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Eric Sofer
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Posted: 25 January 2018 at 7:37am | IP Logged | 1 post reply

Brian M. - I honestly don't care who runs against Trump, as long as his ass is booted. Crap, if the RNC picked someone to run against him in-party, I'd be okay with that.

Unfortunately, Trump is not only a curse of political idiocy; he is also the face of a system that is designed to engulf and devour, to cling to their precious positions, pay, and perks, and to then protect themselves against anyone who wants to pry them loose in favor of real public servants.

It is even possible - and my hands hurt just typing this - that Trump may be doing us a favor by being SO blatantly incompetent that he exposes the disingenuousness and blatant disregard presented by the Republicans.

What is needed is NO MORE POLITICIANS in Washington. We need businesspeople, workers, and folks who KNOW how business operates, so that they can get things done and get back to their own lives - not make a career out of feeding at the public trough and pimping for rich investors and strangling average citizens to keep that trough full.

I am minded to think of the TV show "Designated Survivor" and the book "Executive Orders" by Tom Clancy for a take on how this might happen. Both describe a radical change at the top of the feeding order and are thought provoking.
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Peter Martin
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Posted: 25 January 2018 at 8:32am | IP Logged | 2 post reply

Are you saying they need to drain the swamp, Eric?
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Michael Roberts
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Posted: 25 January 2018 at 11:07am | IP Logged | 3 post reply

What is needed is NO MORE POLITICIANS in Washington. We need businesspeople, workers, and folks who KNOW how business operates, so that they can get things done and get back to their own lives - not make a career out of feeding at the public trough and pimping for rich investors and strangling average citizens to keep that trough full.

---

Um, isn't this what Trump is doing? The end result is that Trump's administration is full of businesspeople who are used to cutting corners and getting their way being unable to deal with the demands of realpolitik. He replaced the politicians being bought by lobbyists with the lobbyists themselves and cut out the middle man.
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Brian O'Neill
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Posted: 25 January 2018 at 12:52pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

An idiotic 'businessman' was elected President. Didn't that just make EVERYthing better?
And Oprah Winfrey? 
Jesus...
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Richard Stevens
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Posted: 25 January 2018 at 1:03pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply

I'd vote for Obama again, if that were somehow an option for 2020. He's the only competent man to have held the office of President in my adult lifetime.

____

I have a soft spot for my few years of life during the Carter administration, but Obama is probably the best since ... FDR?

He certainly helped mitigate some of the nastiest economic stuff in modern history, while always being a kind, classy, smart guy.

I'd rather we take a break from white men, but I'd vote for a Joe/Barack flipped ticket in a heartbeat.


Edited by Richard Stevens on 25 January 2018 at 1:04pm
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Eric Sofer
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Posted: 25 January 2018 at 6:56pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply

Peter M. - You're damned right I'm saying drain the swamp. But we need to see it happen from someone who doesn't seem to be a compulsive liar.

Michael - it seems to me that 45 is surrounding himself with yes men and sycophants and rich people who don't know how to run a business anymore. And A) I doubt he'd take their advice, and B) they'd likely be more concerned with their own interests... being 45's buddies and all.

I look at his choice of Secretaries, and they are COUNTER-competent to their departments. He doesn't know enough to set up ambassadors and diplomats. And his business - and, I observe, that of a lot of his "buddies" - is, as you noted, to cut corners, to get their way, to move their business out of the country, and to screw employees and customers alike.

If we had a president who was doing what 45 said he was going to do, I would give it hard consideration. But it seems pretty obvious that the 1% are hip deep in the government, and trying to get in waist deep.
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Charles Valderrama
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Posted: 26 January 2018 at 10:47am | IP Logged | 7 post reply

During a Q&A session at the end of the speech with World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab, Trump returned to a familiar riff (his treatment by the news media). He said as a businessman, he's always been treated really well by the press. He added, "It wasn't until I became a politician that I realized how nasty, how mean, how vicious and how fake the press can be." This prompted some boos from the audience.

Audience members also booed Klaus Schwab as he introduced Trump by saying that “your strong leadership is open to misconceptions and biased interpretations.”

Guess this is what Trump and his supporters' vision of "winning" looks like.

-C!


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Eric Ladd
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Posted: 26 January 2018 at 11:39am | IP Logged | 8 post reply

I don't think a government works very well when viewed as a business. IMHO, a government should be run like a non-profit organization. Sound business decisions should be made for the benefit of the constituency, but a profit is not one of them. The problem with these business people in government seems to be their elevation of profits over people. When Ross Perot's made attempts at the Presidency back in the 90's I wondered if that type of thinking was needed in government. Rump has completely shown me just how irresponsible it is to be running government like a business.


Edited by Eric Ladd on 26 January 2018 at 11:42am
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David Allen Perrin
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Posted: 26 January 2018 at 1:27pm | IP Logged | 9 post reply

The primary goal of 'a business' is to earn profit to continue to exist and grow as a business.

That goal runs counter to what should be the goals of a government run by citizens for the benefit and welfare of said citizens.  

And with that being said....'Government' is only as successful as the well being of it's citizens.   ALL of it's citizens.   While everyone can't be filthy rich....NOBODY needs to be destitute and poverty stricken in America. 

It's simply unacceptable that we allow the staggering poverty you can find in this nation.  But the greedy and corrupt nature of our politics DEMANDS that we have a particular segment of poor, uneducated people living at the edge of oblivion.  Because all too often poor, undereducated/uneducated people commit crimes.  And 'crime' is an industry in America every bit as much as oil or cigarettes.  


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Jozef Brandt
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Posted: 26 January 2018 at 3:11pm | IP Logged | 10 post reply


It's not just "crime inc" as you say, though.  There are people in government who thrive and get constantly reelected by the permanent, dependent, underclass they have created through policy.  These same people want to import even more poor dependents from other countries, then give them a path to citizenship...to continue to vote them into power.


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Eric Sofer
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Posted: 26 January 2018 at 5:48pm | IP Logged | 11 post reply

Eric L., a non-profit organization is still a business. It's a good model, certainly - nice call. But a business with a board of directors similar to our Congress would go down VERY quickly. Except that our government can't go down... so it keeps getting props and support and patches and juryrigging and it keeps on slogging.

And when we say 45 is running our government as a business... it's as he's running one of HIS businesses. Many (most?) of which he bankrupted - and that isn't going to happen to the USA. Imagine, for example, how Ford would run if it were being supported and buoyed up to stay in business no matter what.

And "crime" is a little vague to say that it's a crime in American industry. I won't argue that... but our government doesn't do nearly as much arson or murder as it does embezzling and engaging in hate crimes. There ARE areas that need to be addressed, absolutely. I think (as previously noted) that "draining the swamp" and getting these criminals' hands off driver's wheel might get us going in a little better direction.
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Robbie Parry
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Posted: 26 January 2018 at 6:40pm | IP Logged | 12 post reply

Piers Morgan interviewed 45, and the interview will show up on UK TV this Sunday. Wonder if Morgan will grill 45 or not?
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