It evokes the old saw about Republicans -- they say government doesn't work and get elected to prove it. I really don't understand why the Republicans have it out for the Department of Energy though. If someone could explain, I'd appreciate it. From what I understand, DOE mostly (1) maintains our nuclear capabilities, (2) runs big national laboratories to maintain our scientific advantage over other nations, (3) helps to fund innovation research in the private sector, and (4) oversees our national energy policy to (among other things) avoid undue foreign energy dependence risks. I can understand Republicans not liking #3, but generally energy is one of the most important areas of our economy with big implications for national defense and international competitiveness. This should be one of the more powerful and prominent cabinet positions and agencies. And we should avoid appointing doofuses that think the department shouldn't exist to running it -- though I doubt Perry really meant it anyway.
You can't make this stuff up.....wait, nevermind, Drumpf's twitter feed can and does conjure up fiction out of the thin air under his comb-over.
I had to go back a bit, but it looks like he's the least "qualified" pick since Bill Richardson or Hazel O'Leary. I was reading up on Gov. Good Hair's career and it's certainly been a long and winding career. I totally forgot he started out as a Democrat and did work for Gore. Either way the dude is a putz.....hope it works out!
Yep, no dropoff in intelligence or capacity with this pick. Rick Perry has a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Texas A&M. This could get ugly. And dangerous.
Sauces say Trump is picking Ronald McDonald for the FDA. The new food pyramid will include chicken mc nuggets and the McRib. Trump is also going to pardon Jon Gotti so he can run the FBI.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/13/polit...umps-choice-for-interior-secretary/index.html This pick might actually save the 1 Montana Senate seat for Dems in 2018 currently held by Jon Tester. Zinke was the obvious choice to take on Tester in 2018 and most likely would have had a good chance to defeat him. Now, there will be a special election for the Congressional seat. Zinke is an interesting choice. A former SEAL commander with 2 Bronze Stars in Iraq/Afghanistan he only just won his 2nd term as a Montana congressman and hasn't had much of an opportunity to produce in his just under 2 years in office. I guess if a 1 term Senator can be President, then a 1 term Congressman can be Secretary of the Interior. One thing I do predict...its gonna be much easier for companies to drill/mine/excavate on Federal land while at the same time he will protect forest land and be a big advocate for conservation as he is himself a big sportsman.
He is going to tilt our energy towards coal and oil - it's clear Trump is in the pockets of big oil. But our nuclear industry needs to be well maintained - not to mention our nuclear stockpiles. If you eliminate the DOE you'll end up with a major accident at worst and at best you'll erode our advantage in nuclear sciences. Many, I am definitely telling my sister to sell her property in Florida - that state will be underwater in 40 years at this rate.
Trump choosing Cabinet members intending to eliminate the departments they were named to lead plays into Trump's stated goal to attend less meetings.
I wonder if there has ever been a cabinet this rich before? Not there there is anything wrong with being rich. The Trillion $ Cabinets working for the common guys. Woohoo!
The thing is, though, this might actualy be the one sane pick he's made for a cabinet member thus far. At least it's someone who doesn't hate the thing that he'll be leading and has some knowledge of it.
As a one-term congressman, his resume could be a bit light to take down an incumbent Senator in the 2018 Senate race. Montana currently has a Democrat governor, so the state is actually a little bit bluer than some might think. What to do, what to do.... Hmmm. I know! How about appointing Zinke as as Secretary of the Interior? A few high profile decisions that are popular in Montana, together with a nice, high-profile public bonfire of Obama-generation regulations and directives for that department, and wa-la! A candidate strong enough to unseat an incumbent Democrat Senator emerges. Very clever, if that turns out to be the plan here. If so, you heard it here first.
Can't make this stuff up. Personnel is policy. Bannon/Priebus/Trump are appointing people who by and large will render certain agencies impotent while dismantling them. People can sit around quibbling over qualifications (some picks are clearly qualified, some clearly aren't). But to exclusively do so misses the larger picture that at least Bannon has in mind. Gonna be interesting to see what happens to the money that flows through these agencies as each agency is crippled.
Russia stands to gain: 1. Better relations, fine, but that means lowering of sanctions and rubber-stamping eastern European aggression. 2. An America more hands off for the world and less into caring about human rights. Less hassle for Russia overall. 3. A more authoritarian version of America, which is comfortable for Putin. 4. A more plutocratic/oligarchic America, again more in line with modern Russia. 5. Threats of decreased freedom and power of the American press, good for authoritarians around the world. 6. Overall diminishing of American institutions that safeguard civil liberties at home and abroad, thus tarnishing us as the beacon of anything in particular. The world could literally lurch sickeningly to the right in terms of personal freedoms. 7. Related to all of the above, Putin probably hopes that the Trump presidency can make some of these irreversible. I'm just basing 1-6 on Trump's campaign promises and his cabinet appointments. LOL. Not really extrapolating much.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will join an advisory team for President-elect Donald Trump, Trump’s transition office announced Wednesday. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi will also join the President’s Strategic and Policy Forum. The transition team's announcement comes in advance of Trump’s Wednesday meeting with top tech leaders, including Musk, at Trump Tower. Other key tech players expected to be at the meeting include Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg; Eric Schmidt and Larry Page of Alphabet, Google's parent company; and Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon who also owns The Washington Post. http://thehill.com/policy/technology/310321-trump-names-elon-musk-uber-ceo-to-advisory-team
Trump has picked Ronna Romney McDaniel, a niece of Mitt Romney and the current chairperson of the Michigan Republican party as the new head of the RNC, replacing Reince Priebus. I have never heard her speak, but one of the main jobs of both of the party heads is to go on television and recite the party talking points on different issues. It appears she will be facing off against either Keith Ellison or Thomas Perez on the Democrat side. They hold their party leadership elections in February.
This. This is Bush Jr 2.0 administration where government agencies are being neutered by slashing funding and appointing those who seek to deregulate.
Trump has a developer's mentality and that is reflected in his cabinet appointments. He wants America to create and produce and build stuff, and he wants to remove governmental barriers to doing so, which he has dealt with his entire life as a builder. Appointing egghead professors who don't have that mindset would be the exact wrong approach. Other than fracking (an economic godsend which the DOE had nothing to do with), there have been zero breakthroughs in energy development under Obama. I'm sure Perry sold Trump on how he got the energy industry booming in Texas and could do the same for the country.
