Replies to post #269737 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

It’s All About Trump’s Contempt

Image from yours


Paul Krugman MAY 26, 2017


A man in Welch, W.Va., with groceries from a food bank that supports local families, many of them in
the coal industry. Credit Spencer Platt/Getty Images

For journalists covering domestic policy, this past week poses some hard choices. Should we focus on the Trump budget’s fraudulence — not only does it invoke $2 trillion in phony savings, it counts them twice — or on its cruelty? Or should we talk instead about the Congressional Budget Office assessment of Trumpcare, which would be devastating for older, poorer and sicker Americans?

There is, however, a unifying theme to all these developments. And that theme is contempt — Donald Trump’s contempt for the voters who put him in office.

You may recall Trump’s remark .. http://www.snopes.com/donald-trump-fifth-avenue-comment/ .. during the campaign that “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.” Well, he hasn’t done that, at least so far. He is, however, betting that he can break every promise he made to the working-class voters who put him over the top, and still keep their support. Can he win that bet?

When it comes to phony budget math — remember his claims that he would pay off the national debt? — he probably can. We’re not talking about anything subtle here; we’re talking about a budget that promises to “abolish the death tax .. https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/budget/fy2018/budget.pdf ,” then counts $330 billion .. https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/budget/fy2018/ap_11_receipts.pdf .. in estate tax receipts in its rosy forecast. But even I don’t expect to see this kind of fraud get much political traction.

The bigger question is whether someone who ran as a populist, who promised not to cut Social Security or Medicaid, who assured voters that everyone would have health insurance, can keep his working-class support while pursuing an agenda so anti-populist it takes your breath away.

To make this concrete, let’s talk about West Virginia, which went Trump by more than 40 percentage points .. http://cookpolitical.com/story/10174 , topped only by Wyoming. What did West Virginians think they were voting for?

They are, after all, residents of a poor state that benefits immensely from federal programs: 29 percent of the population is on Medicaid .. https://tinyurl.com/y8oav7b4 , almost 19 percent on food stamps .. https://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/pd/29SNAPcurrPP.pdf . The expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare is the main reason the percentage of West Virginians without health insurance has halved since 2013.

Beyond that, more than 4 percent .. https://tinyurl.com/yca3ct2r of the population .. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WVPOP , the highest share in the nation, receives Social Security disability payments, partly because of the legacy of unhealthy working conditions, partly because a high fraction of the population consists of people who suffer from chronic diseases, like diabetics .. http://stateofobesity.org/diabetes/ — whom Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s budget director, thinks we shouldn’t take care of because it’s their own fault .. https://thinkprogress.org/top-trump-official-says-we-shouldnt-take-care-of-someone-who-eats-poorly-and-gets-diabetes-9388a1ded06b .. for eating poorly.

And just to be clear, we’re talking about white people here: At 93 percent white .. https://tinyurl.com/zmadujb , West Virginia is one of the most minority- and immigrant-free states in America.

So what did the state’s residents think they were voting for? Partly, presumably, they supported Trump because he promised — falsely, of course — that he could bring back the well-paying coal-mining jobs of yore.

But they also believed that he was a different kind of Republican. Maybe he would take benefits away from Those People, but he would protect the programs white working-class voters, in West Virginia and elsewhere, depend on.

What they got instead was the mother of all sucker punches.

Trumpcare, the budget office tells us .. https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/115th-congress-2017-2018/costestimate/hr1628aspassed.pdf , would cause 23 million people to lose health insurance, largely through cuts to Medicaid — remember, the program that benefits almost a third of West Virginians. It would also lead to soaring premiums — we’re talking increases on the order of 800 percent — for older Americans whose incomes are low but not low enough to qualify for Medicaid. That describes a lot of Trump voters. Then we need to add in the Trump budget, which calls for further drastic cuts in Medicaid, plus large cuts in food stamps and in disability payments.

What would happen to West Virginia if all these Trump policies went into effect? Basically, it would be apocalyptic: Hundreds of thousands would lose health insurance; medical debt and untreated conditions would surge; and there would be an explosion in extreme poverty, including a lot of outright hunger.

Oh, and it’s not just about crucial benefits, it’s also about jobs. Coal isn’t coming back; these days, West Virginia’s biggest source of employment is health care and social assistance ..

Another West Virginia note: Trump won't bring back coal. But he will, if he can, destroy the actual basis of the state's modern economy pic.twitter.com/zC5GpwjbzK

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) May 22, 2017

. How many of those jobs would survive savage cuts in Medicaid and disability benefits?

Now, to be fair, the Trump budget would protect West Virginians from the ravages of the estate tax, which affects around 20 .. http://www.cbpp.org/blog/state-by-state-look-estate-tax-repeal-benefits-only-wealthiest-few — that’s right, 20 — of the state’s residents each year.

So many of the people who voted for Donald Trump were the victims of an epic scam by a man who has built his life around scamming. In the case of West Virginians, this scam could end up pretty much destroying their state.

Will they ever realize this, and admit it to themselves? More important, will they be prepared to punish him the only way they can — by voting for Democrats?

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/26/opinion/trumpcare-cbo-federal-budget.html

See also:

Too All Vet's: Trump is fixing to stick up our ass and break it off. Vet's you were stupid to think Trump was for the Vet's. Now you know.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=131768659

Winning on a tsunami of lies, fake news and abuse of opponents to the extent that he did was not funny .. Trump establishing that model as a winner was not funny .. the thought of that method of winning being seen as a winning model of the future is not funny, that has bothered me since .. and you are 100% right, his behaviour since in demeaning the position of president is not funny .. there is nothing funny about the cretin .. nothing at all .. this article deals with his present unpleasant legacy building.
Donald Trump’s One Awful Accomplishment
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=131014124


https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=131278991

Kushner may have sought Russian back channel for loans
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=131735897

House intel subpoenas Trump’s personal attorney
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=131764993

[F6]

Trump Wants To Defund Programs Helping Small Farmers Survive

Marshall Bartlett returned to his family farm in Como, Mississippi, to raise pastured hogs. It was his hope to help revive the farm and his hometown.
Federal initiatives that have been a lifeline for farmers and rural communities are on the chopping block.
05/28/2017
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rural-programs-trump-budget_us_59274fdfe4b0df34c35acbdb [with embedded video, and comments]


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Texas GOP Lawmaker Calls ICE On Group Protesting Anti-Immigrant Law
State Rep. Matt Rinaldi’s call sparked an altercation with colleagues in the Mexican American Legislative Caucus.
05/29/2017 Updated May 30, 2017
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/matt-rinaldi-calls-ice-on-protesters_us_592c7471e4b0df57cbfcb0f1 [with embedded video, and comments]


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Trump Administration Moves To Roll Back Birth Control Coverage
Nancy Pelosi called the draft of a new rule “sickening.”
05/30/2017 04:59 pm ET | Updated May 30, 2017
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-birth-control_us_592dbaeae4b0e95ac1944521 [with embedded video, and comments]


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Texas Bill Could Send People to Jail for Driving a Woman to an Abortion, Lawmaker Says
A sweeping anti-abortion bill leaves prosecutors wide discretion over who is charged for unlawful abortions.
May 24, 2017 Updated May 26, 2017
https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-bill-could-send-people-to-jail-for-driving-a-woman-to-an-abortion/ [with comments]


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Making America Meaner
May 29, 2017
http://robertreich.org/post/161202700780 [with comments]


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Trump administration plans to minimize civil rights efforts in agencies

President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the White House on Feb. 9. Sessions has ordered a review of agreements to reform police departments, signaling his skepticism of efforts to curb civil rights abuses by law enforcement officers.
May 29, 2017
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-administration-plans-to-minimize-civil-rights-efforts-in-agencies/2017/05/29/922fc1b2-39a7-11e7-a058-ddbb23c75d82_story.html [with embedded video, and comments]


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North Carolina High School Students Hang Black Teddy Bear Depicting Their Black Principal



[ https://twitter.com/aysiawoody/status/869546002247712769 (with comments)]
The teddy bear and a sign next to it were reportedly placed in reference to bringing back the school’s former principal, who is white.
May 31, 2017
http://www.carbonated.tv/news/black-doll-found-hanging-noose-outside-wakefield-high-school-nc


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Portland Train Attack Suspect Found Fodder For Dark Worldview Online
Jeremy Joseph Christian had been matter-of-factly threatening people for a long time.
05/30/2017
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jeremy-christian-portland-stabber_us_592d7a85e4b0065b20b853d8 [with embedded video, and comments]


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‘Condemn Violence’: Portland Hero’s Mother Pens Open Letter To Trump

Ricky John Best, 53, died protecting two young Muslim girls from a racist man on the train.
“You have said that you will be President for all Americans.”
05/30/2017 Updated May 30, 2017
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/condemn-violence-portland-heros-mother-pens-open-letter-to-trump_us_592d769ce4b053f2d2ae33a4 [with the letter ( https://www.scribd.com/document/349851717/Dear-President-Trump ) embedded, and comments]


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The Tale Of Two Portlands: The Whitest And Arguably Most Racist City In America

Prejudice, racism, microagressions and assaults are nothing new in the city that prides itself on “progression.”
05/30/2017 01:18 pm ET | Updated May 30, 2017
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-tale-of-two-portlands-progressive-portland-the_us_592da912e4b07c4c731385c8 [with comments]


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1 Native American Dead, Another Hospitalized After Possible Hate Crime

Jimmy Smith-Kramer, 20, of Taholah, died after he was struck by a hit-and-run driver.
Investigators say a hit-and-run driver intentionally struck the two young men.
05/30/2017
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/1-native-american-dead-another-hospitalized-after-possible-hate-crime_us_592dce7ae4b055a197cdc591 [with embedded video, and comments]


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in addition to (linked in) the post to which this is a reply and preceding and (other) following, see also (linked in) http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=131735897 and preceding and following