Boots & Sabers

The blogging will continue until morale improves...

Tag: Donald Trump

Trump Proposes Tax Plan

There’s a lot of good in this:

Trump’s new proposal would reduce tax rates for most Americans and simplify the tax code, but the new rates Trump proposed mark an increase from those he proposed last year as he campaigned for the Republican nomination and touted his tax reform plan as offering the lowest income tax rates of any of his GOP opponents.
Trump’s new proposal would more than halve the number of income tax brackets and bring rates down to 12%, 25% and 33%. Trump proposed drastically reducing federal income tax rates to 10%, 20% and 25% — a proposal that nonpartisan groups assessed would add trillions of dollars to the national debt.
Americans in the top income bracket are currently taxed at 39.6%. Trump also vowed again Monday that the poorest Americans will have a zero tax rate, which he included in his initial proposal.
I think everyone can get behind a simplified tax code and even some liberals can understand why we need a lower corporate tax rate while eliminating some of the tax havens. But I fundamentally disagree with the continuing push to make fewer people foot the federal tax bill by eliminating income taxes for lower income folks. It creates a disincentive for an entire class of people to be good financial stewards of our public interests. Everyone – and I mean everyone – should be required to pay their fair share.

Trump Endorses Ryan

Whatever.

Mr Trump shocked party members on Tuesday when he refused to endorse Mr Ryan and Senator John McCain in their campaigns for re-election in November.

Mr Ryan, the party’s highest-ranking elected official, had himself long delayed endorsing Mr Trump.

“I support and endorse our Speaker… Paul Ryan,” Mr Trump said on Friday.

Trump Won’t Endorse Republican Speaker

Trump demands unwavering fealty while behaving as fickle as a cat’s love.

STERLING, Va. — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is refusing to back House Speaker Paul Ryan in his upcoming primary election, saying in an interview Tuesday that he is “not quite there yet” in endorsing his party’s top-ranking elected official.

Trump also said he was not supporting Sen. John McCain in his primary in Arizona, and he singled out Sen. Kelly Ayotte as a weak and disloyal leader in New Hampshire, a state whose presidential primary Trump won handily.

You know… I get the argument that we should vote for Trump because the SCOTUS is at stake. I get it. I really do. But every time I find myself being wooed by that argument, Trump does something to kick me in the teeth. I just can’t bring myself to vote for this detestable man. And even if he wins and manages to appoint a decent Justice, he will likely tear down any semblance of constitutional government we have left.

Trump Says Putin Won’t Invade Ukraine

I still can’t believe that the Republicans nominated this clown.

Washington (CNN)Donald Trump said Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t make a military move into Ukraine — even though Putin already has done just that, seizing the country’s Crimean peninsula.

“He’s not going into Ukraine, OK, just so you understand. He’s not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down. You can put it down. You can take it anywhere you want,” Trump said in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week.”
“Well, he’s already there, isn’t he?” Stephanoploulos responded, in a reference to Crimea, which Putin took from Ukraine in early 2014.
And the Dems nominated someone who will continue the foreign policy that allowed this to happen.
We’re screwed.

I Smell a Trump Clothing Line

Yep

Whether you agree with Walker or with Cruz depends on whether you believe the party, as a matter of pure honor, needed one person onstage to suggest in the mildest, most oblique way that perhaps Trump isn’t fit for the presidency. Cruz was the kid at the procession who can’t help noticing that the emperor isn’t wearing any clothes. The crowd would have stoned him for it if they could have.

Of course, now I’m picturing Trump without clothes ~shudder 

Mommy Government vs. Daddy Government

David French zeroes in on the attraction of Trump.

Conservatives have long focused on the reality that private individuals and private associations are the best-equipped to encourage and foster human flourishing. Churches and civic associations take care of their members better than government social workers. Businesses large and small are best-equipped to respond to and spearhead economic innovation. Good families are better than even the best government at raising children and overseeing their education.

Thus, much of the modern conservative enterprise has been focused around protecting individuals and private associations from government encroachment, and ending government monopolies on enterprises such as education in an attempt to spur competition and restore the primacy of the family in the lives of children. This philosophy depends on a world of mutual obligations, with individuals and families primarily responsible for their own well-being and governments responsible for protecting their liberty and security. Trump understands what Democrats have long understood: The disconnected and vulnerable often feel that they have nowhere to turn but to government.

The breakdown of the family and the increasing alienation of the individual has changed this calculus. A person in an intact marriage who belongs to a thriving church looks at the world very differently from a single parent living on their own or an older divorcée who’s disconnected from the surrounding community. During the primary, the more a Republican was connected to a church or to civic associations, the less likely they were to vote for Trump. The more alienated the citizen, the more likely they were to hop on the Trump Train.

Trump understands what Democrats have long understood: The disconnected and vulnerable often feel that they have nowhere to turn but to government. They feel helpless and look for a champion. That’s why President Obama put out his much-derided “Julia” cartoon: to show single women that they have nothing to fear, because the government will meet all their most critical earthly needs.

And, sadly, has the correct conclusion.

In other words: The southern Democrat is back. The old-school Midwest union boss is back. They have their champion, and he’s the GOP nominee. For now, the Left has won. The only real question is which version of big-government liberalism will prevail in November.

Trump Suggests Pullback From Foreign Military Obligations

One always has to assume that Trump will change his mind at any moment, but, at face value, this is interesting.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump says the United States under his leadership might not come to the defense of some NATO members if Russia were to attack them.

Trump said he would decide whether to protect the Baltic republics against Russian aggression based on whether those countries “have fulfilled their obligations to us.”

He made the comments in an interview with The New York Times on Wednesday, a night before he is to formally accept the Republican nomination for president.

Trump’s remarks about U.S. obligations under NATO to come to the aid of other members of the 28-nation alliance are in line with his views questioning the United States’ global role.

Americans have long chaffed at getting involved in foreign conflicts and isolationism is nothing new. But we finally learned after WWII that we are not isolated and the refusal to get involved early in foreign conflicts can result in a much larger involvement later on. In our current world of integrated economies and multilayered alliances, this is even more true.

But there must be some balance and restraint. We are a nation of vast resources, but they are not unlimited. Our allies must not consider our obligations to them to be a blank check, nor should they consider those obligations to be completely decoupled from their obligations to us.

At the very least, perhaps we can have a substantive debate about America’s role in the world this election cycle and not talk about stupid stuff. I know… I’m asking a lot.

Trump Camp Denies VP Offer to Kasich

Yeah, it’s a little hard to believe that Trump would offer, or even feel the need to offer, so much power to Kasich to lure him to the ticket.

(CNN)Donald Trump and John Kasich’s teams are at war over whether the Republican presidential nominee ever seriously wanted the Ohio governor to join the ticket.

Multiple sources close to Kasich said Trump’s son, Donald Jr., tried to entice Kasich with a position as the most powerful vice president in history, but he turned it down. Kasich would have been in charge of all domestic and foreign policy in a Trump White House, Kasich sources said.
But Trump’s communications adviser insisted Wednesday that, while a call occurred between Donald Trump Jr. and top Kasich adviser John Weaver, a vice presidential offer was never on the table.
“It’s completely ridiculous,” Jason Miller said. “There was never an offer made. It’s completely made up.”
Miller added: “Gov. Kasich is just being a sore loser.”
Donald Trump Jr. also denied making such an offer.

Conservatives Looking for a Candidate

Yes.

“There are many people in the ‘never Trump’ movement who, if Trump successfully gets the nomination in Cleveland, are not going to drop their opposition because he hijacked the party,” said Brian Fraley, a former Wisconsin GOP political director who has been one of the fiercest Trump critics in the state.

Fraley said he is considering voting for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson. He also said Trump picking conservative Indiana Gov. Mike Pence for vice president shows he is worried about the anti-Trump holdouts, but it doesn’t make Trump “any less vulgar or any more trustworthy.”

Oh, and…

“Coming out of this convention, Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee for president and as such he needs all Republican support,” said Steve King, a rules committee member from Wisconsin. “What’s the alternative? It’s not a good one. I’m not a big fan of dentists, but I go to the dentist and have them do their thing to me and I accept it.”

If your sales pitch is, “voting for our candidate is like going to the dentist,” you’re going to lose.

Trump to Choose Mike Pence as VP

Huh.

Donald J. Trump’s campaign has signaled strongly to Republicans in Washington that he will pick Mike Pence, the governor of Indiana, as his running mate, though Republicans caution the party’s mercurial presidential candidate may still backtrack on his apparent choice.

Mr. Trump’s advisers have told national Republican officials that they are preparing to make an announcement with Mr. Pence, according to three people with knowledge of the conversations, who were not authorized to discuss them publicly. His campaign has said that it will unveil a running mate for Mr. Trump in New York on Friday.

It’s a pretty sensible choice, which is why it surprises me that Trump made it.

Trump Pays Self

This has been Trump’s MO for every business he has every run. It is how he got rich. No matter how well the company does, he always pays himself well. That way, even if the company fails, he still comes our ahead. He’s doing the exact same thing with his newest venture.

Washington (CNN)Donald Trump has directed nearly one-fifth of his campaign cash to companies that are part of his vast business empire, new federal records show.

Trump, hurting for cash after he suddenly stopped self-funding his campaign last month, has mixed his public campaign and his private ventures for nearly the entire 2016 race. He has promoted Trump products at campaign events, publicly litigated a federal civil suit he’s facing over Trump University on talk shows, and, this week, will bring the political press to Scotland for a tour of a Trump golf course.
And it shows in his latest campaign finance report, filed Monday: Trump-linked businesses account for 17% of all campaign expenses to date. He’s paid almost $11 million to Trump organizations since launching his campaign a year ago.

Brit Tries to Kill Trump

Dude… keep that crap on your side of the pond.

A Briton who tried to grab a police officer’s gun at a Donald Trump rally in Las Vegas said he wanted to shoot the US candidate, court papers say.

Michael Steven Sandford, 20, did not enter a plea when he appeared before a judge in Nevada and was remanded in custody until a hearing on 5 July.

He is charged with an act of violence “on restricted grounds”.

He had reportedly tried to seize the gun after saying he was seeking Mr Trump’s autograph at Saturday’s rally.

He said he had been planning to try and shoot Mr Trump for about a year but had decided to act now because he finally felt confident enough to do so, court papers say.

Trump Supports Quashing Rights Without Due Process

One more reason to not vote for Trump.

Republican Donald Trump has said he would like people on terror watch lists to be prevented from buying guns, in the wake of the Orlando shootings.

Do you know how you get on a watch list? Me either. I suspect it happens when someone in some government agency thinks that you might be up to no good, so they put you on a list to keep an eye on you. Do you know how to get off of the list? You can’t. If you believe that you are on a watch list by mistake, you can go through a lengthy and laborious process where you have to prove your own innocence to get a redress number, but the ultimate decision of whether or not you stay on that list is up to the government agency.

In America, we have a long-standing principle that the government is not permitted to curtail a citizen’s Constitutionally protected rights without being afforded due process. We do not permit our rights to be taken away based on the arbitrary decision of an unelected bureaucrat. We must adhere to our principles here, but I do recognize that Trump is devoid of principles.

 

Republicans Aren’t As Enthusiastic About November Election

This is no surprise.

The Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday shows that 78 percent of Republicans say they are absolutely certain to vote in November’s election where a new president will be chosen.

That is down from 87 percent in March and 90 percent four years ago.

However, Democrats who say they intend to vote rose from 81 percent in March to 84 percent in the latest poll.

Call it the “Trump Effect.”

Apparently Trump plans to counter this lack of enthusiasm by hiring this guy:

Vince Trovato is leading Trump’s efforts in Wisconsin. Trovato confirmed his hiring Wednesday to The Associated Press and referred all other questions to Trump’s national campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks. She did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Trovato ran unsuccessfully for the state Assembly in 2014 for a seat in heavily conservative Waukesha County. He came in third place in the primary.

A quick look at his background shows that Trovato has spent a lot of his adult life out of country. That’s cool for him, but I don’t know how it helps him get out the Wisconsin GOP vote.

Where Are the Trump People?

Apparently the Trump supporters are not very good at putting their money, time, and effort where their mouths are.

It was said by a couple guys that it’s time to get over it and that we must stop Hillary, to which I asked, “Where are the Trump people?”  “For six months they’ve bitched about the Republican Party, complained about the “Establishment” and blamed RINO’s like me that we’ve not done enough to stop Obama. Well, now they’ve won. He’s the nominee, they’re now the establishment. We are their checks? Are they going to go knock on doors?”
No one had an answer, and the frustration was real. So here’s the dilemma. GOP regulars don’t want to go bust their asses on doors for a candidate they despise (me). And the Trump people seem to have keyboard courage, and talk smart at the bar, but aren’t the people who do the work.

Paul Ryan: Sellout

Christian Schneider isn’t holding anything back in this column.

Perhaps this endorsement was inevitable but it was jarring to see the sellout executed for free. Trump today is just as unfit to hold public office as he was when Ryan announced his pyrite protest. Perhaps Trump is the master negotiator he claims to be — he actually made Ryan tear down the wall between them, and Republicans are ultimately going to pay for it.

During Ryan’s holdout, Trump made no progress toward the goals Ryan said he needed to see from the presumptive GOP nominee — in fact, just in the past week, Trump has floated discredited conspiracy theories about former Clinton adviser Vince Foster’s death and attacked the ethnicity of a judge overseeing the Trump University case. Are these what pushed Ryan toward capitulation?

Now Ryan becomes like San Francisco Giants fans who cheered on Barry Bonds during his desecration of America’s pastime. Normally sane fans defended Bonds simply because he wore the right color jersey.

Paul Ryan Endorses Donald Trump

This was bound to happen.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Paul Ryan endorsed Donald Trump on Thursday, ending an extraordinary public split between the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee and the nation’s highest-ranking Republican office holder.

Ryan outlined his support for the New York billionaire in a column published in his hometown newspaper, declaring his goal to “unite the party so we can win in the fall.”

The Trump (almost) nomination has put conservatives in a tough spot. I don’t fault conservatives who are getting on board with Trump, however tepidly, now that he’s the nominee. One can make a rational argument that Trump is less horrible than Clinton. It’s not an argument with which I agree, but I can certainly see how someone would come to that conclusion.

I have very little understanding of how anyone who thinks they are a conservative could have backed Trump in the primary when there were so many other options.

In any case, almost all of the Republican establishment has now gotten behind Trump. It is a significant development for Trump’s campaign. He is now the establishment Republican candidate. Chew on that.

Trump Shortchanges Vets

Meh… Trump’s supporters have made it clear that actual facts and truth are unimportant to them.

(CNN)When Donald Trump skipped a GOP debate in January to host a fundraiser for veterans, he touted its success by citing the $6 million raised for veterans groups. One problem — that figure is inaccurate.

Following the rally in Des Moines, Iowa, the Trump campaign said the event raised $5 million and Trump personally contributed an additional $1 million. But campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told CNN Friday the amount raised was actually less than $6 million.
Lewandowski said he did not “know the exact number” off the top of his head and would confirm the number in coming days. He explained the discrepancy by saying at the time of the rally, Trump believed he had raised $6 million but more money had been pledged than was actually donated.
The Washington Post reported Friday that Lewandowski said the fundraiser actually netted about $4.5 million. Lewandowski told CNN that number is incorrect.

 

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