The Art Of The Deal?

 

"First, the President-elect must make a stab at uniting the country, after a scorched-earth campaign in which he consciously tore at the nation's gender, racial and economic fault lines to build a movement to win power. He's practicing some unusual humility.

 

"I pledge to every citizen of our lands that I will be the president for the American people," Trump said in his victory speech Tuesday. "For those who have chosen not to support me in the past, for which there were a few people, I'm reaching out to you for your guidance and your help so we can work together and unify our great country."

 

But his challenges were on clear display Wednesday as protests broke out from Boston to Los Angeles."

 

-------------

 

The crazies with their foreheads painted "not my president" don't bother me.  They can march around the big cities all they want.  Rain will come.  Snow and wind will come and they will go home.  The progressive cause has taken a mighty hit but it will re-assert itself.

There are two real question facing the US as to what sort of president will Trump be.

1.   Thus far he looks to me to be a man who will run a tight ship deciding major issues himself and will make deals with whomever has the power to enable him to reach his goals.

IMO that means that the Republicans in Congress will either go along with Trump's legislative proposals or see Trump go across the aisle to seek votes.

A good example would be whatever it is that Trump decides that he  wants to do about the obvious failure that is the ACA, presently sinking under the weight of far higher costs than expected and smaller enrollments.   Democrats understand that the law must be modified to survive and to preserve the increase in health care coverage that it has brought.  The hardline Republicans in both Houses of Congress want to destroy Obamacare and they have no realistic alternative other than the usual blather about private health accounts.   Trump will not want to alienate his working class followers.  Why would Trump not make a deal with the Democrats to get what he wants and needs?

2.   There is also a danger that the neocon faction among Trump's advisers will succeed in achieving power in his cabinet.  The appointment of John Bolton to State, would be ,IMO, an unmitigated disaster.  pl 

http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/10/politics/donald-trump-barack-obama-transition/index.html

Comments

[kooshy]

Colonel these protests were organized by Move ON Organization, they should be named The Sore Losers Organization

[plantman]

Colonel,

I'd like to know what you think about the rumors that James Woolsey will be advisor to Trump, while Steven Hadley might be at the DOD?

Also there's talk of Guiliani at DOJ, Gingrich at State and a former G-Sax VP at the Treasury.

Your thoughts??

[Pitch Pole]

There's a natural tendency to over extrapolate on the state of the progressive cause or liberalism in America from the election result. The election was lost by the democratic establishment which, while it has its liberal or progressive elements, is firmly a corporatist, statist organization. The presidency and the senate, though probably not the house, were lost by an ingrown and complacent party bent on crowning their seriously flawed queen. We will never know for sure - but if they had put up Biden instead of shoving him aside, we'd still be talking about the fate of the republican party. Bernie would have been a wild card, but the primaries showed him getting lots of votes in the places that put Trump into the whitehouse.

It will be interesting to see how positive everyone remains once the Republicans own the show for a few years. Will everyone on this board still be so glowing with what appears to be their apparent full embrace of Israel's priorities? If we pull the Iran deal and start the air campaign? When those manufacturing and coal mining jobs don't come flooding back?

It was a devil's choice and not the outcome I would have wanted, however half heartedly, so I'm keeping an open mind. Trump has no fixed core beliefs and revels in pissing up anyone's leg whenever he feels like it, and that might be a feature not a bug. At this juncture, I'm more concerned with the people to whom he's going to delegate so much. Those guys we've seen in action for long enough to be very worried....

- Pitch

[turcopolier]

pitch pole

You must be very new here or have not paid attention. The committee is generally quite anti-Zionist. Hey! If you are uncomfortable here, leave! pl

[turcopolier]

plantman

Woolsey is an unmitigated disaster in any setting. pl

[Dubhaltach]

Colonel,

The profiles in this BBC report have the merit of brevity:

US election 2016 results: Meet President Trump's possible cabinet - BBC News

[Laura]

Trump doesn't really know anyone in foreign policy...so he will probably, at first, appoint people like John Bolton. After all, Bolton has been on lots of talk shows! Also there is this: But Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, in an interview with the state-run Interfax news agency, said that "there were contacts" with the Trump team.

"Obviously, we know most of the people from his entourage,” Rybakov said. “Those people have always been in the limelight in the United States and have occupied high-ranking positions. I cannot say that all of them but quite a few have been staying in touch with Russian representatives.”
He denied allegations of Russian interference in the election, but said “maybe we helped a bit with WikiLeaks.”

So I imagine that Russia will weigh in on his foreign policy choices as well.

[ISL]

Dear Colonel,

Obamacare is a symptom of a bigger American health care cost problem. If How much larger portion of the US economy can healthcare take before the entire system collapses? Its currently 17% heading for 20%, while competitor nations spend half that. Obamacare, was a hail mary to continue the party for the health insurance and overall industry at tax payer expense, and it was so poorly conceived that as you note, it is falling apart.

I am hopeful that Pres Trump, who is not beholden to the insurance industry, unlike Obama, will take the side of the US (non-health care) business community and pull our costs to be more in line with those of the rest of the world.

I predict twitter storms against recalcitrant Repubs and Dems that mobilize via social media Trump's constituency to =scare the bejeezus of them for the mid terms.

[kao_hsien_chih]

The whole idea of "not my president" makes me mad. Trump has been elected by the American people, whether the protesters like it or not. Do they think they are better than their countrymen? If so, that'd explain a lot of their attitude.

With regards what Trump's real agenda, domestic and foreign might be, those two seem to be the immediate tests. Republicans don't have good ideas, but without the partisan blinders, I don't think they are averse to trying out something new and creative. That Trump has said nothing other than "something wonderful" can be something very constructive as it gives him freedom to pull out something completely new and just put his moniker on it, and Republicans in Congress owe him enough (I think) that they dare not refuse. Heck, Trump can even throw them red meat by offering them a very conservative SCOTUS judge appointment (sorry liberals--I don't think SCOTUS is that big a deal, especially since it's Scalia being replaced). If we can get a workable healthcare reform out of this, it'll be worth it.

I'm really bugged by the mentions of Bolton and Ledeen. The sneaky Borg implants like these lurking in the Trump circles is one reason I'd been skeptical that Trump really is the peace candidate. We shall see how that goes.

[Dave Schuler]

Protests are fine. Rioting is not.

Look at the opinion pages of the New York Times. Here are some titles:

"Being American in the Trump Years"
"A Time to Keep Fighting"
"Ten-Step Program for Adjusting to President-Elect Trump"
"Gritting Our Teeth and Giving President Trump a Chance"
"America Elects a Bigot"

If you tell people to fight and then they fight, don't be surprised if they fight. If you tell them to be afraid and they become afraid, don't be surprised if they're afraid.

[Edward Amame]

Trump's just gonna be the guy who signs the bills that the GOP present to him. What he gets in return's a question, but what he gets in return will be from the GOP, not Dems -- they will be shut out. There's some talk of an infrastructure bi-partisan effort, but apparently a lot of people are unaware that Trump wants to partly pay for it by privatizing bridges, roads, etc. Dems will not go for that.

https://www.wired.com/2016/11/trumps-plan-american-infrastructure-get-people-spend-trillion-dollars/

Obamacare can be killed in a reconciliation bill that can pass the Senate with a simple majority. Medicaid can be block granted. Let's see if they dare.

[Robert C]

I'll repeat my earlier post: meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Robert C.

[Tyler]

My understanding about Trump's plan for the ACA is that he wants to give each American not on Medicare/Medicaid the ability to opt in to a health savings account with catastrophic insurance.

Eric Newhill probably knows more about all this though.

[Tyler]

I think Senator Sessions and Steven Miller are going to act as a massive brake on any influence of the neocons in his administration, IMHO. Their "invade the world, invite the world" mantra and their liberal social polices are antithetical to what they have been espousing throughout their careers.

[Pitch Pole]

Not new, been around for some time. Not often commenting. I do pay attention and that's exactly what I mean: everything I hear from the president elect, the republican party and all the people tapped as close advisors/potential cabinet members indicated deep and broad support for Israel's zionist factions. So I'm confused as to where the committee is deriving it's enthusiasm.

And no, I don't get uncomfortable with argument or opinion, whether I agree with it or not. I do like to see arguments linked to more rational evidence - that's a big help when proving them out.

[Cameron Kelley]

Colonel, I thought this piece from the Poynter Institute might interest you. It points out the failures in journalism while covering this election, and seems to arrive at the same conclusions you came to months ago.

http://www.poynter.org/2016/how-the-media-missed-president-trump-and-what-comes-next-for-journalism/438665/

[Paul Escobar]

Mr. Lang,

---
RE: "There is also a danger that the neocon faction among Trump's advisers will succeed in achieving power in his cabinet."
---

Trump made a display of presenting himself as THE authority on matters of foreign policy.

On a practical basis, if he wanted to, could he practically oversee the key decisions these men make?
Or is their not enough time in the day?

Best,
Paul

[johnf]

With Move On on the move, it seems that America could ironically be experiencing its very own Color Revolution. The Last Color Revolution on Earth! Which I suppose is poetic justice.

As for the progressives, Bernie already seems to be putting the message out. And after their major defeat, I doubt if the neo-con and neo-liberal Clintonistas will have much sway within the party. Bernie's chosen successor and Elizabeth Warren would both be serious challengers.

[Will]

I'd like to know what is it the Zionists really want. Would they be satisfied with the West Bank? Would they be satisfied with the part of the Golan Heights they grabbed or do they want all of it? Will they quit trying to grab the waters of the Litani River in Lebanon since reportedly through desalination they have more water than they need?

You are dealing with a country that refuses to fix its borders? If it were given what it wanted, would it then let its neighbors go in Peace? Why did they not accept the Saudi Beirut Peace initiative? Why was Rabin assassinated? Why did Olmeret suddenly get removed due to a criminal inquiry?

I used to read Haaretz at one time until it went behind a paywall. I get some insight from Uri Avnery, b/ I'm truly lost at what they really want. Is it from the river to the river? Wadi-el-Arish to the Euphrates?

Do they really want to continue as the Lacedomnians lording it over the Helots? The Israeli Firsters have destroyed secular Irak, now working on Syria, and would love to destroy Lebanon and turn it into a choatic non-functioning state. They would love to destroy Iran as a semi-secular civiliazton. Trump advisor Gen Michael Flynn, for all his good qualities, has a hard-on for the Persians. So does Trump. Really worrying. You cannot have a concert of nations resolution w/o bringing Iran to the table.

Of course, Trump will make them concessions. Adelson gave him some $30 mil for his campaign and Ivanka has converted to Judaism. He will recognize Jerusalem/Quds as the capital of Israel. that's a foregone conclusion.

But the glimmer of hope is that he has said, that he would try to be neutral and work out a Peace agreement.

Again I quote from George Mitchell:
"First, I believe there is no such thing as a conflict that can't be ended. Conflicts are created and sustained by human beings. They can be ended by human beings. No matter how ancient the conflict, no matter how much harm has been done, peace can prevail."

[kooshy]

Colonel
I just hope Mr. Trump and his close family, are as smart as they manage to win this election, against all odds, and keep the Dick Cheney’ cabal away from his white house and any important security position.

[Jack]

Sir

IMO, Trump can't be successful and deliver relief to his working class supporters unless he takes on the fattened hogs. That means ensuring real competition in the marketplace and breaking up the cartels that have used the power of big government to fatten themselves at the expense of the Deplorables. This means the FTC, FCC and other agencies created to ensure real competition have to change their recent DNA which has been to be an arm of big business. They will have to regenerate and take to heart once again the ethos of Wright Patman and enforce the Robinson-Patman Act with the intensity of a wounded water buffalo. This will be vigorously opposed by both parties and all the K Street lobbies and the powerful financial interests. The same interests that opposed his candidacy and pulled out all the stops to manufacture the election result. He will have to run a permanent campaign to rally the Deplorables and the Sanderistas to fight the vested interests of the Borg who will oppose the loss of their gravy train with all the power they have.

Obamacare is the disaster it is because it did nothing to lower health care costs. We spend twice per capita on health care compared to other western nations and our health care costs have been rising at a CAGR of 9%, which means costs double every 8 years. So cosmetic changes like health savings accounts is not going to do anything. It will require busting all the monopoly practices, which means allowing the importation of pharmaceuticals and requiring Medicare and other plans to negotiate the lowest prices for drugs by purchasing them anywhere in the world. It will require legislation that requires complete transparency by health providers. It means getting to the bottom of the costs and knocking it down. IMO, he should appoint a presidential commission to do a study and recommend a new health care delivery architecture that reduces cost by at least half. That may mean a system like Germany or Canada.

Similarly, he should instruct the FTC and FCC and the DOJ to break up the media, banking and Wall St cartels. Draining the Swamp must be his first priority or else the Borg hydra will stymie any reform.

You are right Sir that if the ziocons like Bolton and Woolsey and all the others burrow into his national security decision making team it would be an unmitigated disaster.

Trump is in an unique position. The Borg opposed him with all they got. He owes them nothing. He can fight a lonely fight with the Deplorables to drain the swamp. We know it can be done as it has been done in our history. He'll need a few allies in Congress. We need the Wright Patman of this generation to work with President Trump. He'll need a guy like David Stockman to be the point man to simplify, rationalize and slim down our bloated government. This will be an uphill battle but he ran an improbable campaign and defeated the Borg. Will he run another hard fought campaign to truly Drain the Swamp and reduce the size and scope of the federal government?

[Nuff Sed]

Colonel,
Your item #2 is really the only important question. Will Pat Buchanan and other anti-Zionists going to have the president's ear, or is it going to be just another four-year episode of As the Borg Turns?

Nuff Sed.

[ex-PFC Chuck]

Or Soros, allegedly its primary beneficiary, could rename it "Won't Move On."

[Anna]

Medicare for all would solve the crushing ACA problem at once - and this would endear Trump to the working class, progressives, small-business owners... to the absolute majority of the US citizenry. A process of reorganization from the current mess of viciously-profiteering middlemen (insurance companies) toward the Medicare for all could be achieved in one year. The reorganization must be approached as a nationwide emergency that demands a swift, drastic solution. There can be no restoration of the middle class and its purchasing power without first solving the scandalous healthcare crisis. The current system of penalties for not buying a health insurance is in fact a clear case of taxation without representation. Moving to a Single-payer system is perhaps the most urgent task for the US government

[johnf]

On Trump seeking Democrat support in Congress:

"Sanders: I'm 'Prepared To Work With' Trump On Economic Issues

"Donald Trump tapped into the anger of a declining middle class that is sick and tired of establishment economics, establishment politics and the establishment media," Sanders said in a statement. "People are tired of working longer hours for lower wages, of seeing decent paying jobs go to China and other low-wage countries, of billionaires not paying any federal income taxes and of not being able to afford a college education for their kids - all while the very rich become much richer."

"To the degree that Mr. Trump is serious about pursuing policies that improve the lives of working families in this country, I and other progressives are prepared to work with him. To the degree that he pursues racist, sexist, xenophobic and anti-environment policies, we will vigorously oppose him," Sanders added."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sanders-prepared-work-with-trump