The New York Times published a shocking story about Elaine Chao, Trump’s Transportation Secretary and Mitch McConnell’s Wife. Her family owns a major shipping company in China. She has no ownership of the shipping company, but her father has given Elaine and Mitch millions of dollars. Under Elaine Chao’s leadership, the American maritime industry has gone into decline.
Over the years, Ms. Chao has repeatedly used her connections and celebrity status in China to boost the profile of the company, which benefits handsomely from the expansive industrial policies in Beijing that are at the heart of diplomatic tensions with the United States, according to interviews, industry filings and government documents from both countries.
Now, Ms. Chao is the top Trump official overseeing the American shipping industry, which is in steep decline and overshadowed by its Chinese competitors.
Her efforts on behalf of the family business — appearing at promotional events, joining her father in interviews with Chinese-language media — have come as Foremost has interacted with the Chinese state to a remarkable degree for an American company.
Foremost has received hundreds of millions of dollars in loan commitments from a bank run by the Chinese government, whose policies have been labeled by the Trump administration as threats to American security. The company’s primary business — delivering China’s iron ore and coal — is intertwined with industries caught up in a trade war with the United States. That dispute stems in part from the White House’s complaints that China is flooding the world with subsidized steel, undermining American producers.
Foremost, though a relatively small company in its sector, is responsible for a large portion of orders at one of China’s biggest state-funded shipyards, and has secured long-term charters with a Chinese state-owned steel maker as well as global commodity companies that guarantee it steady revenues….
Since Elaine Chao became transportation secretary, records show, the agency budget has repeatedly called to cut programs intended to stabilize the financially troubled maritime industry in the United States, moving to cut new funding for federal grants to small commercial shipyards and federal loan guarantees to domestic shipbuilders.
Her agency’s budget has also tried to slash spending for a grant program that helps keep 60 American-flagged ships in service, and has tried to scale back plans to buy new ships that would train Americans as crew members. (In China, Ms. Chao’s family has paid for scholarships and a ship simulator to train Chinese seamen.)
Congress, in bipartisan votes, has rejected the budget cuts, some of which have been offered up again for next year. One opponent of the cuts has been Representative Alan Lowenthal, a California Democrat whose district includes one of the nation’s largest cargo ports.
Trump is destroying the US economy. His tax plan has driven the deficit to enormous heights, enriched the wealthy, and done nothing for the middle and lower classes. He keeps tweeting that China is paying billions to the US in tariffs, which reveals his utter ignorance, for the increased tariffs that he levied on Chinese goods are paid by American importers and, through them, by American consumers. (I guess that if your Daddy gets you into Wharton to take a degree in running real estate scams, you don’t have to take any economics classes.) The government had to pay billions of your money to US farmers to make up, partially, for the Trump trade war. As I write this, only 58 percent of the US soybean and corn crop is in the ground due to the recent heavy flooding, a consequence of the global warming that Trump denies because his intuition is so much better than science is. Now he plans to place a 5 percent increase in tariffs on all products and commodities imported from Mexico, which will increase by another 5 percent every month to a total of 25 percent. Again, these are costs that Americans will pay. The crop shortage and the shortage of food imported from Mexico will mean that grocery prices will skyrocket. But I guess there will be no problem slopping the swine at the trough at Mar-a-lago.
Oh, and Mitch went on a talk show to talk about the necessity of getting Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare in order to pay for the increased deficit due to the tax cut that he and Trump and Ryan shoved through. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrWhVBuogKQ
McConnell sneaked this ‘wonderful tax cut’ for the middle class and Trump signed it congratulating the middle class.
……..
Trump says wealthy won’t benefit from GOP tax plan
Fox Business
Published on Sep 14, 2017
FBN’s Blake Burman on President Trump’s push for tax reform.
Trump went to Mar-a-lago just after this cut was passed, sat at dinner with his wealthy friends, and told them that he had just given them all a big Christmas present, so he knew darned well what the consequence of his tax cut would be.
Trump insulted the Mayor of London as he landed in London.
Who has he not insulted?
I remember when he used to block people on Twitter, and those who were blocked wore it as a badge of honor.
I vaguely recall that Twitter made him unblock everyone b/c he is president. But I may be wrong.
Who has Trump not insulted?
Putin and Kim Jong-un
Did I miss any living dictators/tyrants that Trump hasn’t insulted?
Duerte in the Philippines
He admires him.
Trump also admires Erdogan in Turkey.
……………………….
Trump congratulates Erdoğan after Turkey vote grants sweeping powers
April 18, 2017
“Donald Trump called to congratulate Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hours after the Turkish president claimed a narrow victory in a contested referendum that will grant him sweeping new powers.
Trump’s call came as the Turkish government announced late on Monday night that it would be extending the state of emergency in the country by three more months.
International observers monitoring the Turkish referendum concluded in a preliminary report on Monday that the campaign and vote took place in a political environment where the “fundamental freedoms essential to a genuinely democratic process were curtailed”.
The US president spoke on Monday with Erdoğan, whose triumph in the constitutional referendum escalated concern over his increasingly authoritarian grip on power.
Trump’s congratulatory message strikes a starkly different tone from the statement issued by the US state department on Monday, which urged Erdoğan to respect his citizens’ fundamental rights and noted the report’s findings of “irregularities on voting day and an uneven playing field during the difficult campaign period”…
https://gu.com/p/6aeac/sbl
The economists agree that Trump’s tariffs on Mexico will do great damage to the US auto industry because the supply lines between the two countries are integrated. Thousands of auto workers will lose their jobs and the average car buyer will pay $1300 more for a car.
I’m really worried about the combination of the crops issue and the tariffs on Mexican goods. Food prices are already very high for the poor in the US. The combination of the two could be the perfect storm.
$1300 more?
That’s just a few hundred dollars less than I paid for my latest car (a 16 year old Saturn, which drives and looks great, by the way)
I bought it used a year ago and quite frankly, think it’s nuts to buy a new car with all the changes that are coming in the near future ,(self driving electric cars, car sharing etc,)
If economists agree, we should REALLY worry, cuz that is highly unusual.
You’ve heard the old joke about asking 10 economists a question and getting 15 different answers?
Chao is as big a bum as her husband, said to be the richest Senator, Mitch McConnell. Neither is fit to hold office. Her father is also under investigation with his shipping company, to be running drugs. America does NOT come first with either of this soul less couple who measure things purely as to who gets the most cash. Hope all here vote for any Dem who runs against Mitch..and if it is Amy McGrath…be generous in your donation.
being married to Mitch McConnell screams ‘lack of moral center’
It is not far-fetched or hyperbole to assert that the Chao family and, by extension, Chinese business interests, have funded McConnell’s entire political career. Kentucky is, in essence, closer to China than California! It’s the symbolic merging of the Manchurian and Muscovite candidates!
From the Dallas News: “Donald Trump and the political action committees for Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Lindsey Graham, John Kasich and John McCain accepted $7.35 million in contributions from a Ukrainian-born oligarch who is the business partner of two of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s favorite oligarchs and a Russian government bank.” https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/12/15/putins-proxies-helped-funnel-millions-gop-campaigns
That’s what happens from the impact of Citizens United. Dark money from out of the country can influence our elections.
In this case, Dark Money from abroad is destroying our maritime industry and that fool Trump is letting it happen.
Dark money is the scourge of democracy.
If HRC had won and appointed 2 Supreme Court justices, Citizens United would likely already be repealed, or certainly soon. Now we will live with that for decades.
Those on the left who refused to vote for a Democrat because they wrongly believe that giving an inordinate advantage to far right wing haters of democracy who will do anything to keep power would somehow lead to a more progressive government were wrong. And we will live with this mistake for a long time. Even if a progressive wins, he or she will be constrained from doing so much good.
I can’t figure out why anyone would want to make the same mistake twice. I am worried that they see Nazi Germany as their model and insist that Germany eventually became far more progressive. Which is technically true, but only at a huge price. And unfortunately, it is usually other far more vulnerable people paying the price.
Now we know the alleged under-the-table (or on a Trump golf course) deal McConnell made with Trump. Trump made McConnell’s wife transportation secretary and McConnell promised total loyalty to protect and support everything Trump wants and does — probably all the way to mass murder and treason.
Some questions for 2020 candidates:
Would you issue a pardon to Donald Trump?
Do you support banning foreign money from US politics, including contributions to US political PACs?
I don’t think it matters if they would pardon Trump or not, because most of his legal nightmares after he’s gone from the White Houe are coming from states like New York, his home state, and DT can’t be pardoned from state courts.
:o)
I want to hear them say it.
You want to hear the states say what they are planning to do in court once Trump is out of office?
Maybe this is what you want to hear.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/12/10/schiff-trump-possible-jail-time/2262418002/
I dream of this creep being put in prison with NO possibility of being pardoned. It is past time for Trump’s criminal activity to stop and for him to be held accountable. Here’s to the SDNY.
Wow. I really am speechless.
Ditch Mitch Fund – Single Worst
Ditch Mitch Fund
Published on Jun 3, 2019
No one has done more damage to our country than Mitch McConnell. That’s why we started the Ditch Mitch Fund, a completely-grassroots organization solely dedicated to defeating McConnell in 2020. Help us Ditch Mitch by donating today: https://ditchmitchfund.com
I gave to the Ditch Mitch Fund.
He is worse than Trump because he lets Trump destroy every institution–including Congress–for the sake of letting Mitch stack the federal judiciary with bigots and fools.
Years ago, I was was working for a company that was purchased by another, which installed a new CEO. The new guy thought of himself as master of “The Art of the Deal.” A few months into the new “leadership,” we received a companywide email from him saying that there was no truth to the rumor that the company was considering selling X division. One of my staffers said to me, “So this means that they are considering selling X division, right?” In other words, in the course of a few short months, this CEO had conditioned his employees to expect that everything that he said would be the opposite of the truth.
This was truly astonishing. Prez Pinocchio lies without any concern whatsoever with how easily their lies can be refuted. Mexico will pay for the wall. I had no business with Russia. The tax company won’t benefit the wealthy. China is paying us billions in tariffs.
Now here’s the odd thing about this. Usually, when people lie, it’s because they are unscrupulous and have a reasonable expectation that people will believe them. So, whom does Trump think is going to believe the stuff he says? His base. It has shown, again and again, that it will believe ANYTHING this guy says. And his party, which will go against its own deepest principles. Remember when the Repugnican Party was the party of free trade? Remember when it was deeply opposed to Russian attempts to undermine US alliances? What happened to that.
All of which shows that Trumpism is not so much a political movement as a cult.
One searches for deeper explanations for this stuff. Do Trump and McConnell lie continually and blatantly, knowing how easily their lies can be refuted, because they can? Is this a matter of pure narcissism–a way of thumbing their noses at the opposition and saying, “I am so powerful that I can get away with anything?” Is this the emperor going naked not because he is convinced of the value of his invisible clothes but because he knows that no one he cares about will dare question him and relishes that power above all else? or is it a matter of intentional mucking up of the works at the direction of a foreign power? In either case, it is strange, indeed, that we have come to such a pass.
Trump practices his version of the “art of the deal.” Lie, cheat, bully, threaten, intimidate, then steal or walk away.
Oh, Lord. I just reread that post of mine. It’s FULL OF typos!!! Very embarrassing! Aie yie yie. Apologies, all! In the future, I shall try to remember to proofread before hitting that Send button!
Bob Shepherd: Don’t feel bad. We’ve all done it. [At least I have. I reread what I just sent and sometimes groan.]
Thanks, Carol!
None Dare Call It Treason, Redux?
How true The Onion is today.
….
Mitch McConnell Feeling Emasculated By Wife Who Makes More Illicit Money Than Him
WASHINGTON—Admitting that the financial arrangement of their marriage made him uncomfortable, Senator Mitch McConnell revealed Monday that he often feels emasculated by his wife, U.S. secretary of transportation Elaine Chao, who makes more illicit money than him. “I don’t like saying it, but it makes me feel like less of a man to see how much more ethically compromised money my wife brings in,” said the Republican Senate majority leader, adding that despite his own efforts to leverage his congressional standing for ill-gotten gains from a variety of dark-money financiers, the vast majority of the couple’s wealth came from his wife’s work using her government positions to give favorable treatment to her family’s overseas firms. “I’m a traditional guy, so it’s just hard to stomach looking at our joint illicit finances and knowing she’s contributing way more dirty money than me. Plus, her family gives us a lot of cash, which is kind of embarrassing to be a grown adult man receiving financial help from your wife’s corrupt parents. It’s just hard being in a marriage where your wife is the primary payola winner.” McConnell also admitted that in his darkest moments, he feels emasculated by the thought that his wife has been way more successful at undermining the principles of democratic government in the United States than he has.
https://politics.theonion.com/mitch-mcconnell-feeling-emasculated-by-wife-who-makes-m-1835205639?utm_medium=sharefromsite&utm_source=theonion_email&utm_campaign=top
When I was growing up, I often heard people talking about “the democratic experiment.” I want to focus for a moment on the “experiment” part there. Democratic states face grave dangers. One is that their enemies are freer to operate within them than within authoritarian states. But this, I think, is the more serious issue: In a democratic state with a profoundly uneducated populace, it’s possible to elect people like Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell to office, and they can do extreme damage.
Almost half of the US soybean and corn crop for this year has not been planted because of the catastrophic flooding we had in the Midwest. On top of this, Trump has just announced that he is placing a 5 percent tariff on all goods coming from Mexico, a tariff that will increase by 5 percent each month to a total of 25 percent. Mexico is our fourth largest trading partner, but it is our SECOND LARGEST for food.
A third of US children live in poverty. Food is already extremely expensive for the poor. 50 million Americans already live with chronic food insecurity. Soon, that’s going to get much, much worse.
Elections have consequences.
If our elected reps refuse to bring consequences to this corrupt admin we must. We must make it painfully clear that you work for us, not trump. Disregarding our welfare to enrich yourselves will be short lived. If we must replace everyone of you that have put party before country, we will. The anger is mushrooming up to an explosion. Hope that elections can contain it or else. How long ago was the civil war?
How many times throughout history does this have to be repeated? But the people of the state of Kentucky keep going to the polls and voting for Mitch and against themselves.
I’m ashamed of this country when it is run by a racist, bigoted, ignorant hate-filled moron. How much damage is enough? It was ‘too cold in the facility’? These tortured children will never recover.
We need a Baby Trump balloon flying in front of the WH.
………………………………..
Migrant Kids ‘Kept in Van for 39 Hours’ for Reunifications
Migrant children who were torn from their parents by Trump administration policies faced one more horrific experience before being reunited with their families last summer, according to a NBC News report. On a boiling Texas day last July, 37 kids boarded vans for what they were told would be a 30-minute ride—but one was stuck on board for 39 hours. Most of the children, who were all between 5 and 12 years old at the time, spent at least 23 hours in the vehicles. “The children were initially taken into the facility, but were then returned to the van as the facility was still working on paperwork,” explained Andrew Carter, a regional director for BCFS Heath and Human Services, a government contractor and nonprofit responsible for the children. “The children were brought back in later in the evening, but returned to the vans because it was too cold in the facility and they were still not ready to be processed in.” An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said the incident was “unusual,” adding: “These children have all been reunited with their parents and since then, no child has spent more than a few hours waiting to be reunited with their parents.”
Read it at NBC News
You’d be sadly mistaken if you think for one minute we have forgotten how trump is treating kids and their families. After creating a crisis, he wants to lock people up and forget about them. Any person of color or not should be angry and ready to get this asshole out of office. In 2020, he and his repub sheep will feel our wrath!
Campaign Money Helping Make Up For Tenant Shortage At Trump Tower
NEW YORK — With commercial tenants fleeing his Trump Tower, President Donald Trump continues to spend $37,500 a month of campaign money for office space there — with some of that cash destined for his own wallet ― even as thousands of square feet go unused at a newly opened office in northern Virginia….
When he announced his campaign in June 2015, Trump based it in on the fifth floor of his 57-story building a few blocks from Central Park. At the time, he was largely self-funding his campaign, and the rent he charged himself was $35,458 a month for 13,100 square feet of space that had been used as a set for his reality TV game show, “The Apprentice.”
A year later, after Trump had secured the nomination and GOP donors began paying for his campaign, he started charging it nearly five times that much, $169,758 per month, although the campaign also began using the floor directly above the fifth floor, the 14th.
(Trump Tower’s floor numbering scheme was designed to make it seem taller than it is. Floors six through 13 do not exist. Nor do 27, 28 or 29.)
After winning the presidency, Trump took the unprecedented step of opening his reelection campaign the day he was inaugurated. Former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, in contrast, did not open reelection accounts until their third years in office…
Article: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-tower-campaign_n_5cf572e2e4b0e346ce82d3eb
Are we supposed to be surprised? Good luck on getting money from Trump. He thrives on not paying people. How else is he to become wealthy? Hope other cities who welcome Trump read about this and rethink having him come.
………………………………………….
El Paso Still Waiting For Trump Campaign To Pay $470,000 Overdue Rally Tab
El Paso charged Donald J. Trump for President Inc. $470,000 for his “Make America Great Again” rally Feb. 11. The bill was due April 24, but the campaign hasn’t paid a dime. Some city costs incurred for Trump’s rally included $381,000 for extra police and $61,000 for fire department services.
“It shows a lack of concern for the community and the tax paying voters of El Paso,” city Rep. Alexsandra Annello told the El Paso Times. “President Trump has in many ways, over the last year, put a financial burden on this community and has yet to show us the respect we deserve. It is clear that our borderland is not a priority of the president.”
El Paso’s chief financial officer, Robert Cortinas, told ABC News: “As with any invoices we issue out, our expectation is to be paid for the services rendered. The city is fiscally responsible.”
Article: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-el-paso-rally-debt_n_5cf5b1d9e4b0e8085e3f1110
Serves them right. Allowing this cheating racist to have credit makes you the sap. How many people has he cheated out of rightful payments.
News from Hong Kong.
…………….
http://www.inkstonenews.com: China warns students about studying in the US
Beijing issued an official warning on Monday for people seeking to study in the United States, amid heightened tensions between the two countries.
China’s Ministry of Education urged students and academics to “raise their risk assessment” after an increase in visa delays and denials for those who had applied to study in the US.
“For a period of time now, some Chinese students in the US have faced situations where their visas were restricted, the visa review period was extended, the period of validity was shortened, or [their applications] were rejected,” it said in a statement, relayed by the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
In June last year, a US State Department official told a Senate hearing that Chinese students in “sensitive fields” could face additional screening.
Xu Yongji, deputy head of the international department at the Chinese Ministry of Education, on Monday said that 13.5% of government-sponsored students, 182 in total, had been denied visas to the US in the first quarter of the year.
This reflected a significant increase from the roughly 3% of students – out of a total of 10,313 applicants – who were unable to study in the US last year, according to the China Scholarship Council, which funds overseas students.
https://inks.tn/p46?utm_source=email&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=share_button
Pro Tip:
If you plan to buy a new car this year, you definitely need to know that President Trump’s trade war may prompt major sticker shock at the dealership. The average price of a new car is already up 4 percent ($1,320) this year, and may rise another $1,300 thanks to tariffs against Mexico. One expert says you may either want to delay your purchase or consider buying used instead.
Just another way these corrupt officials are tearing America apart internally. While we acquiesce to Russia and China, rump and his meet men and women get rich off the public dime. We see it happening yet we do nothing
The abuse from this despicable administration never ends. I feel so sorry for these children who have to endure this abuse. These children are away from their parents and get no relief. Trump is a hate-filled, SICK, bigoted person. How sad that he has sycophants who adore him. He makes me sick.
Trump creates problems.
……………..
The Washington Post
Democracy Dies in Darkness
News Alert Jun 5, 11:16 AM
Trump administration cancels English classes, legal aid, recreational programs for unaccompanied child migrants in U.S. shelters
The Office of Refugee Resettlement has begun discontinuing the funding stream for activities — including soccer — that have been deemed “not directly necessary for the protection of life and safety, including education services, legal services, and recreation,” according to the Department of Health and Human Services. The immigration influx at the southern border has created critical budget pressures, with more than 40,800 children being placed into HHS custody this year.