The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Like all presidential hopefuls, Donald Trump made his fair share of promises leading up to the 2016 election. The way Trump has been talking post-election, he's made it sound as though he's kept every promise he's ever made, even those he didn't make. Let's look back at some of Trump's biggest campaign promises, shall we? 1) Free Border Wall - Sure, he's increasingly refrained from saying that Mexico would pay for it, but whatever happened to that big, beautiful border wall? He shut down the government for a record 35 days in an attempt to get Congress to include funding for it in a budget deal. That didn't work. He's since declared a national emergency over the matter, only to see his Republican brethren join Democrats in shooting it down. Even the layout of the wall has changed more times than Trump can count (yes, over 2). It went from a "big, beautiful wall, the likes of which we've never seen" to "a barrier, wall, thingofam...

Ted Cruz is at it again - taking a stand for the American people against the big bad government! On Sunday, the Texas senator posted this tweet on his Twitter page: "Federal govt has no business sticking its nose in education. We need to repeal every word of Common Core! #nhpolitics #MakeDCListen" What's the problem with that message? Oh, just the fact that Common Core, or the Common Core State Standards Initiative, isn't actually federal law. So, best of luck repealing any word of the nonexistent Common Core federal law, let alone every word, since it doesn't exist as such, Mr. Cruz. Given the Texas senator's seeming desire to overturn federal laws that don't exist, expect him to post the following tweets in the future: - "We need to repeal every word of the Baby's Barred From Driving Tractors law!" - "Every word of the Pit Bulls Dog Fighting Without AK-47s law needs to be repealed!" - "You know what law needs to b...

It seems like the #1 thing Congressional Republicans (or potential Congressional Republicans) are saying with regard to potentially taking control of the Senate today is, "We're going to repeal Obamacare!" Sorry to disappoint them and their followers, but that's not going to happen. First off, whether or not the GOP attains control of the Senate, they won't have enough members for a filibuster-proof majority. Also, President Obama is still the president, so he will veto any and all attempts to repeal his landmark healthcare law. In order for Congress to override a president's veto, they'd need 2/3 of the vote in both the House and the Senate, which won't happen. So, once again, I'm sorry to disappoint some people, but if you truly believe the "We'll-repeal-Obamacare-if-we-win-control-of-the-Senate," it's not going to happen anytime soon. The soonest it could potentially happen would be in 2017, if a Republican wins the 2016 pr...

Wisconsin enacted a law in 2009 which gave employees, especially women, more power to challenge pay discrimination to the state courts. With the law in place, gender pay gap in the state improved from 36th to 24th in the country (approximately $0.78 to the $1.00 that men made). In 2012, however, Republican Governor Scott Walker and the Republican-controlled state legislature decided to repeal this law. Now with Governor Walker in a tight race with Democratic challenger Mary Burke, whom has been attacking him on this very repeal, Walker has decided to respond via Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, where she says the following in an ad: "That's why I find it so insulting that Mary Burke would say that we're trying to make it harder for women to earn equal pay. Under Scott Walker, workplace discrimination will always be illegal, for any reason. Mary Burke wants to create more opportunities to sue. We want to create more opportunities for women to succeed." Wh...

In July of 2012, James Holmes killed 12 people and injured 70 others when he opened fire in a Colorado movie theater for a premiere of the film Dark Knight Rises . Holmes had brought with him the following - all of which he purchased off the Internet: Ballistic gear, firearms, and high-capacity magazine clips (100-round clips) - all which totaled over $15,000. Colorado has since passed a law banning high-capacity clips, and yesterday, a discussion took place among two State Senators with regard to whether or not the new law should be repealed. The conversation between Senators Irene Aguilar (Democrat) and Bernie Herpin (Republican) went like this: Aguilar: "My understanding is that James Holmes bought his 100-round capacity magazine legally. So in fact, this law would have stopped James Holmes from purchasing a 100-round magazine. I was wondering if you agree with me." Herpin: "Perhaps, James Holmes would not have been able to purchase a 100-round magazine. As it tur...

Remind me to not wear a hoodie in Florida. In fact, remind me to not travel to the state until the Stand Your Ground law is repealed. Trying to one-up George Zimmerman, Claudius Smith of Orlando recently shot and killed 21-year-old Ricardo Sanes, who was running away from Smith. Sanes had climbed the fence and gone into the neighbors' yard when Smith followed, shot, and killed him. After the incident, Smith told the authorities that he felt threatened, because Sanes' "pants were falling down" and his hands were in the pockets of, you guessed it, a hoodie. He's hoping the state's Stand Your Ground law applies to him and no charges come his way as a result. I'm not going to talk about this very in-depthly again, but it boggles my mind how Claudius Smith could come out of this without any charges being placed against him. Let's look at this from a rather simplistic angle: A) Ricardo Sanes was running across Claudius Smith's yard, climbed the f...

Want to hear (or read, I suppose) something funny? Republican Idaho Representative Raul Labrador recently made the following statement: "It's absolutely false that the GOP sought an Obamacare repeal. We have never asked for a full repeal of Obamacare..." Yet the following press release can be found on the representative's own website: "Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) announced today that he is a cosponsor of a resolution introduced by Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA) to fund the government for Fiscal year 2014 while fully delaying and defunding Obamacare until 2015. The Graves resolution - which has 59 cosponsors - would prevent a government shutdown from taking place after September 30, 2013, when current funding for the government expires. 'If there's any single issue that can unite House Republicans and has the strong support of the American people, it's getting rid of ObamaCare,' said Rep. Labrador." No, the GOP never wanted to repeal Obamacare; ...

I don't understand the Republican Party's hardcore efforts to repeal Obamacare for a number of reasons. First off, it's less likely to occur than Leonardo DiCaprio starring in a sequel to Titanic . Not only do Democrats control the Senate, but also the Oval Office with a guy by the name of Obama.  Another reason why I don't understand Congressional Republicans' seeming obsession with repealing Obamacare is this. Even though the law has yet to be fully implemented, GOPers have declared that the law has failed. That would be like me saying that an expanded background check gun control law has failed even though it hasn't passed through Congress. If Republicans truly feel that Obamacare will fail, which would hurt the Democratic Party's chances in coming elections, why are they so bound and determined to repeal the law before it has been fully implemented? Is that because they're truly worried about people's healthcare or because they're worried ...

Trying to repeal Obamacare 40 times - $50 million Defense-spending - $595 billion Salary of House members - $174,000 Steve King, Michele Bachmann, and Louie Gohmert - Worthless There are some things in life money can buy - for everything else, there's Basta*dCard.

Ever since the bill's passage on October 26th of 2001, I have felt that the Patriot Act has been ill-named and in need of definite reform. Unfortunately, as recent news has showcased, the Obama Administration has carried on with the law in a very similar manner to the previous administration, and while I have defended the president on both Benghazi and the IRS, I can do no such thing when it comes to the AP leaks or the continued spying by the NSA. That's not change I can believe in right there. In case readers are unfamiliar with the nearly 12-year old law, here is a list of some of the most controversial portions of it that I feel are in need of reform: - "Section 215 of the Patriot Act authorizes the government to obtain 'any tangible thing' relevant to a terrorism investigation, even if there is no showing that the 'thing' pertains to suspected terrorists or terrorist activities. This provision is contrary to traditional notions of search and seizur...

If at first you don't succeed, try 35 more times without success, and then try again. That has been the Republican mindset in the House of Representatives regarding Obamacare. Yesterday, the Republican-controlled House voted to repeal Obamacare for the 37th time. Considering Democrats control the Senate by a 55-45 margin and the president is a Democrat who signed the bill into law, there's less chance for the bill to be repealed prior to 2016 than there is of a marijuana smoker saying he felt a sudden burst of energy after smoking a bong while listening to the Grateful Dead.  So why on earth did Republicans feel the need to vote for a 37th repeal of the healthcare reform law? House Speaker John Boehner answered that question as follows: "We've got 70 new members who have not had the opportunity to vote on the president's health care law. Frankly, they've been asking for an opportunity to vote on it, and we're going to give it to them." Well, ...

This is getting to be ridiculous. I really can't wait for when we draw closer to the election and the Obama team decides to expose Mitt Romney's outrageous flip-flops. He's at it again, with regard to healthcare reform (again). Let's think about this for a moment... Mitt Romney passed what has been termed Romneycare when he was Governor of Massachusetts. Obamacare, as it's been called, is pretty much identical to the before-mentioned Romneycare, yet the Republican presidential candidate said his first order of business, should he be elected, would be to repeal Obamacare. On NBC yesterday, Romney said that "there are a number of things that I like" about Obamacare - you know, that bill he said he'd repeal right when he stepped into office as the new president should he win the election. He claimed to liking the fact that, under Obamacare, people with pre-existing conditions won't be rejected for healthcare coverage and also a portion of it which...

Since January of 2011, when the Republican Party took over control of the House, they have attempted to repeal what is now known as Obamacare 33 times, which has cost taxpayers an estimated $50 million. I find this almost comical in a way, because one main reason why Republicans claim they want to repeal Obamacare is because it wastes taxpayers' money. So, let me get this straight - it's more beneficial to Americans for the GOP to spend their/our tax dollars attempting to repeal a bill which has absolutely no chance of being fully repealed at this time (more of a symbolic notion) than it is for our tax dollars to be spent to help insure the uninsured and decrease the price of premiums? The Democrats still hold control of the Senate. While Republicans know full well that any effort to repeal Obamacare in the House will pass, it will fail in the Senate. Sure, Republicans can use this as a talking point in the coming elections, saying they've tried to repeal Obamacare, yet d...

Make no mistake about it, I'm voting for Barack Obama in November. If Mitt Romney were the same guy he passed himself off as Governor of Massachusetts, I'd give him a fair listen and would consider voting for the guy. I would still likely vote for Obama, but this time around, I'm not even going to consider voting for Romney. He's now owned by the far-right. He's flip-flopped more times than Richard Pryor cursed. I just can't take him seriously, because I have no idea what to believe - which Mitt Romney is he? In light of the Supreme Court's healthcare ruling today, I heard many talking heads (a good chunk of them Republicans) say they'd recommend Romney go after Obamacare and say his first order of business is to repeal it (GOP would need 60 votes in the Senate, so that's not going to happen). I personally think it'd be pretty stupid for Romney to do this. While the economy has stabilized under President Obama, it has not improved dramatically,...