SERVICIO DE NOTICIAS en favor de la democracia participativa, el desarrollo humano, la paz, el medio ambiente y la cultura.- Santo Domingo, República Dominicana / Luis ORLANDO DIAZ Vólquez - OPINIÓN, NOTICIAS Y COMENTARIOS. Haciendo de la lucha contra la pobreza un apostolado templario./ email: guasabara.editor@gmail.com - http://www.facebook.com/GuasabaraLUISorlandoDIAZ - @GUASABARAeditor
DESDE LA TRAMOYA Rajoy sobrado Luis Arroyo Publicada 02/12/2016 Nunca un Gobierno había contado con tan escaso apoyo parlamentario. Nunca un presidente había iniciado una legislatura con tan baja aprobación pública. Nunca un partido había estado tan marcado por la corrupción. El Gobierno del PP y Mariano Rajoy, sin embargo, andan sobrados estos días anunciando veto a cualquier iniciativa parlamentaria que implique incremento de gasto; o pasándose por el arco del triunfo el ultimátum de 48 horas de Ciudadanos a propósito de la corrupción; o ninguneando con desdén a los grupos de la oposición; o rechazando sistemáticamente sus iniciativas. ¿Qué está pasando? ¿Se dirige el Gobierno con torpeza a un final precipitado de su mandato, como tantos habían anticipado antes de las elecciones? ¿Es Rajoy un imprudente testarudo abocado a una corta legislatura víctima del bloqueo parlamentario? ¿No se da cuenta de que sin el apoyo del Congreso no puede gobernar? Yo creo que Rajoy y los suyos están sobrados porque pueden estarlo, y porque no peligra en absoluto su hegemonía. La victoria de un caballo en una carrera no depende sólo de su calidad. Depende sobre todo de la calidad de los otros competidores. No hay político bueno o malo en ese sentido. Su éxito depende de las cualidades de sus competidores y de cómo se organicen. Lo cierto es que el PP ha logrado ser un bloque sólido y unido en la política española. No hay discrepancias internas graves. Allá donde gobierna lo hace solo. Sigue contando con el favor de una cuarta parte del electorado, aunque haya perdido casi otra cuarta parte en los últimos cuatro años. Cuenta con un líder indolente pero resistente, internamente incuestionado y coherente. Sobre la corrupción –de momento– ya se ha dicho todo y poco más hay que saber, por repugnante que sea lo que ya sabemos. Hay unos cuantas cabezas de turco en la cárcel, un reconocimiento hipócrita pero resultón de algunos de los desmanes, y unas cuantas medidas contra la corrupción que se pueden esgrimir como constatación del propósito de enmienda. Y enfrente ¿qué hay? Podemos debate si seguir la línea dura de Pablo Iglesias, a quien la inmensa mayoría de la población no ve ni de lejos como presidente, o aproximarse a la moderación para sustituir al PSOE definitivamente. Por lo demás, mantiene esas contradicciones que horripilan a la clase media española, sobre la cuestión catalana, la Constitución y la monarquía, o la tensión tradicional entre la libertad y el orden. El PSOE sigue autodestruyéndose. Con una líder que maniobra en la sombra y que ya se pasea por Europa como si fuera la alternativa socialista al PP. Susana Díaz debería saber a estas alturas que ni sus cuadros ni sus militantes creen que ella vaya a salvar al PSOE del desastre en que está. Los pelotas de cámara, que siempre los hay, le dirán que sí, pero yo confío en que alguien cercano le dé la hora justa. Más o menos lo mismo le pasa a Pedro Sánchez. Estoy seguro de que cuenta con un apoyo más amplio de los militantes de base, pero eso no basta. Si el PSOE llega a su congreso con dos candidatos únicos, Díaz y Sánchez, eso será un desastre. Con toda probabilidad aparecerá un tercero, y quizá un cuarto o un quinto. Los socialistas están estos días comiendo y cenando buscando quiénes. Y cuesta encontrarlos. Ciudadanos ha quedado en el lugar del que siempre quiso huir. En esa tierra de nadie en la que no eres ni chicha ni limonada. Y ya se sabe: nadie compra camisetas del árbitro. Se compran camisetas de los equipos que compiten, pero los pobres colegiados no suscitan pasiones de la afición. De manera que no es de extrañar que las encuestas digan que el PP sigue subiendo y los demás no prosperan. Ni que Rajoy pueda hacer básicamente lo que le venga en gana. O al menos lo imprescindible para seguir gobernando con tranquilidad, con el foco puesto en la economía, ignorando los asuntos más controvertidos de carácter moral, y dejando que el asunto de la corrupción siga muriendo, no sólo biológicamente, sino también en los medios de comunicación y en las sobremesas familiares. O Podemos, el PSOE y Ciudadanos encuentran su oremus, o tenemos PP para rato. http://www.infolibre.es/noticias/opinion/2016/12/02/rajoy_sobrado_58300_1023.html?platform=hootsuite ARTICULOS DE LUIS ARROYO
PowerPost Here are the people whose names have been floated for Trump’s Cabinet
The latest on the contenders — from rumored to named — for top spots in the Trump administration. Latest transition updates
Updated Dec. 1 at 4:21 p.m.
Donald Trump has picked seven of 15 Cabinet department heads so far. All will need Senate confirmation.
Among President-elect Donald Trump’s first big decisions is to choose members of his Cabinet. This powerful group of advisers include heads of the 15 executive departments. Each of these leaders must be confirmed by the incoming Senate.
The Senate confirmation process can begin when the newly elected 115th Congress convenes on Jan. 3, 2017 — two weeks before Trump’s inauguration. The Senate can begin holding hearings to confirm Trump’s nominees during this period.
In the meantime, though, other top Trump administration officials and advisers can begin working. These positions do not require Senate confirmation.
Trump has also selected other White House advisers who will not need Senate confirmation.
Who Trump chooses to surround himself with greatly affects what his administration will accomplish. These top aides are just a slice of the 4,000 positions Trump’s transition team must nominate people for — people who will handle day-to-day operations at the agencies that make up the executive branch of government.
The following list includes people who are reportedly under consideration for various Cabinet jobs (and those who have been announced by the Trump administration).
Secretary of Agriculture
Current head: Tom Vilsack
Trump’s agriculture pick will be tasked with overseeing the nation’s farming policy, including farming subsidies, food safety, nutrition assistance to low-income individuals, and international agriculture trade.
NAMES FLOATED
Sam Brownback
Kansas governor
Trump promised big income-tax cuts while campaigning. Brownback slashed personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 in hopes of stimulating Kansas's economy.
Not to be mistaken with Chuck Conner III, Maryland Democratic Party executive director. The National Council of Farmer Cooperatives has advocated giving undocumented immigrants who work in the agriculture industry permanent legal status.
A member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus who repeatedly clashed with Republican House leadership, Huelskamp lost his August primary to a local physician.
Miller, an adviser to Trump, made waves with a tweet weeks ago in which he called Hillary Clinton a "c--t." It was soon deleted, blamed on a “third-party vendor.”
The defense secretary oversees the U.S. Armed Forces and its estimated 2 million members, along with tens of thousands of civilian employees in the Pentagon and across the world. The Pentagon’s budget next year will be $580 billion, about 15 percent of all U.S. spending.
NOMINEE
AWAITING CONFIRMATIONGen. James Mattis
Retired 4-star General
Mattis, a retired Marine general and former senior military officer, led operations across the Middle East. To take the job, Mattis will need Congress to pass new legislation to bypass a federal law that states secretaries of defense must not have been on active duty in the previous seven years.
The bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act, passed last year, shifted authority over public education from the federal government to the states. Trump's education head is likely to further reduce the federal role in public schools, and to push for an expansion of charter schools and vouchers for private and religious schools. Trump called the Common Core State Standards "a total disaster" during the campaign, and repeatedly pledged to get rid of them. But he won't be able to do that; it's up to states to decide which standards they use.
NOMINEE
AWAITING CONFIRMATIONBetsy DeVos
Chairman of American Federation for Children, a pro-school-voucher group
DeVos, a conservative activist and billionaire philanthropist, has pushed forcefully for private school voucher programs nationwide.
The Energy Secretary oversees the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile and the environmental cleanup of old nuclear weapons development sites. The secretary also sets appliance standards and promotes energy research and innovation through the national laboratories, loans and grants. Obama’s energy secretary Ernest Moniz, a physicist, also played a key role in negotiating the Iran nuclear deal.
NAMES FLOATED
Heidi Heitkamp
North Dakota senator
Choosing Heitkamp, a Democrat, for his Cabinet would have several pluses for Trump. He would have reached across the aisle, and her seat would be filled by someone appointed by North Dakota’s Republican governor. That would nudge the Republican majority in the Senate up to 53.
Price is a fierce critic of the Affordable Care Act and a proponent of overhauling the nation’s entitlement programs. He chairs the House Budget Committee.
Few jobs are likely to be as high-profile in the Trump administration than chief of the Department of Homeland Security, the third-largest Cabinet department, with more than 240,000 employees whose jobs include fighting terrorism, protecting the president and enforcing immigration laws.
NAMES FLOATED
Kris Kobach
Kansas secretary of state
During Kobach’s photo op after meeting with Trump, some ideas about a border wall and immigrant-tracking were clearly visible on a position paper.
Retired Marine general, former U.S. Southern Command chief
People familiar with the selection process said Trump’s team is interested in Kelly’s experience with the Southern border, where Trump wants to build his controversial wall to keep out illegal immigrants.
Arpaio was defeated in his bid for a seventh consecutive term as sheriff. He was charged with criminal contempt of court for resisting a judge’s order to stop detaining people solely on suspicion that they were undocumented immigrants.
Carson said in an interview he is “leaning to work from the outside and not from the inside,” but Donald Trump tweeted he's “seriously considering” him as head of the HUD.
Founder and President of the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise
Advisor of House Speaker Paul Ryan on poverty issues. Woodson said he is under consideration to be secretary of housing and urban development in President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet.
Choosing Heitkamp, a Democrat, for his Cabinet would have several pluses for Trump. He would have reached across the aisle, and her seat would be filled by someone appointed by North Dakota’s Republican governor. That would nudge the Republican majority in the Senate up to 53.
It's not clear how serious her consideration may be, but it's one that would certainly make liberals' heads spin. That said, Palin wasn't a hugely visible supporter of Trump on the campaign trail.
The attorney general is the top law enforcement official in the nation. The Justice Department head oversees the FBI, drug enforcement and civil rights enforcement, and is also responsible for civil litigation involving other government agencies.
NOMINEE
AWAITING CONFIRMATIONJeff Sessions
Senator from Alabama
Sessions, 69, was Trump’s first endorser in the Senate and quickly became the then-candidate’s chief resource on policy. Known for his hard-line views on immigration, the fourth-term senator has been dogged by accusations of racism throughout his career. In 1986, he was denied a federal judgeship after former colleagues testified before a Senate that he joked about the Ku Klux Klan.
Barletta issued a press release Tuesday about his possible appointment as Labor secretary. The Republican lawmaker is best known for introducing the first local law punishing businesses who knowingly hired undocumented immigrants.
The secretary of state is the star of most every Cabinet and the president’s principal foreign policy adviser. Trump has signaled he intends to change direction in the U.S. foreign policy toward some of the most sensitive and complex regions of the world, and his choice will be charged with implementing the new vision. He will oversee more than 70,000 State Department employees, including diplomats in more than 300 embassies, consulates and missions around the world.
NAMES FLOATED
Mitt Romney
Former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate
Trump met with Romney for more than an hour. He is under “active and serious consideration” to serve as secretary of state, Pence said. It is still an open question whether Romney, once a fierce critic of the president-elect, would be willing to serve in his administration.
Giuliani, a close Trump ally, is considered one of the most likely choices for the job, but his financial entanglements with foreign interests could be problematic at confirmation time.
The general is one of the most influential military officers of his generation but ended his government career as director of the CIA in November 2012 amid revelations that he had an affair with his biographer. Petraeus pleaded guilty in April 2015 to a misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information in connection with the scandal — namely sharing information with biographer Paula Broadwell — and was sentenced to probation and a $100,000 fine. He could face a tough Senate confirmation process because of that history, though he has since testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee as a foreign policy expert.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, declared that he is inclined to oppose Bolton or Giuliani if either is nominated for secretary of state.
Trump has promised to pour $1 trillion into roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
NOMINEE
AWAITING CONFIRMATIONElaine Chao
Former labor secretary
Chao became the first Asian American female Cabinet member in U.S. history when she became President George W. Bush’s labor secretary. She is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Trump is planning to name investor and former Goldman Sachs executive Steven Mnuchin as treasury secretary, opting for an industry insider with no government experience to helm the agency that serves as the backbone of the nation’s financial system, according to people familiar with the matter.
“I’m not competing with anybody. I think I’m the best person, but there are some tremendous people out there. I don’t look at it as a competition,” Brown told reporters in the lobby of Trump Tower after he met with the president-elect.
Pompeo is widely respected for his intelligence but also seen as a fierce partisan on polarizing issues including the deaths of U.S. personnel in Benghazi and the leaks of Edward Snowden.
Trump has vowed to “refocus” the EPA on its core mission of ensuring clean air and water, rather than its broader efforts under President Obama to combat climate change and accelerate the nation’s move toward cleaner sources of energy.
