On Saturday or Sunday, Trump stated, while discussing Hurricane Dorian, that the forecasted track had it strongly impacting Alabama. About 20 minutes later, the NWS in Alabama said that was wrong - Alabama was not going to be impacted at all, the storm would be too far east. The map of the storm track initially showed it going across Florida and heading towards the Gulf but did not show any part of Alabama in the path. When ABC News reported on this, Trump tweeted that the reporter - Jon Karl - was making it up.
Today, while discussing Dorian in the Oval Office, Trump used the same 4-day old map - even though the track is now going up the east coast, making that original map outdated - and insisted that it was initially forecasted to hit Alabama as he said. Because he is fundamentally incapable of ever admitting he made a mistake or was wrong about something. Someone (a staff person, perhaps) drew in a crude bubble that would have extended the storm track into Alabama with what appeared to be a black Sharpie.
When questioned about the alteration, Trump said he didn't know why it looked like that, but they had a better map using the European model rather than the official NOAA forecast map. If so, why not use that rather than the official forecast map? Why alter the official map with what looks like something a child in kindergarten would do? As far as I know, he never did produce the map of the European model. I do recall seeing some of the European model maps on Friday or Saturday, but I don't recall if any of the "strings" forecast it as going as far west as Alabama.
As the article above notes, it's actually a federal crime to knowingly alter an NOAA forecast and present it as the real forecast, punishable by a fine and/or 90 days in jail. Doing it just because you refuse to admit you made a mistake is not a defense.
Trump spent almost the entire morning airing grievances on Twitter - 54 tweets this morning alone. Then he flew on Marine 1 (at our expense) from Camp David (which has a golf course) to his property in VA in order to spend the afternoon playing golf (also at our expense - his Secret Service detail has to rent golf carts from his company in order to follow him).
He was supposed to go to Poland this weekend but canceled his plans so that he could stay here and monitor Hurricane Dorian. From a golf course? Really? Is your caddy also a meteorologist?
I'm old enough to remember when he told us in 2016 that he would be too busy as President to ever play golf. Whatever happened to that? Of his roughly 950 days in office so far, about 250 of them (about a third) have been spent playing golf.
If I were a cynic, I would say that the early reports of Dorian making landfall at or near where his prized properties are caused him some concern, but once the track shifted northward he was relieved and decided it was OK, as President and leader of our country, to play a round of golf while millions of people in the areas likely to be affected were scrambling to protect their lives and their property, because he's a malignant narcissist who has no empathy or concern for anyone other than himself.
Thankfully, I'm not a cynic...
I also noted the stark difference to how he reacted to the fact that Puerto Rico was in the path of the hurricane with what he said when it became clear that Florida was in the path.
For Puerto Rico: Again? Will it ever end? (as if they had a choice about being in the path of a hurricane). This time they should say thank you when we help them, especially that nasty female mayor of San Juan.
For Florida: FEMA is in position to help you, follow the instructions the authorities give you and stay safe.
He also repeated his frequent lie that the US has given Puerto Rico $92 billion in hurricane aid. First of all, Puerto Rico is part of the US; they are US citizens - it's not a foreign country that we send aid to. Secondly, Congress has only approved about $40 billion for Puerto Rican hurricane relief, and only about $17 Billion has actually been spent. $92 Billion is an estimate of what the final cost could be, so once again the ultimate con artist is blowing smoke up your skirt, trying to make you believe that the only reality is the one that's in his head, and the MAGAts are buying it.
According to reports, his reelection campaign is broke - he has less than $20,000 in campaign funds going into another election cycle where he will need to have at least 6 or 7 figures available.
He has not received any contributions from PACs aligned with his colleagues in the House, and Republican donors are not giving money to him - he's basically just out there twisting in the wind as his House colleagues and former supporters have abandoned him.
This is what happens when your crazy becomes too crazy to ignore. His white supremacy comments were bad enough, but his recent comments that basically approved of rape and incest crossed a line that even the most right-wing Republicans would have to agree meant that he is bat-sh*t crazy.
It's still possible that he could somehow pull off a win in 2020, but when your party abandons you, they're sending you a message. He will probably be primaried, hopefully by a candidate that is not as crazy. He should probably resign now - it's always better to walk out the front door than to be pushed off the roof.
Donald Trump is insisting that the Fed drop the overnight interest rate by a full percentage point, something that is rarely done even in a poor economy. If it moves, it usually moves by 1/4 point or 1/2 point. Trump says it will stimulate the economy even more.
He was so angry on Friday when Fed Chairman Jerome Powell didn't announce another rate cut that he questioned whether Powell was a bigger enemy than China. Either nobody on his staff told him or they did but he didn't listen, but Powell was speaking at a conference - and the Fed doesn't announce rate changes at conferences and Powell doesn't unilaterally decide what those changes should be. They only announce them after a formal board meeting where the board votes on the change. Another example of Trump not understanding how our government works.
So why is Trump (who appointed Powell to the position) so upset that the Fed - an independent agency - is not doing what he wants them to do immediately?
The Washington Post is now reporting that Trump has four mortgages with Deutsche Bank totaling about $350 million for hotels in DC and Chicago, and for his Doral golf resort in FL. The mortgages are all variable rate, not fixed. Fixed mortgage rates are tied to the 10 or 30-year long bonds, which are not directly affected by Fed rate cuts.
Variable interest rate mortgages, however, move up or down with the Fed's overnight rate, so if the overnight rate is lower from one month to the next, you pay less interest.
See where this is going? And Richie, before you reject my sources as "fake news", this is all publicly available information.
WAPO estimates that Trump would stand to save millions in interest payments on these mortgages if the Fed does what he is trying to bully them into doing. Bloomberg News estimated that Trump would save at least $3 million annually on the four loans if the Fed dropped the overnight rate by the full point he is demanding.
$3 million annually in savings personally for POTUS, directly tied to the very public pressure he is putting on a government agency. Another attempted abuse of power by POTUS for personal gain.
It's not "Make America Great Again" - it's "Make Trump Solvent Again".
So, tell me. If you actually and truly believed in all of the sky is falling lies that the dem’s are putting forth, would you spend $14M on a house that is supposed to be under water in 10 years?
POTUS tweeted today that "I hereby order" American manufacturing companies to find an alternative to China - to find other suppliers or to bring their manufacturing back to America.
"I hereby order"? Really? He doesn't have the authority to tell private companies how to run their business. He doesn't have the right to demand that they change their business model.
There's a word for that... you know, when the government asserts control over the means of production? I learned this back in high school... it's on the tip of my tongue... Oh, I remember now!
President Trump yesterday when asked about a possible recession: The talk of a possible recession is a media conspiracy to defeat me in 2020! The American economy is stronger than it's ever been in history! There can't be a recession because Americans are RICH after my tax cuts!
President Trump today when asked about a possible recession: We're considering a cut in the payroll tax. We're considering a middle-class tax cut. The Fed should lower the interest rate by a full 1%.
Why is he talking about possible solutions today for a problem he said didn't exist yesterday? Just more gaslighting from the master gaslighter - don't believe what you see and hear, just believe what I tell you.
His "solutions" won't work, but that's to be expected from someone who has no knowledge of basic economics and has two "advisors" who are incompetent. Kudlow stated on his TV show in 2008 that the economy was strong and there would be no recession - on the SAME DAY that Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, triggering the Great Recession. Kudlow's performance on this past Sunday's news shows alarmed a lot of people - with his slurred speech and repetitions, many thought he was drunk, some thought he might have been having a stroke, and others just thought he may have been having a medical problem. Having seen the videos, all I can say was that something was not quite right. I don't believe he was drunk, but something as not quite right. Could have been something as simple as medication.
Navarro is a quack economist whose theories have been rejected by a lot of economists. It has been widely reported that Jared was tasked with finding an economist, and found Navarro after a search on Amazon. This is how Trump finds the "best people"? Whatever happened to vetting?
The point here is that we may or may not be heading into a recession. Hopefully, we are not in the near term - but if we are, we're screwed because there doesn't seem to be anyone in charge who knows what they're doing.
I don't understand how Iowans in his district have continued to re-elect this clown unless they are stupid as he is.
His latest - he says there would not be human population today if it were not for rape and incest. What he said was recorded on video.
That may be why only TWO people showed up for his town hall this week. Also on video.
And now he is demanding -DEMANDING -that the media and the GOP apologize to him for talking about WHAT HE ACTUALLY SAID.
There really has to be an idiocy test before you can be a member of Congress. I can think of at least three current members that couldn't pass it, and King is one of them.
Trump attacked Fox News today - Fox News, the network that got him elected! - because their most recent polls show that his support is slipping. He said, "there's something going on at Fox News"' as if they have joined the "Fake News" conspiracy against him - because to Trump, any news that is critical of him is fake news.
The Fox News polls are considered by many to be very accurate, so here's a question - if you are a Trump cultist and think the Fox News polls are BS, why are you still watching Fox News???
The Fox entertainment/propaganda division (Hannity, et al) continues to shill for Trump, but the news division - the journalists and reporters who do real actual news - has been trying to report the reality, and they know it's not pretty.
Fox News does not manipulate the poll, they just report the results. The fact that Trump doesn't like it doesn't make it fake.
More signs that there's something going on: Trump holds a campaign rally in NH. Usually, there's a wall of people behind him, waving signs. This time, I'm looking at video of the event and there are a lot of empty seats behind him. His advance team couldn't find or hire bodies to fill those seats? What kind of message does that send?
And speaking of hiring supporters, it's been widely reported that workers at a Shell plant in PA this week were given the option of attending a Trump speech at the plant - with the caveat of not protesting - and being paid for their time, or going home and getting nothing. So we see an event - essentailly a campaign rally - with a lot of people who are there only because they are being paid to do so. Classic Trump.
The yield curve went to full inversion, which is historically a sign of a recession in the next 10 months or so.
The yield curve refers to the dividends that Treasury bonds will yield; the way it normally works is that the longer you invest and hold the bond, the higher the yield will be - so in a strong economy, the curve trends upwards. 30-year bonds affect long term loans such as mortgages.
When investors start to abandon stocks for bonds, the yields are higher for short-term investments than they are for long-term investments - the curve inverts and it trends downwards. What has happened is that the yield for a 30-year bond is now lower than it is for a short-term bond - that's the inversion. Historically, this has happened before every recession we've had and it's the reason the markets tanked today.
Some people, including former Fed chair Yellen, are saying that it's a false indicator this time and that we're not headed for a recession. We'll know in a few months.
But our Dear Leader - who famously took credit for all the economic growth after his inauguration - even though it was just a continuation of the growth that began under his predecessor - is now desperately trying to find someone else to blame for the impending crash. He's starting with the Fed - chaired by a man HE appointed to the job - which has nothing to do with any of this. Eventually, it will become either Obama's or Hillary's fault. At no point will he acknowledge the fact that a lot of this is due to the uncertainty his ignorance of economics and economic policy are causing among investors. POTUS is supposed to lead, and he's incapable of doing that.
More importantly, he will never ever, ever, EVER admit that he did something wrong. The good things are always to his credit, even if he had nothing to do with them; the bad things are ALWAYS someone else's fault. That's how he has behaved for 40 or 50 years in business, and that's how he is running his presidency. MAGA.
Trump announces he's going to impose additional tariffs on Chinese imports starting September 1, repeating his lie that China is paying us billions of dollars in tariffs. Aside from the fact that China is not paying a dime - the tariffs are paid by the importers on our side and passed along to consumers - China has devalued its currency, making their goods cheaper to import even with the tariffs. So where are these billions of dollars coming from? They're coming from your wallet. I don't know why the Trump cultists can't grasp that basic economic concept, but that's how tariffs work - they are essentially a tax on the consumer.
Today, Trump announced that he is delaying imposing many of those tariffs until December because of concerns about how they might affect the Christmas shopping season.
Why?? He's been telling us that China is paying the tariffs and prices for consumers will not go up. If that's true, why would all of that money China is allegedly paying us have a negative effect on our Christmas shopping season? Is it possible that Trump is admitting that he is lying to us? Do YOU, Trump cultists, finally realize that this has all been a con and he has been lying to YOU?
His trade policy is a dumpster fire - no side ever wins a trade war, and the last major one we had pushed us and the rest of the world into the Great Depression.
Google "Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act". Trump has no concept of history because he doesn't read and has shown an incredible ignorance of history. As the saying goes: Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it...
.. about Epstein's suicide - a conspiracy theory that claims Bill Clinton was responsible for the death - and Don Jr tweets his dismay about why it's not trending higher, claiming it shows Twitter's bias.
So much to unpack here...
First of all - WTF is this POTUS doing accusing a former POTUS of murder when there is absolutely zero evidence to indicate that this happened? If that doesn't convince you that he is mentally unstable and unfit for the office he holds, what will?
Secondly, Epstein was being held at the Manhattan Correctional Center in NYC, which is under the control of the DOJ. The DOJ is controlled by Trump's sycophant, William Barr. Both Bill Clinton and Donald Trump had a relationship with Epstein. If you're going to believe the ridiculous conspiracy theory that Epstein was murdered to keep him quiet - and I do not - connect the dots. Who had direct access to him? Hint - it wasn't Bill Clinton.
Third - Don Jr. is a bigger idiot than his father is, and I didn't think that was possible. He doesn't understand how Twitter works. He complained that the hashtag #TrumpDeaths was trending higher than #ClintonDeaths because there were more #ClintonDeaths hashtags (right there we have a serious problem, because why are we even talking about this???), and therefore, in his fevered mind, Twitter was discriminating against them.
Let me take a step back and make sure I 've gotten this right - Don Jr is saying that Twitter is discriminating against his father because they don't promote his conspiracy theory above a competing conspiracy theory. This is just batsh*t crazy stuff.
For the record, trending on Twitter is not determined by how many tweets there are - it's determined by the frequency of those tweets. That means there could be a bunch of tweets with a specific hashtag posted all at once vs a bunch of tweets posted with a different hashtag over time, and the latter is the one that will be trending. The Trumps and the radical conservatives who think they're being censored don't understand how this works, so they blame the platform rather than their own ignorance about how the platform works.
And because of their ignorance, they want to control the social media platforms. If that doesn't scare the sh*t out of you, there's something seriously wrong with you.
Michael Moore says he is turning in his Soul Cycle membership because of their support for Trump. I see 2 problems here for this sack of poopoo. 1. I seriously doubt if Moore has ever spent more than 5 minutes on a stationary bike. 2. Soul Cycle does not offer memberships. Can you say hypocrite? I knew you could.
The lefties are self imploding, and it's fun to watch! I'm enjoying this, Hugh are you?
