Daily Archives

September 16, 2017

13 posts · Saturday

The Most Incoherent Politician Ever?

September 16, 2017 at 5:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Max Boot: “This ambiguity, indeed downright incoherence, makes Trump the most maddening politician anyone has ever tried to analyze. He contradicts himself constantly and unashamedly… The only constant is Trump’s egomania and impetuosity. He will say or do anything that, at that very moment, is likely to stoke his ego. The next moment he may do something entirely different. Like a small child, he seldom seems to think about the consequences of his actions or plan ahead. He just acts and hopes for the best.”

“You can make the case that Trump’s incoherence is his greatest strength because it allows him to appeal to all sides—and his greatest weakness because it means that no one trusts him. Because just about anything you say about him is both true and false.”

Trump Won’t Withdraw from Paris Climate Deal

September 16, 2017 at 4:56 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Trump administration officials said Saturday the U.S. wouldn’t pull out of the Paris Agreement, offering to re-engage in the international deal to fight climate change,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The shift from President Trump’s decision in June to renegotiate the landmark accord or craft a new deal came during a meeting of more than 30 ministers led by Canada, China and the European Union in Montreal.”

However: “The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.”

Tax Cuts Quiet GOP Calls for Fiscal Discipline

September 16, 2017 at 3:22 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Republicans spooked world markets in their ardor to cut spending when Democrat Barack Obama occupied the White House. Now, with a GOP president pressing for politically popular tax cuts and billions more for the military, few in the GOP are complaining about the nation’s soaring debt,” ABC News reports.

“The tea partyers and other conservatives who seized control of the House in 2010 have morphed into Ronald Reagan-style supply siders while the GOP’s numerous Pentagon pals run roughshod over the few holdouts. Tax cuts in the works could add hundreds of billions of dollars to the debt while bipartisan pressure for more money for defense, infrastructure, and domestic agencies could add almost $100 billion in additional spending next year alone.”

GOP Thinks Single-Payer Embrace Will Hurt Democrats

September 16, 2017 at 3:20 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Republicans are cheering on the Democrats’ embrace of single-payer health care, believing the move to the left will be an albatross for candidates in next year’s elections,” The Hill reports.

“After playing defense on health care for months as they failed to fill a promise to repeal Obamacare, Bernie Sanders’s increasingly popular ‘Medicare for all’ gives the GOP new momentum to blast Democrats. And they’ve got plenty of targets, with 16 Democratic senators backing Sanders’ effort and a similar House measure supported by half of the party’s caucus.”

Brooks Will Endorse Moore for U.S. Senate

September 16, 2017 at 1:26 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) told Politico that he will endorse Roy Moore (R) over Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL) in the U.S. Senate race.

Legislature Declares California a ‘Sanctuary State’

September 16, 2017 at 1:06 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“California lawmakers on Saturday passed a Senate bill that would turn the state into a sanctuary for immigrants without legal residency in the country, part of a broader push by Democrats to counter expanded deportation orders under the Trump administration,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

Cassidy Claims He Nearly Has the Votes

September 16, 2017 at 11:41 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) “sought to rally support for the last-ditch Obamacare repeal plan he co-authored, saying he believes he’s on the verge of winning the final votes needed to jam it through the Senate,” Politico reports.

“Cassidy claims that as many as 49 GOP senators have expressed support but doesn’t have a hard whip count with just days left to use a fast-track process allowing the bill to pass with a simply majority. And his search for the elusive 50 ‘aye’ votes got harder Thursday, when Sen. Rand Paul announced his opposition.”

Playbook: “This is a real thing, according to aides close to the process. In a private lunch of Republican senators on Thursday, they decided this was a bill worth pursuing. That doesn’t mean this will be quick. Leadership needs to whip the bill, submit it for a Congressional Budget Office score and have the parliamentarian check it for issues. It’s a heavy lift but it could get through.”

Still No Charity Money from Leftover Inaugural Funds

September 16, 2017 at 11:38 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump’s inaugural committee raised an unprecedented $107 million for a ceremony that officials promised would be ‘workmanlike,’ and the committee pledged to give leftover funds to charity. Nearly eight months later, the group has helped pay for redecorating at the White House and the vice president’s residence in Washington. But nothing has yet gone to charity,” the AP reports.

“What is left from the massive fundraising is a mystery, clouded by messy and, at times, budget-busting management of a private fund that requires little public disclosure. The Associated Press spoke with eight people — vendors, donors and Trump associates — involved in planning and political fundraising for the celebration, an event that provides an early look at the new president’s management style and priorities. The people described a chaotic process marked by last-minute decisions, staffing turnover and little financial oversight.”

Trump Moves Toward Drilling In Arctic Wildlife Refuge

September 16, 2017 at 11:22 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Trump administration is quietly moving to allow energy exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for the first time in more than 30 years, according to documents obtained by the Washington Post, with a draft rule that would lay the groundwork for drilling.”

“Congress has sole authority to determine whether oil and gas drilling can take place within the refuge’s 19.6 million acres. But seismic studies represent a necessary first step, and Interior Department officials are modifying a 1980s regulation to permit them.”

Facebook Discloses Details of Russia Ads to Mueller

September 16, 2017 at 7:59 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Special counsel Robert Mueller and his team are now in possession of Russian-linked ads run on Facebook during the presidential election, after they obtained a search warrant for the information,” CNN reports.

“Facebook gave Mueller and his team copies of ads and related information it discovered on its site linked to a Russian troll farm, as well as detailed information about the accounts that bought the ads and the way the ads were targeted at American Facebook users.”

“The disclosure, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, may give Mueller’s office a fuller picture of who was behind the ad buys and how the ads may have influenced voter sentiment during the 2016 election.”

Trump Refuses to Release List of Visitors at Mar-a-Lago

September 16, 2017 at 7:50 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Trump administration on Friday escalated a battle with government ethics groups by declining, even in the face of a federal court order, to release the identities of individuals visiting with President Trump at his family’s Mar-a-Lago resort during the days he has spent at the private club in Palm Beach, Fla., this year,” the New York Times reports.

“The surprising move by the Department of Justice, which had been ordered in July to make the visitors log public, came after weeks of promotion by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the liberal nonprofit group known as CREW, that it would soon be getting the Mar-a-Lago visitors logs.”

Another Prosecutor Joins Trump-Russia Probe

September 16, 2017 at 7:45 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“An attorney working on the Justice Department’s highest-profile money laundering case recently transferred off that assignment in order to join the staff of the special prosecutor investigating the Trump campaign’s potential ties to Russia,” Politico reports.

“Kyle Freeny, whose assignment to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s staff has not been previously reported, is the 17th lawyer known to be working with the former FBI chief on the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.”

Hill Republicans Are Losing Their Influence

September 16, 2017 at 7:31 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “Despite their control of both chambers and with a GOP partner in the White House, congressional Republicans are laboring, sometimes awkwardly, to project leverage over efforts to rewrite the nation’s tax laws and craft a bill to decide the fate of hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants.”

“Some are privately fuming over the valuable political cover Trump is giving to centrist Democratic senators who are top targets in the 2018 midterms in states the president won. By negotiating with them and appearing at events together, the president is potentially easing their challenge of winning conservative voters.”