So, will Mexico pay for-

[Wedgebuster]

Dipshit Trump withdraws his request for a full investigation of voter fraud.

The Electoral College needs to execute it'self. JFC

[cx500d]

What happens if we piss off Mexico? Will Mexicans stop coming into the country? Will they kick out US companies and their manufacturing?

Yeah, I'm trying to understand the downside. Charge high fees on American tourists to Cabo and Cancun? Good, I won't vacation in that $hithole anyway. Plenty of better places to spend my money.


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[cx500d]

I havent seen the numbers, so it probably depends on what metric you use. Mexico is our #1 immigrant visa country in the world. I don't know the exact numbers, but I guess it is possible that we have more pensioners moving there than they have legal immigrants moving to the US. But I highly doubt it in terms of the raw numbers

However- SS benefits overseas are handled by our overseas federal benefits units (FBUs) and they are almost entirely by direct deposit. In less developed countries with dd problems (like Nigeria) we were still issuing paper checks at embassies and consulates. Even that is coming to an end. Ultimately, changes to wire transfer rules would have no effect on recipients of fed benefits. That's one of our consular functions overseas - we assist and facilitate pur pensioners getting their money no matter where they are.

Will the mass resignation of senior State Department management have any effect with consular duties?

Again, what's the downside?


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[cx500d]

The Chinese were stockpiling billions of $ worth of aluminum in Mexico disguising it as Mexican to get around a punitive tariff. You can't tell me the Mexican government wasn't complicit in this.


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[JohnStOnge]

The downside to the way Trump is dealing with Mexico as well as the World in general is that American consumers are at risk of seeing a substantial acceleration in the rate of cost increase for many basic items they consume.

[YoUDeeMan]

The downside to the way Trump is dealing with Mexico as well as the World in general is that American consumers are at risk of seeing a substantial acceleration in the rate of cost increase for many basic items they consume.

Good. Most people don't need most of the shit they purchase anyway.

[CID1990]

I saw that article in the WaPo. Predictably, they got it wrong (or at least misleading)

Only one person has left State and that's Pat Kennedy. The rest of the people they listed (like my boss, Michelle Bond) have not left. They have stepped down from their Senate-confirmed positions but are still employed by State.

Which is what happens every time a new administration from the other party comes in.

But to answer your question, no, it will not affect consular operations any more than the other 100 times an Assistant Secretary has stepped down.

So business as usual except for some ambassadors?

You mean ambassadors stepping down when a new administration comes in? Yeah that's really unusual

Why would this transition be any different than any other? The people leaving State are at retirement age. When the entry and mid-level officers start leaving in droves, then that will be newsworthy.

There is a tranche of retirements every time there's a new admin, and all the ambassadors turn over. Right now there doesn't appear to be an inordinate number of retirements, and for some like Kennedy, they are overdue. A lot of these people did the wrong thing when they had the opportunity to put the kibosh on Clinton's email server and said nothing (and in some cases told other concerned officials to shut up about it)

That's a lack of administrative courage that doesn't belong at any level.

[Wedgebuster]

The downside to the way Trump is dealing with Mexico as well as the World in general is that American consumers are at risk of seeing a substantial acceleration in the rate of cost increase for many basic items they consume.

Uh, we manufacture tons of parts, send to Mexico for manual assembly, and the products come back. Mexico is our second largest trading partner behind Canada..

Musolinitrump wants to "bring back manufacturing"

Think McFly, think!!!

[houndawg]

So business as usual except for some ambassadors?

You mean ambassadors stepping down when a new administration comes in? Yeah that's really unusual

Why would this transition be any different than any other? The people leaving State are at retirement age. When the entry and mid-level officers start leaving in droves, then that will be newsworthy.

There is a tranche of retirements every time there's a new admin, and all the ambassadors turn over. Right now there doesn't appear to be an inordinate number of retirements, and for some like Kennedy, they are overdue. A lot of these people did the wrong thing when they had the opportunity to put the kibosh on Clinton's email server and said nothing (and in some cases told other concerned officials to shut up about it)

That's a lack of administrative courage that doesn't belong at any level.

I was referring to Trump apparently calling home ambassadors immediately without any grace period for kids to finish school and shit? The article I read suggested that was not the normal routine.

(And I'm waiting for the calls to investigate Conway and Kushner and Spicer (oh my!) using a private RNC server for their emails. The ones Putin is probably reading in real time.)

[cx500d]

You mean ambassadors stepping down when a new administration comes in? Yeah that's really unusual

Why would this transition be any different than any other? The people leaving State are at retirement age. When the entry and mid-level officers start leaving in droves, then that will be newsworthy.

There is a tranche of retirements every time there's a new admin, and all the ambassadors turn over. Right now there doesn't appear to be an inordinate number of retirements, and for some like Kennedy, they are overdue. A lot of these people did the wrong thing when they had the opportunity to put the kibosh on Clinton's email server and said nothing (and in some cases told other concerned officials to shut up about it)

That's a lack of administrative courage that doesn't belong at any level.

I was referring to Trump apparently calling home ambassadors immediately without any grace period for kids to finish school and ****? The article I read suggested that was not the normal routine.

(And I'm waiting for the calls to investigate Conway and Kushner and Spicer (oh my!) using a private RNC server for their emails. The ones Putin is probably reading in real time.)

Got news for you cupcake, it's a high level appointed position, not a jobs program or an education program for kids. Next thing we'll hear is that it was inhumane to kick Barry out of the whitehouse in the middle of the school year without regards to those poor kids.


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[houndawg]

You mean ambassadors stepping down when a new administration comes in? Yeah that's really unusual

Why would this transition be any different than any other? The people leaving State are at retirement age. When the entry and mid-level officers start leaving in droves, then that will be newsworthy.

There is a tranche of retirements every time there's a new admin, and all the ambassadors turn over. Right now there doesn't appear to be an inordinate number of retirements, and for some like Kennedy, they are overdue. A lot of these people did the wrong thing when they had the opportunity to put the kibosh on Clinton's email server and said nothing (and in some cases told other concerned officials to shut up about it)

That's a lack of administrative courage that doesn't belong at any level.

I was referring to Trump apparently calling home ambassadors immediately without any grace period for kids to finish school and ****? The article I read suggested that was not the normal routine.

(And I'm waiting for the calls to investigate Conway and Kushner and Spicer (oh my!) using a private RNC server for their emails. The ones Putin is probably reading in real time.)

Speaking of administrative courage.

[houndawg]

I keep wondering what he means when he says Mexico will pay for the wall.

It's a pretty good thought exercise to try to think of the ways that could actually happen. The only things I can come up with are-

1) tax the hell out of remittances to Mexico by requiring wire transfer agents to verify legal status in the US. If no legal status, then there's a surcharge to send money to Mexico and other countries designated as having high rates of illegal immigration in the US. There are a number of roadblocks to this- namely that there is only one way to reliably verify US citizenship, and that is with a passport or Consular Report of Birth Abroad. So grandma needing to wire money to her grandkid on spring break who just got robbed (or spent it all on booze and hookers) would have to pay extra for an expedited passport to show her citizenship before wiring money.

2) threaten trade agreements. This is already happening but it is unclear if that would be a big enough lever. That said, Nieto has no choice but to say Mexico isn't paying for the wall for political reasons, so hard to say.

All his said, remittances to Mexico are in the billions of dollars- 24.8 billion in 2015 to be exact. It is hard to say how much of this is coming from illegals.

3) threaten to build the wall on Texas' north border.

[CID1990]

I was referring to Trump apparently calling home ambassadors immediately without any grace period for kids to finish school and ****? The article I read suggested that was not the normal routine.

(And I'm waiting for the calls to investigate Conway and Kushner and Spicer (oh my!) using a private RNC server for their emails. The ones Putin is probably reading in real time.)

Speaking of administrative courage.

Stop hyperventilating.

What is not normal, i.e.: rarely happens- is ambassadors being given grace periods "so kids can finish school" In fact, whenever I hear kids being invoked it reminds me of the old "they want to starve children" school lunch whining

I have exactly zero colleagues (none of whom are Trump fans) who know of any ambassador who has stayed on after the change of administrations from one party to the opposite after the inauguration- at least for more time than it would take to pack. That isn't to say that it has never happened, but it is rare and there is little institutional memory of it. They'll survive, though... they are usually rich bundlers- the kind of people you don't like, only with (D) in front of their names

As for the email accounts, I hadn't heard about that, but that's probably because it has been one week since Trump took over and I would expect them all to have been corresponding via something other than whitehouse.gov prior to that. If they do government business on non-government email moving forward then yes, there should be consequences. If they expose classified info there should be criminal consequences.

I'm not sure Conway would be subject to that though- she isnt a government employee unless I missed her being hired into a White House staff position.

BTW- I use my gmail at work as well- there's a difference between me emailing my wife a grocery list and doing actual work on my State.gov, and doing ALL business on my secret server for 4 years. If the Trumpers step out of that box I'll be on their ass as much as I was on Hillary's

[houndawg]

Speaking of administrative courage.

Stop hyperventilating.

What is not normal, i.e.: rarely happens- is ambassadors being given grace periods "so kids can finish school" In fact, whenever I hear kids being invoked it reminds me of the old "they want to starve children" school lunch whining

I have exactly zero colleagues (none of whom are Trump fans) who know of any ambassador who has stayed on after the change of administrations from one party to the opposite after the inauguration- at least for more time than it would take to pack. That isn't to say that it has never happened, but it is rare and there is little institutional memory of it. They'll survive, though... they are usually rich bundlers- the kind of people you don't like, only with (D) in front of their names

As for the email accounts, I hadn't heard about that, but that's probably because it has been one week since Trump took over and I would expect them all to have been corresponding via something other than whitehouse.gov prior to that. If they do government business on non-government email moving forward then yes, there should be consequences. If they expose classified info there should be criminal consequences.

I'm not sure Conway would be subject to that though- she isnt a government employee unless I missed her being hired into a White House staff position.

BTW- I use my gmail at work as well- there's a difference between me emailing my wife a grocery list and doing actual work on my State.gov, and doing ALL business on my secret server for 4 years. If the Trumpers step out of that box I'll be on their ass as much as I was on Hillary's

Interesting to hear an insider's perspective.

[YoUDeeMan]

I was referring to Trump apparently calling home ambassadors immediately without any grace period for kids to finish school and ****? The article I read suggested that was not the normal routine.

(And I'm waiting for the calls to investigate Conway and Kushner and Spicer (oh my!) using a private RNC server for their emails. The ones Putin is probably reading in real time.)

Got news for you cupcake, it's a high level appointed position, not a jobs program or an education program for kids. Next thing we'll hear is that it was inhumane to kick Barry out of the whitehouse in the middle of the school year without regards to those poor kids.


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Schooling houndpuppy one post at a time.

Cripes, he is sounding very much like the CNN clowns who are desperately trying to put a negative spin on anything and everything.

[89Hen]

Pissing off Mexico as our trading partner moves them right in with China, they have their arms wide open...

And if dumbshit Trump gets the wall, China will have two great walls, one there and one here...

Maybe this is above my pay grade, but would Mexico and China really be good trade partners? We are by FAR the #1 country for China exports. You think they're going to give us up for Mexico?

As somebody said above, Mexico needs the US way more than we need them.

[YoUDeeMan]

Stop hyperventilating.

What is not normal, i.e.: rarely happens- is ambassadors being given grace periods "so kids can finish school" In fact, whenever I hear kids being invoked it reminds me of the old "they want to starve children" school lunch whining

I have exactly zero colleagues (none of whom are Trump fans) who know of any ambassador who has stayed on after the change of administrations from one party to the opposite after the inauguration- at least for more time than it would take to pack. That isn't to say that it has never happened, but it is rare and there is little institutional memory of it. They'll survive, though... they are usually rich bundlers- the kind of people you don't like, only with (D) in front of their names

As for the email accounts, I hadn't heard about that, but that's probably because it has been one week since Trump took over and I would expect them all to have been corresponding via something other than whitehouse.gov prior to that. If they do government business on non-government email moving forward then yes, there should be consequences. If they expose classified info there should be criminal consequences.

I'm not sure Conway would be subject to that though- she isnt a government employee unless I missed her being hired into a White House staff position.

BTW- I use my gmail at work as well- there's a difference between me emailing my wife a grocery list and doing actual work on my State.gov, and doing ALL business on my secret server for 4 years. If the Trumpers step out of that box I'll be on their ass as much as I was on Hillary's

Interesting to hear an insider's perspective.

Seriously...did you think that ambassadors regularly stayed on after elections?

And did you think that Ambassadors were usually appointed because they are poor people who send their kids to low level US public schools?

What planet are you from? Nobody needed an inside perspective to know those things. Political appointees...hello.

[CAA Flagship]

So Trump had an hour long phone call with the MexiPres today. Trump didn't discuss details about the call but the MexiPres stated that he asked Trump to not discuss how the wall will be paid for publicly.
So it will be paid for in pesos?

[GannonFan]

Pissing off Mexico as our trading partner moves them right in with China, they have their arms wide open...

And if dumbshit Trump gets the wall, China will have two great walls, one there and one here...

Maybe this is above my pay grade, but would Mexico and China really be good trade partners? We are by FAR the #1 country for China exports. You think they're going to give us up for Mexico?

As somebody said above, Mexico needs the US way more than we need them.

Yes, that prior post was kinda silly. Mexico and China have been in competition with each other for several years as the source of cheaper labor/manufacturing - they both do the same thing. Mexico is not really much of a market for China and vice versa. Maybe this could be a boon for the EU as they are a destination market like we are. Unfortunately for Mexico, the EU tends to be very discriminatory in terms of who gets or doesn't get favored trade status.

[Ivytalk]

Maybe this is above my pay grade, but would Mexico and China really be good trade partners? We are by FAR the #1 country for China exports. You think they're going to give us up for Mexico?

As somebody said above, Mexico needs the US way more than we need them.

Yes, that prior post was kinda silly. Mexico and China have been in competition with each other for several years as the source of cheaper labor/manufacturing - they both do the same thing. Mexico is not really much of a market for China and vice versa. Maybe this could be a boon for the EU as they are a destination market like we are. Unfortunately for Mexico, the EU tends to be very discriminatory in terms of who gets or doesn't get favored trade status.

A real entrepreneur would come up with a Chinese-Mexican restaurant. Call it Pablo Chang's Chinxican Emporium.

[CAA Flagship]

Yes, that prior post was kinda silly. Mexico and China have been in competition with each other for several years as the source of cheaper labor/manufacturing - they both do the same thing. Mexico is not really much of a market for China and vice versa. Maybe this could be a boon for the EU as they are a destination market like we are. Unfortunately for Mexico, the EU tends to be very discriminatory in terms of who gets or doesn't get favored trade status.

A real entrepreneur would come up with a Chinese-Mexican restaurant. Call it Pablo Chang's Chinxican Emporium.

I just shit my pants. And I'm hungry again.

[Chizzang]

The downside to the way Trump is dealing with Mexico as well as the World in general is that American consumers are at risk of seeing a substantial acceleration in the rate of cost increase for many basic items they consume.

Good. Most people don't need most of the shit they purchase anyway.

You do actually expect people to take you seriously right..?

[SDHornet]

So Trump had an hour long phone call with the MexiPres today. Trump didn't discuss details about the call but the MexiPres stated that he asked Trump to not discuss how the wall will be paid for publicly.
So it will be paid for in pesos?

It's all postering and everyone not looking for meme material knows this. Trump will be negotiating from a position of power and we should fully expect (and hope) him to take advantage of it. Meanwhile in that shithole known as Mexico, the state oil monopoly (Pemex) announced it will stop subsidizing fuel causing gas prices to increase over 20% which crashed the peso (almost 21 to 1 ).

So how is Mexico going to pay for the wall? They aren't...at least not directly. However if it comes in the form of a reduced trade deficit with Mexico then that works too. If the 20% tariff results in some job coming back to US then that works too. If Trump finds a way to tax/fee all those funds being sent from the US to MX then he can pay for 50 more walls.

I'm also loving the moves Trump is making on existing immigration law enforcement.

[houndawg]

Good. Most people don't need most of the **** they purchase anyway.

You do actually expect people to take you seriously right..?

Right now he just needs attention, he's getting close to retirement and probably wondering what he's going to do when we aren't there to kick him around anymore.

[YoUDeeMan]

Good. Most people don't need most of the shit they purchase anyway.

You do actually expect people to take you seriously right..?

My bad...I didn't mean to crush the thing that makes you unique by getting more people to agree with your philosophy. I mean, only you can live without silly extras. That's your special relationship with your God.