Trump says it's Wall or Nothing
On Christmas Day it is traditional for the Oval Office occupant to call military personnel serving on active duty, usually overseas. He also talked about the shutdown.
"Many of those workers have said to me, communicated, stay out until you get the funding for the wall. These federal workers want the wall."
Not according to Tony Reardon. He is the head of the National Treasury Employees Union, representing over 150,000 federal employees at 33 federal agencies and departments. A survey of his union's membership indicates that 85% had said they will have to limit holiday spending because of the furloughs. He described one instance where a union member said:
"I recently lost my wife and now...I have to put off buying her headstone. Breaks my heart."
Then there is this:
Fortunately for this family, former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf stepped up to help this family with their mortgage.
#DishonestDonnie also said:
I can't tell you when the government is going to be open. I can tell you, it's not going to be open until we have a wall, a fence, whatever they'd like to call it. I'll call it whatever they want."
He can stomp his feet, hold his breath until he turns blue and refuse to stop the shutdown, but the reality is; once we get into January, Democrats will control the House. At that point, his life becomes much more difficult.
When questioned about the investigative powers that become available to a Democratically controlled House of Representatives, he said:
"It's probably presidential harassment and we know how to handle that. I know how to handle that better than anybody."
No Donnie. That's oversight. Part of our nation's system of checks and balances.
As an aside, with the government currently in shutdown mode, 88% of IRS employees are currently out on furlough. With all of the changes to the Internal Revenue Code necessitated by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, this couldn't come at a worse moment. Many of those employees will have to come in and work without pay if the shutdown goes on much longer.
Wall or Nothing won't work.
* * *
I went for a drive this morning. Drove through portions of my hometown, Santa Monica. Saw a number of things that caught my eye.
The building at 146 Entrada Drive is still boarded up, with no trespassing signs on the entrances. The parking lot is being used by Patrick's Roadhouse Café. Why that location has sat empty for so many years puzzles me.
I drove by the address where my mother grew up. The house that had been on the lot the last time I'd passed by was gone. There was a construction fence up and it appeared that someone was in the process of building a "McMansion" on that very large lot. The lot is more than 20,000 square feet and the home that was razed to clear the lot was over 5,000 square feet. It will be interesting to see what goes up at that address.
I will know it forever as Lincoln Junior High School, but these days the sign reads Lincoln Middle School. When I was a student there, the running track circled a poorly maintained grass field. This morning as I passed by, I saw an immaculately groomed football field. There were soccer goals at each end. The open front face of the school is now fully fenced and gated.
It was good to get out of the house for an hour. I've had more fatigue than usual of late. Since I know I'll be working a lot of hours in a few weeks, I'm paying attention to my body. But I will resume moviegoing on Thursday. I have a full shift on Wednesday, and am then off until next year.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
If #DishonestDonnie is so concerned with the troops, why did he become the first Oval Office occupant in more than a decade to not visit troops on Christmas?
Why is it that the aforementioned con artist is critical of news stories about him with anonymous sources, but he can claim things without offering any evidence?
Jennifer Lawrence continues to visit a hospital near where she grew up, every Christmas Day. That's awesome.
So is the story of an 8 year old boy who suffers from cancer, who asked Santa to lend him some money to donate to cancer research. He found $1,200 from Santa under the tree.
I think the wall issue is because #DishonestDonnie has seen this scene too many times
"Many of those workers have said to me, communicated, stay out until you get the funding for the wall. These federal workers want the wall."
Not according to Tony Reardon. He is the head of the National Treasury Employees Union, representing over 150,000 federal employees at 33 federal agencies and departments. A survey of his union's membership indicates that 85% had said they will have to limit holiday spending because of the furloughs. He described one instance where a union member said:
"I recently lost my wife and now...I have to put off buying her headstone. Breaks my heart."
Then there is this:
My husband is a Park Ranger in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and he had to sign his furlough papers. We have a 4 yr old and a 4 month old, and we don't know when his next check will come. Mortgage is due, Christmas 2 days away. #ShutdownStories— Taylor Futch (@TaylorFutch1) December 24, 2018
Fortunately for this family, former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf stepped up to help this family with their mortgage.
#DishonestDonnie also said:
I can't tell you when the government is going to be open. I can tell you, it's not going to be open until we have a wall, a fence, whatever they'd like to call it. I'll call it whatever they want."
He can stomp his feet, hold his breath until he turns blue and refuse to stop the shutdown, but the reality is; once we get into January, Democrats will control the House. At that point, his life becomes much more difficult.
When questioned about the investigative powers that become available to a Democratically controlled House of Representatives, he said:
"It's probably presidential harassment and we know how to handle that. I know how to handle that better than anybody."
No Donnie. That's oversight. Part of our nation's system of checks and balances.
As an aside, with the government currently in shutdown mode, 88% of IRS employees are currently out on furlough. With all of the changes to the Internal Revenue Code necessitated by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, this couldn't come at a worse moment. Many of those employees will have to come in and work without pay if the shutdown goes on much longer.
Wall or Nothing won't work.
* * *
I went for a drive this morning. Drove through portions of my hometown, Santa Monica. Saw a number of things that caught my eye.
The building at 146 Entrada Drive is still boarded up, with no trespassing signs on the entrances. The parking lot is being used by Patrick's Roadhouse Café. Why that location has sat empty for so many years puzzles me.
I drove by the address where my mother grew up. The house that had been on the lot the last time I'd passed by was gone. There was a construction fence up and it appeared that someone was in the process of building a "McMansion" on that very large lot. The lot is more than 20,000 square feet and the home that was razed to clear the lot was over 5,000 square feet. It will be interesting to see what goes up at that address.
I will know it forever as Lincoln Junior High School, but these days the sign reads Lincoln Middle School. When I was a student there, the running track circled a poorly maintained grass field. This morning as I passed by, I saw an immaculately groomed football field. There were soccer goals at each end. The open front face of the school is now fully fenced and gated.
It was good to get out of the house for an hour. I've had more fatigue than usual of late. Since I know I'll be working a lot of hours in a few weeks, I'm paying attention to my body. But I will resume moviegoing on Thursday. I have a full shift on Wednesday, and am then off until next year.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
If #DishonestDonnie is so concerned with the troops, why did he become the first Oval Office occupant in more than a decade to not visit troops on Christmas?
Why is it that the aforementioned con artist is critical of news stories about him with anonymous sources, but he can claim things without offering any evidence?
Jennifer Lawrence continues to visit a hospital near where she grew up, every Christmas Day. That's awesome.
So is the story of an 8 year old boy who suffers from cancer, who asked Santa to lend him some money to donate to cancer research. He found $1,200 from Santa under the tree.
I think the wall issue is because #DishonestDonnie has seen this scene too many times
posted by me at 5:57 AM
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