^^^^ I heard Angels singing while reading that.

An Obama-era plan to have the federal government finance half of a $13 billion rail tunnel project ran into a red light Friday from the Trump administration.

The plan, proposed under President Barack Obama in 2015, includes revitalizing a deteriorating Amtrak tunnel connecting New Jersey to New York City, repairing damage to a dual-tunnel conduit, and reconstructing the New Jersey railroad network’s aging Portal Bridge, Crain’s New York Business reported.

Amtrak, which owns most of the rail tunnels and tracks between Boston and Washington, D.C., contends that the existing tunnel connecting New Jersey and New York City is damaged and could fail within 10 to 15 years, threatening daily rail transportation in the Northeast.


The original Obama-era plan called for costs to be split among New York state, New Jersey and the federal government.

'A local project'

But in a letter Friday, the Trump administration notified New York and New Jersey that the Obama-era deal was now "non-existent" because the states recently requested that their portions be covered by loans from the federal government -- meaning Washington would supply all of the initial funding for what the Trump White House is calling "a local project."

"Your letter also references a non-existent '50/50' agreement between USDOT, New York, and New Jersey. There is no such agreement," wrote K. Jane Williams, deputy administrator of the Federal Transit Administration. "We consider it unhelpful to reference a non-existent 'agreement' rather than directly address the responsibility for funding a local project where nine out of 10 passengers are local transit riders."

The letter raises questions about whether the so-called Gateway project will be included in a $1 trillion national infrastructure plan that President Donald Trump is expected to unveil in January.

Gateway Development Corp., the project overseer composed of representatives of New York, New Jersey and Amtrak, dismissed Williams' letter as "posturing," adding in a statement Friday that "we are confident that the Trump Administration will engage with us as the President turns to infrastructure in 2018."

Tens of thousands of commuters

Proponents view Gateway as crucial for revitalizing rail service in the New York City metro area, where multiple lines, including Amtrak, carry tens of thousands of commuters into the city each day -- in one of the nation's key economic regions.

They also note that having states borrow from the federal government to finance infrastructure projects is not unprecedented. Some allege that the Trump administration's action is simply a political maneuver to put pressure on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a key supporter of the plan, Crain's reported.

New York business leaders have been adamant about the project's importance, on account of the region’s economy, which provides a large chunk of the U.S.’ GDP and sends hundreds of billions of tax dollars to the federal government every year.

On Saturday, Crain's noted that a "senior [Trump] administration official" clarified that the project's importance was not in dispute. The administration mostly objected to the federal government being relied upon to supply funds for New York and New Jersey's shares of the costs.

The official noted that for other projects underway in Hawaii and Maryland, federal loans compose only a fraction of the capital investment, Crain's reported.


http://www.foxnews.com/politic...ail-tunnel-plan.html

Administration says

in a letter Friday, the Trump administration notified New York and New Jersey that the Obama-era deal was now "non-existent" because the states recently requested that their portions be covered by loans from the federal government -- meaning Washington would supply all of the initial funding for what the Trump White House is calling "a local project."

The New Yorkers say
Gateway Development Corp.,… dismissed Williams' letter as "posturing," adding in a statement Friday that "we are confident that the Trump Administration will engage with us as the President turns to infrastructure in 2018."

They also note that having states borrow from the federal government to finance infrastructure projects is not unprecedented. Some allege that the Trump administration's action is simply a political maneuver … simply a political maneuver …

On Saturday, Crain's noted that a "senior [Trump] administration official" clarified that the project's importance was not in dispute. The administration mostly objected to the federal government being relied upon to supply funds for New York and New Jersey's shares of the costs.
-------------------------------
So let's see here, Trump sez the deal is Non-Existent, I suppose he meant that the deal doesn't exist or that there is no deal, it isn't really clear. He sez it's a local problem, I guess implying that the locals should figure it out, don't know though, again pretty nuanced.

The New Yorkers et.al. say DJT is posturing I assume because DJT has a long history of not saying what he means.

they also say it is a political manuever got me on that one, maybe so. Could they be right?

They are also confident of engagement, well I wonder if that word means what they think it means. And then lastly they say DJT agrees that the project is important and then they say everyone else is doing it. So I suppose that should settle it, why should they have to make a case beyond that? Politics is so confusing!

With a dispute like this I'm sure that New Yorkers and their press myrmidons are glad to see that they have Top.Men. on the job to figure out the meaning of the letter.

Photos of the President from the past year.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-g...d-trump-photos-2017/

Deep State Takedown In Progress: Is Trump About To Start Arresting Top Democrats And Bringing Them To Justice?

By Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse
December 30, 2017

When Donald Trump gets hit, he always hits back even harder. So when the deep state decided to conduct a legal witch hunt against President Trump and his family, they should have expected that Trump would return the favor. In recent days, there have been all sorts of rumblings about sealed indictments, pending arrests and a “deep state takedown”. Many believe that we are on the verge of seeing some of the most prominent Democrats in the entire nation being arrested and thrown in prison. We shall see how all of this plays out, but in this article I am going to focus on the things that have been confirmed so far.

First of all, let’s talk about the documents that are going to be released on Friday. According to Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton, the State Department is scheduled to release 2,800 government documents which were found on Anthony Weiner’s laptop…

.@StateDept will publish releasable portions of 2800 government docs that @FBI found on Anthony Weiner laptop tomorrow (Dec. 29th). Again, thanks to @JudicialWatch lawsuits. Will @RealDonaldTrump DOJ finally take action on Clinton/Abedin misdeeds?

Remember, this is just a portion of the documents that were found on his laptop, and the really juicy stuff is almost certainly not going to be found in these government docs.

There are persistent rumors that the really juicy stuff on his laptop contains evidence of sexual misconduct by top Democrats that would far surpass anything that has come out about members of Congress so far. We are potentially talking about the type of stuff that could send people to prison for life, and we need to keep demanding for that material to be released to the public as soon as possible. I understand that there are ongoing investigations that cannot be compromised, but there is no excuse for things to drag on for this long.

But without a doubt, there could potentially be some gamechanging material in the docs that we will get to see tomorrow. The following is what Judicial Watch previously had to say about these documents…

“This is a disturbing development. Our experience with Abedin’s emails suggest these Weiner laptop documents will include classified and other sensitive materials,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “When will the Justice Department do a serious investigation of Hillary Clinton’s and Huma Abedin’s obvious violations of law?”

Judicial Watch previously released 20 productions of documents in this case that show examples of mishandling of classified information and instances of pay to play between the Clinton State Department and the Clinton Foundation. Also, at least 627 emails were not part of the 55,000 pages of emails that Clinton turned over, and further contradict a statement by Clinton that, “as far as she knew,” all of her government emails had been turned over to department.

Based on just the evidence that we have so far, Hillary Clinton should clearly be going to prison, and let us hope that this latest development will move things in the right direction over at the Department of Justice.

Meanwhile, one of the other pieces of the puzzle that has been confirmed is a very curious executive order that was just issued by President Trump. The following comes from Zero Hedge…

The Trump Administration quietly issued an Executive Order (EO) last Thursday which allows for the freezing of US-housed assets belonging to foreign individuals or entities deemed “serious human rights abusers,” along with government officials and executives of foreign corporations (current or former) found to have engaged in corruption – which includes the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for personal gain, and corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources.

Furthermore, anyone in the United States who aids or participates in said corruption or human rights abuses by foreign parties is subject to frozen assets – along with any U.S. corporation who employs foreigners deemed to have engaged in corruption on behalf of the company.

Many believe that this executive order is directly related to ongoing investigations into corruption within the Democratic Party.

More specifically, the wording of this executive order definitely sounds like it could have been written with Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Tony Podesta and Uranium One in mind. Here is more from Zero Hedge…

Now consider that if reports from The Hill are accurate – an FBI mole deep within the Russian uranium industry uncovered evidence that “Russian nuclear officials had routed millions of dollars to the U.S. designed to benefit former President Bill Clinton’s charitable foundation during the time Secretary of State Hillary Clinton served on a government body that provided a favorable decision to Moscow (the Uranium One approval)” – a deal which would eventually grant the Kremlin control over 20 percent of America’s uranium supply right around the time Bill Clinton also collected $500,000 for a Moscow speech, as detailed by author Peter Schweitzer’s book Clinton Cash and the New York Times in 2015.

A very dangerous game is being played behind the scenes, and I believe that Trump is going to come out the big winner in the end.

Many on the left had been anticipating that 2018 would be the year when Donald Trump is finally taken down, but they will be bitterly disappointed when some of their most cherished heroes end up in shackles instead.

If the elite had not gone after Trump so brutally earlier this year, perhaps he would have been willing to let some things slide. But once Robert Mueller was appointed as special counsel and given an unlimited amount of time, money and resources to dig up dirt on Trump, it was inevitable that Trump would try to find a way to strike back even harder.

We have never seen anything quite like this in the history of American politics, and I have a feeling that 2018 is going to be one of the most “interesting” years ever.

Reprinted with permission from The Economic Collapse.

https://www.lewrockwell.com/20...ing-them-to-justice/

2017 was great with Trump running the boat. I can't wait for him to double down and kick tail in 2018!

I hope President has been holding A/G sessions back for this precise timing. I've been critical of Sessions, maybe I've been wrong, I hope so!

time will tell

I hope he comes through for the country

I've been saying this for months. He's letting their little investigation to continue unimpeded so that when it's their turn they have nothing to complain about.

The Trump Presidency

Happy New Year!, indeed...

(see my CUT)

I love reading this thread,was a time I thought I would go to my grave having lived in this great country in the best of times and to live long enough to see the establishment take it down.
Now I am at peace with the knowledge that with our great president, things are turning better every day.
What a joy and to see that he is going for these slugs that have taken so much from the honorable working people of this great country.

From the article above. This is how it should read:

quote:

A very dangerous game is being played behind the scenes, and I believe that Trump is the American People are going to come out the big winner in the end.

Here's to the end of a great first year and the beginning of a new one.

quote:

Originally posted by ugeesta:
From the article above. This is how it should read:

quote:

A very dangerous game is being played behind the scenes, and I believe that Trump is the American People are going to come out the big winner in the end.

GO TEAM!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by 45 Cal:
I love reading this thread,was a time I thought I would go to my grave having lived in this great country in the best of times and to live long enough to see the establishment take it down.
Now I am at peace with the knowledge that with our great president, things are turning better every day.
What a joy and to see that he is going for these slugs that have taken so much from the honorable working people of this great country.

Well said, 45. That's exactly the way I feel.

I'm torn about the issues with Amtrak. I ride those tracks every day (though on NJ Transit, not Amtrak). They are in horrible disrepair, and face it, Amtrak owns the track, so they (not so much NJT or LIRR) are responsible for maintenance. As Amtrak is a federal agency, it does become something of a Federal problem. I agree the whole thing is a boondoggle, but I don't know what the answer is, either.

A key player behind the scenes.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-g...ent-trumps-promises/

Among President Donald Trump’s many accomplishments during his first year in office, White House Counsel Donald F. McGahn II has proven to be an influential adviser in assisting the president in keeping his promises when it comes to the law and the courts.

White House counsels are very important in any president’s inner circle. It is a top-line position that answers directly to the White House chief of staff, but that also typically involves walk-in privileges directly to the president, as the president’s top staff lawyer must offer candid advice on some of the most sensitive matters a commander-in-chief must deal with.

As a candidate, Donald Trump promised to nominate conservative legal minds to the federal bench. McGahn is doing his part to ensure that President Trump is nominating judges in that mold

The Trump administration currently boasts a more conservative lineup among its lawyers than any in modern history, drawn largely from the ranks of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy.

The Federalist Society is dedicated to promoting originalism: the legal philosophy that the Constitution must be interpreted according to the original public meaning of its words

It is axiomatic in Washington that “personnel is policy.” In appointing McGahn as White House counsel, President Trump got the lawyer he needed to deliver on his policy promises when it comes to judges and the law.

What a way to start the year

Trump: ‘No More’ Aid to Pakistan, ‘They Have Given Us Nothing but Lies and Deceit’:

President Donald Trump lashed out at Pakistan on Twitter just a few minutes past 7:00 a.m. Eastern time on New Year’s Day, expressing frustration at Islamabad’s inadequate efforts against terrorism and implying that U.S. foreign aid will be terminated as a result.

It is not yet clear whether the “no more” exclamation means the complete or partial termination, or temporary suspension, of American aid to Pakistan.

If the complete termination of U.S. foreign aid does indeed become official policy, it would be a far more dramatic step than withholding all or part of America’s $255 million in military assistance to Pakistan, a measure reportedly under consideration by the administration over the past few days after Pakistan refused to allow U.S. interrogators access to a captured terrorist from the hostage-taking Haqqani network.

In August, President Trump said the “next pillar” of his strategy for battling terrorism would involve a “change in our approach to Pakistan.”

Trump accused Pakistan of giving “safe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror.”

“We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorist organizations, the Taliban and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond,” the president said. ”These killers need to know they have nowhere to hide – that no place is beyond the reach of American arms.

The Trump administration withheld $50 million in military aid to Pakistan over the summer because it felt Islamabad was not doing enough to bring down the Taliban and the Haqqani Network. There was some criticism at the time that despite his strong complaints about Pakistan refusing to help fight the Taliban or even actively colluding with it, Trump was dealing more harshly with Egypt over human rights violations by its government.

The Pakistani military rescued a Canadian-American family held hostage for years by the Haqqanis in October. Concerns have been raised that even this rescue might have been the result of a deal between the Pakistanis and the militant network, which has long been suspected of enjoying special favors and protection from elements of the Pakistani security apparatus. The prisoner Pakistan refused to allow the United States to interview was tied to the kidnapping of this Canadian-American family.

On Thursday, Pakistani military spokesman Major-General Asif Ghafoor warned the United States against taking “unilateral” military action on its soil and denied his country was not doing enough to fight the Taliban and its allies, promising that the results of Pakistan’s counterterrorism operations would be “seen in subsequent years and months.”

After making this declaration, Ghafoor implied Pakistan could actually do more, once its concerns about Afghan refugees are addressed. “If there are any facilitators and abetters inside Pakistan that can only be addressed if the 2.7 million Afghan refugees are sent back to Afghanistan,” he said.

http://www.breitbart.com/natio...ore-aid-to-pakistan/

^^^^
Good. There is no way Bin Laden was living there for years without their knowledge and consent. They have been taking our money and stabbing us in the back for way too long. I bet this makes India happy.

quote:

Originally posted by mbinky:
^^^^
Good. There is no way Bin Laden was living there for years without their knowledge and consent. They have been taking our money and stabbing us in the back for way too long. I bet this makes India happy.

Be careful. Last I heard, Pakistan was the only Islamic member of the nuclear club.