Pentagon chief of staff quits

[TU Curmudgeon]

He did the same thing in both instances, days apart.

But Mr. Trump DID (eventually) go to Arlington.

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

I can't see where 1,000 miles of steel with concrete enforcement in the ground would be costing $25 billion or $50 billion respectively.
Labor is already paid by the tax payer.

If the labour is paid, then the amount that the labourers are paid is a part of the cost.

If I am going to the store to buy groceries with $10 in my pocket and I ask you for another $5 so that I can buy a Starbucks then if I don't get the $5 from you but instead pay it out of the $10 in my pocket, I don't get the Starbucks for free - do I?

 

[Barnacle]

If the labour is paid, then the amount that the labourers are paid is a part of the cost.

If I am going to the store to buy groceries with $10 in my pocket and I ask you for another $5 so that I can buy a Starbucks then if I don't get the $5 from you but instead pay it out of the $10 in my pocket, I don't get the Starbucks for free - do I?

So, you're telling me that the guys who receive a monthly paycheck from the federal government are supposed to get an additional paycheck for doing their work?!?

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

That's why we depend upon the co-equal judiciary to weigh-in on these matters ...

Yes, but if the laws are capable of being interpreted/implemented WITHOUT the importation of terms (and "intention") then the judiciary has a VERY difficult job to find some way around them.

If a law were to say (and I know that I'm simplifying) that

The President of the United States of America may declare a "State of National Emergency" in such cases where the President of the United States of America determines that such is appropriate.
​

then the courts have do do a real "judicial stretch" to determine that that is NOT what the law is, but rather that what the law is is actually

The President of the United States of America may declare a "State of National Emergency" in such cases where the President of the United States of America determines that such is appropriate PROVIDED THAT __[fill in the blank with someone/something OTHER THAN "the President of the United States of America"]__ agrees.
​

The problem with giving "discretionary freedom of action" is that you are operating under the assumption that the "discretion" will be exercised rationally and in good faith. When you have given "discretionary freedom of action" to any person who acquires it ex officio then you have no control over how that person exercises it and no impediment exists to it being exercises irrationally and/or in bad faith.

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

Doesn’t everything have to do with President Trump?

Of course not!!!

If the stock market goes up then THAT is due to Mr. Trump, but if it goes down then that is all the fault of Clinton/Obama.

If a Really GREAT trade deal with Canada and Mexico gets negotiated then THAT is due to Mr. Trump, but if it doesn't get ratified then that is all the fault of Clinton/Obama (and Canada, Mexico, and the Democrats which, as everyone knows are all Socialists [which is what we call those damned COMMIES in polite company]).

If a Really GREAT disarmament deal with the DPRK is negotiated then THAT is due to Mr. Trump, but if that deal doesn't result in any reduction of the DPRK's nuclear programs (mainly because it didn't actually call for any) then that is all the fault of Clinton/Obama (and, of course, those damned COMMIES in the DPRK).

Mr. Trump ALWAYS "hires the best" but after Clinton/Obama have worked on them for a while they become dumb as a rock so Mr. Trump has to fire them and hire the person who was always #1 on his list in the first place.

NOW do you see how it works?

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

The admiral might have cancer, for all you know.

What an insight.

The Admiral might be one of the Lizard People from Arcturus, for all you know.

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

Here's a very recent example:

(What a jag!)

That is obviously a fake video. The actor pretending to be Mr. Trump is NOT wearing the correct colour tie.

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

So, you're telling me that the guys who receive a monthly paycheck from the federal government are supposed to get an additional paycheck for doing their work?!?

No. What I'm saying is that you don't get their labour for free any more than you get a "free" Starbucks because you pay for it out of your grocery money.

Now I will agree with you that, if Mr. Trump takes $25.Bn out of some other part of the budget and spends it on "The Wall" then "The Wall" will NOT cost an ADDITIONAL $25Bn - but that is NOT the same thing as saying that "The Wall" will cost LESS THAN $25Bn.

What will happen in the proposed scenario is that the US military will have $25Bn LESS to spend on the stuff it is already hard pressed to do with the money that it already has. If you don't believe me that the US military is hard pressed to do stuff it is already supposed to be doing with the money that it already has, then I suggest that you review the presentations made by the Joint Chiefs in support of their budget requests.

Might I suggest that you actually try reading for content?

 

[Barnacle]

No. What I'm saying is that you don't get their labour for free any more than you get a "free" Starbucks because you pay for it out of your grocery money.

Now I will agree with you that, if Mr. Trump takes $25.Bn out of some other part of the budget and spends it on "The Wall" then "The Wall" will NOT cost an ADDITIONAL $25Bn - but that is NOT the same thing as saying that "The Wall" will cost LESS THAN $25Bn.

What will happen in the proposed scenario is that the US military will have $25Bn LESS to spend on the stuff it is already hard pressed to do with the money that it already has. If you don't believe me that the US military is hard pressed to do stuff it is already supposed to be doing with the money that it already has, then I suggest that you review the presentations made by the Joint Chiefs in support of their budget requests.
Might I suggest that you actually try reading for content?

No problem ... they can take it from the "goodwill" programs we run all over the world where we build schools and infrastructures in sometimes hostile countries using our Corps of Engineers.

 

[upsideguy]

How was that jobs report again? Oh, right. Exceedingly good.

The jobs report is irrelevant to the discussion at hand. In saying this you are suggesting that we can overlook the obvious character flaws in favor of performance*..... its a little like our star running back may have raped 4 sorority sisters, but he ran for 2000 yards.^ Sorry, character matters!


* - which is dubious at best, but that is another discussion.
^ - yes an extreme example designed to drive home a point.

 

[D_NATURED]

How was that jobs report again? Oh, right. Exceedingly good.

LOL. Is that all you've got? The jobs report was good under Obama too, and he wasn't an idiot. If jobs, the exploitation of the workforce, is all you can hang your MAGA hat on, with no mention of quality of life, you are like a slave owner bragging about how much cotton you produce.

Having a job and making a living are two separate things. Until conservatives understand that, they will always sound stupid. Remember George W, at one of his town halls, speaking to a woman who had to work three jobs to survive. That moron was ****ing impressed. He said "Three jobs? Only in America..." missing, as usual, the subtext of poverty inherent in that woman's story.

Do you understand the distinction between work and personal success? They don't always travel together, though, according to right wing rhetoric, you'd never know it.

 

[Born Free]

You actually believe they "respect" him?:2rofll:

That's funny!:lamo:2rofll:

I could care if anyone respects him. What I respect and support is his policies. You know like a booming economy and jobs jobs jobs and middle class wages going up, et etc etc.

 

[Born Free]

By problem, I'm referring to disgruntlement, as we saw in Mattis' letter.

I still go back "if you don't like it QUIT" I'm the president not you. I'm the commander in chief not you. Is it common to have a difference of opinion from the staff, hell yes. And some quit and some are fired. I could give a damn if Mattis didn't like the policies of Trump.

Notice on this board from the left there is not mention of Trump's policies. All I see from the the let is superficial bitching, but not a word on policies. Are you made at Trump because the labor market increased by over 300,000 in December. Are you pissed that wages are going up, are you pissed that we have a low unemployment rate. Would you be happier is Rocket man kept firing more and more ballistic missiles over Japan. Are you all pissed of because Trump wants a closed border. I could go and on. But heck stay with your shallow "it seems"

 

[justabubba]

I could care if anyone respects him. What I respect and support is his policies. You know like a booming economy and jobs jobs jobs and middle class wages going up, et etc etc.

any chance you can show examples of such applause when Obama's economy performed quite similarly

 

[Born Free]

any chance you can show examples of such applause when Obama's economy performed quite similarly

With 10 trillion of borrowed money doubling the national debt and Obamafail borrowing more than all the presidents before him. What portion of that 10 trillion got pay back with his great economy. Obamafail was such a idiot he bailed out GM and we taxpayers lost 11.2 billion, and we taxpayers lost 400 million on a solar Panel company that went broke. And you want me to applaud Obamafail for doubling our national debt with 10 trillion of borrowed money and that he presided over the worst economic recovery in US History. He did nothing for the middle class, nothing for the black community, nothing on wages, more on food stamps, more in section 8 housing, more on welfare etc etc.

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

No problem ... they can take it from the "goodwill" programs we run all over the world where we build schools and infrastructures in sometimes hostile countries using our Corps of Engineers.

If those programs are as effective, efficient, and economical as the ones in Afghanistan and Iraq, I'll agree with you 100%.

BTW, I did notice that Mr. Trump seemed not to have mentioned his "Glorious Plan" during his eight minute "infomercial" in support of the "Trump 2020" campaign.

BTW, I looked at the President's Fiscal 2019 Budget for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works Program and didn't find any entries for the items you mentioned, so that would make funding "The Wall" out of the US Army Corps of Engineers' budget sort of impractical.

However the FY 2019 President’s Budget for the State Department and USAID is $39.3 billion and I presume that the State Department would be more than pleased to re-purpose the entire $39,301,000,000 that it is authorized to spend on Diplomatic Engagement and Foreign Assistance to building "The Wall".

Unfortunately it is illegal to "re-purpose" funds allocated to one division of the government to another division of the government without the approval of the Legislative Branch.

PS - Only about $2,5000,000,000 of that $39,301,000,000 is actually available under the conditions which you set.

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

I could care if anyone respects him. What I respect and support is his policies. You know like a booming economy and jobs jobs jobs and middle class wages going up, et etc etc.

Wages going up?

Real Wage Growth Is Actually Falling
​

Less is more?

Jobs jobs jobs

Which President Created the Most Jobs?
​

3.1% is more than 6.2% and is even more than 11.6%?

Booming economy

Guess Which Presidents Really Oversaw Economic Booms
​

Possibly, but with only two years done, it's difficult to know what the actual numbers for Mr. Trump will be

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

any chance you can show examples of such applause when Obama's economy performed quite similarly

He'll get right on that, but at the moment he's busy teaching pigs to fly.

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

With 10 trillion of borrowed money doubling the national debt and Obamafail borrowing more than all the presidents before him. What portion of that 10 trillion got pay back with his great economy. Obamafail was such a idiot he bailed out GM and we taxpayers lost 11.2 billion, and we taxpayers lost 400 million on a solar Panel company that went broke. And you want me to applaud Obamafail for doubling our national debt with 10 trillion of borrowed money and that he presided over the worst economic recovery in US History. He did nothing for the middle class, nothing for the black community, nothing on wages, more on food stamps, more in section 8 housing, more on welfare etc etc.

Did you know that Mr. Obama's administration added $8.588 trillion, a 74-percent increase from the $11.657 trillion debt at the end of Bush’s last budget, FY 2009?

Did you know that Mr. Bush's administration added $5.849 trillion, a 101-percent increase from the $5.8 trillion debt at the end of Clinton's last budget, FY 2001?

Did you know that a 74% increase does NOT double anything?

Did you know that a 101% increase DOES double something?

You won - get over it.