Daily Archives

September 13, 2017

33 posts · Wednesday

Trump Agrees With Democrats to Protect Dreamers

September 13, 2017 at 10:20 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump and top Democratic leaders late Wednesday agreed to work out an agreement that would protect the nation’s ‘dreamers’ from deportation and enact border security measures that don’t include building a physical wall,” the Washington Post reports.

“The president discussed the deal during a dinner at the White House with Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). The meal included Chinese food and chocolate pie.”

Jonathan Swan: “If it is accurate, and Trump plans to enshrine DACA into law without funding the wall, Trump is risking a revolt from elements in his base. Many of his most hardcore supporters voted for him based on his hardline immigration policies. This plan is Jeb Bush/Marco Rubio territory — it’s not the Donald Trump they voted for.”

Trump Launches Broad New Anti-Leak Program

September 13, 2017 at 10:03 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster “has directed government departments and agencies to warn employees across the entire federal government next week about the dangers and consequences of leaking even unclassified information,” BuzzFeed reports.

“The Trump administration has already promised an aggressive crackdown on anyone who leaks classified information. The latest move is a dramatic step that could greatly expand what type of leaks are under scrutiny and who will be scrutinized.”

Mnuchin Wanted Government Plane for Honeymoon

September 13, 2017 at 6:59 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin requested use of a government jet to take him and his wife on their honeymoon in Scotland, France and Italy earlier this summer, sparking an “inquiry” by the Inspector General, sources tell ABC News.

Clinton Looks Back In Anger

September 13, 2017 at 6:55 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

David Remnick: “For all of Hillary Clinton’s skills of survival, she will have a hard time finding a similar peace or place in public affairs. For one thing, Gore was in his early fifties when he lost. Clinton is sixty-nine. For another, the circumstances surrounding her defeat are immensely more disturbing. Clinton lost a race that few thought possible to lose. Her opponent was not Mitt Romney or John McCain or Marco Rubio but Donald Trump, a demonstrably crooked businessman and reality-television star, an unsavory, if shrewd, demagogue whose rhetoric and policy proposals had long flouted the constitutional norms of the United States.”

“She lost because of the tactical blunders of her campaign. She lost because she could never find a language, a thematic focus, or a campaigning persona that could convince enough struggling working Americans that she, and not a cartoonish plutocrat, was their champion. She lost because of the forces of racism, misogyny, and nativism that Trump expertly aroused. And she lost because of external forces (Vladimir Putin, Julian Assange, James Comey) that were beyond her control and are not yet fully understood.”

Black Republican Gives Trump a Lecture on Racism

September 13, 2017 at 6:52 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), “the lone black Republican in the Senate, delivered a pointed lecture on America’s 300-year legacy of racism to President Trump on Wednesday in response to what he called Mr. Trump’s ‘sterile’ response to the riots in Charlottesville last month,” the New York Times reports.

“When a reporter asked the senator if the president had expressed regret, a pained look flashed on Mr. Scott’s face.”

He paused for a few seconds and replied: “He certainly tried to explain what he was trying to convey.”

Shkreli Jailed As Threat to Clinton

September 13, 2017 at 6:44 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Martin Shkreli, the former pharmaceutical executive who is awaiting sentencing for a fraud conviction, was sent to jail on Wednesday after a federal judge found that he presented a threat to the community because he had offered money for a strand of Hillary Clinton’s hair,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Shkreli, who was free on $5 million bail while he awaited sentencing, offered $5,000 on Facebook to anyone who could ‘grab a hair’ from Mrs. Clinton during her book tour.”

Cruz Insists He Did Not ‘Like’ Porn Video

September 13, 2017 at 5:58 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) denied that he was the one who liked a pornographic video from his Twitter account, CNN reports.

Said Cruz: “It was not me,” while calling the mishap “an honest mistake” by a staffer in his office.

Rice Explains Why She Unmasked Trump Officials

September 13, 2017 at 5:55 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former national security adviser Susan Rice privately told House investigators that she unmasked the identities of senior Trump officials to understand why the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates was in New York late last year, CNN reports.

“The Obama administration felt misled by the United Arab Emirates, which had failed to mention that Zayed was coming to the United States even though it’s customary for foreign dignitaries to notify the US government about their travels, according to several sources familiar with the matter. Rice, who served as then-President Obama’s national security adviser in his second term, told the House Intelligence Committee last week that she requested the names of the Americans mentioned in the classified report be revealed internally, a practice officials in both parties say is common.”

How Democrats Are Still Blocking Judge Appointments

September 13, 2017 at 5:52 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “Though the Senate has virtually eliminated the ability of the minority party to block appointments to the bench from the Supreme Court on down, individual senators can still thwart nominees from their home states by refusing to sign off on a form popularly known for its color — the blue slip.”

“Now, with some Democrats refusing to consent as the Trump administration moves to fill scores of judicial vacancies, Senator Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and majority leader, is for the first time publicly advocating that the blue slip be made strictly advisory when it comes to appeals court nominees — the most powerful judges after those on the Supreme Court.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

September 13, 2017 at 5:49 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“It’s devastating, especially when you lose to someone who you are worried about taking on the responsibilities and power of being president.”

— Hillary Clinton, quoted by NBC News, on losing the 2016 presidential election.

The Real Obstacle to Single-Payer

September 13, 2017 at 2:44 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jonathan Chait: “The barrier to single payer is that the American health-care system has been built, by accident, around employer-based insurance. The rhetoric of single payer concentrates its moral emphasis on people who lack insurance at all… But the barrier to single-payer health care is the people who already have coverage. Designing a single-payer system means not only covering the uninsured, but financing the cost of moving the 155 million Americans who have employer-based insurance onto Medicare.”

“That is not a detail to be worked out. It is the entire problem. The impossibility of this barrier is why Lyndon Johnson gave up on trying to pass a universal health-care bill and instead confined his legislation to the elderly (who mostly did not get insurance through employers), and why Barack Obama left the employer-based system intact and created alternate coverage for non-elderly people outside it.”

Mueller Probe Has ‘Red-Hot’ Focus on Social Media

September 13, 2017 at 2:33 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Russia’s effort to influence U.S. voters through Facebook and other social media is a ‘red-hot’ focus of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the 2016 election and possible links to President Trump’s associates,” Bloomberg reports.

“Mueller’s team of prosecutors and FBI agents is zeroing in on how Russia spread fake and damaging information through social media and is seeking additional evidence from companies like Facebook and Twitter about what happened on their networks.”

“The ability of foreign nations to use social media to manipulate and influence elections and policy is increasingly seen as the soft underbelly of international espionage… because it doesn’t involve the theft of state secrets and the U.S. doesn’t have a ready defense to prevent such attacks.”

Dinner with Chuck and Nancy

September 13, 2017 at 1:42 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will dine with President Trump on Wednesday evening at the White House,” Politico reports.

“The discussion will include the DREAM Act — a proposal to provide long-term protection for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as minors — efforts to stabilize Obamacare health insurance markets, and a slew of December fiscal deadlines.”

The State of Trump’s Tax Reform

September 13, 2017 at 1:12 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Playbook: “The Big Six — the tax writing chairmen, top GOP leaders and top White House advisers — are releasing a framework at the end of the month. The framework might or might not have rate targets, but our sources tell us it will be a meaty document. Then the committees will hold markups. Republicans are aiming to pass the budget in mid-October. If they get that done — far from a sure thing — they’ll have fewer than 20 legislative days to rally support around and pass tax reform. Oh yeah, they need to keep the government open.”

Jonathan Swan: “Republicans still have one big problem. The House and Senate have to reach an agreement on a budget resolution — which would set the broad outlines for tax reform — before they can work on a detailed tax reform bill. Yet conservatives like House Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows aren’t ready to commit to voting for a budget resolution unless they know the tax reform details first. If Republicans can’t satisfy them, there’s no guarantee they’ll get past Step 1.”

U.S. Bans Use of Kaspersky Software

September 13, 2017 at 1:11 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The U.S. government banned the use of a Russian brand of security software by federal agencies amid concerns the company has ties to state-sponsored cyberespionage activities, the Washington Post reports.

Flynn’s Son Now a Target of Russia Probe

September 13, 2017 at 12:56 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Michael G. Flynn, the son of President Trump’s former national security adviser, is a subject of the federal investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election and possible collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign,” NBC News reports.

“The inquiry into Flynn is focused at least in part on his work with his father’s lobbying firm, Flynn Intel Group… It’s unclear when the focus on Flynn began.”

“Mueller has brought onto his team a federal prosecutor known for convincing subjects to turn on associates. Any potential criminal liability for Michael G. Flynn could put added pressure on his father.”

Quote of the Day

September 13, 2017 at 12:22 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“If you want a single health payer system, this is your worst nightmare. Bernie, this ends your dream.”

— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by Axios, introducing legislation to block grant federal health care spending.

Stephen King Urged to Run for Office

September 13, 2017 at 12:15 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Maine Gov. John Baldacci (D) told the Washington Examiner he wants bestselling author Stephen King to run for public office.

Said Baldacci: “Stephen would win any office he decided to run for in Maine. I would be out there handing out fliers and putting on bumper stickers for him. He’s been a big asset for the state of Maine and for a lot of people who look for common sense in the wilderness.”