***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[sonoftony]

Ummm now some things make sense..

And yet, don't.. at the same time

sheeet, if I dont notice results with wild hair growth oil after a month, I might as well give the French Fry oil a try

 

[Belgium]

Well it looks like a wall may be coming after all, though not exactly a border wall. I'm sure the man behind this needs no introduction. According to House rep. Tom Rooney (R-Florida) the entire Republican staff is under a Congressional Ethics Office investigation for alleged leaks.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-...s-off-from-democrats-devin-nunes-adam-schiff/
House Intel Republicans plan to wall off their aides from Democratic staffers

In a sign of increasing partisan hostilities, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee plan to construct a wall – a physical partition – separating Republican and Democratic staff members in the committee's secure spaces, according to multiple committee sources. It's expected to happen this spring.

For now, some Republican committee members deny knowing anything about it, while strongly suggesting the division is the brainchild of the committee's chairman, Devin Nunes, R-California.

"I'm not part of that decision," said Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas. "You've got to talk to Devin. I don't know what they're trying to do one way or the other."

"I swear to God I didn't know that," said Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Florida, when asked about the plan. While acknowledging a wall might not be constructive for the committee's work, he said, "The level of trust and the level of everything down there is – it's poison. It's absolute poison down there."

Rooney said one reason for the tension is an erosion of trust, exacerbated by an ongoing ethics investigation into the "entire Republican staff," including "the woman up front that answers the phone" for alleged leaks. He later added that the matter was being handled by the Office of Congressional Ethics.

Bipartisanship, he said, "is gone. It's gone from that committee."

A spokesman for the panel offered no comment on either issue – plans for the wall or the apparent ethics investigation. The Office of Congressional Ethics did not immediately reply to a request for more information.

A spokesman for the minority also declined to comment.

While other House committees commonly have some divide between their majority and minority staff, for a committee whose history, broadly, and whose burden, arguably, is to be functionally bipartisan, the plan for the wall – in all its unfortunate symbolism – is a troubling sign of things to come.

It raises new questions about the committee's ability to complete its sputtering investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and even to conduct its regular oversight of the country's 17 intelligence agencies.

In recent weeks, rancorous and highly public disagreements between Republicans and Democrats have seemed often to disrupt and sometimes undo the committee's investigative progress on the Russia probe in particular. The committee has not interviewed a witness since former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski cut his interview short on January 18. A day earlier, former chief White House strategist Steve Bannon did the same. Both, at the direction and apparent insistence of the White House, refused to answer questions beyond a certain scope.

Only Bannon has been issued a subpoena to reappear before the committee. So far, he has failed to do so three times.

In Bannon's case, Republicans tend to express concern. "If we have a subpoena out there that's being ignored and we just don't do anything about it, guess what? Nobody's going to come down to the [committee] anymore to answer questions," Rooney said in a recent interview.

In Lewandowski's case, it's less clear what course the committee will take. On Wednesday afternoon, Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-California) announced that lawyers for Lewandowski told the committee he would refuse to appear a second time. Though Schiff said in a statement that the committee must now "move to compel" Lewandowski's testimony, there seems to be little appetite on the part of the majority to issue a subpoena.

Reusing a common response to reporters' questions about scheduling witnesses, Conaway, the Republican who runs the Russia investigation, said only, "I don't talk about what I might do."

Even the impasse over some witness scheduling has taken a backseat, of late, to controversy surrounding the release of dueling memos drafted by the committee's factions on alleged surveillance abuses by the FBI. The Republicans' memo on the subject has been released to the public, un-redacted and with the president's blessing. The Democrats' memo is being reviewed by the White House, which is expected to deliver its decision on releasing it on Friday.

The move to release the memos triggered an intense public battle in which Nunes and Schiff, in particular, traded barbs almost daily, and which may have culminated in a pair of tweets on Monday from President Trump – one roundly condemning Schiff, the other praising Nunes.

"Little Adam Schiff, who is desperate to run for higher office, is one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington," the first tweet said in part. The second, which followed later, read, "Representative Devin Nunes, a man of tremendous courage and grit, may someday be recognized as a Great American Hero for what he has exposed and what he has had to endure."

Immediately following the Republican memo's release, Nunes spoke with several conservative outlets about his plans to pursue "Phase 2" of an investigation related to, but separate from, the committee's ongoing Russia investigation – this one said to be focused on "irregularities" at the State Department.

But like plans for the wall, the number and focus of Nunes' ancillary, investigatory phases appear to be mostly unknown to the rest of the committee.

"I'm doing all the Russia stuff and he's doing all the investigatory things," Conaway said recently. "I haven't talked to him about where he goes from here."

Still, that the committee is suffering a crisis in leadership is not a notion being entertained by the majority. Both Conaway and Rooney said they had confidence in Nunes' leadership, and that he should stay on as chairman.

Neither, however, claimed to speak for the entire majority. "It would be unfair for me to answer on their behalf since none of us have had that conversation," Conaway said.

Last week, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer both called publicly for Nunes' removal as chairman. Schiff has also said he believes Nunes should step aside, as have other Democrats on the committee.

"The committee is still redeemable – but not with Devin Nunes as chair," said Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-California. "It's bigger than one person and I believe we can go back to that spirit with a new leader."

In a Politico/Morning Consult poll released Wednesday, only nine percent of registered voters said they had "a lot of confidence" in the House Intelligence Committee. And some of the most vested observers of the committee's worsening internal dynamics have expressed concerns over its work, reputation and relationship with the intelligence community.

"It's very hurtful to me to see the degradation of this committee and it's wrong," said Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Maryland, who served on the it for twelve years and was Ranking Member for four, alongside former chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Michigan. The two were often praised for their efforts to, despite some disagreements, maintain a bipartisan rapport.

"When Devin and Schiff get over this battle they're talking about right now, it will be right for our country for those two to work together in a bipartisan way," Ruppersberger said. "These are some of the most dangerous times our country has ever faced," he said, listing threats from Russia, China and ISIS.

"If there was ever a time to work together, it's now."

 

[AEA18]

https://arstechnica.com/science/201...oal-miner-epidemic-is-the-largest-in-history/

aepps20 Donny came through for your squad. Black lung acquisition is at an all time high!

 

[aepps20]

https://arstechnica.com/science/201...oal-miner-epidemic-is-the-largest-in-history/

aepps20 Donny came through for your squad. Black lung acquisition is at an all time high!

WE DID IT COMRADES. THISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS is why I voted 13 times. Hard work pays off.

 

[whywesteppin]

Only if they're from Popeyes and I get byok (bring your own knife).

* Popeyes organization

 

[boris]

http://www.livetrucking.com/self-driving-semi-truck-just-made-first-cross-country-trip/

 

[frenchbreadbuilds]

http://www.livetrucking.com/self-driving-semi-truck-just-made-first-cross-country-trip/

more fodder for the black lung work force

 

[whywesteppin]

http://www.livetrucking.com/self-driving-semi-truck-just-made-first-cross-country-trip/

it's funny seeing the defense mechanisms kicking in in the comments section. "it took 5 days, this is garbage."

 

[John Wick]

Ummm now some things make sense..

And yet, don't.. at the same time

Just not too long ago they were saying french fries were the cause of cancer

http://time.com/4643779/scientists-french-fries-cancer/

 

[gry60]

it's funny seeing the defense mechanisms kicking in in the comments section. "it took 5 days, this is garbage."

The first planes and cars didn't travel too far or too long either.

 

[Black Lotus]

http://www.livetrucking.com/self-driving-semi-truck-just-made-first-cross-country-trip/

time to sell off all my shoes

 

[Belgium]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...who-use-food-aid-other-benefits-idUSKBN1FS2ZK
Exclusive: Trump administration may target immigrants who use food aid, other benefits

The Trump administration is considering making it harder for foreigners living in the United States to get permanent residency if they have received certain public benefits such as food assistance, in a move that could sharply restrict legal immigration.

The Department of Homeland Security has drafted proposed new rules seen by Reuters that would allow immigration officers to scrutinize a potential immigrant’s use of certain taxpayer-funded public benefits to determine if they could become a public burden.


For example, U.S. officials could look at whether the applicant has enrolled a child in government pre-school programs or received subsidies for utility bills or health insurance premiums.


The draft rules are a sharp departure from current guidelines, which have been in place for nearly two decades and specifically bar authorities from considering such non-cash benefits in deciding a person’s eligibility to immigrate to the United States or stay in the country.

“Non-citizens who receive public benefits are not self-sufficient and are relying on the U.S. government and state and local entities for resources instead of their families, sponsors or private organizations,” the document states. “An alien’s receipt of public benefits comes at taxpayer expense and availability of public benefits may provide an incentive for aliens to immigrate to the United States.”

Receiving such benefits could weigh against an applicant, even if they were for an immigrant’s U.S. citizen children, according to the document.

In 2016, nearly 383,000 people who would be subject to the new standards obtained permanent residence while already in the United States. The rules would not apply to permanent residents applying for citizenship, but would apply to a wide range of people living or working in the United States, including close family members of U.S. citizens and workers employed by U.S. companies.

A spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the DHS agency responsible for implementing the regulations, declined to comment on a regulation still under consideration.

The draft rule has not yet been approved by top leadership.


Current guidance instructs immigration officers to look at a narrow range of public benefits in trying to determine whether someone is likely to become a burden, specifically directing officers not to consider most non-cash benefits, such as government food assistance programs or preschool programs.

The new rules, if adopted in their current form, would significantly change these guidelines. Under the draft rules, a person would be considered a “public charge” if they depend on “any government assistance in the form of cash, checks or other forms of money transfers, or instrument and non-cash government assistance in the form of aid, services, or other relief,” according to the document.

 

[equality]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...who-use-food-aid-other-benefits-idUSKBN1FS2ZK
Exclusive: Trump administration may target immigrants who use food aid, other benefits

They basically only want the smartest, most economically "valuable" people to come over. Basically the opposite of the foundations of what the country is built on.

 

[sfc415]

All these idiots cheering for Trump when dude would rather die than be in their line of work or their level of income

 

[EddieDoyers]

 

[elpablo21]

She was haunted brehs

 

[boris]

Another great day for the stock market!

 

[AEA18]

It was all good when she was still a token in the white house

"I was haunted by tweets every single day. Like, what is he going to tweet next?”

 

[Belgium]

Another great day for the stock market!

And another bad day for my pockets.
Shows exactly why a president constantly taking credit for the stock market and pointing to it as a key metric for success is foolish.

 

[Based Jesus]

Rand Paul out here caring about the deficit and throwing wrenches in plans

 

[RustyShackleford]

Rand Paul out here caring about the deficit and throwing wrenches in plans

Didn't he vote for the damb tax bill doe? Now he has found his so called libertarian principles.

This budget bill is way better than the tax bill too. Shut up Rand, sit the hell down and shut up

 

[trueprada]

 

[anomolie]

I still would hit Omarosa crazy ***. Love her body

 

[Mr.Guy]

I still would hit Omarosa crazy ***. Love her body

pics??

 

[Mr.Guy]

Those butter biscuits must have not tasted that good.