● Trump is considering a Democrat, Hillary donor as Treasury Secretary. This is Jonathan Gray, the head of Blackstone Group. What’s interesting here is that Blackstone is a real massive estate group. They hold office buildings, hotels, homes and malls all around the world. This likely represents a fundamental change of perspective from the never-ending flow of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley people who represent stock traders and deal brokers/investment bankers. I like this a lot. The real estate perspective gives Gray a perspective on the “old school” economy where average people live and work, and where the public are seen as the cogs who make the system work. By comparison, the world of Goldman Sachs is the world of financial middle men who make money no matter what happens and who see the public as resources to be milked. I think this change could matter a lot.
● According to Politico, Jeff Session’s selection as Attorney General could spark an exodus from DOJ Civil Rights Decision. Good. Seriously, if this is true, then it’s fantastic news. This is a group of race-baiters and hardcore feminists who are trying to impose their twisted views one lawsuit at a time. The bad news is that they aren’t likely to leave because they are typical bureaucrats who can’t conceive of life outside the safety of a government office. Sessions looks like a lock, by the way, despite the Democrats whining about opposing him. He will be solidly conservative.
● It looks like Trump is leaning toward retired Marine General Matthis as Secretary of Defense. That would be a fantastic pick. Matthis was the top commander in Afghanistan and wrote the manual used in Iraq to beat the insurgents. He strongly supports NATO, hates Putin and points to Iran as the biggest danger in the Middle East. He would likely be a no-nonsense leader who would do a solid job preparing America to meet the challenges of our enemies.
● The Republicans are getting an agenda ready. One of the first things they plan to do is repeal large parts of the regulations Obama has issued. They have targeted 100 regulations so far to undo. They are also looking at tax reform and undoing Obamacare early on. As an aside, one thing slowing things down will be that House Conservatives prevented Paul Ryan from passing a budget last year, so the Republicans can’t use reconciliation to avoid filibusters this first year.
● Rinse Pre-Bus on the supposed “Muslim list” the left is whining about:
“There are some people within that particular religion [Islam] that we do fear. We don’t believe in religious tests and ... are not blanketly judging an entire religion, but, in fact, we will try to pinpoint the problems and temporarily suspend those areas from coming into the United States until a better vetting system is in place. We’re going to temporarily suspend immigration from that country, or region, until a better vetting system is put in place.”Makes sense.
Thoughts?
12 comments:
I love this guy:
“I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you f%*k with me, I’ll kill you all.”-General James Mattis, USMC
This is a very intriguing and very promising development. Interestingly, I had a chat with a family member a few months back. As things were all seemingly coming up Hillary- a key reason I decided to "monk it out" by paying as little attention as possible to election coverage- I bemoaned that Trump would basically put her in office. My family member explained that they were voting for Trump specifically because, as a businessman, he would likely appoint people who actually knew their fields and could do the jobs effectively. Hillary, of course, would just appoint cronies. (I later mentioned this rationale to a co-worker who was having trouble picking someone to vote for on Election Day and asked for some advice. Don't know how they voted, though.) Looks like my family member's bit of forecasting was rather accurate.
OT: Since this article makes good sense- and I love bringing up tidbits- here's a headscratcher to think about: according to ESPN, the AP now has 3 Big Ten teams- OSU, TTUN, and Wisconsin- in the top 5. The last time this occurred, 56 years ago, the #1 team in the country was...Minnesota? Yes, that's right. The People's Republic of Venturaville-Smalleystan once glared down on the rest of the college football world like Yertle the Turtle. History isn't just weird sometimes- it's perplexing and creepy. Also, perennial Rose Bowl loser Iowa was in that top 5 as well. Given that, Tryanmax, do you have any good jokes to make about the birds this week?
I don't get the obsession with Trump's picks. I see that sort of crap as trying to refight the election. Scrutiny for judicial picks (who are a going to be there after the president is gone) is fine and good, but its silly to refight the election through the vetting process of nominees to the exec branch.
The Democrats are unlikely to love the civil rights nominee of a guy who wasn't sure the KKK were bad people, but the public voted for him so the Democrats should just wave through his choice.
As with Obama, those who fear that the state either will abuse them or won't protect them from bad actors can stock up on guns and ammo and wait for trouble, giving it a warm reception in the (unlikely IMHO) event it comes.
I think the fears about Trump are overblown. I have less respect for him than most and recognize that he panders to some very nasty people, but I don't think for a second he is going to fire up the ovens or ready the chains or anything.
I'm looking forward to a quick resolution of the war on terror due to Trump having the freedom to implement his secret plan :) .
BTW, the cast of Hamilton were boorish and rude in their treatment of VP-elect Pence. I still maintain that some of the rudest, most narrow-minded hicks I've ever met came from a city that for some reason prides itself on diversity.
I just don't have the vocabulary to describe how happy I am! Over at Rasmussen Polls Ted Rall is saying with a straight face that there will be no election in 2020 because Trump will have declared martial law. I love liberal hysteria. The thing that makes this so delicious is that these guys all believe their worst fears. It's like Scarecrow lives in their heads and Trump triggered his release.Bwuhahahahahaha!
GypsyTyger
GypsyTyger, I feel the same way. They've been building Trump up as such a boogie man that now the can't view him at all rationally and I'm loving.
I'm super thrilled too with the things Trump is doing. So far at least, he is much better than I ever hoped for. In an odd way, I am hopeful that we may be looking at the best administration since Reagan. I know that sounds like hyperbole, but I really am seeing signs.
Critch, I think the Hamilton thing was ridiculous. It was rude and bullying and obnoxious and whiny... and they think they were the good guys. I'm glad people are protesting at their theater.
Anthony, I think what you're seeing are two things. First, you have politics as usual -- destroy the enemy! Typical Washington.
Since at least Reagan, the sole goal of the Democrats when a Republican is in power has been to destroy them.
The Republicans didn't used to be that way until the Clinton impeachment. And that was only temporary until 2010. Then it became a full-time thing.
The other thing is that you are seeing people who have fallen for their own smears. They build people like Trump into child-eating Ogres and now that he's been elected they are terrified that everything they told each other is true... no matter how irrational.
Rustbelt, I've been thinking that for some time too, that his "instincts" will be to hire good people to do their jobs right and run things like a corporation. So far, that's what he seems to be doing.
I don't get the obsession with Trump's picks. I see that sort of crap as trying to refight the election.
That's exactly how the Democrats see it, too. In other words, it's not complicated and you grasp it completely.
This morning I was hearing Michèle Flournoy criticizing Trump's defense appointments on the basis that they only have "operational experience" and not enough "advisory experience." Her reasoning? They might not be honest. I'm struggling to make sense of that.
tryanmax, That's pretty silly. I would suggest that the problem is that an operations guy isn't going to be interested in the bureaucratic games like racial/gender politics.
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