The 45th POTUS - Donald J. Trump

[bune]

[BurtReynolds]

Haha

[tragabigzanda]

Haha

Yea, this was great.

[McParadigm]

[bune]

Jesus.

[B]

[McParadigm]

I can't wait until John McCain gets mad enough to reveal that his lasting injuries were cover, ninjas his way into the White House, and then just plows through the place hip tossing and judo chopping like a Star Trek captain.

[McParadigm]

Or Robin Williams reveals that he faked his death and has been an undercover operative acting as an old British maid in the White House, wearing a wire. And don't worry guys he's totally happy.

[Self]

[Self]

I'm torn when people remind me of Robin Williams. The Fisher King still fucks with me.

[96583UP]

wut

[McParadigm]

This is pretty cool.

[McParadigm]

NYT:

Rhonda McCracken is a kindergarten teacher and a Republican who voted for President Trump. Now she’s wrestling with the consequences.

McCracken’s deep-rooted conservatism is matched by a passion to support Tulsa Domestic Violence Intervention Services, a nonprofit that helped her flee an ex- who she says beat and choked her, once until unconsciousness. She became teary as she described how staff members at the organization helped her and her son escape that relationship.

“They saved my life, and my son’s,” she said, her eyes liquid.

So she is aghast that one of Trump’s first proposals is to cut federal funds that sustain the organization. “My prayer is that Congress will step in” to protect domestic violence programs, she said.

Here in Oklahoma, I’ve been interviewing many people like McCracken — fervent Trump supporters who now find that the White House is trying to ax programs they have depended on, to pay for Trump’s border wall and for increases in military spending. And they’re upset.

“Why is building a wall more important than educating people?” asked Billy Hinkle, a Trump voter who is enrolled in a program called Tulsa WorkAdvance that trains mostly unemployed workers to fill well-paying manufacturing jobs. Trump has proposed eliminating a budget pot that pays for the program.

Another Trump supporter in the program, Tarzan Vince, put it this way: “If he’s preaching jobs, why take away jobs?”

I came to Trump country to see how voters react as Trump moves from glorious campaign promises to the messier task of governing. While conservatives often decry government spending in general, red states generally receive more in federal government benefits than blue states do — and thus are often at greater risk from someone like Trump.

Ezekiel Moreno, 35, a Navy veteran, was stocking groceries in a supermarket at night — “a dead-end job,” as he describes it — when he was accepted in WorkAdvance two years ago. That training led him to a job at M&M Manufacturing, which makes aerospace parts, and to steady pay increases.

“We’ve moved out of an apartment and into a house,” Moreno told me, explaining how his new job has changed his family’s life. “My daughter is taking violin lessons, and my other daughter has a math tutor.”

Moreno was sitting at a table with his boss, Rocky Payton, the factory’s general manager, and Amy Saum, the human resources manager. All said they had voted for Trump, and all were bewildered that he wanted to cut funds that channel people into good manufacturing jobs.

“There’s a lot of wasteful spending, so cut other places,” Moreno said.

Payton suggested that if the government wants to cut budgets, it should target “Obama phones” provided to low-income Americans. (In fact, the program predates President Barack Obama and is financed by telecom companies rather than by taxpayers.)

Judy Banks, a 70-year-old struggling to get by, said she voted for Trump because “he was talking about getting rid of those illegals.” But Banks now finds herself shocked that he also has his sights on funds for the Labor Department’s Senior Community Service Employment Program, which is her lifeline. It pays senior citizens a minimum wage to hold public service jobs.

“This program makes sense,” said Banks, who was placed by the program into a job as a receptionist for a senior nutrition program. Banks said she depends on the job to make ends meet, and for an excuse to get out of the house.

“If I lose this job,” she said, “I’ll sit home and die.”

Yet she said she might still vote for Trump in 2020. And that’s a refrain I heard over and over. Some of the loyalty seemed to be grounded in resentment at Democrats for mocking Trump voters as dumb bigots, some from a belief that budgets are complicated, and some from a sense that it’s too early to abandon their man. They did say that if jobs didn’t reappear, they would turn against him.

[McParadigm]

I don't really like apocryphal stories as a means of investigating where people stand, but I was struck in reading that article how much it sounded like the things I'm hearing from back home. It still comes down to "all government spending is unnecessary and wasteful....except for the program(s) I directly benefit from."

[BurtReynolds]

http://time.com/4721944/russia-april-fools-day/

[96583UP]

http://time.com/4721944/russia-april-fools-day/

those bastards

[BurtReynolds]

I for one welcome our new Russian overlords.

[Electromatic]

I for one welcome our new Russian overlords.

Well I mean we already have a constitutional oligarchy so it shouldn't be too different anyway.

[McParadigm]

I for one welcome our new Russian overlords.

I hope they make the corn palace the new seat of gubment when they move in. It's perfect for the new Russian America. It says American Pride out front, has very prominent onion domes, and is nowhere near classy enough for a place like Atlantic City.

[4/5]

I don't really like apocryphal stories as a means of investigating where people stand, but I was struck in reading that article how much it sounded like the things I'm hearing from back home. It still comes down to "all government spending is unnecessary and wasteful....except for the program(s) I directly benefit from."

That's the same thing that struck me. I suppose this is where liberals would use that as evidence of, "see people benefit from these programs, so don't take them away!" but I think this is better evidence for the economically conservative arguments against having a legion of governmental programs attempting to solve every problem under the sun. People get accustomed to that stream of government benefits and it is very, very difficult to turn off the spigot.