No walls, no more bombs - we're on a budget until the children are fed

My parents always told me that you can see people's characters through how they spend their money. I think that specifically applies to governments and I'm embarrassed to see the current spending priorities of the current administration.

Trump wants $1.6B for a brick and mortar wall to be built over a few miles of the border with our ally and one of our top trading partners, yet wants to cut the budget for SNAP and farm crop subsidies. He ordered a missile strike of 59 Tomahawk missiles worth approximately $1M while raving over a piece of chocolate cake being enjoyed with the Chinese leader at his private Florida resort, an alternative to after dinner entertainment. (Take a look at his recounting of that event to a reporter where he is describing the piece of chocolate cake in detail, yet doesn't even remember that the missiles were striking Syria, not Iraq.) Shortly thereafter, our military dropped a MOAB, the "mother of all bombs" costing $16M on a remote area in Afghanistan, killing 36 people ($450,000 per person, if you are doing the math), but funds to assist struggling college students be able to afford an education, or forgiving part of their student loans if they work for government or a qualifying non-profit? That's gotta go. More military jets and ships? You betcha, more money for you. Funding for diplomacy, the job of the State Department? Who needs that? (see an overview of the reductions and additions proposed here). And let's not forget the obscene amount of money being spent to protect the Trump family live their lavish lifestyle without a thought for the expense to taxpayers. 

The big question here is where have our nation's values, our moral center, gone? Why is the current administration, and the GOP Congress, telling American citizens and the world about our priorities with the way money is being spent, and is proposed to be spent? 

Here's what I see. Budget cuts are aimed at segments of people who don't have the money for expensive lobbyists or PAC or Super PACs to use their vast resources to influence politicians. Go through the proposed budget, look yourself, and see who wins and who loses for each proposed cut and each proposed increase in funding. 

"The true measure of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members." - Mahatma Ghandi

How is America measuring up right now?

Who are your alibi and character witnesses?

Once upon a time, back when I was a criminal defense attorney, I tried a child molestation case. There was evidence for the prosecution and the defense, for every witness there were reasons to believe what they said, but also reasons to believe they were lying. I wasn't sure what happened, and I knew the jury had their work cut out for them.

There was a point in the trial, however, where things went in the wrong direction for the defense. It had to do with an alibi witness who supposedly could account for the defendant's whereabouts and actions during a specific critical period of time. Problem was, this witness was a convicted child molester. My client made the decision that he would be called to the stand anyway, the prior conviction was admissible evidence, and let's just say that the jury got off the proverbial fence by the time he was finished testifying. A verdict of "guilty" was not a surprise after that.

Who your alibi and character witnesses are important and I find it fascinating to watch who is vouching for who these days. For example, a few weeks ago admitted groper Trump vouched for accused sexual harasser Bill O'Reilly. When Trump came under fire for sharing highly classified intel with Russians in the Oval Office, who offered to defend him? Vladimir Putin, of course. And that's not all. Trump has also come under fire for remarks made during the same conversation about firing James Comey, calling him a "nut job" and noting that the firing relieved some pressure on him about the Russia issue. Although the White House has not denied those statements were made, today it is reported that Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov is trying to give Trump cover by saying those comments didn't happen.

There's plenty more of the same in Washington these days. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told members of Congress in the past two days that he stands by his memo that was originally used as justification for firing Comey, even though Trump himself told reporter Lester Holt that he was going to fire Comey anyway. What exactly was the Rosenstein memo anyway? Two weeks on the job and the Deputy AG gets called to the White House to discuss Comey. After this meeting he delivers an alibi memo to Trump, cover for firing the FBI Director who was leading the Trump/Russia investigation, claims the problem with Comey was how he handled the Clinton email investigation last year. Vice-President Pence and others widely spread Rosenstein's alibi (see example here).

Of course, there is also Michael Flynn, the disgraced short-term national security advisor, who has already acknowledged that he was a paid foreign agent while on Trump's campaign and while national security advisor. His biggest character advisor? Trump. Per reports of Comey's contemporaneous memos, Trump asked the FBI to back off of the investigation of Flynn and regrets firing him.

As the soap opera that our politics has turned into unfolds before us, watch who is defending whom, and give some thought as to why.

Why Lieberman cannot be FBI Director

I used to take for granted that people who ran for office or who were appointed to key governmental positions were properly vetted for position. You know, I thought somebody checked their resumes to see if there were any conflicts or a lack of qualifications. Apparently that is not the case. Thus you and me, the American public, need to do it for the politicians.

Reports are that former Senator Joe Lieberman is President Trump's top preference for FBI Director. Now I have nothing against Lieberman personally, he seems like a nice enough guy, that doesn't make him qualified or appropriate as the head of a federal law enforcement agency, something he has absolutely no experience in handling.

But there's another overwhelming problem that immediately jumped out at me as a lawyer. Joe Lieberman is one of Trump's lawyers. That's right, Lieberman works at Kasowitz Benson Torres and Friedman, a law firm that has represented Trump for many years (See more here), even making headlines as recently as during the Trump campaign when its senior partner threatened the New York Times over publication of groping allegations against Trump. (here's the ABA spin on that)

Because lawyers are both required to maintain client confidences and not act adversely to their clients (even their former clients), Trump would most likely have legal grounds to seek disqualification of Lieberman participating in an investigation against his interests. Think that possibility is mere speculation? This precise dynamic is reportedly already at play in an effort to keep Robert Mueller from acting as Special Counsel because his former law firm has previously represented Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, and Paul Manafort, all key figures in the Trump campaign.

"Within hours of Mueller's appointment on Wednesday, the White House began reviewing the Code of Federal Regulations, which restricts newly hired government lawyers from investigating their prior law firm’s clients for one year after their hiring..."

see Reuters story here

So, Trump's favorite pick for head of the FBI is a guy he can disqualify from investigating Trump? Clever ... or obstruction of justice.

Welcome to the APR Report!

Conservatives have Fox News, Breitbart, and the Drudge Report; liberals have Daily Kos, Huffington Post, and the Daily Beast. But where are independent, critical thinking, non-partisan American citizens to go for news? Its tricky, because moderates and deep thinkers aren't outrageous or attention-grabbing, but they are key to continued success of our country.

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