Archives for September 18, 2023 at 1:57 pm EDT

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It’s Not Clear What Kevin McCarthy Is Doing

September 18, 2023 at 1:57 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Punchbowl News: “The House Rules Committee will meet at 4 p.m. to consider the stopgap funding bill, which keeps the government open until Nov. 1. The House Republican elected leadership will meet this afternoon. And the House will vote at 6:30 p.m. The House GOP whip team will begin canvassing the conference on the proposed CR and the defense spending bill at the 6:30 vote. And they will report back to McCarthy and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise as to whether these bills have a chance of passing.”

“McCarthy’s play here is a bit befuddling. This CR has no chance of passing the Senate, but it would, theoretically, show that the House isn’t completely feckless. And there are at least 10 House GOP no votes right now.”

“To say McCarthy has a herculean task ahead of him is an understatement.”

Bloomberg: “At least 10 hard-right lawmakers have announced their opposition to the measure… McCarthy can only afford to lose four Republican votes in the face of unified Democratic opposition.”

Trump to Ramp Up Iowa Campaigning

September 18, 2023 at 1:35 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Donald Trump plans to ramp up his campaign in Iowa over the next several weeks as he looks to solidify his lead over GOP 2024 field in the state that will hold the first presidential nominating contest,” CNN reports.

UAW President Downplays White House Involvement

September 18, 2023 at 1:34 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain on Monday said the White House will have no role in brokering an agreement to end the autoworkers’ strike as the walkout enters its fourth day with no resolution in sight,” CNBC reports.

Said Fain: “This battle is not about the president. It’s not about the former president or any other person prior to that. This battle is about the workers standing up for economic and social justice and getting their fair share because they’re fed up with going backwards.”

Dark Money Critic Has Ties to Secret Donor World

September 18, 2023 at 1:30 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has long been the Left’s foremost critic of “dark money,” which he’s said “corrupts” politics and poses a “threat to democracy,” the Washington Examiner reports.

“But a Washington Examiner review of the senator’s donors, green energy affiliations, and efforts to transform the Supreme Court tell another story. He has for many years benefited from the influence of dark money and held certain ties to dark money groups.”

Americans Can Barely Afford Homes

September 18, 2023 at 1:27 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Record-low U.S. housing affordability is squeezing homebuyers and renters while threatening to spill into presidential politics,” Bloomberg reports.

Have You Seen a Missing Fighter Jet?

September 18, 2023 at 12:56 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“An investigation is underway to determine what prompted a pilot to eject from a military jet Sept. 17 near North Charleston and to locate the aircraft,” the Charleston Post & Courier reports.

“The military and civilian authorities are asking the public to contact the JB Charleston Base Defense Operations Center at 843-963-3600 if anyone has information to help in the recovery of the jet.”

Trump Returns to Mar-a-Lago

September 18, 2023 at 12:53 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Donald Trump ended his summer stay in Bedminster, New Jersey, and returned to his Mar-a-Lago estate, where he will spend the fall and winter, The Messenger reports.

Why Trump Is Moving to the Center on Abortion

September 18, 2023 at 12:33 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Republican presidential candidates spent the weekend wooing social conservatives, most of them staking out positions to Donald Trump’s right — as Trump continued to warn activists that they could lose if they overemphasized abortion bans,” Semafor reports.

Said Trump: “I said to politicians, they just don’t know how to talk about the issue. It’s a complex issue, but they don’t know how to talk about it. And if they don’t speak about it correctly, they’re not going to win.”

Jonathan Chait: “Trump thinks the primary is over. The Republican Party has a clear anti-abortion majority, and Trump is handing DeSantis an opportunity to wedge him away from the party’s base — especially in Iowa with its overconcentration of social conservatives. Trump would do this only if he believed the primary was effectively over and he could focus on the general election.”

Trump Blasts Biden Iran Hostage Deal

September 18, 2023 at 12:29 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Donald Trump angrily reacted to a U.S.-Iran prisoner swap saying that he “never paid” for prisoners to be released.

Said Trump: “Toward the end, it got so that countries didn’t even start the conversation asking for money, because they knew they would not get it. Once you pay, you always pay, & MANY MORE HOSTAGES WILL BE TAKEN. Our grossly incompetent ‘leader,’ Crooked Joe Biden, gave 6 BILLION DOLLARS for 5 people. Iran gave ZERO for 5.”

He ended by calling the president “dumb as a rock.”

The Key to Trump’s Success

September 18, 2023 at 12:12 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Philip Bump: “Donald Trump’s success in the 2016 Republican nominating contest was, at its essence, uncomplicated.”

“Running against a cadre of sitting and former elected officials, Trump said things they wouldn’t — mostly the things that were being said in the right-wing media and by pundits on Fox News. The reputation for ‘truth-telling’ his supporters embrace was born of his willingness to elevate false, popular claims, particularly about the left. He wasn’t elected for his policies; in fact, he broadly rejected the idea that people cared much about policy.”

“The only thing that’s changed over the past eight years, really, is that everyone should know the playbook by now. We should know that he will 1) flood the zone with things that are burbling on the right-wing fringe, 2) make sweeping promises without much follow-through and 3) reject any criticism out of hand, spinning it into a reason to praise himself.”

“And so it was with his interview on NBC’s Meet the Press that aired Sunday.”

Victoria Spartz Slams McCarthy as ‘Weak’

September 18, 2023 at 11:43 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) called Kevin McCarthy a “a weak speaker” and said that “real leadership takes courage and willingness to fight for the country, not for power and a picture on the wall,” CNN reports.

The Futility of the Never Trump Billionaires

September 18, 2023 at 11:10 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Benjamin Wallace-Wells: “Every party, at every time, has some tension between its elites and its base. But it’s hard to think of a more spectacular divide than the one currently defining the GOP.”

Biden Backs Auto Workers, Trump Attacks Union Leader

September 18, 2023 at 11:07 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “The sharply different approaches between the likely 2024 presidential nominees over the UAW strike highlights the broader contrast between Biden and Trump around unions, the clean energy transition and the economy more generally. Biden, who claims to be the most pro-union president in American history, aimed to show support for labor — while Trump, during whose administration the UAW also went on strike against GM, has picked personal fights and bashed Democrats for pushing the auto industry to transition to electric vehicles.”

“Concentrated in Midwestern states that could help decide the next election, the strike could prove both an economic threat to the White House and a political test.”

Ken Griffin Sits Out Republican Primary

September 18, 2023 at 10:39 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Billionaire GOP donor Ken Griffin told CNBC that he is sitting on the sidelines of the GOP presidential primary and not supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who he backed in 2022.

DeSantis Seeks Cash From Texas Donors

September 18, 2023 at 10:37 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has reeled in wealthy Texas donors once loyal to former President Donald Trump, and he’s heading to the state this week to make another pitch for his struggling presidential campaign,” Bloomberg reports.

“Texas could prove to be a gold mine for DeSantis’s political operation, which needs to bring in new donors to challenge Trump, the frontrunner for the GOP nomination.”

Trump Keeps Confessing

September 18, 2023 at 10:23 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Donald Trump’s lawyers must really wonder why their client insists of doing television interviews.

When Trump told NBC News over the weekend that it was his — and not that of his lawyers — to challenge the 2020 presidential election result, he torpedoed one of his key legal defenses.

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Trump Bashes ‘Liberal Jews’ on Rosh Hashanah

September 18, 2023 at 10:08 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

As Jews around the country celebrated Rosh Hashanah, Donald Trump slammed “liberal Jews” for not supporting him.

Said Trump: “Just a quick reminder for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed false narratives! Let’s hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward! Happy New Year!”

Red States Quit Nation’s Oldest Library Group

September 18, 2023 at 10:03 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “The American Library Association is facing a partisan firefight unlike anything in its almost 150-year history.”

“The once-uncontroversial organization, which says it is the world’s largest and oldest library association and which provides funding, training and tools to most of the country’s 123,000 libraries, has become entangled in the education culture wars — the raging debates over what and how to teach about race, sex and gender.”

“Over the summer, state libraries in Montana, Missouri and Texas announced that they were severing ties with the ALA, imperiling their libraries’ access to funding and training.”