From the Washington Post:
What you need to know about the Jeff Sessions recusal
From the Washington Post:
Has Trump become the ‘don’t blame me’ president?
The following article by Abby Phillips and Ashley Parker was posted on the Washington Post website March 1, 2017:
He blamed “the generals” for a raid that led to the death of a Navy SEAL in Yemen. He accused former president Barack Obama of fomenting protests against him and leaks within his administration. He blamed the judiciary for future terrorist attacks against the United States, and the media for the firing of his first national security adviser. He even blamed the weather for his smaller-than-desired inauguration crowd.
The one person President Trump never seems to blame is himself. Continue reading “Has Trump become the ‘don’t blame me’ president?”
The truth about Obama’s economic legacy and Trump’s inheritance
The following article by Christian Weller was posted on the Conversation website March 1, 2017:
President Donald Trump has been trashing the economy and his predecessor’s legacy lately.
For example, in his free-wheeling Feb. 16 press conference, Trump said he “inherited a mess” from President Barack Obama. His newly minted Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin followed suit a week later by telling the Wall Street Journal that Obama’s policies are to blame for the slower-than-normal growth the U.S. has experienced since the financial crisis in 2008.
While you wouldn’t know it from the way the Trump team has been talking about it, the economy is actually in pretty good shape. The current economic expansion just became the third-longest on record. The economy has been adding jobs every month for more than six years, the longest winning streak since World War II. And the federal budget deficit has sharply declined from a high of 9.8 percent of GDP in the middle of the Great Recession to a manageable 3.2 percent last year. Continue reading “The truth about Obama’s economic legacy and Trump’s inheritance”
Feds: Southwest light-rail funds cannot be diverted to roads, bridges
The following article by Janet Moore was posted on the Star Tribune website March 1, 2017:
Republican legislators introduced a measure at the State Capitol last week asking the U.S. Department of Transportation to funnel $929 million intended for the Southwest light-rail line to a “block grant that can be used for other transportation projects” in Minnesota. Continue reading “Feds: Southwest light-rail funds cannot be diverted to roads, bridges”
WH Ethics Office Says Kellyanne Conway ‘Inadvertently’ Plugged Ivanka Trump’s Clothes
The following article by Alex Johnson was posted on the NBC News website March 2, 2017:
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Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Donald Trump, acted “inadvertently” when she told Americans to “go buy Ivanka’s stuff” and has promised never to do it again, the White House ethics office said in a letter made public Wednesday. Continue reading “WH Ethics Office Says Kellyanne Conway ‘Inadvertently’ Plugged Ivanka Trump’s Clothes”
For Congressional Republicans, Wall Street Trumps Main Street
Less than one decade ago, during the final two years of the George W. Bush administration, the United States went through what was in absolute terms the worst financial crisis it has ever experienced. When President Barack Obama entered office, the United States was losing close to 700,000 jobs each month.1 By the end of the crisis, more than $19 trillion in wealth had been lost, unemployment had reached a peak of 10 percent, home prices had declined an average of 35 percent, and more than 10 million homes had been lost due to foreclosure or distressed sales.2 This was a tsunami of economic devastation by any measure, and many Americans are still recovering today. Yet, even before Americans have fully cleared the wreckage from this past crisis, congressional Republicans are trying to roll back large portions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act—the signature financial protections put in place to prevent another such crisis from occurring.3 Continue reading “For Congressional Republicans, Wall Street Trumps Main Street”
The 319 People, Places and Things Donald Trump Has Insulted on Twitter: A Complete List
The New York Times is keeping a running tally of the people, places and things our current president has insulted on Twitter since declaring his candidacy. We usually try to include all or most of the article we link to to make it easier for you to read. Unfortunately, this list is too long (and will continue to be updated). So, we’re just giving you a link (although you will notice when scanning the list that our president appears to have a limited vocabulary).
The 319 People, Places and Things Donald Trump Has Insulted on Twitter: A Complete List
How The Republican Obamacare Repeal Shuts Out The Poor
The following article by Alex Kotch originally published in the Washington Spectator was posted on the National Memo website March 1, 2017:
Throughout his campaign, Donald Trump vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, calling President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement “a disaster.” With a Republican majority in Congress, and a secretary of health and human services who was a leading critic of the ACA while he served in the House, Trump may very well get his wish.
The new HHS secretary Tom Price, in fact, is eager to assist in this venture. The former Georgia Congressman wants to get rid of the ACA and make big cuts to Medicaid, the federally funded state insurance program for the poor and disabled. But as Price settles into his new role, North Carolina’s newly elected Democratic governor is racing against time to expand Medicaid as allowed by the Affordable Care Act. Continue reading “How The Republican Obamacare Repeal Shuts Out The Poor”
Promises
The following article was posted on the TrumpAccountable.org website March 1, 2017:
On Tuesday evening President Trump addressed a joint session of Congress and promised. It’s notoriously difficult to hold elected officials to promises made on the campaign trail: rhetoric is heated, they fight for news coverage, and traditionally candidates over-promise to get elected. But these are promises from a sitting president who now is beginning to understand the complexities of the issues facing the country. Among his most aggressive promises were:
- a “big, big, [tax] cut” for business along with “massive tax relief for the middle class”
- a “better healthcare system” that will include coverage for pre-existing conditions and reduced costs for prescription drugs
- a one trillion dollar investment in infrastructure financed through public and private sources
- a budget that includes “one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history”