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BAD PRESIDENT

Trump Cancels Pay Raise Due to Civilian Federal Workers

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Civilian federal workers are reeling after Trump canceled pay raises due to them in January. Trump is nixing a minuscule 2.1 percent across-the-board raise for most workers, as well as separate locality pay increases averaging 25.7 percent.

The announcement was ill-timed for most; Trump made his declaration right before Labor Day.

“Trump has delivered yet another slap in the face to American workers,” said Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez.

The 45th POTUS informed Congress on Thursday that budget constraints wouldn’t allow room for raises already earned by federal employees.

“We must maintain efforts to put our nation on a fiscally sustainable course, and Federal agency budgets cannot sustain such increases,” Trump said. “I have determined that for 2019, both across the board pay increases and locality pay increases will be set at zero.”

“Zero. This seems to be how much respect President Trump has for federal workers,” wrote Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland, in a statement. “It is outrageous and hypocritical that after spending billions of taxpayer dollars on unnecessary tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations – and as the President boasts about the ‘great’ state of the American economy, that suddenly the White House finds that there is zero money left to pay a minimal cost-of-living adjustment to the patriotic, dedicated public servants.”

Pay for military personnel will not be affected. Service members will receive a 2.6% pay increase next year. He also signed a $716 billion defense spending bill earlier this month.

“Let’s be clear: The President’s decision to cancel any pay increase for federal employees is not motivated by a sudden onset of fiscal responsibility,” responded Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia. “Today’s announcement has nothing to do with making government more cost-efficient – it’s just the latest attack in the Trump administration’s war on federal employees.”

“President Trump’s plan to freeze wages for these patriotic workers next year ignores the fact that they are worse off today financially than they were at the start of the decade,” said J. David Cox Sr., national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents some 700,000 federal workers.

“They have already endured years of little to no increases and their paychecks cannot stretch any further as education, health care costs, gas and other goods continue to get more expensive,” added Tony Reardon, national president of the National Treasury Employees Union.

CNN reported: “The state with the largest number of federal workers is California, followed by Virginia, the District of Columbia and Texas. States Trump won in 2016 – including Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio – also rank high on the list of states where federal employees work.”

Will they vote for him in 2020?

Lawmakers are now considering a proposal that would allow for a much smaller boost in pay for civilian federal workers.

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BAD PRESIDENT

Trump Swipes at Mark Zuckerberg Asking for White House Goodies: ‘He Didn’t Do Too Well’

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Former President Donald J. Trump mocked Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and “big tech” during an interview on Tuesday when he appeared on Fox News with Sean Hannity.

Trump meandered throughout the interview and went off on a tangent claiming he did “big things” when discussing the 2020 election. Trump said Zuckerberg visited the White House “trying to get goodies,” but that “he didn’t do too well.”

Trump added, “So I thought that he was concerned we were doing things. We were doing things. Had we had a second term, we would have had that much, really, pretty much under control. We had some incredible things planned for big tech.”

Watch the video below.

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BAD PRESIDENT

Lincoln Project Trolls Trump with New TV Ad Where He’s Currently Vacationing

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The conservative anti-Trump PAC Lincoln Project is launching an ad campaign in South Florida with the hopes that President Trump, who is currently vacationing in the region, will see them.

According to the Sun Sentinel, the group has bought air time in the West Palm Beach market from Wednesday through Jan. 5. Trump is scheduled to be in the area until Jan. 3.

“A major pillar of The Lincoln Project’s 2020 strategy was aiming to torment an audience of one — Trump — through advertising on cable shows he’s sure to watch on channels such as Fox News,” the Sentinel reports. “That’s the aim of the latest effort, which seeks to drive a wedge between Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, who will preside over the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress at which the electoral votes making Joe Biden the next president will be counted.”

The ad focuses on recent reports that say Vice President Mike Pence is “backing away” from Trumpworld’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

“When Mike Pence is backing away from you, you know it’s over,” the ad states.

Watch the ad below.

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BAD PRESIDENT

‘A Parting Gift to Dictators’: Trump Issues Final Round of Foreign Military Sales in Middle East

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On Monday, writing for The Washington Post, columnist Brian Klaas tore into outgoing President Donald Trump for a final round of foreign military sales in the Middle East that function as a “parting gift to dictators” — and suggested he could even be using them to set up a private quid pro quo down the road in his post-presidency.

“All three regimes have abysmal human rights records,” wrote Klaas. “Saudi Arabia has beheaded dissidents, subjugated women and detained female activists who have pushed for reforms, and murdered and dismembered Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The United Arab Emirates is home to torture, arbitrary detention and forced disappearances. Egypt’s dictatorship has carried

“Given past behavior, we know how these weapons will likely be used,” warned Klaas. “Despots will use them to help facilitate war crimes in places such as Yemen and the Sinai Peninsula while maintaining an iron grip over their own populations — all aided and abetted by the U.S. government.”

And even worse, Klaas argued, Trump himself could be using these sales to call in a personal favor from these countries in his post-presidency. “Once Trump leaves the White House, odds are good that he will cash in,” he wrote. “Seen in that light, the recently approved arms sales and military technology transfers are even more worrying. Are they just the beginning of a quid pro quo?”

All of this is occurring as President-elect Joe Biden alleges the Pentagon is obstructing him from getting all of the national security information he requires for the transition — something administration officials deny.

“For the past four years, Trump has painted the image of a United States that consistently sides with tyrants,” concluded Klaas. “Biden now has an opportunity to reverse Trump’s catastrophic foreign policy. He should take it.”

You can read more here.

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