2016 Election
Quote: EvenBobMurdock is supporting Bush, and Trump is
in the way. Trump is hard to hurt because people
know who he is after 10 years on TV. And he
has his own money. He's pissed now, he might
stay around longer than he intended just to
get back at them.
Murdock still has betters. And Trump is a mid-level player. Like Stalin said "it isn't who votes that matters, it's who counts the votes".
The election is just more bread and circuses. I predict Walker is the GOP front-runner.
Ross Perot faded, Ron Paul faded, Trump will take a dive, he is not a member.
Quote: HowManyC'mon, wise up, you guys. Trump isn't running for president.
We could devote an entire thread debating whether or not this is true.
During June and July, I figured Trump wasn't serious about living in the White House. I assumed Trump's plan was to enter the race, play the dumb game for a few months, lose a couple primaries and then cash out: take his chips home and parlay all that free publicity into sales & revenue for the brand. Another book, another reality TV show, some paid speeches, etc. It's fun, it's exciting, and it's relatively cheap advertising for the brand. Hey, why not?
Maybe the marketing angle was Trump's original plan, but something unexpected happened: he didn't just lead the pack by a couple percentage points, and his lead didn't just last for a couple weeks. He's clobbering the competition by 10 or 20 percentage points, no one is even close! He's been on fire since June, and every ridiculous offensive comment which would normally kill any other politician only seems to add to his lead.
So now what? Fold and leave the game? Or go all the way?
Being President is a thankless, terrible job with way too many problems to fix and absolutely no easy fixes. It doesn't pay well, you have (literally) millions of enemies working hard to sabotage your efforts, and (unfairly or not) you get blamed for everything that goes wrong anywhere in the world.
On the other hand, it's the most powerful position in the world, and a megalomaniac lunatic like Trump craves power & attention. He's hard-wired to want this job. And now that he's gotten so close, I don't see him quitting.
The man loves power & attention. He can't help himself. He's addicted.
Quote: reno
The man loves power & attention. He can't help himself. He's addicted.
He's also going to be 70 next year
and 71 the year he takes office.
That alone tells me he's not serious.
Not even Reagan was that old when
he entered the WH.
Quote: renoWe could devote an entire thread debating whether or not this is true.
During June and July, I figured Trump wasn't serious about living in the White House. I assumed Trump's plan was to enter the race, play the dumb game for a few months, lose a couple primaries and then cash out: take his chips home and parlay all that free publicity into sales & revenue for the brand. Another book, another reality TV show, some paid speeches, etc. It's fun, it's exciting, and it's relatively cheap advertising for the brand. Hey, why not?
Maybe the marketing angle was Trump's original plan, but something unexpected happened: he didn't just lead the pack by a couple percentage points, and his lead didn't just last for a couple weeks. He's clobbering the competition by 10 or 20 percentage points, no one is even close! He's been on fire since June, and every ridiculous offensive comment which would normally kill any other politician only seems to add to his lead.
So now what? Fold and leave the game? Or go all the way?
Being President is a thankless, terrible job with way too many problems to fix and absolutely no easy fixes. It doesn't pay well, you have (literally) millions of enemies working hard to sabotage your efforts, and (unfairly or not) you get blamed for everything that goes wrong anywhere in the world.
On the other hand, it's the most powerful position in the world, and a megalomaniac lunatic like Trump craves power & attention. He's hard-wired to want this job. And now that he's gotten so close, I don't see him quitting.
The man loves power & attention. He can't help himself. He's addicted.
Excellent post.
I too think he originally intended to use the run as a way to generate a bunch of free publicity.
And now that he is in the lead by such a big margin the game plan has changed.
Do I think he wants to be President? No. He just wants the publicity and attention that would come with it.
The Presidency would be a massive pay cut for Trump, and $10 billion net worth or not, he strikes me as the type who doesn't want to take a pay cut.
Quote: ams288[
The Presidency would be a massive pay cut for Trump, and $10 billion net worth or not, he strikes me as the type who doesn't want to take a pay cut.
It would not be a pay cut. It would be in addition to whatever he already makes. All his other business dealings would not go anywhere. He doesn't have to sell his businesses to become president. He'd most likely just donate the Presidential salary to charity.
ZCore13
Quote: Zcore13Quote: ams288[
The Presidency would be a massive pay cut for Trump, and $10 billion net worth or not, he strikes me as the type who doesn't want to take a pay cut.
It would not be a pay cut. It would be in addition to whatever he already makes. All his other business dealings would not go anywhere. He doesn't have to sell his businesses to become president. He'd most likely just donate the Presidential salary to charity.
ZCore13
Wouldn't he have to put all assets (businesses and investments) in some form of a blind trust? Does he "trust" anyone enough to stay out of his own business for 4-8 years?
Quote: RonCQuote: Zcore13Quote: ams288[
The Presidency would be a massive pay cut for Trump, and $10 billion net worth or not, he strikes me as the type who doesn't want to take a pay cut.
It would not be a pay cut. It would be in addition to whatever he already makes. All his other business dealings would not go anywhere. He doesn't have to sell his businesses to become president. He'd most likely just donate the Presidential salary to charity.
ZCore13
Wouldn't he have to put all assets (businesses and investments) in some form of a blind trust? Does he "trust" anyone enough to stay out of his own business for 4-8 years?
Yes, I believe they would go into a blind trust. But all his personal assets and cash would still remain at his fingertips.
His kids help him run his businesses I'm pretty sure he'd have a way to let them know how he wants certain things handled.
ZCore13
My theory is that it's because she's a hottie. (This NSFW photo of her illustrates my point.) Trump is used to having beautiful women being submissive to him. It drives him nuts that she wasn't.
7 points over last week. I'm sure it won't meet
Kewlj's high standards, though, nothing does.
http://morningconsult.com/2015/08/trumps-lead-grows-after-debate-controversy/
point from their last poll on Thursday. Kewlj
will say not good enough for him.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/10/us-usa-election-poll-idUSKCN0QF1WL20150810
Quote: EvenBobHere's another poll out today that has Trump up
7 points over last week. I'm sure it won't meet
Kewlj's high standards, though, nothing does.
http://morningconsult.com/2015/08/trumps-lead-grows-after-debate-controversy/
Yeah, make me out to be the bad guy, EB. Did we learn nothing from 2012. You can 'find' polls with a bias to say whatever you would like them to say. Remember those 'outlier' polls you kept posting and linking to showing 'president' Romney in the lead? :/
There were legitimate polls, last week showing Trump with a healthy lead going into the debate. I am interested to see what some of them say this week. I just am not interested in some extreme website poll that draws a very biased group to their website and then polls that group. That is cherry-picking crap and worth absolutely nothing.
Quote: renoWe know from the Twitter records that Trump sent out several Tweets about Megyn Kelly between 2:30AM and 3:30AM on Friday, then again at 5:45AM. Like a 14 year old boy, he was up all night obsessed about her. Now imagine such a thin-skinned man in charge of the world's most powerful military. What could possibly go wrong?
My theory is that it's because she's a hottie. (This NSFW photo of her illustrates my point.) Trump is used to having beautiful women being submissive to him. It drives him nuts that she wasn't.
That's a link to a photo of Brooklyn Decker, man. The actual link address even says "brooklyn decker" within it! If you're going to post things like that, post the real Megyn because she's argubly even hotter than Brooklyn considering Megyn is 16 years her senior. But, the first scantily clad image when you google "megyn kelly" is the one of Brooklyn Decker. And they do look quite alike.
from a GQ article on Megyn Kelly:
Actual Megyn Kelly mildly NSFW
http://www.gq.com/story/megyn-kelly-fox-news
Here was another image of Megyn I got a kick out of from the google search:
And I had to use the backspace key with "Megyn" too many times in this post.
Quote: EvenBobNew Reuters poll shows Trump lost not one
point from their last poll on Thursday. Kewlj
will say not good enough for him.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/10/us-usa-election-poll-idUSKCN0QF1WL20150810
Wrong, Bob. That's a good (legit) one.
I am a little confused by your posts (as usual). You seem to be all over the place. Sometimes you say Trump is just playing games and has no interest in being president, then it seems like you are pulling for him with all you might.
Quote: kewljThere is no mistaken that the first question to Trump from each of the three moderators was an attack "gottch ya" type question designed to make Trump look bad.
I can't understand why any Republican would be upset with Fox News anchor Bret Baier's first question of the night: do all the candidates pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee? How is Baier's question out of bounds? How is it an unfair "gottch ya" question? It was arguably the most important question of the night: do you promise not to throw the election to the Democrat? Since a third party run would almost certainly coronate the Clintons, do you promise not to do that?
And yet lots of right-wingers are howling in protest about Fox News' mean question. I don't usually agree with conservative pundit Jonah Goldberg, but he nails it:
Quote: Jonah GoldbergImagine there’s an election for your high-school chess club... And one guy has been saying over the last couple weeks that if he doesn’t get elected the next president he will quit this organization and set up a rival one. You don’t think it’s fair to ask him about that?
...
And by the way, what’s up with the whining? All I ever hear from Trump supporters is how “he fights” and “he doesn’t back down” and — of course — “you just don’t get it.” Well, if it’s too mean to ask this “fighter” to hold up his hand to answer a question he basically begged the world to ask him, is he really deserving of the label? Trump was given an opportunity to explain his position.
Exactly. Below is Trump's answer.
Quote: Donald TrumpI cannot say. I have to respect the person that, if it’s not me, the person that wins, if I do win, and I’m leading by quite a bit, that’s what I want to do. I can totally make that pledge. If I’m the nominee, I will pledge I will not run as an independent. But — and I am discussing it with everybody, but I’m, you know, talking about a lot of leverage. We want to win, and we will win. But I want to win as the Republican. I want to run as the Republican nominee.
Sounds to me like he intends to use his leverage.
Quote: kewljthen it seems like you are pulling for him with all you might.
Where did I say I was in the least pulling for
him? I said he doesn't have a chance and he
doesn't. I'll say it AGAIN:
Trump is doing this for his brand, he has no
intention of being president. Not even a billionaire
can buy this kind of worldwide publicity.
He's on the front page of newspapers all
over the world and on the local news every
night. There won't be anybody who doesn't
know who he is soon. It's brilliant.
Quote: EvenBobWhere did I say I was in the least pulling for
him? I said he doesn't have a chance and he
doesn't. I'll say it AGAIN:
Trump is doing this for his brand, he has no
intention of being president. Not even a billionaire
can buy this kind of worldwide publicity.
He's on the front page of newspapers all
over the world and on the local news every
night. There won't be anybody who doesn't
know who he is soon. It's brilliant.
Then why are you so excited about these new 'outlier' polls and going out of your way to tell us how good he is doing?
Quote: kewlj
Then why are you so excited about these new 'outlier' polls and going out of your way to tell us how good he is doing?
Because it's cool. I love seeing the people
who think they're in power get all confused
and flabbergasted. FoxNews at 6 has yet to
admit Trump won the debate, they act like
it was a tie. On tonight's show, Laura Ingraham
finally said on the panel, at the very end,
that Trump either gained in the polls or is
the same after the debate. Murdock probably
called Ailes and said keep her off the show
from now on. lol
Quote: EvenBobBecause it's cool. I love seeing the people
who think they're in power get all confused
and flabbergasted. FoxNews at 6 has yet to
admit Trump won the debate, they act like
it was a tie. On tonight's show, Laura Ingraham
finally said on the panel, at the very end,
that Trump either gained in the polls or is
the same after the debate. Murdock probably
called Ailes and said keep her off the show
from now on. lol
Well, I too, am enjoying the 'battle' going on at Fox News. It looks as though they have decided that Trump is not a credible candidate and they don't want to cover him. Only problem is that it isn't their place to decide that. It is the republican electorate, who is supposed to be making that decision.
And then of course there seems to be this behind the scenes struggle going on between Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdock.
The REALLY funny thing is that this is all their own doing. It was Fox news that put Trump on the air on Gretta's show and Hannity almost every other night back when he was leading the birther movement. It is Them who created this monster. It's what is know as a self-inflicted wound and it may turn out to be fatal for the republicans
Quote: tringlomaneThat's a link to a photo of Brooklyn Decker, man.
My mistake. I linked to a photo of a different beautiful blonde.
Nevertheless, my point still stands: Trump hates being challenged by anyone, but when it's a beautiful woman it stings even more. He sent out 30 Tweets between 2:30AM and 4:30AM. He's outta control.
Quote: kewljIt's what is know as a self-inflicted wound and it may turn out to be fatal for the republicans
It's a year till the convention, nobody will even
remember Trump was in the race by then.
Quote: EvenBobIt's a year till the convention, nobody will even
remember Trump was in the race by then.
So said Bob.
Someone write that down.
Maybe a good memory, may be a bad memory.
I predict it will not be forgotten.
But that's just me, just my opinion,
Not stated as a fact.
by Charles Craig
I worked for Donald Trump from 1985 to 1994 at Trump Castle Hotel Casino in Atlantic City. I started as a craps and BJ dealer. Every casino in AC was paying dealers minimum wage which in 1985 was $5.15 an hour.
He paid experienced dealers $7.50 an hour starting wage plus the hourly tip rate. He was the first employer to offer a matching 401k, He cared about his employees and while other casino hotels would let you eat once in the employee cafeteria for free and then charged you for food, He had an open cafeteria where you could eat and drink all you wanted. He was the best employer in town for 2 decades.
Like a good businessman, he saw the writing on the wall for AC as casino gambling expanded across America and had to leave. Some locals understand, some locals were bitter about it. But a short list of his accomplishments in AC include making AC the boxing capital of the world from the mid 80's to mid 90's. took over Hilton when they couldn't get Licensed.
Made it the Trump Castle, Brought in the Trump Princess, The Largest private owned yacht bringing in High Rollers making that property one of the best in town. Took over Resorts and a Taj Mahal Project that NOBODY wanted to touch. Finished the Taj made it the best property in town for years, Brought in Merv Griffin to buy Resorts and brought that property back to life.
Bought Atlantis when it went belly up kept that building open and people employed for 4 years more before selling it.
Like Donald Trump or not, The Man is a visionary that gets projects done. On Time within budget.
Since most Americans refuse to do their own research, here in no particular order, is an overview of many of Trump's positions and plans:
1. Trump believes that America should not intervene militarily in other country’s problems without being compensated for doing so. If America is going to risk the lives of our soldiers and incur the monumental expense of going to war, then those nations we help must be willing to pay for our help.
Using the Iraq War as an example, he cites the huge monetary expense to American taxpayers (over $1.5 trillion, and possibly more depending on which sources are used to determine the cost) in addition to the cost in human lives. He suggests that Iraq should have been required to give us enough of their oil to pay for the expenses we incurred. He includes in those expenses the medical costs for our military as well as $5 million for each family that lost a loved one in the war and $2 million for each family of soldiers who received severe injuries.
2. Speaking of the military, Trump wants America to have a strong military again. He believes the single most important function of the federal government is national defense. He has said he wants to find the General Patton or General MacArthur that could lead our military buildup back to the strength it needs to be. While he hasn’t said it directly that I know of, Trump’s attitude about America and about winning tells me he’d most likely be quick to eliminate rules of engagement that handicap our military in battle.
Clearly Trump is a “win at all costs” kind of guy, and I’m sure that would apply to our national defense and security, too.
3. Trump wants a strong foreign policy and believes that it must include 7 core principles (which seem to support my comment in the last point):
· American interests come first. Always. No apologies.
· Maximum firepower and military preparedness.
· Only go to war to win.
· Stay loyal to your friends and suspicious of your enemies.
· Keep the technological sword razor sharp.
· See the unseen.
· Prepare for threats before they materialize.
· Respect, honor and support our present and past warriors.
4. Trump believes that terrorists who are captured should be treated as military combatants, not as criminals as the Obama administration presently treats them.
5. Trump makes the point that China’s manipulation of their currency has given them an unfair advantage in our trade dealings with them. He states we must tax their imports to offset their currency manipulation, which will cause American companies to be competitive again and drive manufacturing back to America to create jobs here. Although he sees China as the worst offender, he believes that America should protect itself from all foreign efforts to take our jobs and manufacturing.
For example, Ford is building a plant in Mexico and Trump suggests that every part or vehicle Ford makes in Mexico be taxed 35% if they want to bring it into the US, which would cause companies like Ford to no longer be competitive using their Mexican operations and move manufacturing back to the US, once again, creating jobs here.
6. Trump wants passage of NOPEC legislation (No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act – NOPEC – S.394), that would allow the government to sue OPEC for violating antitrust laws. According to Trump, this would break up the cartel. He also wants to unleash our energy companies to drill domestically thereby increasing domestic production, creating jobs and driving domestic costs of oil and gas down while reducing dependence on foreign oil.
7. Trump believes a secure border is critical for both security and prosperity in America. He wants to build a wall to stop illegals from entering and put controls on immigration. (And, he says he’ll get Mexico to finance the wall, which many have scoffed at, but given his business acumen, I wouldn’t put it past him.) He also wants to enforce our present immigration laws and provide no path to citizenship for illegals.
8. Trump wants a radical change to the tax system to not only make it better for average Americans, but also to encourage businesses to stay here and foreign businesses to choose to move here. The resulting influx of money to our nation would do wonders for our economy.
He wants to make America the place to do business. He also wants to lower the death tax and the taxes on capital gains and dividends. This would put more than $1.6 trillion back into the economy and help rebuild the 1.5 million jobs we’ve lost to the current tax system. He also wants to charge companies who outsource jobs overseas a 20% tax, but for those willing to move jobs back to America they would not be taxed.
For citizens, he has a tax plan that would allow Americans to keep more of what they earn and spark economic growth. He wants to change the personal income tax as follows:
· Up to $30,000 taxed at 1%
· From $30,000 to $100,000 taxed at 5%
· From $100,000 to $1,000,000 taxed at 10%
· $1,000,000 and above taxed at 15%
9. Trump wants Obamacare repealed. He says it’s a “job-killing, health care-destroying monstrosity” that “can’t be reformed, salvaged, or fixed.” He believes in allowing real competition in the health insurance marketplace to allow competition to drive prices down. He also believes in tort reform to get rid of defensive medicine and lower costs.
10. Trump wants spending reforms in Washington, acknowledging that America spends far more than it receives in revenue. He has said he believes that if we don’t stop increasing the national debt once it hits $24 trillion it will be impossible to save this country.
11. Even though he says we need to cut spending, he does not want to harm those on Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. He believes that the citizens have faithfully paid in to the system to have these services available and that the American government has an obligation to fulfill its end of the bargain and provide those benefits. Therefore, he wants to build the economy up so that we have the revenue to pay those costs without cutting the benefits to the recipients. He disagrees with Democrats who think raising taxes is the answer and says that when you do that you stifle the economy.
On the other hand, when you lower taxes and create an environment to help businesses, they will grow, hire more workers, and those new workers will be paying taxes that become more tax revenue for the government.
12. Trump also wants reform of the welfare state saying that America needs “a safety net, not a hammock.” He believes in a welfare to work program that would help reduce the welfare roles and encourage people to get back to work. And he wants a crackdown on entitlement fraud.
13. Trump believes climate change is a hoax.
14. Trump opposes Common Core and believes that our schools should be administered and guided by their local communities.
15. Trump is pro-life, although he allows for exceptions due to rape, incest or the life of the mother.
16. Trump is pro Second Amendment rights.
Limit restrictions on guns. Ban some assault weapons and extend the waiting period for purchase. During a 2013 interview with Fox News, the real estate mogul defined himself as, “a very strong person on the Second Amendment.” He believes guns are necessary for self-defense and has written that he generally opposes gun control. In his 2000 book, “The America We Deserve” Trump wrote that he supports a ban on assault weapons and a slightly longer waiting period to buy a gun. ( [link to www.pbs.org]
17. Trump’s view on same-sex marriage is that marriage is between a man and a woman, but he also believes that this is a states rights issue, not a federal issue.
18. Trump supports the death penalty.
Trump believes that there is a lack of common sense and innovative thinking in Washington (Hmmm… looks like he believes in good ole horse sense!). He says it’s about seeing the unseen and that’s the kind of thinking we need to turn this country around.
He tells a personal story to illustrate the point: “When I opened Trump National Golf Club at Rancho Palos Verdes in Los Angeles, I was immediately told that I would need to build a new and costly ballroom. The current ballroom was gorgeous, but it only sat 200 people and we were losing business because people needed a larger space for their events. Building a new ballroom would take years to get approval and permits (since it’s on the Pacific Ocean), and cost about $5 million. I took one look at the ballroom and saw immediately what needed to be done.
The problem wasn’t the size of the room, it was the size of the chairs. They were huge, heavy, and unwieldy. We didn’t need a bigger ballroom, we needed smaller chairs! So I had them replaced with high-end, smaller chairs. I then had our people sell the old chairs and got more money for them than the cost of the new chairs. In the end, the ballroom went from seating 200 people to seating 320 people. Our visitors got the space they desired, and I spared everyone the hassle of years of construction and $5 million of expense. It’s amazing what you can accomplish with a little common sense.”
On top of his saving years of construction and $5 million in expenses, he also was able to keep the ballroom open for business during the time it would have been closed for remodeling, which allowed him to continue to make money on the space instead of losing that revenue during construction time.
Donald Trump’s entire life has been made up of success and winning. He’s been accused of bankruptcies, but that’s not true. He’s never filed personal bankruptcy. He’s bought companies and legally used bankruptcy laws to restructure their debt, just as other businesses do all the time. But he’s never been bankrupt personally.
He’s a fighter that clearly loves America and would fight for our nation.
Earlier, I quoted Trump saying, “I love America. And when you love something, you protect it passionately… fiercely, even.” We never hear that from Democrats or even from most Republicans. Donald Trump is saying things that desperately need to be said but no other candidate has shown the fortitude to stand up and say them.
Looking over this list of what he wants for America, I see a very necessary set of goals that are long past due. Before we criticize someone because the media does, perhaps we should seriously consider what he has to offer?
Despite Trump's overexpansion and overfinancing that led to his problems, the reality demonstrates that through his four bankruptcies he persisted in fighting to maintain a toehold, keep his name up on the buildings and even demanded payment for that privilege. Here is how the story of just one of the bankruptcies fared:Quote: MaxPenLike a good businessman, he saw the writing on the wall for AC as casino gambling expanded across America and had to leave. . . . Took over Resorts and a Taj Mahal Project that NOBODY wanted to touch. . . . The Man is a visionary that gets projects done. On Time within budget.
"ATLANTIC CITY - Corporate bondholders won approval to make a competing bid for the bankrupt Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. casinos, dealing a blow to Donald Trump's effort to regain control of the gaming empire that bears his name. A federal bankruptcy judge in Camden ruled Thursday that bondholders can submit their $175 million offer for the company at the same time Trump is proposing a $100 million buyout in partnership with Dallas-based Beal Bank." acpress
Me thinks he could sell a good product.
I also think he could sell a can of spray to put on a bald spot and still insist it was a great product.
Trump has had more positions than that piece above would suggest.
This is a promoter who boasted about the AAA and Mobil Guide hotel ratings for him all the while he didn't have enough vacuum cleaners to clean the hotel rooms daily. And the city, county and state health departments didn't raise a peep, not to mention the dormant federal inspectors.Quote: rxwineI still haven't quite decided what to make of Trump. Me thinks he could sell a good product. I also think he could sell a can of spray to put on a bald spot and still insist it was a great product. Trump has had more positions than that piece above would suggest.
It's a damn crying shame he didn't decide to run as a Democrat.
Then I wouldn't be so worried about who will win.
It'd be hard to lose..... Either way.
Quote: MaxPenThe real thing that people want to know is what Donald Trump’s plan is for America. It’s funny how so many people say they don’t know what it is, or they act like Trump is hiding it when in case of point, the information is readily available if people would just do a little homework.
Since most Americans refuse to do their own research, here in no particular order, is an overview of many of Trump's positions and plans:
1. Trump believes that America should not intervene militarily in other country’s problems without being compensated for doing so. If America is going to risk the lives of our soldiers and incur the monumental expense of going to war, then those nations we help must be willing to pay for our help.
Using the Iraq War as an example, he cites the huge monetary expense to American taxpayers (over $1.5 trillion, and possibly more depending on which sources are used to determine the cost) in addition to the cost in human lives. He suggests that Iraq should have been required to give us enough of their oil to pay for the expenses we incurred. He includes in those expenses the medical costs for our military as well as $5 million for each family that lost a loved one in the war and $2 million for each family of soldiers who received severe injuries.
This is perhaps one of the most stupid and evil ideas ever devised. Maybe it loses out to Marcus Licinius Crassus, but it is close. Let's pretend this did work. Suddenly you've now turned US military into the largest mercenary corp ever conceived. That is disgusting. Secondly in the case of Iraq how the hell would that work. We weren't asked to go into Iraq and we overthrew their government installing a completely separate government. This would be equivalent to demolishing portion of a persons home without permission and then demanding payment for your work. You have to have a person to negotiate with before you attack and you need some kind of deal not just us demanding payment after we unilaterally decided their government needed to be changed.
Also who are we going to work for. Will the US military suddenly simply serve the highest bidder. That theoretically could close some of the ungodly large budget opened by his unimaginably stupid tax structure that you listed.
Our military today are unpaid mercenaries fighting wars for the bankers and defending our dollar. Our politicians have sold the taxpayers out. Keep living in your sheltered world of deniability.
What's stupid about his tax structure? You do realize raping the serfs is not necessary to fund the government don't you?
Quote:Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry has stopped paying his 2016 presidential campaign’s staff in the key early primary state of South Carolina, amid flagging poling numbers and sluggish fundraising.
Spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said late Monday that “tough decisions have to be made in respect to both monetary and time-related resources.”
http://www.wsj.com/articles/perry-stops-paying-south-carolina-2016-campaign-staff-1439266910
Where do all the JSOC and SAS guys go after their duty call? See Blackwater/Academi. "We" never left Iraq but the salary of the troops greatly increased.Quote: TwirdmanSuddenly you've now turned US military into the largest mercenary corp ever conceived.
Henry Kissinger "Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used in foreign policy"
Exactly,,,, taxpayers and non taxpayers alike.Quote: MaxPen....Our military today are unpaid mercenaries fighting wars for the bankers and defending our dollar. Our politicians have sold the taxpayers out.
It's one of the percsQuote:You do realize raping the serfs is not necessary to fund the government don't you?
Quote: MaxPenI was an 0311 in the Marine Corps during Desert Storm. It would have been nice if Kuwait paid for us for driving Iraq out of Kuwait.
Actually Kuwait did give us about $15 Billion, as did Saudi Arabia. Many other countries gave various amounts.
Quote: AZDuffmanActually Kuwait did give us about $15 Billion, as did Saudi Arabia. Many other countries gave various amounts.
Yes, and to be nitpicky it was slightly more than that: Kuwait paid $16.015 billion in cash, $43 million in kind. Total paid by Kuwait was $16.1 billion. Total paid by the entire coalition to the U.S. was $52.9 billion.
Donald Trump insists Kuwait never paid us. He doesn't know what he's talking about, he's clueless-- but we already knew that.
Quote: Donald Trump"If you look at these nations, they wouldn't be there except for us. You take a look at Kuwait. I mean, we handed Kuwait back to the people that right now essentially own Kuwait, because it's really ownership more than anything else. We handed it back. They never paid us."
and call it not a real poll)
ww.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-08-11/trump-leads-iowa-gop-field-rubio-seen-as-debate-winner-poll
Trump has a ceiling in Iowa--interesting...
Hillary's server had Top Secret emails on it..."I did not send any classified emails" (or something like that) was her statement...
We're back to the meaning of "is"...
It is the "silly season" and this is good theater. Are Trump and Clinton electable or are their negatives potentially too bad?
Perry looks like he is toast.
Biden is looking like he may join the fun.
Fun!!
Quote: renoYes, and to be nitpicky it was slightly more than that: Kuwait paid $16.015 billion in cash, $43 million in kind. Total paid by Kuwait was $16.1 billion. Total paid by the entire coalition to the U.S. was $52.9 billion.
Donald Trump insists Kuwait never paid us. He doesn't know what he's talking about, he's clueless-- but we already knew that.Quote: Donald Trump"If you look at these nations, they wouldn't be there except for us. You take a look at Kuwait. I mean, we handed Kuwait back to the people that right now essentially own Kuwait, because it's really ownership more than anything else. We handed it back. They never paid us."
If Trump is serious, he needs to wake up and get serious about facts. He needs to know that his statements are correct and not just say whatever crosses his mind. EVERY candidate will make missteps...it is inevitable...but outright lies don't generally work.
Quote: RonC
If Trump is serious, he needs to wake up and get serious about facts. He needs to know that his statements are correct and not just say whatever crosses his mind. EVERY candidate will make missteps...it is inevitable...but outright lies don't generally work.
Don't think I've ever had to make this next argument about any candidate, but because Trump has been pretty much all over the place in stuff he says over the years, it would actually be helpful if he had held some elected office before.
Because, at least then you could say, even though he said this and this and THIS, you could at least show what he actually did, instead of trying to guess what he might do versus whatever the next thing comes out of his mouth.
Quote: EvenBobTrump leads in IA. (Kewlj will just guffaw, of course,
and call it not a real poll)
ww.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-08-11/trump-leads-iowa-gop-field-rubio-seen-as-debate-winner-poll
Oh stop. I said Survey Monkey wasn't a legit poll because it only measures people that visit it's website, rather than actual standard and accepted polling techniques.
But the fact is none of these polls matter that much. We are 6 months out from the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire primary. Once we get into what you, '4 season people' call autumn or fall, we'll see what the polls say.
The second thing I have decided, is that none of it really matters that much to me. I don't see my life changing all that much no matter who is the next president. They all (on both sides) promise things that it just isn't within their power to change.
If Hillary or another democrat were to win, they almost assuredly would still be dealing with a republican House of reps. Senate would likely be very close either way. If a dem wins presidency, dems probably take the senate by a seat or two.
If Jeb Bush or a republican wins, they have a better chance of controlling all three chambers, although the senate seats up for grab in 2016 favor Democrats, so it is very possible a republican president could be dealing with a democratic senate (by a seat or two).
So most likely whoever wins, same old status quo. Nothing really gets done.
I guess my biggest fear is repubs control presidency and both chambers and try to enact some of the extreme things that some of them want, like eliminating my partner's social security. But even that, I'll survive. We make enough money to live comfortably.
So...whatever. Let them all promise the world and see who can get more folks to believe their phony promises. It's just entertainment.
Quote: IbeatyouracesPeople actually live in Iowa??
The O'rielly's, (Radar not Bill) live in Ottumwa Iowa. :)
hours ago on the news they said it might
happen. It's what sunk General Petraeus.
Quote: EvenBobWow, this is a big deal. This just happened, 3
hours ago on the news they said it might
happen. It's what sunk General Petraeus.
Obama is giving her Chicago payback. He never liked her. Kind of ironic she is do nixonian in how she has handled this
Moral of story is never put anything online you do not want seen.
Quote: EvenBobWow, this is a big deal. This just happened, 3
hours ago on the news they said it might
happen. It's what sunk General Petraeus.
I am not going to call you a 'drama queen, Bob, but OMG. The drudge report! LOL. Can you find a more unreliable source? Why not just go to the National Enquirer and declare her a space alien. :/
The fact is that Clinton turned over the items requested. The other fact, that you conspiracy type guys are conveniently overlooking or have forgotten about is that this IS NOT a criminal investigation. The New York Times mistakenly identified it as a criminal investigation when it broke the story a couple months ago, but retracted that the following day.
It is an investigation to see if things were mishandled and if protocol for how things are handled in the future should be changed. And they probably should. Government employees should use the government devices issued to them. And that most likely will be the conclusion of the investigation.
I personally have kind of 'soured' on Hillary Clinton since I supported her and volunteered for her campaign back in the 2008 primary season. I believe her time has past and am honestly exploring who I might want to support on either side. But, it is kind of funny to see how scared to death of her, those of you on the right are. You just throw all kinds of things at the wall, desperately hoping something will stick.
I guess that is the fun of politics. :)
Quote: AZDuffman
Obama is giving her Chicago payback. .
Gen Petraeus shared some notebooks with his
biographer and they wanted to make it a felony.
He got it pleaded down to a misdemeanor and
2 years probation and a $100K fine.
What Hillary did is far worse. She potentially
shared top secret info with anybody who hacked
into her home system, which was probably
everybody who tried. She should go to prison.
Quote: kewljI am not going to call you a 'drama queen, Bob, but OMG. The drudge report! LOL. Can you find a more unreliable source? Why not just go to the National Enquirer and declare her a space alien. :/
The story is also on other tabloid sites like: ABC, NBC, Fox News, New York Times, and even MSNBC.
So take your pick.
Quote: kewljThe other fact, that you conspiracy type guys are conveniently overlooking or have forgotten about is that this IS NOT a criminal investigation.
FYI...The FBI considers every investigation to be criminal in nature. They aren't just investigating to help her out. LOL
