Category: Trump

Week Eight In Trump

Posted on March 20, 2017 in Politics, Trump

This is by far the longest weekly recap yet. I didn’t think that much happened last week, but with so much up in the air, there was actually a lot going on. Here’s what happened last week:

The CBO releases their report on the plan to replace the ACA. As far as healthcare goes, the report is pretty damaging, but it does predict that it would lower the deficit by $337 billion over the next decade.
The White House and certain GOP members continue to try to delegitimize the CBO report, though the CBO is non-partisan and about the most reliable we have. Here’s a quick fact check on them.
Paul Ryan says in an interview that the goal of the healthcare bill isn’t to insure all people; it’s to give all people choice of whether to buy insurance. That is, if you can afford it.
Ryan says his plan gives people the freedom to buy the insurance that fits their needs (except you really don’t know what your needs are until they come up).
Mick Mulvaney, head of the OMB, says that health insurance “is not really the end goal.” Trump has assured us in the past, though, that we’ll all have “beautiful” coverage.
According to a Public Policy poll, 24% of Americans approve of the new healthcare plan. 47% approve of the ACA.
There is growing concern around the CBO’s estimate that millions will lose healthcare under this bill, and additional organizations come out against the replacement bill, including the American Cancer Association.
Republican Senators call for changes to the healthcare bill, saying it won’t pass the senate otherwise. They want lower costs for lower-income, older Americans, and more funding for states with high populations of hard to insure constituents. Conversely, some of the more conservative Republicans want to provide less funding.
Close advisors to Trump urge him to distance himself from the healthcare reform bill, saying it will hurt him politically. The Trump team starts blaming problems with the bill on Ryan. Trump also admits the bill in its current form is not a good deal for his supporters.
At the same time, Breitbart releases audio of Ryan from October saying he would never support Trump. That’s the sound of someone getting thrown under the bus.
Tom Price claims that the government will pay for health coverage for those who need it, and everyone will be covered.
Paul Ryan plans to modify the healthcare bill to make is easier for older Americans to buy insurance.
Seems Verma, the top official for Medicaid, urges states to charge insurance premiums to people on Medicaid, make them pay part of their emergency room bills, and encouraged them to get jobs. Medicaid recipients are largely children, followed by disabled and elderly people who can’t work. But some do work and get paid so little they can’t afford basic care.
Tom Price thinks that states should be able to decide whether or not to mandate vaccinations. Tom is a 3^rd generation physician, so is certainly aware a) of the ravages of the diseases vaccines prevent, b) that the relationship between vaccines and autism has been scientifically discredited, and c) that we need a certain percentage of the population to be vaccinated in order to keep those diseases at bay.
Trump issues an executive order to reorganize the executive branch, instructing each agency to look for ways to reorganize for efficiency, including the possible elimination of entire agencies.
The Trump administration reverses Obama’s guidance on the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program, which would have limited the fees that could be collected on loans that are past due, putting a greater financial burden on vulnerable borrowers.
Sean Spicer walks back its claim that Obama wiretapped Trump’s phones. From CNN: “Trump didn’t mean wiretapping when he tweeted about wiretapping.”
On Monday, the Justice Department fails to deliver the awaited evidence that Obama had wiretapped Trump. Devin Nunes, chair of the intelligence committee, threatens to subpoena any relevant information. He says “clearly the president was wrong” if he literally meant that Obama had wiretapped his home.
Spicer says that he’s confident evidence will surface that will prove Trump’s wiretapping claims.
Kellyanne Conway introduces a novel way Obama was spying on Trump — through microwaves that turn into cameras
Documents reveal that Michael Flynn received payments from Russian-based companies in addition to state media RT. One was part of a corruption scandal that got them banned from selling to the UN, and another (Kapersky) was trying to expand U.S. business.
Flynn’s recent filling reveals that he had also worked for Turkish government agencies. Even though Trump’s transition team was told about Flynn’s foreign agent status, he was still allowed to attend security briefings.
The DOJ announces indictments against two Russian spies in the FSB along with two hackers in the case of the 2104 breach of Yahoo’s networks (unrelated to the investigations around election interference).
A Secret Service agent in New York leaves her laptop, containing highly sensitive information, in her car from which it is stolen. Said laptop contains floor plans for the Trump Tower and details on Clinton’s emails.
The Russian bank that seemed to be communicating with a Trump server last year claims that it was hacked and is being set up.
Comey meets with top senators to brief them on the ongoing Russia investigations. Whatever they talked about is classified; no one said much on the way out.
And even after this meeting, Sean Spicer continues to stand by the wiretapping claims tweeted by Trump. Trump says he will provide evidence very soon. Senate Intelligence Committee leaders say they haven’t seen evidence of this, even after meeting with Comey on highly classified material around this.
Trump and Spicer both accuse British agents of being involved with the [alleged] wiretapping. The GCHQ (British equivalent of the NSC) says that’s ridiculous. The White House later apologizes, but Spicer later denies there was any apology. It turns out Trump got this news from Fox and Friends, where the analyst they were speaking with got his news from Russian state media, RT.
Representative Adam Schiff of the House Intelligence Committee said this of the Russia ties: “There is circumstantial evidence of collusion. There is direct evidence, I think, of deception and that’s where we begin the investigation.”
Hearings on the latest travel ban start just before it’s set to go into effect, and a federal judge in Hawaii orders a stay. Simply removing the religious language didn’t convince the judge that it wasn’t based on religious discrimination. A Maryland judge also put a stay on the ban.
After hearing this, Trump says it was a watered down version and he wants to go back to the original ban. Nonetheless, the Justice Department says it will defend the new travel ban. The case is slated to move on to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Immigration agents in California have been hanging around courthouses to arrest undocumented immigrants. California’s chief justice asks the administration to put a stop to it.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff, among other law agencies, have come out against the state-wide sanctuary bill.
A former police chief of Greenville, NC, Hassan Aden, says he was detained at a CPB detention center for an hour and a half.
Several bands slated to perform at SxSW have been denied entry to the US, though some could be because of incomplete paperwork.
The DOJ temporarily transfers judges to detention centers near the Mexico border to help with the backlog of cases — currently there are over half a million cases waiting.
Trump asks for $4.1 billion for the border wall, but estimates are as much as 6 times that.
A poll of opinions on immigration shows the following: 60% of us are for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. 26% say shoring up the border should be a priority. 13% say deportation should be the highest priority. 58% think if someone has been here a long time and not committed serious crimes, they shouldn’t be deported. 90% favor allowing people who’ve been here a long time, know English, and are will to pay back taxes to stay and apply for citizenship.
A waiter in Orange County, CA, is fired after he asks a table of 4 women to show ID to prove that they are residents.
Breitbart has lost at least 1,200 advertisers since the election due to alleged hate speech. While this is cutting into their profitability, they are mostly funded by donors on the right (largely Robert Mercer).
The New York AG accuses Rex Tillerson of using an email under a pseudonym to talk about climate change and other sensitive issues while at Exxon, using the name Wayne Tracker. These emails were not turned over as part of a court order in a New York law suit.
Trump directs the EPA to stop the fuel economy standards put in place by Obama and to review fuel emission standards. Waivers still allow states to set their own fuel emissions standards.
Mick Mulvaney says, “As to climate change, I think the president was fairly straightforward: We’re not spending money on that anymore.”
Seventeen House Republicans submit a resolution acknowledging the human impact on climate change and resolving to work on efforts to mitigate that impact.
Scott Pruitt’s EPA is being staffed by former aides to Senator James Inhoffe, who’s been one of the loudest climate change skeptics in Congress.
After Pruitt’s comments last week that CO2 doesn’t cause climate change, scientists write a letter to correct him.
Since we’re talking about climate, in his testimony during his hearings earlier this year, Secretary of Defense Mattis said climate change is a global threat to our security, writing that “Climate change is impacting stability in areas of the world where our troops are operating today.”
More than a dozen countries meet in Chile to discuss and bargain over trade deals now that the U.S. has withdrawn from the TPP. China, which was not originally in the TPP, has entered the fray with a new Pacific Rim plan. These deals could mean tougher competition for American exports.
In an indicator that the economy continues to do well, the Fed raised the interest rate .25% on the premise that the current job growth is unsustainable and that faster growth would lead to inflation and then recession. Trump, on the other hand, describes the economy bleakly and has pushed for a dramatic increase in growth.
For a different view of the economy, a Business Roundtable survey says that CEOs of major companies approve of what they’re seeing so far and they think Trump’s policies will allow them to expand business more quickly and increase profits.
Mulvaney accuses the Obama administration of manipulating jobs data. There is no evidence of this — the BLS has used the same methods for over 75 years.
Trump introduces his budget proposal, which cuts domestic programs drastically while increasing military spending by 10%. I’ll try to do another write-up on it later this week, but below are a few tidbits.
The budget includes billions in cuts to the UN, including for humanitarian issues. This would cause a “breakdown of the international humanitarian system as we know it,” according to Richard Gowan an expert on the European Council on Foreign Relations.
While Trump is asking for billions to complete his wall, Congress has some different ideas on immigration, including more drones and more border patrol agents.
Canadians worry about the effects of Trump’s budget and EPA guidance on the Great Lakes, which, of course, we share with them.
Even Newt Gingrich comes out against parts of the budget proposal, specifically the drastic cuts to the NIH, calling the cuts to research irresponsible and shortsighted.
Scientists worry that Trump’s drastic cuts to research will lead to a “lost generation” in American research. Maybe other countries will take the lead.
The budget would axe the national endowments for the arts and the humanities, both of which several Republican legislators support funding.
A big kerfuffle erupts on social media about how the budget cuts will affect Meals on Wheels – specifically the cuts to HUD and state block grants. Mulvaney says it will not be cut.
Trump gives power back to the CIA to order drone strikes, something they couldn’t do under Obama because this power was limited to the Pentagon.
The U.S. military denies accusations that they bombed a mosque in Syria, saying they targeted Al Qaeda militants.
Reports surface that the U.S. military drafted plans to deploy up to 1,000 troops to Syria to support the retaking of Raqqa, the so-called headquarters of ISIS.
Tillerson takes one journalist (from the Independent Journal Review) on his flight to Asia. He calls for a new approach to North Korea, calling the policies of the last 20 years “failed.” He refuses to negotiate on freezing their nuclear weapon programs and leaves military options open (while China urges us to remain “coolheaded”).
In a closely watched election, Geert Wilders’ extreme far-right Party for Freedom came in a distant second to the center-right VVD party. Wilders campaigned against the EU, against Muslims, and for white nationalism. This was seen as a test for the extreme right.
Trump has a strange meeting with Angela Merkel during which he accuses a German reporter of reading fake news, suggests that he and Merkel have something in common around wiretapping, and seems to refuse to shake her hand. Trump did assure her that he strongly supports NATO.
During a joint press conference, a German reporter asked what so many of us want to know the answer to: “Why are you so scared of diversity in the news, and in the media, that you speak so often of fake news? And that things after all, in the end, cannot be proven, for example, the fact that you have been wiretapped by (Barack) Obama?” She asked the question in German so Trump would have to wait for the translation and therefore not be able to interrupt before she was finished.
After meeting with Merkel, Trump tweets that Germany owes the U.S. and NATO “vast sums of money”, indicating he doesn’t understand how NATO works.
Other countries offer to help out in countries where Trump’s Mexico Rule prohibits aid from going to agencies that mention abortion.
At the G-20 meeting, U.S. delegates reject wording in a free-trade statement that warned against protectionism and that stressed rules-based free trade following “existing standards and agreements.” This signals that we won’t accept trade norms and we’ll pursue more a more antagonistic approach.
Major agencies, including the State Department, the Pentagon, and the Treasury, are operating without key officials due to the slow progression of the transition.
Miami prosecutors have an ongoing investigation into Steve Bannon for potential voter fraud. Bannon calls his ex-wife’s FL address his primary residence, though it appears he was actually a CA resident.
Trump takes his paychecks instead of donating them, and says he’ll let the media decide where he should donate his salary at the end of the year.
The Palm Beach sheriff’s department says it costs about $60,000 in overtime every day Trump spends in Florida
Rachel Maddow majorly over-hypes a leak of Trump’s 2005 taxes (which Trump calls fake news). It showed net income of $153 million, a $105 million business loss write-down, and taxes of $38 million. Much of what he paid was from the alternative minimum tax, which he wants to get rid of.
The Justice Department goes to court to fight two conservative legal groups suing for more of Clinton’s emails to be released. This supports Trump assertion that he doesn’t want to pursue this.
Kellyanne Conway’s husband is the likely choice to run the civil division of the Department of Justice.
Polls start to show we are losing our global appeal:
- 40% of colleges report declines in applications from international students
- In November, 59% of Germans believed us to be a trustworthy ally. By February, that number had dropped to 22%.
In a poll of millennials, 57% of Americans age 18-34 see Trump as an illegitimate president (though they don’t say why or what they mean by that). Also, Trump’s approval rating falls to 37%.
Trump has appointed senior White House advisers in every Cabinet agency to monitor the various secretaries and to ensure their loyalty to Trump (verified by records first obtained by ProPublica through a Freedom of Information Act request).

Week Seven in Trump

Posted on March 13, 2017 in Politics, Trump

Here’s what I missed from previous weeks:

Both Iran and North Korea launched more missile tests.
Our visa waiver program (VWP) with the European Union could lapse. This is actually a hangover from the Obama administration. The VWP allows us to travel throughout Europe without having to get a visa, however, the U.S. and 4 other countries excluded 4 eastern European nations and Cyprus. The other countries have completed their waivers, but the U.S. hasn’t.
Trump tweeted that debt went down $12 billion in his first month compared to Obama’s $200 billion increase, neglecting to take into account that in both cases, the country was still operating on the previous administration’s budget.

And here’s what happened last week.

House republicans release their replacement for the ACA, but without any budgetary estimates. I addressed the changes in the bill as well as reaction and analysis over the week in a separate blog, but here are some of the highlights of what the plan would do:
- Remove the tax on high-income earners
- Reverse the Medicaid expansion of the ACA
- Move from subsidies to tax credits
- Remove the mandate that everyone purchase insurance
- Remove the requirement that employers offer coverage for full-time employees
- Remove requirements for mental health benefits
- Defund Planned Parenthood
The House introduces a bill that would allow employers require employees to undergo genetic testing or pay a fine.
The Senate introduces a resolution that would remove privacy requirements for internet service providers. If the bill is enacted, ISPs would not longer need to get your permission to sell your sensitive information. It would also prevent the FCC from being able to create similar rules down the line.
Now that they’ve rolled back what they can of environmental protection regulations, Republicans move on to targeting worker safety regulations. Both houses voted to reverse part of the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule, including protections against serious safety violations and sexual harassment.
Both houses use Congressional Review to reverse Obama-era regulations that required federally funded teacher prep programs to be evaluated on academic outcomes, calling those regulations overreach.
The Georgia House passes a redistricting bill that appears to be racially biased, moving black voters out of several Republican districts and replacing them with white voters. They anticipate this will be approved by both the senate and governor. It will also likely end up in court since they haven’t been able to explain how it’s not racially motivated.
And since we’re talking about gerrymandering, federal judges rule that the Republican redistricting was actually racially-motivated gerrymandering.
The travel industry is down an estimated $185 million since the election. And businesses in Palm Beach say they’re losing $10s of thousands whenever Trump spends the weekend at Mar-a-Lago due to airport and traffic closures and enhanced security measures.
A poll of business economists showed that they think restricting immigration is a bad idea; they narrowly approve of the ACA, but it needs to be modified to give more choice and control; and they approve of NAFTA.
A poll shows Americans are mixed on Trump’s proposed budget. We like infrastructure spending and tax cuts for the middle class a lot. We don’t like expanding military spending by 10% and building a wall with Mexico. We’re lukewarm on reducing taxes for corporations.
Despite Trump’s claim that he inherited a mess, this was the 76th consecutive month for jobs growth, a record. SEVENTY-SIXTH. That’s over 6 straight years straight of growth, albeit somewhat slow growth.
And speaking of job growth, Trump spent his campaign talking about how the jobs numbers were phony, made up to make politicians look good (and I quote, “Phony, phony, phony”). With this week’s numbers, he told Sean Spicer he could quote him: “They may have been phony in the past but it’s very real now.” Uh-huh.
The Treasury warns that we’ll need to raise the debt ceiling again soon. Also, the Fed warns of upcoming interest rate hikes.
Trump issues a new, rewritten travel ban, on the heels of a DHS report concluding that citizenship in the banned countries is not a reliable threat indicator. 34 foreign policy exports denounce it as being as detrimental as the first.
Though the new ban is much more measured, there are still protests in DC. The state of Hawaii launches the first legal challenge to the ban and several other states follow. In Wisconsin, a judge issues a temporary restraining order on enforcing the policy for the family of a Syrian refugee who was already granted asylum.
The Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness says the greatest terrorism threat we face is not foreign-born, but instead is home-grown and radicalized online.
The CBO finds that undocumented immigrants contribute about $11 billion in state and local taxes. In addition, between 50 and 75% of them file and pay federal taxes.
The travel ban might hurt healthcare and hospitals due to the suspension of accelerated processing for H-1B visas. Foreign medical students (who are already here on student visas) can apply for a work visa if they work for 3 years in an under-served community. The timing for all the paperwork is tricky, and the suspension will likely mean they can’t meet their deadlines before their student visas run out.
As a deterrent to illegal border crossings, the DHS is looking at separating undocumented children from their parents. Currently, mothers and their children are held together. Under the proposed guidelines, mothers would be detained and children sent to live with relatives if possible.
Trump considers cutting the budget for Coast Guard and airport security in order to fund the wall with Mexico. This is questionable given the large number of undocumented immigrants in the country who did NOT enter over the border and the assistance given by the Coast Guard in stopping drug trafficking.
The administration starts receiving proposals to build the wall.
FIFA says the U.S. can’t hold the World Cup unless the travel ban is lifted. The World Cup would be a huge revenue generator for the country – we’ve already been losing travel revenue. The Olympic committee seems OK with it though.
Illegal crossings at the southern border decreased 40% in February, though it’s not clear if this is just a typical temporary reaction to new immigration policies.
Mayors on a panel at SxSW voice concern over what’s happening in their communities because of Trump’s “bullying” tactics at enforcing immigration.
This week saw another wave of bomb threats at Jewish centers.
The Supreme Court cancels hearings on the transgender issue, pushing it back to the lower courts, who will review the case with consideration for title IX requirements.
What Dr. Carson? Slaves came here with hopes of living the American dream? I don’t think so. Carson says, “There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less. But they too had a dream that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great-grandsons, great-granddaughters, might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land.”
Hate crimes against Indians continue, even though the perpetrators of these crimes are aiming for Muslims, Arabs, or Iranians. Over the past few weeks, a man shot and killed an Indian thinking he was Iranian, a man shot a Sikh man thinking he was Muslim (because, you know, turban), and a man targeting Arabs tried to burn down an Indian man’s store.
And in an ode to all this hate, Congressman Steve King (R. Iowa) tweets “We Can’t Restore Our Civilization With Somebody Else’s Babies.” At least David Duke approved of that.
ProPublica launches a program aimed at documenting and tracking hate crimes.
Rex Tillerson refuses to meet with the top U.N. official tasked with tackling global warming.
EPA head Scott Pruitt says CO2 is not the primary cause of climate change, despite this being one of the things most scientists can agree on. His offices are flooded with calls and emails, so much so they had to staff up. Scientists and environmental groups push back as well.
Pruitt starts filling positions at the EPA with climate change skeptics, and for the first time, the EPA’s mission statement does not include the word ‘science.’ Because why base environmental rules on science?
The WHO reports that 1 out of every 4 deaths in children under 5 is from causes related to pollution.
The U.S. drops from #4 to #7 in the world’s best countries rankings, the results of a survey conducted jointly by US News & World Report, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and Y&R’s BAV Consulting.
China grants Trump an unprecedented 38 trademarks.
Between this week and the previous, Spicer goes 7 days without holding a televised press briefing. The entire White House goes a little press-quiet in the days following Trump’s tweet about the wiretapping.
If you remember, last week Trump tweeted that Obama had wiretapped his phones. The White House says Trump isn’t under investigation, which would mean that what Trump tweeted was a lie. Well, either he just lied or he just implicated himself.
Trump tweets that Obama released 122 vicious terrorists from Gitmo. It’s true that 122 of the 693 released did go back to terrorist activities, but 113 were released under Bush and 9 were released under Obama.
In what turns out to be much ado about nothing, WikiLeaks releases documents detailing the CIA’s hacking abilities, including hacking smart devices and encryption bypass methods. This information already came out a few years ago, but the FBI opens an investigation into the hacks.
In response to North Korea’s recent missile tests, the U.S. deploys a missile defense system (THAAD) in South Korea. In response to that, China readies countermeasures.
According to experts from both parties, Trump is months behind previous presidents in staffing up key positions. Though it isn’t clear if this is by design as part of deconstructing the administration.
Despite his claims to the contrary, it turns out that Trump met with the Russian ambassador during his campaign (though it was brief and I can see how he might not recall it).
According to Bloomberg, Russian hackers target U.S. progressive groups in a new wave of attacks, scouring the organizations’ emails for embarrassing details and attempting to extract hush money.
Comey meets with the “Gang of 8” (congressional members who have access to the most highly classified material) to discuss Russian meddling in last year’s election. Public hearings for the House Intelligence Committee on everything Russia are set to begin March 20.
Michael Flynn says he worked as a foreign agent for the Turkish government, being paid about a half million dollars for his work. His work included investigating Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen in the U.S. This while he was also attending intelligence briefings. It’s extraordinary that no one on the transition team knew of his foreign agent status.
The ACLU formally files an ethics complaint against AG Jeff Sessions over his testimony denying contact with Russian officials.
This week saw more marches and protests:
- On International Women’s Day, women skip work, rally, and wear red. Also, a statue of a defiant girl appears, facing the Charging Bull statue in New York City to draw attention to an effort to get more women on board positions.
- Pennsylvania Mennonites are now politically active and protesting.
- There are more DAPL protests in DC.
- Protestors gather in front of Brietbart’s California headquarters in a protest against propaganda.
Legal issues continue to dog Trump. The highest court in Canada upholds a lawsuit over the Toronto Trump Tower that found investors were misled. A DC restaurant sues him for unfair competition. A Trump University student asks the courts to allow her to take her claims to trial, despite the class action settlement. Still ongoing are lawsuits around the emoluments clause and a defamation suit from last years campaign.
In a surprise move, the Trump administration asks all remaining Obama-era JD prosecutors to resign, the high-profile Preet Bharara included — even though he was originally asked to stay on. Bharara refused and Trump subsequently fired him. Coincidentally, this sweep came the day after Sean Hannity mentioned on his show that Trump should “purge” the Obama appointees. Trump isn’t the first to do this, though; Clinton fired 93.
There is speculation that the reason Bharara was included in the firings was that he received a letter requesting an investigation into potential violations of the Constitution by Trump. The letter stated “Published reports indicate that the Trump Organization and related Trump business entities have been receiving payments from foreign government sources which benefit President Trump through his ownership of the Trump Organization and related business entities.” Trump tried to contact Bharara the next day, but Bharara said it would be a breach of protocol to talk to him. The firings came the next day.
Sonny Perdue, one of the last Trump cabinet picks awaiting confirmation, had 13 ethics complaints filed against him and was fined while he was governor.
John Huntsman accepts an offer to become the new ambassador to Russia, awaiting Congressional approval.
The U.S. deploys 400 marines to Syria to help remove ISIS from Raqqa, their self-declared headquarters. We’re also preparing to send troops to Kuwait to fight ISIS.
A man climbs over the White House fence and isn’t apprehended until he is near the residence. He has 2 cans of mace in his backpack, one of Trump’s books, and a laptop.

Week Six in Trump

Posted on March 6, 2017 in Politics, Trump

Here’s what I missed from last week:

At the governor’s meeting, a report was presented stating that the current vision for replacing the ACA could reduce the number of insured Americans and cost states billions of dollars in the long run. Republican Governors are divided on how to address the repeal-and-replace of the ACA.
A fourth mosque in 7 weeks was burned. Three have so far been listed as arson; the other is still being investigated.
The 10% increase in military spending proposed by Trump (around $54 billion) would result in cuts to domestic programs to make up the difference.
When protections were pulled back for transgender students, the White House said it was “a joint decision made … by the Department of Justice and the Department of Education.” This was, in fact, Trump’s decision.

Here’s what happened this past week. I’m sure I didn’t catch everything because I was lulled into complacency on a few slow news days.

At least 16 Jewish centers and day schools receive bomb threats in one day, in the 5th wave of similar threats in under 2 months. A St. Louis man is arrested in relation to 8 of the threats. He turns out to be a journalist fired from the Intercept, a left-leaning news site. It also turns out he was doing it in retaliation for a break-up. The remaining 90+ threats are still being investigated.
Sean Spicer personally arranges for CIA director Mike Pompeo and Senate Select Intelligence Committee Chair Richard Burr to contact reporters to push back on the stories about Trump team’s communication with Russia, which they did without providing any details.
The Justice Department drops its opposition to a voter ID law in Texas that was found by a lower court judge to intentionally discriminate against black and Latino voters.
The US is a clear favorite to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup (possibly in conjunction with Mexico and Canada). However, a travel ban would damage our chances of getting the games.
The administration considers withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council. At the same time, Rex Tillerson skips the State Department’s annual announcement on human rights. Noteworthy because the US has traditionally been a leader in human rights policies.
Trump admits that healthcare overhaul is more complicated than he expected.
Trump accuses Obama of orchestrating the protests over the past month, blames Obama and his allies for the leaks, and implies that the spate of threats and vandalism targeting Jewish centers might be false flags (that is, Jews are doing it themselves for publicity).
A short film produced by Shell Oil in 1991 surfaces, indicating that they’ve know since then that man-made climate change is a real thing and needs to be addressed. One paper from 1986 noted the uncertainty of the science behind climate change while warning of the potential danger of ignoring it. Their predictions were “remarkably accurate” according to scientists. This is in addition to investigations that found Exxon has known all along as well, despite both Shell and Exxon lobbying against renewable energy sources and climate policies, and while funding misleading programs about climate change.
Sessions claims that marijuana use is linked to increased violence, a claim that has been debunked in recent studies. Oooh. Reefer Madness. Anyway, he says the Justice Department will crack down on marijuana offenses, and coincidentally will also expand the use of private prisons. Hmmm.
Sessions states he’ll get tough on crime, saying that we’ve become complacent with the steady decline in crime and we need to take the recent uptick seriously.
The GOP blocks the release of Trump’s taxes. This from the party who spent eight years demanding the release of Obama’s school transcripts and birth certificate.
More than 120 retired generals pen a letter to Congress objecting to the State Department cuts in Trump’s proposed budget, saying that funding is “critical to keeping America safe.” General Mattis also says putting more effort into diplomacy could offset the costs needed for the military.
Trump speaks to Congress, giving a high-level overview of his plans. Reviews are mixed, but it seems everyone is impressed that he was able to stick to his script. I’ll fact check the speech in a later post.
Trump says he’s open to a pathway to legal status for undocumented immigrants while at the same time highlighting the danger of undocumented immigrants in his speech to Congress.
Barack and Michelle Obama sign large book deals with Penguin Random House, and pledge to donate a significant amount of the proceeds to charity.
Trump finally speaks out against Kansas shooting that killed an Indian engineer and wounded another. Another person who heroically intervened was also wounded.
A Sikh man was shot in Seattle in an apparent hate crime.
The House GOP votes against compelling the Justice Department to turn over documents and information on Trump-Russia ties.
Trump signs measure reversing an Obama-era regulation that made it harder for severely mentally ill people to get guns.
Trump begins the largest rollback of environmental laws and rules since Richard Nixon enacted the Environmental Protection Act.
Trump signs an executive order to start the repeal of Obama’s Clean Water Rule. Following the signing ceremony, Scott Pruitt (EPA head) let agricultural companies know that he’d be rolling back EPA regulations.
Trump’s budget proposal is expected to include a 25% cut to the EPA’s current budget of $8.1 million.
Potential budget cuts to NOAA could impact their network of weather satellites.
It comes out that Sessions spoke twice with a Russian ambassador last year, but did not disclose this in his hearings. In fact, during his hearing he wasn’t asked directly whether he met with any Russians, but he offered up the information that he didn’t (…”I did not have communications with the Russians”). Also, in response to a written query from a senator asking whether he met with any Russians, Sessions answered “No.” This leads to a protest at the US Department of Justice and Sessions recuses himself from any investigation into Russian ties.
The Trump administration claims Sessions was acting as a Senator when he met with the Russian ambassador, though he paid his expenses for the trip using political funds instead of legislative funds. He also spoke about the Trump campaign during the event.
Senior Pentagon officials tell NBC News that the recent raid in Yemen, which killed a Navy SEAL, led to no valuable intelligence, though others have said there were many names learned and they are already acting on this information.
A draft of Trump’s new travel ban omits Iraq from the list of banned countries, and makes exceptions for current green card and visa holders.
Police chiefs pen a letter to Trump objecting to his push to use them to detain undocumented immigrants, saying it will make their communities less safe.
The Senate confirms Ben Carson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Rick Perry as Secretary of Energy, and Ryan Zinke for the Department of the Interior. Zinke is at least willing to say humans are influencing climate change.
Trump’s transition team cancelled “an orientation class that would have prepared political appointees and White House staff for a series of ethical and legal issues” per CNN.
Though DACA immigrants are supposed to be exempt from the expanded deportation definitions, several DREAMers are still detained by ICE.
It comes out that Vice-President Pence used a private email for official business during his time as governor. And his email was hacked… The lack of Republican response to this indicates one standard for Democrats, and another for Republicans.
Add Jared Kushner to the list of Trump associates who met with Russian officials last fall.
McMaster rolls back Flynn’s changes at the NSC, leaving in question whether Bannon still has a place there.
Bannon is pushing for the US to pull out of the Paris agreement, but Rex Tillerson and Ivanka Trump disagree.
Former President Barack Obama is named the 2017 “Profile in Courage” award honoree by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.
Carter Page says “I do not deny” meeting with the Russian ambassador, contradicting his previous statements that he did not meet with Russians last year.
Trump accuses Democrats of slowing down the cabinet confirmation process, though as of this week, his confirmations are equal to Obama’s at this time. Also, several delays have been from the Trump team not getting the required paperwork to the congress and from certain nominees withdrawing.
The requirement to use steel made in America for the Keystone pipeline is dropped.
Mexico sets up legal assistance in all of their consulates in the US to help Mexicans in this country and to advocate for their rights.
According to a New York Times report, “the United States still does not have the ability to effectively counter the North Korean nuclear and missile programs. Those threats are far more resilient than many experts thought… and pose such a danger that Mr. Obama… warned President Trump they were likely to be the most urgent problem he would confront.”
The Trump administration temporarily suspends expedited applications for H-1B visas. These visas let graduate students work at US companies in fields requiring a higher level of education. (Reuters)
Just when I thought we’d have a quiet weekend…In a series of tweets, Trump accuses Obama of wiretapping his phones at Trump Tower, a very serious charge if true. The White House staff backs up his accusations, but there is no evidence at this time and it is assumed by some that he got the information from a Breitbart article.
Trump urged legislators to investigate the above claims. Republicans have said this would likely be part of any investigation into Trump-Russia ties. Democrats, on the other hand, have criticized the tweets and requested evidence to back up the assertions.
As has become the norm, there were protests and rallies across the country this week, some pro-Trump, some for the upcoming International Women’s Day, some for calling on Sessions to resign.

Week Five in Trump… And I’m Exhausted

Posted on February 27, 2017 in Politics, Trump

Here’s last week’s recap of what happened. Just a note that I’m not including many things from Trump’s speeches in the recaps unless they’re really newsworthy. There’s just too much in them to call out. Plus this list isn’t getting any shorter!

Several “Not My President” rallies are held in cities around the country, including one in front of Trump Tower in NYC. I get the sentiment, but the fact of the matter is he actually IS the president.
British parliament debates whether to downgrade Trump’s visit from a state visit.
Trump names Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as national security advisor. This is after Petraeus withdrew and Harwood declined when they learned they couldn’t select their own staff (which appears to be under Steve Bannon’s purview).
In his first week, McMaster separates radical terrorists from Islam, saying that terrorists pervert their religion. This contradicts the current attitude in the administration.
Russia begins to put together a psychological profile of Trump for Putin. Their initial conclusion is that Trump is a risk taker and can be naive.
Russian officials have confirmed that they had contact with Trump aides during the 2016 campaign, while Russia was interfering in the election.
The week before Michael T. Flynn resigned, someone delivered a proposal to him outlining how Trump could lift the Russia sanctions.
Texts are hacked from Paul Manafort’s daughter’s phone that indicate threats of blackmail against Manafort. The alleged sender of the texts denies they came from him.
The White House makes a request to the FBI that the they publicly refute media reports about the Trump team’s communications with Russia. Director Comey rejects the request.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R) calls for an independent investigation into the ties between Trump and Russia. Note that this is a huge surprise to me because Issa is a strict party-line guy.
Worries arise about how data might be manipulated going forward (economic indicators, BLS, trade deficit, and so on) as Trump orders the Council of Economic Advisors to use a 3.5% expected GDP growth and then backfill the numbers to make it work.
Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s original campaign manager, concedes that there was no voter fraud in New Hampshire.
The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) originally includes both Steve Bannon and Milo Yiannopoulos (both alleged white nationalists). Protests from conservatives get Yiannopoulos removed from the speaker list after he appears to defend pedophelia.
CPAC attendees wave Russian flags while chanting “USA! USA! USA!” Apparently they were pranked.
Continued threats on Jewish centers cause more evacuations. Finally this week, Trump puts out a statement condemning these attacks and anti-semitism in general after a Jewish cemetery is defiled. Following his condemnation, a second cemetery is defiled.
Trump orders the DHS to work with the Justice Department to build a legal case for the upcoming travel ban. He also wants to expand the definition of terrorist activity.
The administration downplays a DHS intelligence report that determined that the “country of citizenship is unlikely to be a reliable indicator of potential terrorist activity,” in direct contradiction to the administration’s argument for the travel ban.
DHS memos expand the priority list for criminal undocumented immigrants to include even petty crimes, like minor traffic offenses. It also includes anyone charged or even suspected of a crime. The memos also outline more aggressive methods and ad restrictions to asylum claims.
DACA immigrants are exempt from the deportation expansion, but PiP immigrants (family of military and vets) are not, which means a soldier’s spouse could be deported at any time if they have not completed the process for legal residency. It should be noted, though, that a few DACA immigrants have been detained despite the exemption.
Trump calls the deportations a military operation. Spicer clarifies he meant that it’s carried out with military precision, which we have already seen is not the case as several high profile people have been detained on entering the US (like Muhammad Ali (son of the great one), Mem Fox, Henry Rousso, a Muslim teacher accompanying his class from the UK).
Customs and Border Protection (CPB) officials board a cross-country flight and make passengers show their government-issued documents before they can debark.
Churches around the country unite to help protect undocumented immigrants by creating an underground railroad of sorts. School districts also step up efforts to allay fears of students.
The hiring freeze ordered by Trump causes some military child care programs to close because civilian workers commonly provide this service.
A riot breaks out in Sweden two days after Trump incorrectly called out a non-existent terrorist incident in that country. The riot was not blamed on immigrants. Studies have shown that refugees are responsible for about 1% of crime in Sweden and make up about 1.5% of the population.
Bill O’Reilly has Nils Bildt on his show as an expert to support the narrative on Swedish crime and violence due to immigration. Nils is incorrectly billed as a Swedish national security advisor, though he has lived in the US since 1994 and holds no position in Swedish government.
Congress members come home for the week and are met with a slew of angry or protesting constituents. Many refuse to meet with their constituents or hold town hall meetings. Some claim that angry constituents are not constituents at all, but rather paid protesters. Some take the meetings and call on their colleagues to do the same, recognizing all constituents have a voice.
Emails obtained from EPA head Scott Pruitt show he’s been an ally of the fossil fuel industry and his office frequently coordinated with the industry to roll back EPA regulations.
Trump rescinds Obama’s protections for transgender students. Betsy DeVos opposes this, pitting her against Jeff Sessions, who started the push for it. Sessions goes to Trump, who pushes DeVos to sign off on it. She later calls Obama’s protections “overreach.”
Caitlyn Jenner comes out against the transgender decision, calling it a disaster.
House bill 610, starting a school voucher program, is introduced on the heels of research results showing that vouchers do more harm than good to the students who receive them.
While Trump claimed he reduced the cost of 2 military aircraft, the Air Force can’t find the supposed saving of $1 billion.
Bannon pretty much admits that his job, along with those of the cabinet, is to deconstruct our government.
John Boehner says congress won’t repeal Obamacare. And he laughed about it.
Jeff Sessions proposes a crackdown on marijuana, along with private prison expansion. In other words, we need to keep pot illegal to keep private prisons in business. The US has around 22% of the worlds prisoners, roughly half of which are on drug charges.
Trump says we need to beef up our nuclear arsenal, even though we have 6,800 warheads to Russia’s 7000. The next closest is France with 300. Like Carl Sagan said: “The nuclear arms race is like two sworn enemies standing waist deep in gasoline, one with three matches, the other with five.” Trump’s draft budget appears to be requesting a 10% increase in military spending.
Secretary of State Tillerson and and Homeland Security chief Kelly meet with Mexico’s president Nieto to help ease strained relations.
Trump meets with several manufacturing CEOs to discuss a commitment to restoring jobs. However, some CEOs say that there are plenty of openings right now, but there are no skilled workers to fill them (reinforcing the need to support vocational training).
The White House excludes CNN, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Politico and BuzzFeed from a White House press briefing. AP and Time magazine boycott the meeting in solidarity. President Bush defends a free press, saying it’s necessary to our democracy.
Infrastructure spending seems to be pushed back to 2018.
Bills to curb protests are introduced in 18 states, though several have been shelved already.
Support for the ACA is at an all-time high, with 54% approving and 43% disapproving.
The FCC begins rollbacks that affect the Lifeline program, which provides discount phone and internet service for low-income customers. The internet service is the affected part, and some customers have already been cut off from access.
Since Trump’s election, 6 coal plants have announced closures.
Trump bales on the Correspondents Dinner.
Sean Spicer holds a meeting with his staff regarding the leaks coming from the White House… and the meeting gets leaked.
The nominee for secretary of the Navy, Philip Bilden, withdraws his name from consideration due to complicated business interests.
Sean Spicer accuses The New York Times of incorrectly saying he was born in New England. He was born in Rhode Island, which is a state in New England state. (Update: he might’ve been born in Long Island, but won’t confirm.)
U.S. tourism industry reports a decline in international travelers looking to book travel to the U.S. Some websites report that searches for flights from international locations are down anywhere from 6 to 17%.
Trump spends another weekend at Mar-a-Lago.

Week Four in Trump

Posted on February 20, 2017 in Politics, Trump

Here’s the recap for this week. I try to stick just to the facts, but this week… well, it deserves a little commentary.

Congress has used the Congressional Review Act EIGHT times in the past week to role back some of Obama’s most recent policies. As I read through these, it strikes me that while some of these repeals are based on furthering Republican ideals, much more of it is fueled by a desire to erase the Obama presidency, regardless of whether it’s good for America or Americans. Furthering the Republican agenda is expected, but simply trying to erase our first black president is a reckless way to govern.

Missed from last week: The DOJ announces they won’t challenge bills that block transgender students from using restrooms according to the gender they identify with. In other words, no transgender protection.
In one NPR segment, Steven Miller claims that there was excessive voter fraud in New Hampshire and that voters were bussed up from Massachusetts to vote illegally. The head of the Trump campaign in New Hampshire agrees. But the head of the Republican Party in New Hampshire completely refutes everything that they said. This is the kind of bullshit that is tearing trust apart irreparably.
Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hold a joint press conference where Trump defends his travel ban and ICE raids and then brags about his “very, very large” electoral college win. Trudeau reiterates Canada’s policy of openness.
The Senate confirms Steve Mnuchin as Secretary of Treasury.
The Senate unanimously confirms David Shulkin as Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
The Senate confirms Mick Mulvaney as Budget Director.
The senate confirms Scott Pruitt, who denies climate change and has sued the EPA, to head the EPA.
Amid controversies over previous employees, spousal abuse accusations, and his previous business record, Andrew Puzder withdraws from the Secretary of Labor nomination. Trump later nominates Alexander Acosta, who on the surface seems to be a better candidate for this.
The White House removes 6 staffers who failed FBI tests. 10 advisory commission members resigned to protest the ACA repeal, the wall with Mexico, and punishing sanctuary cities. Both NSC Director Deare and Carson advisor Singleton were fired: in their cases, for disloyal criticism rather than treason. Total departures last week: 19.
Mike Flynn resigns after leaks from the intelligence community confirm his conversations with Russia and their content, which included lifting sanctions.
Intelligence leaks also claim that Trump’s aides had repeated contact with senior Russian officials during the 2016 campaign, and that Trump knew about Flynn for weeks.
Trump views the Russia problem as an issue with illegal leaks from the White House instead of viewing the actual contact with Russia as the problem. He also blames it on Hillary in a tweet.
Intelligence leaks indicate they are withholding the most sensitive information from the White House because they are convinced that the administration is compromised due to its ties with Russia and don’t want any confidential information getting out to Putin.
Newly confirmed Attorney General Jeff Sessions refuses to recuse himself from investigations into the administration’s relationship with Russia even though he is pressured to do so due to his campaigning for Trump in 2016.
Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, moves to investigate the Russia leaks from the White House rather than investigating any Trump ties to Russia. He also moves to look into the guy who set up the private email server for Clinton.
The version of 5 executive orders posted on whitehouse.gov do not match the officially registered versions.
Russia deploys a cruise missile, violating an arms control treaty. Also, a Russian warship is seen off the east coast, though this is considered normal.
Canadians are worried about Trump’s border policies, so much so that some Canadian schools have suspended any field trips to the US.
The number of refugees crossing from the US to Canada increases.
The House Ways and Means Committee could force the Treasure Department to release Trump’s taxes, but they vote straight down party lines not to. Democrats made the request; all Republican members voted no.
The North Carolina Supreme Court blocks rules passed by the Republican-dominated assembly from taking effect as their legality is under consideration in the lower courts. If you remember, just before the Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, took office, the legislature passed a number of bills to strip his power and give it to them instead, including his power over the election board.
In his press conference with Netanyahu, Trump indicates he is open to a 1- or 2-state solution, taking us in a new direction and contradicting Nikki Haley’s statement to the UN confirming our commitment to a 2-state solution.
In the same press conference, Trump gives an unintelligible answer to a question about the rise anti-semitism, beginning with his big electoral win. Too long to print here, but worth the read: http://time.com/46724…/donald-trump-anti-semitism-netanyahu/
Trump holds a 77-minute press conference, which keeps the media busy all day. There is too way much to fact check in this one, so I might do another post on it.
Trump launches his 2020 election campaign and holds a rally in Melbourne, Fla. During this rally, he cites reasons to support his travel ban and mentions the incident that happened “last night” in Sweden, leaving a bunch of confused Swedes scrambling to figure out what happened that they missed (hint: nothing happened).
Tuesday is a bad day for the White House. The Office of Government Ethics recommends an investigation and disciplinary action for Kellyanne Conway’s plug of Ivanka’s clothing line. Then Jason Chaffetz sends a letter to Trump requesting information about the security protocols used at the public dinner table at Mar-a-Lago in the aftermath of the Korean missile test. Finally, Mitch McConnell says it’s “highly likely” they will deepen the probe into Russian interference in the election in the wake of Flynn’s resignation.
A draft memo surfaces indicating that the administration is considering the use of a deportation force. The document calls for “the unprecedented militarization of immigration enforcement”, dispatching 100,000 National Guard troops across several states, according to the AP. An updated memo removes this, but still includes expanding the definition of immigrants to be deported.
ICE cancels a scheduled meeting with the Hispanic Caucus and some house Democrats, and reschedules it with Republican leaders, excluding the caucus. Finally Joaquin Castro is allowed into the meeting.
Thursday is a day without immigrants. Across the nation, immigrants did not show up for work and some immigrant-owned businesses closed in an effort to show how much they contribute. On Saturday, there are marches across the nation in support of immigrants and protesting the recent ICE raids.
An undocumented woman in Texas is detained by ICE while in court trying to get a protective order against her boyfriend, who she alleges is abusing her. This type of action on the part of ICE prevents undocumented immigrants from reporting crime, allowing criminals to go free.
A legislator in Mexico is drafting a bill ruling that they will start buying their corn from South America instead of the Midwest. Also, some blame the slide in cattle futures on the antagonistic relationship with Mexico and the fall of the TPP, which would have provided access to the Japanese market.
Trump apparently fabricates a meeting with Rep. Elijah Cummings, and then claims a Cummings cancelled. Cummings claims to know nothing of this meeting.
The EPA creates a mirror site of how the site appeared the day before Trump took office in an effort to save all the information. Also, Republicans argue that the endangered species act tramples on states’ rights and begin to make moves to gut it.
Trump signs the repeal of transparency rules for oil companies. This was a rule that prevented bribery in international dealings, among other things.
House Republicans introduce an outline of their Obamacare replacement. Details are still sketchy.
Trump signs a repeal of an Obama era regulation to keep waterways clean. The old regulation protected waterways from coal mining waste.
The Senate approves H.J. Resolution 40, which overturns a rule limiting gun ownership by certain severely mentally disabled persons.
The House approves H.J. Resolution 69, which overturns a federal rule crafted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The repeal means hunters can once again kill dens of wolf pups and hibernating bears, spot grizzlies from the air and shoot them after landing, and use steel-jaw traps for grizzly and black bears on wildlife refuges.
The House approves H.J. Resolution 43, which would effectively defund Planned Parenthood.
The House approves H. Res.116, overturning an Obama-era policy that allows states to set up retirement savings arrangements for employers whose employer does not provide a 401K.
The House approves H.J. Resolution 42, lifting limits on drug testing unemployment applicants. Note that in the history of testing such applicants, the cost far outweighs the benefits.
Democratic senate and house members introduced a bill that “would cement in law that Presidents must disclose all of their financial interests with countries that are involved in trade actions with the United States.” Meaning Trump would have to disclose any financial interests he has that would be affected by any actions he takes on trade issues.
China grants Trump a trademark he’s been trying to get for a decade.
At the Munich security conference, several U.S. representatives, including John McCain, John Mattis, Mike Pence, and John Kelly, spend time reassuring allies that the U.S. will continue to support them and NATO, despite what Trump has been saying. In the middle of this, Trump’s press conference exacerbates anxieties among our allies.
Thousands rally in Times Square to say “I am a Muslim too” in protest of the executive order (travel ban) that is now on hold.
Outdoor Retailer, the largest outdoor recreation convention, has been held in Utah for 20 years. They removed Utah from future bids in protest of Utah’s handling of public lands issues. (Utah legislators are working to return all federal lands to the states as a way of overturning Obama designations of public land.)
Trump spends a third weekend at Mar-a-Lago.

Week Three in Trump

Posted on February 13, 2017 in Politics, Trump

Here’s the recap from last week. I thought it was a slow week, but… wait, actually this is a slow week in Trumpland.

Missed from last week’s recap: The House introduces bill to banish the EPA.
Trump drafts a plan to cut off food stamps for immigrants, both legal and illegal, which could cause some US citizens to go hungry (especially as it also affects their children even if born here).
Polls show that a majority of Americans (albeit a small majority) views the travel ban as a Muslim ban and a majority is opposed to it. Trump says the negative polls are fake news.
Federal appeals case for the travel ban is set for Tuesday.
Trump vilifies lawyers and judges who are impeding the travel ban. Gorsuch says Trump’s remarks are demoralizing and disheartening, according to Senator Richard Blumenthal and Gorsuch’s communications lead.
We learn that Trump signed the order placing Bannon on the National Security Council without understanding what he was signing.
Trump tells a military group at MacDill Air Force Base that the media doesn’t report on all terrorist attacks across the world because “…the very, very dishonest press doesn’t want to report it.” He appears to have gotten this information from Alex Jones. The press office later releases a list of 78 “uncovered” attacks, most of which were covered as various news outlets proved by producing links to their stories. Missing from that list were any attacks in Israel, where such attacks are common, and in sub-Saharan Africa, where most such attacks occur.
Trump says that they might not have an ACA replacement until the end of this year of next year.
The Senate confirms Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, with the tightest margin in recent history and possibly making her the least qualified cabinet member in history. Democratic senators spoke through the night to try and bring one more Republican over to vote against her, but in the end, only two Republicans came over and Vice-President Mike Pence had to cast the deciding vote.
On the same day, Representative Thomas Massie introduces H.R. 899, a one-page bill to banish the Department of Education by the end of 2018.
A website explaining the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) was removed from the Department of Education website. This was set up under President George W. Bush so educators, advocates and parents could get a “one-stop” explanation of the act and learn what their rights are under the disability law.
Trump threatens to defund California over possible statewide sanctuary cities. “We give tremendous amounts of money to California. California in many ways is out of control, as you know.” Um, except for the fact that per capita, California only gets back 75 cents on their federal tax dollar. Most states receive more than they put in, some getting over $4.00 back for each dollar put in.
Trump tells the National Sheriffs’ Association that the country’s murder rate is at the highest it’s been in 47 years. In actuality, it’s near its lowest point in that period according to the FBI, which gathers statistics from police departments nationwide.
Senate Republicans vote to ban Senator Warren from speaking further in the Sessions hearing because she was “impugning” him by bringing up Coretta Scott King’s letter from his 1986 hearing (yes, there is an obscure and rarely used rule in the Senate that a senator can’t impugn another Senator – Senate Rule 19). #LetLizSpeak trends.
Sessions is subsequently confirmed 52-47.
Louisiana is hit by a reported 9 tornadoes. Trump approves disaster declaration for the area.
Yemen announces they will end US military operations in Yemen.
Nordstrom drops the Ivanka Trump line due to sagging sales, generating a backlash from Trump himself. Kellyanne Conway finds herself “counseled” when she tells people to go out and buy Ivanka’s stuff. Neumann Marcus also drops her line, followed by a few more retailers who say the line isn’t selling.
In trying to denigrate the judges and lawyers who question the constitutionality of the travel ban as written, Trump said “I was a very good student. I comprehend very well. Better than, I think, almost anybody.” Too bad he didn’t go to law school.
Ninth circuit court of appeals upholds the suspension of the travel ban and the ban is stayed indefinitely. Judges in this case have been receiving threats.
Trump announces he will not appeal this decision immediately. They are looking at possibly rewriting the order and reissuing it.
As part of a nationwide operation, ICE raids in LA pick up around 100 illegal immigrants, not all of whom had criminal records and some of whom have been here for decades. The push behind the raids seems to be Trump’s expanded definition of criminal alien.
Latest reports are that the wall would cost $21.6 billion.
Trump signs an executive order to reduce crime and restore public safety by creating a new task force on the issue under Sessions, focusing on illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and violent crime.
Trump signs an executive order to increase intelligence sharing among law enforcement agencies to help combat international drug cartels.
Trump signs an executive order to prosecute crimes against law enforcement officers using existing federal law. Amnesty International claims that this doesn’t address the underlying problem and will result in people being over-prosecuted for smaller offenses.
A Texas court struck down the US Chamber of Commerce’s attempt to overturn a new Labor Department rule requiring retirement fund advisers to put their customers’ interests first.
A state judge panel placed on hold a law that would have required North Carolina Governor’s (Roy Cooper) nominees for state cabinet heads to undergo confirmation hearings by the state legislature. If you remember, once the Democratic governor was elected, the GOP legislators moved to curtail the governor’s power.
Tom Price is confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Officials have corroborated some of the information in the leaked Steele Dossier on Trump, confirming that some of the conversations described in the dossier took place between the same individuals on the same days and from the same locations as detailed in the dossier. This gives US intelligence higher confidence in the credibility of certain parts of the dossier as they continue to investigate. No content has been confirmed.
As part of the Steele Dossier corroboration, officials claim National Security Advisor Michael Flynn had discussions with the Russian ambassador to Washington prior to Donald Trump’s inauguration. The discussions were inappropriate and possibly illegal, especially if they were about easing sanctions. The content of the conversations has not been released, though.
Senator David Perdue introduces S.J.Res.19. As part of this legislation, there would be no more limits on the overdraft fees that banks can charge, among other things
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and Public Citizen sued Trump over the 1-in-2-out executive order, which states that federal agencies needs to remove 2 regulations for each new regulation they create.
Sr. Policy Advisor Stephen Miller makes the talk show rounds on Sunday morning, doubling down on claims of voter fraud and also saying that the judges in the travel ban case overstepped their power. He also claimed that the power of the president to protect the country will not be questioned. This is a guy to watch.
Korea executes a missile test, causing Trump and Japan Prime Minister Abe to scramble to put out a joint statement during the weekend at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. They basically held a national security meeting at a public table in the dining room.

Week Two in Trump

Posted on February 6, 2017 in Politics, Trump

I apologize for the long post – this week’s recap is really long!

First, here are a few things I missed from the previous week’s recap:

Trump says he will not release his tax returns because “He won and no one cares but media.” Polls reveal that over 60% of Americans want to see his tax returns.
Trump did not put his company in a blind trust and in fact still retains full ownership in it, putting him in violation of the “Emoluments Clause” in the constitution.
The entire senior staff at the State Department “quit”.
Despite insistence that the travel ban is not a Muslim ban, this page was part of Trump’s campaign and remains on his site: https://www.donaldjtrump.com/…/donald-j.-trump-statement-on…
Along with the above, Giuliani said in an interview that Trump asked him to write a Muslim ban and so he pulled a commission together to come up with a way to do it legally. Giuliani justified this by saying they focused on danger instead of religion.
The ACLU brings in $24 million in funding over the weekend.

And now here’s what happened last week. As always, let me know if I missed anything or if I got anything wrong:

Spicer uses the Quebec mosque shooting to defend the travel ban and “certain” news agencies run with the story that the shooter was Muslim. The perpetrator was an alt-right Trump supporter, but these stories are not walked back until the Canadian Prime Minister insists on it.
Trump retains the protections given to LGBQT federal employees under Obama, apparently thanks to Ivanka and Jared Kushner.
Betsy DeVos is found to have plagiarized her answers to senators’ written questions.
Information comes out that indicates Mnuchin and Price lied in their confirmation hearings.
A third wave of threats hits Jewish centers around the country, prompting evacuations. The first was 1/9, the second 1/18, and today’s brings the total to over 60 centers evacuated.
Trump postpones signing an executive order on cybersecurity and another to the Justice Department to investigate his allegations of voter fraud, both signs that he is starting to hit roadblocks after a flurry of executive orders.
Harley Davidson cancels meeting with Trump on fear of protests.
Trump’s first military excursion results in the death of a navy seal, a 14-year-old American girl, and many Yemeni citizens. Leaks from officials indicate that the operation was undertaken without sufficient intelligence or support. The Trump administration tries to blame the Obama administration, but sources say the Obama administration delayed saying they didn’t want to push the new administration into an escalated situation with Yemen.
Trump’s national security team, led by Mike Flynn, wants give more power to lower-level officials in order to speed up the decision-making process for operations such as the above.
Democrats boycott the nomination hearings for Mnuchin and Price because of perceived lies during the hearings. Republicans change the rules and pass the nominees through to the Senate. This is all symbolic on both sides.
Trump nominates Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court appointment. He would be a pretty even replacement for Scalia, though he has tended to favor religious freedom over civil rights. Democrats debate whether to give payback for last year’s treatment of Garland Merrick or to save that fight for another battle.
Mitch McConnell derides Democrats for the possibility that they might block Gorsuch, presumably forgetting the name Merrick Garland.
Rex Tillerson is confirmed as Secretary of State. Approval for James Mattis (Defense), Elaine Chao (Transportation) and John Kelly (Homeland Security) follows.
House passes a resolution to end the Stream Protection Act, which protects our waters from coal pollution.
Leaked info from Trump’s call with Mexico reveals that he threatened to send US troops there.
Iran tests a missile, eliciting a stern response from the Trump administration along with some new sanctions.
Troop movement and fighting resumes between Russia and the Ukraine with no immediate response from the administration.
On a call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Trump slams the refugee agreement and brags about how much he won the electoral college. Trump ends the call after 25 minutes even though it was scheduled for an hour. Later explanations are that Trump was tired, and Senator John McCain smooths things over.
At the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump vows to get rid of the Johnson amendment, which would allow tax-exempt churches and their pastors to be politically involved and outspoken (thus breaking the rule separating church and state). The Baptist Joint Committee responds: “To change the law would hinder the church’s prophetic witness, threatening to turn pulpit prophets into political puppets.”
A bill is filed in the House that would remove Steve Bannon from the security council.
Over 50 lawsuits arise against the administration, mostly regarding the travel ban and the sanctuary city order.
After Trump, Conway, and Spicer all called the travel ban a ban, they claimed it’s not a ban.
Government releases numbers revealing that over 100,000 visas have been revoked as a result of the travel ban.
Multiple judges put stays on the travel ban, citing unconstitutionality. Trump issues clarifications on the ban.
The first visa holder who was denied entry and sent on a flight back home arrives back at LAX to be reunited with his family (after about 60 total flight hours over 6 days).
A federal judge in Seattle temporarily blocks the travel ban from being enforced nationwide, and the Department of Homeland Security announces that it is ceasing all operations associated with the ban. This opens us back up to visa holders, though the administration vows to fight it.
The Ninth Circuit Court denies an emergency motion to reverse the above decision and allow enforcement of the travel ban again.
House votes to repeal regulations aimed at curbing bribery and graft in the oil industry, which restricts paying bribes to foreign officials. Senate passes the same and the bill heads to Trump for approval.
Uber CEO, Travis Kalanick, quits Trump’s advisory council. I’m torn about this, because sometimes you can work more change from within.
The House reverses the Obama administration rule preventing gun sales to people with severe mental disabilities, going back on their previous statements where they said the problem is not guns, but is instead mental health.
Trump appoints Jerry Falwell Jr. to head a task force on higher education.
Kellyanne Conway repeats the debunked lie that the Obama administration put a ban on Iraqi visas and made up a massacre, the Bowling Green Massacre, to support it.
CNN reports that Republican are saying more and more that there are parts of Obamacare that they will keep and that there is no mega-bill in the works to replace it. They are now talking about fixing it piece-by-piece.
Betsy DeVos has donated $10s of thousands to Republican senators. The same senators who will be voting on her confirmation. Teachers start crowdfunding sites to make enough money to give to those Senators to see if they can be bought back.
Trump orders a rollback of Wall Street regulations, including Dodd Frank.
The last jobs report of the Obama administration shows 227,000 jobs created. Naturally, Spicer tries to give all the credit to Trump, even though the report’s data was from prior to the inauguration.
Trump takes his first vacation to Mir-a-Lago for the weekend.
Congressmen report that their phones, and the main Capital Hill switchboard, are so jammed from constituents calling in, they can’t keep up. Rumors are that the main switchboard was down for three days because of it. So keep those calls and emails up!
A bipartisan bill is in the works to prevent Trump from being able to roll back sanctions against Russia without congressional approval.
Senators Graham and Whitehouse say the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism will investigate Russia’s influence in both our elections and EU nations’ elections.
The administration sends out Bureau of Indian Affairs agents to remove DAPL protesters from the protest camps.
Trump has the highest disapproval rating of any newly elected president.
McConnell says we shouldn’t spend federal money on an investigation into Trump’s claims of voter fraud.
Ten states draft laws that either would criminalize peaceful protests or could cause physical harm to protesters.
Trump appears to back off on his previous promise to reopen offshore black sites.
Ajit Pai, the new FCC chair, begins reversing Obama administration rules, including a program that expands high-speed internet to poor communities.
The administration is looking at changing the program, “Countering Violent Extremism,” to “Countering Islamic Extremism” or “Countering Radical Islamic Extremism.” The program has targeted all extremists in the past, but now might not target groups like white supremacists, the same groups that carry out most of the bombings and shootings in the US.
Some in Congress appear to be backing off of the idea that America can go it alone, as they scramble to meet with and reassure various heads of state.
In keeping with the tone of the Obama administration, Trump demands that Russia withdraw from Crimea, that Israel stop constructing new settlements, and that Iran receives additional sanctions based on their recent missile test.

Week One in Trump

Posted on January 30, 2017 in Politics, Trump

Here’s a recap of the last 10 days or so. A lot happened, so let me know if I got anything wrong or missed anything. Also, not all of these are set in stone; congress has to pass legislation for some of these.

Trump delivers his American Carnage speech at his inauguration, and he begins with a flurry of directives and orders.
Millions of people around the world participate in women’s marches. Though there were clearly more marchers than inauguration attendees, Sean Spicer flat-out lies about crowd sizes and yells at the press in his first press conference. Trump doesn’t like Spicer’s suit.
Trump speaks to CIA officers, using a loaded crowd and offending the memorial by bragging about his inauguration crowd size.
Kellyanne Conway tells Chuck Todd that Spicer didn’t lie, he presented alternative facts, adding a new phrase to our lexicon.
Orwell’s 1984 hits the best sellers list again.
Trump pulls out of the TPP and orders a renegotiation of NAFTA. He also announces a federal hiring freeze.
Trump voids an executive action that would have reduced the cost of home mortgages and make it easier to buy a home.
Trump signs an order directing the repeal and replacement of the ACA. Republicans in congress are overheard talking about their lack of a replacement and the difficulties in coming up with one.
Trump re-enacts and expands the Mexico rule, preventing any NGOs that mention abortion options from receiving US money regardless of what the money is used for.
Sean Spicer redeems himself after his first press conference.
Trump claims that 3-5 million people voted against him illegally, based on a story told to him by a German golfer.
After hearing a report from Bill O’Reilly, Trump threatens Chicago with martial law.
Trump approves the DAPL and Keystone pipeline, and mandates that they be manufactured from American-made products. Also promises to reduce EPA regulations, prompting a Twitter response from the park association that led to…
Trump implements a clamp down on public correspondence by federal agencies that led to…
Federal agencies develop rogue accounts to keep the public informed.
Additionally, leaks from the White House staff point to fear and discord in the administration.
Trump authorizes an investigation into voter fraud allegations. He might want to start with his own family and staff, several of whom were found to be registered in multiple states.
Trump authorizes the construction of the Mexico wall (funding to be approved by Congress). Suggests he will tax Mexican imports 20% to pay for it, putting the bill in consumers’ hands.
Trump bans federal funding to sanctuary cities and pledges to keep a list of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants in said cities. Note that the federal government does not control how states allocate funds to cities, so it is unknown how this will play out.
Trump re-opens the door to black sites and torture.
Trump continues to tweet from an unsecured phone, and his staff continues to use private email servers.
Trump makes it a policy that scientific studies be reviewed based on their potential political importance rather than their scientific importance.
Scientists plan a march. And teachers. And also LGBQT activists.
Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway both attack the press, with Bannon calling it the opposition party and Kellyanne Conway saying reporters who disagree with the administration should be fired.
Trump signs a ban on travel from 7 countries – Syria, Iran, Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, and Sudan. Inadvertently or not this results in many green card and visa holders being detained or turned away, and protests erupt at airports across the country. After much confusion and heartbreak, Trump said things went smoothly at the airports this weekend.
And the coup de grace, Trump removes the Joint Chiefs of Staff from the National Security Council and replaces them with Steve Bannon.
Immigrants plan a march.
Trump fires the acting attorney general for not defending the travel ban after 5 law suits were filed.
Trump fires the acting director of immigration enforcement without explanation.

The First 10 Days

Posted on January 11, 2017 in Politics, Trump

I copied this entry from a facebook post, factchecked it, and made some edits. Sorry I can’t give props to the original author since I don’t know who it was. But here it is. The first 10 days of 2017.

Just so you can keep it all organized, here’s the first week in review:

Trump orders home all Ambassadors and Special Envoys without exception, ordering them out by inauguration day.
House brings back the Holman rule allowing them to reduce an individual civil service, SES positions, or political appointee’s salary to $1, effectively firing them by amendment to any piece of legislation. We now know why they wanted names and positions of people in Energy and State.
Senate schedules 6 simultaneous hearings on cabinet nominees and triple-books those hearings with Trump’s first press conference in months and an ACA budget vote, effectively preventing any concentrated coverage or protest.
In the House Rules doc, the House GOP expressly forbids the Congressional Budget Office from reporting or tracking any costs related to the repeal of the ACA (though the CBO has issued a few reports on this already).
Despite the growing mountain of evidence that the Russians deliberately interfered in our election, Trump continues to deny the intelligence community’s findings and instead favors Vladimir Putin and Julian Assange.
Trump asks Congress (in other words, the taxpayers) to pay for the wall, not Mexico.
Trump threatens Toyota over a new plant that was never coming to the US nor will take jobs out of the US.
House passes the REINS act, giving them veto power over any rules enacted by any federal agency or department–for example, if the FDA or EPA bans a drug or pesticide, Congress can overrule regardless of the science behind it. Don’t like that endangered species designation? Congress can kill it.

What's Up in Politics

Keeping up with the latest happenings in US Politics

Category: Trump

Week Eight In Trump

Posted on March 20, 2017 in Politics, Trump

Week Seven in Trump

Posted on March 13, 2017 in Politics, Trump

Week Six in Trump

Posted on March 6, 2017 in Politics, Trump

Week Five in Trump… And I’m Exhausted

Posted on February 27, 2017 in Politics, Trump

Week Four in Trump

Posted on February 20, 2017 in Politics, Trump

Week Three in Trump

Posted on February 13, 2017 in Politics, Trump

Week Two in Trump

Posted on February 6, 2017 in Politics, Trump

Week One in Trump

Posted on January 30, 2017 in Politics, Trump

The First 10 Days

Posted on January 11, 2017 in Politics, Trump

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: