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Monday's Mini-Report, 2.20.17

Today's edition of quick hits.
Today's edition of quick hits:* A big NSA improvement: "President Donald Trump on Monday named Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as his national security adviser, a week after Michael Flynn resigned from the post."* There's no reason to assume Trump will honor the FEC norms: "A Democrat on the Federal Election Commission is quitting her term early because of the gridlock that has gripped the panel, offering President Trump an unexpected chance to shape political spending rules.... By tradition, Senate Democrats would be allowed to select the replacement, but, by law, the choice belongs to the president, and Mr. Trump has shown little interest in Washington customs."* This report hasn't been confirmed elsewhere, but it's an angle worth keeping an eye on: "CBS News has learned that on Thursday, an angry President Trump called CIA Director Mike Pompeo and yelled at him for not pushing back hard enough against reports that the intelligence community was withholding information from the commander-in-chief."* Art Laffer continues to cause trouble: "The same day the University of Tennessee released a report suggesting Gov. Bill Haslam's plan to pay for state transportation projects has more merit than the competing alternatives before lawmakers, a prominent supply-side economist spoke Wednesday to House members about what he sees as the dangers of the governor's plan" (thanks to reader P.A. for the tip).* A story worth watching: "Native American reservations cover just 2 percent of the United States, but they may contain about a fifth of the nation's oil and gas, along with vast coal reserves. Now, a group of advisors to President-elect Donald Trump on Native American issues wants to free those resources from what they call a suffocating federal bureaucracy that holds title to 56 million acres of tribal lands, two chairmen of the coalition told Reuters in exclusive interviews."* Utah: "The vice chairman of the Wasatch County, Utah GOP said Friday that he meant no offense by writing a letter to the editor in two local papers explaining why he feels businesses should not be "forced" to pay men and women equally, local TV station KSTU reported."* A welcome win for labor: "Organized labor won a major victory Thursday in New Hampshire when lawmakers in the House refused to pass a right-to-work bill that was supported by the governor."* If he doesn't crack the top 10 in the coming years, I'd be very surprised: "Barack Obama ranks as the 12th best leader in U.S. presidential history, according to a new survey of 91 presidential historians conducted by C-SPAN. The panel placed the 44th president just below Woodrow Wilson and just above James Monroe."Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.