GOVERMENT/SPENDING/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump ran for office as a populist. He swore to fight for the ‘forgotten men and women,’ a phrase he stole from FDR. But under his presidency, the middle class remains forgotten — hammered is more like it. President Trump’s announcement that he wants to cancel the 2.1% pay raise for federal workers is just the latest assault on the middle class. He sent a statement to Congress on Thursday [8-30-18] saying we can’t afford to give our people a measly 2.1% bump because — are you ready for this? — ‘We must maintain efforts to put our nation on a fiscally sustainable course, and federal agency budgets cannot sustain such increases.’ Donald Trump is now worried about the debt. Are you kidding me? That’s like John Dillinger worrying about gun violence. Like Kim Kardashian worrying about being overexposed. Like Donald Trump worrying about spray-tanning and pathological lying.”
–Paul Begala, “President Trump is shafting federal workers,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, August 30, 2018 11:06 pm