U.S. Labor Sec.: Donald Trump’s Policies Are ‘Everything that Is Not America; I’m Tho

U.S. Labor Sec.: Donald Trump’s Policies Are ‘Everything that Is Not America; I’m Thoroughly Offended’

http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...AP-640x480.jpgSusan Walsh/AP Photo/John Locher

by MICHELLE FIELDS28 Dec 2015

U.S. Labor Secretary Tom Perez went after Donald Trump, saying that he is “the modern-day incarnation of the Know-Nothing movement.”

In an interview on David Axelrod’s podcast, Perez was asked his thoughts on Trump’s “nativist” politics.

“I hear everything that is not America; I’m thoroughly offended,” Perez said. “I wonder how it is that somebody can continue to command the percentage of support he can. I mean he is the modern-day incarnation of the Know-Nothing movement,”
According to Politico, Perez blasted Trump for viewing food stamps and illegal immigration negatively:

The good news is that the Know-Nothing movement fizzled, and it fizzled because this is a nation that summons our better angels,” said Perez, whose parents are Dominican immigrants. “This is a nation in which the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards those who seek to expand opportunity, not toward those who substitute cynicism for optimism.” The Know-Nothing Party was prominent in the mid-1800s and strongly opposed immigrants and Catholics.

“The diagnosis of the root cause that people like Trump tap into is ‘the social compact is frayed because immigrants are taking those jobs, [the] social compact is frayed because we’re letting too many people get access to food stamps,’” Perez said. “When the reality is, I think, quite different.”

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...ghly-offended/

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“The diagnosis of the root cause that people like Trump tap into is ‘the social compact is frayed because immigrants are taking those jobs, [the] social compact is frayed because we’re letting too many people get access to food stamps,’” Perez said. “When the reality is, I think, quite different.”

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I've never heard Donald Trump use the term "social compact".

I've also never heard Donald Trump complain or criticize the food stamp program.

But there's plenty of US out here who are shocked at the growing poverty levels created by excess immigration and the financial burdens we have to incur because of it, so we are determined to stop this disaster. When we stop this massive immigration, we put Americans back to work which reduces poverty levels and the public spending associated with it.

Who the hell is he? Another incompetent chosen for his ethnic background alone.
Prejudiced hispanics should not hold such positions.

Judy wrote:

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I've also never heard Donald Trump complain or criticize the food stamp program.

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Republican front-runner Donald Trump mocked a protester’s weight at a Wednesday campaign rally in Worcester, Massachusetts and said that the man was upset because he had been critical of the nation’s food stamp program.

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http://www.ibtimes.com/donald-trump-right-about-food-stamps-republican-presidential-candidate-quotes-wrong-2195441

Not saying anything is wrong with being critical of the food stamp program, just showing where the Donald has been critical, by his own admission, of the program.

That was a joke aimed at the protester.

Here's the full text of your article:

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Is Donald Trump Right About Food Stamps? Republican Presidential Candidate Quotes Wrong Figures And Ignores Recent Trends

By Clark Mindock @clarkmindock On 11/22/15 AT 5:44 PM

Republican front-runner Donald Trump mocked a protester’s weight at a Wednesday campaign rally in Worcester, Massachusetts and said that the man was upset because he had been critical of the nation’s food stamp program. Hunger advocates took the billionaire to task Sunday, characterizing his comments as falsehoods.

"We have 93 million people out of the labor force, we have 50 million people in poverty, we have 43 million -- and now it's actually going to be probably closer to 50 -- 50 million people on food stamps," Trump said before the protester interrupted. The heckling Trump received was inaudible in video feeds.

U.S. Department of Agriculture records show that what he was saying is a little off. There are more people receiving nutritional assistance than Trump's figure, but the trend in enrollment is headed downward. Critics say that Republicans, including Trump, frequently ignore the reality of the assistance program.

“Since the time of Reagan, it’s been Republicans that have demonized this program even as many of their supporters have benefited from them,” Joel Berg, executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, told the International Business Times. “The fact of the matter is that food stamp enrollment went up heavily during (President George W.) Bush.”

Trump’s comments, Berg said, are purposefully misleading on Trump’s part and follow a regular line of attack from GOP candidates.

“The numbers are the numbers,” Berg said. “I don’t think you can misinterpret his quote in any other way."

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment for this article.

Food stamp enrollment as a part of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) rose throughout the first decade of the 21st century during the Bush administration and the first half of the Obama administration. SNAP peaked in December 2012 when 47.8 million were enrolled, according to the USDA. The number has since declined to 45.5 million in August 2015, the most recent month for which data is available. That represents a 2.3 million total decline in program enrollment.

Trump is familiar with controversy and criticism. He began his presidential campaign by calling Mexicans rapists and criminals. Most recently, Trump said he supported people at his rally who shoved, kicked and tackled a Black Lives Matter movement member at a rally in Birmingham, Alabama.

Trump is currently the front-runner for the Republican nominee. He takes in 27.5 percent of the vote, according to averages of polls compiled by Real Clear Politics . His closest competitor doesn’t top 20.

http://www.ibtimes.com/donald-trump-...-wrong-2195441

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Trump has never been critical of our safety nets, food stamps or otherwise. He attacks the unemployment and economic conditions that cause the poverty that relies on these programs to survive like massive illegal immigration, excess legal immigration and free trade treason. I've followed Trump's public comments for about 35 years and I've never ever heard him criticize any program like that.

You need to learn to take a joke and know when a candidate or anyone for that matter is mocking someone and actually criticizing programs they support, but oppose the underlying policies that put people in the position of needing to use them.

Judy wrote:

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Trump has never been critical of our safety nets, food stamps or otherwise. He attacks the unemployment and economic conditions that cause the poverty that relies on these programs to survive like massive illegal immigration, excess legal immigration and free trade treason. I've followed Trump's public comments for about 35 years and I've never ever heard him criticize any program like that.

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You need to learn to take a joke and know when a candidate or anyone for that matter is mocking someone and actually criticizing programs they support, but oppose the underlying policies that put people in the position of needing to use them.

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Geez, you may really want to have that failure to comprehend reading thingy checked out (or maybe it's just selective reading). Trump very clearly stated he was critical of the food stamp program. Those words came directly through his teeth and out his lips (direct quote). He said it and I can't believe you're denying it when the words are right there in print for you to see. True, he mocked the guys weight, but he was not joking.

Here's some more for you:

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While Democrats largely embrace the social welfare program, known colloquially as food stamps, Republican presidential candidates like front-runner Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio have described the program’s shortcomings and inefficiencies as signs of failure. The solution, many Republicans say, is to simply get more people on payrolls and off of food stamps. Giving handouts, the argument goes, makes the givers complicit in poverty. Ending dependency, they say, is true compassion.

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http://www.ibtimes.com/thanksgiving-...eality-2198788

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"Some people like Trump and the Republicans begrudge giving people food stamps, but in general food stamps have been less controversial than cash benefits.

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http://news.yahoo.com/thanksgiving-f...132052273.html

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Trump wrote, "The food stamp program was originally created as temporary assistance for families with momentary times of need. And it shouldn't be needed often. Thankfully, 96 percent of America's poor parents say their children never suffer even a day of hunger. But when half of food stamp recipients have been on the dole for nearly a decade, something is clearly wrong, and some of it has to do with fraud."

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https://ballotpedia.org/Donald_Trump...campaign,_2016

Why he's critical of the program is not the issue, it's the actual fact that he has been critical (for whatever reason) that your failing to see. Personally, I have absolutely no problem with him or anyone else being critical of a program that is full of fraud. IMO, the program needs more regulations and stricter requirements. For example, I firmly believe anyone that collects food stamps should be tested periodically for drug usage.

Just curious, why would anyone follow Donald Trump for 35 years? I understand your interest now, but why would anyone care what Donald Trump had to say 35 years ago?

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Originally Posted by MW

Judy wrote:



Geez, you may really want to have that failure to comprehend reading thingy checked out (or maybe it's just selective reading). Trump very clearly stated he was critical of the food stamp program. Those words came directly through his teeth and out his lips (direct quote). He said it and I can't believe you're denying it when the words are right there in print for you to see. True, he mocked the guys weight, but he was not joking.

Here's some more for you:

Excerpt:



http://www.ibtimes.com/thanksgiving-...eality-2198788

Excerpt:



http://news.yahoo.com/thanksgiving-f...132052273.html

Excerpt:



https://ballotpedia.org/Donald_Trump...campaign,_2016

Why he's critical of the program is not the issue, it's the actual fact that he has been critical (for whatever reason) that your failing to see. Personally, I have absolutely no problem with him or anyone else being critical of a program that is full of fraud. IMO, the program needs more regulations and stricter requirements. For example, I firmly believe anyone that collects food stamps should be tested periodically for drug usage.

Just curious, why would anyone follow Donald Trump for 35 years? I understand your interest now, but why would anyone care what Donald Trump had to say 35 years ago?

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What is wrong with you?

Your first excerpt is not a quote by Trump, but a statement by someone else about Trump. The actual quote by Trump is the same quote as you first posted that's the joke he made at the rally about the overweight protester who started hollering when Trump was talking about 93 million Americans out of work ..... and 43 million people on food stamps without any criticism of food stamps or any other program the 93 million Americans depend on who are out of work.

Your second excerpt is also not a quote by Trump, but a grotesque generalization of Republican candidates by someone else. The actual quote by Trump is the same joke quote he made at the rally towards the overweight protester that you've now posted 3 times.

Your third excerpt is from his 2011 book as he talks about fraud in all government programs.

Here's the whole quote from his book from your link:

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In his 2011 book, Time to Get Tough, Trump discussed his position on several federal assistance and entitlement programs.

Defending Social Security, Trump wrote, "It's not unreasonable for people who paid into a system for decades to expect to get their money's worth–that's not an 'entitlement,' that's honoring a deal. We as a society must also make an ironclad commitment to providing a safety net for those who can't make one for themselves. Social Security is here to stay. To be sure, we must reform it, root out the fraud, make it more efficient, and ensure that the program is solvent. Same goes for Medicare. Again, people have lived up to their end of the bargain and paid into the program in good faith. Of course they believe they're 'entitled' to receive the benefits they paid for–they are!"[71]

Trump criticized Medicare and disability insurance benefits for being rampant with fraud.[72]

Trump wrote, "The food stamp program was originally created as temporary assistance for families with momentary times of need. And it shouldn't be needed often. Thankfully, 96 percent of America's poor parents say their children never suffer even a day of hunger. But when half of food stamp recipients have been on the dole for nearly a decade, something is clearly wrong, and some of it has to do with fraud."[73]

Trump also praised the 1996 Welfare Reform Act's welfare to work measure in this book. Trump wrote, "To get your check, you had to prove that you were enrolled in job-training or trying to find work. But here's the rub: the 1996 Welfare Reform Act only dealt with one program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), not the other seventy-six welfare programs which, today, cost taxpayers more than $900 billion annually. We need to take a page from the 1996 reform and do the same for other welfare programs. Benefits should have strings attached to them. After all, if it's our money recipients are getting, we the people should have a say in how it's spent. The way forward is to do what we did with AFDC and attach welfare benefits to work. The Welfare Reform Act of 2011–proposed by Republican Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, Tim Scott of South Carolina, and Scott Garrett of New Jersey–does just that."[74]

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In his book, he's commenting on fraud, fraud in Medicare, fraud in Social Security Disability, fraud in food stamps. The issue is fraud. He supports Social Security and Medicare and Disability Insurance and Food Stamps and welfare programs. He likes the welfare to work idea of 1996 but only applied to AFDC, not the other 76 welfare programs, and was using this line of writing to support a bill, the Welfare Reform Act of 2011 in Congress.

Trump like any normal person opposes fraud wherever it exists, but that is not a criticism of the food stamp program or any other program that's beset with fraud. It's a criticism of fraud and abuse in government. He supports our safety nets and always has.

Why have I followed Donald Trump for 35 years? The same reason most Americans have, the first time the question was popped to him in an interview on NBC in 1980 by Rona Barrett.

VIDEO:

http://www.ijreview.com/2015/12/5018...980-president/

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It’s Taken 35 Years, But What Trump Said in 1980 About Being President is Finally Coming True

By Maegan Vazquez (1 day ago) | Elections

Donald Trump hasn’t always wanted to run for president, but this 1980 clip shows he’s had the same attitudes about the country for quite some time.

In an interview from inside the Trump Parc building overlooking the southern edge of Central Park, Donald Trump told gossip reporter Rona Barrett that he wouldn’t like to be president, also saying:

“But I would like to see somebody, as the president, who could do the job. And there are very capable people in this country.”

Trump didn’t shy away from the idea of a candidate running on “unpopular” views:

“Somebody with strong views, and somebody with the kind of views that are maybe a little bit unpopular, which may be right but may be unpopular, wouldn’t necessarily have a chance of getting elected than somebody with no great brain but a big smile.”

The New York Times reported that Trump’s appearance was a part of NBC’s “‘Rona Barrett Looks at Today’s Super Rich,’ in which the small but formidable gossip reporter confronts six self-made millionaires.”

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A lot of people have seen the qualities in Donald Trump that would make a great President and fix our country. Rona Barrett took that public in 1980. Oprah Winfrey took it public again in 1988.

VIDEO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPs17_AkTI

Okay, there is no getting through to you because your hero worship has completely blinded you to all facts. He has criticized food stamps, period. Nothing you could say will ever change that fact. Besides that, I don't see why you even have a problem with it because the program needs criticized. I'm starting to think you just like arguing with me. :confused:

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Originally Posted by MW

Okay, there is no getting through to you because your hero worship has completely blinded you to all facts. He has criticized food stamps, period. Nothing you could say will ever change that fact. Besides that, I don't see why you even have a problem with it because the program needs criticized. I'm starting to think you just like arguing with me. :confused:

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There is no getting through to a Donald Trump supporter. We're all-in to win.

It's not a fact. See, I watched the rally with the overweight protester when Trump made his joke. Everyone laughed. That was the purpose of his statement. It had nothing to with the food stamp program. He was talking about our economy, and using the fact that 93 million people are out of work, 50 million people in poverty, and 43 million on food stamps .... as evidence that we have an economic problem. It's actually worse than he stated. There are 47 million people on food stamps and there are 73 million people who are in deep enough poverty or close enough to the poverty line to be on Medicaid. The whole discussion during the rally was about the volume of people without jobs, no incomes and on poverty programs as a result.

There's something very wrong accusing someone of criticizing the food stamp program when he didn't and never has. Yes, he's criticized fraud in government programs, the food stamp program, Medicare, and SS Disability in a book in 2011 as basis to support the 2011 Welfare Reform Act.

When Trump is President he'll go over all government spending with a fine tooth comb and make needed cuts and improvements so we all get better results for our expenditures. But he's not going to reduce or cut these poverty or entitlement programs. He's going to create good jobs and help our citizens get back to work so they don't need them. That's why he's doing so well with minorities right now because he wants to create jobs, and good jobs are what they want like everyone else.

Donald Trump is not like you and others who "begrudge" or want to "criticize" food stamps for people who don't any have money. So if you'd like to discuss that I suggest you open a thread on Other Topics, so you and others who have an interest in the topic can post with each other about it.

What you're doing with your posts on Trump quoting the very sources Trump despises and calls the "dishonest" press isn't helpful to our forum, the primary election process, or the Trump campaign, so as a supporter of Donald Trump, when you attack something I've said regarding him, then of course I'm bound to respond. It's not because I like communicating or "arguing" with you. I don't know you and have no personal interest in these back and forths.

When Trump is the front-runner and our biggest advocate and leader to stop illegal immigration I can't fathom why anyone on ALIPAC would want to accuse him of being for amnesty when he's for deportation or criticizing food stamps when he is criticizing government fraud. It's incomprehensibly stupid.

In my opinion.

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When Trump is the front-runner and our biggest advocate and leader to stop illegal immigration I can't fathom why anyone on ALIPAC would want to accuse him of being for amnesty when he's for deportation or criticizing food stamps when he is criticizing government fraud.

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Because some folks may actually be interested in knowing all the facts, good and bad. He does support a form of amnesty and he personally said he was critical of the food stamp program (words directly from his own lips). These are all truths that can't be denied by any rational person that looks closely at the evidence that has been provided. Heck, I have no problem with him criticizing the food stamp program and I'm even willing to accept his support of an amnesty in the hopes that we can change his mind on that. What I won't do is be a rah-rah cheerleader and ignore the facts just to appease the pep squad. My mind is made up based on all the facts (the whole person concept), not just the ones you deem worthy of being posted here. Trump #1 and Cruz #2!