US Politics Mega-thread - Page 7137

On March 17 2017 11:26 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:


They should leave it alone. Or heck, I think an awesome power play- if Trump was smart- would be for Trump to say that he's removing the $3 million burden from all American taxpayers and deciding to single-handedly donate $3 million of his own money, with no strings attached, to Meals on Wheels. That'd be a pretty awesome thing to do, although that may slippery slope into him being asked to donate to other charities and foundations as well.

On March 17 2017 12:05 Karis Vas Ryaar wrote:
It makes sense that the right is trying to kill PBS it's clearly left wing propaganda. see exhibit A

+ Show Spoiler +

also is it possible for Elmo to give congressional testimony? Because that would be awesome.

"Elmo says please don't cut our funding."

On March 17 2017 12:15 Orome wrote:


I'm also surprised Trump's not leveraging his wealth/doing more publicity stunts at all. I expected the 'Trump makes deal with company to keep X jobs in the US' deals to continue at the very least.

Retired Gen. Michael Flynn was paid $11,250 by Russia's top cybersecurity firm, Kaspersky, in 2015, according to new documents obtained and published by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Thursday. Flynn was also paid $11,250 by the Russian charter cargo airline Volga-Dnepr Airlines, according to the documents.

Flynn was paid for his work with both companies while he still had top-secret-level security clearance, a year after he was fired as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, The Wall Street Journal's Shane Harris reported.

Kaspersky said in a statement provided to Business Insider that the company had "paid Gen. Flynn a speaker fee for remarks at the 2015 Government Cybersecurity Forum in Washington, DC."

Another keynote speaker, Rep. Michael McCaul, was not paid by Kaspersky to speak at the event, his representative confirmed to Business Insider on Thursday. Kaspersky said that was because Flynn was a member of a speakers bureau that required a speaking fee, whereas McCaul was not.

Chris Haddad, another keynote speaker at the forum, told Business Insider he can't remember if Kaspersky paid him to speak at the event.

Flynn — who was forced to resign as national security adviser in early February after he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his phone calls with the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak — was also paid $33,750 to speak at a gala celebrating the 10th anniversary of Russia's state-sponsored news agency, Russia Today, in December 2015.

The oversight committee received the documents earlier this month from Flynn's speakers bureau, Leading Authorities, after requesting information from the bureau relating to Flynn's speaking engagements or appearances "in connection with RT, any agent or affiliate of RT, or any agent or instrumentality of the Russian government."

Leading Authorities redacted information about Flynn's other speaking engagements in 2015 that were presumably not connected to Russia.

The oversight committee had previously called on the Defense Department to investigate whether Flynn had run afoul of the US Constitution by being paid to speak at the RT gala. The lawmakers pointed to a report released in January by the US intelligence community concluding that RT, as part of Russia's "state-run propaganda machine," served as "a platform for Kremlin messaging to Russian and international audiences."

The conclusion was in the community's report about Russia's attempt to influence the US election.

Flynn told The Washington Post last year that he had been paid to speak at the gala, but he would not disclose the amount. He also did not disclose the paid work he had done for Kaspersky and Volga-Dnepr Airlines, which transports military aircraft, in the summer of 2015.

On March 17 2017 12:18 a_flayer wrote:



That was Grover though, not Elmo. Fake news!

On March 17 2017 12:19 Simberto wrote:


I don't think Trump is willing to invest his own money into something silly like public opinion. After all, he could buy a golden toilet with that money instead. On the other hand, he seems to have no problem with the idea of using the office of the president to get more money for himself.

On March 17 2017 12:34 Orome wrote:


I always figured that someone willing to go through the unbelievable strain of running for president would be much more motivated by power and ego than the prospect of making a little more money, but yeah, Trump's behaviour so far does seem to indicate otherwise.

The billionaire desperate to make an extra buck is a hard figure to understand for a broke student.

On March 17 2017 12:39 a_flayer wrote:

It's not difficult to understand. Just as StarCraft players who are at the top of their game will continue to look for ways to (ab)use the game engine in (legitimate) ways to improve their game, so do people everywhere look to abuse the game of life to improve their standing in it.

On March 17 2017 12:43 Plansix wrote:
https://twitter.com/Fahrenthold/status/842567198740824065

This seems bad. Like super bad. Like if I was South Korea, I would be shitting myself bad.

Maybe we should have had qualified people in charge of this. Like people who know what the fuck they are doing?

An Oklahoma lawmaker was hit with a child prostitution charge Thursday after he was caught in a motel room with a teenage boy.

State Sen. Ralph Shortey was charged a day after the Oklahoma Senate — by a vote of 43 to 0 — passed a resolution that suspended nearly all his privileges.

Shortey is charged with engaging in child prostitution, engaging in prostitution within 1,000 feet of a church, and transporting a minor for prostitution/lewdness, according to the Cleveland County District Attorney's office.

On March 17 2017 13:17 Karis Vas Ryaar wrote:
somebodies in trouble. He should use the milo said it was fine defense.



http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ralph-shortey-oklahoma-lawmaker-hit-child-prostitution-charges-n734376

I'm confused is prostitution legal in Oklahoma? because if not that seems like a bizarre thing to have as a law. "yes it's illegal but we're going to make it more illegal if you happen to be anywhere near a church."

On March 17 2017 12:15 Orome wrote:


I'm also surprised Trump's not leveraging his wealth/doing more publicity stunts at all. I expected the 'Trump makes deal with company to keep X jobs in the US' deals to continue at the very least.

President Donald Trump’s budget proposal got a rough reception Thursday on Capitol Hill.

“Not our starting point.” “Not something that will fly around here politically.” “Congress will do its own budget.”

And that’s just the Republicans.

In his first budget request to Congress, Trump has proposed adding $54 billion to the Pentagon and the departments of Homeland Security and Energy and cutting an equal amount in domestic funding. That dramatic shift in spending would mean slashing or terminating dozens of federal programs.

Democrats, as expected, blasted the 64-page proposal — known as a “skinny budget” — as radical and cruel, especially for its cuts to programs that support the poor.

Yet it’s clear that the Trump budget would gut programs favored by Republicans as well. And key GOP lawmakers in the House and Senate already are signaling they won’t move forward with Trump’s proposal.

Trump is about to find what other presidents have before him — lawmakers in both parties like to talk about cutting spending and reducing the deficit. But don’t cut their own pet program, or one that would cost them politically. That’s something that won’t do, no matter who is sitting in the Oval Office.

“I am very concerned that deep cuts to our diplomacy will hurt efforts to combat terrorism, distribute critical humanitarian aid, and promote opportunities for American workers,” said Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, of dramatic reductions in the State Department and foreign aid budgets. “Especially when the United States is fighting ISIS and millions are at risk of starvation around the world.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who serves on both the Appropriations and Foreign Relations panels, also criticized the cuts to the State Department budget, although he backed other parts of Trump’s proposal.

“I do not support the proposed 28 percent cut to our international affairs budget and diplomatic efforts led by the State Department,” Rubio said in a statement. “These programs are integral to our national security, and cuts at these levels undermine America’s ability to keep our citizens safe.”

The politics of supporting the Trump budget plan, said one top House Republican, are so dangerous that “I don't think we'd get 50 votes for it.”

Rep. Hal Rogers, former chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and still a senior member of the panel, said he plans to make a personal pitch to the White House in support of a long list of programs that have “proved themselves worthy.”

The Kentucky Republican vowed to fight for agencies that help create jobs, such as the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Economic Development Association, as well as grants that focus on community development, all of which the White House has proposed eliminating. Rogers also pointed to infrastructure programs like Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER, grants and another initiative that benefits rural airports.

“Some of the things that a poor district like mine have come to depend upon, I’m obligated to fight for,” Rogers said. “Those are the areas that need help the most.”

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney — who was a House member until a couple weeks ago — told reporters the White House was anticipating blowback within the GOP.

On March 17 2017 12:52 Karis Vas Ryaar wrote:
I'll wait. NK says provocative things a lot. need to see what the new approach is

On March 17 2017 12:43 Plansix wrote:
https://twitter.com/Fahrenthold/status/842567198740824065

This seems bad. Like super bad. Like if I was South Korea, I would be shitting myself bad.

Maybe we should have had qualified people in charge of this. Like people who know what the fuck they are doing?