honest we don't need a Walmart on every corner and K-Mart has been failing for decades...

Where I live there is 2 Walmarts on the same road 3 miles apart.
#overkill

 

[CodeRedR51]

To be honest we don't need a Walmart on every corner and K-Mart has been failing for decades...

Where I live there is 2 Walmarts on the same road 3 miles apart.
#overkill

The point is, you can't say someone is adding jobs when thousands of people are losing theirs. Common sense really.

 

[Johnnypenso]

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-C...tay-strong-and-do-not-give-in-to-Trump-539643

While the White House has confirmed that since the Jerusalem Declaration there has been a complete disconnect between the Palestinian Authority and the Trump administration, it turns out that the previous administration has maintained contact with PA officials. Maariv reported that former US secretary of state John Kerry met in London with a close associate of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, Hussein Agha, for a long and open conversation about a variety of topics. Agha apparently reported details of the conversation to senior PA officials in Ramallah. A senior PA official confirmed to Maariv that the meeting took place.

During the conversation, according to the report, Kerry asked Agha to convey a message to Abbas and ask him to “hold on and be strong.” Tell him, he told Agha, “that he should stay strong in his spirit and play for time, that he will not break and will not yield to President [Donald] Trump’s demands.” According to Kerry, Trump will not remain in office for a long time. It was reported that Kerry said that within a year there was a good chance that Trump would not be in the White House. Kerry offered his help to the Palestinians in an effort to advance the peace process and recommended that Abbas present his own peace plan. “Maybe it is time for the Palestinians to define their peace principles and present a positive plan,” Kerry suggested.

He asked Abbas, through Agha, not to attack the US or the Trump administration, but to concentrate on personal attacks on Trump himself, whom Kerry says is solely and directly responsible for the situation. According to the report, when referring to the president, Kerry used highly derogatory terms. Kerry offered to help create an alternative peace initiative and promised to help garner international support from Europeans, Arab states and the international community. Kerry hinted that many in the American establishment, as well as in American intelligence, are dissatisfied with Trump’s performance and the way he leads their country. He surprised his interlocutor by saying he was seriously considering running for president in 2020

 

[ryzno]

Wage increases, store closures, it's really beside the original point:

The point is, you can't say someone is adding jobs when thousands of people are losing theirs. Common sense really.

Oh come on...
Let's forget about the factories coming back that provide a lot more jobs than a department store.
And I lost my job in October and found a better one a few weeks later.
7 years ago I lost my job it took me 2 years to find another one.
Remember Obama saying this is the new America? I like Trumps America better...
Keep trying...

 

[Johnnypenso]

The point is, you can't say someone is adding jobs when thousands of people are losing theirs. Common sense really.

You need to brush up on your economics methinks. Unemployment is the lowest it's been in decades and the lowest ever measured for African Americans. Store closing and layoffs happen in individual corporations all the time, it doesn't magically cancel out huge pay increases and increases in benefits to workers.

 

[Northstar]

The point is, you can't say someone is adding jobs when thousands of people are losing theirs. Common sense really.

There will always be people losing jobs no matter how good the economy is.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

And I lost my job in October and found a better one a few weeks later.
7 years ago I lost my job it took me 2 years to find another one.
Keep trying...

And there are doubtless multiple factors in both of those scenarios. To suggest it's because of one person — in either case — is grossly oversimplifying.

 

[CodeRedR51]

I like Trumps America better...

Well I don't. And the faster he's removed the better.

 

[ryzno]

— is grossly oversimplifying.

That's what I do best, keep it stupid simple.
Regardless in this case of Carrier and Ford, it was Obamas fault they left and it because of Trump they are coming back.
Argue that...

 

[SlipZtrEm]

That's what I do best, keep it stupid simple.
Regardless in this case of Carrier and Ford, it was Obamas fault they left and it because of Trump they are coming back.
Argue that...

You're going to have to be a little bit more specific than simply name-dropping two companies.

You're from Atlanta, right? Are you talking about the Ford plant? The one that was announced to be closing two years before Obama took office?

 

[Northstar]

Well I don't. And the faster he's removed the better.

Hate to break it to you, but whoever is next in line probably won’t be much better (apart from foreign affairs, because it would be hard to be worse than Trump in that area).

 

[ryzno]

Well I don't. And the faster he's removed the better.

To each there own.

You're going to have to be a little bit more specific than simply name-dropping two companies.

You're from Atlanta, right? Are you talking about the Ford plant? The one that was announced to be closing two years before Obama took office?

Yes I am and no I was referring to Ford in Detroit.
Coincidentally our GM plant in Doraville closed September 26th 2008.