# The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 7, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070 "2016-12-07T00:25:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 646
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12905 "2017-10-26T23:08:56Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > My question is, how did Halliburton not get the contract? Because Cheney isn’t VP any more. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12906 "2017-10-26T23:14:00Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > It’s quite possible that Whitefish was a valid choice, fairly made, and will do a good job. This administration has done nothing to warrant the benefit of the doubt, though, and it’s prudent to assume that \*every \*deal they make is shady until proven otherwise. the last part of this I agree with but the first sentence makes no sense. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12907 "2017-10-26T23:51:58Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > My question is, how did Halliburton not get the contract? Didn’t you hear? Dick Cheney retired. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12908 "2017-10-26T23:55:14Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > Didn’t you hear? Dick Cheney retired. Yes but his heart will go on. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12909 "2017-10-26T23:55:46Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Yes but his heart will go on. His what? ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12910 "2017-10-26T23:56:33Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > My question is, how did Halliburton not get the contract? Because the customer is not the US government. The customer is PREPA, the Puerto Rican Power Authority. Which is currently broke. Actually, way worse than broke - they are 9 billion dollars in debt. And a good sum of that debt is owed to hedge funds that specialize is buying “distressed assets” from more mainstream investment funds. And they are very adept at collecting those debts. And PREPA hasn’t been making their interest payments. This is a huge problem for Puerto Rico. It seems to me that Whitefish is more like a payday lender than anything else. A couple of guys making an investment, fronting money to pay a bunch of subcontractors to do the work in Puerto Rico. And I’m sure they are charging premium rates. Which may be justified due to some sort of calculus about what percentage of their bills they’ll actually be able to collect. I’m not sure how I feel about this. I have the same mixed feelings that I do about payday lenders. They’re sleazy and they take advantage of desperation. OTOH - if you desperately need money and are a lousy credit risk at least they provide an alternative, even if it is a crappy one. If I’m going to cast blame at anyone, it’s at the US for not helping to find a better way of dealing with the situation. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12911 "2017-10-27T00:43:41Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Because the customer is not the US government. The customer is PREPA, the Puerto Rican Power Authority. Which is currently broke. Actually, way worse than broke - they are 9 billion dollars in debt. And a good sum of that debt is owed to hedge funds that specialize is buying “distressed assets” from more mainstream investment funds. And they are very adept at collecting those debts. And PREPA hasn’t been making their interest payments. This is a huge problem for Puerto Rico. > > It seems to me that Whitefish is more like a payday lender than anything else. A couple of guys making an investment, fronting money to pay a bunch of subcontractors to do the work in Puerto Rico. And I’m sure they are charging premium rates. Which may be justified due to some sort of calculus about what percentage of their bills they’ll actually be able to collect. > > I’m not sure how I feel about this. I have the same mixed feelings that I do about payday lenders. They’re sleazy and they take advantage of desperation. OTOH - if you desperately need money and are a lousy credit risk at least they provide an alternative, even if it is a crappy one. > > If I’m going to cast blame at anyone, it’s at the US for not helping to find a better way of dealing with the situation. Have to wonder how Whitefish got 300 boots on the ground in PR, and what exactly they can do? Are boatloads of equipment on the way? I’m sure 300 linemen are a good start, but what are they going to do? I’m really kinda curious here, as I’ve never worked in that field. Perhaps they can jury rig things, and make things safe as power comes back on? That would be better than nothing. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12912 "2017-10-27T01:32:31Z")
Tom Steyer has been running this [impeachment ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXl8vRmLeJk) for quite a while now, and the right-wing trolls must be asleep at the switch. I haven’t seen a single Facebook rant that he’s actually the secret CEO of Antifa, on the Clinton Foundation payroll, and the love child of Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12913 "2017-10-27T01:48:21Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > His what? His heart. You know, that thing he keeps in an enchanted gold box, at the top of a trap-filled, dragon-guarded tower? ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12914 "2017-10-27T01:49:27Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Have to wonder how Whitefish got 300 boots on the ground in PR, and what exactly they can do? Are boatloads of equipment on the way? I’m sure 300 linemen are a good start, but what are they going to do? I’m really kinda curious here, as I’ve never worked in that field. > > Perhaps they can jury rig things, and make things safe as power comes back on? That would be better than nothing. I did a little more reading and it really is starting to stink. Because the utility companies have mutual assistance agreements. When an area is devasted by storms other utilities send workers in on a nonprofit basis. Im not sure if Puerto Rico is an official signatory to these agreements but utility companies far and and wide were preparing to send workers. PR turned them down because they couldn’t afford to reimburse them for their actual cost. Instead they hire Whitefish at exorbitant rates? And it’s buried in this article but it looks like the Army Corps of Engineers is overseeing the grid restoration. Using Whitefish provided labor, I presume > **[PREPA forgoes mutual aid, opting for little-known contractor](https://www.utilitydive.com/news/prepa-forgoes-mutual-aid-opting-for-little-known-contractor/506920/)** > > By the time municipal utilities gathered to offer assistance to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, it had already signed on Montana-based Whitefish Energy to do grid repairs.  Makes me wonder if Whitefish is hiring one of our favorite mercenary / military contractors. And why PREPA thought this was a good idea. And who’s getting rich. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12915 "2017-10-27T02:16:22Z")
It’s all just the last step towards privatization of the public utilities. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12916 "2017-10-27T02:52:54Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > It’s all just the last step towards privatization of the public utilities. Yeah, I get it now. It’s the beginning of our own oligarchy, where a couple of guys from a Western US state will own the power grid in Puerto Rico. Which is horribly in debt because it was one of those experiments in eliminating taxes on businesses and wealthy people to spur economic growth and while economic growth was spurred no one with any money to speak of was paying taxes and the country was running on borrowed money. Then when it came time for the tax breaks to expire and the corporations to start paying up, most of them reacted by leaving, crashing the economy. Now you have a devasted infrastructure. And a population with a lot of freedom of movement. The opportunities for vulturistic profit-grabbing are enormous. It really is a big story, with lots of complexity. It should be getting more press. And am I the only one wondering if the white fish came from black water? Would they dare try to be that clever? ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12917 "2017-10-27T04:31:47Z")
…to those wondering about an audit: (disclosure: this document hasn’t been verified by any mainstream sources yet, but it appears to look legit) Page 27, article 59: “In no event shall [government bodies] have the right to audit or review the cost and profit elements.” [http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4113619-Whitefish-Contract-Signed-10-17-Copy.html#document/p1](http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4113619-Whitefish-Contract-Signed-10-17-Copy.html#document/p1) ---
**Author:** ![Greathouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greathouse/32/2992_2.png) [@Greathouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greathouse)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12918 "2017-10-27T12:28:56Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …to those wondering about an audit: > > (disclosure: this document hasn’t been verified by any mainstream sources yet, but it appears to look legit) > > Page 27, article 59: “In no event shall [government bodies] have the right to audit or review the cost and profit elements.” > > [DocumentCloud](http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4113619-Whitefish-Contract-Signed-10-17-Copy.html#document/p1) But that same Article 59 says that all records are to be made available for up to 3 years after the final payments for the purposes of audits, examinations, etc… So they can perform any kind of audit except to audit how much of a profit Whitefish made off the project? I’m not so good at parsing contract jargon. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12919 "2017-10-27T13:35:00Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Makes me wonder if Whitefish is hiring one of our favorite mercenary / military contractors. And why PREPA thought this was a good idea. And who’s getting rich. Ryan Keith Zinke (/ˈzɪŋki/), 52nd United States Secretary of the Interior and the greatest ever to fill that position, was a star football player at Whitefish High School. A proud servant of MAGA, he is doing his part to clean the Washington swamp, going to the town he knows and loves so well — it’s a long way from the Blue Sky State to the fetid liberal-infested sewers of D.C. **One thing we can be absolutely sure of:** At the time he awarded the contract to Whitefish Energy, and unlike some companies which rent multiple suites on K street, _Whitefish Energy certainly had no more than two corrupt employees on its staff._ ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12920 "2017-10-27T13:43:57Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Tom Steyer has been running this [impeachment ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXl8vRmLeJk) for quite a while now, and the right-wing trolls must be asleep at the switch. I haven’t seen a single Facebook rant that he’s actually the secret CEO of Antifa, on the Clinton Foundation payroll, and the love child of Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch. Oh, he’s gotten a bit of a shout-out this morning, per the Commander in Tweet: > [@President Blithering Shitgibbon](#): > > Wacky & totally unhinged Tom Steyer, who has been fighting me and my Make America Great Again agenda from beginning, never wins elections! Which election(s) did Steyer run for, again? ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12921 "2017-10-27T14:00:47Z")
I bet his ratings are poor, too. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12922 "2017-10-27T15:52:56Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Yeah, I get it now. It’s the beginning of our own oligarchy, where a couple of guys from a Western US state will own the power grid in Puerto Rico. Which is horribly in debt because it was one of those experiments in eliminating taxes on businesses and wealthy people to spur economic growth and while economic growth was spurred no one with any money to speak of was paying taxes and the country was running on borrowed money. > Then when it came time for the tax breaks to expire and the corporations to start paying up, most of them reacted by leaving, crashing the economy. > Now you have a devasted infrastructure. And a population with a lot of freedom of movement. The opportunities for vulturistic profit-grabbing are enormous. > It really is a big story, with lots of complexity. It should be getting more press. Yeah, the various related issues are quite complex and though it goes against my instincts, ISTM that at this point, privatization is probably their best shot at some sort of recovery any time soon. Otherwise, it might get _a lot worse_ before it gets any better. If you think watching a neighborhood gentrify is bad, just imagine what that looks like with a whole island and culture. [This article](http://www.slate.com/articles/business/metropolis/2017/09/hurricane_maria_could_lead_puerto_rico_s_electric_utility_prepa_to_privatize.html) is a good high-level summary of the issues. Lots of good sub-links in there to follow, [particularly this one,](http://energia.pr.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Expert-Report-Revenue-Requirements-Fisher-and-Horowitz-Revised-20161123.pdf) if you want to go more in-depth. ISTM that a situation where power generation is privatized but the grid itself remains in public hands is ideal, though even that may be difficult to attain at this point. I’m no expert on the subject, but the silver-lining to that may be that even if it all gets privatized, that might not be all bad considering that renewable energy fits better with distributed/decentralized power generation, storage and distribution. They may just end up with a decentralized patchwork of regional systems, each run by different companies. And that might actually be their best case scenario. But, yeah, it’s a tough situation and there are no easy answers, so I might be completely wrong. \ ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12923 "2017-10-27T16:36:55Z")
“Wacky,” again? I’d bet that Trump’s never held a thesaurus in his hands, but couldn’t he ask, like, Betsy DeVos for a new adjective? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/12924 "2017-10-27T16:39:31Z")
I think the only one she’d have on hand is ‘holy’, and I doubt she knows what it means. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=645) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=647)