Trump pulls the plug on transgenders serving in the military

[Pavlov]

Geez, Mikey -- not even one example of horrendous corruption?

You can't be very concerned.

[RandomGuy]

my biggest concern is the horrendous corruption

That Las Vegas Labor Dispute

On top of owning various properties and enterprises, Trump and his company employ roughly 34,000 people, according to an analysis by CNN. On December 21, several hundred of those workers resolved a labor dispute against the president—one in which, had it continued for even a few weeks more, Trump would have had the unprecedented power to make appointments to affect its outcome.

Here’s the situation: In October 2015, several hundred employees, primarily housekeeping staff, at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas voted to join the local branch of the Culinary Workers Union. Trump Ruffin Commercial LLC, which owns the hotel and is itself owned by Trump and the casino magnate Phil Ruffin, contested the vote, first by enlisting an anti-union consulting firm (for whose services it paid $500,000) and then by filing complaints with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Shortly before the election, the NLRB not only rejected Trump and Ruffin’s complaints but also found that, because the pair had refused to negotiate with the nascent union, they had violated federal law and their hotel was operating illegally. Trump and Ruffin have since appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

On December 21, more than a year after the hotel’s workers first voted to join the union, the workers announced that they arrived at their first collectively-bargained contract, achieved, according to an employee quoted in ThinkProgress, despite significant pressure from ownership that attempting to unionize would cost workers their jobs. According to the union, the new agreement “will provide the employees with annual wage increases, a pension, family health care, and job security” comparable to that of other Las Vegas hotels. Moreover, the Culinary Workers Union’s parent organization, UNITE HERE, has reached an agreement to represent workers at Trump’s recently-opened hotel in Washington, D.C..

Although this dispute has been resolved, it is included here because it exemplifies the type of situation in which Trump’s business interests are likely to overlap with his duties as president. Trump will be tasked with appointing members to fill current openings on the NLRB, the very body that ruled against him shortly before the election and will be tasked with resolving any future disputes between the hotel’s owners and its employees. Moreover, as Slate noted, the chief justice of the D.C. Court of Appeals is none other than Merrick Garland, whose nomination to the Supreme Court has spent months languishing in the Republican-controlled Congress and was withdrawn once Trump became president. Finally, if disputes of this nature go beyond the Court of Appeals, the case would go to the Supreme Court, to which Trump will be appointing a justice, which is expected to tip the balance decisively in a more conservative (and likely anti-union) direction. In other words, no matter how far up the chain future disputes of this nature go, Trump’s presidency will give him new power to influence the results.

[RandomGuy]

Geez, Mikey -- not even one example of horrendous corruption?

You can't be very concerned.

He is about as concerned as TSA.

My guess:

As long as the corruption is Republican he is fine with it.

[Chris]

Chris, what is your definition of quintessential?

Why don't you look it up for me Pavy and tell me how i'm wrong - saavy?

[Blake]

Is this the quintessential "we" or did you catch some MPD from comrade Pav?

We can leave it to you and me. We both know you'd suck his if given the opportunity

[Th'Pusher]

Chris, what is your definition of quintessential?

[RandomGuy]

my biggest concern is the horrendous corruption

That Kuwaiti Event

According to an anonymous source and do ents obtained by ThinkProgress, representatives from the Trump Organization pressured the ambassador of Kuwait to hold its embassy’s annual celebration of the country’s independence at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. The event, held annually on February 25, was originally scheduled to take place at the Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown; the location was allegedly changed after members of the Trump Organization contacted the country’s ambassador. ThinkProgress’s source “described the decision as political,” suggesting that the embassy chose to relocate the event in an effort to curry favor with the president. The Kuwaiti ambassador has since disputed the report, telling The Washington Post that he had not been contacted by the Trump Organization and that the move “was solely done with the intention of providing our guests with a new venue.”

If ThinkProgress’s account is correct, Kuwait’s decision represents an escalation of a situation that has been developing since Trump’s election. The Trump International Hotel has been the subject of continual scrutiny for the conflict of interest it poses, in part because its lease explicitly bars elected officials from holding it, but mainly because Trump’s ownership of the hotel will almost definitely result in a violation of the emoluments clause, which prohibits the president from receiving payments from foreign powers—something that will arguably be happening any time a foreign government books a room at the hotel. Already, the hotel has begun advertising itself as a destination for diplomats and dignitaries, and the embassies of Azerbaijan and Bahrain have both scheduled events in the building. However, before the ThinkProgress report, there was no evidence that the Trump Organization had individually reached out to a foreign government in hopes of getting it to relocate an event to the hotel.

[RandomGuy]

my biggest concern is the horrendous corruption

Those Certificates of Dives ure

In addition to the many possibilities for President Trump to pursue his financial interests in office, the unique makeup of his cabinet also creates a new set of financial motivations. While Trump’s own fortune automatically makes his administration the wealthiest in history, he has also surrounded himself with an unprecedented collection of billionaires and multi-millionaires whose investments are likely to also come under scrutiny.

Unlike the president himself, those who are up for Trump’s cabinet, such as his proposed Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, will be legally obligated to divest from any holdings which may pose a conflict of interest. However, as The Washington Post noted, even selling off their holdings offers an opportunity for Trump’s cabinet members to enhance their fortunes. A federal program known as a “certificate of dives ure” allows executive-branch appointees and employees to avoid capital-gains taxes when selling their assets. The program has existed since 1989, and most recently received attention when President George W. Bush appointed Hank Paulson, then the chief executive of Goldman Sachs as his Treasury Secretary in 2006. Paulson was forced to sell off $700 million in shares of the bank; the certificate of dives ure enabled him to avoid a potential $200 million in capital-gains tax liability. According to The Washington Post, the Office of Government Ethics is currently researching whether the president himself would qualify for the tax break; even if he doesn’t, the unprecedented wealth of Trump’s cabinet promises to push this provision, and the financial incentives it creates, to the limit.

[Pavlov]

He is about as concerned as TSA

TSA's descent from single issue gun nut to full-blown Al4channitylex Jones has been inspiring.

[Pavlov]

Why don't you look it up for me Pavy and tell me how i'm wrong - saavy?

No need for me to do anything now, saavy?

[RandomGuy]

my biggest concern is the horrendous corruption

That Carrier Deal

One of President Trump’s first major economic moves as president was the deal that he and Vice President Mike Pence struck with the air-conditioner manufacturer Carrier, which had planned to move 2,100 jobs from its Indiana plant to Mexico. Finalized on November 29, the compromise kept 730 of the plant’s jobs in Indiana in exchange for $7 million in tax breaks over 10 years. The deal immediately attracted praise and criticism on both sides of the aisle, with much of the scrutiny going toward the tradeoff between jobs and tax breaks and Trump’s idiosyncratic, ad-hoc negotiation techniques.

An additional detail soon emerged regarding the deal: According to his FEC filings (which, despite Trump and his spokesman Jason Miller’s unverified statements that the president sold off his stock in June, remain the most recent public record of the president’s finances), Trump holds stock in Carrier’s parent company, United Technologies. In 2014, his investment in the company was between $100,001 and $250,000, while in 2015, the stock is listed as worth less than $1,001, which could indicate that he sold some or most of the stock; each year, his holdings earned him between $2,500 and $5,000.

The paucity of information in the FEC filings makes it difficult to ascertain why his holdings appear to have decreased; regardless, the investment is not only one of several hundred but also a relatively minor one among Trump’s many holdings, some of which are worth over $5,000,000. As a result, it’s difficult to know how much, if at all, Trump may have considered the stock, particularly considering that he didn’t appear to remember his initial promise to save the Carrier plant. Additionally, Trump does not have stock in the next company he called out on Twitter, Rexnord Corporation (which is also based in Indiana), or its parent company, The Carlyle Group. Still, Trump’s deal with Carrier demonstrates the unprecedented challenge the president’s conflicts of interest create: Unless he either puts his holdings in a truly blind trust or divests completely, a significant number of the decisions he makes will involve some level of financial incentive for himself as well as for the country.











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But he did it for the jobs!

[Pavlov]

That Carrier Deal

One of President Trump’s first major economic moves as president was the deal that he and Vice President Mike Pence struck with the air-conditioner manufacturer Carrier, which had planned to move 2,100 jobs from its Indiana plant to Mexico. Finalized on November 29, the compromise kept 730 of the plant’s jobs in Indiana in exchange for $7 million in tax breaks over 10 years. The deal immediately attracted praise and criticism on both sides of the aisle, with much of the scrutiny going toward the tradeoff between jobs and tax breaks and Trump’s idiosyncratic, ad-hoc negotiation techniques.

An additional detail soon emerged regarding the deal: According to his FEC filings (which, despite Trump and his spokesman Jason Miller’s unverified statements that the president sold off his stock in June, remain the most recent public record of the president’s finances), Trump holds stock in Carrier’s parent company, United Technologies. In 2014, his investment in the company was between $100,001 and $250,000, while in 2015, the stock is listed as worth less than $1,001, which could indicate that he sold some or most of the stock; each year, his holdings earned him between $2,500 and $5,000.

The paucity of information in the FEC filings makes it difficult to ascertain why his holdings appear to have decreased; regardless, the investment is not only one of several hundred but also a relatively minor one among Trump’s many holdings, some of which are worth over $5,000,000. As a result, it’s difficult to know how much, if at all, Trump may have considered the stock, particularly considering that he didn’t appear to remember his initial promise to save the Carrier plant. Additionally, Trump does not have stock in the next company he called out on Twitter, Rexnord Corporation (which is also based in Indiana), or its parent company, The Carlyle Group. Still, Trump’s deal with Carrier demonstrates the unprecedented challenge the president’s conflicts of interest create: Unless he either puts his holdings in a truly blind trust or divests completely, a significant number of the decisions he makes will involve some level of financial incentive for himself as well as for the country.











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But he did it for the jobs!

And they just laid off another 300 Americans! With another 300 to go soon!

#winning!

[RandomGuy]

Well, . So much Trump corruption, I am out of time again.

Holy that is a lot of corruption. Since I am not lazy, I will finish later today.

Get fact checking Mikeanaro

or, you know, not. Cosmored likes to call all the evidence for the moon landings crap too. Feel free to weigh on on that when you want. Maybe you and he can swap research methods.

[Chris]

nuts

[Chris]

No need for me to do anything

a true Leftist

[Pavlov]

a true Leftist

^a quintessential dumbass

[Mikeanaro]

I will simply say the sheer amount of money laundered through Trump's casino is enough to justify the current investigations of Trump and his minions by federal and state authorities. I am perfectly fine to let them run their full courses.

Now how about your examples of Democratic Party horrendous corruption you're so concerned with?

My tummy hurts, is he in jail?

[Chris]

^a quintessential dumbass

^has serious issues

[Pavlov]

My tummy hurts, is he in jail?

Poor Mikey -- is that your excuse for failing to bring anything to the table?

[Pavlov]

^has serious issues

^lacks confidence

[Mikeanaro]

Well, . So much Trump corruption, I am out of time again.

Holy that is a lot of corruption. Since I am not lazy, I will finish later today.

Get fact checking Mikeanaro

or, you know, not. Cosmored likes to call all the evidence for the moon landings crap too. Feel free to weigh on on that when you want. Maybe you and he can swap research methods.

Im fact checking, you cite Washington Post as a source, the same guys that push strong for the Russian Collusion, yet nothing happened.

Jeff Bezos is the richest guy in the world, add Gates and Soros supporting all kind of defamation, why such a ¨respected¨ info source is so one sided?

No Wasserman-Schultz articles, that never happened?
Just a bunch of yellow press, all the money and all the resources yet Trump won after all the bashing and no tangible evidence agaisnt him.

[Pavlov]

Im fact checking, you cite Washington Post as a source, the same guys that push strong for the Russian Collusion, yet nothing happened.

Jeff Bezos is the richest guy in the world, add Gates and Soros supporting all kind of defamation, why such a ¨respected¨ info source is so one sided?

No Wasserman-Schultz articles, that never happened?
Just a bunch of yellow press, all the money and all the resources yet Trump won after all the bashing and no tangible evidence agaisnt him.

Poor Mikey.

[Mikeanaro]

Poor Mikey -- is that your excuse for failing to bring anything to the table?

You are the one not bringing goodies, because if you mention something you will be questioned... just like you do when someones says Ahh and doesn not fit your agenda.

[Mikeanaro]

Poor Mikey.

Why poor? did Trump concede?

Poor are you guys trying to make unicorns real.

[Pavlov]

You are the one not bringing goodies, because if you mention something you will be questioned... just like you do when someones says Ahh and doesn not fit your agenda.

I already did. The money laundering is a matter of federal record and I am content to let all the current investigations run their respective courses.

Poor Mikey can't bring anything to the table.