Current or modern politics in the United States

[Arturo2nd]

To clarify a couple of points: 1) Nancy Pelosi is handing off the Speaker's gavel in 2020 at the latest. When I talk of her successor, I mean from her district as I also expect her to be retiring from the House. Ms. Pelosi is a moderate, thus far more conservative than her district, which is very radical. She is likely to be replaced by someone who will really outrage the right. Hopefully it will be someone as politically skilled as Nancy Pelosi and her predecessors.

Secondly, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the most prominent of the "democratic socialists." Her energy, passion, ethnicity, gender, and ability to generate news copy have made her the face of the emerging movement to the left in American politics. Many comments from more conservative members tell me that they have been seduced by a conceptual framework that is belied by the empirical evidence. I am seeing some very iffy assumptions tossed about as if they are established facts. I would urge members to become more familiar with European economic thought.

Finally, when I discount Bernie Sanders it is for two reasons: 1) as a Socialist he has never participated in the hard work of raising funds and campaigning for votes for the Democratic party. The folks that are doing that work see that and feel they owe him no loyalty. 2) He would be in an excellent position to be the figurehead of the new "Democratic Socialist" movement, but his age will likely remove him from the scene during the transition. He will be 83 when his term expires in 2024. I believe that the younger voters will continue to sideline elderly pols in the primaries if they don't have sense enough to retire gracefully.

We talk of a two party system and our political institutions are constructed along those lines. In fact, we are seeing a four pole system emerge. On the far right, are the libertarians who must run as Republicans to win elections. The center of the Republican party is dominated by conservative evangelical Christians that were the radical Republican right of my youth. Old school moderate and progressive Republicans are gone. The Democrats have inherited what's left of that pro-business pragmatic middle and melded it with the traditional Roosevelt liberals. We are now seeing a rebirth of the old line socialist wing that was driven underground during the Cold War. It is my opinion that American workers are going to demand a better deal and have the numbers to enforce their demands at the polls. Socialism is rooted in our familial and tribal emotions. Human beings instinctively abhor selfishness and greed and are greatly distressed in the presence of want and suffering.

[charliels531]

The right, of course, have neither that understanding, nor the integrity:

[cginok]

Originally Posted by Arturo2nd

As has been noted, we don't know what Mueller has recommended in his report. It is pretty certain that clear evidence of collusion has not been found. We don't know if Trump is off the hook for obstruction of justice or prosecution deferred because of presidential immunity.

A whole host of evidence from Mueller's investigations has been handed off ot district prosecutors. I read an article this past week that noted that every entity Trump managed over the past ten years is either under indictment or being sued. There are well over 1,000 court actions in progress.

So as for Trump's innocence I am reminded of a joke my late Uncle Jim liked to tell about the government investigating accusations that Marlboros were being made of horse droppings and splinters. The lab tests were extensive, "but didn't find any splinters."

That, quite bluntly, doesn't mean shit. Most of those are probably law suits, anyone can file a lawsuit over anything...just ask the Church of Scientology about that. It's an old old tactic the left uses to try to dig up dirt on people. The day after McCain picked Palin to be his running mate, there were over 140 lawsuits filed against her. Not a one of which found squat.

[Arturo2nd]

Originally Posted by cginok

That, quite bluntly, doesn't mean shit. Most of those are probably law suits, anyone can file a lawsuit over anything...just ask the Church of Scientology about that. It's an old old tactic the left uses to try to dig up dirt on people. The day after McCain picked Palin to be his running mate, there were over 140 lawsuits filed against her. Not a one of which found squat.

If you have followed Donald Trump from the mid-1980s inn the business pres as I have, you would likely share my opinion that he is the kind of wealthy prick who sustains his life style by stiffing small businesses. Moreover, Trump had defaulted on loans and violated his loan covenants so often that no American bank would lend him money. It is commonly believed that his primary source of funds for many years has been Russians laundering money through Deutsche Bank by passing the money through Trump's real estate ventures.

The fact that his "fixer," Michael Cohen, who has publicly admitted assisting Trump in illegal activities has turned states evidence is very bad news for the Trump Organization. Allen Weisselberg, CFO of the Trump Organization, will soon be appearing before the House Intelligence Committee with a limited immunity grant. Don't be surprised if Mr. Weisselberg takes the Fifth many times as he would have created all the strange accounting and tax treatments used to maximize tax flow to the organization. We already know that the non-profit Trump Charitable Foundation was used in a "Shocking Pattern of Illegality" on Weisselberg's watch.

[Devius]

The House Intelligence Committee’s Republican minority demanded Thursday that Rep. Adam Schiff, the panel’s Democratic chairman, resign from that role over his handling of Russia investigations involving President Donald Trump.

Schiff, who has been one of special counsel Robert Mueller’s leading advocates, laid out what called the “evidence of collusion” in a fiery response.

The call for Schiff to step down, submitted during a hearing in a letter signed by all nine of the committee’s Republican members, came hours after Trump tweeted Thursday morning that Schiff “should be forced to resign from Congress!”

The letter states that Attorney General William Barr’s summary of special counsel Robert Mueller’s recently delivered Russia report, which says Mueller did not find sufficient evidence to establish that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election, “conclusively” refutes Schiff’s past and present claims.

“Your actions both past and present are incompatible with your duty as Chairman of this committee,” the Republicans tell Schiff in the letter. “As such we have no faith in your ability to discharge your duties in a manner consistent with your Constitutional responsibility and urge your immediate resignation as Chairman of this Committee.”

Schiff shot back at his Republican colleagues in a lengthy speech. He highlighted the Russians’ offer of damaging information on 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump Jr.’s willingness to accept that “dirt,” former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s offer of internal polling data to an allegedly Kremlin-linked source, and other allegations that had surfaced over the course of the Russia probe.

“You might say that’s all OK. You might say that’s just what you need to do to win. But I don’t think its okay. I think it’s immoral. I think it’s unethical. And I think it is unpatriotic,” Schiff said.

“And yes, I think it is corrupt,” he added. “And evidence of collusion.”

Source:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/28/hous...to-resign.html

[cginok]

Originally Posted by Arturo2nd

If you have followed Donald Trump from the mid-1980s inn the business pres as I have, you would likely share my opinion that he is the kind of wealthy prick who sustains his life style by stiffing small businesses. Moreover, Trump had defaulted on loans and violated his loan covenants so often that no American bank would lend him money. It is commonly believed that his primary source of funds for many years has been Russians laundering money through Deutsche Bank by passing the money through Trump's real estate ventures.

The fact that his "fixer," Michael Cohen, who has publicly admitted assisting Trump in illegal activities has turned states evidence is very bad news for the Trump Organization. Allen Weisselberg, CFO of the Trump Organization, will soon be appearing before the House Intelligence Committee with a limited immunity grant. Don't be surprised if Mr. Weisselberg takes the Fifth many times as he would have created all the strange accounting and tax treatments used to maximize tax flow to the organization. We already know that the non-profit Trump Charitable Foundation was used in a "Shocking Pattern of Illegality" on Weisselberg's watch.

Which once again doesn't mean shit. Your opinion, unless you have hard evidence to back it up, don't mean squat. Widely believed also doesn't mean shit. A lot of people "widely believe" we never went to the Moon. Does that mean we didn't? Proof, you need hard proof, none of which exist, as far as I've ever seen.



Has Trump likely been involved in some shady business deals? Probably. But, name me a single person with his wealth that you can't find a few shady deals in their past. I guess the Republicans can solve those issues in the future by running professional freeloaders...like all those Democrats with enormous bank accounts that have never held an actual job in their life....for office like the Democrats do.



If Trump was truly doing all those things, going back decades by your accounts, why weren't lawsuits filed against him when it happened? Why did the people on the short end of the stick, or at least a large portion of them, wait until he announced his candidacy to file those lawsuits?



BTW, in case you aren't aware, you cannot plead the fifth if you've been given a grant of immunity...that would/could lead to a contempt charge. Now maybe he can take a page out of Hillary's book and say "I don't remember" 250 times. I guess that could work.

[jetpacksam]

At least Hilary had the balls to testify. the idiots around Trump hid like roaches when the lights came on.

[Arturo2nd]

Originally Posted by cginok

If Trump was truly doing all those things, going back decades by your accounts, why weren't lawsuits filed against him when it happened? Why did the people on the short end of the stick, or at least a large portion of them, wait until he announced his candidacy to file those lawsuits?

According to USA Today in a 2016 article, Trump has been sued over 3,500 times. Remember that many settlements, like that of the Trump University scandal contain non-disclosure agreements. The legal record becomes murkey, but the case was dismissed or Trump won at least 950 cases. This looks pretty good unless you realize that many mom and pop shops go broke when a big client stiffs them and cannot afford to sue. This is a common tactic of unethical business people.

Trump has, however, been involved in far more litigation than fellow real-estate magnates; the USA Today analysis in 2016 found that Trump had been involved in legal disputes more than Edward J. DeBartolo Jr., Donald Bren, Stephen M. Ross, Sam Zell, and Larry Silverstein combined.


Trump dodged major problems stemming from his violations of the discrimination action settlement reached with the Justice Department in 1975 when Ronald Reagan ordered that all white collar prosecutions be dropped in 1981.

Many of Trump's criminal actions are common in the commercial real estate industry. New York and New Jersey are notorious for political corruption and mob control of building supplies. Having been an accountant or controller for several property management firms, I can assure you that racial discrimination and segregation are still common even in California. It is hard to blame the landlords and property managers when people of color tend to bring a disproportionate amount of problems with them. Another group that landlords view with suspicion with good reason is lawyers.

It is really sad that a relatively few bad actors can poison the well for an entire racial group. On the other hand, I have never understood why someone would encourage a landlord to rent units in their building to people they know to be criminals or associated with criminals.

[dill99]

Trump's tax returns = paper trail itemizing connections to organized crime owned building contractors and construction companies (buffered through shells of course) located in NYC. Castellano, Gravano, Bonano- 1970s/80s/90s/00s/present day NYC based commercial real estate moguls simply couldn't/cannot break ground on a site without breaking bread at the table with these past and present La Cosa Nostra higher ups. Grandpa Trump, Trump Sr., Ivanka, and Jr. all included.

[Rogerbh]

Originally Posted by dill99

Trump's tax returns = paper trail itemizing connections to organized crime owned building contractors and construction companies (buffered through shells of course) located in NYC. Castellano, Gravano, Bonano- 1970s/80s/90s/present day NYC based commercial real estate moguls simply couldn't/cannot break ground on a site without breaking bread at the table with these past and present La Cosa Nostra higher ups. Grandpa Trump, Trump Sr., Ivanka, and Jr. all included.

I could imagine that Trump's tax returns are as thick as phone books. Numerous K-1's from various partnerships, trusts, etc. Would require an audit of each entity. An army of auditors could spend years looking at it, demanding records, getting less than sterling compliance, "I dunno"'s, etc. - resulting in little or no changes. Unless they got inside information, how would you begin to learn which payments are legitimate and which ones are bribes - interview everyone? - that is rather unrealistic. It's too bad that Federal, state and City auditors can't discuss their experiences auditing the Trump organizations.

That idiot - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leona_Helmsley - was quite blatant with cheating. I find it funny that she also stiffed smaller businesses that did work for her - a New York Rich person trait? I don't think that she is much of a comparison.

I don't think it will be easy to nail Trump. I would assume an army of government auditors have been at it for decades and nothing has come out of it that has made the press.