In honor of Martin Luther King Day, here’s something to remember if the current atmosphere of protests makes you uncomfortable. Gallup polls show that King’s favorability ratings weren’t that high in the 60s. We might revere and respect him now, but we didn’t then. And people were just as uncomfortable with his protests. So just as a reminder of how history looks back on current events, here are a sampling of his ratings. We should all think about how history will look back on us, even if it means ruffling some feathers in the here and now.

• 1963: 41% positive and 37% negative
• 1964: 43% positive and 39% negative
• 1965: 45% positive and 45% negative
• 1966: 32% positive and 63% negative (the last year using this same type of polling)
• 1999: MLK was ranked the second most admired person of the 20th century

Shutdown:

1. Trump says he’ll sign anything bipartisan for a funding agreement with DACA protections. Congress comes up with an agreement, and Trump says no. Later, Trump and Schumer make an agreement, which is great until Trump’s extremist advisors say no and Trump follows suit.
2. Here’s a timeline of events from the New York Times and my own notes:

• • 1/20/2017: Trump tells Senator Dick Durbin not to worry about Dreamers, because “we’re going to take care of those kids.”
  • 9/5/2017: Trump ends the DACA program and puts a deadline on their status, affecting over 800,000 people
  • 9/6/2017: Congress approves a bipartisan increase to the debt limit, and Trump tells Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi he wants to help Dreamers.
  • 9/13/2017: Trump, Schumer, and Pelosi come up with an agreement over dinner.
  • 9/14/2017: Immigration hardliners say no way.
  • 10/1/2017: The new fiscal year begins and we start running on stopgap funding. CHIP expires, putting children under medical care in danger of losing their coverage.
  • 10/8/2017: Trump makes the following demands in exchange for a Dream Act: full funding for the wall, increased border control personnel, tougher asylum laws, stopping grants to sanctuary localities, strict use of E-Verify, and more.
  • 12/7/2017: Democrats cave on their condition that a Dream Act be included in any funding measure, and agree to a two-week funding measure.
  • 12/20/2017: Democrats again agree to a short-term funding measure, this time with a promise from McConnell that they’ll get the Dream Act.
  • 1/9/2018: Trump appears to agree to a pathway to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants.
  • 1/11/2018: Dick Durbin and Lindsay Graham bring Trump a bipartisan immigration measure that could save Dreamers and pave the way to a budget agreement. It’s a good compromise on both sides, helping Dreamers and increasing border and immigration control.
  • 1/11/2018: During a meeting about the bipartisan compromise, Trump calls Haiti and African nations shithole countries, ending a process that was progressing well. This blows up the bipartisan agreement.
  • 1/18/2018: Trump tweets that CHIP shouldn’t be part of a short-term solution, causing confusion in the House, which thought Trump was on board with their plan. Aides say this came from watching Fox & Friends and nearly derailed negotiations in the House.
  • 1/18/2018: After clarifying Trump’s stance, the House passes a one-month stopgap funding measure. The Senate doesn’t and the shutdown begins at midnight.
  • 1/20/2018: The government partially shuts down on the one-year anniversary of Trump’s inauguration.
  • 1/20/2018: Democrat Claire McCaskill calls for not ending military pay during the shutdown and Mitch McConnell objects.
  • 1/20/2017: Democrats propose legislation that would prevent lawmakers from being paid during a shutdown. It doesn’t pass, though some say they’ll forego their paycheck (I’m not sure they can actually do that).

3. Democrats demand that CHIP and DACA get resolved before we move forward.
4. Of note, the federal government has never been shut down when one party controls both Houses and the executive branch.
5. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham says this has become a total “shitshow.”
6. Before the shutdown, Trump blames Democrats for wanting a shutdown. Even though the bipartisan plan gave Trump much of what he wanted, he’s already blaming Democrats.
7. Before the shutdown, conservatives say they can’t “support any spending bill that paves the way for a future immigration deal that could favor Democrats,” according to NPR.
8. My analysis? Trump put a time bomb on DACA and Republicans put a time bomb on CHIP. In doing so they created bargaining chips in the most callous way.
9. Trump’s own words from the 2013 shutdown surface. He said back then that any shutdown is the president’s fault.
10. According to Lindsay Graham: “Every time we have a proposal it is only yanked back by staff members. As long as Stephen Miller is in charge of negotiating immigration, we’re going nowhere.”
11. Some Republicans try to play the shutdown against the Democrats, saying they’re putting the needs of immigrants above children and the military. There’s literally no reason not to include the bipartisan bill that includes DACA as a condition of passing a spending bill. Almost every legislator is for this, at least privately.
12. And always the grownups in the room, the White House changes their outgoing message:

“Thank you for calling the White House. Unfortunately, we cannot answer your call today, because Congressional Democrats are holding government funding, including funding for our troops and other national security priorities, hostage to an unrelated immigration debate. Due to this obstruction, the government is shut down. In the meantime, you can leave a comment for the president at www.whitehouse.gov/contact. We look forward to taking your calls as soon as the government reopens.”

Russia:

1. Robert Mueller subpoenas Steven Bannon in the Russia investigation. For now, Bannon won’t appear before the grand jury.
2. Bannon meets with the House Intelligence Committee behind closed doors, and says he won’t answer questions about the transition period nor his time in the White House. The committee immediately issues a subpoena. After the subpoena, Bannon’s lawyer calls the White House, and it seems Bannon was told to not say anything.
3. Bannon does admit that he talked to both Reince Priebus and Sean Spicer as well as a legal spokesperson about the Trump Tower meeting with Russian lawyers last year.
4. White House Counsel, Don McGahn, advises Bannon on what he can say despite the fact that McGahn himself is a witness to the events under investigation.
5. Hundreds of Twitter accounts controlled by the Kremlin call for the release of a memo commissioned by Devin Nunes that accuses the DOJ and FBI of having anti-Trump bias (even though these agencies tend to be more conservative than liberal).
6. House Republicans have been sharing the memo among themselves, but refuse to share it with Democrats, the FBI, or the DOJ.
7. A federal judge rejects Mueller’s bid to start Paul Manafort’s trial in May. It’ll probably start in September instead.
8. Mueller is looking at financial transactions by Russian players, including by former Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergei Kislyak in the days around the election.
9. Last week, Dianne Feinstein released Glenn Simpson’s (Fusion GPS) testimony for the Senate Intelligence Committee. This week, the House Intelligence Committee releases Simpson’s testimony for them.
10. The financial aspect of the Russia investigation includes looking at the NRA, which spent $30 million on getting Trump elected.

Courts/Justice:

1. Nothing major this week!

Healthcare:

1. And so it begins. After Trump gives states more leeway in Medicaid spending, Kentucky is the first to get permission to require that certain recipients work, among other requirements. An estimated 90,000 people will lose Medicaid coverage as a result. This is a big turnaround in Kentucky, which was a poster child for making the ACA work for it’s residents under their previous governor.
2. Trump creates a new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division in the Department of Health and Human Services. The purpose of this group is to protect health workers who oppose abortion, gender confirmation surgery, and other procedures or drugs based on religious beliefs. So a nurse can’t be reprimanded for refusing to assist in an abortion or a pharmacist can’t be reprimanded for refusing birth control—even if these are medically necessary.
3. The number of Americans without insurance increased by 3.2 million last year.

International:

1. Trump says Russia’s been helping North Korea get around sanctions by providing fuel to North Korea.
2. As part of the expansion of the definition of which threats can be met with a nuclear response, the Pentagon proposes that cyberattacks could result in nuclear retaliation.
3. Trump cuts aid to Palestine in half.

Legislation/Congress:

1. No legislation this week. Lawmakers were too busy fighting with each other and tripping themselves up so they can shut down down the government.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

1. Sarah Huckabee Sanders explains that Trump can’t be racist because he was on “The Apprentice” and they wouldn’t give him a TV show if he was racist. Huh?
2. After his shithole comments last week, Trump apparently said he doesn’t care what the Congressional Black Caucus thinks.
3. This falls under the category of “Don’t campaign on issues you don’t grasp.” According to Chief of Staff John Kelly, Trump’s campaign promises about building a border wall were uninformed and that we won’t build a physical wall across the entire border as Trump had promised. He also says that Mexico was never going to pay for it.
4. Even so, Trump continues to repeat his promise to build the wall, and says that Mexico will pay for it indirectly through NAFTA renegotiations. Translation: You and I will pay for it with increased cost of goods from Mexico and less trade.
5. Contrary to his campaign promise, Trump says that parts of the wall “will be, of necessity, see through and it was never intended to be built in areas where there is natural protection such as mountains, wastelands or tough rivers or water.”
6. ICE plans a major sweep in the Bay area, targeting 1,500 undocumented immigrants and whatever collateral they find along the way. This is largely seen as retaliation for California’s sanctuary status (which they worked out with the Sheriff’s department, in case you were wondering).
7. Kirstjen Nielsen testifies to Congress, and says that the DHS wants to prosecute state and local leaders who won’t comply with Trump’s deportation methods.
8. More than 100 Jews from across the country arrive in D.C. to support a Dream Act and Dreamers. They refuse to move and 86 are arrested while being surrounded by Dreamers.
9. Carl Higbie, Trump’s appointee to head the Corporation for National and Community Service, resigns based on his past disparaging comments about minorities and women. Higbie also once said that PTSD in soldiers is a sign of a weak mind.
10. The DOJ asks the Supreme Court to review the lower court order that required the government to restart the DACA program.
11. Trump really hates Haitians. He removed them from the list of countries eligible for H-2A and H-2B visas, which allow agricultural and seasonal workers to come here from foreign countries.
12. The House proposes a bipartisan bill that would prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to settle sexual misconduct cases by lawmakers.
13. Fifteen Syrian refugees are found frozen to death. Apparently they were trying to flee to Lebanon over the mountains and got caught in a storm.
14. Trump tweets that 75% of people convicted on terrorism charges are foreign-born, even though the DOJ/DHS report this is based on says it doesn’t have final information on most of those convicted yet.
15. Costa Rica legalizes same-sex marriage, making it legal in 20 countries in the Americas.

Climate/EPA:

1. Nine of the 12 National Park System Advisory Board members resign out of frustration with the Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke. Zinke has refused to meet with them, and at one point suspended all outside committees pending review. This board designates national historic and natural landmarks.
2. Scott Pruitt gets schooled when he asks climate scientists what the ideal temperature is. Hint: It’s not about temperature; it’s about temperature change and the speed of change. Our civilization developed in a relatively stable climate.
3. Robert Murray, head of Murray Energy, gave Trump an action plan to influence policy and regulation changes. The plan also recommends replacing all members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). What’s important here is that it’s not legal for industries to instruct the government this way, specifically on who to hire or fire.
4. NASA says that 2017 was the second-hottest year in recorded history, and NOAA says it’s the third hottest. (They use different methodologies. Why don’t they use the same one? Because that would skew the trends for the agency that has to switch.) Both agencies agree that the past four years were the hottest period in recorded history. Both also agree that 2017 was the hottest year without an El Nino influence.
5. Mexico and New Zealand are leading an international effort to protect the oceans, and Belize is ending offshore oil activity in order to preserve their barrier reefs.
6. The U.S. shatters its previous record for spending on natural, weather, and climate disasters, hitting $306 million. The previous high was $214 million and before that, $126 million.

Budget/Economy:

1. Almost 40% of American students who started college in 2003 or 2004 are at risk for defaulting on their loans. The risk is highest for students who attended for-profit universities, like Trump University, and for black students.
2. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to reconsider last year’s decision to restrict payday lenders. The lenders serve a purpose for people in need of quick cash, but they charge astronomical fees and interest and some people think they prey on the needy.
3. And finally for some truly good news that came out of the tax plan, Apple announces that it will reinvest $350 billion in repatriated money into a new campus and U.S. manufacturing. No strings, no associated layoffs. Several other companies plan bonuses or reinvestments, mostly airlines and banks.
4. The U.S. Treasury estimates that 90% of workers will have more take-home pay in their checks starting in the middle of February. However, with the rush to get this implemented, it’s possible the IRS will be taking out too much or too little, giving you a big surprise on tax day 2019. So be sure to check your paystubs on Feb. 15.
5. Housing prices could take a hit in some areas because of the new caps on mortgage interest deductions and property taxes, along with rising interest rates.
6. On top of loosening up oversight by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Director Mick Mulvaney didn’t request any funding for it this year.
7. The Koch brothers spent millions to support the tax bill last year, and donated $500,000 to Paul Ryan after the plan passed.

Elections:

1. Trump travels to Pennsylvania to campaign for Rick Saccone, though to get around election laws he claims that it was official White House business.
2. Democrat Patty Schachtner wins a State Senate seat in a district in Wisconsin that went for Trump by 17 percentage points.

Miscellaneous:

1. Activist groups start filing the first of many lawsuits against the FCC’s decision to repeal net neutrality. Attorneys general from 22 states file a lawsuit to block the repeal as well.
2. An effort by Senate Democrats to restore net neutrality only needs one more Republican vote to reverse the FCC’s decision under the Congressional Review Act.
3. Trump’s doctor gives him a clean bill of physical and mental health, saying he’s in excellent health overall (even though he’s one pound away from being obese).
4. Trump’s lawyer paid $130,000 to a porn star last year for her to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump when he was newly married to Melania. In Touch magazine held back from publishing the porn star’s story after they were threatened by said lawyer.
5. On the same day that Jeff Flake compares Trump’s treatment of the press with Stalin, Trump hands out his fake news awards. Ironic because he’s one of the biggest perpetrators of fake news, and reliable journalists work their butts off to keep us informed.
6. There’s a warrant out for Sebastian Gorka in Hungary for “firearm or ammunition abuse.” The entire time he worked at the White House, he had a warrant out for his arrest. Confusing. Because they know where to find him.
7. Tom Cotton issues a do-not-call-or-write notice to some of his more activist constituents. No judgement here. I don’t know what those activists were doing or saying.
8. Federal prosecutors say they’ll drop charges against most of the protestors that were arrested on inauguration day, though not all of them.
9. More than a million people march across America in the 2nd Women’s March over the weekend, along with sister marches around the world. This follows the March for Life, where thousands of pro-lifers took to the streets. I’m having a hard time getting solid numbers on either of these marches.
10. Trump appears via video at the March for Life in D.C. where he told marchers “We are with you all the way.” This is the first time a president has really taken a position on the abortion issue while in office. They usually leave it to the courts.

Polls:

1. A recent poll shows that 42% of Republicans think that negative but accurate news stories are fake news, compared to 17% of Democrats who think the same.
2. 52% of Americans think that Trump’s first year in office was a failure.
3. 61% of Americans think that Trump is dividing the country.
4. Trump’s approval at the end of one year is 37%, a low compared to other presidents in recent history.