US Politics Mega-thread - Page 7586

But he said Mr. Comey had also described other encounters with the president that had troubled him.

One of those occurred at the White House on Jan. 22, just two days after Mr. Trump was sworn in. That day, Mr. Trump hosted a ceremony to honor law enforcement officials who had provided security for the inauguration.

Mr. Wittes said Mr. Comey told him that he initially did not want to go to the meeting because the F.B.I. director should not have too close a relationship with the White House. But Mr. Comey went because he wanted to represent the bureau.

The ceremony occurred in the Blue Room of the White House, where many senior law enforcement officials — including the Secret Service director — had gathered. Mr. Comey — who is 6 feet 8 inches tall and was wearing a dark blue suit that day – told Mr. Wittes that he tried to blend in with the blue curtains in the back of the room, in the hopes that Mr. Trump would not spot him and call him out.

“He thought he had gotten through and not been noticed or singled out and that he was going to get away without an individual interaction,” Mr. Wittes said Mr. Comey told him.

But Mr. Trump spotted Mr. Comey and called him out.

“Oh and there’s Jim,” Mr. Trump said. “He’s become more famous than me.”

With an abashed look on his face, Mr. Comey walked up to Mr. Trump.

“Comey said that as he was walking across the room he was determined that there wasn’t going to be a hug,” Mr. Wittes said. “It was bad enough there was going to be a handshake. And Comey has long arms so Comey said he pre-emptively reached out for a handshake and grabbed the president’s hand. But Trump pulled him into an embrace and Comey didn’t reciprocate. If you look at the video, it’s one person shaking hands and another hugging.”

As part of President Trump's executive order to review "job-killing regulations," the Environmental Protection Agency last month asked for the public's input on what to streamline or cut. It held a series of open-mic meetings, and set up a website that has now received more than 28,000 comments, many of which urge the agency not to roll back environmental protections.

"The EPA saves lives," wrote Benjamin Kraushaar, who described himself as a hydrologist, hunter and flyfisherman. He wrote that environmental regulations "ensure safe air and water for our future generations. This should not be even up for debate."

"The problem isn't regulation," wrote Marcia Nichols in another comment. "It's with greedy corporate leaders who are more concerned about the bottom line." Like many others, she credited the EPA with improving air and water that were visibly polluted in the 1970's. "I remember orange skies over cities, acid rain eroding statues in parks, frequent boil orders for water," she wrote.

A military veteran and entrepreneur wrote that, "I'm well aware that excessive regulation can impose an undue burden." However, continued Jeff Baker, "what is less discussed these days are the economic and societal costs already avoided and prevented by current rules."

Others criticized EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt for questioning climate science, talked about the importance of keeping curbs on carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants, and said that regulations, too, can create jobs. One commenter simply filled an entire page with "no no no no no no."

Scrolling through the comments, it's hard to find any that advocate rolling back regulations. But there are some who took the agency's request to heart. Richard Doherty wrote that he oversees the clean up of contaminated sites and has a problem with regulation "40 CFR Part 261 Subpart D." Often, he wrote, material that's not actually hazardous has to be treated as such, which wastes money and ends up doing "more environmental harm than good."

Workboat.com also reported on comments from the American Waterways Operators association, which applauded Trump for recognizing that "burdensome rules stifle business." The group said it needs more consistent regulations governing interstate commerce by water. It also asked the administration to review one regulation on sewage discharge and another on emissions standards for certain diesel engines.

EPA spokeswoman Liz Bowman says the agency "appreciates all of the public comments," and will consider them in "identifying potential opportunities to reduce regulatory burdens," as directed by the president. She says an EPA task force expects to submit a progress report on that effort by May 25.

During a commencement address at the Coast Guard Academy this week, President Trump said, "I've loosened up the strangling environmental chains wrapped around our country and our economy."

The White House budget proposal would shrink EPA funding by nearly a third, the biggest cut of any agency. But EPA isn't the only part of government the administration wants to potentially downsize. In another executive order, Trump has mandated that federal agencies repeal two regulations for every new one they create. Environmental groups allege that's unlawful and have sued to stop the directive.

In the Senate this week, lawmakers took up the Regulatory Accountability Act, which would require all agencies to consider the cost of a regulation when creating it. Oil and gas and other industry groups laud the bill as promoting "good governance" and "accountability," while environmental groups complain that it would "emphasize costs to industry over benefits to Americans."

On May 19 2017 21:13 Liquid`Drone wrote:
didnt he specify quite a lot of times that he hates the PKK, not kurds in general? Being engaged to a kurdish girl I think? (While the 'I have a black friend' isn't really a good defense against racism allegations, I have a black wife actually is, imo.)

On May 19 2017 21:30 TheNewEra wrote:

Was every protestor at the embassy clearly pro-pkk? If not then he definitely has a problems with Kurds in general

On May 19 2017 21:32 mahrgell wrote:

Just everyone that gets targeted by Turkey must be pro-PKK or an overthrow planning Gulenist. Crystal clear!

On May 18 2017 08:44 lastpuritan wrote:
[...]it makes my day whenever we bomb them, why would I care if they got a little kickin.

On May 19 2017 21:30 TheNewEra wrote:

Was every protestor at the embassy clearly pro-pkk? If not then he definitely has a problems with Kurds in general

House leaders have yet to send their Obamacare repeal bill to the Senate as they await a budget analysis that could force them to revise — and re-vote on — the high-stakes legislation.

A House GOP leadership source indicated that the measure will very likely move to the Senate after the Congressional Budget Office releases its score of the bill early next week. But “out of an abundance of caution,” Republicans have held onto the measure, known as the American Health Care Act, the source said.

The news, first reported by Bloomberg, raises the prospect of another uncomfortable vote for GOP lawmakers. The House narrowly passed the legislation earlier this month after a series of wrenching negotiations among a divided Republican conference. The bill passed 217-213 and forced a slew of vulnerable and moderate Republican lawmakers to support the bill through gritted teeth.

Asked about their hurry to pass the bill despite lacking a final CBO score, lawmakers argued they had made onlly small tweaks to the measure in the final negotiations. But they also need to ensure that the latest version conforms to complex budget reconciliation rules. Under reconciliation, the bill can pass the Senate with 51 votes, rather than the typical 60-vote threshold, ensuring Democratic support is not needed.

“Based on the previous two scores, we believe we’ll hit our target deficit reduction number, but we’re holding out of an abundance of caution,” the House GOP leadership aide said.

For the bill to meet the reconciliation standard, CBO must find that it will reduce spending by at least $2 billion.

Senate Republican aides said Thursday they're not worried about the updated bill violating reconciliation rules, but they also weren’t involved in crafting the House legislation. They knew they would always have to wait for a CBO score on the House bill because the same rules require the Senate’s version to at least match the savings of the House bill.

Senate Republicans, who are working on their own bill, say they're not close to putting legislation on the floor.

On May 19 2017 21:45 Acrofales wrote:

He also claimed they got beaten up for supporting the PKK, but insofar as I have seen the videos, they are waving Syrian flags around, particularly the red-yellow-green is of the Kurdish controlled region Rojava in Syria. No PKK.

On May 19 2017 19:41 Liquid`Drone wrote:


From what I've seen, they've done a pretty good job 'crushing the hell out of ISIS'. Normally I'm inclined to consider the hawkishness the worst part of american governments, but crushing IS is more worthy than the average military operation, and regarding pretty much everything else, I've either been opposed to the goal, shocked by the incompetence, or both.

On May 19 2017 21:21 ShoCkeyy wrote:
Turkeys president is a joke and I hope that there is repercussions for what happened. If not Trump is definitely a weak person...

On May 19 2017 12:05 biology]major wrote:
Is there anything you guys actually like about this administration? Anything thus far you can point to and say "hm, they did a good job there"

On May 19 2017 22:16 KwarK wrote:

That was already happening though and Trump hasn't done anything new on that front. The Iraqi army with American intelligence and support has been beating them for a while now.

On May 19 2017 22:33 Falling wrote:

Gorsuch without a doubt. Couldn't say off hand about anything else.