Attorney General William Barr distributed his summary letter on the Special Counsel's investigation in which no collusion on the part of the Trump campaign with the Russian government. The letter also said that while no recommendation on the issue of obstruction of justice has been given, the president has not be exonerated. You can read the full letter here.
To that end, of course President Trump would crow about complete exoneration of any wrongdoing and then go on to seek vengeance against his political opponents, namely Congress Adam Schiff (D-CA), chair of the House Intelligence Committee. During a rally in Michigan this week, Donald Trump called Mr. Schiff a pencil neck (really?) and said that sick people tried to defraud the people with bullshit. Seriously presidential, do you think? Did anyone really think that the president wouldn't seek revenge against his critics?
Republicans, namely Congressmen Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) have called for Mr. Schiff's resignation from the committee. Frankly, this is laughable considering that Mr. Nunes actively worked with the administration to derail the investigation and Mr. McCarthy cynically and famously said that the Benghazi investigation into Hillary Clinton was drawn out to damage her campaign (not to find the facts). On top of that, to further the poor reputation of the U.S. Senate as a functioning body politic, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is angling to start an investigation of the investigators.
The bottom line is that the full report should be released so that the American people can decide for themselves if what the president and his campaign may have done rises to the level of illegality or at the very least unethical behavior. Not to mention that there is still a counter-intelligence investigation going on and we have no idea what will come from that.
The woman on the Chicago subway that Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke about had it right. We (the American people) paid for it so we should be able to see it.
More importantly, after Mr. Barr released his 4-page letter, the president pivoted to healthcare joining a lawsuit brought by 20 states attorneys general that the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) should be nullified because it is unconstitutional, the result of which would be taking away health insurance for 20 million Americans. The president said that the Republican party would become know as the 'party of healthcare.' As Peggy Noonan said, quoting an administration official, there was too much good news this week so the president dove in again on healthcare. NBC's Hallie Jackson explained that there was disagreement among administration officials, specifically on the part of Vice President Mike Pence who did not necessarily disagree with the policy objective but the tactics meaning that the Republicans do not have an alternative plan together so there is nothing to replace the current law. Hence, twenty million people losing their health insurance is a political loser for the administration.
Let's face it, the president isn't concerned that the Republicans in Congress don't have a replacement plan ready to go; he wants to force their hand. He's also not concerned about the prospect of so many people losing coverage. His sole motivation since the beginning of his presidency is to undo every policy achievement or decision made by Barack Obama, to erase it all. Whether it be the Iran Nuclear deal or the Paris Climate Accord or concerns about North Korea's nuclear program or the Affordable Care Act, President Trump is going in the completely opposite direction, for the sake of going in the opposite direction regardless of the consequences and repercussions. That's what it is all about.
That aside, Senator Tom Barrasso said he has been working on a healthcare plan since he came to the Senate. That was in 2008. We still don't have a plan on the table from him. He's had 11 years to come up with something and we still don't know what it is. Of course, he can easily point out what he doesn't want, but we can all do that. He explained that Democrats want Medicare for all, a complete government take over of healthcare, which he thinks is not a good idea. Fair enough, but where is your plan? Medicare for all might not be the answer but what could/should be put in place as part of the Affordable Care Act is a public option. When the law was originally being debated back in 2008, the public option (read: Medicare option) was put on the table but the Republicans raised hell about how it was government dictating your healthcare and socialism and all the other rhetoric arguments. But what they really knew was that the public writ large would eventually migrate to the public option putting insurance companies out of control of the system and thus losing profit.
Are there fixes that are needed for the ACA, absolutely. As Senator Durbin explained, prescription drug prices right now are through the roof and indefensible. Something needs to be done on this issue immediately; it should be a congressional priority. The American people are being held hostage by drug companies. They have us addicted to their opioids, which once addicted you can't afford so people turn to crime for more lethal alternatives. Life-saving drugs like insulin or others have American families financially burdened way beyond their capacity. That's what is really criminal.
Panel: Hallie Jackson, NBC; Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Cornell Belcher, Democratic Strategist; Rich Lowry, The National Review
One more thing...
This allegation against fmr. Vice President Joe Biden is certainly disconcerting and really all too easy to believe. Mr. Biden has always been a 'touchy feely' person to the point where it has always made women feel uncomfortable. In response, here is Mr. Biden's statement:
"In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort. And not once - never - did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention."
What's problematic is that Mr. Biden says "... never - did I believe I acted inappropriately..." It can also suggest that he never really considered how the other person felt.
So now two things for Mr. Biden. First and foremost, he needs to respond to this directly and publicly, not through a statement. Second, he needs to stop flirting with us and either declare that he's running or not. End the speculation.
The Fallout
Total Exoneration
No Collusion
Total Vindication
Pencil-neck Adam Schiff
Dick Durbin
John Barrasso
Repeal and Replace
The Party of Healthcare
2020 campaign
Hickenlooper
Hallie Jackson
Cornell Belcher
Rich Lowry
Peggy Noonan
31% unsure the Mueller
43% approve
stable but weak
Defending Obamacare -
Total vindication - Pence
defrauding the public with bullshit
schiff - calls for him to resign from the committee
the have to be accountable
Lock them up
the entire ACA should be
John Barrasso - release the full report
for transparency -
throw mueller under the bus - dems are...
it does not exonerate him...
counter-intelligence investigation is on-going
behavior as presidency?
public is asked is 2020
he has been falsely accused
no fault on the part of the president - doing business with russia
president of the us is the law? no man is above the right
invesigating the investigators... lindsey is leading to that
healthcare - complete gov. takeover for healthcare
president joined the lawsuit...
not imminent
failed to keep its promises -
a plan - 12 years
a plan since I joined the senate
dick durbin...
mueller - tuesday deadline - not going to meet it
should dems move on - should be a complete disclosure
we paid for the inquiry, we should see it...
should focus on the counter-intelligence aspect
can't imagine lindsey reclusing himself from any investigation
DHS growing humanitarian crisis...
massive migration crisis right now
cutting off aid to these countries will not solve the problem
precription prices are through the roof and indefensible
Biden behavior...
done treasonous things - will certainly looked at
sick people
revenge path
push on healthcare - too much good news - peggy
disagreement on the tactics - not the policy - pence - hallie
full revenge mode - no surprised
genuinely angry -
the process went off the rails - rich
investigate the investigators
cornell - this stinks...
no transparency - put it out there.. cornell
19% of independents
polling data to russia - that's colluding... cornell
healthcare law - that's what we'll be debating...
cudgel - hallie used by the president
rich - nancy pelosi - typical republican posing as a populist...
Hickenlooper - a dem moderate
complexities at the border - a form of kidnapping
I don't like any labels -
a crisis of division -
issue of abortion - fetal heartbeat bills
woman's right to take care of her own healthcare
accusation against biden - disqualifying...
an inflection point - women have the courage to come forward
very disconcerting...
the political reeducation of Joe Biden
the good news is you know what you're going to get, the bad news is that you know what you're going get.
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Sunday, March 24, 2019
3.24.19: The Mueller Report: The President Isn't Out of the Woodshed
What's all the fuss about? ...Just kidding of course.
After 675 days of investigating and 34 indictments, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has finally issued his report to Attorney General William Barr, and now as the AG pours through we are all left to wait. To that end, most all agree that the entire report should be made public as both Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), chair of the House judiciary committee, and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) agreed. Too much anxiety and time has been invested on the part of the American people that denying being able to read what the findings are is simply untenable.
In terms of the report itself, Mueller's office announced that there would be no further indictments stemming from the special counsel's investigation, but Republicans and Trump loyalists who now say he is vindicated shouldn't be spiking the football just yet, to borrow a phrase from Kristen Welker today. Having worked with Mr. Mueller, fmr. federal prosecutor Chuck Rosenberg said that Mr. Mueller would be thoroughly describing in the report what happened and not characterizing the finding. This is key because what that says is something we've always known, which is that Mr. Mueller is a process, policy and rules-governed individual. Justice Department policy is that you can not indict a sitting president so the findings of the Mueller report may state that the president did have knowledge of collusion with the Russian government. That's speculation of course as is the possibility that the report fully exonerates the president, which is also a possibility. The point is that it is still too soon to tell. Politically, that's another story due to the fact that it is already baked into voters' minds whether or not the president is guilty of illegal activity. And speaking of which, there are still several investigations going on at present into Mr. Trump business dealings.
Again, the full report should be made public.
Much of the discussion also centered around whether or not the president obstructed justice, which again Mr. Mueller wouldn't indict a sitting president based on justice department guidelines. However, the president is guilty in plain sight of obstruction of the investigation. There's the pressuring of fmr. FBI Director James Comey to drop the investigation into Michael Flynn, his firing, the firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, investigation witness tampering and the president's Twitter feed, which called the investigation a 'witch hunt' 183 times, to name a few. As fmr. Congressman Carlos Curbelo stated, it's certainly not a witch hunt. Thirty-four people have been indicted and many of those were Russian operatives who executed various measures in trying to influence the election, something that the president himself refuses to acknowledge.
And though there are no more indictments coming from the special counsel's office, which is good news for the president, politically it is suspect that the report will be all good news. There will be some political damage most assuredly. NBC's Ari Melber mentioned the possibility that administration officials, including the president, could have financial entanglements with foreign governments that played a role. To circumvent this, the White House may claim executive privilege, but given the intense public interest in the report, the House and also the Senate perhaps may override it if the chambers conclude that the White House is covering up anything illegal through that declaration. As Congressman Nadler said, if Congress cannot override that then it in essence put the president above the law, and no one in the United States is above the law.
In other news, it goes without saying that Mr. Trump's personal attacks on Senator John McCain are beyond the dignity of any American, let alone the President of the United States. To trample on the deceased, especially a war hero, shows a classlessness that shouldn't be expected from even someone as self-obsessed as Donald Trump. This column has criticized policy views of Mr. McCain in the past and didn't endorse his presidential run in 2008, but to say anything short of Mr. McCain being a devoted family man and a genuine American hero would never happen here. And that Mr. Trump's base supporters cheer when he says these things just illustrates how so many Americans have lost their way in terms of what this country is all about.
Fmr. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) explained it as 'beyond weird' that the president would denigrate the memory of an American war hero but then turn around cancel sanctions on a dictator that starves his people and executes members of his own family. And speaking of North Korea, the Treasury Dept. said it would be instituting more sanctions against the regime only to have the president cancel them. As Senator Rubio speculated, something must have gone on between the time that Treasury issued the statement and the president changing his mind. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that the president 'likes' Chairman Kim. Well, isn't that special? Mr. Rubio went on to say that that is not how it is normally done. Simply put, this requires so serious oversight because this is just another instance of President Trump making a mockery of the United States' foreign policy.
Panel: Fmr. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO); Kristen Welker, NBC News; Dan Balz, The Washington Post; Fmr. Congressman Carlos Curbelo (R-FL)
One more thing...
We're still not commenting on Democratic presidential candidates or the race in general except to say this about today. Ms. McCaskill is correct that Beto O'Rourke needs to start putting some 'meat on the bone' in terms of substance of policy. And... the one thing that Democrats need to show if they want to win is strength. Stop apologizing...
After 675 days of investigating and 34 indictments, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has finally issued his report to Attorney General William Barr, and now as the AG pours through we are all left to wait. To that end, most all agree that the entire report should be made public as both Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), chair of the House judiciary committee, and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) agreed. Too much anxiety and time has been invested on the part of the American people that denying being able to read what the findings are is simply untenable.
In terms of the report itself, Mueller's office announced that there would be no further indictments stemming from the special counsel's investigation, but Republicans and Trump loyalists who now say he is vindicated shouldn't be spiking the football just yet, to borrow a phrase from Kristen Welker today. Having worked with Mr. Mueller, fmr. federal prosecutor Chuck Rosenberg said that Mr. Mueller would be thoroughly describing in the report what happened and not characterizing the finding. This is key because what that says is something we've always known, which is that Mr. Mueller is a process, policy and rules-governed individual. Justice Department policy is that you can not indict a sitting president so the findings of the Mueller report may state that the president did have knowledge of collusion with the Russian government. That's speculation of course as is the possibility that the report fully exonerates the president, which is also a possibility. The point is that it is still too soon to tell. Politically, that's another story due to the fact that it is already baked into voters' minds whether or not the president is guilty of illegal activity. And speaking of which, there are still several investigations going on at present into Mr. Trump business dealings.
Again, the full report should be made public.
Much of the discussion also centered around whether or not the president obstructed justice, which again Mr. Mueller wouldn't indict a sitting president based on justice department guidelines. However, the president is guilty in plain sight of obstruction of the investigation. There's the pressuring of fmr. FBI Director James Comey to drop the investigation into Michael Flynn, his firing, the firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, investigation witness tampering and the president's Twitter feed, which called the investigation a 'witch hunt' 183 times, to name a few. As fmr. Congressman Carlos Curbelo stated, it's certainly not a witch hunt. Thirty-four people have been indicted and many of those were Russian operatives who executed various measures in trying to influence the election, something that the president himself refuses to acknowledge.
And though there are no more indictments coming from the special counsel's office, which is good news for the president, politically it is suspect that the report will be all good news. There will be some political damage most assuredly. NBC's Ari Melber mentioned the possibility that administration officials, including the president, could have financial entanglements with foreign governments that played a role. To circumvent this, the White House may claim executive privilege, but given the intense public interest in the report, the House and also the Senate perhaps may override it if the chambers conclude that the White House is covering up anything illegal through that declaration. As Congressman Nadler said, if Congress cannot override that then it in essence put the president above the law, and no one in the United States is above the law.
In other news, it goes without saying that Mr. Trump's personal attacks on Senator John McCain are beyond the dignity of any American, let alone the President of the United States. To trample on the deceased, especially a war hero, shows a classlessness that shouldn't be expected from even someone as self-obsessed as Donald Trump. This column has criticized policy views of Mr. McCain in the past and didn't endorse his presidential run in 2008, but to say anything short of Mr. McCain being a devoted family man and a genuine American hero would never happen here. And that Mr. Trump's base supporters cheer when he says these things just illustrates how so many Americans have lost their way in terms of what this country is all about.
Fmr. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) explained it as 'beyond weird' that the president would denigrate the memory of an American war hero but then turn around cancel sanctions on a dictator that starves his people and executes members of his own family. And speaking of North Korea, the Treasury Dept. said it would be instituting more sanctions against the regime only to have the president cancel them. As Senator Rubio speculated, something must have gone on between the time that Treasury issued the statement and the president changing his mind. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that the president 'likes' Chairman Kim. Well, isn't that special? Mr. Rubio went on to say that that is not how it is normally done. Simply put, this requires so serious oversight because this is just another instance of President Trump making a mockery of the United States' foreign policy.
Panel: Fmr. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO); Kristen Welker, NBC News; Dan Balz, The Washington Post; Fmr. Congressman Carlos Curbelo (R-FL)
One more thing...
We're still not commenting on Democratic presidential candidates or the race in general except to say this about today. Ms. McCaskill is correct that Beto O'Rourke needs to start putting some 'meat on the bone' in terms of substance of policy. And... the one thing that Democrats need to show if they want to win is strength. Stop apologizing...
Sunday, March 10, 2019
3.10.19: Gasoline Is To Fire As Social Media Is To Polticians
This column is purposely staying away from the presidential election at this time as it is still too early to dive into the weeds of the candidates' positions when the field hasn't really even been set yet. With that said, it is disappointing that Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has decided not to run, though its understandable. The field is already crowded and his prospects for coming out on top are low, despite his good proposals and his ability to talk to working class voters from a progressive stance.
That aside, you can always count on a Cheney to provide one with consternation yet tuck something sensible into the conversation. First, with regard to the new members of the Democratic caucus, they have to realize the power they bring but they also have to understand that they don't know everything about everything. Certainly, what they haven't come to understand yet, specifically Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, that they're on a national stage and that their words carry ten times more weight now than before they were elected. Congresswoman Omar's anti-Semitic tropes [trope: metaphorical use of words] are unacceptable and should be condemned. For her part, she has to understand that she is a member of Congress now and has to bite her tongue, rise above the petty and not disparage other Americans because of race or creed.
With that said, Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) described the Democratic party as socialist and anti-Semitic which is certainly not accurate. And it takes a lot of gall (of which politicians named Cheney have plenty) to say such a thing, invoke the tragic shooting in Pittsburgh at the Tree of Life Synagogue and not address where the vast majority of anti-Semitic rhetoric is coming from, which is from the right fringe. She and Mr. Todd got into a bit of a back and forth about 'whataboutism' which is has become so prevalent in today's politics, and when you throw politicians together with social media it gets even worse. That's spraying gasoline on fire.
The right's attacks on George Soros have continued for two decades enough to the point where a pipe bomb was sent to his residence, an example Mr. Todd brought up. When confronted with the president's own rhetoric, Ms. Cheney deferred to the 'it's not a left or right issue' defense without speaking to the president's words specifically. "Very fine people on both sides...," with regard to Charlottesville is something that this column will not, can not let go. Where there's fire the president is never carrying the water.
However, Congresswoman Cheney was equally as forthright, and sensible, when it came to the president's budget proposal of trying to extract 'cost plus 50' from our allies where the United States have military bases, which would be to cover the cost of running them plus a 50% mark up. As the congresswoman succinctly said, this would be devastating. Not only would it further alienate the United States from its allies, but also put U.S. national security at further risk.
This column, for one, is so sick and tired of the president of the United States disparaging and pushing away our allies. Even if you take out moving the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem and pulling out of the Iran deal from the equation, Donald Trump has been the worst foreign policy president in the last fifty years, hands down. The president's 'very good relationship' with the North Korean dictator has brought nothing positive for the United States.
And whether there was collusion or not, the unprecedented amount of contacts and sucking up to the Russian government personally by the president and his campaign along with the active effort to cover it up is Manchurian at the very least.
This brings us to the case and sentencing of Paul Manafort who is otherwise 'not blameless' as Judge T.S. Ellis described him. He defrauded the United States' taxpayers of $6 million dollars, working for Russian-back Ukrainian politicians, something that Maria Teresa Kumar called borderline treasonous. And the president said that he feels very badly for Paul Manafort. With statements like that, why should anyone wonder why Mr. Trump has gone through five communication directors.
Mr. Trump runs the United States government, and he hates the United States government.
It's one of those times, where it's too infuriating to write on...
Panel: Robert Costa, The Washington Post; Maria Teresa Kumar, President Voto Latino; Kasie Hunt, NBC News; Pat McCrory, former governor of North Carolina
One more thing...
Cudos to Chuck Todd for referencing Spinal Tap and equating its drummers with Trump's communication directors.
That aside, you can always count on a Cheney to provide one with consternation yet tuck something sensible into the conversation. First, with regard to the new members of the Democratic caucus, they have to realize the power they bring but they also have to understand that they don't know everything about everything. Certainly, what they haven't come to understand yet, specifically Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, that they're on a national stage and that their words carry ten times more weight now than before they were elected. Congresswoman Omar's anti-Semitic tropes [trope: metaphorical use of words] are unacceptable and should be condemned. For her part, she has to understand that she is a member of Congress now and has to bite her tongue, rise above the petty and not disparage other Americans because of race or creed.
With that said, Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) described the Democratic party as socialist and anti-Semitic which is certainly not accurate. And it takes a lot of gall (of which politicians named Cheney have plenty) to say such a thing, invoke the tragic shooting in Pittsburgh at the Tree of Life Synagogue and not address where the vast majority of anti-Semitic rhetoric is coming from, which is from the right fringe. She and Mr. Todd got into a bit of a back and forth about 'whataboutism' which is has become so prevalent in today's politics, and when you throw politicians together with social media it gets even worse. That's spraying gasoline on fire.
The right's attacks on George Soros have continued for two decades enough to the point where a pipe bomb was sent to his residence, an example Mr. Todd brought up. When confronted with the president's own rhetoric, Ms. Cheney deferred to the 'it's not a left or right issue' defense without speaking to the president's words specifically. "Very fine people on both sides...," with regard to Charlottesville is something that this column will not, can not let go. Where there's fire the president is never carrying the water.
However, Congresswoman Cheney was equally as forthright, and sensible, when it came to the president's budget proposal of trying to extract 'cost plus 50' from our allies where the United States have military bases, which would be to cover the cost of running them plus a 50% mark up. As the congresswoman succinctly said, this would be devastating. Not only would it further alienate the United States from its allies, but also put U.S. national security at further risk.
This column, for one, is so sick and tired of the president of the United States disparaging and pushing away our allies. Even if you take out moving the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem and pulling out of the Iran deal from the equation, Donald Trump has been the worst foreign policy president in the last fifty years, hands down. The president's 'very good relationship' with the North Korean dictator has brought nothing positive for the United States.
And whether there was collusion or not, the unprecedented amount of contacts and sucking up to the Russian government personally by the president and his campaign along with the active effort to cover it up is Manchurian at the very least.
This brings us to the case and sentencing of Paul Manafort who is otherwise 'not blameless' as Judge T.S. Ellis described him. He defrauded the United States' taxpayers of $6 million dollars, working for Russian-back Ukrainian politicians, something that Maria Teresa Kumar called borderline treasonous. And the president said that he feels very badly for Paul Manafort. With statements like that, why should anyone wonder why Mr. Trump has gone through five communication directors.
Mr. Trump runs the United States government, and he hates the United States government.
It's one of those times, where it's too infuriating to write on...
Panel: Robert Costa, The Washington Post; Maria Teresa Kumar, President Voto Latino; Kasie Hunt, NBC News; Pat McCrory, former governor of North Carolina
One more thing...
Cudos to Chuck Todd for referencing Spinal Tap and equating its drummers with Trump's communication directors.
Sunday, March 03, 2019
3.3.19: Your Channel and Your Reality... It's Not A Crime Per Se
Fred Yang of Hart Research Associates said, "You get your reality from the [news] channel you watch," referring to the divide among Americans on how they see shape their political beliefs. This column tries to stay away from that though the irony is not lost on the fact that this column centers around a television program, on a channel.
However for this week, we'll keep that more front of mind than usual, which brings us straight away to the House Oversight Committee's hearing with former Trump attorney, Michael Cohen. First, Mr. Cohen is a liar, a cheat and a conman - the three things he directly described the president as being. Foremost, he lied to Congress under oath and that's why in May he will be going to jail for the next three years. At this point, Mr. Cohen is certainly not going to be given a pardon so why did he 'throw himself at the mercy of the world that hates Trump?' as Commentary Magazine's Jon Podhoretz described. Was he telling the truth now as some part of an act of contrition? Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), senior Republican on the Oversight Committee said that Mr. Cohen had lied to Congress again in this hearing.
What we do know is that at this point, Mr. Cohen can not have his sentence reduced any further and was not offered any reduction for his testimony this week so if he lied again the main consequence would be that more years would be added to his sentence. But still, why testify? It seems to this column that Mr. Cohen was a willing and loyal soldier for Mr. Trump, carrying out the dirty work that needed to be done in New York City. Upon Mr. Trump being elected president and Mr. Cohen not being rewarded for his effort, he most probably held out hope that Mr. Trump would back him up when investigators came calling. Mr. Trump did initially, but when Mr. Cohen lied to Congress for Mr. Trump's benefit and then had to take this fall, the loyalty wasn't reciprocated. An ax to grind? Yes, of course, but isn't that the common motivation in a situation like this?
When Mr. Jordan says that Mr. Cohen lied again to Congress this week that's just hard to believe. With that said, everything Mr. Cohen said in terms of charges he made about Mr. Trump has to be verified. Heidi Przybyla pointed out that Mr. Cohen's credibility went up because if he were lying, he would have said that the president did collude with Russia during the 2016 election, but instead he said that he had no knowledge of that. She also gave a few other instances where Mr. Cohen defended the president, so there's that.
Mr. Jordan also said that he doesn't believe that the president has lied at all when it comes to all things Russia, which is just impossible to believe given what's out there in the public record, specifically the overwhelming reporting on the Trump Tower Moscow deal.
It's not a crime per se to lie about this, but it's a relevant fact that the voters should have been made aware of, as Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) pointed out. Mr. Cohen also stated the Mr. Trump was in contact with Roger Stone about Wikileaks prior to the hacked information dump, which Mr. Warner said his counter-intelligence committee is looking into. If the president was aware of this before the fact, then that would be a crime. But Republicans don't want to talk about this and in the hearing instead of defending the president, which they didn't do, they solely focused on attacking the credibility of Mr. Cohen. And as Mr. Jordan outlined today, he doesn't want to talk about Russian collusion, but instead of the many accomplishments of the administration such as: tax reform, putting two conservative justices on the Supreme Court, record low unemployment and economic growth.
There are holes in those accomplishments such as raking up $2 trillion more dollars of debt and the fact that the middle class is suffering on the tax return front because refunds are significantly less because Republicans adjusted the withholding tax structure. Despite that, Mr. Jordan did outline a list of things that conservatives like.
To that point, The New York Times Helene Cooper explained that if you look past the ridiculous tweets and statements, the Administration's actions with regard to North Korea has been sound. Mr. Trump has opened up a dialogue with the Kim regime and smartly walked away from this week's summit because North Korea couldn't meet any of the United States demands in exchange for sanctions relief. However, it should be pointed out that a summit shouldn't really occur if some sort of framework for an agreement hasn't been worked out beforehand. Fine, that's not how Mr. Trump negotiates and that we have to accept. But Ms. Cooper then pointed out that after rightly walking away from the deal, Mr. Trump once again took the word of a dictator over what American intelligence officials had told him.
It's not a crime per se that Mr. Trump said that he takes Kim Jung Un at his word that he didn't know about what happened to Otto Warmbier, but just on the face of it, it's unfathomable that he didn't know. Mr. Trump explained that it would have been to Mr. Kim's advantage for such a thing to happen, as if he was defending the North Korean dictator. That's simply an affront to American values and respect to human rights. Defending a dictator's personal responsibility with regard to the torture and in essence murder of an American citizen is a moral crime.
It prompted a rare statement from Mr. Warmbier's parents:
"We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that."
As Yahoo News' Matt Bai pointed out, this president seems to lack any measure of empathy and the ability to feel someone else's pain. If we're thinking in terms of realpolitik as Jon Podhoretz brought up in the discussion, it has to be acknowledged that in that context that people do suffer making empathy an essential quality that the President of The United States must possess.
Panel: Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Matt Bai, Yahoo News; Heidi Przybyla, NBC News; Jon Podhoretz, Commentary Magazine
One more thing...
The president's longest riff... er, speech... occurred this weekend at CPAC this weekend where among other things he he said that 'people try to take you down with bullshit.' Not a crime, but also not very presidential and neither is this:
It's just f**king weird.
However for this week, we'll keep that more front of mind than usual, which brings us straight away to the House Oversight Committee's hearing with former Trump attorney, Michael Cohen. First, Mr. Cohen is a liar, a cheat and a conman - the three things he directly described the president as being. Foremost, he lied to Congress under oath and that's why in May he will be going to jail for the next three years. At this point, Mr. Cohen is certainly not going to be given a pardon so why did he 'throw himself at the mercy of the world that hates Trump?' as Commentary Magazine's Jon Podhoretz described. Was he telling the truth now as some part of an act of contrition? Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), senior Republican on the Oversight Committee said that Mr. Cohen had lied to Congress again in this hearing.
What we do know is that at this point, Mr. Cohen can not have his sentence reduced any further and was not offered any reduction for his testimony this week so if he lied again the main consequence would be that more years would be added to his sentence. But still, why testify? It seems to this column that Mr. Cohen was a willing and loyal soldier for Mr. Trump, carrying out the dirty work that needed to be done in New York City. Upon Mr. Trump being elected president and Mr. Cohen not being rewarded for his effort, he most probably held out hope that Mr. Trump would back him up when investigators came calling. Mr. Trump did initially, but when Mr. Cohen lied to Congress for Mr. Trump's benefit and then had to take this fall, the loyalty wasn't reciprocated. An ax to grind? Yes, of course, but isn't that the common motivation in a situation like this?
When Mr. Jordan says that Mr. Cohen lied again to Congress this week that's just hard to believe. With that said, everything Mr. Cohen said in terms of charges he made about Mr. Trump has to be verified. Heidi Przybyla pointed out that Mr. Cohen's credibility went up because if he were lying, he would have said that the president did collude with Russia during the 2016 election, but instead he said that he had no knowledge of that. She also gave a few other instances where Mr. Cohen defended the president, so there's that.
Mr. Jordan also said that he doesn't believe that the president has lied at all when it comes to all things Russia, which is just impossible to believe given what's out there in the public record, specifically the overwhelming reporting on the Trump Tower Moscow deal.
It's not a crime per se to lie about this, but it's a relevant fact that the voters should have been made aware of, as Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) pointed out. Mr. Cohen also stated the Mr. Trump was in contact with Roger Stone about Wikileaks prior to the hacked information dump, which Mr. Warner said his counter-intelligence committee is looking into. If the president was aware of this before the fact, then that would be a crime. But Republicans don't want to talk about this and in the hearing instead of defending the president, which they didn't do, they solely focused on attacking the credibility of Mr. Cohen. And as Mr. Jordan outlined today, he doesn't want to talk about Russian collusion, but instead of the many accomplishments of the administration such as: tax reform, putting two conservative justices on the Supreme Court, record low unemployment and economic growth.
There are holes in those accomplishments such as raking up $2 trillion more dollars of debt and the fact that the middle class is suffering on the tax return front because refunds are significantly less because Republicans adjusted the withholding tax structure. Despite that, Mr. Jordan did outline a list of things that conservatives like.
To that point, The New York Times Helene Cooper explained that if you look past the ridiculous tweets and statements, the Administration's actions with regard to North Korea has been sound. Mr. Trump has opened up a dialogue with the Kim regime and smartly walked away from this week's summit because North Korea couldn't meet any of the United States demands in exchange for sanctions relief. However, it should be pointed out that a summit shouldn't really occur if some sort of framework for an agreement hasn't been worked out beforehand. Fine, that's not how Mr. Trump negotiates and that we have to accept. But Ms. Cooper then pointed out that after rightly walking away from the deal, Mr. Trump once again took the word of a dictator over what American intelligence officials had told him.
It's not a crime per se that Mr. Trump said that he takes Kim Jung Un at his word that he didn't know about what happened to Otto Warmbier, but just on the face of it, it's unfathomable that he didn't know. Mr. Trump explained that it would have been to Mr. Kim's advantage for such a thing to happen, as if he was defending the North Korean dictator. That's simply an affront to American values and respect to human rights. Defending a dictator's personal responsibility with regard to the torture and in essence murder of an American citizen is a moral crime.
It prompted a rare statement from Mr. Warmbier's parents:
"We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that."
As Yahoo News' Matt Bai pointed out, this president seems to lack any measure of empathy and the ability to feel someone else's pain. If we're thinking in terms of realpolitik as Jon Podhoretz brought up in the discussion, it has to be acknowledged that in that context that people do suffer making empathy an essential quality that the President of The United States must possess.
Panel: Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Matt Bai, Yahoo News; Heidi Przybyla, NBC News; Jon Podhoretz, Commentary Magazine
One more thing...
The president's longest riff... er, speech... occurred this weekend at CPAC this weekend where among other things he he said that 'people try to take you down with bullshit.' Not a crime, but also not very presidential and neither is this:
It's just f**king weird.
Sunday, February 24, 2019
2.24.19: The President Walls Off Particular Subjects
Former Secretary of Homeland Security summed up this week's conversation topics best, "leaders have to lead." Whether it be on Russian interference in the 2016 election, the rise of white nationalism and its violent inclinations or climate change, the president walls himself off with regard to all three.
As Chuck Todd stated, part of the purview of the Mueller investigation is to find out the extent to which Russia interfered in U.S. elections, but the president doesn't seem concerned about this attack on our democracy for the fact that those attacks worked to his advantage in the form of his winning of the presidency. On the question of whether the president's campaign colluded with the Russian government and the countless questions it has raised, you can allow yourself to be a political cynic such as Lonhee Chen, however the aspect that is beyond dispute is the unprecedented number of contacts individuals linked to the Trump campaign had with Russian officials, and the subsequent attempts to cover up those contacts (i.e. lying about them). And as Solomon Wisenberg posited, that's the real mystery - why so many people lied.
Last week there were reports that Robert Mueller would file a report in the coming days, which seemed surprising given the recent indictment of Trump confidant and political operative Roger Stone and the apparent unresolved issues of campaign individuals who may have lied to Congress still outstanding. Turns out that Mr. Mueller is not issuing his report this week, which makes sense. So far there have been 34 indictments and 6 guilty pleas due to the investigation so as former Solicitor General Neal Katyal stated, if this is a witch hunt, Mr. Mueller has found a coven. Mr. Wisenberg also said that there will probably be more indictments returned, but no revealed, but even if the individuals' names are not revealed, the indictments themselves will become public.
In the meantime, the White House is sweating it out, waiting for the other shoe to drop and certainly preparing for the worst, as they should be. When asked this week about the coming Mueller report the president seemed unusually reserved in his answer because he realizes two things. One, Mr. Wisenberg said that the president can not dictate what the attorney general is to do with the report and two, he can not fire another attorney general so quickly if the president's instructions are not followed. This leaves Mr. Trump to continue his floundering PR campaign that Mr. Mueller's investigation is illegitimate and Russian collusion is all a hoax.
Also, the story of the Coast Guard lieutenant who had professed white nationalist rhetoric, accumulated a cache of weapons and had a list of targets comprised of Democratic politicians and media personalities is, to say the least, disturbing. Mr. Johnson said that this form of extremism is relatively new as compared to racist and religious extremism though anti-Semitism is on the rise in the U.S. In light of the arrest of this individual, it's disappointing (understating it) that the President of the United States only responded to it when he was asked by a reporter, especially in Mr. Trump's case - a man who comments on everything via Twitter. On this, he went silent. That searing comment about Charlottesville always comes to mind in instances like this, "There were very fine people on both sides."
Lastly, despite Senator Diane Feinstein's less than stellar interaction with second-graders featured in a video that went viral, the debate on the left about climate change and action plan are stuck in neutral. Lonhee Chen said that there are many lanes of thought on the subject, meaning many different political agendas at work. The 'many lanes' that he is actually referring to consist of Republicans writ large denying climate change (the global catastrophe, as Heather McGhee phrased it), and a president who considers it a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese, hence he continued promotion of the coal industry. It's one thing to dispute climate change, but the president has gone off to the purposely stupid.
If he doesn't like it or it doesn't comport with his views and prejudices that would jeopardize his winning of a news cycle, Mr. Trump wants a wall - physical or metaphorical - high enough so that he'll never have to peer over it.
Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Heather McGhee, president of DEMOS; Alex Cardenas, Republican Strategist; Lonhee Chen, Republican Strategist
As Chuck Todd stated, part of the purview of the Mueller investigation is to find out the extent to which Russia interfered in U.S. elections, but the president doesn't seem concerned about this attack on our democracy for the fact that those attacks worked to his advantage in the form of his winning of the presidency. On the question of whether the president's campaign colluded with the Russian government and the countless questions it has raised, you can allow yourself to be a political cynic such as Lonhee Chen, however the aspect that is beyond dispute is the unprecedented number of contacts individuals linked to the Trump campaign had with Russian officials, and the subsequent attempts to cover up those contacts (i.e. lying about them). And as Solomon Wisenberg posited, that's the real mystery - why so many people lied.
Last week there were reports that Robert Mueller would file a report in the coming days, which seemed surprising given the recent indictment of Trump confidant and political operative Roger Stone and the apparent unresolved issues of campaign individuals who may have lied to Congress still outstanding. Turns out that Mr. Mueller is not issuing his report this week, which makes sense. So far there have been 34 indictments and 6 guilty pleas due to the investigation so as former Solicitor General Neal Katyal stated, if this is a witch hunt, Mr. Mueller has found a coven. Mr. Wisenberg also said that there will probably be more indictments returned, but no revealed, but even if the individuals' names are not revealed, the indictments themselves will become public.
In the meantime, the White House is sweating it out, waiting for the other shoe to drop and certainly preparing for the worst, as they should be. When asked this week about the coming Mueller report the president seemed unusually reserved in his answer because he realizes two things. One, Mr. Wisenberg said that the president can not dictate what the attorney general is to do with the report and two, he can not fire another attorney general so quickly if the president's instructions are not followed. This leaves Mr. Trump to continue his floundering PR campaign that Mr. Mueller's investigation is illegitimate and Russian collusion is all a hoax.
Also, the story of the Coast Guard lieutenant who had professed white nationalist rhetoric, accumulated a cache of weapons and had a list of targets comprised of Democratic politicians and media personalities is, to say the least, disturbing. Mr. Johnson said that this form of extremism is relatively new as compared to racist and religious extremism though anti-Semitism is on the rise in the U.S. In light of the arrest of this individual, it's disappointing (understating it) that the President of the United States only responded to it when he was asked by a reporter, especially in Mr. Trump's case - a man who comments on everything via Twitter. On this, he went silent. That searing comment about Charlottesville always comes to mind in instances like this, "There were very fine people on both sides."
Lastly, despite Senator Diane Feinstein's less than stellar interaction with second-graders featured in a video that went viral, the debate on the left about climate change and action plan are stuck in neutral. Lonhee Chen said that there are many lanes of thought on the subject, meaning many different political agendas at work. The 'many lanes' that he is actually referring to consist of Republicans writ large denying climate change (the global catastrophe, as Heather McGhee phrased it), and a president who considers it a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese, hence he continued promotion of the coal industry. It's one thing to dispute climate change, but the president has gone off to the purposely stupid.
If he doesn't like it or it doesn't comport with his views and prejudices that would jeopardize his winning of a news cycle, Mr. Trump wants a wall - physical or metaphorical - high enough so that he'll never have to peer over it.
Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Heather McGhee, president of DEMOS; Alex Cardenas, Republican Strategist; Lonhee Chen, Republican Strategist
Sunday, February 17, 2019
2.17.19: A Political Emergency for Conservatives
Before we get to the conversation about the wall and the president's declaration of a national emergency, let's briefly tackle what's going on with the Democrats and specifically the Amazon deal with New York City. Part of what Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said was true that Amazon executives made an arbitrary decision to pull out of their plans to build in Long Island City, and it is not acceptable that corporations can push around and dictate terms to municipalities like they do. However, it's also accurate to say that some New York City politicians created a difficult political atmosphere that Amazon didn't want to contend with.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal proposal, as this column has stated, is a good idea in its aspiration, however it is not ready for prime time to become a bill. The greenest part of this 'New Deal' is the congressperson who introduced it and her advocating for and celebrating Amazon's pull-out is misguided. Not to mention what Politico's Eliana Johnson explained inasmuch as a majority of Ms. Ocasio Cortez's constituents wanted Amazon in Long Island City in Queens. The National Review's Jonah Goldberg was absolutely correct when he said that Ms. Ocasio Cortez didn't do her homework. And if the figures that Mr. de Blasio outlined are correct and that $27 billion in revenue would have been brought to the city and state along with 27,000 jobs for $3 billion in tax incentives once the revenue and jobs are there then that's a deal you take. That $3 billion is NOT residing else where; it only exists with the revenue that the Amazon deal would have brought. The only point that New York City should have insisted on was that Amazon contribute to the renovation of the subway through Queens. But now none of it is happening and it's a loss for New York and it's created conflict among Democrats.
That aside, the conflict within the Democratic party is largely created by the media nitpicking the differences of candidates' positions and proposals very early in the election cycle. For perspective, DNC Chair Tom Perez framed it more reasonably that despite these differences, all the candidates believe in a set of core principles such as climate change being real, Americans should have more affordable healthcare and more access to it, and that capitalism should work better for the vast majorities of the people.
The other commonality among Democrats is their desire to stop a president that is becoming increasingly autocratic. This is their political emergency but it's also a political emergency for conservatives. The question is will they rise to the challenge or will they fold abdicating their Constitutional power and obligations? If the rest of the Republican caucus follows Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-KY) then they've already bent over and we've received our answer.
By his own admission, President Trump's declaration of a national emergency is not in fact an emergency as he stated on Friday in the White House Rose Garden that he didn't have to do it.
When questioned by Mr. Todd, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) said that the president does have the Constitutional authority to declare a national emergency but that he also has concerns about this type of extension of presidential power. In other words, Senator Johnson doesn't agree with the action taken by the president, but he's also unwilling to stand up to him. He also said that Congress needs to assert its Constitutional power but in fact Republicans have been abdicating it since Mr. Trump took office. Mr. Todd explained that since the emergency declaration act came to be in 1976 no president has used it in the fashion where Congress has reached a funding compromise and then the president circumvents it, taking control of funds through the National Emergency Declaration Act, to satisfy a political goal.
And that is what this is, a politically manufactured crisis on the part of President Trump, who is not a conservative, certainly when it comes to limited governmental power, deficits and Constitutional norms and laws. This declaration will go through the courts but to answer Eliana Johnson's question as to whether the courts will become involved in the question of what is and what is not an emergency, the answer is 'no, they will not.' And as Amy Walter explained, this declaration is all about the 2020 election and Mr. Trump maintaining his base. He's certainly not trying to expand it.
What was extraordinary was that you saw the most liberal member of the panel (Eddie Glaude, Jr.) and the most conservative member (Jonah Goldberg) using similar terminology to describe the president's action. Mr. Glaude said that this was the imperial presidency run amok and Mr. Goldberg described the action as monarchical. Mr. Goldberg also said that this end around Congress was next level abuse of presidential power.
Mr. Glaude explained that this emergency declaration is built on a lie that there is a crisis on the southern border, which in terms of illegal crossings there is not. Government statistics indicate that illegal crossings are down 76% since 2000. In terms of a humanitarian crisis, there is one manufactured by the Administration with its separation of families zero-tolerance policy.
The emergency is one for Republicans in Congress, a test at a tipping point for our Constitutional democracy.
Panel: Amy Walter, the Cook Political Report; Eliana Johnson, Politico; Eddie Glaude, Jr., Princeton University; Jonah Goldberg, The National Review
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal proposal, as this column has stated, is a good idea in its aspiration, however it is not ready for prime time to become a bill. The greenest part of this 'New Deal' is the congressperson who introduced it and her advocating for and celebrating Amazon's pull-out is misguided. Not to mention what Politico's Eliana Johnson explained inasmuch as a majority of Ms. Ocasio Cortez's constituents wanted Amazon in Long Island City in Queens. The National Review's Jonah Goldberg was absolutely correct when he said that Ms. Ocasio Cortez didn't do her homework. And if the figures that Mr. de Blasio outlined are correct and that $27 billion in revenue would have been brought to the city and state along with 27,000 jobs for $3 billion in tax incentives once the revenue and jobs are there then that's a deal you take. That $3 billion is NOT residing else where; it only exists with the revenue that the Amazon deal would have brought. The only point that New York City should have insisted on was that Amazon contribute to the renovation of the subway through Queens. But now none of it is happening and it's a loss for New York and it's created conflict among Democrats.
That aside, the conflict within the Democratic party is largely created by the media nitpicking the differences of candidates' positions and proposals very early in the election cycle. For perspective, DNC Chair Tom Perez framed it more reasonably that despite these differences, all the candidates believe in a set of core principles such as climate change being real, Americans should have more affordable healthcare and more access to it, and that capitalism should work better for the vast majorities of the people.
The other commonality among Democrats is their desire to stop a president that is becoming increasingly autocratic. This is their political emergency but it's also a political emergency for conservatives. The question is will they rise to the challenge or will they fold abdicating their Constitutional power and obligations? If the rest of the Republican caucus follows Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-KY) then they've already bent over and we've received our answer.
By his own admission, President Trump's declaration of a national emergency is not in fact an emergency as he stated on Friday in the White House Rose Garden that he didn't have to do it.
When questioned by Mr. Todd, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) said that the president does have the Constitutional authority to declare a national emergency but that he also has concerns about this type of extension of presidential power. In other words, Senator Johnson doesn't agree with the action taken by the president, but he's also unwilling to stand up to him. He also said that Congress needs to assert its Constitutional power but in fact Republicans have been abdicating it since Mr. Trump took office. Mr. Todd explained that since the emergency declaration act came to be in 1976 no president has used it in the fashion where Congress has reached a funding compromise and then the president circumvents it, taking control of funds through the National Emergency Declaration Act, to satisfy a political goal.
And that is what this is, a politically manufactured crisis on the part of President Trump, who is not a conservative, certainly when it comes to limited governmental power, deficits and Constitutional norms and laws. This declaration will go through the courts but to answer Eliana Johnson's question as to whether the courts will become involved in the question of what is and what is not an emergency, the answer is 'no, they will not.' And as Amy Walter explained, this declaration is all about the 2020 election and Mr. Trump maintaining his base. He's certainly not trying to expand it.
What was extraordinary was that you saw the most liberal member of the panel (Eddie Glaude, Jr.) and the most conservative member (Jonah Goldberg) using similar terminology to describe the president's action. Mr. Glaude said that this was the imperial presidency run amok and Mr. Goldberg described the action as monarchical. Mr. Goldberg also said that this end around Congress was next level abuse of presidential power.
Mr. Glaude explained that this emergency declaration is built on a lie that there is a crisis on the southern border, which in terms of illegal crossings there is not. Government statistics indicate that illegal crossings are down 76% since 2000. In terms of a humanitarian crisis, there is one manufactured by the Administration with its separation of families zero-tolerance policy.
The emergency is one for Republicans in Congress, a test at a tipping point for our Constitutional democracy.
Panel: Amy Walter, the Cook Political Report; Eliana Johnson, Politico; Eddie Glaude, Jr., Princeton University; Jonah Goldberg, The National Review
Sunday, February 10, 2019
2.10.19: Fiscal Hypocrisy Has Made Progress Prohibitive
Much was made of the Democratic party divide on today's program about which the direction the party should go as more Democrats declare their candidacies for the presidency in 2020. However, Senator Michael Bennett (D-CO) put it in the proper perspective explaining that the country is as nearly divided as the parties are in Washington. Debates on the Democratic side regarding whether or to move more toward the left base versus the center is naturally politically predictable at this point in time. Two issues in particular set the conversation today: Democratic positions on healthcare and the environment respectively.
On the Democratic side, some are saying that we should have Medicare for all while others are saying that it's unrealistic while facing down the backdrop of Republican criticism that Medicare for all is a move toward socialism. (On the last point, don't believe the hype as the scare tactics of moving toward socialism in America are completely overblown. Plus, Americans happen to like the two biggest socialist programs we have - Medicare and Social Security.) With that said, we have to acknowledge particular truths that Senator Bennett outlined. One, the United States is the only industrialized country in the world that doesn't cover all its citizens and that we pay the most for healthcare.
On the environment, the Green New Deal introduced by Congresspersons Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ed Markey (D-MA) is an aspirational proposal to address climate change as today's panel accurately described it, however which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called a 'green dream,' playing the pragmatic realist understanding that Republicans will never go for it.
In both cases there has to be the acknowledgement by both parties that one, everyone needs to be covered with healthcare and two, that climate change is real and needs to be seriously addressed. So far, only Democrats have come to embrace these realities. As much as Republicans hate the Affordable Care Act, they are still yet to offer a serious proposal that would be better. To Senator Bennett's credit (as he mentioned today), he has authored a bill with Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) that puts in place a public option (i.e. Medicare) for who ever wants it. It would be the first move in a gradual process of potentially providing Medicare for all. The problem for Republicans, and why they blocked it in the original ACA proposal, is their fear that it will in fact become the most popular option for healthcare.
Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas explained, the American system of democracy and legislating was designed to be slow. Extrapolating that out a bit, change is meant to be gradual and providing a public option is provides for a gradually directed process of getting more people covered.
As for the environment, the first step is getting Republican politicians to simply acknowledge that climate change is real. In 2019, it's inexplicable that Republican politicians writ large still deny the overwhelming science that climate change presents a clear and present danger. As NBC's Katy Tur mentioned, the eventual economic damage and loss of human life is becoming ever more prevalent and can no longer be ignored especially here in the United States where we're having to allocate more and more billions of dollars in emergency relief funds for areas of the country hit by catastrophic storms, floods and fires.
Speaking of emergency funds, according to the acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney the president is thinking of taking some of those funds as part of a declaration of a national emergency to build a border wall at the southern border, where there is no security crisis. Mr. Mulvaney said he was not optimistic about a border security deal given on his experience in Washington. More clearly, he's not pessimistic about a deal, just one that the president will be willing to sign into law, hence why another government shutdown is not being taken off the table. However, if Republicans and Democrats do strike a deal and the president doesn't sign it, the responsibility of another government shutdown will fall squarely on his shoulders and will further tank his approval ratings.
All this speaks to what Senator Bennett called the fiscal hypocrisy on the part of the Republicans, running up the biggest budget deficit in American history during the last Congress, completely controlled by the GOP. With the tax cuts passed by the Republican-controlled Congress, preparing for emergency contingencies including rebuilding infrastructure and providing affordable healthcare have become completely prohibitive.
Lastly, Congress Adam Schiff (D-CA) explained that the Intelligence Committee will expand its scope beyond Russian meddling in the 2016 election to include President Trump's potential financial ties to the Kremlin and to Saudi Arabia to find out whether or not the president is financially compromised in anyway which would hence put his personal financial interests ahead of his duties as president. Despite the president's protests, this type of oversight is to be expected and is necessary. Congressman Schiff explained that the committee needs to present the facts to the American people no matter which way they cut, and this should be the case.
Panel: Katy Tur, NBC News; Kimberly Atkins, WBUR in Boston; David Brody, Christian Broadcast Network; Markos Moulitsas, the Daily Kos
One more thing...
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) should have never claimed Native American status and though she has since apologized for this it was disingenuous of her to use a 1/64th heritage (or whatever ultra-slim margin it was) to claim minority status. This problem doesn't bode well for her chances to become the Democratic nominee for president in 2020, despite her populace economic message.
However as equally distasteful perhaps more so is the president's utterly callous reference to the 'Trail of Tears' in a tweet. It's pathetic that the President of the United States doesn't realize how offensive this is. Four thousand Cherokee Native Americans died from disease, cold and starvation by being forcibly relocated west while white Americans looted their homes because they weren't allowed to take any of their possessions with them.
On the Democratic side, some are saying that we should have Medicare for all while others are saying that it's unrealistic while facing down the backdrop of Republican criticism that Medicare for all is a move toward socialism. (On the last point, don't believe the hype as the scare tactics of moving toward socialism in America are completely overblown. Plus, Americans happen to like the two biggest socialist programs we have - Medicare and Social Security.) With that said, we have to acknowledge particular truths that Senator Bennett outlined. One, the United States is the only industrialized country in the world that doesn't cover all its citizens and that we pay the most for healthcare.
On the environment, the Green New Deal introduced by Congresspersons Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ed Markey (D-MA) is an aspirational proposal to address climate change as today's panel accurately described it, however which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called a 'green dream,' playing the pragmatic realist understanding that Republicans will never go for it.
In both cases there has to be the acknowledgement by both parties that one, everyone needs to be covered with healthcare and two, that climate change is real and needs to be seriously addressed. So far, only Democrats have come to embrace these realities. As much as Republicans hate the Affordable Care Act, they are still yet to offer a serious proposal that would be better. To Senator Bennett's credit (as he mentioned today), he has authored a bill with Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) that puts in place a public option (i.e. Medicare) for who ever wants it. It would be the first move in a gradual process of potentially providing Medicare for all. The problem for Republicans, and why they blocked it in the original ACA proposal, is their fear that it will in fact become the most popular option for healthcare.
Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas explained, the American system of democracy and legislating was designed to be slow. Extrapolating that out a bit, change is meant to be gradual and providing a public option is provides for a gradually directed process of getting more people covered.
As for the environment, the first step is getting Republican politicians to simply acknowledge that climate change is real. In 2019, it's inexplicable that Republican politicians writ large still deny the overwhelming science that climate change presents a clear and present danger. As NBC's Katy Tur mentioned, the eventual economic damage and loss of human life is becoming ever more prevalent and can no longer be ignored especially here in the United States where we're having to allocate more and more billions of dollars in emergency relief funds for areas of the country hit by catastrophic storms, floods and fires.
Speaking of emergency funds, according to the acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney the president is thinking of taking some of those funds as part of a declaration of a national emergency to build a border wall at the southern border, where there is no security crisis. Mr. Mulvaney said he was not optimistic about a border security deal given on his experience in Washington. More clearly, he's not pessimistic about a deal, just one that the president will be willing to sign into law, hence why another government shutdown is not being taken off the table. However, if Republicans and Democrats do strike a deal and the president doesn't sign it, the responsibility of another government shutdown will fall squarely on his shoulders and will further tank his approval ratings.
All this speaks to what Senator Bennett called the fiscal hypocrisy on the part of the Republicans, running up the biggest budget deficit in American history during the last Congress, completely controlled by the GOP. With the tax cuts passed by the Republican-controlled Congress, preparing for emergency contingencies including rebuilding infrastructure and providing affordable healthcare have become completely prohibitive.
Lastly, Congress Adam Schiff (D-CA) explained that the Intelligence Committee will expand its scope beyond Russian meddling in the 2016 election to include President Trump's potential financial ties to the Kremlin and to Saudi Arabia to find out whether or not the president is financially compromised in anyway which would hence put his personal financial interests ahead of his duties as president. Despite the president's protests, this type of oversight is to be expected and is necessary. Congressman Schiff explained that the committee needs to present the facts to the American people no matter which way they cut, and this should be the case.
Panel: Katy Tur, NBC News; Kimberly Atkins, WBUR in Boston; David Brody, Christian Broadcast Network; Markos Moulitsas, the Daily Kos
One more thing...
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) should have never claimed Native American status and though she has since apologized for this it was disingenuous of her to use a 1/64th heritage (or whatever ultra-slim margin it was) to claim minority status. This problem doesn't bode well for her chances to become the Democratic nominee for president in 2020, despite her populace economic message.
However as equally distasteful perhaps more so is the president's utterly callous reference to the 'Trail of Tears' in a tweet. It's pathetic that the President of the United States doesn't realize how offensive this is. Four thousand Cherokee Native Americans died from disease, cold and starvation by being forcibly relocated west while white Americans looted their homes because they weren't allowed to take any of their possessions with them.
Tuesday, February 05, 2019
2.5.19: Notes from President Trump's State of the Union Address
Here are my notes from President Donald Trump's second State of the Union address. Make of them what you will...
President enters the House chamber at 9:03pm EST.
POTUS to the rostrum at 9:05pm EST.
This is a moment of unlimited potential.
Hoping to govern not as two parties but as one nation.
The agenda of the American people.
Victory is winning for out country...
Platitudes platitudes platitudes...
75 years in June of the Allied liberation of Europe in WWII.
Salute to the WWII veterans in attendance.
50 years Apollo 11 moon landing...
In the 20th century there was nothing to compete with America.
Now, create a new standard of living in the 21st century.
More platitudes.... and empty applause lines...
Embrace compromise and the common good.
Pointless destruction.. Tonight I ask you to choose greatness.
In just over two years - unleashed an economic boom...
600,000 new manufacturing jobs...
5 million Americans lifted off food stamps.
The hottest economy in the world. Pence is such a sycophant...
Tax cut for working families and double the child tax credit.
Nearly ended the death tax - small businesses and family farms? Really?
Cut the mandate on Obamacare, and cut regulations...
Number 1 producer of oil and natural gas in the world.
A net exporter of energy - first time in 65 years.
Thankfully, I'm drinking during this...
The state of our union is strong.
An economic miracle is happening...
Ridiculous partisan investigations can stop this miracle... There can't be war and investigations... That's just weird... He needs to be investigated...
Nearly 300 individuals waiting to be confirmed by the Senate.
Criminal justice reform, which he seems to be taking credit for...
Story of Alice Johnson....
The First Step Act - gives non-violent offenders redemption.
The urgent national crisis - 10 days left to negotiate a deal to secure our very dangerous southern border.
Large organized caravans are on the way to the United States. I have ordered another 3,750 troops to the border. Defend our very dangerous southern border.
Tolerance for illegal immigration is cruel...
MS13 operates in 20 states...
Instilling fear with regard to the southern border.
A common sense proposal to Congress - physical barrier or wall... A proper wall, I will get it built.
A steel see-through barrier. - Where a wall goes up, illegal crossings go way way down.
With a powerful barrier in place, El Paso is now one of the safest cities... So not true.
"Walls work and walls save lives."
I need another drink...
More women in the workforce than ever before, and thanks to Democrats there are more women serving in Congress than anytime before.... who all dislike Donald Trump.
Calamitous trade policies... $250 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods. A new trade deal with China.
and the catastrophe known as NAFTA.
America's crumbling infrastructure... investments in the cutting edge industries of the future... doesn't mention what they are and then moved right to healthcare - prescription drugs and preexisting conditions.
Mitch McConnell looks sad... I guess his pharmaceutical donors won't be happy.
We will defeat AIDS in America and beyond...
The fight against childhood cancer...
$500 million for childhood cancer research and now it's time for school choice... non sequitur
I'm asking Congress to pass legislation on late-term abortions. Cherishes innocent life, but not the separated children at the southern border... Hmmm.
$700 billion last year and $716 billion this year for the military. Allies need to pay their fair share - NATO...
Missile defense treaty with Russia - IMF Treaty. Not to mention that this is what Putin wants...
The Korean peninsula - If I had not been elected we would be in a war with North Korea. He's meeting with Kim Jung Un again... twice! Reckless foreign policy...
Calls for socialism in this country - we were born free and we will stay free. Of course the camera cuts to Bernie Sanders.
"America will never be a socialist country..." Ridiculous...
Principled realism in the Middle East... Opened the American Embassy in Jerusalem...
"Great nations do not fight endless wars."
Removing the troops from Syria... Even if you don't like that, we'd be leaving our allies out to dry and giving the Putin regime exactly what they want there by ceding influence.
18 years ago - the USS Cole attack... Happened in October 2000 FYI.
Defense against anti-semitism - honoring holocaust survivors and a SWAT team member from the Tree of Life synagogue tragedy... He's making up for his Charlottesville fine people on both sides comments... my cynical commentary aside it is genuinely a good thing to honor such individuals...
Look at the opportunities before us...
We do the incredible...
Re-ignite the American imagination...
I am asking you to choose greatness. We must go forward together...
If only he'd stop tweeting...
President enters the House chamber at 9:03pm EST.
POTUS to the rostrum at 9:05pm EST.
This is a moment of unlimited potential.
Hoping to govern not as two parties but as one nation.
The agenda of the American people.
Victory is winning for out country...
Platitudes platitudes platitudes...
75 years in June of the Allied liberation of Europe in WWII.
Salute to the WWII veterans in attendance.
50 years Apollo 11 moon landing...
In the 20th century there was nothing to compete with America.
Now, create a new standard of living in the 21st century.
More platitudes.... and empty applause lines...
Embrace compromise and the common good.
Pointless destruction.. Tonight I ask you to choose greatness.
In just over two years - unleashed an economic boom...
600,000 new manufacturing jobs...
5 million Americans lifted off food stamps.
The hottest economy in the world. Pence is such a sycophant...
Tax cut for working families and double the child tax credit.
Nearly ended the death tax - small businesses and family farms? Really?
Cut the mandate on Obamacare, and cut regulations...
Number 1 producer of oil and natural gas in the world.
A net exporter of energy - first time in 65 years.
Thankfully, I'm drinking during this...
The state of our union is strong.
An economic miracle is happening...
Ridiculous partisan investigations can stop this miracle... There can't be war and investigations... That's just weird... He needs to be investigated...
Nearly 300 individuals waiting to be confirmed by the Senate.
Criminal justice reform, which he seems to be taking credit for...
Story of Alice Johnson....
The First Step Act - gives non-violent offenders redemption.
The urgent national crisis - 10 days left to negotiate a deal to secure our very dangerous southern border.
Large organized caravans are on the way to the United States. I have ordered another 3,750 troops to the border. Defend our very dangerous southern border.
Tolerance for illegal immigration is cruel...
MS13 operates in 20 states...
Instilling fear with regard to the southern border.
A common sense proposal to Congress - physical barrier or wall... A proper wall, I will get it built.
A steel see-through barrier. - Where a wall goes up, illegal crossings go way way down.
With a powerful barrier in place, El Paso is now one of the safest cities... So not true.
"Walls work and walls save lives."
I need another drink...
More women in the workforce than ever before, and thanks to Democrats there are more women serving in Congress than anytime before.... who all dislike Donald Trump.
Calamitous trade policies... $250 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods. A new trade deal with China.
and the catastrophe known as NAFTA.
America's crumbling infrastructure... investments in the cutting edge industries of the future... doesn't mention what they are and then moved right to healthcare - prescription drugs and preexisting conditions.
Mitch McConnell looks sad... I guess his pharmaceutical donors won't be happy.
We will defeat AIDS in America and beyond...
The fight against childhood cancer...
$500 million for childhood cancer research and now it's time for school choice... non sequitur
I'm asking Congress to pass legislation on late-term abortions. Cherishes innocent life, but not the separated children at the southern border... Hmmm.
$700 billion last year and $716 billion this year for the military. Allies need to pay their fair share - NATO...
Missile defense treaty with Russia - IMF Treaty. Not to mention that this is what Putin wants...
The Korean peninsula - If I had not been elected we would be in a war with North Korea. He's meeting with Kim Jung Un again... twice! Reckless foreign policy...
Calls for socialism in this country - we were born free and we will stay free. Of course the camera cuts to Bernie Sanders.
"America will never be a socialist country..." Ridiculous...
Principled realism in the Middle East... Opened the American Embassy in Jerusalem...
"Great nations do not fight endless wars."
Removing the troops from Syria... Even if you don't like that, we'd be leaving our allies out to dry and giving the Putin regime exactly what they want there by ceding influence.
18 years ago - the USS Cole attack... Happened in October 2000 FYI.
Defense against anti-semitism - honoring holocaust survivors and a SWAT team member from the Tree of Life synagogue tragedy... He's making up for his Charlottesville fine people on both sides comments... my cynical commentary aside it is genuinely a good thing to honor such individuals...
Look at the opportunities before us...
We do the incredible...
Re-ignite the American imagination...
I am asking you to choose greatness. We must go forward together...
If only he'd stop tweeting...
Sunday, February 03, 2019
2.3.19: Virginia Governor Ralph Northam Is a Lonely Pariah
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam's explanation for his past behavior from photos that have surfaced this week was unacceptable. As it is now, dawning black face in 1984 was offensive. As The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson clearly explained, everyone didn't do that at that time. It was offensive in 1984, and Rich Lowry's explanation that people's entire lives shouldn't be judged for moments of stupidity or offensiveness doesn't hold up. Mr. Northam's statements in which he first apologized and then denied that it was not him in the photograph show that he is not truly contrite. Also in his press conference yesterday he explained that he was in a dance contest in San Antonio that same year wearing black face to imitate Michael Jackson and his moonwalk dance step. This admission damaged his credibility even further essentially making things even worse. Chuck Todd touched on the fact that Mr. Northam was familiar with the difficulty of removing shoe polish from one's face, which illustrates that he has some experience with this.
As the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Karen Bass (D-CA) stated, Mr. Northam hasn't been honest. This is very clear. Mr. Northam explained that remaining in office would be best so that the conversation on race can progress. However, Ms. Bass disagreed and that if he wants to continue the conversation, he should do so while not in office, to which Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) agreed. As Donald McEachin (D-VA) said flatly, there is nothing that Mr. Northam can do at this point to correct this and that he should step down, especially in the 400th year anniversary of Africans being brought to Jamestown, Virginia and enslaved. If Mr. Northam wants to be a leader, he should do what a real leader would and resign his office, or he will be the 'lonely pariah' as Hallie Jackson described.
This brings us to Senator Brown's statement about Mr. Trump that he is a racist president, to which Chuck Todd interrupted him to explain such a strong charge. However, Senator Brown made the case citing Mr. Trump's questioning of Barack Obama's citizenship and his actions during his business life and housing discrimination in New York City, of which Mr. Trump was found guilty. Not to mention that Mr. Trump's Charlottesville statements and less us not forget the Central Park Five rape case and how he called for the death penalty even after the men were exonerated. And to cap it off, there is the wall he wants on the southern border, which is rooted in his bigoted views.
Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) were not negotiating in good faith with the president inasmuch as they will not concede any money for a border wall. However, as much as Senator Scott said he wants a fix for TPS (citizens with temporary protective status) and the 'Dreamers,' these two issues are none starters for the president who will be accused by his base of granting amnesty to these groups.
As Chuck Todd pointed out, the president had these deals on his desk and he walked away from them so how can the Democrats be sure that he is negotiating in good faith and won't just blow up any made deal on a whim? Or the president can do what he usually does and falsely claim that 'we're building wall.' Hallie Jackson explained that it's a matter of semantics, but if you listen to the president speak, it makes you wonder about whatever happened to grammar. If the negotiations fall apart, the president will possibly declare a national emergency, which as Mr. Lowry described as just another way to lose, to which this column agrees but it would be a matter of all of us losing, not just the president.
Panel: Maria Teresa Kumar, CEO Voto Latino, Hallie Jackson, NBC News; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post; Rich Lowry, The National Review; Mark Leibovich, The New York Times Magazine
A couple more things...
Senator Rick Scott said that with regard to Venezuela, no options should be taken off the table. However, U.S. military intervention is NOT the right course of action for the Administration to take. However, with the Trump Administration under such pressure from all of the its questionably ethical conduct (understating it), there remains the concern for a wag-the-dog decision. Not good.
Senator Brown mentioned Medicare for citizens at age 50. That's a great proposal.
As the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Karen Bass (D-CA) stated, Mr. Northam hasn't been honest. This is very clear. Mr. Northam explained that remaining in office would be best so that the conversation on race can progress. However, Ms. Bass disagreed and that if he wants to continue the conversation, he should do so while not in office, to which Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) agreed. As Donald McEachin (D-VA) said flatly, there is nothing that Mr. Northam can do at this point to correct this and that he should step down, especially in the 400th year anniversary of Africans being brought to Jamestown, Virginia and enslaved. If Mr. Northam wants to be a leader, he should do what a real leader would and resign his office, or he will be the 'lonely pariah' as Hallie Jackson described.
This brings us to Senator Brown's statement about Mr. Trump that he is a racist president, to which Chuck Todd interrupted him to explain such a strong charge. However, Senator Brown made the case citing Mr. Trump's questioning of Barack Obama's citizenship and his actions during his business life and housing discrimination in New York City, of which Mr. Trump was found guilty. Not to mention that Mr. Trump's Charlottesville statements and less us not forget the Central Park Five rape case and how he called for the death penalty even after the men were exonerated. And to cap it off, there is the wall he wants on the southern border, which is rooted in his bigoted views.
Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) were not negotiating in good faith with the president inasmuch as they will not concede any money for a border wall. However, as much as Senator Scott said he wants a fix for TPS (citizens with temporary protective status) and the 'Dreamers,' these two issues are none starters for the president who will be accused by his base of granting amnesty to these groups.
As Chuck Todd pointed out, the president had these deals on his desk and he walked away from them so how can the Democrats be sure that he is negotiating in good faith and won't just blow up any made deal on a whim? Or the president can do what he usually does and falsely claim that 'we're building wall.' Hallie Jackson explained that it's a matter of semantics, but if you listen to the president speak, it makes you wonder about whatever happened to grammar. If the negotiations fall apart, the president will possibly declare a national emergency, which as Mr. Lowry described as just another way to lose, to which this column agrees but it would be a matter of all of us losing, not just the president.
Panel: Maria Teresa Kumar, CEO Voto Latino, Hallie Jackson, NBC News; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post; Rich Lowry, The National Review; Mark Leibovich, The New York Times Magazine
A couple more things...
Senator Rick Scott said that with regard to Venezuela, no options should be taken off the table. However, U.S. military intervention is NOT the right course of action for the Administration to take. However, with the Trump Administration under such pressure from all of the its questionably ethical conduct (understating it), there remains the concern for a wag-the-dog decision. Not good.
Senator Brown mentioned Medicare for citizens at age 50. That's a great proposal.
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