Here is a list of Politics Blogs ordered by Last Post Date, posted by members. A Blog is a journal you may enter about your life, thoughts, interesting experiences, or lessons you've learned. Post an opinion, impart words of wisdom, or talk about something interesting in your day. Update your blog on a regular basis, or just whenever you have something to say. Creating a blog is a good way to share something of yourself with others. Reading blogs is a good way to learn more about others. Click here to post a blog.
TEFLON DON: Trump's Approval Ratings Soar Despite Russia Meeting
According to a brand new Rasmussen poll, President Trump’s approval numbers have now climbed back to 46%, near the highest of his presidency. And all the other polls have now reflected the bump: the NBC/WSJ poll over the weekend shows Trump at an all-time high of 45%. That poll also showed that just 53% of Republicans approved of Trump’s behavior at his meeting with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in Helsinki — but that didn’t matter much to their overall approval of him, which is nearly universal (88%).
What’s bolstering Trump’s high approval rating? The NBC/WSJ poll suggests that Trump’s economic record is his biggest asset: 50% of Americans like the way he’s handling the economy. 51% dislike the way he has handled Putin overall, 58% disapprove of his immigration policy, and 53% disapprove of his tariff policy.
But there’s something else that has happened, too: Trump’s approval rating has been remarkably stable since long before he was president. He began his presidency at nearly the same number he now occupies; during the election cycle, he hovered in the low-40s as well. News coverage simply doesn’t touch Trump, because everything is baked in. There’s nobody in America who doesn’t have a personal opinion or take on Trump. He’s become the political equivalent of the Super Bowl: the thing everybody watches and talks about.
And that means that new information doesn’t change the math.
What does change, however, is the impact Trump has on Congressional elections. Republicans aren’t nearly as priced-in as Trump. That means that when Trump does something unpopular, Congressional Republicans bear the brunt in the polls. So, for example, at the beginning of June, before the latest round of hubbub, Democrats led Republicans in the generic ballot by 3 points; now that number is 7.4%, according to RealClearPolitics.
That’s actually not unique to Trump. President Obama retained high approval ratings throughout his time in office, because everyone had an opinion about him. But his actions reflected far more on his Congressional Democrats than on Obama himself, which is why Democrats experienced heavy losses across the country. All of which suggests that some caution is in order before Republicans declare victory thanks to Trump’s solid approval ratings: the variability in our national polls no longer seems to apply to presidential approval ratings nearly as much as to Congressional approval ratings. That’s because we’ve now used the presidency as a proxy for all of our partisanship, and we seem to reserve our more nuanced political judgment for Congressional races, where the stakes of going out to vote are lower and seemingly less fraught.
What’s bolstering Trump’s high approval rating? The NBC/WSJ poll suggests that Trump’s economic record is his biggest asset: 50% of Americans like the way he’s handling the economy. 51% dislike the way he has handled Putin overall, 58% disapprove of his immigration policy, and 53% disapprove of his tariff policy.
But there’s something else that has happened, too: Trump’s approval rating has been remarkably stable since long before he was president. He began his presidency at nearly the same number he now occupies; during the election cycle, he hovered in the low-40s as well. News coverage simply doesn’t touch Trump, because everything is baked in. There’s nobody in America who doesn’t have a personal opinion or take on Trump. He’s become the political equivalent of the Super Bowl: the thing everybody watches and talks about.
And that means that new information doesn’t change the math.
What does change, however, is the impact Trump has on Congressional elections. Republicans aren’t nearly as priced-in as Trump. That means that when Trump does something unpopular, Congressional Republicans bear the brunt in the polls. So, for example, at the beginning of June, before the latest round of hubbub, Democrats led Republicans in the generic ballot by 3 points; now that number is 7.4%, according to RealClearPolitics.
That’s actually not unique to Trump. President Obama retained high approval ratings throughout his time in office, because everyone had an opinion about him. But his actions reflected far more on his Congressional Democrats than on Obama himself, which is why Democrats experienced heavy losses across the country. All of which suggests that some caution is in order before Republicans declare victory thanks to Trump’s solid approval ratings: the variability in our national polls no longer seems to apply to presidential approval ratings nearly as much as to Congressional approval ratings. That’s because we’ve now used the presidency as a proxy for all of our partisanship, and we seem to reserve our more nuanced political judgment for Congressional races, where the stakes of going out to vote are lower and seemingly less fraught.
Democrat calls for death of Republican's family. Now the typical norm for Democrats
An Illinois state Democratic lawmaker is facing increasing pressure to resign after she called for the deaths of a Republican lawmaker's family during a floor speech this week.
Democrat Rep. Stephanie Kifowit said she wanted to pump a "broth of Legionella" into Republican Rep. Peter Breen's water system so his wife and children would "be infected" and "ultimately die."
"I would like to make him a broth of Legionella and pump it into the water system of his loved ones so that they can be infected, they can be mistreated, they can sit and suffer by getting aspirin instead of being properly treated and ultimately die," Kifowit said in a fit of rage.
Kifowit's horrifying remark "came just before the Illinois House voted 71-36 to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s amendatory veto of a bill to increase the cap the state pays in civil litigation cases from $100,000 to $2 million," The Chicago Sun-Times reported.
A few minutes after Kifowit's shocking statement, Republican Rep. Jeanne Ives came to Breen’s defense on the legislative floor.
"How dare you concoct up some sort of story about brewing up some batch of Legionella and having him feed it to his family," Ives fired back. "How dare you take the discussion and the debate about a very serious bill that has a huge cost consequence on both sides, both for the victim and the state taxpayers. How dare you take an honest debate about an issue and then wish death on my colleague Peter Breen, his wife and his two adopted kids."
Kifowit's horrifying remark "came just before the Illinois House voted 71-36 to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s amendatory veto of a bill to increase the cap the state pays in civil litigation cases from $100,000 to $2 million," The Chicago Sun-Times reported.
A few minutes after Kifowit's shocking statement, Republican Rep. Jeanne Ives came to Breen’s defense on the legislative floor.
"How dare you concoct up some sort of story about brewing up some batch of Legionella and having him feed it to his family," Ives fired back. "How dare you take the discussion and the debate about a very serious bill that has a huge cost consequence on both sides, both for the victim and the state taxpayers. How dare you take an honest debate about an issue and then wish death on my colleague Peter Breen, his wife and his two adopted kids."
Watch:
Democrat Rep. Stephanie Kifowit said she wanted to pump a "broth of Legionella" into Republican Rep. Peter Breen's water system so his wife and children would "be infected" and "ultimately die."
"I would like to make him a broth of Legionella and pump it into the water system of his loved ones so that they can be infected, they can be mistreated, they can sit and suffer by getting aspirin instead of being properly treated and ultimately die," Kifowit said in a fit of rage.
Kifowit's horrifying remark "came just before the Illinois House voted 71-36 to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s amendatory veto of a bill to increase the cap the state pays in civil litigation cases from $100,000 to $2 million," The Chicago Sun-Times reported.
A few minutes after Kifowit's shocking statement, Republican Rep. Jeanne Ives came to Breen’s defense on the legislative floor.
"How dare you concoct up some sort of story about brewing up some batch of Legionella and having him feed it to his family," Ives fired back. "How dare you take the discussion and the debate about a very serious bill that has a huge cost consequence on both sides, both for the victim and the state taxpayers. How dare you take an honest debate about an issue and then wish death on my colleague Peter Breen, his wife and his two adopted kids."
Kifowit's horrifying remark "came just before the Illinois House voted 71-36 to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s amendatory veto of a bill to increase the cap the state pays in civil litigation cases from $100,000 to $2 million," The Chicago Sun-Times reported.
A few minutes after Kifowit's shocking statement, Republican Rep. Jeanne Ives came to Breen’s defense on the legislative floor.
"How dare you concoct up some sort of story about brewing up some batch of Legionella and having him feed it to his family," Ives fired back. "How dare you take the discussion and the debate about a very serious bill that has a huge cost consequence on both sides, both for the victim and the state taxpayers. How dare you take an honest debate about an issue and then wish death on my colleague Peter Breen, his wife and his two adopted kids."
Watch:
Trump's shutdown trap?
Has President Trump suckered Democrats and the Deep State into a trap that will enable a radical downsizing of the federal bureaucracy? In only 5 more days of the already-“longest government shutdown in history” (25 days and counting, as of today), a heretofore obscure threshold will be reached, enabling permanent layoffs of bureaucrats furloughed 30 days or more.
Don’t believe me that federal bureaucrats can be laid off? Well, in bureaucratese, a layoff is called a RIF – a Reduction in Force, and of course, it comes with a slew of civil service protections. But, if the guidelines are followed, bureaucrats can be laid off -- as in no more job. It is all explained by Michael Roberts here (updated after the beginning of the partial shutdown):
Stays - Agencies - Factors - Account
In deciding who stays and who goes, federal agencies must take four factors into account:
Agencies cannot use RIF procedures to fire bad employees.
Lot - Procedures - Merit - Performance - Consideration
A lot of procedures must be followed, and merit (“performance”) is the last consideration, but based on the criteria above, employees already furloughed can be laid off (“RIFed”) once they have been furloughed for 30 days or 22 work days):
When agencies furlough employees for more than 30 calendar days or 22 discontinuous work days, they must use RIF procedures.
Employee - Position…
An employee can be terminated or moved into an available position….
This seems to be what was referenced in this remarkable essay written by an “unidentified senior Trump official” published in the Daily Caller, which vouches for the authenticity of the author, and explains that it is protecting him or her from adverse career consequences should the name become known. I strongly recommend reading the whole thing.
Official - Case - Devotion - Process - Time
The purported senior official makes the case that devotion to “process” eats up most of the time of federal bureaucrats and is also used by enemies of President Trump’s...
Don’t believe me that federal bureaucrats can be laid off? Well, in bureaucratese, a layoff is called a RIF – a Reduction in Force, and of course, it comes with a slew of civil service protections. But, if the guidelines are followed, bureaucrats can be laid off -- as in no more job. It is all explained by Michael Roberts here (updated after the beginning of the partial shutdown):
Stays - Agencies - Factors - Account
In deciding who stays and who goes, federal agencies must take four factors into account:
Agencies cannot use RIF procedures to fire bad employees.
Lot - Procedures - Merit - Performance - Consideration
A lot of procedures must be followed, and merit (“performance”) is the last consideration, but based on the criteria above, employees already furloughed can be laid off (“RIFed”) once they have been furloughed for 30 days or 22 work days):
When agencies furlough employees for more than 30 calendar days or 22 discontinuous work days, they must use RIF procedures.
Employee - Position…
An employee can be terminated or moved into an available position….
This seems to be what was referenced in this remarkable essay written by an “unidentified senior Trump official” published in the Daily Caller, which vouches for the authenticity of the author, and explains that it is protecting him or her from adverse career consequences should the name become known. I strongly recommend reading the whole thing.
Official - Case - Devotion - Process - Time
The purported senior official makes the case that devotion to “process” eats up most of the time of federal bureaucrats and is also used by enemies of President Trump’s...
How Did Our Muslim Leaders Mysteriously Vanish? - The CIA Has The Answer!
How Did Our Muslim Leaders Mysteriously Vanish? - The CIA Has The Answer!
Report: First Border Poll Of 2019 Shows The Trap-Door Just Dropped Out Under Democrats
Chuck and Nancy thought the media would cover for them – but Trump is pulling the lever on them.
Democrats like Schumer and Pelosi are putting up a nasty fight over the border wall. Why?
They might claim Americans want them to. It seems they believe most of us want outsiders flooding out border.
Liberals claim only Trump’s “deplorables” really want the wall.
But a new poll proves them utterly wrong.
From Washington Times:
A new poll reveals that very few Americans say that illegal immigration is not a problem.
A wide-ranging Economist/YouGov survey gauged the level of concern Americans have on the issue to find that only 7 percent of the overall public say illegal immigration is “not a problem”; 2 percent of Republicans, 7 percent of independents and even 12 percent of Democrats agree with the statement.
Democrats like Schumer and Pelosi are putting up a nasty fight over the border wall. Why?
They might claim Americans want them to. It seems they believe most of us want outsiders flooding out border.
Liberals claim only Trump’s “deplorables” really want the wall.
But a new poll proves them utterly wrong.
From Washington Times:
A new poll reveals that very few Americans say that illegal immigration is not a problem.
A wide-ranging Economist/YouGov survey gauged the level of concern Americans have on the issue to find that only 7 percent of the overall public say illegal immigration is “not a problem”; 2 percent of Republicans, 7 percent of independents and even 12 percent of Democrats agree with the statement.
Democratic Agenda for America 2019
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Canadian GoFundMe Raises $6B In Two Hours To Pay For Privacy Hedge Along Entire US Border
"In a stunning rebuke of the 46th best president in American history, the United States’ northern neighbour shattered numerous crowdsourcing records today, when it raised billions and billions and billions of dollars to plant and maintain a living barrier between themselves and the adjacent idiocracy.
“We’d heard that a bunch of people down in the You-Ess-of-Eh had decided to empty their wallets out for a wall that won’t block anything other than half of all escape routes, when their dirty bomb of a president melts through his retaining barrier,” explains the man who started the campaign, Tom Candy, of Fewmarket, Ontario.
“So naturally our first thought was: how can we best deal with this shitshow as it unfolds directly beside us, and add a little ever-greenery to a world which, it has to be said, is looking a little bleak right now? The answer was, of course, legalizing marijuana. But with that already having been done, our next thought was: let’s plant a privacy hedge.”
The campaign started with the modest goal of raising $250,000, which was estimated to be enough to pay for an ad on Fox & Friends asking Americans to help Canada secure its border against the dreaded MAGA-16 gang.
“But when we achieved that ambition in less than one hot minute (Celsius), we realized we needed to expand our operations from trolling the dredges to bankrolling the hedges,” Candy says, as he directs another tractor trailer into a vast warehouse he has stocked with young yew saplings, waiting to take their positions along the formerly longest undefended border in the universe.
“And in under two hours we collected $6 billion Canadian. Which is extraordinary, really, given the time of year, and current cost of hockey tickets.”
In an interesting side-bar, one that some have taken to indicate that the stresses of modern populism have already migrated north, a number of spin-off campaigns have begun, calling for privacy hedges between many of Canada’s own provinces.
“We’re seeing funds started on both sides of the Rockies, so it looks like B.C. and Alberta are going to work together to block each other out,” says living barrier expert, Mick Terser. “And Quebec has raised over $10 million for their ‘haie de la vie privée’, to get something between themselves and the increasingly desperate Ontarians, as they try to escape Doug Ford’s term as Revengier. Heck, even Newfoundland has started a petition to rename the Gulf of St. Lawrence the ‘Aqua Hedge’. So yes, it’s a very fractious year everywhere you look.”
News of the cross-country shrubbery came as a surprise to many Americans, who were pretty sure they’d heard that the Canadians had already planted one of those two years ago, in the days following the U.S. decision to elect a discarded traffic pylon – found in a ditch on the road to nowhere – as their leader.
“No,” corrects Candy. “That was a joke. This time we’re serious.”"
Pick One....
Jews can't keep secrets:
Chris-'teen' Blassey Ford reeled in almost $700,000 on her GoFukMe fund. Meanwhile her pro bono legal team will not pursue further allegations against Kavanaugh. Wonder what the DNC paid her and how much (F)Einstein got paid?
"the show is over. I got mine."
A Jewish history lesson:
"I'm done with lying. I'm done being loyal. And one of the hopes that I have out of the punishment that I've received, as well as the cooperation that I have given, I will be remembered in history as helping to bring this country back together."
He lied for our sins....and gave us back our faith. Sound familiar?
Michael Cohen (circa 2018 for Christ's sake)
The Bums Rush:
Could Judge Sullivan declare Michael Flynn not guilty due to improper procedures by FBI, DOJ?
Does that make Flynn's testimony inadmissible in the Mullet probe? Comey admitted he broke protocols with sending Stzrok and the other guy in. (Wonder who the other guy was....?) Wonder if Comey knows since he's having problems with his memory.
We now know it's probably going to be 90 days before Mullet is finished.
Four Dead in Oh Hi Oh:
A lawsuit dating back to 2014 for Clinton's Benghazi-related emails is being reexamined.
"At best, State's efforts to pass off its deficient search as legally adequate during settlement negotiations was negligence born out of incompetence," Judge Lamberth wrote. "At worst, career employees at the State and Justice Departments colluded to scuttle public scrutiny of Clinton, skirt FOIA, and hoodwink this court."
Judge Lamberth calls hrc email,
"one of the gravest modern offenses to government transparency."
I think it's time to pull her Secret Service....she wouldn't last a week.
And last but not least, let's take 'Famous last words' for $200 in the 'Fairytales' category...and this is for the win audience....
What visiting professor from Princeton was heard to say..
"Have a nice impeachment" to his 2 liberal followers on CS?
All things considered I'm very disappointed with the Republican party for failing to get answers to the Deep States cover ups. It won't get done now with the Resistance taking over in January. BUT, if you have time, watch this video. I'm trying to check it for accuracy and I haven't seen it on any networks.(certainly not Hillary's stations).
As ever was,
Drcocktail
Chris-'teen' Blassey Ford reeled in almost $700,000 on her GoFukMe fund. Meanwhile her pro bono legal team will not pursue further allegations against Kavanaugh. Wonder what the DNC paid her and how much (F)Einstein got paid?
"the show is over. I got mine."
A Jewish history lesson:
"I'm done with lying. I'm done being loyal. And one of the hopes that I have out of the punishment that I've received, as well as the cooperation that I have given, I will be remembered in history as helping to bring this country back together."
He lied for our sins....and gave us back our faith. Sound familiar?
Michael Cohen (circa 2018 for Christ's sake)
The Bums Rush:
Could Judge Sullivan declare Michael Flynn not guilty due to improper procedures by FBI, DOJ?
Does that make Flynn's testimony inadmissible in the Mullet probe? Comey admitted he broke protocols with sending Stzrok and the other guy in. (Wonder who the other guy was....?) Wonder if Comey knows since he's having problems with his memory.
We now know it's probably going to be 90 days before Mullet is finished.
Four Dead in Oh Hi Oh:
A lawsuit dating back to 2014 for Clinton's Benghazi-related emails is being reexamined.
"At best, State's efforts to pass off its deficient search as legally adequate during settlement negotiations was negligence born out of incompetence," Judge Lamberth wrote. "At worst, career employees at the State and Justice Departments colluded to scuttle public scrutiny of Clinton, skirt FOIA, and hoodwink this court."
Judge Lamberth calls hrc email,
"one of the gravest modern offenses to government transparency."
I think it's time to pull her Secret Service....she wouldn't last a week.
And last but not least, let's take 'Famous last words' for $200 in the 'Fairytales' category...and this is for the win audience....
What visiting professor from Princeton was heard to say..
"Have a nice impeachment" to his 2 liberal followers on CS?
All things considered I'm very disappointed with the Republican party for failing to get answers to the Deep States cover ups. It won't get done now with the Resistance taking over in January. BUT, if you have time, watch this video. I'm trying to check it for accuracy and I haven't seen it on any networks.(certainly not Hillary's stations).
As ever was,
Drcocktail
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