Friday's Mini-Report, 4.20.18

Today's edition of quick hits:

* Keeping the pressure on: "Students from hundreds of schools across the country began a wave of walkouts Friday morning in a unified voice for tougher gun laws."

* Sometimes, the news takes an ironic turn: "One person was injured in a shooting at Forest High School in Ocala, Fla., Friday morning, a short time before a planned student walkout to protest school violence. The injured person, a 17-year-old male student, had a nonlife-threatening ankle injury, Sheriff Billy Woods said at a news conference."

* How is it EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt still has his job? "Pruitt has adopted a determined strategy to placate the president and lay low. On his frequent travels, including a Midwest trip Thursday, he has given up first class for coach when possible, according to aides. And he made a point of honoring a White House request for Cabinet officials to stop by a memorial to opioid victims installed on the Ellipse."

* In related news: "The Environmental Protection Agency's inspector general on Thursday said he plans to examine Administrator Scott Pruitt's use of his round-the-clock security detail while on personal trips, including a family visit to Disneyland and attendance at sporting events, such as the Rose Bowl and a University of Kentucky basketball game."

* Diplomacy: "North and South Korea established for the first time a direct telephone line between their leaders, a move aimed at building trust and momentum one week before the two men are slated to meet at the inter-Korean demilitarized zone."

* It'll probably take a miracle to stop him now: "Mike Pompeo secured his first Democratic senator's endorsement on Thursday, putting his nomination as the next secretary of state on stronger footing. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D., N.D.) said she would vote to confirm the current Central Intelligence Agency director as the nation's top diplomat."

* All of the judges who ruled against the White House were Republican appointees: "President Donald Trump's effort to crack down on sanctuary cities suffered another legal setback Thursday as a federal appeals court in Chicago upheld a nationwide injunction against making federal grant funding contingent on cooperation with immigration enforcement."

read more

Friday's Campaign Round-Up, 4.20.18

Today's installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.

* In a bit of a surprise, the Democratic National Committee this morning filed a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against the Russian government, Donald Trump's campaign, and WikiLeaks, alleging their coordination to disrupt the 2016 campaign. This civil suit is on a separate legal track from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

* Rep. Ron DeSantis, a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Florida who's enjoyed support from Donald Trump, was confronted with a new ethics complaint this week following reports that he rented a condo "from campaign donors who are executives at a defense contractor that lobbies the federal government."

* Illinois' gubernatorial race just got a little more complicated, with state Sen. Sam McCann (R) kicking off a third-party bid for Illinois' highest office. The Republican state lawmaker is apparently describing himself as an "independent conservative," who may further undermine Gov. Bruce Rauner's (R) chances for a second term.

* McClatchy reported this week that Trump-owned businesses "have received at least $15.1 million in revenue from political groups and federal agencies since 2015." The bulk of the revenue was spent by Trump's own campaign.

* With Blake Farenthold recently having resigned from Congress, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is apparently eager to hold a special election to fill the vacancy. Roll Call  reported, "Abbott sent a letter Thursday to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton outlining his desire to hold a special election soon and asking what laws he could bypass to speed up the process."

* In Pennsylvania, which will have a less-Republican-friendly congressional map this year following a state Supreme Court ruling, the latest Muhlenberg/Morning Call poll found Democrats leading Republicans on the generic ballot, 47% to 38%.

read more

Republican tax plan delivers massive rewards for Wall Street

If you were one of those Americans who argued last year, "Wall Street giants deserve a massive tax break because they don't appear to have nearly enough money," the Associated Press had some news today that should make you feel much better.

An analysis by The Associated Press shows the nation's six big Wall Street banks saved at least $3.59 billion in taxes last quarter, thanks to the recently enacted Trump tax law.

Banks typically kick off the earnings season, and their reports for the January-March quarter are giving investors and the public their first glimpse into how the new tax law is impacting Corporate America. Banks historically paid some of the highest taxes, due to their U.S.-centric business model. Before the Trump tax cuts, these banks paid between 28 to 31 percent of their income each year in corporate taxes.

The results show why banks supported the tax overhaul. Tax rates at banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley dropped to between 17 and 23 percent.

This is a feature, not a bug, of the Republican tax plan. One of the points of the tax breaks was to deliver a windfall to financial giants that didn't need the money.

All of which reminds me of a secretary in Pennsylvania whom House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was briefly eager to talk about.

read more

Cruz tries to sing the praises of the president who bullied him

Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) relationship with Donald Trump has been difficult at times. After all, Trump has gone after Cruz's wife and suggested Cruz's father played a role in the JFK assassination.

For his part, the Republican senator has told Americans that Trump is a “pathological liar,” a “bully,” a “narcissist,” “utterly amoral,” and my personal favorite, a “sniveling coward.”

It was therefore of interest when Time magazine named the president one of the most influential people of the year, and the editors turned to Cruz to sing Trump's praises. This is what the Texan came up with:

President Trump is a flash-bang grenade thrown into Washington by the forgotten men and women of America. The fact that his first year as Commander in Chief disoriented and distressed members of the media and political establishment is not a bug but a feature.

The same cultural safe spaces that blinkered coastal elites to candidate Trump's popularity have rendered them blind to President Trump's achievements on behalf of ordinary Americans. While pundits obsessed over tweets, he worked with Congress to cut taxes for struggling families. While wealthy celebrities announced that they would flee the country, he fought to bring back jobs and industries to our shores. While talking heads predicted Armageddon, President Trump's strong stand against North Korea put Kim Jong Un back on his heels.

President Trump is doing what he was elected to do: disrupt the status quo. That scares the heck out of those who have controlled Washington for decades, but for millions of Americans, their confusion is great fun to watch.

Not surprisingly, Cruz has received quite a bit of mockery for having written this. He could've told Time that he isn't interested in praising a president who went after his family, but instead, Cruz played the role of loyal partisan soldier and celebrated Trump's efforts.

But what struck me as especially interesting was how, exactly, Cruz hailed Trump.

read more

House Republicans obtain, quickly leak Comey memos

In January, the Washington Post published a piece documenting the many ways in which congressional Republicans appeared to be conspiring to "discredit" the Russia investigation. The newspaper has updated that reporting more than once, including again this week.

And while the Post has clearly raised an important point, rooted in fact, the observation is also incomplete -- because congressional Republicans aren't just trying to undermine public confidence in the investigation; they're also taking deliberate steps to interfere with the ongoing federal probe.

For example, after the public learned about the existence of memos then-FBI Director James Comey wrote about his interactions with Donald Trump, congressional Republicans began demanding full copies of the materials. The Justice Department resisted for obvious reasons: the memos are evidence in an ongoing federal investigation, and law enforcement officials aren't in the habit of handing over such evidence to outside parties, especially not to satisfy a partisan political agenda.

But GOP lawmakers didn't care. The more the Justice Department declined, the more House Republicans demanded the materials, pressuring top law enforcement officials, no matter the costs. Yesterday, left with few options, the Justice Department relented.

Unredacted copies of the Comey memos were to be made available to members of Congress Friday at secure facilities at the Capitol. The Justice Department's decision to turn them over to lawmakers came just days after Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein wrote to the Republican chairmen of the House Oversight, Intelligence and Judiciary Committees expressing concern that providing them could affect an ongoing criminal investigation.

It took very little time before unknown members of Congress leaked the evidence to the Associated Press, which was almost certainly the point all along. No serious observer has even tried to make the case that Republicans demanded the materials as part of some kind of exercise in oversight; this was always about GOP lawmakers looking for ways to undermine the investigation itself.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein specifically told lawmakers recently that he was concerned about Congress "publicizing" sensitive materials. Republicans have only helped prove him right.

read more