In today’s Republican nominee hypocrisy file…
- Donald Trump says he’s committed to “ensuring the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes.” Yet purported billionaire Trump is dodging taxes on the new luxury hotel he’s opening in Washington D.C.. Nightly room rates at Trump International Hotel range from $895 for a basic single to $20,000 for a “Presidential” three-bedroom suite.
- Trump has promised to punish companies that ship jobs overseas. Yet Trump’s running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, “has approved $24 million in incentives to 10 companies that sent work to foreign countries.” The Indy Star calculates that the incentives were supposed to create 1,087 jobs in Indiana but that the ten recipient companies’ offshoring is costing Indiana 3,820 jobs.
- Trump and the Republican spin machine are chortling over Anthony Weiner’s ongoing marital infidelity. Yet millions of good Christian Republicans remain committed to voting for their openly adulterous and twice divorced Presidential nominee.
So Marla Maples cheated on Trump. It’s appropriate. So Trump’s new DC hotel looks to be a debacle headed for bankruptcy even before it opens. Don’t let Trump get behind on his taxes, DC. So Indiana gives corporate welfare to companies that ship jobs overseas. You can’t really blame the companies for accepting the taxpayer money, so you have to blame Republicans for giving it to them.
> “Trump has promised to punish companies that ship jobs overseas.”
Funny coming from the guy who had his suits, ties, shirts, and other garmets made in 100% overseas factories. He can talk a big game, but his actions serve as evidence of where his loyalties lie – and that loyalty is not with the American worker but instead with the almighty dollar.
I hear Paul Ryan has found a group of wingnuts opposed to Drumpf’s policies and calls it A Ryan Brotherhood. (Credit to Brad someone somewhere).
I hear Paul Ryan has found a group of wingnuts opposed to Drumpf’s policies and calls it A Ryan Brotherhood. (Credit to Brad someone somewhere).
Snoot Gingrich owes 4 million from his failed run for Potus in 2012. He sent the FEC a repayment plan which basically amounted to telling debtors to suck it. FEC says no can do. Gingrich’s campaign treasure’s name is Swindle.
I will never understand Anthony Weiner – the most aptly named man on Earth. I can’t help but wonder what’s it’s like, feeling so compelled to show your weener to women through your cell phone – all the time. And his wife is one of the smartest most gorgeous women in the world. Dude’s got to be a CRAZY sexaholic. I truly feel sorry for that out-of-control SOB.
On the other hand, Trump’s so outrageously over-confident all the time that people have just got to know he’s overcompensating for his TINY weener.
EVEN IF it were Anthony Weiner vs. Trump for President in 2016 – I just couldn’t vote for Trump. You’d probably have to put a gun to my head to get me to vote Trump.
Adam – maybe Weiner’s name actually has more to do with his actions than we would like to think. It reminds me of a David Brooks piece I read years ago… and there have been studies (and a book) that found the same conclusions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/07/opinion/07brooks.html
Either way it is clear Weiner has a serious issue – and as he clearly cannot control his desires the guy needs to get some professional help.
I want to take a picture of Anthony Weiner taking a picture of Anthony Weiner and title it “Ceci n’est pas une peepee.” I think it would work.
Adam, I would vote for an Oscar Mayer wiener before voting for Trump.
I share your complete befuddlement at the idea that guy would feel motivated not just to cheat on his wife but to take and send photos that will inevitably go public and destroy one’s life. Infidelity is stupid; Weiner’s e-cheating is stupid squared.
Dicta, your satire is devilish. You do get a bonus point for doing it in French.
Trump said he could put several blue states in play. It’s clear he can’t.
None of his promises rested on serious political strategy or logic,…they were little more than braggadocio.
working the fair this weekend I was stunned at the trump voters I encountered.
one gentleman, a decorated experienced veteran, told me story after story out of the far right “conspiracy” bin. later internet search leaves them all highly questionable in my mind.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/08/30/trump-said-he-could-put-several-blue-states-in-play-its-clear-he-cant/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_trumpstates-pp-850am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
Let’s get this clear. His name is Weiner, not wiener.
Trump has put Iowa and Ohio, previous blue states in Presidential races, in play. Pennsylvania will be a squeaker when it’s said and done. Nevada is in play. Florida is in play.
Yes, there are a lot of voters with (Hillary) Clinton Derangement Syndrome on top of Obama Derangement Syndrome on top of (Bill) Clinton Derangement Syndrome who still believe Trump confirmed that Obama was born in Kenya, is a Muslim, and that Hillary killed Vince Foster and personally killed the Americans who signed up for hazardous duty in Benghazi, and that Lyin’ Ted’s father killed Kennedy, and that Mexico is going to pay us to build a wall with one-way exit doors for 11 million people if Trump is elected.
The interesting strange part of the weiner story is his wife’s closeness as advisor to our likely 1st female president, who is married to a former president with sexual dysfunction issue too, perhaps. And her older opponent would like to sleep with her daughter.
The United States is one big puritan pot of sexuality that has boiled over. wonder if internet porn is a factor? doesn’t the adolescent male now average hours a day on porn sites?
free speech, free guns, free college, free love!
livin in the usa. steve miller 1968 (Come on try it, you can buy it, you can leave it next week, yeah
Somebody give me a cheeseburger)
What really erks me THE MOST about the Weiner is the fact that I thought he was a pretty darn good champion for most of the issues I really cared about while he was in the U.S. House of Rep.
I feel like dude totally betrayed anyone who ever appreciated his work – with all this never ending awful shameful sex behavior.
>Trump has put Iowa and Ohio, previous blue states in Presidential races, in play. Pennsylvania will be a squeaker when it’s said and done. Nevada is in play. Florida is in play.
Current polls show Clinton with a 60% chance of winning Iowa, a 67% chance of winning Ohio, a 77% chance of winning Pennsylvania, a 71% chance of winning Nevada, and a 70% chance of winning Florida.
The only thing Trump has put in play are states which would have likely gone to a GOP candidate but now will most certainly go blue. There is also good reason to believe the Democrats will retake the Senate which is something which likely wouldn’t have occurred with any other Republican at the top of the ticket, but as it were a lot of Republican voters may simply stay home rather than support Trump.
“It reminds me of a David Brooks piece I read years ago… and there have been studies (and a book) that found the same conclusions.”
Hi Craig,
It’s a fun topic to speculate on. Reminds me of a chapter in the book Freakonomics, where economist Steven Levitt took a swing at it. He also wrote a summary for Slate, here. It includes a fascinating case study where one (hilarious) father, Robert Lane, decided to name his older son Winner (Lane) and his younger son Loser. Then Levitt asks:
“If Winner Lane could hardly be expected to fail, could Loser Lane possibly succeed?
Loser Lane did in fact succeed. He went to prep school on a scholarship, graduated from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, and joined the New York Police Department, where he made detective and, eventually, sergeant. Although he never hid his name, many people were uncomfortable using it. To his police colleagues today, he is known as Lou.
And what of his brother? The most noteworthy achievement of Winner Lane, now in his late 40s, is the sheer length of his criminal record: more than 30 arrests for burglary, domestic violence, trespassing, resisting arrest, and other mayhem.”
Levitt then dives into the data and reaches the conclusion that names themselves have very little correlation with success… but that sometimes names have a high correlation with something else that does relate to success. For example, having a distinctively black name (“Imani” or “DeShawn”) correlates to the success level of the black community, whereas an ethnically neutral name (“Jake”) correlates to the success level of Americans on the whole.
“And that’s why, on average, a boy named Jake will tend to earn more money and get more education than a boy named DeShawn. DeShawn’s name is an indicator—but not a cause—of his life path.”
Kind regards,
David
Way OT- today would be Molly Ivin’s 72nd birthday. Miss the heck out of you, Molly!
I hope it turns out the way you suggest, Craig. You seem to put your trust in oddsmakers, but this election has shown that all bets are off. We shall see.
I’m predicting that Uncle Bibi from Israel finds a way to smuggle a small portable nuke into Iran in October and set it off to convince the world that Iran has nukes, embarrass Obama, and give Trump some issue to demagogue through to election day to distract from his ongoing diarrhea mouth. Trump will then win Florida, Ohio, Iowa and Pennsylvania – and the election. It’s a more plausible conspiracy theory than say, Ted Cruz’s father killing Kennedy.
David – I’m a huge fan of Freakonomics so I know exactly to what you refer. Levitt and Dubner have provided me with many insights and taught me to look at things from another perspective. It is a whole new level of critical thinking. SuperFreakonomics was good as well – although perhaps not as well written as the original.
On Leslie’s comment, if Trump really were able to bring more states into play, we’d already be seeing that effect in the polls.
Ror, has Trump put the states you list in play, or has Clinton? The states you list also don’t appear to be the blue states Team Trump was talking about. According to Stuart Rothenberg in yesterday’s Washington Post, Team Trump was claming it could compete in Michigan, Wisconsin, Colorado, Connecticut, Oregon, Pennsylvania (one you mentioned), Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Illinois. Rothenberg doesn’t see those claims panning out and says Clinton is likely to take an Obama-sized 330+ Electoral College haul. National Review said yesterday Trump has no path to victory. NR says Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida are “exceedingly difficult” for Trump. NR says Trump is “almost certain to lose” Michigan and Wisconsin.
in this election, “it’s time to take a sober look at a presidency bookended by the spectacular mass murder on 11 September 2001, and the spectacular financial meltdown of 2008.
The single most contentious issue riling the Republican party is immigration: an issue that derailed Bush’s presidency….The second most contentious issue of this election: how to treat Muslims and Arabs, and particularly Muslim Americans…Bush stoked the politics of fear…that led directly to this…peak Islamophobia. It was under Bush’s watch, just one year after his second inauguration, that the fever took over.
we have not escaped the legacy of George W Bush. And no matter who wins, we are unlikely to do so any time soon.
And it’s outlasted the war on terror, although Trump is doing his best to revive both.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/30/america-problems-obama-fault-george-w-bush-election-2016
You need to add to the Republican hypocrisy file or more particularly the Trump hypocrisy file:
After lambasting the Clinton Foundation, it turns out Trump used his Trump foundation to make a political contribution to the new Florida attorney general just as the Florida AG’s office was looking into fraud charges in the whole Trump University debacle. Not only is the contribution from a charitable foundation to a political figure improper, but the clear suggestion is that Trump was trying to influence the decision of whether Trump and his university would be pursued for fraud charges.
The Clinton Foundation does good works around the globe and gets lambasted. The Trump Foundation makes illegal contributions to a politician investigating Trump’s affairs and low and behold the Florida AG decides not to pursue the matter. Recall when Bill Clinton had a conversation with AG Lynch and Trump and Republicans cried foul, even though it was the FBI who made the decision that charges against Hillary Clinton were not warranted for her email debacle. But here we have the Trump Foundation making a $2,500 contribution to the office actually deciding whether to pursue charges against him and what do we hear? crickets.