President Donald Trump: The Thread

[Middle Buffalo]

Martinez, who relies on immigrants in the U.S. illegally for labor and has failed to find replacements for the physically grueling, precise work.

 

"The Americans I hire can't last in this job more than half a day," Martinez said.

This is nonsense.

 

He wants to be able to keep exploiting illegals by not paying a livable wage. If his business tanks, he should just take a job as a drywall laborer making whatever he paid his workforce. I'm sure he's a skilled and hard worker. Plenty of jobs available in the capital city, too.

[caulfield12]

This is nonsense.

 

He wants to be able to keep exploiting illegals by not paying a livable wage. If his business tanks, he should just take a job as a drywall laborer making whatever he paid his workforce. I'm sure he's a skilled and hard worker. Plenty of jobs available in the capital city, too.

 

How is that any different from Wal-Mart?

 

Let's not forget the premium that wage represents compared to wages in Mexico...it's the same reason the majority of most skilled Filipinos seek work in other countries, legally or not.

 

The point remains if all those smaller construction companies can't stay in business...the larger ones might enjoy economy of scale, but they're still going to struggle to retain contracts if non-Mexican labor isn't interested in those jobs.

 

Basically, it's about the forces of capitalism and supply and demand.

 

We don't blame insurance companies for pulling out of markets when they can't make enough profit...we blame Obama or liberal Democrats instead of the real answer, which is greed and hyper profit orientation.

 

If that boss raised wages 25-50%, he would lose out on contracts...obviously small town grocery stores in the face of competition didn't raise wages, either, they cut back on labor and pushed workers to do 50% more for the exact same salary.

 

 

This is the way it has been for decades with immigrant labor in America...whether it's fair or right or legal/illegal, both parties adopted this compromise. There probably isn't a Congressman who hasn't employed an illegal/undocumented worker for a lower salary, lol.

Edited June 18, 2017 by caulfield12

[Middle Buffalo]

How is that any different from Wal-Mart?

 

Let's not forget the premium that wage represents compared to wages in Mexico...it's the same reason the majority of most skilled Filipinos seek work in other countries, legally or not.

 

The point remains if all those smaller construction companies can't stay in business...the larger ones might enjoy economy of scale, but they're still going to struggle to retain contracts if non-Mexican labor isn't interested in those jobs.

 

Basically, it's about the forces of capitalism and supply and demand.

 

We don't blame insurance companies for pulling out of markets when they can't make enough profit...we blame Obama or liberal Democrats instead of the real answer, which is greed and hyper profit orientation.

 

If that boss raised wages 25-50%, he would lose out on contracts...obviously small town grocery stores in the face of competition didn't raise wages, either, they cut back on labor and pushed workers to do 50% more for the exact same salary.

 

 

This is the way it has been for decades with immigrant labor in America...whether it's fair or right or legal/illegal, both parties adopted this compromise. There probably isn't a Congressman who hasn't employed an illegal/undocumented worker for a lower salary, lol.

Martinez said that Americans couldn't handle the precise, difficult work. That's what I quoted. I quoted that portion of your post because it is nonsense.

 

It is all about him wanting to pay illegals less than the minimum wage - which itself is not a livable wage for a skilled laborer. And, even if an illegal laborer is making more in the US than he could in his own country, he is still living in the US when he is earning that wage. So, it's irrelevant if it's more than he could make in Mexico or wherever.

 

Edited June 18, 2017 by Middle Buffalo

[caulfield12]

Martinez said that Americans couldn't handle the precise, difficult work. That's what I quoted. I quoted that portion of your post because it is nonsense.

 

It is all about him wanting to pay illegals less than the minimum wage - which itself is not a livable wage for a skilled laborer. And, even if an illegal laborer is making more in the US than he could in his own country, he is still living in the US when he is earning that wage. So, it's irrelevant if it's more than he could make in Mexico or wherever.

 

But it's not irrelevant to the labor market that exists today in the US, at this exact moment in time...

[Middle Buffalo]

But it's not irrelevant to the labor market that exists today in the US, at this exact moment in time...

So, you're saying it's ok for business (small & Walmart sized) to exploit the labor force? Ok. I guess I disagree.

[caulfield12]

So, you're saying it's ok for business (small & Walmart sized) to exploit the labor force? Ok. I guess I disagree.

 

Nope, not at all.

 

Just taking advantage of the system, like our President has stated many times.

 

Okay, let's imagine every single illegal immigrant has been forcibly evicted from Texas back to Mexico...a huge need for skilled construction workers will still exist.

 

You are Republican, so you disagree with a "livable" guaranteed wage of $15 per hour, right? What are you going to do about distortion in the market, with not enough local workers willing to work for prevailing wages?

 

Should the government step in and subsidize salaries? Give incentives for relocation from other regions of the state?

 

Wouldn't a Republican argue that these construction businesses should all close, if a similar quality of, let's say cement, could be made in Mexico for 1/2 the price? If there's a surplus of jobs, local workers (with close to full employment) won't agree to work for those "sub standard" wages, then what?

 

This is why 20-25% of the workers in Singapore are brought there (imported, in a way)....to do the jobs that native Singaporeans (average net worth $2.5 million) feel is beneath them.

 

So do you 1) let companies fail, 2) allow for legal immigrants from other places to take those jobs or 3) intervene into the market and sudsidize the wages of "local" American workers?

 

Or do you force those who are on semi disability, EIC recipients, Medicaid beneficiaries to take those jobs...or have a government program to train them? Shouldn't the business be responsible for the cost of apprenticeship?

 

(Who know what Trump thinks, he just proposed a $200 million apprenticeship program we will never hear about again.)

Edited June 18, 2017 by caulfield12

[Middle Buffalo]

Just taking advantage of the system, like our President has stated many times.

 

Okay, let's imagine every single illegal immigrant has been forcibly evicted from Texas back to Mexico...a huge need for skilled construction workers will still exist.

 

You are Republican, so you disagree with a "livable" guaranteed wage of $15 per hour, right? What are you going to do about distortion in the market, with not enough local workers willing to work for prevailing wages?

 

Should the government step in and subsidize salaries? Give incentives for relocation from other regions of the state?

 

Wouldn't a Republican argue that these construction businesses should all close, if a similar quality of, let's say cement, could be made in Mexico for 1/2 the price? If there's a surplus of jobs, local workers (with close to full employment) won't agree to work for those "sub standard" wages, then what?

 

So do you 1) let companies fail, 2) allow for legal immigrants from other places to take those jobs or 3) intervene into the market and sudsidize the wages of "local" American workers?

 

Or do you force those who are on semi disability, EIC recipients, Medicaid beneficiaries to take those jobs...or have a government program to train them? Shouldn't the business be responsible for the cost of apprenticeship?

 

(Who know what Trump thinks, he just proposed a $200 million apprenticeship program we will never hear about again.)

I don't know where to start since you asked so many questions.

- Trump is a terrible person who will do say/anything for personal gain. I won't defend him, but hiring and exploiting illegals is not taking advantage of "the system."

- I'm not a Republican

- The market will correct when wages increase enough to draw Americans and legal immagrants to the work. iIf deportation leads to a lack of available workers, construction projects would have to cease until there is an available work force to complete the work. Offering higher wages might compel Americans to move to fill the jobs - say from Louisiana to Texas. The government does not need to incentivize this. It would be no different than people who have immagrated to this country for years because of the opportunities available here.

- I don't think the government should subsidize private business construction projects.

 

[caulfield12]

I don't know where to start since you asked so many questions.

- Trump is a terrible person who will do say/anything for personal gain. I won't defend him, but hiring and exploiting illegals is not taking advantage of "the system."

- I'm not a Republican

- The market will correct when wages increase enough to draw Americans and legal immagrants to the work. iIf deportation leads to a lack of available workers, construction projects would have to cease until there is an available work force to complete the work. Offering higher wages might compel Americans to move to fill the jobs - say from Louisiana to Texas. The government does not need to incentivize this. It would be no different than people who have immagrated to this country for years because of the opportunities available here.

- I don't think the government should subsidize private business construction projects.

 

So do agree with the proposed $1 trillion infrastructure plan (most is disguised as hybrid govnt/private projects that are profit oriented, like tollways or bridges)....to create/stimulate the growth of jobs with $15-25 wages for qualified American workers?

Edited June 18, 2017 by caulfield12

[Middle Buffalo]

So do agree with the proposed $1 trillion infrastructure plan (most is disguised as hybrid govnt/private projects that are profit oriented, like tollways or bridges)....to create/stimulate the growth of jobs with $15-25 wages for qualified American workers?

No. I don't like the idea of privatization of our roads/bridges, etc. The government should maintain control of these.

 

By the way, in your initial post on this construction subject, it didn't include the part of the article that stated that Martinez' workers typically work 15 hour days 6 or 7 days a week. Tell me they're not being exploited. No way they are getting overtime pay. And no way Martinez is reporting his true payroll.

Edited June 18, 2017 by Middle Buffalo

[caulfield12]

Cuba fires shot across the bow at Trump/US policies

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/17/politics/cub...onse/index.html

 

"We have deep concerns by the respect and the guaranties of the human rights in that country, where there is a large number of cases of murder, brutality and police abuse, particularly against the African Americans; the right to live is violated as a result of deaths by firearms," the statement read.

 

It went on to list a litany of concerns: racial discrimination, salary inequality between genders, the marginalization of immigrants and refugees from Islamic and other countries, Trump's proposed wall on the southern border, his decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord, the imprisonment of enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, the killing of US and foreign citizens in drone attacks, the preface for and conduct of the wars in Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries, and estimates that the Republican health care bill would cause 23 million people to lose medical insurance.

 

 

 

Commission on Civil Rights to Probe Trump Administration Enforcement

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/17/politics/civ...robe/index.html

 

"Along with changing programmatic priorities, these proposed cuts would result in a dangerous reduction of civil rights enforcement across the country, leaving communities of color, LGBT people, older people, people with disabilities, and other marginalized groups exposed to greater risk of discrimination," the commission wrote in a statement announcing the investigation.

 

The commission cited proposed staff decreases in several departments and agencies as well as the actions of the Justice Department and the Education secretary in its reasons for taking the assessment. The administration's budget would reduce money for civil rights-related offices in several agencies, making cuts of 15% and 23% in some cases, and would eliminate the EPA's Environmental Justice program and the nonprofit Legal Services Corp., which supports civil legal aid for low-income Americans, the commission said.

 

The Justice, Education and Labor departments and the Environmental Protection Agency were among seven agencies and departments that the commission listed as of special concern.

Edited June 18, 2017 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hel...m=.3a216d5e2cb6

Help Wanted: Why Republicans Won't Agree to Work with the Trump Administration

 

Potential candidates are watching Trump’s behavior and monitoring his treatment of senior officials. “Trump is becoming radioactive, and it’s accelerating,” said Bill Valdez, a former senior Energy Department official who is now president of the Senior Executives Association, which represents 6,000 top federal leaders.

 

“He just threw Jeff Sessions under the bus,” Valdez said, referring to recent reports that the president is furious at the attorney general for recusing himself from the Russia investigation. “If you’re working with a boss who doesn’t have your back, you have no confidence in working with that individual.”

 

....

 

Republicans have become so alarmed by the personnel shortfall that in the past week a coalition of conservatives complained to White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. “We remain very concerned over the lack of secondary and tertiary executive-level appointments,” they said in a letter signed by 25 prominent conservatives called the Coalitions for America, describing their concern that the leadership vacuum will create “mischief and malfeasance” by civil servants loyal to Obama.

 

The letter culminated weeks of private urging by top conservatives, said Tom Fitton, president of the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, who helped lead the effort. “They’re sensitive about it, and they’re trying to do better.”

 

Fitton said that some candidates have faced inexplicable delays on job offers. “People are waiting to hear back. Promises are made but not kept. People are left stranded. Positions are implied, and people are left hanging.”

 

 

 

 

http://www.newsweek.com/trump-cutting-bone...-626796?ref=yfp

Trump Is Cutting Into the Bone of American Leadership

Edited June 18, 2017 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

Now Iran is launching missiles at ISIS targets in Syria...first missile launches at another country in decade.

 

 

Neil Buchanan: Is Trump Naive? Stupid? Evil? Or All of the Above?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/neil-buchanan-tr...-140850746.html

 

For example, the conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin of The Washington Post recently offered an excellent critique of Trump's ill considered Muslim ban, concluding with this:

 

One might conclude that the administration is too incompetent or lazy to make [its case in court]. We prefer a different theory: These orders have no national security or other justification, but rather are blatant appeals to prejudice that have no factual, rational basis. No lawyer in the world can defend that in court.

 

In short, Rubin first considers whether the administration is incompetent or lazy, which are somewhat fuzzy concepts because incompetence can refer either to stupidity or ignorance, and laziness is most likely (at least in Trump's case) a version of willful ignorance, that is, evil.

 

By saying that Trump has "no national security justification," Rubin means that Trump's argument is not actually "stupid." That is, there is no logical argument from Trump's people that says that A (the ban) causes B (less terrorism). They simply assert their conclusion, as opposed to offering a logically fallacious if-then argument.

 

Why do they do that? Rubin reasonably concludes that Trump is evil because he is appealing to prejudice. He is so focused on getting to an evil outcome—discriminating against people on the basis of religion and national origin—that he will deny reality and not even bother with logical arguments.

 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2017 by caulfield12

[Kyyle23]

Seems like we have seen the last of Sean Spicer, Press Secretary in the Bushes.

[caulfield12]

The Southwest is broiling. Are you paying attention, President Trump?

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/20/opinions/sou...ovic/index.html

 

 

In all, it represents a shocking combination of greed and short-sightedness, compounded by an apparent urge to appeal to the worst impulses of the Trump base -- people he and Republicans seem to assume are motivated by an urge to stick it to Prius-driving egghead liberals, even if doing so means their grandchildren might suffer or perish in a world of flooded metropolises, unbreathable air and expansive, unlivable deserts.

 

Surely this calculation is wrong: Republican voters whose livelihoods depend on the ability to harvest corn crops in Iowa or ship goods to their store in Arizona (or who live near the water and can't afford flood insurance that's more than their mortgage) can take a look around and realize this "see no evil" strategy is going to hurt them, and soon.

 

Indeed, that the American right has transformed climate change into a partisan issue defies all reason and rational self-interest. Climate change will have the largest and most immediate impacts on the world's poor -- not a demographic the GOP has shown much concern for. But make no mistake -- rich or poor we all share the earth, and the catastrophic impacts of defiling it are coming for all of us.

[Heads22]

NYT has GA-6 leaning towards Handel, where as Politico has Ossoff running ahead of his primary numbers, so who knows

[caulfield12]

Right now, it's definitely trending towards Handel.

 

That district is one of the 6 best educated in all of America...and a large reason why Trump only won by 1.5%. IMO, the DC shooting of Scalise is going to go down as the X factor if Handel goes on to win, but polling says almost everyone was hardened in their positions 7-10 days ago.

 

Illinois-5 is 15th. Five California districts there as well.

 

 

Seems if Handel wins, the Senate will be emboldened to pass AHCA bill...leading to World War Three in 2018/20 over single payer. The other important point is how well the stock market has performed, reverse those numbers and the Trump administration is in real trouble.

Edited June 21, 2017 by caulfield12

[RockRaines]

Seems like we have seen the last of Sean Spicer, Press Secretary in the Bushes.

The secrecy is ridiculous. You work for the people, dont you know that?

[caulfield12]

GOP leaders also plan to finalize tax bill behind closed doors (shocking!)

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-plans-...3--finance.html

 

 

 

 

On Tuesday evening, Trump, who previously traveled to Georgia to appear with the Republican candidate, weighed in with four tweets highlighting Handel’s performance and one congratulating Ralph Norman in South Carolina. A text message sent to Trump supporters noted that Democrats “lose again (0-4). Total disarray. The MAGA Mandate is stronger than ever.”

 

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/21/d...n-handel-239790

Trump spikes the ball after GA election win...

Edited June 21, 2017 by caulfield12

[Dick Allen]

On this week's episode of the Trump presidency, Trump revealed he has no Comey tapes. There are tapes of him saying everyone covered, better care, and lower premiums and deductibles about health care.

 

His phony threat to Comey about there being tapes blew up in his face. Makes him look even more guilty, and makes him look even more dishonest.

Edited June 22, 2017 by Dick Allen

[StrangeSox]

So this flew under the radar with the AHCA stuff today, but

 

Election Hackers Altered Voter Rolls, Stole Private Data, Officials Say

 

The fact that private data was stolen from states is separately providing investigators a previously unreported line of inquiry in the probes into Russian attempts to influence the election. In Illinois, more than 90% of the nearly 90,000 records stolen by Russian state actors contained drivers license numbers, and a quarter contained the last four digits of voters’ Social Security numbers, according to Ken Menzel, the General Counsel of the State Board of Elections.

 

Election hackers altered voter rolls: report

 

Hackers successfully altered voter information at least once during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to a Time magazine report Thursday.

 

The hackers manipulated voter information in a county database, according the report. Investigators do not yet know whether the hackers were affiliated with Russia. The voter rolls were corrected after the attack was discovered.

 

[Quin]

Trump is terrified of Mueller.

[Kyyle23]

Trump is terrified of Mueller.

 

He also basically admitted to attempting witness intimidation with his threat of having tapes on Comey. His Fox and Friends interviews always get him to admit dumbass s***

[Texsox]

Obviously I am not a Trump supporter, but I really wish he would figure out this Presidency thing. Reagan, probably suffering from Alzheimer's, was able to present a solid public profile to the nation and the world. Why can't Trump be corralled even a little bit?

[Middle Buffalo]

Obviously I am not a Trump supporter, but I really wish he would figure out this Presidency thing. Reagan, probably suffering from Alzheimer's, was able to present a solid public profile to the nation and the world. Why can't Trump be corralled even a little bit?

Arrogance?

[Big Hurtin]

Arrogance?

More like malignant narcissism

 

"Kernberg described malignant narcissism as a syndrome characterized by a narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), antisocial features, paranoid traits, and egosyntonic aggression. Other symptoms may include an absence of conscience, a psychological need for power, and a sense of importance (grandiosity)."

 

Sound like someone we know?