OFFICIAL: Donald Trump thread.

[BrometheusBob.]

Sounds like McConnell is keeping his word, after Schumer tried to go back on his word.


As for what MCC wrote, that's his typical nonsense.

I've never heard anyone blame Mexicans or "elites" for forcing them to use drugs.

Speaking for myself, the first time I got high as a kid was with a fellow white kid. And it was by choice.

I have no clue where the weed I buy these days comes from, but I know the vape THC I buy comes from the US.

I know in the past, when I had a different weed supplier, it was coming from the US as well, California to be exact.

This guy worked on a weed farm, and he'd come back here every so often with a duffel bag full of it.

Damn good stuff too.

He may be keeping his word, but that doesn't make it a sensible thing to do.

As for MCC's tweet, it's fairly accurate. (And on an interesting note, it's a conservative who tweeted it.)

When the crack epidemic was going on, personal accountability was the main message being spread. It's the drug addicts faults and they should be harshly criminalized.

Now the current opioid epidemic is being treated as more of a public health issue. The users are being treated largely with sympathy and understanding. We're asking where the drugs are coming from and trying to block the sources. Personal accountability is not being stressed nearly as much.

I can't see how anyone can sincerely deny that part. We can debate the reasons why this observed difference in attitude is happening, but it's gotta be rooted in acknowledging the reality of the underlying changes in public attitudes and actions that were taken in each case.

[1bad65]

He may be keeping his word, but that doesn't make it a sensible thing to do.

Maybe so, but I have noticed you've not condemned Schumer (D) yet.

It's a bad look to only bash one side of a two-sided agreement.

It makes one look like superfan, ya know.

As for MCC's tweet, it's fairly accurate. (And on an interesting note, it's a conservative who tweeted it.)

No, it's not accurate. It's a generalistic statement, but racists like him live to do that.

And that guy is no conservative.

He not only told people to vote for Hillary, he left the R party over the Kavanaugh hearings.

Some conservative there.

When the crack epidemic was going on, personal accountability was the main message being spread. It's the drug addicts faults and they should be harshly criminalized.

Partially true.

Yes, addicts were punished. But so were dealers.

Around that time is when they started passing laws enhancing punishments for people carrying drugs 'packages for sale'.

Obviously those harsher laws were aimed dealers, not users.

Now the current opioid epidemic is being treated as more of a public health issue. The users are being treated largely with sympathy and understanding. We're asking where the drugs are coming from and trying to block the sources. Personal accountability is not being stressed nearly as much.

This is true, but you have to look at the reasons behind the epidemic.

It's not happening not so much because people suddenly decided to try heroin and meth on the streets.

With heroin, alot of users are moving to it after getting hooked on opioids that were legally prescribed them.

Meth is also derived from legal drugs as well.

Marijuana and cocaine/crack are not derived from legal sources.

Imo, a huge part of this is overprescribing opioids to treat pain, and many others share that beliefs. Stats also back it up.

Again, you're right on the back end, but you have to understand the problem is rooted in different factors than the cocaine/crack epidemic in the 80s, and the surge of weed in the 60s and 70s.

I can't see how anyone can sincerely deny that part. We can debate the reasons why this observed difference in attitude is happening, but it's gotta be rooted in acknowledging the reality of the underlying changes in public attitudes and actions that were taken in each case.

I think by my words above you see I do pretty much agree with that statement.

[Motorcity Cobra]

He may be keeping his word, but that doesn't make it a sensible thing to do.

Wow, a "conservative" or "libertarian" (whatever he's calling himself nowadays, doesn't believe congress is separate but equal as it states in the constitution. He believes the Senate is now an extension of the executive branch.

McConnell brought the original bill to the floor for a vote after getting an assurance from Trump that he would sign it. If he hadn't gotten assurance from Trump he would've never brought it to the floor, just like he's not bringing the same bill back to the floor now because Trump broke his original word to McConnell after hearing Laura Ingraham and Rush Limbaugh tell him not to sign the bill he previously told McConnell he'd sign.

A constitutional government would do their job and vote on bills to reopen the govt regardless of what the executive branch thinks. The constitution was written so that not one man would have that much power and the congress is supposed to be a check and balance on the other to branches. According to the constitution all funding starts in the House anyway. Amazing how these "conservatives" and "libertarians" now want to throw the constitution away

[Motorcity Cobra]

The Trump administration paid a private company $13.6 million to recruit thousands of Border Patrol agents, and they've hired 2 so far

• Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has given $13.6 million to the private firm Accenture to hire thousands more Border Patrol agents.
• Just two agents have been hired so far, according to a watchdog report.
• The Office of the Inspector General said the company is "nowhere near" its goal of hiring 7,500 people in the next five years, as the firm had laid out in its $297 million contract.
• The report said CBP "risks wasting millions of taxpayer dollars."
• CBP disputed the conclusion but agreed to investigate whether Accenture should reimburse the money.

The Trump administration paid $13.6 million this year to a private company that increased Border Patrol staffing by just two agents, according to a new federal watchdog report.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) hired Accenture to hire and recruit 7,500 agents within the next five years. But just 10 months into the contract, only two accepted job offers have been processed, according to the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General.

Accenture, a global management consulting company headquartered in Ireland, was awarded a $297 million contract to achieve the hiring goal.

But the report said $13.6 million has been spent in the last 10 months, and CBP "risks wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on a hastily approved contract that is not meeting its proposed performance expectations."

The inspector general called for "immediate" action to rectify "serious performance issues," accused the company of relying on CBP resources instead of its own, and said Accenture is "nowhere near satisfying" its mandated goal.

President Donald Trump has sought since his first week in office to dramatically ramp up hiring within his administration's two key immigration-enforcement agencies: Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

A January 2017 executive order even called on Border Patrol and ICE to immediately hire an additional 5,000 and 10,000 agents, respectively.

The Accenture contract was meant to help meet this mandate.

Experts and former agency officials met Trump's order with skepticism; Border Patrol jobs are notoriously difficult to staff because of the rigorous demands of the job and the remote locations of many positions. Beyond that, turnover is high within the agency, and previous hiring sprees have had disastrous results.

In 2006, the last time CBP implemented a large-scale hiring spree, there was a 44% uptick in employee arrests on suspicion of misconduct, corruption, taking bribes, or smuggling drugs or people.

In response to the watchdog report, CBP officials disagreed with the inspector general's conclusion and said Accenture set up a new hiring process and funneled "thousands" of applicants into the pipeline for consideration.

CBP ultimately agreed to the four recommendations in the report, including that the CBP commissioner should assess Accenture's performance in line with the contract and "determine whether Accenture should reimburse DHS for services not provided."

https://www.businessinsider.com/trum...tchdog-2018-12

[1bad65]

Wow, a "conservative" or "libertarian" (whatever he's calling himself nowadays, doesn't believe congress is separate but equal as it states in the constitution. He believes the Senate is now an extension of the executive branch.

Whoa! Whoa!

I never said that, nor did I hear anyone else make that statement.


Here, go read up and let the adults talk:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawman

[1bad65]

Trump is hinting pretty heavily he may invoke emergency powers in order to get the wall built.

If he does that, we get a wall and Team D gets nothing in return.

If they negotiate like adults, they can give Trump his wall, and get some concessions in return.

Fools should have read The Art of the Deal.

[Tomjas]

Lol

Art of the Deal is a work of fiction & Trump didn’t write it

[GrandmasterWang]

What is this called??

These failed redactions show Manafort had a meeting with Kilimnik in Madrid, gave him campaign polling data, and discussed a Ukrainian peace plan with him - then lied about all of it. Very normal contacts between a US presidential campaign manager & a Russian intelligence asset. https://t.co/9tt5sjdVVb

— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) January 8, 2019

Very interesting update.

The plot thickens.

[GrandmasterWang]

The Trump administration paid a private company $13.6 million to recruit thousands of Border Patrol agents, and they've hired 2 so far

https://www.businessinsider.com/trum...tchdog-2018-12

Interesting article, I wonder who the 2 employees are considering the money spent so far.

For $13 million im going to go out on a limb and assume Captain America and Hawkeye.

[man down]

Jim proves why walls work
https://twitter.com/Acosta/status/10...border-wall%2F