Daily Kos

No paycheck? Trump admin suggest furloughed employees trade painting, carpentry work in lieu of rent

Daily Kos Staff

Friday December 28, 2018 · 10:30 AM PST

2018/12/28 · 10:30

Three Boy Scouts, Burke G. Denman, 10, Mark G. Denman, 12, and Scott G. Denman, assemble Texas Tower collection boxes that will be distributed in New England to help families of 14 Air Force and 14 civilians who lost their lives when a Texas Tower collapsed in a raging storm off New Jersey on January 15. Folks on Cape Cod - where many families have lost their men at sea - began a "Fund for the Families.” The task of making the collection boxes was taken over by Boy Scouts, high school students, National Guardsmen and other volunteers. The boys are working in their Falmouth, Mass., home, August 16, 1961. (AP Photo/Bill Chaplis) — You have skills. Use them!

From the Department of You Can’t Make This Crap Up, The U.S. Office of Personnel Management has an idea for federal workers getting screwed out of a paycheck during Donald Trump’s government shutdown:

A furloughed employee might offer to trade maintenance services such as painting or carpentry work in exchange for a reduction in rent.

Okay then, problem solved. But in the event you can’t paint or do carpentry work, or if your landlord or mortgage company insists on getting paid with actual money, fear not, because you can just show them the handy letter the Department of Homeland Security has circulated, thanking your creditors “for your patience and compassion towards our employees during this time.”

But if the bartering system or the letter doesn’t keep a roof over your head, the OPM has another suggestion:

If you need legal advice please consult with your personal attorney.

Well, sure. Stop beating yourself up for skipping shop class in high school and just ring up your personal attorney. Doesn’t everyone living paycheck to paycheck have someone from Dewey, Cheatum & Howe on retainer?

Big Mouth Trump during 2013 government shutdown: Fire Obama, because ‘problems start from the top’

Jen Hayden

Daily Kos Staff

Friday December 28, 2018 · 9:45 AM PST

2018/12/28 · 09:45

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 17: U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters while hosting workers and members of his cabinet for a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House October 17, 2018 in Washington, DC. The White House said the meeting was on â€œCutting the Red Tape, Unleashing Economic Freedom." (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) — A rare moment of Donald Trump with his mouth shut

Donald Trump ran his big mouth in 2013 when a Republican-led Congress shutdown the government during President Obama’s second term, an act that Standard & Poor’s says took an estimated $24 billion out of the U.S. economy. The folks at Fox News had the reality show entrepreneur on their highly rated morning show to weigh in on the shutdown and big mouth Trump delivered what they were looking for—a statement that Barack Obama should be fired.

Hasselback: Who’s getting fired? Who’s gonna bear the brunt of the responsibility, if indeed there is a shutdown of our government?

Trump: Well, if you say who gets fired, it always has to be the top. I mean, problems start from the top and they have to get solved from the top and the president’s the leader and he’s gotta get everyone in a room and he’s gotta lead. And, he doesn’t do that, he doesn’t like doing that, that’s not his strength. And, that’s why you have this horrible situation going on in Washington. It’s a very, very bad thing and it’s very embarrassing worldwide.

RT if you agree with @realDonaldTrump on whom should get fired when the government shuts down.
via @BettyBowers pic.twitter.com/szIeI4CEBj
Ã¢ÂÂ Mark Elliott (@markmobility) December 22, 2018

Democrats weigh options for ending shutdown, and more billions for Trump's wall isn't among them

Joan McCarter

Daily Kos Staff

Friday December 28, 2018 · 9:00 AM PST

2018/12/28 · 09:00

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 11: U.S. President Donald Trump (2R) talks about border security with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) (R) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as Vice President Mike Pence sits nearby in the Oval Office on December 11, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) — Sorry, Trump, you can't ignore Nancy Pelosi.

Somebody is working in Washington, D.C., this week, even though Republican leadership has abdicated all responsibility. The Democrats are working to figure out how to get government up and running at full power again when the new Congress is sworn in on January 3.

None of those options include Individual 1's wall. Among the options they are considering: a full-year continuing resolution for the part of the government that's shut down now, keeping current funding levels for the agencies included; passing the regular appropriations bills for six of the unfunded agencies and a separate CR for Homeland Security at current funding that goes until September, giving them until then to negotiate funding levels for this sticking point; pass the stopgap bill the Senate passed earlier this month that they'd had Trump's agreement on, keeping government funded at current levels until February 8.

None of these options include more for border security than $1.3 billion or any of the other trial balloons Republicans have been floating, all of which include more money for Trump and all of which ignore reality. Says a senior Democratic aide, "What part of Democratic majority and he's not getting the wall do they not understand?"

Meantime, a senior Republican aide doesn't get what Trump's doing, as he "can not get out of here without folding in some way, since he won't be getting the $5 billion he's asking for. Why isn't he folding before the Dem majority takes over, and before it seems like he's folding to Pelosi?"

Because Trump thinks a shutdown is good for him, personally. He's always thought so. He's fundraising for 2020 off of it. He doesn't care what it means for Republicans in 2020.

Federal workers won't get paychecks, but they do get these handy letters asking creditors to go easy

Laura Clawson

Daily Kos Staff

Friday December 28, 2018 · 8:15 AM PST

2018/12/28 · 08:15

US President-elect Donald Trump answers questions from reporters accompanied by wife Melania for a New Year's Eve party December 31, 2016 at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. / AFP / DON EMMERT (Photo credit should read DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images) — Donald Trump knows all about not paying bills.

Hey, federal workers, don’t worry about your lack of a paycheck for as long as Donald Trump decides to keep big parts of the government shut down. Federal agencies have form letters explaining to creditors that it’s not your fault you can’t pay the bills!

The Department of Homeland Security offers up a letter similar to or the same as one from the 2013 shutdown, saying that DHS “extend[s] our thanks for your patience and compassion towards our employees during this time.” For sure that’s going to keep the credit card company from charging interest, and the landlord or mortgage holder from causing problems.

The federal Office of Personnel Management similarly tweeted “sample letters you may use as a guide when working with your creditors during this furlough,” but advised that “If you need legal advice please consult with your personal attorney” presumably bringing the sample letter in and getting “your personal attorney” to work for free.

Literally the government is advising its workers on how not to get evicted or foreclosed on while they’re not being paid, all because Donald Trump is throwing a temper tantrum over a wall.

Trump and Republicans dumping shutdown mess on Pelosi, which is their first mistake

Joan McCarter

Daily Kos Staff

Friday December 28, 2018 · 7:30 AM PST

2018/12/28 · 07:30

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., right, and Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y., left, walk out of the West Wing to speak to members of the media outside of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018, following a meeting with President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is slinking off the political stage this week in perfect form, during a government shutdown which he's done nothing to prevent or to end. Neither the House nor the Senate is working today, and won't be back in until Monday, with no indication they intend to vote on anything. Which means Individual 1 is going to be dealing with Nancy Pelosi, and it will be a whole other ball game.

First step on January 3 when the new Congress is sworn in will be a vote to stop the shutdown, and while leadership is considering a number of options for that spending bill, $5 billion for Trump's wall isn't in any of them. "We want ... the government open, and my hope is we can get it opened before Jan. 3," said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), the new Rules Committee chairman. "If not, one of the first things we'll do will be to move to pass legislation to reopen the government. And the president can decide whether he wants to sign it or not."

That also means putting pressure on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. One of the options they're considered, Democratic sources tell Politico, is including multiple funding options in the rules package for the new Congress that they'll pass first thing. That gives McConnell options to choose from, putting the public onus on him to work with the Democrats who will be showing their flexibility and eagerness to work with him. Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer have agreed on one thing—what won't be in that package is more than $1.3 billion for border security.

What will be in that package is back pay for the 800,000 federal workers who've seen their paychecks stolen by Donald Trump.

Trump threatens to cut off aid to Central America, ignoring State Department recommendations

Barbara Morrill

Daily Kos Staff

Friday December 28, 2018 · 6:45 AM PST

2018/12/28 · 06:45

Honduran migrants taking part in a caravan heading to the US, rest at the main square in Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico, on October 21, 2018. - Thousands of Honduran migrants resumed their march toward the United States on Sunday from the southern Mexican city of Ciudad Hidalgo, AFP journalists at the scene said. (Photo by Pedro Pardo / AFP) (Photo credit should read PEDRO PARDO/AFP/Getty Images)

It’s not clear what prompted Donald Trump’s Friday morning Twitter rampage—perhaps the news that most Americans blame him for the government shutdown, maybe simmering anger at missing his planned vacation in Florida, or even just someone forgetting to TiVo Thursday’s episode of Hannity for him—but whatever it was, it led another rant about his racist border wall, along with a number of threats, including closing the border and:

.....Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are doing nothing for the United States but taking our money. Word is that a new Caravan is forming in Honduras and they are doing nothing about it. We will be cutting off all aid to these 3 countries - taking advantage of U.S. for years!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2018

Never mind what the State Department said just 10 days ago:

The United States, joining an effort by Mexico, will commit to investing billions in Central America in hopes of ending the poverty, violence and drug-trafficking that are driving thousands of people in the region to undertake the difficult trek to the United States, the State Department announced on Tuesday.

And forget that his head of Customs and Border Protection told Congress:

… that solving the migrant crisis requires financial support for economic development in Central America and increased regional cooperation more generally.

Because leadership and common sense has no place in this administration. Or in the addled brain of Donald Trump.

Poll: Majority of Americans blame Trump for the government shutdown he's so 'proud' of

Laura Clawson

Daily Kos Staff

Friday December 28, 2018 · 6:00 AM PST

2018/12/28 · 06:00

Donald Trump keeps trying to blame Democrats for the partial government shutdown he said he was “proud” to cause and would “take the mantle for.” The public isn’t buying it. According to a new poll from Reuters/Ipsos, 47 percent of Americans say Trump is responsible for the government shutdown. Only 33 percent blame congressional Democrats, despite Trump’s best efforts.

What’s more, Trump’s reason for shutting down the government was his demand for funding for a border wall—and just 35 percent of people in the poll support the wall funding. Trump shutting down the government was even less popular, with 25 percent support.

Those are the numbers before the shutdown’s full effects are being felt. No wonder Trump is redoubling his efforts to blame Democrats.

Cartoon: The War On Christmas redux

Mark Fiore

Community

Friday December 28, 2018 · 5:30 AM PST

2018/12/28 · 05:30

Vimeo Video

With the death of an 8-year-old Guatemalan boy in Border Patrol custody on Christmas Eve and the Trump administration still whipping people into a fervor about the evil hordes to the south, this animation from three years ago is unfortunately still timely.

The phony “War on Christmas” seems to be about forcing Christianity down people’s throats. I’m all for Santa and, more importantly, Jesus, but it seems that the same people defending Christmas from some phony war are the same ones who would bar Jesus, Mary and Joseph from coming into the US.

I know they’re not Muslims, but they’re pretty damn suspicious if you apply the standards of the keep-everyone-out crowd. I’ve already commented (and will probably continue to comment) on the anti-American nature of barring an entire religion from entry into the United States. ISIS likes this sort of thing, remember?

We should be much more worried about a War of Religions than the War on Christmas. (But, hey, it’s good for cable news ratings, apparently.) Enjoy the cartoon, Happy Holidays and I’ll be back here next week.

Daily Kos Radio is LIVE at 9 AM ET!

David Waldman

Daily Kos Staff

Friday December 28, 2018 · 5:00 AM PST

2018/12/28 · 05:00

Well, it’s Friday. We’ve got a couple new blockbusters to catch up with, some more stories to continue, and very likely, something new that will be rather unusual and/or indicative of criminal insanity in the White House.

Come and get it, before the weekend comes!

Listen right here at 9:00 AM ET!

PODCAST LISTENERS: There’s a new podcast platform in town, and the big news is: this one pays! RadioPublic pays podcast producers on a CPM basis, for listens on their native app (available for iPhones & Androids), financed by pre- and post-roll ads they insert. Not a bad way to support the show, with somebody else’s money!

So if you’re a podcast listener, please consider downloading the RadioPublic app on your Android or iOS phone. Yes, you can still download directly from their site, or listen to the player embedded here at Daily Kos. But it’s listens in their app that count toward payment.

Nothing changes on our end. It’s still Greg Dworkin, Joan McCarter, and even Armando. Plus also, me. And you! As always, we still want your voice on the air with us. Sit down with your smart phone or other electronic recording device and send us your stories and commentary to share with the audience. There’s no easier way to try your hand at podcasting, without all the hassle!

Of course there’s no substitute for having your support via Patreon, or one-time contributions via Square Cash. (And hey, if you want a cool trick for donating sorta-kinda cost free, get their cash.me app and use this share code to get $5 in your account (plus $5 in mine) when you send your first $5 (to anyone)!

For now, how about one on the house? Here’s what we did last time out, on our previous LIVE show:

Embedded Content

RadioPublic|LibSyn|YouTube|Patreon|Square Cash (Share code: Send $5, get $5!)

David Waldman pops in between the holidays and right into the middle of Kwanza with a KITM designed to warm your cockles, and keep them informed, if that’s possible: Donald Trump has only a few more days to pwn the libs and the Coast Guard before the Dems show up. Even so, he pushed his concerns for the institution of the Presidency and his niggling bone spur inflammation aside to not-so-secretly fly to Iraq to reveal classified information on troop deployment, create an international diplomatic incident, and do his usual lying to people’s faces. Khizr Khan, whose son, Army Capt. Humayun Khan, 27, died from a suicide bombing, delivered a passionate speech at the Democratic National Convention. You might remember it, Donald Trump probably not. But at least a post office will be named after Captain Khan. Greg Dworkin has been rounding up punditry left and right this week—even more so than usual. As Democrats have a chance to overcome the sexism and venality of politics, they will begin to earn more respect. At the moment they are only slightly ahead of Republicans and Trump. MSNBC tops Fox in journalism, integrity and quality, and now in number of viewers as well. Trump supporters might be looking elsewhere, but just might hesitate if they believe the alternative sends them to eternal damnation. Steve Bannon moves into his evil lair. Bad guys with power tools meet good guys with guns, and amazingly no one got nailed. To clean up election fraud, we need to go way back. Listeners gave David a lot of merde for reading an article addressing the Yellow Vest riots in France. Are we with the rebels or not?

(Thanks to Scott Anderson for the show summary! Please help me pay him more!)

Need more info on how to listen? Find it below the fold.

Abbreviated pundit roundup: How to negotiate with a weak, scared president

Georgia Logothetis

Community

Friday December 28, 2018 · 4:30 AM PST

2018/12/28 · 04:30

We begin today’s roundup with an excellent piece by Catherine Rampell on Trump’s art of the deal — which basically involves him backing out of his promises:

The only way to deal with Donald Trump is to not do deals with Donald Trump. The private sector has learned this; when will Congress?

For his entire career, our dealmaker in chief has relied on a not-so-secret technique for extracting supposedly good deals: He agrees to a given set of terms and then, at the last minute, reneges on them.

Eugene Robinson also dives into the current political dynamic, explaining that “Trump’s bluster camouflages great weakness” and that Democrats shouldn’t bow down to Trump’s demands:

For the new year, critics of President Trump should resolve not to be intimidated by the potential wrath of his vaunted political base. The only one who should cower before the Make America Great Again legions is Trump himself.

And he does fear them, bigly. The latest illustration is the way he chickened out on a bipartisan agreement to keep the government fully funded, instead forcing a partial shutdown over chump change for “the wall.” I use quotation marks because there never was going to be an actual, physical, continuous wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, much less one paid for by the Mexican government. The president is desperately trying to avoid acknowledging this and other realities before the 2020 election.

Anyone who thinks Trump is a master politician is wrong. He’s a master illusionist, which isn’t the same thing. Politicians can’t keep pulling rabbits out of empty hats forever. At some point, they face a reckoning, and Trump’s is well underway.

Two years out of office, Americans still admire Barack and Michelle Obama above all others

Jessica Sutherland

Daily Kos Staff

Thursday December 27, 2018 · 7:20 PM PST

2018/12/27 · 19:20

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 28: (AFP OUT) President Barack Obama (R) and first lady Michelle Obama (L) imitate monsters as they read "Where the wild things are"during the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House March 28, 2016 in Washington, DC. The tradition dates back to 1878 when President Rutherford B. Hayes allowed children to roll eggs on the South Lawn. (Photo by Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images) — This is how you POTUS (and FLOTUS).

For the eleventh year in a row, former President Barack Obama has been voted America’s Most Admired Man in Gallup’s annual poll, and for the first time ever, former First Lady Michelle Obama has taken the top spot, ending Hillary Clinton’s remarkable 17-year run.

It’s no surprise, of course: People LOVE the Obamas. Full stop. Whether it’s starstruck children or elderly ladies, heads of state or people in need, there’s just something so real, so genuine, and just … wonderful about the 44th U.S. president and first lady. Even their love for each other seems perfect.

Happy 25th anniversary @barackobama. A quarter of a century later, you're still my best friend & the most extraordinary man I know. I Ã°ÂÂÂ you. pic.twitter.com/y0nevQmatB
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) October 3, 2017

These two people clearly don’t despise each other at all, unlike their current replacements in the White House.

Georgia's 'deportation bus' Republican turns himself in on charges of insurance fraud

Hunter

Daily Kos Staff

Thursday December 27, 2018 · 6:40 PM PST

2018/12/27 · 18:40

Screen_Shot_2018-05-23_at_8.33.52_AM.png — FOLLOW ME TO MY JAIL CELL

As 2018 grinds to a miserable close, you may be asking yourself whether there are any Republican lawmakers or candidates left who aren't terrible, terrible people. The answer is no, so you can stop asking. The latest to be indicted is Georgia gubernatorial primary candidate and state Sen. Michael Williams, who turned himself in to authorities on Wednesday to face charges of insurance fraud.

Wait, hang on. You're going to want to savor this one. Number one: This was the anti-immigrant racist nutcase who campaigned for his party's nomination by driving a so-called "deportation bus" around the state. Number two: He's been indicted for insurance fraud as a result of some extremely shady-sounding scheme involving cryptocurrency mining in his campaign office.

The charges against the Forsyth County Republican, who will likely remain in office until mid-January, stem from a May incident in which Williams reported his Gainesville campaign office was burglarized. At the time, Williams’ campaign manager said $300,000 worth of computer servers that were being used to mine cryptocurrency had been taken from the building.

Why was the Williams campaign office mining cryptocurrency using $300,000 worth of computer equipment? We don't know! Why did he claim to FBI investigators he was not in Gainesville at the time of the theft when he actually was? We don't know! Is this man the dumbest the Georgia Republican Party has to offer, or do they have other, dumber candidates waiting in the wings? We'll have to wait and see!

Most importantly, why do so many of the most overtly racist Republicans, either in Trump's administration or in the back ranks of the party's state candidates, turn out to also be overtly, astonishingly crooked? What is it about racists that draws them into badly plotted financial scams? We don't know that either, but it sounds like something scientists ought to be looking into.

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