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Trump Will Not Pay for Proposed Tax Cuts

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“The Trump Administration has no plans to pay for its proposed tax cuts, according to revealing comments made Thursday by top White House officials Gary Cohn and Steve Mnuchin at an Institute of International Finance conference. There will be no border adjustment tax — the trillion-dollar hike on imports raised in Paul Ryan’s plan — nor any other big new revenue generators,” Axios reports.

“Both Cohn and Mnuchin said economic growth would be the primary way to pay for corporate and individual tax cuts, while fewer deductions and tax simplification would also play roles. It is not an opinion that is widely shared by on Capitol Hill, including among Republicans.”

U.S. Will Seek Arrest of WikiLeaks Founder

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U.S. authorities have prepared charges to seek the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, CNN reports.

“The Justice Department investigation of Assange and WikiLeaks dates to at least 2010, when the site first gained wide attention for posting thousands of files stolen by the former US Army intelligence analyst now known as Chelsea Manning.”

Chaffetz Insists Scandal Didn’t Lead to Decision

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Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) — “who shocked the political establishment when he announced his retirement earlier this week — said that he has already started looking for post-congressional employment, and hopes to serve on boards of directors and link up with a television network,” Politico reports.

Asked if he is resigning because of a yet-to-be revealed scandal, Chaffetz said: “Absolutely, positively not. Not in any way shape or form.”

He added: “I’ve been given more enemas by more people over the last eight years than you can possibly imagine. From the Secret Service to the Democratic Party. I am who I am. If they had something really scandalous, it would’ve come out a long, long time ago.”

Inside Clinton’s Doomed Campaign

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Matt Taibbi reviews Shattered by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes:

Shattered is sourced almost entirely to figures inside the Clinton campaign who were and are deeply loyal to Clinton. Yet those sources tell of a campaign that spent nearly two years paralyzed by simple existential questions: Why are we running? What do we stand for?

If you’re wondering what might be the point of rehashing this now, the responsibility for opposing Donald Trump going forward still rests with the (mostly anonymous) voices described in this book.

What Allen and Parnes captured in Shattered was a far more revealing portrait of the Democratic Party intelligentsia than, say, the WikiLeaks dumps. And while the book is profoundly unflattering to Hillary Clinton, the problem it describes really has nothing to do with Secretary Clinton. The real protagonist of this book is a Washington political establishment that has lost the ability to explain itself or its motives to people outside the Beltway.

It Took Republicans to Make Obamacare Popular

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This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

Desperate to show accomplishments during President Trump’s first 100 days, the White House is pushing congressional leaders to hold a vote next week on an possible compromise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

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Ivanka Will Skip Her Book Tour

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Politico: “Ivanka Trump, who now serves as an official government adviser to her father, complete with a security clearance and an office in the West Wing, announced Thursday she won’t do any publicity for her book – no tour, no book signings, and none of the television interviews that help boost a book to the bestseller lists.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

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“The plan gets better and better and better and it’s gotten really really good and a lot of people are liking it a lot.”

— President Trump, quoted by CNN, on the GOP health care plan.

Quote of the Day

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“I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the President of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and Constitutional power.”

— Attorney General Jeff Sessions, quoted by CNN, criticizing a federal judge in Hawaii that has blocked President Trump’s travel ban.

Chaffetz May Resign His Seat

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Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) “surprised many in Utah by saying he won’t seek re-election in 2018. Now, he’s going a step further, suggesting he won’t serve out his term,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

Said Chaffetz: “I might depart early. It very well might happen.”

Most Say GOP Should ‘Move On’ from Health Care

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A new Quinnipiac poll finds that just 36% of American voters say Republicans in Congress should try again to repeal and replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act, while 60% say the Republicans should “move on.”

“Voters disapprove by 65% to 29% of the way President Trump is handling health care and say by 54% to 22% that he is handling health care worse than former President Obama. Another 19% say he is handling it about the same as President Obama.”

The DNC Starts a Shortlist for 2020

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Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the newly-minted vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, made headlines yesterday when he was asked whether he thought Barack Obama “was responsible for some of the failures of 2016.”

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Democrats Hold Big Enthusiasm Edge for 2018

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A new Public Policy Polling survey finds Democrats lead the generic congressional ballot by 47% to 41%.

“But what’s more notable is the enthusiasm imbalance. 63% of Democrats say they’re ‘very excited’ about voting in the 2018 election, compared to only 52% of Republicans who express that sentiment. When you look at the 2018 House picture just among the voters most excited about turning out next year, the lead for Democrats grows to 19 points at 57-38. Republican leaning voters are comparatively disengaged, with the GOP holding advantages only among voters who are ‘somewhat excited’ (48-40) and ‘not that excited’ (46-31).”

Trump Has Lowest Approval of Any New President

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Gallup finds that Donald Trump averaged 41% job approval during his first quarter as president, 14 percentage points lower than any other president in Gallup’s polling history.

“Bill Clinton had the previous low mark of 55%. The average first-quarter rating among post-World War II presidents elected to their first term is 61%, with John Kennedy’s 74% the highest.”

Most Think Marijuana Should Be Legal

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A new CBS News poll finds that 61% of Americans think marijuana use should be legal, a five-point increase from last year and the highest percentage ever recorded in this poll.

“Eighty-eight percent favor medical marijuana use. Seventy-one percent oppose the federal government’s efforts to stop marijuana sales and its use in states that have legalized it, including opposition from most Republicans, Democrats, and independents.”

TV Ads Flood Atlanta Area

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Atlanta-Journal Constitution: “More than $14 million worth of ads have already flooded Georgia’s 6th District. And with a June 20 runoff looming, outside groups are readying another volley. The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC with ties to Paul Ryan, was quick out the gates with a digital spot that depicts Ossoff as a creation of Nancy Pelosi. It’s one of a string of advertisements linking Ossoff to the House Democratic leader, who polls abysmally in the conservative-leaning north Atlanta district.”

Montana Democrats Demand Party Attention

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New York Times: “After a hard-fought campaign to fill a House seat in the Atlanta suburbs fell just short of outright victory on Tuesday, the House seat in Montana vacated by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is up next, and a groundswell of new activism on the left is demanding attention.”

“Democrats have now chalked up a closer-than-expected loss in a House special election in Kansas this month and a near miss in Georgia, leading logically to discussions of how hard to play going forward — not only in the June 20 runoff between their first-time candidate Jon Ossoff and the Republican Karen Handel in Georgia, but also in looming House races in Montana and South Carolina.”

“But grass-roots liberals are not about to let party leaders lapse back into traditional red state, blue state assumptions. Instead, the Democrats’ enthusiastic base is demanding to compete on terrain that once seemed forbidding, a formula for disputes now and in 2018 about where to put the party’s money and field operations.”

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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