He was supposed to be the chair, right? Do we know who the 9 people on that oversight panel are supposed to be? Google did not immediately lead me to an easy answer.

I wonder what Trump didn't like about Fine. From reading on who he is, he seems to have built his reputation on political independence and investigating FBI abuse of surveillance powers. The latter seems like it should ingratiate Trump. Maybe not the former, as he seems unlikely to bend the knee to "loyalty" to Trump.

if he's not loyal to trump, trump will not like him.

All hail the king.

---

Long Chile was a silly place.

I thought I had something, but it was the OTHER Inspector General he fired on Friday for legally protecting a whistleblower I was thinking of.

My guess - based on my trying to burrow into Trump's mind (which is always a dangerous proposition on several levels) - is that after the Ukraine thing there's a new neuron in Trump's brain that's like a giant flashing neon sign: "IG BAD IG BAD IG BAD"

Let the corruption begin!

Begin? Corruption had been part and parcel since the Washington administration

It's not just a loyalty thing. He would have been an obstacle in Trump's path to the trough.

That's the easy answer that all of you Trump supporters who get all of you information from Fox like to use. You've got to pull your self away from Fox and take a long hard look at what you elected to me most important job in the world.

And while your at it, ask yourself just how comfortable you are with Donald Trump in charge of your 2,000,000,000,000 dollars.

---

---------------------------
''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

Welcome to the new swamp, the old one was drained for an even better one, the best!

He's the hero we deserve, but not the one we need...

You are right, oversight is critical. Start with the Dems that added $25 million dollars of pork onto the Coronavirus stimulus package for the Kennedy Center only to see all of the employees furloughed.

https://www.foxnews.com/...aking-stimulus-money

From the article:

"The public’s perception is that the Kennedy Center leadership took taxpayer funding and left their employees holding the bag," Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio, said in a statement. "Congress, and more importantly the public, deserves answers to the questionable decisions made to furlough employees after receiving funding to prevent that.”

Greg

---

If you are a Canuck that engages in gratuitous bashing of the US, you are probably on my Iggy List. So, save your self a bunch of typing a response unless you also feel the need to gratuitously bash me. If so, have fun.
"Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f___ things up" - Barack Obama, 2020

Interesting. By my count, that is .00125% of the CARES Act package. Let's wait and see what other pockets get lined with this money now that impartial oversight is gone.

I wonder what Trump didn't like about Fine.


He doesn't like it if he's not a yes man but mainly, he just doesn't want any oversight.

You are right, oversight is critical. Start with the Dems that added $25 million dollars of pork onto the Coronavirus stimulus package for the Kennedy Center only to see all of the employees furloughed.

So do you support the firings or not?

You apparently can't read.



I see the outrage artists of the lavender room continue.

---

Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Umm, can you show me where the dems added that funding? Because the information that is public is a a staffer for a Republican was pushing for it. That Republican, Roy Blunt, sits on the Kennedy Center board. There is nothing I can find that says Democrats were the ones that put the 25 million in the bill and not Republicans.

How long before Christi Grimm is fired?

You need to go back to your link and read it again. It does not say what you attempted to summarize above. From the article:

The government largesse would follow and, with it, scrutiny. The office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who also sits on the Kennedy Center board, declined to comment other than to note that Henke was a former staffer of Sen. Roy Blunt. But the office of the Missouri Republican, who also sits on the board, insisted that it didn’t shepherd any funds across the finish line.
A Blunt aide told RCP that the money “was not a priority.” The senator, the staffer continued, was much more concerned about funding for HHS, and that the office’s understanding was “that the push for more funding came from House Democrats.”
That lawmakers would be cagey about legislative sausage-making isn’t surprising. But Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who didn’t respond to multiple RCP requests for comment, has pointed the finger at Pelosi. McCarthy, who likewise sits on the board of the center, complained that Pelosi never had a good reason for holding up the relief package other than to “add $24 million more dollars for the Kennedy Center in Washington.’
It is unclear, up to this point, who actually introduced the text into the bill that funded the arts center. The initial Senate bill included just $1 million. Informed speculation, shared with RCP, was that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell balked at the bigger dollar amount and eventually the decision got punted to the White House.
How did the bottom line balloon from $1 million to $25 million? A separate senior aide told RCP it had nothing to do with the Grand Old Party: “It is absolutely true that the Pelosi ask was for tons more Kennedy Center money.” What about the Blunt staffer making the rounds on Capitol Hill? “The doula was a hack GOP staffer,” the aide argued. “But this was a Democratic baby all along.”
The money was negotiated in the Senate Appropriations Committee. A spokesman for the ranking Democrat told RCP: “Yes, Senator [Patrick] Leahy did support inclusion of emergency support for the Kennedy Center in the third emergency Coronavirus crisis bill. The Kennedy Center, as you know, has special standing not only as a national cultural resource but also as a national memorial to President Kennedy. The funding that was included will help support essential maintenance and operating functions, but of course it will not be enough to make up for all of the planned events in the center’s immediate future.”

---

If you are a Canuck that engages in gratuitous bashing of the US, you are probably on my Iggy List. So, save your self a bunch of typing a response unless you also feel the need to gratuitously bash me. If so, have fun.
"Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f___ things up" - Barack Obama, 2020

By the way, if you are going Google Shopping to support your position, you should have linked the article below. It is full of quotes by Trump trying to smooth over criticism of the Kennedy Center funding for the good of the bill and his acceptance of a compromise. I dunno', maybe he was displaying....leadership?

https://thehill.com/...nding-in-coronavirus

Your welcome,
Greg

---

If you are a Canuck that engages in gratuitous bashing of the US, you are probably on my Iggy List. So, save your self a bunch of typing a response unless you also feel the need to gratuitously bash me. If so, have fun.
"Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f___ things up" - Barack Obama, 2020

Can you provide any evidence that Democrats put in the 25 million, you were the one that said they did. Do you have any evidence?

Everything I said was true in the article.

You're shooting for the Whataboutism Platinum Card (tm) something! Fine form, today.

But at least you said "You are right, oversight is critical." so you're kinda agreeing that Trump is wrong here?

Look, my friend. Just give it up. What do you want, a deposit slip? Your responses are what bluemonkeytri would attribute to an 'automaton'. Try reading this part below one more time. This isn't even disputed, not sure why you are still beating this drum.

How did the bottom line balloon from $1 million to $25 million? A separate senior aide told RCP it had nothing to do with the Grand Old Party: “It is absolutely true that the Pelosi ask was for tons more Kennedy Center money.” What about the Blunt staffer making the rounds on Capitol Hill? “The doula was a hack GOP staffer,” the aide argued. “But this was a Democratic baby all along.”

---

If you are a Canuck that engages in gratuitous bashing of the US, you are probably on my Iggy List. So, save your self a bunch of typing a response unless you also feel the need to gratuitously bash me. If so, have fun.
"Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f___ things up" - Barack Obama, 2020

You claimed Democrats added it. You have provided no evidence of that, well you have provided an anonymous GOP staffer saying they did not do that after it has caused an uproar. Do you think that is a reliable source?

Not sure why I ever thought you would be receptive to facts that are widely known, but don't fit your preferred perceptions. I am done. You can have the last line.

Greg

---

If you are a Canuck that engages in gratuitous bashing of the US, you are probably on my Iggy List. So, save your self a bunch of typing a response unless you also feel the need to gratuitously bash me. If so, have fun.
"Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f___ things up" - Barack Obama, 2020

So now you just declare someone saying something as “fact” and move on?

So when Trump said there was no quid pro quo, that is evidence of fact, even though many others, including his Chief of Staff, said there was one?

I see how this works.

So, you think it was the GOP that got funding for the Kennedy Center tacked on to the stimulus bill? Seriously?

As an FYI, better get ready for this one. If I had been in Trump's shoes, I would have insisted on accountability of the money sent to Ukraine. This country was infested with corruption and the Bidens were right in the middle of it raking in millions of dollars. If I had been President, I would have wanted a full investigation of what role my own government played in the corruption including an investigation done by the Ukrainian government. The fact that one of the players involved with the corruption was a Vice President of the United States would have made it an imperative that a full investigation take place. At the time of the phone call, it was not a given that Biden would be any more than another candidate for the nomination. I also would have made it clear that I was not releasing any money until it was assured it would be allocated for the agreed upon purchases. If the roles were reversed, the Dems would have been jumping up on the moral high ground screaming graft, corruption, money laundering and anything else they could.

Greg

---

If you are a Canuck that engages in gratuitous bashing of the US, you are probably on my Iggy List. So, save your self a bunch of typing a response unless you also feel the need to gratuitously bash me. If so, have fun.
"Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f___ things up" - Barack Obama, 2020

What does this tangent have to do with the somewhat disturbing trend of the President firing his the members of his government who are supposed to provide independent oversight of the Executive branch?

---

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

The only sentence in the OP by one of our LR lefties was, "Well, now that money won't be getting to the people who really need it."

This was followed by other lefties commenting about Trump filling his personal coffers in some way without mention of the pork the Dems specifically wrote into the bill that did NOT go to the people who really need it.


Greg

---

If you are a Canuck that engages in gratuitous bashing of the US, you are probably on my Iggy List. So, save your self a bunch of typing a response unless you also feel the need to gratuitously bash me. If so, have fun.
"Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f___ things up" - Barack Obama, 2020

I have now been called a Trumper by BarryP and a LR leftie by you. You really need to look at some more of my posts. LR leftie, HA! Just because someone disagrees with Trump, he is not a leftie. You are wrong on so many levels, but calling me a leftie about takes the cake!

Well, no, before you posted about the Kennedy center there were not a bunch of posts about Pres Trump lining his coffers. There were a bunch of posts about personal loyalty, general corruption, etc.

It sounds like you just don't understand the differences between independent oversight over Executive branch distribution of funds designated for a specific purpose and the political processes by which representatives negotiate to have funding bills designate funds to benefit their constituents.

I'm not saying pork spending is good, but it has nothing to do with the President's seeming trend of firing those charged with independent oversight of his administration.

---

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

Why does this feel like 2008 all over again?

---

They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

Facts that are widely known, but for some reason you can’t cite to. Seems legit.

If you (or maybe even I) authoritatively cited a source saying something about an unnamed "hack GOP staffer" I'm pretty certain that you (we) would be accused of being lefty libtards. But somehow that source is OK now.

I was just commenting on your logic... so-and-so said this, so that proves it...

Not to want to derail the thread too far, but that's some serious revisionist history going on in your head. The aid money had been cleared for the new government in Ukraine, so no-one was concerned it would be misused - not congress, not the Defense Dept and not the State Dept. So yes, there was plenty of accountability of where the funds would go and in August Pompeo and Bolton were both imploring Trump to release it because doing so was in the best interests of Americans (you know, for people like you and me, and not for Trump's personal political benefit). But no surprise that you would side with Trump in his "drug deal." And Biden was topping the polls at the time, so nice try to downplay Trump's motivation to undermine his candidacy.