“Look, it’s not a nice business we’re in.”
— Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), quoted by the New York Times, on the prominent Republicans keeping their names in the running for 2020 despite President Trump’s all-but-certain 2020 re-election campaign.
Daily Archives
August 6, 2017
6 posts · Sunday
Fight Over Border Wall Could Lead to a Shutdown
Jonathan Swan: “Some say there’s a good chance of a government shutdown before the end of the year because of deep rifts over spending priorities. No one sees Trump’s wall getting much more than a symbolic nod, which is sure to anger Trump and the Bannon faction, and could lead to a shutdown.”
“Tax reform in this calendar year seems increasingly unlikely. A bill and big debate? Yes. Something signed into law? Very hard given the points above and persistently deep disagreements over which loopholes to keep and how to pay for the tax cuts.”
Pence Denies He’s Getting Ready for 2020 Run
Vice President Mike Pence declared his loyalty to President Trump and denounced a New York Times article suggesting that he was positioning himself to run for president in 2020 if Mr. Trump does not seek a second term, the New York Times reports.
Said Pence: “Today’s article in The New York Times is disgraceful and offensive to me, my family and our entire team. The allegations in this article are categorically false and represent just the latest attempt by the media to divide this administration.”
He added: “Whatever fake news may come our way, my entire team will continue to focus all our efforts to advance the president’s agenda and see him re-elected in 2020. Any suggestion otherwise is both laughable and absurd.”
How America Went Haywire
Out next month: Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History by Kurt Andersen.
“Over the course of five centuries—from the Salem witch trials to Scientology to the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, from P. T. Barnum to Hollywood and the anything-goes, wild-and-crazy sixties, from conspiracy theories to our fetish for guns and obsession with extraterrestrials—our peculiar love of the fantastic has made America exceptional in a way that we’ve never fully acknowledged.”
Can John Kelly Tame Trump’s Tweets?
Bloomberg: “Kelly is testing his authority to tame Trump’s sometimes reckless tweeting habits. While Kelly isn’t vetting every presidential tweet, Trump has shown a willingness to consult with his chief of staff before hitting ‘send’ on certain missives that might cause an international uproar or lead to unwelcome distractions, according to three people familiar with the interactions. Kelly has been ‘offering a different way to say the same thing,’ the person said.”
“Trump has made it clear, however, that he reserves the right to ignore advice on tweets.”
McConnell Would Consider Bipartisan Plan
“A week after an attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act failed, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he’d consider a bipartisan effort to continue payments to insurers to avert a costly rattling of health insurance markets,” the AP reports.
McConnell also there is “still a chance” the Senate could revive the measure to repeal and replace “Obamacare,” but he acknowledged the window for that is rapidly closing.
