Trump horrors at the Departments of Agriculture and Energy you won't believe!!!

The Trump administration madhouse is in charge, and you won't believe how bad it really is. 

Here's the amazing story of a few Trump administration appointees, unqualified in every way, bumbling their way to a disaster just off the horizon (click "pop-out" icon in upper right corner):

The Moneyball author is writing a series of articles for Vanity Fair about President Trump's picks to lead federal agencies — and the consequences of those appointments. Michael Lewis' articles about how the Trump administration is changing the federal government on the ground level are published in Vanity Fair.

LEWIS: There's a theme in the sort of risks that the Trump administration are taking by putting people who are not suited for jobs into the jobs. And one of the themes is that they're - a willingness to tax the distant future for the political present because the distant future really doesn't have a voice at the table.

...Because this happened in every place. In the energy department, I mean, just to quote one of the civil servants, they said they ran around insulting people. And one of the things that has occurred to me as I've been wandering around the government is that there's, like, a distinction that needs to be made within the world of Trump appointees, and that there are a whole bunch of people - like Sam Clovis in the science department at Agriculture or like Rick Perry at Department of Energy - who have exhibited such ignorance of the task that they are - been handed to do that the responsible response to being asked to do it should've been, you know, I'm not qualified.

Rick Perry said onstage - call for the elimination of the Department of Energy, and I couldn't remember its name. So the feedback - what I got out of career civil servants is, one, it was an insult that he was even put in the job in the first place. Two, he wasn't making any great effort to actually get to know the place, though he was doing lots of public appearances.

So he - and seemed to view the job as largely a ceremonial job, where he would tour and tweet about it, tour a national laboratory, for example, that's - and tweet about it. Or he was making - he's been - there's been lots of foreign travel and tweeting about it but no, like, organic interaction with this department he's meant to run. Now, that may have changed since I wrote my piece. I don't know. But the fact that the people in the building who are serious, committed civil servants are offended by the person who's been put on top of them is - it's not a good sign.

Department of Agriculture: Nine months after they’d arrived a man I’d been told was the best informed of all the department’s career employees about the haphazard transition couldn’t tell me how many of these people were still roaming the halls. And what fingerprints they left were characteristically bizarre. They sent certified letters to several senior career civil servants, for instance, telling them they were being reassigned—from jobs they were good at to jobs they knew little about. “Too close to the Obama administration is what people are saying,” noted one U.S.D.A. career staffer. They instructed the staff to stop using the phrase “climate change.” They removed the inspection reports on businesses that abused animals—roadside circuses, puppy mills, research labs—from the department’s Web site. When reporters from National Geographic contacted the U.S.D.A. to ask what was going on with animal-abuse issues, “they told us all of this information was public, except now you had to FOIA it,” said Rachael Bale. “We asked for the files, and they sent us 1,700 completely blacked-out pages.”

Rick Perry doesn't see uninsured Texans, he "keeps score" by making health care "accessible," not affordable.

Did you ever have a bad transmission? Mechanics are accessible and ready to fix the problem.

Did you ever need immediate medical care? Doctors and hospitals are accessible and ready to help stop the pain, even save your life.

The latter example explains the simple Republican model for health care; "accessibility."

In one of the most stunning examples yet of tortured logic, Rick Perry says it's not about "forcing someone to buy insurance," it's about health care being "accessible." All that complicated stuff about paying insurance-deductibles-copays, that's not his problem, or how Republicans "keeps score."

It's the process, not the outcome. The party that once argued mandatory insurance to weed out freeloaders, is now saying just the opposite, and blissfully jacking the cost of premiums through the roof for everyone else. TPM:

"Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace on Sunday pressed former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) on his decision not to embrace Obamacare. Wallace noted that Texas had the highest uninsured rate in the country.

"More than 1 in 5 Texans didn’t have health coverage. And yet, you refused to set up a state exchange under Obamacare, you refused to expand Medicaid. I mean, is that looking out for the little guy, when 21 percent of Texans didn’t have health insurance?"

Perry was unmoved, because it really came down to semantics, a word game about the process. Perry doesn't use saving lives as a way to "keep score."

Perry: "If how you keep score is how many people you force to buy insurance, well, then I would say that that’s how you keep score. We make access to health care the real issue, we passed the most sweeping tort reform in the nation. It’s not about whether you force somebody to buy insurance, it’s whether Texans have access to good health care."

Insurance, and buying it, isn't Perry's problem. He's rationalized away what makes for-profit health care accessible, money. The U.S. system forces responsible people to buy insurance, or suffer the consequences, like being turned away, going bankrupt or die:

Wallace: "I understand that, sir, but don’t you, as the governor for 14 years, don’t you feel some responsibility when 21 percent of the people in your state didn’t have health insurance?" 

Perry: "But that’s not how we keep score. I think it’s a fallacy to say access to health care is all about insurance. What we happen to say in the state of Texas is we’re going to try to make as accessible as we can good quality health care."

Accessibility that's just beyond the reach of 21 percent of the state's citizens.

Gov. Rick Perry says Health Care should be "our decision." Who's?

Think about it, Texas has the biggest uninsured population in the country. Gov. Perry says health care should be "our decision," and not some government bureaucrats. But as a government bureaucrat, he's forced the most people in his state to be uninsured. "Access" to health care means people can be rushed to the emergency room and get treatment. They may go bankrupt or die, but they do have access. This is a companion piece to something Rush Limbaugh said:

Rick Perry ad Parodies....

Perry's Flat Tax Plan a Give-a-way to the Rich. Surprised?

Frum Forum is a conservative news site that posts thoughtful points of view that won’t make you roll your eyes or see red. Many times it’s written without the reckless BS bandied about by the Republican Tea Party.  

That’s why this scathing assessment of Rick Perry’s idiotic flat tax plan should be taken seriously. It's really just a lower tax option for the rich, while everyone else stays on the old tax system.

Rick Perry’s proposal to make his flat-rate tax plan optional seems like a political master-stroke … Nice as this sounds, however, it actually undermines the simplification that is supposed to come from a flat tax.

The Perry Plan, by its very nature, actually increases compliance costs. Everybody will have to fill out two complete tax returns: one under the current system, the another under Perry’s new system.  (They’ll only file whichever one shows the lower liability.) Base broadening, the crux of Ronald Reagan’s 1986 tax reform, is also absent: nobody who avoids all (or almost all) taxes today will have to pay them. Not a single individual or corporation that gets off without taxes today will pay a penny more.

The plan also seems unlikely to do much for investment. Although lower taxes, all other things being equal, will encourage more investment, the flat corporate rate of 20 percent is actually only a smidgen lower than the median “effective” rate of 22 percent that PricewaterhouseCoopers found in its extensive international comparison of corporate tax structures. Most business enterprises won’t see a big enough cut in taxes to consider the U.S. a much better place to invest.

The only real winners under the Perry plan seem to be very high income individuals who earn $700,000 per year and up and therefore have most of their income taxed at the 38 percent rate. They’ll end up a lot better off. The rest of the world–including most businesses–don’t really get much at all out of Perry’s plan.

All Rick Perry needs now is a Debate coach and Class, says his wife.

What in gods name was Rick Perry thinking letting his wife, Anita, whine and make excuses for his floundering performance during the recent debates. Her message proved this guy is completely unprepared and "still learning" how to debate. So sad....

Antia Perry: "He's never had a debate class, nor a debate coach, in his life that I know of....."

The Best GOP Presidential Debate Analysis from Colbert.

Hitching a ride on the Rick PArry bandwagon...

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Conservatives Love Perry; "He's telling the truth." And what they believe is simply...the truth.

"Search your feelings, you know it to be true." - Darth Vader

That was my reaction to Luntz's conservative focus groups reaction to Rick Perry and Romey during the debate. The group felt Perry was being truthful.

Social Security a Ponzy scheme? Of course not. Social Security is saved and invested in Treasury Bonds. In a Ponzi scheme, however, there is no investment. So Perry is wrong right out of the gate.

The Luntz audience believes the BS that our safety nets won't be there. The truth is, conservatives would break the social promise, where Democrats would find a revenue stream to keep them healthy. That's why they feel Perry is just telling the truth. People need to hear their truth, the one where they would default on Social Security. I guarantee you'll be screaming at the monitor if you watch and listen to the audience comments.



I like the woman's comment, "He's telling us the truth about everything he says." WOW! This is the mind set of Republican voters. Wouldn't you love to pull their Social Security right now.

Saying Social Security won’t be there in the future is a demagogic scare tactic the conservative mind has bought into hook, line and sinker. But it's much easier to believe that, then understand it.

According to Life Inc., “Social Security is much like many other public and private pension systems that operate throughout the country, and the world. Critics of the Social Security system also argue that the government is “borrowing” money from the trust because it holds a large surplus of Treasury bonds. But any pension fund, insurance company or other financial entity with future obligations has to set aside money for future claims. U.S. Treasuries are one of the safest places to put that surplus.”

But only the government’s financial entity is bad...because? According to the ultra conservative Washington Examiner: “Only three workers pay in to Social Security now for every one beneficiary.” Only? Sounds like it's doing well. The Daily Koz wrote: 

When Peter Coy, the Bloomberg Businessweek Economics Editor, appeared on "Washington Journal," (he) concluded that cuts would be needed to Social Security … C-SPAN moderator Susan Swain pointed out that Coy's chart showed a long-term surplus for Social Security of $22 trillion. Coy confirmed as accurate her interpretation of the chart and, after some stumbling, admitted that, "The trust fund is not the crucial issue.”

Susan Swain: “illustration you have here...social security...taxes..is, uh...let's see...one side is revenue and one side is debt. It shows social security in a surplus. Right?  In what it receives....132 in versus 110 trillion?  Am I reading that correctly? [Coy responds, "Yeah."] So, people might...who argue social security should be set aside...we've paid into, it it's really solvent for right now. Why should that be part of the discussion?

COY:  That's a...That's a good point. The social security numbers are...the trust fund for Social Security is not the crucial issue.  That's why people say that Medicare is where the bigger problem...but,  Social Security...um...[is] probably going to have to have a higher...um...retirement age..but, you know...funny thing...I think...I think that's a good point you're making there, and I'm going to go back and look at that more closely for next week's story.

I loved that answer. Can we finally get the word out about this:

Perry said, “And people who are on Social Security today … they don't need to worry about anything.”

Its stunning Republicans continue to say that, because they are saying a revamped stripped down version of Social Security WILL BE SOMETHING RETIREES WILL HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IN THE FUTURE. Am I the only one hearing it this way?

Perry's Simpleton Base Loves Their Simple Leaders and Simple Answers. Who Doesn't love a good Execution?

Gov. Rick Perry is not just extreme, he's a tea party guy. Trash talkin' with fact free Texas style senselessness, Perry might have shocked the nation but not his low information voters.

Can someone convince Perry that Social Security isn't a ponzy scheme, and will be there in the future for young people today. It requires a little extra boost after 2037 or so, but that can be done by raising the cap. Doh! But for conservatives who have bought into the idea that it won't be there, a lie they now believe, Perry offers them an end to giving their money to someone else. Politifact, are you convinced now Republicans want to kill our social safety nets?

  

Jobs, jobs, jobs!!! Wait a minute, Perry is talking about any kind of job. Not like the ones we instantly think of to raise a family or take a vacation from. Perry's good with just...jobs, whatever.



Perry missed the Great Recession somehow, the one caused by supply side economics. Free market and deregulation failed. Even Alan Greenspan admitted as much. But Perry took the time to turn the tables, idiotically, and declared Keynesian economics a failure because it didn't pull the economy out of the pit the Republicans put it in fast enough.



And finally the most shocking but expected reaction by the paranoid, Second Amendment remedies ghouls that vote for the Republican Tea Party. You can always get a sick applause and a emphatic bunch of whoops and whistles at the mention of the death penalty. Brian Williams reacted by asking Perry...what was that all about? Perry of course think we're all blood thirsty psychopaths.

Perry challenges Obama with a slice of Real America...

Paul Fanlund/Cap Times put this Republican Tea Party list together that should bode well for job creation and the American Dream:

The governor of Texas has vaulted ahead in polls for the Republican presidential nomination in recent days by taking positions like these:
• Evolution is "just a theory that's out there."

• Scientific consensus on climate change is "all one contrived phony mess that is falling apart under its own weight."

• All top jobs in his administration would be filled by abortion foes.

• It's time to "turn America over to God" for Him to fix.

• Social Security is a "Ponzi scheme" and it and Medicare are unconstitutional.

• Gay Americans are "part of Satan."

• Actions by the Bush-appointed chairman of the Federal Reserve are "treasonous."

• President Obama is not sufficiently American or does not necessarily love his country.

Citizens sit and listen to Rick Perry tell them: End Social Security!! No objections?

It wasn't so long ago when tea party losers were demanding politicians keep their hands of Social Security and Medicare. Looks like their new "leader" has flipped their little minds. What else would explain the compliant quiet crowds listening to Perry. Melissa Harris-Perry:

Rick Perry isn't dumb, he's just got a southern accent? Nice try GOP.

Michael Steele on Rick Perry's misstatements to base: He's not talking to "those facts."

Michael Steele made what I think was one of the most honest statements yet about Republican voters. Both Chris Matthews and Ron Reagan seemed too stunned to respond for a few moments....

Perry the face of the real Republican Party?

Here's more insanity about the craziest candidate ever, and that's saying a lot after Palin and Bachmann.



Here's Chris Matthews, revealing the how Republicans will defend Perry:



More still from a state Democrat:



And the L.A. Times reporter turning up some interesting pay to play benefactors:

Rick Perry, according to Jim Hightower

Hearing Jim Hightower's description of Rick Perry, you'd have to wonder what corporate entity wouldn't hand this guy endless campaign funding. If you thought the tea party was about to do all big businesses dirty work, guess again, it's Perry. His simplified messages, sweeping generalizations and ultra folksyness is scary. What's odd is the lack of information out there for this long time governor and corporate toad.

But this is at least a start. More to come. Chris Hayes....

NY Times: In North Texas, companies are drilling under schools, airports and parks. Tens of thousands of rig jobs have been created and many residents have received thousands of dollars in lease sales and royalties. The oil and gas industry now delivers roughly $325 billion a year to the state, directly and indirectly. It brings in $13 billion in state tax receipts, or roughly 40 percent of the total, financing up to 20 percent of the state budget.

The unemployment rate is 8.2 percent, a full percentage point below the national rate but still higher than other boom states like North Dakota and Wyoming, and Texas has one of the highest percentages of workers who are paid the minimum wage and receive no medical benefits.

Still more:

NY Times: In an unpublished interview, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas told Fortune magazine that if he had been president in 2008, he wouldn’t have engaged in the financial rescue effort. Without the bailout, initiated by the Bush administration, we would not have a functioning economy today.

Mr. Perry also wants to repeal the 16th Amendment, thereby eliminating the income tax, which accounts for 80 percent of government revenue. Like his fellow aspirants, Mr. Perry has offered no analysis to explain how the government would function under his vision.

For the best list of all, check out Texas Watch on the "Texas Miracle." It's all there, and here's a sample:

Texas has the highest rate of workers paid at or below thefederal minimum wage and ourmedian hourly wage is 10% lower than the national average.  We are dead last in the percent of individuals withhealth insurance and are near the bottom in the percent of workers with employer-based health insurance.

As for workplace safety, nine Texans die on the job every week, making Texas thedeadliest state to work in, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  As a percentage of workers, we also have the highest rate of workplace fatalities among the 10 biggest states.  Also, with a quarter of workers without workers’ compensation coverage, we are last in workers’ compensation coverage, lagging far behind the rest of the country.

And home ownership?  Texas ranks near the bottom in the rate of home ownership, a fact that is exacerbated by our low personal credit scores, and high rate of subprime mortgages.  Plus, with the highest home insurance rates in the nation, more of our money is going to pad insurance company profits.

Republicans no longer have to compromise or care. Gov. Rick Perry leads movement by erasing constitutional boundaries.

I wasn't really following the possible candidacy of Rick Perry, until I read the following activities by this vocal supporter of the Constitution, who's also determined to blur the lines of our founding document because...he wants too. What Republicans have found is that there is no counter weight or push back from an opposing party anymore, no way to stop them from doing whatever they want. Whether Obama's debt compromise was good or bad, the overriding result was empowering a now unstoppable conservative agenda. 

NY Times: In April, as Texas reeled from wildfires and a drought, Gov. Rick Perry sought assistance from the federal government, but also from a higher power … asked the state to pray for rain, issuing an official proclamation that “I, Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Statutes of the State of Texas, do hereby proclaim the three-day period from Friday, April 22, 2011, to Sunday, April 24, 2011, as Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas.” Perry signed legislation requiring that women under the age of 18 get parental consent before having an abortion at a Fort Worth school run by an evangelical Christian church. Five weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Perry bowed his head and said “amen” as a Baptist pastor led a prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. The prayer was at a student assembly in a public middle school in East Texas.

Afterward, Mr. Perry said he had no problem ignoring the Supreme Court’s landmark 1962 ruling that barred organized prayer in public schools.

In Houston, thousands of people are expected to gather at Reliant Stadium for a Christian-themed prayer service that Mr. Perry created and promoted … emphasizing his Christian beliefs and blurring the line between church and state … The rally is being organized and financed by the American Family Association, an evangelical organization listed as an antigay hate group by the nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center.

“At 27 years old, I knew that I’d been called to the ministry,” Mr. Perry said “I’ve just always been really stunned by how big a pulpit I was going to have. I still am. I truly believe with all my heart that God has put me in this place at this time to do His will.”

But the no apologies Republican Party has finally realized that compromise no longer needs to be an issue, and pushing a pure faith based agenda is “no problem” because like Perry said, it’s okay to ignore any and all constitutional violations. 

President Rick Perry? Oh my god no! If you ever watch one Perry performance, this is it.

It’s all the talk. “Texas Governor Rick Perry is toying with a run for president.” But this is the best the Republican Party has to offer?

On just one issue, sex education, Perry fell apart in the recent interview below. His response is so shocking, that you’ll find yourself staring into space pondering the end of civilization. Only the most conservative voters could ignore intelligence as the first qualification for anyone seriously running for president. With the same Texas style verbal affliction we heard from Bush, Perry simply...believes what he wants to believe. 

At the end of this short interview, you won't believe what Perry compares sex eds "success" with. This is a real treasure: 

Huffington Post: When confronted with the dismal statistics during an October 15, 2010 televised interview with Texas Tribune reporter Evan Smith, Perry's response was to reaffirm that "abstinence works."

Texas lawmakers cut sex ed from two six-month courses to a single unit of "abstinence only" education. Teens in almost all high school grades were having more sex after undergoing the abstinence only program. By 2007, Texas had the highest teen birth rate in the nation.  By 2009, 94 percent of Texas schools, which at the time were educating more than 3.7 million students, were giving no sex ed whatsoever beyond "abstinence only," a curriculum that includes emphasizing that birth control doesn't work. But none of this seems to matter to Gov. Rick Perry.