Thursday, January 30, 2025

Donnie Dotard's Chaotic OMB Freeze 2 Days Ago Was More Important To Him Than Solving Inflation ("Not My Problem!")

 

                           "Let 'em eat s'mores! Inflation ain't my problem any more!"

"If Trump's freeze on federal funding caused the airplane crash in Wash DC, then Trump should be criminally investigated for murder," posted SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah. "Same for Trump's Secretary of Defense. Their actions appear to have killed Americans."

"This constant barrage of executive actions and outrageous rhetoric coming from the White House is meant to overwhelm, intimidate and distract. Don’t let it. Distinguish the signal from the noise — and focus on stopping a power grab that would fundamentally change the nature of our democracy".- Eugene Robinson, Washington Post, 

In a colossal dumpkopf move on Tuesday Dotard Trump had his Office of Management and Budget (OMB) authorize a broad freeze on $3 trillion in federal funds until his administration completes a full spending review. The ill-conceived horse shit move triggered mass confusion and chaos across the country forcing an immediate effort to halt the perfidy – which succeeded – when a judge ordered an injunction. 

Well, fortunately, the imbecilic OMB Trumpkins who crafted the memo came to their senses in time and rescinded their freeze (at least for now - but they claim the exec order still applies.)  This likely averted a constitutional crisis - again at least for now. This is because a president, no matter who he is, doesn’t have a right to order mass budget freezes on monies that have already been appropriated through congress. Thus, any changes to the appropriations must be approved by congress.

The idiot memo that spawned the revolt was itself so full of blatherskite it boggles the mind, i.e.

The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve,” the memo reads.

The memo explained that all federal spending must align with “Presidential priorities” and continues by citing Trump’s emergency orders on immigration, foreign aid, the environment, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs."

What a pile of horse pocky!  In fact within hours of this memo being dumped on the transom  a host of critical programs - from Meals on Wheels, to Head Start, to support of vets' suicide prevention and burial services, to community health programs (20 in Colorado alone serving 850,o00 to the tune of$24m) went into spending limbo, sending the designated recipients into hysteria.   Even the Medicaid portals in all 50 states were shut down. Meanwhile, $324m to support cancer research at Colorado State University went into limbo as did other ongoing projects in a number of states.

Let’s also get clear none of these executive orders has the force of law, and every one can and will be challenged in the courts. ( A federal judge in Seattle has already put on hold Trump’s attempt to revoke birthright citizenship, calling it a blatant violation of the nation’s foundational legal document.)  It does not matter that the Traitor-Felon resident "floods the zone" with his dozens of demented executive orders to "reduce the federal bureaucracy" and exterminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs from all agencies.  

Those elements cannot be destroyed because they also embody key elements of humanity and decency which the orange fungal pestilence infecting the White House will never grasp. The remaining decent fraction of Americans will never tolerate such a misbegotten move, as we will see in the assorted unfolding constitutional crises to come.

 Given all this hullaballoo it may not surprise those more advanced and up to date citizens (i.e. who read the regular ("Legacy") media for news, not social media cartoons) that last week  (in an AP news item in Denver Post) Trump baldly proclaimed he isn't going to do a damned thing on inflation. In his words, quoted in the piece: 

"They've all said inflation is the Number one issue and I disagree. How many times can you talk about the price of eggs or how apples have doubled in cost?"

He went on to assert that his current executive orders clamping down  on immigration - using raids like the ones conducted Tuesday night in NYC (by his new Homeland Security chief Christi Noem) is "the real number one issue" and he will stay with it.

Those who believed this lying Turd, before the Nov. 5th election - that they'd get help with lowering the cost of their groceries and maybe even their housing-  and hence voted him in, are the real American suckers. Gullible morons who actually believed a felon and insurrectionist traitor would save their economic asses, when it was clear to the basest dullard that wasn't going to happen. It was always going to be about Trump, his Project 2025 BS, his war on the "Woke" and conducting a campaign of retribution as he sought dictatorial power.  The OMB memo was merely the latest episode of an extended autocratic power grab, following the firing of over a dozen inspectors general while pushing through entirely unqualified confirmations for key cabinet positions and mounting surprise raids on migrants.

In respect of the latter, now we learn he plans to incarcerate 30,000 migrants - who might otherwise be picking your tomatoes, or other produce - into Guantanamo to rot.  E.g.

Trump plans to build mass detention camp for deportees at Guantánamo Bay

Where formerly Islamic terrorists from Isis, Al Qaeda and other groups had been locked up. 

Thanks, Trump voter morons, for putting us all in this shit bucket stew for the next four years! You've now ensured four years of strife and chaos, as well as one constitutional crisis after another as we try to save what's left of our democracy.

As the AP piece first paragraph put it:  

"Just a little over a week into his second term, President Donald Trump took steps to maximize his power, sparking chaos and what critics contend is a constitutional crisis as he challenges the separation of powers that have defined American government for more than 200 years".

See Also:

by Tom Engelhardt | January 31, 2025 - 6:15am | permalink

— from TomDispatch

Let’s face it: Electing Donald Trump was nothing short of a suicidal act.

» article continues...

And:

by Carl Gibson | January 30, 2025 - 6:45am | permalink

— from Alternet

President Donald Trump may be about to strike out in a separate federal court — this time, concerning his administration's attempted 90-day freeze on federal grants and loans.

Politico reported Wednesday that U.S. District Judge John McConnell, who was appointed to the bench by former President Barack Obama in 2011, indicated he would halt the order implementing the funding freeze, which he described as "hugely ambiguous." McConnell made the remarks to multiple Democratic attorneys general who are suing the Trump administration over the executive order.

“I’m inclined to grant the restraining order,” McConnell said during a Tuesday hearing. “I fear ... that the administration is acting with a distinction without a difference.”

The Trump White House's Office of Management and Budget attempted to circumvent the legal challenges to the freeze by rescinding the memo that caused panic for most of Tuesday. However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared to undercut those efforts by stating that the funding freeze was still in effect despite the memo's retraction, pointing to a previous executive order.

» article continues...

And:

by Amanda Marcotte | February 2, 2025 - 6:13am | permalink

— from Salon

Instead of actually showing up for his hearing before the Judiciary Committee, Kash Patel should have propped up a TV playing the video of "It Wasn't Me" on a loop for six hours. Donald Trump's nominee to head the FBI has a long, well-documented history of being the looniest sort of conspiracy theorist. Still, when confronted with his own words by Senate Democrats, he denied it all with the insincerity of the cheating narrator of Shaggy and RikRok's 2000 hit song. Democrats were visibly frustrated by Patel's gaslighting, but one has to feel even sorrier for the nearly 40,000 FBI employees who will likely soon be working for this sorry man.

Trump obviously picked him as a direct insult to them, especially as lurid lies about FBI agents are a favorite mode of conspiracy content for Patel. This hearing comes on the tail of two weeks of Trump waging all-out war on the largely anonymous staff at the FBI and larger Justice Department, from pardoning over 1,500 Capitol rioters to mass firing prosecutors who investigated Trump's attempted coup.

» article continues...

And:

by Heather Digby Parton | January 30, 2025 - 6:54am | permalink

— from Salon

Right now, Donald Trump has the highest approval rating he's ever had as president, and he's still just below 50%, the lowest of any president this early in his term — except for himself, right after taking office in 2017. That hasn't stopped him and his lackeys from insisting that he has an unprecedented mandate to enact a radical agenda, based on what they ludicrously call a landslide victory. In reality, he won the popular vote by 1.5 percentage points, falling just short of a majority, and his 312 electoral votes are historically unimpressive. Compare that to real landslides, such as Ronald Reagan's victory in 1984, when he won 49 states with a popular-vote margin of 18 points, and the claim becomes embarrassing. That's just how they roll.

According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, "45% of Americans approve of Trump's performance as president," which is down a couple of points from their Inauguration Day poll, while those who disapproved increased from 39% to 46%. When it comes to Trump's early policy moves, a majority disapproves of almost all of them. These range from the substantive to the ridiculous: Only 25% approved of renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America," while 70% disapproved; pardoning the Jan. 6 defendants has 62% disapproval; and ending birthright citizenship gets thumbs-down from 59% of respondents. Trump's tariff plans also fall well short of majority support, as do his withdrawal from the Paris climate accords and his orders to end DEI and non-discrimination programs within the federal government.

» article continues...

And:

by Amanda Marcotte | January 29, 2025 - 6:51am | permalink

— from Salon

Donald Trump's endless first-term bleating about crime and how he was the only one who could bring an end to it was always a joke. It took on new levels of ridiculousness when he spent the next four years accumulating a dizzying number of felony indictments and, eventually, 34 convictions. (There would certainly have been more if he had actually faced trial for stealing classified documents and attempting to steal an election.)

Trump's alleged crimes weren't bloodless "white-collar" matters, either. Jan. 6, of course, was a violent assault on the Capitol. A civil jury also found Trump liable for sexually assaulting journalist E. Jean Carroll, which is anyone's definition of a violent crime. But American political discourse left behind quaint concepts like "making sense" years ago. Trump forged ahead with claims that he would "dismantle the gangs, the street crews and the criminal networks that are ravaging our towns," even though he and his Jan. 6 co-conspirators look an awful lot like one of those "criminal networks."

» article continues...

And:

Trump’s federal spending power grab is far from over


And:


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by Carl Gibson | January 31, 2025 - 6:46am | permalink

— from Alternet

One California airport is now without any air traffic controllers, and it's unclear when the airport will be able to replace them.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday that beginning this weekend, the San Carlos Airport, which lies along the final approach to San Francisco International Airport (SFO), will no longer have anyone manning its control tower. The resignations came after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reassigned controllers' contracts to a firm that pays less.

Airport manager Gretchen Kelly said "understandably, all current controllers have declined [the firm's new] offers." The proposed compensation packages for air traffic controllers reportedly did not account for the Bay Area having the highest cost of living in the nation, which is roughly 18% higher than the national average. The region has had the highest cost of living in the U.S. for six consecutive years, with the San Jose and Napa areas close behind.

» article continues...

Trump’s ‘Very Unclear’ Orders ‘Sparking So Much Confusion’ Among Army Officials
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by Maya Boddie | January 29, 2025 - 6:46am

— from Alternet

President Donald Trump's slew of executive orders have left the US Army in disarray in the MAGA leader's eight days since taking office once again, according to a Tuesday Politico report.

Per the report, the 47th president's moves to begin the administration's mass deportation efforts and end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives — to name only a few — are "sparking so much confusion that top officials directed a halt on new contracts and then walked it back."

For example, Politico reports, "Top officials misinterpreted Trump’s order on diversity, equity and inclusion and set an Army freeze on deals for new weapons," then, "The Pentagon clarified on Tuesday that it wasn’t going to issue a pause," upending the entire defense industry.

Additionally, Politico reports:

Some service members also are concerned that Trump’s team will purge officers who are not deemed loyal enough. The president last week dismissed Adm. Linda Fagan, the Coast Guard’s commandant. A Homeland Security official credited her firing to program delays and an 'excessive focus' on diversity and inclusion efforts.

"What kind of signal does this send to the defense industrial base, which is already plagued with a number of challenges?" ex-Army official Becca Wasser said to the news outlet.

"A lot of that stems from a very unclear demand signal from the U.S. government," the Center for a New American Security senior fellow added.

Politico's full report is available here.

And:

by Thom Hartmann | January 29, 2025 - 6:27am | permalink

— from The Hartmann Report

Democrats are warning that Trump’s threats to increase our national debt by as much as $7 trillion (with new tax cuts for billionaires), shift billions of Treasury dollars into crypto, and impose tariffs on imported goods risk creating a financial crises and maybe even a second Republican Great Depression.

After all, tariffs will jack up inflation, crypto is incredibly volatile, and increasing the national debt will pull hundreds of billions out of the treasury in interest payments that could have otherwise been used to help the American people, rebuild our infrastructure, and upgrade our schools. Any of the three could trip off a national economic emergency: all three could be a perfect storm.

Trump, though, seems unconcerned, even though Republican economists are also signaling their alarm. Which raises the question: Why is he so willing to risk an economic crash on his watch with these risky policies?

To the average person, the idea of a recession or even a crash like we saw under Bush in 2008, Reagan in 1981/82, or Hoover in 1929 seems grim. Millions are laid off work, businesses are in crisis as bankruptcies erupt across the nation, and poverty explodes during a time when more than half of American families live paycheck-to-paycheck.


And:

by Robert Dodge | January 29, 2025 - 6:02am | permalink

by Robert Dodge and Talia Wilcox

Eighty years ago saw the dawn of the nuclear age with the development and subsequent sole use of nuclear weapons when the United States dropped them on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing roughly 200,000, mainly civilian Japanese citizens. These events and the subsequent nuclear arms race driven by the myth of nuclear deterrence have hung over civilization to this day, threatening our very existence.

On Tuesday, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists unveiled its prophetic “Doomsday Clock” moving the hand to 89 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been to midnight, representing the time at which our planet is uninhabitable and life as we know it is no longer possible. The Bulletin was originally founded in 1945 by the developers of the atomic bomb, including Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, and University of Chicago scientists to inform the public of man-made threats to human existence.

» article continues...

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