In reality, where is the "Fake News"

I can assure you I try really hard to believe President Trump when he makes a proclamation via his tweets, but it’s becoming more and more difficult to do so in light of the fact that during his 466 days of rule he has made 3001 incorrect or misleading claims, averaging 6.5 per day.

Some of the more noteworthy claims include the following:

The claim, that he passed the biggest tax cut in history, when in fact it ranks eighth.

The claim, that a border wall was needed to stop the flow of drugs across the southern border, even though the Drug Enforcement Administration says a wall would not limit this illegal trade, as much of it travels through legal borders or under tunnels unaffected by any possible physical barrier.

The claim his long-promised border wall is already being built, even though Congress denied him the major funding and prohibited the use of prototypes he had viewed with great fanfare.

The claim, that he has created 3 million jobs “since the election,” even though he did not assume the presidency until almost three months later. About 2.5 million jobs have been created since Trump took the oath of office.

The claim he made after his first year in office, that he had “incredible success” in terms of job growth, even though annual job growth under his presidency has been slower than the last five years of Obama’s term, and during Trump’s first year Americans witnessed the slowest job growth in six years.

The claim that, “wages are going up for the first time in many, many years,” even though they have been rising steadily since 2014.

The claim, that under the Iran nuclear agreement, the United States gave the country $150 billion. That money was always Iran’s money. Iran had billions of dollars in frozen assets in foreign banks around the globe because of international sanctions over its nuclear program. It was simply their money that was unfrozen which Iran estimated at $32 billion.

The claim, that President Xi Jinping of China instantly agreed to a request from Trump to allow the sale of U.S. beef after years of blocking it. China had already agreed to such sales under a deal brokered by the Obama administration.

The claim, that the U.S. trade deficit with China is $500 billion. In reality it is about $300 billion.

The claim “we have done more than anybody in a year” and “I accomplished more than I promised.” In reality, at the end of his first year, Trump had signed fewer bills than any president since Dwight D. Eisenhower.  However, he has made up for lost time since the one year mark and in a year and a half is now tied with George W. Bush.

The claim by President Donald Trump that he is “undoing the government’s rampant spending that occurred under former President Obama’s watch.”   The facts are President Trump signed  a  tax plan that will increase the deficit by an estimated $1.7 trillion.

 

The claim Trump made about rescinding the recent policy of separating border crossing immigrants from their children, “You can’t do it through an executive order.”  President Trump three days later signed an executive order doing just that.

However, one of my favorite Trumpian tweets was made approximately two weeks ago.  After the historical North Korean Summit our President stated, “Before taking office people were assuming that we were going to War with North Korea.  President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most dangerous problem. No longer - sleep well tonight!”

Last Friday Trump stated, “The existence and risk of proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material [nuclear] on the Korean Peninsula [and] the actions and policies of the Government of North Korea . . . continue to constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.”

Guess we shouldn’t “sleep well” after all, since this basically contradicts his earlier message.

President Trump consistently labels media outlets as “Fake News” and untrustworthy information sources for our citizens.  Perhaps as the old saying goes, “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”

Was Korean Summit Truely Miraculous?

Once again the great white knight has swooped in and saved his people.  Before June 11^th North Korea was characterized by the Trump administration as a “nuclear threat” not only to South Korea but also the United States.  On June 11^th after a four hour meeting with one of the most notorious dictators in the world who had opponents and family members assassinated, jailed, poisoned, and whose people endure immense humanitarian suffering, President Trump declared that, “North Korea is no longer a nuclear threat.” 

Wow, and after only 4 hours we have wiped out centuries of proven lies, corruption, and deception.

Not only did President Trump claim to remove our nation from a “nuclear threat,” additionally in classic reality TV style he showered Kim Jong-Un with praises calling him “very smart,” with “a great personality,” “loved by his people.”  Hours later, in an interview with Voice of America’s Greta van Susteren, Trump went even further, declaring that Kim “loves his people,” brushing off concerns about the well-documented history of North Korea’s human-rights abuses.

I challenge all readers to actually read the document signed at this historic summit and tell me how one could conclude that the North Korea “nuclear threat” is eliminated by its signing.

But then again President Trump has a propensity for always interpreting things differently from the real world to garnish favor from his supporters.

His latest legal troubles with the state of New York over his interpretation of a non-profit charitable organization verses how it is legally defined and structured is a perfect example of Trumpism. New York’s attorney general filed suit against President Trump and his three eldest children Thursday, alleging “persistently illegal conduct” at the president’s personal charity.

According to President Trump one can establish a non-profit charitable organization to pay businesses’ creditors, to decorate golf clubs and to stage a multimillion-dollar giveaway at 2016 campaign events.  Marc S. Owens, a former head of the IRS’s nonprofit division acknowledges that President Trump’s handling of the New York Trump Foundation is a perfect example of how NOT to run a private non-profit foundation.  In fact he states, “There is little else [Trump] could have done that could have made it worse.”

So now we have a meeting of two world leaders, one whose past actions are totally illegal by U.S. standards, and the other who continually skirts the fringes of what is legal/illegal and spends a great of time in the U.S. court system because of it.

Was President Trump’s North Korea meeting historic?  Yes.  But the validity of the document is only as good as the integrity of the signatures on it.

Trump chooses to help perpetuate cyberwarfare

One has to wonder whether President Trump is more interested in a media blitz about himself rather than the national security of our country.  I am referring to his recent decision concerning the Chinese telecommunications company ZTE.  ZTE is one of the largest telecommunications companies in China.  Like almost all companies in China they are owned by the Chinese government and operate with the blessings of that government.

ZTE has become one of the largest producers of ‘phones to go’ products that are sold in this country.  The Chinese government and the People’s Liberation Army along with the Russians are notably the largest perpetrators of cyberwarfare in the world.  This is a major concern of the United States.  So much so that a national security report penned by the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee in 2012 stated the following, “China has the means, opportunity, and motive to use telecommunications companies for malicious purposes.”  This committee’s concerns were authenticated when it was discovered that phones made by ZTE contained a hidden ‘backdoor’ which could be used to gain access to not only that particular phone’s data but also data from the network on which that phone operated.  Propriety information could not only be spied upon but also altered and in some case sabotaged.

Currently ZTE along with another Chinese telecommunications company provide equipment to about 145 countries around the world and in 45 of the top 50 telecom centers worldwide.

The Chinese cyberwarfare concern is so perverse in this country that Verizon and AT&T, two of the largest providers of telecommunications, have refused to sell ZTE manufactured phones for use on their networks.  You can no longer buy a ZTE phone from either provider.  The U.S. military has also banned the use of ZTE products for years.

To further illustrate our government’s concern over cyber security, in March FCC chairman, Ajit Pai circulated a proposal for consideration at the Commission’s April 17th meeting to ban certain companies from receiving government funds that subsidize low-income Americans’ access to phone and internet service.  Guess which company was one of the ones proposed in that ban?  ZTE

However, all this national security concern seems of no importance to President Trump.  Last month the US stopped American firms from providing components or software to ZTE. This was enacted as punishment for ZTE violating a 2016 Obama era agreement which forbid the sale of goods to five major embargoed countries — Iran, Sudan, North Korea, Syria and Cuba.  ZTE admitted its guilt and the U.S slapped them with sanctions.  China is upset because this could seriously impede the very survival of the company because all phones produced, even in China, need U.S. software to function.

Trump, despite being warned by U.S Intelligence officials and cyberwarfare experts, has taken it upon himself to work with Chinese President Xi Jinping to keep ZTE Corp. in business.   Why President Trump would put our national and worldwide security at such a risk remains a mystery.  Perhaps it’s his desire to capture some more headlines by demonstrating his skills as a great negotiator by using this as leverage in getting other concessions from China.

But then again maybe it’s just another example of his “shoot from the hip” decision paradigm lacking in a deep understanding of the consequences of such a move, as is so often the case.

If left alone ZTE would probably die a peaceful death due to the U.S. sanctions and remove one major source of cyberwarfare worldwide.  However, President Trump is determined not to let that happen.

Spineless legislators cry foul

I’m sure most folks are aware of the old proverb, “You reap what you sow.”   Apparently our esteemed legislators in the state House of Representatives need a refresher course on its full meaning.  When given many opportunities in special sessions to deal with the ludicrous tax break incentives offered to industries and corporations in this state, coupled with an inadequate individual income tax system, they chose to do nothing.

Republican House representatives further choose to continue to absolve themselves of all fiscal responsibility by producing a budget during this session that they admit is seriously flawed, but passed anyway.  Their cry was “Let the Senate fix it.”  The only problem is the budget is so flawed it can’t be fixed by the Senate.

  

The House passed budget plan would nearly defund the state's safety-net hospitals; a move that the Louisiana Department of Health predicts would shutter hospitals in New Orleans, Shreveport, Monroe, Lafayette and Bogalusa.

The budget only funds 80 percent of the money needed for the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, which would lead to cuts to scholarships for college students.  It would also drastically reduce funding for medical education programs in the state, potentially leaving Louisiana with no functioning medical schools. Additionally, it would eliminate funding for thousands of nursing home residents.

As a defense for passing such a ludicrous budget House Republican Caucus Chair, Lance Harris, of Alexandria, stated, "This is what a responsible budget looks like – dealing with the actual figures, the actual money that's available to the state today. The state cannot spend money that it doesn't have." Certainly no one can argue against this statement, but what Rep. Harris conveniently omits is the fact that House GOPs had three special session opportunities to develop a plan to generate more revenue without putting these consequences on the backs of individual tax payers.  They lacked the spines to do it.  Instead, they once again allowed the LABI, headed by the former chief of staff for Bobby Jindal, Stephen Waguespack, and other powerful corporation lobbyists to call the shots in the legislature.  Yes, Jindal’s influence lives on in many of our illustrious legislative proceedings.

Ironically, now our esteemed Baton Rouge leaders are upset with Governor Edwards over the budget because he has shown the public the real world impact their budget would have.  Letters have gone out to the elderly and disabled telling them to be prepared for loss of their state funded care.

House GOPs can’t stand this move because it created the worst case scenario for them, a negative ground swell from their constituents. If there’s one thing a Louisiana representative hates, it’s to hear from those they represent. Over the years I have written many times to our representatives and only received an acknowledgement of my correspondence from four individuals, one being our present governor.  Joyfully, their offices are now flooded with constituents’ feedback about their ludicrous budget and they literally can’t stand the heat.

House Republicans “Reaped what they sowed.”  This couldn’t happen to a more deserving group of individuals.