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    I'd never thought of that distinction between "elite" and "establishment" before. Good one.

    So being in the elite (though boorish and racist, so you don't count as elite) and not having to do any thing, so outside the establishment, is pretty much perfect.

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      So, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has shown up in Panama Papers 2 because of his links to Putin cronies in a shipping company that he owns a big chunk of. Not a big deal, except that he didn't mention that he still owns a big chunk of it during his confirmation hearings.

      Again, he'd be fine with this. But this becomes his second link to Russia - it is suggested that the Russian money that Paul Manafort was laundering was being laundered through the Ross owned Bank of Cyprus.

      It's possible, then, that Ross is properly tangled in the Muller investigation and might become a little too toxic even for Trump. Keep an eye on this one. It might be nothing but it might not.

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        Meanwhile, an interesting thing about the New Jersey gubernatorial election and the Menendez trial that I read today. If Menendez is guilty, he's said he won't quit the Senate.

        Therefore the Senate needs to kick him out. That would require 66 votes. And it appears that the Democrats would Merrick Garland that vote - certainly for 2 months until a Democratic governor is installed. But they probably couldn't Garland it for the full term.

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          Ross also undervalued his interest in the shipping company by a factor of 20 in his financial disclosures (he disclosed some of his interest, though none of the oligarch connections)

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            Did you think people would feel "connected" to Trump? Honestly?
            He's a celebrity. People feel connected to celebrities, for some bizarre reason.

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              Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
              Ross also undervalued his interest in the shipping company by a factor of 20 in his financial disclosures (he disclosed some of his interest, though none of the oligarch connections)
              Is it normal practice to list shareholders of customers of firms in which you have shareholdings in your financial disclosures?

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                OK, so I thought the Ross thing might have some teeth in it if he hadn't disclosed it when talking about his divestment plan, but looking at this contemporary report, it sure seems like he did.
                He also plans to retain financial interests in seven investment vehicles, including one involved with the shipping industry.
                There's also this comment from Ross himself, per the Graun:
                But Ross said Blumenthal’s comments were “totally incorrect”, as his holding in Navigator was disclosed in three separate points in his disclosure form lodged with the US Office of Government Ethics.
                I've yet to read a copy of the actual OGE agreement though.

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                  GY, in my experience it isn't standard to disclose other shareholders, though disclosure of a controlled entity's material reliance on certain individuals/companies can be required

                  Comment


                    But shareholders of third party customers? According to their 2016 report, Sibur provides 7.9% of Navigator revenues. There are plenty of companies that don't even disclose meaningful information about business lines that make up less than 10% of revenues (eg Apple).

                    I mean, I guess this helps show the Russia sanctions are a bit of a joke, given the nature of the Russian economy, but that's hardly news and not the angle most people are pushing. According to the theory that seems to be underpinning the reporting, Ross should have disclosed explicitly that his disclosed investment had an exposure to a firm which had a 7.9% non-ownership exposure to a firm which has shareholders subject to sanctions (but not sanctions which would have any legal effect here).

                    Now, I'm all in favour of the idea he should have divested in the first place, but he didn't, and he said he wouldn't, and the OGE said fine.
                    Last edited by Ginger Yellow; 06-11-2017, 13:19.

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                      Originally posted by Ginger Yellow View Post
                      He's a celebrity. People feel connected to celebrities, for some bizarre reason.
                      The theory is that proximity to well-known people is actually an evolutionary trait. The better you knew the leader / alpha male and the better he knew you, the better your chances of survival.

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                        GY, I had thought the reliance was greater than that. I agree with you that a less than 10 percent customer would normally not be disclosed.

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                          He's spouting unfair trade bollocks again. It's a great card, because it combines racism and "the others gave your job away".

                          That's how you "connect" with people, apparently.

                          Comment


                            Originally posted by WOM View Post
                            The theory is that proximity to well-known people is actually an evolutionary trait. The better you knew the leader / alpha male and the better he knew you, the better your chances of survival.
                            But it varies between times and places. Germans in 1933-45 identified with Hitler far more than Germans in 2017 identify with party leaders. Moreover, identifying with the alpha male can get you killed, so it goes two ways.

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                              A Georgia Republican was on the radio this morning. Apparently a big deficit hawk, he has got comfortable on the tax plan as it will boost growth to 3-4%, maybe 5% which will pay down the deficit.

                              It amazes me how some people can create tax logic from vapor.

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                                The cyclist who gave Trump the finger has been fired.

                                First Amendment, protecting Monarchs from lese-majeste since 2017.

                                Comment


                                  Another poll has Northam up in Virginia. 5 points.

                                  Comment


                                    The last 2 days of Virginia polls are Northam +9. Northam +6, Northam +5, Northam +3, Northam +3, Northam +2 and Northam +1. The +1 poll is from a Republican pollster, paid for by Republicans.

                                    Northam seems to have a clear lead - you'd guess at around 4%. It's not enough of a lead that it couldn't get fucked by turnout issues, particularly in an odd-numbered year, but it's probably about as good as you could hope for in the circumstances.

                                    The key with Virginia is clearly going to be the turnout thing. If Republicans stay home because they're apathetic after Trump's failures, and if Democrats turn out- particularly black voters after the Charlottesville stuff that Gillespie has pushed hard - then that is really going to put the shits up Republican congressmen for 2018. If, though, the Racist Confederate Identity stuff keeps the Trumpians engaged, while Democratic voters don't come out because Trump isn't actually on the ticket, then the Democratic Party is going to go into meltdown in advance of 2018.

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                                      It ought to be OK because the big Democrat areas border Washington DC itself, so Trump ought to loom very directly for them.

                                      Hilary Clinton won Fairfax County alone by nearly 200,000. They won the 2013 Governor and 2014 Senate by nearer 60,000, and ought to improve on that.
                                      Last edited by Tubby Isaacs; 06-11-2017, 22:32.

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                                        Tubbs with a strong bid to become the Robby Mook of HRC 2020

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                                          You don't think what I said there was logical?

                                          The Trump bollocks is going to be much closer to the Democratic voters there than in eg Michigan.

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                                            Some of us learned a lot about "logical" outcomes in 2016

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                                              You're being very blithely optimistic, without any data points yet on how the electorate responds to Trump in the Trump era. Tomorrow is the first test of it.

                                              Blithe optimism "Hey, we should win because everywhere's becoming more democratic, and everyone despises Trump so is going to rush to the polls to oppose him" is almost exactly HRC's campaign strategy.

                                              It might be true, but we have no idea, yet, whether it actually is.

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                                                But we don't give up on logic, do we?

                                                I think, ceteris paribus, it's a good place for the Democrats to have an election. Losing that would be an appalling result for them.

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                                                  Originally posted by San Bernardhinault View Post
                                                  You're being very blithely optimistic, without any data points yet on how the electorate responds to Trump in the Trump era. Tomorrow is the first test of it.

                                                  Blithe optimism "Hey, we should win because everywhere's becoming more democratic, and everyone despises Trump so is going to rush to the polls to oppose him" is almost exactly HRC's campaign strategy.

                                                  It might be true, but we have no idea, yet, whether it actually is.
                                                  I didn't do that though, did I? I offered a reason why the particular Democratic areas ought to turnout better than they usually do in odd number years.

                                                  But we don't have any scores on the doors, indeed.

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                                                    Losing Virginia would be a bad result, but not an absolutely appalling one.

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