Posts Made By: James Lacey

Originally Posted by Richard Davis

You're a freaking clown James.   LOL.  Typical leftist buffoon.    

No, Rich, you are the clown because you are a boot-licking Trump sycophant who is incapable of accepting any valid criticism of your idol, the Mango Mussolini. The problem is not with us but with you. It would not matter how much evidence I provided. You would reject it and deny it. It's always the same with you far-right national-populist Trump-loving buffoons. Trump is above the rule of law and criticism, and anyone to the left of Mussolini is immediately condemned on the slimmest of evidence. The double standard you use for Trump and anyone else is glaring and ridiculous.

Originally Posted by Richard Davis

Well when was that where you provided evidence James?  You never do.  You simply say and spout things, with ZERO evidence almost all the time.

You stated:   It would not matter how much evidence I provided.

IF you care to put forth evidence, then do it.  Don't whine because I challenge the crap that you pull right out of your ass and then say "It is true".

Your statement was this:  "Trump repeatedly said publicly that he opposed assistance for Puerto Rico. He denied the damage and death toll the hurricane caused and told his staff he didn't want money going to Puerto Rico. This is not wild-eyed speculation; it is part of the public record. And then there are all the other countless acts of spite and revenge he carried out during his term. All of that was just a mirage? It didn't happen? We can't trust our eyes and ears and what we witness in real-time. Balderdash.

You made those blanket claims/lies.  I challenged you because what you stated there are lies.

Prove it James.  Put up the "Public record".  Show me where your BS above is Part of the public record as you claim.  

There is no public record.  You can spout any bit of bullshit that you want, but it is simply words coming out of your mouth with zero evidence.

Yes, it's part of the public record. It was reported widely at the time. I won't go back and find links to years-old articles now, only for you to reject them outright. Trump is, without a doubt, the least ethical and moral person ever to hold office as the President of the United States, and if you can't see that, then no amount of evidence I provide will pierce that titanium bubble of yours. If you genuinely cared to know the facts and don't, you would at least consider alternative narratives and seek them out for yourself. You can claim you've won because no one will provide you with the proof, but the truth is, you would never accept any evidence. At this point, you are little more than a Trump cult member.

Originally Posted by Richard Davis

You won't go back and find links because they don't exist, not at least what you are lying about. As such, it is not that you won't, you simply can't 

No, we are not lying. The HUD OIG Final Report you cited even discusses how the Trump administration delayed or denied access to information for their review. It talks about this starting on page 1 in the Methodology section. The overview section discusses how the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which works directly for the White House, made unusual procedural demands on Puerto Rico's funds, leading to significant delays. The report says that OMB had never before required the kind of procedural demands that it was demanding of HUD, which created substantial delays. In other words, OMB effectively held the funds hostage. On page 25 of the report, it talks about how Brian Montgomery, the head of HUD, was frustrated with OMB and said, "How many poison pills are in here?" about the unusual demands by OMB, who, again, works directly for the White House. On page 31, the report discusses Montgomery's frustration with the actions of the OMB. Montgomery talks explicitly about how the demands put on them by the OMB were unprecedented. The point is, Rich, that what you described as inter-department squabbling sure sounds like in the report that you linked that the office of the OMB was using its power from the WH to slow-walk and delay the aid. So, again, no, we are not lying. Even the report you cited as proving that Trump was entirely innocent provides plenty of evidence that he is not.

Originally Posted by Richard Davis

OMB and HUD were fighting over whether they should release funds to the officials in PR, due to their former history and Donald Trump had nothing to do with it.

It was just your typical bureaucracies going back and forth.

Here are the facts for you.  

Texas got their 1st tranche of funds in 11 months. 
Florida got their 1st tranche of funds in 10 months.
PR got their 1st tranche of funds in 12 months, only 1 month longer than TX.
US Virgin Islands got their funds in 12 months, so the same time frame as PR.

Then the 2nd and final funding occurred at 19 to 25 months later for all 4 above.

So Trump didn't block any funds, and the longest time frame was that PR got their funds within 6 months of any of the other 3 places involved

So PR got their funding, $10 Billion total. 

Your psychosis and your mental condition are causing you to have a brain cramp. 

That's all there is to it.  Get some help.  

No, it was not your typical bureaucracy going back and forth. The report you cited explicitly talks about how the OMB was imposing unusual and unexpected requirements on releasing the funds for Puerto Rico. The OMB is under the direct control of the White House. It was not a normal situation at all, and given all the public comments Trump made opposing aid to Puerto Rico, it makes perfect sense that OMB was slow-walking or delaying the funds for PR. You may want to consider some help from some Trump-cult deprogramming resources.

Originally Posted by Richard Davis

OMB and HUD were fighting over whether they should release funds to the officials in PR, due to their former history and Donald Trump had nothing to do with it.

It was just your typical bureaucracies going back and forth.

Here are the facts for you.  

Texas got their 1st tranche of funds in 11 months. 
Florida got their 1st tranche of funds in 10 months.
PR got their 1st tranche of funds in 12 months, only 1 month longer than TX.
US Virgin Islands got their funds in 12 months, so the same time frame as PR.

Then the 2nd and final funding occurred at 19 to 25 months later for all 4 above.

So Trump didn't block any funds, and the longest time frame was that PR got their funds within 6 months of any of the other 3 places involved

So PR got their funding, $10 Billion total. 

Your psychosis and your mental condition are causing you to have a brain cramp. 

That's all there is to it.  Get some help.  

I've been reading the report more and more as I have time, and the severe delay occurred in the second tranche of funds. On page 42, it says:

HUD and PRDOH did not ultimately sign a grant agreement regarding this tranche of funds until February 21, 2020, several days after the USVI signed its grant agreement. By contrast, Texas signed its grant agreement relating to second tranche funds 178 days earlier, on August 27, 2019, and Florida signed its agreement 150 days earlier, on September 24, 2019. This tranche of funding was also delayed when viewed in comparison to the first tranche of funding for unmet needs for PRDOH, owing in significant part to the parallel delays in publishing Puerto Rico's CDBG-MIT

To break it down, the above paragraph says:

1. Significant delays were caused by the OMB's extraordinary demands, such as the unordinary CDBG-MIT (Community Development Block Grant Mitigation) reports they required. Puerto Rico could not sign its agreement until February 21, 2020.
2. Texas signed an agreement to receive its funds on August 27, 2019.
3. Florida signed its agreement on September 24, 2019.

So, PR did not even get to sign its agreement for the second tranche of funds until 6-7 months after Texas and Florida due to the unordinary reports required by the OMB, which is under the direct control of the WH. The report discusses a third tranche of funds significantly delayed by the OMB and its demanding requirements. I'm sorry, Rich, but your report provides a lot of evidence contrary to what you claim.

Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

James, I gotta say my hat's off to you in this and many other postings for thoroughly refuting Rich's trademark faulty interpretation of virtually everything he writes and you have the patience and tenacity to do it. Kudos to you for a job well done!

He most likely copied and pasted that information about the tranche payment from some right-wing apologetic source and plopped it here. So, the funny thing is, he accuses us of just believing everything the left-wing press feeds us when it's obvious he does precisely that with the right-wing sources he follows. Also, if he would ever use the same standard of evidence against Trump that he routinely applies to Democrats, he would thoroughly indict Trump in this affair of blocking and delaying aid to PR. Rich's double standard is obvious and glaring. From what I can tell, the report he cited says that Trump officials blocked assistance to Puerto Rico, resulting in significant delays by using the office of the OMB to put unprecedented and onerous demands on HUD. In the case of the third tranche payment, HUD could not get the funds to PR until almost 2 years after Congress approved the funds, and it was all because of unusual and unknown requirements OMB was pushing onto HUD. Also, the OMB kept insisting on OIG (Office of Inspector General) Reviews of the HUD work, which was not normal and unnecessary. You can read all about it on page 43 of the report.

Originally Posted by David Cotterell

What a relief that this only occurred in the USA under the economic policies of Joe Biden who is solely to blame for inflation and deserved to be turfed out of office as a result.  Now that Trump will be taking over soon everything will be fine and his tariffs will reduce inflation even more!  Yay!  

How frightening would it be if the whole world had suffered inflation at the same time as countries everywhere threw zillions of dollars at the Covid crisis and its aftermath.  Inconceivable!

Dave

True story. I was in the grocery line today checking out, and the bill came up to $200 and some change. It was a little high for us, but we were buying a lot of stuff for the upcoming holiday that we would not usually purchase. Behind us in line, a rough-looking guy piped and said in a deep, gravelly voice, "At least we won't have to put up with that much longer now that Trump's in charge!" Everyone in the vicinity ignored him, but I thought silently, "Buddy, you ain't seen nothing if Trump gets his wish on tariffs."

Originally Posted by Richard Davis

It took only 6 months longer for Puerto Rico to get ALL of their funds, than it did for Texas to get ALL their funds.

That is a fact.  

Did you now need some Legos, a blanket, and warm milk and cookies to deal with your psychosis??  

The third tranche payment was delayed almost two years. The report you cited contains this information, as well as other information regarding how the OMB (which is controlled by the WH) delayed HUD with onerous and unusual requirements. A six-month delay is significant when talking about the kind of damage PR sustained, much like the almost two-year delay for the third payment. You are the only person around here who routinely loses touch with reality.

Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

Kristi Noem as head of DHS and a Fox news game show host as a secretary of defense: what could possibly go wrong?

Reading about Kristi Noem's tenure in Congress and the policies she proposed and supported is like reading a right-wing horror story of extremism. She's about as far right as they come and a Trumper, so it's no surprise Trump selected her. Buckle up, Buttercup; it will be four years of chaos and insanity.

Originally Posted by Russ Carroll

for voting for Trump. Did you not notice he moved our embassy to Jerusalem? Maybe Ambassador Mike Huckabee will prove to be more sympathetic. Maybe Steven Miller won’t revive the Muslim travel ban. You guys are funny 😂 I gotta hand it to Trump for getting their vote - the man’s a genius at some level.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/arab-americans-who-backed-trump-urge-him-fulfill-promises?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1Vp109r7CWl1dHLCJD2y6fwcmoHz5G3brOD4h02q1iPBR-GWIeP3f1iCM_aem_O8DJS1KmGkegH4vXyigfrA

Huckabee is a pro-settlement occupation denier. Shockingly, Arab Americans upset about the war in Gaza voted for Trump, thinking Trump would do better. You are right. Trump has an uncanny ability to get people to vote against their best interests. Take the ACA for example. It's no secret that Trump and Johnson are coming for it. Things will worsen if they gut protections for pre-existing conditions and allow insurance companies to return to high-risk pools instead of treating us all the same. And where do most ACA participants reside? In red state areas, of course.