Tag: Donald Trump

Fact check: This week in the Trump administration

The following article by Calvin Woodward and Jim Drinkard of the Associated Press was posted on the Boston Globe website March 11, 2017:

MELISSA PHILLIP/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The new Environmental Protection Agency chief, Scott Pruitt, disputes scientific evidence on climate change.

Some of Donald Trump’s boasts from the first weeks of his presidency were dashed by developments in recent days. For example, builders of the Keystone XL pipeline were let off the hook from a buy-American requirement that Trump had promised.

On another front, though, a robust jobs report shows there’s now some substance behind his contention that jobs are growing under his watch.

Over the past week, Trump took credit when it was not always due and assigned blame that was misplaced. Two of his Cabinet members went rogue on science and history: One dismissed the consensus on the leading cause of global warming, and the other lumped slaves together with immigrants.

A look at some of those recent claims by Trump and his team: Continue reading “Fact check: This week in the Trump administration”

5 Things to Watch in President Trump’s Skinny Budget

The following article by Harry Stein and Scott Nathan was posted on the Center for American Progress website March 14, 2017:

AP/Evan Vucci
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting on the federal budget on February 22, 2017, in the White House.

President Donald Trump is preparing to release the first budget proposal of his administration. While this budget likely will only provide limited details on President Trump’s plans—thus why it is nicknamed the “skinny budget”—it will still give the American people a clear look at Trump’s policy agenda and the priorities of his new administration.

The skinny budget will not address taxes, and it will only address discretionary spending, the programs that Congress funds in annual appropriation bills. Discretionary spending comprises about one-third of federal spending, and it does not include major programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Continue reading “5 Things to Watch in President Trump’s Skinny Budget”

Trump said no Americans would lose coverage under Obamacare repeal. Paul Ryan won’t make that promise.

The following article by Kelsey Snell was posted on the Washington Post website March 12, 2017:

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said Sunday that he doesn’t know how many Americans would lose coverage under his proposal to revise the Affordable Care Act, which is under fire from fellow Republicans, AARP and virtually every sector of the U.S. health-care industry.

“I can’t answer that question,” Ryan said in an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Continue reading “Trump said no Americans would lose coverage under Obamacare repeal. Paul Ryan won’t make that promise.”

Trump voters would be among the biggest losers in Republicans’ Obamacare replacement plan

The following article by Noam N. Levey was posted on the L.A. Times website March 12, 2017:

Americans who swept President Trump to victory — lower-income, older voters in conservative, rural parts of the country — stand to lose the most in federal healthcare aid under a Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, according to a Times analysis of county voting and tax credit data.

Among those hit the hardest under the current House bill are 60-year-olds with annual incomes of $30,000, particularly in rural areas where healthcare costs are higher and Obamacare subsidies are greater.

In nearly 1,500 counties nationwide, such a person stands to lose more than $6,000 a year in federal insurance subsidies. Ninety percent of those counties backed Trump, the analysis shows. Continue reading “Trump voters would be among the biggest losers in Republicans’ Obamacare replacement plan”

Trump Supporters Have the Most to Lose in the G.O.P. Repeal Bill

The following article by Neil Cohn was posted on the New York Times website March 10, 2017:

The people who stand to lose the most in tax credits under the House Republican health plan tended to support Donald J. Trump over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, according to a new Upshot analysis.

Over all, voters who would be eligible for a tax credit that would be at least $1,000 smaller than the subsidy they’re eligible for under Obamacare supported Mr. Trump over Hillary Clinton by a seven-point margin. Continue reading “Trump Supporters Have the Most to Lose in the G.O.P. Repeal Bill”

Next steps for the Trump resistance

The following opinion written by E. J. Dionne was posted on the Washington Post website March 12, 2017:

Demonstrators gather near the White House to protest President Trump’s travel ban on March 11. (Tasos Katopodis/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

For opponents of President Trump, his first seven weeks in office went about as badly for the country as they expected. The pleasant surprise is their own capacity for resistance and political resilience. What some feared might be a Trump Juggernaut is instead the Trump Jalopy, a wheezing, unsightly contraption with grinding gears and missing parts.

Many of Trump’s problems are of his own creation. They include the lies about his team’s Russian contacts that feed suspicions of wrongdoing; the sloppy execution of his flawed-from-the-start anti-Muslim travel ban; the failure to fill scores of key government jobs; and Trump’s adolescent indiscipline highlighted by his evidence-free charge that President Barack Obama had him wiretapped. Continue reading “Next steps for the Trump resistance”

It’s Still About Russia

Why is Russia becoming so important since the inauguration? Is it a witch hunt as many in the Republican party maintain? Is it a smoking gun leading to revelations about money-laundering and illicit business interests in Russia as many Democrats suggest?

The answer simply is that no one really knows for sure – and that’s reason enough for a robust investigation at a minimum or, even better, a special prosecutor. There are some encouraging signs that, despite public rhetoric to the contrary, the House Intelligence Committee is forging the foundation for a strong investigation A Politico piece published this morning indicates that the outside rhetoric may be creating cover for Republicans who will ultimately need to convince the Democratic leadership that they are playing fair when it comes to witness lists, subpoenas, and procedures. If Republicans fail to deal fairly with the Democrats and address their concerns then the likelihood of a special prosecutor or joint commission increases. Continue reading “It’s Still About Russia”

Some of Steve Bannon’s Biggest Intellectual Influences Are Fascists and White Supremacists

The following article by Ben Norton was posted on the AlterNet website March 8, 2017:

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Gage Skidmor

Steve Bannon just can’t help himself. The president’s chief strategist, and former executive chair of Breitbart News, has repeatedly cited fascists and white supremacists without compunction or even discretion.

A recent investigation by the Huffington Post exposed how Bannon’s fondness for The Camp of the Saints, an obscure French novel that portrays a race war between the “civilized” white West and the evil brown hordes of the so-called East. The Huffington Post highlighted several interviews in 2015 and 2016 in which Bannon compared global politics and the refugee crisis to the plot of the book, which has been likened to Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

Continue reading “Some of Steve Bannon’s Biggest Intellectual Influences Are Fascists and White Supremacists”

The mystery of Donald Trump and the New Jersey cemetery

The following article by David Fahrenthold was posted on the Washington Post website March 10, 2017:

In rural New Jersey, the president’s business has proposed an unusual real estate project.

It wants to build a cemetery.

Or maybe not. Or maybe two.

According to plans filed with local and state authorities, the Trump Organization has proposed to build a pair of graveyards at the site of its tony Trump National Golf Club Bedminster course.

One would be small: 10 plots overlooking the first hole. It was intended — or so they said — for Trump and his family. “Mr. Trump . . . specifically chose this property for his final resting place as it is his favorite property,” his company wrote in a filing with the state in 2014. Continue reading “The mystery of Donald Trump and the New Jersey cemetery”

A reporter asked President Trump repeatedly for evidence of wiretapping. He didn’t answer.

The following article by Peter W. Stevenson was posted on the Washington Post website March 10, 2017:

President Trump tweeted almost a week ago that he “just found out” that former president Barack Obama wiretapped him during the 2016 election. Continue reading “A reporter asked President Trump repeatedly for evidence of wiretapping. He didn’t answer.”