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Freeloading Rusty

Freeloading Rusty

Here comes Rover, sniffin’ at your ass
Jan 11, 2016
26,916
26,743
Trump tells NRA he's withdrawing from arms trade treaty
With pro-gun legislation largely stalled in Congress, President Donald Trump said Friday he is withdrawing the U.S. from an international agreement on the arms trade, telling the National Rifle Association the treaty is "badly misguided."

Trump made the announcement as he vowed to fight for gun rights and implored members of the nation's largest pro-gun group -- struggling to maintain its influence -- to rally behind his re-election bid.

"It's under assault," he said of the constitutional right to bear arms. "But not while we're here."

Trump said he would be revoking the United States' status as a signatory of the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, which regulates international trade in conventional weapons, from small arms to battle tanks, combat aircraft and warships. President Barack Obama signed the pact in 2013 but it has never been ratified by U.S. lawmakers.

It has long been opposed by the NRA.

"Under my administration, we will never surrender American sovereignty to anyone, Trump said, before signing a document on stage asking the Senate to halt the ratification process. "We will never allow foreign diplomats to trample on your Second Amendment freedom," Trump said, before signing a document on stage asking the Senate to halt the ratification process.

"I hope you're happy," he told the group, to cheers.

His move against the treaty came as Trump sought to excite an organization that was pivotal to Trump's victory in 2016 but, three years later, is limping toward the next election divided and diminished.

"You better get out there and vote," he said, telling the crowd of thousands that the 2020 election "seems like it's a long ways away. It's not."

Gun activists denounced the treaty when it was under negotiation as an infringement of civilian firearm ownership, despite the well-enshrined legal principle that says no treaty can override the Constitution or U.S. laws. The treaty is aimed at cracking down on illicit trading in small arms, thereby curbing violence in some of the most troubled corners of the world.

Advocates of tighter gun restrictions denounced Trump's decision. Kris Brown, president of the Brady organization, said it was a "reckless move" that will "only embolden terrorists and other dangerous actors around the world."

In a speech full of grievance, Trump railed against the Russia investigation, which did not establish a criminal conspiracy between Russians and the Trump campaign. Special counsel Robert Mueller outlined potential episodes of obstruction of justice by the president without concluding that he had committed any crime, leaving such questions for Congress to pursue as it saw fit.

"They tried for a coup," Trump said. "It didn't work out so well."

"And I didn't need a gun for that, did I?" he quipped, adding: "Spying. Surveillance. Trying for an overthrow? And we caught 'em."

And in a pre-emptive attack against his 2016 Democratic challengers, Trump claimed without evidence that the other party wants "to take away your guns."

An emboldened NRA had high hopes and ambitious plans for easing state and national gun regulations after pouring tens of millions of dollars into the 2016 presidential race, seeing its dark horse candidate win and Republicans in control of both branches of Congress.

But much of the legislation the group championed has stalled, due, in part, to a series of mass shootings, including the massacre at a Parkland, Florida, high school that left 17 dead and launched a youth movement against gun violence that has had a powerful impact. And Democrats won control of the House in the midterms.

At the same time, the group is grappling with infighting, bleeding money and facing a series of investigations into its operating practices, including allegations that covert Russian agents seeking to influence the 2016 election courted its officials and funneled money through the group.

As Trump landed in Indianapolis, a judge imposed an 18-month prison term on gun rights activist Maria Butina, an admitted Russian agent who tried to infiltrate American conservative groups.

The NRA's shaky fortunes have raised questions about the one-time kingmaker's clout heading into 2020.

"I've never seen the NRA this vulnerable" said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, a non-profit that advocates for gun control measures.

With Trump in office, gun owners no longer fear the Second Amendment is under attack to the extent it was perceived to be under Democrats.

"Good times are never good for interest groups because it's much better when Armageddon is at your doorstep," said Harry Wilson, a Roanoke College professor who has written extensively on gun politics. "Fear is a huge motivator in politics."

The NRA, said Adam Winkler, a UCLA law professor and expert on gun policy, has also dramatically changed its messaging over the last two years, with its NRATV service advocating a panoply of far-right political views that have turned off some members.

At the same time, public sentiment has shifted. A March AP-NORC poll found that 67% of Americans overall think gun laws should be made stricter -- up from 61% in October 2017.

And a June 2018 Gallup poll found overall favourable opinions of the NRA down slightly from October 2015, from 58% to 53%. Unfavourable views have grown, from 35% to 42%.

Against that backdrop, Democratic politicians have become more comfortable assailing -- and even actively running against -- the NRA and pledging action to curb gun violence. And gun control groups like Everytown, which is largely financed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and a political action committee formed by Gabby Giffords, the former Arizona congresswoman wounded in a shooting, have become better organized and more visible, especially at the state level.

That reversal was made clear during the 2018 midterm elections, when those groups vastly outspent the NRA .

During the midterms the NRA "committed almost a disappearing act," said Everytown's Feinblatt.

Winkler, the UCLA law professor, allowed that the group had scored some victories under Trump, including the appointment of two Supreme Court justices who may be open to striking down gun laws.

But overall, he said, "On the legislative front, the NRA has been frustrated," with priorities like national reciprocity for conceal carry laws and a repeal of the ban on silencers stalled.

Instead, Trump introduced a new federal regulation: a ban on bump stocks after a man using the device opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers on the Las Vegas strip, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds.
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Freeloading Rusty

Freeloading Rusty

Here comes Rover, sniffin’ at your ass
Jan 11, 2016
26,916
26,743
Trump: 'Saudi Arabia buys a lot, I don't want to lose them'
US President Donald Trump has reiterated his support for Saudi Arabia at a "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) rally where he also described a negotiation tactic he used to get more money from the kingdom for the United States' military support.

During a rally with his supporters in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Trump indicated that he would remain a steadfast supporter of the Saudi government, largely due to Riyadh's purchases from US companies.

"They have nothing but cash, right?" he told the crowd. "They buy a lot from us, $450 billion they bought."

"You had people wanting to cut off Saudi Arabia ... I don't want to lose them," he said.
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Donald Trump touts nonexistent $450 billion in Saudi orders and 1 million jobs
  • Saudi Arabia has not ordered $110 billion worth of military goods and services.

  • Saudi Arabia has not ordered $450 billion worth of goods and services across the board.

  • Over one million jobs are not at stake.
Dubious defense sales
The $110 billion in military contracts emerged from Trump’s 2017 meeting with King Salman bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohamed bin Nayef of Saudi Arabia, and Deputy Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. (Mohamed bin Salman is now crown prince and sits at the center of the speculation over the circumstances of Khashoggi’s death.)

"President Trump and King Salman participated in the signing ceremony for almost $110 billion worth of defense capabilities," the White House announced.

The press release said the arms package expanded opportunities for American companies in the region, "potentially supporting tens of thousands of new jobs in the United States."

Note: Tens of thousands is a far cry from hundreds of thousands of jobs, but we’ll get back to that in a moment.

The $110 billion itself is in doubt.

"The $110 billion is not even remotely solid," said U.S. Naval War College professor Jonathan Caverley. "The State Department only counts $14.5 billion in implemented’ sales from this deal."

And even that sum is suspect, Caverley added.

The U.S. approved the sale of a $13.5 billion Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system. Former CIA officer Bruce Riedel at the Brookings Institution in Washington said that deal is on shaky ground.

"The Saudis let pass a September deadline for the deal with Lockheed Martin," Riedel recently wrote.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency oversees foreign military sales. Not counting the THAAD contract, its summary of sales to Saudi Arabia under Trump totals a little over $2 billion.

Defense analyst Rachel Stohl at the Stimson Center, a private defense policy think tank, noted that the $110 billion rolled in some old offers.

"Many of those were deals negotiated under the Obama administration, and only a small fraction have been filled," Stohl said.

That’s the typical pattern for these announcements: Fanfare comes first, followed by a more modest reality.

"President Obama offered Saudi Arabia something like $115 billion in arms while in office, and just about half of that resulted in sales," Jennifer Spindel, an international security professor at the University of Oklahoma, told us.

And even sale agreements take a long time to play out. In the past 10 years, the United States and Saudi Arabia have had $85.5 billion in sales agreements, but only $24.5 billion in actual deliveries.
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Thuglife13

Thuglife13

✝👦🍕🍦🍩
Dec 15, 2018
20,671
27,378
Why Trump will win in 2020 and it won't even be close

Why Trump will win in 2020 and it won't even be close

Hugh Hewitt
,
The Independent•April 28, 2019


The first-quarter gross domestic product growth rate of 3.2 per cent sets up the first reality that will be noted in November 2020 because it telegraphs where the economy will be then: not in recession.

Recessions are charted when GDP growth is negative for two consecutive quarters or more. That can and has occurred in sudden fashion – financial panics don’t send “save the date” cards.


Innovation is accelerating, not declining. A recession before election day looks less and less likely by the day.

Small wonder then that Trump dominates the GOP with an approval rating above 80 per cent.

Bernie Sanders or Kamala Harris, or former vice president Joe Biden." data-reactid="16">His administration’s deregulatory push is accelerating. More and more rule-of-law judges, disinclined to accept bureaucrats’ excuses for over-regulation, are being confirmed to the bench. Readiness levels in the US military have been renewed. America’s relationship with its strongest ally, Israel, is at its closest in decades. Meanwhile, the Democrats are facing a Hobbesian choice of Bernie Sanders or Kamala Harris, or former vice president Joe Biden.

Sanders and Harris are too far to the left, Sanders by a lot. Biden is far past his best years. The nice folk lower down are looking for other rewards. The nomination going to someone such as Pete Buttigieg, mayor of Indiana’s South Bend, is possible, I suppose, but what happens when the dog chasing the car catches it?

What was an entertaining and amusing aside suddenly becomes a commitment and, with that, well, comes a barrage of attacks. Where Trump deflects incoming with ease, the Democrats scatter, some limping away, some blown out of the picture.

This will come as news to #Resistance liberals, who are certain Trump will lose, because they dislike him so much. They still haven’t figured out that 40 percent of the country love him and at least another 10 percent are very much committed to considering the alternative in comparison to Trump, not reflexively voting against him.

That decile is doing very well in this economy. Unemployment remains incredibly low. The markets are soaring. That’s not a given for the fall of 2020, but better to be soaring than falling 18 months out.

On immigration, border security has always been a legitimate concern (and Immigration and Customs Enforcement a legitimate agency).

People don’t talk much about it as they decline to state anything that will see them labelled racist, but the reality of open borders is understood to be an unqualified disaster by most of the country, and most of the country understands the Democrats to be arguing for a de facto open-border system, if not a de jure one.


Medicare-for-all is a professor Harold Hill production, headed for Iowa as was the Music Man.

There’s not a lot of serious thinking or talking among the Democrats about the People’s Republic of China and the “nine-dash line” in the South China Sea (which many may think is some sort of shorthand for their marks on the debate stage), or Huawei, which is just too complicated to try to debate in five-minute exchanges.


Last week’s message from a booming economy should have rocked the Democratic field. Alas, the party seems collectively intent on poring over the Mueller report yet again in the hope that, somehow, someway, there’s something there.

But the probe is over. No collusion. No obstruction.

Democrats have to campaign on something else besides a great economy, rising values of savings, low unemployment across every demographic, clarity about allies and enemies abroad, and a rebuilding military.

It’s a tough needle to thread, condemning everything about Trump except all that he has accomplished that President Barack Obama couldn’t or wouldn’t.

Not just tough – it’s practically impossible.
 
Freeloading Rusty

Freeloading Rusty

Here comes Rover, sniffin’ at your ass
Jan 11, 2016
26,916
26,743
Trump team sues Deutsche Bank and Capital One to keep them from turning over financial records to Congress
President Donald Trump; his children Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka; and his business are suing two banks to block them from turning over financial records to congressional committees that have issued subpoenas for the information. It's the second attempt in court that Trump has made this month to thwart the Democratic-led House of Representatives from investigating his financial history.
The legal action, filed in New York's Southern District, is against Deutsche Bank, one of Trump's lenders, and Capital One. Both banks "have long provided business and personal banking services to Plaintiffs," Trump's attorneys said.
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Rod Rosenstein resigns after embattled tenure as deputy attorney general
The deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, has resigned, after a fraught two-year relationship with a president who resented his decision to appoint a special counsel to investigate possible ties between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia.

His last day will be 11 May.

“I am grateful to you for the opportunity to serve; for the courtesy and humor you often display in our personal conversations; and for the goals you set in your inaugural address: patriotism, unity, safety, education and prosperity,” Rosenstein said in a letter delivered to the White House.
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Top OPEC, Saudi officials didn’t discuss lowering oil prices with Trump: report
  • President Donald Trump claims he “called up” OPEC and told the producer group to take measures to lower fuel costs.
  • That conversation did not involve Saudi Arabia’s crown price or energy minister, or OPEC’s secretary general, sources told the Wall Street Journal.
  • Even as oil prices tumbled following Trump’s remarks, it remained unclear to whom the president was referring.
Neither Saudi Arabia’s energy minister nor OPEC’s secretary general discussed lowering oil prices with President Donald Trump, sources told the Wall Street Journal, denying the U.S. leader’s earlier claim.

Moments after the Journal reported the denials, Trump took to Twitter to double down on his earlier remark.

“Spoke to Saudi Arabia and others about increasing oil flow. All are in agreement,” the president tweeted.


Earlier on Friday, Trump told reporters he had “called up” OPEC and urged the producer group to take action to bring down fuel costs.

“I called up OPEC. I said, ‘You’ve got to bring them down. You’ve got to bring them down,’ and gasoline’s coming down,” Trump said, inaccurately stating that gasoline prices are falling.

Oil prices tumbled more than 4% following Trump’s comment.

When the president made the remarks, it was not clear whether Trump meant that he had contacted the OPEC Secretariat in Vienna, or whether he was referring to OPEC members like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which are close U.S. allies.
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