S1P07 - Politics & News

A recap of politics and news since about 12/15/18

• Trump has made 7,546 false or misleading statements in his first 700 days in office. That's an average of almost 11 per day. Impressive. 
• The latest count for the president too busy to golf. Trump has visited his resorts 154 times and played 121 rounds of golf in 101 weeks. So much for being too busy to play golf. At the same point in his administration, Obama had played 60 rounds. The midterm elections and holidays' government shutdown slowed Trump at the end of the year. 
• There were 1,419 false or misleading claims from Trump just in the seven weeks leading up to the midterms, according to Fact Checker. Trump once again wins the Golden Pinocchio award for the most prolific dispenser of false claims.
• Trump names Mick Mulvaney as his acting chief of staff. Certainly not the first choice and apparently not the permanent choice.
• A federal district judge in Texas has ruled that the ACA (Obamacare) is unconstitutional. This ruling will, of course, be appealed. I want to thank our Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, for initiating the lawsuit. The Trump administration has declined to defend the law. Actually, Obamacare was ruled constitutional several times. It's Trumpcare that may be unconstitutional, that's Obamacare after the GOP gutted it. 
• Trump cancels the White House press Christmas party. Scrooge, the enemy of Christmas. 
• 12/15 - Ryan Zinke, Secretary of the Interior, will leave by the end of the year. He has been under misconduct allegations and investigations. He is also an enemy of the environment. A true swamp creature. Good riddance. Another one bites the dust. 
• 12/15 - The Paris Climate Accord is kept alive and adds uniform measurement and reporting standards. 200 countries, including the USA, agree to the pact. The US is scheduled to withdraw from the accord in 2020 unless Trump changes his mind.
• 12/16 - New report to the Senate Intelligence Committee indicates even wider Russian interference in the 2016 election and also says the interference was pro Trump and GOP. Or, it could have just been a 400 lb guy on his bed. 
• New Senate report says Russian disinformation teams targetted Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Of course they did. Putin is trying to help his buddy, Trump. 
• 12/17- Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander (R), 78, announces he won't run for reelection in 2020. Another old-guard Republican to retire. 
• 12/18 - Trump agrees to shut down his charity foundation. The New York state lawsuit against Donald, Donald, Jr., Ivanka, and Eric Trump will proceed. It seeks financial retribution and a ban on any of the Trumps from serving on a nonprofit board. Their motto: It's better to receive than to give. 
• 12/18 - Arizona governor, Doug Ducey (R), appoints Martha McSally (R) to the Senate. She will fill the seat formerly held by John McCain. McSally lost the 2018 senatorial election to Kyrsten Sinema (D). Even when Republicans lose, they win. There will be a special election for the seat in 2020 and the regular election in 2022. McCain was reelected in 2016. 
• 12/18 - Trump backs down on his threat to shut down the government over his border (or is it, boarder) wall funding. 
• 12/19 - Senate passes interim funding bill through 01/08/19.
• 12/20 - Hold on, now Trump says he won't sign interim budget bill. Will the government really have a Trump shutdown?
• 12/18 - The Senate passes a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill (87-12). Now on to the House.  
• 12/20 - The House passes the criminal justice reform bill 338-56. Now it goes to Trump for signature.
• 12/19 - The Fed raised interest rates ¼ point to a range of 2.25% to 2.5%. The Dow falls 350 points.
• 12/19 - Mueller seeks a transcript of Trump associate Roger Stone's testimony to the House Intelligence Committee. Are indictments coming soon?
• 12/19 - Trump says he will pull all US troops out of Syria immediately. Only members of Congress, the Pentagon, the State Department, and our allies. Trump did receive approval from Turkey, Iran, and his good buddy Vladamir Putin. 
• James Mattis, Secretary of Defense, resigns. He stated that his views do not align with Trump's. The Syria withdrawal appears to be the final straw. Another one bites the dust. All of "Trump's generals" are now gone or soon will be. 
• In a temper tantrum after actually reading Mattis's resignation letter, Trump pushes him out on 1/1/2019 rather than the scheduled February departure. 
• Brett H. McGurk, the special presidential envoy to the coalition fighting the Islamic State, is also stepping down over Mr. Trump’s decision to pull troops from Syria
• Attorney General nominee, William Barr, wrote a memo to the Justice Department criticizing the Mueller probe into obstruction of justice. Will he restrict the investigation if he gets confirmed?
• DOJ ethics officials have said acting AG Whitaker should recuse himself from overseeing the Mueller investigation. He has ignored that advice.
• 12/20 - Trump orders the withdrawal of 7,000 troops from Afghanistan which is about half of our forces there. Again it surprises almost everyone including the Afghans.
• 12/21 - Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has surgery to remove two cancerous nodules from her left lung. No other cancer was detected and no further treatment is prescribed. Let's all hope for her complete recovery and back to work soon. 
• 12/21 - The Supreme Court refuses to allow Trump to deny illegal immigrants from seeking asylum.
• 12/21 - Trump says he won't sign any funding bill that does not include money for The Wall. Congress adjourns for the holidays. About a quarter of the government shuts down. Those employees are either furloughed or must work without pay. Merry Christmas!
• About ¼ of the federal government shuts down. More than 420K employees deemed essential will have to work without pay. Another 380K employees will be furloughed and several government departments and services will be shuttered. Welcome to the Trump shutdown.  
• Congress adjourns until 12/27. No resolution to the shutdown until at least then.
• 12/22 - Frustrated with the falling stock market, Trump rants about Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and inquires if he can fire Powell. Looking for a scapegoat despite all Trump has done to cause uncertainty in the Markets.
• Trump signs major farm bill. Food stamp funding remains intact.
• 12/26 - Trump visits troops in Iraq. His first visit to combat troops. Nice that the Commander-in-Chief visits the troops. Unfortunately, he had to badmouth the generals and lie about military pay raises. He is pathetic. 
• Congress abdicates on funding the ¼ of government that is shut down. The plan is to wait until after January 3rd when the new Congress is sworn in. It is these folks, Trump, and their staffs who should not be paid during any shutdown. 
• 12/28 - The EPA proposes rule changes that would allow coal-fired power plants to emit more mercury and other pollutants. Trump's assault on the environment continues.
• Trump threatens to close our southern border if he doesn't get his wall. How would he do that without a wall? Hope you don't like affordable fruits and vegetables in the winter. Many come from Mexico.
• 12/29 - Trump issues an order to freeze federal employees pay in 2019. More great holiday news for those federal employees still getting paid. 
• 12/31 - Elizabeth Warren announces she will enter the 2020 presidential race. No surprise here. 
• 12/31 - We end the year with the #TrumpShutdown still in effect. About ¼ of the government in a shutdown and 800K federal employees not being paid. 
• Happy New Year!

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