Daily Archives

September 28, 2017

30 posts · Thursday

Democrats’ Best Hope for 2020

September 28, 2017 at 10:59 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

John Podhoretz: “If any figure in the United States bears watching over the next couple of years as our political culture continues the radical transformation that led to the election of Donald Trump, it’s Oprah. I believe she’s uniquely positioned, should she wish to commit herself, to seek the Democratic nomination for president and challenge Trump in 2020.”

“If you think that Trump can be beaten by a two-term governor of a Midwestern state with really good ideas about health care, or by a senator who really attracts young people, think again. The idea that a relatively conventional elected official will differentiate herself from Trump by dint of her seriousness or that an unconventional elected official can out-populist Trump is crazy.”

Trump Makes Up Reason Repeal Effort Failed

September 28, 2017 at 5:50 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump lately, and oddly, has taken to blaming Republicans’ failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act this week on the false claim that a GOP senator has been ‘in the hospital’ and couldn’t make the vote,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

Said Trump: “We have one senator who’s a ‘yes’ vote, a great person, but he’s in the hospital.”

He added: “We have the votes to get it done. You can’t do it when somebody is in the hospital.”

New GOP Group Will Battle Over Redistricting

September 28, 2017 at 5:48 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A new Republican group launching Thursday has budgeted $35 million to strengthen the party’s influence over the next round of redistricting, the complicated process of drawing favorable political boundaries for state and federal legislative districts,” the Washington Examiner reports.

“The National Republican Redistricting Trust, overseen by Guy Harrison and other senior party strategists, was formed as a counterweight to the new Democratic group backed by former President Obama and led by former Attorney General Eric Holder.”

Kushner Didn’t Disclose Email Account to Senators

September 28, 2017 at 5:37 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“In his closed interview with the staff of the Senate intelligence committee, White House senior adviser and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner did not share the existence of his personal email account, which he has used for official business,” CNN reports.

“The chair and vice chair of the committee were so unhappy that they learned about the existence of his personal email account via news reports that they wrote him a letter via his attorney Thursday instructing him to double-check that he has turned over every relevant document to the committee including those from his ‘personal email account’ described to the news media, as well as all other email accounts, messaging apps, or similar communications channels you may have used, or that may contain information relevant to our inquiry.'”

Price Will Reimburse Taxpayers for Charter Jets

September 28, 2017 at 4:30 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price will reimburse taxpayers for his use of charter jets, The Hill reports.

Said Price: “Today, I will write a personal check to the U.S. Treasury for the expenses of my travel on private charter planes. The taxpayers won’t pay a dime for my seat on those planes.”

Bannon Met with Tancredo About Governor’s Race

September 28, 2017 at 4:25 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Tom Tancredo said that he “sat down with former White House strategist Stephen Bannon and hinted that the two hard-right agitators discussed the possibility of Tancredo running for Colorado governor next year,” the Denver Post reports.

Twitter Finds 201 Accounts Tied to Russian Operatives

September 28, 2017 at 4:15 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Twitter has shut down 201 accounts that were tied to the same Russian operatives who posted thousands of political ads on Facebook, the company told congressional investigators Thursday and revealed in a blog in the afternoon,” the Washington Post reports.

“The company also found three accounts from the news site RT — which Twitter linked to the Kremlin — that spent $274,100 in ads on Twitter’s platform in 2016.”

Mitch McConnell Is No Master of the Senate

September 28, 2017 at 3:49 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “If any believers in the Myth remain after the brutal week McConnell just endured, which capped off an unbelievably brutal eight months, they should take this challenge: Name one major legislative accomplishment to McConnell’s credit over the more than 30 years he has been in the Senate. (Last minute deals don’t count.)”

“You can’t do it: Unlike former Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (my former boss) and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, McConnell has never authored a single piece of major legislation that became law, nor has he successfully shepherded a single major bill to passage as leader. Reid, Pelosi and former President Barack Obama were all party to the last-minute deals, but they all have a trove of historic accomplishments to show for their leadership: insuring millions of Americans through the Affordable Care Act, reforming the post-crash financial system with Dodd-Frank and ending the Iraq war, for starters. McConnell has nothing.”

“His failure to log even a single major achievement is without precedent in recent American history.”

Deportations Have Actually Fallen Under Trump

September 28, 2017 at 3:11 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Despite President Trump’s push for tougher immigration enforcement, U.S. agents are on pace to deport fewer people in the government’s 2017 fiscal year than during the same period last year, the latest statistics show,” the Washington Post reports.

“Trump took office pledging to round up as many as 3 million drug dealers, gang members and other criminals he said were living in the United States illegally. But the most recent figures from Immigration and Customs Enforcement indicate the government may be having a hard time finding enough eligible ‘bad hombres,’ as the president described them, to quickly meet those targets.”

The Health Care Fight Is Far From Over

September 28, 2017 at 3:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

John Cassidy: “On Wednesday, Lindsey Graham, who had just watched his bill die, said that the Party would return to health care immediately after passing tax reform. But a legislative window for pushing through a health-care measure with just fifty votes is closing, and, going forward, the Republicans will need sixty votes to break a Democratic filibuster. Unless, of course, they pass another budget-reconciliation bill, which would give them another chance at a fifty-vote victory. Or they could get rid of the filibuster altogether, a step which Donald Trump urged them to do on Wednesday.”

“For now, it looks like the next repeal effort will have to wait until after the 2018 midterms. But another thing we’ve learned in the past few months is that you should never underestimate the determination of the Republicans, and of their wealthy donors, to dismantle Obamacare, or their eagerness to embrace practically any tactic that might help them achieve their goal.”

For members: Obamacare Isn’t Safe Yet

All the Things Trump Promised Would Happen ‘Soon’

September 28, 2017 at 1:41 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “Using a website called Factbase, we reviewed nearly all the president’s remarks since his election, searching for references to specific time frames, like ‘soon’ or ‘very soon’ (a full list of such words is at the bottom of this article). Factbase transcribes, sorts and tags nearly every public statement made by President Trump – spanning official White House releases, speeches, interviews and even tweets.”

“Like most politicians, the president makes plenty of claims that are imprecise, mundane or not easily checkable. But many claims were very specific. Among more than 100 specific policy predictions Mr. Trump said would happen soon, we found that at least 75 percent of the time, they did not – or had not, as of this writing.”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

September 28, 2017 at 1:23 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“It’s a great talking point when you have an administration that’s Democrat-led. It’s a little different now that Republicans have both houses and the administration.”

— Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC), quoted by The Hill, on the urgency of the federal budget deficit and national debt.

‘Ammunition for My Discussions’

September 28, 2017 at 12:39 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

One reader just got his annual renewal notice and sent this reply:

Political Wire is the first news source I look at in the morning and I check back several times a day. You give me ammunition for my discussions with my misguided Trumpite coworkers. $50.00 well spent. Thanks!

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Bonus Quote of the Day

September 28, 2017 at 12:12 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Any woman who voted against Hillary Clinton voted against their own voice.”

— Michelle Obama, quoted by the Boston Globe.

Dispelling the GOP Tax Myth

September 28, 2017 at 11:55 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Bruce Bartlett: “Four decades ago, while working for Rep. Jack Kemp (R-NY), I had a hand in creating the Republican tax myth. Of course, it didn’t seem like a myth at that time — taxes were rising rapidly because of inflation and bracket creep, the top tax rate was 70 percent and the economy seemed trapped in stagflation with no way out. Tax cuts, at that time, were an appropriate remedy for the economy’s ills.”

“Tax cuts became the GOP’s go-to solution for nearly every economic problem. Extravagant claims are made for any proposed tax cut…”

“That’s wishful thinking. So is most Republican rhetoric around tax cutting. In reality, there’s no evidence that a tax cut now would spur growth.

Elizabeth Warren Is Getting Hillary-ed

September 28, 2017 at 11:48 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Magazine: “Warren is the candidate who many cited in 2016 as the anti-Clinton: the outspoken, uncompromisingly progressive woman they would have supported unreservedly had she only run. Yet now, as many hope and speculate that she might run in 2020, the right is investing in a story line about Warren that is practically indistinguishable from the one they peddled for years about Clinton.”

GOP Bets Everything on Tax Reform

September 28, 2017 at 11:05 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Karl Rove: “Passing tax reform has now become an existential imperative. The electoral disaster that might visit Republicans if they can’t get tax reform done ought to galvanize leaders at each end of Pennsylvania Avenue and reinforce a bit of old wisdom: that the perfect should not be allowed to be the enemy of the good.”

White House Admits Middle Class Tax Hike Possible

September 28, 2017 at 10:52 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

White House economic adviser Gary Cohn told ABC News that he can’t guarantee that taxes won’t go up for some middle-class families under the administration’s sweeping tax overhaul.

Said Cohn: “There’s an exception to every rule. I can’t guarantee anything. You can always find a unique family somewhere.”