Well...that didn't take long

Haley announces $285M cut in 2018-19 UN operating budget

Calling it “a big step in the right direction,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Sunday night announced a historic reduction in the U.N. biennial operating budget.

Haley said the plan calls for a $285 million cut for the 2018-19 fiscal year.

“The inefficiency and overspending of the United Nations are well known,” Haley said. “We will no longer let the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of or remain unchecked."

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"The inefficiency and overspending of the United Nations are well known. We will no longer let the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of or remain unchecked."- Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations

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She added, “This historic reduction in spending – in addition to many other moves toward a more efficient and accountable U.N. – is a big step in the right direction.”

The U.N. budget now covers a two-year period, beginning in January of an even-numbered year.

TRUMP PUTS HIS UN MONEY WHERE HIS MOUTH IS

The United States was seeking a $250 million cut to the U.N. budget for 2018-19, on top of $200 million in savings already proposed by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Agence France-Presse reported two weeks ago.

Guterres has proposed capping the U.N. biennial budget at $5.4 billion, shaving off $200 million from the 2016-17 budget.

The U.S. pays about 22 percent of the U.N.’s budget, or roughly $3.3 billion, and fully 28 percent of its peacekeeping effort.

The U.N.'s operating budget is separate from its peacekeeping budget, which was cut by $600 million this year, under pressure from President Donald Trump, AFP reported.

Trump last week threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that voted in favor of a draft U.N. resolution calling for the U.S. to withdraw its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The final tally was 128-9, with 35 nations abstaining, including five members of the European Union.

Well...that didn't take long

FBI arrests ex-Marine accused of plotting San Francisco terror attack

If they can lure an ex-Marine over to the dark side imagine the potential in the fertile minds of millions of Syrian refugees around the world.

 

Dec. 22 (UPI) -- The FBI has arrested a former U.S. Marine on charges he hatched a plot for a Christmas terrorist attack on San Francisco's Pier 39.

Everitt Aaron Jameson, 26, of Modesto, has been charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, according to a federal complaint obtained by the New York Times and published online. Jameson was arrested this week, the Modesto Bee reported.

A paid informant reported Jameson to the FBI after they saw him liking posts on Facebook supportive of the Islamic State and terrorism, according to the complaint. Jameson also reportedly praised the Oct. 31 truck attack in New York City that killed eight people. Sayfullo Saipov, 29, who has been charged with eight counts of murder in aid of racketeering in that case, allegedly asked for Islamic State flags to be brought to his hospital room and felt satisfied with the attack.

On Dec. 16, Jameson met with an undercover FBI agent, who asked about the ex-Marine having "something to offer," according to the complaint.

According to the complaint, Jameson then said San Francisco needed to face an attack similar to the New York truck attack or the 2015 gun attack that killed 14 in San Bernardino, Calif.

Jameson continued by saying that he'd like to use explosives to chase people into a tight space, where they could be more easily injured, according to the complaint. He reportedly suggested San Francisco's Pier 39 because of the large amount of foot traffic there and Christmas as an ideal day of the attack.

Separately, Jameson also offered part of his wages as a tow truck driver and said he would be open to travel to Syria, according to the complaint.

Two days later, Jameson told the undercover agent, "I also don't think I can do this after all." But when FBI agents conducted a search warrant at Jameson's Modesto residence on Wednesday, they said Jameson expressed his support for the Islamic State and said he would be happy if an attack took place.

Jameson completed basic training in 2009, earning a sharpshooter rifle qualification, but was discharged from the Marines some time later when it was discovered he didn't disclose his history with asthma, court documents show.

FBI arrests ex-Marine accused of plotting San Francisco terror attack

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.

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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