Category: National Issues
What Trump got wrong on Twitter this week (#2)
The following article by Michelle Ye Hee Lee was posted on the Washington Post website January 13, 2014:
Welcome to the second edition of Fact Checker’s series examining what the incoming president got wrong on Twitter in a given week. Here’s a round-up of 10 dubious tweets from President-elect Donald Trump from the past week.
Intelligence stated very strongly there was absolutely no evidence that hacking affected the election results. Voting machines not touched!
As we’ve noted, this is a clever misdirection that obscures the point of the intelligence community’s report. Intelligence agencies were not tasked with assessing whether Russian activities swayed the election. The report clearly states: Continue reading “What Trump got wrong on Twitter this week (#2)”
The Republicans’ Plan for Medicaid: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
The following post by Maura Calsyn and Thomas Huelskoetter was posted on the Center for American Progress’ website January 12, 2017:
President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans in the U.S. Congress are poised to dismantle the Medicaid program, which provides millions of Americans with a health care safety net. First, they plan to repeal key parts of the Affordable Care Act, or ACA—including the law’s Medicaid expansion—through the budget reconciliation process without yet offering any replacement plan. Second, congressional plans to drastically restructure the Medicaid program will make coverage less secure for those who remain enrolled in the program. Continue reading “The Republicans’ Plan for Medicaid: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing”
Conflicts of DeVos
Donald Trump, Betsy DeVos, and a Pay-to-Play Nomination
The following article by Ulrich Boser, Marcella Bombardieri and CJ Libassi was posted on the Center for American Progress’ website January 12, 2017:
Billionaire activist Betsy DeVos and her family have given a massive $4 million to the Republicans who will decide whether to confirm her as Trump’s secretary of education, according to a new analysis by the authors.
DeVos’ hearing begins this Wednesday, and her family has donated a quarter of a million dollars alone to the members of the education committee who are tasked with vetting her nomination. The DeVos family has given a total of more than $950,000 to 21 senators who will have the opportunity to vote on her confirmation. Continue reading “Conflicts of DeVos”
Why Trump Can’t Let Go
He has a lot more than money wrapped up in his self-named business.
The following article by Michael Kruse was posted on the Politico website January 12, 2017:
When Donald Trump stood up in front of a throng of reporters as well as loyal, cheering paid staffers Wednesday at Trump Tower in New York, there was the theatrical stack of folders of papers on the table next to the lectern, and there were the phrases that floated out of the mouth of his lawyer (“completely isolating himself from his business interests,” “no new foreign deals,” “his sole business and interest is in making America great again”), and there was what he said, too (“could actually run my business and run the government at the same time,” “turning over complete and total control to my sons,” “I don’t have to do this”)—but the fact of the matter of Trump’s news conference on Wednesday, his first as president-elect, which came nearly six months after his last, was this: He’s not severing ties with his business. He’s not divesting. Continue reading “Why Trump Can’t Let Go”
Trump Punishes CNN After It Challenged Him, Rewards Breitbart For Sucking Up
The following article by Oliver Willis was posted on the Media Matters website January 11, 2017:
During Donald Trump’s press conference, the president-elect criticized CNN for reporting on alleged contacts between his campaign and the Russian government, and then CNN reporter Jim Acosta tried to ask a question. Trump refused Acosta’s repeated requests. Soon after, Trump solicited a question from Matthew Boyle of the embarrassingly pro-Trump Breitbart News, who served up a softball.
On Tuesday, CNN reported that “classified documents presented last week to President Obama and President-elect Trump included allegations that Russian operatives claim to have compromising personal and financial information about Mr. Trump.” The documents also reportedly included “allegations that there was a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between Trump surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government.” Buzzfeed followed CNN’s article by publishing pages of raw memos related to the allegations.
At his press conference, responding to a question from CBS’ Major Garrett, Trump elaborated on a tweet he sent out on Wednesday morning in which he wrote, “Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to ‘leak’ into the public. One last shot at me. Are we living in Nazi Germany?”
Trump said BuzzFeed would “suffer the consequences” for publishing the memos and that CNN went “out of their way to build it up.”
CNN reporter Jim Acosta then attempted to ask Trump a question, noting, “Since you’re attacking us, can you give us a question?” Trump refused and waved him away. Acosta persisted, and Trump refused and said CNN is “terrible,” told Acosta to be quiet, and said, “You are fake news,” before moving on to another reporter.
A few minutes later, Trump turned to Matt Boyle of Breitbart.com, who proceeded to ask Trump about “all the problems that we’ve seen throughout the media over the course of the election” and “what reforms do you recommend for this industry here?”
It would hardly be possible to ask a more sycophantic and fawning question, but coming from Breitbart, it’s not surprising.
Breitbart has become the all-but-official voice of Trump over the past two years. The site has tied itself into absurd knots to defend him and attack his opponents in both the Republican and Democratic parties, while also mangling and inventing stories to serve his campaign’s narrative.
Stephen Bannon, Trump’s incoming chief White House strategist, has been the chairman of Breitbart and has overseen its transformation from a more traditional conservative outlet to what he described as a “platform” for the so-called “alt-right,” whose noxious brand of white nationalist nativist politics now dominates the conservative movement.
Breitbart’s dedication to Trump and its vilification of his perceived enemies were reflected in its writeup of the contentious exchange between Trump and Acosta, headlined “Trump to CNN: You Are Fake News.” Breitbart.com also posted the following headlines on its front page:
In turn, Trump has often used the millions of followers he has on social media to direct web traffic toward Breitbart stories promoting him and his conspiracy theories.
Later on CNN, Acosta reported that Republican National Committee communications director and incoming Trump press secretary Sean Spicer told him that if he were to persist in asking Trump questions in the same manner, he would be “thrown out of this press conference.” (After his combative exchange with Acosta, Trump later fielded a question from CNN reporter Jeremy Diamond.)
The lesson from Trump is that he won’t accept the sort of adversarial journalism CNN has engaged in here, which is necessary and vital for a modern, functioning democracy. But if you suck up like Breitbart did (and has done), you will be perfectly fine.
You can view the original post here.
How Republican Budget Cuts Would Make the Opioid Epidemic Even Worse
The following report by Eliza Schultz and Katherine Gallagher Robbins was posted on the Center for American Progress website January 12, 2017:
In 2015, opioid-involved overdoses claimed more than 33,000 lives—a fourfold increase from 1999. Opioid overdoses caused nearly as many deaths in the United States as traffic accidents and twice as many as homicides. The toll of the epidemic is tremendous for those who struggle with addiction, as well as families, communities, and the economy. But while some Republican officials have promised to address addiction and support at-risk populations—President-elect Donald J. Trump pledged in October to provide every individual with addiction “access to the care and the help that he or she needs”—the House Republican agenda will hardly abate the opioid crisis. Instead, it is poised to do immense damage. Indeed, new analysis shows that repeal of the Affordable Care Act alone would strip 222,000 people with an opioid addiction of some or all of their health insurance coverage—and that is not the only way that House Republicans could do damage. Continue reading “How Republican Budget Cuts Would Make the Opioid Epidemic Even Worse”
Federal ethics chief blasts Trump’s plan to break from businesses, calling it ‘meaningless’
The following article by Lisa Rein was posted on the Washington Post website January 11, 2017:
The head of the federal Office of Government Ethics on Wednesday denounced President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to separate the presidency from his business empire as “wholly inadequate” and said it does not meet the standards met by the “best of his nominees.”
“The ethics program starts at the top,” Director Walter Shaub said at a Brookings Institution forum in Washington. “We can’t risk creating the perception that government officials will use their positions for personal profit.” Continue reading “Federal ethics chief blasts Trump’s plan to break from businesses, calling it ‘meaningless’”
Fact-checking President-elect Donald Trump’s news conference
The following article by Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post appearing on the Chicago Tribune website January 11, 2017:
President-elect Donald Trump finally held a news conference, but as is typical, he often made claims that have been repeatedly debunked or discredited. Here’s a guide to 15 of his more notable statements, in the order in which he made them. Continue reading “Fact-checking President-elect Donald Trump’s news conference”