Archives for December 2016
Fake News Watch
A widely shared story claiming President Obama ordered a ban on Christmas cards sent to the military is not true, the AP reports.
Exchange of the Day
Failed New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino spoke to Artvoice, an alternative weekly in Buffalo:
ARTVOICE: What would you most like to happen in 2017?
PALADINO: Obama catches mad cow disease after being caught having relations with a Herford. He dies before his trial and is buried in a cow pasture next to Valerie Jarret, who died weeks prior, after being convicted of sedition and treason, when a Jihady cell mate mistook her for being a nice person and decapitated her.
ARTVOICE: What would you most like to see go in 2017?
PALADINO: Michelle Obama. I’d like her to return to being a male and let loose in the outback of Zimbabwe where she lives comfortably in a cave with Maxie, the gorilla.
Paladino verified to The Buffalo News that he did make the comments.
GOP Wants Trump to Trim Obamacare Benefits
“Facing a years-long wait before they can fully implement a planned repeal of Obamacare, Republicans lawmakers are exploring how the Trump administration can quickly trim required health insurance benefits under the law and lower the cost of health plans, said key GOP congressional aides,” Bloomberg reports.
“Republicans plan to use a fast-track procedure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but with a built-in delay to postpone full repeal for years while they navigate the complexities of passing a replacement. By going after the benefit rules now, however, they can take advantage of the broad authority given to the executive branch when the law passed to make faster changes.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“Democrats are losing on every front and looking for people to blame everywhere. They need to learn to lose with dignity. Trump understood the mood of the people and kept going until the end, when nobody believed in him. Except for you and me.”
— Russian President Vladimir Putin, quoted by the Washington Post during his year-end press conference.
Democrats Must Make Inroads Into the Heartland
Charlie Cook: “Increasingly Democrats are becoming a party of urban areas, college towns, minority voters, and the East and West Coasts. The heartland, often derided by Democrats as ‘flyover country,’ is now becoming a no-fly zone for the party.”
“Simply put, Democrats need to expand their sensitivity-training courses to include people who live in small-town and rural America—middle-class white voters, people who live paycheck to paycheck, and whites who attend church at least once a week. Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal coalition of voters is now officially dead. Democrats were losing these voters before Donald Trump came along and will continue to do so beyond his presidency unless they show genuine concern for these constituencies. To be sure, the country is changing and becoming more diverse, but it is not doing so at the same pace everywhere. Democrats are running up the score in places that do not help them win majorities in the House, Senate, and Electoral College.”
Is Trump Lying About His Height?
“Donald Trump and his doctor claim he’s 6-foot-3, but his New York driver’s license says he’s actually an inch shorter. A copy of Trump’s license, obtained by Politico through an open-records request, lists the president-elect at 6-foot-2.”
Rauner Pumps $50 Million Into Re-Election Bid
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) “is dumping $50 million into his 2018 race for reelection, an infusion of cash that’s an indication he’s prepared to spend big bucks to win a second term,” Politico reports.
“The investment could be designed to scare off a prospective bid by Democratic venture capitalist J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire who is seen as a potential opponent.”
Trump Writing His Own White House Rules
“President-elect Donald Trump has said he might do away with regular press briefings and daily intelligence reports. He wants to retain private security while receiving secret service protection, even after the inauguration. He is encouraging members of his family to take on formal roles in his administration, testing the limits of anti-nepotism statutes. And he is pushing the limits of ethics laws in trying to keep a stake in his business,” Politico reports.
“In a series of decisions and comments since his election last month — from small and stylistic preferences to large and looming conflicts — Trump has signaled that he intends to run his White House much like he ran his campaign: with little regard for tradition. And in the process of writing his own rules, he is shining a light on how much of the American political system is encoded in custom, and how little is based in the law.”
Quote of the Day
“Let it be an arms race because we will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all.”
— President-elect Donald Trump, in an interview on Morning Joe, elaborating on his tweet suggesting he would restart a nuclear build up.
Brownback Urges Trump to Copy His Tax Plan
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R), “whose tax cuts brought him political turmoil, recurring budget holes and sparse evidence of economic success, has a message for President-elect Donald Trump: Do what I did,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“In 2013, Mr. Brownback set out to create a lean, business-friendly government in his state that other Republicans could replicate. He now faces a $350 million deficit when the Kansas legislature convenes in January and projections of a larger one in 2018. The state’s economy is flat and his party is fractured.”
“Still, Mr. Brownback views his signature idea—eliminating the 4.6% state individual income tax for partnerships, limited liability corporations and similar businesses—as a national model.”
Senate Democrats Begin Next Cycle In Deep Hole
“Senate Democrats are starting the 2018 election cycle $20 million in debt, which will likely make it even more difficult for them to retake the Senate in two years,” the Washington Examiner reports.
Was Obama Bad for Democrats?
Stanley Greenberg and Anna Greenberg: “His legacy regrettably includes the more than 1,000 Democrats who lost their elections during his two terms. Republicans now have total control in half of America’s states. Why such political carnage?”
“Faced with the economy’s potential collapse as he took office, Mr. Obama devoted his presidency to the economic recovery, starting with restoring the financial sector. But he never made wage stagnation and growing inequality central to his economic mission, even though most Americans struggled financially for the whole of his term.”
“At the same time, Mr. Obama declined to really spend time and capital explaining his initiatives in an effective way. He believed that positive changes on the ground, especially from economic policies and the Affordable Care Act, would succeed, vindicating his judgment and marginalizing his opponents.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I don’t play golf and I don’t have a mistress, so I have a lot of time that these other men don’t.”
— Kellyanne Conway, in an interview on Fox News.
Spicer Named White House Press Secretary
President-elect Donald Trump has named Republican National Committee strategist Sean Spicer to be his press secretary, The Hill reports.
“In addition, Hope Hicks was named assistant to the President and Director of Strategic Communications, Jason Miller was named assistant to the President and Director of Communications, and Dan Scavino was named assistant to the President and Director of Social Media.”
Trump Calls for New Nuclear Build Up
President-elect Donald Trump “called for the United States to expand its nuclear arsenal, which would be a radical shift in U.S. policy dating back decades,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Trump, in a tweet: “The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.”
“Since President George H.W. Bush’s administration, it has been U.S. policy not to build new nuclear warheads. Under President Obama, the policy has been not to pursue warheads with new military capabilities.”
Why Loretta Lynch Didn’t Stop James Comey
Washington Post: “Justice officials laid out a number of arguments against releasing the letter. It violated two long-standing policies. Never publicly discuss an ongoing investigation. And never take an action affecting a candidate for office close to Election Day. Besides, they said, the FBI did not know yet what was in the emails or if they had anything to do with the Clinton case.”
“Remarkably, the country’s two top law enforcement officials never spoke. As Comey’s boss, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch could have given the FBI director an order to not send the letter. But Lynch and her advisers feared that Comey would not listen. He seemed to feel strongly about updating Congress on his sworn testimony about the Clinton investigation. Instead, they tried to relay their concerns through the Justice official whom the FBI had called.”
Country Not Necessarily Moving Right
Rick Klein: “With the North Carolina legislature keeping the so-called ‘bathroom bill’ in place, 2017 gets to deal with some more unfinished business from 2016. But the issue serves as a reminder that this new era of Republican dominance has severe limits. The tide has already turned in North Carolina, and new efforts to repeal the bill – under public and economic pressure – are likely to be more successful after Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper takes office. While there’s no predicting the president-elect’s Tweets, does anyone think Donald Trump will provide air cover on the issue next year? It’s a reminder – like the minimum-wage increases that passed last month – the country is shading red, but not necessarily moving right.”
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