WAPO Trump says he was the target of ‘an attempted coup’ with Mueller investigation
It is interesting that Trump has such "victim mentality", I am happy I don't see the world like he does. :-)
And I am very puzzled why the IRS would not honor the request to see tax returns... It seems to me they are government documents and Congress committees should have access...
It is interesting that Trump has such "victim mentality", I am happy I don't see the world like he does. :-)
And I am very puzzled why the IRS would not honor the request to see tax returns... It seems to me they are government documents and Congress committees should have access...
"And I am very puzzled why the IRS would not honor the request to see tax returns... It seems to me they are government documents and Congress committees should have access..."
ReplyDeleteThe wording in the statute is unambiguous on this matter. This is just one of a number of areas where the President's unwillingness to follow the law (completely unrelated to the Russia matter) may well demand a response by Congress.
What is odd to me is that I just would not see them as the "property of the citizen"???
ReplyDeleteI mean once they are submitted to the IRS, it seems that what Trump wants is immaterial. The IRS can just print off a copy and send them where they wish...
I wouldn't think Trump would need to allow anything...
Yeah... I do not have the energy to read this.
ReplyDeleteFor Trump, self victimization reflects deep insecurity. He reveals his fears by what he attacks. It's almost embarrassing in a way; most normal people instinctively realize that can happen, and know enough to avoid displaying their insecurities quite so openly. It's why elementary schools playground insults don't work so well after the sixth grade.
ReplyDelete--Hiram
It isn't paranoid if everybody really IS out to get you.
ReplyDeleteTrump does sense that he isn't respected, that he is seen by the people whose respect he most craves as a clown.
ReplyDelete--Hiram
Everybody does not want to get him... Only 55% of the American population. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnd that is mostly because he is a lying braggadocios offensive a**hole to so many folks. Though his True Believers do seem to be able to block it all out
And if he had lived a cleaner life he would not be such a target rich environment
Hiram,
ReplyDeleteWho do you think this is?
"whose respect he most craves"
I think as long as some people are clapping, he can delude himself into thinking he is popular.
I mean he was stupid / delusional enough to post that his popularity was above water just because he saw an error on Fox news.
When you combine the fact that Trump is fighting the release of his tax returns with the fact that his sister hastily retired from the federal bench to quash an ethics inquiry into her tax returns, there's a lot of circumstantial evidence that something is amiss.
ReplyDelete"whose respect he most craves"
ReplyDeleteWhen I wrote that, I was thinking particularly of the New York Times. But also, Trump wants to be seen as a tough guy, like the guys who built the buildings in his father's business. You see in the frequent teary tough guy narratives he relates. He both wants their respect, and he wants them to defer to him. Trump is someone who was given everything he has in life and he resents that, and he tries to hide that.
--Hiram
Yes that is interesting. VOX Trump's Sister Retires
ReplyDeleteThough she is ~80 years old
Did anyone take Trump seriously as a businessman or anything else? Were the people who voted for him unaware that all his adult life Trump has been something of a joke? Wasn't it in fact the case that the fact that Trump wasn't taken seriously part of his appeal?
ReplyDelete--Hiram
Yes
ReplyDeleteSeems like a matter of perspective.
I don't think so, people like my parents see him as successful at making things happen. And he has done that.
Do they see him as successful?
ReplyDelete--Hiram
Unemployment down, wages up, the wall is being built, NAFTA fixed, NKorea not firing, embassy in Jerusalem.... like them are not, he IS making things happen.
ReplyDeleteDoes the fact that the embassy is in Jerusalem mean your life is better? Have the minor tweaks in NAFTA, none of which have been passed made your life better?
ReplyDeleteTrump does things, but he doesn't make things better.
--Hiram
I think most of Trump’s supporters dislike his personality but like the things he is getting done. The media never gives him credit for a single thing he does or twists any accomplishment as negative. Like one of the articles in the links said, people give him a pass when he lies because they care about other things more. I can see why he would not want to release his tax returns as it would just provide more ways for the media, Hollywood, the left, etc. to trash him.
ReplyDeleteMolly
I seriously doubt you would have found that same logic from Hillary Clinton acceptable.
ReplyDelete"but like the things he is getting done"
ReplyDeleteLike what, exactly? I'm genuinely curious.
Politifact Promises Kept
ReplyDeletePolitifact Status of All
Not to mention the 91 judicial confirmations so far
ReplyDeleteHiram,
ReplyDelete"make your life better"
That does tend to be our problem today...
The question should be does the decision make the USA more globally competitive while ensuring good opportunities and rewards for legal citizens who want to learn and work.
Trump gets things done. That's characterized his career. It's something people with money can do. The problem is that he doesn't get the right things done. He builds vast casinos in Atlantic City and they all go bankrupt. His wealth is based on the skill he has moved money from his father to himself with minimal tax consequences, an achievement of a kind, but not one that makes anyone's life better besides his own.
ReplyDeleteTrump wants to compete more, but does that make anyone's life better?
--Hiram
"Politifact Promises Kept"
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty thin list of accomplishments, especially given Republican control of Congress his first two years.
And practically all of those could have been delivered by any Republican. Do folks really think that Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz or Scott Walker would have produced judges or tax policies that are significantly different? So I guess Republicans just like all the nonsense that comes along with Trump.
ReplyDelete“Like one of the articles in the links said, people give him a pass when he lies because they care about other things more.”
ReplyDeleteIt’s especially fun watching Christians do this for a man who acts nothing like one.
Moose
He was elected in large part to undo Obama's accomplishments… It seems he is doing pretty good since so many Conservatives approve of his performance...
ReplyDeleteAnd seem happy to ignore his lying, bragging, womanizing, etc...
"And practically all of those could have been delivered by any Republican." But they were not. Either ideology or timidity stood in the way, and one of the keys, I think, to Trump's success Is that he Is perfectly happy Giving outrage to all the right people in pursuit of the right policies as he (and the majority) sees them.
ReplyDeleteSean, I think that Rubio, Cruz or Walker could have had the same results. I have never liked Trump, I did not like his reality show and I often have a hard time watching his speeches. But primary voters picked Trump over them. For me, the judge confirmations were important especially after Obama passed the Affordable Care Act without any votes from Conservatives and then the court decision. I saw big changes in my family’s health care so it became very personal to me.
ReplyDeleteMolly
So you think the courts should be used throw out legislation you don't like regardless of whether or not it is legal?
ReplyDeleteNo, I do not think the courts should throw out legislation unless it is unconstitutional. I am totally against legislating from the bench.
ReplyDeleteMolly
Jerry,
ReplyDelete"pursuit of the right policies as he (and the majority) sees them"
Now that is funny... You do remember that Trump lost the popular vote by 3 million votes... And has never broken the 50% popularity level...
"legislating from the bench" is in the eye of the beholder as many things are... :-)
ReplyDelete"I am totally against legislating from the bench. "
ReplyDeleteBut you wanted different judges after the ACA decision? Got it.
Hi Sean,
ReplyDeleteIf SCOTUS now rules against ACA, would that be legislating from the bench?
Or a correction to previous legislating from the bench? :-)
"My guess is that she thinks the "activist judges" should have ruled against it... Not supported it."
ReplyDeleteUpholding an act of Congress is not "judicial activism".
"If SCOTUS now rules against ACA, would that be legislating from the bench?"
Yes, it would. The ACA has already been upheld by the Supreme Court once, and Congress has updated the law without repealing it. Nothing has changed that would make the law unconstitutional now.
"Obama had told the public that is was not a tax. He told the public if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor and said that it would save people money all untrue."
What Obama said has no bearing on the constitutionality of the law.
There are lots and lots of laws that I don't like, but they're perfectly legal. The proper avenue is to pass a law through Congress and change it.
You will find your ACA comments here.
ReplyDeleteSean,
ReplyDeleteThe very real possibility is that the SCOTUS Justices serving during the Obama terms were the biased ones who were complicit in the DEMs violating the Constitution... Therefore they would have been "activist judges"... :-)
And the new crop of Justices may be more in tune with the Constitution and rule of law? Therefore it would make sense to many that some topics be revisited.
I mean though I am for LGBT rights, I certainly think that should have been handled by "the people". Not passed by the vote of one SCOTUS Justice...
As I said above...
"legislating from the bench" is in the eye of the beholder as many things are... :-)
I do think Supreme Court decisions on health care are legislation from the bench. 21st century health care policy didn't come up at the constitutional convention of 1787.
ReplyDelete--Hiram
Though I am sure they still had discussions regarding the authorities of the Fed, State, Local governments... And the freedoms of individual citizens... :-)
ReplyDeleteSean, I don't follow you.
ReplyDelete-- upholding an act of Congress is not judicial activism. Neither is overturning an act of Congress; it is what the SCOTUS is for.
-- Many times the Supreme Court has ruled based on the obvious INTENT of Congress, and clearly Congress intended this to be a fee, knowing clearly that The Obamacare tax would be unconstitutional, Since it did not originate in the House.
-- When the case went to the Supreme Court, Obama's lawyers argued strenuously that it was a tax, within the power of Congress, and that it was never intended to be a fee. Chief Justice Roberts bought that argument to avoid overturning a massive piece of legislation, And nobody ever went back and challenged the law based on its original unconstitutional passage.
-- Now that the tax has been eliminated and the financial balance requirement of the law cannot be met (not that it ever could), the constitutionality of the ACA can be challenged on that basis, and it has been.
-- And since Congress intended it and sold it as a complete solution and did not include a "severability clause" in it, any adverse ruling might reasonably strike down the entire 2000-page mess.