The Trump Presidency: Part 21

[The Atheist]

"His" meaning George, or Trump? Makes a difference!

Trump's arse, of course.

 

[SezMe]

There was a lot of misinformation about the virus coming from China and the WHO Trump.

Edited for the sake of correctness.

Our economy will bounce back as Globalism has finally been revealed for what it is, a shortage of vital interests.

I have no idea what you're saying with this sentence. Please restate in clearer terms.

I expect to see many major startups and many products that were made elsewhere before will be made in the USA again after all is said and done.

Why? The economics of cheap foreign labor will not change because of the pandemic. Trends in robotics and AI will play a larger role in manufacturing and, increasingly, in services than any transient pandemic effects.

How will you know when "all is said and done". Covid-19 infections and deaths are now a fact of life and are likely to remain so for a long time.

 

[Fast Eddie B]

It’s being reported Trump is weighing the option of suspending Congress under some sort of emergency authority.

Hate to know how to process that. Game show host just thriving on controversy or something he’s really considering.

Edited to add: Rachel Maddow’s chyron now showing 32,000 US deaths.

 

[SezMe]

Not a skirt, but still...

https://www.google.com/search?q=tru...ECAsQAw&biw=1920&bih=966#imgrc=ehxW3kyOvdrclM

Now I'll have horrible nightmares all night long. Thanks.

 

[Stacyhs]

It’s being reported Trump is weighing the option of suspending Congress under some sort of emergency authority.

Hate to know how to process that. Game show host just thriving on controversy or something he’s really considering.

It's being reported by whom?

IF true, I don't think even Trump could get away with suspending Congress.
But, I do hope he tries. It would be rather enjoyable watching the GOP Congress turn on Dear Leader.

 

[dmaker]

It occurred to me today while watching the daily press thingy that an interesting comparison would be how many times has Trump said something comforting about the number of deaths and suffering Americans vs how many times he has either boasted about his travel ban or complained about an inherited broken system.

I would bet that one would be a single digit while the other would easily be triple digits.

 

[The Atheist]

It’s being reported Trump is weighing the option of suspending Congress under some sort of emergency authority.

Sounds legit.

Total authority clearly means he can do anything.

Please let that be true - the LULZ on that would be worth the price of admission.

 

[Fast Eddie B]

It's being reported by whom?

Apparently the NY Times. Pushed to me via AppleNews.

 

[DallasDad]

It's being reported by whom?

IF true, I don't think even Trump could get away with suspending Congress.
But, I do hope he tries. It would be rather enjoyable watching the GOP Congress turn on Dear Leader.

Trump himself, at today's briefing; multiple media commentaries about it, too.

A never-used Article I power allows the President to adjourn Congress if the two houses cannot agree on an adjournment date or a resumption date after adjournment. A similar power allows him to convene emergency sessions if Congress happens to be be adjourned during a national emergency.

The problem with the power to force an adjournment is that Congress (both houses) are technically still in session (not recessed), gavelling in and out with the bare minimum of personnel to meet the requirements, and they don't disagree about adjournment/resumption dates. Congress would have to recess without adjournment for Trump to invoke this extraordinary step.

Trump also made clear his reason for threatening to do this: He wants to make recess appointments, which can only happen when Congress is recessed or adjourned for 10 or more days and the appointment is considered necessary.

McConnell has been ensuring that the Senate is not in recess by having pro-forma gavelling in/out every couple of days.

Of note, the question of recess appointments during times when the Senate is only holding pro-forma sessions has already been to SCOTUS and resoundingly rejected. Obama or Bush 43 (don't recall) tried the recess appointment trick when the Senate was holding only pro-forma sessions specifically to prevent being in recess. SCOTUS said the Senate has the sole power to decide how to manage its affairs, and whether the conduct is a pretext or honest is not up to the courts to hear, let alone decide.

At best, this is an attempt at a legal strategy that's already been ruled against by SCOTUS. Even if Trump tried it, McConnell (who is jealous of the Senate's prerogatives, if not sensible about anything else) could simply call the Senate back into session before Trump could make any appointments.

It's grandstanding, nothing more.

 

[SezMe]

So, the “re-open” committee is going to have such metric-savvy people as Ivanka.

A committee full of people who are going to give their proxy vote to President Trump.

Quelle surprise

I did a quick look around to see the composition of this committee but couldn't find anything. Got a link?

 

[BobTheCoward]

Trump himself, at today's briefing; multiple media commentaries about it, too.

A never-used Article I power allows the President to adjourn Congress if the two houses cannot agree on an adjournment date or a resumption date after adjournment. A similar power allows him to convene emergency sessions if Congress happens to be be adjourned during a national emergency.

The problem with the power to force an adjournment is that Congress (both houses) are technically still in session (not recessed), gavelling in and out with the bare minimum of personnel to meet the requirements, and they don't disagree about adjournment/resumption dates. Congress would have to recess without adjournment for Trump to invoke this extraordinary step.

Trump also made clear his reason for threatening to do this: He wants to make recess appointments, which can only happen when Congress is recessed or adjourned for 10 or more days and the appointment is considered necessary.

McConnell has been ensuring that the Senate is not in recess by having pro-forma gavelling in/out every couple of days.

Of note, the question of recess appointments during times when the Senate is only holding pro-forma sessions has already been to SCOTUS and resoundingly rejected. Obama or Bush 43 (don't recall) tried the recess appointment trick when the Senate was holding only pro-forma sessions specifically to prevent being in recess. SCOTUS said the Senate has the sole power to decide how to manage its affairs, and whether the conduct is a pretext or honest is not up to the courts to hear, let alone decide.

At best, this is an attempt at a legal strategy that's already been ruled against by SCOTUS. Even if Trump tried it, McConnell (who is jealous of the Senate's prerogatives, if not sensible about anything else) could simply call the Senate back into session before Trump could make any appointments.

It's grandstanding, nothing more.

Why does McConnell want to have pro forms sessions?

 

[SezMe]

Trump Retweeted

The White House
@WhiteHouse
President @realDonaldTrump is halting funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted to assess WHO's role in mismanaging the Coronavirus outbreak.

Perfect. The people who mismanaged the Coronavirus in the USA are going to review the people who mismanaged the Coronavirus around the world. What could go wrong?

 

[SezMe]

It won't. Even if he loses the election, we're stuck with him until January.

And I'm betting that those months are going to make us nostalgic for the relative calm of March and April.

Yep. Those few months promise to be ball-busters.

 

[Stacyhs]

I did a quick look around to see the composition of this committee but couldn't find anything. Got a link?

See my post #171 page 5. The link is there.

 

[SezMe]

So who got their corona money already? Mine's showing as "pending" for tomorrow as a direct deposit. It just says "IRS" something something, no mention of Trump.

Don't have mine yet. If the processing goes alphabetically, my last name (IRL) begins with an "S" so it might be a week or so.

 

[Stacyhs]

Don't have mine yet. If the processing goes alphabetically, my last name (IRL) begins with an "S" so it might be a week or so.

Mine also begins with "S" and I got mine already.

 

[pgwenthold]

Don't have mine yet. If the processing goes alphabetically, my last name (IRL) begins with an "S" so it might be a week or so.

I looked at the IRS website and it said ours was expected today. I didn't check the bank to see if it showed up.

 

[Stacyhs]

Trump himself, at today's briefing; multiple media commentaries about it, too.

A never-used Article I power allows the President to adjourn Congress if the two houses cannot agree on an adjournment date or a resumption date after adjournment. A similar power allows him to convene emergency sessions if Congress happens to be be adjourned during a national emergency.

The problem with the power to force an adjournment is that Congress (both houses) are technically still in session (not recessed), gavelling in and out with the bare minimum of personnel to meet the requirements, and they don't disagree about adjournment/resumption dates. Congress would have to recess without adjournment for Trump to invoke this extraordinary step.

Trump also made clear his reason for threatening to do this: He wants to make recess appointments, which can only happen when Congress is recessed or adjourned for 10 or more days and the appointment is considered necessary.

McConnell has been ensuring that the Senate is not in recess by having pro-forma gavelling in/out every couple of days.

Of note, the question of recess appointments during times when the Senate is only holding pro-forma sessions has already been to SCOTUS and resoundingly rejected. Obama or Bush 43 (don't recall) tried the recess appointment trick when the Senate was holding only pro-forma sessions specifically to prevent being in recess. SCOTUS said the Senate has the sole power to decide how to manage its affairs, and whether the conduct is a pretext or honest is not up to the courts to hear, let alone decide.

At best, this is an attempt at a legal strategy that's already been ruled against by SCOTUS. Even if Trump tried it, McConnell (who is jealous of the Senate's prerogatives, if not sensible about anything else) could simply call the Senate back into session before Trump could make any appointments.

It's grandstanding, nothing more.

Yep. But he can't do it because:

A McConnell spokesman said Trump and McConnell spoke about the issue on Wednesday: "The Leader pledged to find ways to confirm nominees considered mission-critical to the Covid-19 pandemic, but under Senate rules that will take consent from Leader (Chuck) Schumer." That last point is an important one. McConnell, who is careful with his words, appears to be saying any solution to the confirmation issue will require Democratic consent.

Link

 

[SezMe]

On one level it's not how you filed, but how you had a refund returned to you. I just today mailed in my 2019 return. I also today received that $1,200 as a direct deposit, because for 2018 I mailed in a paper form but had my whopping $5.00 refund done as a direct deposit to that same account.

I'm sure there are other permutations, but regardless of how you filed and if you have or haven't filed 2019 yet, if you received a refund from 2018 as a direct deposit you'll get the $1,200 DD'd to that same account.

I think Social Security recipients who do direct deposit will automatically get their payment in the same manner.

 

[Meadmaker]

When I tried to sign on to see the status of my stimulus payment, I got a message saying they can't determine my eligibility for a refund.

Well ain't that peachy? I filed taxes in 2018 and 2019, although I didn't get a refund either year. I was expecting to have to get to the site and enter my bank information for direct deposit, but I didn't get that far.

I put in my social security number, address, and zip code, and it said they couldn't determine anything.