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The price we pay: Tom Price’s untruths

If you still trust the folks in the administration, I have some land I can sell you at a great price.

 

Claim: Price did nothing that policy didn’t allow.

Fact: Federal Travel Regulations say that officials can use a charter flight if “no scheduled commercial airline service is reasonably available (i.e., able to meet your departure and/or arrival requirements within a 24-hour period, unless you demonstrate that extraordinary circumstances require a shorter period) to fulfill your agency’s travel requirement.”

Truth: Price could have quite easily and much more cheaply used commercial airlines, as his predecessors did.

 

Claim: Price was on official business.

Fact: He was mixing business with pleasure. At least two flights were to places where he owns a home (how many does he have?)

Truth: Bad judgment at minimum, especially when he was flying in several days before any official event.

 

Claim: He’s paying it back.

Fact: According to Politico, the total cost of flying Price and his support staff and others was more than $400,000.

Truth: Price has said that “Today, I will write a personal check to the US Treasury for the expenses of my travel on private charter planes. The taxpayers won’t pay a dime for my seat on those planes.” Yes, he is paying the price of one person traveling ($51,887.31) a sum not even close to the total cost.

 

What a scam.

 

Sources

NPR | Price to pay for portion of charter flight costs

NY Times | Spokeswoman Cites ‘Demanding Schedule’ for Health Secretary’s Use of Private Jets

Politico | Price’s private-jet travels included visits with colleagues, lunch with son

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It’s time we reclaim our common ground

We are responsible for making our political system more functional

Our physical world has two poles (north and south) that are bitter and cold. The vast majority of humanity lives much closer to the equator, in a much more productive climate.

Our political world feels very similar. The current system is set up to force us away from our common, productive ground and into hostile extremes.  We won’t survive such a move and need to do all we can to regain our common ground.

It is up to us, the people, to:

  • Reach out to others who may not share our POV
  • Focus on listening to them with compassion, not judgment (I’ll admit, this one challenges me at times)
  • Have conversations grounded in verifiable facts (If you can’t agree on what is true, either work together to uncover the facts or move on)
  • Admit when you don’t know something, or are wrong
  • Politely agree to disagree when necessary.
  • Don’t focus on changing someone’s view. Enhanced understanding is a valuable outcome
  • Hold politicians from BOTH parties to the same standards. What is un/acceptable for one party should be un/acceptable for all

A broad variety of perspectives in our nation should be our greatest strength, not our most easily exploited weakness.

Reclaiming our common ground won’t be easy, but it is very necessary.

Not sure where to start?

I’ll be posting a variety of views that are honest and heartfelt, not confrontational and angry.

For today, check out the CNN segment Trump gives America’s ‘poorest white town’ hope.

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How and why to say NO to Stephen Bannon’s latest power grab

Should we be alarmed by the appointment of Stephen Bannon (Trump’s chief strategist) to a membership role in the National Security Council (NSC) Principal Committee?

Heck yes! Please call The Senate Committee on Homeland Security at 202-224-4751 (It’s an answering machine. Leave your name, number and a brief message) or email them (https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/contact) to register your position.

I used some of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s message and tweaked it a bit.

“I very strongly believe that the demotion of key members of the NSC Participial Committee and the inclusion of an individual whose primary responsibility is political in nature is highly detrimental to the strength of our great nation. I am also very concerned about the individual’s role in crafting the executive order behind these changes. Partisan politics have no place in our national security.”

Not convinced? Keep reading.

What is the NSC?

This is how the Trump administration defines the NSC and their role. (you will have to cut and paste the link https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/nsc, as my direct link was mysteriously severed). 

Ah, let’s go back to the archived Obama Administration site. There we see: (bolding and italics mine)

  • “The National Security Council (NSC) is the President’s principal forum for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and cabinet officials.”
  • “Since its inception under President Truman, the Council’s function has been to advise and assist the President on national security and foreign policies.”
  • “The Council also serves as the President’s principal arm for coordinating these policies among various government agencies. The Chief of Staff to the President, Counsel to the President, and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy are invited to attend any NSC meeting.”

As with most Trump moves that have garnered opposition, the objections are two-fold.

The more readily grasped objections are that Bannon has little relevant experience and is a not seen to be a very good person overall.

But the objections aren’t just specific to Bannon. Someone, perhaps Bannon,  also included in the EO the demotion of several of the most influential members of the committee, giving Bannon even more influence. More specifically the OE “someone” crafted:

  • Removed two key members, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence, and said that they would be invited “issues pertaining to their responsibilities and expertise are to be discussed.” (which should be pretty much every time, but is now at the White House’s discretion)
    • The Director of National Intelligence is responsible for starting off discussions with an intelligence briefing, but Trump has made it clear how little he values intelligence
    • The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff used to be a key adviser to the president and others on the military consequences
  • Diminished the role of the national Security Advisor, who would normally be the one to work with the President on NSC matters.

This is not OK

 

Thanks for moving forward with me

Sources

https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/nsc

 obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/eop/nsc/.

msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/bannons-white-house-role-draws-sharp-criticisms-reason

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-danger-of-steve-bannon-on-the-national-security-council/2017

cnn.com/2017/01/29/politics/susan-rice-steve-bannon/

www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/the-trump-national-security-council-an-analysis/514910/

nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/02/trump-not-fully-briefed-on-bannon-nsc-order-report

www.npr.org/2011/05/31/136829586/what-does-the-chairman-of-the-joint-chiefs-of-staff-do

nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/02/trump-not-fully-briefed-on-bannon-nsc-order-report.html

 

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Appalled by the immigration ban?

There are many things that you can do

Day 8 of the PT regime and I continue to be astounded by the lack of respect they have for the United States and what makes us great.

PT has been forced to back off slightly, but he has demonstrated time and time again that he is a sore and vindictive loser. We must make it clear that his actions are unacceptable.

If you can, please:

Support organizations that are speaking up

Demand that congressional leaders will live up to their constitutional and moral responsibilities

Both Ryan and McConnell were strongly opposed to Muslim bans not too long ago, but seem to have misplaced their convictions.

Email Paul Ryan (In my note to him, I referenced his words of August 1, 2016 “America’s greatness is built on the principles of liberty and preserved by the men and women who wear the uniform to defend it. As I have said on numerous occasions, a religious test for entering our country is not reflective of these fundamental values. I reject it. Many Muslim Americans have served valiantly in our military, and made the ultimate sacrifice. Captain Khan was one such brave example. His sacrifice—and that of Khizr and Ghazala Khan—should always be honored. Period.”)

Email Mich McConnell (McConnell has stated that “I Don’t Want to Criticize Them for Improving Vetting.” This recent act by the Trump regime isn’t rooted in improving vetting and he knows this.) I cant provide the direct link to McConnell as they have Blacked direct access (https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contactform)

Want to read more about what should happen going forward?

Some Top Republicans in Congress Criticize Trump’s Refugee Policy

A Clarifying Moment in American History

Read the full executive order text

Looking for more ways to help?

Please check out my list of causes to support

 

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Email VP Mike Pence about the immigration ban

Oh wait, you can’t.

Not too long ago, Gov. Mike Pence expressed fairly rational views regarding Muslims and immigration.

I wanted to reach out to him via email to ask why this suddenly became unoffensive and in accordance with our Constitution, but I couldn’t …

On whitehouse.gov, the links on his page for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube all work.  But if you click on his email link, you just get a “page unavailable” error.

Same for Trump.

 

 

 

 

 

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The Women’s March. Moving forward in backward times.

A step in the right direction

I was one of millions worldwide that attended a Women’s March yesterday.  It was very energizing and uplifting to be surround by so many people speaking out about our backward-thinking administration.

Going forward:

I plan to continue wearing my pink pussyhat. The hat symbolizes strength and unity. By wearing it often I hope to remind myself and others that the march was just the first of many steps needed to help and heal our nation.

The Women’s March organizers have put together a user-friendly list of  10 actions we can take over for the next 100 days.  Step 1 is writing a personal note to your Senators to let them know what matters most to you.

Women’s March Next Steps. Check it out and keep up the momentum.