Tag: NFL

Week 37 in Trump

Posted on October 9, 2017 in Politics, Trump

AP / John Bazemore

Since Pence made a spectacle of this on Sunday, here’s a racial justice primer. NFL players who take a knee during the anthem aren’t protesting our flag, our anthem, or our military. They’re protesting racial injustice. And while the protest arose out of the killings of black men by police, our justice system treats them unfairly in general. They are more likely to get stopped (committing a crime or not), more likely to be arrested, more likely to be convicted, more likely to serve time, and more likely to serve a longer sentence. Every step adds to the disparity.

Using statistics for drug use and arrests as an example, say 1,000 white people and 200 black people commit the same crime. 100 white people and 74 black people might get arrested for it. (The actual numbers above aren’t accurate; they’re just to give an example. The ratios of white to black are accurate though.) So the arrest rate for white people is 10%, and for black people it’s 37%. Of those, 50 white people and 48 black people might be convicted—a 50% rate for whites and 65% for blacks. Of those, 19 white people and 24 black people might be incarcerated—a 38% rate for white people and 51% for black people. So in the end, 19 of 1,000 white people who commit the crime serve time, and 24 out of 200 black people do. So while 2% of white people who commit the crime serve time, 12% of black people do, a rate 6 times higher. And then on top of it all, those black people are more likely to get a longer sentence.

Lesson over. Here’s what happened last week in politics…

Russia:

  1. Mueller’s team starts researching limits on presidential pardons, an indication that they think Trump will try to pardon those involved in the Russia investigation or use the promise of a pardon as leverage. Trump himself has said he has the complete power to pardon.
  2. The CIA denies the Senate Judiciary Committee access to certain information about obstruction of justice in the Russia case, though it allowed the Senate Intelligence Committee to see it.
  3. From Facebook, we learn that:
    • Russia used a retargeting tool on Facebook, Custom Audiences, to target ads and messages to Americans who visited misleading web sites and social media sites that imitated political activist pages.
    • The ads’ purpose was to further divisiveness and specifically promoted anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiments.
    • The ads had an explicit pro-Trump and anti-Hillary tilt. One claimed that the only viable option was to elect Trump.
    • Russian-backed Facebook groups posing as U.S. activists groups liked and shared the ads.
    • Facebook estimates about 10 million people saw the ads and messages, but that doesn’t account for likes and shares. So the actual number is probably in the 100s of millions.
    • The ads targeted Michigan and Wisconsin, each of which Trump won by less than 1% of the vote.
  4. Facebook didn’t identify Russians as the malicious actors at first, and removed mention of them from their reports.
  5. The Senate Intelligence Committee leaders update us on the status of their Russia investigation. The issue of collusion and parts of the Steele dossier are still up for question, but here’s what they think so far:
    • Putin directed the hacking, propaganda, and meddling in our 2016 elections.
    • Russia was behind the hacking of John Podesta’s emails.
    • Russia tried to exploit our divisions using fake social media accounts.
  6. Christopher Steele, the author of the Steele dossier, is in discussions to meet with congressional committees, but he already met with Robert Mueller.
  7. Three Russians names in the Steele dossier sue Fusion GPS, which commissioned the Steele dossier. They previously sued BuzzFeed, which released the full text of the dossier.
  8. U.S. Intelligence has verified parts of the Steele dossier, but won’t tell us which yet.
  9. Demonstrators mark Putin’s 65th birthday by protesting in the streets in support of opposition leader Alexey Navalny.
  10. Google also finds evidence of Russian meddling, saying they spread disinformation across Google’s products, including YouTube, Gmail, search, and the DoubleClick ad network. These don’t seem to be from the same troll farm as the Facebook ads, indicating that the propaganda effort was more widespread than originally thought.

Courts/Justice:

  1. The DOJ releases legal memos that said presidents can’t appoint their own relatives to the White House staff, even if they’re unpaid. The DOJ overruled the memos in January, allowing Trump to appoint his family members.

Healthcare:

  1. As part of a multi-pronged attack against women, Trump narrows the birth control coverage mandate of the ACA.
    • First, Trump repealed Obama’s efforts to ensure equal pay for equal work between genders.
    • Second, the House GOP eliminated Planned Parenthood from the budget. PP help helps women take control through screenings, birth control, and yes, abortion.
    • Third, the House GOP passed a bill restricting abortions, a bill which is based on incorrect science.
    • Finally, removing the birth control mandate of the ACA will make it that much harder for women to take charge of their own family planning.
  2. Chuck Schumer turns down Trump’s offer to work together on ACA repeal and replace, saying he would be willing to work together to fix the current system instead.

International:

  1. The State Department is losing career officers in droves and we’re losing our next wave of foreign policy leaders. These are people with expertise in specific areas who have established relationships with their foreign counterparts.
  2. Trump says he’ll decertify the Iran agreement next week, kicking the responsibility back to Congress to decide whether to reinstate sanctions, which would completely blow up the deal.
  3. It’s kind of important to mention that the Iran agreement, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), stands between Iran and a nuclear weapon. Trump has no replacement and he’s passing it off to a congress that doesn’t want it.
  4. Here are some important things to know about the JCPOA:
    • It’s not a bilateral or multi-lateral agreement; it’s a UN Security Council resolution. We don’t have the power to change it.
    • It doesn’t prevent Iran from developing its military capabilities; it only prevents them from developing nuclear weapons.
    • We don’t have the power to decertify the actual agreement; only the International Atomic Energy Agency does. Our recertification is to make us feel good.
    • There is no sunset clause 10 years. Some parts will expire, but the crucial parts won’t.
  5. International diplomats say the JCPOA is vital to the security interests of the U.S. and its allies.
  6. One member of congress says this is like Trump pulling the pin out of a grenade and handing it over to Congress.
  7. All national security advisors say we should recertify the JCPOA.
  8. Despite Trump’s tweets that Kim Jong-un is a madman, the CIA thinks he’s crazy like a fox. Kim doesn’t want nuclear war; he’d rather just live out his days ruling his country. The CIA says Kim ramps up confrontations with the U.S. to keep his grip on power.
  9. Trump urges his staff to portray him as crazy when negotiating trade deals and diplomacy, thinking it’ll scare other countries into agreement.
  10. Demonstrators march in Barcelona to protest the effort for Catalonia independence and to push for Spanish unity.
  11. In the face of major military losses, over a thousand ISIS fighters surrender.
  12. World leaders mostly recognize that Trump’s tweets are disconnected from actual policy.

Legislation/Congress:

  1. On top of the current House bill that would make silencers easier to buy, a second gun bill is working its way through Congress that would allow people to carry a concealed weapon in any state as long as it’s allowed in the state where they live.
  2. Nancy Pelosi and Mark Kelly (husband of shooting victim and former Rep. Gabby Giffords) push for a bipartisan commission to study gun violence and ways to deal with it. The House GOP votes it down.
  3. Pelosi calls on Paul Ryan to take up a bipartisan bill expanding background checks for firearms.
  4. There’s bipartisan support for banning the sale of mechanisms like the bump stock used in Las Vegas.
  5. House GOP supporters of gun rights claim to have never heard of the bump stock even though Diane Feinstein introduced legislation that included prohibitions on them in 2013.
  6. A week after letting healthcare coverage for children lapse, the House passes a new anti-abortion bill.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

  1. Mississippi’s sweeping anti-LGBT legislation goes into effect. This lets people and businesses discriminate against LGBT people in the areas of housing, employment, foster and adoptive care, selling goods and services, medical care, and schooling.
  2. A UN measure banning the death penalty for being gay or transgender passes, but the U.S. votes against it.
  3. Jeff Sessions issues a DOJ memo removing civil rights protections for transgender people in the workplace and reversing an Obama-era stance that included protections for transgender people in the Civil Rights Act.
  4. Sessions also issues a directive to accommodate religious groups who say their religious rights are being violated if they’re forced to give equal treatment to all human beings. This takes the onus off of them of having to prove their discrimination is because of a closely held belief.
  5. The mission of the Department of Health and Human Services is to protect the health of all Americans, yet they removed any mention of the specific health needs of the LGBTQ community from it’s latest 4-year plan. The plan promotes faith-based organizations, makes no mention of the ACA, and includes anti-abortion language.
  6. Steve Scalise, who was saved by a lesbian, plans to speak at an anti-gay summit sponsored by a group that states homosexuality shouldn’t be treated equally to heterosexuality “in law, in the media, and in schools.”
  7. The deadline for DACA renewal arrives, though it might be a surprise to some. Homeland Security originally sent out notifications with the wrong deadline date, and then never bothered to send out corrections.
  8. California governor Jerry brown signs the sanctuary state law. Here’s what that means:
    • Police can still work with ICE to detain and transfer serious criminals.
    • Police can’t unconstitutionally detain someone at ICE’s request.
    • Hospitals, schools and courthouses are safe zones for immigrants.
    • Most of the efforts implemented by police departments to work with immigrant communities will continue.
  9. The DOJ and ICE threaten retaliatory sweeps in California as a result of the sanctuary bill. They warn that there will be collateral damage, and that innocent people will be picked up as well as criminals.
  10. Recently released documents show that ICE agents were pressured to present real-life stories to support Trump’s expanded detention guidelines.
    • They went out of their way to portray immigrants as hardened criminals.
    • They tried but couldn’t come up with enough stories and were pressured to fake it.
    • This was part of an effort to deflect attention from detainees who had never committed a crime.
    • They tried to create a narrative around how undocumented immigrants threaten public safety as a way of gaining public support.
  11. The House Homeland Security Committee approves $10 billion for the border wall with Mexico.
  12. In a reversal of his previous agreement with Democrats, Trump releases immigration law requests that will hamper a new DACA solution in Congress. This includes funding the wall, cracking down on undocumented minors, and cutting funding to sanctuary cities and holds DACA kids hostage, just like he said he wouldn’t.
  13. Mike Pence walks out of the Colts game because some players took a knee, which he knew they’d do. This seems to be a preplanned publicity stunt on the taxpayers’ dime.
    • Pence flies from Las Vegas to Indianapolis on Saturday, goes to the game, and then turns around and flies back out west to Los Angeles for several fundraiser (where he’ll likely raise more money because of this).
    • Once at the game, Pence tells his press pool to stay in the van and expect an early departure.
    • Trump takes credit for the move in a tweet, saying he told Pence to leave if player knelt.
  14. White supremacists rally once again in Charlottesville, carrying torches and chanting “You will not replace us!” And “The South will rise again. Russia is our friend.” Less than 50 people were there and the rally lasted about 10 minutes.
  15. Internal emails obtained from Breitbart show that Steve Bannon, Milo Yiannopoulos, and their staff purposefully pushed an agenda based on neo-nazi and white nationalist group input.

Climate/EPA:

  1. Here’s an interesting and easy read about the environmental rules and protections overturned by the Trump administration: 52 Environmental Rules on the Way Out Under Trump
  2. Scott Pruitt’s schedule consists mainly of meeting with industry leaders and lobbyists of the businesses he’s supposed to be regulating. He rarely meets with environmental groups, consumer and public health advocates, or actual scientists.
  3. The EPA plans to repeal the Clean Power Plan, which would help cut carbon emissions from power plant and meet the goals of the Paris agreement. He plans to create a new rule based on input from the fossil fuel industry.
  4. The only thing slowing down the deregulation so far is the courts, even though fossil fuel industry leaders also say the EPA needs to slow down. Expect many lawsuits against the repeal of the Clean Power Act as well.
  5. A senior climate scientist and policy expert resigns a few months after being reassigned to an accounting job for which he had no experience. Joel Clement blew the whistle on Ryan Zinke for the reassignment, which is under investigation. I think his resignation letter is worth the read.
  6. Hurricane Nate is the fourth hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. in six weeks, causing power outages in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida, along with storm surges.
  7. The San Jacinto Waste Pits near Houston have a dioxin level of more the 2,000 times the level that triggers a cleanup. The hurricane has spread toxic sludge.

Budget/Economy:

  1. Trump says we’ll wipe out Puerto Rico’s debt, causing a brief panic in the bond market. Mick Mulvaney backpedals and says we won’t bail them out, even after the devastation from hurricane Maria.
  2. The House passes a 2018 budget bill. Here are a few highlights:
    • The budget is about 6-months behind schedule. They’ve already passed their 2018 spending bills.
    • The bill sets up the tax reform bill so they won’t need any Democrats to vote for it.
    • It calls for $5 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade.
    • It increases defense spending by $72 billion and cuts the rest by $5 billion in 2018.
    • It cuts Medicare and Medicaid, and also relies on repealing the ACA.
    • It cuts $203 billion from welfare programs in areas like nutritional assistance and education.
    • It leaves no room for tax reform to add to the deficit, though the tax plan is expected to add $1.5 trillion over a decade.
    • The Senate budget does take into account the tax reform deficit, and also keeps spending levels even.
  3. Democrats Tammy Baldwin and Cory Booker release a Democratic version of the tax plan, which targets tax credits toward the middle class but doesn’t simplify the loopholes.
  4. Mike Pence holds a closed-door deregulation summit. But because it’s closed-door, I can’t find any information on what was said.

Elections:

  1. You remember a while back when Trump’s voter fraud commission requested voter information from every state? A Texas judge rules this week that providing the information would violate citizens’ privacy rights.
  2. Mike Pence’s chief of staff urges donors to stop donating to politicians who are disloyal to Trump.
  3. Recently unsealed court documents show that Kris Kobach pitched a proposal to Trump to change the national voting laws last fall. Kobach’s voter laws in Kansas discouraged thousands of people from voting and have been getting struck down courts ever since he implemented them.

Miscellaneous:

  1. Here’s some of what we learn this week about the Las Vegas shooter:
    • He had 23 guns inside the room, and 24 more in his houses.
    • 33 of those guns were bought just in the last year from several different stores.
    • He sent money to his girlfriend in the Philippines, through she came back to talk to the police.
    • He set up a video surveillance system inside and outside his room.
  2. Fake news sites from both sides spread false stories about the shooting, each blaming the other side. This is why we only share stories from trusted sources people! Have we learned nothing from the Russia investigation?
  3. And we have the same fight again, with the left calling for better regulation and the right saying it’s too soon, and the left using Australia as an example and the right using Chicago. Our divide on guns is even greater than our divide on abortions.
  4. Trump calls the Las Vegas shooter a sick and demented man. This, after he rescinded Obama’s rule that prevented the severely mentally ill from obtaining weapons.
  5. Americans own half the guns in the world, even though only about a third of American households own guns.
  6. There’s a huge increase in bump stock sales.
  7. Trump visits the devastation in Puerto Rico. At the time, FEMA was still organizing, only 5% of the electrical grid was working, 17% of cellphone towers were, and more than half the residents were still without water.
  8. Trump continues the war with San Juan’s mayor first by refusing to respond to her and then by refusing to let her speak at the roundtable.
  9. Trump approves a request to let hurricane victims use food stamps to buy prepared hot meals (usually restricted for food stamps) after first appearing to deny it.
  10. On his visit, Trump accuses Puerto Rico of throwing “our” budget out of whack. He also implies that this wasn’t a “real catastrophe” like Katrina, and goes on to compare death counts.
  11. We do live in two completely separate universes. I’m watching Fox News where the banner says “San Juan mayor praises Trump meeting” and reading on CNN that “San Juan mayor criticizes Trump’s comments.”
  12. FEMA removes information from its website that showed the condition of utilities and water in Puerto Rico. These charts show the actual progress.
  13. In response to San Juan’s mayor’s request for a backup generator for a hospital that lost power, FEMA’s Brock Long says, “We filtered out the mayor a long time ago. We don’t have time for the political noise.” People had to be airlifted out of that hospital.
  14. When Tom Price was appointed to the HHS, it triggered a special election in Georgia. An election that cost $50 million. And he didn’t even last a year.
  15. Representative Tim Murphy (R-PA) is a vocal abortion opponent, yet texts show he asked his mistress to get one when they had a pregnancy scare. When she calls out his hypocrisy, he says he doesn’t write his March for Life messages, his staff does.
  16. Murphy later resigns his congressional seat. Ironically, he resigns due to investigations into mistreatment of his staff, not because of the abortion controversy.
  17. NBC reports that Tillerson called Trump a f***ing moron and threatened to quit after a national security meeting in July. Tillerson denies the threatening to quit part, but doesn’t deny the moron part.
  18. After the report, Trump can’t resist a good tweet storm and insults NBC the worse way he knows how, calling them worse than CNN!
  19. John Kelly prevents Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-Cal) from speaking with Trump. Rohrabacher is a pro-Russia, Julian Assange ally.
  20. A criminal case against Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. was dropped after Trump’s attorney met with the DA and donated to his reelection campaign despite hard evidence of them giving false info to prospective buyers in the Trump SoHo hotel.
  21. After a dinner with military personnel, Trump alludes to a military photo-op as being the calm before the storm. When pressed on that, he says we’ll find out. No clarification yet.
  22. The White House believes that John Kelly’s phone is compromised and has been for some time.
  23. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump dumped emails from their private accounts to the Trump organization after being asked to retain them. But her emails, though, right?
  24. Trump has reportedly sunk $200 million into his golf courses in Scotland, but they are losing millions.
  25. Senator Bob Corker gives a brief interview where he defends Tillerson over Trump, saying that Tillerson, Kelly, and Mattis are the people who separate the U.S. from chaos in this presidency, and they make sure our policies are sound and coherent.
  26. Trump responds in his weekend tweet storm, saying Corker begged him for an endorsement and when Trump refused, Corker dropped out. He blames Corker for the Iran deal.
  27. Corker brings a strong response: “It’s a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning.”
  28. In fact, Corker decided on his own not to run and Trump called him to ask him to reconsider. Of note, Corker and Trump have been on friendly terms, and Corker was considered for the vice presidency.
  29. Corker goes on to give an interview to the New York Times where he says Trump’s reckless threats could start WWIII, Trump treats the presidency like a reality show, and every day takes a tremendous effort for his staff to contain him.

Polls:

  1. 48% of Americans have confidence in the press, up 10 points from last year.
  2. 68% of voters disagree with Trump’s call to boycott NFL teams with protesting players.
  3. This one’s almost offensive in its wording. 54% of Republicans say homosexuality should be accepted by society, the first time that’s been a majority.
  4. 32% of Americans approve of Trump and 67% disapprove. This is a new low, but it’s also a different metric from my previous polls.

Week 36 in Trump

Posted on October 3, 2017 in Politics, Trump

The Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. October 2, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

It just seems like it’s one thing after another, between natural disasters and man-made horrors. This week ends with a mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas—the largest mass shooting in the U.S. We’re still working through the horrific aftermath of this, trying to figure out the shooter’s motivation and why he had such a large arsenal. People in Las Vegas are lining up around blocks to give blood and do what they can to help. It’s heartbreaking.

But politics still goes on. Here’s what happened last week.

Russia:

  1. The Russian ads and accounts turned over to Congress by Facebook were designed to create and spread divisive messages on hot-button topics like LGBT rights, race, immigration, and guns. They exploited our differences and used them against us.
  2. Russian ads on Facebook during the 2016 campaign:
    • Promoted votes for both Jill Stein and Bernie Sanders in the general election after Hillary had won the primary.
    • Started rumors that Clinton created, funded, and armed ISIS, and alternatively that John McCain started ISIS.
    • Criticized Clinton and questioned her authenticity while promoting Trump.
    • Impersonated black lives matter activists.
    • Impersonated a real, but obsolete, Muslim group in the U.S.
    • Seemed more intent on increasing the divide between us than pushing a certain candidate.
  3. Facebook reveals that they notified the FBI last summer that they saw what looked like Russian espionage. Later they reported that Russians were feeding the information they stole back into social media.
  4. Twitter goes before congress this week. They’ve also found social media accounts linked to Russian Facebook ads. In fact, there’s evidence that Russians used Twitter more extensively than Facebook to sow division.
  5. In an indication that Russia is still trying to affect the electorate and amplify division, hundreds of Russia-linked Twitter accounts tweet about the NFL controversy on BOTH SIDES. Pay attention people! Stop feeding Russian propaganda.
  6. According to experts, this is Russia’s method of creating chaos and division. They’ve been using similar tactics since the cold war.
  7. A member of the Senate Judiciary Committee says he’s 99% sure that Mueller’s investigation will result in criminal indictments. My guess is the most likely to be indicted are Manafort and Flynn.
  8. Sean Spicer lawyers up.
  9. The IRS criminal division shares information with Mueller’s office in the Russia investigation.
  10. The DOJ tells a company that provides services to RT America that they must register as a foreign agent under FARA. Russia warns the U.S. against taking any actions against the state-owned media groups Sputnik and RT.
  11. Federal investigators are looking into whether RT and Sputnik were involved in Russia’s propaganda campaign in 2016.

Courts/Justice:

  1. 30 House Democrats file an amicus brief claiming that the pardon of Joe Arpaio is unconstitutional and usurps the courts’ authority.

  2. The Senate Judiciary Committee approves Trump’s nominee to head the criminal division of the Department of Justice, Brian Benczkowski. This is only important because Brian represented Alfa Bank, one of the Russian organizations with close ties to Putin and one that is part of the Russia probe.

  3. The DOJ gets search warrants to force Facebook to turn over information about people who liked, commented on, followed, or reacted to a DisruptJ20 Facebook page and two other anti-Trump pages. This is about the inauguration day violence.

Healthcare:

  1. The CBO is unable to do a complete scoring of the Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill because it wasn’t given enough time, though they do estimate millions would lose healthcare and would reduce the deficit some.
  2. Susan Collins waits for the CBO report before deciding on the bill. She then says that while the Medicaid bribe means Maine would be OK with the healthcare bill, it would harm most of America and would eventually blow up on Maine as well.
  3. The latest ACA repeal effort goes out with a whimper. This takes the GOP-led Congress into October with no major legislative actions.
  4. Despite the cancellation of the vote on the ACA repeal bill, Trump says repeal is right on track saying they’d have a vote if Thad Cochran wasn’t in the hospital. Thad is not in the hospital and offered to come in if his vote is needed.
  5. Senate Republicans aren’t ready to shut the door on ACA repeal. They’re still looking at combining ACA repeal with tax reform or addressing it in the 2018 or 2019 budget.

International:

  1. While North Korea took Trump’s recent words as a declaration of war, North Korean officials are also reaching out to Republican operatives to get a better understanding of Trump.
  2. Trump criticizes Rex Tillerson for continuing diplomatic efforts with North Korea.
  3. China orders all North Korean businesses in the country to close as part of the UN sanctions.
  4. U.S. intelligence says they have no evidence to back up Trump’s Tweet that Iran tested a missile last weekend. Trump based it on an announcement from an Iran news station, but our sensors show no indications of the test.
  5. The death toll from the earthquake in Mexico is now over 360.
  6. While the U.S. government doesn’t think that Cuba is behind whatever is causing the strange illnesses in U.S. diplomatic personnel in Havana, they plan to pull everyone out for now and warn tourists not to go there.
  7. Catalonia votes for independence from Spain, with less than half voting. Spain sends in law enforcement to prevent people from voting, and violence ensues. Spain says the vote is illegal.

Legislation/Congress:

  1. Republican Senator Bob Corker announces he won’t run again in 2018.
  2. The House plans to vote on a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks, with exceptions for health and incest or rape.
  3. Congress works on an aid package for Puerto Rico.
  4. Illinois lifts restrictions on using Medicaid to cover abortions and removes language in their law aiming to criminalize abortion if Roe v. Wade is ever overturned.
  5. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, who’s been out for several months recovering from the baseball field shooting, returns to Congress. Just in time for the upcoming bill to make it easier to buy gun silencers.
  6. Congress quietly let funding for the following programs expire (but I assume will revive them?):
    • Healthcare for low-income kids (CHIP)
    • Community health centers
    • Loans for low-income college students

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

  1. The UNC Tarheels national basketball champions join the list of teams who won’t be visiting the White House this year.
  2. Three House GOP members propose an alternative to the DREAM Act to make sure DACA kids aren’t deported. For some reason, it cuts off eligibility for those who were brought here after 2012.
  3. Homeland Security creates a new rule to let them collect and store social media information in their immigrant files. This includes social media aliases and handles, associated information, and even search results for all immigrants—including permanent residents and naturalized citizens. I can’t tell if this is for new immigrants only or if it’s retroactive.
  4. The State Department and Pentagon oppose including Chad in the travel ban, but Trump includes it anyway (possibly on Stephen Miller’s advice). The ban will jeopardize U.S. interests in Chad since they’re one of our more reliable allies in Africa in the fight against terrorism.
  5. Trump doesn’t seem to know why Sudan was removed from the travel ban.
  6. Trump caps refugee admissions at 45,000; it’s never been below 67,000. The defense and state departments, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the UN recommend allowing at least 50,000. Stephen Miller and John Kelly pushed for a 15,000 limit.
  7. Jeff Sessions’ Justice Department argues in court that employers should be allowed to fire people for being gay. This pits them against another federal agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which says that equal employment rules protect against discrimination based on religion, sex, or race, and that sex includes sexual orientation. The court can’t figure out why the DOJ jumped in here, and legal experts predict the DOJ will lose.
  8. Trump continues to blast the NFL. He says he started with the NFL comments because owners were calling him asking him to do something and they were afraid of their players. I can’t even with this one. Owners can’t either.
  9. In an impromptu press conference five days after Trump started his fight with the NFL, he says they need to change or their business is going to go to hell.
  10. It turns out that Trump didn’t like the crowd size when he stumped for Luther Strange, but his comments about the NFL were a hit there. Thus the 5-day Twitter storm about the players’ protest.
  11. Trump and his top aides privately admit that this is a culture war he’s waging to rally his base.
  12. Alt-right groups appear to be flailing right now amid infighting and splintering. They’ve planned and then cancelled several events, and are struggling to get any traction.
  13. Even though a Homeland Security report says the border is more difficult to cross than ever before, Trump moves forward with his wall prototypes between San Diego and Tijuana.
  14. In a massive sweep of so-called sanctuary cities, ICE detains nearly 500 undocumented immigrants.
  15. ICE deports the father of an autistic son despite not having any criminal record and never missing an ICE meeting. He is now in Tijuana, away from his wife of 23 years (a U.S. citizen) and their two children (also U.S. citizens).
  16. Jared Kushner works behind John Kelly’s back on a DACA deal with Lindsey Graham and Dick Durbin.

Climate/EPA:

  1. Paranoid much? The EPA is building a sound-proof booth for Scott Pruitt to conduct official business so none of the staffers can hear him.
  2. A new study shows that an Obama-era effort to ban sales of bottled water at some parks had a significant effect. The rule saved up to 111,743 pounds of plastic, 141 million tons of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gases, and 3.4 billion BTUs of energy. Oh, as part of Trump’s deregulation efforts, the National Park Service rescinded this rule last month.
  3. Senate Republicans include wording in a budget resolution to pave the way to open ANWR to oil and gas drilling. The refuge has been protected for more than 50 years.

Budget/Economy:

  1. The GOP tax plan, which was drafted behind close doors by six Republicans (apparently the new modus operandi), would be a mixed bag for taxpayers and a tax cut for corporations. Here’s are the main points:
    • It shrinks the number of brackets from 7 to 3, meaning lower taxes for some, higher taxes for others. The tax rate for the lowest income would be higher, and for high-middle income would be lower. The rate for the top money earners would drop by nearly 5 points.
    • It cuts business taxes drastically, but removes certain loopholes.
    • It repeals the estate tax.
    • It gives tax breaks to people who’s income is passed through a closely-held corporation.
    • It removes certain deductions, like the state tax deductions, but doubles the standard deduction.
    • It removes the ATM tax.
  2. Polls show the middle class doesn’t necessarily want tax cuts; they just want the government to use their money better.
  3. The Tax Policy Center says the proposed tax changes would benefit the wealthiest Americans and businesses most.
  4. Gary Cohn, who’s worth about $266 million, says a family of four with $100,000 in income would save around $1,000 a year with the new tax plan—enough to “renovate their kitchen. They can buy a new car. They can take a family vacation. They can increase their lifestyle.” I’m thinking this guy doesn’t do a lot of his own shopping.
  5. Cohn also won’t guarantee that the tax plan will help the middle class, but he does say the wealthy won’t get a tax break. That’s a plain out lie.
  6. Under the Republicans’ budget proposal, they can increase the deficit up to $1.5 trillion over 10 years, which will help them lower taxes on businesses and the wealthy. They think the tax cuts will cause the economy to soar and make up for any deficits.
  7. Every economic level is now officially out of the recession. Minorities and people without high school diplomas have seen the greatest gains since 2013. This didn’t narrow the wealth gap though, since higher income sectors got a jump start on the recovery.
  8. Trump dumps his original plan to include private sector funding for his infrastructure program, which leaves state and local governments to pay for it (unless he can get funding through Congress).
  9. Trump says that the new tax plan will cause growth to increase up to 6% per year, more than double what most economists say is possible.
  10. Trump went to Indiana to stump for the new tax plan, saying that it’s the largest tax cut in history (it isn’t), that cutting the estate tax will help small farmers and businesses (there are only about 80 that qualify), and that we have the highest corporate tax rate of developed countries (what corporations actually pay is below the average). He also says our tax code is ridiculously complicated, and there he’s spot on. But then he says the changes won’t help him out, which OF COURSE they would.
  11. Steve Mnuchin says workers benefit most from corporate tax cuts, and then removes a page from the Treasury website that includes a 2012 economic analysis refuting that.
  12. The Senate budget resolution removes a requirement that they wait 28 hours after a CBO score to vote on a bill. The requirement was put in place two years ago, so it seems the Republicans put it in place and then removed it.
  13. 12% of Americans want to decrease taxes on the wealthy, and 16% want to cut taxes for corporations. The majority want to increase those taxes instead.

Elections:

  1. A University of Wisconsin study estimates that the state’s stricter voter ID laws prevented 17,000 registered voters from voting in 2016. It was Wisconsin’s lowest voter turnout since 2000.
  2. In Alabama, Bannon-backed Roy Moore defeats Trump-backed Luther Strange. Moore thinks:
    • Homosexuality should be illegal.
    • Homosexuality is no different than beastiality.
    • “Blacks and whites” are fighting, “reds and yellows” are fighting.
    • There’s no such thing as evolution.
    • Sharia law is being enforced in the U.S.
    • Islam is a fake religion.
  3. After his candidate lost in Alabama, Trump starts deleting his tweets supporting Luther Strange.

Miscellaneous:

  1. Last week, we learned that Jared Kushner uses a private email account for White House business at times. This week, we find out that at least six high-level White House staffers have done the same.
  2. Anthony Weiner gets a 21-month sentence for the sexting case that reopened Hillary’s email case the week before the 2016 election.
  3. I don’t even know what Ryan Zinke means here. He accuses a third of his staff at the Department of the Interior of not being loyal to the flag or the president. He says this to the National Petroleum Council, so maybe what he really means is that a third of his department isn’t loyal to fossil fuels?
  4. Trump at first refuses a congressional request to waive the Jones Act (shipping restrictions) to help get aid to Puerto Rico. He waived the act quickly for Houston and Florida hurricane relief. The DHS cited lack of port availability in Puerto Rico.
  5. In an impromptu press conference, Trump says he doesn’t want to lift the Jones Act, even though it would speed up recovery efforts in Puerto Rico, because the shipping industry is against it.
  6. The next day, he says he’ll waive the Jones Act.
  7. As we start to see the extent of the devastation in Puerto Rico, the Trump administration receives criticism for its slow response. And a Twitter war follows…
  8. The acting head of Homeland Security calls Puerto Rico relief efforts a “good news” story; the mayor of San Juan, along with journalists on the ground, disagree.
  9. Puerto Rican’s are told to register for FEMA relief via the internet, which most of them don’t even have.
  10. Musician Pitbull sends his private jet to Puerto Rico to airlift out chemo patients who can’t get life-saving treatment.
  11. General Buchanan, who is now running the relief operation, says they just don’t have the resources to deal with this kind of devastation—neither enough people nor resources.
  12. Brock Long, head of FEMA, says they are making good progress.
  13. Trump accuses the mayor of San Juan Puerto Rico of being a poor leader and says the Democrats told her she has to be nasty to him. He continues his twitter fight with her through the week, calling her an ingrate. She’s been living in a shelter because her home was destroyed and is trying to hold the city together.
  14. Trump also says things were so bad in Puerto Rico even before the storm that they were at their lives end. He says Puerto Rico will have to figure out how to repay the U.S., so it sounds like he still doesn’t understand they are part of the U.S. He hasn’t talked about how Texas or Florida will repay the government.
  15. Both Republicans and Democrats launch new committees to influence congressional and state legislative district lines following the next census. IMO, it’s time for independent commissions to take care of drawing up all these lines.
  16. A librarian rejects Melania Trump’s gift of Dr. Seuss books in an unnecessarily snarky manner.
  17. Jeff Sessions claims that protestors routinely shut down speeches and debates across the U.S. from people who they disagree with, and calls for a renewed commitment to free speech.
  18. The acting DEA administrator resigns, saying Trump doesn’t care about the rule of law.
  19. Milo Yiannopoulos gives a brief speech at Berkeley in lieu of free speech week (which he couldn’t garner enough support for). Students boo and mock him.
  20. Ryan Zinke gets called out for using non-commercial planes at taxpayer expense, along with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, and HHS Secretary Tom Price. In fairness, Obama’s cabinet used private or military flights slightly more frequently during the same period.
  21. Tom Price has an ongoing scandal around investments in a medical company at the time he was nominated. Price was also trying to reopen the executive dining room at HHS while gutting his department and cutting spending on healthcare for Americans.
  22. And then Tom Price resigns.
  23. As of now, Trump has rolled back or delayed around 800 Obama-era regulations.
  24. After Hurricane Maria, the State Department evacuated 225 people from Dominica, but made them agree to reimburse the department for travel expenses.

Polls:

  1. 57% of Americans don’t think NFL players should be fired for kneeling during the anthem, though most say they themselves stand. Polls show us pretty evenly divided on the protest.
  2. 83% of voters would support a path to legal residence for illegal immigrants. 14% say “deport as many as possible.”

 

Week 35 in Trump

Posted on September 25, 2017 in Politics, Trump

This is what we should be talking about this week; not football!

What a week. With everyone else going on in the world (with devastation in Mexico and Puerto Rico), Trump hijacks the news feed by picking a fight with the NFL. In a few hours, we went from a couple dozen players who were protesting racial discrimination to more than 200 players taking a knee during the anthem, and even more standing with locked arms in solidarity. And then, of course, the lies piled on. No, none of the coaches—not Jerry Jones, not Clark Hunt—told their players that they had to stand and couldn’t protest. No, the NFL rule book doesn’t say players have to stand during the anthem; in fact, the rule book doesn’t even mention the anthem. No, players aren’t getting fined $1 million for kneeling. And no, this isn’t about disrespecting the flag or the country or the military. It’s about fighting for an equal justice system applied evenly regardless of race. Until we can talk about that, we’re just going to keep having these same old conversations.

Here’s what else happened in week 35 in Trump…

Russia:

  1. Federal agents warn Paul Manafort that they plan to indict him. It looks like Mueller is backing him into a corner.
    • Likely Manafort will be given the option of testifying in return for a reduced sentence.
    • But with the signal Trump gave his friends by pardoning Joe Arpaio, Manafort might take his chances that Trump will pardon him as well.
    • So now Mueller is working with the NY State Attorney General on parts of the investigation, because Trump can’t pardon Manafort for state crimes.
    • Manafort was under surveillance starting in 2014 and during the time he was hired at the Trump campaign. The original surveillance came from his work for the Ukrainian government.
    • Note that while some people think the above justifies Trump’s claim that Obama was wiretapping him, the FISA warrant a) goes back to before Trump declared his candidacy, and b) isn’t issued lightly by the courts—you need solid evidence. Also, surveillance wasn’t resumed until after he left the campaign. It was discontinued this year at the request of Trump’s lawyers.
    • The current investigation into Manafort reaches back to events that occurred over a decade ago.
    • Manafort communicated with a Ukrainian political operative using his Trump campaign email account. He was trying to get paid for work he did there.
    • Among the emails Manafort turned over to Mueller’s office is an offer to give special private briefings on the 2016 presidential campaign to a Russian billionaire. I’m not sure for what purpose.
  2. Michael Flynn’s family says that the legal fees required by former Trump staffers far exceed their ability to pay.
  3. Lobbyists and political PACs help pay legal fees for people caught up in the Russia probe.
  4. The Republican National Committee helps pay Trump’s legal bills in the Russian probe. So far, it’s paid $231,250, even though Trump himself claims to be worth more than $10 billion.
  5. Mueller has been requesting information, documents, and phone records about Trump’s activities around firing James Comey and constructing a false statement for his son about a meeting with Russians last year.
  6. A NY Times reporter out for lunch in D.C. overhears two White House lawyers discussing the Russian investigation and Trump’s strategy… loudly… in a public restaurant. The conversation highlights conflicts among members of the White House legal staff.
  7. The Senate Intelligence Committee cancels Michael Cohen’s testimony after he breaks their agreement by publishing a statement to the press beforehand. Cohen was a White House lawyer for Trump.
  8. Jon Huntsman, Trump’s pick to be ambassador to Russia, says there is “no question Russia interfered in the US election last summer.”
  9. Facebook gives Mueller’s offices around 3,000 ads that were linked to Russian accounts during the 2016 election.
  10. The federal government officially notifies 21 states that their election systems were targeted by Russians in last year’s election. Only a few states have made that information public so far.
  11. In response to Morgan Freeman’s short video about Russia meddling and hacking in the 2016 elections, state-owned Russian media goes after him, calling him a propagandist and saying he has a Messiah complex from playing God in too many films. Ye, this is the world we live in now.

Courts/Justice:

  1. While Trump argues that DACA was an example of Obama’s presidential overreach, he also argues in support of his travel ban that the president has wide-ranging powers to act unilaterally.

Healthcare:

  1. The Senate GOP starts out the week without the necessary votes for the latest attempt to repeal the ACA, the Graham-Cassidy bill. The main holdouts are Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, and John McCain, but other Senators, including Ted Cruz, aren’t supporting it either.
  2. There is no CBO score on this bill yet.
  3. Groups opposed to the bill include doctors, hospitals, nurses, insurance companies, governors, all 50 Medicaid directors, dozens of healthcare non-profit organizations, and more. The American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Hospital Association, Federation of American Hospitals, America’s Health Insurance Plans, and the BlueCross BlueShield Association wrote a joint letter condemning the bill.
  4. And of all people getting sucked into this fight, Jimmy Kimmel is the most unlikely. He berates Senator Cassidy for claiming he would never sign a bill that didn’t pass the “Jimmy Kimmel test,” and yet here he is proposing just that. Certain media outlets (I’m looking at you Fox) and Republican politicians harshly criticize Kimmel, leading to a weak-long battle.
  5. By the end of this week, John McCain says he can’t support is bill, likely killing it. But opposition groups are still raising the alarms.
  6. On top of the Koch brothers threatening to withhold $400,000,000 in Republican political donations (bribe #1), Congress looks at tweaking the ACA repeal bill so holdout states Alaska and Maine can keep their Medicaid expansion (bribes #2 and #3). No one’s even trying to hide this anymore. I guess this is what transparent government looks like.
  7. Almost half of voters approve of a single-payer healthcare system, with 35% disapproving. Less than 25% approve of the latest repeal effort, with 54% approving of the ACA.

International:

  1. Trump gives his maiden speech at the UN General Assembly, and it reflects the “scorched earth” tone of his inaugural address. The speech covers protecting American people, promoting American prosperity, and promoting accountability and sovereignty. As a reminder, the goals of the UN are to foster peace and global cooperation.
    • He criticizes the UN for mismanagement and not reaching its full potential while praising Trump Tower as a successful project right across the street.
    • He threatens to destroy North Korea (with no specifics) if they don’t stop the rhetoric and nuclear development.
    • Trump gives Kim Jong-un a cool new nickname–Rocket Man. Kim, in turn, calls Trump a dotard (and more in a scathing retort).
    • He launches a diatribe against Iran, suggesting he might cancel the Iran nuclear agreement and escalating the danger we face there, again offering no pathway forward.
    • He undermines the integrity of our agreements with other countries by threatening so many of them.
    • At a later dinner with UN members, Trump threatens unspecified actions against Venezuela if their government doesn’t change direction.
    • H.R. McMaster begs Trump not to use the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism” but Trump can’t stop himself.
    • Coincidentally the fire alarms went off at the State Department during Trump’s speech.
    • A common reaction from foreign dignitaries is that Trump is trying to unify the world using intimidation, which only serves to further isolate us.
    • In a speech to African leaders, Trump says Africa has “tremendous business potential” and that he has “so many friends going to your countries, trying to get rich.”
  2. U.S. state governors meet with world leaders at the UN General Assembly, assuring them that we are still with them and that states are individually carrying out the conditions of the Paris agreement.
  3. Generally for these UN gatherings, the administration does a ton of homework and determines an agenda and a list of goals. When we fail to do this, we cede leadership to the countries who do have an agenda ready.
  4. Senators start to look at ways to restrict Trump’s war powers, specifically around his powers to launch a first strike as opposed to a response to a strike.
  5. California sends specialty teams to help with the recovery efforts in Mexico after its 7.1 earthquake, and also flies flags at half mast. Trump tweets condolences and offers of support.
  6. Trump considers closing the Cuban embassy after diplomats there return to the U.S. with bizarre sets of symptoms (hearing loss, tinnitus, headaches, concussions, brain injuries, nausea). The likely culprit is a subsonic or ultrasonic weapon, but we haven’t gotten to the bottom of it.
  7. Trump signs an executive order with new sanctions on companies that do business with North Korea.
  8. Trump prepares to loosen Obama-era limits on drone strikes and commando raids in Afghanistan and Iraq. If you thought the collateral damage from Obama’s strikes was too big, just wait.
  9. White House officials say that Trump is leaning toward not recertifying the Iran agreement in October. This would put the ball in the hands of Congress and other countries included in the agreement. All of our closest allies recommend against the move.
  10. In retaliation, Iran says it will strengthen its military might and shows off its new missile, which it later tests.
  11. After the missile test, Trump tweets: “Iran just test-fired a Ballistic Missile capable of reaching Israel.They are also working with North Korea.Not much of an agreement we have!” I can’t find anything to back up the collaboration between Iran and North Korea.
  12. Trump is making Iran more popular, or at least more sympathetic, around the world.
  13. Kim Jong-un says he’ll blow up a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific in retaliation for Trump’s rhetoric.
  14. Paul Manafort is currently working on an effort to support and administer a Kurdish separation from Iraq, which the U.S. opposes. Tillerson has to explain that in his meeting with the Iraqi PM. Manafort has a history of working against U.S. interests.
  15. Turkish President Erdogan says Trump apologized to him for the indictment of 15 of his personnel for their attacks against protesters earlier this year. He also says Trump promised to see what he could to about it. The White House denies this.
  16. Another earthquake rattles Mexico—this one a 7.1—flattening buildings and leaving over 100 dead.

Legislation/Congress:

There was no legislative business this week!

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

  1. The Trump administration, trying to justify reducing the number of refugees allowed into the U.S., rejects a study by the Department of Health and Human Services that found refugees actually bring in more money than they cost taxpayers. Over a decade, they brought in a net surplus of $63 billion.
  2. The State Department tightens the rules on travel visas, expanding the period for which a traveler cannot do something they failed to disclose. The period used to be one month, and now it’s three (this would include life-changing things like getting a job or going to school).
  3. Clinics in Texas notice a decline in undocumented immigrant visits for routine care, an indicator that they’re afraid to show up for appointments for fear of being deported. This puts their health, their family’s health and the community’s health at risk.
  4. The ACLU sues the Department of Health and Human Services and children’s services in Michigan for allowing foster and adoption agencies to reject potential parents based on religious objections (which, of course, includes same-sex couples). There’s a shortage of foster families in Michigan, even though gay couples have loving homes to offer. Other states also have similar laws: Alabama, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, and Mississippi. And it’s not just same-sex couples; it could be anything that offends their faith.
  5. California sues the federal government for bypassing environmental laws for building the wall.
  6. Trump picks a fight with the NFL:
    • At a primary rally for Luther Strange, Trump complains about penalties for excessive violence in football, saying that’s why their rating are down. This is one day after a report came out about the brain injury CTE in football players and specifically in Aaron Hernandez.
    • At the same rally, Trump says, “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’” A) Why is the president of the United States stumping in a republican PRIMARY? B) This is the president of the United States ripping on (mostly black) people for expressing their constitutional rights.
    • And then he uninvites Stephen Curry from the White House after Curry says he doesn’t want to go anyway. The Warriors haven’t decided if they’ll go as a team, and if they do, it’s not clear if Curry would be allowed. Actually, it’s not clear whether Trump withdrew the invitation for just Curry or for the whole team. It seems the whole team. Either way, no one’s going to the White House.
    • Team owners and even NFL commissioner Roger Goodell jump in to defend the league and the players, criticizing Trump for his divisive comments.
    • Players from all sports chime in. Kobe Bryant has some stern words, tweeting that a president “whose name alone creates division and anger” and “whose words inspire dissension and hatred can’t possibly ‘Make America Great Again.’”
    • Trump’s continued remarks on the matter force every single member of the NFL to pick a side. Most players and coaches choose to either kneel or stand with locked arms in solidarity with those kneeling. Some stay in the locker room or off the field during the anthem.
    • The teams take a far more unifying approach than Trump. For the most part they all agree that each player decides their response, and that everyone supports everyone else’s decision, whatever it is.
    • Trump apparently misunderstands the message from those who stand with arms locked. He seems to think they are supporting his words and says that’s OK but kneeling is not. Actually, when they lock arms, they are supporting their teammates, not Trump.
  7. Trump announces a replacement to the travel ban. Under the new ban, most citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Chad and North Korea will be indefinitely banned from entering the U.S. Iraqi citizens and certain Venezuelan groups will either be restricted or will face higher scrutiny. So far, it’s not clear if green card or travel visa holders will be able to travel to the U.S. and whether refugees will be allowed.
  8. Trump’s original travel ban expires Sunday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on it on Oct. 10, and the new ban is supposed to take effect Oct. 18. I don’t know yet how the new ban announcement will affect scheduled hearings.
  9. Free Speech week at Berkeley falls apart because the organizers, The Berkeley Patriot and Milo Yiannopoulos, didn’t confirm the guest list or book the necessary venues. It’s almost like they don’t really want to speak there.
  10. But wait. Yiannopoulos says he’ll speak there anyway.

Climate/EPA:

  1. It is confirmed (after a bunch of back and forth) that we still plan to withdraw from the Paris accord.
  2. Groups of Republicans in the Senate, political action groups, and industry come forward to say global warming is real, that it’s manmade, and that we need to take action on it.
  3. Nicaragua says they’ll sign on to the Paris agreement, leaving Syria as the sole country not in the agreement and the U.S. as the sole country trying to withdraw.
  4. San Francisco and Oakland sue several large oil companies claiming not only that the oil companies’ activities contributed to greenhouse gases in our atmosphere but that the companies also knew the dangers while publicly saying otherwise.
  5. Governor Brown says we’re on track to meet climate goals despite Trump’s and Scott Pruitt’s efforts to slow down climate change regulations.
  6. The report that Ryan Zinke provided to Trump with recommendations for changes to our national monuments doesn’t include any input from the Bureau of Land Management, but does include several falsehoods. Or lies. Whatever you want to call them.
  7. Scott Pruitt’s full 2017 schedule is released. It turns out he met with a copper mining company on May 1 and then later that same day reversed an Obama-era regulation to protect an Alaskan wetland from certain mining activities. The regulation was put in place after a three-year study that showed mining would result in an irreversible loss of fish habitat there. Why is this important? These waters produce nearly half of our sockeye salmon, and the area provides 14,000 jobs without the mining.
  8. The EPA changes its truck efficiency website so it no longer says that the science on global warming is clear and that we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
  9. Puerto Rico gets hammered by cat 4 Hurricane Maria, taking power out of the entire country, flooding several areas, and putting infrastructure (like dams) in danger. This was the strongest hurricanes to ever hit the territory.

Budget/Economy:

  1. Senate Republicans agree to go forward with a budget that would increase the deficit in order to pave the way for tax reform—which would include a $1.5 trillion tax cut over the coming decade. They say the tax cut will stimulate economic growth enough to pay for the deficit. For exhibit A, I give you Kansas. See how the trickle down theory is working there.
  2. The fed starts unwinding the 2009 stimulus package created under Obama, saying that the economy has grown strong enough now to roll it back. Expect interest rates to continue to rise.
  3. Trump says that job growth is better than it’s been in a long time, but the truth is that last year was better. This year has so far seen an average of 176,000 new jobs per month, while last year saw an average of 194,000 new jobs per month for the same period.

Elections:

  1. Germany sees online meddling in their elections, though this time it’s from the alt-right in the U.S. instead of from Russia.
  2. Germany re-elects Angela Merkel, but the far right makes gains in the parliament (becoming the third largest party at just under 13%).

Miscellaneous:

  1. Donald Trump Jr. gives up his secret service protection, seeking more privacy.
  2. The FCC finally pushes back on Sinclair Broadcast Group’s acquisition of Tribune and requests more proof of compliance with ownership caps.
  3. Current and former Sinclair employees, union reps, and media experts accuse Sinclair of eroding the public’s trust in local news.
  4. Trump fills USDA positions with campaign staffers instead of agricultural experts. Several appointees don’t have the experience or knowledge commensurate with the salary levels of their positions.
  5. Tom Price, head of HHS, is under investigation by the OIG for his use of private jets, which is fairly extravagant. He says he’ll stop using them because “the optics aren’t good.”
  6. Betsy DeVos overturns Obama-era guidelines protecting women on college campuses from sexual assault and guiding how to handle reports of sexual assault. Some states have already passed bills making the Obama guidelines the law.
  7. White House staffers are reaching out to headhunters in large numbers, planning their exit strategy amongst in-fighting and low morale.
  8. We learn that Jared Kushner set up and used a private email to conduct White House business.
  9. Trump moves the oversight of international gun sales from the State Department to the Commerce Department, making it easier to sell non-military guns to foreigners. One administration official says “You could really turn the spigot on if you do it the right way.”

Polls:

  1. Trump’s approval rating took an uptick after hurricane Harvey and Maria, hitting 40%. But now it’s moving back down into the 30s after the NFL kerfuffle.
  2. More than 70% of Americans approve of Trump’s recent deal with Democrats over DACA.
  3. Less than 25% support his handling of race relations and the violence in Charlottesville.

Stupid Things Politicians Say:

  1. Pat Roberts, on the Graham-Cassidy bill:
    “…this is the best bill possible under the circumstances. If we do nothing, I think it has a tremendous impact on the 2018 elections. And whether or not Republicans still maintain control and we have the gavel.”
  2. Chuck Grassley, on the Graham-Cassidy bill:
    “You know, I could maybe give you 10 reasons why this bill shouldn’t be considered. But Republicans campaigned on this so often that you have a responsibility to carry out what you said in the campaign. That’s pretty much as much of a reason as the substance of the bill.”