;)
The Commentariat -- March 6, 2019
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "The Democratic National Committee has decided to exclude Fox News Channel from televising any of its candidate debates during the 2019-2020 cycle as a result of published revelations detailing the cable network's close ties to the Trump administration. In a statement Wednesday, DNC Chairman Tom Perez cited a story in the New Yorker magazine this week that detailed how Fox has promoted President Trump's agenda. The article, entitled 'The Making of the Fox News White House,' [also linked here Monday] suggested that the news network had become a 'propaganda' vehicle for Trump.... Numerous networks, including Fox, have submitted proposals to the DNC to televise one of the 12 scheduled debates, which will start in June. So far, the organization has only awarded rights to the first two -- to NBC (along with sister networks MSNBC and Telemundo) and to CNN." ...
... Here's an edited, condensed transcript of David Remnick's interview of Jane Mayer.
Brian Feldman of New York: "Democratic members of Congress today put forward legislation to reinstate rules upholding the principle of net neutrality. The Save the Internet Act of 2019 is a brief piece of legislation that restores the Democrat-controlled FCC's Open Internet Order of 2015, and throws out the Republican-controlled FCC's 2017 undoing of said regulation."
Joshua Partlow, et al., of the Washington Post: Juan "Quintero, 42, was so trusted by the Trumps that he had not one but two jobs working for the family. He was a greenskeeper at the Trump National Golf Club Hudson Valley in Hopewell Junction, N.Y., where he would work eight-hour shifts on weekdays. Then he would put in five more hours each day as a contractor at the 171-acre hunting retreat called Leather Hill Preserve, which serves as a private weekend playground for President Trump's sons and the property's co-owners. He also was an immigrant from Mexico who had crossed the border more than two decades ago and was working illegally in the United States. In January, Quintero lost his golf course job after 18 years of employment -- part of a purge of undocumented workers from Trump's businesses amid revelations that the company relied on illegal labor for years.... Gone, too, was his side job at the hunting retreat.... Quintero said he never directly told Eric Trump about his immigration status. But he said he remained employed by the hunting lodge for more than a year after not providing the owners with a Social Security number when they sought to issue him a debit card."
Manu Raju & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "Michael Cohen on Wednesday provided the House Intelligence Committee with new documents showing edits to the false written statement he delivered to Congress in 2017 about the Trump Organization's pursuit of the Trump Tower Moscow project into the 2016 campaign season, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. The documents Cohen provided are intended to further explain his public testimony last week, in which Cohen said that ... Donald Trump's then-personal lawyer Jay Sekulow made changes to his statement to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, and that it was reviewed ahead of time by lawyers like Abbe Lowell, an attorney for Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.... It's unclear what Cohen's documents show was specifically changed in the statement. Cohen is testifying Wednesday behind closed doors at the House Intelligence Committee."
Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "In her first congressional appearance since Democrats took control of the House, [Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen] Nielsen was defiant in the face of criticism of the administration for its treatment of migrant families at the border, especially its decision last summer to separate children from their parents.... Democrats demanded that Ms. Nielsen address the chaos that followed the family separation decision, the deaths of migrant children in federal custody and Mr. Trump's claim of a national emergency at the border that he has said requires construction of a border wall.... 'Our capacity is already severely strained, but these increases will overwhelm the system entirely,' Ms. Nielsen told members of the House Homeland Security Committee.... Ms. Nielsen applauded the president's demand for a wall. She also urged lawmakers to pass legislation that would allow the indefinite detention of families and to more easily turn back claims of asylum by migrants from Central America, who have been arriving in record numbers at the southern border."
John Bowden of the Hill: "A federal judge [Richard Seeborg] ruled against the Trump administration Wednesday, blocking the Commerce Department from adding a question on citizenship to the 2020 U.S. Census. In a ruling, a judge for the Northern District of California wrote that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross's search for a plausible reason to add a citizenship question to the census fell under the umbrella of an 'arbitrary and capricious' decision by the government.... 'Moreover, Secretary Ross's conclusion that adding the citizenship question would enable the Census Bureau to obtain more "complete and accurate data" in response to the [Justice Department's] request is not only unsupported, it is directly contradicted by the scientific analysis contained in the Administrative Record,' Seeborg continued."
A view of Aaron Schock's Congressional office. ... Andy Kravetz & Chris Kaergard of the Peoria, Illinois, Journal Star: "After four years, legal twists and turns that rise to the level of either high comedy or incredible drama, the public corruption case of former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock is over. The Peoria Republican, who resigned from office four years ago amid allegations of fiscal misconduct, entered a plea on behalf of his campaign committee to a Federal Election Commission violation for inadequately keeping paperwork. Schock himself didn't plead to anything. The committee, as an entity, was found in violation. To be dropped were what's left of nearly two dozen allegations against him claiming years of misconduct. His plea isn't typical for federal court. Instead of a conviction, Schock entered a program known as 'pretrial diversion.' A $25,000 fine was levied and the period of supervision under the pretrial diversion is to last for six months. Also Schock, 37, must repay his main campaign committee and the IRS money as outlined in the agreement."
Ana Swanson & Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "The United States trade deficit in goods ballooned to its largest level in history, reaching $891.3 billion in 2018, despite President Trump's repeated promise to reduce that figure. The gap between the goods that the United States sells to China and what China sells to America rose to a record $419 billion, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. That gap has been a particular source of ire for Mr. Trump, who has imposed steep tariffs on Chinese goods to try and slow imports into America. In December, the overall goods and services deficit rose to $59.8 billion, up 19 percent from the previous month. It was the highest monthly trade deficit in a decade. The trade deficit, or the gap between value of goods and services imported into the country and exported out of it, expanded mainly because of the strong American economy, which allowed Americans to purchase more from abroad. A strong dollar, which weighed on American exports, and a continued shortfall in American savings also helped to buoy the metric."
Anita Kumar of Politico: "... Donald Trump's strategy on congressional investigations has amounted to a two-pronged strategy: dodge requests -- and attack, attack, attack. The White House launched a fire-breathing public relations response to House Democrats while the Trump administration has refused or delayed turning over documents in 30 investigations by a dozen different committees, according to House Democrats."
~~~~~~~~~~
The Trump Scandals, Ctd.
The Double Life of Donald Trump. Peter Baker & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "On a busy day at the White House, President Trump hosted senators to talk about tax cuts, accused a Democratic congresswoman of distorting his condolence call to a soldier's widow and suffered another court defeat for his travel ban targeting Muslim countries. And at some point on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017, Mr. Trump took the time to sign a $35,000 check to his lawyer, who had made hush payments to prevent alleged sexual misconduct from being exposed before the 2016 presidential election. It was one of 11 occasions that Mr. Trump or his trust cut such checks, six of which were provided this week to The New York Times.... The dates on the newly available checks shed light on the parallel lives Mr. Trump was living by this account -- at once managing affairs of state while quietly paying the price of keeping his personal secrets out of the public eye.... On the same day he reportedly pressured the F.B.I. director to drop an investigation into a former aide, the president's trust issued a check to [Michael] Cohen in furtherance of what federal prosecutors have called a criminal scheme to violate campaign finance laws at the direction of Mr. Trump."
President Obama, from what they tell me, was under a similar kind of a thing, didn't give one letter. They didn't do anything. They didn't give one letter of the request. Many requests were made. They didn't give a letter. -- Donald Trump, yesterday, lying in front of wounded veterans
According to Linda Qiu of the New York Times, the Obama administration turned over 10,000 pages re: "Fast & Furious," more than 300,000 pages on Solyndra, 125,000 pages on Benghaaazi! and 1.3 million pages on the IRS/Lois Lerner hoohah. When Trump tells an incredible whopper, as opposed to a standard whopper, he sometimes modifies it with a "people say" qualifier, as he does here. He thinks this absolves him, & if queried about the same matter later, he keeps it up: "I don't know; that's what they tell me." -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ...
... Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "President Trump on Tuesday signaled the White House will not comply with a barrage of congressional investigations, accusing Democrats in the House of launching the probes to hurt his chances of winning reelection in 2020. 'It's a disgrace to our country. I'm not surprised that it's happening. Basically, they've started the campaign. So the campaign begins,' Trump told reporters at the White House after signing an executive order on veterans' suicide prevention." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: The "disgrace to our country," obviously, is the long list of Trump's criminal & corrupt acts that have made the investigations necessary. ...
... Rachel Bade of the Washington Post: "The White House has rebuffed House Democrats' request for documents pertaining to the security clearance process, a move that drastically increases the chances of a subpoena from the House. In a letter to House Oversight and Reform Chairman Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), White House Counsel Pat A. Cipollone said the committee request for the information was 'without legal support, clearly premature, and suggests a breach of the constitutionally required accommodation process.' Rather, Cipollone said his staff would brief the panel and allow them to view documents related to their investigation. That offer has not been sufficient for committee Democrats in the past.... In a statement, Cummings rejected the White House lawyer's assertion that Congress does not have jurisdiction over security clearance matters. 'There is a key difference between a president who exercises his authority under the Constitution and a president who overrules career experts and his top advisers to benefit his family members and then conceals his actions from the American people,' Cummings said. 'The White House's argument defies the constitutional separation of powers, decades of precedent before this committee, and just plain common-sense....'" ...
... Colin Kalmbacher of Law & Crime: "Congressional Democrats are calling for a criminal investigation into presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner over several allegedly 'false statements' he made to federal investigators in service of obtaining his long-sought-after Top Secret security clearance. Representatives Ted Lieu (D-California) and Donald Beyer (D-Virginia), addressed a two-page letter to Attorney General William Barr. The investigatory request relies upon recent news reports which claimed that ... Donald Trump demanded his then-chief-of-staff John Kelly to overrule various federal authorities -- including top officials in the intelligence community -- and gift Kushner the security clearance.... 'Taken together with previous reports that Mr. Kushner omitted contacts with more than one hundred foreign persons on his clearance forms -- including the Russian Ambassador -- we request that the Department of Justice open an immediate investigation to determine if Mr. Kushner is criminally liable for his false statements.'... The letter notes that House investigators are currently addressing the security clearance issue but goes on to specifically request a 'concurrent criminal probe' from the Department of Justice in order to 'safeguard our national security secrets and ensure our laws are being upheld.'" ...
The president had no involvement pertaining to my clearance or my husband's clearance. -- Ivanka Trump, in an ABC interview ...
... ** Pamela Brown & Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "... Donald Trump pressured his then-chief of staff John Kelly and White House counsel Don McGahn to grant his daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump a security clearance against their recommendations, three people familiar with the matter told CNN. The President's crusade to grant clearances to his daughter and her husband, Jared Kushner, rankled West Wing officials. While Trump has the legal authority to grant clearances, most instances are left up to the White House personnel security office.... But after concerns were raised by the personnel office, Trump pushed Kelly and McGahn to make the decision on his daughter and son-in-law's clearances so it did not appear as if he was tainting the process to favor his family, sources told CNN. After both refused, Trump granted them their security clearances.... The latest revelation also contradicts Ivanka Trump's denial to ABC News three weeks ago, when she said her father had 'no involvement' regarding her or Kushner's clearances." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: In the next sentence, CNN's "sources" haul out the sexist Dumb-Blonde defense: "Several sources told CNN it is feasible that she was unaware of the red flags raised during her background check process, as well as the President's involvement in it." The defense also is ludicrous. Ivanka is a federal official, and her job requires her to be truthful in her public statements. A correct answer could have been, "Not to my knowledge." A better answer would have been, "I'm not aware that my father had any involvement in securing my husband's clearance or mine, but I'll find out and let you know what I've learned." Democrats should call for her resignation, as well as her husband's. ...
... Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: Anderson Cooper & Maggie Haberman can't figure out WTF Ivanka does in the White House. Haberman said she doubts Ivanka had no idea her father got her the clearance. As to why she "needs" it, Haberman speculated, "I think that there is an addictive quality to having access to this kind of information. What exactly Ivanka Trump needs to do with that information is unclear." Dear Donald, Since you're handing them out like campaign fliers, please send me a top-secret security clearance. I too think it would be cool to be "briefed." Thanks, Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ...
... Jordan Fabian: "President Trump on Tuesday attacked Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), accusing the House Judiciary Committee chairman of attempting to 'harass' his associates in a wide-ranging probe into Trump's administration, campaign and businesses. 'Nadler, Schiff and the Dem heads of the Committees have gone stone cold CRAZY. 81 letter sent to innocent people to harass them. They won't get ANYTHING done for our Country!' he tweeted. The president also referenced House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who on Monday made a sweeping request for documents and interviews related to Trump's conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump said Democrats are ramping up their investigations 'now that they realize the only Collusion with Russia was done by Crooked Hillary Clinton & the Democrats.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Thomas Elfrink of the Washington Post: "In a half-dozen tweets and retweets sent right up until midnight [Tuesday], Trump took aim at [billionaire activist Tom] Steyer and two of his most familiar targets: Hillary Clinton and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Trump saved his most direct ire on the night for the billionaire, though, who has made removing Trump from the White House the centerpiece of his ambitious political agenda. Although Steyer was believed to be considering a bid for the Democratic nomination in late 2018, he laid those rumors to rest in January. Steyer, whose super PAC, NextGen America, poured $61 million into the 2018 midterms, instead announced plans to spend $16 million targeting incumbent Republicans in 2020 who back Trump. The 61-year-old former hedge fund manager also said he plans to embark on a national town hall tour to press his view that Trump should be impeached.... Steyer responded to Trump's latest broadside by calling him 'the most corrupt president in American history.'"
Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "Three key House chairmen on Monday formally asked the White House and the State Department for documents and witness interviews related to ... Donald Trump's communications with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The leaders of the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight Committees are giving White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo until March 15 to turn over 'all documents and communications, regardless of form and classification, that refer or relate to any communications between President Trump and President Putin, including in-person meetings and telephone calls.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Jeff Toobin in the New Yorker: "... Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has hired a veteran prosecutor with experience fighting Russian organized crime to lead his investigation of the Trump Administration. Last month, according to a committee source, Daniel Goldman, who served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York from 2007 to 2017, joined the committee's staff as a senior adviser and the director of investigations. The hiring of Goldman, who will be joined by two other former federal prosecutors on Schiff's staff, underlines Schiff's decision to conduct an aggressive investigation of the Trump campaign's ties to Russia during the 2016 Presidential campaign." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: If Goldman's name sounds famililar, it's because until recently, he was an NBC analyst.
William Rashbaum & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "New York State regulators have issued an expansive subpoena to the Trump Organization's longtime insurance broker, the first step in an investigation of insurance policies and claims involving President Trump's family business, according to a person briefed on the matter. The subpoena was served late Monday on the company, Aon, one of the largest insurance brokerage firms in the world, as part of an inquiry by the New York State Department of Financial Services. It came just days after Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump's formerfixer and lawyer, indicated in congressional testimony that the Trump Organization inflated the value of its assets to insurance companies." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: Michael "Cohen has privately claimed that a pardon was dangled to him by Trump's representatives, people familiar with the matter say -- though he has been unspecific about the timing or substance of the talks. Two others familiar with the events said it was Stephen Ryan, Cohen's lawyer at the time, who raised the issue of a pardon. Within weeks of the raid, Ryan and Rudolph W. Giuliani, one of Trump's personal lawyers, discussed the subject, people familiar with the matter said.... Cohen told lawmakers [in sworn testimony last week] that he had never asked for, nor would he accept, a pardon from Trump.... Cohen has not alleged that he was offered an explicit quid pro quo that would tie a pardon to his cooperation with law enforcement, [a] person said. The person said Cohen felt that Trump's team was using innuendo and suggestion to imply there would be a benefit for his loyalty. 'It was very vague,' the person said. The topic of pardons came up when Cohen testified privately last week before the House and Senate Intelligence committees. Precisely what Cohen alleged there remains unclear."
Caitlyn Oprysko of Politico: "A federal judge reprimanded Roger Stone on Tuesday over possible violations of a court-imposed gag order that could ultimately land him in jail. She also gave the longtime associate of ... Donald Trump a week to explain why the re-release of a book he wrote critical of the Russia investigation wasn't previously disclosed. U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman in her five-page order also accused the eccentric GOP operative of using court filings to promote his book, a signal the appointee of President Barack Obama is far from pleased with how Stone has handled the gag order imposed last month that restricts him from commenting in any substantive way about his case." ...
... Dan Mangan & Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "Two websites used by ... Roger Stone to raise funds for his defense against criminal charges lodged by special counsel Robert Mueller and in civil cases have been deleted. At least one of those deletions apparently occurred after CNBC reported Sunday that the Republican operative might have violated the terms of his judicial gag order by posting an image on his Instagram account asking 'Who framed Roger Stone.' Another of Stone's websites, which itself was titled whoframedrogerstone.com, has also been deleted."
Caitlyn Oprysko: "One of ... Donald Trump's former White House lawyers said this week that special counsel Robert Mueller is an 'American hero' [citing Mueller's military service] and that the probe he is leading is not a 'witch hunt,' rejecting the president's repeated characterizations of the Russia investigation and the man leading it. In an interview on ABC News' 'The Investigation' podcast published Tuesday, Ty Cobb disputed many of the president's complaints about Mueller and his team.... He also said at least on the matter of Russian collusion, Trump would likely be exonerated." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Marc Fisher of the Washington Post: "In 2011, days after Donald Trump challenged President Barack Obama to 'show his records' to prove that he hadn't been a 'terrible student,' the headmaster at New York Military Academy got an order from his boss: Find Trump's academic records and help bury them. The superintendent of the private school [Jeffrey Coverdale] 'came to me in a panic because he had been accosted by prominent, wealthy alumni of the school who were Mr. Trump's friends' and who wanted to keep his records secret, recalled Evan Jones, the headmaster at the time. 'He said, "You need to go grab that record and deliver it to me because I need to deliver it to them."' 'I was given directives, part of which I could follow but part of which I could not, and that was handing them over to the trustees,' [Jones] said. 'I moved them elsewhere on campus where they could not be released. It's the only time I ever moved an alumnus's records.'" ...
... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "... what's perhaps more notable is just how exhaustive the effort to bury Trump's academic records seems to have been. It's apparently something that spanned two different presidential campaign cycles and was undertaken almost immediately as Trump began talking about Obama's grades.... It's hardly the first example of Trump attacking others for things that could just as easily get turned around on him. But it does appear a particularly rich one." ...
... Mrs McCrabbie: It's easy to see Trump is dumb as a post today, but that doesn't mean he was a terrible student a half-century ago. His extraordinary efforts to hide his grades, however, is all the evidence we need that he was near the bottom of his class. Also too, we must not forget that Trump's demand that President Obama release his grades was a super-racist attack. He told the AP, 'I heard he was a terrible student -- terrible. How does a bad student go to Columbia and then to Harvard? I'm thinking about it, I'm certainly looking into it. Let him show his records." Trump just could not believe or accept that a black person was a better student than he, & his presumption was that Obama was admitted to prestigious schools under affirmative action programs but then couldn't keep up with the white people. Disgusting. ...
... Update: Although Trump has claimed, "I became one of the top guys at the whole school," Marc Fisher was on MSNBC Tuesday night and said that fellow students at New York Military Academy said Trump's grades were mediocre. However, since Trump's transcripts are "buried," Fisher can't confirm this.
Bribing POTUS. Alex Raymond of New York: "Prior to April 29, 2018, the date on which T-Mobile and Sprint announced plans to merge into a new telecom giant, T-Mobile executives had spent two nights at the Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C. In the ten months since, they've spent at least 52 nights at the property, which is owned by the Trump Organization. In a letter to Congress last month, the company admitted to spending around $195,000 at the downtown D.C. hotel since the merger announcement, according to the Washington Post. T-Mobile says the increase was not meant to sway regulators deciding whether to approve the merger." --s ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Hey, if Donald Trump isn't worried about that emoluments thing, why should T-Mobile? And just to make sure word got back to Donald that T-Mobile was paying tribute, its CEO John Legere was spotted hanging in the hotel lobby wearing "a black-and-magenta hoodie with a T-Mobile logo over a bright magenta T-shirt with another T-Mobile logo."
Grace Sparks of CNN: "Nearly two-thirds of registered voters think ... Donald Trump committed crimes before assuming the presidency, according to a new poll taken in the days after former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen testified to Congress. According to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday, 64% of registered voters said Trump had committed crimes before entering office and nearly half of voters -- 45% -- think he committed crimes while serving as President.... When asked directly if they believe [Michael] Cohen or Trump more, 50% of all registered voters chose Cohen and 35% chose Trump.... Almost 3 in 5 voters wanted Congress to do more to investigate Cohen's claims about Trump's unethical and possibly illegal behavior." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: These results are especially amazing in view of the fact that nearly half of the "questioning" of Cohen during public House testimony was Republicans yelling at him for being a convicted liar.
Caitlin Dickerson of the New York Times: "For the fourth time in five months, the number of migrant families crossing the southwest border has broken records, border enforcement authorities said Tuesday, warning that government facilities are full and agents are overwhelmed. More than 76,000 migrants crossed the border without authorization in February, more than double the levels from the same period last year and approaching the largest numbers seen in any February in the last 12 years." ...
... Kate Smith of CBS News: "ICE officers have released 12 of the infants that were being held at a rural Texas detention center, where immigrant advocates claim they dealt with dirty water, limited baby food and a lack of medical care. The release comes just days after immigration advocates called on the Department of Homeland Security to 'intervene immediately.' In an email Monday, ICE said there were 16 infants younger than a year old held at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas as of Friday, March 1. The status of the remaining four babies is unclear. ICE also said there was another infant under the age of one detained at the Texas Karnes detention center. Both facilities are about an hour away from San Antonio, the nearest metropolitan center. All the mothers and their infants were released to friends and family members who were were 'ready to buy them a bus or plane ticket and receive them in their home,' said Katy Murdza, the advocacy coordinator at the American Immigration Council's Dilley Pro Bono Project."
About That Excellent Trump-Kim "Summit." Courtney Kube, et al., of NBC News: "North Korea is pursuing the 'rapid rebuilding' of the long-range rocket site at Sohae Launch Facility, according to new commercial imagery and an analysis from the researchers at Beyond Parallel. Sohae Satellite Launching Station, North Korea's only operational space launch facility, has been used in the past for satellite launches. These launches use similar technology to what is used for intercontinental ballistic missiles. 'This renewed activity, taken just two days after the inconclusive Hanoi Summit between ... Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, may indicate North Korean plans to demonstrate resolve in the face of U.S. rejection of North Korea's demands at the summit to lift five U.N. Security Council sanctions enacted in 2016-2017,' the analysts said." ...
... Julia Davis of the Daily Beast looks at how Moscow is viewing the failed "summit." They're pretty much all laughing at Trump as a weak leader -- one pundit called him the "acting president*" -- and congratulating Li'l Kim for manipulating Trump into showing up for the fake summit.
Martin Crutsinger of TPM: "[S]o far this budget year, the total deficit is 77 percent higher than the same period a year ago. The Treasury Department said Tuesday that the deficit for the first four months of this budget year, which began Oct. 1, totaled $310.3 billion. That's up from a deficit of $175.7 billion in the same period a year ago.... Individual income taxes withheld from paychecks total $818 billion for the October-January period, down 3 percent from the same period last year. Corporate income taxes total $73 billion over the four-month period, down 23 percent. Revenue, however, is up is in tariffs -- border taxes collected on imports -- which totaled $25 billion in the October-January period, up 91 percent from the same period a year ago.... The border taxes are not paid by the countries where the goods are being produced but rather by the U.S. companies importing the products into the United States. Those costs are generally passed on to American consumers." --s
** E. A. Crunden of ThinkProgress: "The Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to weaken or dismantle climate efforts would increase CO2 emissions by more than 200 million tons annually, taking a severe toll on public health, according to a new report released Tuesday by the nonpartisan State Energy & Environmental Impact Center at New York University's (NYU) law school." --s
Lloyd Grove of The Daily Beast: "[The current] White House ... prizes petty vengeance over thoughtful political strategy, according to half a dozen longtime Republican consultants and strategists interviewed for this article; they say Donald Trump's White House operates as a cult of personality, insisting on lockstep loyalty above every other consideration -- even at the expense of competent political practice. 'There's no sophistication. They are not trying to pick winners and losers at all. They are not getting involved in the races. They are simply vengeful,' said Republican consultant Susan Del Percio, echoing the assessments of other GOP strategists[.]" With examples. --s
All the Best People, Ctd. Casey Quinlan of ThinkProgress: "A Republican [Shannon Lee Goessling] whose career has been defined largely by a record of opposition to LGBTQ and immigrant rights ... is being considered to lead the Office on Violence Against Women. She has also made claims that women owning guns protects them against violence, which is not supported in research.... A number of women's rights groups have opposed her nomination and said her record signals that she would be an ineffective advocate for women, especially due to her history of inaccurate claims about gun use and violence against women." --s
Burgess Everett & Marianne Levine of Politico: “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his GOP caucus ... are about to accelerate their ability to unilaterally approve many [judicial] nominees in dramatic fashion. The Senate is on track to confirm the 34th Circuit Court judge of Trump's presidency in the next week and the GOP has three more ready for floor action; that would give Trump roughly 20 percent of the Circuit Court seats in the country after just two years in office. At this rate, McConnell and Trump could leave few, if any, vacancies there for a potential Democratic president in 2021. Even more alarming for Democrats, the GOP is also preparing to pull the trigger on the 'nuclear option' and change Senate rules once again with a simple majority to allow much quicker confirmation of lower court judges in the coming months. 'The committee is working to put [judges] out on the floor and as soon as they come to the floor the leader's making it a priority to move them,' said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, McConnell's top deputy." --s
Brianna Ehley of Politico: "Sen. Rand Paul on Tuesday railed against government-mandated vaccines, suggesting they infringe on personal rights, during a congressional hearing on immunizations' role in protecting the public from preventable diseases like the current measles outbreak sweeping parts of the country. Paul (R-Ky.), a doctor, said he and his children are vaccinated and that he believes the benefits of vaccines outweigh the risks. 'But I still do not favor giving up on liberty for a false sense of security,' Paul said during the Senate health committee hearing, where he was the only lawmaker to raise doubts over vaccinations." Mrs. McC: Never mind the rights of all the children & adults the unvaccinated may infect. ...
... Sam Stein of the Daily Beast: "Paul didn't just make the case that vaccines should be voluntary, however. He used his platform at the hearing to affirmatively push the perception that they are potentially problematic. 'It is wrong to say that there are no risks to vaccines,' said Paul. 'Even the government admits that children are sometimes injured by vaccines.'... Shortly after Paul spoke..., Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) offered to 'give some color to what Senator Paul said.' He then proceeded to go through cases of individuals who ended up with terrible diseases simply because they didn't think getting vaccinated was important. A physician himself, Cassidy noted that the only requirement with regards to vaccination was that a children get them before entering the public school system. Addressing Paul without looking at him, Cassidy concluded: 'If you are such a believer in liberty that you do not wish to be vaccinated then there should be a consequence and that is that you cannot infect other people.'" ...
... Michael Brice-Saddler of the Washington Post: "An 18-year-old from Ohio who famously inoculated himself against his mother's wishes in December says he attributes his mother's anti-vaccine ideology to a single source: Facebook. Ethan Lindenberger, a high school senior, testified Tuesday before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and underscored the importance of 'credible' information. In contrast, he said, the false and deep-rooted beliefs his mother held -- that vaccines were dangerous — were perpetuated by social media. Specifically, he said, she turned to anti-vaccine groups on social media for evidence that supported her point of view. In an interview with The Washington Post on Tuesday, Lindenberger said Facebook, or websites that were linked on Facebook, is really the only source his mother ever relied on for her anti-vaccine information." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Yes, but now Mother Lindenberger can bolster her Facebook claptrap with the expert support of U.S. Senator & Self-Certified Doctor Rand Paul.
Paul Waldman in the Washington Post: "In what is surely the most shameful decision of her current term as speaker, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has decided that the time has come for the House to rebuke Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) for things she didn't actually say, and ideas she didn't actually express. In the process, Pelosi and other Democrats are helping propagate a series of misconceptions about anti-Semitism, Israel, and U.S. political debate.... In one of the tweets that got people so worked up, Omar said, 'I should not be expected to have allegiance/pledge support to a foreign country in order to serve my country in Congress or serve on committee.' You'll notice she didn't say or even imply anything at all about Jews. She said that she was being asked to support Israel in order to have the privilege of serving on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which was true.... Here's the truth: The whole purpose of the Democrats' resolution is to enforce dual loyalty not among Jews, but among members of Congress, to make sure that criticism of Israel is punished in the most visible way possible.... When the most prominent advocates for Israel are people such as Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin, 'dual loyalty' loses any meaning as a slur against Jews." ...
Just kinda wondering where putting a Jewish mans face inside a bank vault surrounded by piles of money falls into our current debate? pic.twitter.com/lUMaHwsVfF
— Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) March 6, 2019
... Mrs. McCrabbie Mea Culpa: Like many people, I believed reports I read that Omar had accused fellow House members of being loyal to a foreign country -- Israel. According to Waldman, she did not say or write that. ...
... ** Eric Levitz of New York: “While explaining her frustration with the way allegations of anti-Semitism can be used to suppress 'the broader debate of what is happening with Palestine,' the Democratic congresswoman said, 'I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country.' Many American Jews took exception to this remark. And not without reason. Omar's intentions were ambiguous.... I've seen no compelling evidence that Omar is an anti-Semite, rather than a critic of Israel who is (understandably) frustrated with the extraordinary power that Likud wields in D.C.... Meanwhile, virtually all of her colleagues routinely say -- in prepared remarks, as a matter of principle -- that America should continue to abet the race-based oppression of Palestinians in Israel.... Unlike the vast majority of her colleagues, Omar has the temerity to insist that Palestinians are full-fledged human beings, entitled to political freedom and equality before the law.... Omar's remarks about Zionists were insensitive and counterproductive. But her colleagues' enthusiastic support for the subjugation of Palestinians is something much worse."
... Heather Caygle, et al., of Politico: "A vote on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism in response to controversial comments by Rep. Ilhan Omar is set to slip past Wednesday amid intensifying pressure from the left both inside and outside the House Democratic Caucus. An array of progressive groups declared their support for Omar, while both the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Progressive Caucus -- two of the most important factions among House Democrats -- wanted more time to review the situation, lawmakers and aides said."
Michelle Lee of the Washington Post: "Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)’s chief of staff helped establish two political action committees that paid a corporation he ran more than $1 million in 2016 and 2017, federal campaign finance records show. Brand New Congress LLC, the corporation owned by Saikat Chakrabarti, was also paid $18,880 for strategic consulting by Ocasio-Cortez's congressional campaign in 2017, records show. The following year, he worked as a volunteer to manage her campaign, according to his LinkedIn profile. The arrangement, first reported by conservative outlets, left hidden who ultimately profited from the payments -- a sharp juxtaposition with Ocasio-Cortez's calls for transparency in politics. She has called dark money 'the enemy to democracy.... On Monday, a conservative group filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that the PACs failed to properly disclose their spending.... It is unclear whether [Ocasio-Cortez] had knowledge of the payments to Chakrabarti's corporation."
Presidential Race 2020. Michael Bloomberg, in a Bloomberg opinion piece, says he will not seek the Democratic nomination for president. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
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Reader Comments (10)
After Nancy Pelosi gets finished shooting Democrats in the collective foot by focusing her energy on aiding Confederate cries over alleged anti-Semitic remarks by Ilhan Omar, maybe she should focus on setting up more votes on actual legislation that advances the nation's interests.
One of the biggest hypocritical hammers the GOP will use on Democratic oversight is the profuse crocodile tears of "Presiduncial* harassment" while the Democrats supposedly ignore legislation to improve Americans' livelihoods. It seems to me that the best strategy the House Dems could do is to have a steady stream of votes on real Democratic priorities backed by popular support sent to the Senate to be ignored by Nihilist Asshat McConnell. Every time Drumpf screams about Dems only investigating his crimes, Pelosi can go on teevee and point at all of the legislation they're passing and pass the blame to Agent Orange's Senate puppet McConnell.
Waldman calls the Democratic/Pelosi campaign (an obviously calculated political ploy from the get-go) to screw Omar shameful. It is far more than merely shameful - it is a display of arrogance and ignorance on par with our dear leader's. It is part of the Democratic Party's effort to kill any progressive successes in the party in order to preserve the long obsolete and delusional world view of old farts like Pelosi, Feinstein, and Schumer, who clearly want a business as usual future and see no reason to rock the boat. This, despite the avalanche of evidence - both scientific and daily empirically experienced - that the world is now - not some time in distant future decades - hitting an ecological speed bump of geological significance.
I find the Repugs repugnant, but until the Demons get their heads out of their asses, I find them to be only barely more tolerable.
The new QAnon book: An Invitation to the Great Awakening is
supposedly a NYT best seller. I checked it out on Amazon. The
author is WWG1WGA. Lots of comments about how great it is to
finally know the truth about what's happening in the world, like,
there's a group of elites who want to get rid of 90% of the world
population and keep 10% for slaves. Bad math. That only leaves
slaves to run the world!
Also, Democrats are baby eaters because lots of women can no
longer get abortions so babies are born and eaten. One commenter
on another site I was reading, can't remember which one, says
yes, we are eating them but only after they are killed by Republicans.
And God and Trump will save us in the end.
There are a lot of sick puppies in this country. Hopefully I don't
know any of these people, but one can never be sure any more.
Also, it's great to see that Anderson Cooper & Maggie Haberman
agree with me about Ivanka. WTF does she do in the White House.
Again, she's like the extra 'a' in quaalude. Useless.
Their Dog Has Fleas
Regarding the need for Ivanka (and Jarod for that matter) to have top secret security clearance, I'm wondering what it is that their previous experience brings to the table. How does running slave labor sweat shops in China to pump out pricey knock-offs and attending cocktail parties on the Upper East Side prepare one for a position as adviser on possible flashpoints in hotspots around the globe, requiring top secret clearance? For that matter, how does gouging tenants and bumbling one's way across the New York real estate market gear one up for being able to understand top secret intelligence briefings?
And on what does she advise Trump? Can either of them find Basra on a map? Does she understand the touchy situation surrounding the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea? Can she stand up, cold, and tick off the background, history, and present status of the humanitarian, military, and economic crisis in Yemen, well, beyond Ivanka Maxim #1, that is, that people don't want things handed to them?
So, what exactly is she advising about? What color tie to wear to the next fake summit? Why do either of the Javanka pair need top secret clearance, especially when it was denied by a raft of intelligence professionals, ostensibly for very good reasons?
Because it's cool?
Probably because Trump would rather take the advice of complete tyros when it comes to international intelligence than the word of people who have been doing this their entire professional lives.
And it would be one thing if either of them were whip smart, fast learners, and possessed of superior instincts. None of that applies. Just look at the crazy things they say and do. They don't even come up to the level of rank amateurs. They're like kids learning the guitar who can barely play "My Dog Has Fleas" but think they're Jimi Hendrix.
Even worse, so does Trump.
All the best people.
I finally took the time to read Jane Mayer's very long but very exceptional reportage on Fox News involvement with Trump and his administration–(I think Marie gave a link to this). It's clear that we are being run by a dolt that that is being run by certain Foxy folks. As you read this piece you breathe heavily and keep saying, "Oh my god!" Not that we didn't know this but when you get into the weeds of this it is so much more rotten and crazy nuts that besides the OMG's your anger level rises exponentially. Here's the ending––let in sink in.
"Jerry Taylor, the co-founder of the Niskanen Center, a think tank in Washington for moderates, says, “In a hypothetical world without Fox News, if President Trump were to be hit hard by the Mueller report, it would be the end of him. But, with Fox News covering his back with the Republican base, he has a fighting chance, because he has something no other President in American history has ever had at his disposal—a servile propaganda operation.” ♦
The latest dodge, duck, and attack strategy by the White House in regards to the congressional requests for information and documents connected to obstruction of justice, corruption, malfeasance, and abuse of power means the whole thing will likely end up in court.
Trump will stall as much as he can and try to run out the clock on all of these investigations and hope that he can use them as proof of his victimization for the 2020 election.
It may go all the way to the Supreme Court. Democrats need to be aggressive. They're not going to get anything from Trump, not without someone holding a gun to his head.
Even then, there's the tried and true "The Dog Ate Those Papers" trick. Remember the tens of millions of emails that disappeared from the Bush White House? Gone are the days of Rosemary Woods and the "Oops, I just accidentally erased 18 minutes on these Nixon Watergate tapes". You may recall that well before the right went nuts over Hillary Clinton's 30,000 emails, the Bushies "lost" (meaning deleted) 22 million emails a day or so after Congress asked for a look-see (it was actually a subpoena, not just a request).
Bush's people (including the Brain, Karl Rove) were using non-governmental email accounts to conduct "business" they didn't want anyone to know about. Hey, isn't that exactly what Republicans were screaming about concerning Clinton? Oh well...anyway, the Bush White House was found to be in contempt of Congress for not only not complying, but for destroying evidence in the US Attorney firing scandal. No punishment was handed down. None.
Trump will likely go the same route. Documents and emails will just be shredded/deleted and he'll dare them to do something about it.
Rule of law, and all that.
Just called my congressman and told his aide that I would hope Congressman Rick Larsen (D-WA) would support Ilhan Omar because questioning Israel's behavior is not and should not be automatically considered anti-semitic, and that I wouldn't want my congressman to unintentionally seem to back the current administration's lunatic pro-Israel right or wrong policies.
@Ak
You've got a good point re: Ivanka's uselessness. Since her role is so mysterious to everyone outside of the White House, and since she never sits down for any interview that isn't already pre-approved softball questions, (and then gets caught in lies just like Pervert Daddy) I think it'd be a great idea to haul Princess Mafiosa in front of the House for an open hearing on a number of White House policies.
While she's there, Democrats could grill her on a number of foreign policy questions, big and small, so we can see if she actually has any brains below the carefully kept blonde streaks. Not necessarily attacking her, just testing whether she's conscious beyond cheap Chinese pumps and spa designs. Because at this point, two years in as a senior "advisor", we still have no fucking clue what she can actually advise anyone about.
This is all so discouraging. Guess there is no justice in the world— Fox Noise ate it for dinner. Am currently in area with so many military jets flying and we blundered into a military area to see a pair of lighthouses. I don’t think there is any more money needed for the military—. They already run our world and support the most corrupt regime in the nation’s history. Feels foreign. And from the past. Think it is time to drink tea and eat brownies because nothing seems to be heading toward justice.
@Jeanne
A little cheer.
Thought to share these happier numbers:
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/06/biden-trump-2020-florida-poll-1206260
They probably explain why there are reports that the Pretender is preparing to dispute the results of the 2020 election. (CNN)