Trump/gop smoke and mirrors

b.c.

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The Trump administration has set yet another record. As result of the still-runaway COVID-19 pandemic and continued lack of response, the United States saw its worst GDP drop ever recorded. The U.S. GDP declined by a staggering 32.9% annual rate in the period from April to June.

That is the sharpest drop ever recorded. It’s sharper than the economic collapses of the Great Depression.

This is one record that Donald Trump and allies can genuinely claim for themselves.

Other nations are also experiencing steep economic declines due to pandemic measures, but have also begun to bounce back as social distancing measures, widespread testing, and robust contract tracing reduces pandemic outbreaks to smaller, more manageable levels.

Those same testing and contract tracing measures were discarded by the Trump administration after early management failures. The ongoing dismissal of social distancing measures as a supposed partisan ploy and Trump's demonization of mandatory measures have left the United States in a worse position to contain outbreaks than it was in March or April.

The economy shrank at a record pace this spring.

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vince

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b.c.

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The continued FALLACY of the Trump & Co. MALadministration:

PART II:....TRUMP: "WE WILL PROTECT PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS."
PART VII:..TRUMP: "Drug prices declined in 2018"
PART IV:...TRUMP: "I WILL SAVE MEDICARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY. I WILL LEAVE IT ALONE."


Trump Says He’s Improving Health Care. It Couldn’t Be Farther From the Truth. Trump’s regularly tried to take away health benefits during his time in the White House.

in recent days, ...Trump has attempted to paint himself as a champion of accessible health care.

On Monday, he held a press conference announcing new investments in rural hospitals and expanded telehealth services for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. And on July 24, he signed a spate of executive orders promising to lower prescription drug costs and increase the importation of drugs. All the while, his administration has condemned Democrats as enemies of consumer choice.

“Democrats seek to deny Americans their health care freedom,” White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Tuesday, “but ...Trump is working hard to save your health care by guaranteeing protections for people with preexisting conditions, eliminating the highly unpopular individual mandate of Obamacare, stopping surprise medical billing, increasing transparency, and lowering drug prices.”

But Trump’s health care record paints a different picture.

  • Trump has attempted to cap the federal government’s Medicaid spending by instituting “block grant” waivers that allow states to cut back on care.
  • Trump’s telehealth services do nothing to aid the roughly 4.7 million Americans who lack insurance because their states have not expanded Medicaid.
  • His executive orders for curbing drug prices turn out to be more PR than policy, offering minimal relief for a minority of Americans if and when they’re eventually implemented, NPR reports.
  • The measures are also unlikely to reduce prescription drug prices by 50 percent, as Trump has repeatedly claimed.
  • The order allowing the importation of lower-cost drugs from other countries... could take months to implement
  • another designed to lower Medicare patients’ premiums requires that neither federal spending, premiums, or patient’s out-of-pocket costs increase, meaning that the order will likely never go into effect.
  • Trump has also repeatedly and falsely claimed that he protects people with preexisting conditions.
  • Trump helped eliminate the individual mandate—paving the way for a lawsuit that could jeopardize the entirety of the Affordable Care Act and leave the 23 million Americans currently covered by Obamacare uninsured.
  • The Trump administration has supported Texas v. United States, the lawsuit brought by Republican attorneys general that argues that the loss of the individual mandate invalidates the entirety of the Affordable Care Act.
  • Trump has failed to release the alleged Obamacare replacement plan he has repeatedly promised.
Meanwhile, nearly 28 million non-elderly Americans were uninsured before the pandemic, and the United States remains dependent on an employment-based health care system that strips people of their coverage during an economic downturn caused by a global pandemic.


IN RELATED NEWS:

Warnings of ‘unconstitutional’ assault on Social Security as Trump threatens unilateral suspension of payroll tax – Raw Story

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b.c.

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Throughout this thread I illustrated via part titles the many LIES, SMOKE, AND MIRRORS of the Trump CON game on the American people... including his OWN constituency. To recap:

PART I: TRUMP'S "MASSIVE" TAX CUT FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS (which WASN'T)
PART II: TRUMP: "WE WILL PROTECT PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS." (they've been fighting to strip protections)
PART III: TRUMP: "MEXICO WILL PAY FOR THE WALL." (yeah, right)
PART IV: TRUMP: "I WILL SAVE MEDICARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY. I WILL LEAVE IT ALONE." (they'll gut that too. But, shhhhhhhhh.... AFTER the election)
PART V: TRUMP: "I CONDEMN ALL ACTS OF VIOLENCE." (see: neo nazis, lock down protests, gassing peaceful demonstrators, hateful rhetoric and retweeting right winged supremacists)
PART VI: TRUMP: "DRAIN THE SWAMP." (in order to replace it with a fkng CESSPOOL)
PART VII: TRUMP: "DRUG PRICES DECLINED IN 2018." (not)
PART VIII: TRUMP: “WE'RE TAKING A LOT OF TARIFF MONEY AND IT HAS REDUCED THE TRADE DEFICIT." (not)
PART IX: TRUMP: "MY ADMINISTRATION IS DETERMINED TO USE EVERY RESOURCE TO SMASH THE GRIP OF ADDICTION." (how's that working for ya so far, champ??)
PART X: TRUMP: "WE HAVE THE GREATEST ECONOMY WE EVER HAD.” (not_
PART XI: TRUMP: "WHETHER YOU VOTED FOR ME OR NOT, I WILL BE AMERICA'S CHAMPION." (not)
PART XII: TRUMP: "THE AMERICAN DREAM IS BACK BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE. NO ONE IS BENEFITING MORE THAN THE AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASS." (not)
PART XIII: TRUMP: "I'M GOING TO BE THE GREATEST JOBS PRESIDENT GOD EVER CREATED." (damn sure not)
PART XIV: The CARES ACT PROVIDES ASSISTANCE TO WORKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES (and Trump's filthy rich cronies are laughing all the way to the bank).

And now,

PART XV: "REBUILDING RURAL AMERICA"

Rural residents are getting screwed by Trump's USPS sabotage, and many are ticked off

The disastrous effects of Donald Trump's plan to kneecap the U.S. Postal Service are dropping like a hammer on rural areas of the country—an effect that none of his henchmen appeared to take into consideration when they started dismantling sorting machines and removing mailboxes, among other things.

The politics for Trump and his Republican enablers heading into November simply cannot be good. Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, a largely rural state, has received 4,800 calls about Postal Service problems since the pandemic began, according to the New York Times.

While industrial-scale farms often have the resources to transport their own farm animals, smaller mom-and-pop farms and people with backyard hen houses have relied on USPS to deliver their chicks for decades and usually without incident.

"We don't have any other options," said Rhiannon Hampson, a Maine poultry farmer who recently lost 3,000 hatchlings in a delayed shipment. “There’s nothing sadder than seeing a box of tiny little fuzzy peeps and all of them are D.O.A.”

The Times reports that many small farms are now dispatching workers to drive hundreds of miles to pick up their chicks straight from the source, but it's a much more expensive and less sustainable option.

And then there's battleground state Ohio, where Trump recently declared war on the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., a major Akron-based provider of some 3,300 jobs in the northeast region of the state. That hasn't played well with the plant's local union. But on the western side of the state, farmers like Chris Gibbs aren't happy either, particularly with the Trump administration's assault on once-reliable postal services.

“This is an attack on a tried-and-true service that rural America depends on,” said Gibbs, who voted for Trump in 2016 but has since launched an advocacy group decrying the toll Trump's policies have taken on rural Americans. “It pulls one more piece of stability, predictability and reliability from rural America. People don’t like that.”

The abrupt policy changes at the agency have wreaked havoc on everything from plant shipments to replacement parts for farm machines to prescription drug refills. And since most rural areas lack reliable internet services, tracking down late and/or lost shipments can be an hours-long labor intensive process.


 

b.c.

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AND THAT'S NOT ALL:

Georgia farmers just found out Trump grifted [AS IN CONNED] them on his new Mexico/USA/Canada trade deal.

EXCERPT from the article (as in, not my words)


Trump like to talk about his deal-making prowess (unseen so far...

Unfair Mexican trade practices are undercutting Georgia farmers, driving prices below the cost of production and forcing some growers out of business, according to testimony given Thursday to federal trade representatives.

A dozen of the state’s farmers and elected officials said during a virtual hearing that Mexico is unfairly dumping low-priced produce, including berries, tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers, in the U.S. market. That’s making it all but impossible for American farmers – especially those in the Southeast – to compete, they said.

They urged the Trump administration to take action – or risk losing some American farms for good. www.ajc.com/…

How can this be? We just got a new trade deal that would be the greatest ever for American producers!

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue confirmed Thursday that the protections had been on the negotiating table until the very end, but eventually “became a red line in the sand for the Mexicans.” The final deal did not include the proposed changes.

Members of Georgia’s congressional delegation – who voted unanimously for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement – and state agriculture officials have since pursued other forms of relief from the Trump administration.

The final deal did not include the proposed changes. Trump caved again. Farmers lose.

Everything Trump touches turns into shit


 

b.c.

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The TRUMP / GOP SHELL GAME that their BAMBOOZLED DEVOTEES FALL FOR... every fkng TIME:

The ugly numbers are finally in on the 2017 Trump tax rewrite — and the rich made out like bandits – Raw Story

The first data showing how all Americans are faring under Donald Trump reveals the poor and working classes sinking slightly, the middle-class treading water, the upper-middle-class growing, and the richest among us luxuriating in rising rivers of greenbacks.

More than half of Americans had to make ends meet in 2018 on less money than in 2016
....

The nearly 87 million taxpayers making less than $50,000 had to get by in 2018 on $307 less per household than in 2016, the year before Trump took office....


That 57% of American households were better off under Obama contradicts Trump’s often-repeated claim that he had created the best economy ever until the pandemic.


Overall the share of American income from wages and salaries fell significantly, from almost 71% in 2016 to less than 68% in 2018.

Meanwhile, if you look just at the slice of the American income pie derived from business ownership and investments, it expanded by nearly one-tenth in two years. Income from such investments is highly concentrated among the richest Americans.

There’s one more enlightening and perhaps infuriating detail....


The number of households making $1 million or more but paying no income taxes soared 41% under the new Trump tax law. Under Obama, there were just 394 such households.

With Trump, this grew to 556 households making on average $3.5 million without contributing one cent to our government.

‘A tale of 2 recessions’: As rich Americans get richer, the bottom half struggles - POLITICO

 

Freddie53

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b.c.

You didn't get the memo?!?

The "Tale of Economic Progress for Those Living on Salaries" under Democratic admistrations is in the section of the library in the Non Fiction (True Stories) Section.

The "Tale of Economic Progress for Those Living on Salaries" under Republican administrations is in the section of the library in the Fiction (Never Happened) Section.

I thought you knew!
 

keenobserver

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Best tweet response of the day - An account belonging to AlwaysAshley@AshleyFrankly tweeted - "I was always going to vote for Biden, but now that a sick, drugged up old man in the hospital with a deadly virus he doesn't believe in tweeted SPACE FORCE in all caps, I just don't know what to do."
 

dreamer20

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‘Smoke and Mirrors’: Ric Grenell Claim Trump Helped Legalize Homosexuality Worldwide Is a Lie, Activists Say

“Donald Trump is the most pro-gay president in American history,” announced Richard Grenell, former acting director of national intelligence and longtime Trump supporter, in a video released on Aug. 19 by the gay conservative group Log Cabin Republicans. The video prefaced the announcement that Grenell would appear on Wednesday at the Republican National Convention to speak about what he lauded as Trump’s “historic campaign to decriminalize homosexuality around the globe.”

But a year and a half after Grenell first announced that initiative, the supposed program had almost nothing to show for its efforts—and in some countries has actually lost ground as its domestic policy agenda has undercut the push for equal treatment for queer people abroad.“
The decriminalization campaign is smoke and mirrors,” said Graeme Reid, director of the LGBT Rights Program at Human Rights Watch, who accused the Trump campaign of sidestepping the administration’s extensive record of hostility towards LGBTQ Americans by highlighting an initiative that functionally doesn’t exist. “The U.S. opposed criminalization long before President Trump took office—and saying people shouldn’t be imprisoned for being LGBT is the bare minimum of what the U.S. should be doing, not a bold endeavor.”


Of nearly 70 countries that still treat homosexuality as illegal either in law or in practice, only two—Botswana and Gabon— decriminalized homosexual acts since Grenell announced the initiative in February 2019. Of those two, Botswana’s legalization was the result of a long-fought legal battle that the government has sought to appeal. Gabon was the lone country where decriminalization was enacted with the support of elected officials - but this triumph was not connected to any efforts of the Trump administration.

The anti-LGBT policies enacted by the Trump administration in the USA are mentioned here:

Gays For Trump Thread
 

b.c.

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REVEALED: Trump’s economy was plummeting before the pandemic — and Mike Pence just told a whopper about it during the debate – Raw Story

There’s fresh evidence today that the robust economy Donald Trump inherited from Barack Obama was faltering before the pandemic.

State personal consumption spending growth slowed sharply in 2019 compared to the year before, the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Thursday morning. The growth rate plummeted by a fifth.

Personal expenditures grew in 2019 but by only 3.9%, down from 4.9% in the previous year.

Counting on Trump to sign a new relief package would be like trusting that he actually knows how to improve the economy for all Americans, not just the already rich.

This official data comes just hours after Mike Pence told a whopper about American incomes during the vice presidential debate Wednesday night, a lie that escaped the notice of our major news organizations.

That’s because no official announced the numbers and mainstream journalists rely way too much on what officials tell them instead of doing their own analyses of official government data.

Pence said, “the average household income for a family of four increased by $4,000 following Trump’s tax cuts.”

In fact the average income for the bottom 50% of income taxpaying households in 2018 averaged $300 less than in 2016, Obama’s last year in office
, as DCReport showed more than a month ago from the Trump administration’s own official data.

...
note this is not the poorest third of Americans but the poorest third of people who made enough to pay income taxes. [AND] Less income under Trump wasn’t limited to the poorest third of taxpayers.

Consider the 9% of taxpayers making $75,000 to $100,000. Their average income in 2018 was $128 lower than in 2016 after adjusting for inflation, my analysis of IRS Table1.4 shows.

Total income reported by all Americans did grow, but the benefits were highly concentrated near the top of the national income ladder.


FIGURES, DOESN'T IT??
ALSO:

The US debt is now projected to be larger than the US economy - CNN


IN RELATED NEWS:


Ex-Obama advisor: 'Take phone out of Trump's hand,' warns he's 'going to blow up the economy'
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b.c.

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Freddie53

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It should be illegal for Trump to raid the Medicare Trust Fund to pay for Drug-Discount Cards.

However, that probably is a moot point because the drug-discount cards are most likely another example of a lie to get old folks votes. Once the election is held whether Trump wins or loses, the drug-discount cards will become never be sent to anyone.
 
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b.c.

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It should be illegal for Trump to raid the Medicare Trust Fund to pay for Drug-Discount Cards.

However, that probably is a moot point because the drug-discount cards are most likely another example of a lie to get old folks votes. Once the election is held whether Trump wins or loses, the drug-discount cards will become never be sent to anyone.

Regardless, it's just another fkn Trump smokescreen aimed at the EASILY BAMBOOZLED.

A cheap $200 one time BRIBE, while HE and the GOP work to KILL OBAMACARE. THIS is Trump's fantastic "healthcare plan" that he came up with, all LAST MINUTE like, after FOUR YEARS OF NADA. ZERO. ZILCH.

Gee, what a hard choice to make. Do I want a health care law that would protect pre-existing conditions if I had any, or any condition subsequently declared "pre-existing"? and would prevent my insurer from dropping me like a hot potato at WILL? Or do I want a fkn one time $200 gift card?? Decisions decisions....

What To Know About Those $200 Drug Cards Trump Promised : Shots - Health News : NPR
 
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b.c.

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US economy now ranks 26th in the world, down from 10th under Obama/Biden. Trump's tweets [like most everything ELSE he says] are untrue.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...h-under-Obama-Biden-Trump-s-tweets-are-untrue
DKtopeconomies2020A.jpg
 

b.c.

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Like I just wrote in the "Coronavirus" thread, I think it takes a "SPECIAL" kind of twisted mentality to be hell-bent (and in some cases, bound) on rejecting science (and common sense) because they think doing so is somehow "owning the libs."

And this applies to not only the stubborn denial of Covid 19 on the part of some, but also to their voters' embrace of policies and POLITICIANS that have long been detrimental to THEMSELVES. And the GOP KNOWS they can count on this kind of willful ignorance and obstinacy, which is why they continue to do and support whatever SHIT they choose to, no matter how CRUEL and LACKING in compassion the law or policy.

Republicans double down on protecting wealthy tax cheats at the expense of nation's infrastructure

For Minimum Wage Workers, Rent Is Now Unaffordable in Every County in America

McConnell says all U.S. Senate Republicans will vote no on $3.5 trln budget bill -Fox News interview

Kroger Workers Couldn't Get $4 Raise, but Shareholders Get $1 Billion


440,000 National Guard members face missing paychecks as GOP blocks funding

GOP voters are being fleeced and even killed by the conservative grift 'machine': columnist


SOME are waking the fk up, though:

Republicans are caught flat-footed as Biden makes inroads to the heart of Trumpism's appeal

Pro-impeachment Republicans outpace GOP rivals in second-quarter fundraising | TheHill


AND:

Private student loans can be tossed in bankruptcy, appeals court rules | Reuters


ADIOS SABATA:

William Regnery II, Reclusive Millionaire Who Financed American Fascists, Dead At 80
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