It's the end of the first month of
2019, and time to begin The Events, afresh. For new visitors, this
is a monthly catalog of decisions and declarations of the Trump
administration, its allies, and former employees.
The most obvious event of January was
the 35 day partial government shutdown (start date December 22,
2918), which began under complete
Republican control, and ended with a continuing resolution on
January
25th 2019. This catastrophe of mismanagement
furloughed nearly 400,000 workers, with another 400,000 compelled to
work without pay. Federal workers missed two paychecks.
Other highlights of the Shutdown:
Trump, attempting to display the
pretense of an operating government, tried to keep non-essential
services operating. While Obama closed the National Parks during the
2013 shutdown, and was hysterically criticized
by Republicans for his choice, President Trump demonstrated why these
natural monuments need to be closed when there are no employees, as
trash overflowed and trees
were vandalized. When the wealthy worried tax returns would be
delayed, Trump ordered, (excuse me, “gave permission”) 36,000
IRS employees to return to unpaid work, in a legally dubious
attempt to facilitate tax returns. They
wouldn't go.
Throughout the escalating national
emergency, the President declared his willingness to declare a faux
National
Emergency to redirect funding already allocated by Congress to
his border wall. When Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi informed
Trump he would have to delay his speech about State of the Union
until after the shutdown ended, he asked the major news networks for
time to deliver a National
Address about the border. Rebuttal.
Rebuttal.
The spectacle ended when the President
signed
a short term deal. The same legislation which the Republican
controlled Senate had passed in December, but which they had refused
to pass in January under threat of Trump. The same bill which the
Democratic controlled House passed immediately at the beginning of
January.
The absurd performance also included a
number of mind-bending gaffes and lies:
Under pressure, and looking for
bipartisan support, the President claimed
that at least one living President was in support of the wall.
Unsurprisingly he never apologized when Presidents Carter, Clinton,
Bush, and Obama denied this statement. Maybe he was talking about
himself.
Further gaffes, about the plight of
federal works, were so farcical, one must assume the Trump
Administration deployed them in order to have everyone laughing about
the shutdown:
“So then they have the vacation, but
they don’t have to use their vacation days. And then they come
back, and they get their back pay.
Then in some sense, they’re
better off.”
“The obligations that they would
undertake say borrowing from the bank or credit union are in effect
federally guaranteed. So the 30 days of pay which some people will
be out ― there’s no real reason why they
shouldn’t be able to get a loan against it.”
“I can relate. And I’m sure that
the people that are toward the receiving end will make adjustments,
they always do. And they’ll make adjustments. People
understand exactly what’s going on.”
“Remember this: They are eventually
going to be paid. Put it in perspective: You’re talking about
800,000 workers, and while I feel sorry for individuals who have
hardship cases, 800,000 workers if they never got their pay ― which
is not the case they will eventually get it ― but if they never got
it, you’re talking about a third of a percent on our GDP. So
it’s not like it’s a gigantic number overall.”
“Local people know who they are, when
they go for groceries and everything else. And
I think what Wilbur was probably trying to say is that they will work
along.”
The shutdown is over, but we could
return to the same position in a week, if the President won't
relinquish his demand for a wall.
In foreign policy, the White House
laid out conflicting policies about a withdrawal from Syria. The
President said the removal would be immediate and swift, but Cabinet
members, like Bolton and Pompeo kept tacking conditions onto the
potential withdrawal: The defeat of ISIS, no Iranian boots in Syria,
etc. Lashing out at reports he was abandoning American allies, the
President threatened
doom and destruction on Turkey, if they menaced the Kurds, we
were deserting.
Reports also indicate the President has
ordered plans to be drawn up for military actions against Iran,
Venezuela, and considering withdrawing from NATO. And he recognized
the self-proclaimed
President of Venezuela.
Meanwhile, massive turnover at the
White House means three Cabinet level positions needed filling. The
President's picks for the EPA
and Interior
were both former lobbyists, for the coal and oil industries
respectively. Also, former Attorney
General, William
Barr received a nomination for another round at his prior
position. All three saw contentious Senate hearings, because of
possible conflicts and corruption.
Finally, the Russia investigation
continued to generate news. Manafort's transparent
redacted filing, over his court battle with Special Counsel
Mueller, revealed he was meeting regularly during the campaign with a
Russian suspected of being a spy, and gave him (among other things),
campaign
polls. Another report, by Buzzfeed,
claimed the President had asked Michael Cohen to lie to the Senate
about Trump Tower Russia, and while Mueller issued a notable,
terse repudiation of the story, Buzzfeed said they stood by their
statement.
Then the New York Times revealed that
the FBI
had opened a probe into Trump's connections to Russia after he had
fired Comey and told the Russian ambassador in the Oval
Office, “I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a
real nut job. I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s
taken off.”
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported
on Trump's success in preventing even his closest advisers from
learning what he said to Putin
in Helsinki. He has destroyed all notes relevant to the meeting.
Giuliani went on TV and said, “I
never said there was no collusion between the campaign, or between
people in the campaign [with Russia]”.
At the end of the month, Trump ally and
confidant, Roger
Stone was arrested and indicted by the Special Counsel for crimes
related to working with Wikileaks, Russia, and the Trump campaign to
effect the outcome of the election.
The whole month was tainted with the
usual smell of corruption. Ivanka
received more patents in China, Trump
sold roughly thirty-five million dollars in real estate which
required approval by the Department of Housing and Urban Development,
and T-Mobile
executives, seeking Trump's approval for a merger, booked at
least 52 nights at Trump's hotel in Washington.
Also:
and
An inside look at a Team
of Vipers.
If you want to read the events
themselves, follow the link.
See you next month.
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