Tag: Mexico

Week 25 in Trump

Posted on July 17, 2017 in Legislation, Politics

(Credit: AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth/Getty/Don Emmert/Peter Muhly)

With Congress spinning their wheels and not able to actually push much through other than undoing some Obama rules, something John Boehner said several weeks ago rings true for several of their bigger goals. He said he doesn’t think tax reform is going to happen this year:

“I was a little more optimistic about it early in the year; now my odds are 60/40. The border adjustment tax is deader than a doornail. Tax reform is just a bunch of happy talk.”

And so once again Russia dominates the week. Here’s what happened…

Russia:

  1. Last week we heard about Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Russian lawyer and the changing stories he gave around it. This week, he releases the entire email thread setting up the meeting. He says he’s just being transparent, but it turns out the New York Times was about to release them and were waiting his response. He scooped them.
  2. The emails show he was looking for compromising information on Clinton and that he was OK working with the Russian effort to discredit her.
  3. We learn the meetings were set up by British publicist Rod Goldstone, who offered to connect Don Jr. with sensitive documents from the Russia government that would be damaging to Clinton as “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.” To which Don Jr. said “I love it.”
  4. Before we get ahead of ourselves, the meeting may have broken federal law, but doesn’t amount to treason. It might be conspiracy, but definitely not treason.
  5. The meeting implicates Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner, who didn’t reveal this meeting in his security clearance forms. Since May, Kushner has added over 100 names of foreign officials he had contact with last year. In his defense though, it appears Kushner’s lawyers found the email thread and turned the emails over.
  6. The Russian lawyer they met with says the meeting was always about sanctions, though the emails say otherwise.
  7. We still don’t have a complete list of all who attended the meeting, though the list of Russians keeps growing. We now know a Russian lobbyist and an interpreter were there as well, and possibly two more people.
  8. Trump Sr. says the Secret Service vetted the meeting. The Secret Service says that didn’t happen.
  9. Trump Sr. denies knowledge of this meeting, but after the meeting ended, he tweeted out a dig about Hillary’s emails. Two days before the meeting, he said he’d give a speech the following week that would tell all about the Clintons. That speech didn’t happen.
  10. It turns out that the White House crafted Trump Jr.’s initial statement about the meeting, which turned out to be untrue.
  11. A democratic representative files the first formal articles of impeachment against Trump over obstruction of justice in the firing of Comey.
  12. According to the Wall Street Journal, our intelligence agencies saw evidence of Russians attempting collusion with the Trump campaign in 2015, even before he officially declared his candidacy.
  13. Kushner’s digital campaign program is under investigation to find out if they assisted the Russians in targeting specific voter markets during the election meddling. Intelligence officials are pretty sure they had U.S. help.
  14. Trump backs off on the idea of a joint U.S. and Russia cybersecurity force saying that it can’t happen.
  15. Democratic lawyers from the Obama camp sue Trump over invasion of privacy. They allege that the campaign was involved in what has been seen as a Russian operation, but which now seems to include campaign members. This operation resulted in the dumps of tens of thousands of emails that included private information.
  16. After passing nearly unanimously in the Senate, the Russian sanctions bill stalls in the House while the White House continues pressure to soften the bill.
  17. Mike Pence’s spokesperson refuses three times to answer whether Pence has had any undisclosed meetings with Russians.
  18. According to a coroners report, Peter Smith asphyxiated himself. Smith died 10 days after an interview with the Wall Street Journal where he described his plan to work with Trump’s campaign to get dirt on Clinton. It’s not known whether Trump’s campaign was aware of Smith’s effort.
  19. People start comparing the DNC getting opposition information from Ukraine sources with Trump Jr.’s effort get oppo on Clinton. Right now it looks like comparing a traffic ticket with totaling your car, but more info will come out on both.
  20. Some of the memos Comey wrote summarizing his conversations with Trump contain classified information, but not the one that he leaked to the press. Comey said they were his personal memos, but the FBI now says they are FBI property and Trump accuses Comey of breaking the law. So now we’re looking at an investigation into Comey’s handling of the memos. Full. Circle.

Courts/Justice:

  1. Jeff Sessions takes credit for last week’s Medicare and Medicaid fraud bust saying it’s part of the administration’s effort to get tough on drugs. It turns out Medicare fraud is a huge thing, and all presidents since Clinton have funded task forces to crack down on it. They’ve recovered tens of billions of dollars since the 1990s.
  2. Twitter users blocked by Trump sue, saying that since Sean Spicer said Trump’s tweets are official statements, Twitter users can’t be barred from viewing them.

Healthcare:

  1. The Senate Republicans’ revised health bill increases insurance subsidies and keeps some of the ACA taxes.
  2. This new version allows insurance companies who do sell ACA-compliant policies to sell policies that don’t include all the mandated coverages as well.
  3. It also opens the door to insurance companies being able to deny people with pre-existing conditions access to certain healthcare plans.
  4. The latest version of the bill doesn’t change the cuts to Medicaid and keeps it as a block grant with per capita spending caps. It also includes $1 billion in Medicaid funding that only Alaska qualifies for, largely seen as a bribe for Lisa Murkowski’s support.
  5. With teen pregnancy at its lowest rate in recent history, the Trump administration cut $213.6 million in research and programs aimed at preventing teen pregnancy (this includes funding for Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and Johns Hopkins University, along with almost 80 others).
  6. Governors from both parties come out strongly against the new healthcare bill at their annual summer meeting. They don’t issue a joint statement, though, because they all have different reasons.
  7. Mitch McConnell delays the healthcare vote until John McCain comes back from what was deemed minor surgery. He’s expected to recover in a week, but health experts think it could be more like two weeks. This gives the bill an even slimmer chance of passing.
  8. Lindsay Graham also comes up with a healthcare plan, which basically gives more power to the states.
  9. From Politico’s talks with legislators: “Republicans REALLY want to wrap up the health care discussion. Sure, they want to repeal Obamacare. But the conversation they’re having now is how many people are going to get booted off their insurance. That’s not good politics.” Also it’s kind of heartless.
  10. Burglars break into Senator Dean Heller’s office in Las Vegas. Probably not related, but Heller was among the first Senators to say he wouldn’t approve the healthcare bill.

International:

  1. Trump celebrates Bastille Day in Paris with President Macron.
  2. Rex Tillerson heads to Qatar and then other Mideast countries to try to patch things up. Qatar agrees to stop funding terrorists.
  3. It turns out that the UAE was behind the cyberattacks that planted fake news stories and social media posts about Qatar’s empire, leading to the four-nation boycott and a new quagmire in the Mideast. It was originally thought that Russia was behind it. Now U.S. intelligence thinks it was part of a larger plan by the UAE to destabilize the area.
  4. If Tillerson can fix this, it will be his first major diplomatic accomplishment. If it backfires, it will strengthen Qatar’s relationship with Iran.
  5. Trump appears to support Saudi Arabia over Qatar in this standoff, but Saudi is known for funding terrorists as well.
  6. While Trump takes credit for sparking the Qatar standoff, some allege that this is more on Kushner. Kushner tried and failed to get a $500 million loan from a Qatari businessman, and then allegedly pushed Trump to take a hard stance on Qatar.
  7. Trump delays his state visit to the UK until next year.
  8. Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner look at proposals to use private mercenary firms to fight in Afghanistan.
  9. Iran has been stepping in to fill the void left when U.S. troops departed from Iraq. They’ve been giving aid, working with the government, and shipping food and supplies.
  10. Civilian casualties from U.S. airstrikes in the Mideast are on pace to more than double under Trump.

Legislation/Congress:

  1. The White House wants Congress to take care of these items before the August recess:
    • Repeal the ACA
    • Raise the debt ceiling
    • Agree on a general outline of tax reform
    • Clear remaining nominations

    Note: It’s almost August already.

  2. Mitch McConnell delays the August recess in order to take care of some of the above items. He blames the delay on lack of cooperation from Democrats, but with the Republican majorities in both houses, he doesn’t need Democrats’ cooperation.
  3. The bill to overhaul and privatize air traffic control stalls in the House.
  4. As a part of the effort by Everytown for Gun Safety, six states (Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Tennessee and Utah) pass gun restrictions for domestic abusers, bringing the total number of states with such laws to 23.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

  1. After a huge public outcry, Trump intervenes to grant visas to the all-female Afghanistan robotics team so they can come here and compete. Very cool.
  2. Trump plans to delay or eliminate a rule to let foreign entrepreneurs come here to start companies. Business leaders and organizations are quick to criticize the move.
  3. Jeff Sessions speaks to the Alliance Defending Freedom, a group accused of being an anti-LGBTQ hate group.
  4. In a move to restore some of the protections for workers that one of Trump’s executive orders rescinded, the House unanimously passes a nondiscrimination bill.
  5. A federal judge in Hawaii rules that the administration’s definition of bona fide relationships in regard to the travel ban is too narrow. He ruled that the definition includes broader family ties, like grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins of people in the U.S.
  6. Trump shortens his requirement for the border wall from 2,000 miles to just 900, and says he wants it to be somewhat transparent so we can see people on other side throwing over bags of drugs. We don’t want Americans getting hit on the head by bags of drugs.
  7. The number of bullying incidents where the bully uses Trump’s words and slogans continues to rise in schools. The incidents are primarily based on religious or racial prejudice.
  8. Trump and some of his aides are working with two conservative senators (Tom Cotton and David Perdue) to draft legislation drastically curbing legal immigration. The legislation would cut legal immigration in half. Why is this important? Because economists say that the only way Trump can achieve his predicted economic growth is if the immigrant population doubles.

Climate/EPA:

  1. A chunk of ice nearly the size of Delaware breaks off from Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf. The iceberg’s water volume is about twice Lake Erie’s. I mention it because some attribute this to global warming, but scientists are still looking at whether it’s related.

Budget/Economy:

  1. The White House objects to parts of both the House and Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2018. Specifically they object to a prohibition on the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) process (base closures). They also object to greater private audits of the Pentagon.
  2. In Senate testimony, Janet Yellen says, “I believe we have done a great deal since the financial crisis to strengthen the financial system and to make it more resilient.” She also indicates that some of the recent rollbacks passed by the House could lead to another crisis. She’s willing to consider changes to the regulations though.

Elections:

  1. The DoJ sends a letter to all states requesting information about voter rolls and related processes. States take this to indicate that the DoJ is looking to purge voter rolls and roll back some portions of the National Voter Registration Act, which sought to streamline the process of registering and make it easier for eligible voters.
  2. After running up against a slew of legal challenges, Trump’s voter fraud commission tells states not to send them any of the information they requested for now.
  3. The White House publishes all the comments they’ve received so far on the voter fraud commission’s request for information on a government website. The comments weren’t vetted and the now-public information includes commenters’ names, emails, addresses, and more. Some are pretty profane and some include links to porn.

Miscellaneous:

  1. The spin about Trump’s slow nomination process is giving me whiplash. Democrats have requested cloture on many more Trump nominees than were requested for Obama’s. But Trump is also way behind in nominating candidates, and often sends them over without the correct paperwork.
  2. Trump has an off-the-record talk with reporters on air force one, but then wonders why it wasn’t covered, so it becomes on the record.
  3. Paul Ryan puts the kibosh on holding any more townhalls, saying they’re just becoming screamfests.
  4. The FCC gives phone companies leeway to jack phone rates for prisoners, which were capped under Obama. Prisoners now have to pay more to phone home.
  5. Christopher Wray took questions in the Senate around his confirmation as FBI director to replace Comey.
  6. Trump’s personal attorney responded to an email from a critic with a series of profanity-laced emails.
  7. Both Mike Pence and Justin Trudeau join the governors meeting in Providence, RI. Trudeau is the first foreign head of state to attend, likely because renegotiations for NAFTA are about to begin.
  8. Highlighting the tepid relationship between AZ Senator Jeff Flake’s and the White House, the White House meets with three possible challengers to his seat in next year’s election. Trump isn’t afraid to bring in the big guns against lawmakers who disagree with him.
  9. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, our most powerful lobbying group, is not only losing power, but some of its largest members consider pulling out. Members disagree on a number of issues facing us right now.

Polls:

  1. Since 2015, Republicans who have a positive view of education has dropped from 54% to 36%. 58% of Republican say colleges and universities have a negative effect on the U.S.
  2. 54% of Americans think Trump did something wrong or illegal in regard to Russia. 58% think one of his campaign members did. 67% think Russia’s 2016 hacking poses a future threat.
  3. 82% of Americans say large businesses, lobbyists, the wealthy, and Wall Street have too much power in D.C. 75% say people like themselves don’t have enough power, and another 3% say people like themselves DO have too much power. Who are these altruistic 3%?
  4. An Iowa poll puts Trumps disapproval rating at 59%.

 

Week 24 in Trump

Posted on July 10, 2017 in Politics, Trump

With all eyes on the G20 this week, French Ambassador Gérard Araud says Trump isn’t the leader of the free world and that no one is now.

“This world order, the traditional liberal world order, is more or less undermined, really, or looks injured. Where [is] the United States?… I think it’s impossible to move on without America, and I think also that the United States really can’t let the world move on.”

Araud also points out that President Obama delegated the Ukraine response to Angela Merkel and took a hands-off approach to Syria. ”America First, in a sense, was raised in a discrete way, also under President Obama.”
Here’s what else happened this week…

Russia:

  1. Large U.S. oil companies lobby against the bills passed by the Senate to toughen sanctions against Russia and to make it harder for the president to rescind them.
  2. Investigators look into whether Russia colluded with far-right, pro-Trump sites to spread fake stories smearing Hillary Clinton. There were at least 1,000 paid internet trolls in Russia putting out the information.
  3. Trump meets with Putin at the G20. Before the meeting, Putin criticizes Trump’s trade policies and sanctions in an op-ed, and reaffirms Russia’s commitment to the Paris accord.
  4. Tillerson says that Putin denied meddling in our elections when Trump pushed him on it. Like he would admit it?
  5. Key points from the meeting:
    • Trump is ready to move on from the election hacking with no consequences for Russia.
    • The U.S. and Russia will cooperate on cybersecurity issues. Trump later walks this one back.
    • They agree not to meddle in each other’s domestic issues, making it sound like it was equally bad that we try to spread democracy while they try to undermine it.
    • They agree to a cease-fire in Syria, the fifth such agreement in six years.
    • They discuss the Ukraine, sanctions, and terrorism.
  6. Trump, Tillerson, and Putin all emerge with differing accounts of the meeting.
  7. Trump is reportedly focused on how to move forward in working with Putin.
  8. Russia’s Foreign Minister Lavrov says that Putin denied involvement in our elections, that Trump said reports of meddling were exaggerated, and that Trump accepted Putin’s denials.
  9. Russian hackers are suspected to be behind a breach of over 12 power plants in the U.S.
  10. After the G20 Trump tweets, “Putin & I discussed forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded.” Republicans and Democrats alike say ummmm….no. Why don’t we just give them our passwords and be done with it?
  11. New documents show yet another undisclosed meeting between Russians and the Trump campaign. This one occurred two weeks after Trump became the Republican nominee, and was between a Russian lawyer and Kushner, Manafort, and Donald Trump Jr. A spokesperson for Trump’s lawyer says the meeting was a setup.
  12. Trump Jr. first explains the meeting as being about Russian adoptions, and then says it was supposed to be about obtaining dirt on Hillary but it ended up being about adoptions.
  13. Trump says the media lied when they said that all 17 intelligence agencies signed off on the statement that Russia meddled in our elections, saying that only four did. Technically he’s right, but one of those four who signed off, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, includes the remaining agencies.
  14. James Clapper warns that the 2016 meddling in the election was just a practice run for 2018.
  15. The State Department continues to issue temporary visas to suspected Russian operatives.

Courts/Justice:

  1. A Florida judge rules that changes to the stand your ground gun law are unconstitutional. The changes would’ve increased protections for people who kill someone using the stand your ground defense, giving protections even to those who have an opportunity to flee the situation.
  2. Eighteen states and Washington D.C. filed suit against the Department of Education and Betsy DeVos, saying they broke the law by rescinding the Borrower Defense Rule. The rule protects students from fraudulent, for-profit institutions (like Trump University, for example).

Healthcare:

  1. Congress moves toward preventing the IRS from enforcing the penalty for not having insurance, further weakening the ACA.
  2. According to a new report released by Trump’s own Department of Health and Human Services, the ACA is doing better than reported. The report provides evidence that the ACA marketplaces were relatively stable in 2016. The customer base is healthier, the risk pools are stabilizing, and premiums are moderating.
  3. Indiana GOP leaders, in an effort to gather ammunition to support the senate healthcare bill, posted a request on Facebook to “post your Obamacare horror stories here.” With about 1,500 posts, the vast majority were how the ACA had helped, not hurt.
  4. The Washington Post and the New York Times each publish a fact check on healthcare claims and bills. Worth a read if you’re on the fence.
  5. The GOP Twitter account tweets out to Hillary, Bernie, Elizabeth Warren, Bill Clinton, and Joe Manchin asking where their health plans are. Hillary, for one, schools the GOP by pointing to her fully formed plan to fix the ACA and telling them to run with it.
  6. Freedom Works and Club for Growth push McConnell to adopt the more conservative changes to the healthcare bill, but these will likely make passing the bill impossible.
  7. Midweek, Mitch McConnell acknowledges that they might not be able to pass a replacement for the ACA, and in that case, Congress needs to do something to support the insurance markets.
  8. Pat Toomey (R-Pa) sort of explains why Republicans are having trouble with the bill: “I didn’t expect Donald Trump to win. I think most of my colleagues didn’t. So we didn’t expect to be in this situation.” In other words, we weren’t as ready as we said we were.
  9. Ted Cruz says the ACA should be repealed if the Senate vote falls apart again, aligning himself clearly with Trump and against McConnell.
  10. One thing missing from any healthcare discussions is the subsidy given to employers who offer insurance plans to their employees and the employees who receive them. Both employers and employees get a tax break, and employees get a good chunk of their premiums paid.
  11. Senators John Hoeven of North Dakota, Bob Corker of Tennessee, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and John Boozman of Arkansas are the latest Republicans to withhold support for the bill.

International:

  1. North Korea fires another ballistic missile, but this time is more concerning because of the distance it was able to travel.
  2. The U.S. and South Korea stage military drills in the waters off North Korea. Good to know: The missile defense system still can’t reliably stop ICBMs and has failed 3 of 5 tests.
  3. After the launch, Trump sounds like he’s giving up on China. “So much for China working with us.”
  4. Russia and China make a joint proposal that would ban North Korea missile tests and would also ban joint U.S. and South Korea military drills.
  5. Some experts think Russian technology is behind North Korea’s huge advances in missile technology over the past two years.
  6. Trump stops in Poland before the G20 meeting in Hamburg. The government bussed in Trump supporters to hear his speech.
  7. Some hail his speech in Poland as one of his greatest and others say it’s just another one of his “failing dystopia” speeches. He criticizes the free press in a country where President Duda has restricted free press, and then watches Duda explain why he restricted Polish media from covering the parliament.
  8. Trump does state support for article 5 of the NATO agreement, which he failed to do in his NATO speech.
  9. Trump questions whether the West has the will to survive existentialist threats. I don’t know what he’s talking about here, though maybe ISIS?
  10. Leaders from several countries, as well as U.S. states and cities, attend the Global Citizen Festival in Hamburg just before the G20. The festival raises money to support global health, gender equality, and education. Trump isn’t invited.
  11. Trump’s team waited too long to book a hotel for the G20 and by the time they tried, everything was booked. The German government hosts him in Hamburg while his staff stays at the U.S. consulate. The same happened to Tillerson when he attended the G20 ministers meeting in February.
  12. At the G20, Trump’s message is “renegotiate everything.” Other leaders will either go along or forge their own deals without the U.S. (which they already seem to be doing, if that tells you anything).
  13. The G20 highlights a major shift in geopolitical relations, as European nations, China, and Japan navigate through a shifting landscape where the U.S. is no longer a leader. The U.S. typically sets the agenda at the summit, but this time we alienate our allies and are isolated from the rest of the G20 nations on the big issues, including climate change and trade.
  14. Germany and China have their own bilateral meeting, an indication that Xi Jinping wants to move into the widening gap between the U.S. and its longtime allies. He’s ready to move China into the U.S.’s position as the biggest defender of a global, multilateral system.
  15. There is agreement among all nations over cracking down on people who smuggle in illegal immigrants.
  16. Many leaders express concern that our new differences threaten the common good.
  17. Trump meets with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and reminds him that Mexico has to pay for the wall.
  18. Trump tweets from the G20: “Everyone here is talking about why John Podesta refused to give the DNC server to the FBI and the CIA. Disgraceful!” So many things wrong here. Podesta never had anything to do with the DNC server; the CIA didn’t (and probably couldn’t) subpoena it; and the G20 has more pressing matters. Podesta’s twitter response is worth it, though, as is his WaPo op-ed.
  19. Trump is caught daydreaming at a G20 meeting, saved when Theresa May awakens him for a photo-op.
  20. Ivanka Trump sits in for the president during a G20 leaders session for a short period while he steps out of the room.
  21. The final communiqué from the G20 highlights a victory for the G19 and the isolation of the G20. U.S. views on global warming and protectionism are not accepted.
  22. 122 countries in the UN approve a ban on nuclear weapons, a potential start to nuclear disarmament…except that none of the nations that signed on are armed with nuclear weapons.
  23. Iraq declares victory over ISIS in Mosul after a 9-month push.
  24. Rex Tillerson works to personally defuse the situation in the Persian Gulf, which threatens our ability to combat terrorism because of our coordination with Qatar.
  25. A group of senators travel to Afghanistan as part of a diplomatic effort. The ambassador role there has yet to be filled and is currently filled by a chargé d’affaires who was about to retire. This is a critical time for diplomatic relations with the country.
  26. The ban on bringing laptops and other electronic devices on board flights from several Mideast countries was lifted for some countries.
  27. There were large anti-government protests in both Turkey and Venezuela this week, as well as protests at the G20 meetings in Hamburg. But there are always protests at the G20 for a multitude of causes.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

  1. The U.S. denies visas for an all-girl robotics team from Afghanistan who were hoping to come here along with groups from other countries to compete. Teams from Iraq, Iran, and Sudan received travel visas.
  2. Businesses in North Carolina get hit hard by cuts to visas for seasonal workers. One business hasn’t opened for the season because they couldn’t get any visas, and not one local applied for their $15/hour positions.
  3. As part of a PR campaign to educate the nation about Sikhs, a group of them chip in to sponsor a town’s fireworks display when the town can’t fund it. Part of the reason Sikhs are doing this is that people in the U.S. mistake them for Muslims and harass them.

Climate/EPA:

  1. A federal appeals court rules that the EPA can’t suspend an Obama-era rule that would restrict methane emissions from new oil and gas wells. They could try rewriting the rule.
  2. California Governor Jerry Brown and New York mayor Bill De Blasio speak at the Global Citizen Festival in Hamburg. Brown invites everyone to a global warming action meeting in San Francisco in 2018, saying Trump doesn’t speak for all of America on global warming.
  3. Volvo announces it will phase out combustion-only engines by 2019. All the cars they make will either be electric or hybrid.
  4. Germany, Japan, and other countries reiterate their commitment to the Paris accord ahead of the G20.
  5. The U.S. stands alone in the G20 summit statement on global warming and the Paris accord.

Budget/Economy/Trade:

  1. At a time when most countries are seeing solid recoveries from the 2008 crash, world leaders warn that nationalistic and protectionist trade policies will hamper global recovery, possibly causing a slide backwards. And this includes the U.S., but #MAGA, right?
  2. The European Union and Japan sign one of the world’s largest trade agreements, calling it ambitious, free, and fair. Unfortunately, the U.S. auto industry will be one of the hardest hit.
  3. And to top it off, the U.S. automobile industry says sales are slowing and jobs are declining. This is the sixth consecutive month of drooping sales.
  4. The U.S. hasn’t even begun to negotiate or renegotiate any meaningful bilateral agreements as promised during the campaign last year.
  5. The European Union and China are working on a broad trade agreement, as are Mexico and China.
  6. Trump threatens new tariffs on steel imports from Europe. The European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, says they’ll retaliate in kind, which could start a trade war.
  7. Stephen Bannon pushes to raise taxes on the wealthy and cut them for middle and low-income earners. His idea would raise the highest bracket above 40%, at odds with Trump’s current plan and the House’s current plan.
  8. Trump touts the latest job numbers, though growth as been a little slower so far this year than last.
  9. Several states are finding themselves in economic trouble or at a budget impasse, including New Jersey, Illinois, Maine, Alaska, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Connecticut, and Kansas.
  10. After a two-year standoff, Illinois lawmakers finally worked together to agree on a budget bill, which Governor Bruce Rauner promptly vetoed because it would raise taxes. Both the house and senate are expected to vote to override his veto.
  11. Trump’s cuts to transportation in his proposed budget could cause 220 cities to lose access to passenger train service and would halt any high-speed rail development. This is the opposite of infrastructure investment.
  12. Trump says he wants to make the U.S. an energy dominator, but his actual policies are pretty much the same as under Obama’s goal to make us energy independent.
  13. Trump proposes eliminating heating aid for low-income Americans, saying the program isn’t needed any longer and it’s being abused. He claims utility companies can’t cut off utilities in the dead of winter, so these people will be just fine…
  14. While domestic gas and oil development has been sluggish over several years due to low prices, Trump tweets, “Gas prices are the lowest in the U.S. in over ten years! I would like to see them go even lower.”

Elections:

  1. So far, 44 states push back on the voter fraud commission’s request for personal voter information. Nine major investigations over 20 years on voter fraud have turned up no evidence of widespread fraud. Most cases were found to not be fraudulent at all. Of the cases found to be actually fraudulent, most result from misunderstandings of the rules or from clerical or administrative errors.
  2. Maryland’s Republican deputy secretary of state, Luis E. Borunda, resigns from the voting commission. In fact, many people appointed to the commission don’t have election experience and don’t understand why they’re there.
  3. Lawmakers who criticize Trump or don’t support him are feeling the political heat of his pressure. Others who have criticized him in the past start to court him to make sure he doesn’t capsize their chances of re-election.

Miscellaneous:

  1. Workers still remaining at the State Department say the department is gutted at all levels of employment and that they can barely get anything done.
  2. In an act of I-just-don’t-care-anymore, Chris Christie and his family are spotted on a private beach on the day that public beaches are closed to the public because of a budget impasse.
  3. Trump signs an executive order aimed at reviving the National Space Council. Mike Pence will lead the effort.
  4. After Trump tweets a GIF of himself taking down CNN WWF-style, CNN finds the originator of the GIF who apologizes and takes all his offensive stuff down. CNN refuses to divulge his identity but for some reason left a bit in the story saying they might if he reneges on his promise. Which leads certain alt-right groups to speculate that he was blackmailed into the apology by CNN, so they dox the CNN group responsible for the story. The reporters and their families have been threatened both online and in person at their homes.
  5. Once again Trump reminds us that he is president and we are not. “The fake media is trying to silence us. But we will not let them. Because the people know the truth. The fake media tried to stop us from going to the White House. But I’m president and they’re not.”
  6. Whoa! NPR caught a little blowback on the 4th when it tweeted the entirety of the declaration of independence in 113 tweets. They get accused of partisan politics, using propaganda, and trying to start a revolution.
  7. Steven Scalise is readmitted into ICU on worries of infection.
  8. It looks like an investigation and crackdown on leakers is about to start. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman, Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), releases a report on national security risks from the leaks.
  9. The government ethics chief, Walter Shaub, resigns saying he’s done all he can and criticizing the administration for a lack of transparency and the appearance of profiting from office. After repeatedly reaching out to the administration during the transition period and being ignored, Shaub took to trolling Trump on Twitter to get his attention. That didn’t work either. He’s never spoken with the president.
  10. There’s a power struggle going on between red state governments and their blue city governments, with states cracking down on city legislation. States have tied city’s hands on issues like minimum wage, civil rights, birth control, and sanctuary cities.
  11. The White House staff reveals it’s factional nature, as each has their own PR staffs to push their individual agendas, leaving behind the tradition of keeping a unified message.

Polls:

  1. 54% of Americans believe Trump has done something illegal; 29% think he’s done something unethical.
  2. A Pew survey shows that 56% of Americans have more confidence in Merkel than Trump, while 46% say they have more confidence in Trump.

Stupid Things Politicians Say:

Because this is what a free and open press is all about:

“I just love to sit in my office and make up wasters so [journalists] will write these stupid stories.”

– Maine GOP Gov. Paul LePage bragging that he lies to reporters so they will write misleading “stupid stories” about his governorship.

Week 22 in Trump

Posted on June 26, 2017 in Politics, Trump

Russia, Russia, Russia. The Washington Post published a timeline of events in the Russian hacking probe, so this week’s recap is pretty full of all things Russia. But then the Senate finally released their super-secret healthcare bill, so between those two, this week’s post is pretty long.

Russian Investigation:

  1. We now know that Russian hackers launched cyber attacks last year on at least 21 state election servers, that they changed at least one voter roll, and that they stole voter records. Russian military intelligence also hacked a voting software vendor and sent spear-phishing emails to local election officials. Voting systems weren’t affected as far as we know.
  2. Congressional committees are investigating whether any of the hacked data ended up with the Trump campaign.
  3. We also know that even though senior government officials knew that Flynn was a security risk, they continued to give him security briefings.
  4. The Washington Post timeline of events shows that Putin led the Russian meddling op and that his specific goals were to defeat or harm Clinton and help elect Trump.
  5. We learn that partisanship slowed down our reaction at all levels.
    • Obama received intelligence about Russia meddling in a CIA report in August and wrestled with what to do. He didn’t want to be seen as swaying the election, leading Republicans opposed publicizing it, intelligence agencies were slow to move on it.
    • Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson (who also testified to Congress this week) tried to launch an effort to secure systems at a state level. However, he faced resistance from state officials who saw it as a federal takeover.
    • The bipartisan Congressional Gang of 8 was slow to schedule a meeting, though intelligence tried repeatedly.
  6. Here are a few things that were done to address the problem:
    • Obama had a three-point plan: assess Russia’s role and intent, strengthen areas of vulnerability, and get bipartisan support from congressional leaders and states to accept federal help.
    • The Obama administration warned Putin several times, increased sanctions, closed down two Russian facilities in the U.S., and sent dozens of Russian agents packing.
    • Last fall there was a surge in requests for special visas for Russians with highly technical skills to work at Russian facilities. They were denied until after the election.
    • Obama approved planting cyber weapons in Russia’s infrastructure, which could be triggered if things escalate between our countries. It’s up to Trump to decide whether to use this.
  7. Russia’s interference is unprecedented and mostly successful, though they were found out fairly quickly. So far, Russia hasn’t faced consequences proportionate to the damage caused by the attack.
  8. Intelligence officials voice concern that the State Department is being too lax with Russian diplomats and say we should crack down on their travel in the U.S. since the evidence shows the diplomats are taking advantage of lax enforcement to continue running intelligence ops.
  9. Bipartisan lawmakers complain that the administration is trying to delay their efforts to get tough on Russia.
  10. Democratic representatives say Kushner’s security clearance should be suspended. They also criticize the White House for allowing Michael Flynn to have security clearance for three weeks while they knew of his Russian activities.
  11. Jeff Sessions hires outside counsel.
  12. Trump admits he doesn’t have and didn’t make recordings of his conversations with Comey. Ironically, if he never would have brought it up, Comey might not have released the memo and Trump might not be under investigation for obstruction.
  13. Trump indicates that he bluffed about the tapes to influence Comey’s testimony. Note that this is witness tampering even if he was only trying to get Comey to be truthful.
  14. Trump blames Obama for not taking enough steps to protect us from Russia’s meddling. In blaming Obama for not doing more,Trump inadvertently admits that Russia did meddle, something he has until now mostly denied.
  15. Trump blames White House counsel Donald McGahn for letting the Russia probe spin out of control.
  16. Trey Gowdy, who ran something like 8 hearings on Benghazi, says he won’t hold any hearings on Russia’s meddling nor on Jared Kushner’s security clearance. His predecessor on the oversight committee, Jason Chaffetz, held hearings.
  17. The Kremlin calls Ambassador Sergey Kislyak back to Russia and will likely replace him with deputy foreign minister Anatoly Antonov.
  18. It turns out that Europe has been working on ways to fight meddling from the Russians for years. They’ve been using the same tactics—spreading disinformation, hacking, and trolling—across the continent. Europeans feel they have a better handle on it than we do here, and say looking at us is like watching ″House of Cards.″
  19. Spicer says he hasn’t talked to the president about Russia interference in the elections. Seriously?
  20. More troubles for Michael Flynn. He didn’t report a trip to Saudi Arabia where he represented U.S., Russian, and Saudi interests. His former business partner is also under investigation around payments from foreign clients.
  21. Tillerson has a plan for future relations with Russia: warn them about any more aggressive actions, work together on strategic interests, and emphasize stability.
  22. The administration debates withdrawing from the INF treaty with Russia, a disarmament pact that bans a class of nuclear missiles. Welcome to the new arms race.

Courts/Justice:

  1. Last week wasn’t a big week for courts, but this coming week will be. Last week, the Supreme court agrees to hear Wisconsin’s gerrymandering case. This could have long-reaching implications on how district lines can be drawn.

Healthcare:

  1. Senate Democrats invite Senate Republicans to a sit-down over healthcare, “so we can hear your plans and talk about how to make healthcare more affordable and accessible…” Mitch McConnell says that Democrats refuse to participate. Democrats, it seems, just called his bluff.
  2. Democrats hold the Senate floor overnight. At one point, Schumer tried to get McConnell to agree to at least 10 hours of debate, but he didn’t bite. The ACA had about 26 days of debate.
  3. The Senate releases their version of the ACA replacement, The Better Care Reconciliation Act, with a CBO score expected sometime this week. The Senate promised a top-to-bottom rewrite of the House bill, but it’s similar to the House version; and though it’s a little more modest, it’s still mean. Like the House bill, it’s expected to raise premiums, lower coverage, and cut Medicaid.
  4. Here are the basics of the Senate bill:
    • Caps and reduces Medicaid expansion, eliminating the expansion by 2024 (this insured 14 million people under the ACA).
    • States can implement a work requirement for able-bodied Medicaid recipients.
    • Reduces the number of people eligible for healthcare coverage subsidies.
    • Provides $50 billion to states over four years to help offset costs.
    • Provides $62 billion over 10 years to a fund that would help states offset gaps in coverage.
    • Keeps protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
    • Ends employer and individual mandates.
    • Lets states define mandated coverages.
    • Cuts funding to Planned Parenthood (or any other medical facility that provides abortions).
    • Repeals all taxes, but the Cadillac tax on employer plans would return in 2025.
    • Provides $2 billion to help fight the opioid epidemic.
  5. Whether or not there are enough votes, and right now there aren’t, it seems the Senate plans to vote on the bill before the July 4 recess.
  6. Even Republicans complain about the rush to bring this bill to vote and the secrecy in which it was developed.
  7. The AARP and AMA weigh in against the bill, citing concerns about older citizens and the disabled. Even insurance companies hate this bill, predicting a 25% shortfall in covering the actual cost of care.
  8. On the day the new bill is released, protestors outside McConnell’s office are forcibly removed for demonstrating, many of whom were disabled—using wheelchairs and other assistive devices.
  9. The following senators say they won’t vote for the bill in its current form: Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and Ron Johnson. A 5th, Dean Heller of Nevada, later comes out against the bill. Others, like Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Ben Sasse, and Bill Cassidy, are on the fence.
  10. Obama makes a rare policy statement and slams the Senate healthcare bill as inhumane.
  11. Sean Spicer says that Trump is “committed to making sure that no one who currently is in the Medicaid program is affected in anyway, which is reflected in the Senate Bill and he’s pleased with that.” This makes me think Trump doesn’t know what’s in the bill.
  12. Trump slams Democrats for opposing the healthcare bills, but it’s his own party really holding this up since they have a majority. Republicans on the Hill know that they now own healthcare as a political issue.
  13. As soon as Dean Heller comes out against the healthcare bill, America First Policies (a group Mike Pence fundraised for), goes after him with an ad campaign. They did this so quickly, they must have been prepared for it. Heller’s seat is one of the least safe Republican seats in 2018, but even so, the campaign aims to punish Heller and to force his vote, an act of retaliation that is making senior Republicans nervous.
  14. California’s bill for single payer is shelved for now. Speaker Anthony Rendon says it needs to be fleshed out before they can pass it.

International:

  1. An armed attacker drove into police on the Champs Elysees, but was killed before he could do much damage. Less that 24 hours later, police foil a suicide bomber attack in a Brussels train station, with the attacker killing only himself.
  2. Saudi security forces disrupt a planned terrorist attack near the Grand Mosque in Mecca, and the suicide bomber ends up blowing himself up, killing only himself and injuring 11.
  3. Canada’s plan to deal with the new administration’s protectionist tendencies is to organize a network of American officials, lawmakers and businesses in order to cultivate relationships beyond the White House. Canadian officials have been speaking with mayors, governors, members of Congress, and business leaders, circumventing the White House.
  4. Talks between the U.S. and Asian countries left delegates more pessimistic than ever about issues with North Korea, with North Korea leaving no room for negotiation.
  5. Turkey bans teaching evolution in schools and police fire rubber bullets into an LGBTQ pride parade there. This is what a burgeoning authoritarian regime looks like.
  6. An oil tanker explodes in Pakistan, leaving at least 148 dead and 50 more in critical condition.
  7. Some Trump advisors push for regime change in Tehran, with war a possibility. Tillerson would like to work with Iran towards a ″peaceful transition of that government.″ Iran is not amused.
  8. Tillerson plans to remove Iraq and Myanmar from the list of worst offenders of the use of child soldiers, and refuses to add Afghanistan. This goes against recommendations of experts and senior diplomats, and indicates human rights is not a big concern.

Legislation:

  1. A draft of an executive order to address drug prices actually doesn’t reduce prices and even allows pharmaceutical companies to charge higher prices abroad and to stop selling to hospitals in need at discount prices.
  2. After the Missouri Senate passed the anti-abortion bill SB 5, the House amended it to be even more misogynistic. It now preempts a St. Louis ordinance that bans landlords from discriminating based on your method of birth control, whether you’re pregnant, or whether you’ve had an abortion.
  3. Trump signs into law a bipartisan bill to reform the VA system. The bill makes it easier to fire and discipline problem employees, and is a result of the problem with wait times for patients.
  4. As the Senate bill imposing harsher sanctions on Iran and Russia goes to the House, the White House lobbies the House to weaken the bill. The bill restricts the president’s ability to weaken Russia sanctions.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

  1. Trump has yet to comment on the act of terror committed in London by a white guy against Muslims leaving a mosque.
  2. Following the Philando Castile case, another officer, Dominique Heaggan-Brown, is found not guilty of first-degree reckless homicide. She was on trial for fatally shooting Sylville Smith during a foot chase.
  3. Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin (so far) join together in suing the state of Texas over the recently passed sanctuary cities bill, SB 4.
  4. A federal appeals court lifts an injunction on a Mississippi law that lets individuals and government employees discriminate against members of the LGBTQ community on religious grounds. The law is likely to remain blocked through the appeals process, though.
  5. California restricts state employees from taking business trips to Texas, Alabama, Kentucky, and South Dakota after those states pass bills that allow discrimination against LGBTQ (and other) parents in adoption and foster care cases or that allow school groups to ban LGBTQ members. Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee were already barred for similar reasons.
  6. The State Department restarts the Countering Violent Extremism program, but cancels funding for Life After Hate (whose purpose is to de-radicalize neo-Nazis and stop white extremism). Life After Hate has seen a 20-fold increase in requests for help since the election.

Climate/EPA:

  1. DOE Secretary Rick Perry says he doesn’t believe the primary driver in global warming is CO2 and implies that the oceans might have something to do with it instead. This is refuted by conclusions of the EPA, NASA, and NOAA, to name a few. However, it does match what the head of the EPA, Scott Pruitt, has said.
  2. Scott Pruitt says he won’t renew the contracts of 38 scientists currently on the Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC). He also plans to lay off 1,200 people from the EPA.
  3. Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, plans to cut at least 4,000 jobs in his department.
  4. India joins other members of BRICS (a group including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) in nudging the U.S. back into the climate agreement and in asking developed countries to fulfill their commitments.
  5. The Trump administration removes the Yellowstone grizzly bear from the endangered species list. Depending on who you talk to, this is either a prime example of how well the endangered species program works or a dangerous step for grizzlies.
  6. OSHA rolls back some Obama-era protections for workers in the maritime and construction industries around exposure to beryllium, a potentially deadly mineral.

Budget/Economy:

  1. Economists say the only way to hit the 3% GDP growth projected in Trump’s budget is to increase the workforce. The only way to do that is to double the immigrant population.
  2. The Department of Labor won’t enforce the Fiduciary Rule created under Obama. This rule would make retirement plan managers provide unbiased investment advice instead of advice that would line their own pockets.
  3. The House Subcommittee on Health, Labor, Employment and Pensions discusses three anti-union bills.
  4. Boeing and Carrier, both companies that Trump previously negotiated with to keep jobs in the U.S., announce layoffs and additional moves to manufacturing abroad.
  5. Trump’s proposed budget would cut HUD programs to shelter the poor and fight homelessness, but the federal housing subsidy that pays him millions of dollars a year wouldn’t be affected.
  6. In a rally, Trump says he’s for the poor people, but that he doesn’t want any poor people in his cabinet. And poor people cheered.

Elections:

  1. Republican Karen Handel defeats Democrat Jon Ossoff in the Representative runoff in Georgia’s 6th (Tom Price’s seat). Republican Ralph Norman also defeats Democrat Archie Parnell in South Carolina’s 5th (Nick Mulvaney’s seat). These lead to much over-analysis and reading too much into it from both sides.

Miscellaneous:

  1. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus reject an invitation to meet with Trump, saying they’re pessimistic after their last visit and don’t want to be a part of another photo op.
  2. A man stabs a police officer at the Flint, Michigan, airport while allegedly yelling “God is great!” in Arabic.
  3. Rumor is that Trump hopes to nominate Sam Clovis, a talk show radio host, as Chief Scientist at the Department of Agriculture (USDA). In fairness, Clovis does have a PhD in Public Administration, but he’s no scientist.
  4. Deep Root Analytics, a Republican data analytics firm, accidentally stores personal information on 198 million American voters out in the open on an unsecured server. The ID for each voter exposed enough data points to pull together an incredible amount of private information for each name.
  5. Trump holds his 5th political rally since taking office, this time in Iowa. He makes more misstatements than I can include here, but here are a few.
    • He promises to pass a law that would ban immigrants from getting welfare benefits until they’ve been here five years, which has been law since the 1990s.
    • He criticizes wind energy in a state that gets a third of its energy from wind.
    • He denounces the wars in the Mideast even though he just authorized additional forces to Afghanistan.
    • He calls the Paris agreement binding, though he called it non-binding in his Rose Garden speech a month ago. Hint: it’s non-binding.
    • He derides trade deals, though the Iowa economy partly relies on exports.
    • He says the U.S. is one of the highest taxed nations. We rank 31st in order of highest taxes paid in developed countries (or 4th lowest), and we’re well below the average for developed countries.
  6. Trump selects Jerry Falwell Jr. to head an education reform task force charged with reducing student protections mandated by the Department of Education, including certain Title IX rules on reporting and investigating sexual assault on campus.
  7. Trump appoints lobbyist Richard Hohlt to the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships. Hohlt is a registered agent of Saudi Arabia, and was paid nearly a half million dollars to lobby on their behalf.
  8. Jane Sanders (Bernie’s wife) retains a lawyer to represent her in a fraud investigation around the loans she received for the Vermont college she was once president of.
  9. A judge sanctions Kris Kobach for deceptive conduct in a court case brought by the ACLU over voter rights. Kobach withheld subpoenaed documents containing proposed changes to the National Voter Registration Act, saying they weren’t relevant to the case. The judge determined that to be a lie. Kobach is Trump’s pick to head his voter fraud commission.
  10. Mike Pence officiates Steve Mnuchin’s wedding.
  11. The Koch network works to influence the Trump administration after first giving them the cold shoulder, starting with a meeting with Mike Pence. The Kochs announce plans to spend $300-$400 million in the next election cycle with the goals of influencing tax reforms, rolling back protections, and pushing for a more conservative healthcare bill.
  12. An AP analysis concludes that the most recent partisan gerrymandering efforts mostly benefitted the GOP. Redistricting has been so blatant that many states have spent years fighting over their district lines in courts.
  13. Matt Mika, a victim of the baseball practice shooting, is released from the hospital.

Polls:

  1. 81% of Americans don’t want Trump to interfere with Mueller.
  2. Trump’s approval rating in the CBS News Poll is at a new low of 36%, with a 57% disapproval rating.
  3. 18% of Americans support withdrawing from the Paris climate accord, while 70% are concerned that it will hurt the country’s standing in the world.
  4. 64% of Americans disapprove of the administration’s handling of global warming; 34% approve.
  5. Americans believe Comey more than Trump 2-to-1.
  6. 16% of Americans think the House healthcare plan is good; 48% say it’s bad.

Week 20 in Trump

Posted on June 12, 2017 in Politics, Trump

Attribution: Getty Images

Sorry for the long post but a lot happened again this week—though the news was all about Comey, all the time.

“Lordy, I hope there are tapes.” The White House won’t confirm the existence of the tapes Trump tweeted about, but if they do exist we could get through this a lot faster.

Comey:

  1. The Great America Alliance PAC takes out an attack ad against Comey the day before he testifies. The White House tries to undermine Comey and the RNC mobilizes its base by issuing an email: “Talking Points and Digital Packet for Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing.” Tip: This is not a court of public opinion.
  2. Trump’s lawyers urge him not to tweet during Comey’s testimony, and Trump’s staff keeps him busy throughout most of the hearing.
  3. Comey testifies in front of a Senate committee (as if you didn’t know). Half of the committee asks about the Russia probe and alleged interference by Trump while the other half asks about Clinton’s email investigation. Main takeaways:
    • Trump wasn’t personally under investigation at the time of Comey’s firing, though the issue of collusion is being taken up by Special Prosecutor Mueller.
    • Trump asked Comey to take it easy on Flynn in a conversation where he asked everyone but Comey to leave the room. Mueller is looking into this.
    • The day after the above, Comey asked Sessions not to leave him alone with Trump, saying private interactions were inappropriate.
    • After Trump tweeted that he had tapes of their conversations, Comey leaked his own memo about the Flynn conversation in order to force the appointment of a special prosecutor. He has since provided copies of all his memoranda to Mueller. Note that this is not illegal but is also not consistent with FBI employment agreements.
    • Sessions never questioned why Trump kicked everyone but Comey out of the Oval Office for a private meeting.
    • Comey was so worried about misunderstandings and lies in his conversations with Trump, he made copious notes of all of them.
    • Comey suspected beforehand that Sessions would have to recuse himself and also didn’t seem to trust Sessions to keep sensitive information from the White House. The only way Comey would have known this beforehand is if Sessions’ name had come up in the investigation.
    • Comey believes Trump when he says he fired Comey because of the Russia investigation. Comey also accused the administration of defaming both him and the FBI as part of that firing.
    • Neither Sessions nor Rosenstein expressed dissatisfaction with Comey’s job performance prior to the letters they sent to Trump (at Trump’s request).
    • Russia interfered in our elections and will continue to do so.
    • There is still a lot of information Comey can’t talk about.
    • Comey said an article published last February in the NY Times was largely inaccurate, though the NY Times stands by their reporting and much of the substance of the story has already been shown to be true.
  4. Paul Ryan defends Trump’s actions with Comey, saying “he’s new to this.”
  5. Trump basically says Comey lied under oath and that he’d go under oath to dispute Comey’s testimony. But he also says that Comey vindicated him… so either Comey lied under oath or he cleared Trump.
  6. Trump calls Comey’s testimony “an excuse by the Democrats, who lost an election they shouldn’t have lost,” though Comey’s a lifelong Republican. And also Republicans control congress and the committees investigating Russia ties.
  7. In his rebuttal to Comey’s version of events, Trump’s lawyer gets the timeline wrong for what the NY Times reported and when they reported it in relation to the release of Comey’s memo.
  8. Both sides are claiming victory here, or as was heard over the weekend “Comey Poisons Trump: Trump Claims Victory.”
  9. Representative Al Green (D-Texas) begins writing articles of impeachment against Trump for his firing of Comey. #premature

Russia:

  1. A classified document shows that Russian military intelligence ran cyberattacks against voting system software vendors. They used the hacked data to send spear-phishing emails to over 100 local election officials before last year’s elections. They targeted multiple states and got into at least one voter database.
  2. The above information was leaked to The Intercept. The Feds arrest the suspected leaker, Reality Winner, confirming the existence of the document.
  3. It turns out that the Republican-controlled House Intelligence Committee, which recently issued subpoenas to learn more about the unmasking of names of U.S. citizens, had also themselves asked to unmask the names of organizations and individuals last year. Devin Nunes signed off on all subpoenas.
  4. Putin denies that he has compromising information on Trump.
  5. This was under International last week, but all things come around to Russia. After four nations—Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, and Bahrain—cut ties with Qatar, the FBI joins the Qatar government in investigating the involvement of Russian hackers. They suspect the hackers planted a false story with Qatar’s state news agency, launching a Mideast crisis.
  6. Trump is smart to get private counsel from outside the White House. When Ken Starr was investigating Clinton, he got attorney/client privilege thrown out when it came to conversations with White House counsel, setting a precedent that could still be used.
  7. Intelligence Director Dan Coats corroborates Comey’s story that Trump requested that he lay off Flynn in the Russia probe. Officials corroborated that story in March. In testimony, though, both Coats and Rogers say they’ve never felt pressured to do something immoral, illegal, or inappropriate. They both refuse to discuss specifics of conversations between them and Trump, and refuse to answer questions directly.
  8. The Kremlin turns its attention to our military members and veterans by ratcheting up hacks, trolling, fake news, and propaganda directed at them. Russians set up fake Facebook accounts posing as attractive young women to friend service members and target the DoD on Twitter for phishing attacks.

Courts/Justice:

  1. Once again, the Supreme Court upholds a lower court ruling that threw out North Carolina state legislative district lines that discriminate against voters based on race. This is the latest in a string of rulings against NC’s highly gerrymandered districts. Literally, NC is the poster child for how not to run a democratic republic.
  2. Trump is frustrated with AG Sessions because Session’s recused himself from the Russia investigations and because Trump thinks that the DOJ should’ve stuck with the first travel ban, not the “watered down, politically correct” [though still unconstitutional] version. Sessions had apparently offered to step down at one point.
  3. The Justice Department considers major changes to the H-1B visa program, including forcing companies to advertise jobs online first and hire U.S. workers first, as well as reducing cap and duration of visas.
  4. Trump nominates Christopher Wray to FBI chief. The law firm where Wray works represents Rosneft, the Russian oil company at the center of the Russia probe.

Healthcare:

  1. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) wants a Senate vote on the ACA replacement bill by the July 4 recess. He’s bypassing procedure and trying to schedule a vote without going through committee hearings. Props to Claire McCaskill for calling him out on this. For the ACA, there were committee hearings, amendments, and a public comment period.
  2. Senators don’t sound positive, and word is McConnell just wants this done. It’s possible he’ll bring up the vote whether it can pass or not, just so they can move on to tax reform.
  3. The healthcare committee starts sending the bill piecemeal to the CBO.
  4. McConnell seems optimistic he has the votes needed to pass a replacement, but the bill is still being modified to accommodate various factions, including moves to accommodate moderates that will likely alienate more conservative Republicans.
  5. Meanwhile, five states—California,New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts—all have single payer legislation floating around.
  6. The Department of Health and Human Services signals a reversal of an Obama-era rule that prevented nursing homes from forcing tenants to sign an arbitration agreement as a requirement of being admitted.

International:

  1. As we learn of potential Russian hacking in the Qatar/Saudi issue, Trump takes credit for causing the situation, calling it “hard but necessary” (and apparently forgetting they’re a strong ally). He says the nations spoke to him about it before they cut ties, and that he and Tillerson agreed it was time to end funding to Qatar. Just before Trump said that, though, Tillerson asked the four nations involved to ease their blockade because it’s causing humanitarian problems for Qatar and logistics issues on our military base there. Trump later offers to help mediate the conflict.
  2. Trump doubles down on his criticism of London’s mayor after being called out for taking the mayor’s words out of context, tweeting: “Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his ‘no reason to be alarmed’ statement.” Londoners love Khan. This would be like Tony Blair calling Rudy Giuliani pathetic after 9/11.
  3. Mayor Khan suggests that the U.K. should cancel Trump’s state visit.
  4. Trump puts his visit to England on hold amid worries of protests.
  5. A man attacks a police officer with a hammer at Notre Dame. It’s being looked at as a terror attack.
  6. The death toll in the Kabul bombing from the previous week rises to over 150.
  7. Terrorist attacks in the parliament building and Ayatollah’s mausoleum in Iran kill at least 12 and wound dozens. ISIS claims responsibility, though Iran points the finger at Saudi Arabia and the U.S. The White House sends a message of support, but then closes out by blaming Iran for sponsoring terrorism.
  8. It turns out no real deal-making happened on Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia. According to the Brookings Institution, there are no deals or contracts, just letters of interest or intent. The Senate hasn’t received anything to review, and so far all the deals began during the Obama administration.
  9. Theresa May’s Tory party suffered a setback in a snap election, losing their parliamentary majority while the Labour party gained several seats. She called a snap election three years early to bolster her negotiating power with the EU over Brexit, but now it looks like her position is weakened and she’ll have to form a coalition.
  10. Unlike May’s party, French President Macron’s party is about to win a very large majority of parliamentary seats. Round one of votes was this week; candidates who didn’t win outright go on to round two next week.
  11. US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces break into Raqa, an ISIS stronghold in Syria.
  12. The U.S. provides military air assistance to Philippine troops fighting off a Muslim militant siege in Malawi.
  13. The U.S. launches an airstrike in Somalia, killing 8 in an action that was only possible because Trump changed the designation of that part of Somalia to a war zone.
  14. The Senate confirms former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown as Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, who credits former opponent Elizabeth Warren with moving his nomination through Senate.
  15. Romanian President Ioannis contradicts Trump in a joint press conference. When asked about including Romania in our Visa Waiver Program (VWP), Trump says they didn’t talk about it, but Ioannis says they did and that it’s very important to Romanians.

Legislation:

  1. After nearly half a year, the only notable legislative achievements of the administration are rollbacks to existing legislation and regulations.
  2. Congress looks at Trump’s push to privatize air traffic control through a non-profit company, which has bipartisan support and has already been done in several European countries with success. However, this has been around before and not passed Congress.
  3. It’s looking possible that Congress might raise the debt ceiling and continue funding Planned Parenthood without repealing the ACA, reforming taxes, or passing an infrastructure bill.
  4. Senators from both parties push for a vote on harsher sanctions against Russia, making it harder to rollback any current sanctions.
  5. The House votes along partisan lines to roll back parts of Dodd Frank, passing a bill named the Financial Choice Act. They’re calling it a jobs bill, but it really gives banks more freedom to pull the same risky crap that led to the financial crisis. The Senate has a bipartisan effort going to rewrite the regulations as well.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

  1. Kellyanne Conway’s husband sends out a series of tweets critical of Trump’s tweets about the travel ban, saying it only hurts his chances of winning the lawsuit.
  2. This isn’t really new news, but it’s in the news this week. School kids often quote Trump to bully classmates, with many reported incidents of white students bullying Latino, Middle Eastern, Asian, black, or Jewish classmates using the same rhetoric as Trump. How do you convince kids that even though the president of the United States does it, it’s not OK?
  3. Anti-Sharia marches around the country are met with counter-protestors of similar sizes. We need better education on what Sharia is and isn’t.
  4. It’s Pride month, but annual parades around the country morph into a mixture of pride and resistance, as hundreds of thousands of marchers show up not to just support LGBTQ rights, but also to resist Trump’s agenda.

Climate/EPA:

  1. While discussing our withdrawal from the Paris agreement, Scott Pruitt, the EPA administrator, says, ”I think the rest of the world applauded what we did in Paris.” First, this is the EPA. And also, no, much of the world chastised us out loud.
  2. The second highest ranking U.S. diplomat at the Beijing embassy resigns in the wake of the Paris agreement withdrawal, refusing to officially notify the Chinese of our withdrawal. He was a 27-year diplomat and was acting ambassador until the new ambassador arrives. The acting ambassador to England and the ambassador to Qatar have also publicly broken with Trump.
  3. California Governor Jerry Brown takes a leadership role by meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping to discuss climate change, highlighting how Trump’s ‘America first’ policy is sidelining him on the world stage.
  4. The United States Climate Alliance expands to include 13 states representing about 35% of our economy. Ten additional governors and the mayor of D.C. express support for the Paris agreement, but have not yet joined the coalition.
  5. I don’t know whether this falls under climate or travel ban, but Trump floats the idea of putting solar panels on the wall to pay for it, since Mexico for some reason still says they won’t.
  6. Hawaii becomes the first state to enact legislation supporting the Paris agreement. Under the new law, Hawaii will measure the sea level rise and set a strategy to reduce greenhouse gases.
  7. Democratic Senators question Betsy DeVos on whether the DOE was behind the recent mailings sent out by the Heartland Institute to 300,000 science teachers about how to teach that climate change is not manmade. Interesting Fact: Heartland Institute tried to convince us smoking doesn’t have adverse health effects.
  8. A federal court gives the EPA until June 15 to justify why they should be able to pause regulations limiting methane emissions while they do a review.

Budget/Economy:

  1. Trump’s infrastructure briefing includes no written plan, not even bullet points.
  2. Scott Pruitt implies that almost 50,000 jobs have been created in coal since Trump took office. The actual number is 1,000; the rest are in mining in general.
  3. Kansas legislators override Governor Brownback’s veto of their tax reform bill. Kansas has been undergoing a failed experiment since 2012, working under the theory that low taxes would result in a thriving economy. But it’s done the opposite and Kansas is in a world of hurt. Even still, the state congress barely pulled enough votes together to override his veto.
  4. In the aftermath of the vote, Kris Kobach launches his run for governor on an anti-immigration platform. Kobach’s the author of the strident and much-litigated voting laws in Kansas, leading many to accuse him of voter suppression. Kobach also serves on Trump’s voter fraud committee.
  5. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin takes his first foreign trip, meeting with Canadian officials on trade, economy, and national security issues.
  6. Trump withdraws Obama-era guidance on how employees are classified; a win for business, a loss for workers being misclassified as independent contractors (which are cheaper for business than actual employees). He also withdraws guidance that made parent companies liable for labor violations by their franchises.
  7. The U.S. and Mexico avert a trade crisis by coming to an agreement over Mexican sugar exports.
  8. The DOJ ends the practice of forcing companies to make payouts to affected groups when settling law suits. For example, when cases against banks for predatory lending practices were settled, the banks had to pay reparations to affected homeowners. No more.
  9. Trump proposes charging retailers a fee for accepting food stamps, a move that will largely affect small grocers but will also generate over $2 billion over the next decade.

Miscellaneous:

  1. Frustrated by Trump’s order to only comply with information requests from Republican congressional leaders, Democratic congressional leaders consider posting all questions publicly. DHS Secretary Kelly says his department will respond to all congressional requests, regardless of who they come from.
  2. Trump blames Democrats for holding up his ambassadorship nominations, even though there aren’t enough Democrats in the Senate to block them. It turns out that while he’s tapped several nominees, he hasn’t officially submitted them to the Senate even though he selected some as far back as April.
  3. Four law firms have turned down requests to represent Trump in the Russia probe amid concerns he wouldn’t listen or wouldn’t pay.
  4. Sean Spicer says we should consider Trump’s tweets to be official statements.
  5. It appears that, while Eric Trump’s foundation started out doing good work, at some point Donald Trump decided the foundation should be billed for everything for events held at a Trump golf course. So Eric ended up funneling charity dollars back into the Trump business. This is under investigation.
  6. Newly elected Montana Congressman Greg Gianforte published an apology to the Guardian reporter he assaulted, saying his actions were unacceptable. He also donated $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists. He still faces legal charges, but there won’t be a civil suit.
  7. Trump headlines the luncheon kick-off event of the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s 2017 Road to Majority gathering in D.C.
  8. For all you Trey Gowdy fans, he’s the new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee where he’ll lead oversight of the Trump administration.
  9. Melania and Barron Trump move into the White House.
  10. The Michigan Democratic Party agrees to pay a $500,000 fine for misreporting contributions raised by bingo fundraisers prior to 2014. It’s the largest fine paid for breaking campaign finance laws.
  11. Trump’s approval rating drops to near lows of 36% in the Gallup Poll and to 34% in the Quinnipiac poll.

Week 17 in Trump

Posted on May 22, 2017 in Politics, Trump, Uncategorized

I wasn’t following the news so closely last week, so I might have missed a few things. Here’s what I got–at least the week started off with a bang!

Russia:

  1. Sources say that in Trump’s meeting with Lavrov and Kislyak last week, he described information related to ISIS threats around laptops in airplanes, highly classified information that jeopardizes an intelligence source. The  arrangement with the source is sensitive, and it’s restricted from our allies and within our government. Trump’s revelation endangers future cooperation. In other words, we’ve shared more info with Russia than with our own allies.
  2. McMaster and others state that Trump didn’t disclose anything that wasn’t public to the Russians. Trump’s subsequent tweets indicate that he did.
  3. Some foreign officials suggest they’ll stop sharing secrets with the U.S.
  4. The source of the information Trump disclosed turns out to be based in Israel.
  5. Putin offers to give us a copy of their transcripts of the meeting to prove that classified material wasn’t discussed.
  6. Trump indicates that he records all his conversations, so Congress requests those recordings, especially after his disclosure during his meeting with Lavrov and Kislyak.
  7. Memos written by Comey after his meetings with Trump indicate that Trump had asked him to lay off the Flynn investigation.
  8. The Justice Department names a special counsel, former FBI Director Robert Mueller, to oversee the probe into Russia’s meddling in the election.
  9. During the last seven months of last year’s elections, Trump campaign advisors, including Michael Flynn, had contact with Russian officials and Kremlin ties at least 18 times.
  10. We learn that Flynn had informed the Trump campaign weeks before he was made security advisor that Flynn was under investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey.
  11. Trump tweets his anger about the appointment of a special prosecutor.
    • “With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel appointed!”
    • “This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!”
  12. In an interview, Trump says, “I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job. I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”
  13. A recording of a discussion between Republican representatives is publicized in which Kevin McCarthy jokes that Trump is being paid by Putin, and Paul Ryan says they should never talk about it.
  14. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), chair of the House Oversight Committee, requests all “memoranda, notes, summaries and recordings” of Trump and Comey’s communications.
  15. Investigators into Russia coordination with the Trump campaign says a current senior White House advisor is a person of interest and is under scrutiny.
  16. White House lawyers begin preparing for an impeachment defense. Note that this is not an admission of wrongdoing; they just want to be ready.
  17. After Rod Rosenstein briefed the Senate on the current state of the Russia investigation, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) says that the Russia probe looks more like a criminal investigation than a counter-intelligence investigation.

Courts/Justice:

  1. The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to reverse a lower court’s decision that North Carolina’s voter restriction laws are racially discriminatory. The court didn’t rule on the law itself, but rather refused to reinstate the law on a technicality. Either way, that means voter rights are safe for now. This case was North Carolina’s last-ditch attempt to save the Voter Identification Verification Act, which a previous judge said was blatantly discriminatory and was designed to disenfranchise Black voters with “almost surgical precision.”

Healthcare:

  1. Senate Republicans plan to vote on their version of the healthcare bill by August, with no public debate.
  2. Health insurance companies issue warnings about the uncertainties in the market and say that the administration is threatening to withhold payments to insurance companies unless they back the healthcare reform bill. Insurers are also planning dramatic increases in premiums because of the inconsistent guidance they are receiving. This uncertainty comes just as some markets are stabilizing, according to insurers and state regulators.
  3. The Trump administration cut U.S. aid by about $8.8 billion to international healthcare providers that support abortion rights.

International:

  1. NATO is working on ways to keep their upcoming meeting interesting and simple enough to hold Trump’s attention.
  2. North Korea tests another type of ballistic missile. With this successful test they claim they can reach U.S. bases in the Pacific.
  3. Trump hosts Turkish President Erdogan at the White House.
  4. Erdogan’s security forces and supporters violently attack protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence, while Erdogan watched from the driveway.
  5. The U.S. State Department accuses Syria of killing thousands of prisoners and burning their bodies at a crematorium. Syria denies this.
  6. Trump names Callista Gingrich, Newt’s third wife, as the ambassador to the Vatican.
  7. The US launches airstrikes against pro-Assad forces in southern Syria.
  8. Moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani wins his second term in a landslide victory, which comes as a relief to most of the West because his conservative opponent campaigned against the Iran nuclear deal and for closing Iran’s economy off from the world again.
  9. After interacting with Trump and his aides, foreign officials and consultants have come up with meeting guidelines.
    • Keep it short — no 30-minute monologue for a 30-second attention span.
    • Do not assume he knows the history of the country or its major points of contention.
    • Compliment him on his Electoral College victory.
    • Contrast him favorably with President Barack Obama.
    • Do not get hung up on whatever was said during the campaign.
    • Stay in regular touch.
    • Do not go in with a shopping list but bring some sort of deal he can call a victory. (NYT)
  10. UAE and Saudi Arabia pledge $100 million to Ivanka’s charity, even though during the campaign last year, Trump criticized the Clinton Foundation for accepting money from countries that “want women as slaves and to kill gays.”
  11. In his speech to Saudi Arabian officials, Trump claims to have achieved record spending on military, though his budget has not been passed through Congress.
  12. In a reversal of his previous rhetoric on Islam, Trump calls Islam on the of the world’s great faiths in the same speech. A sample of previous statements on Islam:
    • “I think Islam hates us.”
    • He called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims” to the U.S.
    • “There’s a sickness. They’re sick people.”

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

  1. The 9th circuit court of appeals again hears Trump’s Muslim ban case.

Budget/Economy:

  1. Trump announces his plan to renegotiate NAFTA. There’s a 90-day period during which Congress and the administration will confer on the plan, and negotiations with Canada and Mexico can begin August 16 of this year.
  2. In trying to balance the budget, Senate Republicans look at cutting over $400 billion in benefits, including Medicaid, food stamps, welfare, and veterans’ benefits. The way they’re planning on implementing the changes avoids a Democratic filibuster.

Miscellaneous:

  1. Trump doesn’t believe in exercising. He thinks our bodies have a finite amount of energy and that exercising too much depletes it.
  2. Mitch McConnell calls for less drama from the White House.
  3. James Clapper thinks that our institutions are under assault from the Trump administration and urges other branches of the government to step up their checks and balances.
  4. Sheriff David Clarke, who is slated to become assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security, is accused of plagiarizing his masters thesis, which he denies. Naval Postgraduate School is reviewing it. You might remember Clarke as the guy who once said Black Lives Matter might team up with ISIS.
  5. The family of DNC staffer Seth Rich, who was murdered last year, sends a cease and desist order to Rod Wheeler, a Fox News contributor, after Wheeler alleged that Rich was responsible for leaking DNC emails to Wikileaks. Wheeler also alleged that the murder was related to the leaks despite no evidence of this.
  6. Trump provides North Carolina with less than 1% of the emergency funds they requested for the massive cleanup effort after hurricane Matthew.
  7. Mitch McConnell recommends Merrick Garland to replace Comey as FBI director; Garland would rather stay a judge. <opinion alert> How can he possibly think well enough of Garland to recommend him for this position, but not respect him enough to even give him a hearing for his appointment to the Supreme Court? Blatant partisanship, Mitch.
  8. Misreported from last week: The news media indicated that there was only one photographer in Trump’s meeting with Lavrov and Kislyak. There was actually one Russian and one U.S. photographer allowed.
  9. Under-reported from last week: Trump met with Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Minister Pavlo Klimkin on the same day that he met with Lavrov and Kislyak; a meeting in which Klimkin expressed appreciation for U.S. support of the Ukraine and protection against Russian aggression.
  10. Roger Ailes, former media consultant to Republican presidents and formerly of Fox News, dies.

Week 15 In Trump

Posted on May 8, 2017 in Healthcare, Politics, Trump

I had to bring back the Stupid Things Politicians Say category this week… because you know when healthcare reform gets hot, people say some pretty stupid stuff. Here’s that and everything else that happened last week.

Climate/EPA:

  1. The EPA starts firing members of one of its main scientific advisory boards, releasing 5 scientists this week. Scott Pruitt says he wants to replace those empty positions with people from the very industries that the EPA is tasked with regulating.
  2. Emmanuel Macron, President Elect of France, has a message for U.S. scientists. France welcomes you and we’ll be spending money on scientific research, specifically in the area of climate change. Look for a little brain drain in the future.
  3. Flint notifies around 8,000 Flint residents that are risking tax liens on their homes for unpaid water bills.

Russia:

  1. Comey testifies to the Senate Judiciary Committee about events before last year’s election. Specifically about his announcement a week before the election, Comey says “This was terrible. It makes me mildly nauseous to think we might have had some impact on the election.” Thanks for that—it makes a bunch of us more than mildly nauseous.
  2. Here are a few take always from Comey’s testimony:
    • He said that he had no choice about breaking the news of the newly found emails in the last week of the election, even though he knew he was affecting the election.
    • He wanted to go public with the Russian meddling last summer, but the Obama administration prevented it. The administration only made the info public after 17 agencies came forward in October.
    • He confirmed that Russia was behind the DNC hack.
    • He said that Russia will continue to meddle in our elections and politics because the outcome of the election showed that their methods work.
    • He confirmed that he is being investigated for his role in the email probe and the elections.
    • He confirmed that the FBI is investigating whether active FBI agents leaked info to Giuliani in the run-up to the elections.
    • He also said that Huma Abedin had forwarded classified material to her husband’s server (Anthony Weiner).
  1. Hackers break into the campaign servers of French presidential candidate Macron (now President Elect) and dump 9 gigs of campaign documents just hours before the traditional media blackout France imposes in the 44 hours around an election. Macron wins the election handily anyway.
  2. A month before Michael Flynn was caught on tape talking with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about lifting U.S. sanctions, Flynn was warned about U.S. surveillance of Kislyak’s conversations. Maybe he just forgot?
  3. It turns out that Obama had warned Trump against hiring Flynn during the transition period, though Spicer continues to blame the Flynn problem on the Obama administration.
  4. Trump criticizes Susan Rice for refusing to testify in the Russia hearings, though she says her reason is that it was a partisan request. The leading Republican on the committee wants her to testify; the leading Democrat disagrees.
  5. Trump ends an interview abruptly when pushed on his accusation that Obama was spying on him.

Healthcare:

  1. Early in the week, moderate Republicans have concerns over the new healthcare bill, and say it needs to be rewritten. The primary concerns are:
    • Deep cuts to Medicaid.
    • Higher premiums for older Americans.
    • Insufficient protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
  1. The bill’s authors add an $8 billion fund for the high-risk pool to bring moderate Republicans on board.
  2. In an interview with CBS, Trump’s answers indicate he doesn’t know what’s actually in the latest version of the healthcare bill.
  3. In the middle of the week, Ryan doesn’t have enough Republicans committed to a yes vote on the healthcare bill. 20 Republicans are a definite no.
  4. By Thursday, the House finally feels confident to move ahead with a vote on the new bill. It narrowly passes 217-213, with 20 Republicans voting no and 1 not voting. Here’s how the new bill changes the ACA:
    • Replace existing subsidies with refundable tax credits based mostly on age and partially on income.
    • Remove cost sharing subsidies for people making less than $30,000.
    • End Medicaid expansion and place a cap on federal Medicaid spending.
    • Repeal the ACA tax on individuals making more than $200,000 or families making more than $250,000.
    • Remove age-based premium limits, allowing older people to be charged up to 5x the premiums of someone younger .
    • Remove guarantees for people with pre-existing conditions and other coverages mandated by the ACA (by giving states waivers, but states then have to provide an alternative).
    • Implement more generous HSAs.
    • Eliminate the individual and employer mandate (but still fine people whose insurance lapses).
  1. On Friday, the House unanimously passed a bill that would not let them be exempt from the AHCA.
  2. Democrats warn that the House bill contains certain provisions that don’t comply with special budget rules, which could allow for a filibuster if it comes to that.
  3. Some Senate Republicans are in such disagreement with the House-passed healthcare bill that they say they’ll write their own from scratch. They form a group of 13 (all men) to start the process.
  4. Hospitals, physicians, and insurers all criticize the bill saying people will lose coverage and some won’t get the care they need.
  5. On the day the House passes the bill estimated to cause millions to lose insurance, Trump praises the House Republicans’ efforts on this. Seconds later, he praises Australia’s universal healthcare system. So as we move our healthcare system further away from universal care, Trump says universal care is far better than ours.

International:

  1. Reports came out this week that the Trump administration is discontinuing the ″Let Girls Learn″ global program sponsored by Michelle Obama, but according to the White House, there are no changes to the program. Something to keep an eye on.
  2. South Korea’s missile defense system is up and running.
  3. Trump says he’d be ″honored″ to meet with Kim Jung Un.
  4. Trump and Putin have a tepid phone call, where they discuss Syria, North Korea, and a possible meeting this summer.
  5. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross recalls how Trump told Chinese President Xi about the Syrian bombing over desert, saying it was “free after dinner entertainment.”
  6. McMaster says that Trump’s foreign policy approach is disruptive, and thinks that could help stabilize things in the Mideast.
  7. Trump hosts Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas at the White House.
  8. Trump announces a visit to Israel, the Vatican, and Saudi Arabia in an effort to unite the world’s three leading faiths in the fight against terror.
  9. Emmanuel Macron, who founded his own ″En Marche!″ party, is elected President of France over far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.

Legislation:

  1. An Alabama judge rules to allow a mostly white city to secede from a more racially diverse school district, even though she also found the reasons for the move to be racially biased. The city must meet certain conditions regarding desegregation, but it’s likely to be caught up in lawsuits before they can even get that far.
  2. Trump signs a religious liberties executive order that the ACLU says will have ″no discernible policy outcome.″ While not changing any laws, it does the following:
    • Reiterates the governments support for freedom of religion and religious speech.
    • Essentially gives the IRS permission to relax enforcement of a rule restricting political actions and advocacy on the part of religious entities (by the way, the IRS has never prosecuted a religious entity based on this rule).
    • Directs agencies to explore avenues of relief for religious organizations in providing healthcare.
    • Gives the DoJ more freedom to interpret religious liberty protections versus civil rights.
  1. 1,330 clergy members took out a full-page ad against the executive order.
  2. Alabama’s governor, Kay Ivey, signs a law that gives adoption agencies the freedom to refuse to adopt out to parents based on religious beliefs. This is an obvious move toward allowing discrimination against gay parents. South Dakota, Michigan, North Dakota, and Virginia also have similar adoption laws.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

  1. Spicer gives the press a brief presentation of proposals for the wall, which appear to downgrade the wall to a series of fences and leads to a debate during the press briefing of the definition of a wall.
  2. Border agents have been turning away asylum seekers over the past several months. Under both U.S. and international law, asylum seekers are supposed to be allowed in to plead their case; it’s not up to border agents to decide.
  3. The number of refugees coming to the U.S. plummets to only 2,070 refugees in March and 3,316 in April, the lowest numbers since 2013.

Budget/Economy:

  1. The temporary spending measure signed by Congress to keep the government running allocates $120 million to help cover the increased security costs of protecting the first family, with about half going to the Secret Service and half going to reimburse the costs imposed on the municipalities they visit, like Palm Beach. This is just to get them through to September—5 months worth.
  2. The spending bill funds protections for refugees, H-2B visas, and the threatened Pell grants, NEA, NEH, ARC, EPA, Planned Parenthood, ACA subsidies, and Obama’s cancer moonshot at NIH. It doesn’t fund the border wall, not does it reduce funding for sanctuary cities. It does expand the military and border protection budgets. Democrats won concessions to keep Puerto Rico’s Medicaid program, while Republicans won on D.C.’s school choice program.
  3. Corn and soy farmers are now worried that Trump was serious about pulling out of NAFTA, and are concerned that renegotiating or pulling out completely could negatively affect the market for their crops.
  4. The budget Trump released in March would cut funding to programs under the Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER). These Obama-era programs work together at revitalizing coal communities with things like new business development and job and skills training. The approximately $1.13 billion cut would affect 7 of the 12 programs.
  5. In what appears to be an openness to suggestions from people in the trenches, Tillerson asks his staff for feedback on the budget cuts to the State Department.
  6. The economy adds 211,000 jobs this month and the unemployment rate edges down to 4.4%. Labor force participation is also down, but this is still good news.

Miscellaneous:

  1. Though Trump promised to drain the swamp, including barring his transition staff from lobbying for six month, at least nine people who worked on the transition have already registered as lobbyists.
  2. Transfers of cash from the U.S. to Mexico jumped 15% in the last month due to uncertainty around travel to the U.S. and relations with Mexico.
  3. Trump returns to New York City for the first time since taking office, to be greeted by protests and angry chants.
  4. The administration begins removing the staffers that they had installed to serve as Trump’s eyes and ears in various agencies (AKA, internal spies). Tensions have been growing between these monitors and the heads of the agencies.
  5. Hillary Clinton gives Christianne Amanpour a blistering interview where she takes responsibility for losing but also blames Comey’s timing of the email announcement along with Russian meddling. She also criticizes Trump’s performance so far and says she’s part of the resistance.
  6. According to 538, the letter Comey sent to Congress the week before the election probably did cost her the election. At a maximum, they estimate it might have shifted the race by 3 or 4 percentage points in states where she lost by less than 1 percentage point. And before you start up with how inaccurate the polls were, the final popular results was well within the margin of error of most reliable polls.
  7. It sounds like Trump wants to change the rules of passing a bill, not seeming to understand the system of checks and balances our usually slow-moving government applies. He called the system rough and archaic, and called Congressional rules bad for the country, saying that they should be changed.
  8. Trump launches a series of campaign ads singing the praises of his first 100 days in office, starting with a 30-second TV ad along with a series of more targeted online ads. It is an early return to campaigning for any sitting president. Usually they take this time to push through their most important policy changes.
  9. CNN refuses to air one of Trump’s campaign ads because it has a graphic with “Fake News” plastered across images of some familiar journalists. CNN says they aren’t fake news, therefore the ad is false and does not comply with their guidelines. Trump says this is censorship, but experts say CNN is within their rights not to air it.
  10. North Dakota is requesting $38 million from the federal government to pay for the DAPL protests.
  11. Thousands gather across the country for May Day marches and strikes. May Day, also called International Workers‘ Day, originated when U.S. trade unions declared the work day would be an 8-hour day, which united several groups and mobilized the workforce to fight for workers’ rights. Two years later, this movement brought about the first May Day strike on May 1, 1886.
  12. Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the Army, Mark Green, withdraws from consideration over controversies around past comments on gender, Islam, and evolution.
  13. Sonny Perdue ends nutritional standards at schools, reducing whole-grain requirements, allowing higher sodium levels, and restoring high-fat, sweetened milk. Because childhood obesity isn’t a problem here in the states, right?

Stupid Things Politicians Say:

  1. From Donald Trump: “I also applaud the Palestinian Authority’s continued cooperation with Israel. They get along unbelievably well… They work together beautifully.”
  2. Trump wonders why we had to fight the Civil War and surmises that if Andrew Jackson would’ve still been in power, he would’ve nipped it in the bud. History lesson: Unlike Lincoln, Andrew Jackson owned many slaves. And isn’t Lincoln supposed to be the big Republican hero? Here’s the full quote:

″I mean, had Andrew Jackson been a little later, you wouldn’t have had the Civil War. He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart. And he was really angry that — he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War. He said, “There’s no reason for this.” People don’t realize, you know, the Civil War — if you think about it, why? People don’t ask that question, but why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?″

  1. Arizona House Majority Leader John Allen, on teachers who have to work two jobs to make ends meet: “They’re making it out as if anybody who has a second job is struggling. That’s not why many people take a second job. They want to increase their lifestyles… They want to pay for a boat. They want a bigger house.”
  2. Wow. Just… wow. Rep. David Eastman (R-Wasilla) thinks that women in Alaska are getting abortions for the exciting travel opportunity, saying, “You have individuals who are in villages and are glad to be pregnant, so that they can have an abortion because there’s a free trip to Anchorage involved.”
  3. Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-NC) on pre-existing conditions: “People can go to the state that they want to live in. States have all kinds of different policies and there are disparities among states for many things: driving restrictions, alcohol, whatever. We’re putting choices back in the hands of the states.” As if moving to another state to get the care you need is a viable option for most people.
  4. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price says people who are sicker and riskier have to pay more for health insurance, and that it’s “pricing for what an individual’s health status is.” In reality, the reason we don’t rely on free-market pricing for health care is that the older and sicker would be charged higher insurance premiums because they’re more likely to cost more, and the younger and healthier would be charged less because they’re likely to cost less. Except you can’t predict when you’ll get sick.
  5. Rep. Raúl R. Labrador (R-Idaho): “Nobody dies because they don’t have access to health care.” Prior to the ACA, around 45,000 Americans died annually because of lack of health insurance (according to a 2009 Harvard study). Additional studies back this up.
  6. Jimmy Kimmel’s son is born with a heart condition, and he makes an emotional plea on live TV to make sure that nobody loses healthcare and that every baby is covered. Joe Walsh, former Republican Congressman tweets this response: “Sorry Jimmy Kimmel: you’re [sic] sad story doesn’t obligate me or anybody else to pay for somebody else’s health care.”
  7. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), defending an amendment that would require sicker people to pay more insurance costs: “My understanding is that it will allow insurance companies to require people who have higher health care costs to contribute more to the insurance pool that helps offset all these costs, thereby reducing the cost to those people who lead good lives, they’re healthy, you know, they are doing the things to keep their bodies healthy.” Because, you know good people who live healthy lives never get sick.

Week 14 In Trump

Posted on May 1, 2017 in Politics, Trump

Quote of the week:

“I love my previous life. I had so many things going. I, actually, this is more work than in my previous life,” Trump said. “I thought it would be easier. I thought it was more of a — I’m a details-oriented person I think you would say that. But I do miss my old life. I like to work so that’s not a problem but this is actually more work.”

Anybody who thinks presidenting is easy — in fact anyone who doesn’t think it’s just about the hardest job in the world — has never really paid attention to our government.

Russia:

  1. The Senate Intelligence Committee adds more staffers to help investigate Russia ties after they are criticized for the slow pace of their investigation.
  2. The slow pace also generates a bigger push for an independent investigation (73% of Americans want one).
  3. Rep. Jason Chaffetz says that it appears Michael Flynn broke the law in accepting foreign money for appearances and lobbying because as a retired Lieutenant General he is required to obtain permission.
  4. Sean Spicer shifts blame to the Obama administration for having given Flynn security clearance, though Obama had also fired Flynn. Meanwhile, the White House refuses to turn over the documents requested by the oversight committee, something Spicer denies.
  5. The Defense Department inspector general also launches an investigation into Michael Flynn.

 

Courts/Justice:

  1. Arkansas forges ahead with their executions, killing three more inmates this week.
  2. Trump says he’ll get rid of the requirement that employers provide birth-control coverage to their employees, but the DoJ indicates that they intend to continue fighting for that coverage.
  3. The Senate confirms Rod Rosenstein as Deputy Attorney General, and he’ll be taking over handling of the Russia probe.
  4. We learn that the DoJ, in a 180-degree turn, has withdrawn a primary claim against a Texas voter ID law. The DoJ until now has maintained that the law was written with discriminatory intent, a reversal that indicates the DoJ’s new position toward protecting minority interests. Or toward not protecting those interests.
  5. In response to a California judge ruling against Trump’s financial threats against sanctuary cities, Trump says he’s considering breaking apart the ninth circuit court of appeals, apparently unaware of presidential limits.
  6. In the ongoing conflict between North Carolina’s Republican legislature and its new Democratic governor, the legislature is trying to pass bills that would strip Governor Cooper of his ability to fill seats on the state court of appeals. In response, conservative Republican Judge J. Douglas McCullough steps down a month before his required retirement date to allow the governor to appoint someone to fill his seat. He is so opposed to the Republican antics that he is willing to have a Democrat replace him on the bench.

Healthcare:

  1. The GOP works again to revise their healthcare bill so they can bring it to a vote, this time catering to the interests of the Freedom Caucus.
  2. Changes to the bill give states more flexibility, letting them apply for waivers to some provisions. This includes rules around pre-existing conditions, patient age, prescription drug coverage, and mental health coverage.
  3. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, government costs would actually increase by $2.3 billion if they stop paying the ACA subsidies (as has been threatened in order to make the system fail).
  4. 79% of Americans say Trump should try to make the ACA work instead of trying to make it fail quickly. 50% of Americans don’t have faith in the replacement plan for the ACA.
  5. The UN sends a letter to the Trump administration warning that repealing the ACA without a robust replacement that ensures coverage is available to all could violate our obligations to international law.
  6. The House fails again to pull together enough votes to repeal and replace the ACA. The latest iteration got the Freedom Caucus on board, but lost moderate Republicans.
  7. Rep. Warren Davidson tells a woman at a town hall that her son isn’t skilled enough to have insurance coverage. When later asked about it, he reiterated that healthcare coverage is something we have to earn.

International:

  1. French President Hollande throws his support behind Emmanuel Macron in next month’s elections, calling on voters to reject far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.
  2. All the Senators are bused up to the White House for a briefing on North Korea by Rex Tillerson, Jim Mattis, Dan Coats, and General Joseph Dunford.
  3. Trump says that there could be a “major, major” conflict with North Korea. While most Senators and news media agree the situation is bad, Fox News says tensions are at a “fever pitch.”
  4. North Korea launches yet another ballistic missile test. Like the last one, this missile also fails.
  5. Secretary Mattis travels to Afghanistan to figure out how to handle the issue of Russia supplying the Taliban with weapons.
  6. In retaliation for Syria’s chemical attack, the U.S. imposes new sanctions against them.
  7. A Russian spy ship collides with a freighter and sinks in the Black Sea.
  8. The Trumps host Mauricio Macri, the president of Argentina, and his wife at the White House.
  9. Trump invites Philippine strongman (and human rights violator) Rodrigo Duterte for a White House visit.
  10. In continuing his moves to stifle dissent and free speech, Turkish President Erdogan fires around 4,000 government workers, and bans access to Wikipedia and certain TV shows countrywide. Remember Erdogan is the guy Trump called to congratulate on his win in consolidating power.
  11. The State Department wants to vet any remarks made by Nikki Haley before she speaks.

Legislation:

  1. In yet another move to pretend Obama’s presidency never happened, Trump signs an executive order to review our national monuments (federally protected and owned land). In fairness, this affects all monuments, not just those designated by Obama; however Trump has specifically pointed out those that were designated by Obama as inhibiting development. He can either abolish the designations or make the monuments smaller.
  2. The next day he tweets “As families prepare for summer vacations in our National Parks – Democrats threaten to close them and shut down the government. Terrible!” A little disconnect?
  3. In response to the executive order, clothing maker Patagonia threatens legal action.
  4. The FCC proposes rules to weaken net neutrality. More than 800 leaders of U.S. start-ups signed a letter to Ajit Pai, FCC chairman, asking that these rules not be changed. In brief, net neutrality forces ISPs to treat all packets of information equally. For example, they can’t charge Hulu more for data than Netflix or YouTube, and they can’t slow down one person’s data so another’s can flow faster.
  5. Trump signs an executive order around agriculture, which instructs Sonny Perdue (Secretary of Agriculture) to review regulations and identify unnecessary rules that can be eliminated. It creates a new task force to make recommendations on existing food and agriculture policies that could hinder profit-making of agribusiness.
  6. Trump signs an executive order to encourage offshore drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, making federal waters available for oil and gas leasing. Many cities and states have their own laws around this, so parts of the Atlantic may still be off limits.
  7. Despite his criticism of executive orders, especially of Obama’s use of executive orders, Trump ends the week with 32 executive orders under his belt, the most of any president in their first 100 days since WWII.
  8. Trump ends his first 100 days having signed 29 pieces of legislation from Congress, 11 of which do nothing more than repeal Obama-era rules and regulations.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

  1. According to the Anti-Defamation League, anti-semitic incidents are up 86% the first three months of this year compared to the same period last year. Only around a third of those were the hoax bomb threats against Jewish community centers.
  2. The Trump administration awards GEO, a company that donated almost half a million dollars to his campaign, the contract for a private immigration detention center.
  3. A federal judge blocks the Trump administration’s attempts to cut funding to sanctuary cities. Trump accuses his opponents of “judge shopping.” Once again, the administration’s words come back to haunt them. They previously said they would wield funding like a weapon and bring sanctuary cities to their knees, among other threats. The judge took their statements into account in his ruling.
  4. Mexico expresses concern that the border wall could violate a 47-year-old treaty between the U.S. and Mexico, and also that a wall could worsen flooding in some areas. The decision could be left up to international courts if Mexico protests the wall based on the treaty.
  5. Trump and Republican leaders butt heads over LGBTQ protections versus religious rights. Trump wants protection policies to remain; Republicans favor restricting those policies based on religious liberty. Trump has in the past professed support for protecting the LGBTQ community.
  6. Homeland Security creates a new agency, Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement or Voice, or VOICE, to assist families of victims of crimes by undocumented immigrants, even though undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than citizens. Some of their work appears to duplicate work already being done by states and localities, such as VINE, or Victim Information and Notification Everyday.
  7. Of the undocumented immigrants targeted for deportation in the days after Trump took office, around half had either no criminal offenses or minor traffic offenses. The number of immigrants picked up represents about a 32% increase over the previous year.

Climate:

  1. Energy Secretary Rick Perry endorses renegotiating parts of the Paris agreement instead of simply withdrawing from it.
  2. Protestors against Trump’s climate policies march in cities across the country on Trump’s 100th day in support of science-based policies that support our health and the health of the planet.
  3. The night before the climate marches, the EPA removes its scientific climate change website from public view. The site is archived, and they say they’re updating it to match the new direction of the agency. This causes great concern in the scientific community, but we’ll see whether the info gets put back up.
  4. Because of climate change, coffee production has been in a deficit for the past 4 years. Meanwhile consumption is reaching an all-time high. But not to worry; scientists are on it, working on plants that can withstand disease and grow with less water.
  5. Ice roads in Canada are freezing later and melting earlier than before, reducing the window in which isolated residents can travel and goods can be trucked. The roads take longer to freeze and the ice isn’t as thick, making it more dangerous for travel.

Budget/Economy/Trade:

  1. Trump issues a tax plan, which is more like a wishlist than an actual plan. In short, the plan:
    • Cuts corporate taxes for businesses of all sizes, from the biggest to mom-and-pop stores.
    • Cuts the top tax rate by 4.6 points.
    • Eliminates the ACA tax of 3.8% on top earners, bringing their total tax cut to 8.4 points.
    • Eliminates the estate tax and the alternative minimum tax (AMT).
    • Increases the standard deduction to help middle class earners (this might require eliminating other deductions).
    • Doesn’t include tax revenue to support the infrastructure plan.
    • Rejects the border tariff proposed by House Republicans.
    • Creates a loophole where people could create pass-through corporations and lower their effective tax rate to 15%.
    • Eliminates the state and local tax deductions from federal income tax.
  2. Analysts say the economy would have to grow by 5% to make up for the budget shortfall.
  3. The Tax Policy Center estimates the cuts will reduce federal revenue by $6.2 trillion over 10 years.
  4. Mnuchin says he can’t guarantee that the middle class won’t pay more under the new tax bill but he says there should be no absolute tax breaks for the wealthy. Even though their tax bracket is dropping at least four points. I’m trying to work out the math here…
  5. Analysts say that the economic policies in the tax plan don’t support policies in Trump’s trade and immigration plans. They say he needs an overall economic vision that brings all the different pieces together, a vision that is currently lacking.
  6. Trump orders a 20% tariff on softwood lumber coming in from Canada, which is predicted to increase the cost of new homes. He argues that the lumber is unfairly subsidized which hurts lumber companies in the U.S., but this seems to be in response to an import tax Canada on U.S. dairy products processed in a certain way (the processing style was used as a way to get around NAFTA trade rules).
  7. Democrats say they’ll stall the spending bill and risk a government shutdown if the healthcare vote happens this week.
  8. On Wednesday, Congress leans toward signing a one-week extension to the budget to keep the government going.
  9. Trump throws in a wrench by making demands to begin funding the border wall and to begin defunding the ACA (specifically the payments that help low-income people).
  10. Trump backs away from his demands around the border wall and the ACA this go around.
  11. Or wait, does he really?
  12. Yes. Yes, he does.
  13. Ryan says the spending bill will not include ACA payments that help lower-income people afford care.
  14. Or wait, will it?
  15. Yes. Yes, it will include those payments.
  16. The House and Senate pass a short-term budget bill to prevent a shutdown. The vote didn’t hinge on any healthcare changes nor on any funding for the wall.
  17. Also in the bill, the NIH will get a $2 billion dollar increase, a rejection of Trump’s cuts to the agency in his proposed budget.
  18. The White House submits a draft proposal to withdraw from NAFTA. Republicans and Democrats in Congress both say hold up, wait a minute here.
  19. Trump threatens to terminate NAFTA, causing shakeups in the markets, Congress, Canada, and Mexico.
  20. After both Mexican and Canadian leaders phone Trump, he agrees not to terminate NAFTA. It seems that what actually convinced him, though, was Sonny Perdue, Secretary of Agriculture, showing him map of the farmers who would be negatively affected by scrapping NAFTA and telling him that these are Trump voters.
  21. The latest numbers show that the U.S. had sluggish economic growth last quarter at just .7%, the weakest in three years. Consumer spending was down as well. This might not have much to do with Trump, though, as we’re still on Obama’s budget.

Miscellaneous:

  1. To add to Fox’s public image issues, a new class-action lawsuit against the media conglomerate alleges racial discrimination.
  2. The Senate denies Breitbart’s request for permanent press pass credentials saying they need answers to more questions.
  3. It’s another bad week for Alex Jones of InfoWars, who is in the middle of a custody suit. Chobani sues him for defamation after Jones linked the founder of the company to a sexual assault case and accused him of importing refugee rapists. And then Jones lost his custody suit.
  4. The State Department removes a page on its website featuring Mar-a-Lago after criticism that it used government resources to basically advertise the resort.
  5. The Senate confirms Alexander Acosta as Secretary of Labor.
  6. Trump thought once he won, the press would be kinder to him.
  7. Trump speaks at the annual NRA meeting in Atlanta, the first sitting president since Ronald Reagan in 1983 to do so.
  8. Ivanka travels to Germany for a panel discussion on women’s economic empowerment, on Angela Merkel’s invite. The first day doesn’t go well as she’s forced to defend her father to a skeptical audience.
  9. Ann Coulter is speaking at UC Berkeley. Then she’s not (UCB postponed for security concerns). Then she is (forget security, I’ll just speak in a public square). Then she’s not (she lost the support of the groups who asked her to speak). The primary catalyst here is the security concern with far right and far left extremist groups, but the issue quickly escalates into accusations of free speech infringement.
  10. Paul Ryan is less popular than Donald Trump with just a 22% approval rating.
  11. A new poll shows that most Trump voters do believe that Obama was spying on the Trump campaign.
  12. And finally of note this week is this Politico story about press office lies. It seems the press were warned from the start that the White House would feed them lies just to mess with them. Staffers lie more for sport than for furthering any agenda; it’s all a game. Information is plentiful when you’re doing a story on palace intrigue, but not so much when it comes to actual policy. What they say off the record is far more accurate than what they say on the record, especially when it comes to TV appearances. For example, Spicer has lied or mislead 51 times in his briefings.

Legislation Signed By Trump In His First 100 Days

Posted on May 1, 2017 in Legislation, Trump

Here’s a list of all the bills signed into law by Trump in his first hundred days. I’ll update this later with brief descriptions of each and what they do, but for now, note that every law that is a disapproval or is disapproving repeals something Obama put into place.

April 28, 2017

H.J.Res. 99 – Joint Resolution making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2017, and for other purposes.

April 19, 2017

S.J.Res. 36 – Joint Resolution providing for the appointment of Roger W. Ferguson as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.

S.J.Res. 35 – Joint Resolution providing for the appointment of Michael Govan as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.

S.J.Res. 30 – Joint Resolution providing for the reappointment of Steve Case as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.

S. 544 – An Act to amend the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to modify the termination date for the Veterans Choice Program, and for other purposes.

Signed on April 18, 2017

H.R. 353 – Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017

Signed on April 13, 2017

H.J.Res. 67 – Joint Resolution disapproving the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to savings arrangements established by qualified State political subdivisions for non-governmental employees.

H.J.Res. 43 – Joint Resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the final rule submitted by Secretary of Health and Human Services relating to compliance with title X requirements by project…

Signed on April 3, 2017

S.J.Res. 34 – Joint Resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission relating to “Protecting the Privacy of Customers of Broadband…

H.R. 1228 – An Act to provide for the appointment of members of the Board of Directors of the Office of Compliance to replace members whose terms expire during 2017, and for other purposes.

H.J.Res. 83, which nullifies the Department of Labor’s rule titled Clarification of Employer’s Continuing Obligation to Make and Maintain an Accurate Record of Each Recordable Injury and Illness; and

H.J.Res. 69, which nullifies the Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service’s final rule relating to non-subsistence takings of wildlife on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska

Signed on March 31, 2017

S.J.Res.1 – Joint Resolution approving the location of a memorial to commemorate and honor the members of the Armed Forces who served on active duty in support of Operation Desert Storm or Operation Desert Shield.

H.R.1362 – An Act to name the Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic in Pago Pago, American Samoa, the Faleomavaega Eni Fa’aua’a Hunkin VA Clinic.

H.J.Res.42 – Joint Resolution disapproving the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to drug testing of unemployment compensation applicants.

Signed on March 28, 2017

S. 305 – Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017

Signed on March 27, 2017

H.J.Res.57 – Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Education relating to accountability and State plans under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

H.J. Res. 58 – Joint Resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Education relating to teacher preparation issues.

H.J. Res. 44 – Joint Resolution disapproving the rule submitted by the Department of the Interior relating to Bureau of Land Management regulations that establish the procedures used to prepare, revise, or amend land use plans pursuant to the Federal Land

H.J. Res. 37 – Joint Resolution disapproving the rule submitted by the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration relating to the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

Signed on March 21, 2017

S.442 – National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017

Signed on March 13, 2017

H.R.609 – To designate the Department of Veterans Affairs health care center in Center Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, as the “Abie Abraham VA Clinic”.

Signed on February 28, 2017

H.R. 321 – Inspiring the Next Space Pioneers, Innovators, Researchers, and Explorers (INSPIRE) Women Act

H.R. 255 – Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act

H.J.Res. 40 – Joint Resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Social Security Administration relating to Implementation of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007.

Signed on February 16, 2017

H.J.Res.38 – Disapproving the rule submitted by the Department of the Interior known as the Stream Protection Rule.

Signed on February 14, 2017

H.J.Res.41 – Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of a rule submitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to “Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers”.

Signed on January 31, 2017

H.R.72 – GAO Access and Oversight Act of 2017

Signed on January 20, 2017

S.84 – A bill to provide for an exception to a limitation against appointment of persons as Secretary of Defense within seven years of relief from active duty as a regular commissioned officer of the Armed Forces.

Trump’s Executive Orders In His First 100 Days

Posted on May 1, 2017 in Legislation, Trump

I decided to revisit this blog entry after someone posted a link on Facebook to all of Trump’s accomplishments. For your reading pleasure, here it is: President Trump’s 100 Days of Historic Accomplishments! I’m sure you’ll notice the same thing I did here. There are no actual accomplishments listed. It just compares the number of executive orders and laws signed against previous presidents. Weird, right?

So I figured I’d dig into it and see what he actually accomplished by signing his name. Here’s what I found. If you don’t want to read through it all, most of it is just either “get rid of regulations” or “reverse everything Obama did” (though many could affect more than just Obama’s work).

He signed 32 executive orders in his first 100 days. 16 of those simply direct agencies to review existing laws or regulations. 3 are stalled in the courts, and 1 is stalled in Congress.

April 29, 2017

Presidential Executive Order Addressing Trade Agreement Violations and Abuses

Orders a review all existing trades agreements and trade deficits and basically report back by the end of October any agreements or situations that don’t make things better for Americans.

Presidential Executive Order on the Establishment of the American Technology Council

Creates the OTMP, an agency that defends and serves American workers and manufacturers and advises the president on increasing economic growth, decreasing the trade deficit, and strengthen our industry and manufacturing.

April 28, 2017

Presidential executive order implementing an America-first offshore energy strategy

Encourages energy exploration and production, including the Outer Continental Shelf, as well as sets up a review of designations and expansions of National Marine Sanctuaries, and of all designations and expansions of Marine National Monuments under the Antiquities Act of 1906. Orders a review of well and air control regulations. This order contains several sections that expand oil drilling in previously disallowed waters. This one is actually huge and could affect not only natural habitats, but also remove some of the safety regulations around offshore drilling.

April 27, 2017

Presidential executive order improving accountability and whistleblower protection at the Department of Veterans Affairs

This creates an office whose purpose seems to be to protect veterans who complain about the VA from being mistreated by the VA. I’m not quite clear on this one.

April 26, 2017

Presidential executive order on enforcing statutory prohibitions on federal control of education

Attempts to give more control to state and local districts over schools, and orders a review of DEOA, GEPA, and ESEA, as amended by ESSA (regulations that help assure kids get a fair shot). This one is also huge and could mean big changes for many school districts.

Presidential executive order on review of designations under the Antiquities Act

Orders a review of lands designated as national monuments, presumably so he can reverse Obama’s recent designations. Ryan Zinke has already started a tour of the designations, including the controversial Bear’s Ears.

April 25, 2017

Presidential executive order on promoting agriculture and rural prosperity in America

Creates a task force to identify legislative, regulatory, and policy changes to promote in rural America agriculture, economic development, job growth, infrastructure improvements, technological innovation, energy security, and quality of life.

April 21, 2017

Presidential executive order on identifying and reducing tax regulatory burdens

Orders the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to immediately review all significant tax regulations issued by the Department of the Treasury on or after January 1, 2016, and to report back by June.

April 18, 2017

Presidential executive order on “Buy American, Hire American”

Orders agencies to enforce laws requiring companies to employ American parts and labor; to review trade laws to make sure these laws aren’t violated; to limit H-1B visas; and to review these laws in order to strengthen them. Of note here, he’s already granted waivers on this one, but it covers a lot.

March 31, 2017

Presidential executive order on establishing enhanced collection and enforcement of antidumping and countervailing duties and violations of trade and customs laws

Orders a review of illegal import, trade, and intellectual property activities in order to come up with a plan to crack down on violators.

Presidential Executive Order on Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Justice

Reverses his own executive order on the DoJ order of succession.

Presidential executive order regarding the Omnibus report on significant trade deficits

Orders a review of our trade deficits with other countries to see if those countries are placing an undo burden on us and if the current tariffs are fair. The report is due by June.

March 29, 2017

Presidential executive order establishing the president’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis

Creates a commission to study the scope and effectiveness of the Federal response to drug addiction and the opioid crisis and to make recommendations to the President for improving that response. The final report is due in October.

March 28, 2017

Presidential executive order on promoting energy independence and economic growth

Orders all agencies to perform a review of regulations to make sure that the benefit outweighs the cost and that no regulations are overly burdensome. The reports are due by October. This order also reverses 4 executive orders signed by Obama on climate and environmental protections, including one on climate change and national security; rescinds 2 reports created under the Obama administration on strategies to deal with climate change; calls for a gutting of the Clean Power Act; and disbands the Interagency Working Group on Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases and withdraws their documents as no longer representative of U.S. policy.

Also of note, the order rescinds the final guidance by Council on Environmental Quality entitled “Final Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Effects of Climate Change in National Environmental Policy Act Reviews,” which is referred to in “Notice of Availability,” 81 Fed. Reg. 51866 (August 5, 2016). This one is enormous and reflects the administration’s feelings about climate science. I’ll add a new entry just on the changes reflected in this order because there’s just too much to include here.

March 27, 2017

Presidential executive order on the revocation of federal contracting executive orders

Rescinds Obama’s Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces order and amendments.

March 13, 2017

Presidential executive order on a comprehensive plan for reorganizing the executive branch

Orders agencies heads to review their agencies and submit plans for reorganization or elimination of each agency to the budget director. The plans are due in October, and then the budget director will solicit public opinion on the Federal Register.

March 06, 2017

Presidential executive order protecting the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States

Suspends travel from several Muslim countries. This is the second travel ban and as of June 1 is delayed in the courts.

February 28, 2017

Presidential Executive Order on The White House Initiative to Promote Excellence and Innovation at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Instructs the DOE to work with HBCUs to foster more and better opportunities in higher education; strengthen the capacity of HBCUs to provide the highest-quality education; provide equitable opportunities for HBCUs to participate in Federal programs; and increase the number of college-educated Americans who feel empowered and able to advance the common good at home and abroad. At the same time, it of course revokes Obama’s  executive order, Promoting Excellence, Innovation, and Sustainability at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Presidential executive order on restoring the rule of law, federalism and economic growth by reviewing the “Waters of the United States” rule

Orders a review of the Clean Waters act.

February 24, 2017

Presidential executive order on enforcing the regulatory reform agenda

Orders each agency to designate a Regulatory Reform Officer to oversee the streamlining of regulations. The RROs were supposed to deliver their first reports in May. So far, only the EPA and Department of Energy seem to be on track. The EPA called for public comments in April and those are already closed.

February 09, 2017

Presidential executive order providing an order of succession within the Department of Justice

Revokes Obama’s executive order defining the DoJ’s order of succession.

Presidential executive order on enforcing federal law with respect to transnational criminal organizations and preventing international trafficking

Orders intelligence and law agencies to work together to share information on trafficking, to enforce existing laws harsher, and look for ways to use the laws better to stop trafficking.

Presidential executive order on preventing violence against federal, state, tribal and local law enforcement officers

Orders a review of existing laws protecting law enforcement officers with the purpose of pushing legislation to prevent and punish crimes against LEOs.

Presidential executive order on a task force on crime reduction and public safety

Orders the Attorney General to create a task force on crime prevention. They have a year to provide their findings to POTUS.

February 03, 2017

Presidential executive order on core principles for regulating the United States financial system

Orders a review of the U.S. financial system based on core principles of economic growth, no bailouts, economic competitiveness, and public accountability, among others. The Secretary of the Treasury is to start reporting findings to POTUS in June.

January 30, 2017

Presidential executive order on reducing regulation and controlling regulatory costs

Orders each agency to eliminate two regulations whenever it introduces one new one. It also places budgetary constraints on new regulations. This applies to all agencies except military.

January 28, 2017

Presidential executive order on ethics commitments by executive branch appointees

Defines the ethics by which White House staff must work, including things like restrictions on lobbying activities, other employment, receiving gifts, and working with foreign countries. This is a standard EO for all presidents. Of note, the administration has already granted as many waivers as the previous administration did in its entire 8 years.

January 27, 2017

Presidential executive order on protecting the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States

This is the first of two attempts at a travel ban, restricting travel from Muslim countries and including current visa holders. This was stopped by the courts and rather than defend it, Trump created a new EO for this purpose (which is also caught up in litigation and currently stayed).

January 25, 2017

Presidential executive order on border security and immigration enforcement improvements

Directs the relevant departments and agencies) to secure the southern border, prevent further illegal immigration, and repatriate undocumented immigrants swiftly, consistently, and humanely. It includes the border wall (which is stalled), expansion of border patrol officers, reallocation of judges to the borders, expanded (private) detention centers, and more.

Presidential executive order on enhancing public safety in the interior of the United States

Directs all law enforcement agencies to execute federal immigration laws, including local police departments. This order also rescinds federal funding from sanctuary cities. A federal court place a nationwide injunction against the entire order in April.

January 24, 2017

Presidential executive order expediting environmental reviews and approvals for high priority infrastructure projects

Directs agencies to streamline and expedite review and approval for certain infrastructure projects, like the Keystone pipeline and DAPL.

January 20, 2017

Presidential executive order minimizing the economic burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act pending repeal

States the mission of repealing and replacing the ACA, and orders agency heads to do everything possible by law to NOT follow the guidelines of the existing healthcare law.

Sources: WhiteHouse.gov, Archives.gov

Week 13 in Trump

Posted on April 24, 2017 in Politics, Trump

You sunk my battleship!

After a week of raucous town halls, I was expecting there to be a lot of entries under “Stupid Things Politicians Say” but I couldn’t find anything worthy. So here’s what really did happen in Trump’s 13th week.

But first, I missed a few things in the previous week’s recap:

  1. A blast from a suicide car bomber struck several buses that were evacuating civilians from towns around Aleppo, killing over 100 people including children and aid workers.
  2. British intelligence was aware of the links between members of Trump’s campaign and Russian operatives as far back as late 2015.
  3. Paul Manafort borrowed $13 million from Trump-related businesses on the day he left the campaign.
  4. When Trump said that NATO was no longer obsolete, he credited himself with the change, saying his tough stance had made the other countries take their responsibilities more seriously.

 

And now here’s what happened in week 13 under Trump:

Russia:

  1. We learn that the FBI used the Trump dossier to obtain a FISA warrant to surveil Carter Page last year. This means that not only did the FBI think the dossier provided probable cause, but the courts thought so as well, lending credence to the information contained within the dossier.
  2. Documents show that a Russian government think tank developed a strategy to swing the U.S. election to Trump and to undermine our trust in our electoral system. The project was requested by Putin.
  3. U.S. Intelligence announces it’s preparing charges to arrest Julian Assange. A day later, U.K. Election Commission announces an investigation into Leave.EU, the organization behind Brexit led by Nigel Farage. Farage also has ties to Assange and has visited him in the Ecuadorian embassy.
  4. Amidst all the Russian hacking accusations from last year, Trump promised to put together a team to give him a cyber security plan within the first 90 days of his presidency. As of now there is no plan and no team.
  5. Russian military aircraft come near Alaska four times in four days, to be intercepted by American and Canadian fighter jets.

Courts/Justice:

  1. While AG Sessions shuffles the DoJ toward a policy of aggressive law enforcement, as of this week he has not replaced any of the U.S. attorneys who were forced to resign last month. Unless he gets staffed up, he’ll have a hard time getting tougher on crime and immigration.
  2. The DoJ debates bringing criminal charges against members of WikiLeaks over the 2010 leak of military and diplomatic documents, as well as the more recent 2017 leaks around CIA cyber tools. They’re on the hunt for the leakers.
  3. Sessions, speaking of the Hawaiian judge who put a stay on the travel ban, says he is amazed that “a judge sitting on an island in the pacific can issue an order that stops the President of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and Constitutional power.” Later, given a chance to walk those comments back, he digs in deeper.
  4. Arkansas puts a prisoner to death for the first time on over a decade. After courts in Arkansas put a stay on the eight executions they wanted to carry out last week (because their execution drugs were expiring), the courts allow the state to go forward in one case. Seven are still on hold.
  5. After Trump’s lawyers failed to make their case that Trump couldn’t be named in a civil suit because he’s president, they argue that protestors had no right to “express dissenting views” during Trump’s campaign rallies.

Healthcare:

  1. Trump debates his next move on the ACA, with certain budget decisions having to be made soon. He can either cut the subsidies and risk pissing off over 11 million people, or he can continue funding, maybe even fix a few things, and risk making it more popular and harder to repeal.
  2. It looks like they’re gearing up to try again next week to repeal and replace the ACA, as House Republicans come up with a new proposal. This version gives states more flexibility, potentially removing protections for those with existing illnesses among other ACA provisions.

International:

  1. The number of civilian casualties in the Mideast has increased dramatically under Trump. It’s unclear if this is from more intensive fighting or policy changes.
  2. Israeli defense officials say that Syria still has chemical weapons.
  3. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May calls for a general election in June though she had previously said she would wait until the regularly scheduled elections in 2020. This could strengthen her hand in the Brexit negotiations with the EU if she wins. The pound rebounds to a six-month high after the announcement.
  4. Trump calls Turkey President Erdogan to congratulate him on winning his referendum that basically consolidates government powers and sets Turkey on a path away from democracy and toward authoritarianism.
  5. Trump says both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were “outplayed by this gentleman,” referring to Kim Jong Un. Kim Jong Un has only been North Korea’s leader since 2012. Bill Clinton dealt with Un’s father.
  6. After a mixup between where the White House thought their warships were and where the warships actually were, the warships are now headed toward the Korean Peninsula.
  7. Vice President Pence pays a visit to South Korea and to the DMZ, putting North Korea on notice that the “era of strategic patience is over.”
  8. The North Korean envoy at the UN warns that they will retaliate in kind to any U.S. strike.
  9. Against Chinese opposition, South Korea is deploying an American missile defense system called the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system.
  10. While Trump continues to criticize Iran and say they’re not living up to their end of the deal, Tillerson says Iran is sticking to the rules of the nuclear agreement. He also says, though, that the agreement is still being evaluated for its efficacy.
  11. The Trump administration denies Exxon its requested waiver against Russian sanctions in order to complete a business deal with Russian oil company Rosneft. Waivers have been granted in the past, but this specific deal seems to have been frozen in 2014.
  12. China and Russian vessels follow Trump’s “armada” on its way to North Korea, saying they are just there to stabilize the situation.
  13. Trump announces the nomination of former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown to the position of ambassador to New Zealand.
  14. A shooter kills one policeman and wounds another on the Champs Elysees, with ISIS claiming responsibility for his actions. This is backed up by a note found in the gunman’s pocket.
  15. GM pulls out of Venezuela after the government says they’re taking over GM’s car manufacturing plant there. The plant hasn’t put out a car since 2015, and now all those employees are out of a job.
  16. The euro dips leading up to the elections in France. It looks like there will be a runoff election between the two candidates with the most votes, center-left Emmanuel Macron and far-right Marine Le Pen. This election is being billed as a referendum, and all other parties quickly united afterward against the far-right candidate.

Legislation:

  1. The Montana legislature is proposing a strange anti-abortion bill. “The bill, S.B. 282, defines fetal viability at 24 weeks’ gestation and prevents abortions past that point, even in a medical emergency. A pregnant person whose fetus stands a 50 percent chance of survival outside the womb would be forced to undergo a C-section or induced labor. Additionally, under the proposed law, a doctor who provides an abortion past 24 weeks could face charges of homicide.” This is the third anti-abortion bill they’ve put forward this year.
  2. As part of an effort to dismantle some of Obama’s financial regulations, Trump signs an executive order establishing a review of any major tax regulations Obama set last year. He also signed two memos that could change or eliminate parts of the Dodd-Frank reforms. If you remember, these reforms were designed to prevent the “too big to fail” problem from re-occurring.
  3. Trump signs a “buy American, hire American” executive order that directs federal agencies to crack down on fraud and abuse in the H-1B visa program, but that doesn’t change anything about the current program.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

  1. An immigrant protected by DACA is deported. There are varying stories on this, but the gist is that he didn’t have his ID with him and couldn’t prove his DACA status. Within three hours he was back in Mexico with no due process.
  2. In a twist of irony, Judge Gonzalo Curiel, whom Trump said last year could not hear his case fairly because he was Mexican, is the judge who will hear the above case.
  3. The border wall, if built, will likely go through the middle of Big Bend National Park.
  4. Controversy continues around the wall over how much it will cost (estimates are anywhere from $20-70 billion) and who will pay (people who send money to Mexico, taxpayers, child tax credits – even if the child is a U.S. citizen, trade revenue).
  5. None of the congressional politicians in border states (Texas, Arizona, California, and New Mexico) support funding for the border wall.
  6. Due to the new, more restrictive policies on entering the U.S., Emirates airlines starts cutting flights to the U.S. They say that travel demand is down.
  7. Even Canadian travel to the U.S. is down because of the new travel policies. There’s a feeling that America isn’t welcoming like it used to be.
  8. AG Sessions says they can’t promise they won’t deport DREAMers, though Trump says they have no plans to deport DREAMers right now and that they should “rest easy.” Mm-hmm.
  9. Ever since the election, doctors report seeing a surge in children suffering from Trump-related anxiety related. Symptoms include panic attacks and physical pain, such as chest pain and headaches. These children largely belong to the minorities targeted by Trump’s early rhetoric.
  10. Nikki Haley denounces the detention and killing of gay men in Chechnya. If you aren’t following this story, you should be. They are committing horrendous atrocities against the LGBTQ community there.
  11. AG Sessions sends letters to nine jurisdictions, including all of California, requesting proof that they’re cooperating with ICE and threatening that they’ll lose funding if they don’t.
  12. As part of the above, Sessions accuses New York City of being soft on crime, saying that the city is “crumbling under the weight of illegal immigration and violent crime.” Of note, murder is down 82% from its peak, and crime in general is down 76%. NYC crime is at its lowest recorded level in decades.
  13. Though Trump said it was a bad deal, Pence says the U.S. will honor the refugee agreement with Australia.

Climate/EPA:

  1. Even though business leaders listed eliminating EPA regulations as one of the top targets to increase business, many of America’s corporations (from Apple to Wal-Mart) plan to continue their plans to fight climate change and move toward renewable energy.
  2. Not really a climate event, but thousands of scientists and science supporters marched on Earth Day in support of science-driven policy in 600 cities on 6 continents.

Budget/Economy:

  1. The Institute of Library and Museum Sciences is on the chopping block in Trump’s proposed budget. This program finances programs at 123,000 libraries and 35,000 museums across the country.
  2. Trump is itching to get rolling on tax reform, but Treasury Secretary Mnuchin says that it’s not realistic to expect that a plan will be signed by August.
  3. I’m not sure if this exactly falls under Economy, but Trump starts an investigation into steel imports, specifically to see whether the U.S. makes enough of its own steel to defend itself if needed.
  4. While Congress is out on recess this week, everyone is bracing for a budget showdown. The money runs out on April 28, and a new budget needs to be passed to avert a shutdown. After weeks of negotiation between Democrat and Republican leaders, Trump says the budget must include funding for the border wall and an increased border patrol; Democrats say no way. Even Republicans say that’s an argument for another time. Looks like it will come down to border wall funding and ACA repeal.
  5. Politicians in Mexico consider retaliatory options to Trump’s constant criticism of Mexico and Mexicans, including aligning with China and reducing their dependence on American goods.
  6. The Dow Jones dips after Trump announces his massive tax cut plan to be presented next week.
  7. After opposition from the U.S., IMF leaders drop a pledge to fight protectionist trade policies, but still say they will work to reduce trade imbalances. Earlier they said that protectionist policies could throw a wrench in the currently improving global growth.

Elections:

  1. Jason Chaffetz says he won’t run again for office in 2018, and he might not even finish out his term. An opponent has out-raised him 4 to 1, and he’s drawn ire for recent comments on the ACA. Rumors abound about his reasons, but nothing holds water yet.
  2. Georgia’s 6th district holds a highly publicized primary election. Big news because this seat has been held by a wide margin by the GOP for decades, but a newcomer Democrat is giving them a run. Jon Ossoff needed just over 50% of the vote to win outright, but he received 48.1% so there’s a runoff between him and the leading Republican, Karen Handel, in June.
  3. Voting machines were stolen from an election officials vehicle days before the Georgia election.

Miscellaneous:

  1. The White House holds the annual Easter Egg Roll. Despite early reports that it would be a fiasco, the event went off fine though with a smaller crowd than previous years.
  2. Todd Ricketts withdraws his nomination to Deputy Secretary of commerce reportedly because it was too hard to divest from his finances well enough to meet the requirements of the Office of Government Ethics.
  3. Trump announces a campaign rally to be held on the same day as the press correspondents dinner.
  4. On the day the Ivanka had dinner with the president of China, she was awarded three Chinese trademarks.
  5. The legal team of fake news master Alex Jones says that his work on InfoWars is performance art and that the character he plays is a persona. Rush Limbaugh has said the same about himself. So for those of you listening to these two for a dose of reality, maybe it’s time to stop. A side note, Trump is friends with and listens to both of these guys.
  6. This isn’t really political news, but Bill O’Reilly and Fox cut ties after his sexual harassment suits become public. He will be paid $10s of millions as part of the exit agreement, and it took advertiser withdrawal to prompt the firing not the alleged sexual misconduct itself.
  7. The public sidewalk in front of the White House is closed indefinitely for safety reasons.
  8. Ivanka hires a chief of staff to assist her in her unpaid role in the White House.
  9. Trump replaces U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy with his deputy, Rear Adm. Sylvia Trent-Adams.
  10. Alabama politicians are having a rough year. First the Speaker of the House, Mike Hubbard (R) was forced to retire due to multiple felonies. Then Governor Robert Bentley (R) resigned pending impeachment. Now the Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice, Roy Moore, is removed from his position because he (again) told officials they don’t have to follow the Federal Supreme Court rules, this time on same-sex marriage.
  11. A lawmaker in Florida resigns after going on a (possibly alcohol aided) tirade laden with racial slurs.
  12. Trump, reverting to his old narrative, says that people who participated in the Tax Marches across the country are paid protestors.
  13. The main proponent of getting CalExit on the ballot withdraws the petition under controversy. One of the main leaders of the effort has decided to take up permanent residence in Russia. You can’t make this up.
  14. UC Berkeley cancels an upcoming speech by Ann Coulter on fears of violence, but later reverses the decision after receiving criticism. Score one for free speech.
  15. To back up the fact that it’s not UC Berkeley students responsible for violent riots, it turns out that the Patriot’s Day protestors in Berkeley traveled from all over the country to cause trouble there. According to the LA Times, “Many freely admitted they were there to make trouble and that peaceful protest… really wasn’t their goal.” Conversations on social media also show that they were working on ways to smuggle in weapons.
  16. After thousands of peaceful protests across since the election, Kellyanne Conway calls on Democratic leaders to tell people to stop the violent protests. Even though we know about the radical anti-fascists (antifa) and the black bloc instigating most of the violence, as in Berkeley above.
  17. According to an analysis by The NY Times and ProPublica, Trump is filling federal agencies with lawyers and consultants who will be creating policy for the very industries from which they received their last paychecks, setting up a huge potential for conflicts of interest.

Polls:

  1. A recent poll indicates that not only do politics alter both parties’ expectations about the economy, but politics also alter how voters think the economy is actually performing now. Last October, GOP voters in Wisconsin thought the economy had gotten worse over the last year by a margin of 28 points. In March, they thought it had gotten better by a margin of 54 points. Data show that economic indicators haven’t changed much at all, but the political landscape has.
  2. Trump’s approval rating is up a bit, to 42%.
  3. In February, 62% of Americans thought Trump was keeping his promises. That number dropped to 45% in early April.
  4. In February, 59% thought Trump was a strong and decisive leader. That number dropped to 52% in early April.
  5. 36% of Americans see Trump as honest and trustworthy.
  6. On his overall performance, 16% of voters give Trump an A; 24% give him an F. Congress didn’t get very high marks in this Politico poll either.