Voter Fraud or Trump Fraud

Unless you live under a rock, you must be aware that Trump and his minions continue to beat the dead horse of massive "voter fraud". According to them, it is the only reason that Trump lost the popular vote count in the presidential election. 

To make it clear, I am not questioning the recent election or the fact that Donald Trump won the Electoral College and is, therefore, our rightful and lawful 45th president. 

According to the final official vote counts, Hillary Clinton received 65.84 million or 48.2% of the popular votes. Trump received 62.97 million or 46.1% of the popular votes. That is a 2.87 million vote difference, a little over a 2% delta. This is a substantial margin that Trump does not seem to be able to accept. He still professes that he won by a landslide. That is not true no matter which metric you use. 

In order to give some credence to this false claim, the new administration has cooked up this idea that three to five million illegal votes were cast. A convenient range because even on the low end, the three million votes erase Clinton's 2.8 million plurality. We are also supposed to believe that virtually 100% of these fraudulent votes went to Clinton. No cheaters voted for Trump. 

To support this view, they spout statistics about massive numbers of errors on the voter registration rolls. These errors include deceased people still on the rolls and people registered in two or more states at the same time. All true. The problem is that Trump is using two unrelated things to prove a point. Errors on the voting rolls are not the same as voter fraud. The first is clerical sloppiness or poor procedures or just time lags. The second is a criminal act. The old apples and oranges trick. Politicians love to do this. Find some marginally related subjects to prove a point or causation. It snowed today so there can't be global warming. Grandpa died last July but was still officially registered to vote so there must be voter fraud.

I can tell you that when my parents died, the first (or last) thing on my to-do list was not to immediately call the voter registrar to remove their names from the voter registration list. Likewise, when I moved from one state to another, I did not notify the registrar in my old state. I bet you didn't either. I will also tell you that I did not use my deceased parents' voter registration card to cast an illegal vote. I also didn't return to my former state to vote. 

There have been numerous studies on voter fraud. They have been conducted by news organizations, colleges, the Republicans, the Democrats, and others. None of these studies has found more than a handful of instances of voter fraud. Even then, some of the very few found were simple mistakes rather than malicious intent. If you add up the results of every study, you would not come anywhere near the three to five million that Trump claims. If you are interested, here is a Washington Post link to several of these studies. 

This whole issue is another example of the Trump strategy combined with his massive ego. The strategy is to flood the airways with minor issues to deflect from the real ones. It also believes that lies will become truths if you repeat them often enough. His ego kicks in when the facts show that he is not the biggest or the best. Winning the election is not enough, it must be a landslide. Drawing hundreds of thousands of people to his inauguration isn't big enough, it must be the biggest crowd ever. When the facts don't match his perception, he makes up "alternative facts", something most of us would just call lies.

Now Trump promises an investigation into the "voter fraud problem". Seems like a waste of our tax money on a witch hunt. 

You won Donny. Accept it. Move on. Stop lying to us. Facts and the truth matter, at least to some of us.

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Tired Yet?

I'm supposed to be getting tired of winning. That's what Trump promised. Instead, I'm getting tired of the whining, the bragging, the lying and the exaggerations. 

Maybe those three to five million alleged illegal voters that stole the popular vote win away from Trump are the same millions that showed up for the inauguration. You know, those invisible spectators that the cameras couldn't see. Invisible being the operative word here, both at the polls and on the mall. Very sneaky, aren't they?

I suspect that if Trump had lost the popular vote by 500,000 there would have been only 750,000 to a million illegal votes. Likewise, if he had lost by seven million then over eight to 10 million illegal voters would have shown up at the polls. 

At the CIA speech, Trump said that when he gave his inaugural speech, he looked out and saw a million to a million and a half people in the mall. Did he count them? Is he an expert on gauging open air crowd sizes? Maybe he just needs glasses.

This administration's strategy is to repeat the lies until they become accepted as fact or people get tired of refuting them. Same strategy as Breitbart and right-wing talk radio. I've mentioned it before, Trump is the definition of a sore winner. 

I'm tired of Trump's whining, not winning.

It is going to be a very long and tiring administration.

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Alternative Facts

Press Secretary Sean Spicer

At the first White House press briefing, new Press Secretary Sean Spicer chose to berate the press and lie about crowd size at the inauguration. He then declined to take any questions. A ridiculous start to a relationship that should benefit both sides. 

The Press Secretary's job is to act as the spokesperson for the US administration, especially the President, senior executives and on policies. This person consolidates and summarizes what is going on in the government, particularly the executive branch. It's a one stop conduit for the press on many matters and on an almost daily basis. The White House is able to get out their message to a large segment of the press with a singular voice and in an efficient manner. The press gets the news straight from the horse's mouth in a public forum. They usually get to ask questions for clarification or addition information. It is a win-win situation.

For the Press Secretary to start a fight with and lie to the press corps right off the bat seems a counter-intuitive strategy. Or is it actually strategy or just another knee-jerk reaction from Trump?

Trump @ CIA Headquarters

Trump's first official visit to a government agency was to the CIA. There again he brought up the inaugural crowd size issue, a trivial issue at best. It is also an issue that has nothing to do with the CIA, national intelligence or security. He also said that the "unfair" press had created the so-called rift between Trump and the intelligence community. Looking back at Trump's tweets and statements, it certainly seems to me that Trump started the dustup. Later, he and his minions bragged about the size of the CIA crowd.

Kellyanne Conway

On the Sunday political shows, Reince Priebus and Kellyanne Conway both defended the crowd size statements. Conway even invoked a new term, "alternative facts" to explain Spicer's lie about crowd size. Put this new term in your vocabulary right next to "post-truth". 

Amazingly, Conway eventually gave many reasons why inaugural crowd size is unimportant. Exactly, so why bring it up at all, let alone lie about it at the CIA and a press briefing? The whole issue would have faded away in a few hours if Trump and Spicer had left it alone. Unfortunately, Trump can not let even the smallest slight pass without a reply. 

After a contentious and confrontational inaugural speech, Trump and his administration took that confrontation to the White House briefing room and the CIA. 

It's going to be a very bumpy, alternative facts, post-truth ride.

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Trump's Inaugural Address

On January 20, 2017, Donald John Trump was sworn in as our 45th president. As is tradition, he gave a speech. I was not and am not a supporter of Trump. That said, I hope he is a successful president because that will mean America was successful.

The overall tone of the inaugural address was very dark and confrontational. It was also nationalistic and isolationist. 

Trump promised to transfer power from the DC elite back to the people. As of 1/20/17, the people became rulers of the nation. Good luck with that. The power brokers have been in Washington for decades, the new president for a few hours. Many in Trump's cabinet are part of that privledged elite. 

Of course he had to brag that the movement he led is like no other in history. Well that's just unabashed BS. 

From now on, it will be "Only America First". While America first is normally a good philosophy, sometimes we have to act on behalf of other less fortunate countries and people. Just like the fire fighter who rushes into a burning building tho save others, unselfish action is often desirable. 

Trump will never let us down. That is until the first time he lets us down. Every president lets the nation down at some point. I'm sure Trump and his minions will spin any failures into triumphs, somebody elses fault or at least out of his control.  

One thing he will let us down on is when he promised to eradicate radical Islam terrorists. He didn't promise to eradicate ISIS, Al Queda or any other particular group. No, Trump will eradicate ALL radical Islamic terrorism. Good luck with that Donny. There will always be radical Muslims just like there are radical Jews, radical Christians, radical Hindus, radical radicals. There are still Nazis around today, 70 years after the defeat of Nazi Germany. 

He said the "American carnage" stops here and now. What carnage and how will he stop it?

One line in the speech we should all be able to agree with is "When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice". Nice words, especially from someone who has disparaged almost every minority group in the country. I don't believe either Trump or his diehard followers actually believe or follow this sentiment. 

We have all been waiting for Trump to change his style and behavior. To become less confrontational, more measured, maybe more presidential. This speech showed no change. It was another campaign speech directed only to those who already support him. He blasted both parties, he made unkeepable promises, he painted America as a third world country. There was no effort to heal the divide in the country or to encourage hands across the congressional aisles.

  
FDR, JFK, Lincoln and many other former presidents do not have to worry about their inaugural speeches being forgotten because of a stellar perfomance by Trump. I was worried about Trump well before the inauguration. This address only confirmed those concerns. 

Don't take my word for it, see and read the speech here.

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Promises Already Broken

Donald Trump will be sworn in as president on Friday. Then we can begin keeping score for real. Usually, our politicians wait until after they take office to break their campaign promises. Since Trump insists that he is not a politician he is breaking some of his promises immediately after beeing elected. Some are complete breaks from the campaign rhetoric and others are significant modifications. This is just a sampling, I'm sure there will be more.

• The investigation and prosecution of Hillary Clinton - Trump promised to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate, prosecute and ultimately jail Clinton over her email situation. Now he says no. He doesn't want to hurt the Clintons or divide the country. This is after a year of trying to hurt the Clintons and divide the country.
• Investigation of the Clinton Foundation - see above. Accusations of play-for-pay apparently aren't important now. Maybe since the Trump Foundation seems to be involved with some play-for-pay situations.
• Abolish ObamaCare on the first day - Seems some of the ACA is actually good. Now he plans to keep parts of it. Also, he now promises that it will not be rescinded until a new healthcare law is in place. That will certainly take months if not years.
• Illegal Immigrants - round them all up and deport them, all 11 million. Now it's just the criminal immigrants. 
• The WALL - it was going to be a beautiful wall along the whole Mexico-US border. Now maybe some fencing, even electronic surveillance might be OK. Also, no more mention of Mexico paying upfront for the wall or is it a fence. Now he wants Congress to pay for it and Mexico will reimburse us "later". 
• He will never settle the Trump University lawsuit out of court - He settled out of court for $25 million. As usual in a settlement, the defendant (Trump U.) admitted no wrongdoing.
• Torture - Waterboarding might be bad. Now maybe beer and cigarettes will extract the needed information. 
• Climate Change - maybe it is real and not a Chinese hoax.
• Paris Accord - Trump promised to pull out of the Paris Accord on climate change. Now, maybe not.
• Change to libel laws - Trump wanted to be able to freely sue the press and media when he didn't like their coverage of him. Apparently, he has since read the First Amendment.
• Obama is the worse president in history. Now Trump likes him and apparently is asking for and taking advice from the worst president ever. 
• "Drain the Swamp" - So far his transition team and cabinet appointments are littered with cronies, Wall Street people, career politicians and lobbyists. He's just creating a different swamp, a mostly rich white male swamp. He's privatizing the swamp.
• A ban on all Muslims entering the country - OK, maybe not.
• An Infrastructure Bank - He was against Clinton's proposed establishment of an infrastructure bank. Now his Secretary of Treasury designate, Steven Mnuchin, is exploring establishing an infrastructure bank. Of course, Trump will take credit for the idea. 
• He will have a news conference, in December, to detail how he will disengage from his business. The news conference was held on January 11th and he hasn't really left his business.  

I'm sure I missed something.There will be more, there are also flip-flops on other statements that were not actually campaign promises or constant issues in his stump speeches. Let's not forget that after years of saying Obama wasn't born in the US, he admitted he was wrong. We'll get into more of them as time goes by.

During recent stops on his "Victory/Thank You" tour of America, Trump has practically admitted that some of his campaign promises were "political stunts". How do you feel now Trump supporters? 

This is just the beginning because perfect adjectives, among some less flattering ones, to describe Trump are chameleon and opportunist.  

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The Trump Cabinet

The nominees for president-elect Trump's cabinet and inner circle are almost now in place. It's a strange mix. Some are old hands at government and others are neophytes. Some seem qualified and knowledgeable about their agencies, others seem to not even know the name of the agency they will head. Several seem to be outright opposed to their new agencies and their policies. Will any of them actually shrink or even eliminate their agencies or will they try to build a larger empire? I was hoping to post this after all the cabinet was designated. There has been a lull in his appointments and the remaining positions won't make much difference. 

Let's go through the list:

• Secretary of State - Rex Tillerson - The current chairman and CEO of Exxon-Mobile Corp. He has close ties to Vladimir Putin and Russia. Exxon-Mobile has business ties and substantial energy holdings around the world. That can be an advantage but can also be a problem if he lets his personal and company ties take precedence over the interests of the country. He has stated that he thinks humans are causing climate change. He also was a proponent of the Tran-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement. Those positions are in conflict with Trumps. His Senate confirmation hearings should be interesting. 
• Secretary of Defense - James Mattis - A recently retired Marine General, Mattis seems like a solid pick. He apparently convinced Trump that beer and cigarettes are a better interrogation strategy than waterboarding. That gets him points with me. He seems to recognize Russia as a threat and is no fan of Iran. He also has stated that Israel's current one-state stance is unsustainable. He may have a problem being confirmed because he hasn't been retired from the Marine Corp for the seven years usually required for former military to become Secretary of Defense. That requirement can be waived by Congress. I predict he will be confirmed. One of Trump's better choices.
• Secretary of Treasury - Steven Mnuchin - He is a Goldman Sachs alum who later went into hedge funds and then mortgage banking. While he was head of Dune Capital Management, the company invested in at least two Trump projects. He's a Wall Street and banking guy. Not much change from prior administrations.
• Attorney General - Jeff Sessions - This one is a little problematic. Sessions is a staunch conservative from Alabama. He is anti-immigration and has some sketchy racial issues in his past. He is against same-sex marriage and has voted against legislation to provide protections based on sexual orientation. He is against legalizing medical marijuana and certainly against recreational marijuana. Of course, he is pro-birth. Sessions is skeptical of climate change. Let's face it, Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III is a fairly typical 70-year-old conservative southern politician. Welcome to 1956. 
• Secretary of the Interior - Ryan Zinke - The US Representative from Montana. This is a tough one to figure. In his past, he was a believer of climate change and proponent of clean energy. Since his brief tenure in Congress, he has often voted against environmentalists and in favor of carbon energy interests. He is opposed to turning federal lands over to the states. A toss-up at best. 
• Secretary of Agriculture - unknown
• Secretary of Commerce - Wilber Ross - A 79-year-old billionaire. He is a former banker and investor. He founded the International Coal Group, a coal mining conglomerate that used bankruptcy laws to operate without unions, health care or pensions. Sounds like a lovely guy. 79 years old. Maybe he and Sessions can reminisce about the good old days in the 50's.
• Secretary of Labor - Andrew Puzder - This post should probably be renamed secretary of anti-labor. He is CEO of CKE Restaurants which owns Carl's Jr. and Hardees. Here is a surprise, he is against raising the minimum wage, increasing the number of people eligible for overtime pay and Obamacare. He was a large contributor and fundraiser for Trump's campaign. I'm sure that has nothing to do with his nomination. All you fast food workers in the country can be sure Puzder is looking out for you. 
• Secretary of Health and Human Services - Tom Price - Well, he is a physician. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be much for public health or human services. He is against Obamacare, is anti-abortion, pro-guns and anti-gay. Most of his past legislative record does not bode well.
• Secretary of Housing and Urban Development - Ben Carson - I thought this guy would get the Health and Human Services or maybe Surgeon General post. He is a highly acclaimed physician so of course, you put him in charge of housing. You would think that Carson, being an MD, would be a man of science and logic. He proved that is not the case with some of his stances during the presidential campaign. He thinks the great pyramids of Egypt were grain silos. Nobody else does. He originally said he was not qualified to run a government bureaucratic agency. I guess a couple of weeks later he is despite the fact he still has no government experience. The department has about 8,400 employees. Carson has never managed more than a few dozen. I don't expect Carson to last for the four years of this term.
• Secretary of Transportation - Elaine Chao - This is kind of a typical insider appointment. Chao was Secretary of Labor during George W. Bush's administration. She is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. She also served as Deputy Secretary of Transportation during the George H. W. Bush administration. She has held various government positions since 1986. Prior to that, she was a banker with Bank of America and Citicorp. She has mostly been a nondescript public servant and I expect that pattern will continue. Transportation is not a very glamorous department.
• Secretary of Energy - Rick Perry - This is the guy who couldn't remember the name of the department he now is going to run. He is a career politician who changed parties from Democrat to Republican when the state of Texas began to go red. His beliefs and policies change with the wind. A true chameleon who should be right at home in the Trump administration. An administration headed by the person he once called "a cancer on conservatism". Guess the cancer is in remission or cured. Perry fits right in, he is anti-gay, anti-Obamacare, pro gun, pro death penalty, etc. I don't expect Perry to do anything that the energy industry opposes. He will be a rubber stamp secretary.
• Secretary of Education - Betsy DeVos - Another billionaire.and a huge Republican contributor and fundraiser. DeVos has never held public office. She has never attended a public school or college. Was never a school teacher or administrator. All her education was in religious schools. Her four children also attend private schools. She is an advocate for school vouchers and scholastic tax credits which funnel public money to private schools, including religious schools. She is pro-choice when it comes to schools but of course not pro-choice for women's health. This looks like another agency that will see major revisions that don't necessarily improve public education and allow for more religious influence into our schools. I'm not a fan of this appointment.
• Secretary of Veteran Affairs - David Shulkin - A surprise appointment. Shulkin is the current Under Secretary of Health for the Department of Veteran Affairs. He was nominated by Obama for that position. He is an MD who has extensive experience in medical administration. Seems like a good selection. 
• Secretary of Homeland Security - John Kelly - Another former Marine General. He served in Iraq and held several command posts. I don't see any experience specifically related to intelligence or security. There is also little information on his political leanings. This is a wait and see appointment.

Other Cabinet-level positions:

• Chief of Staff - Reince Priebus - This guy is a career weasel, I mean political operative. He was defeated in his only run for public office. Priebus was initially critical of some of Trump's campaign statements. He changed his tune once it became probable that Trump would win the nomination. Since then, Priebus, along with VP-elect Pence and campaign manager Conway, has become a chief explainer for the BS that Trump spouts. He has become a complete Trump cheerleader. The chief of staff holds much power in the White House. I'm not convinced Priebus will temper any of Trump's inclinations. I don't see him as a strong player. 
• UN Ambassador - Nikki Haley - Interesting choice.The current governor of South Carolina was very critical of Trump during the primary campaign. She is pro-birth. She also was for removing the Confederate flag from the SC capitol grounds and was against an LBGT restroom restriction law. She does not appear to have any international diplomacy experience. I would assume that this position is about 99% diplomacy. 
• Administer of the Environmental Protection Agency - Scott Pruitt - This guy is pretty much anti-environment. He is a climate change doubter and has sued the EPA numerous times. Let's just rename his department to the Environmental Destruction Agency. Expect Trump and this cowboy to try their best to remove as many environmental laws, rules, and policies that they can. Those that they can't remove will probably not be enforced. 
• US Trade Representative - Robert Lighthizer - He served as deputy trade representative during the Reagan administration. He has also been a lobbyist for the US steel industry. He is a longtime critic of China. Another GOP insider.
• Director, Office of Management and Budget - Mike Mulvaney - A Republican US Representative from South Carolina. Mulvaney is a strict fiscal conservative who wants to drastically reduce federal spending and the deficit. When Republicans advocate reduced spending, it usually means reducing social services. Not military spending and certainly not increasing taxes. I'm not sure how much influence he will actually have. 
• Chairman, Council of Economic Advisors - unknown
• Administer, Small Business Administration - Linda McMahon - The former CEO of the WWE. This appointment has spawned the phrase about Trump's administration that now climate change is fake but wrestling is real. McMahon is a twice-failed candidate for US Senate in Connecticut. She is a large contributor and fundraiser to the Republican party. She and her husband have donated $5 million to the Trump Foundation. Those seem to be here primary qualifications for this post. Pay for play?
• Director of National Intelligence - Dan Coats - A former US Senator from Indiana. His only Intelligence experience is from serving on the US Senate intelligence and armed services committees. He is a member of The Fellowship, a secretive association of Christian lawmakers. He is a 73-year-old GOP insider. A rather neutral appointment to a position many of Trump's insiders consider a redundant position.  

And three more:

• National Security Advisor - Michael Flynn - Another retired general. Flynn has significant experience in the military intelligence community. He also retired a year early from the Army. Allegedly he was forced to retire because of an abusive and confrontational management style. It has also been alleged that he got a little cavalier with the facts that didn't conform to his beliefs. No doubt there was some political tension between Flynn and the Obama administration. Since military retirement, he has consulted with several foreign countries including Russia. He is also an avowed anti-Muslim. He seems to be prone to believing conspiracy theories that conform to his core beliefs. A little scary for a presidential advisor.This appointment worries me.
• Senior Counselor - Steve Bannon - This wingnut was the executive chair of Breitbart News. This is a far right wing news and opinion website and radio program. I use the word news loosely when referring to Breitbart. These guys are like the National Enquirer of politics. They pass on and embellish every conspiracy theory that puts the Democrats, liberals, LGBT, Muslims, Hispanics, etc. in a bad light. If there isn't enough allegedly bad news, they make something up. Yes, they manufacture fake news. The fact that this alt-right radical has Trump's ear and trust is very troubling and scary.
• Counselor to the President - Kellyanne Conway - Trump's campaign manager and Explainer in Chief. I assume she will continue to make the rounds of the news and political shows to explain what Trump really meant, deflect the spotlight from his mistakes and ignorance and confuse the issues. This is not a surprise appointment. It just means that we will be seeing Conway's linguistic acrobatics at work for the foreseeable future. 

We'll all have to wait and see if these are good, bad or indifferent appointments. Many are troubling but you never know. Some people rise to the occasion and some crumble under the pressure. Remember, none of these people have been confirmed by the Senate, things could change. Some of the nominees have some serious conflicts of interest and old baggage. Although in the case of some, like Priebus, Bannon, Conway and Flynn, there is no Senate confirmation or even hearings. 

You will notice that Trump's cabinet and staff are mostly White males, the whitest staff we have seen in some time. It is also a very rich group. The military is well represented even though our soon to be new Commander in Chief knows more than the generals. Wall Street is also well represented. Billionaire or multi-millionaire white guys. Sounds like a perfect group to promote and advance Trump's alleged "populist" agenda. All very empathetic to the workers of our country. 

It will be interesting to see how some of these successful rich people respond when they are expected to support and defend some of Trump's more outrageous ideas, policies, and statements.

I was disappointed when Trump won the election. Overall, his cabinet and staff appointments have not made me feel any better. Buckle-up gang.

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Nobamacare or Trumpcare?

The Republicans are on a fast track to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) commonly referred to as Obamacare. They now have the majority in both Houses of Congress and as of January 20th, will control the White House. 

Here is my question. What will the replacement healthcare look like? The Republicans have been railing against the ACA since it was enacted in early 2010. The House of Representatives, under Republican control, has voted over 30 times to repeal the bill. There have been numerous lawsuits including Supreme Court rulings.

After almost seven years of opposition, we still have no idea what the Republican replacement will look like. It seems to me that seven years is more than sufficient time to construct a comprehensive plan. There is not even a proposed outline in place. The only parts of any new bill we do know are: 

children will stay on parents plan until age 26

pre-existing conditions will continue to be covered

older / sicker people will get more support

low income people will get more support

Women will pay the same premiums as men

These are all provisions in the current ACA.  

So what changes? That's a secret for now because apparently, seven years isn't enough time. Like almost every bill that comes out of Congress, there is plenty of room for improvement in Obamacare. Democrats agree too. The problem has been that the Republicans have been hell-bent on repeal and have not even entertained fixes or modifications to the current law. Failure to fix flawed laws is more egregious than passing flawed laws in the first place.

There are over 20 million people covered in some form by the ACA. The number of uninsured American has been reduced by millions. I'm sure they would like to know where they stand.

The ball is in your court Mr. Trump, Mr. Ryan and Mr. McConnell. No excuses. 

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