***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[Belgium]

Seems a bit early for a mid-year review already. I'm sure he will be tough on Putin and shower him with only minimal praise. The US' top allies will likely get a different reception, especially those crime-infested Germans.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-to-plan-meeting-with-putin-in-europe-in-july
Trump Plans July Meeting With Vladimir Putin
President Donald Trump is planning to meet with Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, during Trump’s visit to Europe next month, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Two possibilities for the meeting are either before the NATO summit in Brussels on July 11 or after Trump’s visit to Britain on July 13, one of the people said.
Both people asked for anonymity to discuss the plans, because they are not final.

The White House declined to comment on Wednesday evening.

Trump had two meetings with Putin last summer at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.

The president has shown keen interest in restoring Putin’s place in the international community. At the G-7 summit in Quebec earlier this month, he proposed that Russia should be re-admitted to the Group of Eight countries, which was reduced to a Group of Seven following Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Although Trump has seldom criticized Russia or Putin and has largely downplayed allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, the relationship between Moscow and Washington has been rocky since he took office.

Trump twice ordered air strikes against the Syrian government of Bashar Al-Assad, a Putin ally. And his administration imposed sanctions on wealthy members of Putin’s circle earlier this year.

Other leaders in the group of industrialized nations rebuked Trump, who made the off-the-cuff remark as he left the White House for the summit.

“You know, whether you like it or not, and it may not be politically correct, but we have a world to run,” Trump said before he left for Quebec. “And in the G-7, which used to be the G-8, they threw Russia out. They should let Russia come back in, because we should have Russia at the negotiating table.”

Russia was expelled from the G-8 in 2014 over its annexation of Crimea.


Trump appears to be alone among his party and even within his administration in seeking to repair U.S. relations with the Kremlin.

Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, castigated Trump for his remarks on Putin and for his animosity toward U.S. allies and trading partners.

“The president has inexplicably shown our adversaries the deference and esteem that should be reserved for our closest allies,” McCain said in a statement.

In other news, the Trump administration will reportedly announce this proposal tomorrow morning. The administration is also considering changes at HHS such as consolidating safety-net programs under HHS, which reportedly may be accompanied by a name change similar to its former "Department of Education, Health and Welfare" name from the 1970s.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/white-house-to-propose-merging-education-labor-departments-1529533148
White House to Propose Merging Education, Labor Departments
Plan seen as part of a broader government reorganization effort.
he White House plans to propose merging the Departments of Labor and Education as part of a broader reorganization of the federal government, according to a person with knowledge of the proposal.
The White House plans to make the announcement on Thursday morning, after a monthslong review of cabinet agencies with an eye toward shrinking the federal government.

The reorganization likely would require approval from Congress, However, it’s not clear that lawmakers have the appetite to undertake a far-reaching reorganization, especially at this point in the political calendar.

Lawmakers have shown reluctance to embrace such plans in the past, and Congress has limited time for major legislation before the November midterm elections. Previous proposal to eliminate agencies, including the departments of education and energy, have made little headway.

Still, streamlining the executive branch has been a longtime conservative goal.

The new plan also meshes with the administration’s priority of retooling higher education programs to train students more directly to join the workforce.

The White House has championed plans to expand access to apprenticeships, for example, and the Education Department has moved to deregulate the for-profit college industry, which often focuses on school-to-workforce training programs.

Spokespeople for the White House and Labor Department declined to comment. Representatives at the Education Department couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

The administration has also been weighing changes at the Department of Health and Human Services, such as consolidating safety-net programs under HHS. That could accompany a renaming of the department to something similar to its name in the 1970s, when it was called the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

HHS oversees Medicaid and other social assistance programs, while school meals and the food stamp program, formally called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, run by the Department of Agriculture. The Treasury Department and Housing and Urban Development oversee still other programs.

The Education Department is one of the smallest federal government agencies, with about 3,900 employees. Its workforce has shrunk by more than 10% since President Donald Trump took office, with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos enforcing a departmentwide hiring freeze.

The department’s largest division oversees $1.4 trillion in federal student loans, and the department is also responsible for distributing K-12 education dollars and enforcing civil rights laws at public schools and higher education institutions.

The Labor Department, for its part, has about 15,000 employee and whose responsibilities range from enforcing federal minimum wage laws to overseeing worker training programs. Its biggest division is the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which produces the monthly jobs report and other economic data.

Republican lawmakers during the Clinton administration proposed merging the departments of Education and Labor, along with the equal employment opportunities commission, naming it the Department of Education and Employment. At the time, the Government Accountability Office predicted an agency would have a budget of $71 billion and employ 25,000 people.

 

[EddieDoyers]

if the dems lose, it’ll be due to the fact that people don’t get off their *** and actually do **** about the stuff that they post on facebook or wherever else they can cry and moan online. i mean, if you’re REALLY outraged and you ACTUALLY care about the issues, then get out an vote. that’s what the evangelicals do. they show up early and the show up in numbers and we can all point and laugh about how they believe the earth is solely populated by animals and people that were saved on a big boat from a flood but look who got this POS into the white house. look who’s shaping policy. look who is putting these bigoted judges in powerful places. let’s be real man. if donald trump wins in 2020, just like in 2016, it’s because apathetic, no balls, “stay woke” folk don’t head to the polls and speak truth with their vote. damn shame man.

Given America's voting history, the president tends to get reelected but Congress gets flipped. I won't be surprised if that happens.

 

[ksteezy]

Trump hugging himself everytime something isn’t going his way, won’t ever stop being funny, this car has the maneurisms of a 3 year old at day care

 

[EddieDoyers]

 

[elpablo21]

 

[plansb]

While we're on the subject of voting, I'll ask again, because I literally don't know where to begin...

How and where can I volunteer for Democratic candidates?

Canvassing for people, registering others to vote, providing transportation for midterms, etc.

Find the candidate you want to support and typically they have volunteer info on their website. Basically just email the campaign.

 

[Sharpshoeter13]

Wilson got TIME

Muh borders

 

[gry60]

 

[EddieDoyers]

Wilson got TIME

Muh borders

Mans been so turned off by the alt-right that he's considered a kale-loving libtard by the Repubs right now

 

[gry60]

We tried to warn ya...

 

[jimmypiff]

I saw this story a few hrs ago and I thought it was fake. I have to say I am beyond disgusted.

Migrant Children Drugged Without Consent At Government Centers, Court Documents Show
The allegations center on a mental health facility in Texas that has had problems in the past.
By Roque Planas
06/20/2018 04:55 PM ET
|
Updated 2 hours ago


https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_...ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063&utm_source=main_fb

 

[jimmypiff]

These are federal court files that indicate children being held in detention camps outside of Houston are being forcibly injected with psychotropic drugs without consent, without a medical history that lists allergies, or a person to explain these processes in the language spoken by the children. This is not about politics, no one would like it if someone they knew was being forcibly injected with anything that could significantly alter their mental state, cause motor skill impairment, and put children and teenagers at risk for type II diabetes AND cardiovascular disease.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4525292-420-2-Exhibit-Vol-2-Exs-21-30-Pages-109-73.html

 

[IATT]

 

[gry60]

WE.
TRIED.
TO.
WARN.
YA.

But you didn't listen

Because you knew better than the coastal elites

Now you want H2b?

 

[frink85]

Oh I love trump tears. And the escalating tariffs and trade war will have them flooding in

 

[IATT]

 

[gry60]

Oh I love trump tears. And the escalating tariffs and trade war will have them flooding in

 

[elpablo21]

 

[jimmypiff]

Where's the guy a few pages back that did that comprehensive "post-detention camp policy/occupation of northern Mexico" post lol

 

[Belgium]

Excerpt from Kobach's spokeswoman. Kobach was also the one who ran and failed at that ridiculous voter-fraud committee to look into Trump's lie of "millions of illegals" voting in the 2016 electon.
Note that the judge in her rulling also ordered Kobach to take 6 additional hours of legal education and held him in contempt.


Danedri Herbert, a spokeswoman for Kobach, told the news outlet that state officials still need time to fully understand the court’s ruling on the law. She argued that the judge did not provide a clear timeline for when Kobach had to instruct county clerks to implement the policy.
“I think ‘immediately’ is kind of open to interpretation,” she told the Capital-Journal.
http://thehill.com/homenews/state-w...to-keep-enforcing-voter-id-law-that-was-ruled
Kansas officials told to keep enforcing voter ID law that was ruled unconstitutional

Kansas officials are continuing to enforce a proof of citizenship law that a federal judge recently deemed unconstitutional.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reported Wednesday that staff for Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has directed county clerks to continue requiring voters to present documentary proof of citizenship.

One county clerk said she was instructed to continue enforcing the policy "as we have been."

Danedri Herbert, a spokeswoman for Kobach, told the news outlet that state officials still need time to fully understand the court’s ruling on the law. She argued that the judge did not provide a clear timeline for when Kobach had to instruct county clerks to implement the policy.



“I think ‘immediately’ is kind of open to interpretation,” she told the Capital-Journal.

In Monday's 118-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson wrote that the state’s requirement that voters show proof of citizenship during registration violated both the Constitution and the National Voter Registration Act.

Robinson struck down the stringent law, and ordered Kobach to take six additional hours of continuing legal education that “pertain to federal or Kansas civil rules of procedure or evidence.”

In an earlier court order, Robinson had held Kobach in contempt for skirting court orders related to the law and failing to send postcards confirming registration for thousands of voters.

Kobach, who personally defended the law in court, is running for Kansas governor. He was a former vice-chairman of President Trump’s now-defunct voter fraud commission.

 

[IATT]

Just a couple days ago...




I guess I went to a different boarding school.. and camps... in that country...

 

[chao7]

How do you debate the meaning of the word "immediately"?

Spokesperson sounds like she wants him to rack up another contempt of court charge.

Da party of law enforcement

 

[jimmypiff]

Just a couple days ago...

Add her to the long list of people that trump shoved their foot in their mouths.

 

[IATT]

 

[EddieDoyers]

WE.
TRIED.
TO.
WARN.
YA.

But you didn't listen

Because you knew better than the coastal elites

Now you want H2b?

When you wanted to own the libs but ended up owning your bank account