Bloomberg: “One simple reason that media organizations cover Trump is that stories about him generate Internet traffic. In part, that’s because Trump is the star of a successful reality television show. But the casino magnate has also built up an impressive 1.65 million Facebook friends and another 2.7 million Twitter followers, about twice the combined total for the rest of the Republican field. That’s enough potential eyeballs to make the case that is is never OK not to cover him.”
Archives for February 2015
DSK Claims He Didn’t Know Women Were Prostitutes
“Disgraced former International Monetary Fund boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn told a French court Tuesday that he was unaware that women who participated in orgies at luxury hotels in Paris and Washington D.C. were prostitutes,” the AP reports.
“65-year-old Strauss-Kahn and 13 co-defendants are on trial in this northern French city, accused of aggravated pimping in connection with a sex ring centered on the Hotel Carlton in Lille… Strauss-Kahn’s chances of becoming French president were ruined over an unrelated sex scandal in New York.”
Clinton Foundation Received Money from HSBC Clients
“The charitable foundation run by Hillary Clinton and her family has received as much as $81m from wealthy international donors who were clients of HSBC’s controversial Swiss bank,” the Guardian reports.
“Leaked files from HSBC’s Swiss banking division reveal the identities of seven donors to the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation with accounts in Geneva.”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“It’s about the worst 30 days I’ve seen of any candidate. In his first couple of years, he had a lot of promise. But people who a year ago thought he was viable now say he’s not. He’ll be the Tim Pawlenty of this election cycle.”
— GOP strategist Ed Rollins, quoted by the Newark Star Ledger, on Gov. Chris Christie (R).
Rubio Hires New Hampshire Operative
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) “has hired a coveted former aide to Mitt Romney to oversee his political activities in the Northeast and probably in a New Hampshire campaign, signaling that he is serious about a presidential bid,” the New York Times reports.
“Jim Merrill, who directed both of Mr. Romney’s New Hampshire primary bids, is joining Mr. Rubio’s political action committee as a senior adviser, a position that would put him at the helm of the Florida senator’s campaign in the first-in-the-nation primary state.”
Kitzhaber Calls for Investigation of First Lady’s Activities
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) has asked Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum (D) to conduct a “full and factual review” of issues surrounding his office’s handling of First Lady Cylvia Hayes’ contracts, the Oregonian reports.
“The governor had refused calls over the past few months to initiate an outside review but changed course with this announcement Monday morning. An investigation of a sitting governor appears to be unprecedented in Oregon history.”
Willamette Week: “Kitzhaber’s letter to Rosenblum today will allow his office to further delay producing public records. That’s because exemptions in the public records law allow public bodies—such as the governor’s office—to withhold records that may be involved in litigation, a criminal investigation or a personnel investigation until those proceedings are finished. In other words, what may look like Kitzhaber seeking an investigation could in fact be his attempt to prevent the public from finding out what really happened in his office.”
Lawmaker Says Obama Defended the Islamic State
Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) said that President Obama’s speech to the National Prayer Breakfast last week in which he drew a historical comparison between atrocities committed by Islamic State fighters and past “terrible deeds in the name of Christ” were “unpresidential” and actually defended ISIS, BuzzFeed reports.
Said Fleming: “I was very disappointed, although not surprised. The president has said many things that just seem so unpresidential, and this was no exception.”
He added: “Not only did he vilify Christianity, but he actually made a case to defend radical Islam, that’s killing people around the world. He actually defended what they were doing, and tried to draw some sort of twisted equivalency, moral equivalency, between what they’re doing today and what Crusaders did 800 years ago. It really, it was really weird.”
Obama Supports Ending Filibuster in Senate
President Obama told Vox the U.S. Senate should eliminate the filibuster.
Said Obama: “Probably the one thing that we could change without a constitutional amendment that would make a difference here would be the elimination of the routine use of the filibuster in the Senate. 13 Because I think that does, in an era in which the parties are more polarized, it almost ensures greater gridlock and less clarity in terms of the positions of the parties. There’s nothing in the Constitution that requires it.”
Hispanics More Concerned About Climate Change
A new New York Times/Stanford University poll finds that Hispanics “are far more likely than whites to view global warming as a problem that affects them personally. It also found that they are far more likely to support policies, such as taxes and regulations on greenhouse gas pollution, aimed at curbing it.”
Jindal Says RNC Won’t Succeed in Limiting Debates
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) “dismissed the Republican National Committee’s efforts to reduce the number of debates in the Republican presidential primary, and to shorten the primary process, calling the RNC’s changes futile,” Yahoo News reports.
Said Jindal: “I know there is a lot of concern, especially in this town among Republican party leaders. There’s this ideal of theirs, this idealistic belief, that if we could just have fewer debates, if we could have a gentler kinder nominating process that would be good for the party and good for the nominee. Well you know what? Democracy is messy.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“Can Jeb Bush win Iowa? Of course he can. Can Jeb Bush come in fifth place in Iowa? Sure he can.”
— Iowa GOP chairman Jeff Kaufmann, quoted by BuzzFeed.
Bloomberg Says Legalized Pot Is Stupid
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg blasted Colorado’s decision to legalize marijuana as stupid, the Aspen Times reports.
Said Bloomberg: “What are we going to say in 10 years when we see all these kids whose IQs are 5 and 10 points lower than they would have been? I couldn’t feel more strongly about it, and my girlfriend says it’s no different than alcohol. It is different than alcohol. This is one of the stupider things that’s happening across our country.”
Lawmaker Sets Record for Most Expensive Free Boondoggle
Former Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC) “decided to leave the House of Representatives last year after 18 years in office, but before he left he got a special retirement gift from a lobbyist: a nearly $50,000 trip to Australia for McIntyre and his wife Dee,” AllGov reports.
“The Defence Teaming Centre of Australia, a group representing that country’s defense contractors, paid $49,635.06 for the McIntyres to go Down Under last February for eight days, a month after McIntyre decided to retire.”
Decision Time for Obama on Ukraine
Morning Line: “President Obama’s meeting today with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Washington is fraught with all kinds of geopolitical consequences. The president has been reluctant to intervene militarily in the fighting between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatist rebels. He thought sanctions that appeared to be weakening Russia’s economy would lead to a de-escalation of violence, but fighting has been taken to new heights in recent weeks in the Eastern part of the country and Obama is facing new pressure to arm Ukraine. Chancellor Merkel is opposed to arming the rebels, as she tries to broker a peace deal and tries to balance her economic relationship with Russia and Putin.”
Bloomberg: “Obama’s delay in making his move until after Merkel’s visit reflects not only the gravity of the situation and the dueling arguments, but his emphasis on international alliances, his own deliberative nature and the degree to which he’s concentrated power on foreign policy in the White House. … A U.S. official who is also close to the debate declined to predict what Obama will decide after meeting with Merkel.”
First Read: “What we can tell you is that the Obama White House favors it; indeed, this is the rare issue where Republican hawks and the White House are actually united. The dissenter is Merkel, and she is meeting with Obama today.”
How Cuomo Governs New York
Jeffrey Toobin interviewed Andrew Cuomo (D), “the notoriously press-averse governor of New York, about a range of subjects, including his political rise, his father’s legacy, and corruption in Albany.”
“For better and for worse, Cuomo views his work as a series of transactions. He disdains rhetoric; he prizes results.”
Said Cuomo: “My job is to get to yes. If I don’t make a deal, I get nothing done. If I get nothing done, I am a failure. If the objective is to make a nice speech, it means nothing.”
Same-Sex Marriage Is Legal in Alabama
“Alabama became the latest state to allow same-sex marriage Monday, as many probate judges defied an order by the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and began issuing licenses and performing weddings,” the New York Times reports.
“Earlier, the United States Supreme Court quashed a final effort to delay the marriages as same-sex couples lined up at courthouses across the state.”
Rick Hasen: “What struck me about today’s dissent was Justice Thomas’s recognition that these stay orders signal what is likely coming on the merits: a constitutional right to same sex marriage. (I think at this point the only question is the vote: I can see 5-4, 6-3 (with Roberts joining Kennedy and the liberals) or perhaps, though least likely 7-2 (with Alito coming too).) The tone was one of resignation of what is coming and a lament about the loss of the power of the states.”
Budget Poses Test for New GOP Majorities
Wall Street Journal: “Republicans, in full control of Congress for the first time since 2006, roundly panned President Obama ’s $4 trillion budget proposal last week for going heavy on tax increases and light on efforts to trim the deficit. But while Republicans’ top budget-writers have committed to eliminating the annual federal budget deficit over 10 years, doing so is expected to require deep cuts in entitlement programs, particularly if tax increases are off the table.”
“That means the GOP will face a challenge negotiating a budget conservative enough to pass the House without proposing politically unpopular cuts that could cause heartburn for Senate Republicans, whose states often represent a broader political spectrum. Democrats in either chamber are unlikely to provide many, if any, votes for a budget used to map out GOP goals.”
Why Three Time Candidates are Not Viable Anymore
Politico: “Today, it is nearly inconceivable that serious politicians can run multiple times for the presidency, especially after losing a general election. Every four years, the Mike Huckabees and Rick Santorums reemerge, but their campaigns are usually about something other than winning the presidency—building a personal brand, perhaps, or sending a message. The real contenders—those with a plausible path to the White House—don’t get a permanent free pass. This relatively new, unforgiving rule is partly a reflection of the presidency’s growing power since the 1930s, but it is also a product of how the nominating process has evolved.”
“Until 50 years ago, a small number of big-state political bosses tightly controlled the selection of presidential nominees. In the late 1970s, all of that changed. The rising influence of television increasingly made politics resemble entertainment, while the fallout of the Vietnam War and civil rights movement shattered the authority of political bosses and elite political institutions. Out of this disruption came the system we know (and love, and loathe) today—the four-year presidential horse race, the campaign reality show, Iowa and New Hampshire, Super Tuesday, a nauseating array of debates and candidate forums.”
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