***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[Belgium]

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/3...ffs-could-trigger-2008-level-financial-crisis
World Bank warns Trump tariffs could trigger drop in trade similar to 2008 financial crisis


Meanwhile in GOP headquarters...
Obviously Trump wouldn't sign it voluntarily, the point of bringing a bill like that on the floor is to get Congress on the record and put pressure on Trump instead of standing around twiddling their thumbs and putting on a concerned frown. Or get a veto-proof majority but I don't see that happening.
I sincerely hope we can at least **** over as many Republican voters as possible in Kentucky with retaliatory measures.
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-acti...eining-in-trumps-tariff-powers-an-exercise-in
McConnell: Bill reining in Trump's tariff powers 'an exercise in futility'
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) signaled on Wednesday that he will not support legislation reining in President Trump's tariff authority and that the president wouldn't sign the bill.
"Yeah, I don't think we need to be trying to rein in the president through legislation. Number one, it would be an exercise in futility because he wouldn't sign it," McConnell told SiriusXM, asked if he opposed the bill.

 

[gry60]

Good boy!!!

 

[AEA18]

He should jump off a bridge and see if Pence follows

 

[Belgium]

He should just get the pretense over with and rename the agency to Corporate Financial Protection Bureau for as long as he's there. It appears Mulvaney also broke the law by cancelling legally required meetings with the advisory board. You can probably bet he'll appoint a corporate lobbyist in each and every single one of those positions too.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...y-board/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.d13b03f69681
Mick Mulvaney fires all 25 members of consumer watchdog’s advisory board
Mick Mulvaney, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, fired the agency’s 25-member advisory board Wednesday, days after some of its members criticized his leadership of the watchdog agency.

 

[gry60]

http://www.cbs46.com/story/38359331...ate-shows-up-on-declassified-report-on-russia

Source: WGCL
It's a report with names like Julian Assange and Steve Bannon. But Georgia's Brian Kemp? His name is listed right above Jared Kushner, in the alphabetical listing.

So, why is Georgia's secretary of state and Republican candidate for governor in this 253 page congressional house report on Russian influence and cyber activity against the U.S? CBS46 wanted to know and researched it for you. We found the answer.

It's part of finding that communication between the Department of Homeland Security and state election officials broke down because of state officials' mistrust of the Obama administration. The clearest example DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson gave was Secretary of State Brian Kemp and Kemp's December 2016 letter. In it, Kemp accuses the DHS of attempting to "breach our firewall".

CBS46 asked Kemp about refusing to cooperate with the DHS under the previous administration and refusing to allow the feds to label state election systems "critical infrastructure".

Kemp said the DHS secretary, "did almost nothing to explain what this new designation would mean and how far the feds would take it, once implemented." CBS46 decided to ask the person who manages elections in Fulton County, Richard Barron, about it.


"I see no benefit from it because the states are in charge of elections," said Barron. "I think a lot of times there are strings attached. There are these unintended consequences."

Kemp says, "Georgia led the country in safeguarding our elections systems and has used "private sector companies".

But what about the other part of the finding #12 in the congressional report that there was an "unprecedented level of Russian cyber intrusions"?

"I don't think people should mix up Russian propaganda in social media with trying to get involved with election systems," continued Barron.

CBS46 also asked Georgia Tech professor Adam Stulberg, who specializes in U.S/Russia relations. He said, it's important to distinguish between Russian acts of smearing and propaganda versus actual attacks on the election system -- which he's seen no evidence of.

Professor Stulberg also says, while he "can't comment on the effects of Kemp's decisions, it's likely, the feds are in a better position to know about the vulnerabilities of the infrastructure to Russian attack".

CBS46 will keep you posted.

Copyright 2018 WGCL-TV (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.

Related:

 

[EddieDoyers]

 

[Belgium]

Mexico and Canada have already announced their retaliatory measures too.
http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/06/news/economy/european-union-tariffs-united-states/index.html
Trade clash: EU to hit US with $3.3 billion in tariffs next month
The European Union's plan to impose tariffs on roughly €2.8 billion ($3.3 billion) worth of American goods will go into effect in early July, the European Commission said Wednesday.

 

[Belgium]

...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/sean-...in-mueller-probe-bash-your-phones-into-pieces
Sean Hannity to Witnesses in Mueller Probe: ‘Bash’ Your Phones Into Pieces
Fox News host Sean Hannity encouraged witnesses in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe to destroy their personal phones to thwart investigators’ efforts to view any encrypted messages they might have. The conservative TV personality said on his show Wednesday night that witnesses should perhaps “follow Hillary Clinton’s lead” after Mueller reportedly asked witnesses to turn in their phones for examination. The request came after Mueller’s team accusedformer Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort of using encrypted messaging apps to engage in alleged witness tampering. “Delete all your emails and then acid-wash your emails and hard drives on the phones, then take your phones and bash them with a hammer to little itsy-bitsy pieces, use BleachBit, remove the SIM cards and then take the pieces and hand them over to Robert Mueller and say, ‘Hillary Rodham Clinton, this is equal justice under the law,’” Hannity said. He went on to acknowledge this was “bad advice” before repeating it all again step-by-step.

 

[IATT]

...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/sean-...in-mueller-probe-bash-your-phones-into-pieces
Sean Hannity to Witnesses in Mueller Probe: ‘Bash’ Your Phones Into Pieces
Fox News host Sean Hannity encouraged witnesses in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe to destroy their personal phones to thwart investigators’ efforts to view any encrypted messages they might have. The conservative TV personality said on his show Wednesday night that witnesses should perhaps “follow Hillary Clinton’s lead” after Mueller reportedly asked witnesses to turn in their phones for examination. The request came after Mueller’s team accusedformer Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort of using encrypted messaging apps to engage in alleged witness tampering. “Delete all your emails and then acid-wash your emails and hard drives on the phones, then take your phones and bash them with a hammer to little itsy-bitsy pieces, use BleachBit, remove the SIM cards and then take the pieces and hand them over to Robert Mueller and say, ‘Hillary Rodham Clinton, this is equal justice under the law,’” Hannity said. He went on to acknowledge this was “bad advice” before repeating it all again step-by-step.

Speaks to the president every night, right?

Some would consider this obstruction of justice..

But I never studied or practiced law in the states, what are your views @dwalk31??

 

[IATT]

 

[Belgium]

This was quietly passed in the Senate yesterday, it's unclear if this was a Senate Intel committee vote or the full Senate but it was a unanimous vote either way.


I remember a while back there were multiple reports of members of the Senate Intel committee suspecting Nunes of leaking Sen. Warner's texts. Warner had already disclosed all those texts to chairman Burr and fellow Senate Intel members. Burr came out to deny a NYT report that they had concluded Devin Nunes was behind the leak but there were other reports that described Burr and Warner discussing Nunes as a potential leaker and disagreeing with his handling of the House Intel committee.

 

[IATT]

 

[MalcolmNewton]

Obamacare premiums set to soar in 2019

Insurers in several states have requested large rate hikes for 2019, with many pointing to steps taken by President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress as the main reasons why.

New York insurers want to hike rates by 24%, on average, while carriers in Washington are looking for a 19% average premium increase. In Maryland, CareFirst is asking for an average 18.5% rate bump for its HMO plans and a 91% spike for its PPO policies (which have far fewer enrollees), while Kaiser Permanente wants to boost premiums by more than 37%, on average.

Many insurers cite two key drivers of the increases: Congress' elimination of the penalty for the individual mandate -- which requires nearly all Americans to have coverage or pay up -- and the Trump administration's expected expansion of two types of health plans that don't have to adhere to Obamacare's regulations.

 

[Nike Jordan]

Joe Scarborough was one of the 223 House Republicans that voted to impeach Bill Clinton.

Him and John Kasich.

 

[Mark Antony]

You can tell they really call him "Commander of Cheese" behind his back. It's like at work when you have a bad boss and ya'll have a secret name for him you say so much you have to psych yourself not to say it when they're around.

 

[Mark Antony]

Obamacare premiums set to soar in 2019

This was already fully sabotaged a long time ago. From when I used it a year ago I saw the options dwindle down to almost nothing, and premiums up 1000%.

 

[rillo561]

Obamacare premiums set to soar in 2019

* It's Trumpcare now.

 

[blastercombo]

Guess we should send all of our request through Kim K

Trump FREES drug offender grandmother who Kim Kardashian begged him to pardon

Of all things this is the saddest/most hilarious. It’s obvious what the trade here was. You take a picture with me in an attempt to win over some teen girl votes and I’ll get your friend out of jail.


Ahhh seems pretty illegal

 

[MalcolmNewton]

Of all things this is the saddest/most hilarious. It’s obvious what the trade here was. You take a picture with me in an attempt to win over some teen girl votes and I’ll get your friend out of jail.


Ahhh seems pretty illegal

While I'm happy for the lady that she was let out of prison, she sounded a little mami-ish on her GMA interview.

 

[blastercombo]

While I'm happy for the lady that she was let out of prison, she sounded a little mami-ish on her GMA interview.

I don’t know who she is or what she’s in there for. We got people in jail for years for doing things that should be a slap on the wrist yet she gets a presidential pardon over a deal to get E! News watcher approval. Absolutely hilarious in the worst way

 

[MalcolmNewton]

I don’t know who she is or what she’s in there for. We got people in jail for years for doing things that should be a slap on the wrist yet she gets a presidential pardon over a deal to get E! News watcher approval. Absolutely hilarious in the worst way

Apparently she was caught up in the drug game in one way or another and the judge threw the book at her.

 

[frenchbreadbuilds]

Obamacare premiums set to soar in 2019

flawed as the affordable healthcare act was, it suffered so much due to republican sabotage. and here we are, 500+ days into this administration and nothing has been done but removing the individual mandate.

 

[frink85]

I don’t know who she is or what she’s in there for. We got people in jail for years for doing things that should be a slap on the wrist yet she gets a presidential pardon over a deal to get E! News watcher approval. Absolutely hilarious in the worst way

People in similar or worse/more unjust situations will never have the chance to be pardoned but she gets out because her granddaughter is a celebrity who knows the guy in charge and he’s giving out the friends and family hookup everywhere. Pretty damn rotten to me.

 

[rillo561]

flawed as the affordable healthcare act was, it suffered so much due to republican sabotage. and here we are, 500+ days into this administration and nothing has been done but removing the individual mandate.

So much for "repeal and replace"

Also I member

"I am going to take care of everybody. I don't care if it costs me votes or not. Everybody's going to be taken care of much better than they're taken care of now … the government's gonna pay for it. But we're going to save so much money on the other side. But for the most it's going to be a private plan and people are going to be able to go out and negotiate great plans with lots of different competition with lots of competitors with great companies and they can have their doctors, they can have plans, they can have everything." - Trump

 

[blastercombo]

It was an empty promise (gasp!). They had nothing to replace it with so instead settled with smearing Obama’s name for years to come using a gutted health care act (they gutted it btw).


Help the people < “haha” to Obama