The full UN vote - US & Israel lost 128-9, with 35 gutless abstentions

Fear Defined

How else do you explain it? 

Our 'allies' including France, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark, and a whole host of others side with the likes of Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, Cuba, etc.

Wouldn't have anything to do with the likely repercussions of allowing throngs of Muslims into their countries would it? 

 South Korea is really a surprise. Trump said, "we got your back" then stuck a knife in his. 

Click to enlarge 

The full UN vote - US & Israel lost 128-9, with 35 gutless abstentions

The gravy train is over

Jerusalem vote: Trump threatens to cut off aid to countries ahead of UN vote

This should have happened years ago. Barry's tenure was an 8-year apology tour. Trump's is 'put America first'. What a dramatic contrast!

Great having a take the bull by the horns billionaire businessman running the country then a guy who's only claim to fame is he once worked at Baskin Robbins.

---------------------------------

President Donald Trump's threat to cut off U.S. funding to countries that oppose his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital has raised the stakes in Thursday's U.N. vote and sparked criticism at his tactics, which one Muslim group called bullying or blackmail. 

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley hinted in a tweet and a letter to most of the 193 U.N. member states on Tuesday that the U.S. would retaliate against countries that vote in favor of a General Assembly resolution calling on the president to rescind his decision. 

She said Trump asked her to report back on countries "who voted against us" — and she stressed that the United States "will be taking names." 

At the start of a Cabinet meeting in Washington on Wednesday, Trump went further, telling reporters that Americans are tired of being taken advantage of and praised the U.S. ambassador for sending the "right message" before the vote. 

"For all these nations, they take our money and then vote against us. They take hundreds of millions of dollars, even billions of dollars and then they vote against us," Trump told reporters at the Cabinet meeting. "We're watching those votes. Let them vote against us." 

"We'll save a lot. We don't care," he said, alluding to U.S. aid. 

We have given money to every country in the world and 90% of them hate our guts. About time we woke up!

The gravy train is over

Hell freezes over: Media start admitting that Trump's first year isn't a flop

Howard Kurtz

Kurtz: Trump's tax win forces a media reassessment

'MediaBuzz' host Howard Kurtz weighs in on why the media is starting to admit that Trump's first year isn't a flop.

I have sensed for weeks now that some in the media were on the verge of rolling out a contrary take on President Trump’s first year in office.

And in the wake of yesterday’s final passage of massive tax cuts, that moment has arrived.

The dominant media narrative, of course, is that Trump hasn’t gotten much done, that he’s in over his head, that he doesn’t understand government, that he keeps picking petty fights rather than winning big battles.

But the thing about the pundits is that they get tired of pushing the same line, week after week, month after month. Some inevitably want to seize credit for a new insight, for getting ahead of the pack with a burst of contrarian wisdom.

And that hot take is, hey, maybe Trump has gotten some important things done after all.

It’s true that the president had not gotten much from the Republican Congress this year. But a new law that cuts taxes for businesses and individuals—even though the measure polls poorly and is not mainly aimed at the middle class—puts an end to the verdict that Trump doesn’t know how to work the Hill. Like it or not, this is a sprawling piece of legislation that was quickly pushed through the House and Senate in a show of party-line muscle.

Trump hasn’t gotten much credit for the record-breaking stock market, but there is now some recognition that Dow-Almost-25,000 can’t be completely divorced from his policies. And there’s starting to be a greater appreciation for the president’s progress on slashing regulations and appointing judges (even though three nominees recently had to withdraw, one because he couldn’t answer a Senate panel’s questions about basic court procedures).

On Axios, Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen stake out the new ground:

"The media often appraises presidencies and politics through liberal-tinted glasses. But the vast majority of the Republican Party like, even love, these policies ...

"We have been saying all year: Watch what he does, not what he says. Until recently, he hasn't done much. But these wins are substantial, with consequences for millions of people and many years to come."

They note that Trump has won approval not just for Neil Gorsuch but for a dozen Circuit Court judges.

And while Trump failed in repeated attempts to scrap ObamaCare, he boasted yesterday abolishing the individual mandate—a provision added to the tax bill—amounts to repealing the health care program. That’s an overstatement, but letting people wait until they get sick to buy insurance could well undermine the exchanges created by Barack Obama.

On foreign policy, there is a telling New York Times piece by conservative columnist Ross Douthat, a harsh critic of Trump. He says the decimation of ISIS has drawn scant media attention:

"There is nothing more characteristic of the Trump era, with its fire hose of misinformation, scandal and hyperbole, than that America and its allies recently managed to win a war that just two years ago consumed headlines and dominated political debate and helped Donald Trump himself get elected president — and somehow nobody seemed to notice."

It’s true there was no surrender ceremony and ISIS still exists, but it has lost physical stronghold in Iraq.

Says Douthat: “This is also a press failure, a case where the media is not adequately reporting an important success because it does not fit into the narrative of Trumpian disaster in which our journalistic entities are all invested.”

But the narrative is changing a bit. While Trump remains quite unpopular, at least according to the polls, the media are reluctantly starting to acknowledge that his presidency is having a significant impact.

Hell freezes over: Media start admitting that Trump's first year isn't a flop

Hillary Clinton sings My Favorite Excuses

Video 388

Hillary Clinton sings My Favorite Excuses

Every AT&T worker gets $1,000 bonus after tax bill passes

And their not the only one.

Check it out.

 Pelosi called the new take bill what...Armageddon?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0mUp2-LygU&ab_channel=WashingtonPost

-----------------------------------------

Some of America's biggest companies gave workers a Christmas cheer Wednesday as they passed on some of their winnings from a dramatic corporate tax cut.

AT&T said that it will pay $1,000 bonuses to more than 200,000 employees - and promised to make $1 billion in new investments in the United States next year - once a tax reform bill approved by Congress is signed into law.

The Republican-controlled House and Senate have given final approval to the biggest overhaul of the U.S. tax code in 30 years, sending the sweeping bill to President Donald Trump for his signature.

As part of that bill, the tax rate on corporations will drop from 35 percent to 21 percent. Trump previously called the measure 'rocket fuel' for the economy.

After AT&T's announcement, other companies followed suit.

Comcast NBCUniversal said it would award $1,000 bonuses to more than 100,000 workers, 'based on the passage of tax reform' and a recent FCC decision to repeal 'net neutrality' rules.

President Donald Trump's tax-cut victory lap at the White House included the news that AT&T is responding by paying $1,000 bonuses to all its workers

In a letter to employees, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said the bonuses would be paid to all 'union-represented, non-management, and 1st and 2nd line managers'

Trump read aloud part of a news story about the move, saying more like it will be coming from corporate America

Father Christmas: AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson's firm was first to announce the Trump windfall for its workers

Big busness follows: Comcast, which also owns NBC Universal, announced $1,000 each for more than 100,000 staff, Boeing said it would put $300 million into workforce development and Wells Fargo hiked its minimum wage to $15 an hour

Roughly 100 GOP lawmakers came out to celebrate Wednesday with the president. Members of the president's cabinet and White House staff were also there

The cable and Internet giant also boasted that it 'expects to spend well in excess of $50 billion over the next five years investing in infrastructure.'

Boeing said it would make a '$300 million employee-related and charitable investment as a result of #TaxReform legislation.'

And Fifth Third Bancorp in Cincinnati, Ohio said it will pay $1,000 bonuses to more than 13,500 employees and raise the minimum wage for its workforce to $15 per hour because its tax rate is about to plummet. 

Wells Fargo matched that $15 per hour minimum wage hike and said it was prompted by the tax plan. The San Francisco-based bank also said it would make $400 million in donations to nonprofit charities and other community organizations in 2018. 

FedEx also showed optimism, with its CFO saying during an earnings call that the package shipping giant will likely expand if the tax cuts lead to larger national economic growth.

'GDP could increase materially next year as a result of U.S. tax reform. If this occurs, we would likely increase capital expenditures and hiring,' Alan Graf told investors.

In a victory-lap event on the White House's South Lawn, Trump read aloud a news account of the AT&T decision and said more like it are coming.

'That's because of what we did,' he said. 'So that's pretty good.'

'I mentioned AT&T,' he said minutes later, 'but many companies have come forward and [are] saying they're so happy, and they're going to be doing similar announcements.' 

'Something this big, something this generational, something this profound could not have been done without exquisite presidential leadership. Mr. President thank you for getting us over the finish line,' said House Speaker Paul Ryan

GOP leaders congratulated Trump on the legislative achievement - the first major one of his presidency - one by one in remarks that praised him as the greatest executive officeholder in generations

Video playing bottom right...

Right after the House of Representatives passed the final version of the tax bill, Boeing announced $300 million in new spending in the U.S.

In a letter to employees, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said the bonuses would be paid to all 'union-represented, non-management, and 1st and 2nd line managers.'

'If the President signs the bill before Christmas, employees will receive the bonus over the holidays,' the company added.

The missive to AT&T's workforce said the new 21 percent corporate tax rate would put the U.S. 'in line with the rest of the industrialized world.'

'This new lower rate encourages businesses to invest more in the United States. And more investment creates more good-paying jobs and increases economic growth.'

Just minutes before AT&T announced its employee bonuses, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer excoriated the company as a greedy corporation that would use its tax cut to buy back its stock and reward its executives.

'Over the last ten years, AT&T has paid an average tax rate of 8 per cent a year. They have 80,000 fewer employees today than they had then,' the New York Democrat complained.

'Tax breaks don't lead to job creation. They lead to big CEO salaries and money for the very, very wealthy.'

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (left) said the tax cuts represented 'the worst bill in the history of the United States Congress'; Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted AT&T as a greedy corporation just minutes before the company announced its bonuses

Trump's event on the White House's South Lawn was attended by nearly all the Republican members of Congress

The legislation sailed through by a 224-201 margin with 12 Republicans crossing party lines to side against it

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said the Republican tax cuts represented 'the worst bill in the history of the United States Congress.'

But Trump predicted that an outpouring of domestic investment from American companies would be 'very special.'

'We're bringing the entrepreneur back into this country. We're getting rid of the knots and all the ties and we're going to – you're going to see what happens,' he said.

'And ultimately what does it mean? It means jobs. Jobs jobs, jobs.'

AT&T is involved in a takeover attempt of Time Warner, the parent company of CNN, which has put them at odds with Trump's Justice Department.

The DOJ is opposing it on competition grounds, and the case is set to make its way to court.

AT&T's rapid praise for the president may well be seen as a gesture intended to soften Trump's opposition to the merger. 

But on the South Lawn, the merger was not mentioned amid jubilation at the first major legislative achievement of the Trump presidency.

'We are making America great again!' Trump said at the outdoor ceremony.

Every AT&T worker gets $1,000 bonus after tax bill passes