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Speed and Subterfuge Is Key to GOP Tax Strategy

November 17, 2017 at 5:17 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

John Cassidy: “It is entirely conceivable that, in two weeks’ time, the Republican Party’s leaders will have largely succeeded in railroading through Congress an unpopular, regressive, and damaging tax reform. That was their plan from the beginning, and so far it has worked out much as they intended. On Thursday, the House, spurred on by Paul Ryan, voted to approve its version of the legislation. Now everything depends on what happens in the Senate.”

“To get their tax plan through this final legislative stretch, the Republicans will try to rely on speed, subterfuge, and diversion. McConnell and Ryan have read the opinion polls. They know that there is widespread opposition to their plan’s major elements, such as its big tax cuts for corporations, unincorporated businesses, and rich people (like the President), or its new limits on popular deductions for mortgage interest and state and local taxes.”

“That explains why the Republicans didn’t hold any hearings in the House, and why they are adopting similar blitzkrieg tactics in the Senate. The G.O.P.’s strategy is to rush this thing through before the other side has time to organize a defense.”

Filed Under: Budget & Taxes

Democrat Facing Moore Is Raising a Torrent of Cash

November 17, 2017 at 4:44 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Roy Moore scandal has unleashed a torrent of online donations to Democrat Doug Jones, who was collecting around $250,000 per day in its immediate aftermath,” NBC News reports.

“Democrats may end up in the unlikely situation of dramatically outspending the GOP in the Senate contest in deep red Alabama now that national Republicans have abandoned Moore. The Republican candidate’s bank account had been depleted by a tough primary battle even before nine women came forward to accuse of him of sexual impropriety.”

Filed Under: 2017 Campaign Tagged With: AL-Sen, Doug Jones, Roy Moore

Florida Democratic Chair Ousted for Being ‘Creepy’

November 17, 2017 at 4:23 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Tampa Bay Times: “Stephen Bittel’s rocky tenure as Florida Democratic Party chairman ended in disgrace Friday after he resigned following accusations from women that he leered at them, made suggestive comments and created an unprofessional work environment.”

“Bittel’s position became untenable after all four major Democratic candidates for Florida governor urged his ouster following a Politico Florida report late Thursday in which six women anonymously complained about Bittel’s behavior. They said he was ‘creepy’ and ‘demeaning.’ Bittel apologized, but it was not enough.”

Filed Under: Democrats Tagged With: Florida


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Trump Aide Planted Viral Story About Christie

November 17, 2017 at 4:19 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg admitted to Politico that he planted a fake story about Gov. Chris Christie (R) “fetching” Donald Trump’s order from McDonald’s in an effort to embarrass the New Jersey governor.

Said Nunberg: “The sad reality is that it was believable.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign Tagged With: Chris Christie, Sam Nunberg

Bannon May Find Donors Hard to Get

November 17, 2017 at 4:17 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Steve Bannon has vowed to lead a ‘season of war’ on Washington’s Republican establishment. But donors most likely to fund a disruptive campaign may be hard to win over,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Bannon is planning to support primary challengers to GOP senators with a goal of toppling Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell… Turning that into reality likely would require tens of millions of dollars to rally voters and build the name recognition of various candidates facing well-financed, sitting senators. Indeed, outside groups spent nearly $3 million in 2012 helping Richard Mourdock defeat Republican Sen. Dick Lugar in Indiana. Mr. Mourdock went on to lose the general election.”

“In recent weeks, however, two of the biggest GOP donors who have funded disruptive campaigns in the past have distanced themselves from Mr. Bannon. And the turbulent Senate race in Alabama, where Mr. Bannon backs Republican candidate Roy Moore, who is facing sexual assault allegations, has energized Mr. McConnell’s defenders.”

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign Tagged With: Stephen Bannon

Trump Now Paying His Own Legal Bills

November 17, 2017 at 2:58 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump “has begun paying his own legal bills related to the Russia investigation and will no longer use political donations to his reelection campaign or the Republican Party to cover the costs,” Reuters reports.

His lawyer says the president now wants to make the party “even.”

Filed Under: White House

Female Staffers Come to Franken’s Defense

November 17, 2017 at 2:56 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Eight of Sen. Al Franken’s (D-MN) former female staffers issued a statement to the Minneapolis Star Tribune saying Franken treated them “with the utmost respect” and “was a champion for women both in the legislation he supported and in promoting women to leadership roles in our offices.”

Filed Under: Senate Tagged With: Al Franken

Trump Plans to End Work Permits for H-1B Spouses

November 17, 2017 at 2:53 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Trump administration has plans to stop granting work permits to spouses of H-1B holders, a move that would overturn a 2015 rule and affect thousands of foreigners currently in the United States,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

“About 100,000 spouses and children of H-1B visa holders come to the U.S. on H-4 visas each year, a number that has been steadily increasing since 2012.”

Filed Under: Immigration

Ohio Candidate Details His Sexual Past

November 17, 2017 at 1:10 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Ohio Supreme Court Justices Bill O’Neill (D), who is running for governor, wrote on Facebook about his own sexual past:

Now that the dogs of war are calling for the head of Senator Al Franken I believe it is time to speak up on behalf of all heterosexual males. As a candidate for Governor let me save my opponents some research time. In the last fifty years I was sexually intimate with approximately 50 very attractive females. It ranged from a gorgeous blonde who was my first true love and we made passionate love in the hayloft of her parents barn and ended with a drop dead gorgeous red head from Cleveland.

Now can we get back to discussing legalizing marijuana and opening the state hospital network to combat the opioid crisis. I am sooooo disappointed by this national feeding frenzy about sexual indiscretions decades ago.

Peace.

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign Tagged With: OH-Gov

Moore Often Sided with Defendants in Sex Crimes Cases

November 17, 2017 at 1:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Democrats and news outlets have noted, sometimes with scandalous subtext, that Mr. Moore dissented from the Alabama Supreme Court’s majority in several instances to side with a person accused of sexual crimes.”

“A New York Times review of 20 cases focused on sexual crimes or misconduct during Mr. Moore’s tenure on the Alabama Supreme Court found that he sided with the accused 13 times, a higher rate than almost all of his colleagues.”

Filed Under: 2017 Campaign Tagged With: AL-Sen, Roy Moore

Bonus Quote of the Day

November 17, 2017 at 12:58 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“You’ve got to believe that photo is worth more than 312 votes.”

— Former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN), telling TPM he would have won his re-election race against Al Franken (D) in 2008 had Franken’s sexual harassment been public at the time.

Filed Under: 2008 Campaign Tagged With: MN-Sen, Norm Coleman

Digital Media Is In a Total Meltdown

November 17, 2017 at 12:07 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Just look at the headlines this week: Mashable sold itself for a fifth of what it was valued at two years ago. Vice and Buzzfeed missed their revenue targets by a wide margin.

Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo summed up what’s happening this way:

We’re actually in the midst of a digital news media crash, only no one is willing to say it. I’ve mentioned before that digital news media in the midst of a monetization crisis. But again, it’s a full blown crash.

The problem is that so many news sites are confused about their customer. Is it the advertiser or the reader?

If you’re an advertiser, you’ll do much better placing ads on Google and Facebook. A digital news site just cannot compete with their ability to target customers.

That’s why I moved Political Wire to a membership model a couple of years ago. I want this to be the best site for readers. But it relies on your direct support. Those who support the site get new features, a cleaner reading experience and no ads.

Join us for just $5 a month or $50 a year.

Filed Under: Administrative

The Conservative War on the Media Backfires

November 17, 2017 at 12:06 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Atlantic: “With sexual misconduct allegations continuing to mount against the Republican Senate candidate in Alabama, Moore has defied calls to drop out of the race by advancing an audacious conspiracy theory—that partisan fabulists in the mainstream media are working with his enemies in the political establishment to wage a nefarious smear campaign against him. Not long ago, such claims likely would have backfired. But in the Trump era, anti-press sentiment has reached a fever pitch on the right—something candidates like Moore are eagerly exploiting.”

“Charlie Sykes, a former conservative talk radio host, said Republican voters have been conditioned over years of right-wing media consumption to reflexively reject any news that challenges their worldview.”

“In Alabama, Sykes said, a ‘nightmare scenario’ is unfolding. ‘You have credible journalism being attacked and ignored amid a flood of misinformation and bizarre propaganda,’ he said, adding that his compatriots in the conservative media who are horrified by Moore need to grapple with their own culpability. ‘I think we should be horrified by the monster we helped create.'”

Filed Under: 2017 Campaign Tagged With: AL-Sen

Murkowski Tax Vote Contingent on Health Vote First

November 17, 2017 at 11:34 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) “said that her vote on the current version of the tax overhaul is contingent on passing a separate bill to stabilize the individual health insurance market,” Roll Call reports.

“The tax legislation now includes a section to repeal the individual mandate — a provision that opens up over $300 billion in revenue — but could also threaten the viability of the overall health law.”

Filed Under: Budget & Taxes, Health Care

‘A Spectacular Accumulation of Lies’

November 17, 2017 at 11:27 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Michael Gerson: “I spent part of my convalescence from a recent illness reading some of the comprehensive timelines of the Russia investigation… In all of this, there is a spectacular accumulation of lies. Lies on disclosure forms. Lies at confirmation hearings. Lies on Twitter. Lies in the White House briefing room. Lies to the FBI. Self-protective lies by the attorney general. Blocking and tackling lies by Vice President Pence. This is, with a few exceptions, a group of people for whom truth, political honor, ethics and integrity mean nothing.”

“What are the implications? President Trump and others in his administration are about to be hit by a legal tidal wave. We look at the Russia scandal and see lies. A skilled prosecutor sees leverage. People caught in criminal violations make more cooperative witnesses. Robert S. Mueller III and his A-team of investigators have plenty of stupidity and venality to work with. They are investigating an administration riven by internal hatreds — also the prosecutor’s friend. And Trump has already alienated many potential allies in a public contest between himself and Mueller. A number of elected Republicans, particularly in the Senate, would watch this showdown with popcorn.”

“But the implications of all this are not only legal and political. We are witnessing what happens when right-wing politics becomes untethered from morality and religion.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign Tagged With: Russia

Clinton Challenges Legitimacy of 2016 Election

November 17, 2017 at 11:13 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Hillary Clinton told Mother Jones that “there are lots of questions” about the legitimacy of Donald Trump’s election due to Russian interference and widespread voter suppression efforts.

Clinton said Russian meddling in the election “was one of the major contributors to the outcome.” The Russians “weaponized false information” in “a very successful disinformation campaign” that “wasn’t just influencing voters, it was determining the outcome.”

Republican efforts to make it harder to vote, through measures such as voter ID laws, shortened early voting periods, and new obstacles to registration, likewise “contributed to the outcome.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign Tagged With: Hillary Clinton

Christie Didn’t Tell Staff of Plans to Endorse Trump

November 17, 2017 at 9:41 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “Before Christie flew to Dallas to endorse Donald Trump two weeks later, he didn’t tell some of his most senior aides. They learned about it from his secretary while he was in the air. Christie had assured aides after New Hampshire that he didn’t plan to endorse in the race, and they looked forward to trying to salvage his legacy in New Jersey.”

“After he learned the news, Kevin Roberts, then communications director, called his team into an emergency meeting and told them. He was met with silence.”

“‘We’re fucked,’ Roberts said, according to attendees. The decision was widely loathed in his circle. DuHaime, his top political adviser, declined to follow his lead. Maria Comella, his top aide for years, later came out with a statement endorsing Hillary Clinton.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign Tagged With: Chris Christie

Ivanka and the Fugitive from Panama

November 17, 2017 at 9:28 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Reuters investigation reveals how an alleged fraudster in Panama, working with Ivanka Trump, helped make Trump’s first international hotel venture a success.

The broker who spearheaded the sale of the Trump-branded project did business with a money launderer for Colombian drug cartels and two criminals from the former Soviet Union.

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Ivanka Trump

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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