Mr. Donald Trump ?

[Michael Murphy]

Thru out this country there are many things paid for by tax dollars, 1934 congress decided that universal phone coverage was a national goal,they created the USF and mandated the FCC to administer it.  The objection I have is the term obamaphone since he had absolutely nothing to do with this service.  There are many services in this country that receive tax dollars, mass transit, water, electric, heating oil, roads, some corporations,  all have perceived national benefit.  With cell or telephones cities no longer need to maintain call boxes for police or fire alarms for fire departments, or a method to dispatch ambulances.  Rural communities have phone service, libraries provide Internet access.  Write your congressman if you are unhappy.  But Obama had nothing to do with this its been national policy for 81 years.

[Simon Dog]

I did not coin the term Obamaphone, but just used a term already in common use and accepted as part of the vocanbulary.

None of those other subsidies you speak of are used to provide a service for free to EBT recipients that others, not receiving public assistance, have to pay for.

I believe anyone should be allowed to communicate.  I do not believe it is my obligation to buy them cell phones so they can do so.

The solution is to allow welfare recipients to work without totally cutting off their welfare, as there is currently little incentive for EBT recipients to take a McJob that will cost as much in loss benefits as they see in the paycheck.  Stop giving them cell phones, and let them raise their standard of living by working - even if the work is not enough to totally eliminate the need for welfare payments.

[kickingandscreaming]

I did not coin the term Obamaphone, but just used a term already in common use and accepted as part of the vocanbulary.

I am very politically active and I pay attention to what is being said in common parlance.  I have never run into anyone so giddy about using terms like "obamaphone"  It is clearly a pejorative term to denigrate something by attaching it to Obama as a scapegoat.  Like "Obamacare" (The Affordable Care Act) which, as a Mass. resident you clearly know is really Romneycare.  You didn't coin the term, obamaphone, but you are using it to support a meme that is inaccurate and inflammatory because you and your political ilk don't like him and don't like any kind of generosity to those less fortunate that you (the "takers" as you call them).

The solution is to allow welfare recipients to work without totally cutting off their welfare, as there is currently little incentive for EBT recipients to take a McJob that will cost as much in loss benefits as they see in the paycheck.  Stop giving them cell phones, and let them raise their standard of living by working - even if the work is not enough to totally eliminate the need for welfare payments.

Personally, I think we should have a guaranteed basic income for every man, woman and child in this country.  This could eliminate welfare and a lot of bureaucracies currently in place to manage all the programs that support those who are less than eking out a living in an economy designed to keep some people at the bottom. Struggling.  The economic philosophy that now runs the US of A is based on educating people just enough so they can flip their hamburgers and run the machines that make the people at the top obscenely rich.  A society that marginalizes and mass incarcerates the poor.  I could go on.

[MooseMom]

I agree that people should work in order to pay for things that they feel they need like cell phones.  But the problem comes when there is wage stagnation; just because you work two jobs doesn't mean you can make enough money to live on.

Why can't Walmart pay their people better?  Instead of pushing their costs on to the rest of us, why can't they pay wages high enough so that their employees don't HAVE to have "Obamaphones" in the first place?  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....instead, they pay pittance and rely on the Federal Government to pay welfare, paid for by you and me.  And then the rubes get all het up about how they don't want the "takers" to "take" anymore.  You know, the corporations and their lobbyists are very clever.  They have succeeded in deflecting blame.  Instead of blaming Walmart for being so damned stingy, they make us believe that there exists the FSA, and you've fallen for it, SimonDog, just like they hoped you would.  You've been royally bamboozled.

I'd love to know how much Trump pays the people who are the dogbodies in his hotels.  Do any of his employees have to claim benefits?

[MooseMom]

The solution is to allow welfare recipients to work without totally cutting off their welfare, as there is currently little incentive for EBT recipients to take a McJob that will cost as much in loss benefits as they see in the paycheck.  Stop giving them cell phones, and let them raise their standard of living by working - even if the work is not enough to totally eliminate the need for welfare payments.

It's up to the Do-Nothing Congress to act upon your suggestion.  Good luck with that! 

For the life of me, I don't know why you are so upset about cellphones when there are so many other things to be outraged about, like how Hillary was such an "enabler".  I mean, what can be more important to the future of this country than Bill Clinton's affairs?  Has anyone told Trump that the main advocate for Bill Clinton's impeachment was none other than the ex Pedophile of the House of Representatives, Dennis Hastert?  Trump might not want to go there!  LOL!

[Simon Dog]

Like "Obamacare" (The Affordable Care Act) which, as a Mass. resident you clearly know is really Romneycare.

One thing that is conceptually right about Obamacare is the penalty for not being uninsured.

Uninsured people know that they have some insurance - the mandate that ERs treat them first and worry about payment second.   The financial penalty for enjoying this "insurance" without paying for it is a step in the right direction.

Why can't Walmart pay their people better?  Instead of pushing their costs on to the rest of us, why can't they pay wages high enough so that their employees don't HAVE to have "Obamaphones" in the first place?

Higher wages would result in the costs being passed on to us though a different mechanism - increased prices.  At some point, higher wages result in a loss of jobs since the govt can mandate a minimum wage, but cannot mandate that businesses hire people at a wage hire than the value of that person to the business.   Besides low wages, some of the working conditions at places like Walmart border on the criminal.

I mean, what can be more important to the future of this country than Bill Clinton's affairs?

I could care less about his affairs.   Even so, it was obvious the impeachment wasn't going to go anywhere.   

But, when he was sued for $600K, he lied to try to make the case go in his favor.  This is no different than someone trying to steal $600K through financial fraud. Even so, it was obvious that the impeachment was a waste of time and not going anywhere.  But then, if Trump wins, we will have someone who plays the game of business right up to the edge of fraud - and perhaps has crossed it (as we may learn from the Trump U suit).

Hastert was scum, but it's interesting to see that what the feds got him on was his attempt to enjoy financial privacy - something that is outlawed by banking regulations.

[Michael Murphy]

Henry Ford did something beside making cars, he help create the industrial Giant USA.  He did this by at he time paying his employees 5 dollars a week.  A completely unheard of wages at the time.  Now his employees made enough to afore the cars they were making.  Fords competitors were forced to pay a simalr pay packages.  The modern American middle class was born from this change.  Raise the minimum wage then more money would be available by the average person having more money to spend,

[Simon Dog]

An interesting article about how welfare payments compare to minimum wage: http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/the_work_versus_welfare_trade-off_2013_wp.pdf

[Gerald Lively]

Without reading the entire thread I have concluded that this is the usual discussion, pro and con, on Donald Trump.  Consider the following:
1.  He has small hands and he wouldn't show his penis to Megyn Kelly.
2.  The last time someone campaigned like Trump is doing, Hitler was elected.
3.  Obama is not running for office.
4.  Trump endorsed by North Korea and Russia.
5.  Trump wants to disban NATO.
5.  Trump has been in civil court 3,500 times in the last three years.

The important issues facing this nation are not being discussed, yet.  Such as:
1.  Climate Change.
2.  Continuous warfare.
3.  ACA vs Medicare for all.
4.  Universal voting rights (all citizens.
5.  Domestic economy.
6.  Infrastructure maintenance.
7.  Racism.
8.  Congressional obstruction.
9.  Judicial appointments.

And so on and on.  Get real folks; Donald Trump cannot address the real questions and America needs answers.

[kickingandscreaming]

10. Mass incarceration
11. income inequality

[Simon Dog]

Get real folks; Donald Trump cannot address the real questions and America needs answers.

Unfortunately, his opposition can't either.

At this point, it is about damage control.

[kristina]

Without reading the entire thread I have concluded that this is the usual discussion, pro and con, on Donald Trump.  Consider the following:

  The last time someone campaigned like Trump is doing, Hitler was elected.

Thank you Gerald for saying what I have been thinking (and fearing) for a long while  ... and ... let's hope we are both wrong ... !

Best wishes from Kristina.

[PrimeTimer]

https://youtu.be/sD7UREH_rJI

Make what you want of it.

[kristina]

... Since some of the "big-money-party-sponsors" have already left and/or are now getting ready
to leave the party “alone” (has that ever happened before or is it a special new development...?),
... it seems that the political future of Mr. Donald Trump becomes a bit difficult as a result    ... ?
... Of course, it is well known (courtesy of the media), that Mr. Trump is a very successful "wheeler and dealer" ...
... and ... after all, he has already distanced himself from some of his earlier statements ...
 but nevertheless, "things" ahead look a bit difficult and ...
one can only hope that history (November 22, 1963) won't repeat itself ...

[kickingandscreaming]

He's like a spoiled child testing the limits of his criminality.  His crookedness seems to have no limits, but it remains to be seen whether "the system" imposes any on him.  There are still plenty of big money donors who have the same whacked out values that he has, e.g. the The Success hedge fund.

IMHO the Donald is spinning out of control--psychologically-- and is taking his campaign with him.  He doesn't really want to be president. He just wants to be able to say that he could have been.  And then will use this new notoriety to build a media empire.

[Rerun]

In my opinion Hillary needs to be in jail.  If anyone else did what she has done they would be. 

She doesn't want to be president either... Bill does. 

Trump has my vote.   

[kickingandscreaming]

Trump has my vote.

When he ushers in the 4th Reich and fascism flourishes in this country, we will have you and others who have been bamboozled by Donald, the Fraud, Drumpf  to thank.

And you're wrong.  David Petraeus spilled many classified secrets to this mistress, and he's not in jail. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/petraeus-set-to-plead-guilty-to-mishandling-classified-materials/2015/04/22/3e6dbf20-e8f5-11e4-aae1-d642717d8afa_story.html

[iolaire]

I love the filters people have.  I thought this was bad (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_White_House_email_controversy) and I think Hillary's email server was bad... but in this case its "leaking classified information" versus then we don't even know what was on those servers because the data was destroyed.
The administration officials had been using a private Internet domain, called gwb43.com, owned by and hosted on an email server run by the Republican National Committee,[6] for various communications of unknown content or purpose.

[Michael Murphy]

Just remember her server was more secure then the official State Department which has been broken into by several hostile govermenrts.  The mistake was the Systems people should have stopped this from happening.  This did not occur in a vacuum Hilary would have been better served by a Systems professional who stopped this. Over the years on several occurrences I had requests for private servers, I met the request with small corporate servers that were fire walled and protected.  The user had their own environment and I new it met standards and was secure.

[Simon Dog]

When he ushers in the 4th Reich and fascism flourishes in this country, we will have you and others who have been bamboozled by Donald, the Fraud, Drumpf  to thank.

One of the first steps of any totalitarian regime is to disarm the subjects ("History teaches that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own down fall by doing so"- A. Hitler).

So far, one candidate has stated that she respects the 2nd amendment, and will respect it while banning guns and campaigning against concealed carry permit laws (as she did in MO).  The other is in favor of armed subjects, and even used his connections to get a hens tooth ("fully carry" NYC pistol permit).

Is government oppression of people unthinkable in the US?   I thought so at one time, but now that we have seed widespread wiretapping; secret prisons all over the world; a secret FISA court that is closed to the public; and even a secret docket in various federal court, I am not so convinced.

And you're wrong.  David Petraeus spilled many classified secrets to this mistress, and he's not in jail. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/petraeus-set-to-plead-guilty-to-mishandling-classified-materials/2015/04/22/3e6dbf20-e8f5-11e4-aae1-d642717d8afa_story.html

He did not go to jail, but at least he was prosecuted.  His power got this charges reduced to misdemeanors though.

[kickingandscreaming]

Is this man fit to be...even a dog catcher?
https://38.media.tumblr.com/b4e9fc1b6169cbf7b669dbcf9abb1093/tumblr_ntbumnmnrz1qksk74o2_500.gif
https://31.media.tumblr.com/12fe0857e7e266f82ce25646b1c08c6e/tumblr_ntbumnmnrz1qksk74o3_500.gif
http://static.businessinsider.com/image/55e71f0c6bb3f7315594b655/image.gif

[Rerun]

I know... It is sad that even Trump is better than Crocked Hillary.

   for our country.

[iolaire]

I know... It is sad that even Trump is better than Crocked Hillary.

   for our country.

A tech guy, Dave Winer, who was involved in inventing or popularizing RSS, decided to add the crooked title to everyone on the right as well:
http://scripting.com/2016/07/20/1396.html
I don't think its acceptable to both parties to be so demeaning, but I do understand if people are going to be so nasty to Hillary then its fair game for the people on the right to belittled as well. 

[MooseMom]

It is true that Hillary Clinton lied about being under fire when she deplaned somewhere in Europe some years ago.  And it is true that she was not telling the truth when she told the public that none of her emails contained classified information, although it is also true that the information those emails contained were only later labeled as "classified".

But other than those two incidents, I don't know what else she has said that has been proven to be a lie, nor what she has done that has been proven to be illegal.

It may look bad from Bernie's point of view that she was paid a lot of money for speeches, but this was not illegal nor was it unusual for for Secretaries of State to give speeches.  She, like many speakers, charge a fee, and if people do not want to pay this fee, then they can look elsewhere for a speaker.  Her name recognition makes her a valuable choice.

So when people call her "crooked", what exactly are they referring to?  She and her staff have been under investigation for well over a year by Republicans in Congress and by the FBI for Benghazi and emails, but no one has found any evidence of her ever lying under oath and thus worthy of punishment. 

If anyone is a liar, it is Donald Trump.  He has no intention of building a wall, deporting illegal immigrants, pulling out of NATO, saving the middle class or addressing income inequality.  He has no intention of doing anything, which is why his son approached John Kasich and told him that he could, in effect, be president because actually governing isn't really Trump's thing.  Trump is going to get bored really quickly if he becomes president because being president requires doing things that are frankly really, really dull. 

And by the way, he did not write "The Art of the Deal".  He has lied about that.

I honestly have not once heard what Donald Trump wants to do during his presidency AND HOW HE WILL FUND THOSE PLANS OR IMPLEMENT THOSE PLANS.  Can one single person on this board give me one single example of one single plan that he has fully thought through?

[Simon Dog]

So when people call her "crooked", what exactly are they referring to? 

For starters, the long history of people who need favors from the State Department just happening to get them after making a sizeable donation to the Clinton Foundation.  When I was watching my kid graduate from Harvard with the Clinton Foundation president as speaker, I was thinking "I wonder how many other graduations have an organized crime kingpin as the speaker".   She also made a comment about upcoming Yellow Fever that makes me wonder what she knows that I don't.

People tend to find fault in the candidates whose position on issues does not agree with theirs, and exonerate those whose position does.   I suspect if a Republican exhibited a similar level of sleaze you would not be so quick to defend that person.