Maine senator Angus King (I) said that he was disappointed in the president speech last night in Harrisburg, PA because it showed that Mr. Trump was still in "campaign mode," not reaching out to Americans that haven't supported him and spouting charred red meat rhetoric to his loyal supporters. Chris Matthews said it was the smart move. For the president it was, but the outreach, despite what Vice President Mike Pence would tell you, has been nonexistent.
That's not a surprise and faux outrage is a waste of energy. President Trump at the 100-day mark is not going to go the White House correspondents' dinner to be roasted. He needed a "feel good" because these first days, frankly, have been brutal for the president.
In this respect, I read Donald Trump as a "wake-up call" kind of person. Unfortunately, his attitude has shown that it will take some sort of tragic event that effects people all across the political spectrum for him to realize that we're all in this together. (I say this with reservation.)
Before getting into that, it must first be said that enough's enough with Mr. Pence speaking in such a patronizing/ condescending tone in interviews like he has some other insight into the American people that they themselves don't know about. The subtle mimicry of Reaganesque inflections has got to stop.
"This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier," the president said to the Associated Press. The problem is that it's only going to get more difficult from here on out. The president's less-than-calculated alienating statements have everyone on their heals, which only means that he will become even more isolated. A Republican-controlled Congress rejected the billion dollar down payment for the border wall. There's little enthusiasm for for his legislative agenda, as thin as it is.
In terms of tax policy, a one page outline simply isn't going to make the grade. In fact, no tax reform [read: tax cutting] should happen before the president, who is still fully invested in his businesses, releases his returns. The American people have the right to know how changing the tax code might disproportionately benefit the president.
In terms of foreign policy, specifically South Korea which was discussed today, again the vice-president deflected away conflicting statements coming from the administration. President Trump is making tough statements with regard to North Korea, while at the same time telling Seoul that they need to pay for the air defense system, which Defense Secretary Mattis then reversed in direct talks with the South Koreans.
No way to conduct foreign policy, obviously.
You would observe that the Trump Administration needs to get on the same page, but perhaps they should begin with reading the same book first. This task (getting everyone on the "same page") is expressly the job of the White House chief of staff, in this case Reince Priebus. Granted he does have the near impossible task of keeping the president on message, but it's on him. Again, Vice-President Pence tries to put a more diplomatic spin on it, saying things like, "we're asking our allies to do more," etc; when the president is saying, "you should pay for it."
Maybe they could run this through the filter before we're made to drink it in.
Panel: Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute; Nicole Wallace, NBC News; Chris Matthews, NBC News
One More Thing...
Ms. Cooper explained that Democrats right now are in the wilderness. Mr. Matthews said that they needed to get more aggressive, break the rules and take control of the floor for a vote. I'm not sure where I fall on that right at the moment, but they better be coming up with a plan if and a message if they want to take control of either chamber of Congress.
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Sunday, April 16, 2017
4.16.17: President Trump's Tactics vs. Strategy
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) put it best when he described what President Trump is doing with regard to foreign policy, at least, are tactics, not a strategy. To that he said that he would give the president some time but not much because he hasn't seen any sort of strategy as of yet.
The Trump Administration doesn't really have a foreign policy strategy, now. but it did previously - one crafted by chief strategist Steven Bannon. That strategy was to stay out of Syria, get tough on China economically and align with Russia militarily. Then the realities of being president set in versus being on the campaign trail.
Domestically, the president found himself on the losing end of some major battles then met with the King of Jordan and the president of China. He probably figured that it might be advantageous to listen to someone else, anyone else who been involved with these issues. As Andrea Mitchell reminded us, the president likes winning.
But speaking of domestic policy, that is where Trump does have a strategy, rudimentary as it is, and it's being carried out - less regulations, notably environmental, and on immigration. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly of course didn't use the term 'deportation force' but he did say that they are hiring more people to combat illegal immigration.
On environmental policy, plain and simple - if the United States pulls out of the Paris Climate Agreement to which 190 nations have signed on, we are essentially abdicating our leadership role into the future. And for what? So that a few can profit immensely in the short term. That's what Republican orthodoxy is all about when it comes to environmental policy.
On domestic policy, President Trump has a strategy but seems to be more closed-minded, unwilling to listen to opposing voices, while on foreign policy where he has no experience he's open-minded to what people [read: foreign leaders] have to say.
At this point it's futile to delineate between the president's tactics and on what issues he actually has a strategy because as Mitch McConnell said this week, Mr. Trump is still learning the job. We're coming up on 100 hundred days so right now we'll just have to wait and see. What we do know for certain is that Mr. Trump hasn't been a good student so far.
Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Heather McGhee, President of Demos Action; John E. Sununu, fmr. Republican Senator from New Hampshire; Mark Leibovich, The New York Times
Happy Passover and Happy Easter!
One more thing...
The tax day marches... They matter and Donald Trump releasing his tax returns matters, despite what Mr. Sununu said about it not effecting policy. Between this nondisclosure and now not releasing White House visitor logs, Mr. Trump's presidency is rapidly stripping away transparency norms that forgets one big basic premise: He works for the American people and transparency is required.
The Trump Administration doesn't really have a foreign policy strategy, now. but it did previously - one crafted by chief strategist Steven Bannon. That strategy was to stay out of Syria, get tough on China economically and align with Russia militarily. Then the realities of being president set in versus being on the campaign trail.
Domestically, the president found himself on the losing end of some major battles then met with the King of Jordan and the president of China. He probably figured that it might be advantageous to listen to someone else, anyone else who been involved with these issues. As Andrea Mitchell reminded us, the president likes winning.
But speaking of domestic policy, that is where Trump does have a strategy, rudimentary as it is, and it's being carried out - less regulations, notably environmental, and on immigration. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly of course didn't use the term 'deportation force' but he did say that they are hiring more people to combat illegal immigration.
On environmental policy, plain and simple - if the United States pulls out of the Paris Climate Agreement to which 190 nations have signed on, we are essentially abdicating our leadership role into the future. And for what? So that a few can profit immensely in the short term. That's what Republican orthodoxy is all about when it comes to environmental policy.
On domestic policy, President Trump has a strategy but seems to be more closed-minded, unwilling to listen to opposing voices, while on foreign policy where he has no experience he's open-minded to what people [read: foreign leaders] have to say.
At this point it's futile to delineate between the president's tactics and on what issues he actually has a strategy because as Mitch McConnell said this week, Mr. Trump is still learning the job. We're coming up on 100 hundred days so right now we'll just have to wait and see. What we do know for certain is that Mr. Trump hasn't been a good student so far.
Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Heather McGhee, President of Demos Action; John E. Sununu, fmr. Republican Senator from New Hampshire; Mark Leibovich, The New York Times
Happy Passover and Happy Easter!
One more thing...
The tax day marches... They matter and Donald Trump releasing his tax returns matters, despite what Mr. Sununu said about it not effecting policy. Between this nondisclosure and now not releasing White House visitor logs, Mr. Trump's presidency is rapidly stripping away transparency norms that forgets one big basic premise: He works for the American people and transparency is required.
Sunday, April 02, 2017
4.2.17: Sunday Morning Kabuki Theater about the Supreme Court Nominee, and Other Tales of Political Infighting
For a change we can at least slight veer away from talking about the president this week and focus on other things, namely the Supreme Court and the president's (really special conservative interests') nominee Neil Gorsuch.
Today you had the leaders of both parties in the Senate, Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and to listen to them speak is simply bad kabuki theater. They both know how this nomination is going to turn out. Democrats in the Senate aren't going to give Mr. Gorsuch the 60 vote consent that is the norm in the chamber and Republicans will certain invoke the nuclear option to confirm him, as The New York Times Robert Draper explained during the program.
So the two men have to say things that are most politically satisfying to their respective bases.
The battle for the Supreme Court is the pinnacle of cynical partisan politics as both men showed. Democrats are right to keep bringing up the fact that Republicans didn't allow for hearings on President Obama's nominee of Merrick Garland. Mr. McConnell lead the obstruction and even to this day will not give a straight answer as to why they didn't bring the nomination to a Senate vote; that it was 'in the middle' of a presidential campaign is simply bullsh*t. However, they got what they wanted and that was this pick, nothing changes that.
So here we are, and the vote on Mr. Gorsuch is this week. The Democrats would be smarter to vote no, but not filibuster. The reasoning here, as the panel discussed, is that there is the possibility of another nomination coming during this president's term, and that's when the Democrats will really need to exercise the force of that. There are some Democratic senators who are going to vote for Mr. Gorsuch, namely Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Heidi Heitcamp (D-ND), because politically they have to for their more conservative constituents as a state-wide representative. If you're a Democratic supporter, you may not like that, but that's politics. Don't make that big a deal out of it because those two votes wouldn't change the outcome and you still need both of them to win reelection. Neil Gorsuch will be confirmed but not with 60 votes and he shouldn't get 60 because he's to the right of Justice Clarence Thomas, which is just what the country doesn't need.
This brings us to another topic of discussion today, the infighting going on within the Republican party, which is no doubt a mess. You have the right, the hard right and the off-the-chain Freedom caucus, none of whom can get together. We always kind of knew this was the case, but a shoddy, rush health care bill exacerbated and put a bright spotlight on the differences. On top of that you have a deal-making president who can't make the deal. Why? Because for the Freedom Caucus (Tea Party), their ideology is more important than money so you can not expect the president whose ideology is money to understand their position.
Greta Van Susteren rhetorically asked that who knew the Republicans were the 'big tent' and the Democrats had more cohesion. Let's be clear, she is misusing the term 'big tent,' which refers to diverse ideologies coming together in compromise, not infighting amongst a group with the same ideology, some more extreme than the other.
Amy Walter from the Cook Political Report point out that all of this is donor driven, which brought vocal agreement from everyone at the table, like why didn't someone say the obvious sooner. That's not a slight as it is natural conversation to be given a specific and drill down on it but once you get to the why you arrive at the more root causes, and in this case - donors.
You take all this inter-party and intra-party fighting and it makes what fmr. FBI agent Clint Watts, who testified before Congress last week, said which was that our adversaries see it as well, particularly the Russians who are now actively using it against us. He explained that the Kremlin's goal is to sew discord here so that when we're imploding we have little influence of matters happening around the globe, diminishing the United States' geopolitical power and influence. When you look at it from that perspective it makes our hyper-partisanship seem ill-focused and sad.
If we really want to have less partisanship and more compromise in this country along with less big-money influence, you'd have to take some big steps. One way to start us back on the road of internal reconciliation would be to make every Congressional district in this country square, and eliminate gerrymandering. There would still be conservative and liberal pockets but there would a lot more politicians answering to a more diverse constituency, in turn forcing representatives to be more tempered in their votes, if they in fact want to be reelected. Just a thought...
Panel: Amy Walter, Cook Political Report; Greta Van Susteren, NBC News; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post; Robert Draper, The New York Times
Today you had the leaders of both parties in the Senate, Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and to listen to them speak is simply bad kabuki theater. They both know how this nomination is going to turn out. Democrats in the Senate aren't going to give Mr. Gorsuch the 60 vote consent that is the norm in the chamber and Republicans will certain invoke the nuclear option to confirm him, as The New York Times Robert Draper explained during the program.
So the two men have to say things that are most politically satisfying to their respective bases.
The battle for the Supreme Court is the pinnacle of cynical partisan politics as both men showed. Democrats are right to keep bringing up the fact that Republicans didn't allow for hearings on President Obama's nominee of Merrick Garland. Mr. McConnell lead the obstruction and even to this day will not give a straight answer as to why they didn't bring the nomination to a Senate vote; that it was 'in the middle' of a presidential campaign is simply bullsh*t. However, they got what they wanted and that was this pick, nothing changes that.
So here we are, and the vote on Mr. Gorsuch is this week. The Democrats would be smarter to vote no, but not filibuster. The reasoning here, as the panel discussed, is that there is the possibility of another nomination coming during this president's term, and that's when the Democrats will really need to exercise the force of that. There are some Democratic senators who are going to vote for Mr. Gorsuch, namely Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Heidi Heitcamp (D-ND), because politically they have to for their more conservative constituents as a state-wide representative. If you're a Democratic supporter, you may not like that, but that's politics. Don't make that big a deal out of it because those two votes wouldn't change the outcome and you still need both of them to win reelection. Neil Gorsuch will be confirmed but not with 60 votes and he shouldn't get 60 because he's to the right of Justice Clarence Thomas, which is just what the country doesn't need.
This brings us to another topic of discussion today, the infighting going on within the Republican party, which is no doubt a mess. You have the right, the hard right and the off-the-chain Freedom caucus, none of whom can get together. We always kind of knew this was the case, but a shoddy, rush health care bill exacerbated and put a bright spotlight on the differences. On top of that you have a deal-making president who can't make the deal. Why? Because for the Freedom Caucus (Tea Party), their ideology is more important than money so you can not expect the president whose ideology is money to understand their position.
Greta Van Susteren rhetorically asked that who knew the Republicans were the 'big tent' and the Democrats had more cohesion. Let's be clear, she is misusing the term 'big tent,' which refers to diverse ideologies coming together in compromise, not infighting amongst a group with the same ideology, some more extreme than the other.
Amy Walter from the Cook Political Report point out that all of this is donor driven, which brought vocal agreement from everyone at the table, like why didn't someone say the obvious sooner. That's not a slight as it is natural conversation to be given a specific and drill down on it but once you get to the why you arrive at the more root causes, and in this case - donors.
You take all this inter-party and intra-party fighting and it makes what fmr. FBI agent Clint Watts, who testified before Congress last week, said which was that our adversaries see it as well, particularly the Russians who are now actively using it against us. He explained that the Kremlin's goal is to sew discord here so that when we're imploding we have little influence of matters happening around the globe, diminishing the United States' geopolitical power and influence. When you look at it from that perspective it makes our hyper-partisanship seem ill-focused and sad.
If we really want to have less partisanship and more compromise in this country along with less big-money influence, you'd have to take some big steps. One way to start us back on the road of internal reconciliation would be to make every Congressional district in this country square, and eliminate gerrymandering. There would still be conservative and liberal pockets but there would a lot more politicians answering to a more diverse constituency, in turn forcing representatives to be more tempered in their votes, if they in fact want to be reelected. Just a thought...
Panel: Amy Walter, Cook Political Report; Greta Van Susteren, NBC News; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post; Robert Draper, The New York Times
Sunday, March 26, 2017
3.26.17: The "Clueless" Interview and The Rush To Get Things Done
"Art of the Deal President couldn't close," Chuck Todd summed it up on "Meet The Press" today with regard to the Republican's failed attempt to repeal Obamacare and replace it will the House Speaker Paul Ryan's engineered plan instead.
The man who is on record as saying that Donald Trump is a "tremendous closer" and who also happens to be the White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney didn't do the administration any favors in his appearance today. (The consolation being the didn't do any further damage, but how much more could you do really?)
Mr. Mulvaney said that there was plenty of blame to go around, but he said, "Washington won, and the folks back home lost."
He kept on this tact, not realizing how "deep the difficulty" was and how it was "a lot more rotten than we thought" in Washington, etc. But the fact is that Republicans lead by Mr. Ryan, backed by the White House, tried to jam a bill through in 17 days that would change the dynamic of 18 percent of the American economy. And they couldn't get it done with the biggest majorities in all branches of government since 1928. Mr. Mulvaney, once a member of the Freedom Caucus, said he would have voted for the bill, but he has the luxury to say that because he's not in that position. Mr. Mulvaney, like Speaker Ryan, is about tax cuts and dismantling social programs. He can blame Washington but the Republicans are Washington so they only have themselves to blame.
Hugh Hewitt thought The Washington Examiner overstated it when they said that not repealing Obamacare was the biggest broken promise in political history. A matter of perspective to be sure, but Republicans ran on this repeal three times and held over 50 repeal votes along the way. The biggest? Maybe no, but pretty damn big broken promise. (Mr. Hewitt's drunken euphoria about possibly getting a hard-right conservative Supreme Court justice, that he's blind to any rationale thought on any thing else, a shame really.)
When Chuck Todd asked Mr. Mulvaney why he could bring his former Freedom Caucus colleagues around to vote for the bill, he said, "I have no idea."
When asked why Republicans could put over 50 repeal bills on fmr. President Obama's desk but couldn't put one on President Trump's desk, he answered, "I don't know."
Being a 'yes' man is essentially good for nothing.
Mr. Todd also asked Mr. Mulvaney, "Why the rush?" And the director's explained that it was because there's so much to do. No... that's not the answer. The answer as to why the Administration is in such hurry was answered by Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) who said, "This is the most important thing I've done in my political life."
Of course he was referring to the Senate investigation into potential ties between the Russian government and the Trump campaign, but by each passing day the situation is getting worse and worse and more and more individuals are lawyering up. That's why the rush on legislation.
There are two last things that caught my attention, discussed on today's "Meet The Press," and both concern House Speaker Paul Ryan. First, the Speaker's position is safe despite the failure to push a health care repeal bill through because as The Wall Street Journal phrased it, "No one want's to be Henry VIII's next wife." Ouch. But what does that say about Republicans? They own the majority throughout government and as Chuck Todd accurately assessed, no one wants the top leadership job so Mr. Ryan is safe.
And lastly, the president gave his vocal support to Paul Ryan in the face of this defeat on health care, but then tweeted this weekend to watch Jeanine Pirro's 9PM program on Fox, where her lead editorial was about how Speaker Ryan should resign or step down or be removed or whatever.
If the president... The president mind you... has a problem with the Speaker of House, he have the backbone to just come out and say it instead of playing these passive aggressive Twitter games promoting surrogates' programs to get across what you really want to say. So NOT the character trait of what we would define as a leadership quality.
Panel: Joy-Ann Reid, NBC News; Eliana Johnson, Politico; Hugh Hewlitt, Salem Radio Network; Tom Brokaw, NBC News
The man who is on record as saying that Donald Trump is a "tremendous closer" and who also happens to be the White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney didn't do the administration any favors in his appearance today. (The consolation being the didn't do any further damage, but how much more could you do really?)
Mr. Mulvaney said that there was plenty of blame to go around, but he said, "Washington won, and the folks back home lost."
He kept on this tact, not realizing how "deep the difficulty" was and how it was "a lot more rotten than we thought" in Washington, etc. But the fact is that Republicans lead by Mr. Ryan, backed by the White House, tried to jam a bill through in 17 days that would change the dynamic of 18 percent of the American economy. And they couldn't get it done with the biggest majorities in all branches of government since 1928. Mr. Mulvaney, once a member of the Freedom Caucus, said he would have voted for the bill, but he has the luxury to say that because he's not in that position. Mr. Mulvaney, like Speaker Ryan, is about tax cuts and dismantling social programs. He can blame Washington but the Republicans are Washington so they only have themselves to blame.
Hugh Hewitt thought The Washington Examiner overstated it when they said that not repealing Obamacare was the biggest broken promise in political history. A matter of perspective to be sure, but Republicans ran on this repeal three times and held over 50 repeal votes along the way. The biggest? Maybe no, but pretty damn big broken promise. (Mr. Hewitt's drunken euphoria about possibly getting a hard-right conservative Supreme Court justice, that he's blind to any rationale thought on any thing else, a shame really.)
When Chuck Todd asked Mr. Mulvaney why he could bring his former Freedom Caucus colleagues around to vote for the bill, he said, "I have no idea."
When asked why Republicans could put over 50 repeal bills on fmr. President Obama's desk but couldn't put one on President Trump's desk, he answered, "I don't know."
Being a 'yes' man is essentially good for nothing.
Mr. Todd also asked Mr. Mulvaney, "Why the rush?" And the director's explained that it was because there's so much to do. No... that's not the answer. The answer as to why the Administration is in such hurry was answered by Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) who said, "This is the most important thing I've done in my political life."
Of course he was referring to the Senate investigation into potential ties between the Russian government and the Trump campaign, but by each passing day the situation is getting worse and worse and more and more individuals are lawyering up. That's why the rush on legislation.
There are two last things that caught my attention, discussed on today's "Meet The Press," and both concern House Speaker Paul Ryan. First, the Speaker's position is safe despite the failure to push a health care repeal bill through because as The Wall Street Journal phrased it, "No one want's to be Henry VIII's next wife." Ouch. But what does that say about Republicans? They own the majority throughout government and as Chuck Todd accurately assessed, no one wants the top leadership job so Mr. Ryan is safe.
And lastly, the president gave his vocal support to Paul Ryan in the face of this defeat on health care, but then tweeted this weekend to watch Jeanine Pirro's 9PM program on Fox, where her lead editorial was about how Speaker Ryan should resign or step down or be removed or whatever.
If the president... The president mind you... has a problem with the Speaker of House, he have the backbone to just come out and say it instead of playing these passive aggressive Twitter games promoting surrogates' programs to get across what you really want to say. So NOT the character trait of what we would define as a leadership quality.
Panel: Joy-Ann Reid, NBC News; Eliana Johnson, Politico; Hugh Hewlitt, Salem Radio Network; Tom Brokaw, NBC News
Friday, March 24, 2017
3.24.17: Seven And A Half Years... And Nothing to Show For It
The Republicans had 7 1/2 years to come up with their own health care plan while voting over 50 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act. In all that time they never came up with a bill that could accommodate, placate and resuscitate all their different factions - doctors' caucus, freedom caucus, the caucus caucus, whatever, and today...
Republicans, owning the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the White House, couldn't even get a bill to the House floor for a vote. Basically, the day came to a hard stop when House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said, "Obamacare is the law of the land for the foreseeable future..."
And the president needed this badly. Mr. Trump needs to change the conversation away from Russia and his campaign, but without health care as a policy focal point, the press will be right back to it until the Republicans can get their act together on their next major initiative, tax reform, but who knows when that will be.
And if the president and the Republicans in the House get beaten up by the press for this failure then they just have to take the punches because they blew it.
Where was the deal maker? The leadership? The rank and file support? No where to be found. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price couldn't sell it. He sounded disingenuous about the whole thing, at best. Vice President Mike Pence was no help because he expanded Medicaid in his state of Indiana as governor so now as VP he's making the argument to repeal it and take people's health insurance away?
"Are all of us willing to give a little to get something done?" Mr. Ryan asked. He essentially asked for compromise but it was his caucus that plays zero-sum politics and doesn't believe in that notion, even though that's what politics is.
And the reason I mentioned tax reform earlier because if they repeat with that what they did with health care and they're just showing that they're incapable of governing. Never mind what they going to do to get Democrats on board. The president erred in trying to lay the blame on them; it didn't stick but then again I guess you give it shot.
But wow, now the Republicans have only one foot left because the AR-15 they were holding took the other clean off. They really shot themselves in the foot with this health care disaster.
Seven and a half years... 7! And nothing.
Republicans, owning the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the White House, couldn't even get a bill to the House floor for a vote. Basically, the day came to a hard stop when House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said, "Obamacare is the law of the land for the foreseeable future..."
And the president needed this badly. Mr. Trump needs to change the conversation away from Russia and his campaign, but without health care as a policy focal point, the press will be right back to it until the Republicans can get their act together on their next major initiative, tax reform, but who knows when that will be.
And if the president and the Republicans in the House get beaten up by the press for this failure then they just have to take the punches because they blew it.
Where was the deal maker? The leadership? The rank and file support? No where to be found. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price couldn't sell it. He sounded disingenuous about the whole thing, at best. Vice President Mike Pence was no help because he expanded Medicaid in his state of Indiana as governor so now as VP he's making the argument to repeal it and take people's health insurance away?
"Are all of us willing to give a little to get something done?" Mr. Ryan asked. He essentially asked for compromise but it was his caucus that plays zero-sum politics and doesn't believe in that notion, even though that's what politics is.
And the reason I mentioned tax reform earlier because if they repeat with that what they did with health care and they're just showing that they're incapable of governing. Never mind what they going to do to get Democrats on board. The president erred in trying to lay the blame on them; it didn't stick but then again I guess you give it shot.
But wow, now the Republicans have only one foot left because the AR-15 they were holding took the other clean off. They really shot themselves in the foot with this health care disaster.
Seven and a half years... 7! And nothing.
Sunday, March 19, 2017
3.19.17: The Coming Political Theater and Where This Administration Wants to Take Us
I've resisted commenting lately because you have to wonder what more you can say about the Donald Trump presidency, which is essentially destroying the concept of what America represents. I distinguish between the concept of America and the country that is the United States of America.
Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney outlined a budget that increases defense, law enforcement, immigration enforcement, and support for veterans. Sure, easy to agree with veteran support, but nothing else in it makes sense given the fact that it cuts many programs that would benefit the president's base of supporters. Every time I hear Mr. Mulvaney speak, it more strongly confirms my thought that if left to him, his budget would tank this country financially.
President Trump sold his supporters empty promises and nothing more.
Chuck Todd thinks the Healthcare vote this week will be the biggest story, among many big stories to come this week. Paul Ryan's healthcare bill will pass the House, but the Senate, probably not. Fourteen million people are going to be taken off of the Medicaid expansion, and no matter how you twist that rhetorically, people are really going to negatively feel that. The tax credit plan in its replacement along with block grants to the states isn't going to work out. Conservative state governors will eventually eliminate from their budgets, states like South Carolina where Mick Mulvaney was a Congressman.
It comes down to whether you think healthcare is a right that Americans should have or not. Government is always going to be involved in healthcare in some way. Today's conservative philosophy (Paul Ryan's) is that government should not be responsible for providing it and that extends to Medicaid and Medicare. Speaker Ryan wants to phase these programs out, starting with the Medicaid expansion enacted through the Affordable Care Act.
I suspect that FBI Director James Comey will confirm some things tomorrow that we already know, namely Donald Trump's lie about the wire tapping, an embarrassment exacerbated by our dumbass President repeating it at the podium with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. George Will insight that Chancellor Merkel grew up in East Germany where being spied on by secret police was a way of life. That would never have even occurred as a remote thought to our president.
Honestly, commenting is so difficult when you have no evidence that this president can be trusted in any serious matter; 50 days in and our relationships with all of our allies are evaporating before our eyes and domestically he only plays into people's fears and blames someone else. Tell me why I'd want to tell my kid that I'd want him to grow up and be like this president. I'm still trying to figure that out.
America was the goal for every country in the world that aspired to have more freedom, opportunity and prosperity, and now with Donald Trump as president we've essentially surrendered that position. He does want America to lead the world any more. In voting for him, this is direction we've decided to go.
In the meantime, get ready for another week of high political theater.
Panel: George Will, The Washington Post; Yamiche Alcindor, The New York Times; Robert Costa, The Washington Post; Katty Kay, BBC News
Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney outlined a budget that increases defense, law enforcement, immigration enforcement, and support for veterans. Sure, easy to agree with veteran support, but nothing else in it makes sense given the fact that it cuts many programs that would benefit the president's base of supporters. Every time I hear Mr. Mulvaney speak, it more strongly confirms my thought that if left to him, his budget would tank this country financially.
President Trump sold his supporters empty promises and nothing more.
Chuck Todd thinks the Healthcare vote this week will be the biggest story, among many big stories to come this week. Paul Ryan's healthcare bill will pass the House, but the Senate, probably not. Fourteen million people are going to be taken off of the Medicaid expansion, and no matter how you twist that rhetorically, people are really going to negatively feel that. The tax credit plan in its replacement along with block grants to the states isn't going to work out. Conservative state governors will eventually eliminate from their budgets, states like South Carolina where Mick Mulvaney was a Congressman.
It comes down to whether you think healthcare is a right that Americans should have or not. Government is always going to be involved in healthcare in some way. Today's conservative philosophy (Paul Ryan's) is that government should not be responsible for providing it and that extends to Medicaid and Medicare. Speaker Ryan wants to phase these programs out, starting with the Medicaid expansion enacted through the Affordable Care Act.
I suspect that FBI Director James Comey will confirm some things tomorrow that we already know, namely Donald Trump's lie about the wire tapping, an embarrassment exacerbated by our dumbass President repeating it at the podium with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. George Will insight that Chancellor Merkel grew up in East Germany where being spied on by secret police was a way of life. That would never have even occurred as a remote thought to our president.
Honestly, commenting is so difficult when you have no evidence that this president can be trusted in any serious matter; 50 days in and our relationships with all of our allies are evaporating before our eyes and domestically he only plays into people's fears and blames someone else. Tell me why I'd want to tell my kid that I'd want him to grow up and be like this president. I'm still trying to figure that out.
America was the goal for every country in the world that aspired to have more freedom, opportunity and prosperity, and now with Donald Trump as president we've essentially surrendered that position. He does want America to lead the world any more. In voting for him, this is direction we've decided to go.
In the meantime, get ready for another week of high political theater.
Panel: George Will, The Washington Post; Yamiche Alcindor, The New York Times; Robert Costa, The Washington Post; Katty Kay, BBC News
Sunday, February 26, 2017
2.25.17: Democrats Need to Get Over It and Republicans Need to Get On With It
DNC Chairmanship
The Democratic Party base may feel betrayed because the Bernie Sanders-back candidate, congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN), wasn't elected as DNC Chair, but in the practical sense and demographic sense, Tom Perez as DNC Chair makes more sense.
Chuck Todd outlined the decimation of the Democratic Party's influence in all levels of government, especially during the Obama years. That was on Debbie Wasserman Schultz's watch, who was a terrible party chair, at least partly because she was doing congressional and party double duty (and because she was prone to making political statements more than getting things done). Neither got the deserved attention and performance suffered... Hence, descriptions like 'decimated' and 'gutted.'
Democrats need Mr. Ellison, who is the deputy chair, in Congress and a full-time leader of the DNC. The mistake that Democrats would make is to let this disagreement linger - get over it, get together, and get on. Really, Trump isn't motivation enough?
Russia
The New York Times Helene Cooper clarified the two key points: 1) That when a new Russia story comes out that is when President Trump is at his most confrontational with the press, and 2) this is going to be a long drawn-out investigation and series of stories as things come to light.
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) clearly said that Russia is not the friend of the United States, which matters. And his explanations about it being premature to appoint a special prosecutor are politically prudent, which is understandable so one gets the feeling that if this investigation turns south for the Trump Administration and they contact with Russia, the senator will be on the right side of it. The town hall meetings have had an effect on him. Senator Cotton did, after all, drop the dime as it were that his committee had a hearing with FBI Director James Comey about the Russia investigation.
Chief of Staff Reince Priebus made a mistake of inexperience when he spoke to the FBI about the Russia investigation, and he SHOULD NOT be given a pass. That contact was clearly violated the independence of the Justice Department, and its integrity. How many times does someone in the Trump Administration get a pass for violating ethics laws or breaking established rules before it's no longer tolerated by the party in control of Congress?
And Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) of all people called for the appointment of a special prosecutor which means the protesters and his narrow reelection win in his district have made him apprehensive about standing pat on his ideological stubbornness and that he'll roll the dice on this one.
One things for sure - certainly there is a there there.
Healthcare
Fmr. Speaker of the House John Boehner spoke the truth about the Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare and it sent Republicans rhetorically scrambling. The 'repeal and replace' is actually going to be an Obamacare repair but repackaged as the conservative solution.
Again, because of the town hall meetings, you can tell that's what Senator Cotton is wishing for. However, how it will really go is what Mr. Boehner outlined, but added to it will be a bit of pain inflicted on Americans with many losing coverage in the name of reeling in spending. Republicans are always inclined to do this, but they get away with it. So why not?
The only way it's not a political loser for Republicans is if they do it how the fmr. speaker said, but that not what they've been promising for the past 6 1/2 years. They promised repeal, not repair. And if they repeal, millions of people will lose their coverage. And Americans are wise to the rhetoric that when Speaker Paul Ryan says access to coverage that's not the same as actually getting covered.
Muhammad Ali Jr.
The son of the most famous athlete, perhaps ever, who is an American was stopped at the airport and questioned for two hours about how he got his name and whether or not he was a Muslim. The despicable consequence of despicable xenophobic executive orders. Frankly, this sucks.
Panel: Eliana Johnson, Politico; Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Gerald Seib, The Wall Street Journal; Ramesh Ponnuru, Bloomberg
The Democratic Party base may feel betrayed because the Bernie Sanders-back candidate, congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN), wasn't elected as DNC Chair, but in the practical sense and demographic sense, Tom Perez as DNC Chair makes more sense.
Chuck Todd outlined the decimation of the Democratic Party's influence in all levels of government, especially during the Obama years. That was on Debbie Wasserman Schultz's watch, who was a terrible party chair, at least partly because she was doing congressional and party double duty (and because she was prone to making political statements more than getting things done). Neither got the deserved attention and performance suffered... Hence, descriptions like 'decimated' and 'gutted.'
Democrats need Mr. Ellison, who is the deputy chair, in Congress and a full-time leader of the DNC. The mistake that Democrats would make is to let this disagreement linger - get over it, get together, and get on. Really, Trump isn't motivation enough?
Russia
The New York Times Helene Cooper clarified the two key points: 1) That when a new Russia story comes out that is when President Trump is at his most confrontational with the press, and 2) this is going to be a long drawn-out investigation and series of stories as things come to light.
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) clearly said that Russia is not the friend of the United States, which matters. And his explanations about it being premature to appoint a special prosecutor are politically prudent, which is understandable so one gets the feeling that if this investigation turns south for the Trump Administration and they contact with Russia, the senator will be on the right side of it. The town hall meetings have had an effect on him. Senator Cotton did, after all, drop the dime as it were that his committee had a hearing with FBI Director James Comey about the Russia investigation.
Chief of Staff Reince Priebus made a mistake of inexperience when he spoke to the FBI about the Russia investigation, and he SHOULD NOT be given a pass. That contact was clearly violated the independence of the Justice Department, and its integrity. How many times does someone in the Trump Administration get a pass for violating ethics laws or breaking established rules before it's no longer tolerated by the party in control of Congress?
And Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) of all people called for the appointment of a special prosecutor which means the protesters and his narrow reelection win in his district have made him apprehensive about standing pat on his ideological stubbornness and that he'll roll the dice on this one.
One things for sure - certainly there is a there there.
Healthcare
Fmr. Speaker of the House John Boehner spoke the truth about the Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare and it sent Republicans rhetorically scrambling. The 'repeal and replace' is actually going to be an Obamacare repair but repackaged as the conservative solution.
Again, because of the town hall meetings, you can tell that's what Senator Cotton is wishing for. However, how it will really go is what Mr. Boehner outlined, but added to it will be a bit of pain inflicted on Americans with many losing coverage in the name of reeling in spending. Republicans are always inclined to do this, but they get away with it. So why not?
The only way it's not a political loser for Republicans is if they do it how the fmr. speaker said, but that not what they've been promising for the past 6 1/2 years. They promised repeal, not repair. And if they repeal, millions of people will lose their coverage. And Americans are wise to the rhetoric that when Speaker Paul Ryan says access to coverage that's not the same as actually getting covered.
Muhammad Ali Jr.
The son of the most famous athlete, perhaps ever, who is an American was stopped at the airport and questioned for two hours about how he got his name and whether or not he was a Muslim. The despicable consequence of despicable xenophobic executive orders. Frankly, this sucks.
Panel: Eliana Johnson, Politico; Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Gerald Seib, The Wall Street Journal; Ramesh Ponnuru, Bloomberg
Sunday, February 19, 2017
2.12.17: Senior Policy Advisor Stephen Miller - Interview
Thought about this a lot...
Steven Miller is not a person we should want in the White House, hard stop.
Panel: Katty Kay, BBC America; Greta Van Susteren, NBC; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post; fmr. North Carolina Govenor Pat McCrory
Steven Miller is not a person we should want in the White House, hard stop.
Panel: Katty Kay, BBC America; Greta Van Susteren, NBC; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post; fmr. North Carolina Govenor Pat McCrory
Sunday, February 05, 2017
2.5.17: Giving Cover to President Trump
You have to keep in mind that democracy is messy and difficult. As I've said in this column before, democracy is advanced citizenry so under the Constitution executive orders met with protests is all part of the process. On today's MTP Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) said that this is how the system of divided government works.
Is the executive order unconstitutional? One court in Washington said that it was and it was upheld by another. However, some law scholars say that President Trump has the legal right to issue such an executive order on immigration from specific Muslim-majority countries.
Whether you think the executive order is immoral and goes against American values is something you decide for yourself.
What I have real issue with is this constant delegitimizing by Donald Trump of our institutions. President Trump referred to "this so-called judge" about the ruling, calling into question the legitimacy of the court. But also, the executive order delegitimizes our State, Homeland Security and Intelligence Departments by not showing trust in highly trained American personnel to do their jobs vetting visa applicants. These institutions are not infallible and should be held to account, but to completely denounce their integrity while trying to lead them tearing at the very fabric of the country.
The panel debated substance versus style in these first two weeks of the Trump Administration and the substance is debatable with the except of the immigration executive order, which is just unnecessary and punitive. But there is no question on the style, which has just been downright embarrassing for this country. The scorched earth rhetoric that comes from President Trump himself is amateurish at the least, dangerous at the most. And many Americans may like it... now. But as a long-term strategy, the Administration continues it to its peril. In your first two weeks on the job, you start arguments with two of the United States' best allies - Mexico and Australian.
Childish and uninformed tweets are not a good governing strategy. And this continued fellating of Vladimir Putin by Donald Trump is inexplicable. Vice President Mike Pence said that the president didn't make a moral equivalence of what America has done to what Vladimir Putin is doing now, but the president excusing of the war crimes that Mr. Putin has committed is frankly inexcusable.
And for Mike Pence to say that we should only look forward when it comes to relations with Russia, knowing what he and his Republican colleagues know - simply giving cover to the president - is intellectually dishonest. I understand that he really has no choice and must defend the administration, but that doesn't preclude pointing out this dishonesty. The vice president said that the president communicates in a 'unique way,' which really translates as irresponsible and not presidential. And this bullying tone is going to alienate key allies around the world very quickly, as we've already seen with the two aforementioned countries. Needless to say, I found VP Pence's performance today very unconvincing and not at all reassuring.
News flash: Contrary to what the vice president said, the immigration executive order was not well thought out and hastily done due to the fact that the Secretary of Homeland Security, John Kelly, was never even consulted.
I agree with Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) that this Russia business with Mr. Trump requires stark light brought upon it. Mr. Trump has never been transparent when it comes to his business ties and this should be a concern of every American. The problem for Nancy Pelosi is that she's a bad messenger. In fact, that's the general problem for the Democratic Party - the policies are better for the middle class but the messaging is terrible and that's because of the messengers themselves. May be Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH) isn't ready to be the minority leader in the House, but he's the right messenger for the Democratic Party right now.
Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute; Alex Castellanos, Republican strategist; Tavis Smiley, PBS
Is the executive order unconstitutional? One court in Washington said that it was and it was upheld by another. However, some law scholars say that President Trump has the legal right to issue such an executive order on immigration from specific Muslim-majority countries.
Whether you think the executive order is immoral and goes against American values is something you decide for yourself.
What I have real issue with is this constant delegitimizing by Donald Trump of our institutions. President Trump referred to "this so-called judge" about the ruling, calling into question the legitimacy of the court. But also, the executive order delegitimizes our State, Homeland Security and Intelligence Departments by not showing trust in highly trained American personnel to do their jobs vetting visa applicants. These institutions are not infallible and should be held to account, but to completely denounce their integrity while trying to lead them tearing at the very fabric of the country.
The panel debated substance versus style in these first two weeks of the Trump Administration and the substance is debatable with the except of the immigration executive order, which is just unnecessary and punitive. But there is no question on the style, which has just been downright embarrassing for this country. The scorched earth rhetoric that comes from President Trump himself is amateurish at the least, dangerous at the most. And many Americans may like it... now. But as a long-term strategy, the Administration continues it to its peril. In your first two weeks on the job, you start arguments with two of the United States' best allies - Mexico and Australian.
Childish and uninformed tweets are not a good governing strategy. And this continued fellating of Vladimir Putin by Donald Trump is inexplicable. Vice President Mike Pence said that the president didn't make a moral equivalence of what America has done to what Vladimir Putin is doing now, but the president excusing of the war crimes that Mr. Putin has committed is frankly inexcusable.
And for Mike Pence to say that we should only look forward when it comes to relations with Russia, knowing what he and his Republican colleagues know - simply giving cover to the president - is intellectually dishonest. I understand that he really has no choice and must defend the administration, but that doesn't preclude pointing out this dishonesty. The vice president said that the president communicates in a 'unique way,' which really translates as irresponsible and not presidential. And this bullying tone is going to alienate key allies around the world very quickly, as we've already seen with the two aforementioned countries. Needless to say, I found VP Pence's performance today very unconvincing and not at all reassuring.
News flash: Contrary to what the vice president said, the immigration executive order was not well thought out and hastily done due to the fact that the Secretary of Homeland Security, John Kelly, was never even consulted.
I agree with Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) that this Russia business with Mr. Trump requires stark light brought upon it. Mr. Trump has never been transparent when it comes to his business ties and this should be a concern of every American. The problem for Nancy Pelosi is that she's a bad messenger. In fact, that's the general problem for the Democratic Party - the policies are better for the middle class but the messaging is terrible and that's because of the messengers themselves. May be Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH) isn't ready to be the minority leader in the House, but he's the right messenger for the Democratic Party right now.
Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute; Alex Castellanos, Republican strategist; Tavis Smiley, PBS
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