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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: FJB who wrote (1077676)	7/12/2018 12:03:20 AM
From: sylvester80	1 Recommendation Recommended By Heywood40 Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1580266

Putin is pleased, comrade..Trump's barrage of attacks 'beyond belief,' reeling NATO diplomats say By Zachary Cohen, Michelle Kosinski and Barbara Starr, CNN Updated 0016 GMT (0816 HKT) July 12, 2018 edition.cnn.com Washington (CNN)NATO diplomats are dumbfounded by President Donald Trump's barrage of acidic rhetoric at the annual summit in Brussels on Wednesday. Trump came out brawling in his first public comments, accusing NATO ally Germany of being "a captive of Russia," calling members of the alliance "delinquent" in their defense spending and insisting they increase it "immediately." "It's like the world has gone crazy this morning," one senior European diplomat told CNN. "Trump's performance was beyond belief." The President's remarks sent officials scrambling for answers, triggered ripples of dismay among defense officials and alarmed members of Trump's own party enough that one worried aloud the President is trying to "tear down" the 29-member alliance. The Republican-controlled House, usually careful to stay in lockstep with Trump, passed a resolution to send a "strong message of support" for NATO. "This is very confusing," another senior European diplomat said. Referring to Trump's targeting of Germany, this envoy said, "the attacks before, and now this tremendous stuff today. It doesn't make any sense. We're still in the process of analyzing it." 'Punch our friends' Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker told CNN he was concerned that that Trump is trying to "tear down" NATO and " punch our friends in the nose." The Tennessee Republican said he supports the notion of getting NATO countries to increase their defense spending, but he said Trump's rhetoric is "damaging to us." House Speaker Paul Ryan said that he subscribes "to the view that we should not be criticizing our president while he is overseas, but let me say a couple of things. NATO is indispensable." Among NATO defense officials, there were quiet questions about how long US Defense Secretary James Mattis -- a former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and strong believer in alliances -- could stay on in Trump's administration. For the second year, Trump was throwing a tantrum at NATO and Mattis was having to clean up after him. Publicly, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and European leaders pushed back against Trump's blistering attacks on Germany and other partner nations, as they attempted to downplay notions that the alliance may be fracturing. "The strength of NATO is that despite these differences, we have always been able to unite around our core task to protect and defend each other because we understand that we are stronger together than apart," Stoltenberg told Trump over breakfast. Other NATO leaders emphasized their public support for the alliance, implicitly pushing back on Trump's attacks. Donald J. Trump ?@realDonaldTrump What good is NATO if Germany is paying Russia billions of dollars for gas and energy? Why are there only 5 out of 29 countries that have met their commitment? The U.S. is paying for Europe’s protection, then loses billions on Trade. Must pay 2% of GDP IMMEDIATELY, not by 2025. 10:07 AM - Jul 11, 2018 90.9K 44.8K people are talking about this Twitter Ads info and privacy British Prime Minister Theresa May used a press conference Wednesday to declare that "NATO is as vital to us today as it ever has been." At a time when Trump's provocative bluster increasingly raises questions about his commitment to NATO, May finished her sentence by declaring that "the UK's commitment to it remains as steadfast as ever." One NATO diplomat went as far as to credit Trump for spearheading discussions on burden-sharing -- ignoring the President's tendency to misrepresent statistics in order to bolster his argument. "Allies are spending more thanks to the President," the diplomat said. "Last year was the biggest increase in 25 years." But public reassurances about the strength of NATO have done little to ease the sense of unease that has been building among the US' closest allies, particularly as Trump continued to single out Germany. "What good is NATO if Germany is paying Russia billions of dollars for gas and energy? Why are there only 5 out of 29 countries that have met their commitment? The U.S. is paying for Europe's protection, then loses billions on Trade. Must pay 2% of GDP IMMEDIATELY, not by 2025," he tweeted Wednesday. The new German ambassador to the US conveyed some of the simmering unease in her country and beyond during a Wednesday interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, when he asked whether her country thinks Trump would honor Article 5, the alliance commitment to come to a member's aid if they're attacked. The only time it's been invoked was for the US, after the attacks of September 11, 2001. (LtoR) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, US President Donald Trump and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras pose for a family picture ahead of the opening ceremony of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) summit, at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, on July 11, 2018. (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images) The second time Blitzer asked Ambassador Emily Haber, she said, "I understand that all NATO members and all NATO countries stand by in a steadfast manner by Article 5." It took a third question from Blitzer - "so that is a yes?" - before Haber responded with a definitive "yes." "I believe that all NATO members stand by Article 5," Haber said. "No doubt was cast on the credibility of Article 5." Trump, despite his attacks on Germany, insisted to reporters in Brussels that he and Merkel have a "very, very good relationship." A third European diplomat said Trump may be targeting Germany and its chancellor in an attempt to win points at home with his base and to deflect attention from his own fawning treatment of Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of their summit in Helsinki on July 16. "Targeting Merkel, especially her immigration strategy in the past, is exactly what he wants to attack," the diplomat said, noting that Trump's previous criticism of the German leader's immigration policy has resonated with his own political base at home. "She has allowed in a lot of immigrants. He's found that these attacks work, and can produce a great deal of damage. Some will make this a big issue," the source added. 'Blaming others' "Second, the President is under attack himself for the way he treats Putin and the way he may treat Putin in Helsinki," this diplomat said, who suggested Trump's approach was "part of his strategy of blaming others." The situation only became more complicated later in the day when Trump suggested NATO leaders increase their defense spending to 4% -- doubling the 2% target that many NATO countries have yet to meet. "President Trump wants to see our allies share more of the burden and at a very minimum meet their already stated obligations," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed in a statement. But according to the latest numbers from NATO, the US doesn't even spend as much as Trump is calling on other countries to. Asked whether Trump had suggested allies raise their defense spending to 4% of GDP, Stoltenberg said, "I will focus on what we have agreed, and we have agreed on 2%, so let's start with that. We have a ways to go, but the good news is that we have started." 'Things can get nasty' A second senior European diplomat said Trump's 4% suggestion was "not good," highlighting concerns that the conflict over defense spending is fueling perceived cracks within NATO at a time when the alliance should be projecting strength -- particularly ahead of the President's upcoming summit with Putin. "The summit should send a strong signal to Putin, and not show strong differences between allies. We would prefer a different situation," a third senior European diplomat told CNN. "But we're not worried about it. We compare it to fights among families. Things can get nasty, but it's still a family," the diplomat added. A senior NATO diplomatic source said that alliance countries agree there needs to be a push for more defense spending, but warned that the group should be showing greater unity ahead of Trump's meeting with Putin. But the source added that NATO unity is essential as well, saying it will only "increase the President's negotiating leverage" with Putin. This NATO source suggested that Trump will go into his meeting with Putin with a stronger hand if the NATO alliance is also strong. CNN's Manu Raju, Jeremy Diamond, Sophie Tatum and Jim Acosta contributed reporting

To: FJB who wrote (1077676)	7/12/2018 4:46:26 AM
From: sylvester80	2 Recommendations Recommended By Celtictrader Heywood40 Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1580266

Controversial Justice Department Nominee With Russia Ties Wins Senate Confirmation; Brian Benczkowski could help oversee the Russia investigation despite his work for a Vladimir Putin-linked bank. PEMA LEVYJUL. 11, 2018 12:07 PM motherjones.com Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) talks with aide Brian Benczkowski on Capitol Hill in 2009. Harry Hamburg/AP Looking for news you can trust? Subscribe to our free newsletters. The Senate confirmed a top Justice Department official on Wednesday who could help oversee the Trump-Russia investigation, despite his own troubling connections to Russia and his close ties to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Brian Benczkowski, a former Senate aide to Sessions, was confirmed on a 51-48 vote to lead the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, a job that could give him sway over special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Several Senate Democrats have argued that Benczkowski should be disqualified due to previous work on behalf of a Russian bank with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and a general lack of experience in criminal law. “I don’t think in the history of the department there’s ever been anybody so ill-prepared” for this job, says Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who has been one of the chief agitators against Benczkowski’s nomination. He says Benczkowski has “barely set foot in a courtroom.” (Benczkowski has never prosecuted a case.) He continues, “So if the obvious reason for why you’d want him there is not evident, then you have to look for less obvious reasons.” Whitehouse posits several ways in which Benczkowski could undermine the Mueller investigation from his perch atop the Criminal Division, which would give him insight into the investigation. He could share information about the probe with Sessions, who recused himself from the investigation, or with President Donald Trump’s legal team. He could also slow down the investigation by delaying or denying any requests that come to his desk. And Whitehouse notes that the Trump administration is surely aware that the president could replace Rod Rosenstein with Benczkowski, since anyone confirmed by the Senate to any post can be temporarily appointed to other posts that typically require Senate confirmation. That would transfer oversight of the Russia investigation to him. “There are lots of nefarious explanations for why this guy at this time gets installed in a position with a window into the Mueller investigation,” he says. Other Democrats have voiced similar warnings. “The Benczkowski vote could mark a pivotal moment in the Russia investigation,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) tweeted Tuesday, as the vote on the nomination approached. “The warning signs are clear.” On Monday, Durbin, Whitehouse, and the other Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Trump asking him to withdraw Benczkowski’s nomination, arguing that Benczkowski cannot “credibly oversee the Division’s involvement in Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation.” Senator Dick Durbin ?@SenatorDurbin · 10 Jul Replying to @SenatorDurbin Benczkowski has no prosecutorial experience. He showed poor judgment by choosing to represent Russia’s Alfa Bank while he was seeking a DOJ job despite reports that Alfa was under criminal investigation. He won’t commit to recuse himself from Russia-related matters if confirmed. Senator Dick Durbin ?@SenatorDurbin Will Senate Republicans simply rubber stamp this nomination? The Benczkowski vote could mark a pivotal moment in the Russia investigation. The warning signs are clear. Read my letter here: pic.twitter.com/I3FbK26ZMJ 8:58 AM - Jul 10, 2018 561 469 people are talking about this Twitter Ads info and privacy For the past year, Democrats have raised these concerns about Benczkowski. He has virtually no criminal law experience and yet would lead the Justice Department’s criminal prosecutors. He was an aide to Sessions in the Senate and remains close to the attorney general. He led the Justice Department’s transition after Trump’s election and then asked Sessions for a job as a US attorney. In the meantime, he returned to private practice. In March 2017, Benczkowski took on Alfa Bank as a client. The bank, which is run by oligarchs with close ties to Putin, was part of a strange episode in the Trump-Russia scandal. As Mother Jones reported previously: In late October 2016, Slate reported that the bank and the Trump Organization had a high volume of connections between their computer servers. But the FBI had investigated the link and concluded there could be an innocuous explanation, according to the New York Times. Alfa Bank hired an outside firm, Mandiant, to study the data transmissions. With the limited data the firm was given, it found no evidence of substantive contact between the bank and the Trump Organization. But in the first months of 2017, Alfa Bank’s server again logged suspicious traffic potentially connected to the Trump Organization. This time, Alfa Bank turned to Kirkland & Ellis, where Benczkowski took the case. His job was to oversee a second investigation of the new server connections, which was conducted by a different forensics firm, and to bring the results to the FBI and Justice Department. Benczkowski was in the midst of this effort when he was nominated to lead the Criminal Division. At his confirmation hearing, Benczkowski promised to recuse himself from any matters relating to Alfa Bank for two years, the minimum required, but not from the ongoing Russia investigation. The report overseen by Kirkland & Ellis again found no evidence of contact between Alfa Bank and the Trump Organization. Democrats have argued that Benczkowski’s work for Alfa Bank, when he knew he might soon receive a Justice Department post, exhibited poor judgement. “The Senate does not know if Alfa Bank has been, or still is, under federal criminal investigation, nor do we know the full story behind Alfa Bank’s suspicious contacts with the Trump Organization during the 2016 campaign,” the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee stated in their letter to Trump this week. As part of his work on behalf of Alfa Bank, Benczkowski got involved with another piece of the Russia investigation: the Steele dossier, which compiled uncorroborated reports of Russian interference in the US elections. Many Republicans in Congress have attempted to discredit the dossier and its author, ex-British spy Christopher Steele. The dossier, much of which was published by BuzzFeed in January, contained allegations about Alfa Bank: According to the dossier, Putin has leverage over the bank’s owners and receives informal advice about the United States from two of the three oligarchs who run the bank, Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven. In his role as counsel for Alfa Bank, Benczkowski reviewed this portion of the dossier after it was published and advised Fridman and Aven on the viability of a defamation suit against BuzzFeed. Ultimately, the bank’s three owners did sue BuzzFeed, though Benczkowski’s firm did not represent them. During his confirmation hearing, Benczkowski agreed to recuse himself from matters related to Alfa Bank for two years, the minimum required, but declined to promise a recusal from the Russia investigation. Sessions had recused himself from the Russia investigation in March 2017 due to his ties to the Trump campaign. Democrats fear that Benczkowski could end up as a backchannel to share information about the investigation with the attorney general—a fear that a Justice Department spokeswoman has dismissed as “insulting and absurd.” It’s likely that the position of Criminal Division chief would provide him a window into the Russia probe as well as the investigations by Mueller and the US attorney’s office investigation into Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen: Justice Department official Stephen Boyd wrote to Whitehouse in December that special counsel regulations require Mueller to “‘consult with appropriate offices within the Department for guidance’” on the rules and procedures of the department. That suggests that Benczkowski could have significant insight into the investigation, and even some control over aspects of it. There is no special setup to wall off Mueller’s work from other components of the Justice Department, Boyd wrote. Mueller may have to seek approval for some actions through the same channels that a US attorney would, including from the criminal division. “[T]o ensure that information about the investigation is not disseminated more broadly than necessary, the Criminal Division has identified specific points of contact for the [special counsel’s office] with respect to various subject matters,” Boyd wrote. If confirmed, Benczkowski would have “no supervisory role with respect to the Special Counsel,” Boyd stated, but added, “it is possible that the [special counsel’s office] will seek approvals from the Criminal Division as required by statute, regulation, or policy.”

To: FJB who wrote (1077676)

7/12/2018 9:05:56 AM

From: locogringo

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FJB

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THANK YOU President Trump:

Income Tax Revenues Are Up 9% This Year — Is Trump Tax Cut Paying For Itself?

Investor´s Business Daily, by Staff

Supply-Side Economics: Democrats scoffed at Republicans who said the Trump tax cuts would at least partially pay for themselves through higher economic growth. But it looks like the GOP had it right all along, as revenues climb. The latest monthly budget report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office finds that revenues from federal income taxes were $76 billion higher in the first half of this year, compared with the first half of 2017. That´s a 9% jump, even though the lower income tax withholding schedules went into effect in February. The CBO says the gain "largely reflects increases in wages and salaries."

For the fiscal year as a whole — which started last October — all federal revenues are up by $31 billion. That's a 1.2% in increase over last year, the CBO says.

The Treasury Department, which issues a separate monthly report, says it expects federal revenues will continue to exceed last year's for the rest of the 2018 fiscal year.

But wait a minute. According to Democrats, the Trump tax cuts were supposed to blow a massive hole in the deficit.

Original Article