S1P13 - News & Politics

A recap of politics and news since about 02/13/2019

National & International

• NASA Mars rover dies after over 14 years of exploration.
• 02/13 - FEMA administrator William "Brock" Long will resign. His tenure included allegations of improper use of government vehicles. 
• 02/13 - The House votes 248-177 to end US military aid to Saudi Arabia in Yemen. 
• 02/13 - A federal judge has ruled that Paul Manafort lied to prosecutors on Mueller's team, voiding his cooperation agreement.
• 02/14 - William Barr is confirmed for Attorney General by the Senate.
• 02/14 - Amazon abandons plans to build a headquarters in NYC. The state and city save $3 billion in incentives.
• 02/14 - Both Houses of Congress pass the government funding bill. Now it's up to Trump to keep the government open.
• 02/15 - Trump caves and signs a government funding bill that includes $1.4 billion in border fence money, far less than was on the table before the shutdown or in 2017. At the same time, he says he will declare a national emergency so he can reallocate funds from other sources. 
• 02/15 - Former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld says he will challenge Trump for the Republican presidential nomination.  
• 02/15 - The Supreme Court will decide the census citizenship question issue this session.
• Pope Francis defrocks former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick for sexually abusing minors and seminarians. Too little and about 50 years too late. 
• 02/16 - Trump's nominee for UN Ambassador, Heather Nauert, withdraws from consideration. The former Fox News employee said the past two months had been grueling. She has an illegal nanny and tax problems in her past. 
• 02/18 - 16 states file suit to stop Trump from using emergency powers to build the wall.
• 02/18 - The Catholic church has secret rules and procedures for priests who father children or break their celibacy vows. More scandal for the corrupt organization. 
• 02/19 - Bernie Sanders enters the race for president.
• 02/19 - News that the Catholic church ignored reports of systemic sexual and physical abuse of deaf children in their care. 
• 02/19 - Trump nominates Jeffrey Rosen for deputy attorney general.
• 02/20 - The Supreme Court ruled unanimously to limit state and local fines and civil forfeitures. Excessive fines are unconstitutional. 
• 02/20 - A Coast Guard lieutenant was arrested on weapon charges and planning a terrorist attack targetting politicians and journalists. He is a self-proclaimed white nationalist. Yet, the national emergency is at our southern border. Also, no comment on this by Trump.
• 02/20 - Putin threatens US if we deploy missiles in Europe. No response from Trump.
• 02/20 - Trump plans to convene the Presidential Committee on Climate Security. It will be headed by a physicist, not a climate scientist, who thinks CO2 is a good thing. Typical Trump appointment. 
• 02/20 - Shockingly, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross violated his ethics agreement by filing false financial disclosures.
• 02/21 - The presiding judge issues a gag order against Roger Stone in his criminal case.
• 02/21 - The North Carolina State Board of Elections ordered a new election in the 9th Congressional District because of widespread ballot tampering by the Republicans. 
• The last of six NYC condos remove the Trump Place name from the building. Trump is now a toxic name in NYC. 
• 02/22 - New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is charged with soliciting a prostitute. Is that a Super Ball? Trump will probably give him an award.
• 02/22 - Manhattan prosecutors are preparing state charges against Paul Manafort.
• 02/22 - Trump to nominate Kelly Knight Craft for UN Ambassador. She is the current ambassador to Canada and more importantly, a major GOP and Trump donor. Her husband is the CEO of a coal producer although I'm sure it is clean coal.
• 02/24 - The pope calls for an "all-out battle" against clerical sexual abuse. No specifics so I don't hold out much hope for significant change. Words, not actions.
• 02/24 - Trump delays the 3/1 increase in tariffs deadline with China. No new deadline indicated.
• The British Labour Party is now prepared to support a second Brexit referendum. The whole Brexit issue has become a complete clusterfuck. The deadline is March 29th. 
• 02/25 - A bipartisan group of 58 former senior national security officials issued a statement saying that “there is no factual basis” for President Trump’s proclamation of a national emergency to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. 
• 02/26 - The House voted to block Trump's border emergency declaration. The vote was 245-182. Thirteen Republicans voted with the majority. The resolution now goes to the Senate. This is the first time Congress has sought to overturn a presidential emergency declaration. 
• 02/26 - Chicago will have a Black female mayor. There is a runoff election on 4/2.
• 02/27 - Former Trump fixer and lawyer Michael Cohen testifies before the House Oversight Committee. 
• 02/27 - Trump meets with North Korea Leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam. 
• 02/28 - Trump and Kim abruptly cut short their summit with no agreement.  
• India and Pakistan have another dustup over Kashmir. Both have nuclear weapons. What could possibly go wrong?
• 02/28 - The US economy grew at a 2.6% rate in the fourth quarter. Good, but down from the previous two quarters. The annual growth rate for 2018 sits at 2.9%. 
• 02/28 - The GOP Senate confirms ex-coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler to run Environmental Protection Agency. Thanks for putting another nail in the environmental coffin. 
• 02/28 - North Korea says they sought partial sanction relief, not the full relief Trump stated. Both sides are habitual liars so there is no way to determine the real story.

Texas

• Still, no significant bills have been passed by the Texas legislature.
• Many local elections in Texas are scheduled for May 2019. Dallas will get a new mayor. There are also municipal, school board elections, regional water districts, etc. all over the state. Bedford has two city council seats on the ballot. 

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