Even though the stock market did well under Obama, I would still argue that the president doesn’t have that much control over the markets. But in this new world where everything’s upside down, you can see by the image above that yes, the president does have some control over the markets. I’ve lost count of how many times the market has dumped because of Trump’s careless speech and tweets, and then perked back up because he announced something that didn’t come to fruition. Maybe he has more power over the markets because he’s the chosen one, the King of Israel, and the second coming. And yes, he did say he was all that…

Here’s what happened in politics for the week ending August 25…

Missing From Last Week:

1. In July, Trump expanded his policy of making asylum seekers wait in Mexico to two additional cities, more than doubling the number of refugees ordered to wait out their time in Mexico.
2. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue cracks jokes about whiny farmers two days after China says they’ll stop buying all U.S. agricultural products. Farmers are already hurting because of the trade wars, and the bailout isn’t paying them anything close to what they’d make if they could actually sell their products.

Shootings This Week:

1. The week‘s mass shootings (defined as killing or injuring four or more people):

• • A shooter injures four people at a block party near the campus of Clark Atlanta University.
  • A shooter injures four people, including a social worker and a security guard, near Skid Row in Los Angeles.
  • A shooter kills two people and injures two more outside a bar in Columbia, South Carolina.
  • A shooter kills an eight-year-old and injures three people after a football jamboree in St. Louis.
  • A shooter kills three people and injures two more in Houston. Police think it’s gang-related.
  • A shooter injures seven people at a toddler’s birthday party in Maryland.
  • A shooter kills one person and injures three more at a playground in Massachusetts. That asshole also kills the dog of one of the victims.
  • A teenager in New Mexico kills three people and injures four more.
  • Someone fires shots into a crowd in Chicago killing one and injuring three.

2. After Trump lays the blame for mass shootings on mental illness, DHHS warned federal health officials not to post anything on social media about it, fearing the experts would contradict Trump.

• • What were they afraid they’d say? They’d say that mental illness is not a predictor in mass shootings and the vast majority of mass shooters have no diagnosed mental illness.

3. The Parkland students release an ambitious gun control plan that includes expanding background checks, increasing wait periods, raising the minimum purchase age, instituting red flag laws, creating a national licensing and gun registry, banning assault weapons (which still need to be defined) and high capacity magazines, and creating a new director role to coordinate the federal response.
4. Trump says he’s in favor of expanding background checks, and then after a call with NRA head Wayne LaPierre he says he’s not for it. And then later he says he might be for it.
5. Dick’s Sporting Goods has a strong quarter despite their decision to reduce gun sales.
6. The day before the El Paso shooting, Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent out a fundraising mailer calling on Republicans to “DEFEND TEXAS NOW” and to take matters into their own hands. The mailer referenced the number of immigrants caught crossing the border illegally the previous month.

Russia:

1. Since the explosion of the nuclear-propelled missile Russia was testing, four of the nearby nuclear monitoring stations have gone silent. The monitoring stations are part of a global network created to verify everyone is complying with the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
2. Like Russia, China gets into the disinformation game. Twitter removes nearly 1,000 accounts and suspends around 200,000 because a state-backed disinformation campaign has been targeting the pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong.
3. Trump says he’ll invite Putin to next year’s G-7 Summit, which will likely be hosted at a Trump property. He just can’t let this one go.

Legal Fallout:

1. An IRS whistle blower reports to the House Ways and Means Committee that there has been potentially inappropriate interference with the process of auditing Trump’s tax returns.
2. Trump’s financial disclosure statements conflict with his filings with the United Kingdom regarding the value and income of his golf courses in Scotland. This is a violation of the Ethics in Government Act.
3. Rudy Giuliani confirms that the State Department helped him push Ukraine to open investigations into former Vice President Biden and into the Democratic National Committee, which Ukraine is now doing. Giuliani thinks possible crimes might include “bribery, extortion, fraud, money laundering and illegal interference in 2016 election.”

• • The current Ukrainian prosecutor general says they’ve already looked into Biden and there’s nothing there.

Healthcare:

1. Because of Trump’s changes to the rules, Planned Parenthood withdraws from the Title X family planning program, which provides funding for healthcare services for low-income and underserved communities. Trump’s rule prohibits Title X recipients from providing abortions or referring patients for abortions except in the case of rape, incest, or medical emergency.

• • Planned Parenthood serves about 40% of all Title X recipients, providing preventive care, contraception, and yes, abortions.
  • Maine’s sole Title X provider also withdraws.
  • Title X has had a huge influence in reducing unintended pregnancies and thus reducing abortions. Without it, the number of unintended pregnancies is estimated to double for poor women.
  • IMO, now we’ll have more babies on welfare and we’ll bitch about that too.

2. At least three children held in migrant detention centers have died, in part from the flu; yet the government won’t be giving any detainees a flu shot. It’s like they’re hoping to cause a pandemic or something.

• • Fun fact: Prior to Trump, no child had died in U.S. immigration custody in nearly a decade.

3. Five years into the ACA, it’s eliminated 44% of the gap between insured wealthy and insured poor, and 27% of the gap between whites and minorities. Also, Lindsey Graham says Republicans will run on trying to repeal the ACA again in 2020.

International:

1. The Pentagon’s inspector general reports their findings that ISIS is growing again in Syria and Iraq. The report blames Trump for the instability caused by drawing down troops in Syria too quickly and pulling all diplomatic personnel out of Iraq, which allowed a space for the militants to regroup.

• • Brett McGurk, the Special Envoy who resigned following Trump’s drawdown announcement, says he warned of this repeatedly at the time.

2. After Trump floats buying Greenland from Denmark, the prime minister of Denmark says that’s absurd. So Trump calls her nasty (all strong women are nasty, right?). And since the world laughs at him, Trump decides to cancel his state visit to Denmark. He had been invited by Queen Margrethe II for a state visit the first week in September.

• • Why does Trump want to buy Greenland? Likely to exploit its fossil fuel reserves and to have a strategic military base location.

3. Leaders in the European Union reject UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s request to restart Brexit negotiations.
4. The British government announces they’ll halt all free movement between the UK and EU countries on day one of Brexit, even though there are no systems in place to support this. Experts say there’s no way that can be done because it can’t be enforced.

• • There are 3 million EU citizens in the UK. It’s unknown yet what will happen to the 1.3 million Brits living abroad in EU countries.
  • Immigration to Britain is at a five-year low, but that’s mostly from the EU. Migrants from other countries, which appeared to be what concerned Brexiters the most, is still high.

5. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells the World Zionist Congress that Hitler only wanted to expel Jews, he didn’t want to exterminate them. He repeats a widely debunked conspiracy theory laying the blame for the holocaust on a Muslim leader named Haj Amin al-Husseini. I did not expect him to be a Hitler apologist.
6. Trump heads off to the G-7 Summit, which is typically a time when some of the world’s major economies come together to work toward global solutions. But this time, the U.S. is an outlier in terms of trade, climate change, and Iran, and that throws a wrench in the typical agreements made here.

• • Instead of endorsing the standard communique (which reflects the G-7’s shared values), they end by endorsing a one-page document of issues they’ll continue to work on. This is only the second time since 1975 a communique hasn’t been endorsed.
  • Trump says these deals are unfair to the U.S. But of course he does. We’re always the victim in his mind.
  • Trump says Melania has gotten to know Kim Jong Un well. Not sure when they would’ve met? Turns out they have never met.
  • As far as Iran goes, Trump says, “The biggest part of the conclusion, they can’t have nuclear weapons.” Just a little history lesson. The reason conservatives gave for calling the Iran deal the worst deal ever is that it only dealt with nuclear weapons and didn’t deal with state-sponsored violence and terrorism. The deal was by all accounts tremendously successful in curtailing Iran’s nuclear capabilities. And now that Trump has scrapped that deal, all he wants is to curb their nuclear weapons? WTAF?
  • French President Macron invites the Iranian foreign minister to come by the G-7. He’s hoping to get Trump to meet with him eventually.

7. Protests in Hong Kong escalate after a police officer shoots a live round into the air while police armed with water canons to disperse crowd. Demonstrators barricade streets and try to dismantle monitoring cameras installed around the city.
8. Russia’s protests also continue. Several students have been arrested, and the opposition leader is finally released from a month-long stay in prison for starting the protests.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

1. The NYPD fires the officer who killed Eric Garner.
2. A federal judge allows a lawsuit against Trump’s transgender military ban to move forward because transgender service members’ claim is constitutionally valid. However, only transgender troops who were forced to leave the military can file suit.
3. A school board in Virginia that recently lost its court battle to defend its transgender bathroom bill says they’ll continue to fight the ruling. Don’t they have anything more productive to throw their energy behind?
4. Trump accuses Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats of being disloyal, or if not disloyal, ignorant. Maybe I should send him a copy of “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”

• • This is the same Jewish trope that Ilhan Omar got called out for. Omar met with Jewish people, educated herself on why it was wrong, and apologized. I wonder if Trump will do the same?
  • Also, IKYMI, Jewish Americans overwhelmingly vote Democratic (by about 75% to 25%).

5. The Trump administration issues a rule that allows them to indefinitely detain people who cross the border illegally, including families.

• • The change will also take away state’s licensing authority and give it to ICE.
  • I’m not sure how they’re getting around the Flores agreement, which limits the length of time we can detain minors.
  • Just a reminder, releasing them with papers allowing them to work costs us far, far less than detaining them. Detaining them costs around $750 per day, or nearly $274,000 per year. Given an average of 40,000 detainees, that’s close to $11 billion year. Do we hate them so much we’re willing to pay that price for their pain?

6. The top aide to Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan resigns, frustrated with how the White House handles major policy rollouts.

• • The White House is mad that McAleenan undersold the rollout of the change in policy allowing indefinite detention.

7. The Army lowers its recruitment expectations for 2019 after missing its goals in 2018. This is in no small part due to how immigrant and minority soldiers have been treated under this administration. They previously had certain protections, but now have to deal with fears of being deported, fears of their families being deported, and other soldiers who wear MAGA hats and patches. If you don’t know why that sparks fear in minorities, it‘s because white hate groups have embraced those hats and changed what was once just random campaign swag to a symbol of hate.
8. North Carolina’s governor vetoes a bill that would have required sheriffs to work closely with ICE on immigration enforcement.
9. Trump wants to end birthright citizenship, granted in the 14th Amendment, for children of immigrants.
10. Trump also wants to reduce the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. each year. That number is already down to 30,000 from 85,000 in 2016.
11. The DOJ sends an email to all immigration employees that includes a link to a white nationalist article that attacks immigration judges and uses racial slurs. The DOJ says the email is compiled by a third-party vendor and that they don’t review it before it goes out.
12. New York, Connecticut, and Vermont sue to block Trump’s rule that could put immigrants’ legal residency or citizenship in jeopardy if they use any social welfare programs.

Climate:

1. 16 of the past 17 years have been the hottest ever recorded, according to the National Climate Assessment. This heat correlates with an increase in intense and heavy precipitation.
2. Mercedes-Benz joins VW, Ford, BMW, and Honda in their agreement with California on emissions limitations, which is in opposition to Trump’s recent reversal of Obama’s emissions regulations.

• • Last month, Trump summoned leaders of Toyota, General Motors, Chrysler, and Fiat to pressure them not to join in.

3. Trump suggests in a meeting that we should drop nuclear bombs into the eyes of hurricanes to weaken them before they hit the U.S. This has been floated before, but it’s been known for decades that it wouldn’t work. There’s the obvious problem of radiation fallout, but also, a nuclear blast wouldn’t be strong enough to significantly affect the storm. My favorite description of the meeting so far? “You could hear a gnat fart in that meeting.”
4. Trump skips the G-7 meeting on climate change, saying he had to deal with issues with Germany and India, but those leaders are actually in attendance at the meeting on climate change.
5. At the end of the G-7, Trump says he‘s the greatest environmentalist to be president. Confusing, since most of his changes to regulations open us up to more pollution, worsening climate change, and exploitation by the fossil fuel industry. But then he addresses that by saying he cares more about keeping the U.S. wealthy. Ah… so greed is better than doing what’s right?
6. At the G-7, leaders approve providing aide to help Brazil combat fires in the Amazon rainforest.
7. The rainforest has been on fire for three weeks, with the number of fires up 85% from last year to more than 80,000 fires.

• • Brazil declared a state of emergency, but it seems that most of these fires were set by farmers, miners, and loggers who were encouraged by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
  • Bolsonaro says non-governmental organizations (NGOs) started the fires, but shows no evidence. He also fires the scientist who heads the agency that discovered the steep rise in deforestation.

8. Why is this fire such a big deal?

• • The Amazon rainforest provides about 1/5 of the oxygen on the planet. So one out of every five breaths you take is thanks to the Amazon.
    UPDATE: I have to retract the above statement. Scientists don’t know where that 1/5 number came from and say it’s closer to 6%.
    
  • The fires release plumes of carbon monoxide, which cause smog and can exacerbate climate change.
  • The Amazon absorbs excess carbon dioxide, helping to stave off climate change.
  • Scientists predict that losing too much of the rainforest will change rainfall patterns around the globe, including in the U.S. Midwest, which would see a decline in rainfall.

Budget/Economy:

1. J.P. Morgan predicts that tariffs will cost American families up to $1,000 per year.
2. U.S. Steel plans to lay off 200 Michigan workers. This comes after their announcement that they’ll idle two blast furnaces due to declining steel prices and lower demand.
3. Business analysts say the economic boost from the GOP tax cuts have dwindled, and they expect the economy to shrink by the second quarter of next year. Looks like that tax cut was just a quick sugar fix after all…
4. Trump, along with two senior economic advisers, brush off concerns about an impending recession. Larry Kudlow and Peter Navarro both say the trade war isn’t hurting the economy, contradicting Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s words from the previous week. This is in response to economic indicators flashing recession warnings starting last week.
5. Trump wants the Fed to cut interest rates by a full percentage point. Interest rates are already relatively low, and cutting them too much right now doesn’t give the Fed much wiggle room in case a slowing economy necessitates further cuts.
6. The White House floats a temporary payroll tax cut to boost the economy and encourage spending. This could 1) cut into Social Security and Medicare funds and 2) increase the already-ballooning deficit.
7. But then, Trump takes tax cuts off the table for now, because “we have a strong economy.” Mixed messages.
8. Trump’s trade wars and tax changes are having a negative effect on the ability of truck drivers to make a living. About 75% of truck drivers supported Trump.
9. Trump signs an executive order that forgives all student loan debt for permanently disabled veterans.
10. The mayors of 70 cities send a letter to the SNAP administrator complaining about Trump’s proposed changes to the SNAP program, which would dump millions off the program.
11. The week ends with Trump calling China’s President Xi Jinping his enemy and announcing that he would increase his planned tariffs by 5% on $550 million worth of goods. China says they’ll increase tariffs on vehicles to 25% plus other retaliatory tariffs. Trump calls China an enemy of the U.S.
12. The Dow Jones drops over 600 points (around 2.4%), the Nasdaq drops 3%, and the S&P drops 2.6%. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell says it’s because of trade policy uncertainty, so Trump calls him an enemy of the U.S. Ya know, just like China.
13. And after China announces their retaliatory tariffs, Trump tweets, “Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing your companies HOME and making your products in the USA.” Pretty sure he can’t do that, even though he’s the chosen one.
14. He also orders all shipping carriers to search for and refuse any Fentanyl deliveries.
15. The BLS revises its estimate of total jobs created from March 2018 to March 2019 downward by 501,000. This type of revision isn’t unusual once the actual numbers are reported, though the revisions are usually in 10s of thousands, not 100s of thousands.
16. At the G-7, Trump says we’re working on trade deals with multiple countries, including Japan. That’s not what Japan says.
17. Trump also says that we’re back in trade talks with China, and that calls were made over the weekend. That’s not what China says. When he gets called out for making conflicting statements about trade with China, he says it’s just how he negotiates.
18. Trump expresses regret at the hard line he’s taken on the trade war with China, but his aides are quick to clarify that he meant he should’ve been harsher.
19. Trump says next year’s G-7 summit will be held at one of his country clubs. No conflict of interest there.
20. The number of Americans who think current economic conditions are good dropped 5 points from 70% in May to 65% now.

Elections:

1. Trump tweets that Google gave Hillary anywhere from 2.6 million to 16 million votes in 2016. In fairness, he was taking (and exaggerating) the word of Dr. Robert Epstein, a researcher who testified to Congress; but further inspection of the study doesn’t bear out his conclusions.

• • Epstein himself says that there’s no evidence Google manipulated search results to favor Clinton. Also, the number of voters he alleges were influenced is not much more than a guess.
  • Epstein has tangled with Google since 2012, when they tagged his website for spreading malware. He then spent four years claiming their search results could influence elections. And then amazingly, the conclusions from his research (which included studying a grand total of 95 people) matched his predictions exactly.

2. I’ve been staying out of the presidential elections because there are so many Democratic candidates, I was waiting until a few of them got weeded out. But now we have a new candidate, Joe Walsh, trying to primary Trump. You might remember him as the member of congress who yelled out “You lie!” during one of the Barack Obama’s state of the union addresses. Or you might remember him as a birther and a conspiracy theorist. But he’s apologized for all that and thinks he should be president.