Breaking Down the 2016 POTUS Race Contenders & Issues

[Astronuc]

"I believe that Trump University was a fraudulent scheme," Ronald Schnackenberg, a former sales manager at the university, said in testimony, the New York Times reported. "It preyed upon the elderly and uneducated to separate them from their money."

"I believed that Trump University was engaging in misleading, fraudulent and dishonest conduct," he said. "I found it particularly offensive that, while Trump University claimed it wanted to help consumers make money in real estate, in fact Trump University was only interested in selling every person the most expensive seminars they possibly could."

"Trump University salespeople, including me, uniformly told customers from the script that they would 'work with Donald Trump's real estate experts' and that these instructors were 'experts in today's real estate world' ... this was not true," sales executive Jason Nicholas said in his testimony.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-university-fraudulent-scheme-says-123900230.html

 

[gleem]

In Trump's book, Art of the Deal, He states " I play to people's fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That's why a little hyperbole never hurts."

Yes and it helps separating their money from them, as well as getting votes.

 

[Derek Francis]

He will stay in the race. Then speeches about his view of the issues will be broadcast nationally from the convention. He can have a favored candidate make the speech and get millions of dollars worth of national exposure.

Sanders' fiery campaign can either strike a compromise with Hillary, after he wins California. Or, he can be a sore loser, protest the DNC and no one but his supporters will respect him.

Total voter turnout in Michigan primaries:
Republican: 1.25 million
Democratic: 1.27 million

Clinton lost hers, Trump won.
If Michigan goes Trump, with the rest unchanged, it's over.

That's why I had it light blue instead of solid blue. Yes, Trump's blue-collar populism will appeal but it's still a solidly Democrat state. Trump can win it but he will have to allocate a lot of resources.

From what I've gathered thus far, Trump has polarized opinion within the Republican party, so I'm curious to see on what basis you feel that he will unify the Republican party. Are you making your assumption on who he chooses as his running mate (so far still unannounced)?

He'll unify most of it. He's already scored a ton of endorsement and the majority of Republicans have endorsed him. The older republicans like Romney and Bush won't like him, but most of the current ones would take him over a Democrat.;

 

[mheslep]

... it's still a solidly Democrat state.

Solid? On what basis? There's no more Granholm. In 2016: GOP governor, nine out of 14 US House seats GOP, majority GOP in the state House.

 

[mheslep]

Total voter turnout in Michigan primaries:
Republican: 1.25 million
Democratic: 1.27 million

Clinton lost hers, Trump won.
If Michigan goes Trump, with the rest unchanged, it's over.

That was Democratic 1.17 million

 

[Astronuc]

House Speaker Paul Ryan may have endorsed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, but his office said Friday that he will not encourage other Republicans to support their party’s presumptive nominee.

And just one day after Ryan announced that he will vote for Trump, which came after a month-long standoff, the speaker denounced him for racially tinged criticisms of a federal judge.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/paul-ryan-back-criticizing-donald-000000382.html

 

[Ivan Seeking]

And just one day after Ryan announced that he will vote for Trump, which came after a month-long standoff, the speaker denounced him for racially tinged criticisms of a federal judge.

Ryan is unqualified to speak on this matter. After all, he's Irish!

One would think that Trump supporters would be running and hiding by now... I do see that even his pundits/spinners are having a hard time with this one. I thought Ann Navaro on CNN was going to blow a fuse. She was livid! And she's a Republican spinner.

I thought David Gergen said it best: The problem with Trump is that sometimes we see what and how he actually thinks.

 

[Astronuc]

Ex-Texas official: Trump U probe dropped due to politics
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ex-texas-official-trump-u-probe-dropped-due-065256970--election.html

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has moved to muzzle a former state regulator who says he was ordered in 2010 to drop a fraud investigation into Trump University for political reasons

Paxton's office issued a cease and desist letter to former Deputy Chief of Consumer Protection John Owens on Friday after Owens made public copies of a 14-page internal summary of the state's case against Donald Trump for scamming millions from students of his now-defunct real estate seminar.

Owens, now retired, said his team had built a solid case against the now-presumptive Republican presidential nominee, but was told to drop it after Trump's company agreed to cease operations in Texas.

Something smells rotten in Texas and with Trump U.

 

[jim hardy]

This article seems fair

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/06/donald-trump-gonzalo-curiel/485636/

...while Cohen frames Trump University itself as a criminal enterprise with Trump as the orchestrator of a racketeering scheme.

As you can imagine, Trump strongly opposes that characterization. In a motion for summary judgment in Cohen filed in March, he condemned the “pervasive abuse of civil RICO” that he says the case represents. “Indeed, if this case is allowed to proceed, it would represent an unprecedented and unprincipled expansion of civil RICO and transform virtually every alleged violation of consumer protection laws into a civil RICO claim,” Trump argued...

...While Curiel has allowed the case to proceed to trial, he has granted Trump some partial victories along the way on the size and scope of the cases. And instead of letting the trial unfold alongside Trump’s bid for the White House, Curiel delayed its start until after the election.

 

[Astronuc]

I thought Ann Navaro on CNN was going to blow a fuse. She was livid!

Ya think?!

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/06/03/politics/ana-navarro-donald-trump-mexican/index.html

 

[phinds]

Hey, good for her. Too bad more of the mainstream media doesn't tell it like it is the way she does.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Navarro's rant was even worse earlier that day when involved in a panel discussion. She was close to completely losing it on camera.

IMO, the Republican party has been edging more and more towards permanent irrelevancy. This week Trump may have pushed them over that line. They have likely lost the black vote and the Hispanic vote for a generation or more, not to mention anyone who objects to blatant racism in Presidential candidates. And the problem isn't just Trump. The problem is that he isn't being harshly and widely denounced by the party leadership. I strongly suspect that the Republican party by name just died.

I am a talk radio host. I am a political commentator. I am a writer. I was once a lawyer and once an elected official. I have always voted Republican. I have tried my best at times to justify those things I thought I could justify or ignore those things that should be ignored in the spirit of helping my team and my side. But I have met the proverbial bridge too far with Donald Trump and I am ashamed and horrified at friends of mine and party leaders who will look the other way to justify Donald Trump.
The partisan press has long muddied what is and is not racist in this country and now confronted by actual racism cannot bring itself to use the word lest it be judging Trump.

...The attacks are racist. To claim that someone is unable to objectively and professional perform his job because of his race is racism. And damn the GOP for its unwillingness to speak up on this. The leaders of the party, confronted by Todd Akin, abandoned ship for his stupid statements on rape and abortion. But the Party of Lincoln intends to circle the wagons around a racist. Damn them for that.

http://theresurgent.com/damn-them-for-that/

 

[jim hardy]

The problem is that he isn't being harshly and widely denounced by the party leadership.

? He's had worse press than Hitler.

The problem is our 24 hour-a-day "merchants of discontent" have convinced much of the populace they have a grievance.
A grievance is most poignant when almost redressed.

Idolize revolutionaries and you get revolutions.

 

[Hornbein]

I think that the presidency is largely irrelevant to the public's worries. The public are overwhelmingly concerned with domestic issues, while the president's bailiwick is patronage and foreign policy. Domestic issues are largely under the control of congress, so that's what matters.

To this end Sanders has endorsed twelve candidates. One US senator, four for congress, and eight in state legislatures. Of these twelve candidates, the most ear-catching name definitely goes to Zephyr Rain Teachout of New York. A lawyer, she's had a book published about political corruption (she's against it) and boldly chose to run against entrenched New York governor Andrew Cuomo. In the Democratic primary she got about a third of the vote, outstanding for a beginner. In some districts she earned two thirds of the primary vote, so she moved to one of those districts in upstate New York and is running for Congress with Sanders' support. Indications are that so far he has raised $600,000 for her campaign.

These few votes will make little difference, but the idea is to get potential future leaders a start on the ladder. Congressman, senator, and so on. Don't be surprised if some of Bern's faves get to make speeches at the convention. That's national exposure.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

? He's had worse press than Hitler.

I am saying that by not denouncing him in the strongest terms, people like McConnell and Ryan and doing permanent damage to the party's reputation with everyone except white people, and white people who deplore racism [not to mention that it insults and threatens all Americans]. I know I'm done. Never again will I vote for any Republican.

 

[Kevin McHugh]

In Trump's book, Art of the Deal, He states " I play to people's fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That's why a little hyperbole never hurts." /QUOTE]

Yeah, it's called pandering, and all polis do it.

 

[jim hardy]

Never again will I vote for any Republican.

i believe we have to quit re-electing the same old hacks from both parties.
That's why i made a few hundred of this bumpersticker last cycle

Trump and Sanders are in my book both non-establishment candidates. I'd vote for either of them on that point alone.
Both have enough sense to not push Putin so hard he'll draw first. Hillary and Cruz both scare me to death on that point.

 

[Astronuc]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Florida's attorney general personally solicited a political contribution from Donald Trump around the same time her office deliberated joining an investigation of alleged fraud at Trump University and its affiliates.
. . . .
The money came from a Trump family foundation in apparent violation of rules surrounding political activities by charities. A political group backing Bondi's re-election, called And Justice for All, reported receiving the check Sept. 17, 2013 — four days after Bondi's office publicly announced she was considering joining a New York state probe of Trump University's activities, according to a 2013 report in the Orlando Sentinel.

After the check came in, Bondi's office nixed suing Trump, citing insufficient grounds to proceed.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/florida-ag-asked-trump-donation-nixing-fraud-case-224334807--election.html

 

[jim hardy]

So Trump says that judges are not immune to bias ? I guess he'd know.
Is this the same G. Curiel?

FDR tried to pack SCOTUS
Obama himself attacked the Citizens United decision in a State of the Union address with the justices sitting right in front of him.

 

[mheslep]

So Trump says that judges are not immune to bias ? I guess he'd know.
Is this the same G. Curiel?
View attachment 101785

FDR tried to pack SCOTUS
Obama himself attacked the Citizens United decision in a State of the Union address with the justices sitting right in front of him.

True, both events were outrageous, though Obama didn't suggest the court ruled as they did in Citizens United because of the particular ethnic heritage of the judges, i.e. that they were "typical white" people.

 

[Astronuc]

Hillary Wears $12,000 Suit During Income Inequality Speech (It's now down to $7500)
http://www.sfgate.com/living/article/Hillary-Clinton-7968441.php

Maybe she's relating to constituents on Wall Street?

 

[mheslep]

Maybe she intends for everyone to have such a suit, a type of suit equality, or minimum Armani.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

i believe we have to quit re-electing the same old hacks from both parties.
That's why i made a few hundred of this bumpersticker last cycle
View attachment 101749

Trump and Sanders are in my book both non-establishment candidates. I'd vote for either of them on that point alone.
Both have enough sense to not push Putin so hard he'll draw first. Hillary and Cruz both scare me to death on that point.

I am worried more about character, experience, an adherence to science and logic, and temperament, than I am incumbency or being an insider. None of the accusations against Hillary are half as bad as many of the things Trump himself has actually said or said he would do. This latest debacle and many of his statements tell me he is the most dangerous Presidential candidate in my lifetime - dangerous to the Constitution and liberty, and all of humanity [The one thing he can do as President without Congressional approval is start WWIII]. First they gave us Bush II, then Palin, and now Trump. Like I said, I'm done. But I will try to keep an open mind: Maybe global warming really is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese and Obama is a Kenyan.

 

[jim hardy]

[The one thing he can do as President without Congressional approval is start WWIII].

 

[Hornbein]

 

[gleem]

McConnell in an interview expressed his hope that Trump will change. Yesterday He and Ryan expressed their displeasure at Trump's attack on Judge Curiel. And last night Trumps told them to "get over it." I doesn't look as if a change is imminent. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) rescinded his support of Trump.
Is this the beginning of the end of the Republican Party as we thought we knew it?

 

[phinds]

I was watching "Morning Joe" this morning and I've never seen Joe Scarborough livid the way he was this morning. He was ranting at the top of his lungs, red in the face, text-book apoplectic. He's a small-government conservative, dyed-in-the-wool Republican and he is disgusted with the fact that Paul Ryan and other Republicans are, in his view, destroying the Republican party by not standing up to Trump and utterly denouncing him as a racist (among other bad things).

Mika Brezinski (on the same show) has been saying all along, and started saying long before any others of the news show talking heads, that despite Trumps disgusting behavior (her words from time to time) from the very beginning none of it was going to hurt his standing with the electorate and that the continual predictions that he had finally gone too far were wrong every time. Now even she has changed her tune and says this time he really HAS gone too far and needs to be denounced in the strongest possible terms (which she proceeded to do).

 

[jim hardy]

meh

Vehemence is the expression of a blind effort to support and uphold something that can never stand on its own...Whether it our own meaningless self we are upholding, or some doctrine devoid of evidence, we can do it only in a frenzy of faith.

The more vehement the less righteous.

 

[phinds]

meh

So you disagree w/ them about Trump? Do you think he is not a racist or that he is not harming the Republican party or both of those?

 

[Tobias Funke]

A little off topic, but almost every single Twain quote I've ever seen online has been fake. This one is a borderline non sequitur and Twain was one of the most vehement writers I've ever read. Source?

 

[CalcNerd]

I think everyone is probably mistaking Trump's comments as racist when in reality, he is simply an elitist, pompous, egotistical, self entitled real estate mongrel NOW presidential candidate who happens to make politically incorrect comments. I suspect he would say (and has said) the same about any underlings, be they whatever color or religion (except Muslims and Mexicans, he does seem to have a bias against them!). Trump is kind of like Count De Money in History of the World part 1 (perhaps Donald is a nephew?)
.
He hasn't changed his basic image much during the campaign. Again, if Hilleary were even a tad bit better, we wouldn't have to worry about Donald. And if Donald continues to lambaste everyone, eventually he will assure Hilleary the election. Don't know whether to or about that! Suspect that I will and regardless of the winner as I already know who the LOSERS are!
.
Edited to add egotistical, don't want to leave THAT out.

 

[mheslep]

... He's a small-government conservative, dyed-in-the-wool Republican ...

No he's not. He's a Republican perhaps, a TV talking head, there to throw a bone to the idea that NBC has GOP viewpoints on air.

Mika Brezinski (on the same show) has been saying all along..

Might as relay what crazy aunt Alice in the basement has to say.

 

[mheslep]

... And if Donald continues to lambaste everyone, eventually he will assure Hilleary the election. ...

Which is roughly what 16 accomplished GOP candidates and legions of pundits chanted about the primary.

 

[jim hardy]

So you disagree w/ them about Trump? Do you think he is not a racist or that he is not harming the Republican party or both of those?

I don't see what possible value my opinion could have
but since you ask,
Yer' darn tootin i do .

Republican party began slow Hari Kari when they passed Nafta in '92, repealed Glass-Steagal in '99 and failed to reinstate it under Bush. They allowed the Healthcare/Insurance /Finance cabal to capture Congress and feast at the public trough

they gave Hank Paulson a half billion dollar tax break and bailed out his Wall Street buddies.

They've failed to either declare or rein in the last several wars
and Mikah's Dad promoted "exporting democracy" to mideast in his "Grand Chessboard" suggesting Iraq as a Normandy like Beach-head
but i don't remember whether he was a signatory to PNAC
...
Republican party's wounds are self inflicted.

And to spare you a long diatribe,,,
that's my opinion.

 

[phinds]

So you disagree w/ them about Trump? Do you think he is not a racist or that he is not harming the Republican party or both of those?

Yer' darn tootin i do.

I agree w/ you that our opinions have no effect on the results but it's still good to pay attention to what's going on and vote our conscious. I am surprised that you don't think Trump is a racist. Questioning someones ability to do a job purely because they are of some particular heritage just seems like a text-book definition of racism.

By the way, I do tend to forget that a lot of Republicans think Scarborough is a RINO. I've always hypothesized that it's because he is willing to compromise to get things done as opposed to being rigidly ideological, but that is just the way I look at it and I have no idea if it even has anything to do with why Republicans don't like him. Do you have some sense of what that's all about? I suspect I'm missing something on that.