October 11th, 2017 - October 12th, 2017. 331-332 days since the Nov 8, 2016, election of some rich asshole, no.45, and 263-264 days since the Jan 20th inauguration.
White House says it can’t lawfully pay Obamacare subsidies
President some rich asshole arrives at Huntsville International Airport in Huntsville, Alabama, September 22, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein
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President some rich asshole will stop payments worth billions of dollars to health insurers to subsidize low-income Americans, the White House said on Thursday, a move health insurers have warned will cause chaos in insurance markets and a spike in premiums.
The move to undermine President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, officially called the Affordable Care Act, drew criticism from Democrats and the threat of a lawsuit from state attorneys general.
the rich asshole has made the payments, guaranteed to insurers under Obamacare to help lower out-of-pocket medical expenses for low-income consumers, each month since taking office in January. But he has repeatedly threatened to cut them off and disparaged them as a “bailout” for insurance companies.
The White House said late on Thursday that it cannot lawfully pay the subsidies to health insurance companies.
A White House statement said that based on guidance from the Justice Department, “the Department of Health and Human Services has concluded that there is no appropriation for cost-sharing reduction payments to insurance companies under Obamacare.”
“In light of this analysis, the Government cannot lawfully make the cost-sharing reduction payments,” the statement said.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi derided the move in a joint statement, saying the rich asshole would single-handedly push American’s healthcare premiums higher.
“It is a spiteful act of vast, pointless sabotage leveled at working families and the middle class in every corner of America,” they said. “Make no mistake about it, the rich asshole will try to blame the Affordable Care Act, but this will fall on his back and he will pay the price for it.”
New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said in a statement he was prepared to lead other attorneys general in a lawsuit.
“I will not allow President the rich asshole to once again use New York families as political pawns in his dangerous, partisan campaign to eviscerate the Affordable Care Act at any cost,” he wrote.
“This summer, the courts granted our intervention to defend these vital subsidies and the quality, affordable health care they ensure for millions of families across the country. Our coalition of states stands ready to sue if President the rich asshole cuts them off.”
10-12-17
The rich asshole administration is officially going forward with its plans to roll back a new rule implemented by President Obama that would extend mandatory overtime pay to 4.2 million workers around the country.
The U.S. Department of Labor asked for public comments, which is the first step in revoking or revising the rule.
If implemented, the rule will double the maximum salary a worker can earn and still be eligible to receive overtime pay from employers.
Rather than let it go straight into effect, the rich asshole administration is first asking for feedback on why it should be raised from the current threshold of $23,660 set in 2004, and if it should even be adjusted for inflation.
Workers rights groups say the rule is necessary because employers are giving employees low-salaries with high work hour demands (sometimes 60 hours a week) in an attempt to run around overtime laws meant to protect workers.
When announcing this proposal last summer, Obama said:
“This is an issue of basic fairness. If you work longer and harder, you deserve to be paid for it.”
the rich asshole’s labor department has already hinted that they are considering eliminating the salary threshold entirely, which would mean that workers could be paid lower salaries for the same amount of work.
“Working people should not have to wait another day for the government to be on their side,” Christine Owens, executive director of the union-backed National Employment Law Project, said in a statement on Tuesday.
One of the main reasons the rich asshole administration is stalling is due to an appeal currently taking place in federal court. They are waiting to see what ruling is announced.
OCTOBER 12, 2017 / 1:34 PM / UPDATED 5 HOURS AGO
How to rebuild Puerto Rico: Rubio asks the rich asshole to call in experts
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Marco Rubio said on Thursday he has urged U.S. President some rich asshole to create a high-level task force to provide ideas and advice for helping Puerto Rico to rebuild after Hurricane Maria, and that the president was receptive to the idea.
Rubio, a Republican from Florida who has been deeply involved in discussions over the response, told Reuters that the task force could be a sounding board for the rich asshole “as we move beyond the initial recovery phase to the broader long-term recovery phase.”
Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico three weeks ago, killing at least 43 people and leaving much of the Caribbean island, a U.S. territory, without electricity or safe drinking water. Disaster costs are expected to run into the tens of billions of dollars.
Prior to the hurricane, Puerto Rico was already struggling with $72 billion in debt, a flight of residents to the U.S. mainland and aging infrastructure, including a decrepit power grid that was incapacitated by the storm.
Rubio said he suggested forming an advisory group during a conversation with the rich asshole on Sunday. “He was asking me, ‘What do we need to do next?'” Rubio told Reuters.
“My argument to him was, I have some ideas, but there are people who have even more, better ones, because they live or lived in Puerto Rico, they understand its politics, its economics, its pre-existing challenges and its long-term opportunities,” he said.
”He seemed to like the idea, and said they would follow up and see what that would look like,” Rubio said.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the discussions.
the rich asshole came under fire on Thursday for a series of tweets about the island’s economic problems. He said federal responders could not stay in the territory “forever.”
Rubio said federal responders would likely be on the island longer than during a “conventional” disaster on the mainland but agreed they would not be there forever.
“I‘m not sure the timing is ideal given the fact that they’re in the midst of this challenge that continues to evolve,” he said.
WHAT‘S THE ALTERNATIVE?
Rubio, who visited Puerto Rico on Sept. 25 to survey hurricane damage, said he was confident the island would get the help it needs in the short term through emergency legislation.
“The bigger concern is in the long term,” he told Reuters in a 30-minute telephone interview as the House of Representatives moved ahead with a $4.9 billion loan for Puerto Rico as well as billions more in disaster relief.
The House easily passed the bill, with the Senate expected to do so later month and send it to the rich asshole for signing into law.
Puerto Rico’s economy ground to a halt in the storm. Its government is poised to run out of money for payroll and essential services at the end of October.
That left Congress with little choice but to help fill the gap, Rubio said.
“Businesses aren’t functioning, taxpayers aren’t generating any sort of revenue or income to be paid to their coffers, so yeah, I think there’s a big question about whether that’s a loan that will ever be repaid. But what’s the alternative?” he said.
Puerto Rico’s governor, Ricardo Rossello, also has asked for $4.6 billion in block grants and other types of funding.
The White House is looking at how to address the long-term needs, including how to rebuild the power grid. The lack of electricity has been the biggest problem for Puerto Rico’s 3.4 million residents.
“They’re basically three weeks now living in the 19th century,” Rubio said. Puerto Ricans, who are U.S. citizens, are likely to continue to flee to the mainland United States unless conditions improve, with Florida one of their top destinations.
MOUNTAINS OF DEBT; MEDICAID CLIFF
Rubio said it is up to the oversight board charged with resolving Puerto Rico’s debt crisis to determine how to address the island’s debt, noting that private debt owed to investors with legal recourse cannot simply be “forgiven” by the federal government.
“I don’t think there’s going to be a federal bailout in which billions of dollars are spent to bail out Puerto Rico. Quite frankly I’ve never had anyone in Puerto Rico’s government ask for that,” Rubio said.
RELATED VIDEO
The island is also running out of money for Medicaid, the U.S. health insurance program for the poor, which about half its residents counted on even before the storm threw many people out of work.
The exodus to the mainland could accelerate unless the perennial funding gap is addressed, Rubio said. In the meantime, he said he thinks Congress will find money to help Puerto Rico avert the cliff.
On healthcare and many other structural issues, the hurricane could be the turning point “for better, or for worse,” Rubio said.
The nation could “rally” to focus on Puerto Rico’s long-neglected economic problems.
“Or it could be one of those moments when you have this horrible storm and it took so long that things never really got better, and a lot of people left and never came back,” he said.
#ENVIRONMENT
OCTOBER 12, 2017 / 6:02 AM / UPDATED 40 MINUTES AGO
Amanda Becker
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new package of U.S. disaster assistance sailed through the House of Representatives on Thursday, despite President some rich asshole expressing impatience with having to devote federal resources for hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico’s recovery.
The Republican-controlled House voted 353-69 to approve $36.5 billion in emergency relief for Puerto Rico and other areas hit by recent disasters. Senate approval is expected in coming weeks.
the rich asshole and his aides on Thursday suggested that there would be a limit to how much help Puerto Rico could expect from Washington to solve some of its longer-term problems, although the rich asshole is expected to sign the latest emergency package.
The White House on Thursday evening issued a statement saying the the rich asshole administration was “pleased” that the House had approved the relief funds and pledged to work with Congress going forward to provide resources to recover and rebuild.
Puerto Rico has been grappling with a bankruptcy crisis and owes $72 billion to creditors. Devastation from hurricanes Irma and Maria was exacerbated by dilapidated infrastructure, including a power grid largely destroyed by the storms.
In a morning tweet, the rich asshole warned that the United States “cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!”
FEMA is the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which oversees disaster response in the United States.
Presidential aides later on Thursday provided assurances that Washington will not abandon Puerto Rico, a Caribbean U.S. territory with a population of 3.4 million.
All 69 votes against the aid package came from the rich asshole’s fellow Republicans. Congress is expected to consider additional aid in the coming weeks but the debate could grow more contentious.
House Speaker Paul Ryan is scheduled to lead a bipartisan congressional delegation to Puerto Rico on Friday.
DISASTER FATIGUE
Some conservatives displayed early signs of spending fatigue.
Republican Representative Tom Cole, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, said some lawmakers have urged him to find ways to offset the costs of disaster relief.
Besides the latest aid package, Congress last month approved $15.25 billion to help with earlier storm damages, including Hurricane Harvey’s impact in Texas, and wildfires.
“There is some concern about can we couple some of this (disaster aid) with reform measures,” Cole told Reuters on Wednesday. That could include savings to a national flood insurance program or other steps, he added.
Besides helping Puerto Rico recover from Maria, the bill would also provide funds for storm-struck areas of Florida, Texas and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and fire-ravaged California.
Cole said the price tag could rise as relief efforts transition from emergency response to rebuilding.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, which has a sizeable Puerto Rican community, told Reuters he had urged the rich asshole to create a high-level task force to provide advice for rebuilding Puerto Rico, and that the president was receptive to the idea.
Much of Puerto Rico remains without electricity or running water three weeks after Maria’s landfall.
Slideshow (5 Images)
“They’re basically three weeks now living in the 19th century,” Rubio said.
White House Chief of Staff John Kelly told reporters the the rich asshole administration would “stand with those American citizens in Puerto Rico until the job is done.”
But the rich asshole’s top legislative aide warned against expecting Washington’s help for long-term infrastructure problems.
“The president is committed to helping to make sure that we do what is necessary to help to rebuild the island, but there are some elements that pre-existed the hurricane,” Marc Short said on CNN.
The House bill includes $18.7 billion for FEMA’s disaster relief fund. Of that, $4.9 billion is earmarked for loans to local governments to ensure Puerto Rico can keep government programs operating beyond Oct. 31.
Other funds include $576.5 million for wildfire control.
Some $16 billion would go to help the National Flood Insurance Program cover claims after reaching its borrowing limit.
In its statement, the White House said it urged Congress to adopt reforms to the program to ensure its “long-term financial viability.”
Democratic Representative Nydia Velazquez of New York, which has a large Puerto Rican community, chastised the rich asshole.
“The president of the United States is tweeting out threats to withdraw assistance, that is an outrage, that is an insult,” Velazquez said.
Reporting by Amanda Becker, Additional reporting by Richard Cowan, Roberta Rampton, Susan Heavey and David Morgan; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Rosalba O'Brien and Lisa Shumaker
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Thursday Oct 12, 2017 · 5:26 PM EDT
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Late Professor William T. Kelley taught Marketing at Wharton School of Business and Finance, University of Pennsylvania, for 31 years, ending with his retirement in 1982. Dr. Kelley, who also had vast experience as a business consultant, was the author of a then-widely used textbook called Marketing Intelligence -- The Management of Marketing Information (originally published by P. Staples, London, 1968). Dr. Kelley taught marketing management to both undergraduate and graduate students at Wharton. www.upenn.edu/… Dr. Bill was one of my closest friends for 47 years when we lost him at 94 about six years ago. Bill would have been 100 this year.
some rich asshole was an undergraduate student at Wharton for the latter two of his college years, having been graduated in 1968. www.thedp.com/…
Professor Kelley told me 100 times over three decades that “some rich asshole was the dumbest goddam student I ever had.” I remember his emphasis and inflection — it went like this — “some rich asshole was the dumbest goddam student I ever had.” Dr. Kelley told me this after the rich asshole had become a celebrity but long before he was considered a political figure. Dr. Kelley often referred to the rich asshole’s arrogance when he told of this — that the rich asshole came to Wharton thinking he already knew everything.
This has relevance now because as recently as this week, President the rich asshole has challenged the Secretary of State of the United States to an I.Q. contest. www.washingtonpost.com/… This came within two days after NBC reported that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called the President a “moron” www.nbcnews.com/… or a “fucking moron” www.slate.com/… The President has frequently bragged that he was a great student at a great school (Wharton). time.com/… Thus, the public is entitled to a contrary view from somebody who was there (Dr. Kelley), and I faithfully report it here.
Bill Kelley was one smart cookie. His text book cited above — published in the late 1960s — was standard in his time in the then-new field of “marketing intelligence” and the necessity of using computers and data bases to manage it. See onlinelibrary.wiley.com/... which credits Bill for coining the quoted phrase.
Dr. Kelley’s view seems to be shared by other University of Pennsylvanians. Please see www.thedp.com/…, from the Daily Pennsylvanian, stating:
Another biographer, Gwenda Blair, wrote in 2001 that the rich asshole was admitted to Wharton on a special favor from a “friendly” admissions officer. The officer had known the rich asshole’s older brother, Freddy.
the rich asshole’s classmates doubt that the real estate mogul was an academic powerhouse.
“He was not in any kind of leadership. I certainly doubt he was the smartest guy in the class,” said Steve Perelman, a 1968 Wharton classmate and a former Daily Pennsylvanian news editor.
Some classmates speculated that the rich asshole skipped class, others that he commuted to New York on weekends. . . .
* * *
1968 Wharton graduate Louis Calomaris recalled that “Don ... was loath to really study much.”
Calomaris said the rich asshole would come to study groups unprepared and did not “seem to care about being prepared.”
Editor Lists All the Women Who Said President the rich asshole Sexually Assaulted Them
In the wake of allegations of sexual harassment against Harvey Weinstein, some on the right are trying to minimize the allegations against President the rich asshole, implying that Weinstein's offenses are much worse.
In response, Judd Legum, editor and founder of Think Progress, took to Twitter to refresh our memories of all the women who came forward with allegations against the rich asshole leading up to last year's election.
2. But just because he's president, doesn't make these women unimportant. Seems like a good time to remember each one.
In an extensive Twitter thread, Legum proceeded to list 14 different cases in which women have come forward and claimed that the rich asshole sexually harassed or even assaulted them.
3. Ninni Laaksonen, former Miss Finland. “Trump stood right next to me and suddenly he squeezed my butt” in July 2006.
4. Jessica Drake. Said Trump grabbed and kissed her without consent, then offered her 10K for sex in 2006.
5. Karena Virginia. Says she was groped by Trump at the U.S. Open in 1998.
6. Cathy Heller. Says Trump grabbed her and attempted to kiss her at Mar-a-lago in 1997.
The list is long...
7. Summer Zervos. Apprentice contestant says Trump started kissing her and grabbing her breasts, began "thrusting his genitals." 2007.
8. Kristin Anderson. Said Trump reached under her skirt and grabbed her vagina through her underwear in the early 1990s.
9. Jessica Leeds. Said Trump lifted up the armrest, grabbed her breasts and reached his hand up her skirt in the early 1980s.
10. Rachel Crooks. Says she was assaulted by Trump in an elevator in Trump Tower in 2005.
the rich asshole's Mar-a-Lago resort makes multiple appearances on the list...
11. Mindy McGillivray. Says Trump groped her while she was attending a concert at Mar-a-lago in 2003.
12. Natasha Stoynoff. Says Trump pushed her against a wall and jammed his tongue down her throat at Mar-a-lago in 2005.
He was even accused of sexual harassment when shooting his reality TV show.
13. Jennifer Murphy. Apprentice contestant says Trump kissed her on the lips after a job interview in 2005.
14. Cassandra Searles. Says Trump grabbed her ass and invited her to his hotel room in 2013.
15. Temple Taggart McDowell. Former Miss Utah says Trump kissed her directly on the lips the first time she met him in 1997.
16. Jill Harth. Says Trump repeatedly sexually harassed her and groped her underneath a table in 1993.
Legum's Twitter thread opened up a conversation about sexual assault and why many don't report...
17. That's the end of this list. These are just the women who have come forward publicly.
1. When Trump became president, people stopped talking much about the numerous women who alleged he sexually assaulted them.
Yeah, that child rape case simply vanished
Of course they did.
And then they all said she must have been lying if she dropped the charges...
And of course there's this:
1. When Trump became president, people stopped talking much about the numerous women who alleged he sexually assaulted them.
Many on Twitter noted the real double standard for sexual predators between the right and left...
Democrats put Weinstein in the doghouse. Republicans put Trump in the White House. twitter.com/gop/status/917…
Accurate.
REVEALED: Steve Bannon was in business with Harvey Weinstein before slamming Democrats for taking donations
the rich asshole administration chief strategist Steve Bannon (Screen cap).
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Former the rich asshole adviser Steve Bannon reportedly profited from a business relationship with alleged sexual predator Harvey Weinstein before he slammed Democrats for taking donations from the movie mogul.
The Associated Press reported on Thursday that Bannon participated in an “ill-fated joint venture” with Weinstein in 2005.
Weinstein’s company owned 70 percent of Genius Products, a DVD distribution company, while Bannon served as chairman.
The Associated Press pointed out that the Breitbart chief had recently criticized Democrats for connections to Weinstein.
The ties to Weinstein open Bannon up to charges of hypocrisy given Breitbart’s intense focus on the scandal and its political fallout. In recent days the site has featured a blog with live updates on the story; headlines calling out Obama, Clinton and top Democrats for their ties to the producer; and stories attacking other news outlets for failing to cover the scandal with the same ferocity as Breitbart.
“We are extremely honored to be in business with the new Weinstein Company,” Bannon told investors, according to a transcript obtained by the Associated Press.
He added: “The Weinsteins have the most impressive track record in the film industry… Bob and Harvey are two of the most prolific studio heads in the history of Hollywood.”
the rich asshole threatens to abandon Puerto Rico: ‘We cannot keep military and first responders there forever!’
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President some rich asshole appeared to threaten to abandon the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico in a time of need in an early morning Twitter rant.
First, the rich asshole cited commentary from Sinclair Broadcasting TV host Sharyl Attkisson, who said that Puerto Rico was entering a financial crisis “largely of their own making.”
Then the rich asshole proceeded to slam the government of Puerto Rico for showing “a total lack of accountability,” while then saying that Congress needed to set a limit on how much it spends on helping Puerto Rico recover from a hurricane.
He then finished by saying that America simply “cannot keep FEMA, the military, and first responders… in P.R. forever!”
At the time of the rich asshole’s tweets, FEMA is estimating that 36% of Puerto Ricans lack access to drinking water, while 90% of the island lacks electricity.
Morning Joe erupts in laughter at the rich asshole pulling NBC’s non-existent license: ‘Only a moron would think that’
"Morning Joe" panel discusses the rich asshole threats on the media (MSNBC/screen grab)
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A panel on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program mocked President some rich asshole on Thursday for threatening to pull NBC’s broadcast license even though the network isn’t required to have one.
After NBC News reported that the rich asshole had requested a 10-fold increase in the U.S. nuclear stockpile, the president lashed out on Twitter.
“With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!” the rich asshole wrote.
On Thursday, the Morning Joe panel couldn’t help but laugh at the threat.
“To be clear, the networks themselves do not hold federal licenses, their individual television stations do,” MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski pointed out. “Right? Only a moron would think that anyhow.”
Watch the video below from MSNBC, broadcast Oct. 12, 2017.
WATCH: Pence stops the rich asshole from leaving executive order signing ceremony without signing the order — again
President the rich asshole tries to leave a signing ceremony without having signed the executive order (Screen cap).
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For the second time this year, President some rich asshole tried to leave an executive order signing ceremony before he actually signed the order.
On Thursday, the president finished his remarks about an executive order he was about to sign that would weaken key insurance regulations of the Affordable Care Act. He then started shaking hands with people in the room and started walking definitively toward the exit.
At that point, Vice President Mike Pence had to walk over to him, tap him on the arm, and remind him that he still needed to sign the executive order.
Pence was also on hand this past spring when the rich asshole started to leave a signing ceremony for executive orders related to American trade policy.
Watch the video of the rich asshole trying to leave the signing ceremony below.
Here are 8 deranged moments from the rich asshole’s latest interview that confirm he’s the monster we thought he was
some rich asshole during CNN debate (Photo: Screen capture via video)
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some rich asshole sat down with Forbes magazine this week, and as with all of his interviews, it’s a real doozy. Perhaps the only expectation the rich asshole has ever exceeded is that he’d be the worst president in modern history, and each of these remarks reminds us why. The man is wrong on stats, wrong on facts, incompetent at his job, and just an all-around terrible person.
Here are eight of his more deranged moments, affirming the shallow, petty and ignoble motivations that guide his presidency.
1. He challenges his secretary of state to an IQ test.
Rex Tillerson reportedly called the rich asshole a “moron” (or to be more specific, a “f**king moron”), a phrase that has been uttered about the rich asshole billions of times by people in his administration and around the world. Obviously still smarting from having a staffer state the obvious, the rich asshole suggested perhaps he and Tillerson should take an IQ exam to prove he’s smarter, as adult human beings are wont to do.
“I think it’s fake news, but if he did that, I guess we’ll have to compare IQ tests. And I can tell you who is going to win.”
Yes, the winner will be anyone but you.
2. He brought his gauche gold obsession to the White House.
“The Oval Office,” Forbes points out, has been “freshly renovated with drapes, carpet and fixtures that lean heavily on gold.”
3. He’s still lying about his legislative success as a president.
“I’ve had just about the most legislation passed of any president, in a nine-month period, that’s ever served. We had over 50 bills passed. I’m not talking about executive orders only, which are very important. I’m talking about bills.”
Like most the rich asshole claims, this is false. Forbes notes it’s “a dose of hyperbole”—a nice of way of labeling a lie—“that any student of FDR or even Barack Obama could undercut.” The New York Times also previously rebutted this the rich asshole fabulation.
President Jimmy Carter signed 70 bills in [just] the first six months, according to an analysis of bills signed by previous White House occupants. Bill Clinton signed 50….Mr. Truman and Franklin Delano Roosevelt both had signed more bills into law by their 100-day mark than some rich asshole did in almost twice that time. Truman had signed 55 bills and Roosevelt had signed 76 during their first 100 days.
CNN adds even more on just how hollow and misleading the rich asshole’s contention is, noting that the bills he’s passed are mostly just congressional rollbacks of regulations imposed by the Obama administration, the erasure of America’s first black president’s legacy (and if he had his druthers, existence) being the rich asshole’s singular obsession. Compare that with the major legislation Obama had passed at this juncture in his presidency, which the Times points out included “an $800 billion stimulus program to confront an economic disaster, legislation to make it easier for women to sue for equal pay, a bill to give the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco and an expansion of the federal health insurance program for children.”
4. He displays a general difficulty with words.
While discussing plans to penalize companies that move abroad, the rich asshole attempts to use the word “reciprocity.” He fails, to wit:
“What I want to do is reciprocal. See, I think the concept of reciprocal is a very nice concept.”
This isn’t the first time the rich asshole has struggled with the word “reciprocity.” Back in May, during the same interview in which he lied about coining a phrase that’s been in use since the 1930s, the rich asshole also flubbed the term. (“We need reciprocality in terms of our trade deals.”)
But the rich asshole isn’t one to learn from his mistakes, no matter how insignificant.
5. He lies about the United States’ GDP in another failed attempt to diminish President Obama.
At one point, the rich asshole boasts that the gross domestic product last quarter hit 3.1 percent, claiming, “Obama never hit the number.” the rich asshole is, as always, wrong, and Forbes reporter Randall Lane sets him straight.
When informed that his predecessor did [hit 3.1 percent GDP], several times, the rich asshole pivots immediately. “He never hit it on a yearly basis. Never hit it on a yearly basis. That’s eight years. I think we’ll go substantially higher than that. And I think this quarter would have been phenomenal, except for the hurricanes.”
6. He lies about praise for his hurricane response efforts, which were abysmal.
“Well, I’ve gotten very high marks for the hurricanes,” the rich asshole tells Forbes, which is patently untrue. As casualties mount and 90 percent of the island of Puerto Rico remains paralyzed without electricity and basic resources, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz has had to plead for aid from this administration, taking to Twitter as recently as Monday out of desperation.
the rich asshole ignored the disaster for nearly a week—he was busy warring with NFL players protesting racial injustice—and when he finally did pay attention, it was to tweet insults, make excuses and demand adulation. On two separate weekends, as Puerto Ricans continued to send out help requests, the rich asshole visited his golf club to chillax. The whole heartbreaking spectacle has motivated other organizations to step up and fill the immense void that is the rich asshole’s failure, including Oxfam America and a German renewable power storage company, which are taking on disaster relief the the rich asshole administration neither cares nor can be bothered to provide.
7. He continues to try to make Obamacare a problem.
the rich asshole’s fixation with Obama again surfaced during the interview on the subject of health care. the rich asshole refers to Obamacare as “a total mess,” which is par for the course with the GOP. But when asked if he will ensure the program serves Americans as well as possible until a better alternative is drafted, the rich asshole suggests his administration will do less than the bare minimum, hinting it will hobble the program to harm his predecessor’s legacy.
“What we’re doing is trying to keep it afloat, because it’s failing,” he says. “I mean the insurance companies are fleeing and have fled. They fled before I got here. But with that being said, no, Obamacare is Obama’s fault. It’s nobody else’s fault…I’ve always said Obamacare is Obama’s fault. It’s never going to be our fault.”
8. the rich asshole admits he couldn’t really care less about keeping the country running smoothly.
Sixty-three million people voted for this man (never forget!), who has no scruples or principles, and who couldn’t care less how this country fares:
The same approach comes through in foreign policy, again and again, whether it’s the Iran deal, the Paris climate agreement or, especially, free-trade deals. Doesn’t he feel a responsibility to honor agreements from previous administrations?
President the rich asshole has a quick response: “No.”
It’s a dangerous precedent: an America where each administration, rather than building on the agreements of its predecessors, undoes each other’s deals—effectively undermining the authority of any American head of state. Again, the rich asshole shrugs.
White House operators are crying ‘fake news’ at callers complaining about the rich asshole’s Puerto Rico tweets: report
President some rich asshole speaking to the United Nations (Screenshot)
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Washington Post reporter Philip Rucker is claiming that one of his readers tried to call the White House switchboard to complain about the president’s tweets about Puerto Rico — only to be told that she was basing her complaints on “fake news.”
“A reader told me she called WH switchboard to object to the rich asshole’s Puerto Rico tweets,” Rucker writes. “WH receptionist told her [the Washington Post] was ‘fake news.'”
Rucker has not yet posted any followup tweets or any evidence that his reader’s report is accurate, however.
Here are 5 things some rich asshole lied about inventing
President some rich asshole (image via Nicholas Kamm:AFP)
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For some rich asshole, lying comes as easily as breathing, and perhaps it’s even more effortless. He makes up falsehoods about not only big political issues or even sensitive personal matters, but everything. That includes the small stuff, especially if he thinks the lie will make him look good.
If he were smarter, he might choose not to lie about things that can be disproven with a Google search. As it stands, the rich asshole’s claims about his achievements are pretty easy to discredit. That includes his lies about things he’s invented, a list that includes words, ideas, even nicknames. Because the only thing the rich asshole has ever really invented was the idea of selling steaks through the Sharper Image catalog.
Here are five things the rich asshole has lied about inventing.
1. The word ‘fake.’
On Sunday, the rich asshole sat down with Mike Huckabee for an “interview,” if that is what you call it when one person compliments and stares adoringly at another person for half an hour. During this “conversation”—if that’s the word for a meeting between a sycophant and a narcissist fully acting out their respective roles—the rich asshole decided to discuss his invention of the word “fake.”
“The media is—really, the word, one of the greatest of all terms I’ve come up with, is ‘fake,'” the rich asshole said. “I guess other people have used it perhaps over the years, but I’ve never noticed it.”
The most fascinating thing about the rich asshole’s contention is not that it’s patently untrue, but the unvarnished blend of insanity and stupidity in its suggestion that the rich asshole invented a word that’s been in common parlance for hundreds of years. Merriam-Webster points out that usage of the word “fake” dates back to the 15th century. Even giving the rich asshole the benefit of the doubt and assuming he actually meant to take credit for the term “fake news,” the claim still doesn’t hold up. Merriam-Webster points to specific citations of that phrase in the late 1800s.
If you want to watch the entire the rich asshole-Huckabee “discussion”—if that is the way to describe what happens when an owner makes a dog sit very still with a treat on its nose in some cruel, torturous approximation of a trick—it’s in the video below. It includes Huckabee calling the rich asshole a “rock star,” among other embarrassments.
2. An 84-year-old economic theory.
In May, the rich asshole spoke with editors from the Economist, a publication staffed by people who know a lot about economics, the dead giveaway being the fact that it’s called the Economist. Unfortunately, there were no cameras running during the interview, so we can’t see the look on the editors’ faces when the rich asshole insisted he invented a well-established economic theory.
ECONOMIST: But beyond that it’s OK if the tax plan increases the deficit?RICH ASSHOLE: It is OK, because it won’t increase it for long. You may have two years where you’ll… you understand the expression “prime the pump”?ECONOMIST: Yes.RICH ASSHOLE: We have to prime the pump.ECONOMIST: It’s very Keynesian.RICH ASSHOLE: We’re the highest-taxed nation in the world. Have you heard that expression before, for this particular type of an event?ECONOMIST: Priming the pump?RICH ASSHOLE: Yeah, have you heard it?ECONOMIST: Yes.RICH ASSHOLE: Have you heard that expression used before? Because I haven’t heard it. I mean, I just… I came up with it a couple of days ago and I thought it was good. It’s what you have to do.ECONOMIST: It’s—RICH ASSHOLE: Yeah, what you have to do is you have to put something in before you can get something out.
Is there anything better than the end of the exchange, when the Economist editor, befuddled and stunned by the whole dumb conversation, starts to repeat the rich asshole’s own words back to him, and instead of listening, the rich asshole plows onward, proudly ignorant and obnoxious? Congratulations, America! You elected Michael Scott president.
There’s also the fact that the rich asshole says he “came up with [‘prime the pump’] a couple of days ago,” despite the fact that he used the phrase multiple times before the Economist interview. Once while he was on Fox News a month prior, and twice during media appearances in 2016.
For the record, the New York Times notes that prime the pump “was in wide use by 1933, when President Roosevelt fought the Great Depression with pump-priming stimulus.”
3. The border wall.
During the election, the rich asshole riled his base of racists and xenophobes with promises of a useless, costly southern border wall to keep brown immigrants out. It wasn’t a new idea—a barrier that runs 850 miles along the dividing line was erected by Bush 43 in 2006, and the border patrol was put in place in 1924. But the rich asshole accused his GOP primary competitor Ted Cruz and others for stealing an idea that hadn’t been his to begin with.
“People are picking up all of my ideas, including Ted, who started talking about building a wall two days ago,” the rich asshole told Politico in January 2016.
During an episode of Face the Nation, the rich asshole said, “I was watching the other day. And I was watching Ted talk. And he said, ‘We will build a wall.’ The first time I’ve ever heard him say it. And my wife, who was sitting next to me, said, ‘Oh, look. He’s copying what you’ve been saying for a long period of time.’”
“Every time somebody says we want a wall, remember who said it first,” the rich asshole said at a New Hampshire rally. “Politicians do not give credit.”
That seems to include “politicians” named the rich asshole who rip off the many racist politicians who have come before them.
Added bonus: the rich asshole also stole an idea for putting solar panels on the wall. From a veteran.
4. The nickname ‘Rocket Man’ for the Supreme Leader of North Korea.
Hilariously, White House staffers have talked up the rich asshole’s use of “Rocket Man” as a nickname for Kim Jong-un as proof that he’s a real-life Don Draper. “That’s a President the rich asshole original,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Fox & Friends. “As you know, he’s a master in branding.”
Is he, though?
Actually, this one may come as a bit of a surprise because it seemed just dumb enough to be a believable the rich asshole (via Elton John) invention. But even this the rich asshole creation originated somewhere else.
The cover of the July 8, 2006, issue of the Economist featured then-North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Il blasting off toward the sky, clouds of smoke billowing from his feet. “Rocket Man” the caption read, an allusion to the dictator’s nuclear ambitions. the rich asshole has reapplied the moniker to his successor and son, Kim Jong-un, who by all indications he seems to think is the same guy. What a shock that a raging racist can’t tell two totally different Asian men apart.
This isn’t to suggest the rich asshole ever read an issue of the Economist aside from the one he was featured in (and even then, he probably only skimmed one-third of his interview). Maybe he saw it when he did an image search for “The Economist” the night before his interview.
5. The whole ‘Make America Great Again’ nonsense.
the rich asshole told the Washington Post that the day after Mitt Romney’s 2012 loss, he got to work on a new slogan for his campaign.
“I said, ‘We’ll make America great.’ And I had started off ‘We Will Make America Great.’ That was my first idea, but I didn’t like it. And then all of a sudden it was going to be ‘Make America Great.’ But that didn’t work because that was a slight to America because that means it was never great before. And it has been great before. So I said, ‘Make America Great Again.’ I said, ‘That is so good.’ I wrote it down. I went to my lawyers…. said, ‘See if you can have this registered and trademarked.'”
When the rich asshole says America was “great before,” he is obviously referring either to the days of Jim Crow or slavery or Native American genocide, because that pretty much covers America up until this moment. For the record, “Let’s Make America Great Again” was used by Ronald Reagan’s 1980 election campaign. It seems fairly likely that the rich asshole, who was a fully grown adult of voting age at the time, picked it up there. Realizing he might be called out on this, he responded with proactive defensiveness.
“You know, everyone said, “Oh, it was Ronald Reagan’s.” And then they found out they were wrong. His was—and I didn’t know this at the time, I found it out a year ago. I found it out a year after I—his was, “Let’s Make America Great.”
“But he didn’t trademark it.”
the rich asshole opens DOJ investigation into Weinstein’s ‘culture of abuse’ — one day after Tucker Carlson suggests it
President some rich asshole (left, via AFP) and Fox News host Tucker Carlson (right, via screengrab).
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Last night on Fox News, host Tucker Carlson called on the Department of Justice to open an investigation into “Hollywood’s culture of systematic sexual abuse” in light of mounting accusations of sexual abuse and harassment against film producer Harvey Weinstein.
Today, it appears that President some rich asshole heeded Carlson’s advice.
As the Daily Mail reports, the rich asshole’s DOJ is opening an investigation into Weinstein amid reports that the producer may head to Europe for “sex rehab,” leading to fears that he may “pull a Roman Polanski” and flee the country to avoid prosecution for his alleged crimes.
Watch Carlson float his now-heeded investigatory suggestion below.
Here are 5 reasons why the rich asshole’s new tax plan is a cruel joke
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the rich asshole and conservatives in Congress are planning a big tax cut for millionaires and billionaires. To justify it they’re using the oldest song in their playbook, claiming tax cuts on the rich will trickle down to working families in the form of stronger economic growth.
Baloney. Trickle-down economics is a cruel joke. Just look at the evidence:
1. Clinton’s tax increase on the rich hardly stalled the economy. In 1993, Bill Clinton raised taxes on top earners from 31 percent to 39.6 percent. Conservatives predicted economic disaster. Instead, the economy created 23 million jobs and the economy grew for 8 straight years in what was then the longest expansion in history. The federal budget went into surplus.
2. George W. Bush’s big tax cuts for the rich didn’t grow the economy. In 2001and 2003, George W. Bush lowered the top tax rate to 35 percent while also cutting top rates on capital gains and dividends. Conservative supply-siders predicted an economic boom. Instead, the economy barely grew at all, and then in 2008 it collapsed. Meanwhile, the federal deficit ballooned.
3. Obama’s tax hike on the rich didn’t slow the economy. At the end of 2012, President Obama struck a deal to restore the 39.6 percent top tax rate and raise tax rates on capital gains and dividends. Once again, supply-side conservatives predicted doom. Instead, the economy grew steadily, and the expansion is still continuing.
4. The Reagan recovery of the early 1980s wasn’t driven by Reagan’s tax cut.Conservative supply-siders point to Ronald Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts. But the so-called Reagan recovery of the early 1980s was driven by low interest rates and big increase in government spending.
5. Kansas cut taxes on the rich and is a basket case. California raised them and is thriving. In 2012, Kansas slashed taxes on top earners and business owners, while California raised taxes on top earners to the highest state rate in the nation. Since then, California has had among the strongest economic growth of any state, while Kansas has fallen behind most other states.
So don’t fall for supply-side, trickle-down nonsense. Lower taxes on the rich don’t generate growth and jobs. They only make the rich even richer, at a time of raging inequality, and they cause bigger budget deficits.
WATCH: Seth Meyers rips apart ‘lazy wannabe-dictator’ the rich asshole over his attacks on the First Amendment
Seth Meyers (Photo: Screen capture)
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During his “Closer Look” segment on Wednesday, Seth Meyers slammed “lazy wannabe-dictator” some rich asshole over the president’s constant barrage of attacks on the First Amendment.
Referencing the rich asshole’s repeated assertions that media “licenses must be challenged and revoked” (something that cannot happen), Meyers noted the president spent his Wednesday lamenting “the fact that the United States has a free press.”
During an Oval Office visit with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the rich asshole said it’s “frankly disgusting” that the press can write “whatever it wants,” arguing “people should look into.”
Meyers argued that statement is a clear sign the president is “lazy wannabe dictator.”
“It’s not that hard to look into it, it’s literally the First Amendment,” Meyers said, later adding “it’s one sentence dude.”
Pointing out that members of the rich asshole’s own party, like Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), have taken to calling out the president’s erratic behavior, Meyers joked, “so you all know he’s a bad guy, buy you don’t want to tell the rest of us? Do you work in Congress or on the board of the Weinstein Company?”
Watch the video below, via NBC:
the rich asshole adviser shouts down GOP’s ‘stupid’ Weinstein attacks: ‘The shamelessness is off the charts’
Composite Image of President some rich asshole (Youtube) and Harvey Weinstein (Shutterstock).
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As more and more allegations of sexual assault and harassment against disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein come to the surface, right-wingers have had a field day celebrating the famed liberal donor’s downfall.
But as one outside adviser to President some rich asshole told The Daily Beast, they’re unwise to do so in light of the large number of similar accusations against him that came out this time last year.
“The shamelessness [of going hard on this stuff] is off the charts,” the adviser told the Beast. “Stupid, too.”
As the report notes, it appears the White House itself is steering away from the Weinstein allegations for that very reason, though it hasn’t stopped the Department of Justice from opening an investigation into the producer. Kellyanne Conway, one of the rich asshole’s advisers and former campaign managers, took to Twitter to condemn the president’s ex-rival Hillary Clinton for her response to the Weinstein scandal, prompting others to call her out on her hypocrisy.
This is not the first time allegations of sexual abuse have been resurrected since he took office in January. For example, when the rich asshole declared April to be “Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month,” The View used the rich asshole’s own words to create a PSA video on sexual assault and harassment, which you can watch below.
the rich asshole ‘threw a fit’ over Iran Deal forcing McMaster to devise a plan to punt the issue to Congress: report
President some rich asshole pauses during the 9/11 Observance Ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. (DOD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Dominique A. Pineiro)
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President some rich asshole threw such a tantrum over the landmark 2015 Iran Deal that advisors devised a creative solution for the United States to declare the deal is not in US interests, while punting the issue to Congress, according to a stunning new report in The Washington Post.
In July, the rich asshole was livid with his national security staff for suggesting he had to certify Iran’s compliance with the international deal arranged by President Barack Obama.
“He threw a fit,” said one Post source. “He was furious. Really furious.”
With the rich asshole ignoring the arguments put forth by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, national security advisor H.R. McMaster came up with a scheme to accommodate the rich asshole’s hatred of everything Obama — without killing the deal between the United States, Iran, Britain France, Germany, Russia and China.
The workaround employed by McMaster is for United States to certify Iran’s compliance the deal, but to put allies on notice the rich asshole wants to walk away by announcing new conditions for continued participation and then punting the issue to Congress.
“It would give a few months or years lead time to give time to get U.S. allies on board with the same restrictions — a unified front that will put lots of pressure on the Iranians” a White House aide told The Post.
the rich asshole’s July 17th tantrum about the deal reportedly lasted all afternoon — even forcing a postponement of a planned announcement.
the rich asshole has said an official decision will be coming “very soon” with an announcement expected in a speech Thursday.
A college professor criticized the rich asshole. Now the White House wants an investigation
Freedom of speech only goes so far on college campuses
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders wants the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) to investigate one of its professors after she strongly criticized President some rich asshole and the consequences of his election as the city reeled from the mass shooting.
Recordings of assistant professor Tessa Winkelmann showed her speaking to her class about the president's violent rhetoric and the power of his words.
"Right when he got elected, I told my classes, three semesters ago, that some of us won’t be affected by this presidency, but others are going to die," Winkelmann said in the video, obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "Other people will die because of this."
One student was "dumbfounded" and said the professor's comments were "appalling," in the wake of the recent mass shooting in Las Vegas, the Review-Journal reported.
"He’s [the rich asshole] threatened to declare violence against North Korea and other places," the professor added. "And words, especially if they’re coming from someone who is the president, have consequences. . . I don’t know that these events would have inevitably happened whether or not he got elected, but he has rhetorical powers every president has to encourage or to discourage (violence). So far all he’s done is to encourage violence."
The White House condemned the comments and said the school should "look into" the professor's actions.
"It is sad she is teaching students such divisive, inaccurate and irresponsible rhetoric," Sanders said. "She should be ashamed of herself, and the university should look into it. What a terrible example to set for students."
Winkelmann apologized in an emailed statement to the Review-Journal and said she wished she had been "more thoughtful in how I directed the conversation."
"This week has been very difficult for members of our community, and we have allowed students space in our classes to discuss how they have been affected and to openly convey their feelings," she wrote. "I regret that my comments caused more pain during this difficult time. Emotions were running high and I wish I would have been more thoughtful in how I directed the conversation."
UNLV issued a statement that said Winkelmann's comments were insensitive, but did not announce any potential disciplinary action against her.
"While we respect academic freedom in the classroom and the right to free speech, we believe the comments were insensitive, especially given the series of events this week and the healing process that has begun in the community," university spokesman Tony Allen said, according to the Review-Journal.
Unfortunately this is not the first time the White House has commented on civilians who are outspoken in their criticism of the president. On Tuesday morning the president once again attacked the recently suspended ESPN anchor Jemele Hill as part of his long-running crusade against NFL players who have knelt during the national anthem in protest of social and racial injustice.
Press secretary Sanders also previously said Hill had committed a "fireable offense" when the anchor called the president a white supremacist on Twitter.
Conservatives have long advocated for free speech on college campuses, yet have remained quiet when the White House suggested disciplinary action be taken against a professor who was well within her free speech rights.
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