I came across an article in the New York Times that reinforced for me how quirky our perceptions of the economy are. We don’t look so much at actual income, taxes, spending, or the stock market, and we give way too much credit (or blame) to the president. From the article:

“In the 18 months before Mr. Trump moved into the White House, 3.7 million jobs were created, seven in 10 Americans said they were doing fine or living comfortably and the economy grew. In the 18 months since, 3.4 million jobs were created, seven in 10 Americans said they were doing fine or living comfortably and the economy grew. Stubbornly slow wage growth and wide income gaps have spanned both periods.”

So people who complained under Obama suddenly think everything has changed for the better, while those who were praising Obama are now wary of the booming economy. We’re living in a weird time when economic successes don’t improve the popularity of a president from either party.

Anyway, here’s what happened in politics last week…

Missed from Last Week:

1. Trump goes to Ohio to stump for the Republican candidate in a special election, and gets mad at LeBron James and calls him stupid in a tweet. In OHIO. Trump goes on to tweet how great it was that his candidate won by a landslide. Except that he didn’t. It should’ve been a landslide Republican victory in this district, but it’s so close ballots are still being counted.

Russia:

1. Here are this week’s highlights in the Manafort Trial:

• • Rick Gates takes the stand, and testifies that both he and Manafort were involved in tax evasion schemes, bank fraud, and hiding money abroad. He also admits to embezzlement from Manafort.
  • Gates admits to filing false tax statements on Manafort’s behalf, and to giving accountants false information at Manafort’s request.
  • Gates says that Manafort used a network of offshore accounts to receive money from Ukrainian businessmen.
  • Gates also says that Manafort was shocked when he had to pay $215,000 in taxes, and complained that Gates was supposed to protect him from that.
  • Evidence shows that Manafort tried to cash in on his influence with Trump to help fix his financial problems. Also, Trump’s relationship with Manafort goes back to at least 2013.
  • The defense tries to portray Gates as a serial liar—not surprising.
  • When a defense attorney questioning Rick Gates asked a question about his time at the Trump campaign, prosecutors object. Prosecutors argue they need to protect the secrecy of an ongoing investigation and limit disclosure of new information, implying that Gates is also cooperating with Mueller in the Russia investigation. The judge seals the transcript for that discussion.
  • Witnesses testify that Manafort promised a Chicago bank CEO various positions in the Trump administration in return for loans. The CEO had even called government officials to get information to prepare himself for running the Army.
  • The judge in the case has been pretty critical of both parties, but especially toward the prosecution. At one point the judge did say that he himself was out of line and that the jury should ignore what he said.
  • The prosecution was supposed to wrap up on Friday, but due to delays in the court, prosecution will likely wrap up on Monday.
  • One of the accountants who testified last week is fired when her current company learns of her questionable activities for Manafort.

2. A judge holds Andrew Miller in contempt of court for refusing to testify before the grand jury. Miller is a former aide to Trump associate Roger Stone who has already lost his appeal to block the subpoena to testify. Miller’s lawyer says that their appeal is designed to challenge the constitutionality of Mueller’s appointment.
3. Kristin Davis, the Manhattan Madame, is scheduled to testify before the grand jury in the Russia investigation. Rumor is it’s because of her ties to Roger Stone.
4. The Democratic National Committee obtains court approval to serve a summons to Wikileaks through Twitter! Some background:

• • The DNC filed a lawsuit against the Trump campaign, the Russian government, and Wikileaks alleging a conspiracy to influence the 2016 election.
  • The lawsuit is likely a way to obtain and expose evidence and information that otherwise would be kept secret.
  • This isn’t the first problem they’ve had serving a subpoena. They also can’t get past Jared Kushner’s Secret Service to serve him and they judge denied their request to serve him by mail.

5. Florida Senator Bill Nelson says that Russian hackers have breached some of Florida’s election servers and he requests resources for additional security. Nelson and Marco Rubio wrote to local elections officials to warn them of the threat.
6. Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) meets with Russian officials in Moscow, and then invites some Russian lawmakers to visit Washington.
7. The Trump administration adds new sanctions against Russia for the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter living in England.
8. A leaked Russian document shows that during their summit, Putin lobbied Trump on nuclear arms control, particularly in space.
9. Representative Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) is caught on tape at a GOP fundraiser where he talks about the GOP strategy to impeach Rod Rosenstein and implores attendees to help make sure Democrats don’t win in November because then the whole impeachment of Rosenstein will go away. The reason the House has to wait to impeach, he says, is that if they impeach now the Senate will have to drop the Kavanaugh hearing to take up the Rosenstein impeachment. He also says that Republicans in the House are the only ones protecting Trump from the Mueller investigation.

Courts/Justice:

1. Despite not getting the full set of requested records on Brett Kavanaugh, the Senate schedules his confirmation hearing for the Supreme Court Justice seat to start on September 4. Even if his full record is disclosed, it will be impossible for Senators or the public to review it by then. But this keeps with McConnell’s plans to get him confirmed before the midterms.
2. Kavanaugh once argued that it’s OK for the president to ignore laws that they don’t think are constitutional, at least until a court declares otherwise.

International:

1. Trump signs an executive order to reimpose the sanctions on Iran that were ended when we entered into the JCPA with them. He threatens any countries who try to work around the sanctions.
2. As the Turkish Finance Minister announces a new plan to help the Turkish economy, Trump tweets that he’ll double the tariffs on steel and aluminum coming from Turkey. And the lira tumbles, reaching a new low against the dollar. President Erdogan asks supporters to save the lira by cashing in their U.S. dollars and euros.
3. A little background on what’s going on here:

• • We froze assets of certain Turkish officials because Turkey’s detaining an American pastor.
  • Turkey has a plan to buy advanced missile systems from Russia.
  • One of Turkey’s biggest banks is implicated in working to get around American sanctions against Iran.
  • Turkey is mad at us for using a Kurdish group to help fight ISIS.

4. A Saudi-led airstrike in Yemen hits a school bus, killing dozens of children. Saudi Arabia denies this, saying they targeted and killed the people who executed an attack on civilians.
5. We learn that senior national security officials urged NATO ambassadors last month to complete their joint communiqué before the NATO summit actually began. They thought this might prevent Trump from upending any agreements. Trump still asked whether an attack on one NATO country was really an attack on us all. I’m sure that wouldn’t even be a question if we were the one attacked.
6. Tens of thousands of Jewish and Arab demonstrators march in the streets in Israel to protest Netanyahu’s new “Jewish State Law.” Some say the law gives non-Jews second-class status. Others say the move goes against democracy.
7. Oh, and by the way, Saudi Arabia is now feuding with Canada over Canadian tweets in support of human rights aimed at Saudi Arabia. Seriously. Who fights with Canada? But this one’s getting intense. Ambassadors have been expelled or recalled, and Saudi Arabia stopped flights to Toronto and they’re recalling Saudi students studying in Canada.

Family Separation:

1. The Trump administration gives the ACLU over 400 phone numbers of parents who haven’t been reunited with their children yet. The ACLU accuses the government of deliberately withholding the numbers to prolong the reunification.
2. An ICE truck carrying mothers separated from their children at the border crashed into a pickup on July 17. ICE denied the incident for three weeks even though there is an accident report.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

1. The Government Accountability Office releases a report showing that Customs and Border Patrol’s plan to build the wall is lacking in information, will run into cost overruns, and will take longer than expected. The current plan fails to take into account things like logistics, terrain, and ownership of border lands. CBP also didn’t think about where barriers would actually be useful.
2. A furious judge orders the plane carrying a deported mother and child back to their country to turn around and bring them back. They were in the middle of the pair’s deportation hearing. The judge threatens Jeff Sessions with contempt of court if this continues.
3. Melania Trump’s parents get their U.S. citizenship through family-based migration. Or as Trump calls it, chain migration (and which he wants to eliminate for everyone else).
4. Melania’s attorney criticizes Trump’s position on family-based migration, calling the attacks unconscionable. This is the same attorney that represented Melania’s parents.
5. For the second time, a court rules that Trump can’t bar certain transgender people from serving in the military.
6. Trump tries to get ahead of the white nationalist rally in DC by tweeting out condemnation of all kinds of racism. Again he fails to mention white supremacy or Nazis by name, and he also implies that other kinds of racism are a problem in the U.S.
7. Steven Miller has come up with yet another way to prevent people from becoming U.S. citizens. He’s working with Trump to change the rules to prevent someone from getting a green card or citizenship if they’ve ever received any kind of assistance, like ACA or CHIP healthcare benefits or SNAP food benefits. This would affect people who have already been here for years and are currently going through the approval process. Now’s probably a good time to remember that J.K. Rowling was once on food stamps.
8. White nationalists hold a Unite the Right rally in Washington D.C. to mark the one-year anniversary of their march in Charlottesville where counter-protestor Heather Heyer was killed by a self-proclaimed Nazi sympathizer. Charlottesville denied them a permit this year.
9. Rally organizer Jason Kessler expected 400 people, but it was closer to 40.
10. In contrast, over a thousand counter-protestors (some peaceful, some not) showed up to stand up against racist hate.
11. The white supremacist and white nationalist movements have splintered over the past year. Instead of Charlottesville being pivotal in elevating those movements in the U.S. dialog, the rally backfired and has caused many members to be outed, ostracized, and even fired. It also backfired in that it increased the enthusiasm on the other side to fight racism and discrimination.
12. At the first preseason NFL games, players continue to protest by taking a knee, raising a fist, or staying off the field during the anthem. Also, as it turns out, the courts decided long ago that you can’t force a patriotic act on anyone, ruling that it’s better for them to choose to do it.

Climate/EPA:

1. In response to Trump blaming California’s fires on the state’s own water policies, Daniel Berlant, assistant deputy director of Cal Fire, says: “We have plenty of water to fight these wildfires, but let’s be clear: It’s our changing climate that is leading to more severe and destructive fires.”
2. The EPA is planning to start allowing the use of asbestos in manufacturing again. Remember the story a few weeks ago about how a Russian asbestos company started putting Trump’s face on their packaging? Well now you know why. There are nearly 40,000 asbestos-related deaths each year.
3. The Trump administration defends its move to reverse Obama’s fuel efficiency standards by saying fuel efficiency is dangerous for drivers. How you might ask? Because if we get better mileage, we’ll drive more. Which I guess is more dangerous...
4. Puerto Rico finally admits that the death toll from Hurricane Maria is most likely over 1,400, way higher than the original claim of 64.
5. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rules that the EPA must act on its own research and finalize the ban on chlorpyrifos within 60 days. The court says the findings are undisputed that the chemical is unsafe.
6. A court awards $290 million to a groundskeeper who says his cancer came from Monsanto’s Roundup pesticide.
7. Bayer might be regretting their recent takeover of Monsanto; their stock drops 11% after the above decision, and there are at least 800 other cases pending.
8. Monsanto denies the harmful effects of Roundup and says they’ll appeal.
9. The Bureau of Land Management says it’s looking at opening up oil and gas leases on BLM land in California. There’s been a moratorium on drilling in these areas for the past five years. In one county, residents are trying to pass a ballot measure that would ban fracking and exploration in San Luis Obispo County.

10. A toxic algae bloom, called the red tide, is moving up the west coast of Florida and killing off fish and other sea creatures (like dolphins, manatees, and turtles). This happens every year, but this year is particularly bad. Governor Rick Scott has slashed the budget for fighting pollution and climate change and has reduced statewide oversight of polluters. Polluted discharge from lakes and streams can cause or worsen algae blooms.

Budget/Economy:

1. When Betsy DeVos’s yacht was vandalized a few weeks ago, we learned that it’s registered in the Cayman Islands to avoid taxes. Here are just a few other current and past officials doing a little offshoring: Elaine Chao, Wilbur Ross, Jay Clayton, Gary Cohn, Rex Tillerson, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Steve Mnuchin, Randy Quarles, Tom Barrack, and of course, Carl Icahn.
2. And speaking of Wilbur Ross, he’s being accused of siphoning over $120 million from business associates.
3. Trump posits that the revenue made from his new tariffs will help pay down our $21 trillion debt. In order to do this, tariffs would have to generate at least $800 billion this year, and they’re expected to generate $40 billion.
4. Missouri voters reject the “right to work” laws that were passed last year. Right to Work laws weaken unions and give workers fewer options to ensure they’re being treated fairly.
5. Element Electronics, one of the last companies left in the U.S. that assembles general-use TVs, announces they will shut down because of Trump’s tariffs on Chinese parts. Their VP says he hopes the shutdown is temporary.
6. Trump threatens Canadian officials with tariffs on Canadian cars if they won’t give us the trade deal we want. He also seems to be playing Canada against Mexico by saying that negotiations with Mexico are coming along.
7. China announces additional tariffs of 25% on $16 billion of American goods.
8. A cargo ship carrying $20 million worth of soybeans has been drifting around the Pacific Ocean since the trade war started. They got caught right in the middle, having launched the ship before the tariffs were announced, but not arriving in China in time to beat the tariffs. Soybean prices haven’t rebounded since the tariffs went into effect.
9. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will no longer routinely check up on lenders for violations of the Military Lending Act. This act protects military service members from being taking advantage of by lenders in numerous ways, including predatory lending and price gouging.
10. Trump cuts staff for the Office of Financial Research, a group created after the Great Recession for the purpose of identifying future financial risks.

Elections:

1. Trump endorses Kris Kobach in the Republican primary for governor of Kansas. The race is so close, they have to do a recount, which is normally overseen by the Secretary of State. Who actually IS Kobach. He only recuses himself from the recount once public pressure builds.
2. Kobach’s opponent and current governor of Kansas accuses Kobach of telling counties not to count ballots that were in the mail, which must be counted under Kansas law.
3. A group of attorneys and politicians is suing Massachusetts, Texas, South Carolina, and California over their electoral college votes. The group says that the winner-take-all system (which most states have) disenfranchises millions of voters.
4. Michael Avenatti says he might run for president. You didn’t think he was doing all this publicity out of the goodness of his heart, did you?
5. Massachusetts passes an automatic voter registration bill. Six states have done the same this legislative season, making a total of thirteen states plus Washington DC that have automatic voter registration.
6. Representative Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) is arrested on insider trading charges, and is forced to suspend his re-election campaign for Congress. I have lost count of all the scandals in the past two years at this point.

Miscellaneous:

1. Federal prosecutors are investigating Trump’s one-time attorney, Michael Cohen, for tax and bank fraud, largely having to do with his taxi medallion business.
2. Tribune Media ends merger talks with Sinclair Broadcasting and is suing them over the failure of the merger. Tribune accuses Sinclair of not holding up their contractual responsibilities to move the merger through FCC approval.
3. After Alex Jones is banned from numerous social media sites, his supporters launch a harassment campaign against verified Twitter users, including several journalists.
4. NASA launches the Parker Solar Probe, which will get closer to the sun than any manmade object ever has before. The purposes are to study how energy and heat move through the sun’s corona and to look at the movement of solar wind and energetic solar particles.
5. Mike Pence officially announces the formation of a sixth branch of the military, the Space Force, by 2020. First the Pentagon will create a Space Command, with the ultimate goal of developing space technologies for military purposes.

• • Pence says we must have American dominance in space!
  • Last year, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis opposed the creation of a new branch of the military, but now he seems to be all in.
  • Critics say that space development is a peaceful collaboration between countries, and that there’s no reason to militarize it.
  • The Russian Embassy makes fun of the announcement with a tweet: “Good Morning, Space Forces!” with a picture of a rocket with a Russian flag. Not so funny, though, is that Russia also threatens to cut off the supply of rocket engines that we need for our existing space program.

6. A Kentucky district judge who worked on Trump’s campaign is sentenced to 20 years for human trafficking involving minors.
7. Omarosa Manigault-Newman releases a tell-all book about the Trump administration. She calls him a racist who uses the n-word and she says she has the tapes to prove it. Trump, in turn, calls her a lowlife.
8. It turns out she does have some tapes, though their legality is questionable. But she releases one of Chief of Staff John Kelly firing her.
9. An airport worker at Seattle’s Sea-Tac airport hijacks a passenger plane with no passengers, and then flies around for a bit doing some crazy stunts before crashing it into a sparsely populated island.
10. Someone who worked at the New York Observer when Jared Kushner was in charge there says that Kushner used to have him remove articles that were critical of Kushner or his friends.
11. We learn that three Mar-a-Lago members with no official government roles speak daily with Veterans Affairs officials and exert influence over policy and decisions.
12. Media companies begin employing security for their journalists at Trump rallies.

Polls:

1. Donald Trump Jr. shares an image of a poll that was faked to make Trump Sr.’s approval rating look 10 points higher than it actually is. Junior says it’s amazing what his dad can do. The original image shows Trump’s 40% approval compared to Obama’s 45% at the same time in his term. The doctored image inflates Trump’s rating to 50%.