President Trump

I still tend to agree with lower taxation in general. I am perfectly capable of determining when, where, and how I'd like my money allocated. I'd prefer to give less to a faceless entity that the vast majority of us don't trust so that the entity can spend my money as they see fit.

 

We're taxed too much. Government waste is out of control. Taking half of what someone makes is criminal.

 

No argument that the amount the average person is taxed is insane

 

So Trump is now removing white extremist organizations from this program's focus. Even though we've had more domestic white terrorist attacks than Islamic. I need to see if this is a one off change of focus, or if Bannon and them are really going to refocus the DHS and FBI as well and let white extremist organizations flourish.


"POLITICS
Thu Feb 2, 2017 | 5:45 AM EST
Exclusive: Trump to focus counter-extremism program solely on Islam - sources

U.S. President Donald Trump (C), flanked by Vice President Mike Pence (L) and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly (R), takes the stage to deliver remarks at Homeland Security headquarters in Washington, U.S. January 25, 2017.
REUTERS/JONATHAN ERNS

• Some proponents of the program fear that rebranding it could make it more difficult for the government to work with Muslims already hesitant to trust the new administration, particularly after Trump issued an executive order last Friday temporarily blocking travel to the United States from seven predominantly Muslim countries.
  
  Still, the CVE program, which focuses on U.S. residents and is separate from a military effort to fight extremism online, has been criticized even by some supporters as ineffective.
  
  A source who has worked closely with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on the program said Trump transition team members first met with a CVE task force in December and floated the idea of changing the name and focus.
  
  In a meeting last Thursday attended by senior staff for DHS Secretary John Kelly, government employees were asked to defend why they chose certain community organizations as recipients of CVE program grants, said the source, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.
  
  Although CVE funding has been appropriated by Congress and the grant recipients were notified in the final days of the Obama administration, the money still may not go out the door, the source said, adding that Kelly is reviewing the matter.
  
  The department declined comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
  
  Some Republicans in Congress have long assailed the program as politically correct and ineffective, asserting that singling out and using the term "radical Islam" as the trigger for many violent attacks would help focus deterrence efforts.
  
  Others counter that branding the problem as "radical Islam" would only serve to alienate more than three million Americans who practice Islam peacefully.
  
  Many community groups, meanwhile, had already been cautious about the program, partly over concerns that it could double as a surveillance tool for law enforcement.
  
  Hoda Hawa, director of policy for the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said she was told last week by people within DHS that there was a push to refocus the CVE effort from tackling all violent ideology to only Islamist extremism.
  
  "That is concerning for us because they are targeting a faith group and casting it under a net of suspicion," she said.
  
  Another source familiar with the matter was told last week by a DHS official that a name change would take place. Three other sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said such plans had been discussed but were unable to attest whether they had been finalized.
  
  The Obama administration sought to foster relationships with community groups to engage them in the counterterrorism effort. In 2016, Congress appropriated $10 million in grants for CVE efforts and DHS awarded the first round of grants on Jan. 13, a week before Trump was inaugurated.
  
  Among those approved were local governments, city police departments, universities and non-profit organizations. In addition to organizations dedicated to combating Islamic State's recruitment in the United States, grants also went to Life After Hate, which rehabilitates former neo-Nazis and other domestic extremists.
  
  Just in the past two years, authorities blamed radical and violent ideologies as the motives for a white supremacist's shooting rampage inside a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina and Islamist militants for shootings and bombings in California, Florida and New York.
  
  One grant recipient, Leaders Advancing & Helping Communities, a Michigan-based group led by Lebanese-Americans, has declined a $500,000 DHS grant it had sought, according to an email the group sent that was seen by Reuters. A representative for the group confirmed the grant had been rejected but declined further comment.
  
  "Given the current political climate and cause for concern, LAHC has chosen to decline the award," said the email, which was sent last Thursday, a day before Trump issued his immigration order, which was condemned at home and abroad as discriminating against Muslims while the White House said it was to "to protect the American people from terrorist attacks by foreign nationals."
  
  http://mobile.reuters.com/article/i...4b39&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

 

53% approval rating.

I agree he says a lot of stupid things, but him putting America first is fine with me. His approval in other countries means nothing to me.

 

Someone described him as The Disrupter in Charge. Very accurate. Just because someone is an ally doesn't mean we aren't losing on particular deal, such as taking refugees from Australia. They don't want them so we have to take them? Out of all the countries, we have to? Trump has every right to question it.

 

I didn't hear that he hung up on Pres of Australia, but yeah, he has every right to question the deal and be upset. Imagine you just moved into a house and someone called and said you had to take in their homeless uncle (and 1200 of his friends). You're like, "huh?" and they say, "yeah, the previous tenant agreed to it."

Mexico, at first, denied Trump threatened to send in the military and then said it was a small joke between them. Whether he was joking or not, I do agree with you that he needs to learn his words are far reaching and have consequences. However, I don't think he's ever gonna change. Why would he? He's a billionaire and president. It's worked for him so far.

 

What is everyone's thoughts on Democrats refusing to vote on the confirmation hearings? I know what Republicans would've been called.

It's all very childish.

 

The way I understand it, Trump said it in passing as either a joke or at least not a serious suggestion. He also didn't say it as "clean up your s***, pay for our wall, or we're invading Mexico!" but as "you really have a problem with the drug cartels, maybe we need to send our troops down there."

Both are bad, but one is clearly worse. Again, I could be wrong but I saw it somewhere on Twitter from AP or Reuters or one of those.

 

A senator asked Tiller to release the agreement with Australia. He wants to know what we got out of the deal. I wanna know too.

I'm betting we got killed on the deal just like the Iran Nuke deal.

 

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/trump_administration/prez_track_feb3

54% today.

Before you rip Rassmussen, remember it was right in line with all the other polls showing Hillary winning. I don't trust most polls, but I have found them to be pretty "average" in polling results.

 

I just want to know one thing, why is the president still on twitter? He's running the country yet he has time to tweet nonsense all day every day? Shut it down already.

 

I've said many times, Garland should've been put up for vote. However, it's not the first or last time a president didn't get his SCOTUS appointed in his last year.

But to not even vote on cabinet nominees is unprecedented. They just boycotted the votes, akin to taking their ball and going home.