Trump

[david wild]

There are things that Trump ran on that I thought he would moderate on, but for the liberals to now claim he is somehow destroying free markets because he persuaded Carrier to keep some jobs here in the US is pure crap. I also think that he is trying to get support from the other side, nothing worse than being a sore winner, winning is great, but unlike the liberals and democrats have done, rubbing the losers face in it, does no good. I also believe is trying to unite the country, if the losing side sees that he is not as bad as they thought, they might think about getting onboard to help fix things, something that Obama and his crowd never thought about doing, they won and then stuck it to everybody because they are self centered and selfish, and only care about themselves and their pals, unlike Mr. Trump who I truly believe loves this country and wants nothing better but the best for all of us.  

[kscarbel2]

1 hour ago, david wild said:

There are things that Trump ran on that I thought he would moderate on, but for the liberals to now claim he is somehow destroying free markets because he persuaded Carrier to keep some jobs here in the US is pure crap. I also think that he is trying to get support from the other side, nothing worse than being a sore winner, winning is great, but unlike the liberals and democrats have done, rubbing the losers face in it, does no good. I also believe is trying to unite the country, if the losing side sees that he is not as bad as they thought, they might think about getting onboard to help fix things, something that Obama and his crowd never thought about doing, they won and then stuck it to everybody because they are self centered and selfish, and only care about themselves and their pals, unlike Mr. Trump who I truly believe loves this country and wants nothing better but the best for all of us.  

I haven't read anyone (of stature) saying Trump is destroying free markets. We all know NAFTA was a scam, crafted by big business to enhance their profitability. I hope Trump terminates our participation in NAFTA, or completely rewrites it. I don't care about lawless Mexico.......I'm on the U.S. team.

[TeamsterGrrrl]

Trump is a drama queen, all bluster and nothing to back it up. For example, I'd like to see us renegotiate NAFTA, but treaties are contracts between nations and can only be changed by mutual agreement.

[mowerman]

It's kinda fun to sit back n watch the balony......Mr trump seems to have done more for this country in a short couple weeks than dumb dumb did in a two terms. .bob

[kscarbel2]

19 minutes ago, mowerman said:

It's kinda fun to sit back n watch the balony......Mr trump seems to have done more for this country in a short couple weeks than dumb dumb did in a two terms. .bob

Bob, no-nonsense Dwight D. Eisenhower aside, politicians have long acted as though they are specially gifted, that only they can manage/steer the country.

They say the common people can’t see/understand the “big picture”, and shoe them aside, while they serve the will of big business and special interest.

Here’s an excerpt from one of my favorite movies:

.

 

[mowerman]

Lol, thanks for sharing...

Isn't that just the way it is...bob

 

[41chevy]

TeamsterGrrrl

Trump is a drama queen, all bluster and nothing to back it up. For example, I'd like to see us renegotiate NAFTA, but treaties are contracts between nations and can only be changed by mutual agreement.

Hillary has blood on her hands and is a liar, Obama is divisionist, a Racist and a liar so what is your point? Every president and in fact every politician from top to the bottom lies and changes positions as the political winds blow.

Whine about it to people who don't care what you think or get out and DO something. Go start a movement, protest, get lawyers and file suit. Take physical action against him.

[kscarbel2]

Carrier union leader says Trump's big deal is a lie

The Washington Post  /   December 6, 2016

The Secret Service agents told the Carrier workers to stay put, so Chuck Jones sat in the factory conference room for nearly three hours, waiting for president-elect Donald Trump. He'd grown used to this suspense.

Seven months earlier, at a campaign rally in Indianapolis, Trump had pledged to save the plant's jobs, most of which were slated to move to Mexico. Then the businessman won the election, and the 1,350 workers whose paychecks were on the line wondered if he'd keep his promise.

Jones, president of the United Steelworkers 1999, which represents Carrier employees, felt optimistic when Trump announced last week that he'd reached a deal with the factory's parent company, United Technologies, to preserve 1,100 of the Indianapolis jobs - until the union leader heard from Carrier that only 730 of the production jobs would stay and 550 of his members would lose their livelihoods, after all.

At the Dec. 1 meeting, where Trump was supposed to lay out the details, Jones hoped he would explain himself.

"But he got up there," Jones said Tuesday, "and, for whatever reason, lied his a-- off."

In front of a crowd of about 150 supervisors, production workers and reporters, Trump praised Carrier and its parent company, United Technologies. "Now they're keeping - actually the number's over 1,100 people," he said, "which is so great."

Jones wondered why the president-elect appeared to be inflating the victory. Trump and Pence, he said, could take credit for rescuing 800 of the Carrier jobs, including non-union positions.

Of the nearly 1,400 workers at the Indianapolis plant, however, 350 in research and development were never scheduled to leave, Jones said. Another 80 jobs, which Trump seemed to include in his figure, were non-union clerical and supervisory positions. (A Carrier spokesperson confirmed the numbers.)

And now, the president-elect was applauding Carrier and giving it millions of dollars in tax breaks, even as hundreds of Indianapolis workers prepared to be laid off.

"Trump and Pence, they pulled a dog and pony show on the numbers," said Jones, who voted for Hillary Clinton but called her "the better of two evils." "I almost threw up in my mouth."

Spokespeople for Trump refused to respond to the Post's request for comment.

In exchange for downsizing its move south of the border, United Technologies would receive $7 million in tax credits from Indiana, to be paid in $700,000 installments each year for a decade.

Carrier, meanwhile, agreed to invest $16 million in its Indiana operation.

United Technologies still plans to send 700 factory jobs from Huntington, Indiana, to Monterrey, Mexico.

T.J. Bray, 32, one of the workers who will keep his job, sat in the front row during the Dec. 1 meeting as Trump spoke. A corporate employee had guided him specifically to that seat, he said, so he suspected he might be part of Trump's remarks.

On Carrier's makeshift stage, Trump paraphrased the words of an unnamed Carrier employee who talked to an NBC reporter after the election. Bray was the only Carrier employee who had appeared on television that day. Apparently, he realized, Trump was saying he inspired the deal.

 "He said something to the effect, 'No, we're not leaving, because Donald Trump promised us that we're not leaving,' and I never thought I made that promise," Trump said. "Not with Carrier. I made it for everybody else. I didn't make it really for Carrier," said Trump.

In fact, Trump “did” make that commitment, and it's on video. "They're going to call me and they are going to say 'Mr. President, Carrier has decided to stay in Indiana,' " Trump had said at the April rally. "One hundred percent -- that's what is going to happen."

Last week, though, the president-elect told the Carrier crowd he hadn't meant that literally.

"I was talking about Carrier like all other companies from here on in," Trump said. "Because they made the decision a year and a half ago. But he believed that was - and I could understand it. I actually said - I didn't make it - when they played that, I said, 'I did make it, but I didn't mean it quite that way.'"

Trump asked if the employee he'd been referencing was in the audience. A woman yelled that her son was, and Trump began to compliment that son, though he hadn't spoken in the television news segment. (Bray said that a United Technologies spokesperson later told him Trump meant to single him out.)

"I was confused when he was like, 'I wasn't talking about Carrier,' " Bray said. "You made this whole campaign about Carrier, and we're still losing a lot of jobs."

Bray clapped that day, anyway, for the 800 that would remain on American soil.

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Chuck Jones, who is President of United Steelworkers 1999, has done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies flee country!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2016

If United Steelworkers 1999 was any good, they would have kept those jobs in Indiana. Spend more time working-less time talking. Reduce dues

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2016

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Donald Trump just insulted a union leader on Twitter. Then the phone started to ring.

The Washington Post  /  December 7, 2016

Chuck Jones uses a flip phone, so he didn’t see the tweet. His friend of 36 years called him Wednesday night and said: The president-elect is smearing you on Twitter.

Chuck Jones, who is President of United Steelworkers 1999, has done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies flee country!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2016

If United Steelworkers 1999 was any good, they would have kept those jobs in Indiana. Spend more time working-less time talking. Reduce dues

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2016

Jones, a union leader in Indianapolis, represents the Carrier workers whose jobs Donald Trump has pledged to save. He said the sudden attention from the country’s next leader didn’t feel real.

“My first thought was, ‘Well, that’s not very nice,’ ” he told The Washington Post on Wednesday night. “Then, 'Well, I might not sleep much tonight.' "

Jones, president of the United Steelworkers Local 1999, told The Post on Tuesday that he believed Trump had lied to the Carrier workers last week when he visited the Indianapolis plant. On a makeshift stage in a conference room, Trump had applauded United Technologies, Carrier’s parent company, for cutting a deal with him and agreeing to keep 1,100 jobs that were slated to move to Mexico in America’s heartland.

Jones said Trump got that figure wrong.

Carrier, he said, had agreed to preserve 800 production jobs in Indiana. (Carrier confirmed that number.) The union leader said Trump appeared to be taking credit for rescuing 350 engineering positions that were never scheduled to leave. Five hundred and fifty of his members, he said, were still losing their jobs. And Carrier was still collecting millions of dollars in tax breaks.

In return for downsizing its move south of the border, United Technologies would receive $7 million in tax credits from Indiana, to be paid in $700,000 installments each year for 10. Carrier, on top of that, has agreed to invest $16 million in its Indiana operation. United Technologies, meanwhile, still plans to relocate 700 factory jobs from Huntington, Ind., to Monterrey, Mexico.

Jones, who said the union wasn't involved in the negotiations, said he's working to lift his members' spirits. He said he didn't have time to worry about Trump.

“He needs to worry about getting his Cabinet filled,” he said, “and leave me the hell alone.”

Over the past two decades, the United States has lost about 4.5 million manufacturing jobs.

Jones said he has fought to keep work on U.S. soil, bargaining repeatedly with Carrier and Rexnord, another Indianapolis plant that plans to relocate jobs to Mexico.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence tweeted his support for Jones earlier this year:

Appreciate the chance to meet w/ Chuck Jones & hardworking men of Local 1999 about our efforts to save Carrier jobs pic.twitter.com/jAzV4DO4PY

— Governor Mike Pence (@GovPenceIN) March 2, 2016

Half an hour after Trump tweeted about Jones on Wednesday, the union leader's phone began to ring and kept ringing, he said. One voice asked: What kind of car do you drive? Another said: We’re coming for you.

He wasn’t sure how these people found his number. 

“Nothing that says they’re gonna kill me, but, you know, you better keep your eye on your kids,” Jones said later on MSNBC. “We know what car you drive. Things along those lines.”

“I’ve been doing this job for 30 years, and I’ve heard everything from people who want to burn my house down or shoot me,” he added. “So I take it with a grain of salt and I don’t put a lot of faith in that, and I’m not concerned about it and I’m not getting anybody involved. I can deal with people that make stupid statements and move on.”

Brett Voorhies, president of the Indiana State AFL-CIO, called Jones after Trump’s tweet caught his eye. Jones, he said, had just left his office in Indianapolis, where he manages the needs of about 3,000 union members.

“This guy makes pennies for what he does,” Voorhies said. “What he has to put up with is just crazy. Now he’s just got the president-elect smearing him on Twitter.”

[kscarbel2]

Reuters  /  December 6, 2016

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump urged the government on Tuesday to cancel an order with Boeing Co for a new 747-8 Air Force One, saying costs were out of control.

Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, took aim at what he called cost overruns even though the plane is only in development stages.

"Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!" Trump said on Twitter.

"The plane is totally out of control. I think it's ridiculous. I think Boeing is doing a little bit of a number. We want Boeing to make a lot of money but not that much money," he said.

Boeing has not yet begun building the two replacements for the current Air Force One planes, which are scheduled to be in service by 2024.

Boeing has not yet been awarded the money to build the proposed replacements.

"We are currently under contract for $170 million to help determine the capabilities of these complex military aircraft that serve the unique requirements of the President of the United States," Boeing said.

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg told Trump the cost of the airplane could be lowered if the U.S. Air Force changed its requirements and the issue would likely be resolved without a major dispute.

The planned 747-8 planes can fly direct from Washington to Hong Kong, 1,000 miles (1,600 km) farther than the current Air Force One.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters the contracting arrangements for replacements were "rather complicated" and said the recommendations for upgrades had been made by national security experts.

The budgeted costs for the replacement program are $2.87 billion for the fiscal years 2015 through 2021, just on research and development, testing and evaluation.

A March 2016 report from the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, estimated the cost of the overall program at $3.21 billion, including the purchase of two aircraft.

But the GAO estimated the costs for research and development would be lower, at just under $2 billion. If the GAO report used the same Air Force estimate for research and development, then its estimate would be around $4 billion.

[DailyDiesel]

I come from the hometown of what used to be Carriers base of operations and manufacturing. In 2001 they decided to close up shop and head to some location in the pacific. No amount of tax relief was accepted, in fact Carrier turned down nearly 20 million in various proposals citing "global realities" that made any form of incentives not worth it in the long run. If I was a worker in Indiana I wouldn't count on these jobs lasting for more than a decade.

Also, coming from the land (NY) that invented tax incentives as a way to keep or lure businesses I say good luck to Trump. Everyone, and I mean everyone, will now be coming with their hand out. It's corporate welfare in its truest form. Not a single project can be built in NY now with some form of tax break, PILOT agreement or some other BS. Many of these companies seeking help could easily afford to self finance but why bother when you can make an empty threat and have the taxpayers pick up the risk?

 

 

Edited December 7, 2016 by DailyDiesel

[david wild]

Well before you dismiss what will be the best time in recent memory, Mr. Trump has not even been sworn in yet, but is doing more than Obama ever did has in what is good for the country and not his friends like soros and the welfare recipient, go head speak poorly now, you may be right but I suspect you will live to eat your words.    

[TeamsterGrrrl]

David, you seem to have a lot invested in this Trump guy. Prepare to be disappointed...

[DailyDiesel]

35 minutes ago, david wild said:

Well before you dismiss what will be the best time in recent memory, Mr. Trump has not even been sworn in yet, but is doing more than Obama ever did has in what is good for the country and not his friends like soros and the welfare recipient, go head speak poorly now, you may be right but I suspect you will live to eat your words.    

I am not dismissing. I am simply stating that the tactic used to save jobs in Indiana is one that has been used countless times across the country, often with questionable results. I really hope it works for those workers in Indiana in the long run. I really do.

[DailyDiesel]

31 minutes ago, TeamsterGrrrl said:

David, you seem to have a lot invested in this Trump guy. Prepare to be disappointed...

It's funny, when Obama was first elected 8 years ago he had a similar group of rabid supporters and a similar amount of distractors. Now those two sides have exchanged positions and neither can remember what it was like to be the other group. The more things change. The more they stay the same.

[mowerman]

So far he's pretty impressive let's keep it going multimillionaire we know at least he's not going to suck the system and sit on his hands like we've seen too many times.👍👍👍bob

[grayhair]

On 12/6/2016 at 5:29 PM, kscarbel2 said:

That said, Trump is flip-flopping on his campaign promises faster than a PEZ dispenser can shoot out candy.

I think we could properly be criticizing once he actually takes office and does something in an official capacity.  IMO

[david wild]

I will not be let down by Mr. Trump he is not Obama, he is a business man, Obama never created a job or earned a living other than giving away other peoples money, Mr. Trump has done both earned a living and created jobs/wealth, he understands the problems we face, Obama lives in a world of rose colored glasses, Mr. Trump is surrounding himself with best there is, Obama surrounded himself with everyone he owed a favor, you cannot even compare the two, it will be you who will be sorely disappointed when the Donald makes good on his promise to make America great again, because of Obama we been not very great at anything other than giving away our country.  So let's put on our big boy and big girl panties and go to work. 

[hurstscrambler]

1 hour ago, david wild said:

I will not be let down by Mr. Trump he is not Obama, he is a business man, Obama never created a job or earned a living other than giving away other peoples money, Mr. Trump has done both earned a living and created jobs/wealth, he understands the problems we face, Obama lives in a world of rose colored glasses, Mr. Trump is surrounding himself with best there is, Obama surrounded himself with everyone he owed a favor, you cannot even compare the two, it will be you who will be sorely disappointed when the Donald makes good on his promise to make America great again, because of Obama we been not very great at anything other than giving away our country.  So let's put on our big boy and big girl panties and go to work. 

Change starts with the man in the mirror dude.  Andy

[kscarbel2]

1 hour ago, david wild said:

I will not be let down by Mr. Trump he is not Obama, he is a business man, Obama never created a job or earned a living other than giving away other peoples money, Mr. Trump has done both earned a living and created jobs/wealth, he understands the problems we face, Obama lives in a world of rose colored glasses, Mr. Trump is surrounding himself with best there is, Obama surrounded himself with everyone he owed a favor, you cannot even compare the two, it will be you who will be sorely disappointed when the Donald makes good on his promise to make America great again, because of Obama we been not very great at anything other than giving away our country. 

David, you know that we share a lot of thoughts. There's little doubt that your heart is in the right place.

But let's step out of the box and look at this realistically. None of us know Trump, Obama or the people that surround them personally. We've never even met them or been in the same room with them.

None of us has any real idea of Trump's prowess in business (public record states he declared bankruptcy 4 times), or what Obama is really like.

I myself have never been able to peg a person without having spent time with them in person.

All we know is what the controlled news tells us, which we're unable to confirm first hand.  

And about Obama, you know that our country began sliding down the slope LONG before you ever heard of him. He is not the original architect of our national woes.

[41chevy]

Obama was a divider both by race and party. Anyone who has witnessed events over the past 8 years must have seen that. Showed distaste for Christians, Republicans and the Constitution.

[david wild]

Obama came in to office with the BS of open and honest government, he was going to be the president for all, instead he went on a apology tour and gave away the farm, doubled the debt and doubled the food stamp program, more free programs just to buy votes, Oh and ruined our health care system. yeah I'm not worried about Mr. Trump. 

[RowdyRebel]

After 8 years of Obama, along with the implementation of Obamacare, the average life expectancy for a person born today is shorter than it has been in years past. This marks the first decline in life expectancy since 1993.

[41chevy]

1 hour ago, david wild said:

Obama came in to office with the BS of open and honest government, he was going to be the president for all, instead he went on a apology tour and gave away the farm, doubled the debt and doubled the food stamp program, more free programs just to buy votes, Oh and ruined our health care system. yeah I'm not worried about Mr. Trump. 

A side from his people using the racist card when we didn't vote for him, support his agenda or laud his brilliant ideas, he did nothing , nothing to earn my respect. I will respect his office but not the man.

Well here is a partial list of his accomplishments, omitting the ransom of Bowe Bergdahl, bowing to Foreign Leaders, bankrupting coal, Waters of the U.S.  U.N. Agreement, lack of respect for people he placed in harms way... rushing off to play golf as he nodded acknowledgement as he rushed past the Murdered Americans being off loaded near his plane. Lets not for get his memorable "you didn't built that" speech, you can keep your doctors and insurance, his "if I had a son" comment and his self admitted proudest moment when he ignored his "line in the sand" and lastly his covert apology to the people of Japan for nuking them. Bush caused all of the above, as per Obama's "#1 rule for errors in judgement".

In his 2016 State of the Union address, President Obama summarized his achievements. That same night, the White House issued a press release touting Obama's accomplishments.
Now that he will be leaving, how well did these initiatives listed in the press release actually work out?

"Securing the historic Paris climate agreement."   The accord was never submitted to Congress as a treaty. It will be ignored by President-elect Trump.

"Achieving the Iran nuclear deal."  That "deal" was another effort to circumvent the treaty-ratifying authority of Congress. It has green-lighted Iranian aggression, and it probably ensured nuclear proliferation. Iran's violations will cause the new Trump administration to either scrap the accord or send it to Congress for certain rejection.

"Securing the Trans-Pacific Partnership."  Even Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton came out against this failed initiative. It has little support in Congress or among the public. Opposition to the TTP helped fuel the Trump victory.

"Reopening Cuba."   The recent Miami celebration of the death of Fidel Castro, and Trump's victory in Florida, are testimonies to the one-sided deal's unpopularity. The United States got little in return for the Castro brothers' propaganda coup.

"Destroying ISIL" and "dismantling al Qaeda."   We are at last making some progress against some of these "jayvee" teams, as Obama once described the Islamic State. Neither group has been dismantled or destroyed. Despite the death of Osama bin Laden, the widespread reach of radical Islam into Europe and the United States remains largely unchecked.

"Ending combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq."  The Afghan war rages on. The precipitous withdrawal of all U.S. peacekeepers in 2011 from a quiet Iraq helped sow chaos in the rest of the Middle East. We are now sending more troops back into Iraq.

"Closing Guantanamo Bay."  This was an eight-year broken promise. The detention center still houses dangerous terrorists.

"Rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific region." The anemic "Asia Pivot" failed. The Philippines is now openly pro-Russian and pro-Chinese. Traditional allies such Japan, Taiwan and South Korea are terrified that the U.S is no longer a reliable guarantor of their autonomy.

"Supporting Central American development."  The once-achievable promise of a free-market, democratic Latin America is moribund. Dictatorships in Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua remain impoverished bullies. All have been appeased by the U.S.

"Strengthening cybersecurity."  Democrats claimed Russian interference in the recent election. If true, it is proof that there is no such thing as "cybersecurity." The WikiLeaks releases, the hacked Clinton emails and the Edward Snowden disclosures confirm that the Obama administration was the least cybersecure presidency in history.

"Growing the Open Government Partnership".  The NSA scandal, the hounding of Associated Press journalists, some of the WikiLeaks troves and the corruption at the IRS all reveal that the Obama administration was one of the least transparent presidencies in memory.

"Honoring our nation's veterans."  Obama's Department of Veteran Affairs was mired in scandal, and some of its nightmarish VA hospitals were awash in disease and unnecessary deaths. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki was forced to resign amid controversy. Former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano apologized for issuing an offensive report falsely concluding that returning war vets were liable to join right-wing terrorist groups.

"Making sure our politics reflect America's best."   The 2016 presidential campaign was among the nastiest on record. WikiLeaks revealed unprecedented collusion between journalists and the Clinton campaign. Earlier, Obama had been the first president in U.S. history to refuse public campaign money. He was also the largest fundraiser of private cash and the greatest collector of Wall Street money in the history or presidential campaigns.

"Protecting voting rights."   Riots followed the recent presidential election. Democrats, without merit, joined failed Green Party candidate Jill Stein's recount in key swing states they lost. Progressives are berating the constitutionally guaranteed Electoral College. State electors are being subject to intimidation campaigns.

"Strengthening policing."  Lethal attacks on police are soaring.

"Promoting immigrant and refugee integration and citizenship awareness."  The southern U.S. border is largely unenforced. Immigration law is deliberately ignored. The president's refugee policy was unpopular and proved a disaster, as illustrated by the Boston Marathon bombings, the San Bernardino attack, the Orlando nightclub shooting and the recent Ohio State University terrorist violence.

Note what Obama's staff omitted:  his doubling of the U.S. debt in eight years, the unworkable and soon-to-be-repealed Affordable Care Act, seven years of anemic economic growth, record labor nonparticipation, failed policy resets abroad, and a Middle East in ruins.

Why, then, has the president's previously sinking popularity suddenly rebounded in 2016?

Obama disappeared from our collective television screens, replaced by unpopular candidates Clinton and Trump, who slung mud at each other and stole the limelight.
As a result, Obama discovered that the abstract idea of a lame-duck Obama was more popular than the cold reality of eight-year President Obama.
 Obama now departs detached and without a legacy.

 

[DailyDiesel]

5 hours ago, RowdyRebel said:

After 8 years of Obama, along with the implementation of Obamacare, the average life expectancy for a person born today is shorter than it has been in years past. This marks the first decline in life expectancy since 1993.

It's easy and funny to point the finger at President Obama and blame him for this one but in reality the reason is much more complex and doesn't support the claim.

The death rate for White Americans has been increasing by nearly 1/2 a percent each year since 1998. (Thanks Clinton and Bush the II) 

It would be nice to pin this all on Obama but generally people are leading more unhealthy life styles than ever before. An increase in accidental poisoning  (drug overdose) increased 13% last year along with a 6% jump in automobile related deaths. Chronic diseases of the liver continue to rise along with the usual suspects of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc. Among the lower educated the rates of death are highest. The good news, infant mortality rates remain unchanged.

If anything, the fact the life expectancy rate just dropped highlights the need for increased healthcare for ALL regardless of income and education. Hell, it points the finger solidly at education reform too!

Anyway, since Trump has stated himself that he thinks much of Obamacare is good and plans to keep large sections of it, I guess this number won't be changing anytime soon.

Bed time reading if your interested.

http://www.pnas.org/content/112/49/15078

[kscarbel2]

“Trump doesn't take kindly to anyone criticizing him -- not journalists (whom he refers to as "dishonest," "disgusting" and "scum" when they take him on), not corporate executives, not entertainers who satirize him, not local labor leaders, no one.

The President-elect's tendency to go after people who criticize him by sending false and provocative statements to his 17 million twitter followers not only imperils those people and their organizations, it also poses a clear and present danger to our democracy.

Democracy depends on the freedom to criticize those in power without fear of retribution. Presidents and President-elects throughout history have refrained from publicly condemning individual citizens for criticizing them. That occurs in two-bit dictatorships intent on stamping out dissent.

No President or President-elect has ever before bypassed the media and spoken directly to large numbers of his followers to disparage individual citizens who criticize him. That occurred in the fascist rallies of the 1930s. America came closest to this in the 1950s when Sen. Joseph McCarthy wrecked the lives of thousands of American citizens whom he arbitrarily and carelessly claimed were communists.

McCarthy's reign of terror ended when a single man asked him publicly, during the televised hearings McCarthy was conducting, "Have you no decency, sir?" In that moment, Americans began to see McCarthy for the tyrant he was. McCarthy's assistant was Roy Cohn, an attorney who perfected the art of character assassination. Roy Cohn was also one of Donald Trump's mentors.

Trump's capricious use of power to denigrate and even endanger his critics must end. He is not yet our President. When he becomes so, and has far greater power, our freedom and our democracy could be gravely jeopardized.

We must join together to condemn these acts. We must ask: Has Trump no decency?”

Robert Reich, former secretary of labor

.