More on Trump

[Exterminator]

Maybe we should concentrate on what he's undone.

From The Washington Post:

The economy

Withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The trade deal would have established a trade partnership between the United States and countries on the Pacific Rim.

Revoked a rule that expanded the number of people who could earn overtime pay.

Reversal of a rule that would mandate that oil and gas companies report payments to foreign governments. The Securities and Exchange Commission will no longer receive this information.

Ended limits on the ability of states to drug test those seeking unemployment benefits.

Revoked an executive order that mandated compliance by contractors with laws protecting women in the workplace. Prior to the 2014 order, a report found that companies with federal contracts worth millions of dollars had scores of violations of labor and civil rights laws.

Repeal of a rule allowing states to create retirement savings plans for private-sector workers.

Cancelled a rule mandating that financial advisers act in the best interests of their clients.

Repeal of a bill that mandated that employers maintain records of workplace injuries.

Killed a rule mandating that government contractors disclose past violations of labor law.

The justice system

Rescinded an Obama effort to reduce mandatory sentences. Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered that prosecutors seek the most stringent penalties possible in criminal cases.

Cancelled a phase-out of the use of private prisons.

Reversed the government's position on a voter ID law in Texas. Under the Obama administration, the Justice Department argued that the law had discriminatory intent. Under Sessions, Justice withdrew that complaint. On Wednesday, a federal court threw out the law.


Reviewed Justice Department efforts to address problematic police departments. An effort to address concerns in the Baltimore Police Department was delayed.

The environment

On Friday, Politico reported that some representatives of oil and gas companies are worried that Trump's moving too quickly to reverse regulations on their industry. "You don't need to roll things back so far that it opens an opportunity for outsiders to criticize, or something bad happens," one analyst said.

Withdrew from the Paris climate agreement.

Blocked the Clean Power Plan. The plan implemented under Obama focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

Ended a study on the health effects of mountaintop-removal mining. The process involves blasting away the tops of hills and mountains to get at coal seams under the surface.

Rescinded a rule mandating that rising sea levels be considered when building public infrastructure in flood-prone areas.

Reversed an Obama ban on drilling for oil in the Arctic.

Reviewed the status of national monuments for possible reversal. In April, Trump signed an executive order ordering a review of monuments added in the past 20 years, opening up the possibility that some areas previously set aside would have that status revoked. (This is especially interesting since at the same time he's arguing that we should protect monuments erected by people 100 years ago to intimidate and humiliate others, he also argues that national monuments that existed for tens of thousands of years before this country was even a thought should not be protected any longer.)

Withdrew a rule regulating fracking on public land.

Rejected a proposed ban on the pesticide chlorpyrifos. The month after this decision, a group of farmworkers were sickened by exposure to the chemical.

Reversed a ban on plastic bottles at national parks.

Repealed a ban on lead bullets. The bullets were banned under Obama because the lead can poison wildlife.

Rescinded a limit on the number of sea animals that can be trapped or killed in fishing nets.

Delayed and potentially rolled back automotive fuel efficiency standards.

Repealed the Waters of the United States rule. This rule expanded the definition of water bodies that were protected by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Ended a rule banning dumping waste from mining into streams.

Reversed a rule banning hunting bears and wolves. The ban applied to federal refuges in Alaska and prohibited hunting predators using certain methods.

Repealed a rule that would have centralized federal land management.

Removed a bike-sharing station at the White House.


Foreign policy and immigration

Cut the number of migrants and refugees allowed from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

Repealed a rule allowing transgender individuals to serve in the military.

Rolled back of Obama's outreach to the Cuban government.

Ended the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program. DAPA extended protections for some immigrant parents whose children were citizens of or residents in the United States.

Education

Rolled back school lunch standards championed by Michelle Obama.

Withdrew federal protections for transgender students in schools. Under the rule approved by Obama, transgender students could use school bathrooms that corresponded to their gender identities.

Reversed a rule that mandated how achievement is measured in schools.

Repealed a rule mandating certain requirements for teacher-preparation programs.

Other areas

Halted or cancelled hundreds of other minor regulatory actions.

Revoked a ban on denying funding for Planned Parenthood at the state level.

Repealed a rule mandating that Internet service providers seek permission before selling personal information.

Reversed a rule that would ban gun sales to those deemed "mentally defective" by the government.

Slow or nonexistent staffing at the Senate-confirmed and management level across administration agencies.

Repealed a rule mandating consolidation of transit planning authorities.

Ended the declaration of June as Pride Month and the practice of recognizing the end of Ramadan with an iftar dinner.

Cancelled public reporting on visitors to the White House and other online data.

[Henry Hawk]

If you don't like it, then vote him out in 2020.  Enough of the whining.

[Exterminator]

If you don't like it, then vote him out in 2020.  Enough of the whining.

Pointing out what an incompetent jackass someone is isn't whining.

[Exterminator]

Officials have announced immigration checkpoints will be fully manned during the evacuation, hoping to catch illegals as they flee the storm.

Leaving aside the part where these checkpoint are in practice choke points, limiting evacuation, there's also the moral issue.

Illegals -- or those legal residents and citizens with illegal family members -- won't evacuate. They'll hunker down. Hide. Try and wait it out.

The thing is, these people are often the least equipped to handle disaster on a mass scale. Poverty, medical issues, age (both young and elderly), the inability to stock sufficient supplies, lack of community contacts, etc, all make this population extra vulnerable. They are the least likely to call for help -- until it is too late.

Meaning:

By regarding a natural disaster as an opportunity to advance a political agenda, we directly risk the lives of human beings -- including the most vulnerable children and elderly.

We risk the lives of emergency personnel, those who will have to go in during the storm and attempt rescue. Likewise we risk critical assets, we put an increased and unnecessary load on already scarce assets in time of crises.

We risk the lives of border patrol, immigration agents, and law enforcement, again, in time of crisis. Law enforcement should be facilitating the evacuation, not slowing it down. They should be waving people through, keeping traffic moving, sending people inland as fast as possible.

We should be getting people out, not scaring them into staying in the storm's path.

There is a time for politics.

There is a time for emphasis on illegal immigration, yes.

But this isn't it.

[Henry Hawk]

Pointing out what an incompetent jackass someone is isn't whining.

I'm not aiming at you......I'm talking about CNN, MSNBC, Pelosi, Hillary, NY TIMES, Washington Times, BLM, ANTIFA

[Exterminator]

I'm not aiming at you......I'm talking about CNN, MSNBC, Pelosi, Hillary, NY TIMES, Washington Times, BLM, ANTIFA

Don't forget past and present Republican politicians, CEO's, foreign governments, etc.  I don't know that most of them are whining so much as pointing and laughing.

[Exterminator]

The dude who's been called a racist for the past two weeks for failing to call out nazis just pardoned someone literally convicted of racism.  You can't make this shit up.

[libby]

I'm not aiming at you......I'm talking about CNN, MSNBC, Pelosi, Hillary, NY TIMES, Washington Times, BLM, ANTIFA

Hank, the Washington Times is a conservative newspaper founded by the old Korean Sun Myung Moon (think Unification Church). I haven't seen a paper copy of the Times in years.

[libby]

The dude who's been called a racist for the past two weeks for failing to call out nazis just pardoned someone literally convicted of racism.  You can't make this shit up.

Maybe he'll hire him as his personal bodyguard.

[Palehorse]

  Maybe he'll hire him as his personal bodyguard.

Or the director of HR for Trump, Inc.? 😡

[Palehorse]

Officials have announced immigration checkpoints will be fully manned during the evacuation, hoping to catch illegals as they flee the storm.

Leaving aside the part where these checkpoint are in practice choke points, limiting evacuation, there's also the moral issue.

Illegals -- or those legal residents and citizens with illegal family members -- won't evacuate. They'll hunker down. Hide. Try and wait it out.

The thing is, these people are often the least equipped to handle disaster on a mass scale. Poverty, medical issues, age (both young and elderly), the inability to stock sufficient supplies, lack of community contacts, etc, all make this population extra vulnerable. They are the least likely to call for help -- until it is too late.

Meaning:

By regarding a natural disaster as an opportunity to advance a political agenda, we directly risk the lives of human beings -- including the most vulnerable children and elderly.

We risk the lives of emergency personnel, those who will have to go in during the storm and attempt rescue. Likewise we risk critical assets, we put an increased and unnecessary load on already scarce assets in time of crises.

We risk the lives of border patrol, immigration agents, and law enforcement, again, in time of crisis. Law enforcement should be facilitating the evacuation, not slowing it down. They should be waving people through, keeping traffic moving, sending people inland as fast as possible.

We should be getting people out, not scaring them into staying in the storm's path.

There is a time for politics.

There is a time for emphasis on illegal immigration, yes.

But this isn't it.

Spot on assessment my friend. I concur! 👍🏻

[libby]

Officials have announced immigration checkpoints will be fully manned during the evacuation, hoping to catch illegals as they flee the storm.

Leaving aside the part where these checkpoint are in practice choke points, limiting evacuation, there's also the moral issue.

Illegals -- or those legal residents and citizens with illegal family members -- won't evacuate. They'll hunker down. Hide. Try and wait it out.

The thing is, these people are often the least equipped to handle disaster on a mass scale. Poverty, medical issues, age (both young and elderly), the inability to stock sufficient supplies, lack of community contacts, etc, all make this population extra vulnerable. They are the least likely to call for help -- until it is too late.

Meaning:

By regarding a natural disaster as an opportunity to advance a political agenda, we directly risk the lives of human beings -- including the most vulnerable children and elderly.

We risk the lives of emergency personnel, those who will have to go in during the storm and attempt rescue. Likewise we risk critical assets, we put an increased and unnecessary load on already scarce assets in time of crises.

We risk the lives of border patrol, immigration agents, and law enforcement, again, in time of crisis. Law enforcement should be facilitating the evacuation, not slowing it down. They should be waving people through, keeping traffic moving, sending people inland as fast as possible.

We should be getting people out, not scaring them into staying in the storm's path.

There is a time for politics.

There is a time for emphasis on illegal immigration, yes.

But this isn't it.

Seems there are no exceptions. Here's a sad example of what happened to two young men in nearby Maryland earlier this month:

The Washington Post
August 22    

Lizandro Claros Saravia, 19, and his older brother, Diego Claros Saravia, 22, pick up their grandfather, Pedro Orellana, on Aug. 16 at the airport in San Salvador. The brothers, undocumented immigrants from Maryland, were deported to El Salvador on Aug. 2. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

SAN SALVADOR — Lizandro Claros Saravia was supposed to be at college in North Carolina by now. At soccer practice. At the library.

Instead, the 19-year-old soccer star from Germantown, Md., is hundreds of miles away, in a sweltering Central American nation he barely recognizes and sometimes fears.

U.S. immigration officials swiftly deported him and his older brother, Diego, on Aug. 2, days after Lizandro told them during a routine check-in that he had a scholarship to attend Louisburg College.

"I don't know what we're going to do," Lizandro, his gaze flat, said in an interview here last week as he and his brother waited to pick up their 83-year-old grandfather — who had been visiting the United States on a visa when his grandsons were deported — from the airport. "I feel like in this country, I don't have a future."

The expulsion of the brothers, both of whom graduated from Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg and neither of whom had been accused of any wrongdoing once in the United States, outraged Democratic lawmakers and advocates for immigrants, as well as their teachers, friends and teammates.

The expulsion of Lizandro Claros Saravia, 19, left, and his older brother, Diego Claros Saravia, 22, has outraged Democratic lawmakers as well as their teachers and friends. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

Lizandro and Diego, now 22, used fraudulent visas and passports to come to the United States in 2009 and reunite with their family; some of whom were also here illegally. Lizandro was 10, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement; his brother was 14.

They were ordered deported in 2012 and granted a stay in 2013. Two subsequent requests for stays were denied. But with their clean records and high school diplomas, the brothers were not a priority for deportation under the Obama administration.

Under President Trump, however, the "handcuffs" are off, in the words of ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan. Anyone in violation of immigration law can be targeted for deportation. Officials say that they want to reduce the United States's population of undocumented immigrants, currently about 11 million, and dissuade would-be migrants from making the illegal, and sometimes deadly, journey north.

Critics say that the Trump administration's approach is robbing the United States of talented and dedicated immigrants, and endangering Americanized young people by sending them to their now-unfamiliar homelands without their families.

Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) blasted ICE for deporting the brothers to El Salvador, which he called one of the "most violent countries in the world." Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said "ICE should be ashamed of itself."
 
Lizandro Claros Saravia played with Bethesda Soccer Club for four years, which helped him earn a scholarship to Louisburg College in North Carolina. (Bethesda Soccer Club)

Lizandro's teammates at the Bethesda Soccer Club — he calls them his "brothers" — have taken up a collection in hopes of helping him someday realize his dream to become the first in his family to earn a college degree.

The brothers say they miss everyone from their lives in Maryland, especially their parents and two siblings, friends and the staff at the Guapo's — a restaurant where they had family dinners — just off I-270 in Gaithersburg. They don't go out much now because they don't think it is safe.

Instead, they stay in their new home, a pair of neighboring dwellings that Lizandro and Diego share with their aunts and uncle in a village of roughly 1,000 people outside of Jucuapa. Last year, Reuters cited that city as a place where the coffin-making business has taken off, partly fueled by the high homicide rates.

The rules are that Lizandro and his brother stay in constant touch with their aunts and uncle, unless they all travel somewhere together. At night, they sleep in one of their aunt's houses, with bars on the windows and guard dogs at the door.

The brothers say they are trying to blend into their new country, but they clearly stand out. At the airport this week, they towered over the crowd, dressed as if they'd been plucked from an American shopping mall.

Diego wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the initials "USA." Lizandro wore Top-Siders, shorts and a shirt decorated with tiny sunglasses. He speaks English better than Spanish. He wouldn't recognize the president of El Salvador if he saw him on the street.

"To be honest, I don't feel good being here," he said. "People are looking at me different. . . . All my friends from when I was young, they barely know me now."

Asked about the possibility of going to college in El Salvador, Lizandro said, "I don't know if I can do that here. It's hard to go from the bottom all the way to the top again."

[The Troll]

    Why in hell can't Trump keep his god damn mouth shut.     He is screwing up the trial of the killer New York terrorist. 

[Henry Hawk]

I was truly embarrassed FOR our Media and the democrats who were in the press conference yesterday as Admiral Jackson, the top presidential doctor....declared President Trump in excellent physical and mental health. Admiral Jackson was appointed by President Obama and kept on by President Trump.

The press was in FULL MELT DOWN!! I had to laugh, but AT them, the press!! It was kind of painful as they went on for 45 minutes trying their BEST to find SOMETHING they could attack.......


It is even MORE funny, when you think about it........Barack Obama smoked, drank, used lots of drugs and once said there were 57 states....and the media had NO concerns about his physical and mental state. Yet, Donald Trump has never smoked, drank, or used drugs, but the 'media" claims to be terribly concerned about his physical and mental state??

This is why Trump goes to twitter and by-passes the "FAKE NEWS".........and I 100% understand this.  The media and most of the democrats are truly pathetic and THEY are the true threat to our Nation right now.

[The Troll]

  I don't care what the doctor said, Trump is crazy and he will be impeached. Then we will vote out religious nut Pence.    Somebody say A-men.