Large numbers of people are supporting Donald Trump for President because they feel betrayed by the current Republicans in leadership roles. Those current Republican leaders promised to do something about immigration, undocumented aliens, the national debt, the budget deficit, the economy, and to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) AKA Obamacare among other items.
Donald Trump promises to change the way things are ... just as the current Republican leadership did when they campaigned for office.
If Donald should be elected President, what is likely to happen? Let us imagine the scenario:
The Place: The Oval Office
The Time: the day after the inauguration
The Scene: President Donald and his advisors
Donald: I would like to get started on my list of promises, gentlemen. And, I do mean "gentlemen" ... no bimbos here, right?
Advisors: Yes, sir.
D: About that wall between us and those Mexicans ...
Advisor A: If I may, sir, initial cost estimates are way too high with the economy the way it is now.
D: That shouldn't be a problem. Call the President of Mexico and ask when we can expect that check to pay for the wall.
A: Sir, Mexico has broken off relations with us. We cannot call the President of Mexico anymore. In addition, Halliburton said they would not be able to hire enough cheap labor to do the work in that area anyway.
D: Well, we will have to just manage that better, won't we?
Advisors: Yes, sir.
D: What about deporting those brown people here in the country illegally?
Advisor B: Sir. If we transport all the "illegal browns" to the nearest local airports that use only regional jets, it will require 95 years to move them all out of the country because their numbers will increase in the camps next to the local airports as they wait. IF we use major metropolitan airports with the larger aircraft, general business operations will slow to a crawl because CEO's will not be able to move around the country in their corporate jets as a result of the restricted airspace requirements to protect the "illegals" housed between the runways of the airports.
D: OK, let's hold on that one for a bit. Obamacare! When can we get rid of that?
Advisor C: Well, sir, the Speaker of the House and the Vice President on behalf of the Senate, both called to express their concern on that matter but not for release to the press, you must understand. It turns out a majority of your supporters have actually signed up for Obamacare and, to the dismay of the Congressional Republican leadership, your supporters like having medical insurance after so many years without it.
D: No problem. We can just blame the Republicans for not getting rid of it sooner and then we will start calling it "TrumpCare"! Anything with my name on it will be OK with my followers.
Advisors: Yes, sir.
Advisor D: Sir, about the national debt?
D: Right! I have been thinking about that and, last night, it came to me! We will declare bankruptcy! I know about bankruptcy since I've done it at least four times in the past.
Advisors: GASP!
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Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Thursday, February 4, 2016
What is a militia?
A well-organized militia is one organized by state or local government, i.e., an authority having the legal power and authority to do so.
The Minute Men were organized by the British Massachusetts Bay Colony more than 100 years prior to the American Revolutionary War. They were part of the colony's militia -- all able-bodied men between the ages of 16 and 60.
A self-organized militia is a contradiction in terms -- it is simply a gang ... with guns ... and no adult supervision.
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The Minute Men were organized by the British Massachusetts Bay Colony more than 100 years prior to the American Revolutionary War. They were part of the colony's militia -- all able-bodied men between the ages of 16 and 60.
A self-organized militia is a contradiction in terms -- it is simply a gang ... with guns ... and no adult supervision.
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Monday, January 18, 2016
Exxon-Mobil: An upright, straight forward, two-faced company ...
... July [2015], The Guardian reported that Exxon Mobil Corp ... knew as early as 1981 of climate change – seven years before it became a public issue, according to a newly discovered email from one of the firm's own scientists. Despite this the firm spent millions over the next 27 years to promote climate denial."
-- NPR
As many of the world’s major oil companies — including Exxon, Mobil and Shell — joined a multimillion-dollar industry effort to stave off new regulations to address climate change, they were quietly safeguarding billion-dollar infrastructure projects from rising sea levels, warming temperatures and increasing storm severity.
From the North Sea to the Canadian Arctic, the companies were raising the decks of offshore platforms, protecting pipelines from increasing coastal erosion, and designing helipads, pipelines and roads in a warming and buckling Arctic.
-- LA Times
-- NPR
As many of the world’s major oil companies — including Exxon, Mobil and Shell — joined a multimillion-dollar industry effort to stave off new regulations to address climate change, they were quietly safeguarding billion-dollar infrastructure projects from rising sea levels, warming temperatures and increasing storm severity.
From the North Sea to the Canadian Arctic, the companies were raising the decks of offshore platforms, protecting pipelines from increasing coastal erosion, and designing helipads, pipelines and roads in a warming and buckling Arctic.
-- LA Times
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Which policies of the first Republicans would be acceptable to today's Republicans?
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 divided the country between the pro-slavery, agrarian South and anti-slavery, industrial North. In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act stated settlers would decide if their new state would be free or slave. Northern leaders such as Horace Greeley, Salmon Chase and Charles Sumner did not want to watch a flood of pro-slavery settlers claim new territories. From this primary issue, a new political party arose ... the Republican Party.
The Republican dislike of slavery came from the belief in a country wherein every man was free to make himself a good life by his own efforts.
The Republicans were the party of free working white men; they opposed the spread of slavery because they feared competition from unpaid labor in the new Western lands. They were no particular friends of the blacks, slave or free. They were purely a sectional party -- the Northeast for the most part.
Issues put forward by the Republicans included:
liberal capitalism - the greatest possible number of economic decisions are made by individuals and not by collective institutions or organizations
monopoly capitalism - a capitalist system typified by trade monopolies in the hands of a few people.
Sources:
ushistory.org
historytoday.com
u-s-history.com
The early Republicans ...
Help settlers own the western lands
High tariffs to protect U.S. manuafacturers & worker's jobs
Liberal immigration laws to provide labor to Northern manufacturers
Capitalism with economic decisions made by individuals and not by collective institutions or organizations
No particular friends of blacks
Today's Republicans ...
Let business drill, mine, harvest the western lands at low cost
High tariffs to protect U.S. manuafacturers
Tight immigration laws to reduce potential liberal voters
Capitalism with decisions made by a plutocracy
No particular friends of blacks, Latinos, Muslims, Mideastern peoples, refugees, poor, homeless, mentally ill
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The Republican dislike of slavery came from the belief in a country wherein every man was free to make himself a good life by his own efforts.
The Republicans were the party of free working white men; they opposed the spread of slavery because they feared competition from unpaid labor in the new Western lands. They were no particular friends of the blacks, slave or free. They were purely a sectional party -- the Northeast for the most part.
Issues put forward by the Republicans included:
- Repeal of the Kansas-Nebraska Act — the Republican opposition to the extension of slavery was based more on economic concerns than moral ones
- Support of the central route for the construction of the transcontinental railroad
- Support of a Homestead Acts, which would ease the process for settlers to own western lands
- Support of high protective tariffs and liberal immigration laws — both were attractive to Northern manufacturers.
- Supported, in its early years, liberal capitalism as opposed to monopoly capitalism.
liberal capitalism - the greatest possible number of economic decisions are made by individuals and not by collective institutions or organizations
monopoly capitalism - a capitalist system typified by trade monopolies in the hands of a few people.
Sources:
ushistory.org
historytoday.com
u-s-history.com
The early Republicans ...
Help settlers own the western lands
High tariffs to protect U.S. manuafacturers & worker's jobs
Liberal immigration laws to provide labor to Northern manufacturers
Capitalism with economic decisions made by individuals and not by collective institutions or organizations
No particular friends of blacks
Today's Republicans ...
Let business drill, mine, harvest the western lands at low cost
High tariffs to protect U.S. manuafacturers
Tight immigration laws to reduce potential liberal voters
Capitalism with decisions made by a plutocracy
No particular friends of blacks, Latinos, Muslims, Mideastern peoples, refugees, poor, homeless, mentally ill
-30-
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
What have liberals ever done for the U.S.?
The GI Bill
Endangered Species Act
Environmental Laws
The Space Program
The Peace Corps
Americorps
The Civil Rights Movement
Earned Income Tax Credit
Family & Medical Leave Act
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Americans With Disabilities Act
Freedom of Information Act
Women's right to control their reproductive future
Allowing citizens to view their own credit records
The Internet
Balancing the federal budget
The Brady Bill (5-day wait on handgun purchases for background checks)
Lobbying Disclosure Act
"Motor-Voter" Act
The Voting Rights Act
Unemployment Insurance
Medicare/Medicaid
Food Stamps/WIC
Social Security
Peace between Israel and Egypt
Peace between Israel and Jordan
The Department of Education
The Department of Energy
The Department of Transportation
The Department of Housing and Urban Development
Labor Laws
The Marshall Plan
Winning World War II
Food Safety Laws
Workplace Safety Laws
The Tennessee Valley Project
The Civilian Conservation Corps
The Securities and Exchange Commission
Women's Right to Vote
Universal Public Education
National Weather Service
Product Labeling Laws
Truth in Advertising Laws
Morrill Land Grant Act
Rural Electrification
Public Universities
Bank Deposit Insurance (FDIC)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Public Broadcasting
Supporting the establishment of Israel
The United Nations
NATO
Endangered Species Act
Environmental Laws
The Space Program
The Peace Corps
Americorps
The Civil Rights Movement
Earned Income Tax Credit
Family & Medical Leave Act
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Americans With Disabilities Act
Freedom of Information Act
Women's right to control their reproductive future
Allowing citizens to view their own credit records
The Internet
Balancing the federal budget
The Brady Bill (5-day wait on handgun purchases for background checks)
Lobbying Disclosure Act
"Motor-Voter" Act
The Voting Rights Act
Unemployment Insurance
Medicare/Medicaid
Food Stamps/WIC
Social Security
Peace between Israel and Egypt
Peace between Israel and Jordan
The Department of Education
The Department of Energy
The Department of Transportation
The Department of Housing and Urban Development
Labor Laws
The Marshall Plan
Winning World War II
Food Safety Laws
Workplace Safety Laws
The Tennessee Valley Project
The Civilian Conservation Corps
The Securities and Exchange Commission
Women's Right to Vote
Universal Public Education
National Weather Service
Product Labeling Laws
Truth in Advertising Laws
Morrill Land Grant Act
Rural Electrification
Public Universities
Bank Deposit Insurance (FDIC)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Public Broadcasting
Supporting the establishment of Israel
The United Nations
NATO
Where does it say in the U.S. Constitution ...
Article VI, paragraph 3, ... no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
Whether you are religious or not, it matters not under the Constitution. Religion thereby is separated from the state.
Whether you are religious or not, it matters not under the Constitution. Religion thereby is separated from the state.
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