May 25, 2017
By Rachael Bade and Burgess Everett
Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell (click here) are eager to avoid intraparty fights as they try to muscle through the GOP agenda.
...Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are taking a cautious approach to Trump’s Russia scandal, pointedly refraining from criticizing the president and tiptoeing around the topic — or simply avoiding it. It’s a strategy intended to avoid intraparty fights over Trump’s controversial presidency and sidestep confrontation with a president of their own party who has yet to sign key GOP agenda items like repealing Obamacare and cutting taxes....
It is the great pretending of the GOP. They have done this for decades, that is not going to change because the USA is actually being toyed with and citizens are in danger.
So, "Let's pretend none of this happened and it is a grand scheme by the Democrats." THE GREAT PRETEND. It is how Republicans are elected and how they stay in office.
"The Love Canal" returns.
May 23, 2017
By Garrett Ellison
...Trump had targeted the GLRI (click here) with a $50 million cut in 2017 to help cover early costs of a building a Mexican border wall.
The restoration program was launched in 2010 and funnels money to state and local projects to clean up contaminated sediments, restore watersheds, combat invasive species and build green infrastructure. It was given standalone authorization in Congress through 2021 in December....
That means there will be shortfalls in funding and companies currently involved in these efforts to restore the Great Lakes could be facing bankruptcy. There is no future planning. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has absolutely nothing to do with regulations, so much as returning a fishery and resort tourism to the Great Lakes. The idea this won't go forward threatens the entire tourism industry of Michigan which involves huge camping companies that sponsor RV seasonal rentals.
If The Initiative doesn't go forward the RV industry in Michigan will slump including recreational fishing.
...Funding advocates say ongoing projects to clean up "toxic hotspots" called Great Lakes Areas of Concern will grind to a halt without the GLRI, and projects in the pipeline will only become more expensive to tackle over time.
Republican governors Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Rick Snyder of Michigan have both publicly supported the GLRI after Trump's draft proposal.
In March, 63 members of Congress -- 23 Republicans and 40 Democrats -- signed a letter to U.S. House leadership urging the GLRI be funded at $300 million in the 2018 appropriations bill....
The country is in trouble in many ways. I don't know what is going to be more devastating to Wall Street 2008 or Trump. This is only one example.
Shipments of all RVs (click here) (travel trailers, fifth wheel trailers, truck campers, folding camping trailers and motorhomes) increased to 356,735 units in 2014, a gain of 11.1% over the previous year. This was the fifth consecutive annual increase and the fourth double digit percentage gain in the past five years. Forecasts for the years 2015 and 2016 see shipments continuing to grow with increases expected in most all vehicle categories....
2015 saw a delivery of $16.506 billion in RV value alone. The industry is huge and in Michigan where there is over 1000 lakes, the state is dependent on this industry and it's success. There are national campground chains that also SELL premium lots for RVs so they will return annually. They basically capture their business. Michigan is in trouble if the waterways and lakes are AGAIN threatened by pollution.
I doubt any Mexican border wall will generate any income to match the loss of national revenues from defunding the EPA.
