Flap Your Lips Friday
Posted by Michelle Moquin on September 30th, 2016
Good morning.
Social Butterfly: I can’t keep thinking about the quote you posted by Michelle Vitalione. The double standard of what’s acceptable and excused behavior for men vs. women is still going strong. Clinton can go under investigation but where are the people shouting to prosecute Trump when there is proof without a doubt that Trump violated the embargo against Cuba? C’mon Dems, get it together.
Here’s the write from Newsweek:
HOW DONALD TRUMP’S COMPANY VIOLATED THE UNITED STATES EMBARGO AGAINST CUBA
Donald Trump makes his way past television camera crews after taking questions regarding his presidential bid on the Reform Party ticket in Hartford, Connecticut, on December 1, 1999.
Updated | A company controlled by Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, secretly conducted business in Communist Cuba during Fidel Castro’s presidency despite strict American trade bans that made such undertakings illegal, according to interviews with former Trump executives, internal company records and court filings.
Documents show that the Trump company spent a minimum of $68,000 for its 1998 foray into Cuba at a time when the corporate expenditure of even a penny in the Caribbean country was prohibited without U.S. government approval. But the company did not spend the money directly. Instead, with Trump’s knowledge, executives funneled the cash for the Cuba trip through an American consulting firm called Seven Arrows Investment and Development Corp. Once the business consultants traveled to the island and incurred the expenses for the venture, Seven Arrows instructed senior officers with Trump’s company—then called Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts—how to make it appear legal by linking it after the fact to a charitable effort.
On February 8, 1999, Seven Arrows billed Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, Inc. for the $68,551.88 it had incurred prior to and including a trip to Cuba on behalf of Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc.
The payment by Trump Hotels came just before the New York business mogul launched his first bid for the White House, seeking the nomination of the Reform Party. On his first day of the campaign, he traveled to Miami, where he spoke to a group of Cuban-Americans, a critical voting bloc in the swing state. Trump vowedto maintain the embargo and never spend his or his companies’ money in Cuba until Fidel Castro was removed from power.
He did not disclose that, seven months earlier, Trump Hotels already had reimbursed its consultants for the money they spent on their secret business trip to Havana.
At the time, Americans traveling to Cuba had to receive specific U.S. government permission, which was granted only for an extremely limited number of purposes, such as humanitarian efforts. Neither an American nor a company based in the United States could spend any cash in Cuba; instead, a foreign charity or similar sponsoring entity needed to pay all expenses, including travel. Without obtaining a license from the federal Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) before the consultants went to Cuba, the undertaking by Trump Hotels would have been in violation of federal law, trade experts say.
Officials with the Trump campaign and the Trump Organization did not respond to emails seeking comment on the Cuba trip, further documentation about the endeavor or an interview with Trump. Richard Fields, who was then the principal in charge of Seven Arrows, did not return calls seeking comment.
Following the publication of this article on Newsweek.com, Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s campaign manager, was asked about the allegations on the television program The View. She replied that, “They paid money, as I understand, in 1998,” but went on to say that Trump had never invested in the Caribbean nation. In that statement, Conway has acknowledged that Trump broke the law. Paying the money for the business trip and meetings in Cuba – regardless of whether it resulted in an additional investment or casino deal – would directly violate the law.
A former Trump executive who spoke on condition of anonymity says the company did not obtain a government license prior to the trip. Internal documents show that executives involved in the Cuba project were still discussing the need for federal approval after the trip had taken place.
OFAC officials say there is no record that the agency granted any such license to the companies or individuals involved, although they cautioned that some documents from that time have been destroyed. Yet one OFAC official, who agreed to discuss approval procedures if granted anonymity, says the probability that the office would grant a license for work on behalf of an American casino is “essentially zero.”
‘He’s a Murderer’
Newsweek’s latest cover, “The Castro Connection.”
Prior to the Cuban trip, several European companies reached out to Trump about potentially investing together on the island through Trump Hotels, according to the former Trump executive. At the time, a bipartisan group of senators, three former secretaries of state and other former officials were urging then-President Bill Clinton to review America’s Cuba policy, in hopes of eventually ending the decades-long embargo.
The goal of the Cuba trip, the former Trump executive says, was to give Trump’s company a foothold should Washington loosen or lift the trade restrictions. While in Cuba, the Trump representatives met with government officials, bankers and other business leaders to explore possible opportunities for the casino company. The former executive says Trump had participated in discussions about the Cuba trip and knew it had taken place.
The fact that Seven Arrows spent the money and then received reimbursement from Trump Hotels does not mitigate any potential corporate liability for violating the Cuban embargo. “The money that the Trump company paid to the consultant is money that a Cuban national has an interest in and was spent on an understanding it would be reimbursed,’’ says Richard Matheny, chair of Goodwin’s national security and foreign trade regulation group, based on a description of the events byNewsweek. “That would be illegal. If OFAC discovered this and found there was evidence of willful misconduct, they could have made a referral to the Department of Justice.”
Shortly after Trump Hotels reimbursed Seven Arrows, the two companies parted ways. Within months, Trump formed a presidential exploratory committee. He soon decided to seek the nomination of the Reform Party, which was founded by billionaire Ross Perot after his unsuccessful 1992 bid for the White House.
Donald Trump at a taping of “Larry King Live” on CNN in New York City on October 14, 1999. Trump said he was moving toward a possible bid for the United States presidency with the formation of a presidential exploratory committee.
Trump launched his presidential campaign in Miami in November 1999. There, at a luncheon hosted by the Cuban American National Foundation, an organization of Cuban exiles, heproclaimed he wanted to maintain the American embargo and would not spend any money in Cuba so long as Fidel Castro remained in power. At the time, disclosing that his company had just spent money on the Cuba trip, or even acknowledging an interest in loosening the embargo, would have ruined Trump’s chances in Florida, a critical electoral state where large numbers of Cuban-Americans remain virulently opposed to the regime.
“As you know—and the people in this room know better than anyone—putting money and investing money in Cuba right now doesn’t go to the people of Cuba,’’ Trump told the crowd. “It goes to Fidel Castro. He’s a murderer. He’s a killer. He’s a bad guy in every respect, and, frankly, the embargo must stand if for no other reason than, if it does stand, he will come down.”
Its Stock Price Had Collapsed
By the time Trump gave that speech, 36 years had passed since the Treasury Department in the Kennedy administration imposed the embargo. The rules prohibited any American person or company—even those with operations in other foreign countries—from engaging in financial transactions with any person or entity in Cuba. The lone exceptions: humanitarian efforts and telecommunications exports.
The impact of the embargo intensified in 1991, when the collapse of the Soviet Union ended its oil subsidies to the island and triggered a broad economic collapse. By 1993, Cuba faced extreme shortages, and Castro was forced to start printing money solely to cover government deficits. Three years later, the U.S. Congress passed the Helms-Burton Act, which codified the embargo into law and worsened Cuba’s economic decline. With many financial options closed off, Cuba attempted to find overseas investment to modernize its tourism industry and other businesses.
Fidel Castro speaks with his brother Raul Castro, right, during the morning session of the Cuban National Assembly on December 21, 1998.
The first signs that American policy might be shifting came in March 1998, when President Clinton announced several major changes. Among them: resuming charter flights between the United States and Cuba for authorized Americans, streamlining procedures for exporting medical equipment and allowing Cubans in the U.S. to send small amounts of cash to their relatives on the island. However, Americans and American companies still could not legally spend their own money in Cuba.
That fall, as critics pressured Clinton to further loosen the embargo, Trump Hotels saw an opportunity. Like the Communist regime, the company was struggling, having piled up losses for years. In 1998 alone, Trump Hotels lost $39.7 million, according to the company’s financial filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Its stock price had collapsed, falling almost 80 percent from a high that year of $12 a share to a low of just $2.75. (After multiple bankruptcies, Trump severed his ties with the company; it is now called Trump Entertainment Resorts and is a subsidiary of Icahn Enterprises, run by renowned financier Carl Icahn.)
The company was desperate to find partners for new business that offered the chance to increase profits, according to another former Trump executive who spoke on condition of anonymity. The hotel and casino company assigned Seven Arrows, which had been working with Trump for several years, to develop such opportunities, including the one in Cuba.
On February 8, 1999, months after the consultants traveled to the island, Seven Arrows submitted a bill to Trump Hotels for the $68,551.88 it had “incurred prior to and including a trip to Cuba on behalf of Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc.”
The 1999 document also makes clear that executives were still discussing the legal requirements for such a trip after the consultants had already returned from Cuba. The government does not provide after-the-fact licenses.
“Under current law trips of the sort Mr. Fields took to Cuba must be sanctioned not only by the White House but are technically on behalf of a charity,’’ the bill submitted to Trump Hotels says. “The one most commonly used is Carinas Cuba.”
The instructions contain two errors. First, while OFAC is part of the executive branch, the White House itself does not provide licenses for business dealings in Cuba. Second, the correct name of the charity is Caritas Cuba, a group formed in 1991 by the Catholic Church, which provides services for the elderly, children and other vulnerable populations in the Caribbean nation. Caritas Cuba did not respond to emails about contacts it may have had with Trump Hotels, Seven Arrows or any individuals associated with them.
The invoice from Seven Arrows was submitted to John Burke, who was then the corporate treasurer of Trump Hotels. In a lawsuit on a different legal issue, Burke testified that Trump Hotels paid the bill in full, although he denied recognizing the document.
‘Totally False’
The Cuba venture was one of two assignments given to Seven Arrows at that time, and the second has already emerged as an issue in the GOP nominee’s bid for the presidency. Trump Hotels also paid the consulting firm to help develop a deal with the Seminole tribe of Florida to partner in a casino there. Knowing that the Florida Legislature and governor opposed casino gambling in the state, Trump authorized developing a strategy to win over politicians to get the laws changed in an effort named the “Gambling Project.” The law firm of Greenberg Traurig was retained to assemble the strategy. A copy of the plan prepared by the lawyers showed the strategy involved hiring multiple consultants, lobbyists and media relations firms to persuade the governor and the Legislature to allow casino gambling in the state. The key to possible success? Campaign contributions.
The plan states “the executive and legislative branches of Florida government are driven by many influences, the most meaningful of which lies in campaign giving.” For the Legislature, it recommends giving to “leadership accounts” maintained by state political parties, rather than to individual lawmakers, because “this is where the big bucks go and the real influence is negotiated.” Records show Seven Arrows also incurred $38,996.32 on its work on the project, far less than it spent for the Cuba endeavor.
Aside from deceiving Cuban-Americans, records of the 1998 initiatives show that Trump lied to voters about his efforts in Florida during that period. At the second Republican presidential debate in September 2015, one of Trump’s rivals, Jeb Bush, said the billionaire had tried to buy him off with favors and contributions when he was Florida’s governor in an effort to legalize casino gambling in the state. “Totally false,’’ Trump responded. “I would have gotten it.”
The documents obtained by Newsweek give no indication why the $39,000 spent on Seven Arrows’ primary assignment—arranging for a casino deal with the Seminole tribe—was so much less than the $68,000 expended on the Cuba effort. The former Trump executive could not offer any explanation for the disparity.
Though it has long been illegal for corporations to spend money in Cuba without proper authorization, there is no chance that Trump, the company or any of its executives will be prosecuted for wrongdoing. The statute of limitations ran out long ago, and legal analysts say OFAC’s enforcement division is understaffed, so the chances for an investigation were slim even at the time.
And perhaps that was the calculation behind the company’s decision to flout the law: the low risk of getting caught versus the high reward of lining up Cuban allies if the U.S. loosened or dropped the embargo. The only catch: What would happen if Trump’s Cuban-American supporters ever found out?
Update: Adds Trump campaign manager confirmation.
*****
Readers: It’s Friday…you know what to do.
Blog me.
David: Sorry your first comment went into my spam. It is there now.
GO VOTE: If you live in a state such as Iowa that has early voting, go out and vote today. Get it done. No matter what the polls say, and how much of a lead Hillary may looks like she has, still go to the polls, and encourage EVERYONE to go because this is not just about making sure that Hillary is the president, we need to make sure we give her coattails to take back the Senate. A SCOTUS will be nominated and it is imperative that Hillary’s nomination is confirmed.
Peace out.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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September 30th, 2016 at 10:56 am
W(7^431,
Thank you for the info. Unfortunately, you are very correct – everyone perished but one and he is awaiting backup. I’ve now lost contact so I can only hope he’s safe.
PrP
September 30th, 2016 at 5:08 pm
*sigh* LSOS…
…he is the literally the epitome of dark triad behavior, notice the do what I want and deny or deflect under all circumstances bc of his internal excessive grandiosity belief system. The scrambled ‘gas-lighting’ answer to Jeb Bush’s question, “totally false” trump responds “I would’ve gotten it” leaves one wondering whether the charge of bribery is totally false or bc it didn’t work he worlds gotten it anyway … Or … A little bit of both. In the minds of triads their BS is true and they spend not even one minute wondering or caring whether you know that or not, or if you just caught that they said one thing a week/hour/minute ago as long as they deny it what you think or heard of say about it isn’t relevant (their brain wiring is quite different)…>in the end it doesn’t make them any less than a LSOS.
So here’s your warning: vote for that and you’ll get more of that behavior, wayyyy more (bc trump wil be thinking ‘now I am the most powerful person on the planet’ bwahaha) and that on a word is DANGEROUS.
please do not allow this regardless of your personal politics, take a page out of David’s playbook if you must (commenter who almost ended up spam, btw I saw the original 2 comments just fine) but do not give this megalomaniac POTUS.
Luv, Zen Lill
September 30th, 2016 at 5:11 pm
One more thing, re: dung one thing in Cuba while saying another at a meeting in Florida in same time period is classic talking out if both sides of your a$$ (oops I meant ‘mouth’) but that’s a triad trait also. Their reality is very different. ~ ZL
September 30th, 2016 at 5:12 pm
Ahhh *DOING not dung < but it was that, too.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:06 pm
I agree Michelle. The dems with the power to go after trump should be all over him on this.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:09 pm
The dems had better hurry before the trump deniers and apologists get started defending him.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:10 pm
Michelle, Trump was ahead of Yobama on policy. He just didn’t do a lame tango on TV.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:12 pm
Wasn’t Romney doing business with Cuba – most likely laundering drug money through Bain Capital – but that’s ok – but that damned Trump!!!
September 30th, 2016 at 8:17 pm
Michelle, Let’s not get it twisted: Trump never transactedbusiness with the Castro regime, as the Newsweek article claims. To the contrary, Trump concluded that those who seek to do business with the Castro regime were mistaken.
Trump even penned an op-ed in The Miami Herald in 1999, in which he admits:
“Several large European investment groups have asked me to take the’Trump Magic’ to Cuba. They have ‘begged’ me to form partnerships to buildcasino-hotels in Havana.
With the influx of foreign tourists, we would make a fortune, they promise, and they are no doubt right. They are also right to say that this type of arrangement would allow me to skirt the U. S.-imposed embargo.
But rushing to join those who would do business in Cuba would do more than that. It would place me directly at odds with the long standing U. S. policy of isolating Fidel Castro. I had a choice to make: huge profits or human rights. For me, it was a no-brainer.”
http://www.capitolhillcubans.com/2016/09/newsweeks-trump-cuba-story-needs.html
September 30th, 2016 at 8:17 pm
Crooked Clintons pay to play days, are almost over! #United4Trump
https://youtu.be/ESu2SLVjFLc
September 30th, 2016 at 8:19 pm
Members of Congress made political history by voting overwhelmingly (almost unanimously) to override the President’s veto of a measure that allowed families of those killed during the 9/11 terror attacks to sue Saudi Arabia.
An override requires a super majority of two thirds of both House and Senate, and the numbers were well in excess of that. Obama’s legacy is starting to look a little tattered.
A jilted Obama was not a happy camper when he said that maintaining diplomatic and sovereign immunity was a critical factor in international affairs. “Saudi Arabia is a US ally in the area and we must not be hindered in the good work we are doing around the world.
“We should not destroy sovereign immunity”, he said as he implied the redacted 28 pages withheld by the Congressional Inquiry until now, did not embroil the Saudis in the 9/11 disaster. Wot!
Funny but the Saudis must have felt otherwise as they threatened to withdraw most of their US assets if the 28 pages were released.
The Saudis’ worries may have concerned evidence within the 28 pages that had something to do with Osama Basnan, a man in close contact with two of the 9/11 hijackers in California.
He reportedly was sent a cheque from Prince Bandar, Saudi Ambassador to the US at the time, (above, in his best wahhabi gear) for $15,000 and Basnan’s wife also received a cheque.
Basnan lived near the two hijackers, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi and admitted to the FBI that he had helped the pair.
The most cursory reading of those 28 pages serves to prove that Saudi Arabia was involved in the 9/11 attack up to their bloody eyeballs.
The Saudis as head of OPEC are already retaliating to the release of the documents by further increasing crude oil extraction. This is designed to cripple US oil exploration. Not that that will bother Obama as he has already plugged the US Keystone pipeline that could have gone a long way toward making the US self sufficient in oil.
Obama wants to maintain sovereign immunity from litigation thereby denying victims of 9/11 the right to claim damages from the Saudis. His argument is that the US can then also be litigated against for all sorts of reasons involving military occupation. Obama needs to stop his love affair with the vile wahhabist strain of Islam the Saudi “Royal” family adheres to, and he must stop curtseying to the so-called King and Princes of Saudi terrorism.
Sovereign immunity for the Saudis is a load of bull s h it anyway.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:22 pm
Liza#9, I see the LSOS are starting to come to trumps defense. What you are spouting the facts show in the above article are all lies.
The only truth here is trump’s declaration that the choice to him was a no brainer. He went for the money as he always has.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:24 pm
“Patriot”@10, one always knows when he/she is about to hear bullshit when the poster signs in with a pompous bullshit title like patriot.
What you are actually saying is that trump’s cheat-and-get-others-to-pay days are so much more appealing.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:26 pm
Fred@11, you LSOS, your comment is pure bullshit. What Obama ACTUALLY said:
“The concern that I’ve had has nothing to do with Saudi Arabia per se or my sympathy for 9/11 families, it has to do with me not wanting a situation in which we’re suddenly exposed to liabilities for all the work that we’re doing all around the world, and suddenly finding ourselves subject to the private lawsuits in courts where we don’t even know exactly whether they’re on the up and up, in some cases”
Fred maybe you are just stupid and can’r read get a child to read it to you if you’re still having difficulty understanding it.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:28 pm
Bob#8, So you’re saying you’re okay with Trump breaking federal law to secretly breach an embargo against one of America’s enemies?
September 30th, 2016 at 8:29 pm
Patriot#10, Oh dear, the ‘patriot’ doth protest too much.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:29 pm
No great shakes as a business man – or human being.
https://www.quora.com/Did-Donald-Trump-inherit-a-lot-of-money-and-then-increase-his-net-worth
Everything built on sand – including his “reputation” !
US Presidential Candidates – LoL – Loony or Liar ?
September 30th, 2016 at 8:31 pm
June#6, You called it. The trump deplorables are out in force. I’m actually starting to feel sorry for Trump supporters. He keeps pulling the rug out from under all their ‘crooked Hillary’ campaigns – his Trump Foundation shenanigans have killed off their Clinton Foundation attacks they put so much time and effort into, and now the same is about to happen with all their ‘lock her up’ efforts too.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:32 pm
To be fair, the embargo is kind of a stupid as hell policy. Given that we’ve been embargo-ing since JFK and it has done nothing to change Cuba’s political views, make them stop being all communist and such, maybe we should rethink it.
:shudders: I defended Donald Trump. I feel so unbelievably dirty. Anyone know if you can really clean off germs with a blowtorch?
September 30th, 2016 at 8:33 pm
Law and order only applies when executing shoplifters. For millionaires and billionaires “that makes me smart”.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:34 pm
Molly#19, You are correct, of course, about the stupid policy.
But, it was the law of the land and his company broke it. This does not bode well for a country that prides itself on following the rule of law. Can any other country trust the US to follow international laws when a) the President has a history of ignoring them, or b) the President said he will not abide by any laws or treaties he personally feels are wrong.
And, to further the argument, he then has less of a leg to stand on if anyone in the country trades with Iran, North Korea, Venezuela or Syria. It may be difficult to prosecute someone when they can subpoena the President to determine if such activity should be allowed.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:34 pm
Molly#19, I don’t think so, but I’ve got a belt sander and some paint thinner you can use.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:36 pm
Asa#20, He’s a rich white guy in America? Does anyone seriously expect laws to actually apply to him?
September 30th, 2016 at 8:39 pm
Basically, there was thought that the embargo would be lifted, Trump wanted to cheat and cut in line and scope out a good deal for his hotel before the pesky laws were changed (they werent). So he hired a consulting firm to illegally evade the embargo to make deals with the Castro regime to get Trump hotels in before the competition.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:46 pm
Anyone check on Ted Cruz yet? I bet he is going to be upset when he finds out about this. Funny how this comes out six days after he compromised all of his values to endorse Trump.
His dad must be saying to him, “si había tenido las bolas para hacer frente a _him_ Cuando se deshonró a su esposa y para mí, no se vería como el cobarde sin agallas que está en oro tiene que sentir vergüenza por esta divulgación Que le bastardo nos traicionó y mintió sobre nuestras caras ella.”
if you’d had the balls to stand up to him when he disgraced your wife and me, you wouldn’t look like the gutless coward you are or have to be embarrassed by this disclosure that the bastard betrayed us and lied to our faces about it.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:49 pm
Before you go damning Mr. Trump consider this:
1. These manufactured reports from a totally discredited reporter are pathetic.
2. The Clinton spin machine and their allies in the media are getting desperate, it’s pretty sad that they have to go back 10, 20, even 30 years to try to attack Mr. Trump.
3. Can you imagine if MSNBC dedicated even five minutes to a story on how the Clinton’s made all their money by selling access and rewarding rewarding their special interest donors?
September 30th, 2016 at 8:50 pm
I think the worst part is that he spoke in front of a group of Cuban-Americans months later and flaunted his tough on Castro, pro-embargo stance. He’s a piece of shit.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:51 pm
Just shows how little ethics this guy really has. He knew what he was doing then, and he had such little respect for the Cuban people that he had no shame in going in front of them and lying to their face. And he knows now what he is doing.
The same thing, instead he is lying to every single American, expecting that we are just as gullible as those who listened to him in the past. I’m hoping theres enough people in this country that are smart enough to read how much of a snake this man truly is.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:54 pm
Being from Miami, growing up in the Cuban ex-pat community, I’m having a really hard time understanding how something this significant could be missed during the primaries.
How did every other Republican candidate not uncover this? If this had come out before the convention, it might be another Clinton/Bush contest. If this had come out a week later, it would be a textbook October surprise for the Democratic party.
The Cubans are saying they hope there are enough people in the country smart enough? Enough honest people in Miami-Dade County is all it will take to completely shut down any path Trump has to the Whitehouse.
Florida is the swingiest of swing states, and the Cuban-American voting block there is huge. They’re probably the only pro-Trump ethnic minority population in the entire country, and this is literally their key issue.
They’re pro-family and pro-business, sure. But they reliably vote for whoever disparages the Castro name the hardest. As much as they distrust the Clintons, they hate the Castros so much more.
Cuban ex-patriots have been reliably Republican since before Mariel, and if you ask a random 20-something on Calle Ocho today why, they’ll tell you it’s because Kennedy betrayed us at the Bay of Pigs.
For all his railing against ‘for-the-people’ elites, for all Trump’s pandering and trying to paint the progressive left in this country as the same as repressive leftist regimes elsewhere, he’s been a double-dealing hypocrite all this time.
Every viable path Trump has to the presidency goes straight through Miami, and this is the one issue even he will have a hard time spinning down there.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:55 pm
That and he funneled the money into Cuba under the guise of “Charitable Work”. That is scumbag behavior of the highest order.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:55 pm
I wonder how Trump would respond if her were asked to define “charity” or “temperament” on a debate stage.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:57 pm
Booker#29, Thanks for the insight from somebody within the Miami Cuban-American community. That is why I come to Michelle’s blog – to hear reaction from people actually connected to and impacted by a story.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:00 pm
Klein#32, Thanks. Thanks!
I have many close friends whose parents still talk about the things they left behind when Batista was overthrown – pets, photographs, jewelry…
It really was like something out of a movie, right down to ‘only the clothes on their backs’. From the perspective of the nationalist guerrillas who had just liberated their country from foreign corporate control, those fleeing the island for the U.S. were no better than the gringo capitalists who had made a colony of Cuba since the Spanish-American war.
Why should they get to take all of their wealth off of the island, even if they owned it? It was largely the middle- and upper-class leaving, and the victorious rebels figured they must have made their wealth by colluding with American businesses against the interests of their friends and neighbors. So why not rob people of their suitcases as they got onto planes?
For this community, the issue is much more dire than just ‘he’s a self-serving businessman’. This kind of open gesture to the Castro regime, even though it came to nothing in the end, offends the very root of an entire cultural identity.
On the whole, bending rules a bit isn’t frowned upon by either Caribbean culture in general or Cuban culture specifically. But breaking the embargo goes beyond breaking the law, especially for the generation of those who came here between Batista and Mariel.
While some my age (45) had visited Cuba through various channels that existed before the embargo was lifted, none of their parents would ever consider it.
They still mostly refuse, even though it means they probably won’t live to see the family members they left behind half a century ago. I think, for many, it would be a betrayal of the lives they’d rebuilt here, to set foot on Cuban soil while a Castro was still in power there.
I’ve never talked politics with my godfather, but am really interested in what he has to say about this. He came to this country as an unaccompanied child in the Pedro Pan airlifts in the early 60s. He was adopted by an Anglo family, and has lived a pretty white-American life, but he must have thoughts on this.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:04 pm
Steve#26, Two things I notice with those talking points you got from the right;
First, there is no denial or even mention of Cuba. Calling the report pathetic is not the same as calling the reports false.
Second, the irony of the second point is almost too much to handle. They are literally blaming Hillary Clinton for her husband’s infidelity 30 years ago.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:05 pm
Oh and Kurt Eichenwald started sharing proof of Trump’s embargo violation. Here’s a link to the document. I guess the surrogates need to revise their first talking point.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:06 pm
Booker@33, If you get him to talk, record him. Stuff like that dies with the person and if nobody else knows it, that info is lost forever.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:08 pm
Booker, I understand completely, Trump’s comments on POWs prompted me to talk to my grandmother about her father who died as a POW in a Japanese camp in WWII.
It was a painful conversation for her, I could hear it in her voice. She loved him dearly and her stepfather that her mother turned to was a horrible man.
Her father was, indeed, a hero to her. For holding out for three years. For trying to come home to her. And ultimately for dying to defend her future and our way of life.
These personal stories matter. They can steel our resolve and define our values. And they do go to the grave with the dead.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:11 pm
Booker#29, “[Cubans] are probably the only pro-Trump ethnic minority population in the entire country”
It’s now third-hand information coming from me, but I recall seeing some Venezuelan immigrants on /r/politics after the first debate saying that, before the Miss Piggy/Housekeeping comments, Florida’s Venezuelan-immigrant communities were looking pretty staunchly pro-Trump.
Hard to say what they are now, but I imagine that nugget of information didn’t go over well with them.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:13 pm
Carlos#38, Ooh, hadn’t thought of them. I guess coming from a country with a violent, repressive leftist government will give you a strong hate-on for the Democratic party here, even if the Left in Venezuela and the Left here have very little in common.
I felt like I was going out on a limb with the word ‘only’, so I threw in a ‘probably’ to soften it a bit. It would have been better to say that Cuban-Americans were ‘probably his only electorally-significant minority…’
There are many more of them than there are Venezuelan-Americans, and their diaspora is very heavily concentrated in South Florida, the most populous counties in a very populous swing state.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:15 pm
Carlos##38How were they pro Trump to begin with? Don’t they realize that when he insults Mexico, he means everything south of the Rio Grande?
When he says Mexicans are rapists and thieves, he means “all people who speak Spanish and are not from Spain are rapists and thieves”.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:17 pm
We should spread this information to all of our friends on social media then…Maybe make a call to our local democratic politician to run with this even if the audience is currently heavy pro-GOP its more likely that they will raise awareness.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:20 pm
Pasquala#40, That’s the beauty of a dog whistle though, isn’t it? Only the dogs hear it.
To Trump’s primary-election target audience, his ‘poorly-educated’ southerners, ‘Mexican’ is a stand-in for any latino/a.
It’s also shorthand for lazy, pot-smoking, degenerate, and much more, but as you pointed out, it mostly just means ‘brown’.
But Venezuelans aren’t dogs. They didn’t hear Trump’s whistle. When they heard him say ‘Mexican’, they heard ‘People born in Mexico, or their descendants’, so there was nothing personally offensive in what he said.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:31 pm
I hear republicans demeaning President Obama all the time. If a white republican president had accomplished as much as this president the conservatives would be designing monuments in Washington DC to forever honor him.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:32 pm
Richard#43, I agree. Unfortunately the blame does not lie squarely on Trump’s shoulders. The GOP and their propaganda service, Fox “News”, have been building this for decades.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:33 pm
Richard#43, Seriously, they’d chisel his face on Mt Rushmore if he were a white Republican.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:34 pm
Richard#43, Absolutely!!
September 30th, 2016 at 9:34 pm
Exactly!
September 30th, 2016 at 9:37 pm
Richard #43, Yeah, the Republicans love presidents who :
1) use drone strikes to kill foriegn nationals without a trial
2) pass a huge corporate welfare program for Healthcare companies
3) renew the Patriot act
4) negotiate free trade acts that give more power to MNCs
5) who continue to hold prisoners without trial in Gitmo.
You are correct if Obama was a Republican, they would love him.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:39 pm
It probably isn’t that relevant what a Canadian thinks, nor the majority of rest of the world, Mr. Mayor, but President Obama has the utmost respect and is very much liked around the world for his 8 year exceptional leadership. He will be missed greatly.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:40 pm
Racism with Obama, after Clinton wins we’ll see all the mysogny.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:42 pm
James#48,
1) So we either ignore the terrorists and just let them be or we send in American troops to die on the ground. Then you would say he is soft on terrorism. You can’t hve it both ways.
2) Obama got the best he could for healthcare. He couldn’t even get it through his own party with a single payer option, which he tried for. What we have has increased coverage for millions of people so face the truth, it may not be perfect and it may not be what he wanted, but it is better than what we had.
3) He signed a bill that was presented to him. Do you honestly believe that a veto wouldn’t have been overrriden? And while what I know of the Patriot Act makes me believe many parts of it are horrible, I don’t know (and neither do you) what it has accomplished to prevent further terrorst attacks.
4) Not a fan of these trade pacts either, but again, have you considered he may be trying to prevent them from being worse?
And the real issue there is that the jobs that are going to other countries are at least going somewhere. A lot of manufacturing has come back to this country but hasn’t created jobs because the factories are so automated.
And don’t be naive… You will never replace enough jobs with high-tech repair, design and programming of robots to make up for the jobs lost. The notion that people just need different training is a smoke screen because nobody has a good idea as to how to fix this problem.
5) President Obama has tried to close down Gitmo numerous times. The Republicans won’t allow it. They get in a tizzy every time he tries.
I don’t know what side you are for, though it is obvious you are against the sitting President. However, at least examine your positions regarding him with some facts and reasons before throwing out a list of talking points that are generally baseless.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:43 pm
Richard#43, All that inspite of everything they did to block every bill to benefit The people.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:44 pm
James#48, you don’t much like facts do you?
September 30th, 2016 at 9:46 pm
James#50, Please tell me you’re being ironic.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:48 pm
And naming aircraft carriers after him.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:49 pm
Are you kidding! Republicans want to erect monuments to GOP Presidents that did their best to tear down America.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:50 pm
Obama’s election merely exposed the racism that has always been just beneath the surface. Trump’s campaign has made it a festering boil.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:51 pm
if asked why they don’t want Obama on Mt Rushmore, republicans would use the excuse that the stone’s the wrong color. Something is seriously wrong with these people.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:52 pm
Eric#51, So true! And think what more could have been accomplished without a hostile obstructionist Congress.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:53 pm
He’d be added to Mt Rushmore! In face president Obama should be ! I think he will go down in history as one of the greats!
September 30th, 2016 at 9:54 pm
Oh nooooo, the treatment of Obama has nothing to do with race at all! Thank you GOP, you have let the deplorables loose on the world.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:56 pm
Let the Deplorables come out of the woodwork. Now we don’t have to guess. Now…as the light comes on and we can see ourself in the mirror, it’s time to face who we are.
If you are a “Patriot” and love this country and what it means and stands for you will not vote for men and women who call to the ugliest parts of us saying that they are the prettiest.
Real patriots pay their taxes because it’s the law and because they know that taxes are needed to build this country from the ground A vote for Trump and the Republicans is a vote for racism, sexism, and a vote against our children, our security and out Progress….FACTS
September 30th, 2016 at 9:57 pm
Michelle makes her point in every blog. Get out and vote; do not let the deplorables take over our country.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:58 pm
Trump incites violence on purpose. He does it for political gain at the expense of the American people. Which is why he’s the chief deplorable.
September 30th, 2016 at 9:58 pm
When they say that Obama has divided the country, what they really mean is, “Before Obama was elected, I didn’t realize I hated black people so much.”
September 30th, 2016 at 10:00 pm
“They” hate President Obama (the establishment republicans) because he beat them so many times using their laws and rules with his intellect, the man is brilliant.
I am pretty sure they hate his white genes as much as his black genes. Of course there are those that hate him just because he is black but they are usually not very intelligent and not worthy of a comment.
September 30th, 2016 at 10:04 pm
James Carville described Pennsylvania as “Philadelphia on the east, Pittsburgh on the west, and Alabama in the middle.”
This white girl grew up in the “middle” area. I never cease to be amazed by their attitudes. The race issues of the 60′s that occured here, have never left, nor been forgotten.
This county didn’t even vote for the Democratic governor, Tom Wolf, who operated a popular business in the community for generations. I have friends that literally fear putting a Hillary sign in their yard. Obama, don’t even go there…………………such prejudice. Shameful.
September 30th, 2016 at 10:05 pm
I want to say I’m shocked that the republicans picked trump as their choice for POTUS…but sadly, I am not. It’s truly time to put the Republicans to rest and vote all blue in November.
If our conservative friends want to survive, let them weed out the extremists that have taken over their party many years ago. But this country needs to stay focused and move forward.
September 30th, 2016 at 10:09 pm
Who has a problem with Colin Kapaernick’s peaceful protest? It’s people like the Fox hosts, crooked police and just about half of Trumps supporters is why he is protesting…It’s not too hard to understand, his protest has nothing to do with the military, veterans and troops fighting abroad.
He has said from the beginning, the flag and the anthem was meant for ALL Americans and yet, not ALL Americans are treated the same, why support something that doesn’t represent him or others like him. I get it….
September 30th, 2016 at 10:11 pm
Buyer’s Remorse. Remember yesterday, when news broke that Congress overrode President Obama’s veto to pass a bill that would allow 9/11 victims’ families to sue the Saudi Arabian government for potential involvement in the 9/11 attacks?
Well, President Obama had warned lawmakers not to override his veto, on the grounds that the law could damage American national security and make the U.S. government more vulnerable to international lawsuits, but Congress didn’t listen.
Now, just a day after overriding his veto, Congressional leaders are back-peddling and saying they may have to “rewrite” the legislation because of worries that it will expose the U.S. to foreign lawsuits.
And now the White House is saying “told ya so”.
September 30th, 2016 at 10:17 pm
This week marks the 40th anniversary of the Hyde Amendment, an annually approved appropriations rider that prevents federal funds from covering abortion services through the Medicaid program.
This funding restriction, coupled with other state restrictions, effectively bans abortion care for many low-income women. Since the out-of-pocket expenses for abortion services are often cost prohibitive, Hyde and similar restrictions place a financial burden on women and further jeopardize both their health and the economic security of their families. This is particularly true for women who live in states such as Texas.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Whole Women v. Hellerstedt that two provisions of Texas’ targeted regulation of abortion providers, or TRAP, law presented an “undue burden” for women seeking abortions in the state of Texas.
This law resulted in the closure of more than 20 clinics across the state. While the Supreme Court ruling would allow these clinics to reopen, they remain closed due to the time it takes to rehire staff and secure new leases for office space.
Also, because of state budget cuts to family planning programs, many Texas women have limited access to contraception. As a result, Medicaid enrollees, particularly those living in rural areas, have limited access to contraception to prevent unintended pregnancies and are burdened with the high cost of abortion services because their health plans do not cover it.
Worse, in order to qualify for Medicaid in Texas, a woman must have a monthly income that does not exceed $3,360 for a family of three.** So with little to no resources, if a rural woman in Texas faces an unintended pregnancy and needs an abortion, she must pay out of pocket for the service, which can total more than $1,000 depending on where she lives in the state.
October 1st, 2016 at 8:17 am
51 Keith, 68 Todd
Harry Reid sums it up very succinctly telling the GOP they created the DT monster by obstructing Obama for 8 years
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/harry-reid-gop-obama_us_57ed1c78e4b082aad9b97321
/SB
October 1st, 2016 at 9:01 am
[…] I have not read all of the comments from the past few days but Robert’s comment caught my eye because I had just read about this very […]
October 5th, 2016 at 6:15 am
There’s certainly a great deal to learn about this
topic. I love all of the points you have made.